Is this yours?

2038-01-19T03:14:07Z

Who: H'kon and Wistella (NPC)
Where: Nursery
When: 16:49 on day 2, month 1, turn 4 of the 7th Pass.
What: H'kon finds something that belongs to the nannies. So, he ventures into their lair where he meets Wistella. Who, as always, has kind words for the brownrider.

7/5/2007

At High Reaches Weyr, it is 16:49 on day 2, month 1, turn 4 of the 7th Pass.

No matter how busy she is the head nanny at the Weyr always finds time to stop in and visit her charges. Some nannies upon reaching a level where they do not /have/ to deal with children do not. But, Wistella is not most nannies. She enjoys visiting with the children who are her responsibility. It is also a way to keep an eye on those who work under her. While she is known as one of the biggest gossips at High Reaches she does not use it in a professional capacity. So, she pops in at any time of day she finds a spare hour or two to see how things are going. Right now she's seated in a rocker holding a little girl who is probably about five turns old. The little girl is crying, down to tears and snuffles, but she has the look of someone who just gone done having a fit.

H'kon is not the type to actually enter the nursery unless he has to. Usually, the toys he's taken upon himself to fix find are nabbed from a box near the entrance, without his having to walk into the battlefield proper. Today, however, the brownrider makes an exception. And by the look of him - and the cargo he's carrying - he isn't here to fix toys. Wearing a scowl deeper than his usual, H'kon has a boy who looks to be about four held under one arm, as one might hold a rolled up blanket, rather than child. The boy has a scowl to match H'kon's (though, thankfully, otherwise looks nothing like the man who hauls him), surely a result of being caught from wherever it was he was making a break for. Brownrider recognises head nanny, and he stomps right on up to that rocker, his charge bouncing with each step, and occasionally pushing against the man's side in what have become half-hearted attempts to escape - done more for the sake of doing them, than for the possibility of actual success. "I believe this belongs here."

Wistella looks up from the petting and cooing of the no longer crying girl. "Oh, Naden. Did you get out again?" A rhetorical question since it appears he did just that. She places the girl on her feet and withdraws from her pocket a small bag from which she pulls out a piece of red hard candy. This goes to the girl who gets her hair ruffled before being sent off with a, "Go on now, Velma." Once the girl is gone the head nanny rises to her feet. "Thank you so much for returning him. He seems to be all in one piece so must not have been gone long."

There is no move, it might be noted, to take the kid from the rider.

H'kon glances down to his charge, scowl meets scowl, and then the rider's attention is back to Wistella, expression turning expectant after a few moments are waited out. Naden's next attempt at freedom comes with a little child-grunt, and this is enough for H'kon to heft the boy enough to jostle him well enough that he's, instead, clinging to the rider briefly for fear of falling. "He does this often?"

"Oh, he's always trying to get out. To go see his mother in the stables. He's got a thing for the runners out there. Takes after his mother. I had her in here too." Wistella grins at Naden and still doesn't try to take him. "Poor little guy. He can get out no matter how many people are watching him. He just sneaks on out. He was alone though? Sometimes he sneaks out with his sister." She pauses and turns her head to look about the nursery. "Ah, no. There's Floren. She's just two turns older than him. Such a sweet girl."

H'kon spares a sour glance toward the sister of the brat. "Perhaps if all the people you have here cannot watch him, you should look to finding better people for the job." Another annoyed heft is given to the boy, who promptly squirms so that his stomach isn't pushed up against the brownrider's thick arm, and he can breath a bit better. Wistella will now have both H'kon and Naden looking expectantly to her.

Wistella smiles, showing off deep dimples as her green eyes sparkle. "Well, rider H'kon," is it ever good when they know your name? No. "If you think you can do better you are welcome to come down here some day and spend some time seeing how the other half earn their keep." Naden is winked at and she wiggles long plump fingers at him in greeting. "Shame on you, Naden." Surely she does not sound amused. That would be wrong.

H'kon scowls at this. "My job is not to watch these," heft, "children." Now, H'kon turns so that the side of him bearing the kid is nearer to Wistella. "Here," is added, and the boy gets another heft. This one finds his shoulder hitting H'kon's ribs, and they grunt in unison. Aww.

"I do believe he possesses feet." Wistella points this out with a grin and a gesture towards the bottom end of Naden. "You can set him down on them if you like." Because she is not going to take him and she makes this clear by putting her hands on her hips. "And, I am aware that it is not your job to watch the /children/. They are not things. However, if you are going to make accusations about us not doing our job perhaps you might like to learn how hard that job is to do."

"A difficult job is no excuse to do it improperly." And Naden is set down. Well, dropped down. The boy stumbles a bit, but a hand to H'kon's leg keeps him balanced. H'kon ignores him as best he can, and Naden is off to play with his sister. Or maybe to organise an escape on a larger scale. "And no. They are not things." This, strangely doesn't sound repentant, but almost disappointed. Maybe because things are predictable and controllable.

Wistella draws herself up, hands still on her hips. "Now see here. You better not come in here and imply that there was some impropriety going on with what happened. You don't know the story. You got no right to come in here and make these accusations." She watches Naden run off with a fond smile on her face. "He's a good little scamp. He doesn't make any trouble. And here you are saying all these things."

H'kon takes a breath, lets it out. "He might well make trouble. He was on his way to the bowl. I would assume the cold would keep him out now, but if the weather is warmer, if a dragon doesn't see him? He could get hurt." Exactly to whom that 'he' is referring is up for grabs. "And this happens frequently, you have said so. I would suggest only that you find a way to keep him and his like under control."

"We have a way to keep them under control. But sometimes they get out anyway. It's a known quantity." Wistella seems generally unconcerned about the occasional escape of a child. She smiles an engaging smile. "We've always got fine men and women who will see a scamp and bring him or her back. It's not a problem. They don't get into the bowl. Likely Naden was lurking waiting for someone to see him and bring him back. He gets tired after running around and all. And, you did. Thank you so much! Would you like a candy?"

H'kon draws himself up to his full and unimpressive height, and tugs at the base of his tunic. "I would not like a candy," is pointed out quite quickly and darkly. Nevermind that the word 'candy' has got a few kidlets looking wistfully toward Wistella. "If that is all you intend to do, then, I will go."

The little bag in her pocket which was on its way out is slipped back in. "Very well then. Thank you so much for returning him to us, rider." Wistella notices those wistful glances, but the candy is returned anyway. It is a treat, after all, and not something to just be handed you.

One day, H'kon may understand the social intricacies of candy from the nannies. For now, the brownrider gives Wistella a nod, shoots a careful look to Naden, where he's whispering things to his sister, and with a nod, turns and stalks on out of the nursery. The place surely looks brighter once he's gone.

Wistella watches the brownrider leave with a cheerful smile. Once he is gone she remarks in general, "What a nice man. You kids be sure and say hello to him if you see him, yes?" Eager voices chorus agreement and are given candy as a result. For the next seven H'kon will be greeted by a chorus of hellos whenever he might be in the same room as children.

Peeking Out of the Shell

Is this yours?