Lunch is in full swing in the living caverns, and there's a loud buzz of conversation in there, to say nothing of a large crowd. The nighthearth area, though, is almost empty and much more peaceful. R'zel's already collected his lunch before he arrives, and he's brought it here; a furrowed forehead suggests that he's perhaps in search of some of that peace. He's got a plate laden with cold meat, bread and salad, and a very large mug of plain ordinary water. He settles down into a comfortable chair, tucks the glass by one of the legs, balances his plate on one overstuffed arm, and starts to eat.

It might be lunch time, but not everybody can fully escape work while they're trying to get food. Madox is one of those folks. He's got a stack of hides tucked under one arm and while he looks at the living caverns proper first, quickly decides it's much too loud and the hassle of trying to find a chair there. He turns instead to the nighthearth and that constant pot of fish stew. Hopefully they change it out every so often and don't just keep adding more fish into it. Regardless of the questions about the freshness of the stew, he's grabbing a bowl, not being too picky today and a mug of klah before settling down in a chair of his own with an "Uufff."

R'zel is picking at his food with more concentration than enthusiasm. Perhaps he should have gone for the stew. Anyway, lunch - or something - is keeping his attention occupied enough that he looks up from his plate only at the sound of the harper's descent into the chair. "Madox. How goes it?" He registers the presence of all those hides. "Tell me you're not planning on working over lunch."

"Yes?" Madox looks up from trying to arrange both his stew and his hides. Both tone and actions indicate that was exactly what he was planning. "Better than working over dinner, right?" Or he could end up being one of those poor souls that tries to go to the Kitten to get some work done in the evening because that always turns out so well. "And it's been alright. Been busy, but at least weather's a bit cooler now. How have things been with you?"

"Well, there's that," R'zel concedes with a grin. "Yes, being a bit cooler really helps. Not that I ever thought I'd consider this kind of temperature cool until I cam here." He gives a shrug. "It's been all right. The Thread schedule's been easier for the last few days, and the last couple of Falls weren't too bad. I've had a bit more time for myself." He leans down to pick up his mug.

Madox laughs a little at that as he takes a bit of his stew. "Yeah… hard to think of this as fall when it'd be the same temperature as a Fortian summer. Hotter than quite a few summer days in High Reaches. Funny what you can get used to." He shrugs a little and then nods. "Yeah, and I heard the Kitten has decided to celebrate. Thank you drinks and what not."

"Which is very obliging of them. I haven't taken them up on it yet, but I'm sure I shall," R'zel says with a smile. "I did take the chance to go and visit the family yesterday, though, after we were done with drills. The Fort half, not the Telgar half." He's been to the Harper Hall, in other words. "I had dinner there, and got back rather late."

"Of course. Can't have free drinks going to waste after all," Madox is still at least making an attempt at his work. Eating, talking and grading papers can all be done at once, right? Of course that means none of the three tasks are being done very quickly. There's a slight frown at the mention of Fort, probably not for R'zel's family, but just because it reminds him of his own. "Yeah? How'd it go? Your mother get her master's knot yet?"

"No, but she's working like crazy. They've got her writing up some huge report on educational theory and child development, which will probably get filed in the archives and never looked at again. I suspect it's going to depend on how many people her ideas annoy." R'zel takes a long pull at his mug. "I saw your parents, but only to say hello to."

Madox smiles and shrugs. "Or it could be fantastic and something that every poor teaching harper, like yours truly, gets a copy of to read. There's always room for improvement after all." Although harpers do like generating reports and things to file the archives, more than can be read probably. But the archivists have to have something to do after all. There's a pause as his own parents are mentioned. "Oh? How'd that go? I'm guessing he hadn't given himself a heart attack yet or I'd have gotten a letter or something."

R'zel looks apologetic. "Sorry, I really did only get to say a few words. They both looked all right, though. Oh, and my mother said that she'd heard Morrie playing duets with your brother, and they were really good. I didn't see Darby, though - at least, I don't think I did, though I suppose he must have been at dinner with the other apprentices. I barely recognise Morrie when I see him these days." He takes another mouthful of water, then sets the mug down again and rubs the centre of his forehead with his finger. "The time difference is a killer, going in the evening. I was back far too late, really."

Madox shrugs. "It's fine. I haven't really talked with my father in over two turns. Last conversation really didn't go so well." Whole abomination to the craft yadayadayada, getting sent to High Reaches and eventually a continent away. He doesn't seem particularly broken up about it. "But that's good to hear about Darby and Morrie. And yeah, he was probably too busy shoving as much food in his face as possible for anyone to recognize him." Teenage boys, after all. "And yeah. Just be thankful you weren't having to make the journey on a boat."

"I wouldn't mind going on a boat," R'zel muses. "For the experience, I mean: I've never done it. Maybe not that far, though: it's so slow." He chuckles. "Morrie certainly seemed to be filling his face as fast as he could. And I've found meeting Morcom works better if as much of it as possible takes place in public. I guess laying into a dragonrider in front of a bunch of master harpers - to say nothing of the apprentices - isn't the done thing. Anyway, we managed an entire evening without arguing."

"You can have the experience. I do not want to have it again!" Madox's face is a little green as he says this. "When I came down to Southern, it was by boat. Thought it'd be an adventure, you know. I don't think I kept any food down the entire trip. And nearly fell on my face getting off the boat. Looked like I was drunk walking around for a couple hours." That might be a slight exaggeration. "Yeah, public tends to be best. And well, I'm still a journeyman and my father's a master. So, rank's not going to save me." His hope on civilized conversation is just keep enough distance between them so conversation doesn't happen.

R'zel rolls his eyes. "Oh, Morcom came over all 'honour those the dragons heed' when I Impressed - at least in public. It doesn't stop him being shirty in private. I'd have thought he'd be glad to see the back of me: better to be able to claim a bronzerider as stepson than a troublesome senior apprentice who would one day turn into a mediocre journeyman. I'm just hoping he doesn't take it out on Mother." He raises a curious eyebrow. "You were sick the whole way? That sounds ghastly - it's days, isn't it? Where did you sail from?"

Madox nods. "Yeah. I think you told me that before. But Morcom hasn't ever exactly been reasonable when it came to you…" So he shrugs. He's definitely found ignoring unreasonable father figures and putting distance between them is vastly easier than hoping that they'll ever change. "And yeah, the ENTIRE way. Down from High Reaches. It was… more than a seven I think? I kinda lost track." It was bad. If he gets another posting, he might be trying to convince R'zel to help him move.

"I'm sure we'd have sent a dragon for you," R'zel says lightly. "Being a Weyr, and all that. But that must be about as long a sea journey as you can do, round the tip of Tillek, and across the ocean, and then down the river. That sounds absolutely dreadful." " He spears a piece of meat. "On a different note, I was talking to one of the smiths the other day about using their woodworking tools. Apparently they're willing to trade use of tools for transporting timber for them. I fancy having a go at making another instrument. I haven't decided what, yet, though."

"There may have been an offer of either boat or dragon," Madox will admit between a few bites of his stew. "I should really have given that some more thought about just how long the journey was going to be. And it was winter in Southern so the seas were pretty rough down here…" He shudders a little at the memory, but is more than happy to turn attention towards the new topic. "Oh? You just play string instruments right? Already have a gitar… how about a lap harp or zither?"

"I learned pipes, of course, and in fact I've got some here, but I prefer the gitar," R'zel explains, then ventures, "I was wondering about a mandolin, but I don't know if I'd be up to steaming the curves of the back." He purses his lips thoughtfully. "I suppose the sides of my gitar were pretty curvy, too, but not in as many directions at once. A zither would be easier: it's more of a box. Or a dulcimer. Instrument crafting was one of the subjects I wasn't totally awful at, but I wasn't /that/ good."

"You could always make a drum. I'm sure your weyr neighbors would love that." Because lets face it, percussion instruments are rarely soothing sounds and tend to carry a bit more than strings. Madox hmms a little as he thinks about this, hidework forgotten except to tap his pencil against it. "I did make my zither and it wasn't too hard. Mandolin… they're pretty, but is a lot of curves. I think I had to remake my gitar about five times before I got it right." Instrument crafting also not one of his stronger subjects.

"I've, ah, actually got a small drum here, too, though I haven't touched it for turns." Did R'zel clean the harper hall out of instruments before he left? "I've still got everything I took on my posting, including all my required pieces for instrument crafting - except for some kiddie-sized pan-pipes; I gave those to Morrie as soon as they were approved." He hesitates before adding, "The thing about a mandolin is, I'd quite like to play it."

Madox laughs a little. "Yeah, I rarely use my drum although have a couple in class that some of the kids use to keep time." Nothing like giving children something to interact with to help them pay attention. And no, musicians are like packrats and can never horde away too many instruments, clearly. "Well, if the mandolin's what you want and the smiths are going to be helping you out, go for it. If they need to help you out a lot what's the worst that's going to happen? Asking you to bring in an extra tree? There should be some plans in the library so even if the smiths haven't made a mandolin before, they should be able to understand what is needed."

"In the library here?" R'zel sounds surprised at that. "I'll have to have a look, then. I meant to see what I could find at the Hall yesterday, but I didn't have time in the end. And yes, I think I could get some help. And they've got all the stuff for making complex shapes, and steaming." He's smiling now: the decision has apparently been made.

"Have you seen how many harpers we have around here?" Madox has. it's quite a few. "Yeah, there should be some plans. They have to teach the apprentices somehow. I could possibly ask around and see if any of the harpers here actually have made mandolins before. There's some performers who might have made their own."

"Thank you. It'd be good to pick some plans that someone knows actually work!" R'zel grins at a memory. "One of my classmates pulled some plans for a really odd-shaped harp, meaning it for one of his set pieces. I don't think he's finished the thing yet." His plate is now empty, and he tosses back the last of the water in his mug.

Madox nods and finishes the last of his stew. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to get as much work done during the meal as he liked. Looks like someone's going to be having a late dinner if he wants to get this all done before then. "No problem. I'll just put in a word with the archivists and send you a note afterwards. And you'll need to show it to me after you make it." But for now, the harper is going to be gathering his things and give a wave to R'zel as he's heading out. "Farewell!"

R'zel raises a hand in farewell. "I'll see you soon - and thank you." He stands up and gathers up his own crockery, then heads back towards the living caverns to return it whence it came.