Tolia is so engrossed in some musty old hide that she doesn't even seem to notice Kaeryn's entrance. Her fingers tap, deep in concentration, noiselessly on her knee.

"Careful, or you're going to wind up like me," Kae points out softly from the doorway, as she bends down to her daughter on the floor to let her explore, which she does. In an instant, Brencia is scooting across the floor, straight for Oli's feet.

Tolia jumps a good fingerlength directly up, eyes wide even as she then collapses back onto the couch, breathless and hand over her pounding heart. "Faranth, Kae!" she exclaims. "Knock, or something!" She sighs, exhaling to calm herself again. "Shells and shards. Hello, Brencia!" she finally grins, bending over to ruffle the girl's hair.

"Since when did I need to knock to come into the lounge?" Kae replies dryly as she moves the rest of the way into the room, riding jacket draped over one arm and a bag full of 'baby things' draped over the other. "Thought you wouldn't mind a visit, especially with the rate this little one's growing."

Tolia shakes her head without taking her attention from her small cousin. "I don't mind. You scared me, though. It's a wonder I didn't just keel over right here," she adds with a crooked smile. "Isn't that right, Brennie? Wouldn't you like to see cousin Oli go *thump* on the couch?"

Brencia crawls across the floor, pausing here and there to look at something that is particularly interesting to the eye of a 9 month old, and scooting along again. When she reaches her cousin's feet, and has her hair mussed, the little one reaches up, little fingers curling and uncurling as they reach for Oli's hands. "Mmmmmmmmmr!" she announces proudly, giving a mouthy smile.

Tolia laughs lightly. "Aye, isn't that so. C'mon up here and say that, will ye?" She reaches to pull Brencia up onto the couch with her. "You _are_ getting big!" She looks up at Kaeryn. "What've you been feeding this kid?"

A proud smile touches Kae's lips as she moves to the couch nearest Oli and settles down, dropping both the bag and the jacket to the floor nearby. "Real food, thank goodness," she replies, digging into her bag and pulling out a smaller one filled with cookies, offering them to Oli, but holding them up higher than Bren's reach. "She's actually able to eat more 'adult food' than you'd think, as long as it's soft. The cookies, she only likes the ones Annly makes, because they're soft enough to suck on."

Brencia's brown eyes light up as the cookies are passed just beyond her reach, her little chubby fingers reaching up for the bag, mouth working as though preparing for one of the yummy snacks. "Brrrrrra!" she calls out enthusiastically as she pulls herself into a stand position on the couch, using the back of the furniture to steady her.

"She's nearly talking, too, isn't she?" Oli holds her hands out, ready to be used as an emergency support if necessary. "You look like you're holding up pretty well, too, Mom."

"I think we're all doing pretty well," Kae admits, the usual blue sparkle back in her eyes and her cheeks slightly flushed with health. "Bren stays with a nanny some of the days while I work or rest, and we spend the rest of the time together. We take care of each other." One hand is lifted and held behind Bren as she walks across the couch, going from mother to cousin and back, "She's been doing this for a while now, and talking, I wouldn't be surprised if she just bursts into song one of these days."

Tolia smiles broadly. "See, I knew you'd do just fine." She retrieves the hide from where she dropped it in her initial fright, calling to the baby. "Hey, Brenci, have I got something for you!" She gropes the couch behind her; failing that, she rummages beneath the cushion until she finds a pair of felt mallets. "Take a look, aren't these fun?" In an easy grip, she drums a muffled roll on the side table.

Brencia's eyes open wide as the mallets are produced, and her hands reach out towards Oli when she begins rolling them on the table. Unfortunately, this means she released her grip on the back of the sofa, and in return, falls to the cushions with an 'uhn!' This doesn't stop her for long though, as she rolls over and squirms toward Oli on all fours.

Tolia winks to Kaeryn. "I'll make a drummer out of her yet," she promises. "Here, you try," she offers one of the mallets to the baby, showing her by example how to thwop it on the cushions of the couch.

Brencia rolls over into a seated position before taking the mallet into both of her hands. After watching the demonstration for several moments, she does what any child her age would do...and begins to chew on it.

Laughing and shaking her head, Kae just lifts her shoulders, "She's teething, what can I say? T'rell had to get a new jacket because she nearly chewed right through the old one. Worse than a canine pup." With a practiced eye, she continues to watch her daughter but is able to glance around the room as well, "How're things? And people?"

Tolia tries more encouragment. "C'mon, Bren, you know you've got rhythm just trying to pound its way out o' ye." thunk-thunk. She gently removes her mallet from the girl's wet mouth and knocks on it with the other for a sharp click. "Oh, pretty good. I've gotten into the hang of things again, learned which masters and journeymen to avoid..." this last, she says in a softer voice.

Tolia lowers her voice even further. "Speaking of which..." she murmurs to Kaeryn, eyes slightly dancing as she jokes. All innocence, she smiles and waves to Kurt. "Afternoon," she calls brightly.

Kurt blinks. Were they talking about him? "Hi...how's it going? "

Kae winks and nods, understanding Oli's point completely, "It always takes a time to learn *that* part of being a journeyman, but sooner or later..." she trails, giving Kurt a nod and a smile. "Of course, Marius has written that he's ready to return home, not that I can blame him. Winter in the 'reaches area is a bit cold, especially compared to Ista."

Kurt huhs. "What part of being a Journeyman is that? Oh, is that yours?" hee. a baby?

Brencia watches the mallets for a moment longer, before her attention is pulled away to the creature with funny hair. "Mmmmmmmrbbb!" the little one giggles, showing off her tiny white teeth before reaching out for Oli's 'toys' again.

"Yeah, you're telling *me* it's cold up there. Why, I used to have to go find lost beasts eight miles away, barefoot, in the snow..." Oli teases. "Hey, Kurt, haven't you met Brencia yet? She's my little cousin," she adds with familial pride. "I'm teaching her to be a drummer, see."

Kurt's dark eyes widen and he pulls back slightly. "Woah. Is she ok?" he asks. Obviously he doesn't have much experience with children, infants at least. Children that can walk and talk sure, but an infant to him is totally alien.

"Just as her father's teaching her to be a 'rider, her other cousin is teaching her to be a farmer, and I'm teaching her to be an artist," Kae winks at Oli and nods at Kurt as she digs around in the bag filled with 'baby things' once again, producing a small ring of soft chewable material, which she presents to the little one. "She's fine, just trying to talk, but not quite saying anything comprehensible yet.

Tolia encourages the baby to hit non-breakable things with her drum mallets all the while she laughs with Kaeryn. "So she'll be an artistic drummer-gardener rider. What's the matter, Kurt, never seen a little person before?"

Kurt blinks. "Huh? No...not really...no new ones, anyway."

"We all start out that way at one time or another," Oli reasons, then pauses, startled. "Though I don't think I really want to try thinking about some of the Masters that way." She mock-shivers. "Scary thought."

"I think I'd really kind of prefer that she *isn't* a rider," Kae admits with a rueful grin and a shrug of her shoulders. "As much as I love her father, and I'm getting used to him putting his life on the line all the time, the idea of *her* doing it," she cringes and shakes her head, "No thank you."

Tolia flashes Kaeryn a sudden grin, though she nods seriously to Brencia and tells the girl, "You don't want to be a 'rider and worry mom, right?" She tousles the child's soft curls affectionately, watching her with the mallets.

"I know, it's not my place to say what she will or won't, can or can't do," Kae shakes her head as she reaches out to push the mallets downward, once Bren decides to flail them around just a little higher than necessary to 'play'. "But I guess part of me is scared that, with a bronzerider for a father, it's in her to *be* a rider. I dread 'fall days as it is, imagine if I had two of them out at once."

Tolia shakes her head, flipping her light hair back to stuff it behind an ear while ducking Brencia's flailing mallets. "Nah. He comes from a family of holders, anyway. He's a fluke," she insists. "Right, Kurt?"

"I suppose T'rell and Sejith would know the answer to that better than I could imagine, so, in the meantime, I'll just wait," Kae lifts her shoulders into a shrug, and relaxes, allowing herself to slip down into the cushions of the couch, her head resting against the back of it. "I've many turns between now and time to worry about that, anyway, right?"

Tolia nods reassuringly. "Ouch. No bopping people with those," she instructs the baby, trying to redirect the girl's attention from her knee. "Only things. See, *things* make funny noises when you bop them." She grins across the couch at Kaeryn, pleased to have her mentor back in conversation's reach again. "Oh, hey, I wanted to show you what I found the other day," she suddenly recalls enthusiastically. "I got stuck in the archives for something else, and found this amazing old piece of music..." She looks around at the piles of hides and slates, both hers and other journeymen's work, seeking to uncover her treasure.

Kae laughs, a soft, easy sound, echoing of the way this harper was when she was a new journeyman herself. "You don't think you make 'funny noises' when she bops you?" she teases, giving her a wink and a smile, "After all, you 'ouch', the couch just thumps, but... oh, what's that?" Interest is captured and she leans over to see what Oli's trying to find.

Tolia finally uncovers a very dirty sheaf of faded hides. "It was done by a journeyman here at Ista three Passes ago, from the look of it," she explains, handing it over to Kaeryn. "I thought you'd be interested because it calls for flute obligato along with chorus and percussion." She grins. "I'm hoping maybe we can perform it, doesn't it look neat?"

"Oooh," Kae's eyes light up as the old hide is passed into her hands, and she handles it with the touch of a person that has a great deal of experience with old, tattered hides. "That sounds like a marvelous idea, truly. A chance for us to work together again, hmm?"

Tolia nods, her smile bright. "And maybe get some of the weyr's students and the hold's students together for a change, what do you think?" Grand schemes are this young woman's specialty. "And the song combines hold and hall and weyr, too. Read the lyrics," she points to the score, impatient. "They're inspired. Ouch!" She rubs her knee, which just got bopped my a mallet again. "Definitely a drummer, Kae," she decides, now rueful.

Soft blue eyes scan the hide which is held in her hands, leaving Kae quiet for a long moment, brushing Oli's fingers away as they get in the way of her reading. A hand is held up, with one finger extended, motioning for Oli to hold on a moment. When she's done reading, she glances up and grins, "Maybe she's just rebelling and wants you to feel her pain? and you're right, they are inspired."

"She's a little young to be rebelling, isn't she? I didn't start that until I was at least a turn," Oli protests. "But isn't the setting great, too? I don't know why we haven't heard it before, but it seems like it just got lost in the archives," she shrugs. "I don't think it'd be hard to perform, either."

"But what would we perform it for? Turns End, perhaps?" Kae runs a finger along the score, looking over the flute part with interest.

Tolia shrugs. "Sure, that sounds good. It'd give us enough time to practice a bit, too," she adds. Convenient, really.

"Though if we really want to do it right," Oli reconsiders, "Maybe we should take some more time and put together a children's chorus and stuff. See the middle section, with the double-chorus? Wouldn't that just be amazing with kids on the high chorus?" She bites her lower lip, eyes sparkling in anticipation.

"I don't know when the last time was that I've seen you this enthusiastic about something," Kae grins as she brushes Oli's fingers away from the hide once again so she can continue to study the flute piece within the composition. "That would be nice though, yes," she is forced to agree."

Tolia grins at her mentor, keeping her hands sedately in her lap -- well, okay, not sedately, but they're out of Kaeryn's way. "Hey, there's a new apprentice around the hall who might be a good singer, a boy. I think he's an alto. That's one..." she counts off, "And I bet Faisal would do it if we twisted his arm. That kid spends way too much time in the archives," she adds critically. "How many kids do you think we could get between here and the weyr, Kae? You know the kids there."

"Depends on whether we can get them from following the weyrlings around or not," Kae shakes her head, showing that she really isn't sure. "There's a pair of girls that have really sweet voices, and a boy, about 9, who has a voice like none I've ever heard before. Of course, *he* wants to be a healer, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like to sing." The hide is returned to Oli so she can paw it as much as she wants, and Kae closes her eyes, letting Oli keep Brencia and her new toys out of trouble for a while.

Tolia rolls her eyes at the healer comment. "Maybe he'll get grossed out before too long in the healer classes and go to harpering instead," she suggests; wishful thinking. She takes the hide back, flipping it a middle page. "We'll need a few more drums -- I don't think we really make this kind anymore, but I found a reference on it, and I think I can do it," she adds, babbling on, "but the main thing is getting together two choruses, and they at least don't have to be big."

Brencia's tiny hand is lifted to her mouth, two of her fingers finding their way into her mouth, which she suckles, leaving the mallet on the couch for Oli to reclaim. Crawling, somewhat wobbly with only one arm, she reaches her mother's lap and curls up in it, falling to sleep almost instantly. Kae runs her hand over her daughter's dark curls and gives Oli a bittersweet smile, "I'm sorry, I wasn't really listening, I was just....dreaming."

Tolia looks up again from the hide, cocking her head curiously. "Tired? I guess it is getting late," she realizes, mostly from the fact that the common room has been pretty deserted for a while.

"Me? No, but Bren, she's had a long day," Kae's fingers gently touch her daughters soft cheek and shakes her head before resting it against the pillowy sofa back and smiling at Tolia, "When I'm here, it's hard for me to not think about how much has happened to me since the time I actually lived here. Just makes me a little...dreamy, maybe a little sad."

"Sad?" Oli raises her eyebrows and smiles. "Not when you've got that little bundle of happiness around," she points out. "But you're welcome to bring her here so I can enjoy her anytime you like," she suggests, with a twinkle in her eye. "I'll have her grading slates for me in no time."

Kaeryn carefully gathers her daughter up into her arms, tucking the blanket around her and getting to her feet before answering, "I miss being an apprentice sometimes, though. Life was so much simpler then, and, when you look at the memories I had in this room alone," she pauses, her blue gaze shifting around the room, pausing at the doors to two of the rooms before looking at Oli again, "it can be a little hard. Makes me glad to not be posted here, not that I really gave them a choice as to where I was going." Bag and jacket are both claimed and slipped over her arm with practiced ease and she moves toward the door, "Time to get myself and Bren back to the weyr so I can get her into bed. We'll be back soon though, promise."

"As soon as *you* can convince the Masters to give us time off, *we* can take a vacation," Kae agrees, giving Oli a wink and a smile before turning and slipping out the door and down the stairs.

"I'm on it!" Oli calls after Kaeryn with a laugh.

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