How Time Flies...{Avu}

[kat]

Life had been so much more interesting since the day she'd acquired Zexion. The bronze Salamandyr had grown to his full size, which was, unsurprisingly, quite large in comparison with his clutch mates. Larger, and more troublesome. He was a source of constant amusement and Maya often wondered if all the Salamandyrs were so talkative. Still, in the infirmary, she often found herself worrying he'd get up onto a shelf and manage to knock over the contents of it. It had happened a few times during his growth, but as he had finally grown to his full size, his agility and maneuverability were astounding. She still worried, and yet there had been no mishaps for a while now.

As she was only here wrapping up her shift, she knew the next batch of healers would be coming in any time now to begin theirs. Some came in early. She'd seen a few of them, though she usually passed only a few words with them, intent on finishing up her own work. There was always work to be done in the infirmary, after all. Be it organizing, tending to patients, keeping records and notes straight...she never ran out of work to do. Plus, any dragon injuries were just another additive to her schedule. Not that there were many of those, however.

You hurry fast now, me hungry much! No dawdle get done fast now! Zexion do want feed, hurry!

Maya smiled and looked up on the shelf, where Zex, as she fondly called him, was weaving in and out between the many items stored up top. He had learned to keep his overlarge wings tucked close into his body, his whippy tail that used to cause so many things to fall was perfectly in sync with his streamlined body. He was large, but he was very lean and could move about and climb like he was born to do so.

"I'll get you something to eat soon, Zex. Be patient, I'm nearly done."

Want eat noooow, came the rather whiny and demanding reply, as the 'mandyr darted down the shelf in a surprisingly fast manner, standing on the table top and looking up at her stubbornly. Maya sighed, checking the date on yet another bottle before shelving it once more, before addressing the petulant creature.

"If you behave, I'll go hunting for some wherry eggs with you when we get up. I told you I'm nearly done," she reminded him. His frill puffed out a little as he hissed defiantly, and yet her bribery seemed to have worked, for he darted up her clothing, causing her to wince a little. His claws were razor sharp, and even through clothes they pricked her like little needlethorns.

I remember egg promise, we go find egg when wake. Will wait.

Maya stifled a grin, knowing that nothing worked so well with her little bronze as an offer he couldn't refuse. Either that, or a mild threat of something he wouldn't like if that still didn't work. Still, she preferred positive reinforcements, and so did her Salamandyr. As she continued to check dates on jars and re-shelve those which were not expired, she realized if she wanted to finish she'd be a little late doing so. Still, she liked to finish what she started, and it didn't bother her too much. It would just mean that she was here not too much longer than usual.

[Avu]

“ – and you’ll be out of the Infirmary in no time, okay?”
Get better, make happy. So happy.

It was Mimic’s input that drew a faint smile to the boy’s face. The Weyrbrat was little more than six Turns, but at the moment he looked much older, face pale and gray, his leg encased almost completely in a cast, leaning against the pillows in the dimly lit room. Dark eyelashes brushed against the paleness of his cheeks before Mimic’s encouraging croon made his eyes flick up to look at the brown Salamandyr again. Meira and Riaren received almost no attention whatsoever from him – and the Healer didn’t mind at all. Riaren clearly didn’t either, dark green eyes lingering curiously on the boy’s face from his mother’s arms, the stuffed firelizard in his grasp ignored. Mimic bounced twice on the end of the bed before he darted forward to lick the Weyrbrat’s palm pleasantly, rubbing his head against the clumsy fingers that rubbed along his back. Wings fluttered, his tongue flicking out to lick the boy’s palm again, before he chirped quietly, reassuring; LoveHis was the best fixer ever, see, see, so he’d get better so fast~

“Can he stay with me?” the boy asked, so softly that Meira had to glance back to make sure he’d spoken, but sure enough those pale brown eyes had been turned up to look at her.

“If he wants to.” The goldrider shifted Riaren slightly against her hip. The baby cooed quietly, dark eyes lingering on Mimic; his hands, which had curled around the two stray pieces of Meira’s hair that had escaped the runnertail that it had been pulled back into, tugged slightly as his body shifted in his mother’s arms. “Mimic…?” Her mind brushed against the Salamandyr’s, encouraging; if it made the boy feel better about his stay in the Infirmary, she wanted him to stay with the Weyrbrat. Anyway, there was nowhere she’d be except here or back at the Weyrling Barracks; Jingth had already been bathed and she was actually very tired – she hated to put Riaren down while she was at the Infirmary, and to make up for doing everything one-handed (aside from when Riaren had fallen asleep; she’d put him down then and had Mimic watch over him) she’d stayed longer, far past her shift had ended. Not that it was unusual for her; she liked the Infirmary, and Mimic liked it too: The brown Salamandyr had hit it off well with most of the patients.

The brown Salamandyr turned to look up at the boy curiously, steadily, before he licked his hand and then curled around his wrist in much the same way he did Riaren. Mimic stay, he agreed, and trilled as Meira smiled gently at the Weyrbrat and then moved towards the door, pushing it open; his eyes glowed in the dim lighting before the eyelids closed, surrendering to the comfort of being stroked steadily by the boy, whose face had lit into a smile brighter than any other he’d flashed that night, and perhaps the only real one since he’d been brought in and Mimic’s licking his jaw comfortingly had caused a startled one to flash across his face.

The door clicked closed behind Meira and she looked down at Riaren, raising her free hand to loosen the baby’s grasp on her hair before she brushed her lips against his forehead, adoring. “Thanks so much,” she said softly to him. “We can go home now…just wait a bit and see if he falls asleep and Mimic comes, so Jingth can fly all of us back…okay?” A brief smile was met with one from the baby as well, his head with the dark curls resting on her shoulder trustingly before Meira glanced back, reaching for both of her mindmates mentally questioningly. Mimic responded with a wave of delight – he loved getting attention, he truly did, and this boy was so nice for petting him – and Jingth’s initial response was a wave of brief indulgent amusement. The gold would have been actually irritated had she not been sprawled out, extremely comfortable, across one of the weyrledges on the dragon half of the Infirmary, her full size stretched out with a decided lack of elegance for all the world to see – she was actually quite small for a gold, so she didn’t droop off the edges of the ‘ledge.

I’m in no hurry. Tell the slavething not to grow too attached. was the eventual response, accompanied by an emotion that was very obviously adoration; Hers was actually regarded with an affection that matched Mimic’s, but she wasn’t as physically demonstrative as the Salamandyr was.

Smiling slightly, Meira hummed quietly to Riaren, crossing the Infirmary before she caught sight of Maya and hesitated; she was still a little uncomfortable around the girl because of Jingth (not that the gold felt anything short of utter indifference for the other Healer; of the Healers she only took interest in Hers and in Checkoth’s because he was her slave), but she didn’t think Mimic would linger too long and – well, might as well help instead of just loitering around. Riaren was the one who announced their presence as Meira quietly sidestepped a Drudge rushing by and knelt down next to Mayari, carefully – the baby gave a low coo that was decidedly reminiscent of a certain gold firelizard, hands clutching at his mother’s shirt before he smiled at Maya, the smile that Riaren presented to most people in greeting; he didn’t know this person very well, but that didn’t stop him.

“You can leave a jar of comfrey out if you want; the last room down’s almost out,” Meira said softly as she set Riaren down next to her; the baby wobbled into a standing position, still grasping her sleeve, before he half-fell and half-sat down, hugging the stuffed firelizard contentedly. “I’ll take it down once he falls asleep; Mimic’s with him right now…do you need help?” One hand gestured towards the cabinet, pale gray-blue eyes flickering over the contents before rising to glance at Mayari again.

[kat]

It was an ordinary thing, for Maya, to be watching what was going on around her, even while working. She could hear the other healers going about their work. She caught snatches of conversation, and recognized certain voices. Unless she was working with someone, she usually was left to do her own work in relative silence. Relative, because there were others there, and because there were also patients there. She had observed the habits of the other healers. It wasn't quite like Dragonhealing, but you could learn a few things about people based on how they treated others. Some had better bedside mannerisms than others, but she'd seen that everyone at least tried to be pleasant here--or so that's what she had gathered.

Before she knew it, there was a familiar sound, and she found herself looking up to see Miera and her child, Riaren, standing there. She welcomed the pair with a small smile. He was certainly a cute little baby, and growing fast, as they tended to do. Meira addressed her before she had much chance to greet either of the two. She nodded agreeably, acknowledging through it that she'd heard, before replying.

"All right. As for help, if you're offering I'd appreciate it." She motioned to the young boy, and commented, "it's amazing how fast they grow." She hadn't spoken much with Meira since the incident at the hatching. It hadn't exactly been a conscientious choice, though she got the sense that the other girl was a touch uncomfortable around her since then. Perhaps the same held true for herself, though. It wasn't as though it had been either of their faults. It really hadn't been Jingth's fault, either. Still, the scars were a painful reminder, and though she wasn't exactly bitter about it, she couldn't lie and say it didn't bother her. She was nervous about standing at the next hatching due to it. And it had taken months to heal, lots of attention to make it so that it healed cleanly, as straight, lighter scars. They had been hideous red welts to begin with.

Still, it was nearly time for the next hatching. It was in the past, and she felt almost bad that Meira might be uncomfortable for something she'd had nothing to do with. Still, she hadn't given her any reason to be, and would have preferred she wasn't. After all, Meira was the first person she'd met upon coming here. She didn't want things to be strange between them. Still, the fact was that they had been, if only marginally. She had been hoping to rectify that, however.

[Avu]

The agreeing to her help was expected, to be honest; Meira didn’t know anyone who wouldn’t mind help with sorting out jars of herbs. It wasn’t exactly thrilling. Actually, she personally found it quite tedious, though she hadn’t thought of complaining. The goldweyrling had never complained about any Infirmary work; it was necessary and she’d do it. Simple as that; complaining wouldn’t do much good anyway. Jingth didn’t like it that her beloved, all-important Rider had to do something as…simple as this, but she’d assured the gold she didn’t mind. Crossing her legs and scooting forward next to Maya, Meira leaned forward to pick up one of the jars on the far end, the end opposite to the one Maya had started at, swiveling the dusty jar around to see the date scribbled upon it before she clicked her tongue absently, pulling it into her lap to squint at it. The handwriting was less than legible, which was rather irksome, but she could make out the sharp edges of a 4 in the year. 3014, then…

The comment and the gesture towards Riaren made Meira smile, glancing at the baby who had stuffed the wing of his stuffed firelizard into his mouth, sucking on the blue fabric, dark green eyes focused solemnly on what his mother was doing. However, as Maya indicated him, he dropped the stuffed doll into his lap and smiled widely at the Candidate, both hands clapping together. It was too soft to actually produce a clapping noise, but the motion was clear: Riaren was in no way shy at all. He liked the attention very much, though he never demanded it. It was so nice though, wasn’t it? In another moment, though, the wing of the firelizard was back in his mouth. He liked his toy, did Riaren…

“Yeah…” A slight laugh before Meira crinkled her nose, glancing over at Riaren as she admitted, “I don’t want him to grow up, really…” She did love him and she knew that he’d have to grow but if she could’ve preserved him like he was forever, she would have. Selfish, it was, and she knew that, too. Riaren had expressed very obvious interest in growing up already – trying to stand, trying to take part in conversations…Jingth thought he grew too slowly. Meira disagreed, and she knew Mimic didn’t comprehend growth but the Salamandyr certainly liked the baby the way he was. Speaking of Salamandyrs…Mimic’s mind brushed against hers, pleasant and pleased; clearly he was being doted on – but her gaze had just found the little bronze that Mayari had Impressed at the Hatching and her head tilted to one side, curious.

“Hello…” A slight smile, though, given that she was still glancing over the dates (fortunately much more legible than the first), her gaze had dropped from Salamandyr to bottle and back again. “I’m sorry” – now she turned to address Maya, indicating the Salamandyr with a nod. “ – I don’t remember his name…?” If she’d even ever been told. She couldn’t remember at all; the Hatching had ended with Uu’n falling off of Adith, she did remember, and she and K’lir had been talking about Kahrelir – but details had been forgotten completely. That she’d also Impressed Mimic then had something to do with that, too; she’d been completely distracted by the brown Salamandyr. So adorable. Whether or not this bronze was half as pleasant as her brown, though, Meira didn’t know. If he wasn’t, she was just hoping he got nowhere near Riaren.

Does /every/ Healer have a little pet? Jingth inquired, condescending. Only Mimic was worth her time. He was the only one who had been intelligent enough to know Theirs was the best. How odd. Healers /are/ liked… By pets. Not so much by Weyrbrats, apparently…

[kat]

Maya could see Meira squinting at the bottle in her hand, and she smirked wryly. Some of the handwriting on the bottles was nearly illegible. It was more like a messy scrawl than actual handwriting of any real sort. She gave her a sympathetic smile, and then admitted, "I have trouble reading some of these. Some of the handwriting is bad enough, never mind that it's faded on some of the bottles." She then glanced up at the bronze salamandyr, who, upon being addressed, deftly darted down a ways off his lofty shelf position, so that he was on a lower shelf, head level with Miera.

Zexion is I. Wonderful, am I not?

Maya had to stifle a chuckle. Zex was a handful, and not at all as easy to deal with as some of the sweeter 'mandyrs in the Weyr. Still, she loved him to death, he was a source of constant amusement in her otherwise relatively normal life. Normal got dull, after a while. Not that she didn't like working in the infirmary. It was all right, really. Still, it wasn't what she wanted to be doing. She was a Dragonhealer. Not a Healer of the regular kind. She missed working with the dragons. She remembered why she'd been so excited to stand. Working with dragons was her life's goal. Impressing one...that was her life's dream.

"Yes, as he said, he's Zexion. You'd better not forget it, though--he doesn't like it when someone forgets his name, considering how important he is and all." She made it clear by her expression that she wasn't serious--at least not horribly so. It was true that the bronze didn't like being forgotten about. In fact, it irritated him a great deal. Still, at the same time, he thought himself the most important creature in the world--save maybe his.

Yes, me important. Do not forget.

Of course he wasn't concerned with who Meira or anyone else was. Maya decided to simply ignore Zex's last comment, and went back to Meira's prior words, in regards to Riaren. "I know what you mean. At this age, they're so impressionable, and cute. Still, it's not so bad, helping them grow into the people they'll become," she said encouragingly. Then, with small smile, she added, "though I can understand why someone would want a perma-baby." She checked another jar, and put it back on the shelf, once she'd made sure the date was all right. They were going to need to restock sooner or later. It was a yearly thing, and the Needlethorn was the worst of it. She still had to help with those things even when she was doing Dragonhealing. So it likely wouldn't change this year, unless she were to Impress. Still, she liked working with the Weyr to gather the infirmary materials. It wasn't so bad, everyone working together. It was actually enjoyable.

Zex, meanwhile, wasn't liking being ignored. He puffed out and gave an indignant hiss, darting back up to his upper shelf and glaring at Meira. The not-his should be admiring him, paying attention to him. Stupid those-not-his.

[Avu]

Oh, had she been caught squinting? Meira crinkled her nose slightly, a low laugh escaping her throat. She didn’t mean to imply in her struggle to read that the person who’d written the words was…bad at it. Even if they were. Not everyone had access to a Harper to teach one how to read and write, after all, and even if they did, and this wasn’t exactly intensely exciting work if one wasn’t actually interested in the least in the herbs in question. She’d written on some of them but most of those weren’t near expiration yet, and her handwriting was legible – she made sure it was for the Infirmary. Still, she nodded in agreement to Maya’s words, before she bowed her head over the next jar. Even more unreadable. She wouldn’t have thought it was possible to mix a 4 and a 3 up, but she was doing precisely that; she hadn’t the faintest idea of what was written on the jar. 3013…3014 – something. Guh. How irritating…speaking.

It wasn’t that Meira wasn’t accustomed to hearing voices in her mind. Checkoth had bespoken her before, Jingth and Mimic were hardly silent, and most Salamandyrs did broadcast. Still, the voice was unfamiliar and she tilted her head to look up – and found herself staring straight at Zexion, blinking twice in her surprise; she hadn’t expected the little bronze to be…quite so close. “Oh,” she said, bewildered for a moment, before she flicked an uncertain smile at the Salamandyr. “Oh…hello, Zexion…” And then she was kind of out of things to say; she didn’t know how to handle pure arrogance. Jingth was vain, yes, but Meira (and she knew she was biased) thought the gold was the best. Zexion she didn’t know, and didn’t know what to say to the bronze Salamandyr. Jingth’s ego she could control; Zexion’s she knew she couldn’t and had little desire to attempt to.

Maya’s comment made her laugh slightly again and she shook her head. “I won’t forget,” she responded, amused, and likely she wouldn’t. Her memory was far from terrible, after all. “Look, Riaren,” and she turned to look at the baby, who was sucking contentedly on the firelizard’s tail again, watching his mother seriously, “Like Mimic, but bigger and shinier…” Riaren tilted his head slightly to one side at her words before he smiled, pleased by the attention again. The firelizard never left his mouth this time; the fabric would certainly be drenched by baby slobber by the time they left the Infirmary but Meira had never minded it. “He’s important, love,” the goldweyrling added, playfully, uncurling and resettling herself in a cross-legged position so she could pull Riaren into her lap and rest her chin against the top of his head as the baby squealed softly, pleased, and turned his head to look up at Zexion, curious. A smile crossed his face and he squirmed hopefully, tempted to reach out for the bronze.

Speaking made Meira turn to look at Maya again and she half-smiled; she had been terrified when she’d first found out she was pregnant and she still was to some degree; what if she did something wrong and messed things up for Riaren? “It’s not bad at all,” she agreed, softly, turning over the jar and then leaning around Riaren to put it back into its proper place; she wasn’t comfortable enough around Mayari to admit that it wasn’t just ‘not bad’ – it was scary. Zexion’s hiss drew a slightly startled look from the Healer before Riaren clapped his hands together again; that the sound was not a pleased one didn’t register on the child. His dark green eyes followed the Salamandyr’s path and he cooed quietly, approving; he liked firelizards and Salamandyrs in general. They were nice to him – most of them, anyway.

“But yeah…” One arm had wound, protectively, around Riaren’s midriff, picking up another jar to inspect the date. Fortunately this one was more legible and she placed it back on the shelf before glancing at another and setting it aside to be disposed of. Small talk. She wasn’t good at it. At all. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in awhile…”

[kat]

Maya noted that they were making small talk. She was used to simply speaking fluidly, without any unease. It was strange to feel like she wasn't talking about anything in particular. Just talking for the sake of talking. Most talking she did was infirmary relevant. She didn't have a dragon, so she hadn't much in common with dragonriders. She didn't have a wher, either. Still, she supposed that over half the people in the Weyr didn't. Why was it she felt as though she were somehow set apart from people by this? Were her social skills faltering? She noted Zexion's hiss, and gave him that 'look' but the 'mandyr wasn't paying attention. He had heard Meira say to the child in her arms that he was important. Well, that just brightened his attitude right up!

The bronze puffed out his chest in obvious pride. The baby was looking at him with interest. The baby was paying attention to him. That was all it took for him to dart down deftly off his shelf, and prance up to Riaren, tail held high, wings open. Of course he should be paid attention to! Look, see how fabulous he was? Maya gave Meira an apologetic grin. Zex might be a handful, but he knew better than to ever harm a young one. He'd snapped at one once when he was younger, and the scolding that had ensued on her part had never been forgotten. Now he ignored most children, but this one? This one knew he was important, and was paying him attention. The 'mandyr thought, of course, that the look in Riaren's eyes must have been reverence and awe.

Maya wanted to laugh, but stifled it. It would just make Zex suspicious. No need to do that. Riaren would get to touch him and play with him, so long as the bronze thought he was being admired. So, instead she turned her attention back fully to Meira. She cleared her throat, and grimaced a little, just enough to not be notable, she hoped. No, she hadn't exactly been sociable with the Weyr's youngest goldrider, had she? It hadn't been on purpose, but if she really thought about it, she'd almost been avoiding her. Nervous about what had happened during the hatching. Maybe it was a touch childish, but she didn't like how Jingth had scorned her in the way she had. She knew, inside, that the dragon hadn't done it as something personal. It meant nothing to Jingth, just as she meant nothing to the gold now. Still, it had stung, for a while. It felt like rejection of the roughest kind. But she knew she was being silly. Knew it, and would not allow it to affect her relationship with Meira any more than it had.

"I've been really throwing myself into my work here at the infirmary," she admitted, and then added, "in my free time I like to go outside for some fresh air, or study scrolls I borrow from the archives. I should probably be more social, I know," she added, a wry smile crossing her face momentarily. "I've seen you--in the infirmary, at least. Not often, I think, since we have different shifts now. But still, on my way out, or when I'm finishing up." Then, as an afterthought, "do you get much free time? With your Weyrling lessons and infirmary work, I know you must be busy."

[Avu]

The way the bronze puffed himself up was laughable, though Meira managed to keep from actually cracking a grin at his arrogance. Even Jingth hadn’t that big an ego – or, more precisely, the gold hid it much better. Fortunately Riaren had no concept of being too self-centered, though Meira still was worried that the bronze would bite her son. He was very, very gentle when it came to petting, but Riaren liked to tug, too. Not hard, of course; he seemed to know that living creatures were very fragile and quite breakable, but Meira still couldn’t see Zexion allowing any clumsiness on Riaren’s part and it frightened her very much, the thought of his being bitten or clawed. No, a cut wouldn’t actually kill him or even hurt him very much as long as it didn’t get infected, but she hated the idea of him even so much as hurting a little. Yes, cue panicking. Her arms tightened around the baby for a moment before a brush of reassurance from Jingth made her loosen her grasp, albeit reluctantly. Couldn’t protect Riaren forever.

The baby squirmed before he leaned forward in her lap, stretching out his fingers towards Zexion hopefully; bright eyes were locked on the Salamandyr before he babbled incoherently but in a tone that was very much pleasant, “Guhuh?” The slight rise in pitch at the end indicated a question to most, but whether Riaren was actually aware he’d transformed his ‘guhuh’ into a question or not was unclear. His fingers couldn’t quite reach Zexion though and his head tilted, a comically confused look crossing the round face. His hand swatted gently, as if each swat would bring him a little closer to the bronze, before he paused to cram his other fist into his mouth; his gaze never left Zexion. He adored Salamandyrs. Firelizards, too, but there were none here to distract him from Zexion at the moment and Mimic was gone, too. Mimic was his favorite Salamandyr (mostly because the brown slept with him, in his crib); even a shiny one couldn’t take that away.

Maya’s grimace wasn’t noticed at all, mostly because Meira was still watching Riaren and Zexion intently. “Very important,” she whispered absently to Riaren, encouraging, even if her stomach was performing the most acrobatic flip-flops. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so nervous about someone or something that wasn’t Riaren. Maternal instinct, much? However, speaking from Mayari’s direction made her turn, both out of instinct and for manners’ sake – Meira didn’t want to ignore the other girl in favor of her Salamandyr (even though ‘in favor’ was perhaps a bit strong) and she smiled slightly. “You’re still probably more social than I am,” she admitted, the soft laugh that followed self-conscious. She was friends with M’ta and R’wign and liked a few other people but couldn’t really claim friendship with many of them – most of them she didn’t see often at all.

Her question made Meira hesitate, looking back down at Riaren before she leaned forward to check two more labels, shifting them sideways to pull the ones at the very back of the cabinet forward for inspection. Weyrling Lessons and Infirmary shifts (she often stayed over her shift anyway, or came in early; Meira liked the Infirmary very much) were only part of it – she had to take care of Jingth and Mimic, not to mention Riaren too. It was exhausting almost constantly even though both of her mindmates were concerned enough about her well-being to be extraordinarily patient; she still bathed and oiled them almost on a daily basis anyway. “It’s busy,” she acknowledged, and flicked a wry grin at Maya. “I mean, it’s worth it and all, but yeah…not much free time. I don’t,” she added, after a hesitation, “Think it’s really necessary to have free time though…? Like you said, work at the Infirmary; I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t like it, and Weyrling Lessons and taking care of Mimic and Riaren and Jingth are necessary, so…”

A shrug before she took out a jar of salve that was far too close to the expiration date for comfort and set it aside as well. That R’wign was teaching her in the Infirmary was good, too; Meira appreciated it and she could tell Riaren loved it when both of his parents were near.

The slave is taking quite a long time, is he not? Jingth commented, idly; her mind brushed against Meira’s reassuringly again automatically, for mention of Mimic made her glance down at Zexion again. Don’t worry, MyLove. I can wait and the bronze slave wouldn’t bite your hatchling unless he has a death wish. So pleasant, so reassuring…