[G] [C] [EVENT] 738.12.14 | At Vase Value

G’nen had learned at a young age that his mother was not the easiest person to get along with. He loved her, of course, but that didn’t mean he was unable to see that she had a quirk or twelve that made her a bit trying to spend a lot of time with. He’d spent four years in Exile with only her and Yanth, he’d know it better than anyone.

And, knowing Wenon, G’nen figured her ‘apprentice’ of sorts could do with some encouragement. His mother didn’t give words of praise often, and based on how she talked about Rhaedalyn and G’nen’s own experiences with the Weyrwoman, she deserved to know Wenon appreciated and approved of her. Even if he had to say the words for her.

In order to do this, G’nen had collected some information on what Rhaedalyn might like. He’d heard a bit of exasperation from Wenon on how often she liked to pick flowers, with or without R’nya. Truly, G’nen was happy the pair could enjoy simple things like that together, especially considering how much work they had to do running a Weyr. He thought it might be nice to find a gift that could accompany or encourage that activity, and eventually he decided on a vase.

He decided to make the vase himself, always being one to prefer gifts with a personal touch. G’nen carefully selected a small block of wood that had been discarded by someone else and carved it into a small vase. While G’nen could carve, he wasn’t a master at fine detail work, but he thought the little flowers and firelizards decorating the sides of the vase would be recognizable enough. He finished it by sealing the inside with a wax so that it could safely hold water.

The morning after he’d deemed the wax properly set and finished, he headed off to the Weyrwoman’s office after checking that his mother was occupied elsewhere. G’nen carefully adjusted his hold on the gift before reaching out with one hand to knock on the door.

“Rhaedalyn?” He called out, gently pushing open the partially ajar door. “Do you have a moment to spare?”

Truth be told, Rhaedalyn was just killing time. She had been in her office just over an hour, shuffling papers and genuinely trying to look busy and actually do something productive before the meetings she had arranged for a bit later on. The girls had been dropped off at the crèche after breakfast and she didn’t want to be a pest to R’nya by loitering about his office—though she knew he’d say her company was welcomed and that it wasn’t a bother no matter what his plans were.

Over her time helping to run Fort Weyr, Rhaedalyn found that it required talking to way too many people and she still didn’t think she was getting any better at it. Still, she agreed to meetings to discuss issues that fell under her care and arranged for times to go and see her areas in action. It was all well and good to hear what was happening in laundry or the kitchen but to actually see it for herself helped see the full picture and make the right corrections and give the proper directions. So she found herself waiting for one of those meetings, not wanting to inconvenience anyone by asking them to come up early because she was bored.

It was with great relief that a knock sounded and someone called looking for her. She knew it wasn’t really proper to run to the door to greet her caller but Rhaedalyn was excited for something to do, even if it was just to listen to a complaint or handle a mundane question that really didn’t need to come her. It was a bit of a surprise to see G’nen peeking in before she got to the door that was left open more for a bit of a cool breeze than as a visual that she was in and available.

“Good morning, G’nen,” Rhaedalyn greeted the brownrider with a genuine smile and waved for him to come in, gesturing to a chair for him to sit if he’d like, “I have several moments to spare. What brings you by?”

“Good morning, Weyrwoman.” G’nen returned her greeting, smiling cheerfully as he entered the office. “I hope you are well?” He asked politely as he took the offered chair. While waiting for Rhaedalyn’s response he took a glance about the room. It only reminded him a little of the Weyrwoman’s office at Igen that used to be his mother’s realm. The layout of the rooms was similar, but the furniture was made of a different wood - the one used at Igen was darker than the one used here - and it felt a bit more ‘open’ than Igen. He was also thirty-seven instead of twelve turns old, and facing a smiling woman younger than him, not his mother. A very different situation overall.

“I am here because I have a gift for you.” G’nen said, returning his attention to Rhaedalyn. He carefully placed the vase on the desk. “It’s a vase. For flowers, or some such. My mother mentioned you like to have flowers in here, or go collecting them.” Rhaedalyn didn’t need to know that the comment had been accompanied by a quiet sigh about how frivolous the activity could be. G’nen didn’t see any harm in it, after all. Wenon was just a bit stuffy(He could say that, she was his mother).

“It’s water safe and everything,” he continued, turning the vase so she could see how the water resistant wax coating refracted the light a bit. “I wanted to give you something for - well, for a few reasons.” G’nen laughed gently, still smiling. “For one, I think you deserve nice things sometimes in recognition of all the hard work you do. And for another, even though my mother thinks you are doing well as Weyrwoman and are a credit to the Weyr and your dragon, she’s hardly likely to tell you herself. Don’t tell her I said that last bit, though. She’d give me a lecture about confidential information. ” He said, grinning.

Rhaedalyn had expected G’nen to come out with some sort of issue for her to look into that he didn’t want R’nya to know about or possibly just a woman’s opinion on something since she was known to be girly and live in her own little fantasy world that created unique perspectives. She had not, however, expected him to come bearing gifts. A soft ‘oh’ escaped as he set the vase –something she hadn’t really paid attention to when he came in-- on the desk and explained the purpose of it. She bit her lower lip to avoid the giggle the explanation of what a vase was for prompted.

It quickly died before it was given though, thankfully, as she didn’t want to be rude or insult the brownrider. “Your mother?” Rhaedalyn was having trouble grasping that Wenon knew the activities she enjoyed so much and wondered how much her mentor really did know about her. Was she always watching? Did she feel left out and want to pick flowers as well? Did she approve of such a hobby that R’nya also indulged her with? She must if she was pointing it out to her son which encouraged him to get her something to house freshly picked flowers in.

Rhaedalyn dutifully peeked at the vase to admire the wax coating G’nen spoke of though it wasn’t something she was overly familiar with and nodded her approval at what she saw. She was just starting to genuinely admire the carvings of flowers and firelizards, a smile in place, when the reason behind the gift came out. Rhaedalyn blushed at the kind words and didn’t know how to respond. She wasn’t used to compliments and had never figured out how to graciously accept them when they did come her way. Even with R’nya she still fidgeted and had trouble believing him. But to have someone in her Weyr that she was helping to take care of thank her for her work wasn’t at all something she thought she’d have happen when she woke up that morning.

And then the strangest thing happened; G’nen kept talking and brought up Wenon again, this time stating her approval. “Thank you,” she finally managed to get a couple of words out though on a whisper as she looked down at her hands. Now she really didn’t know how to accept such praise! She was certain Wenon disliked her and thought her useless, a slow learner, and a horrible goldrider.

She quickly dashed away the tears of joy and relief that threatened to spill and looked back up at G’nen with a smile. “Your secret is safe with me, G’nen.” She wouldn’t dream of talking to Wenon about anything that was said. If the woman couldn’t say it directly, then Rhaedalyn wasn’t going to prod her about it. She didn’t want to anger the older woman and she felt if she brought it up then it would seem like she was looking for an ego boost and it had a chance to strain the relationship they had.

Another glance at the vase prompted Rhaedalyn to get to her feet and fetch the water jug that was repurposed into a vase the day before when R’nya had surprised her with a late lunch and a handful of flowers. She quickly moved water and flowers to the beautifully carved vase and set the pitcher aside to be cleaned later. “Thank you again, G’nen. It’s beautiful,” again she smiled and then a thought hit her, “did you make this yourself?” She didn’t know why she automatically assumed he had purchased it but thinking on the way he had carefully held it and set it on the desk and showed off the detail, it made more sense and the gift all the more special.

G’nen beamed while Rhaedalyn took the flowers she already had in the office and transferred them to the new vase. Already it was proving useful! The vase had been a good choice of gift, and G’nen mentally gave himself a congratulatory pat on the back.

“Ah, I did, actually!” G’nen said proudly, smiling at Rhaedalyn. “Picked up a few things living on the Southern Continent. I helped build the first houses of Katila, even.” Okay, he wasn’t that great at it back then and he was pretty sure the floor of the hut he and Wenon shared was slightly tilted all those years, but he’d gotten better since then. “I mostly leave the proper woodworking to the woodcrafters now, stick to things like this, and when she was younger I made lots of toys for my daughter.” He said, looking the vase now that it had flowers, making sure the silhouette was still pleasing. Determining it was, he continued speaking.

“Oh, now that I think of it, as I said earlier, I sealed it so water doesn’t get through, and it should work perfectly, but you might want to check the area underneath the vase once or twice in the next few days. Just to be sure.” G’nen added, eyeing the vase. He was confident that it would not leak, but the warning was worth giving. “I’m sure it’ll hold perfectly, though.” He assured her, before pausing a moment, thinking.

“She truly does like you, I promise. And if you ever need help translating from ‘Wenon’ to ‘regular person,’ you are absolutely welcome to consult me. I’m a bit of an expert, if I do say so myself.” G’nen added, winking cheerfully. He wasn’t sure if she’d ever take him up on the offer, but he felt it was about time he made it. Rhaedalyn seemed like she preferred to keep her problems close, if G’nen was judging her right, but you could never know what might happen. Having resources on the off chance you need them is only positive, especially when you happen to be in charge of a dragon Weyr.

At the confirmation that he had indeed made the vase and even helped build some of the huts in Katila, Rhaedalyn was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. Of course R’nya gave her little gifts and spoiled her but it was a rare treat when someone else got her something that they had handcrafted themselves. It took a lot of willpower not to throw her arms around G’nen and hug him tightly. She instead focused on his words and nodded her understanding at the directions given to check on any leaking, before realizing almost too late a fun little tidbit about the man.

“Oh! Well, if you ever have an urge to make a toy, I’m sure Alyren or Varlea would love one,” she saw no issues with receiving such items if G’nen was ever inclined to make and offer her one and Rhaedalyn didn’t see R’nya having any problem with it either.

When G’nen promised his mother did in fact like her, Rhaedalyn smiled shyly and adverted her gaze. She didn’t know how to respond to such a declaration and thoughts of little handcrafted toys were quickly forgotten. Was he saying that just to be nice? She didn’t think so, especially given the offer to help her translate Wenon’s words and actions into something a bit easier to understand. “Thank you,” she settled on two easy words that held genuine gratitude in them. “I really do appreciate hearing that. It’s… well, it’s a bit hard on me some days and I’m not sure I’ll ever live up to her expectations and certainly not her legacy as Weyrwoman.” Failure was something she was used to given no one seemed to want to marry her before she was Stolen and she struggled with some sewing patterns and cooking definitely wasn’t her strong suit either, but failing as a leader hurt a lot more than she thought it would.

Rhaedalyn shook herself from the melancholy mood and smiled again at G’nen, “but truly, thank you. The vase and your words have brightened my day.”

G’nen smiled back at Rhaedalyn, genuinely pleased she had liked her gift and that he could reassure her. He liked Rhaedalyn, and he much preferred the people he liked to be happy. If something as simple as a vase and reassurance that his mother didn’t hate her made the Weyrwoman this happy, he’d have to be sure to give her more in the future. Hopefully, R’nya wouldn’t be insecure and take any offense to G’nen giving his weyrmate gifts, but G’nen judged the man would recognize the tokens as what they were; gifts for a friend, and proof that the people of Fort appreciated their Weyrwoman.

“I’m glad you enjoy it, Rhaedalyn. If it does have any problems with water please contact me so I can fix it, though I truly don’t think it will.” He grinned. “And feel free to give me a list of your girls’ favorite animals and colors and such at some point and I’ll be sure to make them a thing or two. I’ve gotten pretty skilled at horses, and I can make a decent dragon.” G’nen admitted.

Thinking about how long they’d been chatting, G’nen made to stand up to leave. “I’ve taken up enough of your morning, I’m sure. It’s been lovely talking to you, Rhaedalyn. I hope you have a pleasant rest of the day. Tell R’nya and the girls I say hello, if you wish.”