A'hali made a deal with the smiths, which means that SOME of his freetime is going to be spent out here in the jungle instead of curled up at home with Vani. Which means she has to come out here too if she wants that time. Right now he's shirtless and deliciously sweaty as he chops at a tree carefully. TEAK, well, that's what it'll be once it's done!

Except Vani doesn't know about the smiths or the deal…or even why the hell A'hali would rather be out here (all sweaty and shirtless and YUM!) rather than curled up at home with his NEW WEYRMATE. Eventually Caelisth manages to get some directions from the browns jungles, and Vani has made her way to the real jungle reluctantly. And because she has got some bush craft thanks to her travelling, she' arrives on silent feet and watches for a long moment before speaking. "What the fuck are you doing?" The confusion is evident, as is the relief that he hasn't found some shaggy wildling girl to shag.

A'hali totally knew she was coming, Ohanaveth said the thing, but he didn't expect that kind of greeting. He was totally about to swing his axe again, one more cut and it SHOULD be ready for him to put the wedge in and start working on the other side. Eyes shift between Vani, the axe, and the tree. Then he'll gesture WITH said axe at said tree. He's cutting a tree? Isn't that obvious? (Really Vani, it seems pretty obvious.)

Vani gives A'hali a 'no shit sherlock' stare, she can see that. "Okay then WHY the fuck are you doing that?" An eyebrow creeps up, even as she folds her arms and leans against another trunk.

"Because I need wood….?" Look, A'hali just is not getting what the problem is here. AFter all, it's not like he'd just come out here and chop down trees for no good reason. There is PLENTY of deadfall if he wanted firewood after all.

Clearly Vani and Caelisth are having some kind of long slow ramp up towards proddiness, because usually, usually Vani has WAY more patience than this. "Why do you need the wood A'hali?" She sighs heavily, attempting to predict the next few questions and the not at all helpful answers. "Are you making something?" Her head cocks, "Who are you making it for?" The question of who gets extra emphasis and the closest to a glare that she has ever given the large gentle brownrider.

"Building sofas!" See, now A'hali gets what Vani wanted to know. Just took him a little bit of time to get it pinned down to the EXACT bits she wants. "One for A'ndi - For you sleeping over." A'hali didn't miss that she was just ~GONE~ one morning. Unlike her slow glide upwards though, he is not taking offense at being abandoned. "And D'ex." That gets added as an afterthought. "Just for him." Less she assume that he thinks she'll be spending nights with the ex pirate too.

Give Vani a moment, she's just looking for the problems in his answers. The frown continues to linger even as her head nods as she replays his reply…IN slow motion. There is a moment where she opens her mouth…A-ha! But no, and she closes it again. "And it has to be done right now?" This time the question is much gentler, her frame relaxed, even if she hasn't unfolded her arms right now. "It's not like I mean to sleep over. Caeli and Tali think it is funny to abandon us…" There is an affectionate eye roll for that. "I've suggested he comes to us, rather than us going to him." But Taliveth apparently is IMPOSSIBLE to resist.

"Well… it is my time off… And daylight out but not too hot…" So really Vani, this is the PERFECT time for him to be out. She gets a grin in return for her explanation of it, and waved off slightly. (Meaning A'hali kind of wiggles the axe at her, NBD.) "Want to help?" Because weyrmates should enjoy pasttimes, right?

Vani sees how it is with the axe wiggling and the NO SEX. A'hali loves D'ex and A'ndi MORE. "How?" She shakes her head at him, her frown turning to disbelief, and a little 'uh I don't think so'. "It really doesn't look safe." Because she's not a lumberjack, or even a former one. Besides of all the activities weyrmates can do together Vani can think of a couple more that she'd rather do. See the beginning of the pose.

They can do the sex later! These two activities are mutually exclusive. Hal is missing the TONE in her voice though because he's in full on helpful, "Just don't let it fall on you." Hefting his axe A'hali will use it as the most manly pointer in the whole world, tapping where he's cutting and then pointing at the wedge. "Put that here, and cut down from other side. It falls…" and he'll squeeze an eye shut and predict the trajectory of the falling tree.

All that axe waving really isn't reassuring Vani about the safety of the whole activity. "And you need my help because…?" He's the one that knows what he's doing. She'll just continue to watch. Namely the sweaty shirtless torso~ Hopefully the tree she is leaning against isn't in the path the wedge will drive the falling tree.

A'hali does axes ALL THE TIME. It's just his thing okay. "You came out here…. figured you might want to?" HE won't sound TOO super wounded at the fact that she came out here but doesn't want to join his hobby. :( He will however put one more notch into to the tree before placing the wedge and getting it set tightly with the blunt edge of his axe. Time to start working on the other side.

Vani takes a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I came out here because I haven't seen you all day. Barely saw you yesterday. And you don't talk to me." There is a sigh too.

"Saw you this morning…" Okay, it was a quick passing as they both headed out to their varied drills. "You didn't ask?" And that's probably what'll end up being the crux of their problems in this relationship.

There is another sigh, even as Vani starts moving to hide behind the tree. "It took me a million questions to find out what was going on A'hali…" When she finally got around to asking. "I'm seriously considering if it's worth not sleeping with you if it means you talk a little more." She isn't…well not really. BUT SHE KNOWS he isn't always this obtuse.

"Didn't think it'd be a big deal…" A'hali sounds apologetic at least, except that words aren't going to chop down this tree. A'hali's going to have to do that with the strength of his ARMS. "Something especially wrong Vani?" Between swings. It's not a good idea to take eyes off the big falling tree thing.

"No!" Vani is quick to deny…BUT she's also hiding behind that tree she found NOT crying (She's crying). "I just figured, that you know…" Things would be a little different for the first little while of them officially acknowledging something that pretty much occurred as soon as she moved in~. "You'd want me to know about stuff like this." SHARING IS CARING A'HALI

SIGH. A'hali is going to take a lot longer to get the tree down, but he heard that and has been INFORMED by Ohanaveth that's she's crying. So he swings his axe hard once to get it nice and stuck in the tree before shuffling over to where Vani is. Mutely he'll offer a sweaty-hug.

If Vani looks a little conflicted, it's probably because she is. She's not paying a huge amount of attention to the tears streaking down her cheeks, even if everyone else is. There is a moment of suspicious pause, as she looks at A'hali's face before her gaze drops. "I'm being silly." She admits to the sweaty chest she eventually presses her wet cheeks against. "But…sometimes, I'm just as needy as you are." There is a poke of a finger somewhere I'm sure to accompany that comment.

"Want you to be comfortable, when you visit A'ndi again." Because A'hali knows it is going to happen and he's TRYING to be supportive and whatnot. Thankfully he trusts his bro A'ndi. Which might be a bad idea, but, y'know. A'hali can be a little innocent. "And D'ex… he didn't come to dinner. Just want to remind him he has friends."

As if Vani really has eyes for anyone else. But that is getting closer to the crux of the matter. "Maybe he'll listen to you on the whole 'couch' thing. I've not had much luck." Hence the sore and sad Vani who eventually makes her way home. "Hal?" It is a quiet little voice that suggests there is more on her mind, even as she allows the physical closeness to heal some of her current hurts.

Hey, it could happen. IT COULD HAPPEN. "I'm building him one." A'hali's taking the direct route, just bypass A'ndi's approval altogether. "But don't let Caelisth tell Taliveth." Because heaven knows that Taliveth couldn't keep a secret IF IT KILLED HIM. "What's wrong?" He smooths down her hair with the sweat on his hands. Actually, that's kind of gross but maybe she'll think it's humidity or something.

Vani is going to take a moment or two longer to try and order her thoughts. And in all honesty, maybe she kinda likes sweaty A'hali. Finally she takes a deeeeeeeep breath and kind of just blurts it all out. "I don't want to hurt you when Caelisth rises." It's not about the sex with randoms, or even the fact A'hali has had sex with randoms. It's all about how he feels about it. "She's asleep." Or so Vani assumes, someone had to have told on her after all. "She won't tell." Vani will just cling to the other part of the conversation rather than admit she's borrowing trouble.

Aww, A'hali stops the petting and just wraps his large arms all the way around her. A big hug, because that is worth more than words right? Though he'll be smart and use some. "If you come home to me after, I will not be hurt." Because where she ends the day is way more important than how any day might have gone otherwise.

Vani is going to take advantage of the fact she's all smushed into sweaty man chest and let loose a few more tears. This has been bothering her far more than she would probably admit. "I'll always come home to you." That is a promise she can keep, even if her bond means she can't maintain the sexual loyalty she would prefer. "You are home." Because he is more solid, and more real to her than a lot of places she's called home before. "I do love you." Even if sometimes, she has a weird way of showing it.

"I love you too." A'hali can feel the tears and will eventually peel her away a bit so that he can tilt her head up and look down into her eyes. "You should tell me. Just say."

There is a blubbery kind of snort. "How can I talk to you if you're not home and away chopping down trees A'hali." It takes her a while okay, she's not used to talking or dealing with these kinds of things. Which is why her face drops before she speaks again, her voice quiet and missing that momentary flash of humor that colored her previous words. "Besides…what if something I say makes you leave?" Which is another one of her worries.

"You come find me." A'hali says this gently, like it's pretty much the most obvious thing ever. "Like you did." Reaching up A'hali brushes some moisture from Vani's face. "If I leave for words then I was not good to start with."

"What if it's me that isn't good?" Vani may have a skewed sense of self-worth thanks to her childhood. Most of the time she overcomes it, but occasionally it comes creeping out like the scared hurt child that she was. "You could be easier to find." If she has to hunt him down to cry on him and shit, he may as well make it convenient for her.

This is dangerous ground and A'hali has to step SUPER CAREFUL. Thankfully Vani is use to A'hali taking a lot of time to put his words together? "I love you." That's safe, right? Rather than face the self-worth question and maybe it being hard. "Now you know. Need enough for three sofas, so Smiths help."

The occasional SPOKEN compliment would probably work wonders okay? OKAY! :P But Vani is kind of used to A'hali now, and for better or worse (or silence that seems perfectly normal for Hal) she's gunna stick it out. "Why three?" She asks, moving away conversationally even as she hugs him closer, with three squeezes of her arms. "Stanov?" Cos he's kind of a smith, even if I don't play him.

A headshake. "Wood, not metal." Which seems to be what A'hali has seen her brother work on more. He stays and lets her cuddle closeclose (though eventually he does need to take care of that poor treeeee. "Woodsmith, named Ilaria."

"Is she pretty?" Hey look it's another question that is tricky and he probably won't answer. But she's also not letting go of him just yet. "And," there is a nudge. "If you're making two couches why do you need three trees?" Or woods, or whatever the proper vernacular is, clearly she’s assumed that one tree=one couch. Now that she knows what he is doing she has all the questions…The tree can wait for a little, it's not like it's going anywhere right?

"Pretty?" Hal flicks a half smile and nudges back, "Not as pretty as you." That's the ONLY correct answer to that question right? Shifting slightly he curls an arm around her so that they can look at this tree. "More than three likely. Need three sofas. One for A'ndi. One for D'ex. Enough lumber for trade to smooth and make workable wood from…" and there's a gesture at the tree. To make wood from THAT. "I am still a novice at woodworking." Even if he did make that one chair. "And you know how D'ex is." PERFECTIONIST.

Good A'hali, Vani will keep you. It is clear that there is still something on her mind as she listens to the explanation. "A pain in the ass?" That question is about D'ex, although her voice is missing the heat that it had prior to weyrlinghood. There is a moment or two of silence, before Vani decides to put his words to the test. "Once you've done the couches, you'll be a much better woodworker right?" It's a gentle tease accompanied by three squeezes of her arm again. "Do you think you could cut a little extra for a project for me?"

"…. clean." A'hali rolls the word affectionately. A'hali <3 D'ex, though differently than Vani. Curiosity tweaks as he asks her that and as he squeezes back asks, "For what?"

Vani does something she hasn't done for the longest time, she directs her words to her boots, even as her cheeks flood with color. "Perhaps, just a little bit extra… for a cradle." Now that she is once more treated like a proper grown up, apparently she's been having some proper grown up thoughts. "I mean, we're both still taking the infusion so there is no rush, but I'd like my children to sleep in something their father made them…" Her boots shuffle a little in the undergrowth they are in in response to her sudden gush of words.

Awwww. A'hali curls that arm of his even more around around Vani. Hopefully she's okay with being squished. "I will try to make a cradle." It's a promise made. "Have been talking… to other pairs. It's hard to be a mom, and a rider." He looks downwards, not sure if this is the time to bring this up, but knowing the conversation has to happen EVENTUALLY. "Do you know… when you might?" like, y'know, want to actually try.

Vani offers up a surprisingly tremulous smile in response to the squeezing. "After Caelisth rises? That way I can be sure…" of the paternity if her plans don't work out. Yes she has plans. There is a sigh as well, as her eyes to go the tree that will probably be mostly couch, but maybe a little bit cradle. "I should spend some time actually being a rider." She tilts her head with self-deprecation. "But I don't think it could be harder than what my mother went through…" As always thoughts of her mother and all those siblings lost cloud this discussion. "…And I am stronger than her."

Leaning down A'hali plants a kiss right on Vani's head. "Okay." Simple acceptance of the date given. They can talk more later, or not, because y'know. Sometimes pregnancies just happen? "Keep me company?" A request made to her as he squeezes three times and then pulls away. "Have to finish, because it's not safe to leave." A LOOK backwards, this talk of baby has A'hali thinking of other things but he is a GOOD GUY DAMNIT.

Vani snorts. "I may not be helping you, but I don't mind watching you." Because he's all sweaty and doing manly man things like lumberjacking. But that tree has to be dealt with first, so she'll settle herself beside a tree that is not in line with the intended fall direction (But has a perfectly clear view of the brownrider, cos that's important.) And they're far enough away from everything that Vani will probably do some wood working of her own once that tree is down.