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 Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 10:25 am
It was coming up to noon and a fine lunch for three had just been delivered to Amarid's office by a pair of drudges. The Masterhealers of the Weyr always met in the Weyrhealer's office at this time on this day, barring emergencies, and had done so for decades. Amarid believed that the tradition had begun because it was easy to persuade people to turn up when there was food on offer, it certainly made the meetings more enjoyable.
As a gong sounded the hour from the depths of the Weyr Amarid put down the paper she had been reading and picked up her slate of notes for the meeting instead. Which of her colleagues would arrive first, she wondered? They were both generally either pretty punctual unless they were distracted by something, or couldn't step away from something time critical. Amarid got to her feet and smoothed down her skirts with her free hand as she headed to her usual comfortable chair in the circle of three around the table of lunch, keeping an ear out for the sound of footsteps approaching her office door.
Tradition dictated that whoever arrived last had to serve lunch to the others, another little incentive to be on time.
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 11:34 am
"And so I said to him, you better get out of that bed the same way you lied down in it, otherwise you'll have bad luck. But did he listen? No! He was back not three days later, not just with torn stitches, but a nasty infection as well. He did not apply the medicine I had given him when he left. Foolish boy."
This one-sided conversation, along with the soft-clicking of heels, could be heard coming down the hall toward Amarid's office. Eventually, both subsided into silence, followed by a brief three knocks on the door. Three was one of Shaia's lucky numbers, and she used this knock with just about everyone to let them know she had arrived at her destination. She wasn't alone, of course. Her trusty companion and assistant, Gingko, a green firelizard, was draped around her shoulders lazily. It was the flitt who the masterhealer had been having her conversation with, as she often did after visiting one-on-one with troublesome patients.
After announcing her arrival, the fifty-year-old allowed herself to step inside Amarid's office with a warm smile on her face. "Nice to see you again, Amarid," said Shaia cheerily, fluidly slipping into her usual seat. "How are you? Well, I hope." The moment Shaia took her seat, her firelizard slowly opened an eye and peered over at the other woman. She then gave a soft, quiet twitter in greeting before closing her eye once more and dozing off on the herbalist's shoulders.
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 11:40 am
Heels. That answered that question then! Amarid was smiling to herself a little as the door opened and she nodded acknowledgement to the other woman. "Hello Shaia, I'm well today thank you. Yourself? Did I hear you talking to Gingko out there?" She never had understood her underlings' apparent love for the little beasts, oh they could be useful she supposed but she didn't feel that they were useful enough to justify the cost of them or the bother they could be. They were sweet things though and at least Shaia's and Bereck's were well trained.
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 11:46 am
The answer to the Masterhealer's question was an enthusiastic bob of Shaia's head.
"Oh, yes," she began, reaching up to give her little flitt a scritch under her chin. "I was just telling Gingko about a patient of mine. Got out of the wrong side of the bed, and then had some particularly bad luck when he came back." The herbalist shook her head, her expression now a frown of disapproval at the recollection. Sure, she was a little superstitious with some things, but it wasn't for no good reason.
Very few paid attention to the prattling the masterhealer did when it came to her superstitions, alas. In Shaia's opinion, it was about fine time people started. There was some truth to the things she told them, after all. She wasn't just a crazy old lady. Nope. Definitely not.
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 12:32 pm
Everyone had their quirks, and this was one of Shaia's. Amarid had given up on contradicting her about her little beliefs, they were generally harmless so it didn't much matter. "Did he now? Well I hope everything's worked out for him regardless." Which side was the wrong side again? She could never remember and she did try to get these things right, Shaia worked best when she didn't think some kind of ill was coming to them because of how somebody stirred their tea.
At that point however the door opened again and Amarid looked around with her eyebrows raised. "There you are, I was starting to wonder."
_____________
Bereck, who was in a singularly irritable mood, glowered at Amarid's raised brows. "Yes, here I am," he groused, closing the door behind him and making his way over to his chair with hitching steps. Humph, and now he had to serve them lunch. Why couldn't Shaia have been a bit later than he was?
Still scowling Bereck sat down in his chair and lent his cane against the arm. "Have I missed anything important?" he asked, making no move to start sharing out the food. If they wanted it, they were going to have to ask him.
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 12:55 pm
"Not really," Shaia said, already noting Bereck's irritated mood from the moment he walked through the door. Someone had crossed him, no doubt, and an annoyed trauma specialist was never particularly fun to deal with. He got snippy when he was upset, and getting yelled at or the like was not something the herbalist wanted to experience. She was his co-worker, after all; not one of his assistants.
In an attempt to calm her peer's mood, Shaia stood from her seat and moved to where the food was laid out on another table. If Bereck didn't want to serve, as was customary, she didn't mind doing it. Especially if it would help lift his spirits a little. "I'll serve," she said, putting a little bit of everything on each plate. There was some roasted chicken, grilled mushrooms and onions, some salad with a variety of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and freshly grated cheese, along with fluffy rolls with plenty of butter to put on them. To wash it all down, she also poured some cool grape juice in goblets to wash it all down. As the three of them were healers, and masterhealers at that, alcohol of any sort wouldn't do, even if they weren't on duty at the moment.
"Here you are, Amarid," she said warmly as she carefully put the plate in front of her superior. Amarid was the Masterhealer for the entirety of the Weyr, so she should get served first, as was customary. After Amarid had her plate and drink, Bereck received his next, which Shaia delivered with a smile. "Smile, Bereck -- you're in good company and with good food. There's no need to frown now." With her two peers having their food, the master of medicine took her own plate and drink and plopped back down in her seat, a content sigh escaping her lips. The food looked delicious, and she was eager to eat. There was no way Bereck's sour mood was going to ruin that; no sir!
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 1:20 pm
Bereck was not mollified by Shaia's gesture but he was at least glad not to have to get up again; everything hurt today, more than usual that was, and he had slept poorly and everything was aggravating! He just wanted today to be over so that he could go to bed. He wanted fellis come to that but promises had been made and he wasn't about to break them.
When Shaia smiled at him and told him to smile however his expression only darkened. "I don't smile on demand," he said tersely as he took his plate. The food was good, he knew, but it looked wholly unappetizing. On the other hand he knew he needed to eat and so he started to pick at it without enthusiasm. "So what disasters are we facing at the moment?" he asked dourly.
____________________
"Manners cost nothing Bereck, if you're not going to smile you could at least say thank you to Shaia," Amarid put in sharply, "and I think we can eat a little before we begin the meeting, perhaps it will improve some tempers."
With one underling mildly reprimanded she turned to smile at the other. "Thank you Shaia, very kind."
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 1:41 pm
"You're welcome," she all but murmured in response to Amarid's thanks. At Bereck's curt response, Shaia didn't even bother to look at him. She just frowned and busied herself by gazing downward at her plate. At least her food couldn't be grumpy at her. The masterhealer then took her senior's suggested and then proceeded to eat some of her food, slowly and without saying much of anything. Bereck's mood was a bit off-putting, if she was being honest.
She was having quite a good time with Amarid, smiling and chatting away, and then he showed up in his usual irritated fuss. It was probably due to his injuries, no doubt. Chronic pain was something she wouldn't wish on even her worst enemies. Not only did it make things hard to deal with, but some days it could even be debilitating enough to where one couldn't even get out of bed.
"I'll make you something for it later," was the next thing that came out of her mouth. This was, of course, directed at Bereck, but she still kept her gaze away from him and on her plate. It wasn't going to be fellis - that was for sure - but it would help him, regardless. If he decided he wanted her help, that was.
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 2:06 pm
He really wished that the two women didn't know him as well as they did, he hated being so transparent to them. Bereck looked down at his plate, his face flushing with a mixture of frustration and embarrassment. He hated that they knew. "Thank you," he ground out tightly, "I used the last of the last batch of tea this morning. Replenishing my supply would be helpful." It did help - somewhat - but it was difficult to be grateful for that, or Shaia's gesture, or anything else at the moment.
____________________
Amarid sipped at her juice, watching the pair of younger Masters carefully. For now at least it seemed that Bereck was creeping a bit closer to civility but his discomfort at Shaia's (necessary) aside to him was palpable. Once Shaia had confirmed arrangements it would be time to change the subject she felt and so as she chewed on a mushroom Amarid tried to think of something that would engage both of them, hopefully enough to put the sour start of the meeting behind them.
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 3:15 pm
"You're welcome."
Shaia already knew one thing she would be making for Bereck. Ground up licorice root would be good for him to have in some tea. Thinking on it, she would have to ground up at least enough for a double batch, if not a triple, for the masterhealer to have. She always liked to make Bereck larger doses of medicine when it came to pain killers and things to alleviate his symptoms. They would last longer that way, and he'd have to restock less frequently. Having to pick up drugs could be annoying if one had to stop in weekly, she understood. Such trips could be troublesome, and thus the herbalist made sure that Bereck could avoid them as much as possible. He was busy enough the way it is.
A couple other things came to her mind as well. Some capsaicin cream would do wonders for him to apply to any aches or pains that he might have. Devil's Claw extract, too, would be beneficial as well when used in a similar manner. All of these ideas ran through Shaia's mind as she sat and ate her food. It was only when she took a drank of her juice that she realized just how quiet it was. A bit too quiet. Perhaps Amarid was trying to think of something they could all discuss?
"So, Bereck," she went on to say, glancing over at the trauma specialist with a curious eye, "how are your patients faring? Well, I hope. No missing limbs or anything, I imagine?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 5:10 am
A change of subject, thank shards for that. Bereck cleared his throat and put his plate down on the table in front of them, he had barely touched it but really didn't feel like eating any more. "Ah, yes, well. Not too badly in the great scheme of things I suppose, I had to remove a couple of fingers from a young smith yesterday but she tells me it won't affect her craft, it was the last two on her off hand, so." What else was there to update on? Bereck frowned as he ran through a mental list of patients and lent back in his chair. "The blue who was badly scored two sevendays back is doing better, his wings are healing well and I'm hopeful of a full recovery but it's too soon to be sure yet. I'd like you to come and have a look at him later Shaia, talk through the ointments and things he'll need as he heals with him and his rider."
____________________
"Speaking of Threadscore," Amarid put in, raising her goblet a little in apology for interrupting as Bereck paused again. "Sorry for cutting in, but are we all ready for tomorrow's fall? Sufficient numbweed and fellis prepared? Triage teams ready?"
____________________
"Mmh, triage teams ready," Bereck affirmed, shifting slightly in his seat but failing to get more comfortable. "Bar the final briefing tomorrow before the wings set off of course," he added, it was a given but it was worth saying anyway.
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