Lingering Wounds [open]

[PhazonDragon]

For most, the fateful hatching was a distant memory. Dragons stole eggs, and everyone came out without a scratch. All save one, young dragonrider pair.

Ku'rt was jittery. For the first month, his eyes darted around the room, each room, every room, regardless of where he was. Aricoth frequently let out soft keens of terror in his sleep. Nowadays, the pair hardly left the Infirmary. It was their safe place, even more safe than their own weyr.

It was in the infirmary that Ku'rt found himself and Aricoth, yet again. Shuffled off to their little corner for the duration of perhaps the next few hours, Ku'rt was sitting on a bed and rubbing oil onto the blue dragon's hide. Every now and then, the pair would freeze, then Ku'rt would shudder, and go back to work.

Almost like a little sentry, Luna crawled over the various, empty beds, and growled at anyone that tried to get close. Ku'rt paid her no mind, knowing that she was doing what he didn't have the heart to.

A single word didn't pass between Ku'rt and Aricoth, but a mutual feeling of brokenness lingered in their minds. The blue gently touched his scarred muzzle to his rider's head. Ku'rt set down the oil, reached up, and wrapped his arms around the blue's snout. "Aricoth..." he whispered, a single tear dropping onto the dragon's hide.

[Stormy]

Codi had been in and out of the Infirmary a lot since the Isle green's clutch hatched, if only because her arm was refusing to heal right. Picking at the stitches didn't help, but she couldn't stop herself when she was bored. They were there, and she was bored.

For most people, a gash like the one running the length of her arm would merely scar terribly after plucking the stitches out, but she also had a growing dragon to bathe and oil, putting a lot of stress on her injured arm.

And at this moment, she was waiting for one of the doctors to reprimand her yet again for her carelessness, and redo her stitches, and she was bored. She had been sitting in the room for most of the day, and no one would really even look her way.

Stith seemed annoyed by this, but he was content to merely lay curled protectively around her feet, neck stretched up so his head rested on her lap. He lazily watched the green firelizard that was patrolling the Infirmary, snorting at her when she came too close to Codi.

But Codi was used to firelizards. Coffee, who had stayed with her brother on Pern, was an insane little monster. However, it wasn't the green that caught her attention. It was the blue and his rider, who...seemed to exude sheer panic and fear. It made her sad, seeing a pair so young so apparently distraught.

"Excuse me?" she called softly, head tilting to the side. "For...forgive me for not knowing, but why do you seem so...?" Rolling a hand to express her lack of words, she also silently implored an answer.

[PhazonDragon]

Luna chittered out a warning when the young lady spoke, and launched herself into the air in an attempt to appear larger. She hissed lightly but didn't chance getting closer, not wanting to stray far away from Ku'rt and Aricoth.

Ku'rt was tempted to ignore her, because that would get her to leave, right? He sniffed, rubbing at his eyes and nose with the sleeve of his tunic. Aricoth crooned, and the rider pat the dragon's cheek.

"So... what?" Ku'rt said, perhaps a bit sudden and rude, but he didn't turn to look, knowing his eyes were probably red, and that was embarrassing. "M'fine," he mumbled, picking up the oil again and emptying a bit into the palm of his hand, which he then started to massage over the scars on the blue's head and neck. "Just got into a little scuffle. It's not a problem."

[Stormy]

On normal days, Codi might have been offended at the apparent rudeness of the boy oiling his blue, but her annoyance had already been stolen by the doctors who were making her wait unnecessarily long. And she barely paid any attention to the green who hissed at her, more focused on the boy.

"If it was just a little scuffle, you wouldn't be so jumpy. And your voice wouldn't be so thick, like you are crying. If it's any reassurance, I got into a scuffle with an egg and lost. Been here so much I know it better than I know the rest of the Weyr. What's got you stuck in here? You and your blue both look fine..."

Be careful, CodiMine,[/color] Stith warned, We don't know them. We don't know if they might attack if you press too much.[/color]

Codi didn't answer, more curious about the weyrling pair across the Infirmary. "Something happened to you, something...bad. Very bad..." she murmured.

[PhazonDragon]

Ku'rt's nose crinkled in annoyance, Luna puffed up her chest and snorted, and Aricoth pressed his muzzle closer into his rider's chest. Ku'rt almost wanted to growl at her, to tell her to leave him alone, leave him and his blue and his firelizard alone but the soft croon of his dragon stopped him. He still didn't look towards the other person, instead shutting his eyes and holding tight to Aricoth's snout.

Images of a giant bronze danced behind his eyelids, still, after so long, but no one experienced what he did that day. "You ever have a bronze dragon fall on top of you?" he asked, opening one eye. At the mention of the bronze, Aricoth squirmed.

Don't... he whined, the memories rising to the surface once more.

"That experience doesn't leave you." He waited a moment, then stood, and guiding Aricoth along with him. Luna swooped down to land on the rider's shoulder, and curled around his frame. "Aricoth, come on..." he urged, leading the blue closer to where the young woman was. Reaching about fifteen feet away, Aricoth refused to move any further, and Ku'rt pulled a chair over to sit down.

"Sorry, he gets skittish," Ku'rt apologized, shifting only to allow the blue's head to lay in his lap. Though Ku'rt suffered trauma, it was clear that he still held his previous personality of being friendly. "I'm sorry, I'm Ku'rt, and this is Aricoth, then L—" He paused, eyes darting to a door that opened, then returned to the woman. "And this is Luna," he motioned to each of them in turn.

[Stormy]

Codi flinched at the thought of having anything bigger than what Stith was at the moment fall on her. "I...I'm sorry. If I had known, I wouldn't have pressed so much..."

Then he stated his blue got skittish, and she nodded. "That's fine. I'm surprised you wanted to get closer after my persistence of dredging up something you clearly want to forget," she said, distracted by the opening door enough that her Russian accent bled through. "I'm Codi, and this is Stith."

One of the doctors entered the room, but walked back out, and she couldn't help but sigh. "I've been here all day so they can redo this," she grumbled, gesturing to the stitches stretching across most of her left forearm, before adding, "Yet not a single doctor has looked at me."

Scratching Stith's eyeridge carefully, she looked back over to Ku'rt, thinking of how to word her next question without trying to bring back memories the poor boy obviously didn't want to relive. "How long have you and Aricoth been a weyrling pair? Forgive me if I'm being presumptuous, but you seem young to be riders..."

[PhazonDragon]

A smile tugged at the corner of Ku'rt's mouth. "I used to be really friendly," he admitted. "I almost missed talking to people, but it's gotten harder… Forgive me if I start to fret—more than I usually am—Heh." The bluerider let a the smile finally spread across his face. "Hi Codi, and Stith." He shifted his gaze to her arm, and he winced in sympathy. "Looks bad… I guess they're busy… Oh, or maybe Luna's been scaring them off."

At the mention of her name, the green flitter chirped, as if she knew exactly what she was doing.

"Weyrlings?" Ku'rt chuckled. "We're a full-fledged rider pair now. Been together for… three years, I think it would be? I keep getting Terrian and Pernese dates mixed up," he admitted. Aricoth visibly relaxed, and Ku'rt massaged his eyeridges. "You two… you two are weyrlings, from the recent clutch, right? Dulchanth's? … We didn't attend that one. Haven't attended a hatching since. How was it? Everything went well, right?"

[Stormy]

Codi smiled sheepishly when he corrected her assumption of their being weyrlings. "Oh, sorry. Like I said, you just look a little young. And yes, the Isle green's clutch hatched well, except for my little, um, self-mutilation in my hurry to help Stith escape his egg. Completely unintentional, I assure you. Pain is not something I enjoy, and I'll be relieved when this thing finally closes up," she said, glancing down again at the line of stitches.

"Well, Luna, as much as I like talking with Ku'rt, I would appreciate it if you would stop scaring the doctors away. The stitches need to be redone," she said politely to the green flit.

Stith relaxed as well, closing his eyes as Codi rubbed his eyeridges. It is nice to meet you, Ku'rt, Aricoth,[/color] he said directly to the other pair, trying not to sound grumpy.

"And Luna, too. Sorry, he's just a little miffed that we've been here most of the day," Codi explained, amending Stith's statement slightly. The young white just huffed a little.

[PhazonDragon]

The rider laughed now, a light one, and he patted Aricoth's head. "That's understandable. I used to get frustrated and annoyed when stuck in one place for long. With Aricoth, it's hard to travel; he gets worried. That is an awful-looking wound, though… Try not to injure yourself further, will you? That won't help you to heal, and you'll be continuously coming back to the infirmary to fix yourself up," he practically scolded, furrowing his brow into a scowl.

Luna chittered again, emphasing the bluerider's point. Ku'rt pat her head. "If I were a Healer, I'd put you on light work until your arm heals."

[Stormy]

Codi nodded, stating, "It was bad. I passed out just as the medics, or medic because I think I was seeing multiples, arrived. I don't remember much for a few days after that, but I know I had needed blood." But then she laughed. "Light work with a growing dragon? It's the only reason it hasn't healed so far, I think. Not that I'm blaming Stith, of course, but bathing and oiling a dragon, even a white, is a lot of movement for an injury, and believe me, I've tried using only one hand. It...doesn't work," she sighed, shaking her head.

"Of course," she muttered, mostly to herself, "if Vitya were here, he'd make me sit and do my duties himself..."

Blinking, realizing she had been talking to herself, Codi apologized. "Sorry, I'm too shy to usually talk to people, so I wind up talking to myself. Muttering to myself, anyway." Then she blushed slightly, using her free hand to rub her neck nervously when she realized she was probably rambling.

[PhazonDragon]

Ku'rt shook his head, waving away her apology. "Don't fret. Aricoth is the same. He doesn't like to meet new people; I'm surprised he's still here, and so close to you, though I imagine it's only because of me." He shrugged quickly. "That's not something you can help, not usually. It doesn't bother me, anyway.

"Hatchings are dangerous. You were lucky," Ku'rt said, his voice turning solemn. "I'm glad you're fine, then, mostly, anyway. The wound was worth it, right? For Stith? I can't think of a single rider who regrets Impressing." Aricoth made a small noise, and Ku'rt rubbed at his snout. "I don't, never. Not after all I've been through. It is a lot of work, but you can't raise a dragonet with an injury, so rest up, and see if someone will help you in taking care of him. You know the basics, I'm sure," he gave her a look, "and getting help doesn't make you less of a rider."

[Stormy]

Codi nodded slowly. "I've come to realize hatchings can be dangerous. But it was absolutely worth it," she said, almost forcefully, before looking down at Stith. "I don't want to think about what could have happened...I don't want to think about it at all." She shuddered slightly. "To know I came so close to losing him, and possibly even myself, it's..."

She didn't finish her thought, and quickly moved to the other topic in the conversation. "Like I said, I'm really shy. Finding people I can trust to help take care of him isn't as easy as you make it sound. If my brother were here, back on Earth instead of on Pern, he wouldn't have let it go on this long, and my arm would likely have healed already. But he insisted on Standing at another clutch or two at High Reaches, and Rocky needed candidates...so I came here." She shrugged, looking back to Ku'rt.

"Do you mind my asking? What brought you two here? Or did Aricoth hatch here?" she asked quietly, unsure if she had a right to be asking such personal questions.

[PhazonDragon]

"Mmhm…" Ku'rt agreed. The dragon was worth it, that extra mind within yours, making sure you were never alone. It was a joy to feel, to experience, and it's something Ku'rt would never want to lose.

"You trust your weyrling master, right? I'm sure he would be willing to set up someone to help, or you could get a weyrhand… Do you really not know anyone else at the weyr?" He frowned. "Being new is one thing, but not knowing anyone else… Well, you have me now, so that counts for something. I'll help bathe Stith! He can't be any harder than Aricoth." The rider beamed, patting the blue's muzzle, who seemed to have fallen into a light sleep in his lap.

He shook his head. "I don't mind. We're from Telgar Weyr, not Rocky. Aricoth hatched just fine, but an accident during the hatching left him completely blind. We'd be useless for thread-fighting, so why deal with us? Aricoth can't be put down like a lame herdbeast either. We were sent to Rocky instead. It's been nice, so I can't complain. I almost enjoy it more, but I miss home."

[Stormy]

Codi shook her head. "No, I don't know anyone at the Weyr; not really. What time hasn't been dedicated to taking care of Stith or myself has gone to redoing the stitches or researching anything and everything I can. And like I mentioned, I'm actually pretty shy." Pausing, she shrugged.

What he said next, however, had her looking over at him with surprise. "You...Uh...Bu--" Before Codi could stammer much farther, Stith had mentally hushed her, and was looking Ku'rt over with new interest. The help would be much appreciated. I've been worrying about Mine since my hatching.[/color]

Regaining her wits, Codi laughed lightly. "Well, I guess that settles it. Thank you, Ku'rt. I just hope that helping me won't make Aricoth jealous," she said, glancing over to the blue.

"Telgar...it's east from High Reaches, right? Well, more like northeast, if I remember right, but I get Telgar and Igen confused a lot, location-wise. And that's unfortunate to hear about Aricoth's sight." She frowned slightly, but then nodded about missing home. "I used to live on the far outskirts of Libby, a couple hours to the west. When my brother and I were brought to Pern, I had to leave my lovelies behind, and I haven't quite worked up the courage to ask either the Weyrwoman or the Weyrleader if I could go and bring them here..." she sighed.