Easy Prey (PLOT!) (Open)

[dragon]

Dorava stopped abruptly when an arm slammed across her way into the doorsill. She turned her gaze upon Kalierre again, ready to bite her head off, or her arm, or anything, really. She was pissed. And it had been quite hard for her to walk away without saying anything about it. But being stopped?! After being ordered out?! What kind of twisted lunatic was she?!

But before she could open her mouth to say anything, Kalierre was speaking again. Dorava, with bolstering from Aonith, had the presence of mind to pause and listen before kneejerk reacting to her. After a moment, the blazing fire in her eyes dimmed down somewhat, though it didn't quite go away. Dorava was shocked: was Kalierre actually, seriously, apologizing?? To her? Dorava?

It was a shot out of the dark, to her. She hadn't thought Kalierre was capable of such a thing. Granted, the dragonhealer was stressed, and likely pissed, but then so was everyone! Dorava did appreciate having the life threat lifted off of her, though. Not trusting her voice ... or her tongue, really ... Dorava merely nodded. For a few minutes, she just stood there in the doorway, turning to watch as the dragonhealer walked off, to do something else.

Kalierre was not forgiven, oh no. It would take awhile for that to happen ... more than likely after she got her own temper back into the box that Kalierre had oh-so-kindly freed it from. It had taken her turns to get it in that box.

Report to Savitri or R'wign? She could do that. In fact, she would prefer that. She liked that idea. "Thank you, ma'am." Dorava responded, quietly. She then looked over at Savitri. The small attempt at defence on her part hadn't actually gone unnoticed. Dorava was thankful for the effort, but she hadn't tried to play on it because she hadn't wanted to drag Savitri into what was plainly becoming a hate vendetta between the dragon healer and herself.

Seriously ... she hadn't been the one to claw her own dragon's wings to ribbons. Part of the reason she was at Selenitas was in concern for her dragon's wings! But again ... not something she was going to bring up. She knew better, keeping her mouth shut. She in no way wanted to provoke Kalierre, even if it meant seeming to allow Kalierre to walk all over her and accuse absurd things.

It wasn't true. Dorava knew it. Aonith knew it. And that was really all that mattered. It was getting to where Kalierre's opinon mattered nill to Dorava. So being seen as an idiot didn't bother her nearly as much as it might have otherwise.

How could she be an idiot, and come up with damage control measures for this mess? One of the better trained healers should have done that. But it wasn't. So she was very well satisfied with her own inteligence quota.

Dorava looked around the infirmary, and then decided that she had best go find something else to do. Regardless if she liked her or not, Kalierre had been right about one thing: there was no shortage of things to do. Even if, for Dorava, all that was would be going back to her scrolls and tomes to study. She fully intended to not be 'staff' for long. Or even apprentice. She hated not being able to do something just because some young fart decided she wasn't knowledgeable enough for it.

Nodding almost imperceptibally to Savitri, and not even knowing if the young woman had seen her or not, Dorava moved off to find something else to do. It looked like both of them had a vested interest in Virast's body, so she would leave them to it.

((And thus, I am out of this thread <3)))

[Requiem]

She couldn't resist. Kalierre was no psychic; she couldn't read people's minds aside from her beloved Phremath's. But she didn't have to be a mindreader to be able to tell that Dorava was both still angry with her and that there was a layer of aggression there, lurking. The dilated pupils and flared nostrils indicated that much. No, the dragonhealer couldn't resist the cold smile that was more a bestial bearing of teeth than an actual expression of warmth. And when she turned her back on Dorava's departure, it was perhaps a bit more pointed than it needed to be...a clear dismissal of the younger greenrider.

Turning to Savitri, the dragonhealer's gaze softened distinctly, the tension flowing out of the line of her shoulders. She listened to the girl's words and felt a strong empathic chord being strummed. It wasn't, in the end, just the fact that she disliked Dorava intensely and that she was already upset that drove her to such a display. The goldrider had looked to be on the verge of tears upon Kalierre's entrance as Dorava prattled on obliviously. And Savitri was someone Kalierre genuinely liked - had liked from the first day the girl had showed up in her office as a candidate, offering to help at the infirmary as she could. A strong girl. A very strong girl, which made those threatening tears stick in Kalierre's mind all the stronger.

The dragonhealer suspected Savitri would protest, but it didn't stop her. She moved forward and wrapped her arms around the shorter healer. "I know, hun," the woman murmured, one hand moving up to cup the back of the girl's head. "I know you feel like you have to do something. Anything. I know. And you're right about everyone being invested. But hun," and here she took a step back to look down into the girl's eyes. "You're not simply invested with him. He was your brother...your only family here. You're not thinking straight right now. What you need is something mindless to do where you won't make any mistakes until you can pull your emotions back together. Then we tackle this problem, you and I and R'wign if I can bring myself to drag the poor boy back in here...Then we tackle this problem and dismantle it piece by piece. You're not doing anyone any good dwelling on this, least of all yourself."

Kalierre's anger had faded now to a dim burn, and the frustrated pain was clear in her usually unreadable face as she turned her gaze upon the shrouded form in the corner. "Believe me, I know. I watched my mother waste away when I was a girl...and that was what drove me to Healer Hall in the first place." Her eyes came back to rest on Savitri. "Find something to do outside of the infirmary. Bathe and oil Hepaticath. Check her straps. Something. Or I can find some paperwork that needs to be finished...and we'll take a look at this with fresh eyes tomorrow. Yes?"

[kysseh]

Savitri managed to return Dorava's nod with one of her own, silently acknowledging the greenrider as she departed. Even though Kalierre had apologized, the goldrider was under no illusions that the disagreement was over. Far from it, in fact. She was certain that Dorava and Kalierre would butt heads again in the future, given the way they were posturing. Savitri would not claim to be an expert on subtleties, but she was woman enough to pick up on the fact that the two others really disliked each other. This would get ugly, she recognized, and she determined to be careful where either was concerned in the future, particularly Dorava. The flicker of guilt over getting the woman in trouble just would not go away.

When Kalierre turned her way, Savitri straightened, making an effort to not look as horrible as she felt. She had to... to keep busy. Her notes were there on the table, and they needed reviewing. She could go over them with Kalierre, and the more experienced healer could offer some advice. R'wign too... she needed to share her notes with him. He was their resident poisons expert after all. Talk to the kitchen staff, lock away or destroy what sources might be contaminated, organize the gathering of new food-

So busy was her mind that Savitri did not see the embrace coming until Kalierre's arms were fully around her. Her body tensed, and she had to curb the instinctive urge to squirm away from the unasked-for affection. It felt nice to be the one being held for once, though, so Savitri leaned her head forward to rest her forehead on the taller woman's shoulder, now having to work harder to keep her tears under control. She sniffed and hugged Fish tighter against her chest, making an effort to not squash the feline between them. Fish did not seem to mind, as her purring attested to. Savitri was, apparently, not the only one in need of a little compassion.

When Kalierre pulled back, Savitri lifted her head to eye her, trying to ignore the fact that a few tears had escaped and were flowing down her cheeks. Her heart positively ached, and Kalierre's words, though they stung, were accurate. Her instincts told her to run with the clues while they were fresh, but it appeared that would not be an option. She drew in a shaky breath and closed her eyes, trying to compose herself to offer forth a coherent answer. Come and stay with me, Mine. Hepaticath encouraged her quietly, and Savitri managed the smallest of nods, opening her eyes again to give Kalierre a weak smile.

"I'm sorry... for..." She gestured ineffectually with her free hand, unable to put into words her apology for starting to cry. "I want to... look into some of it. Dorava gave me her notes... we were looking over them. I'll... I'll leave them here for you. We can look tomorrow." One hand scratched the purring silvery feline in her arms, and Fish mrowed in pleasure, rubbing her head against the young woman's arm. Savitri hated to leave the infirmary, particularly with there such a need or more help. "We need the help here. I don't want to leave, but-" Yes. But. But she wanted to go curl up beside her dragon and irrationally cry herself to sleep. She also wanted to beat the life out of the person responsible for the carnage... or curl up in her Rys's lap. Any of those options sounded preferable.

((Faaail, sorry. x.x))