Burning the midnight oil (Open)

It happened, sometimes. If she had something on her mind, or simply at seemingly random times. Peorray would go to bed and spend a few candlemarks tossing and turning before accepting that sleep was not coming that night. Unsurprisingly, it happened more at Katila than it had up North, but she also usually worked hard enough to exhaust herself here.

It hadn't worked tonight, though. Peorray sighed and slid out of bed to get dressed. There was no point lying here any further- maybe if she got up and walked around a little, it would let her relax enough for sleep. She didn't relish the thought of a full day on absolutely no rest and even a little bit would be treasured.

She left her room, headed for the kitchen. It was quiet at this time of night, too late for dinner clean-up and too early for pre-breakfast preparations. She rubbed at tired eyes and ran a hand through her hair as she stood contemplating the storage cupboards. Maybe a snack would help, or should she try some warm milk?

"Can't sleep?"

Farren hadn't expected anyone to show up in the kitchens of all places. She'd come there for roughly the same reasons as Peorray. Unable to sleep and not content with letting her mind wander she'd wound up in the kitchens with some slightly stale bread and some cheese. She didn't think the snack would help but she could hope and had settled down to eat anyway.

It wasn't often that she found herself unable to sleep but tonight was one of those nights when thoughts of the North and worries over everything around her had plagued her mind and kept her from finding the sweet oblivion of sleep. She'd promptly gotten irritated with herself tossing and turning and had come to the kitchens to find something to do. She'd puttered around and cleaned a bit in an attempt to be useful but there wasn't much that needed cleaning and she'd promptly found herself restless once again and had turned to food.

"Know the feeling. Bread?" She offered with a small smile. She was tired, she noted, but not tired enough to sleep. Just that irritatingly slightly-sleepy state that made one's body drag instead of actually lulling you to sleep. How annoying!

Peorray turned to look at Farren in surprise. She hadn't realized she was so tired as to walk right past her without noticing. She gave the other woman a rueful smile and a nod. At least she had been lucky enough to run into someone who seemed companionable instead of snarly from lack of sleep.

"Yes, please." She accepted the invitation to share Farren's snack with gratitude. "Just can't seem to turn the mind off, tonight." It was the most irritating feeling, laying there frustrated and bored and still not being able to rest. "I don't know if this will help, but I'll try anything."


Peorray busied herself with snagging a piece of bread and some cheese, then looked back up at Farren. "So, is there anything on your mind, or is it just one of those nights?" She thought that conversation would be less awkward than eating in silence, even counting the potential effect of lack of sleep had on her brain-to-mouth filter.

"Just one of those nights. Tossing and turning didn't put me to sleep. Laying still didn't do it. And when I'd finally start to drift off something popped up in my head and woke me back up again." She shrugged with a sigh and bit into her makehsift sandwich. "They happen from time to time, you know?" They certainly happened more often than she'd like and were increasingly frustrating the more often they happened. She blamed it on the weather, trying to say it was simply too uncomfortable to sleep but that was hardly an excuse all the time.

"I used to have a friend that said clearing your mind in a quiet spot before bed helped her sleep but I can't seem to manage it like she could. Thoughts just bounce in and start the whole process over again."

"Yeah. I get that- if I could clear my mind, I'd be asleep by now. I've always favored the 'work 'till you drop' approach, myself." Peorray offered. But, again, it wasn't foolproof. She didn't think anything was, except possibly some of the healers' more interesting drugs.

"My husband sometimes had a glass of wine before bed, said it was relaxing." The words left her mouth before she really registered that she'd said them. At one time, speaking of him all had hurt too much. It still did, a bit, but she was definitely more surprised than hurting. "It's not an option for me, but I guess someone could try it if they had any sources." After her Stealing, Peorray was never going to touch alcohol of any kind ever again. Though some of her agitation at the event had faded with time, that resolution still seemed like a good idea.

"Could try wine," Farren suggested with a small smile. "But it'd likely be closer to the foul concoctions they make around here. They need a proper vintner." They needed proper a lot of things but did well enough, she supposed, with what they had. She'd never had a husband or had any poor experiences with drinking save the first time she'd drank too much and lost her supper. But other than that her experiences had been limited and, in her opinion, rather boring.

Well, until she'd been stolen, but that was an entirely different set of exciting circumstances.

"Maybe a walk? Wear yourself out?" She popped the last bit of her bread into her mouth and reached across to break some more off. "We could go into the forests if you're feeling daring." It was 'we' now. They were in this together! Insomnia sisters or some other such silly title.

"I'm sure there is a proper vintner around." Peorray replied, darkly amused. "But I wouldn't drink what he'd make, if I were a rider here." She'd noticed that most of those still angry and bitter about being Stolen were the male crafters. She didn't know whether it was because the females had been seduced by the promise of gold or that the males had simply had more to lose. Loss of loved ones hurt, yes, but new partners and children could be had- unlike Hall recognition.

She was mostly over her own stealing, hated to think she was letting herself be bitter about it. It wasn't as though she'd had great prospects back home- though if she'd stayed, she sometimes wondered if they'd have wed her to one of Dederon's unmarried brothers. She wouldn't have minded that. But she didn't need more thoughts to keep her awake, so she shoved it away to focus on Farren's words.

"The forests? At night?" Not that Peorray was scared of the dark, but that didn't sound like the most relaxing activity. "My luck, I'd trip over a tree root and twist my fool ankle. Maybe the riverside, though?" She made a counter-suggestion. "Isn't the sound of flowing water supposed to help you sleep?"

Remembering her last riverside jaunt, she resolved to find a heavy tree limb to keep handy if they did. Armath wouldn't be there to eat any critters that skittered out tonight.

"There's paths in the forest." Maybe she was an oddball in the fact that many of the things that frightened the other female candidates didn't scare her. In her opinion after being plucked away from the only life she'd known and brought to a strange place full of dragons and bitter men was far scarier than some trees in the dark. But the more she spoke to others the more she realized that this wasn't a common thought and she frowned at having brought it up without taking that into consideration.

She certainly didn't mind having been stolen. She would have preferred it not happen, yes, but now that it had she was hardly going to complain. It was, if nothing else, an adventure and complaints and whining would get her nowhere except disliked by everyone around her. And she didn't want that. She'd gotten her share of that by trying to enter the crafts.

"All water does is make me want to pee but it might help. Want company?" It was as good an idea as any and Farren was rapidly becoming tired of not being tired. If a walk by the river would exhaust her, so be it!