time to hide! (tag la!)

[tuathade]

Dragons did not fit very well in the detox area of the prison. As Lanakirene was a dragonhealer, it had swiftly become necessary for her to establish an office in an area more hospitable to her primary patients. She and her apprentice had selected one of the buildings by the river, and it was to that building that Ralvyn was headed right now.

He was supposed to be working in the infirmary right now... just as he had been on a regular basis since Lanakirene's temporary post had turned into a permanent one. It wasn't that La made him or anything... There was just always work to be done. Files to look over, inventory to be taken, patients to see... Right now, C'fael or Milune or one of the other healers probably had a new assignment for him - or else a guard would come in with another roughed-up prisoner or a detoxing Duster.

Which was, incidentally, exactly why Ral was not currently in the infirmary.

He needed a break. Lanakirene would understand. She was a good person, a good teacher, his point of solidarity and reassurance at Warden's. Ralvyn opened the door to her office without looking, without even knocking first, and stepped inside in a rush. If she was currently in, she could give him advice. If she wasn't... well, Ral could curl up at her desk for a while until she came back.

[giftwrapped]

Thus far, Warden's was a treat for a dragonhealer. But for a healer...it was less-than ideal.

While La didn't like the idea of leaving Ralvyn alone with the criminals for any length of time (or...you know...at all...ever...), Warden had reassured her that there were guards present and that no harm would come to him while in the Weyr. And she had put a great deal of faith in V'tya's assertions, enough that while she had her reservations about sending Ral into a place where there would be Dusters and violent types, she reluctantly allowed him to do so. Healers needed experience to walk the tables, and experience in the healing of humans was just as important to an apprentice as the healing of dragons.

And doing non-dragon healer work when apprenticed to the dragonhealer was always a danger when you weren't Impressed. ...Which made La wonder why her unImpressed mentor had forced her into all the stupid, menial tasks and unpleasant work that he hadn't felt like doing when she was the one with Kith. But that was life. She had learned a great deal doing all the terrible work her master hadn't wanted to do, and then promptly decided that there were some things an apprentice (...or anyone. But especially an apprentice) should never have to treat.

Still, as she came back from a quick round of the weyrling barracks, swinging her basket of supplies at her side and whistling a jaunty tune, she couldn't help but feel bad that Ralvyn was cooped up in the Infirmary keeping the records, or whatever it was that he did when C'fael and Milune had other things. She'd need to speak to Traum about reorganizing the schedule to make more effective use of Milune's limited free time (Weyrling training took a great deal out of you, yes, but the older the dragonet got, the more you could do) and keep C'fael busy on his off days.

She wanted to talk to Warden about the Squad schedules, as well. She hadn't been given a chance to run a broad study on the Weyr at large yet, but she suspected that sleep deprivation and all its numerous symptoms ran rampant among the mounted guardsmen. In fact, she'd make a note of it in her notebooks as soon as she got back to the offi-

"Ralvyn?"

That was odd. As she let her door swing shut behind her, La frowned at the boy and set her basket down. Ral was supposed to be on-shift at the infirmary now. Perhaps there had been a particularly unpleasant Duster...but whatever the case, Ralvyn was curled up at her desk, in her chair (this didn't bother her, but it wasn't an everyday occurrence...), looking utterly miserable. The silver-haired healer was across the room in a few long strides, sitting down on a corner of the desk and fixing Ralvyn with an expression of concern.

"Something the matter, Ral?"

[tuathade]

Ralvyn looked up at the sound of the door opening, recognizing the silver-haired healer at once with an odd mixture of embarrassment and relief. Embarrassment at being caught here like this... relief at not being alone in the office.

When he'd first met her, turns ago, he'd been intimidated by her solely on the basis of rank. But... La was not exactly an imposing individual, and while he still respected her, it was no longer with the same nervous awe that he'd had as a junior apprentice. The more he'd gotten to know her, the more he'd come to appreciate and look up to her as a person. And in the past turn, when he'd been formally apprenticed to her at last, he'd started to see her as something very close to family.

So, while it was perhaps not ordinary teacher/apprentice protocol, Ral didn't hesitate: when Lanakirene sat down on the edge of the desk, he uncurled himself from the chair and half-flung himself into an awkward hug. She was taller than him by a good several inches (and likely always would be) and he buried his face in her shoulder as he clung firmly.

When he spoke, his voice was quite level, without any edge of quavering or panic. But it was very quiet, and muffled further by his current position. "I... am having a very bad sevenday, Masterhealer."

[giftwrapped]

Apprentices were important when you were a healer. They were an extra pair of hands, someone to keep an eye on things and enable you to very nearly be two places at once. That was why having one around was so useful. But the thing about apprentices was that the longer you had them, the closer to them you got. Particularly the bright ones that would someday grow up to be shining stars at the Hall. And Ralvyn was nothing if not the foundation upon which a brilliant Masterhealer would someday be built - which was why Lanakirene had brought him to Warden's Weyr to begin with.

And the more time you spent with an apprentice, tutoring them and making certain they weren't doing something outrageously stupid and chasing them out of the infirmary the night before examinations when they should have been sleeping, not meticulously sorting through the herb closet...it was the little things like that which made the bond between master and apprentice into something that extended beyond the classroom. Lanakirene's master, in her days as a Weyrling-apprentice, had been unorthodox in his methods and nearly as young as she was. She had inherited her unusual method of looking after her own from him - which was why it didn't seem at all odd to her to suddenly find herself in the middle of an awkward Ralvyn embrace.

She returned the hug firmly, rubbing Ralvyn's back gently the way one might a child who had had a nightmare and making soft, reassuring sounds. Part of it was the healer in her - a patient in any sort of extreme discomfort ought to be soothed in whatever way possible, and as quickly as possible - but part of it was the bit of her that saw Ralvyn as a sort of honorary family member. Not all apprentices with whom La worked became close enough that her fondness of them extended past a cursory concern, but she had been working with Ralvyn for over a turn, now. She was beginning to look at him a bit like a blood relation, perhaps a favourite nephew.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked quietly, mentally reaching out and touching the minds of both her firelizards. Wherever they were, she needed assistance. Closing her eyes, she sent a firm impression - both image and scent - of one of the boxes of herbal tea she kept, and then a gentle but solid impression of firelizards coming to office.

Within moments, a fat bronze firelizard popped from between over her desk, nearly crashing to the surface of it because he had decided the entire tea-box was easier to bring than a few packets of the stuff. "Little idiot," La admonished gently, turning to look at where the bronze had landed. "Where's your brother?" she asked the bronze, who cheeped his cheerful ignorance of the matter in question and nosed the tea-box open. Politely, he shuffled through the packets until he found the scent La had given to him, pulling first one, then another pre-measured packet of tea. "Good boy," La murmured, then disentangled herself from her apprentice.

"Let me make some tea," she said, sliding off the desk and busying herself with the small burner she used for heating water and oils. She had left a pot on to boil earlier, and all she needed to do was re-light the burner and prepare the cups while she waited for the water to heat. "Peppermint, lavender, and verbena," she said gently. "Because it sounds like you could use something for your nerves, dear boy."

[tuathade]

It was near-impossible to remain upset in the comfort of Lanakirene's office. Even here at Warden's, it always smelled faintly of lavender and other pleasant, familiar things. Like a little misplaced room of the Healer Hall, one tiny piece of home picked up and transplanted somewhere new. And Lanakirene's reassurance, the steady pressure of her hand on his back, calmed him further. He was safe here.

He managed a weak smile at La's words, her listing off the familiar herbs. "Everything is a lesson, isn't it Masterhealer? But tea would be wonderful, thank you." He took a seat quietly, offering a hand to Trouble to scratch the little bronze. With a sudden rush of between chill, Hazel and Yarrow were likewise curled in his lap, a chattering tangle of blue and brown together. Good flits. Always helpful. He cuddled an arm around them both, sending a mental image of good flits getting treats later.

"It's... a long story," he admitted aloud to his teacher. "It wasn't so much any one thing, just - everything together. Everything since we got here." A heavy sigh punctuated his sentence, before he proceeded. "I thought I might have made a friend, and he turned out to be a murderer. Machi came into the infirmary - you know Machi? Everyone seems to have stories about him - one of his guards beat him half to death for no reason. And earlier today... There was a man in the infirmary." Ralvyn frowned at the memory of meeting Jiruyno. "And I'm not entirely sure what he was doing, but I think he threatened to drive me to suicide. Also he stole vervain." Not that Ralvyn had figured that last bit out until after Jiru left and he'd finished the inventory... what do you mean, why did Ral finish the inventory before going to La, because he's Ral that's why.

"I honestly don't know what to do about all this. It's not exactly something they cover in apprentice lessons."

[giftwrapped]

"I don't like giving patients anything unidentified," La answered quietly, a smile in her voice even if concern was on her face. "If it were a real lesson, I'd be asking you to tell me what's in it as you drink," she added, ruffling Ralvyn's hair affectionately before returning to the teapot. The water didn't need to be boiling, hot would do, and as soon as the steam started to rise and bubbles formed, she poured it into cups, dropping a bag into each and handing one of the cups to Ralvyn.

That was the only thing she said, though, as the boy began to speak, falling silent and listening to Ral with an expression that faded from mild concern to an expression Ralvyn probably hadn't seen before. Very little fazed Lanakirene; she took most things in her stride. The last time she had been agitated to any great degree was when Golith had bitten her, and Ralvyn hadn't been around to see that. She pressed her lips into a fine line, face going pale as she heard that Ral had tended Machi and the news of the man who had taken vervain.

Someone had stolen vervain.. The Master Dragonhealer's hands clutched hard around the cup she was holding, knuckles going white as she bit back rage. The last thing Ralvyn needed was to see La explode when he was in such an obviously delicate condition. But right now, all La wanted to do was get the description of that last man and ensure that he never, ever harmed another person again. It must have been a prisoner. It must have been a prisoner without his guards and...

Chirping softly in concern, Trouble nuzzled up against La's hands, nibbling lightly at her fingers and attempting to climb into her arms. And then La realized what she must have looked like to Ralvyn. The tension broke somewhat, and she gathered the fat little bronze into one arm, nuzzling her face against his wings and murmuring soft reassurance to the firelizard. Then, taking a deep breath, she looked at Ralvyn. Her expression then hardened just slightly, a look that was deadly serious. "I don't want you back in there right now," she said quietly. There was no anger in her voice, not towards Ralvyn. "I am going to speak to the Warden. I don't want you anywhere near that Infirmary until then."

[tuathade]

He accepted the cup of tea with a brief, grateful smile, both hands curling around the warm cup. Ralvyn sipped gingerly, once or twice, then paused to let it cool and to breathe the fragrant steam rising from the hot liquid. The flits drowsed on his lap, their chatter subsiding into soft peeps and purrs.

When Lanakirene’s expression hardened and she spoke, Ralvyn nonetheless flinched back briefly, as if struck. She showed no hint of anger directed towards him, perhaps, but it did nothing to quiet the sense that he’d done very wrong. He’d been entrusted with a job and he’d blown it and now there was trouble. Perhaps he’d even end up sent back to the Healer Hall, when Warden found out. “I- I told a guard, right away… When I found out, at least. I didn’t see him do it, it wasn’t until I finished the inventory that…” His halting voice trailed off. Excuses, excuses. There was no defensiveness in Ralvyn’s voice or expression, just a slight inward curl of the shoulders and a gaze locked fixedly on his own cup of tea.

“I apologize, Masterhealer. I was distracted and careless.” Apologies did not undo the mistakes he’d made. He should have been firmer with Jiruyno, sent the prisoner away immediately or called for a guard. He’d hesistated, not wanting to incur a confrontation, and he’d just made everything worse. And now he was barred from the infirmary like a wayward apprentice ought to be. At least Lanakirene was doing her job right. “I’ll stay out of the prison area.”

[giftwrapped]

"Oh, Ral. Ralvyn...oh Ralvyn, no!"

There was very nearly a laugh in Lanakirene's voice then, and she set her cup down, gathering the apprentice to her in another hug. It was moments like these that were the only times she regretted her wiry figure; full-figured women were so much better for hugging. But, she'd make do. Ral knew her well enough, she figured, to appreciate the gesture. And it wasn't like the boy was altogether that good at hugs to begin, anyways. "Oh, Ralvyn, you darling boy..." she stroked his hair gently, the gesture still gentle as if she were calming a child.

"I'm not angry at you, my dear. I could never be angry at you. It's not the vervain. It's..." and she sighed quietly, shaking her head and kissing the boy gently on the forehead. Back at the Hall, they would have frowned on an action like that. Not for the sentiment behind it, but for the precedent it set. But here at Warden's, it was the least of her worries. In a sense, there was some small part of her that was at least relieved about that. But the worst of the worries were so much worse here at Warden's...as Ralvyn was indicating.

"Oh, Ralvyn. I'm not forbidding you because you've done anything wrong, darling." Her voice was soft, and she rested her cheek on the boy's head, continuing to stroke his hair. "It's to keep you safe. You didn't do anything wrong, Ral. I just...I need to know you're safe. You're my only apprentice, and..." she paused for a moment, sighed, and drew back, holding Ral at arm's length and giving him a sad little smile. "I don't know what I'd do if you ever got hurt. I need to know you're safe before I can let you back there."