Who

R'zel, Alyna

What

R'zel has an offer that takes Alyna a little off guard.

When

It is afternoon of the twenty-second day of the seventh month of the fifteenth turn of the 12th pass.

Where

Archive Library, Southern Weyr

OOC Date 21 Nov 2018 05:00

 

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"Which is why I've been thinking about some changes."


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Archive Library

Where once books reigned supreme, this open space is now dominated by a stalwart skybroom reaching to the sky through a broken ceiling. What was once evidence of collapse is now ornately carved with engraved ivy, matched by a clever contraption of stone that allows the gap to be closed in inclement weather. A small garden occupies the space around the tree-trunk, all manicured bushes and flowering shrubbery enclosed by a grated gutter. The walls are lined with bookcases, while a spiral staircase leans on the western wall to wind upwards to the second level. Tucked in the corners and scattered in the main areas are tables and chairs, cafe-style, and comfortably worn overstuffed armchairs. It is the perfect place for individuals to gather, to enjoy the offerings of the food-cart or a spirited conversation.


Lunchtime has come and gone, but those little pastries on the food cart are very tempting. R'zel has one held between the finger and thumb of his left hand. He's not actually eating, though, instead he's looking at a copy of Ocelot's wing roster. Verokanth has passed on to Haquith his rider's request for a word with hers, and now R'zel is sitting at one of the small tables. There are few people here at the moment, and the room is quiet and slightly on the gloomy side, lit only by glows as the roof is closed against the rain.

Alyna was in the nursery when Haquith informed her of R'zel's summons, feeding her son before her afternoon sweeps. Luckily she was just finishing up and so hands off a sleepy and sated Adryn to a Nanny and makes her way to the Library in short order, puzzling over what it could be about. Striding purposefully through the door, the greenrider makes a beeline for her Wingleader, a crooked smile on her lips as she salutes him and stands before the table he's sitting at, "You wanted to see me Sir?" she asks formally, trying to suss out the tone this meeting is to take.

R'zel stands and returns the salute, though the effect is spoiled a bit by the fact that his other hand is still trying not to spill flaky pastry crumbs on the table. "Thanks for coming, Alyna. Why don't you grab whatever you want from the trolley, and then have a seat." He grins, waggling the pastry just enough to show what he's referring to as he explains, "Then I can eat this without feeling greedy. In fact, I'm going to get some juice, too." The pastry starts to ooze filling, and he adds wryly, "And a plate," before heading quickly towards the food cart. He gets there in time to avert disaster, and stocks up with juice, a plate and a napkin before returning to his seat.

Alyna smirks softly at that flakey pastry that looks oh-so good. "Sure. I could use a snack, with all the recent PT I've been doing, Faranth knows I can treat myself." She chuckles as she moves over to the cart and pours herself a tall glass of mango juice as well as putting a single pastry on a plate and returning with it to R'zel's table. Settling down, she raises her glass to her lips to savour a long sip, before taking up that pastry and taking a careful bite. Chewing, she hums her approval before clearing her throat, "If this is about those reports, Keitrell said I could have them in by the morning.." she trails off…taking her best guess at the reason for being called here.

R'zel flaps a hand, dismissing the reports, but perhaps he reconsiders because he turns a speculative look on the greenrider. "Are you planning on carrying on doing them now you're back with the wing? I mean, you started because you were short of things to do, and between sweeps and drills and Fall and Haquith and the baby, I don't imagine that's still the case….?" He tilts his head to a questioning angle.

"Well, I hadn't thought about that. I figured you or Keitrell would tell me to stop when you didn't have need of my help anymore," Alyna answers frankly with shrug of her shoulder in a very 'meh' kinda way. "I'm getting used to juggling everything pretty well. Especially now that Adryn's in the nursery for most days, and some nights when needed, I feel like if it's working, why fix it? of course, if you feel it's too much for me too soon, well…I'd understand. I hope this isn't an indication that you have some problem with my performance since I've resumed my regular duties, Sir." She asks with a touch of worry creeping into her voice as blond brows furrow slightly.

R'zel shakes his head. "Not at all. Far from it, in fact. But given you weren't officially flying with us at the time, I did regard it as kind of voluntary. Of course, if you're happy to carry on… but anyway. How are you finding it, being back in the wing? Do you feel you've both settled back in all right?" He finally takes a bite of that pastry, without taking his eyes off Alyna's face.

Taking a depp breath, Alyna's gaze drops to the pastry on the plate in front of her, her face a thoughtful mask as she considers her answer to his question. Clearing her throat a little, she takes a sip of her juice to clear things in that department before she finally speaks, "After the first seven or so, it's like we never left. I have full range with my scored leg, it doesn't bother me at all. Haquith is just happy to be flying Fall again, I think she needed less time to adjust than I did." She takes a moment to ponder if she's fully answer his question to her best ability and finally nods to indicate she's done.

"Good. Well, I'm very glad you're back." R'zel leans back in his chair. "So, if I were to ask you to look at the wing objectively, and tell me what needs work, do you think you could?" He reaches for his glass, and holds it as he reflects, "It's not a trick question. And actually, we're doing a lot better than we were a few months ago. But… can you step back and look at things that way?"

Alyna seems to relax when R'zel tells her he's happy she's back, sinking back in her chair a little bit with a sigh of relief. She's just going for another bite of her pastry when he asks his next question, using the time she has to chew and swallow to think on it. "I think I could do that. I mean, nothing directly jumps to mind because I haven't really been paying that much attention. The new riders from that last batch of weyrlings all seem to have settled by now anyway. Some solid recruits there."

"Yes, we did well out of the last class - which is just as well considering how long it's going to be until the next one's ready." R'zel's frowning at that thought. "We really can't afford the level of casualties we were getting a few months ago. The Weyr as a whole, I mean. So anything we can do to sharpen our edge is probably going to be worth looking at. And that applies to our other jobs as well as Threadfall." Search and rescue, and working with the guards. "And having contingency plans, too. Which is why I've been thinking about some changes."

"Yeah, it's a shame that we only have the one queen, let's hope for a golden egg in this upcoming clutch," Alyna remarks as she wipes the crumbs of flakey pastry from her fingertips onto the plate. She nods along with R'zel's line of thought, agreeing tacitly before doing so explicitly, "I agree, it's been a rough couple of turns, and I agree, being a high level wing, we need to do anything we can to stay sharp." At talk of changes, Alyna tilts her head, hiking one brow curiously before taking another sip of juice while waitig to see if R'zel elaborates on these changes he's mentioned.

"Especially being a high-level wing," R'zel concurs. "Though nobody's immune from injury, of course." He takes a sip from his juice and sets it down again, then looks up with the air of a man who is finally getting down to business. "It's been a while since Ocelot's had more than one wingsecond, but I think that's got to end now. Keit and I would both be more effective with someone else taking a share of the work, and it'd give us more flexibility. For example, when D'wane and I were seconds to K'vvan, we carved up the secondary jobs between us - D'wane was keen on the guard side, and I preferred Search and Rescue, so we each took a bit more of the responsibility for those, and that worked out pretty well." Now he's finally got down to business, R'zel sets out his thoughts without hesitation, finishing, "Besides, if something happens to me, Keit needs someone to back her up. Do you fancy the job?"

"Of course," Alyna agrees as she pops the last of that pastry into her mouth and chews carefully while R'zel goes on to explain his reasoning some more. It all sounds so reasonable to the greenrider, that she's just happily nodding along, jaw working slowly to savor the last bit of the sweet treat. She almost completely misses the last question, taking a second for it to register, and when it does, she gasps loudly. Unfortunately she only manages to pull her last bit of pastry into her windpipe, setting her to coughing and reaching for her juice. It takes a couple minute for her to work the food down the right way and she finally manages to croak raspily, "You're asking if I would like the job as your wingsecond? Ummmm… Yeah!" She answers with enthusiasm.

While Alyna's having her coughing fit, R'zel watches with concern for a few seconds until he concludes that she doesn't seem to be actually choking. While she recovers, he murmurs, "I don't normally have that effect on people…" with the slight twitching of the eyebrows that usually indicates humour. When he finally gets an answer to his question, he slips a hand inside his jacket and removes a tangle of cord from an inner pocket. Straightening it out reveals a wingsecond's knot, ready twisted with a thread of green. "Excellent! It's just as well I got this ready, then." He lays it on the table in front of Alyna.

The knot is retrieved from in front of her as Alyna grins at R'zel with a little shake of her head. "Thanks Sir. I'm really choked up," Haha, see what she did there? "By your faith in me. I won't let you down." She winces as she gets a mental buffet from her very nosy green who has been surely listening in with vested interest. "I mean, we won't let you down," she corrects herself before downing the last of her drink. "I'll track Keitrell down ASAP so we can talk about dividing up duties and all that. Unless you needed more from me?" She might as well hit the ground running, Alyna being more of a doer than a planner naturally.

"Not right now, but it's a good idea to talk things through with Keitrill. And you're up to speed on some of the hidework already," R'zel adds with a little smirk. How very convenient that he's been slipping those little tasks in Alyna's direction! It's almost as if he'd planned it! R'zel's eyes lose focus for a couple of seconds, then he grins. "Verokanth's telling Theibeth that they can expect you. Vero's pleased. And let's all three of us get together after you've talked to Keit, and we can do some planning. We'll announce it to the wing at drill tomorrow, though I expect the dragon grapevine will have told everyone before then."

How clever of R'zel indeed, Alyna never even saw it coming and it's not usually easy to blindside the greenrider. "That all sounds great to me. I will get right on it," he replies with gusto as she pulls herself to her feel and gathers up her dirty dishes. "I'm sure Haquith's doing her part to spread the news already, she'll be insufferable for a seven at least," she snorts affectionately as she bobs her head in place of a salute since her hands are currently full. "Till later then Sir," she nods before turning on her heel and heading out.

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