A is for Anise; B is for Baby [August Chores/Open]

[Avu]

Why must you do this, MeiraLove? Jingth inquired politely. This is not ‘healing’, is it? This is like Archive Duty, and MeiraLove, isn’t that what other Weyrlings and Candidates are assigned to do? You should see if you can tend to the patients who need tending-to. The gold hatchling was sprawled with a notable lack of dignity in the dragon half of the Infirmary, flopped on one side with one wing draped over her glittering hide and the other stretched out on the floor beyond her; her head was angled up to look towards Meira, all four legs spread haphazardly across the ground. Fortunately, Jingth was too small for anyone to actually have to maneuver much to get around, since the gold had decided that, seeing as the sunlight streamed through a window directly onto her, this was comfortable and why should she move? The lack of dignity hardly bothered her; why, after all, did it matter which way she was lying down or sitting up or whatever? She was comfortable like this. A pity Hers was too busy rewriting the labels on jars of rank-smelling herbs to join her. It would have been so much nicer if she could have. I know this is important, the gold went on (before Meira could say exactly that), But it’s so simple. You don’t have to be a Healer to write.

“Mmph” came the unhelpful response, before Meira blinked and looked up at Jingth, crinkling her nose slightly at the gold’s spread-eagled form. “It’s…it’s not a hard job, Jingth. I’m not complaining; it’s perfectly okay.” Admittedly, her position was not very comfortable, but she didn’t really want to lie down next to Jingth, either, not in the middle of the floor in the Infirmary. That was…awkward. Even so, Meira stretched her legs out. The weyrlingrider was sitting on the floor, a cabinet open next to her, ink and a quill on the floor. Jars with worn labels were stacked high in the cabinet, and she was rewriting the labels over the faded marks. Some of them were only faintly faded, while others had been reduced to the ghost of letters and words. Fortunately it was ordered alphabetically, so that at least gave her some idea of what came next. “Mm…this should be ‘anise’, shouldn’t it…?” she added, a kind of rhetorical question, to Monster, who was lying next to her purring. R’wign’s weyr had become his permanent home, since pets (i.e. canines and felines) weren’t allowed in the Weyrling Barracks, but she’d taken him to the Infirmary because she missed him and he was laid-back enough not to do anything bad and disturb the patients.

If I keep talking to you, I will not be distracting you, will I? Jingth asked, resigned to sunning happily while Hers worked. They should have gotten a servant to do that work for her, but…chores were chores, she supposed. They seemed very silly, since – wasn’t taking care of a weyrling dragon enough work to occupy a person? – but they were chores, and they were mandatory. Pausing as she wrote the word as neatly as possible given the fact that the paper on which she was writing was wrapped around a jar, Meira flicked another glance at Jingth before she shrugged. Don’t suppose it matters. This isn’t too difficult, like you said. Setting down the jar and nudging it with her hand to the side she’d put the finished labels on, she reached for another, checking the label. More anise. Bad for pregnancy, that was…Meira clicked her tongue thoughtlessly and wrote it again. A…n…i…s…e. Definitely not a hard job, but good for memorization…?

MeiraLove…you said once before that once the hatchling comes, it might frighten me. A slight note of agitation had found its way into Jingth’s tone, and the gold hatchling’s eyes whirled rapidly, not quite loosing the shades of relaxation and pleasure. Well. No, you didn’t /say it/. You thought it, but…I can hear your thoughts, you know. I want to know, MeiraLove. Why will it frighten me? I want the clutch to come. I will be the youngest queen /ever/ to have a clutch. The pride in her tone was unmistakable, though it was tainted with slight fear. She didn’t want to be frightened. It was a bad feeling, she knew, from looking through Meira’s memories. Bad. Didn’t want the fear…MeiraLove?

She had frozen for a moment before she shrugged wordlessly. Jingth would be too young, whenever she delivered. Three months, give or take…Jingth would have to go through that at three months old. Far too young to comprehend…if she’d Impressed Jingth right when she’d discovered she was pregnant, Meira would have gone between. Safer for Jingth, but…she loved Jingth, but she loved the baby, too. It was so easy to be fascinated by it when it moved, but it was too late regardless. Going between this late into pregnancy wouldn’t work – though it might hurt the baby and that was even worse. I…Jingth, lovely, I don’t know. It – it’s going to hurt – not hurt you, but me. I just…I don’t /want/ you to be frightened.

A…n…i…s…e…

[Ember]

Faranth did it hurt! The brownrider hissed in pain as his beast landed at the infirmary, jarring his wrist. Whatever the man had done to it the mutinous appendage simply wouldn't stop hurting. As Dsoleth helped his rider down he couldn't help but feel a slight bit of amusement. You two-leggers are so very delicate. Perhaps it was the very graceful fall from a few days ago? T'san glared up at the brown. "Laugh all you want. Some caring dragon you are!"

The brownrider practically stomped into the infirmary, craddling his swelling and painful hand. Upon reflection it probably was the fall that caused the injury. Not long after that he had felt some pain but it had worsened over the course of a couple days, probably due to the use of it. With a sigh he looked down at his hand. Well hopefully it was nothing too serious. Frankly, he was clueless when it came to human injuries but give him an animal to look at and he did fairly well.

Dsoleth waited to see if His would in fact call out or even look for the Healer on shift but the man just stood barely within the infirmary wallowing in self-pity about his pain. With a huge mental sigh Dsoleth prodded his rider into action. Do be quick, T'sanmine. I brought you here to seek help not stand around like a fool. The brown sounded grumpy. For good reason too! His hated going to see Healers. They always made him feel foolish for getting sick or injured.

Reluctantly T'san called out a tentative "hello?" and waited for a response. If he got none he was fully intending on leaving and trying to nurse the injury himself.

((Lawl..I have no clue what the infirmary looks like inside or where Meira is but he's pretty much standing right in the doorway of the infirmary. I'll change if I need to.))

[Avu]

Jingth was considering the idea of Hers being hurt, but truth be told, the young gold simply could not comprehend it. Memories of pain could not be entirely grasped; they faded and died over time and the idea of pain so intense that it frightened her could not be imagined. She was silent, aware that Hers was nervously awaiting the reply that she would receive, but none was forthcoming. What was pain? The only pain she’d known in her young life was that of tripping over still-clumsy limbs and falling, but that was a simple sting that had not involved terror but frustration. Fortunately, Jingth was spared answering by Dsoleth’s arrival. First she saw him as a brown flash in the air; Jingth tilted her head to watch more curiously, before she realized that it was not one of the Healer’s dragons. That meant it was a patient, yes? Nobody but patients and Healers came to the place; it was so smelly and so ridiculously clean and plain, not at all fun and usually, she’d learned, people who came were people who did not want to come anyway. Hers was strange, she was, for wanting to come, for liking it there.

Mine. There is a brown here, the gold informed Meira, delighted. The other Healers I think are busy. Does that mean you don’t have to write silly things anymore and that you can actually Heal? I don’t think you can get much experience from writing ‘anise’ over and over and over, or /everybody/ would be Master Healers by ten Turns if they wanted to be.

Stifling a giggle, Meira looked up at Jingth, but she couldn’t see outside, and merely shrugged. Might not be a patient, darling; not everyone who drops by is.
It’s not Checkoth or Ismaroth, and Hazleth is not allowed to fly yet. Why else would they be here? Nobody /wants/ to be the Infirmary except the Healers. Not even the patients like it. They fuss and insist on leaving as soon as possible. Which, Meira had to admit, was true enough. The Healer sighed, resigned to at least checking out what exactly the brown-rider wanted (who knew; maybe he just wanted sedatives or something); Meira pushed a gap between the finished jars and the ones that still had faded labels, scribbling “Anise” onto a piece of parchment and interjecting it neatly in the split before she started to get up –

“Hello?”

Oh. She was too late. Meira crinkled her nose in slight dismay, grabbing the countertop to pull herself up uncomfortably. Six months pregnant was not excessively hindering, but it certainly was awkward, since she’d always had a habit of curling up when she sat down – now impossible courtesy of Baby. “Umf – hi?” the answer was automatic; Meira’s head tilted to one side curiously before her eyes fell upon T’san’s wrist. The brownrider’s cradling it was probably a big hint, she thought wryly, pale eyes flickering towards the brownrider’s face before she thoughtlessly touched her shoulder knots. Apprentice. Well – she knew the theory well enough, and R’wign had been teaching her – it shouldn’t be too bad, and if it was, she could always ask Jingth to contact one of the Journeymen’s dragons. Monster still lay sprawled, watching through eyes narrowed in his purr, as Meira shuffled out from behind the table that had been hiding her more or less completely, and then towards T’san.

“How bad does it hurt, how much can you move it, and – and it is your wrist, right, that’s the main problem…?”

She was pretty sure it was, given the way that the brownrider was holding it, and the fact that was swollen, but if he’d managed to trip down the stairs or something, that was probably the least of his injuries. Unless he was incredibly lucky. And if he had done worse damage, she probably wasn’t capable of taking care of it anyway. Jingth would be put out, but she’d rather label jars than accidentally hurt a patient because she’d gotten arrogant about what she could and couldn’t do. “Sit down, please,” she added (rather belatedly), pointing towards one of the empty rooms. If it weren’t for the fact that it was undeniably a bad thing, Meira might have been amused in a kind of dismayed way; all of their Riders just insisted on getting hurt one way or another, didn’t they? Of course one would be hurt at some point in one’s life, but Selenitas Riders seemed to have an absolutely outrageous number of accidents, one way or another. Was it possible to stay in one piece in any of the Weyrs anymore? Because it certainly didn’t seem so.

I like it better when you actually Heal, Jingth commented after a moment. The gold was still sprawled shamelessly on the floor, in plain view of T’san; that her position was utterly lacking in dignity and poise did not seem to matter a whit to the hatchling. Did you know you’re not as sad when you’re Healing? Because you aren’t. You’re happier. I like it when you’re happier.

[Ember]

T'san blinked in surprise as a noticed a little gold hatchling who seemed to have made herself comfortable sprawled out. With amusement T'san contacted Dsoleth. There's a dragonet for you to talk to here, Dsoleth. I'm sure this little dragonet would bring you much amusement. The brown was quite glad to have some conversation, no matter the colour of the dragon. He reached out to speak to the dragonet gladly. Greetings? I am brown Dsoleth. I do hope Yours can help T'sanmine? He hurts. Odd that he had not noticed her before but oh well.

The brownrider was unfazed as a young woman pushed herself up from behind the counter. He allowed for a slight smile in greeting despite the pain in his wrist. It always paid to be friendly with any goldrider, weyrling or not. The smile faded slightly as she drew attention to her knots. Hmm, apprentice? Could an apprentice handle whatever he'd done to his wrist? Then a bigger shock than the fact that the girl was a weyrling and working in the infirmary made him wonder just how she had Impressed. As she walked around the counter it was impossible to notice that the girl was pregnant. He had no time to fully digest that before she started asking questions.

He made a thoughtful sound and regarded his wrist before answering. "Yeah, it is my wrist," he replied. He was sorely tempted to shake the thing for making him hurt but he settled for continuing, "It's pretty painful. At first it was just painful but now it is getting hard to move it." He couldn't tel lif it was due to damage or the simple fact that moving it much at all made it hurt worse.

At the suggestion to sit down T'san turned to the room she had pointed out and gladly walked to it. Just about anyone could walk in and hear them talking about how he had to come to the infirmary for his wrist. He was convinced that it would probably turn out to be because he had been sleeping weird or something. That would just be embarrassing. Ah. Right, she'd taken charge so quickly hadn't yet introduced himself. "I'm T'san by the way."

[Avu]

Voice. Voice inside her head.

Jingth barely twitched, the gold hatchling twisting her head upwards to peer at Dsoleth as well as she could, crooning pleasantly at the brown. Oh, he was big. But she still didn’t deign to pull herself upright; she was comfortable the way she was, after all. But maybe – maybe he could be her couch? She so did like sprawling out on other dragons; it was remarkably more comfortable than lying on the floor. Her first couch had been abandoned for bigger, better couches that didn’t poke her, but she didn’t think this brown, this Dsoleth, would poke her. Hello, Dsoleth, she replied politely. I’m Jingth, and Mine is Meira. And yes, she can help Yours. She /is/ a Healer, after all. That she was only an apprentice didn’t matter to Jingth; a Healer was a Healer and Hers was a good Healer. And if she can’t, we can call one of the others to come take care of Yours. You needn’t to worry, if you are; do you want to come lie down with me? It’s very nice, the sun, here, and you won’t be in the way or anything. It was much nicer than worrying and fussing, at any rate, and probably better for his Rider’s nerves, too. And she couldn’t possibly use him as a couch if he was standing over there!

Well. Um. Hopefully T’san could tell if he’d broken his wrist right away, but she’d have to examine it anyway. Meira nodded slightly, though the fact that it had gone some time without being immediately seen by a Healer made her a little more wary. It wasn’t like the Infirmary was that bad a place, and wasn’t it better to be safe than sorry anyway? How long had it been, anyway? Just a few hours, or days? She wasn’t the kind to lecture, but had she been, Meira might have. As it was, she just bit her tongue and followed T’san into the room she had indicated, nodding at the introduction, though it wasn’t, strictly speaking, a necessary gesture, given that his back was to her – it was more out of habit than actual politeness.

“’m Meira…” The introduction probably wasn’t necessary, since Jingth would have been recognized, but manners were manners. As soon as T’san had taken his place in the room, Meira paused to glance at Monster to make sure the feline didn’t want to come in (he didn’t; he was content to sprawl, apparently) before she closed the door, and then indicated his wrist again. “How long has it been like that? And – do you know what happened…?” It sounded like he could pinpoint an event that had started off the pain, but sometimes it couldn’t be done – it’d make it much, much easier if he could, though. She could hope. Each of the rooms had their own cabinet with the basic medical necessities, fortunately, and Meira considered it a moment. She’d wash her hands without redwort, just use sweetsand; redwort stained horribly and since there was no open wound, it wouldn’t be necessary. As for the moment, though, she still needed to figure out exactly what was wrong. Closing the space between them, she touched the brownrider’s wrist lightly. “I need to check – would you prefer numbweed first, though? If you think you could deal without it, that’s probably better…”

Less sticky, for one, and it’d be easier to judge how bad the injury was based on pain, but if it was too bad she certainly wasn’t going to make him sit and suffer. Meira was betting on a sprain, since…had he managed to fracture the bone, it would probably hurt horribly from the very start. And it made sense; symptoms of a sprain – swollen, intense pain, pain when moving appendage, and occasionally discoloration. Possibly just a strain, too…Will you explain those terms to me, sometime? Jingth asked unexpectedly; Meira had thought the gold was completely distracted by Dsoleth. Apparently not – apparently it took more than a potential couch and servant to take up all of Jingth’s concentration. Of course, she replied, distractedly, and Jingth caught that note and fell silent after a flicker that was a sort of pleased smugness; she’d know how to Heal before she even went between, she would~

[Ember]

Dsoleth hummed happily back, torn between amusement and honour. Little queens were still queens after all. Well met, little Jingth. I am glad Yours can help T'sanmine. He does get so stubborn sometimes, he said with a mock long-suffering sigh. Her invitation was graciously accepted. I'm sure with Yours looking after him he'll be just fine, he replied as he moved over to her. She was a tiny thing next to his full grown bulk much to his amusement. Jingth wouldn't always be smaller than him. He laid down, careful not to squash her. That just wouldn't do.

T'san was glad for the introduction all the same. He hadn't gotten the chance to learn about the notables or future notables of the weyr yet. In truth, he didn't really care but no doubt Dsoleth would bug him about it sooner or later. As he sat down he got ready for the question he didn't particularily want to answer, simply because he was sure it was that event and it was embarrassing. As a Healer though she needed to know if it helped her get rid of the damn pain in his wrist. He was mostly certain it wasn't a break. Surely that would hurt more at first than it had.

They got down to the business of when and hows at last and he gave a slight sigh. "Its been two days since it started hurting," he paused to see her reaction. Yes, he realized waiting to see a Healer was a silly idea. "As for what happened...I think it might have been when I fell and stopped my fall with my arms." Face planting had not seemed like a good idea at the time. She crossed the dstance between them and put a light hand on his wrist. He considered his option. Be rid of the pain right now? Or let her do her inspection as thoroughly as possible so it could - hopefully - heal faster? "I'll go without."

[Avu]

Mine doesn’t think it’s too serious, Jingth informed Dsoleth, perfectly serious as she rolled over to accommodate Dsoleth and then wriggled forward to touch her nose against the brown’s hide tentatively. Would he mind if she used him as a couch…? He was so big, and Jingth was not: It wouldn’t hurt him, surely? So his stubbornness will not have made it worse. Much, anyway. She is sure he will not have to stay in the Infirmary overnight. Most patients don’t seem to like that. Apparently the Infirmary was not a popular place to be. But Hers liked it there, so Jingth’s opinion on it was suitably high, too; the gold hatchling shifted comfortably and then crooned low in her throat, her head brushing against Dsoleth again thoughtfully. Her new servant, he was; he was quite kind and calm; most of the time when dragons came with injured Riders they were agitated. He didn’t seem to be. Good brown. I don’t think Mine has ever met Yours before. Has he been in the Infirmary much before? Of course, MeiraHers could have just…forgotten him, but hmm.

Two…two days. Her eyes widened, eyebrows rising slightly, but Meira did no more than that. Likely had she been one of the other Healers, T’san would have gotten a lecture on the spot. The goldweyrling bit her tongue, though the disapproval showed in the flicker of her eyes, from his wrist up to his face, before she dropped her gaze again without saying anything except “two days…” The words were not disapproving, almost deadpan, and she crinkled her nose thoughtlessly before she shrugged. “Better than a broken nose…?” was offered absently. Human instinct, and all. Weren’t people taught to roll when they fell, though…? She thought they were, or was that only off of runners, dragons, and whers? Hum. She nodded silently in response to his preference to go without numbweed, something very close to gratitude flickering across her face – it made her job that much easier, and she’d go as quickly and gently as she could, anyway – before she bowed her head over his wrist again.

Okay, so the inspection probably hurt. But it was over relatively quickly, and she stepped back afterwards, gaze flickering up towards him. “Sprain.” She was sure, and a sprain wasn’t exactly difficult to deal with; just numbweed it for his comfort and wrap a bandage around it to restrict movement and let the tissues repair themselves. “Hang on…” She moved to the cabinet, flipping the door open and removing a vial of oil, numbweed, and the customary thick tan-colored bandage, before moving back to T’san’s side, setting down bandage roll and numbweed on the counter to rub the oil onto her own hands – it was the counteract the effect of the numbweed; she didn’t need her own hands going numb, thank you very much; it would make things decidedly awkward and extremely hard to bandage his hand properly and that would be…an embarrassing reason to have to call another Healer to finish the job.

“You won’t have to stay here or anything, and you won’t have to visit every day…” The salve was cool on her fingers as she spread it over his wrist, and then turned his arm to apply it to the other side, and then moved back towards the sink (her movements lacked the typical grace that she had; bad baby) to wash off the numbweed. “Tell me when it doesn’t hurt as much, okay? It won’t completely deaden the pain, but…you have to be able to tell when it actually does stop hurting as opposed to just – just stops hurting because of numbweed.” Actually, fellis would have made it completely stop hurting, but a sprain…“You’ll want to start using it again as soon as possible, but not while it’s still hurting. Just – when it stops, come back to the Infirmary, and one of the Healers’ll tell you whether or not it’s okay.” She raised one hand, using the back of her wrist (given that her hand was wet) to push her hair out of her eyes before she shuffled back to T’san, and then hesitated. “Um…once the bandage is on, if you get it wet, you’ll have to come back to get it replaced, too,” she added. “And…you shouldn’t need more numbweed, as long as you don’t move it. And if you can move it, then the bandage isn’t tight enough anyway.”

[Ember]

That is good news. Despite how he may act, Dsoleth was relieved to hear it was not serious. Humans were far more frail in the brown's mind and for all he knew that fall could have been very dangerous to His. At the little gold's nosing he looked down at her with slight surprise. Did she perhaps want something of him? Mine will be pleased to hear he doesn't have to stay overnight. The Infirmary...bothers him, he explained, realizing the last part sounded a bit lame. And in truth, it wasn't really this infirmary the man disliked. His eyes whirled pleasantly as she claimed him (though he did not know this). He replied with amusement. No, I am most certain she has not met him. This is his first time to this Infirmary.

The expression on Meira's face when he told her how lang it had been was not lost on T'san. He grinned guiltily before commenting on her two word response. "Yes, I know. It was kinda silly to wait so long but, well...surely not all your patients like coming to the Infirmary? Don't get me wrong though, I do appreciate Healers always patching me up." Minor slip up there, if Meira chose to jump on it. So far though she seemed to be a quiet sort, quite content to let opportunities to scold people or question them slide by. He didn't reply when she inquired about broken noses. She seemed busy enough without him babbling on. Truly the man knew he ought ot have done something different than break is fall with his hands but...sometimes shit just happened and you had to live with it.

Such as living through a rather painful moment where a girl Turns younger than him poked and prodded at his wrist. Shards! Numbweed seemed like a good option but it was too late. At least it was over quickly. The diagnoses left him sighing with relief. Now see, this is why Healers had to be around. Otherwise anytime anyone could a little injury they would immediately think it something far worse. He waited while she got what supplies she needed before expressing his gratitude. "Thanks for the help. Hopefully I won't be such a clumsy git again." The tone of his voice indicated the self-mockery was good humoured.

Ah! Blessed numbweed. Such a wonderful plant, though the preparation of it could be rather smelly. "I appreciate lesseneing of pain as much as no pain at the moment," he admitted truthfully. He was a little disappointed by the fact that he essentially couldn't use his hand or even wash it for a while. Life was bound to be amusing for a bit. And because he genuinely couldn't resist and the girl seemed like she could use something to laugh about later the brownrider threw in a bit of flirting. "I hope I have such a gentle and pretty Healer the next time I come in."

[Avu]

Jingth crooned, the hatchling looking up at Dsoleth before she rolled onto her side inelegantly again. Her new servant, he was; best not make him think she was just using him for a couch, though, no…she’d wait a bit before she sprawled over him. Besides, Hers was almost finished and she’d only have to get right back up again. Much more comfortable like this, yes she was. The gold’s entire body stretched, and then she yawned, relaxing against the ground. Mmph, comfortable! Most people are. Bothered, that is, she stated matter-of-factly. Why, she didn’t see – people left the Infirmary almost invariably feeling better than they had coming in, but humans were odd. Have you been at Selenitas your whole life? the gold added curiously. How could this have been his first time at the Infirmary? How curious. Hers had been there for…for a long time. A long time…though Jingth didn’t know exactly how long. Before she’d been Shelled, was as good as her estimate was. Mine has worked here for a while…Yours must be very careful, usually.

The brownrider’s self-defense made her smile reluctantly, though she didn’t answer immediately. Of course nobody wanted to go to the Infirmary. She wouldn’t either, if she was the patient. Going to the Infirmary meant admitting something was actually wrong, something needed fixing, and apparently not many people liked to admit that. Much to their detriment, of course; most wounds just got worse over time and T’san’s was no exception. He’d put off going to the Infirmary – he’d have to put off coming back to get the bandages removed. When she did speak, it wasn’t without a slight shrug, and it was more in response to the comment on Healers than that of the Infirmary. “It’s what we’re here for, isn’t it?” She paused awkwardly, glancing at his wrist again – waiting for the numbweed to go to work was never fun, because she didn’t like to socialize too much and…it meant talking. Usually.

She smiled despite herself at his words, though, and shook her head as she moved back to pick up the bandage and gesture at his wrist. “It’s – somewhat numb now? It should be, by now, but if it’s not…” If not, they could use fellis, but truth be told she didn’t want to. Much too easy to get addicted to – to the point where they had to make records saying to whom and when and to what purpose they gave X amount of fellis. Not fun, but necessary, anyway. “I mean, it wouldn’t be bad for it to be completely painless right now, but…it’s probably easier to adjust if it’s not, for later.” And if he’d been going for two days without it tended to, honestly? T’san was probably used to the pain by that point, and it wasn’t good to numb pain any more than was necessary in any situation. Not that most people agreed, but still – be it by fellis or by numbweed, it wasn’t as good as it seemed, to numb the pain. Much harder to cope with it later, and it wasn’t like they could distribute painkillers every which way.

“I – ” Was he – he’d called her pretty? Meira blinked, aware that her cheeks had reddened slightly, and bit her lip, dropping her gaze shyly, though – yes, she was smiling, rather reluctantly, but still; compliments she was…not entirely used to. Jingth’s questioning presence helped her recover, much more quickly than she usually would have; being complimented after she’d just…examined a sprained wrist (gently? was that possible?)…was odd. Just odd, and it caught her off guard. “For your sake, I hope you don’t have to come to the Infirmary after this,” and she indicated his wrist. Her voice was kept as light as she could manage, though – well, honestly, it made her flush and embarrassed her, but it was in a good way – that he thought her pretty. Whether or not it was true she didn’t know, and that insecurity nagged, but…she could ignore it for now.

He called you pretty? Why are you turning funny colors? You /are/. It’s /true/.
Oh – Jingth, you don’t count…
And he does? Well, he said it too.
Mm…

[Ember]

Dsoleth liked the little hatchling gold. She was cute and very polite. Some golds were snappish and annoying even while hatchlings. This one was not and that made Dsoleth feel better about being near her. However, he would now forever see her as a little hatchling despite the fact that she would be bigger than him. Hopefully she wouldn't take that as an insult to her size when she did get older. He nodded his great head to ensure she knew he had heard her comment. He knew His was not the only one who disliked going to Infirmaries. His ex-weyrmate hadn't been fond of it either. Sometimes the brown wondered if Zoriyath's had influenced His' dislike of Infirmaries. Jingth's question brought on an amused rumble. Oh no. No, I was not shelled in Selenitas. In fact, I have not been in this weyr very long at all. This is also why it is Mine's first time in this Infirmary.

T'san was pleased his comment had brought on a smile. He'd been beginning to wonder if she would at all. A smile suited her better than her lip-biting worried expression. He kept that to himself as he heard her reply. "Oh, I dunno. I used to think Healers just preached to their patients all day long. By the time they were done being looked after there'd be something else to fix," he joked. Part was true though. Most Healers he came across liked to scold you for getting injured in the first place. Ungrateful lot. Without injuries they'd be more or less useless. They were dependent on people like him to get hurt in silly ways! He was amused by his own reasoning.

T'san was almost tempted to freak her out and give his wrist a good poke but that would only result in pain so he settled for answering her like a good little patient. "It sure is. What would the world do without numbweed?" The rhetorical question ended mostly as a grateful sigh. He smiled warmly and assured her, "Its all good now. This little amount of pain is perfectly bearable." It was a very good indicator of when he could start using it again. The real trouble would be remembering not to try and use it while it remained painful. He voiced this thought out loud. "I think the hardest part now will be avoiding using it."

T'san was amused at her reaction. Speechless he hadn't quite expected, although he had the impression she was a shy person. He chuckled lightly as she more or less glossed over the compliment entirely. "For my sake, or for you Healers?" he teased lightly. He hoped she could tell he was only teasing but then...pregnant women could be rather touchy and unpredictable. His compliment hadn't been false on either account in his mind. He'd been through far rougher examinations. And she really was pretty. Especially when she smiled! Her personality - at a glance at least - didn't quite suit him but he wasn't mean enough to falsely compliment someone.

[Avu]

No? Hmm. It seemed odd to Jingth that one could come from somewhere that was…not Selenitas. Hers had, of course, but Hers was special and it didn’t occur to the gold as strange there. But for a dragon to be Shelled – the concept of past confused her. There was only now, the present, and Dsoleth earned an uncertain croon. I see. How long have you been here, if you don’t mind my asking? I don’t want to be rude, but I /do/ want to know, the gold explained frankly, and then added helpfully, If you don’t wish to tell me, I won’t press, of course…but Selenitas seems to have people and dragons from all over. A ‘melting pot’ was the term that Meira had used (rather wryly), but Jingth was not entirely sure what that meant and she neglected to use it in the conversation for fear of coming off as being silly for not understanding. Hers didn’t like to tell her about that place where she came from, either, so Jingth had not pressed – but she was curious. About whers, as well; Meisk was prominent in Meira’s memories and the hatchling had, like many were wont to do, ‘explored’ a bit. She’d gotten everything about Meisk, from his appearance right down to his skittishness and his adoration of Hers, and that had confused Jingth: Why had he loved Hers so much? It wasn’t like she was His; she couldn’t be, because she was Hers.

Oh, of course. Meira crinkled her nose slightly, shrugging one shoulder absently. Well, preaching to patients – she wouldn’t put it past some of them, certainly, but she didn’t; it made her feel ridiculous and seemed kind of pointless. Nobody liked pain and it wasn’t like they were planning on doing whatever had gotten them hurt to begin with again (unless it was necessary, obviously); that was just stupid. So she rarely lectured: If the pain itself hadn’t been enough to teach the person a lesson, then she sincerely doubted that yelling and ranting would. Most people seemed to ignore everything Healers said anyway. “Some Healers like to preach,” she pointed out, one eyebrow rising slightly. “I certainly don’t.” It made her feel…silly, truth be told, but that sounded ridiculous. “I don’t want to scare people away from the Infirmary” was what she said out loud, softly – which was true enough: What would that achieve, really? Answer: Absolutely nothing, for either patients or Healers.

His acquiescence to the numbweed having done its work made her bob her head in acknowledgement, and she picked up the bandage roll, tugging his wrist forward so she could access it without trouble, so that she could start to wrap the bandage around his wrist. Over his thumb to secure it in place, ending halfway down his forearm so as to limit movement. She clicked her tongue slightly at his comment, nonetheless. “If you do use it…I’m sure that between the pain and the fact that you can’t move it properly, you’ll remember not to. Or, I’m hoping, anyway…” The bandage was wound around his wrist again; she considered the layers thoughtfully. It should be stiff enough to hinder movement, so it wasn’t just a few layers; it had to be thick – the bandage material was relatively pliable, and this couldn’t too pliable. Better to be too stiff than too flexible, or it wouldn’t really do anything.

“Your sake, mostly,” was her reply, and she paused to regard him wryly for a moment. “I can’t imagine you’d be too happy to get a Healer who does lecture…” Meira’s gaze dropped back to the cast, and she wrapped it around one last time, reaching for the scissors on the bedpan to cut it off of the main roll neatly. “Is that tight enough? And – here, hold this down so it doesn’t come undone and try to move your wrist, please…? Gently, or it’ll all come undone anyway,” she added quickly, before she took a step back to retrieve the paste used to keep the bandage in place. Much safer than just tucking it under again; more secure, knowing the maneuvers that dragonriders would almost certainly go through at one time or another, and they could always just cut it off afterwards. The little jar was retrieved, as well as a flat stick with which to apply it; she certainly didn’t want her fingers glued together, thank you very much.

[Ember]

Dsoleth waited for the little gold's reaction to his words. In truth, he hadn't been in her weyr very long. Would she understand the place he had come from and why he'd left? Ah, she seemed confused a bit. He reached down and nosed her very lightly. I will tell you. I have been here... he paused for a moment to ask His, for all the brown could tell was longer than a few days but not a long time. about four sevendays. Not very long at all. It has gotten harder for dragons to leave where I was Shelled to come here. The last comment was delivered a bit somberly, for he and His had been unable to transfer like His said they used to be able to. They had left, fled like herdbeasts when being hunted.

T'san grinned with amusement. She seemed to dislike the idea of preaching, if he was any judge of her body language and expressions. That was a decidedly good attitude for a Healer in his opinion. Her reasoning was good too. Yes, being scolded and yelled at by Healer's definitely made people prefer not to come. "Well thanks to you, this is the least scary I've been forced to go to by my big brown idiot," he confided with a wink he wasn't sure she'd catch, for she was already turning her attention back to his sprained wrist. Heh, dutiful Healer. Or simply not talkative? Either way, she was effective at getting the job done without making the patient feel like too much of an idiot.

The brownrider allowed his wrist to be pulled forward. He watched with interest as the layers went around and around his wrist and thumb. He chuckled at her reply, conceding that it was probably true. He voiced this aloud, "Yes, you're probably right. Here's hoping Dsoleth doesn't decide to drop me in a lake until its off again." The memory of one particularily freezing plunge made his lips twitch upwards. The brown caught his thoughts and joined him in their silent amusement over that day. At the time T'san hadn't been willing to laugh with the brown but now it was just plain funny. No wonder the striped dragon pulled pranks on him.

When the Healer girl looked at him his expression could have passed for amusement at her answer. Oh yes, coming in to one of the preaching Healers would be quite unpleasant. He didn't comment on it this time though for the conversation turned back to his wrist. He placed a hand on the end of the roll and gave it a very judicious momevment of his wrist. Or tried to anyways. The bandage did a good job of limiting that. "I do believe its perfect, thank you." She grabebd a curious jar and a stick and he waited curiously to see what she would do with it. Was it for the bandage?

[Avu]

He touched her. Jingth was inwardly pleased, though outwardly she didn’t show it save for a low croon and a responding nudge to his shoulder. The physical affection meant that he liked her, yes? And if he liked her, then she could claim him as her servant. Not that she was stupid enough to say so aloud, certainly, but she knew it and that was good enough for her. His words, however, had her full attention; for a moment the queen did not move, and then she said, Before I Hatched, then. She remembered, vaguely, and she drew heavily off of Meira’s memory for that, though she distinctly remembered Weith – the stairs – and her servants, the one that did not make a good couch – not the date, precisely, but Meira knew the date. Are you from Fort? she inquired after a moment of thought, the hatchling’s head turning around to eye Dsoleth curiously. He wasn’t pale – Fort dragons were typically pale – but nonetheless, his words made it seem like he was from Fort. It had gotten harder for dragons to come…there were only three other Weyrs. Benden had always been difficult, hadn’t it? But Fort…Fort didn’t like them anymore; Hers had been there when they’d started to hate Selenitas; that had been when the worst hurt was. And High Reaches…Jingth didn’t know much about; only that it – and Benden and Fort – were bad.

Meira wasn’t quite sure whether or not she should be pleased that she wasn’t scary. She didn’t want to be scary; patients were probably already scared enough without Healers on their cases as well, and anyway being scary would require being much more aggressive than she was. But…well, being scary could be an asset sometimes? Whatever; it wasn’t like she wanted to change it – so she just nodded, smiling slightly. Best to take it in the manner it was intended and call it as a good thing, especially since she couldn’t – or wouldn’t? – do anything to change it. Still, the idea of Dsoleth dropping T’san (bandaged wrist and all) into the river earned him an amused expression before Meira flicked a glance towards the direction of the two dragons. Whether or not she ought to be wary of the fact that Jingth had effectively ‘claimed’ the brown as hers, she was not quite certain, and she only bit her tongue before shrugging weakly. “Try to prevent such accidents, please. If you come back sopping wet, I can’t guarantee you won’t get a lecture.”

A lecture from her? Highly unlikely. But it was rare that there were no other Healers unoccupied around, and it was hard to miss someone dripping wet in the middle of the Infirmary.

His statement that it felt fine made her nod, and Meira uncapped the adhesive. It was possible to sew the bandage into place, too, technically, but…this worked better, as long as it didn’t get wet, and the possibility of sticking someone with a needle by mistake was much less likely. Mostly because no needles were involved; go figure. She used the stick to scoop up the stuff – it wasn’t exactly pleasant to look at, being more or less a waxy-yellow color, but it’d fade to clear once it stuck. Applying it was quick work, and she smoothed the bandage firmly into place before dropping the stick into one of the trash bins and screwing the top back onto the can. “Does that feel okay?” she asked, moving back to the cabinet to put everything away. Organization was more or less essential in the Infirmary, after all; wouldn’t do to leave something lying outside that should be inside a cabinet.

“Regardless of whether or not it’s stopped hurting, you’ll have to come back in a sevenday,” she added, nodding at his wrist (more automatically than anything else; what else would she be talking about?). “Get the bandage redone, and checked again just to make sure it hasn’t worsened. Which it shouldn’t, but just to be safe…do you have any – I don’t know – any questions regarding…? I’m sure Jingth can ask Dsoleth not to drop you in any rivers if you want,” she added, crinkling her nose slightly. The gold hatchling seemed to be quite at ease with the brown, anyway. “Or oceans…or anything that could get it wet.”

I /will/ ask, but I do not think it is necessary, the gold interjected. Dsoleth is not stupid, MeiraLove. His is /hurt/. Nobody /wants/ Theirs to be hurt more. That is simply silly and self-destructive. I don’t think he is, LoveMine.

[Ember]

The brown rumbled pleasantly in response to her nudge. He watched and waited to see what she would say about it. Her simple comment left his eyes whirling content colours as he relaxed a bit. Alarmingly the weyrling gold would not do. I am quite certain that is the case, Dsoleth replied amiably. Yes, he remembered a Hatching since he had arrived. His eyes whirled a little faster in remembrance at his finding of T'sanHis. However his attention was taken back by the gold as she asked his origin. He froze for a moment before he rumbled deeply in amusement. You are very clever. I am indeed from Fort, the brown told her with amusement. She couldn't have guessed that from his colour, he was distinctly unlike many of the Fort dragons. So then she had read into his words and found the answer from there? Yes, very clever.

T'san wondered how strange it would be if he had to get the bandage redone if Dsoleth did end up giving him a dunk. Knowing his luck he'd come in to find the most annoying, self-righteous Healer and have them nag at him while they were redoing it. No thanks. He doubted the brown would do it but nontheless he'd make sure not to let him get the idea. He grinned in response. "Warning duly noted," he responded airily. He followed her earlier look over at the gold and brown and smiled in amusement. That silly brown! He was growing fond of the little hatchling, the rider could just tell. Wherry brained brown. Not discriminatory at all and T'san loved him all the more for that sweetness of nature.

T'san watched her glue the loose part of the bandage down with a decidedly gross looking substance, at least in his opinion. He gave it another careful test to make sure the bandage hadn't somehow loosened during her expert ministrations. He nodded in asnwer to her question before he realized dryly that with her back turned she wouldn't see the motion. He spoke allowed, "Yup.' More's the pity, seeing how the big lug is plenty happy where he is...

Meira went on to explain that he had to come back within a certain amount of time regardless if he still felt pain. Since she was facing him again he simply nodded, already planning how he'd leave her while still leaving an impression. Hmm..ah! That would work. He tried to hide his roguish grin as she finished up. "No questions that I can thing of. And I don't worry too much about him giving me a dunk anywhere. For all he can seem a bit uncaring I know he does and he's a gentle enough beast that he wouldn't risk causing me more pain." Sensing the end of the walk-in appointment he stood and made to grab her hand. She could easily pull away if she wanted. He lifted her hand to his lips and brushed them with his mouth gently if she didn't snatch her hand away. "Farewell, Healer-rider of Gold Jingth." He gave her a jaunty wink and walked towards his brown.

T'san looked a appraisingly over the small gold before crouching near her and offering a hand for a quick ridge scratch. "Greetings to you, Jingth. I haven't paid my respects to you yet, have I? Thanks for keeping Dsoleth company. May you and Meira stay well." He stood up again and gave the brown a pat. He could sense the disappointment through their bond. If you want to see her again that bad I'm sure we'll get the chance. Hah! The beast was easy to please. It seems Mine is in a far better mood now, he told Jingth. I shall see you around? He wouldn't let His climb on until he knew her answer.

[Avu]

Much had happened previous to Jingth’s Hatching. So much. The gold hatchling made no verbal reply – she simply touched her muzzle to Dsoleth’s hide again absently. Hmm. She wished she could have been alive for some of it – like the worst hurt. Hers remembered it. Hers was very, very sad because of it – and Jingth thought that maybe if she had been there, it wouldn’t have hurt so much. Maybe if she’d been there, the hurt would not have happened at all. A pity that she could not fix it. Dsoleth’s sudden lack of motion was not lost on the queen, however, and Jingth turned her head upwards to look at Dsoleth cautiously. She hadn’t offended him, had she, asking if he was from Fort…? It made sense that he was. But…but maybe he wasn’t – oh. He was. The brown’s reply, coupled with the compliment, made Jingth croon quietly, stretching out her entire body in a decidedly feline-like motion; her tail flipped thoughtfully. I don’t suppose it matters now, she decided after a second, leaning her head against Dsoleth’s side. Behruth was a lovely couch, but one could never have too many couches. But that’s quite interesting. She hadn’t met too many dragons, more’s the pity – only Behruth and Checkoth, her clutchsiblings, and several other Selenitas-born dragons. None of them had been from Fort. Or Benden, or High Reaches. It was interesting.

No questions. Meira nodded, considering. Riders should still be able to operate more or less as normal with a sprained wrist. Maybe they’d have to ask for help in getting riding straps onto their dragons; maybe help lugging around firestone sacks – but otherwise it shouldn’t be too difficult and if it did hurt, she’d have to assume T’san knew when to ask his Wingleader for a break. Either him or Dsoleth, in any case. Faranth be praised for the mental connection between Rider and dragon? Still, the reassurance that Dsoleth wasn’t masochistic and wouldn’t be trying to drown his Rider anytime while he was hurt (the mere thought earned a wave of surprised amusement from Jingth, who apparently had claimed Dsoleth and didn’t like the idea of her brown doing anything so downright stupid) made her feel immeasurably better; she didn’t like the idea of someone getting raged at by anyone – even if she probably wouldn’t be there. She’d just started to turn when he caught her hand.

All things considered, she had not expected that, and Meira stopped moving automatically, allowing T’san to kiss her hand wide-eyed; even after he dropped it and spoke, she blinked after the brownrider before she moved after him. ‘Please’ and ‘thank you’ she’d become accustomed, but that was…very, very unexpected, to say the least, and she was not quite sure how she was supposed to respond. Not that T’san had given her a chance to, for which she was quite pleased since she probably wouldn’t have been able to formulate an appropriate response, but…Meira followed T’san out of the room, letting the door swing open behind her to indicate it as an unoccupied room, and back towards Jingth and Dsoleth – and Monster. The feline was still sprawled in the sunlight, eyeing brown and gold with a complete and utter lack of fear, and Meira moved over to stroke him silently, watching as T’san made his way towards the two dragons.

Jingth crooned politely at T’san, squirming forward with a display of complete inelegance to allow the brownrider access to her eye ridges. Dignified and polite, the queen could be in speech and very often was, but as for elegance on the ground, why bother? It was so much nicer this way, wasn’t it? Informal, but oh so comfortable to make up for that. The brownrider’s words made her bow her head in an undeniable nod of acknowledgement, the hatchling rubbing her head against his hand for a moment before she glanced sideways at Dsoleth, and then rolled to her feet, stretching and then padding a few steps over to allow the brown wingspace. Please inform Yours that I am very glad he is feeling better, she said to Dsoleth, tail flicking to settle around her haunches idly. She was glad, too. Mustn’t let her new humanservant get hurt! And that I have no problem keeping you company. His question – oh, did Dsoleth know that she’d claimed him? She had, and his question only made her even more confident that her claim had been a good one. Certainly. I have very little to do all day, save for the early morning, though I doubt anyone is up save for Weyrlings and the Weyrlingmaster at that time. You are most welcome to join me at any time if you wish it. Chances are, the gold added drolly, I will be right here.

And of course if she saw him alone, she’d join him. Her brown. He’d been claimed~