A Pleasant Day

Writers: AL, Kaysea
Date Posted: 26th June 2008

Characters: J'gen, Irlani, Gyta
Description: J'gen invites Irlani to dinner, she accepts, and she and Gyta spend a pleasant day together.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 10, day 13 of Turn 4

"Come here, Gyta, let me fix your hair." Irlani picked up the child's brush and motioned for her to stand before her foster mother. She smiled, then turned the girl around, taking some hair in her hand and carefully brushing it. "Let's see how it looks in a braid, what do you think? Maybe your father will like it?"

Gyta nodded. Usually she allowed her hair to hand free, but the tangles that beset her each night almost brought her to tears. She turned her head sideways and watched Irlani fromt he corner of her eyes. She could remember her mother doing this each morning for her, and happily chattering away as she did so. Heat flooded the back of her eyes, but she determinedly stopped the tears from falling. Irlani had been so nice, she didn't want to her to think she had said something to upset her.

Irlani continued to brush the child's hair, taking short, definite, but gentle strokes until the tangles began to work out. Then the strokes became longer. "You have lovely hair," She murmured as she worked and began to split it into three sections. "If you like, I can do more with it."

Her eyes had been getting heavy with the slow, steady motion of her hair being brushed, Irlani's voice brought her back to the present, and as she opened her eyes, she saw her papa standing in the doorway.
She smiled up at him as he approached.

"How's my girl doing this morning?" he asked, crossing the floor quickly and kissing her lightly on the forehead.

"Falling asleep, evidently." Irlani quipped, amused as she began to twist the girl's hair into a braid. "Just trying something a little different today."

"Looks nice." J'gen nodded. "You'll look as pretty as a picture, my sweet." he said reaching out to ruffle her hair then remembering atthe last minute. "So what do you two have planned today? Harper classes not on?" he asked a moot frown on his face.

"I thought we could do lessons one on one." Irlani explained. "I've been doing that for the last sevenday and they seem to be going well."
Her smile turned into a grin as she stated, "We're going to be doing math with bubbly pies today."

"Oh...now that is the type of harper class I would have enjoyed." he said, winking at his daughter. "You seem to be getting on very well?"
he said, but his eyebrows rose in question as he met Irlani's eyes.

"Oh yes." Irlani nodded and smiled to ease any doubts the dragonrider had. "She's lovely and a good helper. Except when she's not." Irlani finished Gyta's hair and tickled her sides to show that she was teasing.

Gyta's laughter filled the room, and she ran and hid behind her father to stop the tickles Irlani had lavished on her. She poked her head around her fathers waist and smiled wickedly at the woman.

It did J'gen's heart good to see his daughter smiling and laughing again, it had been so long, but what he wouldn't give to hear her voice again, to hear her childish chatter around the weyr. His smile was one of melancholy as he looked down on her. "Thank you." he said catching Irlani's eyes again. "Thank you."

Both of the woman's eyebrows raised. "I love children." She said simply as she stood to put away the brush. "No need to thank me.
Fostering is simply what I do."

With a nod of understanding J'gen bent down and cuddled Gyta, "I have to go to the infirmary, you'll be a good girl for Irlani, yes?" he asked, tipping her face so they looked eye to eye.

Gyta gave a smile and a nod, before cupping her fathers face in her hands, "Yes." she mouthed.

Irlani slipped out of the room to give father and daughter some time with one another. She lowered herself upon the couch, leaning forward and letting her arms drape over her knees. She stared at the wall her thoughts roaming to what she would do with Gyta for the day and how she could help the child, perhaps, in a longer term scenario. She didn't look up until movement by J'gen and Gyta caught her attention.

"I have to go, and Gyta's ready for her lessons." J'gen said, his hand resting affectionately on his daughters shoulder. "I should be back in time for the evening meal - if you'd like to join us, I'd enjoy the company?"

"Certainly." Irlani stood, a smile flitting across her lips. "I'd be glad to join you two."

"Good!" he smiled, giving Gyta's shoulder a final squeeze, "If I don't see you two around today, I'll see you both for the evening meal," he nodded, bent over and dropped a kiss on Gyta's head, "be good."

"Come on," Irlani said gently after J'gen left and held her hand out to the child. "Let's get started on lessons. We'll do history first."

~*~

"It's almost dinner time." Irlani announced after she wrote one last sentence. "We can show your father our stories after dinner." Writing had been the last activity of the day and Irlani had given instruction to Gyta to write an original story of whatever she wanted. Irlani would write one too. She pulled the parchment away and folded the pages carefully before Gyta had a chance to look at what she had written. "But you can't see mine until then either." Her eyes twinkled as she stood.

With a half laugh Gyta made a grab for the parchment but Irlani was too quick. Gyta stood up from the table and made her way to the small bathing chamber at the back of the weyr. She washed quickly, and brought her hairbrush back into the main room for Irlani to fix her hair again. The day had been pleasant, much better than sitting there with the harper class with the other children casting sly glances at her whenever the harpers asked her a question. She didn't feel as though she were the odd one out when it was just her an Irlani, she felt a great deal happier than she had in a long time.

"I guess we should put you back together a bit, hm?" Irlani gently urged the girl to turn around and took out the leather strap she had used to keep the hair back. "Maybe tomorrow we can steal your father during the mid meal and see if he'll go on a picnic with us. Think he'd like that?"

With eager nods, Gyta's eyes twinkled happily. She fingered Irlani's hair, even her hair was similar to mama's, she thought to herself.
The eyes were different, but the hair, the smile, the laugh - all so much like her mama's.

"Do you want to do my hair?" Irlani asked, holding the brush out for the girl to take if she desired.

With glee, Gyta took the brush from Irlani's hand and grinned before slipping behind her chair, and slowly fingering the length from behind.
She gently pushed the brush through the hair and watched to see if Irlani winced at all, before continuing.

If there was any pain or pulling, Irlani's face didn't reflect it. She sat, calm and still, a playful smile still tugging at her lips. "Just try not to make it too outrageous."

Gyta giggled, as she twisted the hair as she had seen others do. A plait formed down one side of Irlani's head, not as neat as her own were, but it was recognisable as a plait. She finished one side and gave the end to Irlani to hold, before starting on the other side.
She became more confident as the time passed, and was pleased to see the other side come out a lot neater than the first.

Irlani sat rather still for the most part. Occasionally she would turn her head just ever so slightly to look at Gyta out of the corner of her eye. There was an amused twinkle in her gaze and a playful smile upon her lips. She waited until Gyta was ready for the first plait and then handed the end to her.

She took the offered braid, her fingers closed over the end and held on tightly. She lifted it back over Irlani's shoulder and held both together, at a loss as to how to bind them together, and then from the corner of her eyes she saw her own neat braid hanging over her shoulder and the small band that encircled the end, holding it all together. Holding both of Irlani's plait in one hand, she eased the band from her own hair, and quickly wound it around the two braids, binding them together, then stood back to admire her handiwork.

"Ah, but your braid won't stay now!" Irlani clicked her tongue. "Perhaps we should get a few more bands. Shall I just brush out our hair for now?"

Gyta considered for a moment, before nodding. She liked to see Irlani wearing her hair up, hair she, Gyta, had styled.

Irlani laughed softly, then gently tugged the girl back to her. "All right, then let's brush your hair. Your father will be back soon, I'm sure."

Last updated on the June 28th 2008

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A Pleasant Day