Mystery Meeting [Tashe]

[Ruby]

Serissa dropped her head to her desk and sighed.

Normally the Master Healer was happily nocturnal, working night shift and caring for Sesk on her days off and before and after work. Sesk herself was pretty independent and had her own routine even on the days Serissa didn't have to work, but Serissa found it was nice to be awake at the same time as her mindmate, even if their bond wasn't strong. The pair of them had their life sorted out pretty well, and it worked.

Not today, though. This week was the annual Healer Hall check-ins, where Journeymen and Masters spread out all over the continents met at either Fort or Southern's healer halls for skills updates, meetings, and conferences sharing new research. Now that most of the Riders with Healer credentials had been returned to the craft, the turnout was even larger than it had been before the Council, since those riders could be dispatched to transport healers that couldn't come in on their own. Which meant more meetings, more presentations, and bigger audiences. Serissa had a paper to present at the end of the week that she was nowhere near ready for, and two days of being up with the suns had taken its toll. The fact that Sesk was currently asleep, refusing to adjust to her handler's strange schedule, just made it worse. Serissa was exhausted.

Cracking one eye, she scratched Daniel under the chin, then shoved the brown flit towards the door to the office. "Daniel, can you go open the door and bring me my schedule from my room? I'm too tired to walk all the way over there just for the convenience of my next visitor. A cup of klah wouldn't be a problem either." The Brown immediately fluttered over to the door, going between into the hall and pushing it back into the small office (it wasn't latched). A few moments later, he appeared just long enough to drop a scroll on Serissa's head and popped out of sight again. The klah would take a bit more doing, he informed his owner; pouring and carrying mugs was difficult for flits but he would persevere.

Serissa snorted and sat up, unrolling her schedule. Huh. Not a Journeyman under her tutelage, this time, but a senior Journeyman who had been practicing at Bitra for some time. Raylanne. That name sounded familiar, but Serissa couldn't place it. In parentheses next to the name, where everyone else's entry said something like 'Check-up, EMS', Raylanne's entry said 'Mystery, Bones'. Serissa had no memory of writing that down, but she must have; it was her handwriting. Odd.

Needless to say, the greenhandler was intrigued. Tired, but intrigued.

[Tashe]

Is it not a wonderful day to be out, Mine? Adanth, who was quite happy to take a break from Bitra for a week, purposefully jostled his Rider to roust her from her thoughts. I said, is it not a wonderful day to be out? It is a like any other day in spring. I don't see why you are so happy to be out and about. While you are in your meetings and your conferences, I will be socializing with the other Dragons who have Healers for partners. It will be a change of pace. Landing with the utmost effeciency, Adanth flopped down to allow Raylanne to slid off. Just call me when you are done for the day, I will not be far. Once his human was clear, the large Blue stepped away and launched himself into the air. He was happy that they had had time to go flying before His had to start her day, he knew she was and would be very busy for a while so it meant a lot that she made time for him.

After adjusting her coat the Journeywoman fiddled with the strap of her bag, she wasn't trying to stall but she wasn't looking forward to heading into the meeting either. While necessary and practical the annual meetings were not her favorite time of the Turn... on the other hand she was looking forward to the presentations and lectures that some of the Masters and forerunners in certain fields were going to put on. She herself was going to speak on one of her papers that had been published, but it was going to be a small affair and did not expect more than a smattering of people to be in attendance. It was a very specific topic and the target audience was small. Deciding that she couldn't dawdle about for much longer, Raylanne made her way into the building in which the first of her personal meetings would take place.

Navigating her way through the halls, the Bluerider managed to locate someone who could tell her where Serissa's office was. She briskly waved the Apprentice off once he was done telling her and moved quietly down the path she'd been told. Listening for the sounds of conversation before knocking on the door, Raylanne made certain that she would not be intruding on a meeting that had run long before opening the door. At least she had been assigned a meeting with a Master she'd worked with before. It was always so difficult to handle dealing with new people, most often they found her odd and tried to do things as quickly as possible. "Hello. I hope I'm not late." She knew for a fact she was right on time, but Adanth had told her saying things like that made her sound more approachable. "I'm Senior Journeyman Raylanne of Blue Adanth, we have a meeting scheduled."

Placing her bag next to the empty chair the Bluerider sat down with a quiet sigh but offered a small smile. "Its nice to see you again Master Serissa." Another thing Adanth had recommended saying.

[Ruby]

Raylanne! Of course. As soon as the Bluerider entered the room Serissa's memory jogged and made the connection. Bluerider, good looking, Selenitas; Serissa had not been at Adanth's hatching since the Gold had made such a fuss about people coming (and it was rather soon after her loss of Ildyth and subsequent impression of Sesk), but around 3 turns of age Adanth had still been growing, and Serissa had been among the dragonhealers to examine him. Serissa wondered idly how the Blue was faring, then realized... she could just ask Raylanne. Once the Bluerider sat down.

Practically leaping out of her chair (she would have been significantly more smooth, but shards, she was tired), Serissa slunk around the table in a practiced gait that made the best use of her hips and pulled a chair out for the Senior Journeyman. Gesturing at the chair, she purred, "Raylanne, pleasure to see you. Please, just call me Serissa, I never really got used to the whole 'master' thing, I feel like an old man when people call me that. 'Mistress' gives people the wrong ideas, though, so Master Serissa it is, I suppose." Quirking a little smile at her own joke, Serissa headed back around the desk, fixing her hair as she went. She wished she'd remembered ahead of time that she rather liked the look of the Bluerider - she would have paid significantly more attention to her own appearance if she had! Not that Serissa ever looked much less than hot, but still. A little effort went a long way, or so it was said.

Taking a seat again, she sent Daniel a note to bring an extra mug, then asked her guest, "Can I get you some klah or something else to drink? It may be a little while in coming, though. I'm not sure flits can go between with a full mug." Shuffling the papers on the desk in front of her into a pile, Serissa laid her pen across the stack and her elbows on the table, cheekily resting her chin on her hands. "So, catch me up. What have you been working on? How is Bitra treating you? How's Adanth, Adanth is your blue right?

[Tashe]

"Ah, yes, well. Serissa then." Raylanne it always felt odd to call someone by their name if they had a well earned title to go with it, especially since Serissa had received Mastership at a relatively young age. The Bluerider was only a few turns younger than the Greenhandler but she still didn't expect to be tapped for Mastery for at least three turns. She might have walked the tables at fifteen for the first leg of her Journeymanship but the war had messed up her timing. "Yes, I'm quite familiar with the conceived and literal associations with the term. Working with the brothels have been very informative." Crossing her legs Raylanne smoothed out the fabric of her trousers, only vaguely aware of Serissa's primping and posturing. "Water, if you have it." She paused. "Please."

At the questioning, Raylanne folded her hands neatly in her lap and closed her eyes briefly, using a moment of time to recall what would be important to speak of. "Bitra has been... an unique experience. Originally I choose assignment there because Adanth wanted to live in a location that would both benefit both his and my talents. Over the time I have living there it has been made clear to me that the inhabitants of Bitra consider me to be, as they say, 'their' Dragonrider. Most of the commoner class treat any other Dragonrider who visits with hostility. And even the wealthier of the population prefer my company over that of other Riders. They do not like Inverness at all." She shifted slightly as if trying to find the words. "Its quite... interesting. I assume it is due to my relative indifference to whom I treat and why they are there so long as they cannot be called a murderer and are in need of medical assistance."

"As you know, Bitra proper is currently profiting from the Summit's changes to the governing laws. But the surrounding cotholds and small outliers are still strife with lawlessness and are destitute. I have been focusing the team there on working with the villages outside of the main Hold. I have helped set up a rotating shift and a messenger system for fast and easy access to Healers. I myself am currently in the Hold proper helping to run a... well, I wouldn't call it free because nothing is free in Bitra... a relatively cheap clinic. The Master there tends to the Higher profile clients at a different location." Raylanne steepled her fingers and touched her chin. "I preform basic health exams for the commonwealth, and have become... popular as a Healer among the prostitutes, and they make up a large portion of my regular patients." She glanced up from the edge of the table, her eyes glinting slightly. "And, when the need arises I assist the Holdguard with identifying murder victims and accessing how they died, if it is not immediately apparent." She smiled past her fingers. "And I am finalizing two of my papers, of which I hope to present to the board of Masters before the end of the turn. The first on wartime medical issues and the second on the structural damage of bone as affected through environmental degradation."

"And as for Adanth, he is fine. He enjoys stopping thieves and lawbreakers far too much for his own good. I have oft stopped him from exacting his own form of justice on the criminals so that the Guardsmen can process them." Raylanne played idly with the roughly made wire bracelet she wore. "As far as his Health is concerned he is showing no signs of illness or negative reactions to his continual growth. I have recently measured him. He has grown a foot since the last turn. Adanth has approached just above average size for a Blue. Both he and I share the thought that he may never stop actually growing. My estimation is that he will surpass the largest recorded size for a Blue in near about three or four turns. His growth seems to be slowing, but only fractionally."