|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 3:02 pm
It was after the Klah off that Veyes hurried to the boy's dorm because he wanted to brush his teeth and get cleaned up after the long morning chores. He kind of wished he could get moved out of the meat locker to some other jobs and after talking to Firyal, he was seriously considering asking the Candidate Master if he could do something like working with the healers or maybe with repairing an making harnesses. He just wanted to become better educated rather than re-hashing a skill he already knew.
As he reached the dorm he scurried into the bath room and finally got out his comb to take a look at his hair. The itching made him nervous and maybe it was just stress but something made him consider otherwise because when he was a wee boy, he knew his mother had treated him for another issue...Lice. Picking around with his comb and brushing roughly into the basin, his fears were realized much to his horror!
OH NO! This can't be happening!!!! he said under his breath with a slight bit of terror to his voice. He couldn't believe this was the case after he had tried so hard to make sure he washed every day. But sleeping around all those other boys and the Weyr being so damn crowded wasn't doing him a lick of good!! He almost cried; his face contorted with frustration as he grabbed a clean towel and surveyed it cautiously looking for signs of eggs or anything else. It appeared ok but this stuff could be anywhere and he needed to clean his bedding too but he had to get it off of his scalp first.
Fortunately, he was blessed with a body that had barely any hair below his head, but just straight washing wouldn't help in this case. He needed oil...and alot of it to soak through his hair then he had to do something about his clothes and his bedding. Oh this was so bad! He clenched his fists into tight balls and tried to organize in his head everything his mother had told him about Lice.
Taking the clean towel he raced quickly along with his small satchel of cleaning supplies towards L'thor's room. He knew that the man probably had oil for Raith. Maybe he could show him where to get his own? Then he could put it through his hair. Either way, he'd try to use the bath if L'thor was out and make sure that nothing got left behind. He really needed a few moments to gather his thoughts and hoped that he be able to find that quiet there while he worked out this terrible problem.
As soon as he reached L'thor's weyr, he peeked in and called out in with a slightly shaken voice. "Is...anyone here? It's Veyes...I...I was going to ummm.. use the bath...L'thor??"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 7:57 am
Lice! Lice everywhere! L'thor was not happy, not happy at all. He didn't think he'd got any but had taken two hops between in any case as soon as he'd heard that the outbreak was getting serious. Then he'd got into the bath and washed his hair obsessively in case he had had some lice and they'd died between but were still in his hair and ohsharditew! He didn't mind bugs as such, he wasn't scared of them or anything; fastidious rather than squeamish. The thought of having things in his hair however, dead or living, was too disgusting for words. Oh gross. Ew.
It was alright for V'kain with his close cropped hair, he thought darkly as he washed the umpteenth load of soap out of his hair. Short to no hair suited his friend very well; the same style would look terrible on him and so here he was frantically washing and combing, washing and combing. Oh gross. If he ever found out which Candidate had brought the things in, there would be murder done. It had probably been that stupid beanpole from Crom; Scratchy.
"I feel for you Mine," Raith sent from her ledge, rumbling sympathetically. "I'd hate to have bugs that wanted to crawl on me and drink my blood! How horrible. We'll go between at least once a day until they're all gone."
L'thor sighed and gave his hair a final rinse before climbing out of the bathing pool. "Thank you Raith," he replied as he grabbed the jug of oil, poured some into one hand and set about rubbing it into his legs. He had just finished his arms and started on his chest when he head the voice. Of Course! Poor Veyes! Living so close to all those other boys... Not good. Tucking a towel around his waist and picking up the oil jug, he moved over to the beaded curtain that separated the bathing room from the rest of his weyr and poked his head out.
"Veyes!" he stepped through the curtain and offered the youth a sympathetic grimace. "Go ahead; I've just finished washing myself." That was probably a bit obvious given the towel and the wet hair.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:17 am
Veyes looked up at him with rather a nervous and upset face. "Umm...ah...L'thor do you..umm.. have a lot of oil I can use??? I have a...problem." He tried not to scratch because that might make matters worse and he definitely didn't want the nasty lice on the clean towel that he tried to hold away from himself as much as he could.
He slipped into L'thor's bathroom noting that L'thor had just gotten out with the towel around his head. Lately, he might have noticed that toweled look and have thought about other things but today was different and he was too distracted to notice how handsome the rider was like that. At the moment, his imagination was creating a large vat of oil in which he could hide himself until the problem blew over. It was an impossible dream but of course at the moment he might have tried it just to relieve the itching and scratching. In a crowded Weyr it was going to be very hard to get rid of a full blown epidemic of lice without some serious action.
He spoke again trying to get the words out, "It's been a really bad day. First, I had this most nasty fish flavored Klah down in the kitchen from some sort of contest and then...I discovered that I have...ummm....lice." He hung his head feeling like a total leper. "Now I don't know what to do, I have to try to get them out of my hair but then I have to do something about all the clothes and bedding. But there are so many other boys..." His nose wrinkled as he tried to avoid getting teary eyed. He wasn't a baby but today had just been a little much especially when he felt rather insignificant in this Weyr at times. "I wasn't sure where to go...And I don't want to shave my head to get rid of it. My mother used oil years ago sooo...I thought.. umm...you might have some since Raith uses it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:40 am
L'thor just about resisted the urge to go and hug the dejected youth. For one he was sure that Veyes would appreciate being hugged by a mostly naked and rather damp man, and for another, well, he didn't want the lice after he'd just washed. Instead he offered a sympathetic smile and raised the jug he still held. "Oil; I use it for my skin but it'll work in your hair as well. Oh! Actually, if you wait a moment for me to put some clothes on we can take a hop between before you have a bath; kills the evil little bastards, and I've got a fine comb in there you can use to get rid of them afterward."
Oh ew. He'd had lice before, remembered how miserable it was. Horrible, horrible little things and Veyes didn't have anywhere private he could keep clean and escape to. Passing over the jug of oil, L'thor hurried to his wardrobe and grabbed a linen shirt and some trousers. He slipped into the shirt first, it was a long one that fell past his hips which allowed him to decently drop the towel and hop into the trousers. Adding a sash as a belt and tucking in the shirt, L'thor deemed himself ready to go. Ergh. Lice!
Apparently however there were some people that did like the idea of lice. River appeared in the weyr with a happy squeak and, after zooming over to the wardrobe and dropping a pair of pretty shells on top of it, he fluttered over to Veyes and landed on his shoulder. Then he set about investigating the youth's hair with great interest.
Oh gross! L'thor gave his flitt a horrified look. "Oh River! Leave him alone!" As if Veyes wasn't feeling unhappy enough without some disgusting little beast hunting his scalp for snacks!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:58 am
Veyes eyes widened and brightened as he listened to what L'thor had to say, "It will kill them??! Would...it kill them on my clothes and bedding too??....I could get it all and put it in a bag." The boy looked hopeful that maybe he wouldn't have to endure the nightmare for as long as he had imagined because if he could just get them off of himself he could take measures to keep them off his body like keeping his hair in tight well oiled braids until things eased up. He'd have to do laundry more often but he'd take it out of his already small bit of free time.
If only he had a weyr and a dragon of his own... He could have continued on that thought but it was then little River had settled on his shoulder and started picking at his head. Veyes couldn't help but start to smile then laugh just a little as the fire lizard's small fingers started picking through his hair for the tasty morsels. The tiny hands tickled as they burrowed into his hair seeking out the bugs. Ok...now he knew why he might need a flit because they had the eyes, nose and fingers to handle something as nasty as lice...and it probably tasted good to them too! UGH!
"It's ok, L'thor..." he said between his own small chuckles. "Maybe I should one day get a flit of my own. I never realized that they might be useful for something like this."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:13 am
L'thor grinned, now finding it rather amusing - if gross - given that Veyes didn't seem to mind. "Yes," he said with a nod and a chuckle, "it'll work on clothes and bedding as well; no point getting you clean if they're only going to be in your bed." As River continued to pick through Veyes' hair, Dusk roused himself from his sleeping spot out in the sun and flapped lazily over to sit on L'thor shoulder. He didn't want to share the food with his brother, he was still full, but he would like some fuss.
L'thor grinned and obliged the deeply-hued blue. "Flitts are wonderful things," he said with a nod. "They're demanding, especially when they're young but I consider them worthwhile. In any case," he tickled Dusk under the chin, "some of them are more work than others. Dusk here's no trouble at all; he just likes to eat, sleep and come to me for fuss every so often. I suppose it's pretty much pot luck how well behaved a flitt you end up with though." He could see having a flitt being good for Veyes... It wasn't that he didn't believe in him; he did, fervently, but he also knew very well that his young friend's dragon might not find him for quite some time yet. Having a friendly little firelizard to keep him company in the interim would probably cheer Veyes no end.
Trouble was, where would the lad ever get the marks for one? If one of his blues flew a green and they actually managed to find the clutch he'd be happy to give one to him of course... Or perhaps they could go out together and hunt for wild clutches. Humm. Not that Veyes really had the time. Well; he would keep his eyes peeled whenever he was down on the beach. It would be good to find one for Nehren as well if he could; he'd like to be able to give a nice gift like that to each of his special Candidates.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:52 am
Veyes turned his head so the flitt could dig around his long hair easier. He was actually happy to feel that the creature was able to get to them far easier than he had been with his comb. Of course, he could imagine sitting around all day with a flitt attached to his head like this as a Lice Protection Device but some how he didn't think that River would be content hanging on his shoulder all day long. That might be a little unreasonable even if he felt that might keep him from getting a reoccurance of the lice.
But where could he get his own flitt and even if he managed to get an egg, how could he keep it?? "So how do you find a flitt egg? I mean...well my mother told me that sometimes they're at Gathers but..well I could never afford one. I've never had those kind of marks." He frowned slightly then realized that talking about these things made him sound a little pathetic and he didn't want to seem like that. He'd just have to work hard and eventually, he'd make some marks and if he wanted he could buy a flitt egg later. Right? Well, maybe after he impressed a dragon...Everything was really left to chance. "Maybe once I make some marks here, I can save up for one!"
"I'll go get my clothes and bedding. I'll be right back, L'thor. Hope River doesn't mind coming with me while he...umm...eats. I'll meet you in the bowl...I don't want to bring the contaminated stuff to your room." He shivered just a little as the dragon scooted a hand just around the edge of his ear finding another tasty treat. If the flitt weren't so cute he might have been disgusted because of what he was eating.
Turning towards the door, he quickly raced back to the dorm and started shoving everything he could into his bags. He wasn't going to take any chances and tugged his bedding up from the cot rolling it up with the pillow. He fished around in his clothes for his rope belt and tied it up so it wouldn't fall free in between. He even took down his curtain around his bed knowing that it needed the same help. He wondered if Con was going to have the same problem. However, he was sure that since Con had too Dragon rider parents that one of them would be helping him out right away.
After he gathered everything that could possibly hold lice, he lugged it all into the bowl to meet up with L'thor when he arrived. God...he still wanted that bath!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:08 am
L'thor nodded and, as Veyes hurried off, he grabbed Raith's harness and walked out onto the ledge, where the green was just rousing herself. She yawned massively, clearly still sleepy, but made vague helpful motions as he buckled the straps onto her. Given they wouldn't be flying long or fast, L'thor didn't trouble to go for his jacket and goggles. As he stepped up onto his dragon, he realized he hadn't put on any shoes either. Oh well; he'd be freezing when they came back from between but he'd soon warm up again. Strapping himself down, his patted Raith's neck and encouraged Dusk to hop off his shoulder and onto the harness; he didn't want those sharp little claws holding on tight when he was wearing a thin shirt.
Raith gave another yawn as the blue flitt made himself comfortable and stepped up to the edge of her ledge. Peering down into the bowl, she gave her wings an experimental flap to check that the muscles were more awake than her brain was, and then stepped off. They spiraled downward gently, but soon came into land in the bowl. How exactly could Veyes make himself some marks, L'thor wondered as they waited for the young man. Having spent all his childhood working he probably hadn't really developed any salable talents... Perhaps some of the wealthier candidates would start looking for people to pay to do odd jobs for them that they didn't feel like doing; he remembered one lad who'd been like that during his time as a candidate and weyrling. He'd never taken on jobs, rather too proud to do someone else's chores, and besides, he'd had his own ways of making money. Buy low, sell high just like always.
Before too long, L'thor spotted Veyes coming out into the bowl and waved a greeting to him as he approached. "Yes," he said with a nod, "save up, or hope to get lucky and find a wild clutch; that's how I got my two. Well, my sister found the clutch actually," he recalled with a grin, "she was too young to have one though. We'd planned to sell them in any case, but they ended up hatching before we got a chance. Rather glad they did, I must say."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:37 am
Veyes pondered how he might earn enough marks as well; but the answers didn't come to him right away considering everything in the Weyr was pretty self sustained and they gave him a very little in the way of marks for being here. If he had been in the market with meat, he might have made a reasonable sum but the meat wasn't his to sell and there wasn't a market around unless the traders came to call.
As he dragged everything along he wondered what he would have done had L'thor not been around. He'd not made very many friends among the Weyr save those women in the Kitchen and Con. He wasn't sure he could call the other girls he had met friends yet but the seemed friendly enough. He wouldn't mind hanging out with Firyal again but he hadn't seen her since the touching.
He waved at L'thor as he arrived in the bowl. How many times would he feel in debt to the man for all that he did to help him out? A sigh crossed his lips but was soon replaced by a smile when he looked at Raith, "Hi big girl! How are you today!?" Shrugging his shoulders he scooted River around to the other side so he could get at the rest of his scalp. "Where do you find wild clutches? Maybe I could go exploring one day!"
Hauling his pile over to the dragon he looked up at L'thor, "Thanks, L'thor...I really appreciate it. You're really lucky to have Raith.... Oh.. thank you for your help too Raith!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:52 am
L'thor smiled and shook his head slightly; "Not at all, it's my pleasure. I think we might as well just hold onto the stuff rather than bothering with strapping it down; we're not going to be doing anything too acrobatic."
Raith rumbled, dipping her head in agreement. "Tell... umm..." she frowned mentally, "him. V... Ves that I am quite well. It has been a good day for basking."
L'thor chuckled and nodded, extending a hand down to Veyes to pull himself up by. "She says she's well thank you; she's been enjoying sunning herself all day. Oh, yes, best place to find flitt eggs is in calm sandy coves, especially ones that get a lot of sun to warm the sand and therefore the eggs. I can show you around some likely places sometime if you'd like; if we find a clutch we can sell on some of the eggs and make a few marks for ourselves, eh?" More marks never went amiss; Raith's taste for extra oiling soon added up once he'd used his quota of oil up.
"Oh come now Mine," Raith rumbled, "you know I'm worth it!"
L'thor chuckled in response to her amused vocalization. "Yes Raith," he said aloud, "you are worth the price of extra oil, all the extra time I have to spend on you and so on and so forth."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 11:15 am
Veyes grabbed L'thor's hand and lugged up his stuff up to where L'thor wanted it then slide up behind him. "Still...you've done so much for me. Right now I don't have much to give you in return but...if we get to my house oneday, I'm sure my mother will pick some nice herdbeasts from the farm." He wished he had something better to offer but right now, he wasn't able to do that much. "Or...if you need me to help bath Raith..oil her or something...when I have free time."
He tugged at the straps and got them secure; it was interesting but he was getting used to how these straps worked. Every time, he rode he concentrated on learning the various techniques, however, there were still many things he needed to learn. "Mmm...I wonder if I can go to the beaches around here someday." His adventurous self was starting to itch with excitement although maybe that was the itching that still came from his head! Squirming in his seat, he tried not t lean too close to L'thor because of his Lice but his cheeks blushed just a little as he realized he would have enjoyed snuggling. Maybe after they went inbetween he could lean just a little ...closer?
"I'm glad she is doing so well. Oh yes....she's worth it. You're still my number one, Raith! " he grinned just a bit at he watched her peeking around at them. If he would have heard her forgetting his name, he might have been a little saddened but then again, he didn't know that their memories were short. Fortunately, he couldn't hear her struggle with his name.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 12:27 pm
L'thor smiled again. "Ah, you don't need to repay me Veyes; that's what friends are for! Doing things for one another just because they want to. I would appreciate help with Raith when you have time for it though, so long as it's on the understanding that you're doing it because you want to not because you feel you owe me anything." Taking a good grip on his share of the bags, L'thor lent forward over his dragon's neck as she gathered herself and then sprung into the air. They went between quite low, and L'thor swore internally at the sudden icy chill. Next time he would pause a few moments to put on shoes; he feet were freezing!
Before long however, they popped back into the warm humid air of Ista, now circling up above the bowl. L'thor wriggled his toes to get life back into them and held the bundle of Veyes' clothes or bedding or whatever it was in a more relaxed manner. "No more beasties!" he exclaimed cheerfully. River, who had moved down to cling onto the harness beside his brother, gave a slightly disappointed cheep and sent a feeling to L'thor that he had enjoyed the wriggly-crunchy things. Wriggle crunch!
The rider groaned and tried not to feel too nauseous. "Oh River that's disgusting. That's one problem with flitts," he said to Veyes, "they might not be able to use words but they can communicate their feelings to you really quite well... Anyway, yes, sometime when you've a bit of spare time - maybe after you're finished with chores on nice evening - Raith and I will give you a lift down to the beach. Getting there and back on foot would take quite a while, and spare time is something I know you don't get a great deal of."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 1:07 pm
Veyes nodded then leaned forward. "Alright, L'thor." He sighed feeling just a bit thankful for having a friend like L'thor. "Then expect me to visit as soon as I have free time. I want to learn a lot more about dragon duties...and....well I like seeing you."
The last part made him blush just a bit but fortunately, L'thor couldn't see that face as they suddenly flashed between. The cold bit into him but this time he was grateful for its bite especially when not long afterwards he could feel the bugs falling away from his scalp - dead. Oh he'd never think badly of between again after this experience.!! It had its uses to be sure. He just needed to learn more about between and dress warmer for it. Maybe L'thor could help educate him since he had a lot of experience with it. But now that he was clear of bugs all he needed now was to wash himself and the rest of the stuff to get out the dead bugs.
Even so he couldn't help himself and gave L'thor a warm hug as they returned to the normal world. Letting the hug linger, he just wanted to stay right there in the moment. By the egg...he sure did feel better. "Thank you again L'thor" How many times he had said that he didn't know but he gave a tighter squeeze feeling relieved and happy once more. "Oh! I'd love to go to the beach! That would be really nice. Umm...I might have time later this week if they don't have me doing extra duties to help with the lice. I think everyone is going to be scrubbing for a while."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 3:14 pm
L'thor grinned as Raith turned down towards her ledge. "Well good, I like spending time with you as well." He shuddered and chuckled as Veyes mentioned scrubbing and nodded. "Yes, most likely! I don't think I will have any unusually busy days coming up soon, or any evening watches so I ought to be free as well." Raith landed lightly on the ledge outside L'thor's weyr and rumbled as she stooped to let her passengers dismount. L'thor chuckled and jumped lightly to the ground. "She says she'd like to go to the beach too; she likes rolling in the warm sand and playing in the sea."
Yes. It would be a good evening. They could take a picnic out or something and eat dinner there. He suspected Veyes would enjoy a meal away from the crowds at the dining hall for once; he certainly liked to have a change like that once in a while.
"You go ahead and have that bath then," L'thor went on after a moment with a nod. "There's soap, oil, towels and a fine comb in there." What a lot of hair Veyes had, it must take forever to properly brush; his own was only just past his shoulders and he seemed to spend an age on it... But then he was rather picky about it; had to be sleek and free of all tangles or he just felt scruffy, and he hated to feel scruffy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 3:40 pm
"One day maybe we can do evening watches together." He smiled lightly as undoing the straps quickly as soon as they landed. Shards he felt itchy...not because of the bugs biting him but for their dead little carcasses all left in his hair. He was eager to find the bathing pool and become one with the water. "I've never seen a dragon roll in the sand before but I bet it is fun to watch!"
He scampered into the private bathing pool and stripped down as fast as possible but then looked back at the clothes and took them into the water as well. He'd rather wear wet clean clothes than dry ones covered with dead bugs. So he sat in the water for awhile soap sanding the clothes then wringing each piece out as best he could laying them aside to dry. Finally, he started scrubbing himself. The soap smelled so good as he pushed it through his long locks seeing the carcass fall into the water as he continued to wash. Water flowed out taking the nasty buggers away and soon he actually felt like he was getting some where after the third time he washed his hair. By the shards he was thankful he hadn't started growing hair anywhere else at least to the degree that his head had. His mother thought he might be a lucky man if he didn't have to shave everyday. And at the moment he had to agree.
Soon, he was humming a tune in the pool...it was so nice to have a private bath for a change. At home, he had more privacy than here so he certainly appreciated L'thor's offer of his bathing pool. The red on his cheeks rose as he thought about L'thor a little more - handsome face...soft lips....maybe not as muscular as others but he worked just as hard and had a sense of adventure. All qualities that he seemed to find attractive, especially lately. He wasn't really sure what to do about these new found feelings and felt rather awkward about mentioning it. There were so many other things that probably should be more important, however, his body thought otherwise as a shiver creeped up his spine.
"L'thor, you said you had a fine comb in here?" he called out after he had squeezed the water out of his chestnut hair and wrapped himself up in the large towel.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
