Who

K'vvan, Sienna, Freesia, Teyaschianniarina

What

Lots of questions are posed, but the really important one involves Freesia standing for either a single egg, or lots of eggs.

When

It is the seventh day of Spring and 58 degrees. It is bright and sunny. The only evidence of the overnight storm is in the lingering mud puddles.

Where

Tea Room

OOC Date

 

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Tea Room

This shop is easy to miss from the street. It bears the same striped awning that most shops have, this one in shades of lilac and sand, but it has no sign save for a plaque of sandstone hung beside the door, on which a teacup has been carved. When open, the heavy curtain that covers the doorway is pulled aside to allow entry. After stepping through, one will find themselves in a tiny space decorated with classic desert touches.
The walls are whitewashed to increase the sense of light within but the floor is tiled in hues of blue and green, with each tile bearing in its center a brilliant red lotus. There are only five small tables, all of them of dark, heavily carved wood set low to the ground. To sit at one requires reclining on the plethora of pillows and cushions and layered rugs provided for that purpose; each seat is provided with a carved wooden back-prop to rest the pillows against, for those who want spinal support. Tea is served from the service at the rear of the room, where a tiny smokeless hearth keeps water heated, and a row of trays are kept loaded with teapots, tiny cups, and containers for sweetener. There is a small selection of fruits, breads and cheeses also available for those looking for a snack but this is not a place for heavy meals.
Though owned by Maryam of the Steen family, the shop is most often staffed by a pair of her unmarried, adolescent nieces- one to tend the hearth, one to serve the tables. An elegant wooden frame, etched with whimsical designs, surrounds a posted list of suggested flavors available for ordering Written in an elegant hand the list reads: ('look flavors')


Freesia is taking her tea early today, already ensconced at a table in the empty room. The skirts of her simple dress are tucked about her feet and her lacy veil is piled neatly on the cushion beside her. Freesia's order is just being brought out, a steaming cup of tea set in front of her by the younger Steen girl. "Thank you," she says, smiling brightly at the girl. Both hands are immediately wrapped about the cup of tea, though with the warm, damp weather, the extra warmth is not neccessary.

K'vvan is trying this new thing. It's called, "try new things." He steps into the tea room almost like an offended cat in order to do this 'new thing' thing. The Steen girls just eye him for a second before one goes over to offer him tea. "Yeah, whatever." He's shown to a table near Freesia where he plops down onto a cushion, looking so out of place.

Sienna slips in just behind K'vvan, likely wondering 'is that K'vvan?' and 'why is he going into the tea room?' and a bull in a China shop analogy. Etc. "Hi," she offers, as she's shown as usual to Freesia's table, settling down on a cushion beside her tea friend. She has no skirts to smooth today, having come from drills to twin time and now here. Her 'hi' is for both of them, looking between them with a smile as she orders herself some tea.

Teyaschianniarina may not be Shea, but it's entirely possible that she has been DEPUTIZED by the bluerider to monitor K'vvan's tea-related activities. The brownriding wingleader enters shortly after the blueriding wingsecond - different wings, though - and has a much friendlier greeting for the girl who comes to meet her. "I'm fine," is quiet, with a nod to K'vvan's table — where she's led, and where, after a moment, she puts in a request for a specific blend. The other recent arrival is given a nod of greeting, as is her tea-companion, but Teya is on a MISSION.

Freesia grins at Sienna joins her, lifting one hand from her mug to give a little wave with her hand. "Hey. Sorry I didn't wait for you, but I haven't sipped yet!" Freesia grins at Sienna, using her free hand to stir the tea idly. "The poor girl was hovering, waiting, so I gave her my order to get her out of my hair." Freesia laughs softly, nodding her head at K'vvan and smiling. As Teyaschianniarina enters, Freesia's smile warms and she gives the wingleader a nod as well as a small wave. Even though they met but briefly, Freesia's delight at seeing a familiar face is exuberant.

"Hey Sien…." K'vvan's less-than-grumpy greeting to one of the few sane people in the weyr is abruptly cut off when Teya sits down across from him. "What are you doing?" A pause, "sir?" Because she is a wingleader now. "You should sit with her," he cocks a thumb at Freesia while glowering. "She probably likes tea." In other words, go away Teya.

Sienna looks a bit surprised to see Teya here too, but she just nods to the other rider before she's smiling reassuringly at Freesia. "Oh, don't worry. You should never wait for me, sometimes I dawdle with the twins a bit." They're getting so /big/. Sigh. "How've you been?" Glancing over at K'vvan's table, she offers him an encouraging smile. Then she eavesdrops, like you do in tea houses.

Let's face it: enthusiastic greetings are totally great, so Teya responds to Freesia's smile with one of her own - but Sienna's engaging her, and K'vvan is engaging Teya, so. "Teya," she assures for the moment, "because I'm here on personal business, not professional. And I," she reaches to adjust her place-setting, just so, "am having tea with you."

Freesia doesn't bother to eavesdrop, she grins at K'vvan's suggestion and nods, "You're both welcome to join us," Freesia offers happily, quirking an eyebrow at Sienna, despite having already made the offer. "There's enough space for four, it looks like." Freesia picks up her veil and begins sliding over to maximize the use of the space at the small table. As she does so, she turns her attention back to Sienna. "How are the kids? Doing well with the Steens, as usual?"

"No you aren't." Because, seriously. K'vvan stares at the wingleader in confusion. "I'm here to drink some of this s*it without company." Why is he here again? One of the Steen girls does come over again to ask what he wants, "Something that'll help a headache." K'vvan snaps out, still staring at Teya.

Sienna scoots, then stops scooting, and eyes K'vvan. Slight gesture of her hand. C'mere. Then she's all smiles back to Freesia. "They're doing well. Growing so fast, it's exciting and yet sad. I can't wait until I can take them more places." Like…where, exactly? Places, that's where!
"Look, we're being invited to join them," Teya is doggedly cheerful without actually being obnoxiously chipper. "Because I am. I'm having tea with you, so help me, and you're gonna like it." She stares him down for a moment, then laughs and shakes her head. "—okay, you're probably not. But it's a favor. You wanna," she gestures toward the Freesia-Sienna collective.

Resistance is futile, K'vvan!

"You're nog f*king doing me a favor by drinking tea with me. Hey, you!" K'vvan will call out to one of those Steen girls who have decided to make themselves a bit more scarce than normal, "Can I get a new seat?" But alas for K'vvan, it seems that the tea room is suddenly popular, as there are no other seats. After one soft voice explains this to him K'vvan will give in with ill humor. "Whatever then."

Freesia is close to being obnoxiously chipper, and she shows no sign of disappointment at K'vvan's failure to join them immediately. She waves them over again, still smiling"How old do they have to be to ride a dragon?" Freesia questions with some confusion, "Don't they just have to be able to sit up and hold on to go places?"

Sienna makes room for the others to join them, and then she looks back to Freesia. "Well, they need to be sturdy enough to handle it. Bit of jerking around and all that. And they should be at least a turn before they go between. But soon. We'll go…somewhere. How've you been?" And again she glances at the others joining them, offering both a smile.

"I never said the favor was for you," Teya answers K'vvan, then leans over to tug him toward the other group. "Come on, if we move it frees up this table. You know Shea, right?" Of course he knows Shea. "We have a lot of opinions about tea."

"S*it," K'vvan swears under his breath as Teya says the S-word- Shea. "Not this sharding argument about Tea again, it isn't as good as Klan and it never will be. Sienna, tea or Klah. Seriously." K'vvan rounds about to look at that one sane person, still completely ignoring Freesia.

Freesia nods her head at Sienna, "Oh. I didn't know that. I've never touched a dragon, let alone ridden one." Freesia grins, shrugging her shoulders. How can one live in a Weyr and have avoided dragons entirely? Freesia simply spends her time with the riders behind closed doors, not out in the open bowl. "I'm very good. Business has been very good as well. Did you hear about Cleora? Left the profession and became one of the new female guard recruits." This tidbit of information is shared with the group as the others move over.

"Klah." No question from Sienna, as she sips her tea. "But tea is nice too. But I prefer klah." The end. "This is an…ongoing argument?" she asks slowly. Looking back at Freesia, she grins. "Really? Let me know if you'd ever like to go for a ride. Apparently Kehemath and I are quite enjoyable to ride." Wait. That came out wrong. SO wrong. "Glad you're good. Cleora? Ah, no, I hadn't heard that. Do you think she'll be a good guard?"

"Oh, no question." Wait, what's this? "But tea can be nice too, and Shea's my cousin, so. There's a whole loyalty thing involved in making sure you keep up with the whole trying-new-things … thing. Also, tea can be nice." Since they've been invited, it's totally not being a creeper when she considers Freesia for a long moment, and then says, "You know. If you'd like to touch a dragon, I can make that happen." Technically all three of them can, but. Teya's the one offering.

"Tea is for when you're sick. Only." Oh look, a cup of tea delivered by one of those little ghosts appears at K'vvan's elbow. He sweeps it up in his hands and sips at it, wrinkling his nose against the bitter taste. "Stuff takes like crap." Finally Freesia gets looked at. "She wouldn't be totally crappy at touching a dragon." Whatever that means.

"I'm sure you are, Sienna," Freesia chuckles, giving an exaggerated wink to the greenrider. "I think she's very dedicated. I saw her this morning and she was very happy with her new take on life." Freesia blinks at the klah-agreement, shaking her head with a laugh, "Tea all the way. There are so many different flavors, you never get bored. Klah is not bad, but tea offers more variety." At Teya's offer, Freesia, pauses and shakes her head slowly. "Oh, I'm good, thank you for your kind offer." Living this long without contact, Freesia is actually a little scared to get up close to a dragon now.

Sienna gives Teya a curious look. "So why are you forcing your company on K'vvan?" She's missing something, clearly. Glancing at the other greenrider, then she glances at Freesia and blushes a bit. "Ah, thanks."

Sienna gives Teya a curious look. "So why are you forcing your company on K'vvan?" She's missing something, clearly. Glancing at the other greenrider, then she glances at Freesia and blushes a bit. "Ah, thanks. I'm glad she's doing well."

"…you know you can put sweetener in it, right, and you don't have to drink it straight if it's not to your taste?" This is leveled at K'vvan, Teya's expression both genuinely curious and, you know, helpful. Like maybe K'vvan is just tea illiterate or something. It's a bit distracted, though, as is her, "Like I said, it's a favor," in response to Sienna. That's because she's shifting on her seat so she can get a hand inside her pocket as she says, "No, hang on, see. I need to make that happen, because it's apparently important," and probably has a lot to do with the white knot being pulled out and extended toward the only non-rider in their group. "Freesia, I need to ask you to Stand for Elicheritath's clutch."

"Because Shea is a sharding annoying idiot." K'vvan mutters under his breath, as he sips at the tea again. Gross. Putting sugar in it MIGHT HELP, but that might also ruin trying-new-things. "There's a gold egg this time. So there needs to be lots of women to stand."

Freesia nods along with Teya, until she pulls out the knot. "Uhm. But I don't know anything about dragons…. What would I do?" She half-argues, half-questions. Her eyes go from person to person, not sure what to do.

"A favor for who?" Sienna asks, before she's stopping and blinking at that white knot, and then looking at Freesia in surprise. "You can learn," she says gently to her tea-friend. "If you're interested in the possibility of being a dragonrider. We Search folks without any weyr experience at all, so that's normal. There are lessons, that won't be an issue."

"We need candidates regardless," is Teya rolling her eyes at K'vvan? Teya is totally rolling her eyes at K'vvan, "of whether or not there's a gold egg, which there is, but also Ryglinath would really especially, apparently, somewhat insistently actually like you to Stand, this time, and that's the whole point of candidacy, too, so that it's not a bunch of completely clueless idiots dumped out onto the Sands come hatching day, you'll be fine." She exteeeeends the knoooooooot. Take it. Take iiiiit. "Trust me."

"Take the sharding knot so I can walk you up to the weyr and don't have to drink this swill any more." K'vvan grumbles, as he puts his cup down on the table in front of him. "The gold egg," here he EYES Teya, "should have plenty of choices. "

Freesia stares at Teyaschianniarina, but slowly extends her hand for the knot. "Thank you?" Her voice rises in a definate questioning tone at the end, as she's still not sure about this thing. "What if they don't like me?" The normally confident prostitute's questions sound like a hold bred tweenager.

Sienna reaches out to try and gently touch Freesia's arm, giving it a squeeze if the young woman doesn't flinch away. "You'll be fine," she encourages. "And I'll be there with you, through the whole thing. And if you don't impress, you get to come back here with another grand life experience." Her question to Teya is ignored, and Sienna doesn't press it, instead focusing on the Search happening. She does try to nudge K'vvan under the table though, with a look.

"The eggs need plenty of choices, they all do." Teya isn't letting this one go, apparently, but she does look pleased when Freesia actually accepts the knot. She folds it into the former prostitute's hand, and looks pleased with herself. "I Stood twice before I Impressed Ryggles," she adds, cheerful once again. "So you never know, really. We'll get you all set up." And, because she can: she uses her now-free hand to pick up a spoon so she can scoop some sweetener into K'vvan's cup; she stirs, taps the edge of the cup with the spoon before putting it down, and says, "There, try that."

Freesia sets her own hand atop Sienna's, giving her a squeeze back and a grateful smile. "Thank you, Sienna." The AWLM makes it sound not that shocking, but there is the matter of her boss. "I guess I should let Rosie know. I hope she will hold my room." Has this even happened to Rosie's… employees… before? Surely it must have. K'vvan's insistence draws Freesia's attention and she flinches slightly at the idea of the gold egg.

Knot accepted, K'vvan is so not going to lose his really good excuse to get the hell out of here. "I'm not going to //bite her Sienna." He mutters then shoves himself up and reaches over for her. "You're on of those f*king prostitutes?" A moment of silence. "I guess there isn't much difference between goldrider and whore anyway. Let's go. You can tell Rosie after I get you set up in the barracks." He heads over to the door and opens it up, lets go woman.

Sienna blushes slightly at the mention of Rosie's. "Remind me, I've got a question to ask you later," she murmurs to the new Candidate. She squeezes her hand again with another smile and is about to say something more when K'vvan is going all K'vann-y. "K'vvan," she says, her tone a little sharp.

"The Weyr can inform her," Teya offers, with another eyeroll at K'vvan for his refusal to DRINK THE DAMN DOCTORED TEA ALREADY, IT'S GOOD. "I'm sure you're not the first of her girls to be asked to Stand." The bluerider gets eyed HARD for his comments, and the usually-diplomatic wingleader says, "Wow, K'vvan, you are the actual worst. I can take you, Freesia, if you'd rather. I apologize," yeah, she's going there, "for his rude-ass mouth."

The former prostitute simply stares after K'vvan for a moment, before clumsily jumping to her feet, tangling her toes in her skirts. Freesia's usually so graceful and practiced at rising from these cushions. Detangling herself, Freesia turns back with a wide-eyed look and a timid wave to Sienna and Teya. "It's ok. I'm used to worse." Freesia adds, her voice sounding more like herself again.

"At least I'm not trying to f*ck with her." Teya gets one last glare, "and tea still sucks. If you want good food," and while waiting for Freesia to exit the door, "ask Sienna for her cheese and crackers. Those are worth eating. With a sharding cup of klah." The door might get slammed shut after him.

Sienna shakes her head a little bit at Teya. "She should probably inform her employer herself. No reason to deny her that." She'll be sure to let Freesia know that she can do that. "And get her things." Lifting her mug of tea, she takes a slow sip and watches K'vvan and Freesia go, and then exhales a soft sigh. "He was in a bad mood." No, y'think?

"Oh, honey, no," Teya says, her voice kind but her expression more than a little bit mulish, "just because you're used to it doesn't mean you need to keep putting up with that kind of abuse. Is Teya standing anyway? Teya's standing anyway, because, "Ryglinath wants to see her, you ass." She shakes her head at Sienna as she makes for the door herself after leaving marks on the table to pay for both cups of tea. "It's the Weyr's business, making it official. She can still go get her stuff, though."

Sienna is left alone. Sadness. The end.

Candidate Barracks
Hopes, dreams, and fears are contained in these cramped quarters, full of small cots and smaller trunks; thin ragged curtains barely provide privacy between the bunks, shining patches in the material suggesting one too many mending attempts. The minimal floor space is kept clear of debris and personal possessions, wide enough for a single broad table often used for study in the art of dragon care. Here, too, humidity has gathered into high corners, running down the walls and creating a slightly unpleasant atmosphere of damp and mildew. Near the entrance, one cubby exists, large enough to contain a bit of luxury for an adult overseer of the candidates, and a desk — for once in reasonable shape — is set to the left of the entrance, conveniently placed for the monitoring of comings and goings.

K'vvan will grumpily lead the way up to the weyr in stony silence, not making any more awkward allusions to the woman's profession. As he swings open the candidate barracks door he glances around to see if Mayte or the redhead from the other night is here. Seeing neither he shrugs. "Rules. No sex, not for anything, no drinking and you go out with an escort from now on. Because you're not a f*king whore any more."

Freesia follows K'vvan in silence as well, but she gasps at the rules. "An escort?!" This is far more surprising than being asked to Stand, surprising as that was. "What kind of escort?" There's no objection to the lack of sex, or even K'vvan's crude words. Freesia is used to people disparaging her career, including those who partake of their services. But she's used to walking the meanest streets of the bazaar alone, why would she need an escort?

"Just if you go off weyr land. The bazaar and whatever is open. If you go anywhere else, you have to go with a rider." K'vvan looks around once more at the scene before him. Grumpyness is allll over the place. "You'll eat in the caverns we passed on our way. Keep that knot on and people will assume you don't know anything. Yeah." K'vvan adds the last interjection almost just to himself before he's turning around. "Sienna's a good one to answer your questions too. Or that stupid Teya." And then the greenrider is out. Out the door and on his way out of sight.

Freesia nods her head, her shock fading at K'vvan's words. When the greenrider leaves, Freesia gives a good look around the room and sits down on the nearest empty cot, dazed.

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