Family Reunion

Participants:

Favol.jpg Nenienne.jpg

Date: 01 May 2011
Location: Eastern Weyr: Living Cavern
Synopsis: Favol checks in to the Weyr, and one of the first people he meets turns out to be familiar.
Rating: G
Logger: Nenienne

The main Living Cavern at Eastern Weyr is a near replica of the "Lower Bowl" in shape. It is circular, with ceilings sloping up into a gentle cone shape. There are a few stalactites hanging from the ceiling, from which the Weyr's few firelizards may perch. Between these, there are a few inverted "hills", showing exactly how quickly the workmen finished this job. It lends an eerie quietness to the place, as the features cut the sound more effectively. The glowbaskets on the walls highlight the tables of all shapes and sizes around the room. The Head Table appears to be more traditional in place and kind, but the rest of the tables are variable. The east side of the room boasts larger rectangle tables suitable for whole groups of riders, while the middle holds smaller circular tables more appropriate for a family with children. The west side of the room has small square tables which often double as gaming tables on lazy days and most evenings.

Near the Head table, off to the East side, the double doors of the kitchen swing open. Near those doors, two long rectangular tables are set up for food and drink service. On the eastern and western sides of the room, the stairs lead up to parallel hallways which connect to the rest of the Weyr. A third, smaller set of stairs at the southernmost end of the cavern leads to the Weyr Entrance.


It's mid-afternoon, about evenly between lunch and dinner. Most of the people are kitchen workers cleaning up from the former or preparing for the latter, but as usual there is some food available for those who can't make the normal mealtimes and, more importantly, a klah pot. The latter is what the Journeyman Smith is heading for. Neni looks a little peaked, drained of color, as she pours herself a mug with trembling hands and heads over toward an empty table, holding her mug as if to warm up her hands.

Favol only just arrived this morning and was kept busy throughout the early and afternoon hours touring the main grounds and the pens and stables for the animals whom will be occupying most of his time. By sheer goodwill he was given the evening off to settle in before it's right back to work at dawn, but Favol's dark-circled eyes suggests he'll need a bit more to recover from the grueling travel and startling change of scenery. What does he need now? Food and drink, anything hearty and filling. He's starving and some comfort food would do a world of good, even if comfort food must be sacrificed for scavenging the snacks and leftovers. He can be seen blinking as he enters the main cavern, eyes taking in the vast interior and seeming discomforted by the underground space even as his nose aims him for the food. So absorbed is he in observing the place he has yet to spy his sister.

Nenienne takes a few sips of klah and her color begins to return, even as her hands shake a little less. Now she looks around and spies the newcomer. "Hello," she says, her voice pitched to be heard over the bustle, "Are you lost?"

Favol quickly muffles his owlish-eyed expression as he jerks his head to focus on the sounds of the greeting. "Oh..uh…" He begins, one side of his mouth pulling tighter as he shifts his eyes to one side and then the other before he jerks a finger towards the tables of offered food. "Ah! That, actually! I'm starving." He says as he offers up a sheepish grin.
GAME: Save complete.

Nenienne ahs. "This time of day the stew is usually the best bet," she offers, by way of advice. Then she returns to guzzling klah.

"Sounds good to me. Right now, a strip of old tanned leather would sound edible." Favol remarks as he moves for the food without further ado, locating the said stew and gathering himself a large bowl and several crusty rolls. No fruits or veggies, he's a meat and potatoes kind of guy.

Nenienne nods and says, "I can never eat just after going *between*. Thank goodness for klah." Which she finishes off, and gets up to pour herself another mugful, with plenty of milk.

Favol collects up a mug for himself, though it's hair-raisingly black, and finds himself a seat to settle down the armful of food. "Nothing better. I think the world would stop turning if we ever ran out of klah. Or worse, everyone would be so crazy it'd start going backwards. It'll help me adapt, though. I've never been in a Weyr before… it's… something."

Nenienne's expression is sympathetic as she nods. "Tell me about it. I arrived here for my first posting in the middle of the night, and that's the sanest I've seen this place." She sits back down and gestures to the empty seats nearby.

Favol furrows his brows as he mumbles a, "W'ry? P'race 'et w'eerd?" around a mouthful of roll he dunked in the stew. It's not just a furrow, though, but an odd expression of bewildered curiosity as the left brow scrunched in close while the right is raised up high. It's a skewed look on his face, and one that he's done since childhood, a sort of signature display of concern.

Nenienne shakes her head. "Sorry, I didn't understand what you said." She furrows her brows in her standard gesture of confusion. For now, she drinks more klah.

Favol swallows the mouthful of food before he clears his throat with a swig of klah, repeating his question. "I asked why? Why was it the sanest you've seen? Is crazy the normal around here."

Nenienne says decisively, "Yes. I've heard it's more so here because the Weyr is still relatively new. And being built, in some cases. When I was searched I had to help dig the lake, for instance." She pauses, then adds, "It may just be how stolid the Smithcraft Hall was, but it's crazy busy here at all hours. By the by, I'm Neni."

Favol tips his chin in an understanding nod, "Ah. I gotcha. Yah, I suppose everything being brand new and untested would make things complicated and difficult, like trying to break a new colt." Her name brings that furrows expression again. "Neni? Hm. My sister has a name like that." The last he saw her was when he was a child and the memories of her face are foggy, but something nags at him and he says, "…and she's here at Eastern. That isn't short for /Nenienne/, is it?"

Nenienne blinks, then studies the newcomer more closely. "Favol?" she guesses.

A massive smile breaks the young man's face as he rises up off his seat, eyes bright as he lays eyes on his sister for the first in a long time. "HAH! I was going to come looking for you after I ate, but here I got saved the trip. Sorry I couldn't come sooner… apprenticeship kept me busy. Mom and dad said you were doing good though."

Nenienne nods ruefully. "I remember how busy it kept *me*." She studies him more closely and adds, "You've grown. I think you were barely walking the last time I saw you."

"Oh, sounds about right." The brown-haired adolescent remarks with a lopsided grin. Favol further remarks, "Though don't think I haven't forgotten everything, even if I was still drooling on myself at the time."

Nenienne looks completely innocent. "What would there be to forget? It was your sister and brother who I didn't like."

"Pah!" Remarks Favol with a dismissing wave of his hand, old memories banished. "Oh they're not so bad. We're all older, wiser… most of the time."
Favol

Nenienne says, "Sounds good to me," with a bland expression. She seems to be back to normal now, no longer shaking or quite so pale. "So, I've lost track. What are you up to these days?"

"Not much." Favol remarks as he sits back down so he can eat before it gets cold, gesturing with his hand for her to sit with him. "It's dawn-to-dusk apprenticeship with the Beastcraft. What with having the farm and all, it seemed the most logical choice. I was always good with the animals and didn't sprout any other unusual talents, so, it's where I ended up. Mom and dad weren't thrilled with me leaving home too, but, once all is said and done I'd like to go back and help improve things."

Nenienne gets herself a half-bowl of stew and a roll, plus a klah refill, then sits down by Favol. "I still sometimes go to see the animals is the stables," she admits sheepishly. "Although I'll take shiny rocks over them any day."

Favol chuckles, "Mom said you always loved the shiny things. I hope you're doing good, though. I suppose it's something, really, for three of four children of a backwater cothold to all get proper apprenticeships. I know dad's proud, even if he never said it much."

Nenienne nods, then says, "I still write to them on occasion. I'm hoping when some of the Weyrlings graduate, I might even get back to the cothold to visit them."

Favol cracks a lopsided grin as he soaks another roll in the stew, "I'd like to see them soon, though, I know that's not going to happen until I walk the tables. Letters only do so much."

Nenienne hmmmms. "True, although I've not gotten a chance to go back since hitting journeyrank. Although perhaps with the Beastcraft it's different; it's not like they need a lot of Smiths at the cothold."

"True," Remarks Favol with a bob of his spoon instead of his nod before he occupies it carrying stew to his mouth. "I don't forsee any trouble going back home once I'm a journeyman, but, who knows. Things change. Maybe they'll find a rich mineral vein and suddenly they'll need you more than me."

Nenienne snickers. "Nah, they'd need Miners, not me. Stones aren't shiny until the Miners have polished them up." she is, as usual, not smiling, though her tone is sly.

Favol relents with a nod of his head and a grunt, "True. Still, it doesn't mean you can't visit at least. I'm sure you'll go home before me, at any rate. I'm stuck here, learning the apparent fine art of husbandry in a Weyr. I suppose it would be complicated, considering the place is filled with giant dragons who'd gladly eat the livestock, and the act of keeping the herds healthy enough yet everyone well fed."

Nenienne considers this, then nods. "It's especially hard to fatten them up when they're so jittery due to the proximity of the dragons." Neni finishes her stew and sops up the last bit with her roll, then gets up. "I should get back to work — jewelry classes at Landing take out time I need to do Smith stuff around here. It was good to see you again, though I imagine we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the coming months."

Favol nods enthusiastically as he polishes off his food. "Oh it has to be! I guess I'm here to learn how they pull it off." There is a brief flicker of regret as she states she needs to go, but it brightens up quickly as he says, "I'm sure we will. I'm stuck here for awhile, so I'll be around! I'm glad to have found you, it's been too long, Neni. Seeya around, sis."



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