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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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 Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:40 pm
"I'm fine."
You're not.
"Yes I am."
No, you aren't.
The argument had been going on like this for some time. A matter of months, really, though it had not been continuous. It was more that it was renewed every morning when A'ram woke up and had to work harder and through more pain each day to get moving. If he were not an incredibly stubborn old man, capable of besting even his own body in a battle of wills, he probably would have given up some time ago and given in to his dragon as well some time ago. But A'ram was what he was, and Rath nagging him had yet to have any effect.
If you don't go, I won't fly you down and you'll have to take the stairs, Rath threatened. He didn't expect the threat to be very effective, but A'ram was apparently having a very bad day indeed.
"Fine. But they'll just tell me I'm getting old and that soreness and aching joints is natural for a man of my age and occupation," the old man muttered.
Maybe, but maybe not. Let's go down. The brown tried very hard not to let his satisfaction show. It wouldn't do to be too pleased. It might even make A'ram change his mind.
They flew down, A'ram moving stiffly as he climbed onto and off of his dragon's increasingly bony back. He patted Rath's elbow and said softly, "You're getting old, dragon."
Not as quickly as you are. Go see the healers.
A'ram nodded and did as his dragon suggested. He tended to stomp as he walked because his hips pained him, too, and by the time he got to the infirmary he was in a mood.
"I want to talk to a healer," he announced. And he had no intention of moving any further until someone with healer training came to attend to him because he was feeling old and tired and cantankerous.
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Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 1:10 pm
Soril was spending his morning in the infirmary, tending to the sick and minorly injured (leaving anyone with serious injuries to those who dealt with humans on a full-time basis). His hands smelled of fellis and, despite his best efforts to keep the salve from his skin, there was a distinct dullness on his palms and fingertips from handling numbweed. When the bold voice echoed through the chamber, over the sounds of the infirmary waking up, Soril was the one to respond, nodding at another that he would attend the old man standing in the doorway.
"How can I help you?" he said, approaching the rider - as he quickly identified him - with a bow and a smile. By the tone of his voice and the fact that he announced his presence from the doorway, Soril could tell that this meeting would be one that he'd probably want over with sooner than later. The older riders tended to be the most difficult to treat, especially in the morning... Now now, I can't make judgments. I've only just met him... And we're all cranky in the morning.
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:21 am
As soon as he knew he'd been noticed, A'ram made an effort to stand up as straight as he had in his youth and grunted softly in frustration when his spine wouldn't go along with it. Spending his early years hunched over hand looms had not done his back any favors, nor had his vigorous efforts as a dragonrider. He didn't like to admit that the hunch he was developing was permanent, and no amount of will power or desire to stand up straight would correct it.
"I'm not sure you can," A'ram replied. "You're very young and probably a candidate. Which means if you've actually had any healer training it was only partial and you may not have gotten to the geriatrics portion of your schooling."
Yes. Pain and humiliation were two things to make the usually taciturn brownrider snappish. Rath, his constant mental companion, reminded him that it was never a good idea to make the healers angry with you, because they got to determine how long and how much you suffered.
A'ram scowled at his dragon, who was obviously not present, and said to the young man who had greeted him, "My dragon thinks that I am in need of a healer's services because my joints are a little stiff in the mornings. It's hardly worth mentioning, really, and I'm only here because he insists."
He scowled again, this time really at Soril, daring him to contradict him and suggest that there might actually be a problem. The Igen native didn't spare a thought for the fact that he was being unpleasant. He didn't think he was, particularly, and he figured that if the boy was a candidate he was just putting in his time, same as A'ram had all those years ago. It was only fair to give him a bit of a hard time. Candidates had it too easy nowadays.
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 11:59 am
It was tempting to snap back that he had been a Journeyman before being Searched, but simply smiled. He'd breach that topic it a more subtle way, once he had his rider seated and perhaps in a slightly better mood. Besides, he's right. Most Candidates never got their knots, especially if they were Searched young enough.
"Well, come take a seat and I'll have a look," he responded, gesturing for him to follow over to a wooden-framed cot. "I'm Soril, by the way. And as a matter of fact, I got my Journeyman's knot before being Searched." The statement was said with a smile - he knew not to backtalk his elders, and especially not riders. He hoped it would put him in a slightly better state of mind to know that he wasn't just a Candidate who was being forced to work here.
Soril took a moment to size the man up, taking stock of anything that would hint at a cause for the aches besides old age. The hunch certainly didn't pass through his quick inspection. "You're probably right about it being the effects of aging, but your dragon was right to prod you down here - it's better to be checked out, just in case."
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 3:45 pm
A'ram sat obediently. He appreciated hierarchies and believed in letting others do their jobs without interference. He didn't know much beyond the most basic of healing skills, and more about dragonhealing than people healing, and so he would simply have to trust this Soril character not to do anything to exacerbate his condition. Not that he imagined he could really feel much worse.
"Thank you," A'ram said with stiff dignity. He wouldn't apologize for his mistaken assumption because as far as he was concerned there was no need for an apology. The closest he would come would be to congratulate Soril on walking the tables. Which he did.
"Congratulations on walking the tables. I know that requires a lot of hard work and dedication." Two things A'ram approved of and tended to find lacking in many people.
"I'm A'ram of brown Rath," the brownrider continued. "And I maintain that I'm fine, but check away. It will get my dragon to leave me alone."
He didn't mention any specific aches or pains. He didn't like to admit to them. If his body was failing him, he should be able to overcome that and work through it. That was what a stoic did, and A'ram was nothing if not a stoic. Through their bond A'ram could feel Rath rumbling in irritation.
I would not ask you to deviate from our routine if I did not think it was important, Rath grumbled.
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Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 1:31 pm
Soril smiled smugly, withholding the fact that he had walked the tables - twice. He was just here to do his job, even if it only sort of was. "I don't mean to be rude but," Soril said timidly, carefully taking each of A'ram's arms carefully in his hands and checking the shoulder rotation, making sure not to go too far in any one direction. "I don't think your dragon will ever leave you alone." It was meant to be funny, but it was also true - they were lifemates, and coming to see a Healer wasn't exactly going to change that. I just hope he takes it that way. It wouldn't be the first time my humor was lost, though.
Taking a mental note of the stiffness in his shoulders - nothing uncommon, but certainly present - Soril moved to his back, seeing if the hunch he had previously noted was caused by him slouching over, or was an actual deterioration and effect. "How old are you?" he asked pleasantly, keeping an air of professionalism about him. "Were you ever in any accidents, dragon-related or otherwise? And what did you do prior to Impressing?" All things to consider, especially when dealing with wear on the body.
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 4:59 am
A'ram felt ridiculous allowing such a young person to manipulate his various body parts as Soril was. He couldn't see what waving his arms in circles had to do with anything. Rath reminded him that his training had been different than the healer's, and just as he would not expect the healer to know how to ride a dragon or weave a length of trim, he should not expect to understand what the healer was doing. Logically A'ram knew that, but he couldn't help glancing toward the door to make sure no one he knew would come through and see him in such an undignified position.
It's not undignified. Being unable to get onto my back would be undignified. Or off it. That would be undignified, too, Rath pointed out. You shouldn't scowl at the boy like that. He'll think it's something he's done.
"No. He's an old woman, and has an endless capacity for nagging." A'ram's lack of a sense of humor didn't mean he couldn't tell when other were trying to be funny. He just didn't tend to make the same effort. If he was funny, it was always accidental.
I am as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth, A'ram thought rebelliously. Aloud he replied, "I was twenty one when I Impressed Rath, and Rath's forty three right now, so I guess that makes me sixty four."
Which was more or less how he kept track of time. There was life before Rath and after Rath, and nothing before Rath really counted. Within the period that was labeled after Rath there were a few other markers: his son's birth and last time standing. His grandson's birth and Impression. Things like that. Important family dates. He could usually go by Weyrleaders and Weyrwomen, too, if he had to, but he had to cross over between methods of timekeeping to be anything like accurate.
"Rath and I have always been very careful," A'ram answered. "There have been no accidents. Before I Impressed I was a weaver." He spoke the last bit disinterestedly. He didn't think anything from before Rath could have any bearing on his life now.
"Really, I'm just getting old and my joints are getting stiff. It happens to everyone who's lucky enough to live this long. I expect you'll feel much the same if you achieve this age."
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Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2010 8:19 pm
Soril nodded, and stepped back. Nothing seemed particularly odd, especially once he told him that he was previously a weaver. They made those looms at a terrible height - an issue that he would love to bring up to the Craft Hall, were he still concerned fully with the healing of people. "Well," he said with a heavy sigh, "I don't see anything as being out of the ordinary. Sixty-four turns is impressive." Soril had to take into account that he had lived through the plague as well. The added amount of stress on someone, even at a young age, did nothing to help his body in the future. "Your body is just starting to stiffen up and slow down."
He considered the rider's condition, and wondered what would be the result of him, depending on if he Impressed or not. That's not important right now... Pay attention.
"I don't say it's the end for you or anything, though. It's stiffness, but probably not some on-setting condition, so there's hope." He smiled, though it was slightly forced, since he figured that his dragon wouldn't really like the verdict, considering that he had forced his rider to come down in the first place. "Do you do anything to stretch your muscles out or loosen your joints in the morning?"
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 12:47 pm
"Sixty four turns is not impressive, young man," A'ram corrected. "Impressive would be ninety turns. Sixty four turns is only natural for someone who doesn't eat to excess or take unnecessary risks. I hope to live for many more turns to come."
I hope you do, too, Rath murmured to his bondmate. A different rider pair might have pointed out the somewhat self-serving nature of that statement, but neither Rath nor A'ram had the humor to appreciate such a joke and would have been highly offended had anyone brought it up.
"I care for my dragon, as I have since I Impressed, and I have found that is decent exercise with a brown the size of Rath," A'ram said. "Is that what you mean by stretching my muscles or loosening my joints?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 11:05 am
Soril flustered slightly with the correction. He was right. It wasn't a time of Thread, so 64 turns was very, very normal. He knew this, of course, but was greatly out of practice with anything concerning people. Usually the people who came down here had had an accident in the kitchens - he treated a lot of burns - or had gotten into a tangle with a herdbeast or something. Nothing too serious.
"N-not quite," he said, recovering himself quickly and forcing another smile. "I don't doubt you care for your dragon. I mean like..." He pulled something from a memory deep in the back corner of his mind, relating to an old practice of stretches that had long since been forgotten and unused. He demonstrated by lacing his fingers together and turning his palms outward, and pushing hard forward. The muscles in his shoulders pulled. "Like this, sort of. It just loosens things up. It would probably help with any stiffness," he said, letting his hands fall to his sides, feeling quite silly with his demonstration. "And have you considered a weak dose of fellis juice in the morning? I don't recommend it all day, and not very much, but it surely could help."
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 11:03 am
A'ram hadn't much of a sense of humor or even empathy, but he didn't have much of a mean streak either. Once it sank in that he had been maybe a bit harsh in his correction of the young man's assumption he frowned. People shouldn't be so touchy. Particularly the young, as they usually the guilty culprits when it came to speaking without thinking.
You know, we must seem positively ancient to him, Rath remarked. He probably isn't even as old as your grandson.
And that means I should forgive him for being thoughtless?
No. You pointed out that he was thoughtless and he understood it. He is not your family, and you have no more responsibility to him than that.
"Fellis is for people who haven't the strength of will or body to endure pain," A'ram said dismissively. "I will not take fellis juice in any dose."
He could feel Rath sigh and justified himself to his dragon: I'm not wrong. I don't need fellis to help me function. I have never needed to rely on anything like that, and I will not.
"Thank you. If you will give me a description of your exercises, preferably written down, I will perform them. Advise me, if you will, as to frequency and duration as well." He remembered vaguely from his days as a weyrling that there had been warm-up exercises they performed, but he'd been young and fit at the time, and they'd never seemed to do much for him. He didn't put a great deal of faith in these exercises.
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Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:18 am
Soril sighed with the dismissal of the fellis. He fully understood why people did not want to take it - he would be as resistant should he be in pain - but if it was distracting enough that even his dragon had persuaded him to come down, certainly it would be worth it. But I've learned my lesson not to argue with him. Besides, he's gotten the advice, so he can change his mind at any time...
"Sure, give me just a moment," he said with a forced smile, though it seemed natural enough, given the circumstances. He found a writing tablet and began to scrall his instructions as neatly as he could, including some diagrams. He clearly was no Harper, but they were explanatory enough. "Here you go," he said a few minutes later, handing him the tablet. "Do them in the morning soon after you get up. If you feel still or achy during the day, you can do them then as well." His offered his instructions with a genuine smile now, hoping they would not be met with as much resistance.
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Princess_Feylin Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 10:10 am
A'ram took the tablet and studied it casually, though he didn't actually look too closely at it. In order to see it well he'd have to squint and he hated doing that where others could see him. So he pretended he saw it perfectly well and could read the healer's chicken scratch writing. With a nod he stood up.
"Thank you," he said again. "You have been most helpful."
With a curt nod that was simply his nature and not actually meant with any sort of rudeness, A'ram saw himself out of the infirmary and made his way back to his weyr, where he could study the exercises. He wouldn't do them if he didn't think they'd do any good, but he'd have to look at them first to come to any sort of conclusion. In the back of his mind Rath sighed.
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