Really?!

Writers: Bree, Yvonne
Date Posted: 22nd May 2006

Characters: F'lin, Abrei
Description: Felarin actually goes to the Infirmary on M'galec's orders, but ends up getting out of his visit to the specialist anyway
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 11, day 26 of Turn 3

Abrei

Felarin slunk into the Infirmary a little early for his appointment, determined not to give M'galec another reason to make his life a misery. He'd decided that even though it was a waste of time, he'd grin and bear it simply so that he could say, 'I told you so!' to the pompous bronzerider's face. And he was looking forward to it.

He was a little earlier than he'd anticipated, and since he had a time to kill he waved at Tiya. She looked busy, though, and he didn't want to interrupt her, so he sat down on a chair, laced his fingers together, and stared at the ceiling.

Tiya paused long enough to wave back and give him a smile on her way to the other side of the infirmary, which earned Felarin a startled look from Abrei. The Weyrhealer swooped down upon Felarin before the journeyman headed his way could reach his side, waving him into her office without a word. Felarin stepped inside and grinned at the Weyrhealer. "Master Abrei. I wasn't expecting to see you- well, I _was_, but not to talk to you.

You'll be happy to know I haven't broken anything recently."

"Or had to fix anything Tiya has broken," Abrei replied, waving at a chair. "Have a seat. I want to ask you a few questions."

"All right." He sat, somehow knowing that the questions she wanted to ask went beyond 'how are you?' Abrei hesitated for a moment before sitting down across from him. "This is probably going to sound odd, but I think you're the first person I've seen Tiya smile at since... since she came back." "Really?" Felarin looked surprised, then thoughtful. After their last meeting he'd done some asking around about Tiya's 'trip' and had turned up a lot of conflicting reports. None of them were pleasant, and he doubted that most of them were true. "I'm surprised. She's a nice kid."

It had been a long time since someone had described Tiya as nice.
Abrei was used to 'odd' or 'strange' or 'disturbing' lately, especially from the girls who had once been Tiya's closest friends.
"She went through a lot, and I'm afraid she hasn't been adjusting well. If you two get along, it would mean a lot to me if you'd find some time to spend with her."

"Uh, sure. I don't mind. But I can't do much this week - M'galec's got me doing extra chores." Abrei frowned. "Extra chores? Whatever for?" She might not know Felarin well, but he certainly hadn't given the impression of the sort of candidate who got into trouble.

"Well..." Felarin raked his hand through his hair and smiled sheepishly. "I got kicked out of the candidate barracks because I, ah, snore. So M'galec says I have to go to some specialist because apparently snoring is a huge medical problem, and I, ah... didn't go.
So he got mad, gave me more chores, and sent me here."

"Do you have problems sleeping?" Abrei asked, her voice even. She wouldn't jump to conclusions... it was _possible_ M'galec had done the right thing. Possible. He shook his head. "Naw. But other people do."

"Which explains why you're sleeping somewhere else," Abrei replied. "But unless you're having problems breathing, you shouldn't have to see a healer unless you _want_ to. It's certainly not something to be given extra chores over!"

"He seems pretty insistant about it. He was even making noises about surgery," Felarin said darkly. Surgery! For snoring! It made him mad all over again.

Abrei resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. "Does it bother you?"

Felarin blinked. "M'galec?" That was hardly the sort of thing he could admit to!

The weyrhealer bit her lip to keep from smiling. "No. The snoring. Do you _want_ to try to fix it? There's no shame in wanting to... but there's no shame in not caring, either. I want to know what _you_
want." He shrugged, feeling the embarassment of the entire thing creeping back in beneath his anger at the Weyrlingmaster Second. "It doesn't bother _me_, and it's not like I'm bothering anybody else since I have a room of my own now. And I don't snore _that_ badly."

"Then that's the end of it," Abrei said firmly. "I'll tell the Headwoman that your chores are a mistake, and if M'galec says another word to you on the subject, you tell him to take it up with me.
M'galec can give you extra chores for mistakes you make as a candidate, but he doesn't have any right to assign punishments about things that happen in this infirmary. If he tries it again, you come to me, Felarin."

"Really? You can do that?" the Candidate asked, surprised.

Abrei smiled. "I'm the Weyrhealer, Felarin. When it comes to matters of healing, even M'galec has to answer to me." And he was going to learn that lesson, the hard way if necessary.

"Huh. Well, thanks!" A slow grin stretched across his face as he stood. "That's the best news I've had all day. I really owe you, now."

"Then spend some time with Tiya," Abrei replied, sitting back in her chair. "It would be nice to see _her_ smiling a little more." "Sure thing!" Spending a little time with the kid was an easy trade for making M'galec look like an oaf! "Thanks again, Master Abrei. Although if you could talk to the carpenters rather than the Headwoman, that'd be great."

Abrei nodded, writing herself a brief note. "I'll take care of it, and I'll talk to the journeyman you were supposed to see today. You can be on your way."

Felarin nodded, sketched a salute, and left the Infirmary whistling tunelessly. Shard it all, it was turning out to be a scorching fine day.

Last updated on the May 22nd 2006

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