DRAMATIC WEATHER! Rain pouring! Wind and cold! What a time for an attempt at reconciliation. A'ndi is actually all bundled up in a hooded jacket; rain is not the same as snow. And he is protecting something wrapped up in his arms as he stands at the shipweyr's entrance this evening. Taliveth is standing in the rain with his head tilted back, mouth open, like a turkey. His rider tries knocking, but the brown jumps in to be helpful, « CAELISTH! RAIN TASTES LIKE WATER! Also A'ndi is here, can he come inside? »

For reasons known only to the mysterious inner workings of her wingleader, Vani is for once at home in the afternoon, rugged up in a knitted jumper, socks and thick pants. She looks freshly washed and cozy, curled up in a chair with a book, the ONLY way to spend a wet dreary winter's afternoon. There may even be a fresh mug of klah at the table by herself. There is a momentary narrowing of her eyes, but she is quick enough to leave her little nest and get to the door. "A'ndi." Comes her rather neutral greeting, at the doorway. His next words will determine if she invites him inside. « Really? » There is amused amazement twinkling in the green's stars, that and more than a little radioactive satisfaction. SOMEONE just got laid yo! « What else could it taste like? » She's played messenger, now she's peering out from under the shelter of the shipweyr ledge to see if she can spot her rusted brown brother. Her greeting and invitation are a lot more welcoming than her riders.

"Hey," he replies back, similarly neutral, but sort of… tentative as well? A'ndi glances aside awkwardly. Then back to Vani. And then away again. "… I made you something. Can I come in?" Normally it'd be more like 'YOU GONNA LET ME IN OR WHAT, JEEBUS' but he's on his best behavior right now. Somehow Taliveth looks sort of right at home in this weather. A rusty relic being pummeled by the elements for ages. « It could taste liiiiiike… TOAST. I think. HI CAELISTH, I CAN SEE YOU! »

"You made me something?" This is something Vani has to see. So like any gracious hostess, she opens the door wide and stands to the side, doing her best Vanna White 'behold the warmth of the place you used to live at' gesture. It's not a verbal come-on-in, but the intent is clear. "I just made some klah. It should still be good." She made him something too! Well she made it for herself, but she's SHARING! « I can see you too. Are you going to stand out in the rain forever? Or are you going to come join me? » Considering Caelisth just extracted herself from a dragon-cuddle pile, her invitation is surprising. « I mean if the rain doesn't taste like toast why even bother? » This is probably the most words ever from the serene star-green, she's missed Taliveth - and it shows.

"Yes," A'ndi replies, a little indignant. "I can make things." He comes inside, careful to wipe his gross shoes off first. "Klah would be nice. Yeah. Thanks." His speech is a little tense. Not in an angry way, but in a 'how do conversation?' way. He takes a moment to shrug out of that wet jacket and hang it up (I'm just assuming there's a coat hanger somewhere), and his delivery is set upon the coffee table. With considerable hesitation, the now slightly damp checkered cloth atop it is removed, revealing… a cake! There's white icing, and what appears to be cake crumb all around the sides, and there's a ring of snowdrop flowers around the circular edge. But it's all kind of smush-smudged from being carried so tightly. A'ndo frowns at it, looking to Vani then in TERRIBLE ANTICIPATION. Meanwhile, Taliveth GAAAAAAAAAAAAAASPS through space and time and goes launching himself to the green's ledge, practically falling all over his soaked self to get in and near her. « I am SOOOOO happy to see you! I've missed you more than ANYTHING! More than dolphins, more than herdbeasts, even more than COOKIES! »

Cake and Klah! Perfect! Of course you don't live with someone for months without learning their klah preferences (unless you're an anti-social weirdo), so in a few moments Vani has a mug of the stimulant ready for A'ndi, and a couple of small plates and forks and a knife and stuff. If they're going to play grown-ups, they better have ALL the props. Once they're arranged to look like Vani knows what she is doing she resumes her seat, although she's not curling up yet. There is an expectant neutrality in Vani's expression, they may be playing grown-ups, but it is all baby steps. "You said you have a kitten now?" She breaks the silence with the revelation she was paying attention to the words that he said during the heat of the moment. « More than cookies? » Caeliths plays along, letting her stars dance in her brothers space even as she nudges and arranges his warship bulk so that she can settle comfortably. « I missed you too. » She admits before sharing a secret. « Vani has not coped well. She pretends, she drinks. Far too much. But her heart is sore »

A'ndi was (is) definitely an anti-social weirdo, but Vani's persistance would have earned her such information about his klah preferences. Even so, he looks a little surprised by it when he takes a sip after seating himself across from the greenrider. "Oh. Yeah." A'ndi nods, keeping the mug in his hands, warming them. "D'ex brought it over. I think it's something Zynth came up with, because he wanted visitation rights." This he does not seem surprised by. Everyone knows Zynth has Plans. "Taliveth named him Fish. He looks a lot like Fluff-face." He has his own nicknames for Vani's cat. Once properly settled into place, Tali extends one of his dark wings over his sister as he leans in for a nuzzle. A purring rumble rises from the depths of his ruinous self. « Much more than cookies, » he replies with a swift spin of his junk cluster. « We've been so- » A flash of fog-filled darkness, grey and dim, empty, moving slow as molasses. « -without you two. We hate it. »

"Flufferkins." Look it's a perfectly good, perfectly reasonable name, okay? ESPECIALLY when compared to 'Fish'. Eventually though Vani will give into the impatience and the urge to speak her mind. "What brings you here A'ndi?" The look she shoots him isn't going to leave him much wriggle room, but there is no yelling or threats of permanent disfigurement! So it's already an improvement on their previous conversation. It is at this point, she finds sitting still too hard, so she's up again to attempt to serve the cake he has bought. « Vani needed me. » Caelisth attempts to explain. « As much as I love you brother, she is my soul. » Just like A'ndi is his. « But… perhaps. » The green angles her head hopefully towards the interior of the shipweyr. « I missed you too. » There is no visual stark enough to match those words, so they are said and her head returns to cuddle up against his bulk.

A'ndi watches silently as the cake is cut, despite the question having been asked. They both know why they're here with their cake and their klah. Speaking of the cake, it's a berry compote-filled thing, with two uneven layers of fluffy cake sandwiching the filling between. It's no masterpiece, but it smells good. "Look, I-" He starts, running a hand back through hair that did not entirely escape the rain. "I'm not good at this. At all. But… we both said some messed up shit to each other. So I thought maybe we should, you know." A shrug, but a much more subdued one than usual. "Talk about it. Or something." Taliveth's googly eyes slowly ease closed, his breathing slowing, a sense of calm settling about him, just as it did when they were little weyrlings all snuggled together. « I hope we're never apart again. »

« Ohanaveth wouldn't like sharing. » Because the pair of them curled up together doesn't leave much space left over. « This was his home first. » There is a little wistful regret-fullness in the slow planet song. The slowing of her brothers mind something she is used to, and even expects as they cuddle together. « But for now, we can sleep…and they can talk… » She suggests gently. Meanwhile inside the shipweyr, Vani continues to play hostess, passing along a wedge of the wonky but delicious cake to the brownrider. "I was hurt." She admits, not much better at discussing feelings than A'ndi is himself. "Trust me A'ndi. None of this was my idea." There is a hint of a path to moving past this, but she's back to watching A'ndi expectantly.

Tali is way ahead of you, Caelisth. The familiar sound of his sleep can be heard; the sound of space turning, the rocks drifting, crashing, floating away from each other. Satellites taking a momentary break from their lonely journeys. Back inside, A'ndi accepts the plate of cake, resting it in his lap and poking it with the fork. He lets her talk, watching her, trying to make an actual effort to really listen. "A'hali is a nice guy, but… he does come up with some weird ideas sometimes." aka IT'S ALL HAL'S FAULT, CAN WE AGREE ON THIS?

Vani leaves her cake on the table to rub her temples for a moment. "I can understand why? But WHY?" she asks in answer to A'ndi's observation on A'hali's ideas and then sighs. "Finding out the way I did didn't help either." She points out gently, almost as if she's asking if he'd like cream with his cake. It's way easier to pretend this way okay? "I don't really expect much from the pirate…but you." She closes her lips and frowns again, THE STRUGGLE IS REAL. "That hurt."

A'ndi gets a bite on his fork, but it never actually makes it to his mouth. It's just gonna sit there. The cake is really just here as a helpful prop, a crutch of sorts. He looks down at it but his eyes glaze over a moment. Not to talk to Taliveth, but rather to tap into his calm state of warm, sleepy space. The same thing that used to keep him awake at night. How times of changed! Looking back up at Vani, the brownrider steels himself and then charges forward. Just gotta rip off the bandaid. "I guess at this point I can say you and A'hali are my friends." And yet it's so hard for that sentence to come out of his mouth. But he's trying. "It's… difficult. To be stuck in the middle. To try not to hurt either of you, but end up doing it anyway." There's a lot of things to say, much more depth and detail, explaining, reasoning. But being who he is, he'd rather cut to the important part here. "I'm sorry."

Vani has long since abandoned the cake-prop. "Stand up you goof." She mutters at the struggling brown rider, not at all proficient at these kinds of words either, unless it is with A'hali. Even then he is unaware of some of the threads of hurt that she is still trying to deal with. "That's why it hurts you know?" She points out. "If you don't care about a person, the shit they do doesn't matter." And that may betray more than a little of the 'why's' of Vani's behaviour (It certainly has some interesting implications regarding that pirate she said she doesn't care about).

"Yeah. That's why it's easier not to care about people." A'ndi's Life Philosophy! "But you two have been so damn persistent." So there was just nothing to be done, no way he could defend himself from Vani and Hal's relentless attacks of friendship. There's hesitation, but the brownrider pushes up out of his seat and just… stands… awkwardly. But it might be better than sitting awkwardly? "Um. Speaking of, you know. Stuff that hurts." A'ndi looks away, fidgeting, fiddling with his pockets, that sort of stuff. "I guess it… hurt. When you said he Impressed me because he felt sorry for me." The words are mumbled out. This is a lot more feelings-talk than he was prepared for.

Speaking of unrelenting attacks of friendship and affection, Vani unleashes the 'hug'. Can A'ndi defend against that? Even as she presses herself against him platonically the shivering of her body only noticeable now she takes a moment to murmur in his ear. "I'm sorry for that." She sounds sincere. "I…" There is a moment of struggle, he may even find that there is now some wet on his shoulder. "I learned early on, people are less likely to hurt you if you hurt them first." It was entirely defensive. But the 'hug' will continue as long as he lets it.

THERE IS NO DEFENSE. A'ndi freezes up in the embrace, not pushing away but not reciprocating either. At least at first. Between the shivering and the bit of moisture that is definitely not rain now soaking his shoulder, and the fact he also hasn't spontanteously combusted or anything like that, the tension gradually begins to drift out of him. His arms start to raise. And wrap around Vani. A'ndi looks a tad alarmed by his body's movements but. There it is. A real live hug. "It's easier to just not be involved with people at all…" A light shrug, so as not to disturb this moment. "But I guess we are involved. I'll… try to do better from now on. Okay?"

Vani takes a moment, it took a long long time for the hug to be reciprocated from her perspective. "Easier. Yeah." After all she spent turns alone before coming to Southern Weyr. "But I don't know if it is better." She confides, lingering in the hug a moment or two longer before pulling away. Enough affection for today! Or at least, enough affection until A'hali gets home. Clearing her throat she speaks again. "They're asleep. You can stay if you like?" She doesn't need to explain who are asleep does she?

As they move apart, A'ndi lets a hand rest on Vani's shoulder for a moment longer. It's the type of touch he's more used to, even though it's also used sparingly. And that may just be the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Yeah. We should work on that cake. We can save a piece for A'hali or, you know. Not." That's a bonus to friendship— having someone to be a terrible glutton with.

Well duh! Of course A'hali's gonna get a piece saved. Perhaps even half, he does have a large appetite after all. "You may have to work shit out with him you know." Vani very gently introduces that idea. "He'll forgive you, but he may have been a bit hurt too." But that is stuff that can be saved for later! Cos right now there is messy berry cake, and warm klah and the MAGIC OF FRIENDSHIP inside and cold dreary rain outside. The conversation will flow to things kitty related while they await the arrival of the actual owner of the shipweyr.