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+--- Thread: [G] [P] 743.05.01 | Table Manners (/showthread.php?tid=5183)
743.05.01 | Table Manners - S'far - 02.May.22
The tremors were back, though at least they didn't last as long as they used to, and didn't appear as frequently. That and he was almost done with the coffee table he'd been working on for his weyrwoman, so the tremors were too late to stop him. He dipped the rag into his little jar of finishing oil for another shaky slide across the surface of the table before pausing to inspect it. Not bad. Not his best work, he could see where a chisel had slipped when he'd gotten distracted, but that was just on one of the legs. "What do you think, old man?" Urudith gave him an annoyed tail twitch from the opposite end of the ledge.
Despite the grumpiness, S'far still felt the distinct sense of approval from his dragon. So satisfied with a job well done he immediately resealed his bottle and brought it inside to put away while the table spent just a little longer air drying. Following a small lunch, bath, and change of clothes, he grabbed his now dry and finished table and after some careful balancing and maneuvering, brought it to Mulrissa's weyr before knocking on the door. Hopefully she would like the gift, it wasn't especially big or impressive, but it was long enough to fit neatly in front of the couch in the main room she used for entertaining guests. It also held a neatly hidden little drawer just big enough to store things such as documents or even a knife. Just in case someone tried to do something foolish. Again.
He wasn't sure if it was still that damn poison or just the memory of the murders that brought on the sudden pounding headache and he squeezed his eyes shut as he massaged at the bridge of his nose and his temples in an attempt to try and soothe his head without having to take something for it. The rhythmic pressure of his fingers seemed to be working though his eyes were still screwed shut when he heard the door open. "Special delivery, just need a moment to compose myself a bit more before I finish the movement." If his head weren't still dully throbbing he'd have grinned proudly at that one.
RE: 743.05.01 | Table Manners - Mulrissa - 05.May.22
A particular Holder woman of high status had taken to sending Mulrissa a series of letters in which she less and less subtly requested, essentially, that a troublesome daughter of hers be Searched before she caused a scandal and inconvenienced her mother. Mulrissa was tempted to send a Searchrider out there to prevent whatever poor choices mother or daughter were bound to make, but it was bad practice to let the Holders think the Weyrs took problem children on demand. As much as Mulrissa sometimes wished they could, it was bad politics and no actual guarantee of finding suitable Candidates.
The knock on her door brought a welcome reprieve from the letter, which Mulrissa dropped unceremoniously on her desk and stood to let in her guest. She smiled when she saw it was S’far, and gave him the moment he needed to collect himself.
“Special delivery, indeed,” she said, eyeing the little table appreciatively. “Once you’re finished composing, you’re welcome inside.” Mulrissa sent a brief glance into her weyr to make sure there was a clear path through the weyr. Her children had been too old for leaving out toys for turns now, and even if they did still drop things where they didn’t belong sometimes she kept the weyr neat enough and didn’t really need to check outside of it being habit.
“Now, what delightful thing have you created today?” Mulrissa could see it was a small table, and could easily guess as to its intended uses, but she knew S’far liked to talk about the things he made and she was generally happy to listen. No matter how long he went on about sanding against the grain it was still more interesting than the inane Holder woman’s letter.
RE: 743.05.01 | Table Manners - S'far - 05.May.22
Once the headache had settled to a much more tolerable gentle throb S'far gave his weyrwoman a quick grin before carrying the low coffee table in through the door. He set it down roughly in front of the couch where he thought it would serve best, but off by a foot or so to give Mulrissa the opportunity to adjust it as she saw fit (even if it was to the same position he thought it should be he didn't want to impose too much upon her space).
He was ready to just make polite small talk, really he was, but he couldn't resist the opportunity to just talk about the table especially when she called it delightful. "Well! I suppose this one really started when I was out camping with Urudith at one of our usual spots. There was a good tall tree that had fallen in a recent storm and I couldn't help but take the straightest bit of trunk back to a mill to get split into planks."
S'far went on from there, pointing at certain boards in the table and commenting on how much he'd liked the figure but he wanted something with a bit clearer grain so he'd traded some of it for wood that he used in the other panels he gestured to. He soared her the origin story if the legs but did go into even further detail about his joinery, the dovetails he used to connect things all neatly hidden on the underside.
"Oh! And speaking of hidden, if you lift this little bit back here," he gently took Mulrissa's hand to feel the little toggle on the underside of the table, "you can open this side to reveal a drawer. You can keep papers in there. Or maybe a knife. You never know when you want a good knife no one else knows about." S'far proudly puffed up a bit at that. He was especially proud of his little drawer and how neatly and easily it slid into place. "Oh and I thought you could use a nice little coffee table in general for when you entertain our guests."
RE: 743.05.01 | Table Manners - Mulrissa - 08.May.22
Mulrissa nodded and made the appropriate noises throughout S’far’s woodworking story. She understood only about half of what he said, but she knew he cared about it so she put in the effort to be engaged. The craftsmanship was impressive, and it was kind of S’far to make her a gift.
“Oh, that drawer seems handy,” she said, opening and closing it a few times while making approving sounds. Mulrissa may end up keeping a knife in there—after the previous turn, the precaution could hardly hurt—though in some ways she wasn’t sure how helpful a knife would be. Both her children had been poisoned, not attacked by a person. Perhaps a small stock of common antidotes wouldn’t be remiss, though it wasn’t as if Mulrissa had the training to know which to use. Something for her to think about further at a later date.
“Yes, I’ll definitely get good use out of it,” Mulrissa nodded. She ran her hands over the surface, visualizing how her usual serving trays would fit on it.
“It really is the perfect height for serving food for people seated on the couch,” Mulrissa said with a teasing smile. “I have to wonder if you are just that good at estimating with your eyes or if you came in here with a measuring tape at some point.”
RE: 743.05.01 | Table Manners - S'far - 08.May.22
Ah yes, praise. Even the very vague and faint praise of calling the drawer handy was enough to feed S'far's ego and he grinned as broad and proudly as if she'd just called him the most intelligent and handsome man in all of Pern. He looked down at the table, admiring his own handiwork while also considering possible additions. Perhaps a little foot stool to match? He'd have to add that to his mental list of other projects he had in mind to build for various people. A stool wasn't that high of a priority after all. Unless Mulrissa happened to specifically mention wanting one, and then of course it would jump to the top of the list. And just in case he'd have to ask if there was anything else she happened to need or want that he could provide.
But first he was still beside himself with delight at how well this current piece was being received. "No measurements taken, these sorts of things aren't all that hard after all. Not like working with stone. Nearly broke my toe last time stubbing it on a step. This should be a bit more forgiving but still try to avoid kicking the legs, I still tried to make it sturdy for you in case one of your visiting lords or ladies gets rowdy. You know how holders can get. And speaking of, how have they been behaving for you? I know you are quite capable at handling them, but if you want I can always go have a stern word or two."
S'far gave his weyrwoman a conspiratorial wink before casually walking around to look for any changes in her décor while still paying attention to her in general. It seemed silly to keep standing and not just casually plop onto Rissa's couch like he inevitably would, but he always stubbornly waited for a more direct invitation to stay longer for tea or conversation first. A blank spot on the wall that had persisted in its bareness for some time caught his attention and he frowned. "You should put something here. If I made some sort of.. something, maybe a small shelf, would you use it?"
RE: 743.05.01 | Table Manners - Mulrissa - 13.Jun.22
“Well, I still commend you on your mental measuring skill, as it is one I do not have myself,” Mulrissa said, giving him a quick pat on the arm. “And no Holders need a stern talking to just yet, though if it wouldn’t make them uncooperative I think a number of them could do with one.” She shook her head. “Actually, if you happen to know the next time Searchriders are scheduled to visit Balan Hold, that would be helpful.”
He seemed to only partially hear the question, and asked about a shelf instead. From experience, Mulrissa knew the question would catch up with him in a moment and he’d answer it then. Until then, she may as well talk about a shelf.
“If I had a shelf there, I’d of course be able to find a use for it,” she assured him. Mulrissa had enough knicknacks tucked away she could find a few things to display. People did love to gift the Weyrwoman things in hope it would endear them to her, she was finding, so it wouldn’t be difficult to fill a shelf. If S’far wanted an excuse to build a shelf, she was hardly going to refuse a shelf.
RE: 743.05.01 | Table Manners - S'far - 14.Jun.22
S'far was busy sizing up the blank spot, getting an idea for how much wood he'd need, how long, how deep would look best, and if he'd be able to fit in two shelves or if just one would suffice. Mulrissa's easy and quick agreement to the shelf meant that a second one would likely be welcome and he made the adjustment in his mental calculations.
"Two shelves then, about here and here," he said as he gestured to the spots on the wall. "Probably a live edge slab if I can find some pieces I like enough. Maybe leave it natural with only an oiling rather than adding color stain to the finish. Should give you plenty of room for a variety of trinkets and baubles."
And then of course he remembered the question that had popped up while he'd been thinking. "Oh! Searchriders in Balan? I believe another month and a half. Should I send someone out sooner than that or direct them to delay a bit longer?" He wasn't sure which one the Holders would want, or more importantly, which option would be more helpful to his weyrwoman. "Are they making a bid to have someone casually ignored by the searchriders or to have a specific someone taken?"
RE: 743.05.01 | Table Manners - Mulrissa - 17.Jun.22
“The latter.” Mulrissa sighed. “A month and a half should be fine. I don’t want Holders to get in the habit of trying to offload their troublesome children on us whenever is convenient for them. She can wait a month and a half, and if the Searchriders don’t choose her daughter, well,” Mulrissa shook her head. “ Really, from the way this woman describes her daughter I can’t imagine she won’t end up in a Weyr one way or another within the next few Turns, it just may not be in as respectable a fashion as her mother would like.”
Mulrissa tilted her head to consider the area S’far was gesturing to as he described his shelving plans. She couldn’t see whatever he was envisioning as clearly as he could, certainly, but S’far’s description was sufficient for her to get the idea. Truly she didn’t need two shelves there, but they wouldn’t hurt, and it was a good location to display a few items where guests could see them. Maybe she could swap pieces in and out depending on the guest. Perhaps a useful strategy.
“If she doesn’t like ‘a month and a half’ as an answer, I will send her your way for that stern word, though I’d hate to interrupt your shelf making. I’m sure the shelves will be far more pleasing to deal with,” Rissa said dryly, trying not to be too disdainful towards the mildly annoying Holder. She was far too polite to suggest S’far beat the woman with the shelves if she got too annoying, though the thought did occur to her.
RE: 743.05.01 | Table Manners - S'far - 17.Jun.22
S'far huffed out a sharp breath of air from his nose and shook his head. "Maybe we can set up some sort of agreement, for every one of their little problem children, we get to have another load of grain, maybe two good cows worth keeping for more than butchering. Does she at least know how to do anything useful?" It didn't really matter if she did or not if the Searchriders and their dragons thought she was worth bringing back, but it was a nice thought. He had always been a little envious of Fort's relationship with the Healer Hall and their absolute glut of healers as a result. Sure he had the mining and smith halls nearby and that made for a very nicely built and maintained Weyr and good opportunities for valuable trade, but that didn't have the same sort of utility.
At least Tegar had its golds still, and one of them was turning into quite the frequent flier. "Bedith will be rising soon, then Neryseth, then... well who knows what Malvayth will do. There should be plenty of chances for her to get her problem child out before winter, and by then she should hopefully be too busy to bother you. Or she'll have all the time in the world because of the weather keeping her trapped inside. Either way, let me know when I need to have that talk or if I need to make you more furniture to help soothe the pain."
He smiled, laughing softly and shaking his head. "At least our own children aren't so obnoxious that we want to send them away. Yet."
RE: 743.05.01 | Table Manners - Mulrissa - 18.Jun.22
Mulrissa laughed. “As far as I can tell from the letters, her main skills are talking back to her parents and being late for anything her mother deems important, so we’ll see what the dragons think of her skills.”
She sighed at the talk of Telgar’s golds. Mulrissa could never tell if they had enough gold dragons. She’d been relieved when Cazan and Malvayth transferred to Telgar, as chaotic as Malvayth often was. Her own Bedith, in stark contrast, had been as solid and consistent in her Rising and Clutching as she was in everything else. That disaster of a first Hatching had so far not been repeated, as much as Mulrissa hated to tempt fate by thinking it.
“I’ll keep you updated on how much comfort woodwork I need, but for now we’ll just see how things play out” she said, not wanting to overthink it any more. “And truly, they’d need to be quite insufferable for me to want to send them away, a fact they are unfortunately aware of and exploit. Then again, I made it through their early teen years and I can hardly believe they’ll ever get worse than that.” Mulrissa shook her head fondly. Within another minute of conversation she and S’far were exchanging horror stories of their children in their early teens, pesky holder women and furniture plans momentarily set aside.