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 Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:56 am
Fetch wine. She had been told to fetch wine. Bah!
Lanakirene knew very little about wine; when it came to alcohol at all, beer was her drink of choice, and even then, she prefered water. Alcohol made her sleepy. But afternoon kitchen duty was afternoon kitchen duty, and it wasn't as if she could have refused the task. At least she was working with someone today. Maybe he would have a better handle on what they should actually be getting.
She didn't honestly know much about the Candidate she was working with tonight, and as they made their way down to the cellars where the alcohol was kept, she glanced over at him a few times, sizing him up. Hesendek, his name was, and he seemed pleasant enough, though she really hadn't had a chance to speak with him yet. They had arrived at the kitchen and immediately been shooed off to collect supplies for dinner.
"I honestly don't know what Cook was talking about when she sent us down here," she began conversationally. "I don't know all that much about wine. Any chance you're going to be able to help me?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:24 am
Fetching wine! Whoever was in charge of assigning chores must have known Hesendek's heritage, the lad thought to himself. He couldn't have chosen a better chore himself. Why, this wasn't even a chore at all! Not compared to some of the other things he had been asked to do since he'd arrived at the Weyr, nor some of the things he did as an apprentice back at the Winecrafthall.
Speaking of.
Hesendek could hardly hold in a laugh as the other candidate addressed him, shaking his head as he chuckled quietly, adjusting the handkerchief around his neck. "Doll," he drawled, turning to her with a winning smile, "your lucky stars were shinin' upon y'all t'day. 'm an apprentice vintner at th' Winecrafthall an' 'll be ri' damned ifin I don' know my wine." The lad paused and halted. "Bu' where my manners! My ma wou' be ri' shamed." Hesendek extended a hand. "M'name's Hesendek. 'n you, miss?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 6:29 am
Lanakirene tilted her head as the boy spoke, though she did smile in response to it; the boy's easygoing manner was contagious to some degree, and she liked the way he spoke. It was musical, and his accent wasn't a local one. Winecrafter, eh? That explained a great deal; the vintners' crafthall was up near Benden.
He was nice to listen to...and polite, to boot! La couldn't help but grin at Hesendek when he introduced himself. Taking his hand firmly, she shook and then inclined her head. "Lanakirene," she answered with a smile. "And it looks like I'm lucky indeed, then." She paused, then laughed and shook her head slightly. "Cook tends to forget to give explicit directions, so a lot of kitchen fetching is guesswork."
Rounding a bend, she paused in front of a pair of doors, then quickly made a decision and opened the one on the left. Stepping inside, she smiled at the coolness of the air and the faint scent of skins and barrels. Stepping inside, she glanced over her shoulder at Hesen and waited for him to follow her. "I think it's cooking wine she wanted us to fetch, if there's a difference."
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 6:36 am
Hesendek was impressed with Lanakirene's handshake, most females he knew (Mo didn't count) didn't grip firmly enough. "Lanakirene," he murmured, trying the name out himself. "Tha's quite a mouthful, if ya dun mind me sayin' so. Y'all shorten tha', 'er do ye prefer t' be called by yer name proper?" the apprentice asked, following after his fellow candidate into the door on the left. "Y'all can call me Hesen, if tha' suits ya."
The youth stepped forward. "Thur's a difference, right sure," he nodded, taking a brief inventory of what seemed to be available. "D'ya happen t' know wha' the Cook is makin'? Tha' can help ye pick, sometimes," he added, rubbing his chin as he frowned. Did his eyes deceive him? Or was their honestly no Benden wine here? (The nerve!) Hesendek's lips twisted into a frown. "S'this really all there is?"
Sure, he understood overpopulation put a strain on supplies....but that was no excuse for bad wine!
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 9:16 am
"You can shorten it however you like," she answered with a smile. "And Hesen sounds like it'll do me just fine." Inclining her head, she stepped aside and tried to remember if she had seen anything to indicate what was being prepared. Frowning, she was so caught up in this little mental exercise that she almost didn't hear Hesen speak. And when she did, she tipped her head to one side and frowned slightly.
All there was? Was something missing? "Um....yes?" she ventured slowly, turning back to look at Hesen.
Why was he frowning? Was there something wrong? She looked around the room, but it looked roughly the same as it had the scant few times she had been down there before. If there was something amiss, she certainly didn't see it. "Um, beg pardon, but if something is wrong, I feel inclined to tell you that I can't see it. So...um...yeah," she finished lamely, looking at Hesen and waiting patiently for some sort of a reply that made sense to her.
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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 1:46 pm
Hesendek scowled briefly, pushing a hand through his hair in a moment of confusion. How on earth was he supposed to pick a good wine if there wasn't any? The lad covered his face and groaned softly, shaking his head. This was absolutely tragic. How did people at this Weyr even celebrate?
"Y'all have no Benden wine," the candidate finally informed his chore-mate, still shaking his head as he muttered under his breath. Of all the horrid things to discover. Not having Benden wine was just...just...it was absolutely distasteful! Honestly! Hesendek couldn't get over the atrocity of the idea. "How am I suppos'd t' pick somethin' out for y'all ifin y'all dun' even have a good selection?"
Hesen turned to La, folding his arms over his chest with a pitiful look. This wine...it made him sad.
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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 3:49 pm
...um?
La watched as Hesen went through some sort of disbelief-to-anger-to-resignation process, tilting her head and waiting for him to come to some sort of conclusion she could understand. Obviously something was wrong, but when he finally spoke, she couldn't help from stepping back and raising her eyebrows at him. ...So there was no wine from Benden. That didn't matter; they rarely got any sort of supplies from that far away, and that couldn't possibly mean there was nothing to choose.
And he looked so sad, too! It was almost darling, minus the fact that La was slightly miffed (to say 'offended' would have been far too strong a word, but she was just the tiniest bit put-off) about his obvious snobbery. "Um...oh," she said lamely, walking back over to pat Hesen awkwardly on the shoulder. "Didn't know it was so integral," she added and grimaced.
"...is there any way you can do the best you can with this?" she asked gently, fully aware that it was a touchy thing to ask. Asking a craftsman to make due with substandard materials was always a bit on the dangerous side, and she assumed this would be no different.
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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 6:02 am
Stages of mourning, Hesendek had them.
The apprentice vintner just stood and stared blankly, rubbing the sides of his face as he tried to comprehend what was going on. Just a few moments ago, he was absolutely thrilled to be helping the pretty miss La (and yes, even though she was boyish, Hesendek still thought there was something decidedly charming about her...maybe he just liked tough woman. Great.), but that was really the biggest letdown.
Finally, he shook himself out of it and put his hands on his sides, drumming his fingers on his sides. When life gives you bad grapes you make....bad wine, but that was...not what he meant, shards. "Well, it's not like w c'n go back empty-handed, eh? We'll jes' have t' make do with...wha' we were gi'in." Hesendek twisted his lips into a lopsided smile. "Jes' dun tell my fam'ly back home."
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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 6:41 am
All right, even La couldn't deny that the poor boy was absolutely darling in his disappointment. She patted him a few more times on the shoulder, and when he shook himself out of his little funk, she dropped her hand and straightened up again. Running a hand through her hair, she looked around at the wine before turning back to Hesen.
When he spoke, she chuckled and nodded. "Cook'd skin us, an' probably serve us in the stew if we came back empty handed," she shrugged and then held a finger to her lips. "Of course I won't tell!" she said lightly, then flashed Hesen a smile. "Unfortunately, I'm still gonna need to leave this choosing up to you; I haven't the foggiest idea of how to choose wine." Grinning sheepishly, she looked over the wineskins and then shrugged. Wine was not her forte.
"I am sorry that the wine selection is not to your taste," she said, though that was the closest thing to an apology he'd get from La for the Weyr. After all, La was Ista born and bred (though she had started her life in the Hold) and really quite proud of it.
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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 5:43 am
Hesendek chuckled softly and shook his head. He didn't know the cook, he hadn't met her (or at least, he assumed the head cook was a woman), but if she was anything like their Candidatemaster? Yeah. It was definitely best to return with something in hand.
"Well, jus' dun blame me if it ain' the best meal y'all have ever had," Hesendek said, an added disclaimer. He looked over all the wineskins, prodding as he investigated dates and names. Some of these things were local, or at least, he assumed. He'd never heard of them. Perhaps they did not have the same reputation as Benden, or even Southern, for that matter, but maybe they'd be alright.
Finally picking out a skin, he handed it to La. "S'alright. S'kinda like an adventure, ya know? Tryin' new things. That's why I came here." Hesendek winked to his fellow candidate. "C'mon, or they'll come lookin' for us for takin' too long.
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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 11:31 am
Taking the wineskin, La didn't even bother to mask a wry smile at Hesdendek and his...she didn't like to use the word 'snobbery;' it gave too negative of a connotation to something she actually found somewhat endearing, but she couldn't think of a different word to describe it. This particular boy was a charmer, that was certain. Honestly, she was surprised she hadn't heard about any girls falling over themselves to get to him yet.
"Adventure," she repeated, then grinned at Hesen. "Different way to see it, that. I like it." Nodding, she returned the wink and then started out of the room. "So how are you liking this 'adventure,' as you so eloquently put it?" she asked, curious to see how someone from so far away and such a different way of life was enjoying the Weyr.
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Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:49 pm
Hesendek followed after Lanakirene, quite pleased this little trip to the wine cellar had produced a friend, even if the actual contents of the cellar were rather...dismal. "Hmm? Oh! I rather like i' quite a bit," the Candidate replied, trotting after the female to catch up. "I have to admit, I was a bit nervous comin', didn' really want to, but sure as dragons fly, I'm right glad I came." He paused. "I hope Mo is, too."
The youth shook his head and regarded La, pausing when they finally reached the outside of the kitchen. "Well, it was a right pleasure meetin' ya, miz La. I have some other chores to attend to, but please do enjoy the evenin', th' wine aside." He nodded towards his fellow candidate and gave a little wave, trotting off in the opposite direction.
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:23 am
"I'm glad you're not miserable here," she said with a grin, nodding as the boy made his good-byes. Hesendek was right; it had been rather enjoyable to meet someone new to the weyr, particularly someone as forthright and sweet as this boy seemed to be. La liked making new friends, as trite as it may sound. "Have a good rest of your evening, it's been a pleasure," she answered his good-bye with her own and turned toward the kitchen. Time to see if the boy's choice had been the correct one or not.
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