up to the platform of surrender [erilena]

[Avu]

“Watch out, if you look too smug you might break something,” Ka’aen observed sourly.

The blue didn’t reply. Of course, Ka’aen noted dryly, he didn’t need to. He hadn’t broken anything; Ka’aen had. So no, he really probably should’ve said something else that Rhiiseth would have to respond to, but he couldn’t bring himself to care when he’d just sliced his palm wide open on a stupid broken bottle (he suspected it once held something alcoholic, which would explain why some idiot had left it broken in half in the hallway right next to the crèche of all places). He turned down the hallway towards the Infirmary almost automatically, slightly fascinated by the blood spilling down his wrist and staining his sleeve dark. His other hand was covered in blood too from where he had his thumb pressed against the gash; it seeped into the lines of his palms and dripped off the back.

He was probably leaving a trail.

Oh well. At least he’d gotten the stupid glass shards out of the way. Damn whoever’d left there. Did nobody have common sense? Of course, given that he’d been the one to cut himself, he’d probably have to take some of the blame, too, but whatever. Details. It didn’t really help that Rhiiseth was still unbearably pleased with himself over Feyrianth’s recent Flight; the blue had not deterred from his habit of wishing the green good morning and good night when he got the chances to just because he had won one game. Not that he’d ever let sign of his smugness slip around her, of course. And he probably wouldn’t around Garaeth or Ildyth or Ykkith, either, if he ever saw them around.

That would be too simple. Ka’aen elbowed the Infirmary door open, kicking it shut with his foot, and peered around cautiously for an unoccupied Healer. Hnn. Oh. Hey. Speaking of Healers…he caught the glimpse of blonde hair and detoured in that direction. Erilena. He’d been meaning to talk to her at some point anyway, so it might as well be now (when she couldn’t flee from him or slap him or something—first do no harm, right?). Ka’aen deliberately let his foot clip against one of the cots to alert Erilena to his presence before he said, “Hey. Hate to bother you, but I think I might be bleeding out. Wouldn’t happen to have a moment, would you? I don’t have flowers this time, but I can bring them later for a bribe if you need.”

His gaze dropped momentarily to his hand and to the blood seeping out from under his thumb, the drip of it onto the floor at his feet. Oops. Apparently he was making a mess. The bluerider blinked calmly. It didn’t really hurt, not badly. Stung, sure, but he’d had worse. It probably looked better than it was, too. Required stitches, maybe, but that would probably be about it. Too bad about all the blood—he’d heard that was kind of necessary for survival and whatnot. Sad stuff. Why did it have to come out so easily, anyway?

Dawn dancer’s, Rhiiseth commented, directly to Erilena; the blue had remained behind on His’ ‘ledge, having no desire to accompany him to the Infirmary for such an unthreatening injury. That didn’t mean he couldn’t talk to people, though. What I would owe to thee; the Healing touch would much be appreciated. Ka’Mine hurts. The last sentence was surprisingly straightforward for Rhiiseth; the eternal rumbling purr of his voice was the same but the simplicity of the statement was accompanied by earnestness atypical to the blue. Rules changed when Ka’His was leaking.

[Ruby]

Drills had broken for lunch, Ildyth had retreated to his ledge to pout, and Serissa had some free time before the afternoon session picked up again. Examining her knuckles, she sighed. Looked like it was time for a visit to the infirmary, even though she'd be there later tonight. She'd scraped them up during Feyrianth's flight sometime, either failing to get into Erilena's room or succeeding at getting into K'thay's. That had been weird. She'd tried boys once or twice in her youth, but as soon as she'd been with a woman she'd pretty much given men up for a bad job; too bad she seemed to have met mostly men at this new Weyr. Even her wing only had one woman on it, and Ressai hadn't been in her room. K'thay, apparently, was the next best thing.

Her knuckles weren't bleeding anymore (that would be creepy), but she'd run out of the special salve that prevented scarring. She had enough scars on her hands as it was, no reason to add more, especially from something so trivial as a flight she hadn't even won. Hence the extra trip to the infirmary. It was a good thing she really liked healing, she thought vaguely in Ildyth's direction, or she could easily come to hate the place. Maybe she did a little.

Ildyth didn't bother answering, tucking his head under a wing instead. He'd been down ever since the Green in question choose someone who was both late and so obviously inferior to Ildyth himself (although it was true that Rhiiseth had been downright polite), preferring to spend his time sulking and avoiding both Feyrianth and Rhiiseth like the plague rather than challenging someone to a contest of skill like he normally would around this time of day. Oh, cheer up, you're putting me in a terrible mood, Serissa griped, and Ildyth continued to ignore her. This was not going to be a good day.

It picked up dramatically, however, as soon as she entered the infirmary. She'd caught the door just before it closed, pushing through right behind a very familiar head of hair. Serissa's mouth wasn't really made for smirking, but the smile that briefly touched her lips was pretty much downright evil, because not only was he heading in the direction of the storeroom, but Serissa had spotted another head, this one nearly as blonde as her own. Erilena, of course. On different wings and different infirmary shifts, Serissa hadn't seen Erilena since the Flight, but, she had a few choice words for the Greenrider. Oh yes.

Grabbing a roll of gauze from a passing Apprentice, (Hinsero grimaced, but decided staying out of the other Healer's way might be a good idea when she looked so... devious) Serissa pivoted around Ka'aen as soon as he was done speaking, her face carefully smoothed into a gentle seriousness that seemed to be default healing face for most of the higher level journeymen and masters. She was careful to avoid the blood on the floor - no point in slipping and ruining her whole moment. "Oh, don't bother, Ka'aen," she said, her tone friendly and calm as she wrapped a few layers of gauze around the other Bluerider's hand, just to stop the current flow. "She'll probably just shut a door in your face and refuse to do what she's supposed to..." She shot a smile over her shoulder in Erilena's direction, as if that were a joke, then added with the same brightness, "You're kind of a bitch, you know." Wrapping Ka'aen's fingers around the remaining roll of gauze, she turned back to him. "Hold this, please. I need redwort, then we can see if you need stitches."

[Rei]

More focused on getting the dosage right than what was going on around her, Erilena carefully counted the drops of fellis in her mind. Wouldn’t due to overdose the poor guy. Unfortunately she couldn’t ignore the sudden thump of a boot and then the voice following caused her to freeze. It was vaguely familiar. But it didn’t matter because he had said the words bleeding out which had her defaulting to healer reaction. And he then followed it up with something about flowers. Flowers? The blonde had just begun to turn around when a voice slipped into her mind smooth as silk. Rhiiseth. Could be nobody else and indeed the Dawn dancer at the beginning was an obvious clue even if he didn’t follow it with his rider’s name. With a light frown she noted the blood and immediately started to walk towards Ka’aen only to have her path intercepted by Serissa.

It wouldn’t have been a problem if the other healer hadn’t decided to take a shot at her. Erilena would have been more than happy to default to her silently. But as it was the sweet tone the other woman used only had the greenrider bristling. Refuse to do what she was supposed to do? Kind of a bitch? Hazel eyes narrowing slightly Erilena spoke. Even if she hadn’t been in a rather odd mood since the flight had ended, she couldn’t let Serissa get away without some response. Because the bluerider was wrong. Whether she ranked her or not, she was wrong. That and her comment was just plain unprofessional. Low.

Painting a fake smile on her face the greenrider responded just as sweetly. “Kind of a bitch? Suppose that’s a compliment coming from someone who obviously knows what it is to be one.” Looking from one to the other she continued. “Last I checked there wasn’t a manual for flights. I’m not the only woman in the world who locks herself up I’m sure. Don’t like it. Prevent him from chasing next time. I can’t predict who will chase Feyrianth.” Where Erilena got the gall she didn’t know, but maybe she was just tired of being pushed around and damn if she was going to let them both gang up on her over it. Maybe she was being unfair but then again she couldn't be expected not to defend herself.

Her views on the subject where her views. She couldn’t expect the weyrbred to understand. Even explaining it to them might do no good. Not that it was really their business anyway. But Erilena refused to believe that she was wrong. Because upsetting Feyrianth so much every time the green went up was unacceptable. If she could minimize her dragon’s discomfort in any way the greenrider would. Thus why she locked herself away. So she didn’t have to worry about freaking out afterwards and Feyrianth could relax. The green was so in tune to her emotions after all. It was much less stress on the dragon this way. Regardless if they where this childish that they had to take shots at her for it… Well then they didn’t deserve her explanation. Or her time. Still irritated she turned to Ka’aen and responded politely. “She seems to be more than capable of making sure you don’t bleed out. If you feel the need to snark at me like little children then I really don’t have any desire to play babysitter. If you need further assistance I’d be happy to help but Serissa seems perfectly capable despite her unprofessional way of dealing with it.”

Turning from them both Erilena went back to her fellis determined that that would be the end of the conversation. If they wanted to be mature about it then fine. But she wasn’t going to play to subtle insults.

[Avu]

Oh, look. A Serissa. Ka’aen blinked appreciatively at her—both for the fact that she was tending to his hand and the fact that she was much more attractive now that Rhiiseth didn’t make him consider her competition. He held his hand steady for the wrapping, managing to keep all but the slightest twitch out of his fingers when the gauze tightened over his palm. He would’ve actually thanked her, but she was busy talking to Erilena. Admittedly, she’d used his name, but the words were undeniably for the greenrider, not him. That didn’t mean they didn’t draw a quirk of a smile to his lips, Ka’aen unable to help the reaction. Amusing. Ildyth hadn’t Caught, and apparently his Rider was just as disapproving as he was about the situation. Obediently wrapping his uninjured hand around the gauze and trying not to smear blood over it, Ka’aen erased the smile, hopefully before Erilena could see it.

It hadn’t been his intention to call her bitch like Serissa’s apparently was—didn’t want her thinking he agreed, even if he did, a little. As it was, Erilena’s response made keeping a straight face positively a struggle; Ka’aen bit the inside of his cheek, his expression suggesting feigned deafness, even if he was quite definitely not developing selective hearing. The greenrider making to turn away, though—that might suggest the conversation was over, but hey, that wasn’t fair; Serissa might’ve had her say but he hadn’t yet. “I’m sure she’s more than capable,” he agreed casually, flashing a winning smile at the other bluerider, “And while I’m also sure she’s a fantastic conversationalist, I was actually hoping to talk to you. I promise I didn’t slice my palm open on purpose, though.”

He didn’t wait for a response, even if he did feel rather foolish attempting conversation to a woman with her back turned, juggling gauze and blood, pretending insults had not just been exchanged right in front of him. “T’ke said it was ‘cause you didn’t like strangers. Do you always do that during Flights or did we just get lucky?” The words might have been construed as sarcastic, but it was mostly just Ka’aen’s quirky sense of humor; his tone was even, calm. Apparently he didn’t need to play bad cop—Serissa seemed happy to do that for him, which left him with the much more agreeable position of good cop, so to speak. “I’m getting blood on the gauze,” he added to Serissa, looping the roll around his forefinger. “Sorry.”

Addressing Serissa directly earned Ka’aen a prick of quiet interest from Rhiiseth. The blue had not attempted to speak to Ildyth since the Flight—why would he? He hadn’t gone to chat with Ykkith or Garaeth either. But since His was with Ildyth’s…how curious. The blue’s mind pressed against Ka’aen’s, obviously blatantly eavesdropping. He had already been treated to a complaining Ka’aen. The bluerider liked to complain, apparently, when Rhiiseth was too happy, even if he couldn’t exactly tell Rhiiseth not to be happy. He just subtly tried to undermine the happiness. Except it wasn’t so subtle, was it, the blue thought smugly, tempted to croon at Serissa just because he could.

Maybe later. He could thank her for stopping Ka’His leaking.

[Ruby]

Erilena's snotty response didn't phase Serissa one bit. "It takes one to know one", she purred, her back to the other healer. A moment of pity flashed through her eyes for Ka'aen; poor guy was even worse off than she was, being the winner and all, and now caught in the middle of this little display. It was only a moment of pity, though. He could handle himself, after all, and Erilena deserved to have every moment of Ka'aen's discomfort on her conscience. Moving to a side table, she pulled out a stool and gestured the other Bluerider towards it, moving toward Erilena and doing her best to catch the Greenrider's eye. She couldn't help but put her hands on her hips, cocking one out to the side. "There isn't a manual for flights, but there is such a thing as common courtesy."

Serissa was in full anger mode now, although her tone stayed bright - that was something she shared with her dragon, the inability to sound deadly serious even when she was. "You certainly aren't the only woman - or Greenrider for that matter - who locks themselves up during flights, but... well. I have a patient." And Ka'aen looked like he was about to burst, although he was doing a very good job of hiding it.

In the interest of giving them 'privacy', Serissa bustled out of the room looking for things she would need if Ka'aen really did need to be stitched up, keeping one ear open to hear their interaction. A vindictive little voice suggested that she send Erilena scurrying for the redwort Serissa had obliquely asked for, but she wasn't really out to humiliate the girl, just to make a point. Instead she plunged her hands into a handy basin, scooped up a cup of the liquid to disinfect her instruments, and headed back for Ka'aen and his companion.

They hadn't gotten too far, but the little ground they'd covered made Serissa smile. Ka'aen's way of dealing with the problem was interesting indeed; they complimented each other nicely, the light, straightforward Blue and the dark, 'gentle' one. If only she liked men... but she didn't. Setting her stainless metal tray covered in various devices on the nearby table, she smiled in Ka'aen's direction, the textbook example of good bedside manner (confrontation with Erilena excepted). Leaning over his hand to adjust the tightness of the gauze, she murmured, "Don't worry about bleeding on it, that's what it's there for," before uncovering the gash again. "That's a nasty one... Let's see what we've got going on under all this blood."

As she started in cleaning Ka'aen's hand, Serissa started speaking again, clearly to Erilena even though the rest of her was focused on Ka'aen. Her tone was distant, now, no longer the fiery spitting of before. "Now that you're taken care of, Ka'aen... what was I saying?" She barely even paused for a beat; clearly she hadn't really forgotten. "Oh, that's right. The whole flight thing. Plenty of greens who have already chosen their male - or whatever your excuse is - out there. Usually, they're polite enough to let those of us who will be out of luck no matter the dragon's choice know when the flight starts, so we can choose our flightmoths, or decide if we need one at all. You, on the other hand, chose to drag us all halfway across the Weyr in various states of undress, hardly past dawn, teasing us with false promises of sex just so you could shut a door in our faces and laugh. Symbolically, anyway, if not literally." Switching from swabbing Ka'aen's hand with the remaining gauze to dripping a little redwort along the gash, she added (in a perfectly reasonable tone), "Now do you see why I think you're a cockteasing bitch?"

[Rei]

Erilena ignored both of them for the most part, going back to her work and forcing herself to even her breathing. She didn’t owe them anything. Or so she told herself. Not an explanation. Nothing. Not if they decided that blindsiding her here was a good idea. If they had been polite about it sure. Maybe. But Serissa was being far from polite and here they went making snap judgments. Well fuck them. Finishing what she was working on she capped both bottles and addressed Ka’aen. “T’ke doesn’t know anything. He has no right to speak for me anyway.” The greenrider decided to ignore his other question. “Besides you don’t really give one whit about how I feel anyway. You don’t even know me. Your dragon just likes my Feyrianth. So don’t pretend that you do care. I’m not that naïve.” By the time she had finished Serissa had returned and the blonde intentionally turned back to her station.

Inwardly wincing at the bluerider’s words Erilena none the less turned and forced a smile. “Sure I see why you think that and to be honest I really don’t care what you think of me.” Part of the greenrider did feel like she should explain and maybe she should but to be honest? She didn’t see a point now. They would just tell her how dumb her thoughts where. Both being weyrbred they couldn’t possibly understand or even try to see her version of things. If they wanted to ask her nicely later and not throw accusations and insults well then maybe she’d tell them. Honestly right now she didn’t care if they washed their hands of her. Coming to her place of work and throwing this all in her face complete with belittling comments and attempts at guilt tripping really wasn’t a way to get answers. Instead all it did was make Erilena extremely defensive and actually rather angry. Which wasn’t a common emotion for her and one she was ill equipped to deal with.

Weyrbred and ranking or not the greenrider wasn’t sticking around to listen to them chastise and berate her when all they cared about was that they had missed out on sex. End of the world obviously. It’s not like she had any clue on what dragons would chase Feyrianth anyway. So what was she supposed to do make a weyr wide broadcast before the dragon rose? It wasn’t like she could fight off flight effects well enough to explain it to them when they showed up either. Well they could spread it around that she was a cockteasing bitch if they wanted. At this point Erilena was far from caring. Putting her materials away with only slightly shaking hands she simply turned and left the room with no further words. She’d just take her break now, come back later, and hope they where both gone.

[Avu]

Ouch, poor poor T’ke; good thing he hadn’t been there to overhear that one. Ka’aen actively bit his lip to keep his expression neutral, not sure what it would turn into if he didn’t; right now it was somewhere between outright irritation and just amusement at T’ke’s expense—poor kid, what with that cute crush of his and all. Erilena’s small rant about not caring about her had the bluerider tipping his head to one side curiously, because, no, he supposed he didn’t know her or care, put like that. He did, however, assume that Rhiiseth was not going to be losing interest in Feyrianth immediately, provided Erilena didn’t go and demand the green shun him or something, and it paid to keep things friendly, all things considered. But maybe not, if he was never even going to see her face during Flights. Tch.

Serissa’s return earned the other bluerider a small, strained smile, but her presence didn’t stop Ka’aen from addressing Erilena over her shoulder, voice calm, “At this point, you don’t know me, either, so I’d thank you to stop calling it as you want to. And if this locking out thing is going to be common in future Flights…you might as well get used to people asking you about it. It’s not fair to pull something like that and not expect to be asked for an explanation.” Which meant, yes, it probably was the first time she’d pulled a stupid stunt like that, if nobody had ever called her out on it before. Lucky them. And, hey, lucky her that none of them had been interested in breaking down her door or picking the lock. Wasn’t like that couldn’t be blamed on Flightlust, after all.

Ka’aen’s fingers twitched slightly at the pressure from the cleaning, the bluerider watching Serissa’s progress on his palm with mild interest. Her words drew a tiny smirk across his expression, Ka’aen tilting his head away from Erilena to hide it. Didn’t seem necessary; the attempt at self-defense was soon followed by her turning to actually leave, and he lifted his eyes towards her back, unable to resist saying as she brushed past, “Don’t mind if you hate me, but try not to break T’ke’s heart, huh? Kid’s cute in a sad kind of way.” His final, utterly unasked for opinion—had to get a word in edgeways for T’ke, didn’t he, especially since the kid wasn’t here to defend himself against Erilena’s temper. (Ka’aen wondered if he’d ever seen her angry—couldn’t imagine his harboring an in-denial crush on her if he did. Kid would probably be scared.)

He waited until she was all the way out of the door before he let the begrudgingly impressed smile cross his face, “That was kind of brutal, wasn’t it? Good coworker bonding moment.” Ka’aen flexed his fingers experimentally, grimaced at the pull against the jagged cut, which looked even uglier without the blood. “Wasn’t quite that…” His grimace turned expressive, his other hand shifting from being tucked under his elbow to waving in a vague description, “…touchy, before. The great Infirmary atmosphere taking its toll?” Making casual conversation with Serissa had not been his original intention but…well, hey. His intended target had just walked off, possibly mortally offended, and Ka’aen wasn’t one for sitting and moping while someone ever-so-kindly stitched up his hand.

[Ruby]

Serissa kind of wanted to kiss Ka'aen. She might have, too, if it weren't for this Weyr's (apparently) prudish ideas about what was appropriate, and his inherent Bendenness. Still, though, standing up for T'ke like that truly warmed Serissa's heart. It had been painfully obvious that the Bluerider felt more for Erilena than all her other chasers combined, and to be brushed off that way was just harsh. Classic example of unrequited love, which of course begged the question: who was Erilena pining after that had blinded her to that? Must be some guy. Or maybe it was a girl, and that was the problem... that thought made Serissa suppress a snicker, which she bent over Ka'aen's hand to hide, stretching his fingers back gently.

"Let me know if it hurts," she murmured, trying not to make a face. Ka'aen needed at least two stitches on the deepest part of the cut, right on the heel of his hand. And as much as Serissa would like to do it herself... she wasn't on shift. She wouldn't exactly get in trouble for working outside her hours, but she'd learned quickly that it was better not to annoy Kalierre or R'wign, no matter what their current status. You never knew when they'd decide you were NOT ALLOWED to work outside your scheduled hours. Glancing around at the other healers on shift hardly helped, though. She wouldn't trust Hinsero with anything that wasn't being born, and bothering R'wign with something as trivial as stitches was sure to get her head bitten off. The remaining choice? Erilena, of course.

Serissa's eyes drifted towards the door, looking longingly for the Greenrider (as if she would come back of her own free will). No luck, of course. With a tiny little sigh, she relinquished Ka'aen's hand as he flexed it on his own. "Yes, we always get along famously here in the infirmary. Have you met the Dragonlady?" she asked, more acid in her tone than she meant. Surely Erilena's petty childishness hadn't gotten to Serissa, had it? A little shake of her head, possibly to clear it, and Serissa picked up the roll of gauze again, returning it to Ka'aen's palm. "Sorry, shouldn't have made you be here for all that." A pause, and a smirk. "Glad you were, though. Maybe she'll realize it's not just me that's pissed. You were annoyed, too, which means so is T'ke, and... well probably not Ur'h, I'm not convinced that man feels. But you get the idea. Maybe she will too?" A shrug, another glance around. Looked like she wasn't going to get away with this one.

Once his hand was wrapped up again, she stood, gesturing for him to stay seated. "You need stitches, but I'm not on shift, and it's never a good idea to push rules around here. If you don't want to talk to our favorite Greenrider anymore, go ask Hinsero or R'wign to stitch you up - although come to think of it, you may want to skip Hinsero. He's still learning. I'm going to see what I can do about Erilena, since she's the one that SHOULD be taking care of you... I suppose I'll have to apologize. You can wait if you want, I'm sure she hasn't gone far?"

She hadn't, or rather, Serissa could move pretty fast when she wanted to. That oh so familiar head of hair disappeared around the corner just as Serissa gained the hallway, and with an exaggerated eyeroll for Ildyth's benefit, she started off, longish legs eating up distance. There were about ten feet between then when she got tired of chasing. "Hang on, Erilena," she said, trying her hardest not to sound exhausted by the stupidity of this encounter. Instead, she lightened her tone dramatically, making it (mostly) gentle. Stopping her forward progress, she leaned sideways against the wall, hands in pockets. "Look, I didn't mean to make you mad - well maybe a little - but Selenitas is very different than where I'm from. Didn't realize you'd take it so personally."

[Rei]

Oh Erilena was more than a little irritated by this point. It translated into her movements as she all but stomped out of the infirmary at a decent clip. The sharpness to her movements faded as the greenrider gained the hallway and she took a deep breath, slowing down to a gentler walk. Try not to break T’ke’s heart? What was that supposed to mean? Of course she wouldn’t want to hurt T’ke. That didn’t mean she wanted to date him and who said he had a crush on her anyway? He stuttered and blushed when any woman talked to him. Not just her. He was just a friend.

For Faranth’s sake not all her friends had an automatic crush on her. What the heck did that stupid Wastelander know anyway? He didn’t know T’ke. Her nervous bluerider friend didn’t even like the Wastelanders. So why would he hang out with Ka’aen? Besides even if he did have a crush on her, Erilena wasn’t heartless. It wasn’t like she would lead him on and there where ways of letting people down gently. Biting her lip to fight the urge to scream Erilena took another deep breath. They where not worth her getting upset over. Not at all.

When her name was called Erilena stopped abruptly out of habit and then bit her tongue when the owner of the voice registered. Oh joy. Just who she wanted to see again. Serissa’s tone did little to help the greenrider relax. Instead it only had her tensing further. Did the bluerider really think her that stupid? Did the other woman really believe that she could just make everything better by pretending to be nice now? Naive as Erilena may be, she wasn’t stupid. “Well you did a pretty good job of making it personal. Look I don’t care what you think of me. So can’t you just leave it alone? I’ve had enough of the subtle insults and I get that you’re both ticked.” The unspoken so leave me alone hung on the air. To be honest Erilena was finding the whole ‘I’m not from around here and I didn’t realize that calling you a cockteasing bitch would piss you off’ bit a tad hard to swallow. Really? Either Serissa was oblivious to her own nastiness or just trying to get what she wanted. The greenrider was betting on the latter.

Excuse her for failing to care about anything Serissa or Ka’aen had to say currently. If they wanted to bar their blues from chasing Feyrianth? So be it. It wasn’t like her green didn’t and wouldn’t have plenty of other suitors. Anyway Erilena was willing to bet that after those two got done throwing her name around the weyr she wouldn’t have to worry much about it anyway. When the greenrider again spoke her voice betrayed her weariness with the whole situation. “You can’t be done with Ka’aen already. You should get back to your buddy and help him out unless you pushed the job off on someone else. And if you did I sure hope you didn’t recommend Hinsero. He’s picking up on things well but he’s still no seamstress.”

With that Erilena continued walking forward. It really wasn’t worth going back and getting all worked up again. And she was positive the two blueriders couldn’t just leave well enough alone.

[Ruby]

Serissa actually reached out to grab Erilena's shoulder, physically stopping the Greenrider from storming off. The touch wasn't rough or painful, but the Bluerider's grip was strong. Erilena could probably tear out of it if she wanted, but next time, Serissa wouldn't be so gentle - and she would get a hold of the Greenrider again. Alpha wing training was good for something after all, apparently. "It's a personal thing," Serissa said reasonably, as if she hadn't just physically stopped Erilena's escape. "I should have known that, but I was pissed. Sex, you know... it's as personal as you get. That's why I felt like I had to hurt, I guess, and why I went over the line." How far? Serissa thought hardly at all, but then again, it was Serissa. As always, at the heart of things, she was blameless. It just took other people a while to see it.

"This isn't anger on my behalf, by the way. I'm disappointed, but I'm not some jilted ex-lover out for revenge, clearly. Ildyth didn't even win, and he won't be chasing again - not because of this, or because I'll bar him, but because he's not interested in Feyrianth, simple as that. That's his choice, and it always has been. What right do I have to get in the way of who he's attracted to?" Off topic, oops. Re-directing her train of thought, she went on, "The point is, I don't want some other girl to be stuck in the situation you left me in. Good thing your other chasers were gentlemen - and me being competition probably had something to do with it - but what if I'd just been walking by? Three, four sex-crazed men in a corridor, locked away from the object of their interest by her own hand, with no idea why or what to do about it? My guess is if it hadn't been for Ildyth, there would have been some pretty serious consequences for me. I don't want that forced on anyone else, and I hardly think you want to be the one responsible."

Didn't solve the problem of Erilena's apparent fail when it came to controlling her dragon, but whatever. If she didn't want to sleep with random men, that was that. Serissa wasn't going to help her solve the problem, that was her own ridiculous decision, she had to own it. Hopefully the girl would come up with something - Serissa had several options in mind, but that was not her responsibility. "So do you see now? It's not really what I think of you or what you think of me that matters. No one gives a shit, not even me; we're adults, not Weyrlings. I was hold-born too, and while I was never this idiotic, it was a tough adjustment. I get it. That doesn't give you the right to put other people in potentially dangerous situations. Not all males are so well-behaved in flight; that's all."

Having said her piece, she finally let Erilena go, returning hands to hips instead. Before the Greenrider could get out of earshot, though, Serissa added, "That's all, now, I'm done with it. I don't care what you do, but I'm not going to shit talk you just for kicks, either. It's your problem, now that you know what it is, and you get to solve it. I won't make it harder. I'm off shift, however; Ka'aen's your responsibility, unless you want to get in trouble with R'wign for leaving what is clearly your patient to him or Hinsero. Have a good break." With that, she turned and headed out, clearly going away from the infirmary.

[Rei]

When Serissa reached out and grabbed her Erilena’s instant reaction was to pull away and swing to face the other woman eyes narrowing. The words ‘don’t touch me’ barely held back as she settled for stiffening and simply waiting for something else. If the bluerider wanted to be physical there was no way in hell the greenrider would just stand there and take it. Oh she would really rather not fight certainly but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to defend herself. What was wrong with these people? Didn’t they know when to just give up. Obviously not. Silent the woman stayed through the entire exchange. In all actuality she really didn’t believe Serissa. Not at all. Pissed on someone else’s account? Some pretend person? Excuse her for doubting that. But whatever.

Erilena wasn’t going to let herself be guilted into changing her mind about things. She wasn’t going to get stuck participating in flights she wanted no part of. She wasn’t going to hurt herself and Feyrianth just to prevent some pretend scenario that might never happen. Feyrianth meant more to her than some pretend person and always would. The green came first above everyone. Everyone. Hurting her dragon was not an option. Would never be an option. Changing the greenrider’s view and feelings about flights just wasn’t something that was going to happen. She had already tried that. Erilena literally panicked. It was something connected to her past as well as personal views and it wasn’t something she could just up and get over. Having someone paw at her like that….even if she wanted it under flight lust at the time….No just no. She still had to wake up with that person. Still had to play nice so as not to upset them when all she wanted to do was curl up and hide or bathe obsessively. Still had to risk them wanting more from her afterwards than she was willing to give. Absolutely not. It wasn’t happening. The greenrider would just simply make it widely known that she didn’t participate in the human portion of flights if she had to. If it cost Feyrianth chasers….well then it did. There would always be one dragon that was willing surely and moths where available.

The statement about being idiotic that Serissa chose to throw at her though? The one about the bluerider being hold born and therefore getting it? No. Serissa didn’t get it. And Erilena wasn’t going to explain something that intimate to someone who not only wouldn’t care, but wouldn’t understand. So she settled for a short and cold statement. “No actually you don’t get it. You don’t have the faintest clue. So you have no right to play judge and jury. Not that that is stopping you obviously.” However something told her this was the other woman’s normal mode of conducting herself. So fine. If she wanted to be a judgmental bitch, without knowing all the facts and just assuming, that was her business. The bluerider could be that way. Erilena just made a mental note not to deal with her unless it became absolutely necessary. It wasn’t worth it obviously.

As for what her problems where and the fact that she needed to solve them? Well Erilena didn’t need Serissa telling her what her problems where or where not. Part of the greenrider really wanted to scream right now. Or possibly just smack the other woman. Not that that would solve a thing. Erilena had never come across anyone that she felt any urge of violence towards. But well she supposed there was a first time for everything. The less she had to do with the bluerider the better actually. It was a good thing Serissa felt the urge to walk away and the greenrider was far, far, from wanting to stop her. Unfortunately that didn’t solve the problem of Ka’aen’s hand. Shard it all. Turning around she made her way back to the infirmary and sought out the man.

~~~

Without a word she began to gather a tray together and only then shot a rather cold glance in his direction. “Up and abandons you and says you’re my problem now. Sweet of her no?” Setting the tray down carefully, although the urge to slam it down was there, Erilena turned away to disinfect her hands and fell silent again. Returning to Ka’aen once that was finished she took his hand and gently unwrapped the gauze.

“Are you allergic to anything that you know of? Numbweed? Redwort? I need to clean it again and it looks like you might need a couple stitches.” As she spoke she tried not to nervously rearrange things with her other hand. “It should be a quick an relatively painless procedure. Let me know if at any point it becomes too uncomfortable okay?” In stark contrast to her previous tone the one the greenrider now adopted for her work was warm and reassuring.

[Avu]

R’wign.

Ka’aen honestly considered going to find him, but after an example of how famously good the bedside manners of Healers were, he almost preferred to wait and just ride out Erilena’s anger. At least it was somewhat predictable, and at least he’d actually be the cause of it. There was very little that bothered Ka’aen more than to be on the receiving end of anger that he hadn’t done anything to deserve. Not, really, that he thought he deserved Erilena’s—his had been a perfectly reasonable question, to his mind, but whatever. He nodded as Serissa left to follow Erilena, mentally wished her luck, and settled back against the nearest bed to wait. He’d give it about ten minutes, he decided—then he’d go find R’wign and see what kind of lecture he’d get.

Strange, the fall of emotions, breathed into his mind so softly Ka’aen almost thought it was a feeling instead of words, but he never felt in words so twisted, What offense lies in questions, but those presumed—such insecurities, such bittersweet sorrows. Beautiful is the most tragic, appealing is the break and strain, how much the living can take. He could practically hear the singsong croon of Rhiiseth’s voice, the uplift at the end of his purr. Then, abruptly, now almost straightforward, How dwindles thy pain, KaMine?

I’m fine, I promise. You worry too much, Ka’aen answered distractedly, rolling his eyes to himself. In fact—oh, okay. She’s back. He couldn’t help the mild flicker of surprise that accompanied the words—that no doubt Rhiiseth would pick up on. He honestly hadn’t expected Erilena to agree to come back at all. Serissa wasn’t with her. Well, maybe that was it, then. He straightened from the bed he’d been leaning on, flashed her a tentative smile. Didn’t imagine her being on her best bedside manner, but Ka’aen supposed that was okay—he didn’t come to be fussed over, really. Just wanted to stop leaking.

“Incredibly,” he murmured drolly, since she had asked. “I feel like such a problem, seriously. It’s doing wonders for my ego—ah,” a brief moment of consideration, “I’d rather stay away from painkillers, if it’s all the same to you, but I’m not allergic to anything I’m aware of.” He settled down against the bed again, keeping his palm up towards Erilena for inspection. It stung whenever he moved his fingers, rubbing the gauze along the cut, but it was only a mild irritation—nothing unbearable. “Except olives, but that doesn’t really come into healing stuff, does it?”

[Ruby]

((Don't wait for Serissa, she's not coming back <3))

[Rei]

(noted <3)

For a moment Erilena was silent as she used a bit of redwort and clean gauze to wipe away the new blood and get a look at the gash. Hmm. Ka’aen’s comments about feeling like a problem where mostly ignored except for a small snort. It was what it was. The olive comment through had the corners of her lips twitching upwards slightly in a small gesture of what might be amusement. “No. You’re safe I’ve never heard of using olives for healing.” Gently titling his hand the greenrider frowned and dabbed some more redwort on the gash. “You’ll certainly need stitches.” Just in case Serissa hadn’t told him already. Had to cover all the bases. “I’m going to apply a thin coat of numbweed to kill the pain and make the stitching painless. You might however feel a light tugging sensation. Some people don’t like to watch the stitching because it can be nerve-wracking but somehow you don’t strike me as the type that’s going to faint on me for two stitches.” Not when he could invade a weyr and participate in murder without blinking an eye.

Using an applicator to apply a thin coat of the pain deadening substance Erilena reached for the needlethorn and thread she had soaking in a shallow dish of redwort solution. “If you don’t mind me asking just what did you do? Cut’s pretty clean, edges aren’t ragged at all. If you can keep from re-opening it and keep it clean you shouldn’t have much of a scar at all.”

As she spoke the greenrider threaded the needle and started the first stitch, pulling the skin together carefully and checking the tautness before knotting it off and moving to the next. Finishing that one as well she applied another bit of numbweed and then proceeded to wrap his hand carefully again with clean bandaging. “You should keep it covered for the first day or so. It will need air after that. If you’re doing anything that involves getting your hands dirty however you’ll want to cover it.”

Hazel eyes finally going to his face she offered a light if slightly strained smile. “Watch for any angry looking inflammation or pus. If that happens you might have an infection and we can treat it here. Itching is okay. That just means it’s healing but don’t pick at the sutures or anything unless you want to scar. You can keep the itching down by applying a bit of aloe or numbweed around the area. That will help keep the skin from drying out and help with scaring as well.” With a nod the greenrider stood. “You can come back in a sevenday to get them taken out or do it yourself. Just be sure you get all the suture out of your skin if you choose to do it yourself.” Turning from him she went to the basin and washed her hands, coming back to start cleaning up her mess. “Easiest way to take them out is clip the thread close to the knot and then just gently ease them out.” As Erilena began to put things into the proper areas for disinfection and threw away others she again spoke. “Did you get all of that? If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.”

There duty preformed. Now what? She had originally decided to flee to escape both blueriders. Now Serissa was gone and Ka’aen would probably be leaving shortly. She’d just take her break later. Not like she didn’t have other things to do. Studying in lulls was always an option to.

[Avu]

Ka’aen kind of expected the rest of the encounter to be him just nodding his head to indicate that he understood what Erilena was telling him. He also expected her to not let him get a word in sideways, just in case he tried to turn it back to Feyrianth’s Flight (although honestly now he was just sick of the idea—didn’t know if Rhiiseth would be Chasing again, given the blue’s flightiness, but he’d cross that bridge when he came to it). The question made him tilt his head to one side, an almost puzzled look crossing his face as he tried to remember how exactly he had ended up in the Infirmary with blood dripping down his palm. Huh. Turns out having Healers get into a catfight right in front of you got kind of distracting, who knew.

“Oh,” he said, as soon as he remembered, and grimaced expressively down at his own hand as Erilena stitched, managed not to flex his fingers instinctively against the sensation, “Some asshole left broken glass all over the place down by the crèche, was going to pick it up. That went well.” Of course, he had thrown it away before coming to the Infirmary—seemed kind of dumb to lean down, slice his hand open, and then just leave it there; might as well have just waltzed past it to begin with. “Er, language. Sorry.” His grimace was sheepish this time, the shoulder not attached to the hand being worked up lifting in a jerky half-shrug. At least, he supposed, it was better that it was his hand than some kid’s; he was sure kids tended to squirm around and cry a lot when they were getting stitches.

The veritable flood of instructions had Ka’aen blinking briefly before he ran over the list once in his head and nodded. “I got it. Thanks, doc.” He quirked a faint smile, lifting his unwrapped hand in a brief salute as he straightened up from leaning against the bed, absently reaching behind him to pat the blankets back into their previous wrinkle-free state. “See you around.”

He was hardly interested in just hanging out in the Infirmary any longer than he needed to; expected that the instructions on care meant the end of their appointment. Ka’aen didn’t quite bolt for the door, but he was reasonably sure that his pace made it look like he was late for something. Yeah, late for getting out of the Infirmary (which felt decidedly awkward—he was sure that some of the apprentices might’ve overheard some of that confrontation and yeah, that had to suck for Erilena, how awkward would that be?).