A Little Bird Told Me

Writers: AL, Chelle
Date Posted: 11th July 2011

Characters: Qorri, Meledei
Description: The Headwoman comes to see about Meledei while she's laid up.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 15 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentioned: Janani, Tanom, Surryad, N'vanik, Sh'del, Taeshin, Z'ku

The Headwoman had heard what had happened to her goldrider and she had
come as early as she could. With the hatching duties, it had been
impossible to get away for long. Heading into the infirmary, she almost
dared the healers to say anything to her. Seeing Meledei, she
approached her slowly, a small carisak in hand.

"Hi Qorri!" Meledei was awake, the fellis had worn off and as long as
she didn't move too much, the pain was bearable enough that she didn't
have to have more. She honestly hated the stuff - it made her feel so
odd. Her face brightened when her latest visitor came into view.
"How are you?"

"Busy of course, but I came as soon as I could." She bent down to have
a look at Meledei. "Are they taking care of you? Is there anything you
need?"

"Oh, I'm fine, just bored out of my mind. They refuse to bring me work
and I've gotten one hide bound book that I've already read through
twice." Meledei grinned a little. "So really, the only thing I need
is to get _out_ of here!"

"How long will it take until you can rest in your weyr?" Qorri frowned,
opening up the carisak and pulling a set of puzzles out of it. They
were well worn, but she figured Meledei could use anything. And then
she looked around quickly before passing off some packed food. "Put
that under your sheets."

"I'm not sure. It won't be before the hatching." Meledei sighed.
Truly, she thought she'd be better off in her own weyr in her own bed,
but they couldn't just assign a healer to be with her - and one
wouldn't be close enough if she needed anything. Like going to relieve
herself. Which was better than having one of those things in her bed,
even if it did hurt. Meledei glanced to the curtain and took the food
and tucked it underneath her pillow and pressed it against the
headboard. "I will have to admit, it is rather hard to get a good
pastry around here." She grinned and winked at Qorri, then examined
the puzzles. "I swear, you think of everything."

"Eh well, I've tended the sick before," A small shadow passed quickly
as she thought of why she had come to the Weyr in the first place.
Meledei might remember that. "Is there anything else? I can have a
drudge come. Have they treated you well? If anyone's bothering, I can
fix that too."

"No, I've been treated like a Lady. I promise." Even the food wasn't
bad, though they weren't heavy on the sweets which made Meledei
appreciate the treats Qorri had brought her. "And I'm enjoying my
visitors because frankly, it gets kinda boring here after a while."

"I tell you what, though, if I were you I'd enjoy it while it lasted. As
soon as you get out here, back to duties, taking care of dragons,
running around the Weyr, you'll be tired. It's nice to have a rest every
now and again." Qorri wondered what a vacation would be like.

"Well, true, but I think I would prefer a rest that didn't involve
pain." Meledei countered with a giggle. "And I don't really plan on
resting. I'm probably going to offer to help with the Weyrlings since
I can't do drills."

"Still, it's not the same. As it is, though, you better not overdo
yourself. You'll end up back here soon enough." The headwoman rubbed
her back subconsciously, remembering the time she had injured it.

"I hope not. I prefer to visit rather than have to stay here."
Meledei knew that no one _planned_ to wind up in the infirmary, but
still. "You all right?" She asked, noticing the woman's gesture.
"Back bothering you?"

"Ah no, just remembering the last time when I ended up laid up for a
bit. I try not to allow it to happen again. Still, old bones and all
that." She frowned, thinking of the workouts she had gotten recently.

"You gotta take care of yourself," Meledei stated as she studied
the headwoman and had to wonder what caused the Headwoman to get put
into the infirmary. "The Weyr needs you."

"Oh I know. It's just hard to find good help these days. I really need
a solid assistant that I can count on. If I didn't mind putting the
Weyr into someone else's hands for awhile, I could get a bit more
rest. Maybe someday I'll find one." She knew a lot of the women
could follow orders well enough, but would find it hard giving them
and solving issues.

"Well, I'll keep my eyes open." Though, really, how would Meledei find
someone suitable before Qorri? The woman probably knew more about the
people and what went on in the Weyr than even she did! "You do need a
break every now and then."

"Aye well I like being busy, but sometimes it's nice to just get away.
So, who else has come to see you?" she hoped Z'ku had made an
appearance.

"Actually, a _lot_ of people. Tanom, Surryad, N'vanik, Sh'del,
Taeshin, Z'ku, and loads of others." Meledei's head was swimming for
the first couple of days. "And now you."

"But not Janani?" That was curious. Qorri filed away that bit of
information.

"Oh no, Janani too." Meledei piped up quickly. She hadn't meant to
exclude the Weyrwoman, not at all, "And others too. So many that I'm
forgetting one of the most highly ranked ones who came!"

"Hmm good. Well at least you've no shortage of attention then. The
squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that. Of course they wouldn't
dare mess you up anyway." The look in Qorri's eyes was enough to back
up that threat. "Well, I have to get back but I'm glad to see you're
doing allright. Like I said, rest all you can and if you need anything,
you know how to get me."

"I will. And thanks again, Qorri, you're the best."

Last updated on the August 3rd 2011

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

A Little Bird Told Me