[prp] Homemade Magic [Natiri/Lafyrra]

[Sweet Symmetry]

ShinosBee

Let me know if you want anything edited! Also, I apologise for the awfulness. ^^;

((Fuzzy-timed to 04.10, for Turnday magical goodness. ^^))

Fyfy was beaming, long brown hair perfectly plaited, her glitziest, prettiest dress donned, her eyes glittering with cheer. She had slaved away in those kitchens all day, and was proud of her efforts: a small, sweet berry pie, with a little firelizard motif, sat reverently in her hands, plated with a few uncooked red berries and two forks.

And there he was! The man of the day! She spied his serious countenance from across the dining hall and, shoulders lifted back, head held high, she sashayed towards him. Out of the way, her eyes seemed to say, Monarchy offering belligerent chirps to the unwary from his perch on her shoulder.

Oh, oh no. He'd gotten himself a Turnday meal of second rations... So poor! So unbecoming of the man he was! "Natiri! Happy Turnday!" She swept into the seat opposite him, pushing aside his plate of food to leave the pie before him. "Did you think I'd forget? I managed to make this with the help of some candidate girl who used to be a farmer." A tinkling laugh followed, as if that wasn't the most wholesomely quaint thing to have happened. Pressed, Lafyrra would probably not have been able to guess the other candidate's name, but she didn't care. Making Natiri happy was far more important.

"I know it's not like the celebration we'd have at home..." Her voice gentled here, her grin becoming small and pained. "But I still wanted to do something good. For you." Because home felt so far away, and it was important to remember it despite their current loyalties. And sure, she was definitely going to eat at least half the pie, but the intention was good. That counted, right?  

[ShinosBee]

Sweet Symmetry

For Natiri, it really was just another routine day. Get up, lessons, chores, eating breakfast and making sure Haldi had hers and was both oiled and being mindful and well mannered. It had taken a brief bit of time for the tiny gold to adjust to the Weyr, and to mingling with the assorted faires and other golds that lived therein, but thankfully she was more biddable than most, and Natiri had kept a firm but gentle hand with her. Now, come dinner time with a good day's work behind them all, she was found curled about her boy's neck as he ate, glittering neck extending to accept the tiny bites he offered her off his plate every so often. Normally he'd not allow such antics, preferring her to not become accustomed to finding scraps in the dining hall... but, well, maybe it was a slightly special day...

And then his plate went shunting out from in front of him, leaving his fork half-jabbed down, directly into the flank of one of the little firelizards that decorated the edge of the pie that had so abruptly replaced his food. "Lafyrra..." His brows pinched slightly in and upwards, the smallest and hidden expression of long-suffering resignation there and gone on his face. "When did you find the time to bake a pie?" Not to mention the ingredients. Western surely wasn't starving these days, but still. He'd been quite content with an extra piece of fish, and a spare mashed tuber. But a whole berry pie? He mentally clamped down on the thought that he really didn't need all this, didn't need the fuss or the resources wasted on him. It was already made now, wasn't it?

He knew Fyfy quite well enough to be able to imagine how it would go if he rejected her gift. Tears would come first, then anger, probably. He didn't want to get on the Weyr's bad side for being an accessory to her misbehavior if she ended up having a pout or tantrum... But he didn't want her to get into trouble either. Even if he hadn't asked for or expected the pie, it was a nice genture... And he wasn't one to waste food. He deftly jabbed the fork, lifting a bite of the gooey, sweet, fruity mess... and then glanced up at Fyfy as he held it poised there. "Thank you, Lafyrra. You didn't need to, but thank you. You will share it, yes?"  

[Sweet Symmetry]

ShinosBee

“You don’t find time,” Fyfy drawled, affectionate exasperation colouring her tones, “you make time.” Besides, if she told him that she had only done a half-decent job with her chores so that she could have more free time, he’d tut and judge and scold (and maybe even tell the candidatemaster, bleh). There was no time- or place- for that on his Turnday. She grinned at him as she propped up her chin on her hands, shrugging a little to deflect the last of his suspicions.

Faranth, did he never enjoy himself? He really did need her more than he realised. “Of course I’ll share it with you. I know you’d probably just… save it for a rainy day or something.” She chuckled at her own joke, eyes sparkling. She laid a fork into the dragon-decorated crust, glad that it at least smelled good. “Do you think Haldi wants some?” And for a moment, she wondered what kind of trouble Monarchy was getting himself into. If he were here, she’d have a hard time pulling him off the plates.

“So, what did you get up to today? Did you receive any word from home?” She tried to conceal her fear at his response. She hadn’t heard anything from her parents since the Hold had stopped tithing, and the thought of them never speaking to her again… Lafyrra didn’t want to imagine that kind of world. Her grin grew frozen, her fork still halfway to her mouth.  

[ShinosBee]

He gave a slight nod of the head—she was right, after all. More even than the pie, the thought that Fyfy might, finally, be thinking more about how to spend her time and be more productive, be more conscientious and thoughtful... that warmed his heart. It was all he'd hoped for, hoped she'd come to understand. He'd felt for a long while a certain responsibility to mind her, to help her grow in that direction in order to help their Hold save face... maybe his efforts were finally paying off, indeed.

He let her take the first stab at the pie, his own excitement more muted and patient than hers had ever been. Also, she'd been the one to make it, so it made sense to him to let her be the one to undo all her hard work by slicing into it. He grimaced briefly at mention of Haldi, the gold in question giving only a soft sigh from where she hung around his neck, peering one eye open at Fyfy. "I'm sure she might, but I don't think it's good for her. And she's had her supper already, she's alright." He gave the little dear a quick few strokes of his hand, soothing her back to resting before he forked a bit of the gooey pie into his mouth.

Admittedly, it was delicious. He couldn't recall the last time he'd had a pie so good. Or had... well, any pie. A fine nameday treat.

A beat later his mood darkened, expression frosting slightly around the edges, if you knew where to look for it. He chewed, slowly. Intently broke a bit more crust with the edge of his fork. Stabbed a pulpy berry with no more than usual ferocity.

"...No," was his simple answer. "...But then, mother and father do not have firelizards. Perhaps they were all busy. Maybe it will come later. Or tomorrow.

Sweet Symmetry