Log from Discord, 11/11/19
Thali: Neleyo (Leyo)
Melo: M'nick (Menny)

Thali
Neleyo felt awful. He couldn’t recall feeling this ill in—well, ever. Was this the end? He knew that was probably the dramatic harper in him, but the chills and sudden overheating were miserable. He’d start shivering and pile on blankets that seemed to have no effect. Once the chills left, it felt as if he were a single stand of Thread, seared by an angry dragon’s flame. There was no happy medium.

He was reluctantly dragged to the healers by a candidate he didn’t know well. Tass-something. “Come on, they’ll make you feel better.”

Leyo didn’t believe him. The only thing that distracted him was music. And so, feverish, he hummed a song he’d been learning on guitar.

“Hi. Er. Something for fever? And headache. And...dying?”

“Am I dying? Probably not. But I feel like I’m dying”

- - -

Melo
Today M'nick felt awful as well. He had not had a full night's rest upon waking with the other Weyrlings. After a rotten couple of classes in which he felt rotten and performed rottenly, he was dragged off to lunch where he went to work studying mind healing. He ate very little and was distracted the whole time. When he got back to the infirmary he was burdened with regular apprentice material because the mind healers did not need his help today. So it was numbweed and rolling gauze for the afternoon.

That was about the time two candidates came in asking for some help. "Well I can't help much with the dying but I can give you something for the other two. Why don't you come sit on this cot over here and describe what's been happening today?"

- - -

Thali
“I better get back,” Tass or whatever his name was said, directed at M’nick. “Good luck. He complained the whole way here.”

Neleyo was offended. “Did not. You asked me how I felt!” He retorted. Even if he wasn’t dying, the guy might have had some sympathy. Even the healer joked about it. Treating the symptoms be the way about it. He nodded and went to sit on the cot indicated. “I feel cold and then hot,” he said. “I hurt all over, but mostly my head. I can’t get warm for the longest time and then I’m too hot. My throat kind of hurts but it’s not the normal cold sort. Like... I ate something too hot and it burnt all the way down? I dunno...”

- - -

Melo
M'nick nodded to the candidate leaving, then listened to what Neleyo was saying. He was pretty sure he knew what he was dealing with but wanted to confer with a journeyman first. "Okay. I'll be right back." The apprentice left him there and went to look for someone with the expertise.

When he came back it was with a cup of tea and a packet of something. "Here you go. It's hot. Should help with some of the symptoms for now." He offered the cup to Neleyo.

- - -

Thali
Leyo took the cup and thanked Menny. He blew on it gently before he sipped at it. “Thanks,” he said again. It was nice and hot, and somehow that didn’t make his throat feel worse.

“I’m Leyo,” he said, taking another sip. He shivered. “What’s killing me?”

- - -

Melo
"As long as you take care of yourself you won't die." M'nick spoke with finality even so. "It's presenting like influenza. You will need plenty of bed rest. Lots of sleep, lots of fluids. You probably should stay in the infirmary until it's run its course. That means, Leyo, you'll probably miss this hatching, but it would probably be impossible to stand for the whole thing anyway. You'd be passing out and carted right back up here," he added, before Leyo could argue.

- - -

Thali
Miss the hatching?! Neleyo would have rather died. But he was dying. And it was definitely the worst thing he’d ever gone through. “Buh—but I can’t!” He protested, just to protest. “I’ll be fine, really. Suddenly I’m feeling better. Completely cured! Your miracle medicine has cured me!” He took a breath and shivered, wrapping his arms around himself.

“I’m not cured,” he admitted, miserably. “But I can’t miss this hatching. What if my dragon’s there?”

- - -

Melo
"What if they're not?" M'nick was just being argumentative and would have admitted it if someone called him on it. "The flu is not something to joke around with. You probably already know that you won't be able to make it through. Stay in here and ask one of the masters for leave when the time comes. You'd sit with the healers so they could look after you."

- - -

Thali
Neleyo took another sip of his drink, this time in order to avoid responding to the apprentice. What if his dragon wasn’t there? He hadn’t been standing long, it stood to reason that he might have to wait a bit before his dragon hatched. “That candidate that brought me, what’s-his-name, he didn’t let me grab any of my things,” he complained, instead of addressing possible hatching-failure.

He’s like /I never thought that I might not impress avoids subject entirely

- - -

Melo
"Of course. We'll have someone bring your things here. Including Candidate Studies work," he smirked. He remembered hearing how the Candidates had classes just like Weyrlings. They were in the same boat, really. "Anyway, you don't need to worry about that now unless you're worried you'll be bored." But with any luck that tea will help him drowse and sleep.

- - -

Thali
Neleyo stared at the apprentice in horror. “I’m on my deathbed and you’re going to make me study?” He moaned. He was mostly teasing. Candidate lessons could wait while he recovered, he was sure. “My guitar?” He asked.

He took another sip of tea. “Will you stay here?” He asked. The company wasn’t unwelcome.

- - -

Melo
"Yes, you will study Candidate studies and Harper studies. I'm not sure if they'll allow you to play in here or not," M'nick smirked. Well at least the banter was present. That meant Neleyo was not too bad off.

He frowned. "Stay?"

- - -

Thali
“I have to get better first,” he protested. “If I’m missing a hatching for this I can miss a few lessons.” It was only fair! Hatchings weren’t as far between this turn, with the greens growing up, but every one was a chance at a dragon.

“I can’t practice if I can’t play,” he whined.

“Yeah. Till I’m asleep?”

- - -

Melo
Well, this patient was arguing in circles, but he made sense at the end. "I can stay until you sleep."

M'nick went looking for a stool and brought it up at the foot of the cot. He had not meant to take a break or relax in any way but here he was sitting down next to a patient. "Why don't you try laying down?"

- - -

Thali
Leyo didn’t argue. He laid down after setting his tea down. He didn’t feel as cold anymore, the tea had helped, jokes aside.

He reached to rub at his eyes with a fist. “Thanks,” he said.

- - -

Melo
M'nick nodded and pulled out a blanket and covered Neleyo with it. Then he sat back down and stayed with him until the Candidate fell asleep. He started to feel a bit drowsy by then, but he fought it and won.


[END]