Backdated to take place just after M'noq is given his wingsecond knot.

It's well into night now, it having rained all day, and rain still pouring on the metal-clad hull of the ship weyr. M'noq slides from Ravaiths's shoulder, soaked to the skin, looking practically like he has washed up on shore. He peels off leathers and riding gear down to shorts and undershirt. He is muttering to himself even as he hangs things up to drip-dry. At least the place is well-stocked with glows now. Barefoot, he trudges upstairs.

Keelie is laying comfortably on the large four poster bed with a glow balanced beside her, reading. She's graduated from children's books to thicker volumes, but the going is slow as she squints at each word. Hearing M'noq mount the stairs, she beams and sets aside her book, pushing aside the covers and alighting bare feet on the floor to go and meet him. She pauses in the doorway, a vision in her white nightshirt, red hair all around, leaning against the carved woodwork. "Hi."

M'noq's troubled expression transforms into a warm smile as Keelie appears in the doorway. "Hey there." He sweeps her into a tight hug and kisses her soundly. Slowly he lets her slide from his embrace, as he heads towards his clothespress for something warmer and drier. "Guess what I got today." As he passes the bed, he tosses down his new wingsecond knot, which had been crumpled into a ball in his hand. "How did your day go?"

Keelie is momentarily concerned by his troubled expression, but is all smiles as she returns his kiss. She pads to the bed to inspect the knot he has tossed on top of the quilted covers. She turns the cords over in her hands. "M'noq! Wingsecond! Did Myziri give this to you?" She ignores his question, for now, caught up in the moment. Then, she sobers a bit, perhaps connecting the dots. "Are you not happy about it? I am proud of you."

M'noq pulls on loose trousers and a soft sweater, warm enough to take the chill off. "Yeah, it's from Myziri." As he finishes dressing, he starts to answer her last question, then hesitates. "I wasn't really looking for it. It's kind of a lot of trouble." He returns to her, wrapping her in a warm hug. "This might mean I have less time here with you. Less time for lunchtime picnics. Still feeling happy about it?"

Keelie leans into the softness of his sweater, wrapping her around around him. She's short, so at a good height for using his chest as a standing-up pillow. "Why is it… oh." Less time for her? That deserves a nose-squish. "Myziri is your wingleader. I am sure she won't keep you away too much." Faith in her friend, she has it. And a stubborn chin. "If she does, we can work around it." Still, she sighs, not looking quite as happy as a moment ago. "I do not want to give up our picnics."

M'noq gives Keelie a soft kiss. "I'll make time for you, I promise." He doesn't exactly share her faith in his wingleader that she'll be all that free with time off, but he tries not to let on all his worries. They are near the bed, and he picks up the knot, smoothing it out. "It'll be fine. Probably after a couple months she'll decide that I'm too much of a pain in the ass to keep around and she'll have me replaced." He grins. "Now, how about the question I asked you about your day?"

Keelie smiles slightly as he kisses her again, pulling in her underlip. "You had better, wingsecond." She's a busy girl too! Being an assistant weyrlingmaster and all. But she'll make time for him as well. She always does. Although she still misses him. She pulls a face. "You are always saying such things. You will be a great wingsecond!" She smirks at his grin and goes up on tip toe to kiss him lightly. A pause at his question. "Oh." Siiiigh. "M'noq…" she pauses. "I did not get a knot like you." She tries to evade. There is something to the twist of her lips that isn't normal: something is bothering her.

M'noq would truly take issue with Keelie's assertion that he would make a "great" anything, but this isn't really the time to have that argument. "Hmm… you want a knot like mine? Should I send you to yell at people in PT instead of me tomorrow morning?" Teasingly, he holds the knot up to her shoulder. "Honestly, someone must trust you a lot more than they trust me, because being an AWLM is no slouch job. What's wrong? Are the weyrlings bothering you?"

Keelie laughs softly and arches her chest playfully forward into the knot. "I was one already, remember? In weyrlinghood." And, now that she remembers, she frowns. That was a lot of pressure. She peers into M'noq's face with her mermaid eyes, as if seeing him for the first time. She lets his second toss on himself slide. And… she's slouching. And sits down on the bed. "I do not like the formalities." She admits, quietly. "I do not like having to encourage the other wildlings to use them too." She glances over at her wooden chest near the antique dresser, which holds many of her treasures - including about 20 dinglehoppers - er - forks. "And I hate being called ma'am." Sulky face is sulky.

M'noq sits down next to her on the bed. "That's right, you were one of the weyrling 'seconds. Then you know that the job of an AWLM and a wingsecond are similar, in that they're both trying to keep everyone they're responsible for alive. I know what you mean about the formalities, but they're supposed to keep everyone serious and focused." He nudges her and grins. "'Ma'am' isn't so bad. I bet all those guys who call you ma'am have crushes on you. You could always ask them to call you something different. Miss Keelie? Mistress Keelie?" These suggestions are definitely turning inappropriate.

"How does calling me ma'am keep people focused and alive?" She shakes her head, just not getting it. "The wildlings are always asking me why, and I tell them it is the weyr's custom. But I think they are starting to resent me." She leans sideways against M'noq. Shoots him a confused look and then an eyeroll for weyrlings having crushes on her. "They are not allowed to have crushes." She reminds him. Not that it stopped the two of them from making eyes at each other during their own weyrlinghood. His new suggestions have her smirking and then laughing. "Oh," her eyebrows raise teasingly. "Would you rather they call me that?"

M'noq shrugs at her protests. "You have to think about the reason for the custom. Even though you think it wouldn't help you or the other wildlings, it must help some people. You are their teacher, not their friend. They can hate you all they want, just as long as you teach them how to stay alive." Simple, right? He laughs at her remark about crushes. "Believe me, most the the guys and probably a few of the girls are all appreciating how hot you look in riding leathers, allowed or not. Because it's true." His look turns decidedly mischevious, as he tries to immitate a shy weyrling. "Yes, Miss Keelie. Right away, Miss Keelie. Oh Miss Keelie, I need your advice. Miss Keelie, can you help me tie my shoe?"

Keelie grumbles. "But I want to be a support. I want to listen, to help them adapt. I cannot do that if they resent me. I am just another face showing them how to mix oils for their dragons." She sighs. "It is rewarding though, watching them grow. They are so cute! I cannot wait until they learn to fly. You should come by the training field. Ohanaveth curls into a ball. I have never seen anything like it before." An amused look to M'noq for saying she looks hot in riding leathers. (She knows.) She also knows how hot he looks in them! Meow. She grins at the shy weyrling, coming in close and wrapping her arms around him. "Mmm. You can be in my class any time." Although. "If they cannot tie their shoes, there is not much I can do to help them."

"As their dragons get bigger, they'll come to see you're right about your advice. Everything's still new for them." M'noq frowns a little at her suggestion. "I guess… maybe I might come down at some point." His reluctance has to do with other things than the weyrlings themselves. "Come on, you should know by now. If they're asking you to bend over and tie their shoe, it's because they want to look at your butt. Can't really blame them, though." Oh, those naughty weyrlings.

Keelie sincerely hopes he will visit and meet her charges eventually, but she'll understand if he has Reasons. The girl smiles at M'noq, who is so intent on cheering her up… by making her laugh and roll her eyes again. "They do not ask me to tie their shoes!" She insists. Because he totally IS BEING SILLY. They will probably talk a little bit more, until naughty M'noq's teasing gets bad enough that she has to kiss him to get him to be quiet, which will lead to other naughty things that our curtain closes on.