Logs:Spreading Rumours
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| RL Date: 5 January, 2010 |
| Who: Gabrion, Madilla |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Madilla knows something that makes talking to Gabrion awkward. She's still glad to see him again. |
| Where: Infirmary, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 6, Month 9, Turn 21 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Delifa/Mentions, W'chek/Mentions |
| 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. The hour just after lunch finds Madilla in the stillroom, mixing up a batch of something-or-another with her usual careful precision. Alone, she's spread out her supplies on the benchtop, quantities of various herbs laid out upon her chopping board, with some already stewing in the cauldron she's working over. She pauses, tucking a stray curl behind one ear, then reaches for a handful of something, adding it in carefully, one sprig at a time. Footfalls sound behind her and Gabrion comes in with a basket full of fresh herbs harvested from the garden, tied up in bundles and ready to be hung up to dry. "Madilla!" he says joyfully, ditching the basket in a corner and hurrying over to greet her. "You're back! Hey! How are you? How did it go at Healer Hall?" It's forgivable, right, if Madilla's upwards glance in Gabrion's direction isn't quite as enthusiastic as it might reasonably be, after all this time? Surely. Not that she doesn't look pleased, but there's an edge there, which she hastily wipes away to provide one of her warmest smiles. "Gabrion," she greets, letting the last of her herbs drop into the cauldron. "It was good. I-- learned a lot. But it's nice to be home." Beat. Then, carefully, "How are you?" "Sorry," Gabe says. "I didn't mean to interrupt." He was excited, that's all! "I'm good. Pretty good. I mean, things are going well. I thought it would suck, trying to study for exams without you here to help out but... it's been alright actually. I've gotten a lot done." He flashes a bright grin. "What're you working on there? Want some help? I can catch you up on all the local gossip, too." "It's all right," promises Madilla, with another of those smiles, encouraging Gabrion towards her with a wave of her hand. "Sure, you can help me out. I'd like to hear. I," beat, "hear you've had an interesting time of things of late." She glances across at him hesitantly, though still managing to smile. "Want to crush up those roots for me?" "Me? Yeah." Gabe barks a laugh. "It's been a heck of a summer." He grins again as he gathers the roots together and fetches a mortar and pestle to crush them with. "Let's see, so..." he launches into a tale of all the social goings-on of the infirmary staff, starting with the healer journeyman. This one just broke up with his girlfriend so he could court one of the weyr's nannies instead; /that/ one has been spending an awful lot of time with the male greenriders and looks like he's considering switching teams, if Madilla knows what Gabe means - and then there's the newly arrived apprentice who, night before last, asked for a sponge and started scrubbing his own dinner dishes at the living cavern bins before someone told him they have dishwashers on staff to do that. "And," Gabe concludes, "/I/ have to figure out how to tell Delifa I'm not carrying any more sharding messages to the weyrwoman or her snotty assistant. Every single time I do, they're totally rude, and I don't care if I'm only an apprentice. I have to take it off of the weyrwoman, but not that snotty little blonde scarecrow. If they're going to be rude, they can just get their messages some other way." Madilla stirs while Gabrion talks, making encouraging sounds every so often though she doesn't actually interrupt at any point, even when her eyebrows raise at the switching teams mention - no blush, at least - and narrow in sympathy at the tale of the poor apprentice. Of Tiriana and Teris, though, she murmurs, "I suppose they can be a little... overwhelming. Well, I can help you out with them now that I'm back, I suppose, and there are always weyr children... some of them might be willing?" She pauses, after saying that, then gives Gabrion a considering glance. "And... then there's Jess?" "Yeah, maybe they won't be rude to a little kid," Gabe agrees; he's not high on the idea of Madilla bearing the brunt of their random expressions of wrath, either. At the mention of Jess, he makes a face. "Right. Well, was," he amends. "I broke up with her the other day." If Jess failed to absorb or comprehend this message, it wouldn't be the first time. Despite the sour look on his face, something in it seems to amuse him, and he grins at Madilla again. "I guess I'm not the first one you got the summer's gossip from," he observes. Whatever Madilla's opinion is on the potential rudeness of the Weyrwoman and her Assistant to small children, it gets swallowed in the wake of what Gabrion says about Jess. Her whole face seems to freeze, and even her hand, so diligent in the stirring of her concoction up until now, stills. She's silent, pensive and awkward, for several long sentences before; "You broke up with her. Have you..." Beat. Deep breath. "Spoken to her lately?" Gabrion gives Madilla a puzzled look. "Well.. no. Not since the other day when we - uh - argued." He pauses in smashing up the roots. "Is something wrong? You look like you swallowed a wherry bone." Madilla swallows, which makes it look as though maybe the aforementioned wherry bone has actually passed through her throat-- but no. She forces a smile onto her face. "Perhaps you ought to," is what she says next, with a shrug of her shoulders, as she returns to her medicine. "From all I've heard, you were... close for a while. That's all. Better to... make sure everything is okay, right? Even if you're not goign to be together or anything." Gabrion lifts his eyebrows and eyes Madilla. "Okay, what's this about?" he asks suspiciously. "Is she spreading some kind of rumor about me? Because if she is... look, /I/ dumped her, and it was because..." he thinks better of stating the detailed reasoning, and instead says, "she was being a complete ass. She doesn't want to start that rumor mess with me, or I'll tell people what really happened." "No." Madilla's voice is surprisingly forceful, and so is her expression. "/No/, Gabrion." She lets out a long, low breath, and then shakes her head again. "It's not that. But it's not my place to say, either, except... there are consequences for our actions, sometimes, and we have to stand up to them, and /accept responsibility/." This is obviously not easy for her; she turns her gaze away, takes another deep breath, blows it out. "You need to talk to her." "You sound like W'chek, now," Gabe says with a snort of amusement. "You know he sat me down for a 'talk' when he found out I was going out with her? It was pretty awesome. Well, I'm still not marrying her," he asserts, but smirking, as though it were too absurd to be seriously considered. "But sure. I'll talk to her, if it makes you feel better. Once more can't hurt." Returning his attention to the roots, he asks, "So tell me about Healer Hall and everything." Mention of W'chek draws an obviously uncontrolled twitch from Madilla, not to mention what the bronzerider is being mentioned in relation to. And nor does Gabe's agreement really seem to appease her, though she bites her lips and nods. "Thank you," is her quiet response, heartfelt. "Healer Hall?" It's safer ground, at least, even if Madilla still looks uncertain. "Oh. Well. I feel like I've been to half of Pern, now, but it was good - really fascinating. Though," her expression is wry, "I think the rest of the group are destined for far greater things than me. High fliers, all of them." "What, are they like, Blooded or something?" Gabe asks - he's both genuinely curious about Madilla's summer, and eager to leave the subject of Jess behind. Answering this, at least, does seem to distract Madilla a little - especially as she indicates the roots with her hand, and then the cauldron: time to add them in. "No, no, nothing like that. They're just... ambitious. You know, next Craftmaster, all that." Gabrion wipes his hands on the towel and carefully scoops up the crushed roots to add in. "All of 'em?" he asks absently. Then: "Oh." He gives Madilla a funny look, and then laughs. "Well. I guess you're not - nobody would call you ambitious, I think, but Madilla..." he pauses, trying to figure out how to put this. "You're the smartest apprentice I know. Not just here. I mean, you're better than the ones at the Hall, too. Not like you know everything, 'cause nobody does, especially not an apprentice, but... you know how to figure it out. And you know how to make people - calm. You're like a queen dragon for humans." He grins at her. "So you know, you're not that different from those others. I'd put marks on it. You're going somewhere, too. I mean face it, /all/ of you can't be the next Craftmaster, but... there's other things, too." All of that makes Madilla flush furiously, and duck her head back towards her work, though yes, she does seem to want all of the roots in there, encouraging them with her hand. "That's--" She breaks off again. "I-- thank you, Gabrion. I don't know... I think it's just that I don't want all the things they do. Just to walk the tables and have a family and keep... helping people, I guess?" She ducks a glance up, smiling at him. "You're probably right. We can't all be Craftmaster." "I think being Craftmaster would suck, personally," Gabe says bluntly. "I had to write this assignment about epidermics while you were gone, and you know Moreta's plague? Master Capiam had to lock himself up in a room with his assistant and figure everything out. Which I mean, it's great and he got it done, but if it was me, I'd rather go out and help all the people who were dying. And I especially wouldn't want to have to be sending all these other healers to go risk their lives while I was locked up safe in a room. I'd rather be like Moreta and give my life to /do/ what needs to be done, you know?" He shrugs. "But I think it's a mix. Some people do with their brains and some people do with their hands. You're something else, though." He squints at Madilla, trying to work out what. "Maybe a mix. I'm not sure. You're gonna do something awesome though, not /just/ have a family and work in an infirmary always." He's sure of it. Beat. Beat. Beat. And then Madilla /laughs/. Wryly, "I don't think I'd like it much, either, to be honest. So much pressure! And fewer people." Another pause, and her hand stops again. "I'd give my life for it, too. Like Moreta. But... it's admirable, that you'd say so, Gabrion. You know that? You're going to be a wonderful, useful healer, one day." She's blushing again, obviously pleased with the compliments. "I hope so. I don't know what, but... I suppose we'll see, won't we?" Gabrion grins and ducks his head. "Ah, thanks. I hope so. If Seldon made it, I guess I've got a shot, huh? Anyway," now that all the roots are now in the pot, "I better get back up front, I'm supposed to take over the desk. I'll talk to you later, though, okay? I'm glad you're back," he says warmly, and holds out his arms to hug her. "Absolutely," declares Madilla, without hesitation - and with a warm, fond smile, as she turns to accept the hug, squeezing Gabrion gently as her arms wrap around him. "Oh, of course. It's good to /be/ back, Gabrion. I'll see you later." Beat. "And talk to Jess soon, mm? I'm here if you need an ear later, too. Just let me know." Gabrion hugs Madilla enthusiastically, but not too roughly. "Uh... okay," he says, caught off guard by that last bit, but he smiles and stops himself just short of messing up Madilla's hair. "But yeah, I'll see you later. Let's get lunch soon!" he suggests, and waves as he heads out to get back to work. Madilla's smile is utterly fond as she watches the other apprentice go. "Lunch. I'd like that," she calls after him, waiting until he's gone for her expression to turn outright concerned again. She swallows, shuts her eyes, and then, finally, goes back to her work. |
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