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Post by Mello on Jul 6, 2010 11:16:28 GMT -5
Who: Ranen, maybe Infirmary Staff or others with this chore? What: Chores! When: Early afternoon Where: Infirmary
Ranen had met plenty of candidates who hated doing chores. He supposed they had gotten some notion in their heads that if they were Searched, they would show up at the Weyr and immediately get a dragon and never have to do anything but care for it. But he had known better. He had dreamed, sure, possibly more than some of them. But his dreams were never of some fantasy land where no one ever had to do any work. Everyone had to work, he knew, in order to make a place run smoothly, and the Weyr was no exception. He even enjoyed the work, most of the time, or at least enjoyed being useful. It was the least he could do, he had decided a long time earlier, to try as hard as he could, to repay the kindness they had shown in bringing him to the Weyr and then allowing him to stay for so long. Not to mention it was a nice break from the tedious candidate lessons, which he felt like he had sat through more than enough times to be able to recite them back, if they asked him to.
So Ranen always enjoyed the time he spent at his chores. However, that didn’t mean he didn’t have preferences when it came to what he did. Or more like chores he didn’t prefer, and so he suppressed a small sigh when he looked at the board and saw he had been assigned to the infirmary. That was not one of his favorite places to be. He tried to be helpful, but he wasn’t a healer, and didn’t even have the experience with animals he knew some others to have. It always made him feel just a little bit useless to know that he could fold linens or chop herbs or run errands, but not much more. He had gotten to know the Healers at Southern, in the sense that they knew his limitations, and had learned what kinds of jobs he could handle there and which ones went over his head. He only hoped the Healers here wouldn’t want anything more out of him, although there was a slight sense of dread that he wouldn’t be able to help with what they needed him to do.
Still, that was what had been assigned to him, and so he forced himself to try and forget his unease and managed to find his way down to the infirmary. Hopefully there would be someone there to tell him what to do. He entered quietly, standing just inside the door and tried to find someone in charge. He didn’t want to disturb any sleeping patients (a mistake he would never repeat after the Healer at Southern had almost bitten his head off). “Hello?” he called, softly but hopefully enough to draw the attention of anyone inside.
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Kira
Cerulean Weyr Staff
Evil Mod of DOOM!!!!!
Posts: 266
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Post by Kira on Jul 9, 2010 0:18:47 GMT -5
Luckily for Ranen, quiet infirmaries carry sound well. Tess was only a little startled out of her scribbling when she heard someone calling. She'd been cooped up in the lab area studying some of the recent samples the Hall had sent and comparing them and...losing track of time, apparently. That greeting hadn't sounded very distressed, so it was either someone with a non-pressing issue or...the younglings were already here for chores. Oops. Making sure the specimens were safe, she called a small greeting over her shoulder to the newcomer, as well as a request to hold on just a tick. She strode out to meet the boy a moment later, a smile on her face as she dried the last of the water from her just-washed hands on a piece of her skirts. Her mother would kill her for that, she knew, but she did it anyway. Though 'boy' was a relative term; he probably wasn't all that much younger than her, and likely considered an adult already from the look of him. "Did you need help? Or are you one of my helpers for today?" She hadn't seen him before, so he was likely one of the new transfers. Meaning he probably also didn't have a medical file yet, but perhaps she could arrange that at some point today. .o0O0o. L'cin fought the urge to roll his eyes for the umpteenth time. Not that it mattered, since Queth would still feel the mental imitation of it, but it was a bad habit to get into. " No, Queth, you can't come. It's fine when you hang around when I have docks work, but you just don't fit other places, and I'm sure Healer Tess won't want you stumbling around the infirmary," he explained calmly. For the sixth time. That day. I could sit in the dragon area. They don't leave lots of little stuff around there for us to knock over, Queth supplied back. It only made L'cin rub his temples. It was good he was working the infimary; he might just be getting a migraine. "Okay, how about this. I'll walk you down to the beach and you can sun and play with the dolphins there. If I'm lucky and Tess sends me off to the forges for more vials," he made a funny face at that, glad for getting to use his craft, but it was such a boring way of doing so, "then you can come and keep me company." He figured he'd end up having a brown head poking in on him from the dragon area anyway at some point, but one could hope and try to delay the inevitable. Queth tilted his head in thought, eyes whirling. ...Sounds fair. How long will you be again, Mine?Satisfied, L'cin started leading Queth the short distance from their weyr to the beach. "A couple hours, at least. It depends what they need done." You're taking Brillia.L'cin smiled at the pout he heard in that tone. The little queen lifted her sleepy head from where she'd been dozing around his neck, tilting it with an inquisitive chirp. "Brilli is probably going to go sun with Jaser right outside and won't be with me either." He sent a little image of the friendly blue flit to her and she trilled happily. "Unless you want to coax them into playing with you, but you're on your own there." He laughed at the mental eyeroll that Queth sent back at him; definitely a bad habit. Finally getting his clingy other half to the beach, he dashed up the steps to the infirmary hoping he wasn't late. He almost ran right into Ranen as he rounded the corner into the doorway, letting out a small squeak and flailing his arms for balance as he managed to screech to a halt no more than a couple inches from the other boy's back.
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Post by Mello on Jul 9, 2010 10:03:49 GMT -5
Ranen didn’t have to wait long for a reply to his call. He stayed there for a moment, trying to take in his surroundings and mentally comparing them to the infirmary at Southern. They weren’t all that different, he supposed, although he didn’t really know enough to compare specifics. But still, maybe it was enough so that he wouldn’t be completely lost there.
After a moment, a woman appeared from somewhere within, drying her hands as she came out. She seemed to be in charge, and Ranen managed a smile and a nod before realizing that there was no way for her to know which of the two questions he was agreeing to. “I’m a helper,” he rushed to clarify. “My name is Ranen, I’m a candidate…” he trailed off, not knowing what else to say.
But just then he felt something nearly collide with him from behind and a small squeak of surprise. With a muffled cry of his own he lurched forward to try and avoid the collision his instincts told him was about to occur and managed to trip over his own foot, landing with a thud on the ground just in front of where he had been standing. So much for being quiet…. Luckily he was still in the entrance, and hadn’t hit anything in his fall. He knew all too well how valuable some of the equipment the Healers kept could be.
As soon as he hit the ground he scrambled back up to his feet, hoping he could just laugh off the incident. He didn’t seem to have sustained any injuries from it, except perhaps a bit to his self image. He stood off to the side so that he could see the newcomer- a boy probably somewhere around his own age. He offered both of the other people in the room half a smile. “Sorry about the noise,” he directed towards the Healer.
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Kira
Cerulean Weyr Staff
Evil Mod of DOOM!!!!!
Posts: 266
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Post by Kira on Jul 9, 2010 23:00:33 GMT -5
"Nice to meet you, Ranen! I'm Healer Tessarin, but most people call me Tess and you're welcome to as well. I'm the head human-Healer here," she said with a grin. "S'lain of blue Jaxith is the head DragonHealer, and Candidate Batavia is just below him. At least one of us is usually here, so we'll be the ones assigning tasks." She wanted to make that clear. Though most people were hard workers in the Weyr, there were always those who would try to pass off their duties to someone else if they thought they could get away with it.
She was about to assign him a task when he was almost run into, and then fell anyway. It was all she could do to not to bust out laughing, even with her hand covering her mouth. She really couldn't help it anymore when she saw the look on poor L'cin's face right before he stumbled anyway.
He had almost managed to get his weight back off his toes. ...Just didn't quite, and tripped forward a little. Oh no, the other guy fell anyway! "Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't- I mean- I wasn't- I'msorryIdidn'tknowyouwerethere." He bit his lip hard and reached out like he'd help the other up, but he was up on his own. "I, um, you're not hurt, are you?" Worry etched itself across his features as he quickly looked the other boy over.
Tess was certain he was fine. But the other kid was so adorable when he got flustered. She could still remember the day he barely managed to get out the words offering to make them vials and the like during- Anyway. Back to the present. Smoothing her features, she quirked an eyebrow at L'cin. "You're supposed to help, not make more work." She could only watch the ensuing sputtering for a few seconds before breaking into a good-natured grin and pinching his cheek. "I'm kidding, kiddo. Try breathing for a minute." The way he deflated in relief was rather comical as well. "And don't worry about the noise, Ranen, you didn't make much, really."
L'cin took a few breaths as instructed, then turned back to the other boy and returned his smile shyly. "Ah...I'm s-sorry again. I'm L'cin, by the way. This is Brillia." He motioned to the little queen who had curled back around his neck and started crooning quietly at him during his agitation. "Um...if a small brown manages to find his way in later, that's Queth, and he knows he's not supposed to be here."
Hey! I'm being good! The brown was grumpy about it, too. 'For now,' he sent back, then refocused his eyes on Ranen. "Oh, um, Brilli was going to visit with Jaser, if that's okay, Healer Tess?"
Tess smiled. She knew well enough that the young brown would probably be poking his nose in. He was a mite clingy, that one. "Of course. Jase always loves company." She turned her attention to the little queen and thought of the ledge outside. "He's right out there, lovely one." With a chirp, Brillia nuzzled L'cin's cheek and flitted off to her friend. He smiled after her.
"Anyway!" Tess clapped her hands quietly to get their attention back. "Chores. Well, sorry L'cin, Ranen got here first. Over here we have these stacks of charts. They all have a tab with the name. If you look in them I will kill you." Her eyes danced with mischief, but she carried on without pause. "The tan ones are human files, blue ones are dragon, green are fire-lizards, purple for whers, and orange for the other domestic critters running about the Weyr that the Beastcrafters leave with us. The colored sections all along that wall," she motioned to the rows of shelves with files, "are thus pretty self-explanatory. They're all alphabetical." She paused for a moment, wincing. "Er...you do know your letters, right?"
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Post by Mello on Jul 10, 2010 20:59:38 GMT -5
Ranen committed the names Tess told him to memory as best as he could, fairly confident that he could at least recognize them if they were there the next time his chores put him there. It was nice to know that someone was usually there to assign tasks- since infirmary duty was never his favorite work, he liked to get it done as quickly as possible. Other candidates might be tempted to try and slack, but the thought never really occurred to the boy. If he had a job assigned to him he would do it, even though he might not enjoy it.
The boy who had knocked him over- no, almost knocked him over, he didn’t actually touch him, if he was honest- was stammering his apologies, obviously worried that he had hurt Ranen. That was enough to ensure that the candidate wouldn’t be angry over the encounter. An accident wasn’t really worth getting worked up over, especially since it didn’t seem to have caused any problems at all.
He smiled at L’cin once the boy introduced himself. “It’s no problem, I’m not injured or anything. I’ve had worse before anyways. And I’m Ranen,” he introduced himself. He wondered if L’cin’s Queth would make his way down later. It would actually be quite interesting, even if the dragon wasn’t really supposed to be down in the infirmary. Ranen always enjoyed a chance to see a dragon close up.
Tess reminded them of their purpose for being there, which Ranen appreciated. But when she gestured towards the files, he barely suppressed a groan. Organizing files meant reading. At least she didn’t have to worry about him reading the files- he didn’t think he would be able to get through much even if he hadn’t believed her threat about it. “Well…” Ranen was torn between being honest about his not-so-amazing command of his letters and his need to help out with whatever needed doing. “Mostly. That is, I mean, I can do letters. I sometimes mix them up though.” Which had never been very helpful when he was in lessons with the Harper that stopped by the hold every few sevendays. But he was never meant to be a Harper, or a Healer, or anything else that really required much more than a basic understanding of reading, and so it had never seemed all that important. “I can do it, I think.” He hoped his hesitation wasn’t too evident- he didn’t want to seem like he was trying to get out of work.
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Kira
Cerulean Weyr Staff
Evil Mod of DOOM!!!!!
Posts: 266
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Post by Kira on Jul 11, 2010 21:53:49 GMT -5
Tess was really going to have to have a word with V'mio and M'ma. True, they had lost their WeyrHarper, but there needed to be someone who made sure that these children being brought in were properly educated. Reading could be important for riders, too. Planning strategy, getting written orders, going over the invoices for necessities being picked up for the Weyr...
And hey, it was fun, too.
But for now, she wasn't going to make the poor kid possibly more uncomfortable than he already seemed in front of another person - especially a peer, and another boy to boot. They had these pride issues that Tess had never really understood. "Right then, gimme a tick and I'll be right back with you."
Now for the other one...what needed doing? ...Oh, that was almost mean, but well... "Sorry, kiddo, I don't need any more glasswork today." L'cin practically deflated. "...However, I do need more numbweed." ...Aaaaaand there was the grimace.
No one in the history of ever had ever liked the chore of making numbweed. It was disgusting, and smelled horrible. It had used to be that the Lower Caverns workers would make it, with overseeing and help from the Headwoman and Weyrwoman. However, it had been re-appropriated as Healer-work once they had figured out just how dangerous and unsanitary they were being with something that got slathered onto open wounds.
But L'cin was a good kid, and so dutifully began to trudge off to where he knew the vats were waiting. Sorrowfully, he informed Queth of his chore for the day.
I love you, Mine, but if you don't bathe before returning to our weyr I will throw you in the ocean, Queth informed him.
'You won't love me anymore just because I'm smelly?' he joked back. It wasn't even a worry in his mind. Well, not anymore - there were some times in those first couple months that it had been.
Of course I'll still love you. Just from further away. was the teasing reply. L'cin felt a goofy grin cross his features and let out a small giggle chuckle. Fearing he looked like a loon, he blushed and mumbled something about 'dragon' to the other two before picking up his steps to spirit himself away from further embarrassment.
Tess bit her lip and snickered after him. Her years at the Weyr had acquainted her well with Riders' tendencies to look a bit barmy at times due to talking to a creature that most people usually didn't hear. It barely fazed her anymore. ...Unless the person didn't have a dragon or wher. Then it was...a little odd. But no matter, onto Ranen.
"I have an idea." She crooked a finger at him and walked over to a nearby desk station. Grabbing a small piece of paper and a pencil, she carefully wrote down the letters in order. She was just as guilty as most Healers with her scrawl when it came to reports, but she'd been taught well by her foster-mother as a child and could make nicely-formed letters when she wished and took the time. "Just follow this order," she said as she passed the slip to Ranen. "If you have any trouble, just let me know. I'm gonna be right in that lab over there. Don't worry about disturbing me - you won't be. Oh, and if you finish quickly, L'cin might like some company. He can handle the vats on his own - he's done it before - but having someone to talk to can be a bit more pleasant." She winked and then went to go back to work. Halfway to the lab, she stopped and turned to face Ranen again.
"...Also, if you ever want help learning your letters a bit more, I'm usually free every fifthday. I've a lot of books that could help, and some that you might eventually find enjoyable to read." She gave a soft smile, then turned and padded back to her lab.
((Feel free to bug eeeeeeeiiiiiiither of them. <3))
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Post by Mello on Jul 13, 2010 19:07:01 GMT -5
Ranen stayed where he was as Tess put L’cin on numbweed duty, grimacing himself. It was definitely one of the more despised jobs at the Weyr, although it was just as important as it was avoided. He actually felt a little guilty that he had ended up with sorting files while the weyrling had to make the numbweed- he wasn’t even that good with his letters, honestly, and he had made the numbweed plenty of times in the past.
His feelings were pushed aside by L’cin’s grin and laugh, followed by a mumbled explanation that it was something to do with his dragon. Maybe he didn’t envy the other boy his chore, but he wasn’t the one with the goofy grin and silent conversation, so maybe he was a little bit envious.
Tess next turned her attention back to him, and he trailed her over to a desk station, where she wrote down the letters in order. Ranen was relieved by her idea. Not that he wouldn’t have taken on the job without the help, but it would have been much more difficult, and he didn’t want to bother her every few minutes to confirm that something was in the right order. He liked to do his job right, and now he could be much more sure that things were the way they should be. He smiled at her as she finished her instruction. “Thank you,” he said, honestly glad to have a job that he could take care of. Maybe infirmary duty wouldn’t be quite as bad as he feared at Cerulean. With the help of the sheet Tess had written for him, maybe he would even have time to go help L’cin...
Before she left, Tess turned around and offered to help him with his letters. He smiled and nodded thanks, although he knew that he wouldn’t be likely to take her up on the offer, as generous as it was. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t had the chance to learn, he had just always had more important things to do. And as he wasn’t planning on being a healer or a Harper, then what was the point? At this rate he was worried he would be back home sooner or later, and his father never seemed to have suffered from his less than perfect understanding of his letters. It just seemed so unnecessary….
Ranen turned to his work and began applying himself. He worked as quickly as he could while being accurate, and was even surprised that he didn’t need Tess’ sheet nearly as much as he had thought he would. When he thought he had everything in the right order, he went over it one more time, finding a few out of order and quickly fixing them. Finally, he stepped back, proud of his work.
It put him in a good mood to have finished his job so quickly, and so with a smile on his face he wandered over to where L’cin was working. “Need some help?” he offered.
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Kira
Cerulean Weyr Staff
Evil Mod of DOOM!!!!!
Posts: 266
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Post by Kira on Aug 4, 2010 0:39:41 GMT -5
((Hello, yes, here, have a wall. <3))
Yuck, yuck, and triple yuck. Even a dunk in the ocean might not ride him of the horrid smell. He could only be glad he didn't have a weyrmate to kick him out of their weyr, but he did somewhat fear Queth making good on his threat. Well, he'd need a bath either way after this. The kerchief he'd tied around his forehead to keep his hair back and away from the vats was already sweaty with the summer heat and was really beginning to itch.
The work itself was as numbing to the mind as the finished salve would be to the body, and after only a few minutes L'cin let his mind drift to whatever Queth was doing, which at that moment was floating in the shallows being jumped over by dolphins. Of course, the dragon felt the attention and prodded L'cin with as many questions as he could come up with, from what the dolphin's backridge-fins were called if they weren't ridges to what was the name of that color (that L'cin couldn't see anyway). Finally L'cin managed to circumvent the onslaught of questions by offering up a story he remembered from a book. He knew he wasn't telling it anywhere near as well as the writer and was likely leaving huge chunks out, but Queth's attention was rapt.
He'd honestly lost track of time as his hands worked on auto-pilot to stir and tilt and turn up or down the heat as necessary. He'd just finished the third story when he had to check a vat and grimace at the repugnant smell. Well, it wasn't as bad now, both due to exposure and the fact that this one was almost done. Luckily, he'd already realeased his hold on the edge when Ranen walked up, or he'd have upset it when he started.
Blushing at the small yelp he knew he'd emitted, he turned and smiled sheepishly back at the other boy. "Ah, i-if you want. I think it's mostly taken care of, but..." He shrugged. He definitely didn't want the other boy to feel unwelcome, though. "So, um..." Oh, crumbs, topics, topics, topics...?! "You're a Candidate, then? ...Or an apprentice? I don't think they get chores like we do though..." Or did they? His brow furrowed a little, but he shrugged it off. Maybe he'd ask Tess later. If she wasn't busy. ...And if Ranen didn't answer it.
As if drawn by the pique in L'cin's curiosity, a brown head peeked itself in the nearest window, a few feet away. Miiiiiiiine, where'd you goooo? Queth broadcast to the nearby area as he looked around. If L'cin hadn't actually been right there, then whoever was could point him that way, right? And then he'd meet new people! But L'cin was there anyway, and the brown visibly perked. Your Queth missed you! I want another story. You went all quiet, he pouted, still broadcasting.
But oh! There was someone here with His! Perking up even more and completely forgetting his own request, he greeted Ranen with a quiet little bugle. Hihi, other male! I am Queth! Are you being friendly with L'cinMine? He's nice! And he needs friends. S'ren says so, and I like her. He's shy, but he likes people. I like people too! Are you nice?
L'cin couldn't help the groan that bubbled forth, nor the laugh. He just knew that Queth would eventually waddle his way over. Rolling his eyes at the pout, he was about to be polite and introduce him to the other boy when...he introduced himself. And it was all L'cin could do to keep from just crawling in one of the numbweed vats to die. "Q! S-stop that! I- he- I-I'm sorry, R-Ranen, he just-...augh." L'cin just gave up on talking and buried his red face in his hands. He was too flustered, and sputtering just made him look stupid.
I can still see you when you hide behind your hands, Mine. A groan of frustration was Queth's answer.
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Post by Mello on Aug 6, 2010 21:55:05 GMT -5
((Yay for walls!))
Ranen winced when the other boy yelped. He hadn’t meant to sneak up on him… Maybe he was just thinking of something? Numbweed was a difficult enough chore, Ranen knew it always helped him to distract himself in some way or another. Just one more reason to avoid infirmary chores if given the choice, actually- most of the time he could get pleasure out of completing his task, but when the task smelled sooo awful even that was taken away.
Lost in thought, he nearly missed L’cin’s question, but brought himself back to the conversation just in time. “Yeah,” he said with a nod. “I’m a candidate.” He tried to keep the slight bitterness out of his tone at that statement. Lately he could hardly let himself hope that that particular label would change. Maybe at this next Hatching? But maybe that was just dreaming- he hoped the same thing before every Hatching, and it hadn’t exactly worked out yet. Still, there was a time when just being where he was would have been a crazy dream, so part of him still argued that dreams could come true if he just waited a little bit longer. “I don’t know if apprentices get chores,” he added after a moment. He had lived in Hold and Weyr now, but the crafts were still a bit of a mystery to him. He had had a friend who used to be an apprentice Smith once, shortly after he got to Southern, but the other boy had given that up to be a Candidate. And Impressed not long after they met, if he remembered right.
“Sorry,” he added, trying not to dwell on that particular memory. “If I startled you, I mean.” But his apology was quickly forgotten when the words of L’cin’s Queth suddenly entered his mind. As long as he had been at the Weyr, it wasn’t often he attracted the attention of a dragon. Rarer still were the moments they chose to speak to him, and for a moment all he could do was stand there in shock. The dragon’s words barely even registered in his mind, lost to the feeling of awe. He saw Queth looking through the window and turned to watch him. He knew he was probably grinning but… well, maybe infirmary chores weren’t that bad after all.
“Greetings, Queth,” he said with a slight bow. “I’m Ranen.” Then he turned back to L’cin, who seemed flustered. Was he embarrassed at the actions of his dragon? “No, it’s okay, I…” He found he didn’t really know what to say. How to explain how great it was to really hear a dragon? Finally he just sighed. He was never any good with words.
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Kira
Cerulean Weyr Staff
Evil Mod of DOOM!!!!!
Posts: 266
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Post by Kira on Sept 30, 2010 15:58:01 GMT -5
((I think I'll finish this one up with this post, 'kay? You can put one more in if you like, though. :3))
L'cin gave the other boy a wry grin when he heard the bitterness. He was lucky, he guess, having Impressed his first time around. He had heard that the feeling of hope crushed by rejection was terrible. But there were some people that he knew that had started Standing as soon as they were twelve and it took until they were at the very last Hatching they could Stand for for them to Impress. They almost seemed to appreciate it more, and sometimes L'cin felt bad almost taking it for granted never having to deal with that feeling. "Well, there's another chance for you coming shortly. I'll cross my fingers for you," he vowed.
"Ah, it's okay," he said in response to the apology, giving a little wave of dismissal. "There was a clingy someone demanding stories and I was a bit distracted, is all." He raised his eyebrows at Queth, who happily ignored him in favor of the new person. He had to smile when Ranen greeted his mindmate, and he could sense Queth shuffling in happiness. He loved meeting new people, and was much better at talking to them than L'cin would probably ever be.
It wasn't that he was embarrassed by what Queth did so much as what Queth said. He was as bad as his sister, sometimes, with the 'hi, here's L'cin, be his friend' thing. L'cin smiled when he saw the grin spread across the other boy's face, though. He'd gotten so used to having a chatterbox of a dragon in his head, he'd almost forgotten how amazing the sensation had been at first. Now it was just...normal. Awesome, but...normal.
Well...he wouldn't want to take that bit of glee from the other boy. Ranen seemed rather nice, after all. Plus...this could be helpful... "Um...I don't think I need help with the numbweed, but if you'd be so kind as to keep him occupied," he motioned to Queth with a jerk of his head, "at least till I'm done I'd be ever so grateful. He asks some pretty odd questions, I'll warn you," he said with a chuckle. He gave a shy smile, hoping his gesture wasn't too obvious. It really would be helpful if he could concentrate on the task at hand while he was pouring the finished salve into jars. Speaking of...
He quickly turned around, shutting off the heat to one vat. That one was done now and he didn't want to ruin it. Checking the others, he got out the jars to begin transferring the one that was done.
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