Tour and Talk

Writers: Anwen, Eimi
Date Posted: 4th July 2006

Characters: U'kaiah, Maiz
Description: Chat while U'kaiah gives Maiz a tour.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 8 of Turn 3

"All right Maiz, are you ready for your tour now?"
U'kaiah asked when she opened the door to her weyr.

"I guess so," she said, a bit tentatively. "I just have to put on shoes. You can come in while I do, if you'd like."

"Thank you," he said, sliding through the door into her room. "It looks like you've gotten far in your unpacking."

"Almost completely done," Maiz confirmed, as she went to a drawer for socks. "It still needs a few more personal touches, but it feels more like 'home' with everything unpacked rather than scattered about."

"Is there anything you need?" the bronzerider asked as he glanced around the weyr, looking at shelves and bare walls. "We could stop by a storeroom or two if there is something you can think of."

She glanced around, "Nothing essential really. I'd like some curtains, maybe a few things for the walls."
With socks now on, she slipped her feet into a pair of clogs and got up. "Ready when you are."

"I'm just waiting on you," he smiled. "What do you want to see first?"

Maiz considered. "I suppose whatever is pertinent to daily life and is nearest to here. No sense in starting farthest away, is there?"

"I suppose not. The kitchens, then?" he asked, opening the door for her.

"Sounds good," she agreed.

They walked in silence for several minutes. Finally, Maiz broke it with a question that had been nagging her. "Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked U'kaiah. "Its not that I don't appreciate it or anything... but, why so nice to a total stranger?"

"Habit, I guess," he chuckled. "I used to always be the first bronze to welcome a new greenrider to the Weyr. Then again, I used to have them back at my _own_ weyr by now."

The young woman wasn't certain what to say to that.
"What's different now?" she settled on saying.

U'kaiah thought about it a moment. To be honest, he had been thinking about it a lot. "I'm not sure.
Maybe I'm... growing up. Or maybe not. I don't know."

Maiz shook her head, "You sound pretty confused about it yourself."

"I don't know," the bronzerider smiled, "Maybe I was always confused about myself. I just now noticed. I mean, do you have yourself figured out already?"

"No, not really. My life's been too confusing to have myself figured out. I was raised to be a good holdbred girl... but what does that make me now?"

"A good holdbred rider?"

Maiz laughed. "You're not holdbred, are you? To a holder nothing about weyrlife is 'good'. We're all uncivilized in their minds."

"No, I am most definitely Weyrbred," U'kaiah chuckled.
"But bring a holder to the Weyr and it certainly doesn't seem to take them long to change their minds about our way of life."

"Perhaps, if you get them young enough. But somehow I can't see my parents ever approving of weyrlife. Of course, that is assuming that anyone could ever drag them to a Weyr."

"Yes, I suppose that's true. They didn't even come for your Impression?" the bronzerider asked curiously.

Maiz shook her head. "I never even said good-bye to them before leaving for the Weyr. They probably don't know where I am. But I'm one of ten children and a girl- unimportant by their thinking."

"Oh, well, that's very unfortunate." Though it wasn't the first time the bronzerider had heard a story like that. "Do you miss them?"

"There was never any affection between me and my parents, so no, I don't miss them." There was no sadness or bitterness in her voice; she was simply stating how things were. "I was close to a few of my sisters and brothers- I miss them."

"Have you thought about visiting them?"

This upset her slightly. "I think it would only cause trouble."

U'kaiah shrugged. "You would know better than I would. But its too bad you can't see them."

"Do you have siblings?" she asked.

He shook his head. "None that I know of. I was raised by a foster mother. Dragonsfall, my foster mother, and my son are the only family I know. Well, I suppose I could also could a few other people who have moved on." Syntara and Trae immediately came to mind.

"How old is your son?" Maiz asked. The thought of children made her miss her two boys who were still at Vista Point. "Six turns," U'kaiah replied with a tender smile. "He'll be seven in a couple months."

"I have twin boys," she admitted, a bit shyly. If she wanted to keep her past behind her, how much information was too much? "They had their first birthing day a few weeks ago."

"Nice," the bronzerider smiled. "Did you bring them with you?"

Maiz shook her head. "They're fostered at Vista Point.
I want them here with me, but their father..." she trailed off, realizing she was saying more than she had intended to.

"Well, surely there is a way to arbitrate an agreement about the children. But at least you can visit them whenever you like," he said reassuringly.

"I only just moved here. Things just haven't been worked out yet," she said it more to assure herself than to inform U'kaiah of the situation.

"Well, here is the kitchen," the bronzerider said, pointing toward the door from which delicious smells flowed. "Why don't we grab some klah and a snack?" And perhaps it could chase away a bit of the homesickness it seemed she felt.

"Klah sounds wonderful."

Last updated on the July 5th 2006

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Tour and Talk