|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 1:37 pm
Well. First day of being an official Master Healer. Technically, yesterday was the first day, but Cordel refused to count it on the basis that he was busy recovering from the flight and everything that came with it. Oh, and trying to catalogue K’em’s new injuries. He was only gone for a few days, but K’em managed to hurt himself in a surprisingly wide variety of ways… Holding the package of hides carefully, Cordel eased into his office. Tribble clung to his shoulder and chirped cheerfully, glad to be back home. There was probably a new office somewhere for Cordel, but he liked his old office, shardit.
Nothing looked like it had changed but, nonetheless, Cordel went through the usual check-up. Tribble’s basket? Check. Worn-out broom in the corner? Check. Table still needed four bits of something stuck under all four legs to keep it from wobbling too badly? Check. With a relieved sigh, the Healer sat down in his chair and looked over La’s present. She had done extremely well on her own. Even W’ten had been unable to find fault in her. That clearly deserved some sort of a reward and Cordel had found the perfect present.
It was a bit expensive, but, hey; he was getting a slight pay-raise now. It came with the rank, so he could afford it. Faranth knew he didn’t have much else to spend money on, except, perhaps, a new broom. But the old one still had some bristles left so it was still working! Sort of… at least, it still moved dust around to new locations, which was basically what a broom did anyway.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 2:00 pm
Cordel was baaaaaaaaack!
Lanakirene had missed him, and she would be the first to admit it. She had even, for lack of a Cordel to pester (and occasionally try to evict with a broom), taken her share of double shifts in the infirmary to make sure that patients were getting the proper amount of no-mercy treatment. She was fairly certain by the fact that a few Candidates now refused to make eye contact with her that she had done well.
She had also acquired a roommate, but that wasn't particularly newsworthy for Cordel, and all La really cared about was that he was baaaack!
She hadn't gone to visit him the day before, but a few quick words of gossip from Isonth to the dragon who had dropped him off had told her that Cordel was a Master Healer now, and La was, well...torn between being incredibly proud in that weird sort of way children sometimes were of their elders, and in absolute awe. Her teacher (HER TEACHER) was a Master Healer now.
She burst into his office like a whirlwind, hurried and still wet from her recent dragon washing endeavor. Her clothes, for the most part, were not as damp as her hair, which ended up dripping on the floor as she skidded to a stop in Cordel's doorway.
"Cordeeeel!!"
Before she could do anything, though, a large (okay, not large. Mostly just fat. Yeah, fat) bronze shape appeared out of nowhere, giving half of what was supposed to be an alarm hiss and then immediately retracting it into the loudest, most pleased "Preeeeeeee!" it could manage before landing on Cordel's shoulder.
La actually lost her train of thought. For the first time since she had started training him to do that on the side, Menalia had actually achieved a decent degree of 'guard flitt' attitude.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 2:48 pm
Well. Now this was interesting. Apparently K’em had amazingly similar reactions to his friend’s arrival as a nineteen year old girl did. Cordel decided not to share this little fact with K’em or W’ten. It would be enough to just keep it to himself. He did, however, allow himself a small smile at how energetic and excited La was. His amusement was cut short as OH FARANTH WHAT WAS FLYING AT HIS FACE?! He didn’t even have time to duck before what appeared to be a large bronze blob flew at his face with a hiss-prrrp. Oh. Wait. It was just Menalia anyway…
Not that this helped poor Tribble at all. The Green firelizard shrieked and tried to hide in the first place available to her: Cordel’s shirt. And she was very fast too, meaning that she was halfway into the man’s collar before he could blink. Soon enough, there was only a tail sticking out. Tribble figured so long as she couldn’t see Menalia, he couldn’t see her either. Yep. She was toootally invisible.
In other words, still not a whole lot had changed. Cordel’s face briefly met up with his palm and he sighed. “Hello to you too, Menalia. La. How is everything going?” In other words, ‘just how badly did the people of the Weyr manage to screw up in the few days that I was gone?’. Turning around from La, he attempted to fish Tribble out from under his shirt.
It didn’t go too well. When Tribble wanted to hide, she would sharding well hide! Mostly, all that emerged was the occasional frightened ‘shreeshreee!!’. In the end, Cordel just had to give up and let the sharding firelizard hide. “Yes, Menalia. You’re very pretty. Now go away so Tribble can come back out,” he said to the Bronze, trying to shoo him away.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:21 pm
La's lips twitched at the flitter spectacle, but she managed to keep herself under control by means of a spontaneous coughing fit. When Menalia finished his thorough inspection of Cordel and started fishing for compliments (and promptly got what he was looking for), he gave a satisfied prrrrrp and returned to La's shoulder, where he promptly stuck his nose in her ear and made noises until she fended him off.
"Yes, yes, you're very pretty. Go bother someone else," she murmured, attention already back on Cordel and the firelizard in his shirt.
"You were gone for far too long," she said, vaguely accusingly, in answer to the question. "Your brownrider boyfriends came in a lot. Well, W'ten brought K'em in a lot. Honestly, if you locked that man in an empty closet, he could find a way to hurt himself." She shook her head, probably not realizing how much she sounded like Cordel. Well, someone needed to fill the niche while he was gone! Although he was back now, so she could probably give some of it up.
She fished a piece of wherry jerky out of her pocket, coming up behind Cordel and attempting to pass it to him over his shoulder.
"How were all the stuffy healers?" she asked, teasing gently. "And how was your ceremony? Lots of pomp and circumstance?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:44 pm
For his part, Cordel pretended to not notice La’s coughing fit at all. It was only fair, since she was at least pretending to ignore the fact that he had a firelizard down his shirt. “In the time I was gone, K’em managed to blacken both his eyes, break his nose, get a bad infection in a cut on his back, and probably ate something that disagreed with him. Yes, I have been gone far too long,” Cordel agreed sourly, although he had really only been gone for a few days. Still, even a few days were too long whe…
Wait, what? Boyfriends?! Cordel’s eye twitched and he barely managed to keep his temper back. Boyfriends indeed… he didn’t have one, much less two. He wasn’t even up for dating anyone at all, much less K’em or W’ten! K’em flirted with everyone and W’ten… Cordel’s mind instinctually reared back from anything concerning the Brownrider’s romantic life and ran far, far away, never to return to that dreadful subject.
“Wonderful. So you had to inflict mental trauma on me too as my welcome home present. K’em and W’ten had some for me too. I wouldn’t know about the ceremony, actually. I missed most of it,” he answered, accepting the jerky and trying to use it to coax Tribble back out. Tribble stubbornly ignored all attempts to remove her, though, and seemed quite comfortable where she was.
Ok, now he KNEW that there was a lecture coming and Faranth knew he was not going to accept a lecture from his Apprentice! The best solution was clearly to distract her. “Oh, and I got you a present while I was there. I couldn’t take the book with me, obviously, but I paid a scribe to copy it down on hide. It’s a history of dragonhealing,” he said quickly as he picked up the thick packet of hides and offered it to La.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 5:50 pm
Cordel bitching about mental trauma made La laugh softly to herself, and she almost patted him sympathetically on the shoulder. Except that, well...that would probably have been going too far. Cordel was a Master Healer, after all. So instead of saying anything, she simply looked around the room absently while Cordel tried to work his magic on Tribble. It didn't work.
"Missing your own ceremony seems silly," La remarked, but she wasn't really able to say anything after that, because Cordel had said the word 'present' and 'book' and La was totally focused on the bundle of hides even before Cordel spoke the words 'history of dragonhealing' and handed it to her.
She took it gingerly, holding her breath, and settled it into one arm so she could lift one of the hides with her other hand. Menalia, who hadn't left from her shoulders, sniffed the bundle and attempted to nibble a corner, only to be shooed away by La, who nearly swatted the poor thing to protect the book.
...A book. Cordel had given her a book. Cordel had given her a book.
She blinked furiously and scrubbed at her eyes with her free hand before setting down the book and turning to face Cordel. "....Cordel, I...." She shook her head, completely at a loss. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you so much. I can't even...." she shook her head and laughed. "Thank you."
The second he got Tribble out of his shirt, Cordel was going to experience one hell of a tacklehug.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:40 pm
“Going to a ceremony seems even sillier. I assume I attained Master rank for my Healing skills, not for my ability to sit around and look pretty,” Cordel retorted, still trying to fish Tribble out in vain. There honestly wasn’t much for a person to do at a ceremony anyway. Well, maybe eat a great big dinner, but Cordel hadn’t thought that was a great idea either. W’ten might have thought the Healer was incapable of planning for the future, but Cordel could at least think ahead to the next morning.
Tribble added her commentary to the discussion: “Shreee!” Clearly, she agreed with whoever would leave her alone and let her cower in peace. Well, at least she wasn’t digging her claws into anything. Yet. Momentarily, the man abandoned his attempts to get the firelizard out, if only to watch the effect of his gift on La. Would she be as surprised as W’ten? Shards, he hoped not… if La was surprised, then maybe he really did need to be less of a d**k to everyone.
Well… La was definitely surprised. But very happy, clearly, which meant Cordel had made the right choice with the present. He honestly had worried about it a little and it was rather expensive to pay a scribe to recopy a book, especially in such a short time period… but it was worth it. “You’re welcome. Just pay attention to it. There could be a quiz later.” Actually, there were never any quizzes, no matter how often Cordel threatened them. The dragonhealers were normally too busy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 12:40 pm
"Thank you so much," La said again, unable to stop smiling. "This is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. Ever." She shook her head yet again and laughed softly. "I just...I'm in shock, Cordel. Thank you. Why did you...it doesn't matter, thank you so much."
It didn't look like Tribble was going to be leaving any time soon, so La decided to hug Cordel anyways. More gently, though, and approaching him from the side. But she hugged him tightly nonetheless, all but burying her face in his arm. Honestly, she....this was amazing. She couldn't get her brain around it.
...And, oh. She realized she had a few things to say to Cordel. Silly of her to forget. Letting go of him, she stepped back and rubbed her face quickly before she spoke. "I forgot to mention right away; it's all speculation, so I kind of put it out of my head. There's a spot of drama going on in the Weyr. Some runner came while you were gone, and apparently there's a Weyr looking for a new Weyrwoman. Favan thinks she's getting it."
Naturally. La didn't dislike the Goldrider the way so many other people seemed to; Favan's dragon had lost to babies in a clutch, and any emotion La felt toward her was nothing but gentle pity. She was willing to overlook Favan's faults in this case. "I dunno what's actually going down, but that's the news in the wings."
"And I have a roomate," she added rather offhandedly. "Zara. She's a bluerider. You might remember her; she helped out a bit during the flu outbreak. Old Healer apprentice."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:36 pm
Aaaand Cordel was way behind on his Surprise Hug Quota. Normally he got those from K’em, but he wasn’t going to complain about that bit now. All he could really do was look properly surprised and slightly off-balance, being, by nature, one of those men who felt awkward with nearly any displays of affection beyond a hearty slap on the back. In La’s case, the Healer settled for an awkward one-armed hug, since his other arm was still trying to get Tribble out of his shirt. “If you’re going to be a dragonhealer, you might as well now some of the history,” he pointed out.
Besides, it wasn’t like his mentor had never gotten him a gift. One of the Healer’s most prized possession was an old book on dragonhealing, a book that had been passed onto him by his mentor, who had gotten it from her mentor who had… well, it was pretty old and practically falling apart anyway. One of these days, he really ought to look into rebinding it or something…
“Oh? A new Weyr?” he snorted. “If Favan is in charge, we might as well just set fire to the Weyr now. It’ll save the time later.” Ok, he knew he was being unfair. On some level, he knew that the woman was just stressed over her dragon’s clutch and everything, but he couldn’t quite find it in himself to forgive her. Yet.
Cordel scratched one cheek in thought as he tried to remember Zara. The flu outbreak was mostly a blur of various patients. A few stuck out in his mind----like the Harper girl-----but the people he worked along side… “Fuzith’s, right?” he hazarded a guess. “Something with an F?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 7:28 am
La was always ready to cheerfully make Cordel's life just a little bit more awkward, and she pushed aside her surprise and startled happiness by flashing him a cheeky grin once they parted. Nodding vigorously in response to his answer, she sat down on Cordel's table, nearly upending herself when the thing gave a threatening wobble. Sliding off, she gave it a dark look and then focused on her mentor again.
"Oh, Cordel." She shook her head. "Just because Favan slighted you doesn't make her a bad person. Perhaps a new weyr will be good for her. Put a new spring in her step. And it'll get her out of your hair. Might as well be happy about it." She shrugged and smiled.
"Yes, Zara of blue Fuxith. The little picky one from three clutches ago. You weren't here for that one, were you? He's quite darling, really." Not that La didn't find that in all dragons. She would have been able to find cuddliness in Arioth and Haanyath, given enough time. "She's a nice girl. No need to worry about me getting eaten by felines in some freak accident anymore," she joked. Not that Cordel was the worrying type.
Then she had a thought. "So, um...Cordel," she remarked over-casually, giving the table a nasty look and considering her words thoughtfully. "How much power do you get as a Master Healer?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 11:34 am
“Did I say she was a bad person? No, I don’t believe I did. I just don’t think she’s a good leader,” the Healer pointed out, far too cynical to be brought down----up?----by La’s unrelenting optimism. Alright, so he had to admit… the mere fact that Favan had Impressed Gold ought to mean that she would be an alright leader. Goldriders had to be at least passable leaders. But… then again… dragons could make mistakes just as anyone else could. And it was fully possible, in his mind, that Favan hadn’t Impressed because she was the best choice but merely because she was better than the alternatives. There was a subtle difference.
But now was hardly the time to get into a debate about potentials like that. Now was the time to look very focused and try to recall anything about this Zara or Fuxith. La’s prodding helped, eventually uncovering a few proverbial slips of paper from the crowded desk of Cordel’s mind. “Right, the picky one,” he said after a moment of thought. “No, I came here during the flu outbreak.”
Well, he couldn’t recall anything overwhelmingly negative about Zara or Fuxith, so he decided to put this down as a win.
Cordel didn’t even have to think about how to answer La’s question. “Whatever I can get away with,” he answered quickly, although he privately wondered just how much that would be. He was unusually young for a Master Healer, after all. Age counted for something… his eyes flicked suspiciously to La and followed her gaze to the table. Now the pieces all clicked together.
“No. I am not getting a new table. I like this desk,” he said flatly. Oh, sure, it wobbled like a dragon with inner ear trouble, it needed four bits of support under all four legs, and it looked as though it was junk when it was brand new, but, shaffit, Cordel didn’t like change.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 10:15 am
La shrugged and patted Cordel on the shoulder when he insisted on being pessimistic (right after a promotion to Master rank? There was no saving this man from himself). And then she smiled slightly at Cordel's answer to her other question. This would be good....
Well, except for the bit where Cordel caught on to what she was thinking and attempted to n** it in the bud. La frowned at him. "Cordel," she said slowly. "It's wobbly. It needs hide under all four legs and it still wobbles. It's old. It's not befitting for a man of your rank. Look at it!" She gave Cordel a dramatically worried look and thumped the table affectionately.
It wobbled.
"We need a new broom, too. Ours is just...sad."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 11:43 am
“It’s my desk,” Cordel said in a voice simultaneously sullen and stubborn. As far as he was concerned, those three little words ought to end any argument about his writing surfaces right then and there. That was how things worked. He told people things and those things were done. Admittedly, the relationship between Master and Apprentice was a complicated one and La insisted on making things more complicated by being acutely aware of the fact that Cordel wasn’t a whole lot older than she was. “Besides, what do you think people are going to do? Walk into the room with an injury, see my desk, and decide, ‘whoop! I don’t like wobbly-desked folk. I’m going to see Healer Pruitt instead’? Come on, La. No one cares about the desk…”
Except, apparently, Cordel. He saw it as a reason for an argument, although he also saw things like food, W'ten, air, things that existed, W'ten, and things that didn’t exist as reasons for argument.
“Why? Does the broom wobble too?” Cordel glared at the broom in question and deflated a little. It actually was a pretty bad sight. “…I’m sure it had more bristles than that when I left. I know it did. I very distinctly remember you threatening me with it the night before I left, as I recall, to encourage me to go to sleep instead of working. What did the dust bunnies decide to rise en masse and get revenge?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 7:59 am
"But it's a mess, Cordel. Look at it! It's begging you to put it out of its misery. They could recycle it into a nice bench or something. It won't be gone forever, it'll just...move on. Have a happier life!" She was pushing, yes, but she hoped she was doing so in such a way that Cordel wouldn't take it out on her too hard. This was how it had been before master rank, and hopefully that part of him wouldn't change. And if it had, numbweed duty for a week was an all right price to pay for mouthing off like this to a Master healer.
"And no, the dust bunnies haven't risen up, but the broom just wants to retire. I mean....poor thing. It's falling apart, see? When I go to sweep, the dust laughs at it. All the other brooms look different. The broom is worried it will no longer be accepted." She gave him the most pitiful look she could manage, then smiled.
"Besides, a new broom would be much more effective in getting you out of here at a reasonable hour of the night."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:58 pm
“Hey, my desk has a pretty good life!” Cordel protested, ignoring, for the moment, that the desk was older than he was and was, in fact, as dead as a doornail. It had probably killed the doornails itself. “I use it every day! It’s my desk! I save lives on that desk!” Clearly, Cordel had gone to the School of If Saying No Doesn’t Help, Say it Louder. With Exclamation Points!
Besides, he was saving his special desk privileges for a desk in his room instead, but he didn’t feel like explaining that one to La right now. It was more fun to simply argue with her. He turned his glare on the broom again, looking it up and down.
“Well, we can’t have a broom that’s being laughed at by dust bunnies. We have to rule through fear, you know. Why, laughter today means rebellion tomorrow. Fine. Get a new broom, if you can. Maybe this one will be recycled into a mop.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
