Who

Elonoora, Xanthee

What

Xanthee's on a mission….to commission a Turnday cake. And who else to go to but her newly discovered half-sister Elonoora.

When

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

Where

Archive Library, Southern Weyr

OOC Date 14 Jan 2018 05:00

 

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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.


Hot, hot, hot! One of the downsides of living in a lovely tropical paradise is that it can be easy to forget that it folks consider it a tropical paradise when you're having to swim through the suffocating humidity of Southern's summer heat. Even more so when most of your duties involve being in the kitchens as well. While Elonoora might not be the most studious of apprentices, she happily seized on the opportunity to escape baking herself while cooking for dinner and so she's fled to the library archives. She's got a lot of work ahead of her still judging by the pile of cookbooks in front of her, but right now, the girl isn't actually paying attention to them unless someone has pioneered a way to read a book with your forehead pressed into the pages. No, she's not sleeping. There's a slight groan of despair that comes from her direction after a moment and then she's sitting back up and peering at the books in front of her. Which one should she inflict on herself next?

The Archives are not one of those places that Xanthee visited during her stint in Southern almost exactly one Turn ago. Now though she has returned to this Weyr because she is on a mission. To find her half-sister Elonoora for…various reasons, all which will become apparent in time. She was joined on this trip by her close friend Reveka of the Zingari, though the two girls parted ways as soon as they landed, with plans to meet later. Xan first explored the Living Cavern and Kitchens, but was redirected here, to the Archive Library and she enters quietly, looking around her, not calling out cause well, Library. Then spying her sitting with a pile of books, a smile creeps onto Xan's lips as she walks softly towards her, clearing her throat to announce her presense, "Hiya Sis, do you mind if I call you that? What are you doing in here on this beautiful summer day?" Her tone is hushed, but there is something especially bright and cheerful about the raven-haired weyrbrat as she looks down at the Elonoora.

Elonoora straightens up abruptly at the sound of the voice behind her, hands automatically hastily grabbing at the nearest book in case it was a journeyman making the rounds to check on wayward students. As soon as she turns around, the actual words of the greeting catch up to her brain, as well as seeing her oh so recently met half-sister and she slumps back down again. Book that was so quickly grabbed is just as quickly closed again and tossed back on the top of the pile. "Have you actually been outside recently? I don't know why we have the ovens going. We could just stick some pots in the middle of the bowl and wait." That is probably an exaggeration, although if they went so far as the hatching caverns, probably not much of one. But as for what she's actually doing, she waves at the books on the table. "I'm studying. What about you? A long way from that Tea Room of your's."

Wearing a short tunic dress, drawn in at her waist with a cord, Xanthee doesn't seem to mind the heat. Her hair is starting to frizz slightly, but that always happens coming from the super dry desert to the ultra humide Southern. She also has a pack over one shoulder, a riding jacket fastened to the outside of it. "I told you I have friends in Southern. But I do have to confess that the timing of the trip was my doing because I wanted to come see you." She beams a bright smile at Elonoora, her eyes flashing with something, maybe mischief, as she looks down at the baker. "Firstly, that cake you brought me…" Xan closes her eyes in remembered bliss, "A—MAZING! I don't think I've ever tasted something so yummy. Mal and I devoured it! So thank you again for that." She says, her eyes now dancing with a private joke. "Oh and I talked to…Pa?" Xan makes a face as that is the first time she called him that out loud, but it is what he said she could call him, so she's taking it for a test drive, still not convinced.

Elonoora doesn't have the excuse of the sudden climate change from a between trip to justify her frazzled state, but she has been going at those books for an hour or two now. Maybe the studying explains why so many hairs have managed to escape her bun. "Yeah, you did. Happens when you go through candidacy somewhere…" Did Xan mention that in their brief talk or is it kitchen gossip slipping through? Elonoora is just going to proceed regardless, nodding as Xan goes on about the cake, which gets a bit of a smile. "Well, I'm glad you liked it." It's the mention of their father that gets her attention. "Oh? And what did he say?" And more importantly. "And how's Kai?"

"I made my apologies to Kai and all is well. He's such a dear." Xanthee gushes of their father's dragon, her eyes brightening and she looks exasperated, Oh for Faranth sake! Everytime I think of Kai now, it immediately dredges up memories of mom's brown Iyrith and then this happens." The 'this' in quesion being the tears welling up. Quickly she grabs a hanky out a side pocket on her pack, and dabs away at the moisture. "There! Anyway, yeah, that was fine. I did make it clear to him, Ha'ze, that if he couldn't get on board with me going out for Search again then maybe we shouldn't really go further than just knowing the other is there. But after like a million questions on why I want to be a rider, he actually seemed to accept it, so that's good." Wow, Xan is a chatterbox when she gets going. At this point she stops and then looks at her half-sis with a questioning look, "But….I actually have an ulterior motive for coming to see you today."

At the sight of the tears welling up, Elonoora is going to shift awkwardly. She doesn't have a cake to possibly hide behind at the moment and how can she comfort someone without shoving food at them? But Xanthee manages to pull it together quickly and a small sigh of relief comes from the older girl. "Yeah, Kaisylaith really is one of Pa's more redeeming qualities." Because they all know Ha'ze has his flaws. El just laughs at the thought of that search conversation. She knows well enough to picture how it might have gone. "It's not like he really has any standing to say anything about it any way. You've got on so far without him. A lot of times it might just be easier not to tell him things." Because it's a lot easier to have pleasant lunch catchups with family when you just smile and nod and only share the highlights of things, right? Keep all the possible controversial details for MAJOR family get togethers so everybody can enjoy the drama! Elonoora tilts her head at the mention of other methods. "Oooh?" She's waiting. Do tell!

Xanthee will most definitely have to pick Elonoora's brain on all the do's and don'ts of how to deal with family, never really having had one, Xan is vastly uneducated in that regard. "I know, but I really do wanna get to know him, I'm a sucker for punishment I suppose, and that's a big part of me, so if he couldn't accept that, maybe I would have rethought wanting to get to know him." She gives and non-commital shrug, who know? But then she gets to the crux of the matter. "So you see, my Turnday is in about a seven on the 25th. And I'm planning on having a little party to celebrate cause my last one was spent here when I..wait a second… I didn't tell you I was a Candidate here." Emerald eyes are narrowed at the baker.

Seeing as not even the most misogynistic father objects to daughters going into the womanly world of baking, Elonoora hasn't really had to hide her major career goals from anybody. She might not be the best person to talk to about that, but she can go over the ins and outs of intricate "Who to tell What" details for smaller things like boys. She just shrugs. "Really, he might object to something, but Kaisylaith will usually make sure he doesn't get too far out of line because he wants to be able to keep up with you." Usually being keyword. Then back to topic at hand and Elonoora aaahs. She can see where this conversation is going and then, there's another u-turn. "No, I'm pretty sure you did. How else would I know it?" Never mind she might be turning just a little bit pink. That's surely just the heat.

"I most certainly did not." Xanthee replies a little indignantly. "I don't often bring up my Candidacy here in casual converstion, it's too much of a sore spot for me. You've heard talk about my time here, haven't you?" She says with a sigh as she slumps into the chair across from Elonoora. "How much have you heard?" She asks, a pained expression on her face as she leans forward on the table, "C'mon you might as well be out with it, I'll fill in any holes you have." She looks resigned now just to get this over with.

Elonoora's mouth makes a little bit of an o shape as it seems she hit on a sore subject and she'll just squirm a bit in her seat as Xanthee slumps. She gives a little bit of a sigh herself as it's confession time. "You do realize I work in the kitchens, right? Where all gossip seems to wind up? I've probably heard it all." And probably than some considering how some stories just seem to grow and grow. "But what is it that you came to talk about? Turnday cake?"

Xanthee groans as she sinks back into the chair, slumping down. "A full Turn since all this happened, and it's still being talked about, fucking wonderful." Well that seems to have woke up sweary Xan. "Yeah, I guess it was pretty naive to think you might not hear that particular bit of gossip. At least if you've heard it all, there's nothing much else to say. But, maybe not let it spill to Pa please? I have no intentions of letting him in on that sad chapter of my life." She sighs softly. But then the conversation goes back Turnday and cake, "Well, yes a commission for a cake was on my mind, I have the marks to pay you of course, but more importantly, I wanted to invite you to come." She looks at the older girl now to try and gauge her reaction to that.

"If it helps, they're more talking about him than they're talking about you?" Elonoora offers a bit tentatively considering she's not exactly sure what would help in this situation. "And I don't exactly keep in frequent contact with Pa. We more just drift in and out as needed." So no worries about her telling Ha'ze that little tidbit. As for Jaze though, well… their sister's probably got all the details already. But there's also business to discuss and that's easier. Elonoora shuffles through the books she's got on the table in front of her until she comes up with a little notebook and a charcoal pencil that she can tap on the table. "A cake, huh? Any particular things you had in mind? And when were you planning on having this? I'd have to get permission from my journeyman to leave the weyr…"

Xanthee nods and provides Elonoora with the date of the party, explaining it can't coincide with her actual Turnday because of scheduling issues. "But as for the cake, I loved the one you made for me, but maybe mixed berries instead of the strawberries. And enough for maybe a dozen people. Like I said, it's going to be a small party, but I'm holding it at the Zingari camp, I have several friends that belong to the Caravan. One of them actually came with me today, Reveka. We're going to be visiting our friend Amani later." She says with a smile.

It's time for Elonoora to put her thinking face on and she does exactly that, letting out a hmmm as she thinks. "It won't be too hard to make a cake for twelve people or so… just a regular layer cake, eight inches… maybe vanilla sponge with layers of mascarpone and jam. And then of course lots of frosting and berries on top!" She's got an idea. Her eyebrow raises just a little bit as Xanthee starts name dropping. The whole Zingari doesn't really mean anything down in Southern since the caravans don't travel across the ocean, but the weyrwoman's name is recognizes. "Is that so?" What she'll do with that information, who knows?

Xanthee nodding along to Elonoora's description of the cake, she can already feel her mouth start to water. "Yes! That all sounds perfect. How much is something like that going to run me anyway?" She asks, getting it out of the way first because while the tips have been quite good since the colder weather set in, she is still on a budget. When Elonoora questions her about her plans, she looks puzzled and then giggles, "Whoops, Weyrwoman Amani. We were the only two in our Candidate class from Igen, so we got pretty close, and she's also from the Zingari clan of Traders." she clarifies, suddenly realizing that she isn't in Igen anymore where everyone knows the Zingari.

Elonoora jots down a few more notes about the cake since Xanthee agreed to the general idea. It'll probably grow as she's got some more time to plot but hopefully the flavors remain what was agreed upon. As for price well, that is much shorter thing. "Normally, it'd be a full mark for a custom cake commision, but since you're my sister, I think we can manage with a three-quaters mark?" And also the fact that El is an apprentice, so cheaper prices than a full baker. But she's still got to pay for supplies and stuff. There's a little bit of an eyeroll as Xanthee decides to clarify that yes, the Amani she's talking about is the one everybody knows at least the name of. "I didn't really think we had more than one Amani running around down here."

"More than reasonable, and thanks for the family discount" Xanthee says with a giggle, her hand going to her belt pouch and fishing out the appropriate marks and holding them out to her. "I might as well pay you now, then I know it's taken care of and don't have to keep it in mind when I'm purchasing other things for the party." She says with a smile and chuckles at her last, "No, that was more for me. I'm not used to tacking on the title with her, though I should." She cocks her head to the side then. "So how are things with you then? Southern treating you well?"

"You're welcome," Elonoora says with a smile and she looked like she was going to object to the pre-payment for half a second but then Xanthee's following up with pretty sound reasoning. "I was going to say normally half up front and half on delivery…" But if she's insisting, Elonoora will take the marks and tuck them into her apron for safe keeping. As for the titles, she laughs a little. "Yeah… she probably isn't used to hearing it either. I imagine the first couple months after I get my knot, I'll be turning around looking to see who all the apprentices are now addressing as 'journeyman', but that's still like a turn off." Which seems like forever. As for Southern, she shrugs. "Well, we haven't been able to get fish recently, and there's been an absolute plague of bugs. That the head cook actually insists we COOK with!" She shudders. The horror of the bugs.

Xanthee shakes her head and giggles a little bit, "Yeah, I always knew Amani would impress, but I'm sure it came as a shock to her. I haven't seen her for months. So overdue for a proper girl's night." Another giggle is offered to her comment about being called journeyman in the future that quickly turns into a gasp and a shudder that matches her sister's, "Say what? Eating bugs? No! You've got to be kidding me. I hope it's clearly labelled which foods contain bugs down in the Living Caverns. I can't even imagine!"

"It's even worst, Xanthee," Elonoora is still totally serious. "They had me out catching the sharding things!" Her hand is to her chest as she recounts her most traumatic event of the last seven or so. "They ground them up into a sort of flour… it's in most things…" So if she was planning a girl's night in Southern, food might be spotty. Good thing one of the 'girls' is a rider. The world can be their oyster.

With a look of shock and horror, Xanthee clasps her hands over her mouth, which has fallen open at the thought of having to do what El did. "No! No they didn't! That's awful! Anyone trying to convince me to go out into swarms of bugs would have an easier time of teaching a runnerbeast to between. Not happening." She shudders now and rubs at her arms, as if she feels her skin crawling. And when the comment about it being in everything, Xanthee sighs. "Well I guess we're going to hav to have a liquid supper then." And at that she lifts her pack and a little tinkling can be heard from inside as Xan's emerald eyes dance mirthfully.

"I don't think even liquids will save…" Elonoora says a bit ominously as she gingerly lifts the corner of one of those tomes on the desk. "I think I read in here somewhere that they could even be used as a thickening agent…." So unless liquid dinner was just referring to booze and not soups. Alcohol is probably safe considering the weyr hasn't been burned down recently. Tampering with the booze supply would probably be the quickest way to manage that. "Well good luck. And maybe you can convince your weyrwoman friend to take you somewhere that has steaks for a change. Here Boll is nice this time of year. Winter's the one time they don't have a Vtol problem."

Giggling a little bit, Xanthee smiles, "I meant alcohol, whiskey actually. I brought my own." She says with a wink. "Maybe, but I really don't like putting people out just cause they are riders, and just assume they will take you wherever you want. It's not why I'm her friend." She gives a little shake of her head and then cocks it to one side, "So what do you do for fun around here anyway? You can't spend all your time baking or studying." Or maybe she can, Xanthee really doesn't know the girl.

Elonoora huhs at the mention of whiskey and of course her first thought is, "You could probably make a caramel sauce out of the whiskey…" And put it on a cake. Or bugs. Are bugs more appetizing if they're covered in sugar? And there's a shrug for the mention of putting people out. "It's not really a chore if she also wanted to go somewhere. Get away from all the hassles of running a Weyr for at least a couple of hours or so. And steak." But she'll let the subject drop cause certainly Xanthee knows her friend better than the girl who has never even met the goldrider. As for her own hobbies, Elonoora grins. "Oh, the library has some other books that I like to read." The ones with titles like Good with Wood and other such wonders. "And there are a group of girls in the dorms that I tend to hang out with. Sometimes make a trip up to Telgar when I can, but that's not too frequent lately."

"Caramel sauce out of whiskey? Any way we could add that to the cake? Cause it sounds amazing!" Xanthee really like that word apparently, she sure uses it a lot. When the books are mentioned, Xanthee gets a sly look on her face, "Oh…those kinds of other books. Gotcha." She says with a wink and a giggle. Yeah Xanthee knows all about those other kinds of books. "Anyway, I shouldn't be such a bad influence and let you get back to your studies. I might pop in to say hi on my way out tomorrow. I really need to go and find my friends now anyway. I'm glad we got a chance chat." She says with a final wave before heading out in search of Reveka.

Elonoora wrinkles her nose up a bit at the thought of adding the whiskey to the fruity cake. "Noooooo… not that cake. It would go better with a klah-based cake I think. The berry cake was going to be light and airy and fruity…" And not at all what she was picturing with the whiskey caramel cake. She might be adventurous with food pairings, but not that adventurous. She winks back as Xanthee picks up on just what type of books she was talking about. And she gives a sigh at the thought of returning back to work. If she was standing, there might even have been an 'i don't wanna' foot stomp, but as it is, she slumps in resignation towards the table and work ahead. "Yeah, yeah. And maybe if I manage to get this project completed before too long, I might get some free time tomorrow. I'll be working breakfast tomorrow." So maybe she can be spotted in the living caverns before they leave. "Tell Kai and Pa hey for me when you get back." In that order, preferably.

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