Time heals all wounds (open)

[Sh'mal]

Sh'mal awoke in a sea of blue. It took him a few moments to realize he had fallen asleep next to Ligeth. He stretched, carefully so as not to disturb the sleeping blue, and maneuvered around to Ligeth's side. His wound shone as a red, jagged line down his leg. Again, Sh'mal cursed Sabath; the viciousness of that dragon was going to get someone killed someday. He shook his head. There was no use agonizing over that forever. He stood and retrieved the pot of numbweed from beside his unused beg, slathering a coat of the stuff over the wound. A big, green eye opened to watch him.
How are you doing this morning, my brave Ligeth? The blue rumbled in amusement. I must be injured; you keep flattering me.[/color]
It's not flattery if it's true, Sh'mal replied with love. He glanced down at himself. He hadn't bothered to change into nightclothes last night; he'd been preoccupied with seeing to Ligeth. He quickly changed into some clean clothes - no time to head to the bathing caverns - and returned to the blue's side.
Someone comes.[/color] Sh'mal looked up. Now he was glad that he'd bothered to change clothes. Who could be coming this early? He wasn't surprised that Ligeth didn't recognize them; dragons were notorious for their poor memories. He returned to the public portion of his weyr, calling out, "Hello? Come on in."

[tealah]

You would think that an adult dragon would be able to take better care of himself.

Mya leveled a sardonic stare at the haughty tone in her gold dragonet's voice. "Says the dragon who can't even feed herself without help yet. Who cut her foot barely a second out of her egg."

I am simply not old enough to fly yet, Stellath replied with a sniff.

They made an odd pair, the nearly ten-foot long baby dragon waddling awkwardly down the corridor behind her slim, youthful bonded, but this was the first chance Mya had gotten to go see how the dragons injured in Iroth's flight were doing and Stellath had absolutely refused to be left behind. Mya was trained to heal humans, not dragons, but since her future status as a goldrider during a Pass meant a great deal of contact with injured dragons it would do her more good to add to her knowledge of dragonhealing. Observing the healing of these injured blues was a good start, and Mya wasn't about to miss the opportunity because of her dragon's stubborness.

Thus, Stellath following through the weyr corridors where normally dragons would not tread. The time we spend observing this blue could be much better spent protecting my clutchmates. No doubt in our absence they are going to find some sort of trouble - that Dradeth is probably causing it.

"Oh, do stop Stellath," Mya grumbled. "You're going to frighten the weyrfolk with the dark looks you're sending them." Not that she minded in the least that people were avoiding them, intimidated by the feline-like slink of the slim gold sharing the tunnels with them. All for the better, in her opinion. Still, the gold was full enough of her own importance to tell her that.

Mya stopped before one of the doors. "I believe this is bluerider Sh'mal's weyr. Is Ligeth in?"

Stellath extended her senses. Yes, he is. At least he would not dare be away after we've taken the time to visit.

Before Mya could knock, she could hear Sh'mal call out to come in. "Well, at least Ligeth is awake," she said dryly to the gold, making the assumption that it had been the blue to warn his rider. She pushed the door open.

We've come to take a look at your wound, Stellath informed Ligeth importantly before Mya could even enter the room. My rider is a healer and wishes to inspect you.

Mya rolled her eyes at the condescending tone, and stepped into the weyr. "Bluerider Sh'mal? I am Mya - I'm sure you know that I Impressed Stellath here at the last hatching. As Stellath told Ligeth, I'm here to take a look at his wound. If you don't mind, of course," she added with an upraised eyebrow... had to set a good example for the imperious Stellath now, didn't she?

[Sh'mal]

Ligeth craned his neck to view the little gold who spoke to him from the public area. He rumbled at the young queen's tone, replying politely, Ah... Please tell Yours that I am glad to be inspected. My wound pains me greatly.[/color] The last part, he allowed Sh'mal to hear as well, knowing his reaction.

Sh'mal nodded. "Greeting, Mya. Greetings, Stellath. Yes, I'd heard about you from the other riders. I missed most of the Hatching myself; it was a bit unexpected." He could feel Ligeth's amusement at his choice of words. "Of course I wouldn't mind. Come on in." He moved out onto the ledge where the blue rested, gesturing for Mya and Stellath to follow. As he heard Ligeth's words, he said, "Don't listen to Ligeth; he complains worst when there's nothing to worry about." He slapped the blue affectionately on his uninjured leg.

[tealah]

"I've been told they usually are," Mya answered wryly in response to Sh'mal's comment about the hatching being unexpected. "I wouldn't know - I'd never even seen a dragon close before I came here, let alone a hatching."

As if you would have needed to waste time watching other dragons hatching, when you were meant for greater things, Stellath sniffed. And Ligeth says that he would have you inspect his wound. Do not dally talking with his rider, either, as he says it pains him very much. Hurry now.

Oh don't encourage him, Mya answered Stellath privately. I'm sure his rider would know if he were actually in pain. She followed Sh'mal out onto the ledge, Stellath slinking regally behind.

Wasting no time now that she had permission from both dragon and rider, Mya stepped forward to examine the healing wound. She ghosted her fingers gently along the leg, careful not to touch the still-healing wound but wanting to get a feel for how the leg around it was feeling. "What was the wound like when you first saw it? Depth, length, width? What did the healers do at that time and what have they had you doing since then?" Her interrogative tone came lightning quick.

Stellath peered over her shoulder, but all she had to add was, Interesting.

[Sh'mal]

Sh'mal raised an eyebrow at Mya's comment. "I take it you're Holderbred, then? And you Impressed a gold... You must be pretty special." He let a slightly-flirtatious grin cross his face. He wasn't actually flirting, of course (gold riders weren't exactly his type), but he hadn't really gotten a chance to have that kind of fun since he'd gotten here. And what's wrong with friendly flirtation?

His smile shifted to genuine amusement at the queenrider's tone. "Well, if I remember correctly, it was about, oh, two cubits in length, somewhere around half a hand in width. Probably under a hand in depth; Ligeth got away pretty quickly." He shrugged at her other question. "When the healers came, they just slabbed numbweed on it like it was a Threadscore or something. And so far, they've told me to continue that whenever the pain gets bad enough for me to hurt, and once every morning. He's also been confined to my weyr until the wound closes." As he spoke, he lounged against Ligeth's side, feeling the blue's vague curiosity as to what Mya was doing. She's trying to get an idea for how well your wound's healing. I think.

[tealah]

"Yes, I grew up at Fort Hold," she answered him. "Though I doubt Stellath chose me for being special - she was injured, and I was a healer, so I suppose it was easiest just to Impress me." She raised an eyebrow at his suddenly-flirtatious expression but otherwise ignored it. It was easier just to ignore such behavior, they usually stopped when they realized you weren't interested in the game.

Stellath rumbled in displeasure. You are the rider of a gold, Mya. My rider. That makes you special enough.

Mya rolled her eyes at what was supposed to be a compliment, and dryly replied Thank you, oh maker of special people. I'll keep that in mind next time I want extra bubbly pies for dinner.

You should, Stellath sniffed, either not aware or pretending not to catch the sarcasm. Mya suspected the latter.

She studied the wound with the proportions he'd specified in mind now. "Interesting that they chose not to stitch it. Specific to dragons or did they feel he just didn't need it, I wonder..." She muttered under her breath, partly for Stellath's benefit. She moved closer, peering and gently putting her hand on the hide around it, looking for the warmth of infection. "Does this hurt, Ligeth?" she asked louder, gently pressing near, but not so near as to pull on the wound itself. "It seems to be healing well, Sh'mal. I doubt there was any permanent damage but it will probably scar - I'm sure the dragonhealers already told you that."

Stellath sniffed at Ligeth's wound. Will I get a scar like this? she asked, a tinge of yellow coloring her gaze.

"No, dearheart. You won't get a wound like this. Not even Sabath would dare hurt you." Mya's soothing tone was odd, for her. She'd never been particularly good at soothing. But regardless of her faults, Stellath brought out a much more adoring, protective side of the prickly healer. Despite her reassurances, though, Mya's mind automatically turned to Threadfall. Even golds had been known to get scored. But she was quick to clamp down on that thought before Stellath could hear.

To distract the gold's attention, she spoke quickly to Sh'mal in a continuation of their earlier conversation. "So what about you? Are you weyrbred or holdbred?"

[Sh'mal]

Sh'mal shrugged. "No dragon chooses lightly. Your queen knew you were the right choice, healer or not. That alone makes you special." This time he wasn't flirting; it was the truth. There weren't many on Pern who could Impress a queen. Queen riders had to not only control the wild dragons during a mating flight, but also be prepared to run a whole Weyr from the lowliest weyrbrats to the Wingleaders and even sometimes the Weyrleader.

Ligeth craned his head to look at the young Queenrider as he spoke to Sh'mal, Tell them it does not hurt. The softskinned one has a gentle touch.[/color] Sh'mal peered up at the blue, wondering at his choice of words. 'We'...he was including the Gold in this. But 'softskinned'? Eh, who knows what goes through the mind of a dragon? "Ligeth says that it doesn't hurt," he passed on. "Yes, we've been told that it would scar. This one," he lay his hand on the blue's bulk, "thinks that a 'battle scar' like this will make him more popular with the greens."
He smiled at the tone Mya's voice took as she spoke to her gold. All dragonriders were protective of their dragons, but queenriders seemed to be all the more so. He turned his mind back to the present as is tried to wander back to his Impression to Ligeth. "I'm holdbred as well, from the High Reaches area." He didn't really want to say more than that. His past was his own.