Treasure hunting (Open to all!)

[Invisible]

It wasn’t skill or luck that had allowed Genet to find her treasures in stores. No, it was owing to sheer determination to locate what she thought was perfect and be willing to climb up and over anything that got into her way. After all one never knew where a forgotten box might be found. Normally she went on these treasure hunts by herself, but today she had dragged G’tet along. He had tried to get out of it, but she was having none of it.

Right now, in the scant hour of free time in the afternoon after lessons and before evening exercises and dinner, she was climbing a set of shelves towards what she thought might be an interesting box. “Genet,” G’tet said with a frown in his voice. “You’re going to break your neck. For a pair of shoes. Come down from there.” Big brother voice never worked, but he tried anyway while asking Kalpeth Does Anquilith know her rider is trying to break her neck here? Kalpeth, sunning herself in the cold on her ledge took that question as if she were asked to find out and found the green weyrling doing her own lounging. G’tet wishes to know if you know Genet is trying to break her neck? she asked as her tail flicked at a breeze.

She is exploring Anquilith told Kalpeth with enjoyment in her distant voice. When Kalpeth passed that on G’tet laughed. “You and Anquilith are going to be trouble,” he told his twin fondly just as she called out, “Look out below!” and nudged the box down. Hopefully there was nothing breakable in the box since she’d barely lifted the lid to look inside. As it fell down she began to climb down. “I need the perfect shoes for turn’s end. Anquilith will understand it’s a noble cause.” Further words were drowned out by the large noise the box made as it hit the ground and items began to tumble out of it.

[Alsivor]

Aleda had chosen this hour as being somewhat unlikely for the Headwoman to actually be around and one of the friendly assistants on duty to do her poking around in stores. It was easier if she came with G'tet, but she didn't want to depend on the greenrider's assistance always. This is why she was tucked away in the back of stores, carefully picking out small amounts of supplies to replenish that which dwindled in her wagon. It was easier to keep up with as small a group as the few remaining Caminar, but still, without trading outside the Weyr, there were things that got used up and couldn't be easily replenished by gathering in the dead of winter.

She didn't hear the voices at first, busy with her own gathering. In the end it was the sight of Genet's head popping up over the shelf that drew her attention and Aleda lifted a hand to catch back her laughter.

[Invisible]

Down below G’tet ducked and hopped back to avoid the falling items. He may have been annoyed at first, but it was hard not to enjoy spending time with his twin. The two of them tended to feed off each other and soon enough some trouble would come of it all. As Genet scrambled down the shelf she started to sing an old song from their hold. “Come on, G’tet. You know it’s our lucky song.”

As she leapt to the ground G’tet was already bending over to begin collecting items that flew this way and that. As he added his voice to the song he almost missed what he thought was laughter. “Hello?” he called out mid-verse. For interrupting the song he got a soft slipper tossed at his head.

[Alsivor]

Another giggle stifled and Aleda took up her little bundle of things and stuck her head around the end of the aisle. "Hell-oo," she greeted G'tet gaily, voice sing-songing with humor then slipped along to join him, one hand reaching towards him to slide familiarly along his waist. "Hey there Genet, throwing shoes today?" Aleda teased G'tet's twin sister with a broad wink.

[Invisible]

“Trying to find the right shoes for Turn’s End,” Genet answers merrily as she abandons the box on the floor after a cursory glance. “Just throw it all back in there, G’tet, please. I’ll haul it up when done.” Then she’s back to peering up at the shelves to find the next potential hidden treasure. It also allows her to ignore any touching going on between the other two.

So she totally misses the quick kiss G’tet gives to Aleda. “And I am here to collect her shattered bones when she plummets down. Over a pair of shoes.” Shaking his head he looks at Aleda’s bundle and asks, “Find what you were looking for? If you need shelves climbed we can abuse the poor weyrling to do it for us.”

[Slim]

The voices she heard were just a murmur, but Emeni knew they didn't belong to any regular storesworker. She'd just left them all playing a game of dice up front, so of course they couldn't be back here. She groaned inwardly at the thought of what a mess unsupervised people always made of the stores. Well, that was inevitable this time of the turn, with more people interested in getting things than there were workers around to help them get things. Even at times when those workers weren't being worthless twerps.

A few aisles away from the voices, Emeni halted herself and hopped up and down. It was a silly, childish thing to do, but it kept her from sinking too deeply into her own grumblings. Who could take themselves seriously while jumping in place five times? It helped her put her game face on, and so she had a smile ready as she crossed the remaining distance and came up to the trio.

The first thing she saw, at a distance, was two figures who appeared to be kissing. That might have been enough to turn her around (there were people who used the stores like a private bedroom, and while Emeni thought it was gross, it was none of her business), but then she recognized Genet. A second later, G'tet's features also became clear, but she didn't know the third person. So she addressed herself to Genet, the person she knew best of the three of them. "You know," she said, "I do work here." Her sunny-fake smile had become a bemused one. "You could'a asked for my help."

[Alsivor]

"Ahh, so you'll be outfitted from head to toe," Aleda says in answer to Genet. "Should be a nice Turnover," she continued, giving G'tet a little squeeze. "Such a devoted big brother," Aleda teases the greenrider with a broad grin, "and if you miss, I can set those bones afterward," she tacks on. "Got the few things we needed yes, and I need to see about trading some of my time in return for the supplies. I might see about ... helping the weyr's healer." One corner of her mouth quirks as if she expects maybe that this will go oddly.

Emeni's approach saw her looking around G'tet towards the stores-worker and Aleda nodded towards her politely, but didn't immediately introduce herself. Her arm also dropped from around G'tet's waist, her hand crossing behind her body to catch at the opposite elbow instead.

[Invisible]

“Emeni!” Genet greeted as she was climbing a set of shelves. Stopping to hang there and grin down at the new arrival she let loose with one hand to wave. “It’s great to see you! How are you?” The fact that her friend worked there took a second to register. “Oh! Right you do! Well, we’re treasure hunting though. Which means you working here wouldn’t help! But you can join in. I’m searching for the perfect pair of shoes for Turn’s End.”

G’tet glanced at Emeni as well and grinned. “No, the shoe boxes would not do,” he told her. “She says the best things are tucked away and forgotten where they shouldn’t be. I’m sure she means no offense to anyone working here.” It was just her way. When Aleda’s arm moved the greenrider glanced at her and winked. “Now, now,” he told her before nudging her with a finger to her side. “Aleda, this is Emeni. She’s my wingleader’s daughter and the best worker in the stores you’ll find.” He flatters, but he always does. “Emeni, this is Aleda. She’s a sabedoria.” He must have been practicing the word because he didn’t stumble over it at all.

“Look out below!” came the warning as Genet lost her grip on a box she was peering into. It tumbled down, thankfully with nothing breakable in it.

[Slim]

Emeni had her eyes on Genet and the box she was holding, and winced as soon as she noticed that the weyrling's grip had started to slip. She made no effort to catch the box before it hit the ground, though, as experience had taught her it was best not to get smacked by falling objects. Even lightweight boxes had sharp corners. "Yeesh," she said. "I could still have found you a ladder."

Walking over to the box, Emeni picked it up and patted it gently, as if to make up for the trauma the inanimate object had just experienced at Genet's incautious hands. Once it was safe in her arms, she looked at Aleda. "Sabedoria, huh? I guess I don't know what that means. You must be with the group that's outside the Bowl, though." It was assumed, from the alien sound of the word, that Aleda was Caminar. "Man, I wanted to get out there and take stock of what you folks were selling, but a guy I work with got the jump on me, so he got the assignment." She shrugged, but she was eyeing Aleda speculatively, working out privately whether getting to know one of the wagon members might enable her to get back in on the trading action. Deciding it wouldn't make much difference, she shrugged again and put on a simple smile.

[Alsivor]

"A pleasure to meet you, Emeni," Aleda replied, her voice lightly accented with the lilt of the Caminar. "Genet seems to be much enjoying her search even without the ladder," she noted with a wink and humor plainly visible in her eyes as she extended a hand towards the caverns-worker.

"And what G'tet means is that I am a healer, but if you are looking for trade, you would be welcome to come to the wagons. My uncle and my brother remain as do a few of the other famililes and there are still fabrics, clothing and jewelry to look at."

Genet's warning lifted her head and she stepped back just slightly as the box came tumbling down. "Falling shoes in plenty today," she quipped.

[Invisible]

“Ladders are for the lazy!” Genet calls out as she drops down to the floor. “I know how to climb anyway. Why bother with bothering someone else?” See? She was just trying to be helpful! Her wide grin at Emeni is just full of being all helpful. “Anyway nothing broke. Hey! I saw the box first!” Like the others are just waiting to paw through her potential treasures. How dare they! Letting the others talk she crouched down and began to sort through what had remained in the box. “I just need the perfect shoes,” she told no one in particular. “That’s all.”

G’tet watched his twin with a shake of his head. It was the way she was, but really. He let her be and concentrated on what the other women were saying. “I’ll be sure it’s all put up right, Emeni,” he promises the steward’s assistant. He glances at Aleda and grins at the Caminar woman. “You’ll help me right, Aleda?” It’s hardly suggestive his question. No, really.

[Slim]

"Oh, nah." Emeni started to wave a hand at Aleda, then realized a handshake was on offer and quickly switched to that gesture. "Thanks. I got enough for me already. I'm just whining about work, see, we like to have somebody be the Weyr's trade liaison with other folks and we stick with that one person once they're assigned. So I can't steal Tarketio's glory, ya know? He beat me to it fair 'n square." She put the box down and nudged it towards Genet now that she'd descended to claim it.

Of course, she soon followed to help with the box (unnecessarily), because the tone G'tet used with Aleda had brought an embarrassed blush to her face. So of course she thought, hide it! Emeni dropped to her knees and scooted up closer to peer at what Genet had found in the lost box.

"It's not the being put back that worries me so much as the being damaged when it drops down," she told G'tet over her shoulder. It was less embarrassing to talk to him when she couldn't see him and Aleda getting snug. "And ladders are for people who want to keep their skulls uncracked," she admonished her friend, wagging a jesting finger at her. "Anyway, what makes you so sure the perfect shoes aren't in the spot they're s'posed to be, with all the other shoes? Maybe they're cunning little buggers and that's how they decided to hide. In plain sight."

[Alsivor]

Shaking hands firmly with Emeni, Aleda's brows quirked up faintly at the other woman's description about how stores duties worked. "As for putting things back, certainly I will help," the Caminar woman replied, "though Emeni has a very good point about not breaking things too."

No more getting snug on Aleda's end of things since she dropped her arm and stepped just that bit away from G'tet. Being a little cuddly around Genet was one thing, Weyrstaff, another.

[Invisible]

“I won’t break anything. That’s why G’tet is here! To catch me if I fall.” Genet gives this some thought before grinning. “Or throw himself under me if he can’t catch me!” That’s what siblings are for! As for the cunningness of shoes the weyrling laughs. “Emeni, I looked in the boring old boxes. Now I am searching for something good. Something no one else will find because they only looked in the boring old boxes.”

G’tet shakes his head at his twin’s words, but what can he say? “I’m sure nothing will break,” he assures Emeni with a wink. “You can hold me responsible if it does.” Take something serious? Nah, not something like broken something or others in stores. As Genet pulls something out of the box to look at it G’tet moves closer to examine it. “You pick the next box, Aleda,” he tells her with a grin.

[Slim]

Emeni's distress escaped her for a moment. "You went through all the shoes, too?" The cause of worry in her tone could be easily located: just think of all those dropped, mis-shelved boxes! Emeni cleared her throat, trying to distract anyone from her momentary slip - okay, so the being put back right part did worry her a little bit - and planted her hands on her knees.

"Okay, tell you guys what. I won't say a word if you wanna keep riflin' through all these boxes, but I get to fetch you a ladder and you get to use it." She smacked her knee, satisfied that she'd come up with a solution that would be pleasing to everyone (well, mostly to her), and launched herself out of the kneel she'd dropped into to examine the box. Leaving the three of them to go through whatever box Aleda picked by themselves, Emeni went trotting off to find a ladder somewhere in the aisles.