Kayjay looks up, startled, and pushes a hide away from her. "Hello Telinda!"

Telinda grins, "Daydreaming?" she asks, snagging a skin of wine and some pastries.

Joslyn walks over from the Western Courtyard.

Kayjay blushes slightly. "Just a little." She rolls up the hide quickly and tucks it in a pocket.

Telinda nods to Joslyn, and then chuckles, "I have just the antidote for that!" she proclaims.

Kayjay sits up a bit straighter. "Something I can do for you?"

A freshly washed and scrubbed Joslyn arrives in no particular hurry as is her custom. She smiles about as she enters, just here for a mug of klah it seems. That gathered, she comes over and sits down somewhere near Telinda, propping her elbows on the table to say, "Hello."

Telinda isn't sitting, but looks down at Joslyn, "Right, that definitely makes it necessary. Joslyn, grab another wineskin. Kayjay, you can come with me, you too Joslyn."

Kayjay nods at Telinda, putting her juice mug away."Certainly."

"Wineskin?" Joslyn repeats, and her brows raise as she gets up to collect one. The mug is just left there when the girl returns with something red. "Where're we going?"

Telinda grins, "A hidey hole! No more questions" she adds, secretlely, "Let's go!"

You walk over to the Courtyard.

Kayjay walks over from the bustling Weyrhall.

T'rrin sits slinetly at the edge of the courtyard, he waves, "Hiya.."

Joslyn strides over from the bustling Weyrhall.

Kayjay grins. "Adventure?"

K'laarn walks over from the Landing Field.

Telinda snubs the Weyrleader as he walks over, nose going into the air, and her back going completely straight. She nods to Kayjay, "Adventure! This way!"

You walk over to the Northern Weyrs.

Kayjay strides over from the Courtyard.

Joslyn walks over from the Courtyard.

Telinda nods, "Much better" she replies, looking over her shoulder, "No men!" Yes, much nicer.

Kayjay sighs. "But men aren't that bad.. not all of them at least."

Telinda wrinkles her nose at the younger woman, "Well, I'll admit some, yes, but anyone that rides a bronze has a wierd thing in his head. You can never trust them!" she continues, striding across the weyrs, towards the wooded area ahead.

Joslyn looks back as well, on her toes as she glances back over her shoulder. Still trying to figure out what this is all about, she watches between the two for a few moments. "I second that," she echoes Telinda's comment, following along.

You walk toward the Copse.

Kayjay walks over from the Northern Weyrs.

Joslyn strides over from the Northern Weyrs.

Kayjay shrugs. "I don't know many bronze riders well... so I can't comment."

Telinda sighs, pushing her hair from her face, "Sometimes I really wonder about bronzeriders. What it is that makes them so!" she shrugs, mostly to herself and heads towards the densest part of the copse. "It's just over here" she adds, pushing back some vines and disappearing.

You duck under some creeping vines.

Old Uncle Tree

From without, it would be impossible to discern the actual size of the cave-like trunk, the pleasant scent of dry wood and moist earth mingling in the slightly stale air. Slanted shafts of dim light; perhaps moonlight, maybe sunlight, it's difficult to tell from inside; angle through small knots that pock-mark the interior of this mammoth, hollow trunk. Slightly recessed into the ground, the small cavern is tall enough to accommodate a fully grown man and well over two meters in diameter, the wooden walls rough and knobby, shadowed so that the exact proportions are difficult to make out. Once within, the exit seems to vanish from sight, noticeable only as a dim glint of illumination near the foot of the cave. Two people could sit comfortably upon the dirty floor, or find purchase in one of the small, quasi-ledges where the trunk bulges to create a wooden seat of sorts. Three people, however, would find themselves hard-pressed to move about, and four people would be an obvious impossibility.

The entrance is barely visible beneath a thin blanket of trailing vines, stirring now and then in a stray breeze.

Obvious exits:

Copse

Kayjay ducks behind some creeping vines.

Joslyn ducks behind some creeping vines.

Kayjay grins. "Oh my... this is wonderful!"

Telinda grins, "I thought you might like it!"

Telinda takes a seat on the floor, there's really not that much space in here and puts the wineskins in the middle.

Joslyn squeezes in somewhere, room for herself and her wineskin though one leg hangs out the entrance when she gets settled. "So what's all this about?" she asks, looking to Telinda - the ringmaster - for explanation.

Kayjay just looks around, delighted by the hidey-hole. "I wish I had known about this place months ago.."

Telinda laughs, "Well, Kayjay, there's many places around Southern. You been here as long as I have and you soon discover them!" She sighs and shrugs at Joslyn. No explanation, least not yet. "Have a drink Kayjay, you're close enough to graduation that noone's going to say a thing, least not me, or Josy, right Josy?"

Kayjay wrinkles her nose. "I .. umm have never had wine before. I was too young to drink before I was searched and well, haven't had any yet."

Telinda grins, "Well, it's never too late. Useful stuff, especially after flights."

Joslyn shakes her head quickly in response to the question, working diligently on the seal of her wineskin till she manages to get it pried open properly. "You might like it. It's fun, anyway," she offers, nodding along with Telinda.

Kayjay turns slightly pale at the mention of flights and nods. "Might be an idea to get a taste for the stuff."

Joslyn steals a grin at the brownrider around the swallow of wine she gets. "I know most folks swear by the stuff," she advises, wiping her lip with the back of her hand. "Till the next morning, anyway."

Telinda hands Kayjay her own skin, there's a couple here, enough for one each at least. She wiggles free the stopper, and smiles, "Kayjay, don't worry so much about the flights. You often don't remember it anyway."

Kayjay winces at Joslyn. "I watched Finn walk around with a pretty heavy head today. I have been forwarned." She smiles, taking the skin from Telinda. "I am not that worried anymore.. honestly. Nothing like I was a while back."

Kayjay cautiously wiggles at the stopper and then takes a small sip. She makes a face. "Going to take a bit of getting used to."

Nodding again, Joslyn lifts the skin to peer at the label on her own wineskin, frowning somewhat. "Gotta acquire a taste," she agrees, though she hasn't quite managed that yet.

Telinda nods, taking a sip from her own, "It does, a little, but eventually you learn to enjoy it, at least the finer vintages. And the idea is" she adds with a wide grin, "not to drink -too- much, -too- quickly." Looking at her skin, she mumbles, "I used to be terrified of flights!"

Joslyn's brows knit some as she looks over her 'skin at Telinda, her lips screwed up faintly in thought. "Used to be?" she asks, letting her wine sit limp in her lap for the moment.

Kayjay sips a little more. "It feels nice going down though, kind of soothing inside." She catches Joslyn's expression and then looks back at Telinda.

Telinda nods, looking over the curve of the 'skin, "Sure, terrified is probably a mild term as well. Scared bloody shitless is more apt. I forget how many times Haven and I argued over it." Nodding to Kayjay, she takes another sip, "Warm and tingly inside!"

"That is to say, you ain't scared any more?" Joslyn almost lets that one slip, a drink in her mouth that has to be swallowed abruptly so she can ammend, "Aren't scared any more?" She's impressed.

Kayjay sighs."I got to deal not just with flights, but that my female friends may actually hate me when they are proddy." She takes another tentative sip of the wine, hardly making a face this swig. She puts the skin down by her feet and listens.

Telinda laughs, "Not any more no, I guess I'm older, more experienced." She pauses a minute, then tips her head back, grinning, "Well, more used to it, I guess!" Tilting her head, she arches an eyebrow at Kayjay, "Well, you learn to deal with that too. I've upset so many people it's not even funny."

Joslyn grins over at Kayjay and adds, "Just remember that whatever they say and do, they don't necessarily mean." There's a twinge of memory in her expression before she adds, "Don't take proddy folks too seriously."

Kayjay chokes back a giggle. "After dealing with Auralia a few times, I don't."

Telinda chuckles, "Try not to take it too personally, it's hard, but sometimes you just have to."

Kayjay sighs. "Part of growing up, I think, is not to take everything personally."

Telinda grins, leaning over to pat Kayjay's knee, "Part of growing up is learning not to take things seriously, and enjoying what time you do have!"

"Don't take anything personally," is Joslyn sage advice, punctuated by another mouthfull of the wine. She nods heartily after Telinda, lifting her skin in something of a toast to the words.

Kayjay smiles dreamily. "Just starting not to take things so seriously... I think I kind of surprise a lot of people around here. I spend more time giggling lately than looking serious."

Telinda wrinkles her nose, "Well, you don't even want to know what I was like before I impressed!" she adds, punctuating her words with a sip.

Pleased with Kayjay's words, Joslyn settles back against the trunk of the tree, drawing her legs up to cross each other tailor-style. "I wanna know," she notes to Telinda.

Kayjay nods, taking another sip of wine. "Me too!"

Telinda rolls her eyes, "Are you sure?" she asks, "it's all pretty boring!"

Kayjay shakes her head. "I don't find stories of people's pasts boring -ever-."

Joslyn looks comfortable there on the ground with her wineskin and her legs crossed. "Come on and tell us?" she asks sweetly, agreeing heartily with the brownrider in this respect.

Telinda sighs, "I warn you.." she says, taking a gulp of wine to fortify her, "Well, I guess I was pretty boring. I was very duty bound, very strict, very, well, I didn't like to have fun. Duty, and the weyr, and my chores, came first, enjoyment came second."

Joslyn looks doubtfully at Telinda, her brows lifting at once. "I think I like you this way better." She takes a quick drink and then gestures for the Weyrwoman to proceed. "So when did it all change?"

Telinda giggles, "When a voice spoke into my head, after splashing around in puddles for the entire hatching, and said, hello, I'm Tiarnath, is there more fun to be had?"

Kayjay blinks. "Sounds a bit like me." She wrinkles her nose. "Always afraid of getting in trouble." She grins. "Is that what she really said to you? How delightful!"

Telinda laughs, "Well, something along those words, yes. She splashed everyone I think, and chased a few tails around the sands, though it was hard to see."

Joslyn laughs out loud, a sputter of wine escaping her her though most of it gets caught in her palm. "That must've been a good surprise," she muses, still cleaning her chin somewhat.

Kayjay giggles. "Suriath wonders if he is not being a very good brown not wanting to splash in the mud with Tiarnath. I told him that mud doesn't come under dragon duty"

Telinda laughs at Kayjay, "I would prefer that she didn't, makes it difficult to keep her clean."

"I would pay to see Jeuneth splash in a puddle," says Joslyn, grinning at the prospect. "How old were you?" she adds curiously, the question meant for Telinda, of course.

Telinda grins, "Oh, around twenty two. I was beginning to think I was destined to be headwoman all my life, not that I would have minded."

Kayjay whistles. "You were older when you impressed. Was it hard being a candidate and a weyrling? Some of the older weyrlings complained at having every move watched." She shrugs. "I was still used to Aunt Naggen breathing down my neck. N'all just was one in a string of people bossing me around>"

Joslyn leans back a little so that her head rests against the trunk, too, one knee raised to fold with her arm resting against it. "That's pretty old," she comments. "Older than me. How old're you?" she adds, turning to Kayjay now.

Kayjay hmms. "Just turned 16 a few days ago. Was only really on my own for about a turn before I was searched, and even then, I wasn't really making my own decisions yet."

Telinda smiles, "My problem with being a weyrling was I was used to being in charge, and suddenly I wasn't. I was under all these rules, and none of my own making, and Tiarnath used to love to get me into trouble." She nods to Kayjay, "It's sometimes easier being younger, sometimes harder."

Kayjay takes a larger swig of wine. "Yeah, I am on my own, well me and Suriath at least, making most of our own decisions, soon. A bit scary."

Joslyn notes for Kayjay's benefit, "It's not really all that hard. There's a lotta people around here and no one wants to make it hard for you. Just don't do anything stupid." Like shoot yourself in the foot.

Telinda grins, "You're never on your own, Kayjay. Firstly, you have Suriath, secondly, you have all of us, discounting," and she smirks, "your aunt!"

Kayjay rolls her eyes. "Please, don't remind me. She is already grilling me about Jeryn.."

Joslyn lifts a brow, looking sideways at the brownrider - interest piqued at once. "What's she grilling you about Jeryn for?" she asks, discreet as ever.

Telinda nods, eager to Joslyn's line of questioning.

Kayjay blushes, looking down at the dirt floor. "Oh, nothing much.. just that Jeryn and I ..well we kind of like each other a lot... a whole lot."

Telinda nods, "And there's something wrong with that? It's perfectly good, he's not a bronzerider!"

Joslyn lets a grin get to her even as she nods along with Telinda. "I dunno him too well, but he's not a bronzerider," she echoes whole-heartedly. "Nothing but trouble."

Kayjay rolls her eyes. "What -is- with K'tor. Did you hear what he told me to do, when he was my mentor?"

Joslyn narrows her eyes a little, still light-hearted but a little shady when that particular bronzerider comes up. "What'd he tell you to do?" she prompts pointedly.

Telinda shakes her head, "What? What did he tell you?"

Telinda looks ready to murder and geld K'tor all over again.

Kayjay blushes. "I don't believe what a little wherry I was.. He suggested that I needed -experience- before flights and then suggested that I ask someone more experienced to teach me.."

Telinda snorts, "Did he offer?" Like she expects him to, of course.

Joslyn sets her lips into a straight line, the edges starting to turn down just a bit. "That sounds like an offer to me," she comments drily, shaking her head at K'tor altogether.

Kayjay shakes her head. "No, thankfully, he said he looks at me like a little sister." She wrinkles her nose. "Just what I need, a fifth older brother. He did suggest that I talk to someone I respected." She blushes furiously. "And suggested to me that I ask N'all!!"

Joslyn blinks. Then she does it again just to be on the safe side. "N'all? Where does he get off..." She continues to shake her head, another drink downed at the same time. "You gonna ask N'all?" she asks, a wince in her voice.

Telinda blinks, checking her hearing for a moment, then bursts into a fit of laughter, looking askew at Joslyn, "How can you be serious, Josy!?" she asks, shaking her head, "N'all's like a straight stick! But then again, maybe..." she roars with laughter, "that's what some like!" Nudge, nudge!

Kayjay rolls her eyes. "It gets worse... I told K'tor he was crazy.. so he suggested I ask Nareisa to approach N'all on it, to feel him out.. I did that and Nareisa got it all screwed around upside down and it ended up me having the most uncomfortable interview of my life with N'all."

Joslyn giggles at the Weyrwoman, noting, "I was just checking... I didn't really think - well, there is Marila." She shrugs it aside and tunes back in to Kayjay. "What'd he say in the interview?"

Telinda giggles, "Oh Faranth, mind, not that I'm surprised with Nareisa getting it all mixed up!"

Kayjay sighs. "He told me that he was flattered, that he really thought I was a -solid- girl, and patted me on the head, so to speak but told me it was out of the question. I would have died if he had said anything else."

Telinda chuckles, "That sounds exactly like N'all. Solid my left foot." She grins at Kayjay, "I'd have died too, don't fret too much!"

Joslyn grins. "What if he's just waiting forya to graduate?" She lets another laugh escape her at that notion and then tries to sober up. Wine doesn't help. "Has he ever mentioned it since?"

Kayjay sighs."I didn't even -like- him that way, things just got blown up and I got carried away to a place I didn't want to be." She gasps at Joslyn. 'Shells, I hope not!"

Telinda shakes her head, wiping away a tear, "Josy! Don't, it's not fair" she grins, "It'd be nicer with Jeryn if she likes him that way."

Joslyn doesn't pursue that line any further, just sending an extra grin Kayjay's way. "Of course," with a nod to Telinda. "Do you like him That Way?" she asks, the capitals evident by the way she says it.

Kayjay winces and blushes. "Nareisa made matters worse when she kept on squealing and shuddering making faces at me."

Kayjay smiles innocently.. "I don't think Telinda knows Jeryn that well."

Telinda waggles her eyebrows, "But do I want to know him that way, Kayjay?" she adds, giggling, "I mean, is he that nice? That no good K'laarn's a pain in my butt!"

Joslyn makes a face at Kayjay but concedes the point with little nod and a wrinkle of her nose. "Fair enough." She looks at the amount missing from the wine skin, sighing a little as she contemplates the exit. "I'd love to stay and complain s'more, but I really should eat 'fore I get smashed." Now how to get out?

Kayjay blushes and rubs her cheeks."Shards, I wish I would stop doing that. He is sweet, and I like him alot." She shrugs. "Weyrling life has helped me not think about the rest of it all."

Joslyn ducks under and out through an opening in the vines.

Telinda grins, "Ah, see, this is where the mystical wine has it's uses!"

Kayjay giggles. "How so?"

Telinda shrugs, "Well, it you get a little drunk, so where you're happy, it makes chatting about these things a little easier. You don't blush as much!"

Kayjay sighs. "I don't know about that. Maybe it loosens my tongue more, but I am still a blushing fool."

Telinda smiles, "Well, some men like that!" she adds encouragingly, "So, you never know!"

Kayjay looks seriously at Telinda. "Jeryn's background is like mine, both cothold bred and raised. He understands why I think the way I do about some things... that helps."

Telinda nods, "Well, why don't you bring him here and have a real heart to heart with him. If he's raised the same, then he'll understand when you say you don't want a flight to be your first, right?"

Kayjay blushes. "Umm he has some ideas already, I think. Graduation isn't that far away."

Telinda smiles, "Well, see, that's good, right?" She sighs, "They really are telling the truth" she says, frowning a little, "It's much better to get it over with -before-!"

Kayjay frowns and puts the wine away from her. "I know. I am terrified of losing control and don't want that to inhibit Suriath in any way. If I can at least get -that- behind me, then I am not going to stop him from doing what he was meant to do."

Telinda nods, "It's rather a feeling, you aren't really in control, but you are."

Kayjay shakes her head."I am just going to be glad when Suriath does chase for the first time, I can get it over with."

Telinda smiles, "It might be a while, it might be soon, you can never tell. Greens go up all the time, so it just depends when he gets the urge to chase. Of course, if a gold goes up, the urge will be stronger, but, there's less of a chance that he'll win."

Kayjay blushes. "No offense but I am glad to hear that one. This is all confusing as it is."

Telinda shakes her head, "No offence taken, honestly Kayjay, none of us really like losing control, but it's just one of those things."

Kayjay shivers and reaches for a swig of wine. "Funny how no one tells you all these things when you are searched. I wonder how many would run away, if they knew.""

Telinda nods, "If they did, noone would ever believe them. It has to be experienced, I think, to be believed."

Kayjay giggles. "You are absolutely right. I wouldn't have believed anyone either. I mean the very thought of someone's mind in my head all the time was foreign to me, now, he is part of me.."

Telinda grins, "See? So, even if you told people, well, they just see these majestic beasts, and want one, or dream of one, and never think of all the bad things that come with it. I mean, flight's is the least of it, really, thread is worse and in thread, well, the dragons just have to fight! There's no stopping them!"

Kayjay nods and whispers. "I thought I was going to throw up when I saw thread up close like that. I didn't though and I got through it with just an ash burn."

Telinda shudders, even after all these turns she can't help it. "I know what you mean!" She giggles, "I wonder if that's what the men mean when they say 'gird your loins'!?"

Kayjay takes a swig of the wine. "How does one gird? I mean use that in a sentence outside of gird up your loins?"

Telinda shrugs, grinning, "Gird yourself for thread?"

Kayjay shakes her head."Sounds like the poetry the harpers used to try to get me to figure out. I used to want to say to them. Write it in plain Pernese and then I will understand it."

Telinda giggles, "Poor Josy had so many lessons with the harpers, I almost felt sorry for herself."

Kayjay grins. "You as goldriders had to have extra classes, right? In protocol and all that kind of thing?"

Telinda nods, "Oh yes, protocol, running the weyr, mathematics, maps, all sorts of extra things, tending dragons, dragonets, clutches, history, flamethrower mechanisms."

Kayjay shudders. "I am so thankful Suriath found me .. I don't know how I could have coped with all that if I had impressed a gold and not him."

Telinda laughs, "Well, you were lucky then that there wasn't one on the sands!"

Kayjay grins. "Trust me to find something to worry about, even if it means trying to change my past and putting a gold on the sands."

Telinda laughs, "You'll look back and wish you could still do that in a few turns."

Kayjay shakes her head. "Never...."

Telinda grins, "Bet you 3 marks!" she adds, extending her hand.

Kayjay blinks at the high wager but shakes on it. "By the time I am 20 turns if I come to you and say I want to live things differently than I have already.. I will pay up."

Telinda chuckles, "Deal!" she adds, "Everyone changes, and usually it's for the better. Occasionally, well, some people like being depressives!"

Kayjay blinks. "Not that I am not going to change.. I mean if you don't change you might as well be dead."

Telinda nods, "And who wants to be dead, eh?"

Telinda nods, "And who wants to be dead, eh?"

Kayjay nods. "Exactly."

Telinda yawns, "I'm getting a little tired, how're you doing?"

Kayjay blinks, looking a bit blurry eyed. "A little.. I have been running and swimming a lot more lately since I met Jeryn... " She blushes. "Keeps my mind from going places it can't go yet."

Telinda grins, "Well, not much longer, eh? You'll all soon be graduated!"

Kayjay sighs. "And out of N'all's hair. Did I tell you my four older brothers are coming for my graduation and are going to fix up my weyr for me?"

Kayjay puts the stopper back in her almost full wine skin. "Heady stuff that.." She giggles. "Jeryn is wanting to know if he should run and hide in the jungle for a few days."

Telinda laughs, "Might be safer, considering what older brothers are like, though in my case it's younger brother." She gestures to the wine, "Keep it, early graduation present."

Kayjay smiles, "Thank you, I had better go check on Suriath."

Kayjay dusts herself off and heads out of the tree.

Kayjay ducks under and out through an opening in the vines.