Stubbornness

Writers: AL, Jane
Date Posted: 8th August 2009

Characters: Zharesti
Description: Zharesti makes a decision she almost immediately comes to regret
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 4, day 2 of Turn 5

Zharesti settled on the high stool at the workbench in her office and
pulled a muddled pile of papers toward her. She sorted through the
jumble until she found the glued pad of clean paper, then she started
rummaging around for her pencils. Nevertheless, once she was organised
nothing happened. Her eyes were drawn to the open door and the rain
beyond it.

"Rotten weather," she complained, though most of the time she was happy
in her new home, a cliff Weyr in a warm climate, with a river and the
the sea right on their doorstep. It was nothing like the place that had
been her home until recently but she liked to think she could handle
change well enough not to grieve for her former Weyr which, truth be
told, was probably getting on just fine without her.

"We're just not that important, Veyeth," she murmured, though the dragon
sprawled in the cavern next door didn't bother to reply and eventually
Zharesti put pencil to paper and started to draw.

A knock upon the door interrupted whatever thoughts Zharesti had and a
voice called out, the dipthong accent making the ends of the words rise
in pitch. "Ma'am? I've come to clean up, may I come in?"

"Of course. Come on in!" Zharesti quit her seat and headed for the door
in case he call hadn't been heard but the door was already opening. "How
are you today?" she asked the woman, waving her into the room.

"I be all right, thank ya' ma'am." The woman was a pleasant looking gal
of middle with streaks of gray in her hair. She was round, but moved
with agility of one half her size. She puffed into the room and looked
about, clucking to herself and took out a rag. "Anythin' specific ya'
want done?"

"Nothing special - oh. If I move all my junk off the workbench could you
give it a polish?" Not that the bench was particularly neglected but
having moved everything off it and having the gleaming wood for
incentive, the dragonrider felt she might be inspired to tidy her papers
before moving them back.

"Certainly, miss." The woman agreed readily. "I'll just busy myself with
other things until ya ready."

"Thank you." Now that somebody else was waiting on her to organise
herself Zharesti fell to work, moving the stacks of papers and both flat
and rolled hides off the waist high workbench. Soon all the chairs and
the office desk were covered in poorly balanced piles and pyramids of
rolled hides.

"Got to get worse before it gets better," Zharesti murmured to her
dragon, but Veyeth's reply was nothing more than a mental undertone of
doubt. "You'll see."

"Ah, I seems to have put you out." The woman shook her head, though a
pleasant smile stayed upon her lips. She went right to work, thoroughly
dusting the workbench. Once that was done, she procured a cloth and
sprayed it with a liquid that had a distinct tangy smell then set about
wiping the entire thing down. "There ya' go miss. Good as new."

"Mmm." Zharesti sniffed appreciatively. "Smells like it." She glanced
around at the many piles of papers. "Now all I have to do is sort this
lot out." It a forlorn hope. She had brought the lot with her from her
former Weyr, just dumped in large baskets and then unpacked and stacked
on the very useful bench. "There's nothing important in there," she
assured the other woman with a grin. "But that doesn't seem to make it
any easier."

"Would ya' like me to send for some assistance, miss?" The woman offered
as she shuffled across the room to resume her work. "I'd help, but I ha'
ta finish here and get to me next job."

"No, sadly. Thanks for the offer but unless the Headwoman has a large
group of people who have nothing to do for the next few days I think
it's all going to have to be my own work." Zharesti glanced around at
the piles now perched on nearly every available space in the room. "I
suppose it won't hurt staying there a while until I can get around to it."

"As ya wish ma'am." The woman busied herself with straightening as much
as she could around the piles. There wasn't much to do, the room had
been fairly clean when she arrived, just a bit of dust to take care of.
She did take a few moments to polish the other woods in the room, but
her work was done after that. "Anythin' else I can do for ya miss?"

"No, thanks. I'll - er - do the rest myself."

"Well just send word if ya do." The woman gathered up her cleaning
supplies and then gave Zharesti a polite nod. "Good day, miss."

_Good_ day seemed too much of a stretch now that Zharesti was looking at
the results of her decision. "Yes. Thanks for your help," she said,
mustering a smile for the lower caverns woman.

But when she looked at the around the office again she was assailed by
an uncharacteristic moment of stubbornness. The papers and hide would
_not_ go back on that bench until they were sorted. Even if it took her
all day.

She amended that thought, remembering her commitments for the day.

Even if it took her all sevenday.

Last updated on the August 16th 2009

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Stubbornness