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Jewels From Sria


Date:  April 6, 2008
Place:  Igen Weyr's Living Cavern
Game:  PernMUSH
Copyright Info:  The World of Pern is copyright(c) to Anne McCaffrey 
l967. The Dragonriders of Pern(r) is a registered copyright.

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Kassi's Note:  Being Assistant Weyrlingmaster to Sria was in many ways 
its own reward, for Kassi and for me.  Kassima wasn't expecting to get
sparklies out of the deal--not that she's complaining!  Thank you many
times over, Sri, for the gorgeous present; thank you, Kyana and A'deth,
for leaving Kassi alive no matter how many times she plans your mystic
impregnation. :)

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The Log:

Kyana ambles out from the inner caverns.

Kyana wanders into the living cavern and gently places a sand-filled old
broken drum, or the remains of one, next to the hearth.

Kyana dropped Sand-filled Drum Body.

IGEN-> A'deth says, "And so it begins. XD"

IGEN-> Kyana sticks her tongue out at A'deth

IGEN-> A'deth <3!

IGEN-> Kyana notes that not everythings desced yet, but I wanted to put
them somewhere :)

IGEN-> Kassima cues the Vader theme. Dum dum dum, dum DA dum, dum DA
dum.... ;)

IGEN-> Kyana rolls

Kyana turns and grins as she notices Kassima, heading over towards the
woman after she checks to make sure it's warm enough at the hearth. "A'deth
and I found a clutch of eggs..." the nanny says, grinning wildly.

Kassima points the card she holds towards an empty chair in invitation.
"Another one? You've luck--good luck, bad luck, I leave for you t'decide--"
She's teasing, and she grins at the younger woman. "Felicitations. Hope you
didn't get scratched up this time? Green's eggs, or gold's?"

Kyana smiles at Kassima and nods. "No scratches this time; A'deth's dragon
helped us find the clutch, and we managed to get it dug out before the
mother came back. From the size of it, I'd imagine it's gold though; it was
also dug deep." she grins and takes the offered seat. "As far as luck goes,
I have yet to actually impress from an egg I find, so..."

"That could be called luck," Kassima points out, rather wry, eyeing the
greens and blues perched near her with their wings all a-rustle. "You don't
spend half your life smelling like meat. Could you put an egg aside for
yourself? 'Tis kind of Jaelith t'be helping--all Lyss does, if'n I'm of a
mind t'find a clutch, is say, 'Over there,' and sit back and be amused
while I hunt."

Kyana smiles at Kassima and nods. "True, true.." she says, and smiles. "I
think A'deth put aside eggs for residents this time; these are the rest of
them.." she says, smiling. "We found 15 in all....was a very large clutch."

Kassima crunches the end off a stick, and at the same time tries to set a
card in place. The ensuant fall and clatter isn't exactly surprising.
"Shards," she sighs. "Nay a bad idea. 'Twas folks from elsewhere that
Impressed most of the last clutch, wasn't it? Although two of 'em--the
young lasses--apparently they live here now, so that's two come home."

Kyana nods at Kassima, then looks interested. "Which ones?" she asks,
smiling. "There were so many that night....was it the girl who got the mean
green?"

"Aye--Fyra's her name, if'n I remember right, and... Amaris? Amaris," Kassi
decides, nodding confirmation to herself. "Methinks she'd a brown. I ran
into 'em and Tannusen at that Craft fair awhile ago. Beware of Amaris. She
cuts holes in the backsides of proddy riders' clothing."

Kyana grins as she remembers the girls, then arches an eyebrow at Kassima.
"Cuts holes?" she asks, then pauses. "Wait. probably don't wanna know, do
I?" she asks, shaking her head. "Well, I'm glad they had enough fun to stay
here I suppose..." she says softly with a grin.

Kassima nudges the scattered cards into a pile, upside-down and face-up as
some of them are, and starts over again with half a fingerroot hanging out
of her mouth. "I could've lived without knowing," she agrees around it.
"Except for forewarned being forearmed. 'Twas something about a proddy
woman's sheer nightdress--mayhaps random missing bits weren't so much more
horrifying than the original, but even so. Apparently Fyra's mother's an
Istan greenrider. Nay a name I recognized." Two card triangles successfully
made: she carefully lays a roof atop them. "What color would you want? In a
fire-lizard?"

Kyana shudders at the thought, then shakes her head. "I'm not sure; a
female I guess, it'd be easier to have a lizard who laid eggs than to have
to go looking for wild ones all the time.." she grins. "Course, I could
just stop looking for eggs, but..." and she shrugs.

"Why do you go looking?" Kassi draws back from her precarious structure.
She finishes off the fingerroot in a quick bite, and has the manners to
wait until she's swallowed to append, "'Tis good you do, but a difficult
thing when you aren't getting much from it. Is it a hobby? D'you enjoy
hunting and seeking? D'you like 'lizards that much?"

Kyana smiles and shrugs, tracing grooves in the tabletop. "Mostly hobby;
when I was a little one, my sibs and I spent hours around the river at the
hold looking for clutches; I just never lost the urge to look..." she says,
then nods. "Sometimes its nice to get away from the nursery and out on my
own, or with adults..." she admits after a second.

Kassima asks next, "You're Holdbred, then; which Hold?" Her curiosity, if
incessant, seems genuine. "Nay kidding. I've children enough, you've nay
need t'be explaining that one."

Kyana smiles at Kassima. "I'm from a little cothold outside of
Igen....might as well have been part of the main Hold, though, we were so
close.." she admits, then grins. "I figured you might."

"Aye, also understood. Da's Holding isn't so close t'Greystones proper as
that, in distance, but he keeps it for the Hold. We got up t'see the place
once in awhile. Same sort of thing? Want any fingerroots?" Kassi belatedly
thinks to offer, nudging her plate into reach. "--Did you? Shells." The
greenrider's amused. "Now I'm wondering if'n running after 'em all those
Turns put some mark of madness on me."

Kyana grins at Kassima. "I'd love some..." she says, grabbing a fingerroot
or two and snacking. "And I just figured, someone with as many flits as you
would likely have children as well; usually people who like babies like
/all/ babies..." she says with a wink.

Kassima snorts, an amused sound: "M'spawn are nay in the least comparable
t'baby 'lizards! They didn't eat meat raw, 'tweren't born with fangs or
claws, and didn't breathe fire either, honest. 'Twasn't so much a case of
being baby-mad as over-sharding-fertile. And," as an afterthought, sorting
a fingerroot from the plate, "being tricked into drinking Water, that once.
Long story. Would this theory mean you're wanting children of your own
sometime?"

Kyana grins at Kassima. "Eventually, yes, although the longer I work in the
nursery, the more I rethink my thoughts on the matter.." she says, then
chuckles. "True, human babies are not the same....." and she boggles at the
water comment. "Long story, I guess.." she muses, with another grin.

"They're messy and loud and selfish and they kick you in the shins,"
Kassima cheerfully observes. "They vomit all over the place and you have
t'be cleaning it up. They go around asking bronzeriders embarrassing
questions about lechery. That part was fun. Worth it anyway, I thought; and
you, I'm thinking your name must begin with K. So you absolutely *should*
spawn. Lots and lots of K-named babies." Then, "The Benden Water causes
Benden Flu, y'see, so the old superstition goes, and the Flu's another name
for pregnancy. Never drink the water at Benden. Or Telgar. Somebody
*spiked* Telgar's supply back when."

Sria comes down the stairway.

Kyana giggles at Kassima, then nods. 'It does begin with K, yes....although
I think K-named babies might get confusing; there's already so many K names
around here..." she grins, then shakes her head. "I'll keep that in mind
about the water......" she says, shaking her head again. "As far as the
first bit, I see that every day in the nursery, so I'm aware!" she says
with a laugh.

Sria descends the stairs with the air of someone just finishing an errand,
though if that were the case, through the living caverns is likely not the
best of chosen paths. She surveys, and as someone's talking about K-names,
it's not too hard -- chances are her quarry would gravitate in that
direction were she not already present. She does stop for a glass of juice,
however, along her way to the two K-named in attendance.

Kassima shakes her head vigorously. "Nay confusing! Fortunate and
righteous! People whose names start with K are the luckiest on Pern--you
want your children t'be having luck, don't you?" Kassi's indeed in the
middle of the K-named discussion. Bigger surprise: the sun rose this
morning. "In spades, I shouldn't wonder," she agrees with Kyana, and that's
when she spots the brownrider on the hunt and waves a fingerroot slice her
way in greeting. "Sria, help me convince Kyana t'name all her children K
things?"

"Haven't you enough luck convincing on your own?" Sria asks, sliding into a
free chair. "You're nothing if not very persuasive, Kassi. Hello, Kyana,"
she greets, too, and offers, "You watch. Just her mentioning it will have
you thinking about possible K-combinations for a sevenday." To the
greenrider, "It's as if you've some sort of mysterious power, really."

"So far." Kassima frowns a little, nibbles the edge of the stick. "I worry
about Ky. If'n he doesn't have children he doesn't know about, 'twould be
sharding surprised--and if'n he doesn't know, he can't tell the mothers the
importance of K, can he? What if'n his firstborn isn't a K? Subsequent
children only *should* be, but the firstborn *must* be. He's asking t'doom
someone t'lifelong misfortune with his ways...." It might be reassuring if
there were any sign she's feigning belief in this. There isn't. "But," she
says, shifting to a more positive note, "I've nay doubt of Khari. D'you
think 'tis truth I can point at someone and make them spawn? I'd be willing
t'try it--" Kassi wriggles her index finger in a threatening way.

Kyana backs up from Kassima, shaking her head. "Don't even /think/ about
it," she warns the greenrider. "I don't even have someone to have children
with yet!" she protests, then turns to Sria. "Hello there.." she says with
a smile.

Sria manages that threat well enough, sipping her juice and eyeing the
greenrider above the rim. "If there was reason for someone to say so, I
imagine there's reason to believe it." Sria's belief is not quite as strong
as Kassima's. "I'm sure you'd make someone's day in the process. Who would
you try it on first?" Somehow she's placed a small, square box on the
tabletop, and she pushes it in Kassima's direction without taking leave of
the conversation. "So it's the firstborn, then? Didn't realize it was a
requirement rather than a preference."

Kassima agrees, though not too reassuringly, "That's a point--can't think
of K-combinations a'fore we have a prospective sire. Who d'you want t'have
children with? We'll figure out just what you should name 'em." Just the
sort of conversation every young woman wants to have, in the middle of the
Living Cavern, with strange random greenriders. The strange random
greenrider in question considers her finger and its powers. "M'rek's
expression on learning I knocked you up would be worth dying for. That's
tempting. Kyana... I don't think I should--she has a K already, and she has
t'work with children all day. 'Twould be a cruelty. If'n it works on men
there are endless possibilities." Flash forward twenty Turns in the future,
and Kassi will be paying child support to dozens of males across Pern. For
now she's more interested in the box. "Family tradition," she explains
absently. "Is this for me?"

A'deth walks out of the infirmary.

Kyana giggles and shakes her head, finding it harder and harder to follow
Kassima's conversation, and looks curiously at the box instead, but she
doesn't pry. Instead, she stands and stretches, shaking her head. "On that
note, I should probably be getting back to the nursery myself..." she says,
with a grin. "As far as who, I wouldn't have the faintest idea where to
start with that one, Kassima..." she says, waving to Sria and A'deth as she
starts out of the cavern.

IGEN-> Kyana gahs and must sleep!

IGEN-> A'deth <333

IGEN-> Kassima zhaisnugs! Thanks for the RP, Kyana, and the work on 'lizard
clutches. :)

IGEN-> Kyana grins and wishes she'd gotten more eggs done! :) Halfway there :)

"Like I said," Sria replies, "You'd make -someone's- day. Although putting
it that way does add a certain appeal." Or horror. "The need for a K does
limit your choices a bit. But I bet, Kyana, such a power hardly requires
-any- willing parties, nevermind two. -- Oh, good luck with the littles,
then. K-named or not." For the box, "It is. Forgive me for being so late
with it. It accidentally got packed and went to 'Reaches for a while. Then
repacked when I came back here for a bit, and it's just been languishing in
one weyr or another, then packed again - you know."

A'deth drifts out of the infirmary, and quietly toward the others, his
attention flicking from Sria's face to the box to Kassima's and back again.
Boldly enough, he leans a hip against their table, and eavesdrops shamelessly.

[Editor's Note:  Sria's gift follows in its full awesomeness.]


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Message 148                           Date Received: Sun Apr  6 19:44:53 2008
From:      Sria
To:        Kassima
Subject:   AWLM gift
==============================================================================
 The love of jewelry can bring just about anyone together, and often when
one trades love _for_ jewelry it can be troublesome, but regardless of the
politics or potential differing tastes, Sria's taken the risk - dubious as
it is - and herein lies a pair of matching brooches, each of decent size,
standout pieces that refrain from being overwhelming. The silver has been
folded in upon itself, taking its rows of tiny yellow gemstones along with
it, creating a loose knot that, from afar, looks merely circular. The
smooth layering creates a center setting, where a larger stone of dark
purple amythest is nested, its jagged contours at odds with the surrounding
wave of sunny silver. Too deftly smithed to appear floral, the pieces have
that certain contemporary newness to them that's difficult to place, but
easy to spot -- that quality of fine work that's impressive to the trained
and untrained eye alike. 

Backed with simple, straight pins, carefully clasped, the set begs to be
clipped to the straps of a gown, the shoulders of a jacket, anything as a
pair -- or to be alternated, worn on their own just as long as the other
one doesn't get jealous.

There's a note, brief: "Happy graduation," signed just "S."
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"Ah, well, there's time. Make a list," Kassima suggests to Kyana. "Get back
t'me with it. We'll figure this out!" She's kidding, thankfully; she drops
all appearance of being serious to grin at the young woman. "M'regards to
the younglings--and good luck." Now her attention returns to Sria. Lucky,
lucky Sria. "Would you like me t'knock you up, then?" All politeness! "I'm
willing. 'Twill be such a worthy cause of death as Pern has never seen,
only you must, must, whatever anyone says, you must give m'K to the child.
That's my condition. A'deth!" She looks away from the box just long enough
to beam up at him. "I'm mystically impregnating people! You're just in
time! --Naught t'forgive, Sria, you didn't have t'get me aught. Shouldn't
have. The box is small for pants...." While she draws it in and opens it,
"The move's been complicated?"

Sria seems to consider the offer. "M'rek's reaction would, I fear, hinge
greatly on the parentage. It's one thing to credit you with, what would you
call it, inspiration? And another to change who gets to be 'mum' and
'dad'." Mum and mum? "In general, I'd have to talk it over with M'rek. He's
got a K, too, as I know you're aware." Perhaps from something about K-names
once said to that party. "Hello, A'deth, care to sit? - Not pants, no. Just
a thank you. And not complicated, really. I find my attention torn, is all."

A'deth arches a brow at Kassima. "You're welcome to fill me with your
mystical manhood whenever you like, my dear... I'll take my chances." And
he pats his own flat belly. "We've already settled on a name anyway... was
it Kassdeth? Or Dethass? I don't remember, because we were drinking." And
he sits on the edge of the table, since Sria offered. "Thank you, I shall.
And welcome back. Are we graced with only a visit?"

Within the box is nestled a pair of brooches, good-sized pieces of silver
setting and gemstone decoration: each a knot of tiny yellow jewels framing
a large, dark, jagged amethyst. They're glorious enough and then some to
drive all thoughts of siring children out of Kassi's head. Temporarily, at
least. "Oh, you really shouldn't have," she breathes. "I'm still glad you
did. Sria, these are gorgeous." She holds one up, so they can both see and
admire. "And *purple*. I don't know, come t'think on it, whether we're
talking about me pointing at you and then he'll immediately knock you up,
or I point at you and you're knocked up, wham, like that. I should probably
experiment on someone else first. In gratitude for beautiful jewelry." A
grin then for A'deth, and a cheerful wiggle of brows to go with it:
"Excellent, a volunteer. Mayhaps if'n I point both fingers at you 'twill be
twins, both at once, although that's a rather mean thing t'be doing t'you.
A good question: howso divided, Sria?"

Sria forgoes comment on the first, says, "Kassdeth clearly preferable,
there. - Something like a visit. I've managed to neither entirely move out
nor entirely move back. Did you know it's winter there?" As if this is
news; she grins, wide, for that remark and for Kassima's delight. "I would
appreciate that. I don't wholly object to experimentation, but for this,
perhaps." Some poor other soul will have to deal with the ramifications of
that decision. Some poor soul like A'deth.

Indeed! Hmph! "Throw me to the wherries, why don't you," A'deth snorts
softly at Sria. And he leans over to view the brooches. "That's a much
lovelier set of twins-- I'm not sure how I'd get mine out. Their faces
might get all crunched up, I've not the, ah. Well, nothing, er. Stretches.
That much-- Winter, really? With snow and everything?"

Kassima turns the brooch about and about to delight in its sparkle, and the
contrast of dark and light. Of course the only thing to do is pin them to
her blouse's shoulders--for all she's wearing red today. Sh'sen would
approve. "Am I appropriately sparkly?" she asks with a grin almost as
bright. "Winter everywhere. And nay snow t'show for it, none, both
unnatural and somewhat appealing," much, perhaps, like knocking up men.
"For my part you're welcome t'linger in the sun as long as you like. Attend
the birth of A'deth's children," she invites grandly, "or W'adru's--y'know,
Beli said he's supposed t'have fourteen. Mayhaps I can help. ...I am
pretending I never heard any of that, A'deth, for the record, since the
mental images are on the disturbing side. Perhaps I should stick t'women,
at least at first. Or men who won't realize who impregnated them and won't
demand I be there so they can break m'hand."

Sria grins. "I wouldn't miss it! And I'm sure, should Beli's predictions
begin to come true, I'll stop by so as to confirm all rumors." She pauses,
considering an entirely new set of ramifications. A'deth gets a glance, for
all those almost-remarks, and again, no comment. "It was nice enough
earlier today, there, but yes, snow. Reaches. Synonyms, those."

A'deth just smiles mildly at them both. "It must be odd, being caught
somewhere between frozen tundra and shifting sands... though both might be
barren extremes of the same sort of thing. Do you have a taste for barren
wastes that aren't, Sria?"

"Beli predicted change and good fortune in m'future," Kassima recollects.
"I'd nay mind that being true. Mayhaps it has been. She also predicted an
ovine would fall on me. I could do without that part, t'be honest. And
Kant's supposed t'eat a Lord Holder; I daresay he'd nay mind giving that a
skip." The Lord in question probably wouldn't mind either. "High Reaches is
the Frozen Waste," the female greenrider agrees, "Igen the Arid Waste. But
they can both be beautiful, in their way and time."

"Only the ones that aren't, apparently," Sria replies. Then, "An ovine? A
Lord Holder. Faranth." She shakes her head, though perhaps it doesn't
strike her as so surprising, really. "Neither place ever struck me as much
of a waste, but then I've not had much more than the two for a home, so."

"I've not spent enough time at High Reaches," A'deth admits quietly.
"Though I've received the privilege of flying Fall there, and the kindness
of their excellent Healers. For that, and the company, and their great
assistance to Igen, I'm profoundly grateful."

Kassima assures Sria, if it can be called that, "Every Weyr's a waste of
some kind. Fort's the Ancient Waste, Benden's the Snowy Waste, Ista's the
Humid Waste, Telgar the Icy Waste. Y'see?" Her eyes slide to A'deth; she's
silent for several long beats, on the subject of High Reaches, for which
reason may not be clear. "I've known very fine riders there," she finally
says. "When I did visit, most were kind."

"Well, come visit, for meeting Sruth's neighbors if nothing else." Sria
grins. "Our ledge is not entirely covered in snow, most of the time.
Frozen, Icy, and Snowy: three quite cold Wastes, there. Funny that." She
reflects not very long, and then grins again: "I ought to get back to the
Frozen one, for a bit. I hope to see you both soon, here or there. Glad you
like the jewels, Kassi."

"I will make a point to visit, then," is all that A'deth states, with a
formal inclination of his head.

"I love them," Kassi confirms, completely honest and smiling. "They're
beautiful and call for new things good enough t'go with them. But you
really didn't need to. Working with you was a pleasure; its own gift." Also
honest. "Come back t'see us often. T'go out drinking with our former
'Lings, soon--clear skies in the meanwhile, and thankee again, very much."

"Oh yes," Sria says. "Or without them, perhaps sooner. Clear skies, both of
you."

"Clear skies," A'deth echoes cheerfully.

Sria strides through the passageway into the Inner Caverns.

Kassima waves after the Weyrlingmaster, beaming--probably for that
potential for alcoholic escapades. "I'd nay trade Igen for the 'Reaches
in... ever," she murmurs. "But 'tis her home. Their gain, our loss. --High
Reaches is where 'twere injured, isn't it?"

A'deth looks back, and then nods. His expression doesn't change. "Yes. You
know, I don't even remember why I flew with them that day... Just that the
Fall was erratic and Thread falling where it shouldn't."

"'Tisn't unknown. Or wasn't, once. I recall Wings or just scatterings of
riders joining us for Falls, if'n 'twere there, or t'be learning
something." Kassima picks at the neglected plate of fingerroots, offers him
one. "But I don't remember it happening in Turns, the last Fall and first
new Fall aside. I would you hadn't, a'course," more quietly, "for your sake."

A'deth shrugs slightly. "Don't get all solemn on me. This was..." And he
frowns faintly. "Twenty-five Turns ago, thirty Turns ago? Times change, I
suppose." And he leans in to bite at it while it's still in her fingers.

Kassima reasons, "I'm obliged t'be somewhat solemn after spending an
afternoon scheming who t'get pregnant--balance, y'know." As if she usually
obeys any such rule, but it sounds good, doesn't it? "You can take that
sentiment as given, though, nay need t'belabor it. It does seem strange.
Wouldn't this be a good time for Weyrs t'work together that way?" Merrily
handfeeding him is of as much interest to her at the moment, however--let's
hear it for priorities!

"Who am I to tell leaders anything? A reprobate greenrider--" and A'deth
seems content to let himself be fed-- at least he's eating, right? "--Of no
particular discipline or distinguished history or rank." He doesn't sound
bitter about it, either. "Fortunately, besides Fort -- and I'm making a
very selective and very large exception, I know, but it would be indiscreet
to discuss the particulars -- there seems not to have been any major
catastrophes, even given the decline of weyrs during a Pass."

"An intelligent man of distinguished *service*, at least as worthy t'be
expressing an opinion as most leaders I've known, a good bit more sensible
than many, and altogether superior to nay few," Kassima retorts, not bitter
nor quite sharp, but blunt enough. "Leaders are only people. Nay always
better nor always more suited to their role than you or I. I could be
naming a catastrophe or two." She pauses, and a faint, fleeting smile
flickers--she reaches for another fingerroot. "Nay the place for it.
Besides, there's a disconnect between feeding you and grumping over
politics, and if'n I can only do one, I prefer the former."

A'deth says very gently, raising one hand, "You are very kind, and I am
grateful for it. Thank you for being my friend. You may tell me about such
things elsewhere and at your leisure if you wish. Politics move the world,
after all."

"I," says Kassima, just a little rue under her amusement, "am nay so much
kind as jaded, mayhaps. Truth isn't always kindness. 'Twill tell you what
you like--now or another time, a place of your choosing, if'n you're really
interested." Her amusement this time is unshadowed. "I'm rarely inclined
t'turn down an invitation from you."

A'deth reaches out to flick a finger gently at her new brooches. "You're
too shiny tonight to be kept away in private."

Kassima laughs; she catches at his finger, draws his hand in if he allows
her to kiss the back of it. "They're beautiful, aren't they?" Simple joy in
the jewels and in a gift lights her up. "Even better than a whip. I
should've gotten her something."

A'deth delicately caresses her chin after the kiss. "They are. So visit her
with a gift, then. I'm sure that she'll be pleased to see you."

"...I stay away from High Reaches." Kassima drops her chin to lean into the
touch. She doesn't sigh. Her body language does it for her. "There are
people to avoid there, and memories--naught so bad as yours. I could meet
her with a gift on neutral ground."

A'deth cups her chin, and tilts it up. "I will watch your back if you
choose to go. If you don't, then do as you please. Returning to Fort --
briefly -- made me nearly turn tail and run back to Igen, though I don't
think that my experiences have been quite so troublesome as yours... so.
I'm sure she'll understand such a request. I would."

When he lifts her head, Kassi has a smile for him: regretful, wry, wistful,
but affectionate as much as the three of those combined--and there's a
little humor in it too. "I'd like t'hear your story," she tells him, "you
and Fort, if'n you'd ever like t'tell it. High Reaches is a bit sordid."
The story, presumably, not the Weyr. "Thankee--" She hooks a finger in the
collar of his shirt, tugs gently to try and bring him down for a light
kiss. "For the offer, either way, and the understanding."

A'deth offers no resistance to Kassima's tugging, and kisses her very
softly. "I outlived my compatriots and, it seemed, my welcome... but it
seems like I've outlived my unwelcome. I think. Perhaps you will too, in
time."

"Perhaps." Kassima finds and squeezes his nearest hand. "'Twill nay outlive
m'memory, or else be very unfortunate. But who's t'be saying? Igen held,
holds memories like that too. Now 'tis where I live. The good memories
outweigh the shadows." She grins, kisses him a second time--a bit more
lingeringly but still chaste enough to suit a Living Cavern. "For which,
also, in part I thankee. If'n you'd go back t'Fort, if'n you'd have company
in it. You can always call me."

A'deth reaches up to carefully stroke her hair with his free hand. Once
again, he says softly, "I must thank you again for being my dear friend."

Kassima curls her fingers the tighter around his for it, her eyes briefly
closing and grin shifting into a warmer, softer smile. "You scarcely need
t'be thanking me for what's its own reward. And pleasure... but you're
welcome. Thankee for your care," she murmurs, "more than I can say."

A'deth's cheeks flush very gently, and he kisses her again, deeply, not
quite chaste enough for a living cavern... but isn't he shameless after
all? "I have to work," he sighs softly when he pulls back. "Or I'd take you
off with me after all, and indulge in politics and pleasure. Tomorrow?"

Well, yes, yes he is; and in his company, Kassi's just shameless enough to
kiss him back in like kind. Terrible influence, he is. Why, she isn't even
blushing much after. "Sharding hides," she grouses, laughter in it along
with the fond rue. "Tomorrow, by all means, and if'n you let any
sparkliness on my part stop you, 'twill never, ever forgive."

A'deth kisses the tip of her nose, and then reluctantly extricates himself
and begins to move away-- but not without giving her an abbreviated bow. "I
promise, and you must promise to sparkle for me."

Kassima can't curtsey at all in a chair, can't bow very well, but she bends
her neck in a nod of suitably deep respect. If her eyes gleam on finding
his again, surely he's not surprised. "Sparkle? Outright dazzle, if'n I can."

A'deth beams. And, regretfully, turns on his heel and strides back into the
infirmary. Break unfortunately over!

A'deth enters the Infirmary.