Nighthearth

A comfortable nook, this natural extension of the living room is cozily attired with overstuffed chairs and a couple of well-worn loveseats. All have been covered in various shades of green, giving the very incongruous appeal of a miniature forest hidden away inside… a grove of man-made proportion. Fish stews and spicy white-wherry chili are often kept hot on the minor hearths east and west of the main, for those whose hours defy when meals are kept. Ornate, the largest hearth towers high, rich with carving and utilitarian in fashion: it holds court by providing the weyr with rich klah, the air thick with the scent of cinnamon wafting.

It's evening, just a bit past the dinner hour, so a better quality of food is simmering over the nighthearth, than the leftovers in the living caverns. M'noq is settled in a comfortable chair, scribbling into a small notebook: apparently, drawings of something, along with notes on the page opposite in a tiny, precise hand. The remains of a bowl of seafood stew is on the table beside him, and a couple of his firelizards (brown and bronze Petes) are poking their muzzle into it, trying to steal bites from it.

Just getting back from some late sweeps, Alyna has her riding jacket in her hand as she runs a hand through sweat damp hair, light tunic clinging to her damply as she pulls it away from her skin as she makes her way through the Living Caverns towards the Nighthearth. Tossing her jacket over the back of an unoccupied chair, the blonde woman heads over to the hearth eagerly to see what is being offered. As her icy blue gaze sweeps over M'noq on the way over, she offers him a dip of her head and a drive-by salute befitting his rank before she reaches her destination and her focus is on food!

Bronrick is as usual covered in sand from the beach, moving into the smaller night hearth with his own hide work. The smell of seawater seems to follow with him with a light breeze, his miss-matched eyes quickly finding a chair as he grumbles about the work at hand. There is a small bottle of something probably alcoholic with him that he cradles into this lap.

Seems there is an influx of people arriving to Nighthearth, for you can count yet another in Thessa's arrival not too long after Bronrick's. At least /she/ took the time to get in a shower to wash sea salt and sand off! Dressed in a simple sundress instead of her suit, she's humming a little as she comes in. Allowing her gaze to sweep the area, she's soon following her nose towards the hearth to see what's on the menu for the evening. Spying Bronrick, she quietly comes up behind him, only to nudge him in the shoulder as she passes him by, "Hey.."

M'noq looks up as someone enters, giving Alyna a wave in response to her salute. He's off duty, so he drops the formality pretty quickly. "The seafood stew is pretty good. And they brought out fresh rolls not long ago." Just the wingleader's recommendation on the food. Noticing he has firelizards in his own stew bowl, he tries shooing them away. They scat… then return as soon as he looks away. "Just get back from sweeps? Anything interesting to report?"

What's fun after a long day of healering? Tommin inches in from the Caverns, rubbing a little at the bags under his eyes. He collects something soupy in a small bowl and then a sandwich and goes to espy a seat, eyeing faces new and… not so new. M'noq gets a shy wave as the Wingleader gets spotted from across the room right before Tommin slides into a freshly vacated seat. Balancing plate and bowl on his lap, Tommin starts delicately dipping his sandwich into the soup, enjoying the resulting flavours as evidenced by his doing it again and again. Yummeh

Alyna blinks suddenly as the Nighthearth is the target of a rush. With a nod of thanks in M'noq's direction for his recommendation, she quickly grabs a bowl and ladles it full with the hearty stew, her nostrils twitching as the rich aroma wafts up at her. Grabbing a couple of rolls as well, she will vacate her position for the next seeker of food as she wanders back over to where M'noq is, sinking into an empty chair nearby. As for anything to report, she shakes her head, "All is well from what we could see. Nothing exciting. Which is fine by me." she remarks with a chuckle before tucking into her stew, eyes roving over the crowd to see who else is here.

Bronrick looks up at Thessa and says "Hey yourself…" he gives her a friendlish smile before he looks around and just kinda realizes there are other people here, he gives nods in greeting but goes back to grumbling about hide work being for apprentices and sipping from his bottle. He will scratch at his hair every once in a while sending sand down around him and hopefully not on other people.

A quiet little teasing laugh escapes Thessa as she gets an answer from Bronrick who passes him by with a shake of her head. Yum, stew. She'll be next in line after Alyna to fill a bowl for herself, making sure to snag a roll as well. Back over to where the dolphineer sits, or at least nearby - not so near enough to end up with sand in her stew, mind you. "So, whatcha grumbling about over here, hmm?" The question is put forth as she takes a seat.

M'noq gives a wave to Tommin as he sees the young man enter, as well as a few others, most of whom M'noq at most recognizes without knowing their names. He closes his notebook for the moment, tucking it in beside him against the arm of the chair. He nods to Alyna. "Good to hear. I like sweeps where the most exciting thing that happens is I see a great sunset, or maybe find an interesting beach or waterfall I wouldn't mind coming back to later. Now, if you've seen any of those, I wouldn't mind a report on that, too." He grins.

Oh, stew, huh? It takes that to cause Ibrahim to appear anywhere in the Weyr proper these days — anywhere that isn't the Infirmary, that is. And yet, after the shift he's just had, the need for food is rather urgent, so here he is! Food is gathered in, and a place to sit and eat is claimed; near enough to Tommin to note his bleary expression and affording him a wry nod of comraderie. Why so many people, man. Why so many people. Other faces are noted, some he's familiar with, others not so much. But whatever, he'll soon know more if he sits here long enough.

"Yup, me too." Alyna agrees with M'noq heartily before she takes another bite while she rumminates on his last, pondering for a long moment before she finally swallows and shakes her head, "Can't think of any at the moment, but I will make note of any in the future for you." she says with a soft smile directed at the brownrider as she tears off a piece of her roll as she dips it into the stew, soaking up the creamy base. As her icy blue eyes wander again, they land on a certain wildling, and the greenrider will offer him a bright smile and bob of her head in greeting, "Heya Ibrahim."

"Stupid hide work, I swear some of the newer apprentices think there reports are water proof" Comes Bronricks replay to Thessa as he holds up a hide that is half soaked with sea water damage. At the talk of great beaches his ears perk up calling out "If you find some send it to the dolphineers too, we love exploring as well." is his grin for the green rider miss-matched eyes not even hiding the fact he is giving everyone in the room a now better once over, and in some cases twice over.

"That's why you have them go away from the water, and make sure they don't just sit right down on the beach to do their reporting.." Thessa is quick to reply, snorting a little at the hide he holds up to show off. "That's gotta be Daveeda's.. " Seems she knows the apprentice just by looking at the work. Like he, her ears perk as well, head turned to the two nearby riders, "Especially those of us who are new to the weyr. Haven't discovered many places yet.." Waterfalls could be fun!

"Southern has plenty of great beaches," M'noq remarks. "But the really exceptional ones are rare. Some of them seem to have especially good weathe.r.. unless that's jut my imagination." He grins, joking. He nods in response to the dolphineer's comment "You're right, I should. We actually had some plans to do some extensive mapping in conjunction with the dolphineers, but some things happened that drew us away from that project." He thinks a moment. "I should dig up my old notes on it, if you really want to take a look at some of the beaches we found."

Alyna raises a brow as her conversation with M'noq is garnering the attention of the dophineers, a smile curling in response to the grin from the man with mismatched eyes, giving the man her own shameless once over as she nods in agreements with whatever M'noq is saying. "He's the guy you need to talk to, I haven't been here a Turn myself." she adds as she excuses herself from the conversation to return to her dinner while she follows the talk around her with an interested gaze.

Ibrahim certainly remembers Alyna (and that lovely blue suit of hers!) and gives the woman one of those slow, gentle smiles of his. "Alyna of the sea." He teases her playfully, tilting his glass of water in a salute before taking a sip. All the talk of reports and apprentices has him smothering a chuckle, as he's seen what new and potentially inattentive apprentices will do just to get out of hidework or perfecting their herbal skills; he's had to rescue some tisanes from inexpert hands three times today alone.

As Bronrick continues to grumble, even after her so helpful comments, Thessa grins a bit more, though shows curiosity in M'noq's comment, "Sounds like it could be something fun to do around our work with the healers.." Speakng for herself and her dolphin partner, that is. "Count us in, most certainly." A pause, a sip of her drink, and she adds, "Name's Thessalonike, though you can call me Thessa. My partner is Nilima. We've been here a few weeks.."

M'noq doesn't mind drawing in the dolphineers, particularly since they are the ones who would have a say about what they would contribute to the project. "The original project had to do with creating… rescue stations, as I recall. Dolphin pods could report someone in trouble, and the signal would relay back to where a dolphineer and dragonriders were on duty, to rescue swimmers, or a sinking ship, or whatever was happening. Mapping and planning was needed to start, though," he says. He gives a nod to Bronrick. "Good to meet you. M'noq, brown Ravaith's. You should bring up the idea to Odesse when you get the chance. She was quite interested in helping."

Alyna smiles coyly in Ibrahim's direction, a soft giggle for what he calls her as she nods her head in reply to that tilt of his glass. "How goes? Catch anything lately?" the woman says with a hint of suggestion, bringing up an inside joke between the two as she settles back into the comfy chair, full for now, though there is still some stew left in her bowl. Her eyes drift back over to the conversation between M'noq and the dophineers. And since people's names are being bandied about, the greenrider will add her own to the mix, "Alyna, green Haquith's."

Finishing up his sandwich and soup (or is it soup and sandwich), Tommin looks around furtively. The two crafting knots look interesting so the Healer lifts to his feet and wanders over, unsubtly trying to be subtle. Another nod to M'noq and Tommin sort of leans against a nearby piece of heavy furniture. He does feel compelled to add, "Just make sure you wear appropriate covers if you go adventuring for beaches. Summer sucks for burns and firehead." Oh, names, right: "Tommin, Healers."

Bronrick is listening because you can't talk to people unless you know there names, did he give his? Yeah he probably did…right? he gives a little internal shrug and looks at the younger healer asking "what is your specialization Tommin?" Because people who play in the water with thunderstorms like to know there healers well.

Ibrahim smirks. "Haven't gone fishing, lately…" Ibrahim pretends to consider it, eyeing Alyna blandly — perhaps too blandly. Just ignore the slightly mocking glint in his eye, there; he's not even slightly teasing Alyna back at all! Oh, wait, they're supposed to be introducing themselves? "Ibrahim." Who does many, many things around the Weyr and has yet to come up with a title for it. He'll just let that part go, though; as long as he's earning his keep, and all.

M'noq gives a wry smile at Tommin's warning. "Tommin. Remind me to kidnap you one afternoon to come with me to a distant beach. Then after we spend a couple hours there, tell me if your biggest concerns are burns and firehead." He's just teasing the young man a bit. He looks like he might go on, but then a distracted look crosses his face. He gets up from his chair, grabbing his notebook and the stew bowl, the latter of which he drops off in the basin for the kitchens. "Ah, duty calls. Don't be afraid to reach out on that mapping project," he calls to the dolphineers on his way out.

Tommin grins at Bronrick, ever ready to start babbling about his passion: "I'm studying Mindhealing. Right now I'm starting a trial fo…" but M'noq's warning-slash-invitation earns the man a little flush and smile: "Sounds good, wingleader… Um, just let me kn…" except M'noq is on his way out and Tommin blinks a few times before turning to everyone else. "Again," he mutters to himself.7

Looking like she's about to say something that would most definitely refer to the wildling's fishing pole, Alyna takes a moment to consider her words and the general tone of the room and so reins it back in, although her eyes dance merrily in Ibrahim's direction. "That's a shame. Keeping yourself busy then?" she'll wonder casually as she tucks her feet up under her, getting more comfortable as she nods to the retreating wingleader with a little wave of parting, "Clear skies." she offers idly even though the brownrider is long gone.

Bronrick didn't miss the pole joke, nor the one directed at Tommin, "I think I might like it here.." is his only comment before turning to the green rider saying "Was that your wingleader that just left?" Because it seems some of these people are as free as he is which is nice.

There's a lift of a hand in M'noq's direction as the man heads out, a bob of Thessa's head given at mention of whom she might talk to further. Certainly something she'll follow up on. Her gaze slides from Bronrick to the others, some hidden delight to be seen in her own eyes as she turns to her food - she hadn't forgotten it! Was letting it cool off, honest!

Unless they're aiming for a blushing Tommin, reeling it in (oh, the puns.) is just the right idea. Ibrahim lifts a shoulder, all sweet, naive innocence at Alyna. "It is such a shame!" Ha, whatever, he doesn't actually care that much! "Aye, been busy, mostly in the infirmary now it's known I know which herb is which."

Alyna looks over at the dophineer who she didn't catch the name of and shakes her head, "No, M'noq leads Lynx. I'm Ocelot." she adds as if that will mean anything to the Crafter. To Ibrahim, she will raise a thin blonde eyebrow in his direction considering for a moment. "Well that sounds positive at least. Busy is good..although for a healer, maybe that's not quite so true." she ponders that briefly before her mind is invaded with the soft buzz of her green's mindvoice. A heavy sigh as the greenrider unfolds herself and pushes off the chair. "And speaking of keeping busy.." she trails off as she offers a wamr smile all around before snagging up her riding jacket and wandering back through the Living cavern and out to the bowl beyond.

Tommin's grin is quicksilver at Bronrick but it falters when another head bobs in and out of the Nighthearth crowd: "Oh shit," he says quietly and ducks - not hard when there's a lot of tall, handsome riders; hard when they're mostly sitting. For anyone keeping track: "It's my Journeyman. And I should get to bed." Another quick grin to Bronrick and a wave to Ibrahim, who he did see, and his company, Tommin dashes off in an out-bound direction, before the Journeyman can catch up

Ibrahim smirks. "Oh, yes… thre is that." He's going to confirm all that Alyna hs said before he decides it really might be time to call it a night, for he's got a fit of the yawns, man! Uncurling himself from his comfy chair, he'll casually and quietly disappear off in the general direction of the Southern Jungles.

Bronrick sees people leaving and nods in farwell, oh look he dropped something when the green rider walked by and had to bend over to get it.. After most leave he leans back in his chair and takes a deeper swig from his bottle and tries to make out what these reports mean.

As the various people nearby start heading out, Thessa turns her attention towards the stew before her, now that it has cooled off enough to eat without burning her mouth. Listening to the comments made, she watches as Tommin attempts to hide from the approaching Journeyman, a grin given along with a nod or wave of a hand holding that roll. Before long, it is she and Bronrick left, and after a swallow of ale, she murmurs, "Well, that did sound interesting." The mapping thing. Before she might comment further, there's one of those lovely apprentices appearing, "Journeywoman Thessa! You're needed with the pod.. Nilima says that Toma isn't feeling well.." With a frown, the dolphin healer rises and heads off, sandaled feet silent on the stone.