Who

Beris, Xanthee

What

A chance meeting

When

It is midmorning of the nineteenth day of the eighth month of the twelfth turn of the 12th pass.

Where

Cold Storage, Igen Weyr

OOC Date 05 Dec 2017 05:00

 

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Cold Storage

Halite forms a thick, hoary frost on the walls, forever preserving the contents held within and offering up a somewhat bitter aftertaste to the still, chilly air. Frozen solid, carcasses are stacked like grotesque statuary against the far reaches of the walls, row upon row of foot-tagged herdbeast and fowl gleaming amid solid blocks of ice. The wintry chill of the place does little to dissipate the stench of blood that hangs,ominous, in the air; dry, coppery, permanent. The floors are covered in hides to contain any melt-off, while raised walkways between the aisles of food prevent contamination by human foot traffic and make it more difficult for the occasional pest to get at the Weyr's precious foodstuffs.


Only Igen can see the temperature hit 100 degrees by 9am. Fortunately, there are some cooler places around the Weyr. One such place is the aptly named cold storage below the Weyr's kitchens, and while Beris does have actual work to do here today, she's taking her sweet time about it. Despite the chill of the room, she's removed the large, light scarf that covers head and upper body while out in the desert's baking heat, and works bare-armed, collecting something out of a barrel and into a smaller container of her own. Her long hair is plaited, out of the way, and she's dressed for her work at the Pit in a white cotton shirt and sensible brown skirt, slightly grubby from spilled drinks and the like.

A light humming can be heard getting closer, and soon it's source is revealed as Xanthee comes into the cold storage, towing a small cart behind her, it's basically just a wooden platform with four wheels attached and a rope handle. She is dressed in as little as is decent, a sleeveless short dress, her thick black hair pulled back in a runner tale to keep the weight of it off her neck, some tendrils of hair are plastered to her forehead with residual sweat. Upon seeing Beris, she offers the other girl a wide smile and the obligatory, "Scorcher today isn't it?"

Beris's eyes glance sideways, towards the door, as someone approaches. Her initial response is wariness, as it so often is when she's interrupted. When the person becomes obvious as Xanthee though, a familiar face and someone Beris considers friendly, she relaxes and carries on slowly shovelling the jellied things into her container. "Well and truly summer, huh? Makes me glad I don't work out in the sun all day."

Xanthee moves her cart over closer to the the blocks of ice, before taking a moment to just relish in the coldness, wiping at her forehead with the back of her hand. "Yeah, me too. I figured we're going to need extra ice at the Tea Room today so I volunteered to pick some up." She says by way of explanation before she peeks at what Beris is doing, "What are those?" She asks curiously.

Beris works without watching her hands, so that she can see what it is that Xanthee's going for in the stores. Curiosity more than anything - or nosiness, if you want to call it that. These aren't her stores to guard, anyway. "Good idea. Iced teas are selling like crazy, I bet?" She lifts the scoop she's using to display something wobbly and faintly blue. "Jellied eels. They're popular at the Pit at the moment, so I get to cart a load over there." She wriggles the scoop at Xanthee, grinning.

Xanthee playfully jumps back at the scoop being wiggled in her direction. "Ew. How can people eat that? Must take a lot of alcohol to cover the taste." She giggles as she goes searching for the ice tongs used to move the big blocks of ice. "I don't know which I would prefer, sandstorms, or being burnt to a crisp, bring on fall and winter I say."

Beris grins, a little too evilly. "Our alcohols are very popular," she notes airily, as she slides the scoop of wobbly blobs into her container. "These are an acquired taste, apparently." She's not wrinkling her nose at them, but she certainly isn't about to snack on one of them as she works. "Hmm. Sandstorms you can sort of shield yourself at least, but it's the heat that's the worst. Fall's nice, though I find winter a bit too cold for my liking."

"Winter is great because you can snuggle up with someone without sticking together." Xanthee says with a thoughtful smile as she spies the tongs among the blocks of ice. "There they are." She looks around at the available blocks and picks one of the bigger ones before she moves the cart over next to it to facilitate transfer.

Beris is giving Xanthee a very curious, if a bit sly, look now. "Oh? Why, have you got someone to snuggle up with?" She's not above prodding for more information, especially given Xanthee's smile. With her container full, Beris puts a lid on it and rubs her hands on her skirt. "Want me to help you with that ice?"

Shooting a sly glance at Beris, she grins again. "There might be someone I've been seeing. His name's Malosim and he's a Miner." She says with the wistfullness of someone who is certainly smitten. As she grabs the tongs and places them over the block, she manages to slide it over onto the cart with little problem. "I got it. All my working out lately has been coming in handy." Then she turns an eyes back to Beris, "How about you, are you still seeing that rider?" Xanthee has a good memory, only having seen the two together once at an open mic night.

"Oh? A miner…must have a good body, then." Prod prod, tease tase. Beris looks quite pleased with herself for doing it. She shrugs when Xanthee declines her offer of help, and instead reclines against a barrel to watch the other girl work. It also means she can enjoy the cold of the room a little longer, too. She doesn't seem too surprised that Xanthee knows about her and R'ku, and it's a fond smile that graces her lips now. "I am. I'm moving in with him, actually."

"His body is amazing! Just hard and chiseled in all the right places." Geeze TMI much. "I caught him swimming the other day and wow! Not only that, but he's sweet, and very respectful." Xanthee beams brightly as she talks about her beau and then sighs happily. When Beris makes her revelation, she squees just a little bit. "Beris! That's so exciting. Getting serious." As she places the ice block more centrally on the cart, she finds a smaller block to add, just in case and all that.

Beris's grin broadens, and her eyes are dancing with laughter even if she manages not to chuckle. "Respectful. Good." She sounds pleased that Xanthee's current squeeze sounds better for her than previous ones. As for her own news, she waves her hand as if it's no big deal. Trying to play it down in her own head as much as out loud, perhaps, so it doesn't sound quite so scary. "Yeah, I guess. Makes more sense than me living at Kurkar and him all the way here. And he's hurt his hand too, so it seems like the right time."

"Aww, you're going to nurse him back to health? That's so romantic." Xanthee says with sigh. "So are you guys going to be weyrmates then?" She asks with curiosity as she slides the smaller block onto the bigger one. She looks at her handiwork and nods as if satisfied that that should be enough for Tea Room for her shift at least.

Funny how when the tables turn, Beris starts to look a bit flushed when it comes to talking about own love life. "I mean, he'd probably be fine on his own, but if I can make things easier." She starts fussing with the box of eels, making sure it's all sealed up nice and tight before she removes it from the cold and out into the Igen heat. "I…guess so, yeah. We sort of were already, but living together would make it official, I suppose." Fuss fuss - just how closed can this box be?

"Awww, I am so happy for you. May the two of you have many happy Turns together." Xanthee says as she finishes arranging the ice to her satisfaction. "You know, we should do a double date or something sometime. It would be fun to spend some time with another couple." She pauses for a moment realizing what she just said, and her dopey smile returns to her before looking back to Beris. "Anyway, I better get back to the Tea Room with this ice. A Waitress' job is never done." She says with a knowing glance at Beris.

Beris's cheeks are most definitely pink in the cheeks, and she's not making eye contact right now! "That sounds - nice. Maybe we could go somewhere outside of the Weyr…." She glances over just in time to catch Xanthee's dopey smile, though her own happy smile is aimed down at her box of eels. "Isn't it just? I should probably get these to the Pit, too." Sighing, she turns and makes a gesture for Xanthee to leave first - she has got the heavier items, after all!

"Ohh, that sounds like fun." Xanthee says as she pulls her cart behind her by the rope, going gently to make sure nothing comes sliding off. "I'll talk to Mal and see what he has to say. We're going to do some stargazing for our second date." She says with another smile as she head on back out into the heat, keeping up the conversation until they make it to the Bazaar.

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