Stability

Writers: Bree, Yvonne
Date Posted: 1st April 2006

Characters: F'lin, Tiya
Description: Felarin visits the Infirmary when Tiya breaks a shelf.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 10, day 20 of Turn 3

Some of the candidates complained about getting lost in River Bluff
Weyr's labyrinth of passages and hallways, but Felarin rarely found
himself turned around. Fond memories of playing tag with new-found
friends in the halls had etched a mental map into his brain... but
never the less he found himself taking several wrong turns before he
got to the Infirmary. **Maybe it's because I don't like them much,**
he thought, smiling, as he stepped inside. The glows were bright, the
air sharp with the scent of herbs and rubbing alcohol, and everything
was a little _too_ orderly for his taste. "Hello?"

A head appeared from around a doorway on the far side of the room,
the young girl's face looking more than a little distraught. "Are you
the carpenter?"

"That would be me," Felarin said amiably. He held out his toolbox to
prove his identity. "What can I do for you?"

"Uhhm..." Tiya took a step out of the room and pointed back over her
shoulder. "I broke the shelf... The Weyrhealer says I have to stay
here until they're fixed."

"What, Abrei doesn't trust me in here by myself?" Felarin said,
smiling as he stepped into the room. The damage wasn't too bad - the
shelf was intact. It just needed to be reattached to its frame. He
set down his tool box. "I can't imagine why not."

Tiya blinked at the casual reference to the Weyrhealer, but shook her
head quickly enough. "Nooo... she wants to make sure I'm the one who
picks everything back up, since I knocked it all down. Do you know
the
Weyrhealer?"

"Just in passing. She patched me up a time or when I fell down the
stairs. Before she was Weyrhealer." He shrugged and opened his box to
squint at the tools and bits of wood within. "I broke my collarbone
once. She wasn't too impressed with me... actually, neither was my
Grandmother. What about you? Have you been apprenticing long?"

"Not really," Tiya replied vaguely. It was not a story she felt like
telling again. "Who is your grandmother?"

"Ahh..." This was the part Felarin was quickly learning to dread.
People acted differently when they found out who she was... but he
couldn't think of a graceful way to dodge the question, either.
"Tsaera."

"Oh." Tiya smiled shyly. "She's a really wonderful woman. When I
was--when I had problems with my family, she did everything she could
to help me, even though I'm just an apprentice."

Felarin felt a little rush of pride at that. "If you live at the
Weyr, she'll take care of you."

"She did. They got me back where I belonged." Tiya held out a
hesitant hand. "I'm Tiya."

"Felarin." He shook her hand, then turned back to his tool box and
fished out several small blocks of wood, a hammer, and some nails. He
stood up and leant the fallen shelf against the wall. "How long have
you lived here, Tiya?"

"Uhhm... about a turn altogether. I went back to Emerald Falls for a
few months, but I got to come back here." She'd always hated the
people who blurted out their terrible stories to complete strangers,
but Tiya had gotten used to everyone knowing exactly what had
happened to her. After all, between the Weyr's search for her and
Enrizial's public trial, she'd generated enough gossip to last turns.

"I take it you enjoy it, then?" Felarin began hammering in the first
of the blocks. They'd act as little handles to balance the shelf on
and help keep it stabilized. Tiya watched him for a few moments
before answering. "I think so. I like studying herbs and healing, at
least."

"That's good. Because you'll be stuck doing it for a while!" He
picked up the second block and began hammering it into place.

"Yes, I suppose so." But after seeing the alternative, Tiya thought
she could handle a long time spent studying herbs.

"What do you like to do best?"

"I love reading old hides," Tiya replied without hesitation.
"Especially about plants. You can do so much with the right ones."

"Oh, for certain! The right greens can be the life or death of a good
salad," Felarin replied with a wink.

Tiya blinked at him for a moment, unsure, before a slow smile curved
her lips. "I suppose they can."

The carpenter picked up a third block and a nail to hold it in place,
and set to work. "So.. you like learning about medications more than,

say, the way that muscles work, or about trauma or surgery?"

"I think so. I like working with herbs more than I like working with
people. It's a lot... well, it's more logical."

"I would agree with you there. People," he said between hammering,
"certainly seem illogical. And certainly harder to understand. But
once you _know_ someone... unless there's something wrong with them,
then even random actions seem logical - for them. They might be
illogical for someone else, but for that specific person at that
specific time, there's nothing on Pern that would make more sense."

Tiya watched him silently, digesting the words for a long time before
replying. "But you'd have to get to know every one of your patients
if you wanted them to ever make sense."

Felarin grinned. "Which is, of course, impossible. So I guess we'll
just have to make educated guesses."

"I think I'll stick to herbs," Tiya replied, wrinkling her nose.
"They make sense."

"Everybody's got to do what makes sense to them. You do herbs,"
Felarin smacked the nail one final time with his hammer, then picked
up the shelf and slid it into place and grinned. "And I know how to
build things. There. Think Abrei will approve?"

Tiya studied it for a moment before smiling. "It looks better than it

did before! I suppose that means I have to start cleaning up now."

"You sure you don't need a hand?" Felarin asked.

If it had been anyone else, Tiya would have been anxious to get rid
of them. But this was Tsaera's _grandson_, and there was no possible
way he could be anything but a perfectly nice young man. He'd seemed
easy enough to talk to, as well. So she nodded shyly. "If you want to
help, I'd appreciate it."

"If I'd have minded, I wouldn't have asked." The Candidate set down
his hammer and picked up a thin book and a roll of bandages. "But
you're going to have to tell me where everything goes. So Abrei
doesn't get mad."

"I can do that," Tiya replied, pointing out where the bandages went
and taking the book to put away herself. For the first time in longer
than she could remember, she felt perfectly normal.

Last updated on the April 22nd 2006

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Stability