Monaco Bay Weyr - Terrace Garden
Neat, even planks form a boardwalk set approximately two feet above the ground. Unfolding to either side of the walk-way flourish the lush tropical gardens of Monaco, either brilliant colors and green well kept with Monaco's near eternal spring. Rare trees mingle amongst interestingly formed as well as common yet attractive trees dot the terraced landscape. Brightly blooming flowers are abundant, their colors ranging from lavender to blue to white and even startingly shades of pink. The large tropical flowers cast their sweet smell over the little alcoves scattered about the garden and heavenly cloying scents waft about. Towards the center of the gardens is a large terrace enclosed with lattice fences, over which blooming vines have been draped. A large dance square and a quiet bar, with a few high tables, have been set up in the gardens as an escape from the hectic rush of the main cavern.
It's a warm summer evening at Monaco, and this particular evening finds a certain extra-large-size seacrafter plodding in heavily from the caverns. He looks /tired/. Poor Merius appears somewhat bruised and battered, and his clothing is slightly disheveled, as well as covered in a fine layer of sand and grit, evidence of a day spent toiling away near the beach in the hot afternoon sun. After a day at the docks, Merry is hoping to avoid the busy tavern in favor of the relative peace and quiet that is hopefully on offer at the terrace gardens. He makes a beeline for the bar, leaving a trail of sand in his wake. "Ale. Big. Lots." Is directed in a grumble at the bartender.
Siyu takes a deep breath and he wanders into the lovely gradens. He likes this place, it's safe, very safe, and it's so beaitful, the flowers, eveyrthing it's all great. He takes a deep breath of the sweet air and drinks his light wine. he blinks a little bit over at the sea crafter that comes up to ask for Ale. "I Uh…" he walks over to the man, "You all right there?" the young pretty boy asks in his slightly high sounding voice.
After taking a long pull from his procured glass of ale, Merry turns to the familiar, higher-pitched voice of the smithcrafter. "Siyu, right?" He lifts his glass a bit in greeting. "I'm fine. Great. Grand." It would be more believable if he didn't wince after saying so. He rolls one shoulder around in its socket, as if trying to loosen it up. "Just a long day at the docks. A long day filled with falling off of boats and landing too close to a clutch of gull's eggs." Some of Merry's bruises are distinctly beak-shaped if you look close.
Siyu nods his head, "Oh I see…" says the young man, the short, somewhat muscled smithcraft apprentice. "I see, a long day of repition…" he nods a little bit, "So…" he looks, "You…you offended an egglayer. Well you know the risks of that at least, you live in a weyr…" he giggles. "I focused myself on making nails today."
Heading into the gardens is Briari, dressed in a white summer dress and her boots. Her guitar is slung over her back and shoulders and a backpack is dangling in her hand. Always smiling, she ambles for the bar with a happy hum in her throat and a small yellow flower tucked behind her ear and poking out from curly blonde locks. As she spies her two friends, she lifts a hand and waves to them, then gives a pause at the sight of poor Merry. "Um… you need a bath… and maybe some ointment. Are you okay?"
Merius is standing at the bar, talking to Siyu. He looks a mess — disheveled clothes, bumps and bruises, and covered in a fine layer of sand and grit. This probably explains why he takes a particularly long pull from his glass of ale. "Never make an enemy of a seagull, Siyu." Merry is full of such wisdom. He grins a bit at the smith's mention of nails. "That's good. I'll probably be using some of your nails in shipbuilding." If the gulls ever let him close enough to the docks again. At the harper's entrance, Merry smiles. "Briari! Hi!" Cheeks flush a bit at her concern. "Oh, I'll be fine, don't worry about me." He is big strong man. Puny birds are no match for him. Probably. Maybe.
Siyu nods his head, "The way Seacrafters practice knots, so smithcrafters practice nails. Are you fee? Yes? Do this. Tie knots and coil rope. Forge nails, everyone always needs nails. So nails are good practice…" he sighs some again and he glances back over to Bri, "oh! hi!" he grins some and bows his head, "uh I think a lot of people…um…well, do not like to mess with gulls." he drinks his weak wine, "So, fun group all here."
"Hi Siyu! And.. you fought with gulls?" Briari asks Merius with a look of concern upon her face. "Why would you pick a fight with gulls for?" She orders a strawberry sunrise from the tender, then looks back to the pair. "If you're bored, Siyu. I can sing you this song I wrote for Merry last night." She smirks in amusement.
Rheidte is, well, she's not quite covered in dirt. Yet. She's got a fair bit of it on her knees and hands, but at least you can see her face. And also there's not any blood. Thankfully? Brandishing several hanks of invasive vine in one hand, the girl pops up from beneath the boardwalk not far from the bar, and takes in the scene with widened eyes. A casual, "Oh. Hey." is all she really has to say after a beat, edging along the plants like some sort of awkward spidercrab. "Those are gonna get infected." Added after a moment, curious, for poor Merius.
Reya lifts her arms skywards, yawning as she makes her way up to the garden and stars moving along the boardwalk. The goldrider has a bit of a baby belly now, but it's hardly noticeable with the loose tank top she sports and her slender fame. Eventually she finds herself looking on a few familiar faces and one rather unfamiliar one. "Hmmm…having a party, are we?" It's here that her gaze flicks towards Rheidte and an eyebrow raises, "Don't think I've seen you around before. But by the look of those weeds…you're the new girl helping with the garden, hm?"
"We definitely always need nails." Merius notes to Siyu, then his attention turns to Briari and he places his glass on the bar and raises both hands, palms forward. "Hey, hey, I didn't do /anything/ to those seagulls. Just landed within ten feet of their dumb nest." He runs a hand through his hair — sending a new shower of sand cascading down to his shoulders. He sighs, brushing some of that sand off. "By all means, sing the Ballad of Merius!" The very idea cheers the seacrafter up a bit. Rheidte's… unconventional entrance is met with a grin. "I shouldn't worry about infection, little one." He's not exactly being patronizing — /everyone/ is a little one to Merry. Gaze flickers back and forth from her to his own clothes. "We've made quite a mess, eh?" The approaching goldrider gets a wave and a gruff, "Hi." Someday he might be able to avoid looking foolish in front of Reya. Today is probably not that day.
Siyu is now very confused. He is a new arival here to the Weyr, relativly, a few weeks, so he doesn't know everyone. In fact he barely knows…anyone really. He takes a deep breath and rocks his head back and forth, "Right…" he offers. The young man, a teenager, is pretty, beautiful even, wide of hip, long of hair, full of lip and sturdy of frame. He takes a deep breath and blows it out, "Uh, I…you do not have to sing me a song no. I belive you I just wanted to offer to help, um…at least…you know, offer some comfort." he looks at the other two arrivals. Someone his age! With vines, "Those look dangerous." he offers. He looks back at Reya and ohs, and bows his head, "Um, not a party just..um…talking about how mothers protect their nests is all…" he turns a bit pink. He's only really seen Reya, doesn't know her at all.
"Merry, you should get cleaned up though. She is right. Those may get infected." Briari says with a worried smile upon her face as she rubs the back of her neck. She reaches out and takes his hand in hers, giving his fingers a squeeze. Gently swaying them back and forth, she grins. "I'm joking, I am not going to sing the ballad of Merius. That is for your ears only, goofball." The gardener gets a wave of her free hand. "Hey there. Find anything neat under there?" Reya gets a nod of her head as well, eyes drifting towards her belly for a moment.
Rheidte blinks up from distraction — and a brief bow to snatch up a flower that probably looks like any other flower — to smile uneasily at Reya. "Ma'am, yes." The transplant nods, waving the handful of weeds with a grimace. "Trying to find the source of these." She explains, vaguely, then blinks at the group. A party? The 'whoops' is all but spoken aloud, before she's distracted by Merius's grin. The girl raises an eyebrow. "Of course." She agrees, bland and only smiling just a little. "They are to the flowers. Don't worry. I'm getting rid of 'em." And Briari? Yeah, Red's definitely not got a quick-bright grin for that one, no, she's not one for all that gloating type stuff.
Reya prides herself in her hardly noticeable baby bump. Really, it would take a pretty discerning eye or someone who already knows she's expecting to see it. There's a nod given too the boys before the goldrider glances over to Rheidte and wrinkles her nose, "Ma'am? Just call me Reya." Titles are quickly waved off before she glances from the girl to the rest of the group. "I'll introduce you." Never mind that she doesn't know Rheidte's name yet. "The big one is Marcius, the girl's Driabi and uh…the boy is a smith apprentice that I haven't met before." No one, no one has ever said the Junior is good at remembering names…mostly because she isn't. She's slowly gotten better, but she hasn't kicked that flaw from her pre-candidacy days yet.
Merius grins at Briari, using his free hand to raise his glass again. "Pity, it's an excellent song. And I don't need cleaned up. I'm strong and tough. Healers would just be wasting their time, trying to find something wrong with me." This is spoken in too deadpan a tone to be boastful. He turns that grin on Rheidte and nods. "Well met, little gardener." An eyebrow is quirked at Reya. "It's Merry," thumb pointed to chest, "Briari," he nods to the blonde harper, "and Siyu," a pointed index finger to the smithcrafter. Close enough! "I've seen vines like that down by the cove." He nods at Rheidte's vines. "Seagulls nest in them." The last is grumbled. He's going to hold a grudge for awhile.
Siyu ohs a small bit, he will incline his head a bit, "Um…I am Gang Xi Siyu. Siyu is fine, I'm just an apprentice, cleaning up the smith forge till the master comes…" he nods a bit, "So…just that…" the pretty boy says, he's not going to comment much else. After all he's feeling pretty out of his element. He just stands there…and orders strong wine. Ya he's gonna need a drink. Pretty young man turning a bit pink and shying away.
"Yes, Briari. Journeyman Harper of Monaco Bay. It is nice to meet you." Briari says with her usual sunny smile on her face as she takes a sip of her fruity drink with her free hand. "I hope the day is going well for both of you. It's has been beautiful as always!" Sliding her guitar off her shoulder and placing it against the bar so that she can relax easier, she slips herself up into a stool as her fingers slide away from Merry's. "Yes, you are big, tough and all of that, but you can still get infected. Bacteria does not play favorites."
Rheidte sets those vines on the boardwalk, far enough away from the edge that they won't fall, and wrinkles her nose up at Reya. "Reya." She parrots, lips pressing together; likely, hold-given instincts still strong. "Alright." After all, it's an order, so the girl's smiling just a little as she turns to Merius with a grin for the assist on introductions and then vine-aside. "Another reason to get rid of 'em, aye?" And then the kid's smiling awkwardly again, shuffling around the leaves of the plants with a foot and clearing her throat. "Well met, Reya, Merry, Siyu, Briari." Careful pronunciation, and she pauses, pausing her shuffling. "I'm Rheidte; Ed. Sorry if I snuck up on ya."
"Oh right! I'll remember the names next time." Fat chance. It takes Reya a very very long time to remember anyone's names. "Ed, hm? Well met then! And well met to you as well Siyu!" The goldrider pulls one of the stools out for herself before settling onto it and ordering a juice drink from the tender. "Next round's on me, give 'em the good stuff!" By which she probably means the strong stuff that tastes good for people that don't like to taste the alcohol in a drink so much. This is probably not a good idea. "You can burn the vines with fire afterwards, just to make sure they're good and gone." She's not crazy. Really.
Merius smiles at Briari as she settles on the stool beside his, but waves off worries about infection. "After a fall the cleanup's not as important as the drinking — in terms of healing power." He orders another ale, which arrives followed by one of the concoctions ordered by Reya. "…Thanks, Reya." A fine penance for forgetting a few names. He takes a drink in each hand, gradually nursing each as he nods along with Rheidte's introduction, but he stops suddenly, realizing something. "Ah. Ed. Nicknames. Yes. Full disclosure: my real name is Merius. If you ever need help getting rid of the things seagulls nest in, I'll be /happy/ to help."
Siyu nods and drinks very quietly, he doesn't speak much, shying away again, he takes a deep breath and tries to hold focus without running!
Smirking at the seacrafter, Briari pushes off the stool and gives his hand a quick squeeze. "I am going to get you some ointment anyways. One of those cuts looks nasty and your ego and pride will not heal it on it's own. Watch my guitar for me?" To the others, she says, "I'll catch you later, Siyu. It was nice to meet you Rheidte. You too, Reya. I will see you guys around I am sure." She says as she starts off for the path which leads to the infirmary.
Rheidte's grin Reya-wards is terribly understanding. /Names/. "I was thinking of fire, but…" The girl pats the boardwalk with a put-upon kind of look. "This goes up, they'll have my hide." She pauses at Merry's double-fisted liquors, but shrugs after a moment; poor guy looks like he's had a heck of a day, right? "Merius." Is her agreement, and she grins, fiendish for just a moment. "Aye. Maybe I can get up there next." The kid laughs, kneeling in the dirt and yanking up a spindly line of spidery roots. Siyu's silence gets him a briefly curious look as she sets the roots on the pile of vines, but then she's ducking back down, tugging on a different sort of vine with a vaguely-grumbled goodbye to Briari; surely the waving of a thorny vine counts, right? Totally.
There's a vague nod for the disappearing harper before Reya sips at her juice and lets her gaze slide towards Siyu. "So what's the deal, kid? You don't talk much or don't like to talk, or what?" Because this is Reya and no, she doesn't beat around the bush at all…which is unfortunate sometimes. "No problem." There's a brief grin for Merius as well before Reya's tilting her head towards Ed and the vines. "You could always put them in a metal bucket and set it on fire that way." Basically, the goldrider just wants to burn something because that is a totally safe and pleasant past time.
"Oh there's really no need —" Merry is too late, she's off! He gives a resigned wave, calling out, "Well, thanks, Briari!" He'll show her. He'll flex his wounds away before she returns! "Siyu's probably just shy." Merius, himself occasionally the silent type, sounds a whee bit defensive on this point. He sips at first one drink, then another, chuckling to himself at Reya's pyromania. "And perhaps the fire bucket can be lit on the beach. Near the water." In the interests of not burning down the weyr.
Siyu ohs a bit, "I just…well…you seem to allknow each other…I don't want to interrupt." The pretty boy offers and sips his drink, "I'm just an apprentice, I just do small things, I don't do anything important so I just…I'm just here. I really do love it here, but I'm just…a being here, nothing more." he flushes and tosses his hair back. He looks at Merry and coughs some, "I'm jst…" he blushes more.
"Aw, that'll be easy, it's the tendrils left behind that are the problem." Ed's got, wisely, for the firebug and the fun-killer; although there's more than a little bit of a gleam in her eyes as she eyes those pesky vines. "Bucket's good, though." She grins, shrugging for the beach-directive with enough innocence that it may or may not mean a solid 'yes'. As for Siyu and the possible shyness, the gardener smiles a little, nodding blandly. "Aye." She agrees with the explanation, for all that she probably doesn't actually understand, stout and vaguely supportive, stranger or no. "I don't know anybody." Shrug, but she's finally got that thorny vine! Plus, a few new scratches. Oh well.
"Well that's a silly way to think." Reya frowns at Siyu before taking a sip of her juice. Soon, the poor smith apprentice finds a finger pointed at him. "Without apprentices learning the crafts we wouldn't have some of the basic metal things that the older crafter don't have the time to make. But, as you said before, everyone needs nails and if we didn't have apprentices we'd have a shortage. We also wouldn't have anymore journeymen or Masters without apprentices so entire crafts would die out and /then/ where would we be, hm?" The gold rider shakes her head again before eyeing him. "So you're here for a reason, not for nothing. And maybe I didn't know your name and I'm bad at remembering them, but you're important just like every other person in this Weyr." What a gruff pep talk. One that's soon followed by continuing pyro-talk. "Besides, I hardly know any of you guys….I just act like I do." Here there's a wink to the entire group. "As for fire…well, if you keep all the vines we could see just how big of a bonfire we can make on the beach. Maybe one taller than Merius here."
Merius reaches to place a companionable hand on Siyu's shoulder. "Nails keep everything together." He nods in agreement with Reya. "Apprentices keep everything together." So wise! He downs first one drink, then the other, to celebrate this rare occurence of Merry saying something profound. At the talk of beach bonfires his face falls. "…Do you often make bonfires on the beach here?" Perhaps he should find a better place than the /beach/ for storing the wood remnants he collects for his personal seacrafting projects. He hops suddenly off of his stool. "I'd best clear the scraps away." This makes perfect sense out of context, probably. He nods at Siyu and Reya, "Good even'." Rheidte gets a quick salute. "Well met, Ed." And with that, he's off.