Living Cavern (#4190)
The smooth, rounded walls of the vast living cavern sweep upward from an oval base, two dragonlengths long and one wide, large enough to seat every member of the Weyr at mealtimes. The soft blackness of the lava which forms these caverns swallows glowlight, so shelves for glowbaskets abound, dotting the walls every three or four paces and casting gentle greenish light up toward the sparkles of gold volcanic glass embedded in the ceiling. Ancient lustrous tables run along the long axis of the cavern, and at the far end is the raised dais and high table, where the Weyrleaders and their honored guests eat during formal occasions. Behind the high table, the Weyr's symbol is chiseled into the stone: a smoking mountain in black, on an orange shield, trimmed in gold.

"Evening, Weyrharper," Kita greets formally, her slight form bent over a table, her face close to the surface as she examines a puddle on top. "Couldn't sleep?"

Kaeryn is lead into the kitchen by a very small child who happens to be tugging on her hand. "'Cia, careful now, or you'll trip and fall," she instructs her daughter, releasing the child's hand before giving Kita a grin, "I could sleep just *fine*, but Brencia decided she had to have juice, and in her demands, she woke Ish. I usually keep a pitcher in our weyr, but we're all out, so it was time for a partial-family outing."

"At this time of night?" Kita grins, finally straightening up and stretching her back. For a change the rider is rather casually dressed: long loose pants of a brown colour flopping around her legs, with a green sleeveless vest over the top. Looks like she had the day off. "How old is Ish now, anyway?" The brownrider turns her head to regard the tiny girl, and her smile widens even further. "Evening, little one..."

Issham struggles in his mother's arms, determined to be released so he can run and play, just as his big sister does. Unfortunately, at just over a turn, his mother doesn't seem willing to let him loose in this room just yet. "'Cia has a shadow now. Wherever she goes, he wants to go. Whatever she wants, he wants as well. They're both like their father, in more ways than you would imagine." Little fingers reach out, grabbing for Kita, but Ish's gaze quickly falls on his sister, causing him to complain a bit more. "He's just over a turn now, walking and talking, though neither of those events are done exceedingly well, just yet."

Brencia gives Kita a toothy smile as she pauses at the table loaded down with sweets, obviously hoping her mother won't notice if she takes just *one* bubbly. "I'm four!" she announces, not that her age was asked, holding up her hand with four fingers extended.

"Shards, doesn't time fly," Kita murmurs, her eyes soft as she notices the tiny hands reaching for her. Instinctively she raises her finger to give the young man something to hold onto, yet drops it almost as soon as it's raised. "Well since you're here...would you like to join me in a cup of something? I've been dying to see how the children are, and how T'-" Kita's voice suddenly cuts off as she is interrupted by a much louder, much younger, much higher pitched one. "You're /four?/" Kita gushes with all the enthusiasm a child sometimes likes. "Wow, what a big girl! You'll be a Journeyman in no time! Or does she want to be a rider?" Kita asks Kaeryn quietly aside.

"I'm afraid this one wants to be a rider," Kae admits with a soft laugh. "Today, anyway, but it changes day to day. Yesterday, she was painting, today she was trying to fly, so we'll see, won't we? She was born with the lungs of a harper, that's for sure, but she's free to follow whatever path she wishes, even if both of her parents are harpers." It may not have seemed that the harper was paying attention, but she knows when her daughter's into mischief, and motions for her to come away from the table. "A bit of wine would be lovely, and I've to get juice for this pair."

Brencia bobs her head up and down, "Yup! An' I can count to four, too! One! Toooo! Treee! Four!" Another toothy grin is offered before scampering away from the table and back to her mother's side.

"Stay there," Kita offers, looking pointedly at the squirming boy. "Your hands look a bit full already." Kita moves off and readies a couple of glasses of juice, a wine and the ever present klah. The juice is delivered first: it's entirely possible the children would get a little too curious about what's in their mother's glass before they get their own. "Does Brencia seem to favour a particular colour of dragon, on those particular days?" she asks, grinning at the young show off as she places the glasses on the table. "I know Kwa's Eranel is dying to be a bronzerider- he thinks they're very...ahem...'manly.'"

Kaeryn settles down into a chair, placing Issham in one of his own, and graciously accepts the offered mugs, attaching a lid to the toddler's to keep him from spilling it, and leaving Brencia's on the table, to be retrieved in her own time. "Thank you. It is a little difficult to manage more than one mug when I've a little one in my arms. Worse on days when she decides she's too tired to walk on her own." Realizing she's being spoken of, Brencia sneaks up, settles into a chair, and claims her mug. All ears, she is. "She's quite attached to Sejith, but we haven't attempted explaining to her, just yet, the differences in color. We'll save that for later."

Kita conceals a smile through raising her mug to her lips. "I'll be interested to see how she turns out as she grows. What she eventually decides she'd really like to do." Kita lowers her mug, her expression thoughtful. "It's interesting the way children are with dragons, don't you think? Most that I've met seem very attatched to them- completely unbiased, no fear whatsoever. I guess they don't learn that until they start listening to some narrowminded adults." Kita uses her mug to conceal her expression again, this one of restrained irritation. After throwing down most of the liquid, the rider completely changes topic. "So how is T'rell? What with the Weyrleadership and all..." Her voice drifts off, and suddenly Kita's look becomes a little softer, as does her tone. "I guess more to the point, how are you?"

"It helps when they're actually here, though, at the weyr," Kae replies, reaching out one hand to muss Brencia's hair a little, "or, in their case, in the same room with them most of the time. It's a pretty sure thing /they/ will never think that way." At the question, she winces a little and takes a long drink of her wine before answering. "I'll admit, it's a little harder than I expected, but he's trying so hard to make sure he's still around as much as he can be, for me and the children, I guess. I'll admit that the hardest part for me is that it just means that he spends more time," she pauses, licking her lips quickly while looking for the best way to phrase her sentence, "in the main weyr chambers."

Kita's expression is initially blank at Kaeryn's phrasing, and then her face suddenly floods with realisation. After all, the brownrider has only been in those chambers a few times, herself. "I understand," she states quietly, her look sympathetic. The rider shifts her weight a little uncomfortably, pausing as she attempts to figure out a way to broach the subject. "You know...maybe you could be present in those weyr chambers at the...ah...appropriate times."

Kaeryn shrugs slighty, fingers curling and uncurling around her mug, "T'rell and I spoke this afternoon, about everything, really. I'm growing more accustomed to it, it's just difficult for me. Don't get me wrong, Kita, I would *never* speak disrespectfully about a Goldrider, especially not the senior weyrwoman, but I know how she feels about him, and anytime I'm not there, she tries to be." A grimace accompanies those words, and she shakes her head again, "He assures me that, flights notwithstanding, I'm his only choice, and that she is aware of it. But it doesn't make it easier to hear the way she speaks of me, as if I'm some common drudge." Color drains from the harper's face and she looks down into her mug, "If she wanted, she could make me leave the weyr, you know."

Kita's eyes seem to flare up with unspoken outrage as she notices Kaeryn's sudden submissive body language. "And you'd have hundreds of riders and residents screaming and protesting if she ever did. You're too valuable to the weyr to leave: not just for your music, but for your bright, cheerful demeanor. I think Sar-...er...the Weyrwoman realises this. She would be foolish to ask you to leave. She can be a bit of a fuddy-duddy, but I doubt she'd ever do anything that wasteful and ridiculous. I'd rally up a few of us ex-Harpers anyway, to cause a real stir." Kita smiles again, attempting to lighten the poor Harper's mood and instil some sense of confidence. "You know...it is tradition and customary for the Weyrleader to move in with the Weyrwoman after the result of a leadership flight. The fact that he has decided to stay with you in your weyr to me shows how much he cares about you. How much he wants you. It would be far easier for him to throw everything to the wind and move in with her. But he risks ridicule and the negative opinions of the other Weyrleaders around Pern in order to be with you." Kita's smile suddenly turns sly. "But that's just my opinion..."

Kaeryn's eyes sparkle from the tears forming there, threatening to spill down her cheeks, a few manging to do just so when she nods, reaching up to wipe them quickly away before either of her children notice. "He's been getting it from her as well, because she isn't pleased at the fact that he chose me, again." The weyrharper takes a deep breath and continues to play with her mug, "I promised him, today, that he would have all the support he could possibly need to be the best weyrleader he could possibly be, because he has me on his side, and to have the harpers on your side is to win any battles, don't you think?" She doesn't pause for an answer, but rather continues, offering a smile to each of her children, "I'm just glad that he takes my side against her. If he didn't, I would be back at the hall before anyone could blink, I can promise you that."

Kita's expression is one of empathy, her brows knitted together in a myriad of emotions- pity, sympathy and a desperate need to help. "If it wasn't the riders out saving Pern's hide from thread, I reckon it'd be the Harpers," she replies in late answer to Kaeryn's rhetoric question. Unconciously mimicing Kaeyrn's actions, Kita also lightly fingers the handle of her empty mug. "You know, I always respected the Weyrwoman very highly. What you're telling me show me a side I didn't know existed. I always thought she was so controlled and only stern when it was a matter of discipline. But I guess wanting a man you can't have brings out the worst in people." Frowning slightly, Kita glances at her new Dragonhealer's knot with Saria's mark upon it. "T'rell loves you, and no one else. Otherwise he wouldn't be enduring this barrage from the Weyrwoman- it would be far easier for him to give up and accept convention. He wants to fight for you, Kae," she states somberley, daring to use the Harper's nickname, "...and you've got to trust in him. ANd more importantly, trust in yourself." Kita finally falls silent, then suddenly snorts. "Listen to me. The expert on love. I sound like I'm giving a Weyrling lesson," and Kita's face flushes slightly as she rubs a hand up her cheek in embarrassment.

Kaeryn can't help but laugh as Kita blushes, but she reaches out and touches the rider's hand, giving her an appreciative smile. "But maybe it's exactly what I needed? I don't know, just to hear it from someone that isn't in the middle of this...unpleasant situation." She takes a drink from the mug, holding it close to her face for a moment, just inhaling the smell of the wine, before setting it down again. "I do believe that it is best, however, that I choose to teach most of my classes out of doors instead of in the classrooms here."

"Nothing like a triangle," Kita murmurs, her eyes hooded as she is lost in thought. "You know...I once had a crush on a traveller. Saw him here at the weyr once...nearly charmed the pants off every girl in the room. Er...no pun intended. Anyway, after that day, I didn't see him for turns. Found out later on that he Impressed at High Reaches. A bronze, no less. Should have guessed, knowing him." Kita sighs, her face not particularly upset...just melancholy. "Anyway, life went on...and then I Impressed Djarreth. For almost a moment there-" and Kita frowns heavily, obviously with intense mental concentration at trying to conceal her thoughts from her dragon, "I resented having a brown. I thought if I had a green, maybe he would fly her..and well, you can guess what would result. Turns out I didn't need to worry," and Kita blushes a deep red again. "I should have just trusted in me. And besides, I wouldn't give up Djarreth for anything." Unsure of exactly why she just blurted that story, Kita picks up on Kaeryn's train of thought. "You teach outdoors? I guess that's better for the students, anyway."

Kaeryn listens quietly, nodding along as she does, actually interested in the story for all it's worth. "This definitely isn't the first time T'rell and I have been stuck in some sort of a triangle, but, at least, this time, the third person's love is unreturned. It makes things simpler for the both of us. It's also good that it isn't my fault this time, I suppose." Gently, she reaches out and takes the mug from Issham's grasp, allowing the toddler to fall asleep in his chair while she stays to talk. "I met T'rell when I was an apprentice here, did you know that? But at that point, he seemed, and he'd be upset if he heard me say this, but he seemed so *old*. I was only fifteen or so, so that would make him about twenty and six. We were friends, but never would I have imagined that I'd fall in love with him." She pauses, not sure whether she should continue her life story or not, and just shakes her head, "It's a long story."

Kita claps a hand to her mouth to muffle her laugh, not wanting to wake the children, and completely enjoying the change of atmosphere. "Have you ever told him that he initially seemed old to you? I'd be interested to hear his response." Kita raises her mug, and blinks as she sips absolutely nothing. Obviously she had been so intensly involved in the conversation she hadn't even noticed it was finished. "Interesting how life can take a complete turn other that what you expect it to. Shells, ten years ago I never thought I'd be here." Looking whimsical, Kita glances out to the bowl. A soft smile etches upon her face as her eyes become unfocused for a moment. Returning back to the now, she puts her booted feet upon the table. "Please, tell me more. What made you realise you loved him? What made you know he loved you?" Kita clears her throat, and suddenly removes her feet from the table top. "Sorry...bad habit picked up from Elle."

Kaeryn's blue eyes sparkle, and she shakes her head quickly enough to make her curls bounce, "Nae, I haven't ever mentioned it for fear that I'd hurt his feelings. We tease one another about the ten turns between us enough as it is. I was only two turns old when he was chosen by Sejith, and he's well aware of that face." The mug continues to be an object of attention, but now, it's just swirled lightly about, something to do with active fingers. "At that point, I was still an apprentice, and he'd come to visit in search of new music now and then, but at that time, I had my heart set on an apprentice back at the hall. Marius." She pauses, looking down into her wine for a moment before continuing, "It's funny though. One night, I tried to tell him how I felt, and he thought I was speaking of Jerran, whom I also had a bit of a thing for, and that's when Jerran and I began our trouble causing relationship. But I'm sure you heard about the trouble that caused, since it was here, didn't you?"

"Jerran, Jerran..." Kita muses, a forefinger lightly tapped upon her lips as she thinks. "I know the name, but I'm not sure of the event...how long ago did it happen? I've been here for..." Kita's face screws up even more as she mentally strains to remember. "Ten turns. And I remember Marius. I think he's even come here once or twice to visit you. How did he take your subsequent weyrmating with T'rell?"

Kaeryn blushes slightly, laughing a little, "I, as an apprentice, became quite seriously involved with Jerran, who was not only a journeyman at the time, but my teacher. Big trouble, but we couldn't help it, we loved each other. But then, one day, they decided that Jerran was going to be posted at Tillek instead of here, and since I had to work on my mural at the the hold here, I wouldn't be going with him. Devestated, I stupidly confided in Teraille, who then threatened to have Jerran demoted and myself removed from the craft for such 'antics'. I was sent to the hall and he was sent to Tillek, and that's when *she* came here to be the weyrharper. That's why I figure most people remember it all."

Kita's jaw drops, her eyes wide in amazement. "Yes...I know the time. I heard Teraille playing here late one night when I was a resident, and that's what got me interested in being a Harper- hearing music for nearly the first time. Well, right directly in front of me it was the first time, anyway. I didn't realise she was here because you were...well...punished. Oh, that must have been terrible." Kita's head suddenly tilts on the side, and her expression changes. "I believe one of my weyrlings may be joining us."

"I told you it was a long story," Kae points out with a grimace and glancing around the room for said weyrling before continuing with the story, "Yes, that was the reason, and I was miserable, until I was promoted and went off to be with 'the man I loved.Jerran and I were quite happy, if a bit cold, up at Tillek, but then something happened. I guess it happens to most of us harpers at one point or another. We become too involved in our work and forget about the people around us, but that didn't happen until we'd been there for six or seven turns. We were planning our handfasting, but I knew it wasn't going to happen. I knew he loved me, but being a harper was more important to him at the time." Blinking, she shakes her head, "I'm definitely telling more than you wanted to hear, aren't I? But here's the part where it starts getting interesting, I guess. You see, after six turns of not seeing T'rell, he suddenly appeared at Tillek one day, and we became friends. Then something more, and I felt horrible for it, triangle number one. I love Jerran. I was falling for T'rell, and they both loved me."

Yla drifts into the cavern, her hair looking more than a little mussed, almost as if she's been catching naps before coming down to the caverns. Kaeryn's words slowly reach her through her sleepy brain and she automatically tries to soften her steps to not make so much noise as she crosses to the food table. Let's see... anything that can wake her up without being klah...?

"Oh shards," Kita whispers, the horror of the situation not lost on the brownrider. "How was Jerran about that? I guess he was completely involved in his craft, since you're now here with T'rell. I wonder if he knows what he lost," Kita grins, watching Kae's reaction at her small compliment. "Hey Yla," Kita greets in a rather distracted tone, until the weyrlings appearance causes Kita to sit up in alarm. "Yla! What's happened to you??"

Kaeryn lifts her hand from her mug of wine and waves to Yla as she enters the room, motioning quietly to the two sleeping forms in the chairs beside her. Children at rest, a very good thing, and so a plea for soft voices is definitely not out of order. As her attention returns to Kita, the harper's blue eyes sparkle at the brownrider's compliment, something they have been missing the past few sevendays, the chattering apparently doing her good. "Let's see, from there, I decided to do what any girl would do, and hopped on a ship that would take me away from them both. Smart, right? Jerran and I, we're still close, but he refuses to come to the weyr to meet my darlings," she motions at the little ones once again, "not that I really blame him. I mean, who could? He turns around to find that I'd left and the next thing he knows, I'm a mother? Not that it happened that quickly, of course."

Kita claps her hands together at the tale, then looks extremely guilty as she remembers the sleeping children. Amazing. Tired kids will sleep anywhere, including on hard, cold stone floors. This tale obviously thrills Kita's romantic core: "So you left, and then one gave chase? He wasn't prepared to give you up that easily? Oh, how wonderful!" Kita's face is bright with delight at the very idea.

"Did you know that ships have a tendency to travel, which means that, sooner or later, you're going to wind up exactly where you were hiding from?" Kae asks the questions as though she's actually revealing secret information, her eyes open wide and voice only a whisper. "And that's exactly what happened. Lucky me, we stopped here on old Ista Isle, and T'rell came looking for me. We started talking, which lead to a little more than talking, and the next thing we knew, we're going to be parents. Go figure." A tender look at Brencia offers a pause in the story and a smile of absolute happiness. "That's how I wound up here again, obviously."

Yla simply selects a redfruit from the food table, and drops into a chair with an audible 'oof'. "I'm fine." she says, waving off Kita's earlier question. "Just was sleeping a bit heavily." With that, she falls silent, listening to the rest of Kae's story. Awww... That's so sweet. She doesn't say it out loud, but her expression definitely gives lie to her words.

Kita adores secrets, that's why there's a goofy smile on her face, and she is sitting very far forward in her seat, head propped up on the heels of her palms as she absorbs every word the Weyrharper speaks. Almost like a weyrling during their first lesson. "What an incredible story," she whispers, her voice not really needing to be any louder since she is leaning so close to Kaeryn. "It's so romantic. And I like your analogy of the ships. You know, I think I remember a time when the two of you were in here, and I made a fool of myself by asking if you two were to be weyrmated. Maybe I didn't make such a fool of myself after all," Kita teases.

Kaeryn laughs as Kita exits, shaking her head, idly telling the newcomer why there are tears in her eyes, "I guess I just needed a chance to get out of my weyr and around people that weren't involved in my day to day life to gain perspective."

Yla smiles gently, taking a small nibbling bite out of her redfruit. "That's quite alright." she says, looking at Kaeryn. "Gaining perspective? Always good... sort of sets one straight." Maybe she could be a little more coherent when she doesn't look like she just fell out of bed.

Kaeryn runs her fingers through her hair and looks around the mostly empty cavern, "I just agreed to come in and get these two some juice. Wasn't intending to stay in here this long, but I really need to get them back into bed. If you'll excuse me?" Getting to her feet, she scoops Issham into her arms first, followed by Brencia, the larger of the two, and, with a nod of her head, shuffles out the door and to the weyr they share with T'rell.

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