Welcome to Gaia! ::

Days were not enough to recover from the horror that the celebration for the rebuilding effort had become. Everyone tried to return to work as usual, but with buildings burnt down and more damage to repair, it was difficult to ignore what had happened. Tanya certainly had had nightmares for the last few nights, though she tried not to wake the others she shared quarters with when she did. The reduced amount of sleep left her tired, but overall she was no less cheerful than usual and still endeavored to do her share of the work in the kitchens.

"You two!" a voice barked out and Tanya lifted her head from where she was restocking the local pantry. The head cook for the morning pointed at her and one of the drudges. "Go fetch some more water; we're running low and we'll need it for later."

Tanya set down the basket she'd been unloading and with quick movements was out of the kitchen with a pair of buckets and on her way to the lakes.


((I have no idea if they have wells, but I know they don't have indoor plumbing. Therefore, someone must need to bring water.))

Tanya turned when her name was shouted, surprised to see the pleasant Brownrider from the other night. A thrill ran through her at the thought that he had thought to check up on her, even if it was-- judging from the basket in his hands-- a chance accident on his part. It spoke to his good qualities.

"Brownrider M'lan, hello!" She smiled at his inquiries, adjusting her grip on the empty buckets. "Oh, I'm fine. Fine. It certainly wasn't an easy night for anyone, but others had it worse than I did, so I can't complain." His dropped gaze and nervous rubbing hadn't gone unnoticed, and Tanya instinctively reached out touch his arm, managing to whack him with a bucket in the process.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Are you all right? I just wanted to make sure you were all right. I'm sorry." She reached forward to touch his hip to make sure he wasn't bruised and only at the last second remembered it was still the hand holding the bucket. Before it could hit him again, she pulled back and laughed.

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry." She glanced over at the drudge, who was watching the exchange with little surprise. "Um, look, a lift would be wonderful." She glanced at the drudge. "Ah, do you have room for both of us?" It would be unkind to take his offer and not think to give the same chance to the drudge.

Tanya laughed when M'lan implied she just assaulted random passers-by and shook her head. His invitation, coming so easily in the flow of conversation, startled her. For a moment, she actually didn't know what to say. "Oh. Uh, I can ask." Tanya nodded encouragingly at him. The kitchen always had more than enough hands anyway. The Headwoman might even be happy to let her go and get some more space in the kitchen. She couldn't object if it was M'lan, could she? "I'd like to. Very much."

"So are we going with him?"

Tanya turned to look at the drudge who was raising her eyebrows at Tanya expectantly.

"Yes, yes, we are." Tanya beamed at the girl, who smiled in reply, and then looked back to M'lan. "Thank you. Are you sure Asoth doesn't mind?"

Tanya didn't blush at M'lan's promise to defend her, but she did lower her gaze and feel an unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't often that people-- men people in particular-- did things for her just to do them. She also didn't get asked out on many picnics and it did sound like a great deal of fun. Tanya never really considered her lack of friends, since she was friendly with anyone who was around her, but the types of activities one did with people they were close to often seemed to slip by her somehow. That was something else she didn't notice often, but she certainly noticed when someone did do something this nice for her.

Tanya, who had had experience with Asoth's boisterous personality once before, giggled quietly at M'lan's chipper explanation of Asoth's response. She grinned openly up at the Brown as the drudge stepped forward and let M'lan help her on to the dragon and get settled with her buckets.

"Hello, Asoth," Tanya called up to the dragon, squinting against the early afternoon light. "Thank you for the lift!"


((Forgive me for taking some liberties with M'lan, but I wanted to move them along a bit!))

Yes, Asoth was certainly as boisterous as usual. As he rose into the air, Tanya made sure to grip tightly to M'lan with whatever hand she could without buffeting him with another bucket. Thankfully, even without going between the trip was a short one, so she didn't have to finagle her buckets into place for too long.

"I'm sure Asoth," Tanya assured M'lan as she slid to the ground with some help from his proffered hand, "Will do just fine carrying the buckets."

Tanya followed the drudge to the water's edge, knelt down, and dipped the first of her buckets into the lake. Just because her hands were busy, however, did not mean that she couldn't continue the conversation they had started.

Glancing between M'lan and her work, Tanya asked, "What have you been doing lately, Brownrider? I mean, what have you kept yourself occupied with?" She smiled, her usual careless amiability shining through.

Beside her, the drudge finished filling her first bucket and reached for her second, listening to the conversation around her with one ear.

As M'lan turned back to help, Tanya passed him her bucket and reached for her second.

"I'm sure if he carried two while we carry the other two, that would be enough," Tanya agreed. "We wouldn't want to foul his landing or spill the water. Then we'd have to make another trip, and I don't think the head cook or the Headwoman would like that much."

"I'm done," the drudge spoke up, lifting her pair of buckets. "Tanya?"

"Oh, yes, I have it." Tanya lifted the second heavy bucket and followed M'lan and the drudge back to Asoth. The drudge set her bucket aside and with only a little help climbed back into her place, then reached out to M'lan.

"Bucket, please."

Tanya stepped to the side and set her bucket down as well. That did seem to be the best way to go about getting settled.

Tanya reached for her buckets. "I--"

Before she could get so much as a grip on the handles, M'lan had captured one of her hands, stopping her short. She looked up as he addressed the Headwoman and felt a blush beginning to flush her cheeks.

The Headwoman seemed as surprised as Tanya felt. She blinked at the tall Brownrider and was just beginning to cross her arms when the hand-hold M'lan had on Tanya turned into a distinct tug.

Tanya looked caught between mortification and confusion as M'lan pulled her away before she could get a word in edgewise to the Headwoman or the head cook, who was glaring at them over the Headwoman's shoulder. She couldn't tell from the Headwoman's expression if the older woman was offended or just surprised, but it looked like neither of them were being given much choice in the matter.

"I'm sorry--" she called back, beginning to explain, but those were the only words that made it before Tanya found herself being lifted up onto Asoth's prooffered leg. "I did finish my other tasks," she called back as she began climbing onto Asoth (since it was that or potentially being knocked over by the shared enthusiasm between M'lan and Asoth). "I promise that I'll fill in for extra shifts later in the week!"

The drudge was shaking her head at this point and carried her own buckets into the kitchen, "accidentally" forcing the head cook to back up and be temporarily removed from the conversation.

"You could have let her bring her buckets in, at least," the Headwoman said in a voice that carried, but it was clear that she was speaking to M'lan and not Tanya herself. She moved forward and lifted the forgotten burden. "I don't appreciate my kitchen staff being apprehended against their wills, rider. Bring her back in one piece, please."

The Headwoman clicked her tongue in a chastising way at the kiss to her hand, but her expression was at least faintly amused at this point. She recognized both M'lan and Tanya, even if she didn't know either of them particularly well-- she knew every Trine-Impressed rider by name and rank, but not always personally, and Tanya was a refugee; she hadn't had time to get a sense of the girl, though her apologies did give the Headwoman an idea of who she was.

She waved them off, the dismissal as good as approval, and lifted the abandoned burden to carry back to the kitchens. Positive relations between the Weys would only be a good thing in the end. She couldn't blame the young for taking advantage of the time they had, especially when a rider was involved.

Tanya had stayed silent during the exchange, uncertain how serious everyone was being, and so it wasn't until M'lan mounted before her and she wrapped her arms about him for safety that she whispered, "You don't have to work any extra time for me. If they want me to make up the time I'm missing, I don't mind. I don't have anything else to do anyway. Besides, you're a rider. You all have plenty to do yourselves without worrying about doing the weyrfolks' jobs. You have fighting Thread and rebuilding and wing practices and-- well, you know, other things." She felt her blush growing as she drew herself up short before she mentioned the frequent Flights that took place in the Weyr. At least he couldn't see her face since he was in front of her.

Tanya was familiar with how things worked in the Weyrs; she'd been at Malvren for almost a Turn before they'd ended up at Trine, after all. In spite of that, she couldn't shake her Holdborn learning that made her feel embarrassed when openly brought to discussing the more promiscuous behavior of the riders. It wasn't their fault of course-- it was something that came with Impressing-- but there were just things Tanya couldn't shake, things that were ingrained in her. She'd heard Weyrborn folk commenting on people being "Holdborn" as if it were shameful, or at least as if it were something that justified them treating a person in a patronizing way. It made Tanya uncomfortable, as used to being cheerful as she was, because it always made her feel... less. Less cheerful, less than welcome, less worthy of notice, less important than those born to the life she had joined out of necessity. She didn't frown on the behavior, she just wasn't comfortable with openly acknowledging it, especially with someone of the opposite gender.