+- World of Pern (https://pern.second-pass.net/forum)
+-- Forum: Fort Territories (https://pern.second-pass.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=7)
+--- Forum: Healer Hall (https://pern.second-pass.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=126)
+--- Thread: [G] [P] [EVENT] 740.06.23 | Calling on the Sandman (/showthread.php?tid=4442)
740.06.23 | Calling on the Sandman - L'gan - 30.Jun.19
L’gan got out a mortar and pestle and a pill-rolling tile from the cabinet, mentally running through the list of ingredients again. A bit of powdered klah to open up the blood vessels, fellis to help sleep through the night, and something for the pain… plus a carrier.
He didn’t spend too many nights at the Hall after Impressing, but tonight he had a patient under observation. She had chronic migraines and he had tried several variations of the common medicines with her over the months. He had been trying to perfect the recipe for migraine pills as the normal recipe left patients groggy and didn’t always help with aura. He’d hoped that he could use this for exams later in the year to show improvement in his compounding skills, but after the last two tries he was feeling despondent.
Turning to grab the herbs and things from the attached storeroom, he nearly jumped out of his skin. “Shards! Sariel!” He set the supplies down with a clatter and put a hand to his racing heart. “I thought that bell was to make it so everyone noticed you—so why are you still so sneaky,” he teased as he calmed himself down again. L’gan slipped past her to continue gathering ingredients. “Need me to grab you anything while I’m in here?”
Returning with everything, he laid it all out carefully and checked that there were no residues on any of the tools. He grabbed an extra set down, mentally berating whoever had stuck them up so high, and set them out for her as well. “Couldn’t sleep, or just avoiding everyone?” They both preferred the quiet of the night shifts, and had spent several evenings working and studying together over the years.
RE: 740.06.23 | Calling on the Sandman - Sariel - 30.Jun.19
"Faranth's left tit," Sariel gasped as she moved out of the way. The near collision left her breathless for a moment, which made her a bit frustrated, neither of which were really helpful in this situation. Thankfully the carafe of fresh klah that she'd already fixed for L'gan's palate was tightly closed. She rectified the klah part by pouring two cups.
"Couldn't sleep as usual," she murmured, her tone amused as she set a mug of klah down near him. Her fingers brushed his wrist gently to let him know it was there without actually saying it. Sariel cradled the other one close to her chest, letting the heat of it put her at ease.
Her eyebrow winged upward at the mention of the bell necklace she rarely took off. It was a lovely thing and extremely practical with her infernally quiet voice. Her fingers brushed it absently and she let out the softest laugh. The clapper had been stuck on some fabric. It let out a soft chime that managed to be more soothing than annoying.
Sariel's eyes roamed the ingredients, flicking through the patient list in her mind, and her chin tilted up a little. Oh, Faranth bless, their migraineur was back again. She'd had her bouts with it herself, mostly during her pregnancy and for a bit after that.
They were rare, now, and she knew hers were stress triggered.
"How bad is she off tonight?" she asked, easing a hip against the leg of the table as she frowned and sipped at her klah. "No, don't answer that." She held up a finger. "Ahh, I can see it. It's always so difficult to get the fellis ratio right when it's like this."
He'd asked her a question about getting something from within the confines of the supply but that really wasn't why she'd come by. It had been a casual mention in the dining hall from another apprentice that had her off to get klah for the both of them.
"Need another hand?" she asked, pushing back a tiny bit of hair that had come undone from her neatly knotted and plaited head. Summer seemed to bleach her hair into a wheaten blonde while the Winter months turned it to a light golden brown and autumn kept both. The little bit she'd tucked back was pale and just long enough that she could tuck it behind her ear.
RE: 740.06.23 | Calling on the Sandman - L'gan - 30.Jun.19
L’gan accepted the klah gratefully, taking a sip and sighing happily. “Thank you… I completely forgot to pick some up on my way down here. My savior as usual,” he said with a grin. Setting the mug carefully away he began to prepare the ingredients. “If it wasn’t studying or doing your own prep, what brought you down here?” he asked.
She asked about his patient, who they had both treated before. “She’s doing alright, sleeping well, but I wanted to try something new. I might need to pick your brain, actually. You’ve always been so much cleverer at mixing medicines than me.” He told her more about the trials he’d done already and their outcomes, sitting on one of the high stools as he worked.
As they talked, he had her measure out the concentrated fellis used for pills or situations where a pure liquid form wasn’t ideal. He wrote everything carefully and neatly in shorthand in the record he kept on this experiment. After the wet and dry ingredients and the binder were mixed, he carefully rolled the mixture to compress it until it fit into the grooves of the tile for shaping and drying.
“How have the twins been? Semath wants to know when she’ll get to see them again.” L’gan asked about their daughters. He felt a twinge of guilt that he hadn’t been able to spend more time with them between Impressing so soon after their birth, and then with his dual responsibilities to Weyr and Hall. Still, he was glad that Sariel did not seem to bear a grudge against him on that account. His mother helped some with their care, and she had sent him frequent letters while he was at Ista.
RE: 740.06.23 | Calling on the Sandman - Sariel - 30.Jun.19
"Semath is always welcome," she said fondly. The green was such a joy and every time they met up was an adventure. "You both are, really. I'll take what time I can get whenever you like." It was said gently and most days were packed with so much to do that she was grateful for these little quiet moments.
Sariel approved when it came down to the medicine, offering a few suggestions and adding an element that should give it a more of an extending effect in the body. He was right, she did have a head when it came to tonics and pills.
"The twins are getting cleverer by the minute," she said warmly. "And they've figured out stairs, much to the dismay of everyone. Lariel is utterly fearlessly protective of Sarion. One of the canines got a little snippy and tried to take a nip, Lariel grabbed a water bowl and soaked the beast. Put an end to that display rather neatly. Once there wasn't a threat, she went over for hugs and tears. She's such a fighter."
She nudged at her hair and smiled. They were growing up right well, she thought, and there was a swell of pride that got caught in her throat. Canines couldn't talk things out, so the emptying of the water bowl had probably been the best of the options available.
"Sarion's, well, more of a thinker than a doer and she is all about communication. And drawing." Perhaps a Harper future awaited her. Lariel, with all of her fire, would probably be a brilliant dragonrider. Perhaps she'd find a fighting dragon on the sands. She sipped her klah, shaking her head a little in wonder.
RE: 740.06.23 | Calling on the Sandman - L'gan - 01.Jul.19
“Faranth help us,” he said with a laugh, after hearing that they had conquered stairs. “They’ll be unstoppable now. Should I get them bells as well?” he teased. “Or are they like a herd of runners, clomping around?”
“Maybe we can all take lunch together outside if the weather is nice,” he suggested. There was something else important about this week but he couldn’t remember what it was. It would resolve itself, he was sure.
He poured some fresh klah for both of them, then went to clean up the supplies. The pills were almost ready to cut, so he asked her to grab a bottle to put them in. He wrote out neat instructions on a scrap of hide and tied it to the neck of the bottle. “We’ll see if these work any better… That extender was a great idea,” L’gan complimented.
He pulled out a template and laid it over the tile, neatly splitting the log into pills of the same size and putting the few which broke into a sample bag for the batch. “I’ll give these to her in the morning; hopefully she’ll manage to sleep through the night. I have to check on a couple other patients, then I was going to grab an hour or two of rest on the cot in the clinic ready-room. You should try to get some sleep too, Bell. It’s late.” He squeezed her shoulder lightly with a smile.
RE: 740.06.23 | Calling on the Sandman - Sariel - 02.Jul.19
"They truly are a force to be reckoned with," she said, musing on the statement. "Lariel's a runner, literally. I think she went from crawling to running because walking was too slow." Sariel shook her head and laughed, the sound low and warm. Her eyes met his and seemed fair to sparkle with the idea of all three of them meeting up for lunch.
"Faranth, it's been entirely too long since I took lunch without being buried in some form or another. Lunch sounds wonderful," Sariel stretched and let out a long, relaxing sigh that quickly turned into a yawn. It wasn't that she was tired per se - four hours was adequate enough for her. Any more and she felt overtired, even cranky, so she waved a hand as she thought seriously about a nap. She couldn't help the half lean into him and hummed in quiet agreement.
"I could maybe have a few moments of rest. I swear, though, once I get four hours in sleep is impossible. But it does mean that I have everything needed for the day and a half shift in here when needed." Her normal workings were outrageous, she'd be the first to say it. His concern, though, was touching.
"I'll be interested in her findings," she murmured. "It will be an important step up in Healing, I think."
RE: 740.06.23 | Calling on the Sandman - L'gan - 02.Jul.19
He accepted the lean with ease for a few moments, rubbing her shoulders properly as she told him more about the twins’ antics. “Little wonder you prefer the night hours; it sounds like a rare respite. Will they follow you to the Weyr’s crèche when you Impress, or stay here? I know which my mother would prefer,” he said with a small chuckle. She adored her grandchildren and having them nearby. “It’s mostly an academic question at this point with how fickle Impression can be, but I’ll support whatever you decide.” They had agreed long ago that he’d help ensure the twins would be supported through whatever trade education they went into, or if they became Candidates themselves.
L’gan laughed as she excused that she had more than enough energy after 4 hours of sleep. He worked to clean up the tools efficiently, putting everything away in its place. “If that’s all it takes… I seem to sleep more than ever since Impressing Semath. She’s a lazybones. The way she sunbathes it’s like she thinks she can store the energ…” he cut off as a sudden thought occurred to him. He did the math in his head, confirming it. “Shards. She’s due for a Flight soon.” At least this time he would be aware of it, he thought. Maybe he could ask Verec for a couple days off and get to the Weyr early? There should be enough leeway. If it didn’t slip his mind again.
He shrugged it off with a sigh. “That’s a problem for the morning. Join me to check on the patients? Then we can raid the kitchen for a sweet roll to celebrate if she’s still asleep,” L’gan suggested, a throwback to other long nights spent studying and on rounds.
RE: 740.06.23 | Calling on the Sandman - Sariel - 03.Jul.19
"Mmm," she murmured as relief washed through her perpetually knotted trapezius. He was very, very good with his hands and managed to unknot something that she'd been working on for the better part of a day. "I'd want them to stay where they'd have the least disruption. I'd hope to Impress at Fort but in the event I don't, I know we'll manage. Countless others have before and I won't be restricted forever. "
Her fingertips brushed his knuckles gently at the mention of his green Rising. There was an unspoken question in her eyes - if he wanted her to stick close - but they saw each other often and even if she didn't between as often as a dragonrider, she'd been taking a herbal supplement that thwarted unwanted pregnancies. Two bright, beautiful girls were quite enough for her.
"According to my father," she said with a shake of her head, "I can blame my mother's line for the abnormal sleep issues. I just think I have a permanent half-full energy reserve." Sariel hummed a positive note. "That sounds excellent. There were a few I was going to pop in on anyway. Her lips caught a smile. "I always drop a note by the Kitchens to see if they've done the sweet rolls yet, you know. Force of habit."
RE: 740.06.23 | Calling on the Sandman - L'gan - 03.Jul.19
“Even if you Impress somewhere else, after training you can petition to move. Semath and I did, and that worked out nicely. And I’ll be at Fort and the Hall either way, so I can keep an eye on them.” He gave her a reassuring smile.
His hands stilled a moment as her fingers brushed over them, processing the unspoken offer. He shook his head slightly and brushed his lips over her forehead. It was sweet of her, but that wasn’t how these things worked. She’d see when she Impressed. “We’ll be fine.” His hand brushed her neck one last time before he pulled back.
They did a quick round of the clinic, checking in on patients and seeing if the night staff needed any assistance luckily it was a quiet night, and their migraine patient still slept; the morning would tell if the dosage had worked or the new formulation was needed.
He waited by the door for her, sipping the last of the klah; he would never get to sleep at this point, he thought. There were too many thoughts rattling around his head and there was too much caffeine in his blood. They slipped down to the kitchens, careful to keep out of the way. L’gan washed the mugs and klah pitcher while she got them a roll to split. “Do they both have my sweet tooth, or just Sarion?” He teased, sinking into the bench next to her. “Half my mother’s stories seem to involve her filching sweets like I used to as a kid.” He broke a piece of the roll off and offered it to her with a smile.
RE: 740.06.23 | Calling on the Sandman - Sariel - 03.Jul.19
She supposed that she really would see what it was like when she Impressed. There was so much that wasn't even remotely communicable when it came to the bond between rider and dragon. Her cheeks coloured slightly somewhere between that adorable little forehead kiss and their rounds. If she was pressed, she might admit she was possibly a bit smitten with L'gan. He was lovely, thoughtful, and if her father hadn't been as badly off...
Well. Who knows what the future would hold for her, anyway.
Sariel's lips curved ruefully as she accepted her half of the roll. Neat as ever, she mulled over his words. He got a grateful smile as he settled next to her. There were a thousand worries but she knew they'd be safe if she Impressed elsewhere.
"Lariel seems to go through phases where she doesn't want sweets but loves salty and then in a month she's all for sweets again. I suppose that's a bit of me," she said between carefully timed bites. "Sarion, goodness, she does have your sweet tooth. The little bubblies at Gather usually have them both in a tizzy. I heard she filched a jar of jam and tried to share it with the entire creche. Jammy-handed hugs all around."
She'd write if she Impressed elsewhere. Most of the time, it was a contract to assure the Weyr that their Weyrling wasn't going to do something stupid as soon as their dragon could take them between and out again. Then again, she was going to be too busy to think straight with an Impression. She could say that now but experiencing that level of bonding... Well. She'd Stand and she'd do her duty and if she was left Standing, well, she could do it again.