Speedy Delivery

Writers: Aaron, Miriah
Date Posted: 9th May 2020

Characters: Brennault, Urlene
Description: Urlene receives a message from Brennault
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 14 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: Lorican

Brennault

Urlene

Urlene sighed as she rubbed her lower back with both hands, trying to
knead the muscles that ached from another long day on her feet.
Another hot soak was in order this evening, she decided, and perhaps
she'd have to start taking more breaks to rest her feet. With a soft
exhale, she reached up to a cabinet in the infirmary, checking the
contents against the hide in her hand. "Bandages, redwort, Faranth,
we're going to need more numbweed salve soon..."

"Speedy delivery," said Brennault as he popped his head in. "I've got
one for you, Master Urlene."

Marvel hopped up and peered up into the cabinet, cheeping curiously.
Thankfully, nothing in there was likely to look like food, so Marvel
was unlikely to snatch it.

A small brown firelizard chittered from above, watching as an
interloper got near the cabinets. Stitch's eyes whirled as he winged
down, approaching with a tilted head.

Urlene turned, hand on her belly. "Oh. A letter?" Who would be
sending her anything? Unless... perhaps another letter from Lorican?
"Is it from Barrier Lake?" She frowned, then approached Brennault. "
Wait, you don't go that far do you?"

"Not usually," said Brennault. "But I've had a few folks interested in
sending letters out that way, and I'm thinking about asking a friend
to give me a ride. Anyway, letters can come from anywhere. We pass
them along. I brought this one in from Cerault's waystation about
twenty miles west of here or so."

He held it out to Urlene.

Marvel drew himself up as the brown approached, and his eyes whirled green.

~~Friend?~~

"It's quicker by dragonback, I suppose." She hid her disappointment
easily, pushing back the lingering hope that had emerged at the first
mention of the letter. She took it from him, frowning as she examined
it. There was only her name on the outside. "Cerault's waystation?
Hm. Just a moment and I'll get you something for your trouble. Follow
me to my office if you would, please."

Stitch stretched out his neck, sniffling, then sat, tilting his head
from side to side. ~~Treats? Like treats.~~ He sent a mental image of
a similar cabinet, stocked with small bags of jerky and dried meats.

"Oh, it's no trouble, ma'am," said Brennault, though he followed
anyway. He would never turn down a gratuity. "Did you have something
you wanted to send out that way?"

At the mention of treats, Marvel's eyes flashed to blue, and his
tongue lolled out. He loved treats. He sent a mental image of the
brown leading him to such a cabinet.

She paused, hand moving to rub the base of her spine once again, then
slowly shook her head. "No. If I have to send a message, Stitch can
take it for me. He knows the way, but there's no one now that would
expect a message from me now. But thank you. Give me a moment,
please." Ushering him into her office, she sat at her desk and slid a
small dagger under the plain seal. "I may possibly have a response for
this, depending on what it is." Unfolding the hide, she frowned as she
recognized the writing. She paled, then her lips thinned as she folded
the letter back in place. "I do have a response for you to send back,
if you can wait only a moment."

"I can wait," said Brennault. "Take your time. If you need more than a
minute, I can come back, too." He recognized that face. Whatever it
was, it was not exactly good news.

Stitch bobbed his head affirmatively, his little talons lifting to
click together with excitement as he sent the mental images necessary.
The knob on the cabinet would take the pair of them to open, one to
pull the knob and the other to lift the latch at the same time. He'd
seen his pet and other healers do it several times, but despite the
flit's best efforts, had never been able to manage to do both at once.
~Work together? Many tasty. Share.~~ He turned his head, pointing
with his little nose to a small cabinet across the infirmary. ~~ You,
me, open. ~~

Marvel was willing to do just about anything for many tasty. Share, on
the other hand, was a difficult proposition. Still, share was better
than few or no tasty.

~~Agree.~~

Urlene pulled a piece of hide and with a quick hand, wrote a brief
reply, her gestures brisk as if holding back a great deal of
irritation. She folded it, melted wax over the closure and quickly
stamped it, holding it out to Brennault along with a mark for his
trouble. "This will go to Quilene of Opal Cove Hold along with the
request that she not send any further messages to me." She paused,
grimacing and rubbed the side of her abdomen. "Thank you for the
trouble, Brennault."

Brennault's eyes flitted to Urlene's hand. Gut pain was never good
news for a runner, but he supposed a healer would know how to deal
with such unpleasantness.

"I'll pass it along," he said. "I'm planning to go out to the new weyr
soon. If you know anybody who might want to get a message out there
quick." Surely, at least one of his rider friends would give him a
lift. If not, he had been doing quite a bit of overpromising.

Stitch nearly bounced with glee at the prospect of opening the
cabinet, even if he had to share the tasties. He flew towards the
cabinet, glanced around to make sure that no one was paying attention,
then crooned for Marvel to join him. Reaching up, Stitch gripped the
handle and bobbed his head towards the knob. ~pull pull~

Marvel tilted his head and gauged the distance. He flew to the knob
and began to tug at it.

Urlene nodded, rising carefully from her chair. Her growing bulk made
getting up a bit more difficult than it had been, but she was
adjusting. "Thank you." She paused, seeming to weigh something in her
mind before speaking. "If you see Journeyman Lorican, tell him..." She
seemed to search for the right words, "tell him that I wish him all
happiness and good fortune in the future."

Brennault watched Urlene for a moment. This was news to him. People
did not say things like that unless... Of course, he had not heard
personally from Lorican since he left.

"I mean to see him," he said. "Is that all you want to say?" Long
distance was hard to work with when it came to a serious relationship,
but it seemed like there was something more to this than Brennault
knew.

Stitch chittered with excitement as the door swung open. Inside were
three large sacks of jerky, two sacks of small dried meatrolls, and
four sacks of dried fish. Without hesitation, Stitch tore into a bag
of jerky, tearing a gaping hole. ~~Tasty tasty tasty~~

Marvel did not hesitate to dig into another of the jerky sacks. This
was absolutely perfect! He would have to remember this place.

"Yes." Urlene didn't elaborate further. "Thank you, Brennault." She
paused, then looked around. "Didn't you have a flit with you?"

Chewing and tearing at the prize gripped in his talons, Stitch crooned
at Marvel. ~~Friend.~~

~~Friend,~~ Marvel concurred, though he was much more focused on the
jerky than anything else.

"Oh. I did. Where did he get off to? Marvel!" Brennault called. The
bronze firelizard ate faster but did not respond.

"And where's mine?" She frowned, making her way to her office door and
opening it. "Stitch?"

Stitch looked up at the call and quickly began stuffing his cheeks
full of pieces of jerky. ~~Hurry hurry~~ He grabbed a bag in his
talons and flew to the rafters, carefully stuffing it into a nook
between stone and wood.

Brennault followed to the door but did not enter without Urlene's
invitation. As he heard the approaching footsteps, Marvel jumped into
the air and disappeared between.

"Is Marvel getting up to mischief in there?" Brennault asked.

Urlene opened the door and immediately saw the open cabinet and the
pilfered sacks. Looking up slowly, she spotted her brown flit,
attempting to look innocent. His attempt was rather spoiled, however,
by the bulging belly and scrap of jerky still hanging from his mouth.
Her voice was dry. "It appears that your flit and mine decided to team
up to raid the jerky cabinet."

Brennault's eyes went wide.

"Oh, balls. I'm. I'm so sorry." Marvel had never gotten up to anything
quite so destructive as eating a whole bag of jerky before. "I'll pay
it back," he said. Though that might take him a while, depending on
just how much jerky was in those bags.

Urlene waved a hand at Brennault, sighing softly. "Don't worry about
it. It's only jerky and there was plenty. I'll just have to put a
better latch on the cabinet." She kept looking up at Stitch, who felt
his pet's disappointment and ducked his head in contrite apology.
"Stitch has been eyeing that cabinet since he was a hatchling. It's
alright."

"I hope Marvel comes back," said Brennault. "He sure knows he's in
trouble, but..." He sighed. He could hardly stay mad at him for long,
especially if he did not have to pay Urlene back for the jerky Marvel
ate.

"I'll find a way to make it up to you. Maybe I can talk to the smiths
about a the latch."

She waved her hand again. "It'll be alright. I'll just put a simple
lock on it. It shouldn't be a problem again." Urlene smoothed down her
skirts and turned back to the runner. "Thank you for the delivery,
Brennault."

"You're welcome!" said Brennault. He would find a way to make it up to
Urlene. If he was lucky, it would not take a miracle to explain to
Marvel that what he did was bad. "If you ever need anything, all you
have to do is let me know."

She inclined her head. "Thank you." She offered her hand. "Have a good evening."

"And you, Master." Brennault gave a smile and a slight bow and then
turned to go.

Last updated on the May 31st 2020

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Speedy Delivery