Logs:Welcome Home, Daegan
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| RL Date: 4 June, 2008 |
| Who: Daegan, Madilla |
| Involves: Healer Hall |
| Type: Log |
| What: After Daegan is transported back to the Hall, Madilla comes for a visit, and the two apprentices talk for the first time, properly, since Daegan was searched. |
| Where: Infirmary, Healer Hall |
| When: Day 9, Month 8, Turn 16 (Interval 10) |
| Infirmary - Healer Hall Brightly lit and cheery, this room has several couches near the entrance. Games of all sorts, along with fresh fruits and water, have been left here to help those visiting patients pass the time. At the eastern end of the room is a fireplace with a pot of fresh water ready to be heated. A long counter nearby is perfect for preparing medicines. The rest of the room is sectioned off by curtains, to provide private areas for patients to rest or be examined. The private areas seem unusually large, at first, until you realize they were made that way on purpose, so groups of Healers can visit any patient and learn from the patient's condition and treatment. The smell of fresh herbs drifts through this room, and it appears to be kept very clean. A sevenday after the hatching finds Daegan's wounds settled enough that he can be moved from Telgar to the Healer Hall. Transported carefully and certainly through the most unique betweening experience he's ever had - lying on an air-lift board, dangling beneath the dragon --- he's glad to be safely home. Master Sila is frequently through giving instructions on his care, and upon his arrival, he requested a massive stack of class material to keep him entertained as he lays on his stomach on the cot with his stitched shoulder to butt raking of claws he received on the stands, bandages wrapped around his torso and extending into a pair of loose relaxation pants that ride low across his hips. This afternoon finds him staring at the top-most hide, perusing the information on it. Madilla did not manage to make it to the hatching, and nor did a letter arrive from her during the time Daegan was convalescing at Telgar. Now that he is home, however, the dark-haired girl has apparently elected to break her radio silence, and appears in the doorway of the infirmary in which Daegan lies. She hesitates at the doorway, clutching a small bundle of something in one hand, and stares across the room at Daegan, waveringly. Finally, one long, deep breath later, she makes her way in, and across towards the other apprentice. "Hello." Eloquence be damned. Dark blue gaze climbs away from the words on the hide, though it remains held by one hand until his eyes settle on the girl's face. "Maddie," Daegan's voice has settled since the last time she saw him into a pleasant baritone instead of the cracking nonsense of transition. Surprise shows in his tone - though why he should be surprised by her presence here in the Healer Hall where she lives and takes classes-- its anyone's guess, but he is and the hide drops down onto the top of the stack beside the bed, his hand gesturing smally towards the chair by the bed. "Have a seat." He invites with a smile, "Didn't come up t'watch th'hatchlin's use me fer target practice, hm? Or didja come an' were just too busy dancin' t'visit me durin' th'hatchin' feast?" Attention flickering to the item in her hands, "Whasthat?" Madilla's expression shows surprise of its own at the change in Daegan's voice, but, wordlessly, she takes the offered chair, perching on the end of it with knees tightly together. "I couldn't come," she explains, cheeks flushing, the words coming out faster than perhaps they were intended. "It was all arranged, and I even had something to wear, but my name came up on the roster to sit in on someone's labour, and then Reantha's waters broke, and it took /hours/." She pauses for breath, opens her mouth again, then shuts it. Finally, "Does it hurt an awful lot? Oh--" she follows his gaze towards the package in her hands, and shoves it towards him. "Cinnamon roll. I didn't know if they'd be giving you proper food, or just invalid food." "Ugh." Daegan's nose wrinkles in disgust, "I hated sitting on labors. That's definitely one specialization that's out for me." Then he grins, "S'alright. In the end I wouldn'ta been able t'dance with ya anyway. So I'll just have t'owe y'fer that dance. Maybe at the next gather?" He offers a faint smile to the other apprentice, "I imagine I'll be better by then." He starts to shrug but a gentle throbbing pain that rises reminds him that moving his shoulders is not a good idea, so he freezes and forces his muscles to relax before responding, "I couldn't see anythin' when it first happened 'cause there was so much pain. S'better now that they've got everythin' numb. S'a pain that I can't sit up or nothin'. That hatchlin' had real good aim fer makin' me bored outta m'skull. 'Course, yer here now, so that's a bit better." There's nothing like distraction. He shifts his arm carefully, taking the cinnamon roll, "Yer a lifesaver, Maddie. Gran's had me on a diet o'broth an' greens since I got here. She says I gained weight while I was gone." Weight is less precise than muscle mass which he did gain more of through the menial labor asked of all candidates. Madilla admits, with a rueful grin, "I agree. I'm sure it's a wonderful - if painful - experience for the mother, but I think I'd rather be their healer /after/ birth, not during. But it was frustrating: I was looking forward to seeing the hatching. I'll take you up on that dance. Should try and learn how first, I suppose," she muses, though she's clearly distracted by Daegan, and the pain he's obviously in. She bites her lip, turning her head away to stare at the floor. "I'm glad," she says of his comment on being less bored now that she's here, and manages to even glance up, with a smile, as he takes the roll. "I suspected as much. Doesn't make sense to me - isn't your /stomach/ that's injured. It's not as though you're fat or anything, either. You look okay. Um. Aside from..." The obvious. "I can teach you if you'd like." Daegan offers to the matter of learning to dance, "Growing up with the Holder fosterlings-- they all had to learn to dance, so I learned with 'em. Became a game of who could dance the best 'cause they all have t'know how fer all th'formal stuff they have to do." Manners is something that one might wish had rubbed off as well as the lessons on dancing. "Y'gonna help me get caught up? I musta missed all kindsa stuff in th'classes." This is queried before he bites into the cinnamon roll - 'mm'ing appreciatively. "My Gran don't make sense t'most people. I figger its just her way of exactin' her revenge fer me goin' off t'the Weyr without tellin' her. She didn't come t'th'hatchin' either. You heard about who all didn't impress? Bergitte came t'visit me th'other day. Xhaiden's-- gone home t'-- maybe get married, I guess." He frowns at that. "I'll ne'er understand you holders. S'crazy." "I'd like that," Madilla decides, crossing her now-empty hands in her lap. "There wasn't much need to know about dancing, at home. But when I'm studying over at the Harper Hall, I hear their music, and I like it - I think I might like dancing." Her gaze shifts to the now-discarded hides, and she nods: "Are they making you make-up your exams? They weren't too bad, I think. I don't have any notes I can share, but I can help." She makes no further comment on Daegan's gran - the woman is her superior, after all, and involved in the subcraft Madilla intends to pursue. "I heard," she agrees, shifting to safer subjects. "I must have missed Berit. Xhaiden-- I hope he's good to his wife, if he is to be married. She may be as unhappy with it as he is, or perhaps just more unsure." "Yah, they are. They always do fer 'pprentices who stand. I was goin' t'come back sooner, 'cept Xhai asked me t'stay. By th' last month, I just wanted t'be a Healer." Which really is a significant thing for Daegan to say out loud for all that he tries to simply brush the idea aside nonchalantly. "S'alright 'bout th'notes. Yer help'd be appreciated. I've got th'hides t'read from all m'classes, but -- I still gotta make sure I remember what I read. 'Course, Gran says I've got a month a'fore I'll be 'llowed t'sit up and prolly longer a'fore I c'n go back t'class. An' I'll get t'experience some physical therapy first hand." He grimaces at this prospect. "Guess it'll sorta give me a unique perspective." There's a little nod to having missed Berit. "She didn't stay too long. But long enough t'visit an' bring me those." He nods to a very very meticulously arranged bouquet of flowers in a vase on the side table. "Xhai--" He sighs, frowning. "Aw, I don't want t'talk 'bout Xhai." Here Daegan's expression does look distressed for a moment before he washes it to neutrality. "So. Anythin' new with you? Or stuff 'round here I missed?" He asks, trying to distract from the topic of his best-friend. Madilla's nod stops part way, as, apparently, she registers this newfound appreciation of healerdom. She doesn't comment on that subject, however, instead diving back into the study-related conversational thread. "Happy to help," she reports, nodding. "I'm sure it'll be good practice for me, anyway." She wrinkles her nose at the concept of physical therapy, and notes, in a quiet voice, "You'd think we'd be all used to infirmaries, working in them, and and all. But I find it kind of-- creepy in here. Visiting. I think I'd just rather patients be people I don't know outside." She glances at the flowers, and laughs - very Berit. "Okay," she says of Xhaiden. "You don't have to. I'm sorry. You must miss him. Um, not really? Journeywoman Kastela is pregnant. I think Michel is going to walk the tables, soon. He wants a posting to Ista or Boll - somewhere warm. I-- I imagine most of this is not that interesting to you. I'm sorry." "Yeah, I bet." Daeg responds to the point of good practice, nodding his head slightly on the pillow. "Betcha could learn lots 'bout convalescing patients just by hangin' round me." He quirks a brow slightly at her confession of not liking infirmaries. "Really? Why's that? I like bein' in 'em. Not as a patient, I mean, but I do like th'way that they're clean. S'nice." He really does like things clean. In that, he differs from other boys his age. "But it might just be 'cause I've been 'round with my Gran fer ferever. I'm just used t'them. I'm learnin' a lot just by watchin' an' listenin' in here." His brow furrows slightly and he gazes up at her. He meant what he said about not wanting to talk about Xhaiden so he drops the subject entirely. "She's preggers?" He queries, and his tone is insensitive - really, that whole bedside manner is something he does need to work on. "By that Harper guy? Or someone else?" This does however, open an avenue to another topic, "Were you serious 'bout wantin' me t'kiss you?" Okay, so the letter said letting him, not wanting him to, but the inquiry is made in a near whisper given all the apprentice rules. "No doubt," agrees Madilla. "Must be pretty boring. Oh--" she hesitates, before explaining further, "I think it's just, knowing behind the scenes stuff, makes you more aware of what can go wrong. I don't usually have a problem with them. But usually, I'm working, not visiting." She doesn't seem offended by Daegan's insensitive comments on Kastela, though her cheeks go a little pink. "The 'Harper guy' as you say, yes. I think they're going to get married; she's looking really happy." She stops, silent for a handspan of seconds, before tackling his final question. "I didn't say I wanted to, just that we /could/. Are you telling me that /you/ want to?" She tilts her head to consider him, dark brows lifted curiously, her hands pressed primly into her lap. "Its better with visitors. Nice t'come from around here. It means I know a lotta folks. Tho' that's also sort of bad sometimes. I-- I think I grew up some while I was at the Weyr--- at least some in some ways. An' I'm not sure they're gonna ever see me fer me 'cause I've always been little Egan, Master Sila's grandson, y'know?" Daegan gives a little sigh, "Oh well. Small price for a happy home t'come back to. Gran'll fergive me eventually, I 'spect." Then he simply blinks his acknowledgement of the Journeywoman's situation, its easier than nodding. He looks to her then curiously, "I might be. Are you sayin' you -don't- want to?" He asks, tone suspicious. "I thought you was goin' round declarin' yerself m'girlfriend up at the Weyr." Oh yes, that rumor did get back to him many times over. Madilla nods, lifting a hand to run it through a long strand of hair that has escaped from her plait. "I imagine you get a good many more visitors than I would. Though-- yes, they'll probably always see you that way. People aren't good at seeing change in people they've known forever." She meets his gaze squarely, and though her cheeks turn pink, she holds her own. "I told Tiriana that it would be a good way to tease you, is all. But I think she decided I must be anyway, because I didn't hate you." She doesn't actually answer the other question. Daegan snorts slightly, "Bet not. Y've got family. My mum an' da don't even really acknowledge I exist. S'just Gran, Gramps, and Zeeg, m'half-brother." The lad reaches out a hand towards the other apprentice's knee, a touch that's meant to be comforting and reassuring, "'Sides. I'd visit and all. I bet Gi-- er. Bergitte would visit too. 'Sides," And here his tone turns teasing, "You -like- studyin'. I mean, I'm learnin' t'like it, but you'd like--- y'know, actually -enjoy- bein' laid up with lots o'readin' t'do, I bet." He grins at her. "Y'ought not o'told High'n'mighty that." That being his personal name for Tiriana. "She comes up with things all on her own. I'm just glad I ain't gotta see her again. She'll be downright intolerable now that her hoity-toity backside is planted on a gold." He wrinkles his nose in distaste. He's not going to let Madilla drop the matter of kissing so easily though, and he presses, "Are y'sayin' y'don't want t'kiss me? 'Cause-- we don't gotta... I mean..." A slight blush rises to his cheeks and he directs his gaze at--- well, that very interesting tiny rip in the curtain that provides privacy for the cot he's laying in. Fascinating. "But my family isn't /here/, and they wouldn't come, either," explains Madilla, but she looks pleased, both with the reassuring touch, and Daegan's words. "I'm sorry about your parents, though. I think that's sad." She sticks out her tongue at his teasing, commenting, "My reading still isn't that great. I prefer class, where I can listen, and remember things, instead. It'd drive me mad. Though I suppose it'd be good practice. I heard that Tiriana got the gold," she continues. "I didn't hate her. She looked down on me, I think, but she wasn't too bad. I--" Corner, she turns her own gaze away, thus missing the blush on Daegan's cheeks. "We can. I mean, I don't mind. You just didn't seem so keen, last time." Daegan frowns at the other healer's assertion, "I bet they would, Maddie, if'n you were hurt bad enough t'get laid up in here, which I hope y'never are. It ain't all that fun." He intones this with notes of humor, grinning at her, returning her tongue-stick with one of his own childishly. "I c'n help ya with yer readin' an' stuff. Y'can come read t'me, if'n ya like. Give ya a reason t'do it. Y'c'n save me from boredom." Then he shifts his eyes away. Somehow talking about kissing seems to get easier when neither of them is looking at the other. "But d'you -want- to? 'Cause if'n you don't want to, then I don't want to." Whatever logic that makes. "Well, I hope not, too, of course, but I think they probably wouldn't. They didn't even respond to my letter." Madilla's face clouds slightly at this mention, but she breaks it off to grin. "That'd be good," she says. "Two birds with one stone." Her own eyes dart away, that blush ever-present. Much easier this way. "Um," she says, sounding uncertain. "I think we'd have to try it and see. Because those other kisses weren't really proper kisses, really. So... Maybe I won't want to, but I don't know that yet." Her fingers play with the hem of her skirt, scrunching and wrinkling it as she stares resolutely at the floor. Daegan frowns slightly at almost all of this. "Then yer family's as stupid as mine. We don't need 'em tho'. Lots o'others in th'world who're better'n family sometimes." He forces a grin to bolster this sentiment. Then he's back to frowning a moment later, hand withdrawing from her knee where it had been resting, forgotten. "Maddie, I think th'way its supposed t'work is y'kiss someone 'cause y'like 'em. Not y'like 'em 'cause ya kiss 'em." He lets out a little sigh and shifts his head so that it turns the opposite direction to stare at the other curtain. "They're not," begins Madilla defensively, though her argument peters out. "They're just... Well. Busy. And different. This place is completely different to anything they know." She, too, seems to have forgotten that hand, giving it a surprised glance as it is withdrawn, and sighs. "What if I don't know if I like you?" Beat. "This is weird. For me. Because until this turn, I was just going to get married when I turned sixteen and that was it. I only had cousins at home - so we didn't exactly fool around with anyone. But," she glances up, actually looking at Daegan this time, whether or not he can see it, "Maybe I'd like to." Maybe. Daegan keeps his head turned away from Madilla for the moment, staring at the curtain, "Well, y'like me enough t'talk t'me. So so long as you want to an' yer not gonna go tellin' anyone an' gettin' me thrown outta the craft th'way Bergitte almost got me thrown out of candidacy when I accidentally kissed her," Though admittedly that accidental kiss was a lot less accidental than any of the accidentals with Maddie, "Then I guess we c'n kiss when no ones lookin'. Prolly have t'wait at least until I c'n sit up." He rolls his head back towards Madilla and grants a cheeky grin, "Think y'c'n wait that long?" Madilla's interest is piqued at that - she leans forward, eyes wide. "Really? Well, admittedly, I don't really see her as the type who'd be as amenable to kissing you. She wants someone tall, dark and handsome. And rich, preferably." She's still flushing as she adds, "Okay, then. Once you're sitting up. We'll try." She sticks her tongue out at him again, noting, "I'd be careful if I were you. You're in a pretty helpless position there, if I took offense and decided to hit you." "Yeah, well, it was kinda an accident. We got in a fight. An' then I kissed her." Daeg sounds a little confused about the whole situation himself. "I'd tell." Daegan snaps playfully, "A healer hittin' a poor ailin' patient? Woe is me, ohhhh, the paiiiiin." He begins to moan in a plainly exaggerated style. Then there's a snicker that gets halted half way through due to real pain. "Think you c'n get me another cinnamon bun or a meatroll or somethin', Maddie?" He requests then, "I'd be ferever in yer debt." The smile he offfers her is his best 'winning' one. "You seem to be forever having 'accidents' that result in kissing," teases Madilla, though she sounds honestly perplexed at how, exactly this seems to work. "But they know you for a troublemaker, whereas I have the reputation of being a good girl, so you might be out of luck, there," she adds, grinning - not wickedly, but as close as she gets. It's the wince, rather than the winning smile that draws her response; she nods. "I can try. Harper Hall, if not here. There's always pastries available in the kitchens, there. I think we're supposed to know to eat better, or something." "I don't care what food it is really, so long as its not broth." Daegan confesses with a grin, ignoring her comments about his penchant for accidental kissings. "An'... if'n it wouldn't be too much trouble, could a do it now? Gran won't be back fer a while an' I'm -starvin'-." He exaggerates. But greens and broth are not a fulfilling meal for anyone - not even those in recovery. Madilla laughs, already pulling herself towards her feet. "Sure," she says, "And-- I'll try and bring you something every day, if I can. Especially if I'm going to help you study, and you're going to help me read. Good excuse to come by and bring it." She hesitates, once standing, adding, "I'm glad you're back." Daegan smiles his agreement up to the other apprentice rather amacabily - something he almost assuredly would not have done before the experiences that have certainly changed him in the months he was at Telgar. "Me too." He responds sincerely. As she turns to go, he suddenly says, "Maddie?" Pause. "Thanks. Really. See you in a bit?" "Good," says Madilla as she turns to go, clearly pleased by this new Daegan. As he speaks again, she turns, brows raising. Then, a smile. "Any time. Yeah, I won't be long. Stay put." And then she's gone. You walk out into the Main Hallway. |
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