Logs:A Trail Not Easily Trodden
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| RL Date: 26 September, 2015 |
| Who: Nala, Aislara |
| Involves: Fort Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Nala entrusts Tippetarius' tiny clutch to Aislara. She also asks her to take her Between. |
| Where: Infirmary, Fort Weyr |
| When: Day 4, Month 12, Turn 38 (Interval 10) |
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| There's been no word from Nala in what has lapsed into months now, since she did her best to drive Aislara off, though Jynth has not been so incommunicative with Ryerith, checking in every now and then less with words and more with a lick of warmth and the tang of metal. The bluerider hasn't often roamed far beyond the infirmary, whether of her own volition or at the healers' orders, and today is no different. It's Tippetarius who seeks out Aislara, the gold rather evidently not happy as she delivers her message written on the rectangular scrap of hide she carries. It simply reads: Spy might wish to watch over his eggs in a nicer location than this. Tipp doesn't stick around to explain; she's gone, back to wherever she arrived from. Aislara, moved to inaction in regards to Nala and her infirmary stay, has maintained a nearly constant workflow with the weyrlings. Ryerith has equally not pushed for more from Jynth than he can give. They have all played a portion of this scenario before - it only has the added difficulty of not having a continent to separate them. Tipp's note gives Aislara pause and she does not immediately seek to answer it. It isn't until hours later that she trails into the infirmary with Spy draped across her neck. He flees from her and zips around in pursuit of the gold, leaving Aislara to hover near the entrance. Her hands are shoved into her jackets pockets as she looks for Nala. Tippetarius is the easier to find of the two, for it's her disgruntled chirping that is easy to identify as not belonging to human, but to firelizard. Not exactly being an 'emergency' patient, nor one that requires any real physical treatment, Nala has been settled towards the back of the infirmary, near enough to be watched, but not to get in the way of anything or anyone more pressing. She's sat cross-legged on the edge of her bed, her reflexes not quite quick enough to keep batting Tipp away from the tiny basket and its burden of sand and all of three eggs, one of which already looks like it's not going to survive. Nala has earned herself bloody hands for the trouble, the matter disregarded as she insists to the gold, "You cannot keep them here. You are already being disruptive." It is Spy who flits to the pair faster than Aislara's slow walk towards the rear once she's located the bluerider and the gold. The brown dips down to land on the bed and peers at the basket with a comical tilting of his head back and forth as he tries to interpret the scene before him. Aislara pauses just short of the bed and has a small smile for her brown that falls away as she looks to Nala. "Did they really say she couldn't keep them here?" she queries, "that doesn't seem very fair to Tipp." "I said," Nala declares, right as Tippetarius lands in the space between her shoulders and digs her claws in, earning a wince from the bluerider, but it seems to be the little queen's chosen spot from which to watch Spy and eggs. "It is hardly conducive to anyone else's peace and quiet if she views half of them as threats." There's the faintest slur to her words, her pronunciation not as crisp as usual. "They might not hatch at all, but they would be better with you than here, if you can tolerate her presence when the mood strikes her." Aislara doesn't answer immediately as she watches the gold, and in doing so, hopefully hides the assessment she makes of Nala's state. Spy is quick to fill the silence as he suddenly leaps forward in a blur of movement to settle on the top of the basket. He worries small forepaws into the sand and noses at each egg in quick movements. He's got an eye on Tippetarius and so prepares himself for a scolding as he persists in his inspection. "Of course she would be welcome. If she wants to be with us and her eggs, I would let her." She pauses, shifting her footing as she hesitates and then moves to sit on the furthest edge of the bed. "And," she adds slowly, careful of her words, "you are welcome as well." Tippetarius delivers a warning hiss to Spy, but she's as choosy in about when to play the overprotective mother as she is about everything else, and would apparently much rather keep digging her claws into Nala's back as she watches the brown closely. "Thank you," Nala replies, doing nothing to dislodge Tipp now that she's away from the basket. She hesitates, gaze distant, before addressing the last matter, and winds up silent for a lot longer than she might have planned. "...I am not to go beyond the nearer caverns," she says slowly. "In two sevens or so, they might be content with my returning to duty. Not that I have any to return to." Spy has the audacity to hiss back at the gold. These eggs are his as well! Aislara reaches forward to pull the brown from the basket and sets him down on the ground with a warning shake of her finger. "Don't treat her that way. She is in charge of those eggs. You listen." The brown huffs in response to the greenrider as he scuttles under the bed to sulk. Aislara looks back at Nala and gives her a nod. "Okay," she replies, "you do what they tell you and I truly hope it helps.. with everything that is going on with you." A pause as she takes a few seconds to look searchingly at Nala before she averts her gaze. Now that no-one else is trying to get at those eggs, Tippetarius chooses not to want them either and clumsily launches herself away from her perch to scuttle off and seek out Spy. Nala stuffs her bloodied hands up the sleeves of her too-big sweater and stares down at the basket that presently has only blankets to keep its contents warm, and after taking a deep breath, she asks, "Would you take me Between tomorrow?" The question is barely out there before she adds, "I can make the request of someone else, if not. They have said I may go if I am not in control of the journey." Aislara's eyes lift at Nala's request and her hesitation may be misinterpreted. There's that familiar flicker of pain that crosses her face: that stab of a reminder that she would never need have the option of Between to stop something her own body denied her. Her reply when it comes is quiet but no tremor of tone nor hint of tears betray her further. "I will," is simple and sufficient. She holds Nala's gaze for a moment and looks to the door, further questions stilled before she can utter them. Nala doesn't look up, though she does make a subtle attempt to catch Aislara in her peripheral vision with the slightest tilt of her head. 'Thank you' isn't exactly an appropriate response, so she finds herself needing to settle for a single nod of her head as she hunches her shoulders further, though whether it's owing to her request or in response to the scratches inflicted by Tipp isn't so clear. She doesn't miss that the greenrider looks to the door, and is quick to offer her an out with a murmured, "The eggs have been away from the hearth for a while." "They will be fine for a little while longer," Aislara replies as she shrugs out of her jacket and moves to press her hand against the sand. She clicks her tongue and settles her jacket over the top. Spy has yet to come out from under the bed, either still ill pleased with her or entertained by the gold enough to stay. Aislara doesn't know quite what to say and so in place of words she cautiously slides her hand towards Nala, palm up in invitation for contact. "Has- are they helping?" she asks, needing enough to risk asking a question she would rather not put between them. "I hate being in here," Nala says quietly, though it's not for the healers' sakes that she keeps her voice that low. "Being trapped. But I had to do it." She twitches her shoulders and watches Aislara's hand like it's an entirely foreign entity. "They... try. To help. One of them has me chronicling everything that has happened since I was sent to Fort Hold, only the truth still requires omissions." She turns a tiny bit, not to reach for Aislara's hand, but to rest her head against her shoulder, provided she isn't encouraged not to. "And they are trying different mixes of things on the bad days." Given that her words keep running into each other, today must have been one of those days. "At least they agree I am not mad." "Being hurt by our circumstances and suffering from the trauma is far different than being born with the issues," Aislara murmurs, perhaps speaking to her own trauma and struggles so many turns ago. She doesn't move when Nala rests her head against her shoulder, not wanting any action to push the bluerider away. "It will get better," she assures, firm in that belief as her eyes wander towards the opposite wall. "If you trust yourself enough to keep trying to get there." "And it might get worse," Nala states, matter of fact, her tone not defeatist, but accepting of that possible eventuality. "I might feel better for longer stretches at a time, but it might never go away. They have told me that." And so now she tells (warns) Aislara, turning her head into her shoulder to burrow in like a feline might. "...If she," Ryerith, "rises before I wish to leave, he will still chase her," she murmurs. "We have agreed on that, as long as you would not mind it. And provided--" She pauses, uncertain. "...It is not tomorrow." "I don't expect the trail to be easily trodden," Aislara replies with a slight shrug of movement. She lifts her arm and shifts against Nala, encouraging her to curl in closer. "If her rising would negatively impact you Nala I will ask to take the flight outside of our Weyr. I think- maybe Benden would let me stay for a time. Maybe even Reaches. Our-Ryerith- we don't have to let that be something that isn't good for your recovery. Even if Jynth and Ryerith wish it." She hugs her arm about Nala. "You matter. Let's do what you need." "No." It's a vehement response, its intensity managing to get through the haze of whatever the healers have given Nala. "I will not be the reason you take her to a Weyr of strangers. No." She snags a grip low around Aislara's waist as she curls in closer. "I can prevent him from chasing if you would prefer, but I am not going to let you go through a flight at a strange Weyr because of me." One of the healers at the main desk glances over, brow furrowed, but ultimately leaves her alone, for now. "Okay," Aislara soothes, brushing her hand through Nala's hair. "We will stay and he can chase." Because barring Jynth from a flight seems far too wrong than leaving did to her. "She shouldn't rise this seven," she says lightly, "so let's not focus on it now." She risks leaning down to press a kiss to Nala's head and then turns back, catching that healer's glance. "Those eggs may be getting too cold now," she continues, aiming to keep her tone light. "I should probably bring them home. But if you want.. I can visit again. When you want." Nala nods against Aislara's shoulder, then slowly eases herself back to sit up straight to address practical matters, after a final, brief tightening of her grip on the greenrider. "Yes," she agrees, voice steadier now. "They deserve a chance. You should take them home." And all the better to while Tipp isn't shrieking protest, the gold having fallen asleep in the shadows beneath the bed. Nala glances down at her hands, then at Aislara's attire, checking that she hasn't bloodied up her clothes, then, satisfied that she hasn't caused damage, she squares her shoulders and gives a nod more to herself than anyone else. "If you want to," she states, of visiting, attempting to take any obligation out of the whole thing, only she follows it up with, "...You will take me Between in the morning?" Aislara answers by tipping forward to wrap Nala in a firm hug, "I will be here." She stands then before she changes her mind on leaving and hefts the jacket and blanket covered basket up. "We will have to find some who may want to try and Impress them if they live," she adds in a parting thought before she offers Nala a brief smile. She turns then and hurries out of the infirmary far faster than the steps that carried her in. The next day she will arrive somberly to collect Nala so that Ryerith might take them that short distance Between. |
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