Pride Before a Fall (Open)

[llew]

There they were, sitting all by their lonesome, glittering invitingly in the sun. A firelizard clutch just waiting to be plucked.

N'tia stepped cautiously from among the jungle foliage, and crept toward the sandy nest. It seemed all too easy... but he had sat waiting for some ten minutes now, and there was not a danger to be seen. Besides, even if the mother were to return to her nest, what could a little firelizard do?

He reached the dusty pile of gleaming eggs, and took one last look about him. The coast was clear. He bent slowly, reached for --

A small shriek erupted from the bushes behind him, and N'tia turned just in time to receive a faceful of claws and wings and fury. Startled, he backpedaled, then fell under the weight of the gold flitter wreaking havoc upon his head and chest. He felt blood begininng to pool in rivulets across his face, and a delayed cry of shock escaped his throat.

Finally snapping to his senses -- BYFARANTHSEGGMYFACE. His hands came up to grasp the thrashing creature, pulling her off his body and throwing her as far as he could. She landed a few yards away and roared, as well as firelizards can, and instanly was back on her feet. So was N'tia. He didn't need a second helping of motherly love, and took to his heels, stumbling through the jungle brush.

- - -

:Well, look at you. How handsome.:

:I don't need this, Kirayuth.:

:Red is your color, I think.:

N'tia cleared the blood out of his eyes only to glare at his bonded. He was tired and aching and disgusting, and he didn't need to be ridiculed. Sometimes he wished that his bronze did not have such a fondness for sarcasm.

He rapped softly on the door of the infirmary, as hard as his shredded hands would allow. Injuries were inconvenient, and he couldn't let a slight miscalculation foil his schedule.

[kysseh]

Perched on the top of the doorframe outside the infirmary, Shadow gave the arriving bronze a baleful stare. He was not thrilled to see another of the shiny snobby male beasts here to bother himself and his person. He had dealt with the last beast with much skill; the Snob and the Fat One were unlikely to return. However, he could not get rid of the this new giant--or his blood-covered human that was knocking on the door--until they committed some offense, so he was forced to notify his bonded that someone had arrived in search of her.

As she was not especially busy, Savitri had been keeping herself occupied with reading, studying one of the scrolls her former master had sent along with her. Childbirth was an interesting enough topic to pass the time in learning about, and if she ever had children in the future, she would be well-informed. Absorbed as she was in the scroll, the stature-challenged healer only faintly heard the soft tapping on the door, and she lifted her head from her studies, frowning as she tried to figure out where it could have come from. A new picture from Shadow quickly gave her the broad strokes of the situation: a large bronze dragon--shards, were they all that big?!--and a bloodied up man, who was the one leaving blood on the infirmary door.

She quickly left her scrolls for later and got up out of her chair, moving down the hall with surprising swiftness before opening up the door to view the injured man with her own eyes. Her frown deepened. What could he have possibly done to himself?! While Shadow kept his oversized eyes fixed on the bronze in the hopes that the giant would do something that warranted forcible removal, Savitri stepped aside to let the bronzerider enter, gesturing at him impatiently with one graceful hand. "Come in before you bleed all over the place. What did you do? Anger a pack of felines?" she inquired, only a faint trace of mocking in her tone. The fact that the bronze on the platform looked unharmed forestalled any serious worry the healer had, but she was still concerned for his face. Head wounds could be nasty.

"Well, get in here," she said, impatient to get started before he bled all over the place. "You don't have all day. First room on your right. You can sit on the bed or in the chair." No, she was not about to waste any time.

[llew]

"A fire lizard, actually. . ."

N'tia peered at the woman with a mix of suspicion and bewilderment. She was awfully bossy, this one. He had half-expected her to swathe him in sympathy, not the same kind of dry humor that Kirayuth already supplied in excess. What business had she, this tiny person, ordering him about?

:Well, get a move on, boy, your face looks like shredded herdbeast.:

He shot a reproachful glance at Kirayuth, then winced as the slashes in his face disagreed with any sort of movement. He sighed with resign, then dragged himself inside the infirmary.

He wandered down the hall with a certain caution in his step, though he knew that it was foolish to be wary of a healer and her silly salves. That nosy creature perched above the door wasn't easing his distrust, either.

Once inside the room he considered the chair in an attempt to retrieve a last semblance of dignity, but the pain in his legs and his arms and his everywhere won out. He took his time sitting down, moving slowly and gently to ease the protest of his wounds.

"How long do you estimate this will take, ma'am?" he asked with a twinge of impatience. "I'd like to be out of here as soon as possible."

[kysseh]

Savitri was surprised to hear that a firelizard had done that sort of damage to him. It was not that she doubted the firelizard's capacity to do damage. It just seemed ridiculous that such a large and supposedly intelligent dragonrider would rise the ire of one of the little beasts. "What did you do to it? Pull its tail?" she asked dryly as she shut the infirmary door, leaving Shadow to guard whilst she went about her business.

She caught a brief glimpse at the look he was giving her and ignored it. This was her realm of expertise, so if he wanted help, he would just have to listen. She would treat him with care, no matter his attitude, but courtesy was always appreciated. She followed him into the room and took a moment to wash her hands and apply a redwort salve to keep from numbing her own skin, glancing over his face as she did.

His impatience was annoying, if unsurprising. "As long as it takes to put you back together. You're a mess, in case you haven't noticed," she said dryly, wetting cloths and carefully beginning to clean the blood from his face for a better view. "If you tell me exactly you're injured, it'll go more quickly," she added, flicking him a humorless smile. That would teach him to rush her. "Unless you would prefer to look like raw meat for the rest of your days. I doubt your personality could compensate for it." She sincerely hoped that nothing private had been injured. She did not fancy having to fix that for him.

Perched atop the doorframe outside, Shadow fulfilled his duty and sent Savitri a constant stream of images of the outside, including the bronze dragon that was blocking his view. At Savitri's silent amusement, the salamandyr cheerfully responded by sending her a picture of the disrespectful rider with a head made of herdbeast steak. The healer only just contained her smile and laughter, only a slight twitch at the corner of her lips betraying her.

[llew]

N'tia flushed with shame. What carelessness! Though, he had not known those little beasties could be so feisty. Ione never did more than hiss and nip when he wasn't fed quickly enough.

"I was after its clutch. Didn't really expect it to. . . well, I didn't expect it at all, really."

He looked about him curiously. He had never been to the infirmary before. Never had a need to. The last time he had been so sorely banged up was when he was accidentally trodden by an excited runnerbeast years ago, and even then his foot was one big bruise only for a week or so.

Jars and books and things he could not identify lined the shelves. He watched as Savitri chose what she needed, and applied some sort of goop to her hands. Well, at least this woman appeared to know what she was doing. He could relax a bit.

"Aah!"

Okay, maybe he couldn't. She had suddenly set upon his face with a cool towel, her hands gentle and skilled, but businesslike. The urge to swat her away bubbled into his chest, but, he reasoned, the less he interfered, the quicker this would be over with.

He grimaced, and exhaled in a hiss through his gritted teeth. "You'll be pleased to know that my face had the worst of it. A bit of the chest and arms, as well. Nothing below the belt, fortunately for the both of us."

:"N'tia, there is a small annoying creature out here that won't stop staring at me. Can I eat it?":

It was N'tia's turn to smirk this time. :"No, Kirayuth, I think this healer may return the favor to my face if you try anything with her pet. Endure his scrutiny for a while longer.":

Kirayuth rumbled with resign, eyeing Shadow suspiciously.

[kysseh]

Savitri paused in her actions to give him a look of supreme disdain, glaring to hide the fact that she was trying not to laugh aloud at his idiocy. Really, how thick was he?! He had to be from the North, were there were few wild firelizards. Most Southerners knew to steer clear of wild clutches without assistance. "Obviously, you underestimated the fury of a protective mother," she remarked before resuming her work, still fighting to keep from laughing. Such a big, tough bronzerider... brought to his knees by a creature a mere fraction of his size and weight. The sheer hilarity of it was nearly overwhelming, and outside on the ledge, Shadow radiated a similar feeling of amusement.

His outcry made her stop again, and she set her mouth in annoyance, waiting until he was done talking to resume work. Once he did, she finished cleaning off the blood, deciding that it did not look nearly as bad once the gore was off. She moved on to his left arm, disturbing the wounds as little as possible to discourage further bleeding. "Fortunately for you, you mean. Wounds to the groin can often impair performance," she said, straight-faced all the while as she efficiently cleaned one arm and moved to the next. "There is not always a way to repair damage in such blood-rich areas without permanent scarring."

There. If that didn't encourage him to be more cautious, nothing would, Savitri reasoned. Men were most protective of certain body parts, and appealing to the idea of damage to those areas usually yielded in the men listening. Hopefully, she would not have to see him in the infirmary again.

Catching a brief glimpse of the smirk on his face, the healer arched an eyebrow. "Is something funny? I wouldn't move your face too much; it might break open the wounds and cause them to bleed more."

Realizing that the bronze dragon was not fond of him, Shadow puffed up to his full, completely unimpressive size. His body, tail not included, was no longer than Savitri's middle finger, and this was one of the instances where size counted. Unfortunately, the best he could do was glare. He wanted Savitri to kick out the dragon like she had nearly kicked out the Snob and the Fat One before, but thus far, luck was not on his side.

[llew]

His face reddened steadily, well aware of how ludicrous his situation must seem.

"Well. . . I didn't see her at first, how was I to know it would rain teeth and claws all of a sudden?" N'tia immediately bit his tongue, shocked at the feebleness of his own excuse. Better to brave her ridicule in silence, now.

It was much easier to see now that she had cleared the junk from his face, and it was a relief to be done with that horrible crusting feeling of drying blood. He grudgingly admitted that she had deft hands; he'd been afraid this woman would simply rake a towel across his face like a mop. But she was careful, avoiding the wounds themselves while wiping away the residual sand and blood.

He stared at her. Impair performance? He had thought that a bit of a private subject, but nothing was too sacred for this woman, apparently. Healers were familiar with the anatomy after all, he supposed. N'tia gulped. He wasn't a man to put his privates to frequent use, but to know that they had escaped such a bitter fate was comforting. A man is hardly a man without his goods, casanova or no.

"What? Oh, nothing." With her warning, he tried to keep his face motionless as possible, and pried his mouth open only enough to speak. "Kirayuth -- my bronze -- is hungry. That's all."

He realized he hadn't introduced himself, and, even if she was just a healer doing her job and a woman he never intended to see again, manners were manners. "Forgive me, I am N'tia." He paused, then added sourly, "Thank you."

Meanwhile, Kirayuth peered curiously at the little 'mandyr. He'd seen others, surely, perched on the shoulders of their keepers, but had never had one so. . . intent, on him. As Shadow puffed himself up, the dragon rumbled in amusement. What a peculiar little creature.

[kysseh]

While it was impossible to not notice the reddening of his face--and she was sure it was not stained with the blood--Savitri decided to take pity on the bronzerider. Pushing him too hard would only result in more violent protesting, which would result in him spending more more time in the infirmary as it would take her longer to clean up his mess. "You must have been raised in the North," she said mildly. "Any Southern-raised child knows that where a clutch is, a mother is never far away." Her words were rather patronizing, but her tone was one of mild amusement. She almost... almost... felt sorry for him.

His staring was quite obvious, and she fought to keep from smirking a bit at his expense, well aware of the fact that he was probably uncomfortable at the thought. His gulp almost pushed her over the edge, and the corners of her mouth twitched slightly. No! No, she was not going to make it that obvious how entertained she was. She concentrated on making sure his arms were sufficiently cleaned before eyeing the exposed and damaged portion of his chest. He was not going to like this. "Do you think you can remove your shirt without breaking open all your wounds? It'd be easier to access those," she stated, gesturing with one small hand at the the scratches. "As soon as I finish with those, I can give you something for the pain." That was usually a good motivator, even with thickheaded dragonriders.

"You could've just said Kirayuth. I saw the great beast when you knocked, and Shadow is keeping a close eye on him. I'm well aware that he's a bronze," she replied, thoroughly unimpressed. As much as she envied him for having a mindmate, the fact that it was a great hulking bronze dragon was of little concern to her. Now, if she ever did... but, no. She had other concerns. "I hope he isn't considering eating my Shadow," she said, stressing the salamandyr's name to emphasize who the white sentry was.

His move to introduce himself was surprising and immediately made her cautious. He wanted something, didn't he? Or maybe he was just hoping that if she would do her job faster. The rather sour tone to his voice spoiled it. "Apprentice Healer Savitri. And if you're thanking me for doing my job, then you're welcome," she replied dryly, glancing toward her table to make sure she had numbweed within reach. She almost wished she would have to dose him unconscious with it.

Seeing that the bronze dragon was suitably unimpressed with his attempt to show dominance, the white salamandyr deflated and then promptly crawled down the side of the doorframe, making his way across the landing platform toward the bronze. He was completely fearless, knowing he could go between at the slightest hint of possible nibbling. He crawled right up onto one of the dragon's forefeet and sat back on his little haunches, staring up at the massive beast with his overlarge eyes. He needed leverage...

[llew]

"I guess that would explain it. Benden-born."

She was certainly laughing at him behind that too-still mouth. She had the same flat tone that Kirayuth adopted when he was having a gay old time at another's expense; except more irritating. Well, N'tia wouldn't waste nerves on this woman. Once he was properly bandaged he would make sure he neer stepped foot in this infirmary again.

Was that a smirk? Laugh at him, indeed! Now it was his turn to guardedly hiss, "Is something funny?" He pointedly averted his eyes to glare at the rows of bottles and salves on the shelf across the room, determined to keep his cool though his temper began to chafe.

At her request, N'tia peeled off his shirt in one swift motion, and rumbled a "there now, do your worst" grunt. The scattered scratches in his chest began to tear afresh, but whatever brought him closer to numbweed, and a ticket out of here. . . Besides, he thought, as his vanity kicked in, he had a nice chest; and it wasn't pants he was taking off, thank Faranth.

If N'tia was a 'mandyr, he would have puffed to the red star by now. This healer wasn't about to be ranked, and it bothered him. "He has better taste than that," he sniffed.

Outside, Kirayuth was puzzled. First the creature had tried to "scare" him off, now it seemed friendly. Might as well make amends. He hoped 'mandyrs were more intelligent than firelizards; Ione was an irritating piece of work.

:"Hello there. . . ": he ventured, sending warmth with his message to propose a cease fire.

[kysseh]

Yes, that certainly did explain it, and Savitri was unsurprised to be correct in her assumption. "You know now. I'd recommend not trying it again," she remarked mildly, allowing herself a smile at his attempt to demand what was so amusing. She briefly debated giving him a roundabout answer and settled for her usual simplicity. "Male concern over manliness is entertaining, to say the least." He was deliberately not looking at her, and she suspected he was annoyed. Good, the feeling was mutual. At least he would be in here less frequently.

She was surprised at the swiftness with which he removed his shirt, thinking he would have hemmed and hawed for a bit about the pain before acquiescing. Apparently, this bronzerider was just full of surprises, including a form of decent physique, which she noted as she took stock of the newly exposed scratches... and skin. The female in her was curious while the healer in her acknowledged that he was a well-formed man, with the ego to match. She only took a brief second to look him over before she leaned in closer to very gently clean the dried and fresh blood away from the scratches, dabbing lightly at the wounds edges to soak up the fresh blood welling up.

After a moment, she was satisfied with the cleanliness and set aside the bloodied towels in an empty bowl, checking to make sure her hands were covered in redwort before opening up a jar of numbweed. His indignant puffing did not go unnoticed, but it did go unacknowledged. Let him be that way; she had the sought-after painkilling salve. "I hope so, for his sake," she replied dryly. "Though Shadow says he is attempting to be friendly." Actually, Shadow was sending her a flurry of mental images that amounted to, 'IT SPEAKS!', but why quibble over small details?

Shadow, mute as he was, made no noise in reply, simply tilting his white head from one side to the other and looking as if he was trying to get a better view of the great beast looming above him. In reality, he was doing it to avoid the sunlight that glinted down around Kirayuth's large head. Sunlight hurt the eyes when stared into, after all. He swished his whippy tail back and forth as he pondered how best to respond, finally settling with a mental image of a Kirayuth and his torn-up rider bowing before Savitri, the image accompanied by a feeling of inquiry as to whether his assumptions were right. They were respecting His Great Source of Food and Attention, weren't they? That was the 'mandyr's first concern.