Favorite Chore

Writers: Francesca, Heather, Paula
Date Posted: 24th May 2019

Characters: Milga, Chalzie, Thayde
Description: The two girls work in the infirmary with Master Thayde and discuss craft specialties
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 10, day 15 of Turn 9

Thayde

Chalzie exited the the main doors and began walking to the dolphin
infirmary, ready for a candlemark of cleaning. While she couldn't say
she enjoyed sweeping and scrubbing, at least there were always some
dolphins to talk to, and Master Thayde was friendly.

"I think this might be favorite chore," she admitted to Milga, who was
walking beside her. At least with the two of them, the cleaning would
go faster.

Milga just made a grunt. She really didn't have a favourite chore,
they were just something she did, no more or no less than class-room
studies or the reading she did on her own.

Used to Milga's taciturnity, Chalzie wasn't put off in the least. As
they entered the infirmary, she looked around the room curiously,
seeing how many dolphins were there that day. Then, seeing Thayde, the
two apprentices walked over to him. "Master Thayde," Chalzie said by
way of greeting. "Milga and I are here to clean. Anywhere in
particular we should start?"

Thayde turned and gave both of the girls a smile. "Ladies, thank you
for joining me in the infirmary today. I've already set out some
buckets for you, the floors could use a thorough scrub first, and then
after that I've set out the buckets we use to put the dolphin's food
and snacks in. They'll need to be cleaned out as well."

"Yes, sir," Milga said, but her attention was distracted by the
dolphin at the infrimary pool.

Following Milga's gaze, Chalzie saw San, a young dolphin who had a
long gash on his side. Luckily, at least at a quick glance, the wound didn't
seem to be infected, but she couldn't tell how deep it was. "What happened
to San?" she asked the Master.

"A fishing injury," Thayde said, turning to study San. "He's not
native to our pod. One of the pod dolphins found him and led him
here."

"Poor thing," Milga let out a sympathic click with her tongue. She was
pretty good at imitating the sounds dolphins made, the clicks and
whistles.

Not wanting to shirk her duties, Chalzie took two buckets and other
cleaning supplies, handing half of them over to Milga. Then, picking a
place to start, she began scrubbing the floor. "You've been a senior
apprentice for around a Turn now, right?" she asked the younger girl.

"Yes," Milga replied and started to work beside Chalzie. The older
girl was much closer to walking tables than she was. "Do you already
know what your specialization will be once you walk the tables?" she
asked.

Chalzie lowered her voice slightly. "I know what I _don't_ want it to
be," she admitted. Then, at a more normal volume, "Either healing or
salvage. I'm still exploring. Master Thayde?" she called out. "Did you
always know you'd specialize in healing?

Milga was curious to hear tha answer too.

"Yes, I did," Thayde answered. "I had considered joining the healer
craft first. My mother is a dolphineer, however, and my father a
sailor. I would go with her when she worked with dolphins and when I
realized I could mix healing and working with dolphins, that sealed
the deal for me."

"Well, I don't know what I want to do you yet, as a specialization,"
Milga said with a little sigh.
She liked everything she's been learning at the Hall.

"Well, luckily you have plenty of time to decide," Chalzie said
encouragingly. And, you can always walk the tables but still not
specialize." She stopped for a moment to put all her energy into
scrubbing a particularly stubborn spot on the floor. Then she
continued, "I know I like helping people, but am not sure how I'd
prefer to help them; when they're stranded or shipwrecked, or once
they've been brought to safety."

"I prefer dolphins over people," Milga said with a little bit of self-irony.

Thayde smirked a little as he overheard Milga's comment. He didn't
blame her, he often preferred the solitude of the infirmary and the
company of the dolphins to that of people.

Milga's admission wasn't surprising to Chalzie. "Well, at least that
narrows things down a bit. And, once we walk the tables we'll be able
to do a lot more, which can help you decide. I want to do fleet duty,
or anything that gives me a chance to travel by boat for a sevenday or
two. I'd love to spend some time at sea." It sounded exciting, and
different from just jumping /between/ to a different location, as she
had done many times with friends.

"Stuck in a ship for sevendays, out in the sea, with a bunch of
seacrafters who just see you as a pair of walking boobs? No thank
you," Milga made a face. She didn't have very flattering view of
sailors. It stemmed from her less pleasant experience with one of
them.

Thayde had never considered that before, but he secretly had no
desires to be on a ship full of foul-mouthed sailors either. "You
could decide not to specialize and just be an instructor," he
suggested.

Chalzie couldn't help but giggle at Milga's comment, imagining the
scenario. She supposed it wouldn't be very professional to be overly
friendly if she were ever assigned to a ship, even though it could be
fun in the short term. She had never seriously considered teaching,
but maybe it would be a good fit for her fellow apprentice. "I think I
could see you as a teacher," she said encouragingly.

"Will see what happens. It's not that I have to decide today or
tomorrow," Milga replied. She couldn't see herself was a teacher, but
she also knew she had at least two more Turns before she walked the
tables.

"Well, ladies, I have a meeting with the Hallmaster to be at," Thayde
said, pushing in his desk chair. "Keep up the good work," he said on
his way out.

"Yes, sir," Milga replied.

"We will," Chalzie added. If they finished quickly, hopefully they could
spend time with some of the dolphins before their next class.

Last updated on the June 15th 2019

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Favorite Chore