Logs:Healers With A Sense Of Humour
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| RL Date: 3 April, 2010 |
| Who: Josian, Madilla |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: A foreign healer comes to visit. |
| Where: Infirmary, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 18, Month 5, Turn 22 (Interval 10) |
| Infirmary, High Reaches Weyr Two sets of double doors, one from the the inner caverns and a recently built set from the dragon infirmary, lead into the unnaturally hushed human infirmary. Despite fastidious cleaning, the scent of redwort and numbweed has long since soaked into every smooth-carved surface, along with other, subtler medicinal smells. Pristinely made cots are lined up against the walls; most of them are left open to view, but some in the back are surrounded by curtains for delicate procedures or critical patients. About halfway between the two entrances is the counter for the healers on duty; it guards the entrance to the storage rooms just beyond, their shelves and cabinets lined with meticulously labeled bottles, boxes, jars, and even vats of supplies. The Weyrhealer's office is also here, along with another side room for mixing up medicines and the like. It's late afternoon at the High Reaches, though it'd be later still at Ista; it's relatively quiet in the colder weyr's infirmary, though, leaving Madilla time to lounge - which mostly means 'stand straight and tall, but get to read anyway' - at the admissions desk, with no patients waiting her attention. The young healer turns a page carefully, mouthing the words as she reads, with an expression of great concentration on her face. Josian makes his way in, tugging a warm jacket close around him. There's a fading patch of red sunburn across each cheek as he grins over, making his way up to the counter to totally invade Madilla's personal space to try to get a look at what she's reading. "Is that totally fascinating?" Josian asks by way of cheerful greeting. Madilla's cheeks flush, and she positively /jumps/ as Josian gets as close as he does, and then speaks before she seems to actively notice his arrival. Eyes wide, she turns her head abruptly to get a good look at him, flushing further as she says, hastily, "Oh, I suppose it is. To me, at least." Even a quick glance at the hide would indicate what it is: a treatise on fertility and the tracking thereof. "/Josian/. I mean-- Journeyman Josian. What brings you to the Reaches?" Josian takes a half step back at the jump. "Sorry to startle you!" Even if he doesn't really sound sorry, more amused. "Have a patient having trouble getting pregnant?" Josian asks curiously before he gives Madilla a quick look over. "You know me. And suddenly I find myself at a huge disadvantage. Please tell me you're not going to make me play games to figure out your name." He pauses for a moment before he pulls a note from his pocket. "Apparently Ista Weyr, or at least the healers there, need to borrow a book, please. And I was voted to come seek it, since I'm still supposed to be used to not being baked in the sun and heat." Is it possible for Madilla to blush any /more/? If it is, she totally does, at his question about her reading material. A shake of her head seems to be all the answer she's willing to give, at least initially; she turns her attention, instead, to offering, "Madilla. No-- you probably wouldn't know me. I remember you from the Hall, is all. But I was just an Apprentice. A Junior Apprentice, even." And thus, she doesn't seem to have expected him to remember her. Thankfully. She reaches out her hand to take the note, adding, "At least it's not the middle of winter here, I suppose. That /would/ be a shock to the system, after living at Ista." Josian looks at that blush and just cocks his head with a grin. "Ah. Reading it for more personal reasons?" He might even try to sneak another glance over the text as he passes her the note. "Madilla! You've grown up. I do remember you." Kind of. At least the name. "Well, I've only been living at Ista for a few weeks, spent, oh, four turns at Lemos Hold before. So it's totally harrassing the new guy, thinking they'll send me up into the cold. Makes me realize once again how happy I am to be assigned someplace with such a nice beach." And it also totally explains the sunburn on his cheeks. "Something like that," she agrees, as vague as before, but without quite so much of a blush, this time. She looks pleased, too, at being remembered - however vaguely - but nods quickly; "It's been a few turns, I suppose. Congratulations on the new posting?" Giving the note a quick glance, she nods quickly. "We have this one, at any rate, and there'll be no problem in loaning it, as long as we get it back eventually. Ista /is/ lovely... but the weather must be quite a change, I would have thought. From Lemos." Josian holds up his hands with a joking smile that looks totally natural on his face. "I promise that I will make them treat it with care and not destroy it with klah, or they'll have to answer to me!" Josian leans against the counter, after all, this isn't his infirmary to be on duty in. "And thank you for the congratulations. So far, I'm quite happy. Grew up in warmer climes, so I'm adjusting there. And since I'd had plenty of time to drive /everyone/ in Lemos crazy, it's good to have a new set to annoy!" That last part is /probably/ just joking. "And congratulations on your promotion to Journeyman." Deadpan, almost, Madilla remarks, "I'm sure having to answer to you is a truly terrifying fate. I appreciate it." She doesn't - yet - make any effort to go and fetch the book in question, instead lingering where she is to answer, warmly, "I'm glad to hear that. It's good to enjoy your posting. You must miss Lemos, though... whether you drove them all crazy or not." There's a serious question in there somehow, unasked: what /is/ it like to have to just pack up and move. "Thank you. It's been a few months now and I... I still find it exciting. I'm sure you remember what that feels like." "It is! I could always, well, uh, sic one of my little patients with especially sticky hands on them." Josian says, as if that is a serious threat. "I'm trying to concentrate on enjoying Ista, but it isn't always fun to leave your friends behind. It would have really sucked though if I'd been in a serious relationship, and the Hall told me to up and move. But I wasn't when I left. So I guess I get to recommit myself to the fine art of writing letters." Josian states before he adds, "I do, even at my advanced age. I hope you keep finding it exciting." Madilla manages not to laugh, but her eyes dance all the same. More serious is her quiet remark, "Yes, that would be awful. I can't-- imagine. Having to pack up and leave someone, especially if they couldn't just come with you. One of the problems with the life of a crafter, I suppose. Most of us don't stay in one place forever. I suppose we get used to new places eventually, though. High Reaches didn't used to feel like home, but it does now." She fastens a truly bright smile on the other healer as she adds, "And thank you. I hope so, too, though I do understand that these things fade... perhaps there will be other things to be excited over, in time." Josian isn't as good at being serious. At least not when he's just chatting. "Lots of things in life to be excited over, though right? Especially if look for them instead of focusing on things you're not in love with. Lately I've been excited over redisovering the wonders of beaches and sun. Apparently Ista is also fond of getting drunk, with the number of bars there." He decides with a smirk. "Friends though, you can always make more of. I suppose the same is true of not super serious relationships." Josian says with last with a playful wag of the eyebrows. All of that makes Madilla laugh. "I suppose it isn't," she agrees, presumably of his last comment, though there's no deep emphasis there: she's not speaking from personal experience, then. "Life is pretty exciting, anyway," she agrees. "I suppose Ista seems... the right kind of place for lots of bars and drinking. It seems like it would be quite relaxed? Less structured and formal, anyway. Particularly compared to a Hold, I would have thought." Josian considers that for a moment before he nods. "Definitely different than a Hold. I think it'll take me a bit of time to really be used to some of the differences." Josian pauses a moment before he just laughs. "Relaxed in some ways, but well, apparently not all the healers are. I've already be informed that someone was surprised I was one. Because I'm not as uptight as expected." There's a quick glance around to see if any more uptight people his senior are in distance to hear that. Again, Madilla laughs. "People /do/ seem to have a certain idea of what healers are supposed to be like, don't they? I suppose... I probably fit in to the stereotype to some extent. You have your uptight, serious, sterile healers, and then you have the ones who seem to care too much about everyone. And everyone else isn't supposed to be like they are." Which, apparently, she doesn't approve of at /all/. "I think it's better, for healers to have a sense of humour. It all ends up too... serious, otherwise." "I'm not sure fitting into the stereotype is all bad though. Probably makes it easier not to drive a master nuts." Josian adds with a grin before he nods. "Exactly! I mean, you have to know when you really need to be serious, but what's wrong with being friendly? But then, my specialty is kids. A serious, really uptight healer would probably scar them from wanting to come to the infirmary for /life/." And Jos might be given to exaggeration. Madilla nods easily enough to the first of Josian's statements, but her attention is absolutely caught by his reference to kids-- she looks /entranced/. "Some of the time, I wish I'd pushed for pediatrics," she admits, quietly. "But at the time, pharmacy seemed more... appropriate." For a shy little healer who wasn't confident at making decisions on her own. Ever. "I tend to get most of the children, anyway - no one else cares as much as I do, I suspect. It's important... making the children comfortable with healers. Proving we're not that scary." Josian just beams at finding she's of a like mind. "Exactly! They need someone who doesn't just know about their little bodies, but also cares about knowing how to talk to them. Especially the younger ones aren't just little adults. They need things explained differently." And for once, Josian actually seems serious about what he's saying. "I guess you can always add on extra study in pediatrics, and then be an extra special healer who knows /everything/." With that, he's back to teasing. "One of those insufferable know-it-alls? I hope not!" Madilla answers the last remark first, but backtracks rapidly to enthuse, "Absolutely, yes. It's-- completely different. I'm glad we recognise that, and actively do things differently for them. I feel awful when I see some healers just... not recognising it properly. The poor little things. Children understand more than we think, but... sometimes less, too, I think." "You could be a not insufferable know-it-all!" Josian enthuses, still with a big teasing grin, as he leans back against the counter, resting his elbows on it. "Sometimes I think it's easy to assume that they know everything an adult would know. Or that they know nothing. Both are horrid traps with quicksand and things to eat you." Josian states with a mock serious tone. "Apparently Ista needed someone to make the kids /not/ want to hide when they have to go to the infirmary. Or maybe Lemos was just that ready to get rid of me." And then there's a sudden change of subject, just to put Madilla on the spot. "Why did we never really talk at the Hall? You seem nice. Funny." Pink cheeks mark Madilla's pleasure-and-embarrassment at the compliment at the end; she even ducks her head for emphasis. "Thank you? I think-- you were older than I was. And I was... very shy. I didn't even know many of the people in my classes very well. But you seem nice, too. I'm glad your healers sent you up here for that book!" Beat. "The one I haven't even managed to fetch for you, yet. Because I'm-- distracted. And you're interesting to talk to." "Distracting should be my nickname. Or maybe just distracted." Josian muses before he shakes his head. "You're welcome. Anyway, the book, yes. I suppose I'll have to actually get it at some point. And I suppose by the time you came along I was pretty settled at the Hall and with my little group of friends there. Being ancient and all." A smirking smile crosses his face. "Maybe I should hold the book hostage at Ista, so you'll have to come down and fetch it someday." "Perhaps just 'Distract'. That way, it can work either way, although I suppose it doesn't have quite the same ring to it." Madilla smiles brightly at the other healer, nodding quickly to the rest of what he has to say. "'Ancient'. Yes, that's you. Just about ready to retire, I'm sure. I'd-- like that." That must be to his last remark. "Keep it down there, and I'll come and fetch it. If I can. It seems like... well, we weyr-posted healers should be friendly, shouldn't we? Sharing healer information and tips." Beat. "Let me go get that book." She'll even take a couple of steps, this time. Josian replies in a quavering, old man voice. "Why, I might just turn twenty-five by the end of the turn and have to warm my bones by the fire." And then he'll shift back to grin. "Right! Because I'm sure there's weyr-things that aren't like hold-things that we can share ideas and commiserate about. I bet you'll be able to find a rider to take you for such an important task as getting a book back. Especially since they could hang out in the Sandbar or on the beach while you undertake your mission." He turns to look out towards the door. "I'll man the desk while you get it, if you'd like. Just in case someone comes in dripping blood in the minute it takes." Madilla lets her brows raise, and though she's not much of an actress, it's not that hard to act impressed, either: "Twenty-five! Goodness, that is old." Of course, she ruins it all by laughing after that, anyway. With a firm nod, obviously pleased, she declares, "I'll do that. It shouldn't be hard, no... even in summer, it seems like the riders here are eager to have a reason to head out there." She's come to a halt where she is to make these remarks, but with Josian's offer she bobs her head again and says, firmly, "Thanks. I'll be back in a minute! Hopefully, I'll find the floor still unbloodied... that would be unfair, otherwise." And she darts off, disappearing into one of the offices down the back of the room. She really is back in a minute, too, bearing the book tucked under one arm. And nothing horribly bloody comes through the door in the meantime. So Josian can spend his minute looking cheerful and glancing around the infirmary. "You found it! Good! I'd hate to fail at the task set before me. Then I'd be sure to get razzed for not even managing the new-guy mission." Josian notes lightly. "I should be getting back soon, though. I doubt the rider I dragged here is quite so happy about it. Unless he found the way to /your/ bar for variety." Offering the book over, Madilla looks amused. "It'd look pretty awful for us, if our record keeping was so bad I couldn't find a book," she notes. "It might end up worse for us than you... though perhpas not." She gives a few careful bobs of her head, once she's relinquished said book, adding, "Our bar is nice... but perhaps a little different from the ones down your way. You'd better collect him and get home, I guess. Let us know when you're done with the book? I'll come and collect it." Despite her laughter, Madilla manages to say, with enough force to make it serious, "I'm glad I was on duty, too. And thank you." Then, she watches him go, expression fond, and amused. And then, finally... it's time to go back to her reading. |
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