Who

S'ayde, Naomi

What

S'ayde gets drenched delivering things to the kitchens and Naomi makes it all better with some stew, and they chat about what it's like to impress.

When

-- On Pern --
It is 3:11 PM where you are.
It is afternoon of the twenty-eighth day of the fourth month of the seventh turn of the 12th pass.
In Igen:
It is the eighty-eighth day of Spring and 82 degrees. A passing storm thunders overhead. Lightning flashes and thunder booms.
In Southern:
It is the eighty-eighth day of Autumn and 69 degrees. The day is dreary and overcast. A warm autumn rain is falling down in soft drizzles.
In Southern Mountains:
It is the eighty-eighth day of Autumn and 21 degrees. It's really damn cold out.


Where

Kitchens

OOC Date 08 Mar 2016 07:00

 

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"Yes, quite a few Zingari in the barracks. Reika, too."


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Kitchens

Chaos and anomie reign in this hub of food production. It's not so much the smell, which varies from 'faintly edible' to 'coal', as the film of grease that adds a sheen to every surface and glues canine hair to the wall. The area is well set up, of course — it's a large kitchen with more than adequate counter space. There's plenty of room to get around, too, even with the centralized canine spit run dominating the center of the floor. The place is just, well, not 'up to code'. Several large stoves belch smoke that chars the blocked chimney's outer brick. Unidentifiable bits of food have been baked to the floors and ground in by the uncaring trod of drudge shoes. Even the sink is crusty, with it's constant tower of filthy dishes and lack of cleansing sand to be seen anywhere. Add in the bloodied smears on cutting boards and what you have is a monument to cross contamination.


It was another one of those days in Igen. Stormy and wet. It made Naomi glad that she was indoors and not anywhere out in the rain. The kitchen, although not a completely familiar place for her, was at least not as horrible as working in the stuffy Stores below the Weyr. Here, she could be at ease with the monotonous duty of stirring a pot over the fire. The hustle and bustle of the rest of the kitchen ladies is mostly drowned out as Naomi stares blankly into the pot of soup she stirs, only occasionally looking up if addressed or told to fetch something or other.

Stormy and wet doesn't even begin to describe it. S'ayde moves in from the kitchen garden, water dripping from everywhere, hair flattened to his face. In his arms he carries a hefty crate of Zingari herbs. His face is screwed up in a scowl, which is understandable considering the weather he just had to travel in. "Good afternoon ladies." He addresses the ladies of the kitchens, though it's Naomi he's closest to.

The entrance of a very wet dragon rider is definitely not what any of the kitchen ladies expected to come through that door. One of the women tsks at his appearance before running off to find a towel or something he can use to dry with. In the meanwhile, one of ladies in charge says, "Naomi. Take that crate from him, will you?" The Candidate pauses her pot-stirring and moves to take it from the green-rider.

S'ayde more than willingly hands over the crate as he stands there dripping on the floor. He looks around the kitchens, his features as black as the storm clouds outside. S'ayde shakes his hands out and rubs at his hair to shake out the water. "Thanks." He says when the crate is moved. "Be glad you ladies are in here and not out there."

Naomi takes the crate and takes a step back away from the shaking green-rider. It is then that the other lady comes back with a dry towel for S'ayde. "Just try not to get the kitchen too wet, m'dear," she tells him before going back to whatever it was she'd been doing before. "Naomi, dear, put that crate right over there, will you?" As instructed, Naomi moves the crate to where she's told. Then she goes searching for something for a good minute before returning to S'ayde with a mug of klah. "Here."

S'ayde takes the towel with a warm smile of thanks. "I shall do my best, thank you for the towel." S'ayde begins meticulously drying off. By the time Naomi brings the klah, S'ayde is no longer dripping at least. "Thank you." He repeats and takes a grateful sip from the cup. "Is there any of that stew left from lunch?" S'ayde looks up hopefully, some of the darkness draining from his gaze now that he's not cold and out in the weather.

Naomi gives S'ayde a small nod in response to his thanks, preparing to turn back around and continuing her duties of stirring that pot until he asks about the stew. Naomi's brows wrinkle together for a moment before turning to the one everyone calls Nonna. She points to a pot over one of the other stoves. "There should be some left in that one. Naomi, fetch him a bowl, won't you?" She nods and finds a clean bowl to ladle some stew and even pilfers a fresh roll of bread as well for him. It isn't long before she's back in front of him with the offered food. "You can sit over here." She gestures to a stool near a relatively clean counter area.

S'ayde takes the food with a look of thanks and sits himself at the counter. IT is right about now that S'ayde notices the white knot upon Naomi's shoulder and he smiles. "There's quite a gaggle of candidates this clutch, I see they snatched you up as well." S'ayde gestures at Naomi's knot and digs into his stew, body and mind grateful for the warmth and sustenance. "Oh, and there's a package of healing teas in that crate for your head cook.." S'ayde knits his brows. "I forget her name, but they're there for her as requested. And I'm told to pass along that the Zingari send their best."

Once S'ayde's situated at the counter, Naomi goes back to the pot that just so happens to be right by where he sits and resumes stirring. She does a quick taste-test before turning back to S'ayde as he addresses her. She nods. "Barrack's getting pretty full.. and noisy." A slight wrinkle appears between her brows. Nonna hears S'ayde mention the package and says, "Thank you, dearie! I'll let her know." And that's all she says before leaving the Candidate and dragon rider alone for now. "You were Zingari?" Naomi asks, fixating her gaze back on S'ayde now.

S'ayde waves a 'you're welcome' at the woman thanking him and finishes masticating his food before answering Naomi. "I am Zingari, yes." S'ayde smiles widely, just because he's a rider doesn't mean he's not Zingari anymore. He doesn't seem offended though, so that's a good thing at least. "And it looks like there may be more Zingari dragon riders, if the candidates that were taken this time impress. If they do, it'll be the most Zingari we've had on dragon back in more than a century."

Naomi turns her attention to the pot before her, stirring absently even as she nods as S'ayde corrects her. "Yes, quite a few Zingari in the barracks. Reika, too." There's another brow-wrinkling there as Naomi worries about what she's heard about the thefts and the loss of the caprines that the caravan experienced since she'd been Searched. Looking back at S'ayde, she asks, "When did you Impress?"

S'ayde nearly chokes when Naomi says Reika. Had there been an influx in the Reika ranks since he last spoke with Javid???? Clearing his throat, he takes a sip of his klah and stares at Naomi's back. Her question distracts him from the path his thoughts had been about to take, thank goodness, and S'ayde smiles to himself. Thank Faranth for distractions. "Just a little over two turns ago…" Wow. Had it been that long already? Seems to S'ayde it was just a few sevens ago that he was shoveling dragon dung and learning how to properly oil his lifemate.

"Two Turns…" Naomi echoes, having been completely oblivious to any choking her words may have induced. It's still hard for her to imagine Impressing at all, much less being a dragon rider. "… What's it like?" She asks, "Impressing?" Her hand pauses momentarily in its stirring for the guard-turned-Candidate to look back over at the green-rider.

S'ayde takes a moment to think on Naomi's question. "It's… hard to describe. Let's put it this way, you're never alone again after." S'ayde chuckles and tears at the roll he was given, dunking it in his stew." Its like you've found your soulmate, or your best friend, and you never knew you were missing them until that very moment." He continues eating at that point, unable to really explain it better than he had.

Naomi is quiet, slowly stirring the pot as she listens. Her head tilts slightly, trying to comprehend what it might be like to never be alone. She then shakes her head, unable to wrap her mind around the concept. "What's your dragon's name?" Naomi asks instead, not knowing what else to ask in regards to life of a dragon rider. "And… yours? I'm Naomi."

"Kataskiath." His answer is full of warmth and affection for his life mate, even if it's spoken around a few breadcrumbs. "And mine is S'ayde. Well met Naomi." S'ayde wipes at his mouth with the edge of the towel he'd been given and dunks more of his roll in his stew. "So, are you on rotation, or did you get stuck in the kitchens for some transgression?" Because the only time S'ayde had landed in the kitchens as a candidate was when he was in trouble, but then again, people always had other uses for the spy than general chores.

"Well met, S'ayde." Naomi repeats the dragon's name in her head for future reference. Kataskiath. It's a nice name. "Rotation," is her reply to his question. She can't imagine herself getting into trouble… even during her time training as a guard, she'd never once stepped out of line. Perhaps the kitchen wasn't the best place but it also wasn't the worst, at least. Her gaze briefly goes to the roll in his hand, "Did you want another?" Because there's more where that came from if he wanted it.

S'ayde mops up the last of his stew with his roll and eats it down quickly, wiping at his face once more and shaking his head before downing what is left of his klah. "No thank you Ms. Naomi, that all hit the spot just right." S'ayde smiles and leans in on the counter. "I'm just going to thaw out a bit before I head back out." Even though that means getting drenched all over again, S'ayde is enjoying the heat of the kitchens far too much to willingly step back into the rain again.

Since he's all done, Naomi moves from the pot to take his empty dishes. "Naomi's just fine," she tells him, moving to put the dishes into a tub full of other dirty bowls and plates. She pauses there, considering for a moment whether or not she should wash it before going back to that pot. Another taste test proves it's just about done. "What do you have to do?" Just assume Naomi totally means after he leaves the kitchen.

S'ayde shrugs. "I start sweeps in a candlemark or so." What a grand flight that will be, trying to watch the ground while water pours from the sky. S'ayde shakes his head. "Don't know how I'm supposed to see anything in all that…" S'ayde waves at the door to the courtyard, where rain can be heard pummeling the ground. "But it must be done." S'ayde gives another shrug of his shoulders and leans against the counter.

There's a slight frown from Naomi as S'ayde replies, eyes moving to the door as he waves over to it. The thunder rumbles ominously outside. One of the kitchen ladies clicks her tongue. "You poor thing, having to go out in that weather!" She then proceeds to chatter with someone else as she continues to cut up some vegetables. "It shouldn't last much longer," notes Naomi. Igen storms are known to be short-lived, at least in the Spring.

S'ayde nods. "Aye, thank Faranth for that." S'ayde chortles and sits up, stretching his arms above him in the process. The kind comment from the kitchen lady gets one of S'ayde's signature charming smiles before he returns his attentions to Naomi. "How are you liking candidacy so far?" He just has to ask, even though he'll likely know the response already, most hated candidacy and it's unending list of chores and busywork.

Naomi gives a slight shrug in response. "It's fine. Keeps me busy, I s'pose." Her hand reflexively reaches for her side before she frowns. A habit that she still hadn't gotten rid of… not having her sword at her sword was definitely a change. "How was your Candidacy?" Was it the same for everyone? Naomi had never been around a Weyr for any of this, so she's not sure what the norm is.

S'ayde sighs and is blunt i his reply. "To be honest? Terrifying. I'd never been bound to one place a day in my life, had never slept under rock, had never been so separated from my people. It was like….losing a piece of myself and having to rebuild it form scratch." There's a slight haunted look to S'ayde's eyes as he relays this, as if now, even three or more turns later, he is still uncomfortable with being so bound to the rock.

While Naomi can understand S'ayde's sentiments, perhaps she is not as attached to her caravan as she ought to be. An influence of not traveling with them for some Turns during her guard training, maybe. "I suppose that can be… unsettling…" she comments after a moment, eyes peering into the pot before her. "And how do you feel now?"

S'ayde shrugs. "It depends on the day you ask. For the most part, I feel complete, like Kataskiath had been what was missing in my life. But in other ways, I feel less jovial. The Zingari in me screams at being rock bound, so when the anxiety gets to bad, Kataskiath and I go for a flight, or we go visit my family for a day or two. And then some days I feel like a mad man because I have two lines of thought constantly going in my head, and some days that's as much a boon as it is a burden." S'ayde stands as he hears the rain start to taper off outside.

Naomi's gaze shifts to watch S'ayde as he speaks, observing his expression. Her own is slightly curious. It seemed as though this man went through quite a bit of internal conflict. How had other trader-turned-riders dealt with the drastic change, Naomi wonders? She could only ask and see. Seeing as he stands up, Naomi moves to get a couple more freshly baked rolls and wraps them in a cloth. "Here. If you keep it under your jacket, should keep from getting wet." She hands the bundle to him, "Hopefully rain stops completely soon."

S'ayde takes the gift of rolls with a slight smile on his face. "Thank you." He says, the grin widening into something far more charming than it had been before. "We can only hope, but I must be off. Sweeps don't wait for any rider." S'ayde gives a bow and waves at all the ladies here in the kitchen. "Thanks for the warm meal ladies, enjoy the herbs and stay dry!" Turning back to Naomi, S'ayde bows again. "Until we meet again." And with a wink, S'ayde strolls out, face pulling back into a scowl as he tucks his food away and prepares for the onslaught of rain.

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