Western Weyr - Weyrleader's Office
This appears to be one of the spare private rooms, hastily reworked into an office space. Instead of the usual bed, clothespress, table and chairs, there's a filing cabinet, a floor lamp, and…a table and chairs. The table holds a smaller desk lamp, a personal computer with connection cables spilling down the back, a dispatch radio, plus a scattering of files, papers, and writing materials. Beside the workspace is a smaller endtable, seated upon which is a klah percolator and half a dozen mugs. None of the three chairs match each other, or the tables, but they seem to be solidly made and in good repair.
Piled up against one wall are half a dozen cartons, apparently also filled with files of some sort. The room is rather sparsely decorated, with only a scrap of faded carpet beneath the table and an embroidered wall hanging hung on the wall opposite the door, in bold copper and russet threads.
Okay, things aren't going very well at Western these days it would seem. The things disappearing Zi'on could handle. But this business with Iris? That's a whole different story. At least they've managed to calm her dragon down enough where the market could reopen. Though many shop owners had refused to come back, fearing a crazed dragon, or interrogation, or maybe they knew something they shouldn't and couldn't risk exposure. Either way, it's been a stressful time for the weyr. Zi'on has been organizing almost every single able body to help in the effort. He's put out warnings that no one is to travel alone, and riders aren't to leave their dragon's sight. And in the meantime the weyrleader has barricaded himself in his office, trying to avoid having to answer senseless questions like 'Will anyone else be kidnapped!?' 'Do you think Iris is dead?'
Office or not, it's not enough to keep Kaliena from coming by to knock. Well… she knocks but then proceeds to shove the door open anyways. Really, the girl should learn some manners. How did she know Zi'on wasn't conducting some important meeting? Or who knows what. So in barges a flustered Kaliena and Zi'on's peace is at an end. "So this is where you're hiding?" she grumbles, half out of breath as though she stormed half way around Western in search of him. The girl is dressed in a loose fitting blouse and a pair of slim cut pants and her hair has begun to pull free of the hasty braid she's made.
Zi'on could be conducting some important meeting! Or he could be getting it on in his office. With who? Who knows. One would hope that he'd lock the door for that sort of thing though. Zi'on is pouring over some papers when Kaliena comes barging in. He grunts a bit. "That better be you En… Kaliena? I'm not hiding, just.. trying to not be interrogated by everyone who happens by." He peers at her. "What do you want, anyways? I figured you were still mad at me." He slides the papers he's looking at away and stacks the folder he's put them in off to the side. "Or have you come to yell at me, too?"
Luck is with Kaliena then that Zi'on isn't getting it on or she hasn't barged in on something equally as awkward, just the Weyrleader busy at some paperwork and nothing more. Quirking a brow up as he almost calls her Enka, Kaliena smirks and nudges the door shut behind her with her boot. "Well I'm not here to interrogate you, though it would be nice to know what in Faranth's name is going on!" She snorts then, still so non-lady like. Crossing her arms, she keeps a respectable distance from Zi'on's desk but stares at him through narrowed eyes all the same. "I ain't mad at you anymore. I am mad that my /dress/ is gone though. If it was a rental, you could have warned me!" Does that mean she actually liked it? Or that it had some sentimental value? Sighing, Kaliena shakes her head and her temper tones down and her flustered scowl eases to something a little more neutral and perhaps friendly… somewhat. "That bad, huh?" she asks in a slightly gentler tone.
Nope, nothing awkward. Just something terribly boring, really. Only the weyrwoman barges in on Zi'on like that, apparently. Or at least she's the only one that's allowed to. Besides Ila'den. The weyrsecond has a desk in here as well. "I don't -know- what's going on. But clearly some… fiend has infiltrated the weyr and is somehow stealing our stuff and now our women. Pregnant ones, no less. To be honest, I'm expecting a random note to appear. I've been checking Enka's desk everyday because her dragon won't let her leave the sands." He blinks then. "They stole your dress, too?" He sighs. "It wasn't a rental. Here, write your name down here and what went missing." The weyrleader presents her with a clipboard, with sections for name and missing items. He rubs his face afterwards. "I need a vacation. We need to find Iris. I haven't slept in two days now, and it's likely been longer for poor Enka. And I haven't even seen Ila'den. He's probably drank himself half to death."
"I thought Weyrs were… untouchable." Kaliena points out, hesitating only to struggle to find the right word. Both her brows rise in an openly surprised look though when Zi'on mentions people are missing - or one person. "So the gossip is true then? About the markets and a crazed dragon?" The girl frowns heavily then, her blue eyes dropping to stare at the floor as she mulls over her thoughts. "Don't make any sense." She mumbles, before glancing back up to Zi'on and nodding her head stiffly. "I went to have it washed before I stored it and it was gone. I thought maybe one of the other cavern women or girls took it but they deny it. I even asked some of the 'brats. Nothing." Suddenly there's a clipboard and instructions coming from the Weyrleader and Kaliena only gives him a hesitant look before pulling a slight face and approaching to do as he asks. "What about patrols? Guards and sweeps and the like? No clues at all to go by?" She finishes scrawling her name and the item down on paper where needed, but her writing is barely legible. Not that that seems to be her concern. Kaliena's attention seems focused on Zi'on and she's giving him a long, searching look. "Ila'den is Iris'… weyrmate then? Why'd he get himself drunk and not go huntin' for her?" Obviously, it's what she'd do. Kaliena logic! If it hurts you, hunt it down and throttle it.
Zi'on shrugs. "No place on Pern is totally untouchable. Whoever has been up to this though is intimately familiar with the weyr and it's goings on to have not been caught." He nods to Kaliena. It wasn't like he was keeping it a secret. "Yeah. One of our junior weyrwomen was kidnapped. Which.. obviously her dragon wasn't too thrilled about. No, it doesn't make any sense, but I'm expecting her to ransomed. I'm not sure if they knew who she was before they picked her up though. But I'm sure they know now." There's a nod and sigh about the dress. "If we can't get it back I'll have the weavers make you another. I'm expecting the goods to turn up eventually, though probably no place around here." zi'on shrugs. "We've been doing all of that. Don't wander around the weyr alone. Iris disappeared in the middle of a crowded marketplace in plain daylight, so whoever it was tricked her into doing something that must've pulled her away from the crowd." Zi'on shakes his head then, taking the clipboard back and setting it aside. "I don't know if he's done that or if he's out looking. I haven't seen him and his dragon is busy trying to keep Shadharvath from going off the deep end. Yeah, he's her weyrmate."
"So you got a spy, in other words. Or a turncloak." Whatever the term is. Kaliena doesn't seem to be too concerned if she got it or not. Her annoyance in having to hunt Zi'on down is long gone and instead replaced with curiosity. "Shards. Foolish of 'em to do it and you might be right. They might not have known 'till it was done." The girl shrugs helplessly then, as much of this is liable to go over her head. At the mention of a replacement dress though, she shakes her head and makes a dismissive gesture with her hands. "No, no. You've already spent enough on me. One dress is enough, even if it never comes back. I didn't come here to ask for another anyhow." Kaliena takes on a stubborn look when Zi'on tells her not to wander alone, smirking again. "Fine. If I wander, I'll be sure to go with the other 'brats then." Yeah, cause a group of kids will be protection! She blinks, "By daylight and crowded? They must be even bigger fools or shardin' crafty criminals." Stating the obvious and not being much help, the girl shuffles a bit awkwardly where she stands. Zi'on's last statement has her wincing and looking a touch unsettled. "She won't though, right? Go… off the deep end as you said?" Then with a slight smile, Kaliena tries to lighten the mood. "They're bound to slip up. Bad guys always do at some point. They you can all sweep in and take 'em out." Not quite so simple.
"That's the only thing I can think of. They always seem to knows the goings on and be one step ahead of me." Zi'on tugs at his beard a bit. It's getting on the long side for sure, and needs a trim. "Or they might have set it up to be in the market on purpose, since that would mean her dragon couldn't be close. I'm not sure. I just don't want other people going missing." Especially not Kaliena, since he's supposed to be looking after her. "Eh…" Is his defeated response about the dress. At least a group of brats meant there was more than one pair of eyes looking out. "No one's given you a firelizard yet, have they? I should find one for you." He blinks at Kaliena's question. "Eh? No. At least not where she'll burn down the weyr or something. I'm more concerned she'll pop between and not come back out. The fact that she's still around is good. It means Iris is still alive and probably contacting her. Even if it's little." He grins a bit, though it's a tired sort of grin. "I hope it's that easy. Anyways… did you come in for something specific? Or just to chat about all the good news going on at the weyr?"
"Maybe you should get some spies of your own." Kaliena suggests, tilting her head up slightly in an almost smug way. Unlike her usual behavior around Zi'on, the girl seems almost relaxed. That, or she's distracted enough with their discussion. "I don't know. Targeting a dragonrider would be so… unbelievably risky. What'd be the point anyhow?" She may be young, but she seems smart enough to assume at least. Blinking, she seems a little shocked by Zi'on's offer. "Well, uh… no, no one has offered me an egg. I've seen hatchings but wasn't lucky to get close enough." The girl shrugs at this, as having a firelizard never was high on her priority list. "I hope it doesn't come to that." Kaliena says concerning Iris and Shadhavarth and for once is serious as she glances to Zi'on. And she seems embarrassed or guilty anyways when he asks her why she's there. Here's the Weyrleader, obviously stressed and tired and she just poured salt into the wound. "Uh, no… I just came to tell you about the dress really. I didn't know things were so rough. Figured it was just some crazed auntie spinning some wild gossip for the attention." Shuffling awkwardly again, there's some silence as she pretends to look everywhere but Zi'on. "That and I hadn't seen you 'round."
Zi'on laughs. "And send them where? I'm hoping someone points out something unusual, and the dam breaks so to speak. Hopefully everyone is keeping their eyes and ears open." Zi'on is glad to see Kali relaxed. Maybe she was feeling better because he was suffering? "Who knows. Probably to show that they've got the weyr by the balls or some such." He tugs at his beard in thought. "Well, we'll have to get you one. They can send messages and such, so if you get into trouble you can send them for help." Zi'on does seem to mind that she's there. Venting helped, and with Enka stuck on the sands and Ila out of his mind he's had no one to discuss things with really. He blinks at her last statement and frowns a bit. "Well, I figured you probably didn't want me around too much after the date. So I've been leaving you alone." Plus the added business with the weyr and all was probably contributing.
"Send 'em nowhere? Just keep them within the Weyr to snoop. Have them seem shady enough and it might lure the real bad men out? I dunno. It worked in my head…" Kaliena admits sheepishly. And she is not that cruel to take delight out of others suffering. Maybe she has some feeling towards Zi'on? Enough to care that he's miserable and trying to help in her weird, blunt and gruff way. The girl snorts in amusement by the Weyrleader's terms. "Maybe. But they're idiots if they did it for bragging rights and nothing more." A pause. "I can try to keep an eye out. Spy sort've. I know some hiding spots 'round the Weyr and folk are pretty good at not noticing me about even if I don't hide." Kaliena only nods when he mentions the firelizard again, still a little too flustered on the idea to really argue it. "I suppose. But it's no big deal really. I can manage fine without one." Well at least she's good for something then, even if to just vent. Kaliena smirks then and chuckles dryly. "And I thought we sorted it out that I wasn't mad? Well, I was but I told you you were alright, which means I held no grudge or nothing." Giving Zi'on a long look, she suddenly extends her hand towards the Weyrleader and cocks her head a little to the side, a half-grin on her lips. "Friends, then?"
Zi'on laughs. "Plant my own seedy characters into the weyr, hm? As fun as that might be I don't want anyone freaking out because of it. I'd need to have more of a hunch before I started trying something like that maybe." He peers at her. "Well, fine. But I still don't want you going off by yourself. If you go missing your brother will throttle me. And I don't feel like being throttled." He shrugs about the firelizard. "Still. They can be fun little pets and all." As Kaliena extends her hand to him, he gives her a careful look. And even looks at her hand, to make sure it wasn't a trick and she wasn't going to stab him with a bunch of tacks or something. Then he stands up to move around his desk and shake her hand. "Fair enough. Friends."
Kaliena blinks, "Well, they only have to pretend to be seedy. Not really be… ah, shard it. You're probably right, it wouldn't work." Scratch that idea then and the young girl tries not to look too put out. And she feigns innocence too when Zi'on peers at her. "I won't." Then he's getting the curious stare down and Kaliena frowns heavily. "Like he can decide where I can and can't go. And he won't throttle you ever if he actually likes you. Kel—- Th'ero only throttled those he disliked." Not entirely the truth, but it's not like she's really knows her brother anymore. Maybe she's just trying to reassure Zi'on that he's safe? "Besides. You're both Weyrleaders. If he does, just throttle him back." Again, so simple! There are no tricks from the young girl, just an ordinary handshake and then she's stepping back. "So we're good then?" Kaliena asks, peering up at Zi'on with a half smile, half smirk. "Or do I still have to hunt you down just to say hello now and again?"
Zi'on blinks, then chuckles. "Well.. if you can figure out some way to trap the badguys into revealing themselves… by all means let me know." He peers at her as she assures him she won't go off on her own. This bronzer doesn't believe her for a moment! "Eh. He might throttle me. I'm pretty good at pressing his buttons, and one day he'll probably knock me out when he can't take it anymore." Zi'on laughs a bit. "He seems to like me though. Hopefully I can avoid it." That would be a fantastic show, Zi'on and Th'ero beating each other up. Such good role models they'd be! Zi'on tilts his head at Kaliena and frowns then. "No. A handshake for friendship? Come on. I want a hug, otherwise no deal. You'll have to hunt me down all the time!" Zi'on holds his arms out for her expectantly.
Kaliena only nods her head, having no ideas to voice or simply too uncertain to do so. She's young after all and not terribly experienced. What does she know of kidnappers and shady plots? She does know how to sneak around though, so Zi'on's right to be suspicious. "Maybe or maybe he won't." she muses with another snort. It would be quite a show! And Kaliena would be on Zi'on's side, of course. Surprised when the Weyrleader tells her no, she frowns heavily and suspects another trap when he states his terms. "A hug?" the girl echoes, eyeing him warily as she falls silent. It takes a few seconds before her mind is made up and with some lingering hesitation she goes for it. "Don't try anything." She grumbles, "Or I /will/ hurt you this time." It's a joke, really! And she even chuckles a little to prove it. But it's an awkward hug and Kaliena is as stiff as a board, as if she's not used to it or just very uncertain.
What does Zi'on know for that matter? He's only got a few turns on Kali, even if he was weyrleader and looked thirty. Zi'on often finds himself asking 'what would A'ven do?' or 'what would da do?' and even 'what would Th'ero do?' about his current predicament. Zi'on isn't eager to pick a fight with Th'ero really. Even if now was a good time due to his injury. Kali should be suspicious! Zi'on always had some sort of plot going on. He laughs a bit and when she steps towards him his arms wrap around her. And he lifts her right off the ground, laughing a bit. Then he puts her back down. At least it should clear up some of the awkward, right? if it was a joke, does that mean he's got permission to kiss her again. He also doesn't let go of the hug, either. Which might make for more awkward, or maybe Kali will just shove him away.
Maybe Kaliena does think Zi'on is older? She doesn't make a point of asking everyone his or her age, after all. And its possible Th'ero isn't eager to fight Zi'on either. So who knows what would happen! She lets out a startled curse as he lifts her up easily and by the time she thinks to react, her feet are touching the ground again. "What was that?" she exclaims, sounding annoyed but her chuckling kind of ruins the effect. It does clear some of the awkward, until the hug is obviously lingering on. Maybe it was permission in the form of an idle threat or maybe it wasn't. Kaliena is tricky like that and it's always a risk. But Zi'on doesn't get shoved and slowly (almost painfully so), she finally relaxes enough to return the hug slightly and awkwardly. "M'kay," she'll mumble eventually. "You can let go now. You got your hug." Cause she already is letting her return hug drop.
Maybe she does! Or maybe she thinks he's younger. Who knows? He laughs a bit as she asks him what he was doing. "That was me lifting you up off the ground." He finally lets go of the hug once he gets a hug back. "You're a terrible hugger, by the way." He moves back to lean against his desk then. "So were you still wanting to go ice skating? We might have to wait until this whole mess is over with. Or maybe not. I might be wanting to escape Western if it just keeps going on and on. Or if it gets any worse. We can always find something else to do, too. If you don't want to ice skate." He tugs his beard a bit.
Kaliena takes a few steps back once Zi'on lets her go and mock scowls at him for his jibe. "Jerk." She fires back, but gives a twisted smile to take the edge off. "Be happy you got /any/ hug at all and not another slap to the face." Remembering the ice skating offer they discussed before, the young girl only shrugs. "I said I'd go. But probably best not to sneak away with the Weyr in turmoil. Sometimes you just got to suck it up and stick it out." So says the girl who runs from /everything/. "It'll have to wait. I'm sure you'll figure some crazy scheme to spring on me here." Cause apparently, Kaliena has none up her sleeves right now. Glancing back towards the door she barged into not moments before, the grimaces slightly. "In fact, I better get back. I kind of shirked my chores to hunt you down, so I'm going to really get an earful now if I dawdle more." See? Zi'on must mean something if she's foregoing whatever… it is she does around the Weyr. "Hope this mess clears up and that you all find Iris safe and whole." Kaliena bobs her head then in a little farewell gesture, followed by a light (but true) smile. "Let me know though if you do need someone to sneak about for ya. Be glad to help." Then she's shuffling quickly for the door and opening it, she gives one final brisk wave and then she's gone, the door clicking shut behind her.
Zi'on laughs. "What? It was like you thought I had some sort of disease. Must not touch Zi'on… I'll get the cooties or something." He sighs a bit about not wanting to leave with the weyr in turmoil. "I guess that would be the responsible thing to do." He laughs. "Just watching you try to ice skate will be enough for me." He nods a bit. "Well, you can always use me as an excuse… actually I need you to do something for me. Enka needs water. Probably something to eat, too. Can you grab something for her and take it down to the hatching grounds? Don't run out onto the sands, just call her from the galleries and she'll come up." The weyrleader nods to her. "Yeah… me too. The sooner the better. Iris is pretty pregnant." He gives her a wave as she heads out.
Kaliena rolls her eyes to Zi'on's joking remarks. It's not that she didn't want to hug back, it's more like she just… can't. The girl has issues! "Glad I'll be a source of entertainment for you then," she drawls sarcastically, not entirely impressed but not going back on her agreement to go. At his orders, the girl nods her head again and likely just before she waves and ducks out the door. And she'll do what he's asked too! Likely very awkwardly, but it will be done and then Kaliena will scurry away to whatever task she blatantly ignored.