Smells Like a Good Idea (Healer Stall)

[Ember]

Nephele loved Gathers. They were always so interesting. Southern's Gather was even more interesting than the average Gather because of the theme. It looked like a total wreck and that was apparently the point. Southern really knew how to set up a Gather. She and Nuoth had arrived early for the Gather since the temperature had climbed even higher since the start of spring and doing anything at noontime was just foolish. Reflecting the hot weather, as soon as the greenweyrling had arrived she'd shucked off her long sleeve shirt and pants in favour of a t-shirt that didn't cover her middriff and a pair of short shorts. Body modesty? What was that?

Despite the cheery atmosphere, the girl was not as happy as she usually was at Gathers. For once all of her firelizards were absent from her shoulders or the air around her. They'd been more or less banished to her weyr since the loss of one of her darling pets. Misfit had gotten sick from the heat and she'd been unable to do anything but suffer his passing. The brown had been her second oldest mindmate and, while he'd often been visiting his mate rather than her, she had been extremely fond of him. She'd cried after he disappeared between and her firelizards had mourned with her (Diva had been deprived of something that was hers). Nephele chose to keep a careful watch on her other three. Lots of rest, baths, and limited exposure to hotter places than her weyr.

A curious scent caught her attention as she wandered along one of the paths. It didn't smell of food, not unless Southern ate spices as meals. She followed the scent as best she could (she was no canine) and eventually found herself at the Healer stall. She spotted incenses. So that was the source of the smells, she thought back to Nuoth idly. Nephele spotted other interesting things on the chest-tables (neat idea, that) and spent a moment considering what scent of firelizard oil she'd prefer when her eyes caught on the massage oil.

Oh, now that wasn't a bad idea at all. She wondered whether or not an opportunity to use it on K'sel would ever arise. She'd given up on denial entirely and was well into the fantasies phase. If she wasn't able to use it on him she was sure she could tempt someone else with the idea of a massage by a pretty young woman. At the very least, at one mark it didn't seem like an outright bad idea. It couldn't hurt to hope for the best.

[neeuqtar]

The duo tending the stall were certainly dressed for the scorching weather. They looked like brother and sister, both with tawny hair and freckles marking faces, chest, arms, and back. Under the protection of the "boat" the stall was built under, they still wore very little clothing. The young woman wore a grey sarong patterned with leaves, hardly covering her back but twisting up to cover her chest and tie in a halter behind her neck. The man also wore a sarong, but a blue one patterned with shells, wrapped around his waist in an uneven skirt going down to his knees.

He appeared to be busy, measuring careful amounts of different unguents and oils into finer bottles, sealing them with wax, and marking the price with a wax pencil. She, on the other hand, was clearly on duty, watching the eyes of people passing by and taking care to drink plenty of water to stave off dehydration. It didn't take long for her to notice Nephele eying the various wares on the chests. The incense burning in little pots of sands wafted lazy streams of smoke skyward.

"What can I do ya for?" she asked as Nephele's eyes lit on the massage oil. "Some incense to clear the air, perhaps? Or mayhap some oil, for friendly-like." A smile twitched on the man's face, but he kept doing his work. "Anyone special in mind?"

[Ember]

Nephele glanced up at one of the two tending to the stall. Her gaze briefly flicked over to the man before returning to the woman. She smiled pleasantly as any other person might, though it grew noticeably at mention of the oil. It was only to easy to admit, "The oil has definitely caught my eye. I hope it might clear out some...tension between me and a guy." She winked slightly at the woman as she reached for a bottle marked as spice scented. She wasn't entirely sure what scent K'sel would prefer, but if she had to guess she'd say spice. Floral was too feminine for most men to willingly accept. She wasn't entirely sure why she dismissed forest and citrus scents. They just didn't fit.

Despite her conviction that spice would fit best she still asked for an opinion. She leaned slightly towards the stall and asked the man, "Would you prefer spice, forest, or citrus handsome?" She continued to eye the incenses and the firelizard oil too. She had a thing for smelly things, which explaiend her interest in the former, and of course her firelizards ought to be treated to some special oil on occasion. For the most part they were sweethearts and they were being good and listening to her. Yes, something for them, something for her, and something for K'sel. That seemed fair enough. Its not like she had a shortage of marks since she rarely spent any.

[neeuqtar]

The woman laughed gaily as Nephele winked, picking up one of the bottles of spiced oil. Bending down, she picked up a small rack of oils, setting it on a clear chest. They, unlike the other bottles, were not sealed with wax. "If you'd be wanting to try out the scents, these are the oils for humans. I've a set to try on flitters, too."

When Nephele directed her commentary to him, the young man grinned. "Well, lovey," he replied, looking up from his work with laughing hazel eyes. "Depends on the use. If it were for me, I'd pick the spice... were it for me to use on you, surely only the forest." He winked at her flirtatiously, stoppering another bottle and dripping wax along the glass join to seal it.

[Ember]

Oh, testers! Just what Nephele had been hoping for. She hardly wanted to buy a product before seeing what it was like. She smiled and reached for the test version of the spice oil. "I wouldn't mind seeing what the flitter ones are like too," she told the woman as she opened the bottle and took a judicious sniff. Well, it certainly wasn't a smell she would mind on a guy. She wouldn't use it for herself though. A moment after she thought so the man agreed with her thoughts.

She indulged the man with a giggle at the wink before she reached out with her mind to her most obedient flitter. She'd send him back to the weyr right after she had him help her by trying out the flitter oil. A moment later her bronze firelizard popped in and landed on her shoulder, nuzzling her lovingly. "Think you could try a special oil for me, Mother?" Naturally, the good natured bronze consented and let her transfer him to the table where he sat still to avoid hittign any of the bottles. "He'll be my tester ."

[neeuqtar]

"Feel free," the woman said cheerfully. At the appearance of the bronze flitter, she grinned before pursing her lips and making a very firelizard-esque trill at the bronze. "Ello lovely," she told the handsome creature as her brother finished oils and went to work mixing something else, using a mortar and pestle to crush something between the stone.

"Have any idea for a scent?" she asked. "Yaz here can mix you a lighter or stronger one if the scents we've aren't quite to your taste. Special, like, since you're first here and we're not all bottled up." The woman flashed a smile at her customer, tossing her rough-cut hair over her shoulders.

"Free with my favors, eh Minzy?" the man replied with a laugh. He flashed his own brilliant smile at Nephele. "I'd be happy t'mix you one. Jest let me know!"

[marge]

Tobby was yawning as he headed away from the egg stall, one hand pressed to his ear. Damn thing was actually bleeding. The candidate sighed softly, blinking several times before he rubbed at his eyes and looked around again. His new brown, who he still hadn't thought up a name for, lay asleep on his shoulder. He was immensely glad that newly hatched flitters fell right asleep after they stuffed their face. The candidate already loved his new mindmate, but he didn't want to have to get to know the brown in such a crowd.

But he had been surprised when Melly decided that he too was tired. The tiny blue had climbed up on to Tobby's head then proceeded to make a 'nest' out of the boy's hair to sleep in. The result had most of Tobby's hair standing practically on end, looking rather silly. In this, Melly had hidden the majority of himself from view, except for his tail which hung down the back of Tobby's head and curled around his uninjured ear. With both mindmates asleep, Tobby himself found himself rather exhausted but refused to start seeking a ride yet. He had only just gotten to the gather. He was going to look around some more.

So with this attitude, the youngster approached the Healers stall. His ears had caught mention of an oil for firelizards and he was interested. He gave the three gathered at the stall an obviously tired smile before he quietly began looking over the wares. "You have oil for firelizards? Does it work on 'mandyrs too?" The candidate asked after a short moment, looking up to the female healer. Hopefully she wouldn't comment on just how silly he knew he looked. Tobby pulled his hand down to glance at it before he returned it to his ear. Still bleeding. Shard it all.

[Ember]

The bronze firelizard didn't make a sound in response, though he did extend his neck upwards. He was almost the opposite of the typical bronze. Perhaps the only thing he had in common with the average bronze was colour and intelligence. His wings also flared slightly but he didn't extend them all the way. Just enough to know the woman wasn't ignored. She placed the sample of spice massage oils back down and reached for the citrus firelizard oil. She took a small amount and lightly rubbed it into Mother's back.

The bronze liked it well enough. Oil was oil, though if having the smell made His happy he was more than willing to accept it. A moment later the bronze sneezed and he blinked up at His in askance. It was a bit strong for him. "Hmm, a more subtle citrus one for flitters would be nice," she told the pair of healers. She scooped Mother up and gave him a quick pet before placing him back on her shoulder. She'd keep him around until a lighter scent was made so he could have a sniff of that. The bronze was quickly distracted by a young firelizard, no doubt recently hatched. He nuzzled His to bring it to her attention while he peered at the sleeping brown on Tobby's shoulder.

The question the boy asked would have alerted her to his presence soon enough, but Mother saved her from being startled by it. She turned to look at the speaker and her first thought was how adorable the boy was. The second thought was that he was bleeding. The red on his hand was unmistakeable. "Um, excuse me, but are you alright? I couldn't help but notice the blood..." She had an insane soft spot for children.

[neeuqtar]

The woman -- Minzy, it seemed -- caught sight of Tobby long before Nephele did. Her healer instincts turned on full power, and she turned just in time to catch a medical kit her brother Yaz had lofted at her. With a quick grin by way of thanks, she unclipped the wooden box and pulled out a jar from a padded compartment. Unstopping it quickly, Minzy opened a pack of swabs as the stringent smell of antiseptic wafted up from the medicine bottle. "C'mere, lad," she said, voice with just a touch of command. "Let's see to that ear, and then you can look at the oils. They do work just as well on them salamandyrs as on flitters. Aren't they related somehow or other?"

Yaz turned his attention to Nephele as Minzy was distracted by the bleeding boy. "How light would you like it?" the man asked in response to Nephele's request. "We try and keep the scents light enough not to bother flitters but light enough to be smelt. I can tone it down just a shade, like, or I can make it light as a breeze. All depends on the amount of rind and how long it's let to soak, and the mix of oil with the infused."

[marge]

The boy blushed softly as all three at the stall responded to his ear bleeding, but was so tired that he didn't bother trying to protest when the female healer called him forward. Besides, his ear sharding hurt. Tobby stepped closer, pulling his hand away so that she could look at his ear. "It's not bleeding that badly." He mumbled embarrassedly. Melly let out a soft grunt as he stirred. The tiny salamandyr lifted his head to peer at Minzy. Help mine? Bully stupidflyer hurt. The blue cooed, his tail wrapping tighter around Tobby's other ear.

Said flitter seemed to realize that he was the object of another attention and woke only to stare at Mother. He let out a soft hiss, his eyes focused on the bronze with creepy intensity.

[Ember]

Nephele was glad to see the quick reaction out of the healer woman. She also noticed the boy's blush and grinned slightly. Poor kid was probably embarrassed to have so many noticing his injury. She turned her attention back to the male healer as he spoke to her and she checked with Mother mentally to see how much lighter the scent should be. The bronze impressed upon her that it only bothered slightly. That meant it only needed to be lightened slightly. "Just a bit lighter than this would be perfect."

Mother watched as the brown stirred and he extended a welcoming feeling to the youngling. The hiss and the staring surprised the bronze and he moved to the edge of His' shoulder to get slightly closer to the brown. He brushed its mind curiously. Was there something wrong?

[neeuqtar]

"It's not the blood, lad," Minzy chided. "It's infection. Wouldn't want to rot your ear of, eh? Not nearly as handsome." She laughed gaily, making light of her own words as she worked quickly, merely swabbing the blood to clean the wound. Small cuts stopped bleeding soon enough -- one just didn't want dirt or other foreign material (like fire-lizard spit, it seemed) lodged in one's body! Stepping back, Minzy recorked the bottle of antiseptic tightly and put it away. She trilled, a high call much louder than the one she had greeted the bronze with, and was soon bombed by an ungainly-looking teal creature that looked like a lumpy fire-lizard.

"Trash," she informed it, pulling a tiny ball of what looked like crushed bug out of a belt-pouch and feeding the creature she'd caught. It ate the mushed bugs quite cheerfully, eyes whirling almost the same color as its blotchy hide, then grabbed the bloody swab and jumped into the air, hopping between to dump it. "Now," she said, seeing that Yaz was dealing with Nephele, "What can I do ya for?"

Yaz, meanwhile, had gotten up from his seat on a hammock-like chair, pulled a ledger out of a box and flipped through, pursing his lips. "Hmmm... we make each batch a little different," he informed Nephele, while hunting through his own crabbed handwriting. "That mix there is about average, but there's some that are a bit lighter... hmm, aha!" Setting the ledger down in his chair, Yaz strode over to the area where the bottles of fire-lizard oil were set out. Tipping them back, he looked though the calligraphy labels (made by his sister) until he found what he was looking for. "Here," he said, holding out the bottle to Nephele. "This is a touch lighter than that one, and a little brighter in scent. It's our older mixture," Yaz added by way of explanation.

[marge]

Feeling a good deal more awake now that both of his mindmates were, Tobby nodded. He silently waited as the healer cleaned his ear before smiling as her flit appeared. The blue wasn't the prettiest of creatures, but he was obviously well trained. Maybe he could train Melly and his new brown that well... "I heard you had some firelizard oil and I was interested in getting some for these two." The boy explained with a wide grin. He glanced to the many bottles, "What kind do you have?"

The young brown rose up and let out another growl as the much bigger firelizard scooted closer. Annoying pest! He stared, his eyes whirling yellow, before turning and crawling on to Tobby's opposite shoulder. The brown hissed irritably at his bonded. Couldn't he go any faster? So slow! Tobby frowned at the hatchling before turning to give Nephele and her bronze an apologetic smile, looking rather embarrassed about his brown's behavior. Melly grunted, frowning toward the brown before he lay down and once again disappeared into Tobby's hair.

[Ember]

Nephele was momentarily distracted by the firelizard that came and went rather quickly. Well trained little creature. She turned her attention back to the male healer. While he searched through his books she set down the tester bottle, though she held onto the spice massage oil. She was also eyeing the seabreeze incense. It really did smell nice (what she could smell out of all the mixed scents) and her weyr often seemed a bit too stagnant for her. She took the bottle from Yaz and smiled gratefully. "Thanks. So this, the massage oil, and...one incense comes to...three and a half marks?" She'd collected the items she wanted in front of her. She deliberately left it as a question to see if perhaps she might get a deal.

Mother watched the brown growl and skitter away, eyes whirling worried tones. Had he offended the little baby? Sorry, so sorry. He hadn't meant to. Nephele glanced at the bronze then to the boy. The smile made her smile in return and she said, "Mother'll be okay. His interest in your firelizard must mean he's just a baby...?"

[neeuqtar]

"We've five kinds of oils for they little dragon-kin," Minzy said cheerfully, a bit of her accent dropping through again, though she always worked to hide it. "Our most popular are the spice and forest ones, but we've also floral and citrus."

"And unscented," Yaz piped up. Minzy grinned.

"Yes, just mineral oil for they with sensitive noses or allergies. Were ya wanting t'try them, see if yer little ones like the scent of anything?" The woman smiled cheerfully, enjoying her job despite the immense heat. But then again, she and her brother were of Istan blood, though both had lived at the Healer Hall since they had been old enough to learn a Craft. Heat enough to fell a runner was in their blood, and under the shade of the scuttled boat, they had no difficulty being their usual selves.

"Which incense?" Yaz asked Nephele. We're a-burning seabreeze right now, but we've lilac, tropic, and pomegranate." He flashed her a smile, knowing a price-fishing expedition when he heard one. "For a kiss I'll make it three," he said with a wink and a flirtatious waggle of his blond brows. Minzy shot him a look, which he purported to ignore. Sisters were such sticks in the mud sometimes!