Out for the Count (S'rei and friend)

[reqqy]

Watching Savitri was mildly upsetting. The girl seemed to be in a hurry, and he didn’t like her hovering over Aliscia, though there was really no reason to be discontent about it. Aliscia clearly didn’t mind it. Savitri was gentle, too, even though her quick movements would have made him think otherwise. That really just served to confuse him, though. She was loud and dominating, but gentle, too? No, he didn’t like it. Faolan squirmed a little. Women shouldn’t be like that. Even S’rei seemed to back down when she was in the room – though Faolan realized that the man seemed very much distracted. Much as he preferred Aliscia, having to adapt to this change so suddenly still made the dragonless man-child uncomfortable.

He watched the goldweyrling handle his mistress with wariness. Aliscia seemed to be hurting. That didn’t bother Faolan as much as it might have, because he recognized that most of such movements did, and it probably wasn’t Savitri causing the discomfort directly. Still, it bothered him, and he found his gaze travelling to Aliscia’s face anxiously, hoping to determine if she was going through more pain than necessary. Although…what could he do about that, really? Such as it was, he’d been looking at her when she stuck out her tongue at the bronzerider. Faolan’s eyes widened to an almost perfectly round shape. Quickly, he glanced toward the retreating back of the bronzerider, frightened that S’rei would be angry. “Please,” he murmured, clearly distressed, his gaze seeking out Aliscia’s. He didn’t want anything bad to happen to her.

It definitely helped when the greenrider’s hand closed on his, the movements of her thumb reassuring him that everything was okay. He bowed his head slightly. From that position, he could both watch Aliscia and not have to look at Savitri’s face. The girl still confused him. Aliscia’s words didn’t really help much in that respect, either, because he didn’t really know any bossy women. They were all quiet, some as skittish as him. Some colder than the men. He’d seen those reactions throughout the spectrum of people they crowded him with throughout the day, and thought to himself that they were almost as much a slave as he. While Aliscia didn’t really come across that way, either, something about her disarmed him. Not so for this…goldweyrling? She didn’t fit his mold, but maybe that was because of the gold part. He hadn’t met a goldrider quite this directly before. Shmee didn’t count…she couldn’t even remember him anyway. F’loof. That brief gap in his carefully shored up guard left Faolan distressed, and he quickly pushed back the memories and the ‘dark man.’

His gaze flicked from Savitri to Aliscia and back again questioningly. They seemed to know each other. “Gold?” Then, for once, he broke his habit of single word sentences. “You work here?” Goldriders were hidden away in the world that had most recently forged him, as if they were mythological creatures. Even when the queens Rose, unless you were involved in the Flight – you never got to see the rider. His boldness stemmed mostly from the greenrider’s continued contact, and an abiding curiosity. He almost wanted to reach out and touch the goldweyrling, just to be sure she actually existed. Part of him had wondered if golds really needed to bond at all, after never seeing the riders. Ever.

He blinked mutely at the food tray, gaze darting up to seek out Savitri’s again. Oh, these people confused him. The goldweyrling seemed to be including him in her question, but Faolan knew he was supposed to eat after everyone else, preferably out of sight – and only if they didn’t need him. He also wasn’t someone who typically ate a lot. Subconsciously, he mewled as Aliscia extracted her hand, immediately paling at the fact that he’d made that sound. That wasn’t right. Hoping she wouldn’t be angry at him, he went to studying his hands, feeling very much out of place. Of course, even if the dragonless wasn’t particularly keen on diving in, Cherry was more than interested in the food, her entire head peeking up as her nostrils flared.

Then Aliscia made it perfectly clear that she wanted him to eat. Faolan did not dare disobey, even if it was very, very strange. Besides. Cherry was definitely hungry. He tentatively extracted a meatroll and carefully began tearing it apart for the little green. No, Cherry was ravenous. He’d always had to be careful never to feed her in sight of them, and the poor thing was now always hungry. She managed to consume one and part of another, too, before her little tummy couldn’t handle anymore. Smiling at Aliscia’s question – she didn’t seem upset that he had the firelizard – Faolan noticeably relaxed.

“Her name is Cherry,” he stated, almost proudly. The little green chirped at the sound of her name, before cozying up against him, clearly reflecting his growing acceptance of the strange situation with these two women. “She’s mine,” he added, a momentary fierceness coming into his blues as he met the gaze of Aliscia and Savitri. They could do what they wanted, but he wouldn’t let them take Cherry from him. That fierce demeanor vanished as quickly as it came, the boy quietly finishing the part of the meatroll his pet hadn’t eaten. He tentatively reached for a fruit, only taking it when neither woman seemed inclined to stop him. Faolan hadn’t eaten fruit…in a long time.

[kysseh]

Aliscia was surprised at the pitiful sound Faolan made when she withdrew her hand. She flicked her tired gaze over toward him, only to find him studying his hands and pointedly not looking at the other two humans in the room. It troubled her to see him so in need of comfort. So... dependent. Well, a little time and some patience could fix that. Until then, she was going to enjoy his touch. It warmed her to have someone touch her with care and concern... someone being a man. Granted, his care and concern was entirely out of obedience and seemed impersonal, at best, but Aliscia was not quibbling over details when she could benefit. No, no protests would be forthcoming from her at all.

She was glad that Faolan fed his little pet and took a fruit for himself, wishing she had the energy to explain to him that he need never ask or wait for permission. He viewed himself as a slave, but she viewed him as person. It would be nice to have company during meals. Savitri was around on occasion, but Hepaticath and the usual weyrling duties kept the young woman occupied most of the time. Aliscia had to be contented with whatever time was leftover that the goldweyrling could spare. She could scarcely complain about that either, though. It had been Turns since she'd had a female friend whom she trusted to any degree.

His fierceness was surprising, and it left some hope that he had not been completely broken down. There was some fight left in him still, and Aliscia paused in her eating to smile tiredly in the direction of the manboy and his pet. She was not about to be intimidated by that show of defiance. She'd killed men twice his size in under half a heartbeat, so his strength of will bothered her not. Only his servile attitude did. "She seems like a good pet," she said softly, nibbling again at her meatroll. "I'm jealous. Haven't had pet in Turns." Her tone was lightly wistful but more contemplative than anything. Her last pet, a flitter, had died some Turns ago at the weyr. She had not thought to try to Impress another since.

Finishing off her piece of fruit, Savitri reached for a meatroll, finally finding an opportunity to answer his question while he was busy with his meal. "Gold, yes. Her name is Hepaticath; I call her Cath." It was shorter, easier, and far less difficult on the tongue, though she stilled introduced her as Hepaticath to others. She gave a brief smile at the thought of working in the Infirmary again. "I used to work here more. I'm too busy now, but I help out when it's needed. Or when my friends are injured." She followed her explanation with a quirk of a grin at Aliscia, who promptly rolled her eyes right back. Strange, how people could act when the tables were reversed. The last time, it was Savitri laid up with injuries.

A question did have to be answered, though, and the healer arched an eyebrow and inclined her head toward Faolan, watching Aliscia's face for a reaction. The greenrider did not disappoint. "Faolan is going to stay with me for awhile. I'm going to need the help, and I know you'll do your best," she said, cutting off Savitri's beginning of a protest. "But he needs to stay somewhere too, and I'm not about to let him stay with the weyrwoman with all that's happened." She swallowed thickly, glad she had finished her food for the moment. Shardit, but her throat was dry, and the effort to speak had her tired.

Recognizing the source of her friend's problem, Savitri poured the greenrider a mug of klah, gratified when Aliscia took a few sips and seemed marginally more comfortable. "If you insist," was all she said on the topic before she looked over at Faolan. "Anyway, do you know much about healing?" she inquired, wondering if she was leaving Aliscia in capable hands once she had to leave.

[reqqy]

Faolan smiled at Aliscia around a bite of fruit, clearly pleased that his mistress had complimented little Cherry. Of course she was a good pet. The best. No, not even a pet to him, anymore. Cherry was really the only family he had. Little green firelizard. She loved him no matter what. The blue had wandered off somewhere and gotten himself killed. Putz. But not Cherry. Cherry would never leave him of her own will, and he had no intention of allowing anyone or anything to take her from him, so she'd be with him forever. And ever.

His little green was now staring at Aliscia curiously, her head twisting on her neck before she began to squirm her way between the laces of his shirt. Faolan shifted to place the fruit in his lap, not seeming to care about the juices, and gently extricated her from the laces before drawing her out. Cherry chirped quietly in gratitude, her wings flaring a little as he placed her on the cot. The green firelizard seemed perfectly healthy aside from the twisted forelimb, her eyes whirling contentedly as she did a little half-skip over toward the injured woman, crooning softly. She promptly curled up between Faolan's foot and Aliscia's thigh, touching both and happy for the contact, before the little green fell right to sleep. "Looks like she wants to share you," the man commented, clearly almost as content as his firelizard. He wouldn't be nearly so happy if he'd remembered that this was probably not a proper way to speak to his mistress.

Faolan went back to gnawing at his fruit, his eyes finding Savitri as she began to talk once more. He was relaxing a bit, but it was clear that the goldrider had him more on edge than Aliscia did. He still wasn't quite sure what to make of her. The girl intrigued him, though, and he stared at her with open curiosity. Well, yes, he could have guessed that she used to work here. Could clearly see that she still did, at least occasionally. That still didn't answer the question of why. Why did they allow her to? Why was she even seen in the general weyr? He could not imagine that Selenitas was really any different from the place he came from - sometimes forgot that there had been a change in location at all. It was all the same to someone like him. One master was much like another, though some were nicer, and the weyrs weren't all that different either. Such was what they'd told him to think. He didn't question that. Dangerous, to question anything.

"But why?" he queried, after she stopped speaking, emboldened by the fact that she hadn't gotten angry about his earlier questioning.

The man turned his attention back to Aliscia, listening to her explanation intently, the bit of fruit forgotten in his mouth for a moment. So she hadn't yet changed her mind. Mention of the Weyrwoman, though, had him staring at his hands again, growing agitated. He hadn't meant to make it seem like he didn't want to be around her! Faolan wasn't supposed to have a noticeable opinion. Uncomfortable, he wished Cherry wasn't down by his foot at the moment; he wanted her warmth against his chest. Determined to rectify this, as he was clearly wrong, wrong, wrong to have given Aliscia the impression that he wanted to get away from the Weyrwoman, Faolan spoke. "It's okay. She's fine. If you want Savitri, that's okay." He shut his mouth before he could say anything further. His tone sounded far too sad to his ears, and he knew he was probably just making it worse.

Now the pushy goldrider was talking to him again, though, and the directness of her question had him shrinking in on himself. He glanced at Cherry. The poor green and her shattered leg. Faolan had tried, but...she could move it, however the bones hadn't set completely right. He'd tried. No, no, he wasn't any good at healing. The young man shook his head, hiding behind his curls for a moment. When he looked up, he finally qualified the motion. "No...not much...just first aid a little." His face flushed. It was something the masters had tried to teach him more of, but, in the end they'd despaired of ever getting him to grasp most of the finer points. Admittedly, Faolan simply had no desire to learn more. They'd beat him for his stupidity, and that was the end of that.

Fingering the fruit, he glanced toward the door. Faolan didn't like the intensity with which Savitri regarded him. Better to be nearly invisible. His eyes were drawn to Aliscia, though, and he frowned. So tired looking. He reached out to stroke her arm, waiting for her to look at him. "You should sleep," he murmured quietly. She should. Really.

[kysseh]

Aliscia could not resist a smile at the antics of the little green firelizard, watching as Faolan removed her from his shirt and set her down. Adorable little thing. It made her wish her Sierra hadn't died; she missed the little brown's cuddling. As Cherry curled herself up beside Aliscia's leg, the woman set aside her now-empty mug and gently stroked the little green's back with one finger. The little flitter looked healthy, minus her damaged foreleg. She wondered briefly what had happened to it, but reason told her that the poor pet might have been used as... leverage. Or perhaps it was an accidental injury, who knew? "I guess so," she said softly in response to Faolan's question, not caring if he heard or not. The little firelizard's trust was reassuring, and she withdrew her hand before it disturbed Cherry's rest. Better to let the little creature sleep.

The ensuing back and forth had Aliscia's head throbbing as she realized that Faolan had interpreted her meaning incorrectly. He sounded so sad, bereft of any real joy, and she made a soft noise of contentment as he stroked her arm, turning her gaze over toward him. "Not that tired yet," she murmured quietly, resting her good hand on his arm. "And I do want you to stay with me, Faolan. I'm sorry if I made it seem... otherwise. I just want... Savitri to know that she doesn't have to worry about me." Her words were still slurred, shardit, which made it more difficult to communicate with him. She wanted to take him under her wing and keep him safe. Perhaps she saw that she could potentially be like that one day, or that she could have been very easily. If sleeping on her couch was all the comfort she could offer the bereft man, then the couch was all his. And with a few furs and a pillow, it might be nearly as comfortable as a bed.

Savitri seemed to sense Faolan's discomfort, and she let Aliscia deal with the problem, falling silent until she was certain the greenrider had no more to say. The injured woman was getting tired and would need to sleep soon, though Savitri was unsure whether she trusted her sleeping friend in the presence of an unknown man. Aliscia seemed comfortable enough with him, but the painkillers and sedatives might have played a role in dulling down the greenrider's normal paranoia. Then again, Aliscia seemed as good a judge of people as her green, so... perhaps Savitri was just being paranoid. Even still, she was watching their interaction very, very closely.

"Why not? If I wasn't in the infirmary and working, I'd go mad from boredom. There is far too much work to be done. Besides, being a goldrider doesn't make me all that much different from any other rider... barring a few things like clutching and rank," she admitted candidly with a shrug of one shoulder. Finished eating, she relaxed in her chair, noting that though Aliscia remained conscious of her presence, the greenrider's light brown eyes were trained on the dragonless man. The fact that he was encouraging Aliscia to rest was both encouraging and unnerving. The man was anticipating her needs far too quickly, and his servile attitude was making Savitri very suspicious. But... well, it was not her place to butt in and start fixing things. Aliscia was capable of handling herself and any trouble.

"She'll sleep soon. Since you'll be staying with her-" Why Aliscia had agreed to that was still beyond her. "-I'll just give you some basic instructions to help her out, though she can mostly take care of herself," the healer said simply, amused by the look Aliscia sent her way. "It's a fact, not an insult, Aliscia. It'll be hard to do any sort of lifting or work with only one hand and a damaged ribcage." She was not trying to pick on the woman, but Aliscia still looked mildly, tiredly, rebellious. Ah well. Aliscia should be grateful for the help he was giving. "No heavy lifting, no riding, no betweening." Her gaze on the greenrider was firm and unyielding on all counts. "Light exercise is good, but nothing that causes a whole lot of pain. Go easy the first sevenday or so. Lots of rest and sleep."

[reqqy]

His brow knotted mildly. She was lying to him. He could hear it in her voice, how weary she was. Faolan allowed Aliscia her lie. Who was he to question her, after all? Besides, he couldn't help but feel a small measure of peace as she reassured him, even if she'd misunderstood. He didn't really believe that she didn't want him with her, though it wouldn't have surprised him if she changed her mind, when it came right down to it. He was just a stranger. A strange, low man with so much of himself missing even Faolan didn't recognize Faolan. How would he have been if she wasn't hurting? Probably just silent. Silence was the best. Silent and motionless, because then you were just a shadow, and shadows couldn't be hurt, couldn't be touched. Faolan wanted to be a shadow. Less than a shadow. But there was Cherry, and she couldn't...couldn't be taken care of by a shadow.

If there was no one else, he could justify it. He could become as he wished. Was it so bad that, every day when he woke up, Faolan felt disappointment? That he regretted, after every beating, that they never quite went far enough? Something inside him shuddered, attempting to claw up through his throat, through his eyes. He turned his face from the two women in an attempt to keep the monster from looking out. His dark man. He wanted to become a shadow and take the dark man with him, where they both would be beyond pain. Beyond causing pain. No, he couldn't think of this! Already the hole in his mind blazoned, drawing him toward it, toward the scream. He was drowning inside himself...

Savitri's voice drew him back from the edge of the chasm. Only now did he recognize that he'd begun to tremble in the throes of the misery that he denied himself during the light of day. Even Cherry creeled quietly in her sleep, subconsciously affected by the power of his emotions. He stared at the goldweyrling, about to say something about it being strange for a goldrider, when she started speaking of any dragonrider. Faolan had developed a thick skin, but he was too close to it now after that moment of weakness, and he flinched, the color bleaching from his face. The former bluerider's fingers dug into Aliscia's arm for a few seconds before he realized himself enough to ease the grip. He couldn't even be mad at Savitri, as he had been at the riders who'd taunted him. She hadn't meant it. "That's - I understand," he replied, trying to mask his reaction as best he could.

He merely nodded at the girl's explanation. That made sense. He couldn't help Aliscia if he didn't know how. This was what he needed. Yes, he needed to think of taking care of Aliscia, not of the hole or the dark man or how he wanted to be a shadow. Faolan schooled his mind to absorb everything she said, the intensity of his gaze likely unnerving. His hand had gone back to running lightly along the greenrider's arm, in a soothing gesture.

It seemed clear that most of what the goldweyrling was now running down was for Aliscia, but he'd be sure that the greenrider didn't get it into her head to buck the orders and hurt herself more. Just by her expression, that was going to be something of a challenge. Even though he couldn't really figure out how he could keep her from doing anything if she really wanted to, aside from begging her on his hands and knees. That wasn't likely to work. His jaw tightened. He'd come to that bridge when they got there. "And what would you have me do?" he vocalized quietly, his blues drilling into Savitri. He wanted to know. Had to, if it would keep him from the hole and thoughts of becoming a shadow.

[kysseh]

Aliscia was confused and momentarily upset when her new 'helper' turned his face from her, the corners of her mouth turning downward in a slight frown as she realized that he was distressed about something. What was on his mind? The loss of his dragon? Just plain fear? What had been done to him to break him down? She did not know, but the trembling made her want to protect him, and she flicked Savitri a quick, urgent glance, hoping the girl would more closely watch her words. She could scarcely blame Savitri, for the young goldweyrling did not know, but the greenrider was getting distressed by Faolan's upset. When he flinched, paled, she made a low noise of comfort, wishing she could do more than just lie there helplessly. She attempted to squirm upright to better reach him, but her ribs throbbed, and the room threatened to spin. No.... not wise, much as she wanted to hold him to her and soothe him, soothe his broken, battered soul.

His tightened grip was tolerated despite the discomfort, though she breathed a sigh of relief as he eased his grip to the point of comfortable again. He stuttered out something that she barely understood, though she didn't need to. The intensity of his gaze on Savitri told her that he was absorbing in the gold weyrling's every word. She wanted to throw a tantrum at that. It appeared she would not be up and mobile anytime soon, not if Savitri laid down the law and had Faolan to enforce it. But... would it really be all that bad to rest for a day or two? No... not really. Tanith was still tired enough to be sedate until Aliscia was at least partially mobile within a few days. It would all work out just fine, and she forced herself to relax beneath the soothing touch on her arm.

Had Savitri been any lesser of a personality, she might have been discomfited by his stare. She wasn't, merely surprised. It was nice to see someone paying such strict attention to her orders, especially when Aliscia seemed rebellious at best to the very ideas of 'rest' and 'light exercise'. The greenrider needed time to recuperate, though, and the goldweyrling would make sure she got it. The tightening of his jaw told her that Faolan was trying to figure out what to do, and it made Savitri smile slightly to realize that Aliscia had found herself a most fervent helper. Good. Though... he had better behave himself.

"Just... do anything she can't. Help her in and out of bed, keep her surrounded by pillows or whatever she needs to keep her ribs from hurting. I'll stop by to check on her, but... she just needs to be kept quiet for a few days," she said finally, noting that Aliscia's eyelids were starting to droop. It appeared the stubborn rider was finally going to be getting some much-needed rest, and she lightly touched the older woman's shoulder to get her attention. "You'll tell him if you need something... or if you can't do something, okay? And if you don't, I'll have you confined here until you heal."

Aliscia murmured what could have been acquiescence, though she was fighting to keep her eyes open. The lids kept fluttering shut, and she squirmed a little, which only resulted in pain and no wakefulness. Sighing, she let herself succumb to the welcome oblivion of sleep, lightly resting her hand on Faolan's leg as wordless reassurance to herself and him of each other's presence. No, she was not alone. He was a curiously skittish man that she simply could not understand, but her nearly-broken heart was moved with pity. They'd do each other good. He got a temporary home; she got help. But, she would think about that later. Now was for rest and sleep.

Savitri smiled upon seeing her friend's eyes finally close, and she carefully moved the tray of food to the table. Now that Aliscia was asleep, she could give more detailed instructions, and she lightly touched Faolan's shoulder to get his attention. "She'll be sleeping a lot, and that's good. She'll probably wake up every few hours, so make sure she eats then. Just wave a meatroll or tuber or fruit under her nose, and she'll give in pretty quickly. She probably will be too tired to be difficult for a few days." She got to her feet and let her eyes drift over the sleeping greenrider's form once more, smiling faintly at the peace that Aliscia exhibited when asleep. The poor, poor woman... "If you want to stay in her weyr tonight, you can. I'll leave the tray for you two to eat. If you want to stay here, that's fine too. Just don't get in the healers' way. Send her-" She gestured at Cherry. "-for me if there's an emergency."

With that, the gold weyrling turned and exited the room as quickly as she had entered it, quietly closing the door behind her. She had no fears about leaving her friend with the strange, almost child-like man. No, Aliscia was going to be fine, and if any trouble was forthcoming, Faolan did not know about the knife that Aliscia had ordered her to stash close at hand. She highly doubted it would be necessary, but being friends with Aliscia had taught her even more paranoid caution. Shard that woman...