Who

Ginger, Idara

What

Idara has come to experience a different culture. Does breakfast with Ginger qualify?

When

It is sunrise of the tenth day of the tenth month of the fourteenth turn of the 12th pass.

Where

Living Caverns, Southern Weyr

OOC Date 18 Aug 2018 23:00

 

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Living Caverns

Grand and spacious, the cavern curves high aloft in a naturally-vaulted ceiling that soothes any sense of claustrophobia. Rich woods line the cavern floor, varnished and stained a rich mahogany, while round tables scatter about, candlelit and intimate. The largest table lies southerly next to the sideboard, long trestles that seem oriented to providing for the Weyr's youngest. The rich blue of the Azov can be seen from a distance in good weather, when the heavy stone doors covering the entrance are allowed to stand open.


Morning doesn't mean much to Southern's temperatures apparently, even at this early an hour. It's already hot, the sun bright in a near cloudless sky. The living caverns offer some respite, and so it's here that Idara has come, for the joint purposes of avoiding the heat and getting something to eat. Her plate is sparsely occupied: a couple of small pieces of fruit, and a slice of toasted bread, with what looks to be jam. She's eating slowly with a knife and fork, apparently more interested in observing the living caverns and the others awake at this time than on her food. Dressed in conservative garb, her blue dress covering most of her legs, and her shoulders also covered, she looks bright and awake, hair brushed and tidy.

Ginger is, for once, on her own rather than with classmates. She enters from the Bowl, wearing her personal hot-weather variant of her weyrling uniform - in other words, her shirt is tied round her waist by the sleeves, and her top consists of a very skimpy sleeveless tunic which doesn't have enough fabric to fix a knot to. Still, the Weyr colours are a giveaway for those in the know. She helps herself to bread, cheese and fruit, secures a large mug of klah, and looks around for a table, or at least a space at a table, given that it's the middle of the breakfast rush. The sight of someone apparently eating toast and jam with a knife and fork intrigues her, and the face is unfamiliar, so she wanders over. "Morning! Mind if I sit here?"

Idara looks at Ginger, not even pausing as she cuts off a neat little bit of toast. "I see no reason why not." Her tone is carefully neutral, though there's curiosity in her eyes as she watches the young woman and her interesting attire. "Is this the breakfast rush?" Comes her polite enquiry, as she continues cutting the toast - but not yet eating any of the pieces. Rather than letting her attention stray to what's going on around them, she seems very focused on Ginger, very much an active listener.

"Pretty much, yes," Ginger confirms as she settles into a seat and arranges her meal. Cheese slices go on the bread, the rind of the fruit is easily peeled off, and that's as sophisticated as her preparations get. "The tail end, anyway - a lot of the wings eat earlier so they can get out to drill before it's too hot. I'm guessing you're new here, then? Welcome to Southern. I'm Ginger. Pleased to meet you."

There's only so much more you can cut up a piece of toast, and now Idara collects a single piece on the end of her fork. "How interesting," she says softly to Ginger's answer, the mouthful hovering just above the plate as she continues to watch the other. "Yes, I arrived yesterday. My name's Idara. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ginger." Now finally, she eats that morsel of bread, and after swallowing puts out another question in her same gentle tone. "What is it that you do here?"

Ginger pauses with bread and cheese - the slice roughly halved, no more - in hand as she answers, "I'm a weyrling - brown Shokravanth's. So I'm learning to be a dragonrider. Right now, my class has just started flying, which is wonderful. How about you - are you here to do anything in particular?" The bread completes its journey to her mouth, and she takes a bite.

Has that confirmed some suspicion the teenager had? Certainly, Idara's nod seems restrained. "Oh, I see. That must be very interesting." A further piece of toast is eaten, giving her a moment to collect herself and put her answer together. "My father sent me - he's a master miner at Southern Barrier Hold, you see. I have an aunt here, and he felt it would be good for me to spend some time in a different culture." It's all delivered a bit too neutrally, as if it's been rehearsed.

"A different culture," Ginger repeats carefully, as if testing the flavour of the words. "Well, it's certainly different from most places, I suppose. So who's your aunt? And what are you going to do now you're here?" She can't resist another question, though. "And did you get any say in the matter? Because, sorry if I'm overstepping, but you don't sound too keen."

Idara's eyes shift to her glass of water, fork and knife set down with a soft click on the plate. She sips her drink as Ginger talks, her expression remaining politely subdued. "She's one of the assistant headwomen - Jerana. Perhaps you might know her?" Because everyone in the Weyr knows everyone else, of course. Her answers are coming slowly than Ginger's questions did, little pauses as she makes sure each response is carefully curated. "I'll be helping her mostly." They're also not very detailed. "Oh, yes." She manages to inject what sounds like truth, letting her slight smile widen as she assures the Weyrling. "Father asked me if I'd like to go. The Weyr has always been fascinating to me." Punctuated by some more sips of water.

Ginger nods, looking slightly relieved. "Oh, yes, she'll see you right - there's any amount to do in the caverns." She sounds quite confident of that. "I grew up here, and I tried loads of jobs before I decided to apprentice. If there's anything you want to try your hand at, I expect Jerana can fix it up. Come to think of it, we've got almost any craft you care to name here, as well. It's not a bad place to be if you want to broaden your horizons a bit. How long have you been at the Hold?"

Idara has little knowledge herself of the goings-on in the Weyr's lower caverns, so she'll nod in glad acceptance of Ginger's information. "Yes, Father always did say there was ever so much to do at the Weyr." Reclaiming her cutlery. she offers nothing on what she might consider doing around the place, outside of the vague assistance to her aunt. "My Father moved there not long after it was opened. So most of my life. I imagine living here will be quite different." There's another little smile as she delivers that fairly obvious statement.

Ginger thinks about that for a moment. "Well, I guess they still do a lot of the same things in the Hold - I mean, everyone needs to eat and all that, so day to day you're going to see all the usual things going on - cooking, cleaning, laundry and so on. But life here does revolve around the dragons quite a bit, and Threadfall, and the weird schedules that gives us. And the-" She's learned her lesson about blurting out the realities of Weyr life too quickly, so regroups over a sip of klah and starts again. "And family life's probably a bit different from what you're used to, at least for riders and their kin. And I hope you've got warm-weather clothes!"

"I suppose they must," Idara agrees sedately. Her attention is still politely on Ginger, that slightest of smiles on her pale lips as she listens to the older girl. She blinks as the Weyrling mentions family life. There's a hint of some understanding about differences between Weyr and Hold in that regard, but Idara is equally polite about it. "So I'm lead to understand, yes. I've a lot to learn, but I am looking forward to it." She sounds sincere enough, but doesn't linger on that topic. "Yes - Southern Barrier is much colder. I had some clothes bought before I left, but I am rather interested to see what i could have commissioned while I'm here. The local style seems very…interesting," There's another smile for Ginger, there, as she delivers that overly polite comment.

Ginger considers that, but sounds rather puzzled as to what's interesting about it; a hint of a frown might suggest that she suspects a euphemism. "Well, it's only practical - after all, it's going to get a lot hotter than this, and it's kind of steamy too." Her lips form an 'o' as she realises the problem. "You're probably used to covering up, aren't you? The trouble is, in summer, the wrong outfit is going to look like a limp dishrag in seconds when you go outside, and wearing stuff that's hot and clingy is just misery. It's not a dry heat, like Igen is. They even designed our leathers to adapt to the temperature as we fly. But you should have a wander round the craft shops - they've got a good display of what they can do."

The flash of alarm across Idara's face is short-lived as she gets control over herself again. The advice that she may need to give up her fashion is not welcome news. "I shall have to go see what the shops have." She clings to that bit of information, rather than linger on the implications the weather here will have on her clothing. "I suppose leathers are for the dragonriders, and not for everyone else?" The idea of having to wear leather of any sort in this heat has brought a faint look of concern to her delicate features, poor thing. Or is it sympathy for Ginger's having to wear them?

Ginger grins at that flash of alarm. "It doesn't mean you can't have nice clothes, of course. Just, might not be what you first thought of. Lots of people like that sort of thing." Ginger speaks of nice clothes as if the concept is a curiosity: she may not be the best guide to Southern fashions! "And the weavers know what works and what doesn't. And you only need leathers if you're going to ride a dragon - riders have to have them, of course, and other people who rider as passengers a lot often get them, or at least a jacket. I've had one since I was a kid, because we've family at Igen to visit, and Between is cold. But I've got a full set being made for me now. Helmet and all."

There's a definite aura of relief from Idara when Ginger confirms that Idara won't need to be going about the place in a full set of leathers. "Oh, I see. We do use leather at Southern Barrier, but it's much colder there. Though not as cold as Between, as I understand it." She's not going to deny the usefulness of the material - in the right context! "A helmet, too?" Her eyes flick up to the Weyrling's short ginger curls, before sliding back down to her face. "I imagine short hair is far more practical for helmets, in this sort of heat?"

Ginger finishes a mouthful of bread and cheese before she replies. "A helmet's protection for Threadfall, though it does keep your head warm, too. So you have to be able to get all your hair into it, so, yes, short is more practical. As weyrlings, we're not allowed our hair longer than shoulder length, but people do grow it again afterwards if they want to - I never had mine any longer than this, though, and I wouldn't want to. Way too hot, and it only gets in the way while your working, unless you want to spend ages putting it up." She raises her mug again. "So, what was your job at the Hold?" She's apparently assuming that a girl of Idara's age will have had one.

Idara absorbs that with the air of someone who couldn't fathom having her hair cropped short. Her food is growing cold, as she is only picking idly at it during their conversation. "I see. All very sensible." And so totally not her thing, to judge by the faint, unimpressed look on her face. She attempts to cover it up by eating some more toast and putting back on that polite little Hold girl face. "Oh, I helped my mother with the household. I have several brothers, so there were always things to do with them. I'd sew a little, and I was taught to play the lap harp. I've brought it with me, so I can continue to practise." Is it any surprise she's describing the lifestyle of a delicate little girl sat around pursuing womanly hobbies?

"Ah. Brothers." Ginger's smile is genuine now: this is something she thinks she understands. "Keep you busy, don't they? I've got some of those - and some sisters - and I used to get to help out a lot, too, when I was younger. And Ma's a seamstress, and she made me learn to sew - which is handy to know, but so, so boring to do all the time. Anyway, Ma's got another one on the way, but my next sister inherited the helping out once I got another job. Are you the oldest, as well?" She seems to have finished her food, except for the fruit, which she starts to pull apart into segments.

Idara certainly seems to be a listener more than a talker, lapsing into silence as Ginger chats. She uses the moment to finish what remains of her toast, and begins slicing up the fruit now, still sticking with the knife and fork approach. "No," Is her initially very simple answer to Ginger's final question, but she does elaborate. "I've one older brother, and two younger." That seems to be the limit of what she's disclosing for now though, concentrating on her food for the moment.

Ginger nods. "I've got - sorry, this is complicated. Ma and Pa had-" But what they had is going to have to wait. Ginger stops, apparently listening to something, her eyes widening as she does so. "Sorry, got to dash." She stands up and gathers her fruit segments to take with her. "I'm going to be late if I don't run. Nice to meet you!" With that, she makes for the door as fast as she reasonably can.

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