Logs:On Probation
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| RL Date: 16 November, 2009 |
| Who: Gabrion, Madilla |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Gabrion gets a very important letter. |
| Where: Resident Common Room, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 24, Month 3, Turn 21 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Delifa/Mentions |
| Resident Common Room, High Reaches Weyr Just off of the main passageway lies the small cavern that forms the hub of the residents' quarters, kept immaculately clean by the headwoman's staff and warmed in cold weather by a stone hearth to the left and well back from the entrance. Comfortable chairs and a plush fur arrayed before the hearth make an inviting spot to curl up with a book or handicraft, or just to sit and chat. Beyond, additional chairs stand in clusters throughout the room, some upholstered with age-softened hide, some plain wood. At the widest point of the cavern, a round table gleams with polish, though its surface is nicked and scarred from Turns of use. Beyond the table, the very back of the cavern often lies in shadow unless the glowbaskets there are unlidded to cast cozy pools of light. The commingled scents of klah, smoke and polish permeate the air along with the sweetness of rosemary and lavender. Tapestries hang across the entrances to dormitories and more private quarters as well as the exit to the outer hall, colorful protections from drafts. It's mid afternoon on the day that is restday for both Madilla and Gabrion, and given the absolutely miserable late-winter weather outdoors, it's no wonder that so many people have arranged to keep themselves indoors. Madilla enters the common room at a pace more fitting an enthusiastic young child, certainly faster than her usual. Holding something close to her chest, she comes to a scrambling halt near the entrance, gaze seeking around for - presumably - someone in particular, eyes lit with excitement. Gabrion is lounging in a chair looking intently at a small packet of paper, half a dozen pages or so, folded and bound with a string - kind of a pamphlet that wants to be a book when it grows up. Someone walks past, quite near his chair, and he slaps the not-quite-book closed, looking up sharply at the same time to make sure whoever-it-is didn't see. The passerby is intent on other things than Gabe's reading matter though, and, relieved, he tucks it away in a pocket and gets to his feet. It's only then that he notices Madilla hovering in the entrance, and gives her a smile and a wave. It's not Gabrion himself so much as the waving hand that attracts Madilla's attention at first, though as soon as she's put a face to the hand, her eyes light even further. If that's even possible. Long strides carry her the rest of the distance, and when she opens her mouth, she sounds just slightly out of breath; "Gabrion! I was looking for you." She positively /beams/. "It's my restday," Gabrion says, but hesitantly - it /is/ his restday, right, and not an actual work day in which he forgot to go to work. "What's up?" he asks. "You look... excited." "Yes," confirms Madilla, hurriedly, reassuringly. "It's your restday. But--" There's that grin, still, threatening to break her face into two pieces. Happy pieces, probably. She draws the papers she's holding at her chest away slightly, explaining in an over-eager kind of tone, "I just dropped in to the infirmary to pick up some notes--" Because restdays still mean study, in Madilla-land, "And the mail arrived. And--" She thrusts out her papers: an envelope, addressed to Gabrion. Gabrion reaches automatically for the envelope, but when he realizes what's probably inside, his eyebrows go up, and then he grimaces. "Oh. I thought... right." He eyes the thing in his hand, screwing up his face like a little kid who's got to take some medicine. Madilla's expression is measuring, as she lets her hand drop back towards her side; something in the handing over of the envelope seems to calm her a little, because she hesitates, takes a breath, then stops again. "Are you going to open it?" she asks. And then; "Do you want me to go, so you can open it on your own?" "No, I..." Gabrion starts to say, then stops. "I just, uh. What if they said no?" He stands there with the envelope in his hand. "They probably..." he bites at his lip, and then with a sigh, he shrugs one shoulder and tears the envelope open, dropping it on the floor in his haste to get at the letter inside. He unfolds it and squints at it, frowning. Madilla unwittingly shadows Gabrion's gesture, her teeth coming to rest on her own lip as she sucks in a breath of anticipation. "I'd think it's better to kno--" she begins, breaking off ultimately to let him actually read in peace. Her gaze rests squarely on him, hopeful and full of anticipation. Gabrion scans through it quickly. His eyebrows twitch, and he reads it again, more slowly. Finally, he speaks. "I'm... on probation?" he says. "It says the summer exams are too close, so there wouldn't be any point in me taking them, so I have to take the winter exams and if I do really well, then I'm back in. But if I f-- if I mess up again, I'm out." Madilla scarcely breathes throughout the time it takes Gabrion to read, and then read again. When he finishes speaking, her breath escapes in a long, low sigh - a relieved one, not a disappointed one. "That's wonderful news," she tells him, earnestly, reaching out as though she intends to touch his arm, though her hand stops part way, and drops back again. "I can help you study, so those exams shouldn't be a problem." She beams. A slow grin spreads across Gabrion's face. "Yeah," he says. "And with a couple extra months. I should be able to pass First Aid and... I guess I'll have to figure out what else I ought to take." He folds the letter up and tucks it into the same pocket that his booklet disappeared into earlier, and laughs as though a weight's been lifted off him. "Wow, so I can really... wow." He beams at Madilla. "That would be cool, if we can study together, and I bet Seldon will help too if he can get some free time to come visit and... thanks!" Madilla's earlier excitement seems to have returned in full force, the Senior Apprentice apparently barely able to stand still, though she's usually so composed, physically. "Absolutely," she tells him, confidently. "There's no reason at all why we can't make sure you pass it this time, and everything else, as well. I'm /sure/ your brother will help if possibly can. I bet he'll be really proud of you." Like she probably is, though she doesn't say as much outloud, just grins and grins. "We'll have to get a new schedule for you tomorrow. Fewer mops, anyway!" "Oh," Gabrion says. "Oh, yeah. Wow. Haha! So when - I mean, you've been an apprentice here for a while. Do you get to study whichever subjects you like or do you just have to do stuff Delifa knows a lot about?" Madilla rests one of her hands on the back of a nearby chair, fingers spread out against the fabric of it, as she answers. "We do a bit of everything. Well - I always have. Because that's what's most useful here. But between the Journeymen... there's someone who knows more about just about everything, so there's no reason not to specialise." After a moment, she admits, "That's why I end up with most of the child patients: it's what I like best, even if, officially, my primary subcraft is pharmacy. But I do a lot of everything, too." "That's good," Gabrion says. "Yeah. If I can do well enough in the exams, maybe I can specialize in first aid, like Seldon, and then maybe I could take that search and rescue course. I bet they wouldn't let me do that until I pass the exams," he speculates, "but maybe after..." Already he's hatching grand plans. The speculation and grand plans seem to please and amuse Madilla, whose lips curve into a very satisfied kind of expression as Gabrion speaks. "We do a lot less classroom learning," she notes, which is probably fairly obvious since she spends most of her time actually /working/ in the infirmary, "And more practical. I think it helps. Though I spent a lot of my first couple of turns here manning the reception desk," she warns. "Though that often means more study time. Anyway." Still smiling. "I'm really glad." "It's not so bad," Gabrion agrees. "You can read, and talk to the people who come in and stuff. So. Yeah." Again he grins. "I better go tell my mom. And my dad. And my brother. I'll see you tomorrow, though, yeah?" Madilla nods enthusiastically, admitting, "I like it: meeting all the people, hearing something about them. I always thought I'd be nervous, but... no." More hurriedly, she adds: "Of course! You'll have to celebrate with them. I'll see you tomorrow." "See you then," Gabrion says, excited, and hurries off purposefully down one of the resident corridors, probably to invade someone's room and share the news. |
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