Floral Arrangements [Open]

Apari being who she was knew exactly which times throughout the day the WeyrHall was least active.  She certainly didn’t mind several people in the Hall as having a nice quiet chat was something she always welcomed, but she did mind when it was so crowded that she could barely make it inside the door without bumping into someone let alone making it across the room.  She always spent crowded gatherings outside looking in or safely escorted to a corner where she was carefully boxed in so nobody could sneak up on her and with a trusted friend guarding her opened side.

As it were, now was one of those times that the Hall was blissfully scarce of weyrfolk and she had freedom to move around without fear of bumping into one body or another.  One arm held a basket full past the brim with a variety of flowers while the other hand held twine and scissors.  She was up to her nonsense of bringing beauty to the Weyr again, though unlike back home, nobody seemed to complain.  Either that or nobody realized it was her putting fresh arrangements of flowers throughout the WeyrHall to know who to complain to.

Either way suited her fine.  She enjoyed the colors and fragrance and as long as a single other person did, it was enough to keep her doing it every few days.

Finding an empty table, she sat down and began to take the flowers gingerly from the basket with her gnarled fingers and sort them out by type on the table so that it was easier for her to pick and choose which color she deemed she needed next.  A light hum was on her lips as she began to work and the bronze firelizard on her shoulder hummed lightly with her, his eyes closed in contentment with her routine.

It wasn't often that Peorray didn't have somewhere to be or something to do- such was the life of a candidate at Katila. Especially an untrained one. Not that she particularly regretted her lack of craft. Many other young women weren't and even if her family had had the money to send her, Peorray had no idea what craft she might have taken up. Nothing worth the cost of her family's monetary ruin, or missing out on her marriage to Dederon.

Peorray caught herself and forcibly dragged her mind back from that tangent. That was part of why, even now during what served as her 'me' time, she preferred to spend in in a place with others around in the background. It was never good to get to far into one's own head and all too easy to do with only the mug of klah in her hands to occupy her.

So once in a while she reminded herself to look up and watch the comings and goings around the dining hall. One of these looks around brought to attention a woman nearby, working with a basket of flowers. Peorray frowned slightly in concentration as she subtly tried to study what the other was doing, her expression smoothing as her interest caught.

Alright, so she definitely wasn't subtle and knew it. But it would also be rude to interrupt the woman's work, so unsubtle looks over and away it was. At least until the woman did something that gave Peorray the excuse to ask her about it directly.

Flowers out in neat little piles, Apari had measured out a small length of string and cut it before she’d looked up to finally catch a fellow candidate looking over at her.  Returning her eyes to her work, Aparicus couldn’t help but glance up again after choosing her first two flowers to find the other candidate turning to look in her direction yet again.  Apari knew the other woman wasn’t looking behind her, Apari always did her best to sit with her back to a wall, and there certainly was nobody sitting nearby.

Offering a smile, Aparicus waved with a free hand before picking up another flower to add to her current little bundle before deciding she was satisfied with it and tying the string in as neat of a bow that her hands allowed her to.  Lifting her eyes once more to the woman across the room, Apari struggled with a name for a moment.

The fellow candidate was quite a bit taller than Apari but with similarly brown hair, though the woman’s was far straighter than Aparicus’ loose waves.  P… P-something.  Oh bother.  she thought to herself as she attempted to pull the woman’s name from her memory.  How long now had Aparicus been at the Weyr and she still found some of her fellow candidate names slipping from her mind.  Oh they had just stood for the latest little gold too! 

Silently Apari kicked herself until it came to her with a flourish and Aparicus smiled broadly.  Peorray.  It was a name that sounded like it should belong to a pretty song-bird, not a tall and seemingly muscular woman who very nearly intimidated Apari just by appearance.  Though intimidating Aparicus was never difficult to do.  One simply had to raise their voice and the woman would be scampering off to some corner to hide.

“Good Afternoon Peorray.”  Apari finally said, just barely loud enough to carry across the distance between them.  She didn’t want to disturb the other weyrfolk in the Hall, but with a childhood that was barren of idle chatter one really couldn’t blame the gold candidate for becoming fond of conversation.

With direct acknowledgement, Peorray smiled back and stood to move closer to the other woman. She would feel foolish trying to conduct a conversation over such a distance. With the deliberate, careful movements of a woman used to looming over many of her fellows, she re-seated herself opposite Apari (was that a name or a nickname? Peorray couldn't remember), careful not to disturb the painstakingly sorted flowers.

"Good afternoon, Apari." Greeting properly returned, Peorray felt safe in showing open interest in Apari's work. Making bundles of flowers? Maybe for patients in the Healing Hall, to cheer them up? That would be sweet of the other candidate. She should offer to help.

"What are these for?" Peorray half-reached toward the finished bundle, stopping before making actual contact and dropping her hand back down. She didn't want to ruin it. "They're very pretty." It wasn't something that be said about much of Katila, home though it had become.

Aparicus couldn’t help but smile in delight as the larger woman commented that the flowers were pretty.  “Oh you can pick it up.  You won’t hurt the flowers.”  She said quickly when Peorray stopped herself from picking up the first bundle Apari had made.  Cutting off another length of string, she began arranging another small bundle.

“They are for the WeyrHall.  I think they bring some color to the place.”  Aparicus finally answered, nearly beaming.  A yawn from the bronze firelizard on her shoulder interrupted the woman before he rearranged himself on her shoulder and fell back into a content doze.  “The kitchen’s have extra glasses, so once I make my bundles I’ll spread them out in spare glasses and jars around the tables.  Nobody seems to mind and it keeps my hands busy.”

Tying off a second bundle once she was satisfied with its collection of flowers, she set it down next to where the first had been.  Her smile softened and her voice dropped a little with her next statement, but it was easy to tell the idea still had Apari hopeful.  “Perhaps if I have enough for the Hall, there will be some left over to take a bundle to D’ren to admire while he recovers.”

Unlike many of the stolen crafters, Aparicus had always been thankful that she had been brought to the South.  While Katila had it’s flaws, especially with the lashings and it’s rough and hardened inhabitants, Apari still felt it was a far better and safer place for her to be than where she had come from.  It made some Candidate’s avoid her, but she could never speak ill of their former Weyrleader.  She was thankful to him for her chance to come to the Weyr as well as to the searchrider who had found her.

Peorray needed no further invitation to lift and examine Apari's work. She was no expert in flower arranging, but she could tell that that the smaller woman had chosen well in color and type. Far better she had whenever she'd been a young girl, and her mother had asked her to help gather flowers for their table. It was amazing what a child considered pretty, sometimes.

"Even if you don't have enough for both, I'm sure that no one would mind sparing D'ren some." Peorray smiled encouragingly. Her own feelings for the former Weyrleader tended to fall into the same sentiment with with she used to regard spring cleaning- a pain in the ass, but necessary and occasionally useful. He hadn't helped her by approving of the Searches that led to her own kidnapping, but she hadn't had a whole lot to leave behind and hurt her, either.

It was close enough to a neutral opinion, she figured. She froze slightly when the sleeping firelizard on Apari's shoulder stirred, relaxing when it turned out to be a false alarm. She wasn't afraid of the thing, precisely, but she'd definitely be happier if it stayed a non-factor while she was talking to Apari.

"How do you choose the flowers?" She asked curiously. "Just whatever's in season, or do you have favorites?"

Aparicus couldn’t help but smile when the woman gave a sort of approval about taking D’ren some flowers.  At least Apari took it as an open approval and that was always encouraging.  Not noticing the woman’s pause and hesitation when Cinnamon had moved, Apari continued her work making bundles of the flowers as she listened to Peorray’s question.

“Most of the flowers I use for this are the wildflowers that are in season.  The flowers are very abundant if you know where to look.”  She fumbled a moment with the next bundles tie before continuing.  “I try not to take the flowers from the plants in the Healer’s herb garden even though I’ve been welcomed there.  The plants are always in high demand and it would put too much stress on them.  Same with many of the plants in my spice garden for the kitchens.”

Pausing between bundles, Apari surveyed what she’d made so far and what she had left before smiling up at Peorray.  “Would you like to make a bundle for yourself?  Or take one of the one’s I’ve made?  I wouldn’t mind.  You can put it in your room or give it to a friend.”

"Oh, I couldn't take any of your flowers!" Peorray blurted, startled, before she realized two seconds after it left her mouth that it might not be taken the right way. "I mean, you don't know if you're going to have enough as it is."

She might have taken some for Soren if he were older, but right now a bunch of flowers were just another thing to go in his mouth or tear apart. Which he'd have fun doing, granted, but Peorray felt that if Apari had taken the time to make a pretty arrangement, if deserved better than death-by-toddler. And she didn't have any friends (or friends) that it wouldn't feel a bit weird to gift with flowers.

"I think you're doing better at those than I would. But I could help you set them out, if you want." The tall woman offered. "Unless you'd rather do that yourself- your hobby and all."

Apari’s face too on a quizzical look as she blinked at Peorray then at the flowers spread out around the table.  It was clear the gears in her head were switching directions before her face warmed with a slight blush.  “Gosh you’re right.  My head isn’t staying on the same path today it seems.”  She finally said in response to the explanation of her quantity of flowers.  Well she’d have to remedy that next time.  Easy enough fix.

“Oh help setting them out would be wonderful.  I have another bundle or two to make, but if you’d like gather some of the unused jars in the kitchen’s that would work perfectly.  We’ll set them out then water them.”  She said with a pure and simple smile.  With Aparicus, it was the simple things in life that mattered the most to her.  Like flowers, pretty things and friendly conversations.  She might be the easiest person in the Weyr to scare senseless – but she was also the easiest person to find a smile upon her lips.

Sorry for the slow replies.  T_T  I really am terrible for them.

"I can do that." Peorray nodded agreeably, glanced at Apari's bundles to estimate how many jars they'd need, and left her to the business of finishing them. She didn't mind fetching and carrying if she could be of use.

It didn't take very long before she was back, moving slower than when she'd left out of deference to the jars balanced in her arms and the desire not to drop them. Peorray carefully set them down on the table and looked over to check the artist's progress. "Done yet?"

Not that she had to wait for that to get started. Peorray reached for the first bundle of flowers and tucked it into the first jar, making sure the petals and leaves weren't damaged in the process.

[Spoiler=OOC] That's alright. Sorry for the short post- my muse is hiding, so I'm just posting something to move things along and try and scare it into the open again.