Happy Kaliday! (Kali

[dragon]

Dorava frowned again, this time in earnest. It never ended. They were riding a whole different dragon than she was, and apparently still didn't seem to grasp that part. A whole other dragon. She ignored the command to sit ... mostly because she wasn't about to sit on the floor in the doorway and there wasn't anywhere inside to sit, either. She was fine where she was. Listening didn't require sitting. And she was certainly listening, letting them get it off their chests. Once R'wign was done ranting his view of things, Dorava heaved a sigh.

Dorava considered just walking away, and leaving them to their delusions of grandeur. It was really tempting. There really wasn't any point in arguing with either of them ... they never listened to what she said anyway. Finally, she just shook her head. "I don't want compliments. I never asked for that. I don't mind the work. I don't mind the form the work takes. I like helping people and dragons heal. But what I can't stand is the continually being treated like I'm a dunce. I try to be nice, and I get told I'm touched. Even a canine learns to leave when it gets kicked repeatedly, you know." Again, she shrugged, and looked out of the office, before looking at them again, almost sadly.

"All I can say is I tried."

[Requiem]

Oh, not fair, not fair! She whined at R'wign, squirming with enough force to actually pull him a little over the desk, but that took more energy than she really had and soon she just held still and willed him to let her go. As if he were Phremath or something and could hear the mental urgings. But even Kalierre knew better than to interrupt him midrant. She'd never seen R'wign so upset, even when he'd come storming dramatically into her office. Which made her wonder what else was going on because this just wasn't that much like him. Dorava was aggravating, yes, but he normally had an abyssmal amount of patience.

Oh, he'd stopped talking. Kalierre tugged again at his grip, trying to look as harmless as possible. She'd calmed down, see? He should release her now. Her gaze shifted toward Dorava and she even attempted a friendly smile that probably looked more creepy than anything else. So on her best behavior. Her fingers coiled convulsively around the inkwell. Strange it was, but the majority of her upset at Dorava was not Dorava herself. Kalierre was becoming more and more immune to the irritation the woman generated in her. She did appreciate the pie, and while the resignation was bothersome in that she'd put forth a lot of effort not to beat the woman over the head over the last several turns and now apparently that effort was wasted, at least Dorava hadn't just vanished.

No, it was that she was upsetting R'wign so much that had Kalierre seething, and her anger was only growing higher and higher the more bothered he got. If he'd just let go she could knock the woman unconscious and that would solve everything. Made sense, right?

Faranth. The woman was talking again. And didn't even have the sense to leave. What was wrong with her? "Poor baby. Do we talk down to you?" She knew for a fact R'wign didn't. If the woman was going to start accusing them, she might as well make sure the accusation was right first. Yes, Kalierre was ridiculously condescending, but she didn't care if people liked her. Just that they got things done. R'wign was much better with people. Most of the time she left that sort of thing to him. (Ironically, Kalierre was actually quite good with patients as long as they weren't in the infirmary as a result of their own stupidity. It was surprisingly easy to be nice and supportive when you only had to deal with someone for a short time.)


"Tuck your tail between your legs and go, if you want to play the victim so much." If she was going to act stupid - namely not understanding something as simple as 'no explanations' - then Kalierre had no qualms treating her that way.

[glamourie]

Stare. Yes, blank stare; that was R’wign’s initial reaction. She really just had to defend herself, didn’t she? Throwing up his hands in defeat (and letting Kalierre’s wrists go in the process), R’wign stepped out from behind the desk. His firelizards swept off the shelves and followed him like a colorful entourage as he moved to the doorway and stopped right next to Dorava. It was rare for R’wign to blow up – he just didn’t do it; his response to anger was an almost obsessive level of cleanliness, he’d go through and fixate on the herbs in the infirmary, eventually restocking them all and then clean everything. R’wign didn’t scream or shout or lecture – he saw it as pointless. That he actually was angry enough to display those emotions was wildly unusual for R’wign and probably should have been the first clue that he should have been listened to. But Dorava didn’t listen – Dorava didn’t respect him enough to listen to what he deemed to be very good advice. Part of R’wign felt sorry for her – she was obviously hellbent on defending herself and trying to prove a point, in the process proving his (though she likely couldn’t see that). Most of him though… had no use for her. None whatsoever.

“You can’t be an apprentice healer… or harper, weaver, woodcrafter, glasscrafter, tanner, smith, artist, or anything else. To be a craftsman requires discipline, and you have absolutely none. You can’t even follow a simple ‘Don’t defend yourself and don’t make excuses’ order. You’re hopeless, Dorava. I wish you the best of luck with whatever it is you’re hoping to accomplish… I do mean that. But I don’t ever want to see your face again.”

She would, of course, have to argue with that. R’wign was sure of it. In his mind, all Dorava wanted was the final word… and as far as he was concerned, she could have it; if that was what her maturity level was, she could sit and argue with Kalierre until the herdbeasts came home for all he cared. He, however, had far more important things to do than sit and have an infantile discussion with someone who couldn’t grasp the points he was trying to make. All it did was make him more and more angry, and it wasn’t good for him to be that upset. He offered Dorava a polite nod – yes, polite; it was definitely cold and formal. He shot Kali a parting look that said goodbye without words and then turned on his heel to walk right out of the office, his firelizards following him out the door.

As far as he was concerned, he was through. He’d defended Dorava on numerous occasions, fought with someone he respected countless times to try and get her treated more fairly, and all the woman could do was play the victim. His patience was most effectively gone. There was no honor in being a victim, cowardly whining about how horribly one was treated. When faced with a mountain to climb – climb it or walk away, that was his attitude. If Dorava was the walk away type, that was her problem; he was more the climb it. But even he had his limits, and though it took a long time to push him to it, R’wign was a lot testier of late. Much of that stemmed from runoff from the Siege; he still hadn’t dealt with that completely. A lot of it was also just simple exhaustion. The fact was: He’d written Dorava off. She wasn’t worth defending anymore, and he wasn’t going to waste his time trying to help someone who obviously couldn’t recognize when he was good to them. He had better things to do.

Like collect herbs.

[dragon]

She was ready to strangle somebody. Who, she wasn't sure. If she did strangle somebody, Dorava was quite certain that she'd regret it later. Definitely. It was most of what held her back, that foresight of the future. They still persisted in painting her as the bad guy. For two solid turns she'd put up with the crud that was dished out, in more or less silence. Only protesting a few times when she broke and couldn't take it anymore without some show of still being a living thing instead of a brainless drudge.

She was sorely tempted to say something, but she didn't. She honestly hadn't realized that the don't say anything order was a permanent order. Most of the time people just wanted to be able to say their part, uninterrupted, and that was it. He'd never specified that she was never to speak again. Which is essentially what it had been, because no matter what she said it would still be seen as defense or explanation. Even if all she did was randomly confess to a need to pee. Which in an of itself also pissed her off. There was no making anyone here happy. Which, reminded her, just why she'd ultimately decided to leave. Staying was impossible. Not without developing an ulcer, or - more preferably - smashing her head open and pouring her brain into the river to become the mindless thing they already thought she was. Which was definitely not going to happen.

Dorava crossed her arms over her chest, hiding balled up fists as she frowned deeply. What else was she supposed to do? She was not interested in playing the victim. Staying was playing the victim, allowing folk to stomp all over her like she was worthless. That was playing the victim. In standing up for herself, taking charge of her life, and saying no ... that was not playing victim. That was taking her own power back as her own. No longer handing it out to the others only to have it trashed and thrown back in her face like so much garbage.

Finally, she did speak. And likely, they'd find some way to twist it into yet another painted excuse. "Happy Turnday, R'wign." Dorava said, before he was out of earshot.

As mad as she was, as frustrated as she was ... Dorava was not a person that liked such encounters. And she liked leaving bad situations badly even less. He'd made a big stink about his day being forgotten, so she made sure to acknowledge it for him. Politely even. Despite how she felt. Turning, she looked at Kalierre again, knowing full well that the dragonhealer probably once again wished to murder her in some nasty, painful way. Again. Which was not at all how she had thought this would end.

"I'm glad you liked the pie." Dorava said, before turning and leaving. Just as Kali wanted. Never mind that wouldn't make Kali happy either. Nothing ever did. Which was part of why she had given up. Not on healing, but working in this infirmary. All she wanted was for people to be happy, and her being there inherently made that not happen.