Who

Alyna, D'kan,Neryk

What

As a dust storm starts up outside, everyone needs a drink.

When

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

Where

Dustbowl Canteena, Igen Weyr

OOC Date 10 Nov 2017 07:00

 

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Dustbowl Canteena

To enter the Dustbowl Cantina is to descend: the heart of the ancient tavern lies half underground, at the foot of ancient steps, insulated from summer heat and winter cold by the volcanic rock surrounding it. A windowless place well-lit by glows, it is homey, even cozy, with a certain bijou charm - but for the deep gouges worn in wooden table and solid stone, some clearly lingering evidence of boisterous brawling. The wall behind the well-polished bar, though, remains free from scars or graffiti, as does the door into the small kitchen, and the stairwell up into the owner's quarters: the barkeep and his staff reign, and they guard their territory well. After all, only a fool angers the source of the booze.

It is the fourth day of Summer and 103 degrees. Mercilessly bright, Rukbat's light heats the desert as a small dark cloud appears on the horizon.


The blinding heat and the dark clouds on the horizons, sure signs that a duststorm is a real posibility, have driven Alyna into shelter. Shelter with booze. It's well enough into the afternoon to not be labeled a lush, so she sits at the bar with a glass of some dark red liquid in a whiskey glass. She is swishing it around under her nose and smiles at the unexpected aroma. "Is that Redfruit?" she asks the bartender, who is polishing a glass and they nod and smile before moving onto the next customer. "Hmm, interesting." a greenrider speaking to herself isn't too weird right? She takes a swig and looks suprised, "Ohh, that is good." she exclaims to no one in particular.

Liquor is a wonderful way to escape the world when the world decides to give you lots of sand rather than lemons. Perhaps most of Igen would prefer Lemons than Sand, given the lack of one and the abundance of the other. Neryk's scarf is pulled down as the door is pushed shut behind him. Despite the protective cloth, his upper face is lightly powdered with brown from the storm that has not yet actually started. Of all the places to be stuck when it actually gets here, the Cantina is a great one. The young man approaches the bar and pulls out a few coins before plopping down, "Whiskey please! Double?" The rest of the bar will be given a quick look over as Neryk's sky blue lizard and gold drop onto the polished wood of the bar. Instantly a finger is pointed at the both of them, "No touching things, right?" Neryk's tone is stern, but without any real bite. It was mostly for show. If some of the bar damaged tonight from his little fair, he was trying, right?

D'kan comes in looking both dusty and sweaty, which is always pleasant. So pleasant, that he's just going to leave his riding leathers in the first available cubby or corner he can find, and when he arrives at the bar, the first thing he asks for is a wet towel. The second is whatever's coldest. This happens to be one of the bartender's concoctions, served over haphazard ice. The rider thanks the bartender for the drink, takes a small sniff, then starts to drink it with very little fore- or after-thought. It's only toward the end that he has to stop to stifle a quick cough, though it's turned into an equally quick thanks. Only then does he look around, noting faces both familiar and un. He nods to those nearest, then turns back to the bartender to request something else this time, then finally takes a seat.

Alyna looks up as first Neryk and then D'kan enters the bar, sizing them each up as she sips at her drink. Raising a glass in their direction, she smiles, showing off her dimples, "To weathering the storm." and downs it in one. "Ohh, that's really smooth. Can I have another?" she asks of the bartender who nods in her direction. At this point a little golden head peeks up from the crook of her arm, cheeping sleepily which quickly turns into creels of hunger as the two day old queen makes her displeasure known. "And a small bowl of meat scraps." she asks, trying to shush the little thing and ply her with some jerkey which she doesn't seem to like too much, her creels turn up the pitch and she calls cheerfully after the bartender disapearing into the back, "Faster would be better."

Neryk will offer a return smile, lifting his glass as well. "Indeed!" He sips his, though at the unfamilure red liquor in the greenrider's cup his attention will flicker to the bartender, "And one of those for me too?" Something that brightly red has got to be good, right? Eyes are drawn to the little shiney, expression lighting up. It's a baby! A quick glance at the man arriving behind him, and Neryk will offer a little wave before taking another sip of his whiskey. The two of his own lizard currently here will split, the little blue attracted to the similarly little gold, while Neryk's own gold slides over to D'kan, head up and expectant. Was he here to worship here as all should?

D'kan studies Neryk's gold when she sidles over, though he does not interact with her beyond a smile, then a slightly wider grin to Neryk, nodding before he takes a sip from his glass. He turns his attention to Alyna, briefly studying her very much like he had the little gold. It's the look of someone trying to place a face, though in lieu of an introduction, he tosses the rest of his drink back, ending with a tight grimace, then sets his glass on the bar. He shakes his head regarding a question from the bartender, then stands. "Good luck with the storm," he murmurs to those nearby, then in the completion of his fly-by, he grabs his riding gear and leaves.

Watching D'kan taking off after so soon arriving, Alyna cocks her head to one side inquisitively, but doesn't say anything. Looking back at Neryk she shrugs and then a new glass and bowl of scraps is delivered in front of her and she smiles, "Apparently it's a new Zingari Whiskey, flavoured with redfruit. Quite tasty if you ask me." she remarks as she starts to stuff the creeling golden maw of Jem with the meat from the bowl, thankfully putting a cork in the hungry creels. She looks over at the little blue coming closer and smiles. "Are they your only ones?" she asks, nodding to the blue and the older queen.

Seren looks up at D'kan, aproves of the smile, and watches him go on his way with all the airs of a captian directing a drill. With this attention gone, she returns to her Neryk and presents herself to be Pet. Now. And he does, half-automaticly, a hand runs down the gold's back. "Yes, clear skies!" As D'kan departs, attention will return to the little gold, a nod at the newly delivered liquor and Neryk will trade his usual whisky to try the redfruit. Sweet, and spicy, hhmmmm, good stuff. Alzirr creeps closer, his demeanor docile, submissive, but curious. "Oh no, I have two others. Older clutchmates that I think are off chasing greens right now." He waves a hand dismissivly, "They'll turn up later. They get me home at night." Castor and Pollux were to be relied on for that, but little else. A smile and nod toward the little queen, "And what about you? Your first? She's a beauty!"

"She is actually." Alyna replies and looks down at Jem who, having satiatied her hunger, has fallen back to sleep in the crook of her arm, snoring softly. "I was dropping someone at Southern at they were having some sort of party on the beach with lots of roast meats. Then suddenly there were hatchlings everywhere. Must have been a wild clutch." She relays as she sips at her drink some more. "Never really bothered to seek them out before, Haquith keeps me hopping most of the time anyway. But she's older now, and at least a little mellowed." she says as she remembers who she is talking to and in an attempt to remove her foot from her mouth she offers a sincere, "Sorry Neryk." to the dragonless man.

Alzirr will deflate sligthly as the little queen again laspes into sleep. However, there is a nice bowl of scraps here now. Perhaps he will just take one. Or two. Just a few. Neryk strokes his own gold, and smiles. "I'm sure that livened up the party! I didn't have any for the longest time. Mine didn't like them, so I never bothered." There is a flicker in him, expression faltering, hand freezing an inch or two above the hide he was petting. Statue-like for a heartbeat. But the flicker passes, he tosses back the rest of his original whisky before nodding slightly, "Yeah. Yeah. It's fine." One motion and Seren is scooped up into a half-hug, "Yeah, nothing to apologize for. I'm … . . " He nods toward Alzirr and again strokes the marginally-disgruntaled Seren, "They saved me. I'm surviving." Three years, he was better these days, but the days still came when it could have been yesterday. Neryk is still unable to hold down a job.

A shadow crosses Alyna's features as he answers but clears it with a little shake of her head and a sympathetic smile in Neryk's direction. Quick, change the subject. "So, did you hear about that gathering the Trader Families had that resulted in some severely ill people?" she asks conversationally as she sips at her drink. The bowl of scraps is pushed in the direction of the blue, "Help yourself." And then turning her attention back to Neryk. "I wonder if they ever did figure out what caused it." she wonders outloud.

This change of subject will be latched onto, "I heard about it, but I don't know what went into tracking the cause down. Has that family been back to Igen?" Seren's soft protests at being held are noticed for the first time and she will again be let down onto the bar. Disgruntaled, the gold slips away to help Alzirr with those scraps. Neryk's eyes follow the two for a moment, but if Alyna didn't mind, Neryk was not about to deprive them of anything. The redfruit whiskey wil again be sipped, a thought coming, "If it was the Zingary, they are probebly back right now, who was it that brought this stuff in?" The weyr certainly doesn't produce this stuff themself.

"I'm not sure really. I never really got a hang for all that Trader stuff, being hold bred." Alyna comments, wrinkling up her nose. "I just know what I like, and this stuff is good." She says finishing her second glass and putting the empty on the bar. She rearranged the little gold in the crook of her arm without waking the little creature. "So what are you up to nowadays?" That's an innocuous enough question right? Not loaded at all. Alyna's ice blue eyes watch the antics of the two older firelizards and the remaining scraps.

Alzirr is polite enough to not argue with Seren's choice of meat, nor will he make a fuss when finally, the scrap bowl is empty. Seren will check again, as if perhaps it was a trick that there was no more of the treat, and if she looked again it might indeed be full again. As the two lazy back to Neryk, Neryk himself will Shrug, "I don't know. But it is good stuff." His glass will be raised for a refill and he shrugs again, "I'm busy. I keep busy. I help out at the stables sometimes. And the cheesemaker, Vrijilio, lets me help out with his fresh batches sometimes. And the traders need help unloading thier stock, so I go to the caravan grounds for that." If the question is loaded, Neryk doesn't notice. His tone is light as his firelizards start to settle down for a nap as well. "I like to help in the Infirmary sometimes too. And the kitchens drudge are always light handed." He does stuff. When it suits him. Or when he remembers. Or when it happens to be happening whereever he happens to be.

"Wow! You are keeping busy. That all sounds good. Cheesemaking sounds interesting. I love cheeses of all kinds." Alyna says with a happy sigh. "Gotta make sure to moderate how much I have. It goes straight to my hips." she says as she wiggles a little on the bar stool for emphasis with a little giggle. A disgruntled squeak comes from Jem as her slumber is disturbed and the greenrider settles down again, "Whoops. Sorry little girl." she says as she rubs at the little queen's eyeridges gently until she falls back into a slumber. "They grow independant quicker than dragons right? I haven't had to deal with a hatchling for 12 Turns now, I forgot how demanding they are."

Neryk nods. Busy is important. Busy keeps him from slipping too far. "Yeah, it's fun, and sometimes Tzaina gives me extra to take back to the Terricaes. It's a nice gig. Come early in the morning and you can get the freshly hung stuff." Neryk grins at the little gold's noise, baby firelizards are the best. All the best parts of baby dragons without being deadly. "Yeah. Before you know it, she'll be zipping around and queen of the roost. Not as bright as Dragons, but they are worth it. Just hope you got one easy to train, or they walk all over you." Or, Neryk's walk all over him, but that might just come from being spoiled rotten.

"Ohh, I will remember that." Fresh Cheese for Alyna, yes please! She clears her throat a little bit and smiles as he confirms that this little one's infancy wouldn't be as long as her Haquith's. Speaking of, her eyes unfocus for a moment in that telltale way and when she comes back to herself, she slides off her stool, reaching for her belt pouch and a few marks to put on the bar to settle her tab. "I need to get going. It was nice seeing you again though. I hope to see you around again soon." She says with warmth in her voices as she looks at Neryk meaningfully, silently conveying that wasn't an empty offer. Then with a swish of her hips, she heads through the door and out into the bazzar.

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