Repose (Rowana

[dragon]

The heat had backed off, and the day was a very nice one. There was surprisingly little to do now. Her duties in the infirmary were done for the day. Her duties in the wing were over with for the time being. Most of the time she spent her newfound free time studying again, trying to absorb as much of the healing knowledge as she could. Steep in it until it flowed out her ears.

But today? She didn't feel like studying today. Today was too nice of a day to spend cooped up indoors with her nose glued to the parchments and hides. The sky was blue, thread wasn't falling, no one was screaming yet, and the temperature was just right. Nice and cool. There was moisture in the air, too, but that was mostly because she was sitting very close to the top of the falls, listening to the water fall into the canyon. It was a lovely sound, soothing to the mind and soul.

Pulling her pack over toward her from where she'd dropped it, she rooted around inside until she found a fruit. Pulling that out, Dorava dropped the bag down again and bit into the crisp fruit. Chewing thoughtfully, she started wiggling her feet out of her boots, using one toe to push on the other heel until the confining thing came off.

Yes, It was just too nice of a day to not enjoy it, and have a tiny picnic at the top of the waterfall.

[Rowana]

"I didn't know Triage members had this much free time," G'tor spoke as he came up behind Dorova. The smile and sparkle in his eyes let her know he was only kidding. "If I'd known, maybe I would have asked to transfer as well." He stood casually behind her, enjoying the beautiful day. It was a pity life wasn't as simple as it seemed just then. He could get used to this kind of relaxing. Ranchan and Tervain were off on their own today, but Star slipped down from one of G'tor's pockets to investigate Dorova's pack. She must have some delicious food in here!

Squatting down next to Dorova, G'tor smiled at her. "You seem to be in a good mood. How are Kali and the other Healer's fairing?" Since the loss of R'wign and setting up Nyssania as the new Weyrhealer, he honestly hadn't had time to see how the infirmary was doing. He really aught to pay a visit to see them, before something made him see them. He liked to keep required visits to Healers to a minimum.

[dragon]

Dorava really hadn't expected to get discovered by anyone, but she couldn't help but smile at the voice she heard. Wagging her feet back and forth for a moment in the cool air, she considered how to answer him. "Oh, yeah." She commented casually. "Lots of free time. It's almost like not being in a wing at all." The only thing that gave away the sarcasm there was the little snicker that trailed along after. Tilting her head back she looked up at him. "Well, hello there G'tor!" she grinned at him as he moved up to squat next to her.

Hate! A small green head poked up out of the backpack nose-to-nose with the little white one. Mine! Love protested the intrusion loudly for all to hear. Mine! Dorava laughed and reached over to poke her mandyr on the top of her head. "You can share."

Crossing her legs, Doarava leaned an elbow on a knee as she leaned toward G'tor. "And my, the time you have on your hands. You need a hobby, I daresay!" She teased, before biting into her fruit again. "What brings you all the way up here?" Dorava asked, poking a hand into her bag past the two mandyrs to root out another fruit to offer him.

"Oh, I'd say they're faring about the same as usual given the circumstances. We've got a slew of apprentices and what not that are keeping everyone on their toes and busy." She didn't bother to mention that she was an apprentice herself, but at least she wasn't a junior apprentice anymore and didn't need that kind of watching.

Dorava was silent for a heartbeat or two, before shrugging. "What about you and Beta? Everything going okay? I hope Mi'rah's not too upset that I left without any warning." That really had been an accident, but oh well. It had been awhile since she'd seen G'tor or Mi'rah ... or any of the rest of them. She missed them, especially G'tor and Mi'rah. Looking over at him, she smiled.

[Rowana]

Star hissed at Love. The green had better be nice! She knew a big mean fire lizard who would make her regret her words. Star's image of Tervain was perhaps a bit larger and nastier than life, but accurate enough for her purposes. G'tor eyed the salamandyrs for a moment, but was pulled away by Dorova's comment. "A hobby?" he exclaimed, in mock horror. "I'm lucky if I find time for a walk." He chuckled, shaking his head. He'd gotten a bit better at time management lately, at least enough to do a bit of fishing, but it still seemed like he was far too busy these days. "I was just going for a walk, actually. It's a nice day for it."

"I bet they do," G'tor nodded, smiling. He could only imagine what an infirmary full of apprentices might get up to. Still, it must be nice for them to have more help. If they were lucky, they wouldn't need it, but he doubt this peace would last long with people like Ja'kin and H'nes in charge. They were probably just waiting for the right moment to charge back into the fray of the North. He shook his head. It was better not to dwell on such things now.

"Well enough," he admitted. "Mi'rah's a bit hard to read, but he wasn't upset last time I saw him. Don't worry about it. Triage and Healing are just as important as what we do in the Wings." Besides, you'll be safer there, he mused thoughtfully. Dorova had been through enough without putting her on the front lines.

[dragon]

Love's eyes got big at the image of Tervain, and she scrambled up out of the bag to plop her front half over Star, holding the little white down in place. Where at? Love want! Now! Where at? she demanded. The image had had probably the wrong effect on the green, who was instead marvelously impressed at the bigness of the firelizard, and maybe even the snarliness. And Star apparently, in her mind, knew where this firelizard was hiding.

"Ooooh. Walks are good." Dorava agreed, setting the fruit down again since he apparently didn't want it after all. Reaching over, she flicked Love off of Star. "Be nice." She told the mandyr sternly, before returning her attention to G'tor. "That's actually why I'm out here, too." She admitted, gesturing at the canyon stretching out before her. "It's a lovely day, with a lovely view, with lovely company, and awesome food." She shrugged. "I can't really imagine how it could get much better right now." Dorava grinned at him, rolling the fruit over in her hand before lifting it to take another bite out of it.

"Mi'rah? Hard to read?" She asked, giving him an incredulous look before laughing. "Okay!" she chuckled again, offering a shrug. Flicking the pit of her fruit over the side of the canyon, Dorava reached over and picked Star up. Setting the white on her thigh, she stroked the bitty creature from snout to tail with a finger. Hate! Love screamed, jealously.

Dorava stayed silent a moment, trying to think of something to say. As much as she liked her exwingleader and second, she'd never really talked to either one about anything outside of business. And that wasn't exactly a tapable topic anymore. Soooo ... what could she say? She randomly tried to pull something out of her hat, even though she knew it was completely lame.

"I went down to the hold market this week. I saw a neat little game there, and I bought it. I'm gonna have to teach it to you sometime." She said, looking at G'tor again and offering a smile. "Nice and simple, but so very difficult at the same time, don't you know?"

[Rowana]

Star squirmed unhappily under Love. Her mind protected an odd mix of fear, anger and confusion. Love was supposed to run away from her not tackle her! Bad Love! Star hissed silently. Tervain would come and get her if she hurt Star! Images of mean Tervain snatching Love and carrying her away were probably not the the best way to scare the green salamandyr off, but Star hadn't quite realized that.

G'tor looked apologetic. He'd been lost in thought and hadn't realized Dorova had offered him some food. He picked up a distress Star after Love was removed, letting her hid in the cup of his hand. Silly salamandyr always seemed to make her kin angry or something when she went out. Still, he was fond of tiny girl. He smiled at Dorova's comments and relaxed into a sitting position. "I don't know," he chuckled. "I think you could do better for company than a weary old man like myself." True, he wasn't that old, but he sure felt it these days. Especially since most of the younger ones sadly didn't live to be his age.

G'tor shrugged, joining in with Dorova's laughter. "Yeah, well, maybe it's just me," he admitted finally. He smiled, glad of the change of subject. It would be good to talk about something not related to politics for a while. "A game?" He raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Sounds fun. What's it called?"

[dragon]

Want!! Love demanded, from where Dorava had flicked her too. "Hush." Dorava told her, moving her hands away from Star as G'tor reached over to pick her up off of her leg. Maybe petting the white was not the best thing to do ... she seemed rather upset. But then being tackled by Love would upset anyone, wouldn't it? Maybe that was what did it. Either way, she was probably going to be far more comfortable in G'tor's hand than on Dorava's thigh.

"Pshh." Dorava answered. "I could hardly do better than grouchy old you for company." She grinned at him. "You know you're only as old as you feel, you know? I think you look pretty spry today. What with ridge climbing and all the rest of that nonsense. With no lunch, either! Oooh, daring." She teased, before offering a grin and a wink. Reaching into her bag, she rooted out some more fruit to munch on, again offering some to G'tor. Just in case he'd changed his mind. Unlikely, but it was the polite thing to do.

"Um. Well. It's called sticks or something silly like that. Very descriptive you know? They're all colored though. Not plain. Knobby little suckers, too. The kids seem to like playing it, and I completely sucked at it. But hey. It was frivolous, so I bought it." She laughed at her own silliness, well aware of how it was liable to forever tarnish anyone's view of her. Not that she hardly cared anymore. "Highly portable. Very stupid."

[Rowana]

"Do I?" G'tor made a show of checking himself over to see just how spry he had become. "Maybe tomorrow I'll have to try something even more impressive." He chuckled lightly. It was good to relax and he wasn't all that old, he knew. These days, though, he sometimes felt like he was an old man with all the mess he had to deal with. It was the stress, Ruskeath insisted, he was much more himself when all he had to worry about was thread and the next time his dragon decided to chase.

This time he did take the fruit. "Thanks," he smiled, a little apologetic for not noticing the first time. "Hungry work, all this walking you know." He took a few bites while listening to her explanation of this new game. It sounded simple enough, but probably harder than it seemed. "How is it played?" he asked politely.

[dragon]

"More impressive. Hmmmmm." She made a show of being super thoughtful toward ideas of what could be more impressive. In the end she only grinned and winked at him before taking another bite of her fruit in silence. Waaaaaant! Love intoned, wiggling in determination until Dorava finally let her go.

Bouncing off of Dorava's leg and scurrying around behind the greenrider, she slowed to a sneaking crawl toward G'tor and Star. But she didn't pounce, instead just sneaking closer and closer and closer, until she could almost touch the little white with her snout.

"You're welcome." Dorava answered with a smile and nod. "It sure is. That's why I pack a lunch when I do it. Have to build up energy reserves to get our old carcasses back down all those stairs without ... you know ... rolling down them. I hear it's fast and easy, but by the time you reach bottom you're pretty sore." She gave a firm, wise nod, before laughing and picking a random bug-hole out of the flesh of her fruit with her fingernail.

"How is it played? Um. I make it up as I go along because I'm not terribly clear on the rules. But I think ... I think you dump out all the sticks in a heap. And then you try to remove the sticks from the heap one by one, without moving any of the other sticks. If you move a stick, you forfeit your round. How many points you get is determined by the color of the stick. If you can get them out of the heap without moving any, you get to go again. Rather one-sided I think, especially if someone just so happens to be good at it. I had noticed that some kids had whittled their sticks smooth. Mine are ... uh ... lumpy." She shrugged. "I imagine that means it's harder for novice me." She looked over at him, and grinned again.

[Rowana]

Star was busy being stroked by G'tor. She didn't notice Love getting closer again until the green's nose touched her side. Jumping higher than the little white normally did, she glared and wriggled up behind G'tor's hair. Stay away! She projected fearfully. Star was not tasty, Star was not a snack. G'tor would squash anything that tried to eat Star! G'tor shook his head at the little creatures, frowning slightly. "I don't think she wants to eat you, Star," he tried to coax her back out, but without luck.

Shrugging, he turned back to Dorova and made as if to consider her idea. "Maybe we need to install nets so we can all jump down," he suggested with a chuckle. "That would be very fast." Not very safe though, he knew. He would never serious suggest the idea. It funny to picture their new 'leaders' leaping off cliffs into fishing nets though.

He chewed a few more bites as the conversation returned to the odd game. "Sounds hard," he made a face. His hands weren't really good at delicate work like that, though he bet some of the Healers would be good at it. "I wouldn't mind trying it, though," he added thoughtfully.

[dragon]

Love peeped and then vanished in a green flash of hyper legs. Quickly she scurried up G'tor's side and around to the otherside, under an arm and over the shoulder to around and behind the neck where Star was hiding. There, she stopped and peeped out at the world from within the shroud of dark hair. Well, this was neat! Nice. Why no talk? Hate. Love talk. She stated to Star, before pouncing on the White and licking her from knobs to snout.

Dorava laughed, but agreed. "Love won't eat anyone. She'll cuss em out across the canyon, sure. But she won't eat anyone." she remarked. "That little thing's got a mouth on her, the likes of which I haven't seen."

The idea of leaping off into nets ... it made Dorava laugh. "Most people can't handle leaping off their dragon to be caught again in open air. I don't think anyone would leap down into a canyon trusting a net to catch them." She answered, though she had to laugh at the idea. "Sounds like fun though." But then ... she was one of those people who could leap off her dragon into free fall, and have her dragon go between without her to reappear to catch her again farther down. Kamakazi as it was, she was good at it. "Maybe I'll give it a try just to see what it's like." She mused thoughtfully. "I'd need some stretchy-knotted rope though. Something like crownknot rope instead of braided, you know?"

"It is hard! But it is also lots of fun, too." Dorava grinned, spitting a pit over the edge of the canyon. She licked her fingers clean of the juices before wiping them off on her pants leg. Reaching into her bag, she drew out the little baggy that had the sticks in it. Undoing the drawstring, she dumped the sticks out. "I think I messed up and bought an experienced person's set, actually. But they were pretty." she said, spreading them out on her palm. There were about twenty of them, all about ten inches long.

But they were not only colored, it was natural colors. There was just one that was made from ebony wood, several from different types of wood that gave natural reds and purples, various shades of tan, and some that were almost white. All, while certainly lumpy in places, were very well polished. Dorava liked the way it looked, as opposed to some of the cheaper sets, which had been not only straight, boring sticks, but they had been either inked or painted various colors.

[Rowana]

G'tor wriggled as the two salamandyrs climbed all over him. He chuckled, reaching up to gather the pair and set them on his lap. "If you must play, don't do it in my hair!" he told them fondly. Star wriggled in under Love's attentions. She couldn't talk! It was a silly thing meant for silly creatures like Love. Star wasn't quite as frightened now, since the green didn't seem to want to eat her, but she sure was silly.

G'tor nodded thoughtfully. It might be fun to try it, if a bit dangerous. With the right kind of rope and knots it wouldn't be too bad, though he doubted he could get many other people to try it. The stick game intrigued them though. He was used to games that involved running and such, not such delicate work. "They are lovely," he agreed, examining them carefully. He tried to pull a whitish one out of the pile, but they all started to move. "It really is hard," he nodded appreciatively.

[dragon]

Talk good, love talk. Learn talk, hate not talk. Talk love. Love insisted, flailing a bit as G'tor took her down from her perch. But Star was brought down too, so Love hopped across his lap to sit by Star again, staring at her in a most curious fashion. Why so pale? Big, funky wings like fliers. Why? Love? Hate? she inquired.

"Love, please be polite." Dorava requested, before laughing at G'tor. "Not like that, silly. You don't do that in someone's palm ... everything will move then. Watch, like this." She turned her hand over and dropped the sticks in a heap on the ground between them. Once they stopped moving and shifting, she smiled. "Now try." She prompted.