Unpleasant Chores Made Better

Writers: Leigh M-F., Miriah
Date Posted: 21st September 2014

Characters: Lokkun, Lanniya
Description: No one likes an unpleasant job, but some chatter can help make it better.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 8, day 27 of Turn 7

Lanniya

As much as Lanniya enjoyed her time at the Weyr, she was quickly
finding that working in the infirmary was not one of her favorite
chores. It was just so...organized, and the sterile smell made her
wrinkle her nose. She sighed and looked down at the list of items she
was supposed to stock. There didn't seem to be anything enjoyable
about this craft. Sure, it was important; healing people was of
course, but it certainly wasn't her idea of what she liked.

Lokkun was humming no particular tune at all, and Pegas was crooning
along. It wasn't beautiful, but the two of them were enjoying
themselves as the human pushed a cart of supplies into one of the
waiting rooms, where he had been told a Candidate would be waiting to
assist him. There was a girl there who looked a little out of sorts.
Perhaps she wasn't looking forward to the chore. Lokkun opened his
mouth to greet her, but Pegas interrupted, making a sound rather like
"Oooo!" and vaulted off his person's shoulder to fly circles around
the girl. "Hey, Pegas! It's not playtime!" Lokkun reprimanded in
surprise. "Come back here!"

Lanniya was startled out of her reverie and looked up at the flit
circling her. She gave a giggling laugh and twiddled her fingers in a
greeting. "Hello there, little guy. I like you too." She turned to the
new arrival and offered her hand. "Hi. You must be..." She paused,
trying to remember the name. "Lokkun, right? I'm Lanniya. I guess I'm
supposed to help you with stuff today."

Lokkun gave the girl one of his shy smiles. "Yes, I'm Lokkun," he
said. "And that pest desperately hoping to land on your shoulder is
Pegas. I'm sorry for that; normally he's much more well-behaved.
Pegas, seriously, get back here." He added a touch of willpower.

"Creeeee," Pegas chirped piteously, and winged it to the push-cart,
landing on the handle between his person's hands.

"Good boy," Lokkun praised. "Today we're restocking the aid kits that
are located around the healers' caverns."

"Oh, I don't mind. I love flits." Lanniya eyed the cart. "Stocking
them with what? How long is it going to take?"

Lokkun pointed to the various baskets on the push-cart. "Bandages,
numbweed, redwort, and dragons-tongue ointment," he explained.
"Essentials that are needed everywhere. It might take us an hour,
maybe two." He gave her a shy smile, and teased, "If you're that bored
already, I'm sure Pegas will do his best to entertain you."

At that she gave a rueful smile. "Sorry. I just like being outside and
it's so..." Her nose wrinkled. "sterile in here. It smells funny. It's
not that it's boring, just not something I think I'd like to do too
much."

"No, it's boring," Lokkun said with a small laugh. "Go ahead and say
it. I won't be offended. A lot of what apprentices and Candidates have
to do is very dull, but at least with two of us, it should go a little
faster. Come on, let's get started."

Pegas started crooning again, sensing work was about to begin.

She answered his laugh with a smile of her own. "Okay, I'll say it.
It's dull. Very very boring. So why do you do it? I mean. Why work
here?" Lanniya wrinkled her nose, but followed him. "I was told to
look at all the crafts, but I don't like this one at all."

For a few minutes, Lokkun debated with himself about how much,
exactly, to tell the girl. Finally, he stopped and stroked Pegas'
head. "I used to be a shepherd, actually, caring for ovines," he said.
"I liked it a lot. But then I...." He paused. "My two best friends
were Candidates. They Impressed, but they died during their first
Threadfall, ferrying firestone. I lost a close relative not long
after. I had to do something with my sorrow, so I turned it toward
helping people. The Healercraft was the best way I and the mindhealer
I saw could think to do that."

Her eyes conveyed the sudden sadness at his story and she laid a hand
on his arm. "I'm sorry that you had to go through that. I had to too."
For once, her bright smile was tinged with grief. "My family, my mum
and dad and my sister, they all died. They were at sea and there was a
storm. I never saw them again." She took a breath and shook her head.
"But my gran says that they wouldn't want to see me sad, so I try not
to be. But I still miss them."

Awww. She was so sweet. Lokkun managed to summon another smile and
patted her hand. "That must have been difficult," he said quietly and
compassionately. "It's okay to still miss your folks; I still miss my
friends. There's so much I should have said to them." The words "I
love you both" chief among them. "But I'm sure your gran is right
about them not wanting you to be sad. I'm betting my friends would
feel the same." He moved his hand and started pushing the cart closer
to the entrance. "There are two kits here that could use some
attention before we move on."

She nodded, perfectly happy with avoiding that tender subject now that
he had diverted his attention back to the kits. She picked up one of
the kits, opened the lid and eyed the contents. "I don't even know
what half of these things are."

"They should have labels," Lokkun said, peering into the kit himself.
"Ah, there." He reached into the kit and rotated some of the
containers until the labels showed. "Redwort, numbweed,
dragons-tongue. Looks like they all need replacing." He took the
near-empty things and replaced them with full ones. "Bandages look
good, so let's check the other kit. Then we can move on, and hopefully
get this over with soon. Then you can go back to much more fun
things," he added, smiling to show he meant no malice.

With a wry grin, Lanniya nodded. "Okay, I know what redwort is for and
numbweed. We used those on our caravans some times. But
dragons-tongue? It's not...real tongue is it?"

"No, no, it's not," Lokkun was quick to assure her as he worked. "It's
a plant that's good for treating burns. There, all finished." He put
the kits back. "Now we head off to the examination rooms and look into
the unoccupied ones. It'll get us off to a good start."

"Oh. Well, that's better." Her nose unwrinkled and she wiggled it. "If
it was real, I might have gotten sick." She turned and started walking
towards the exam rooms, "You actually like doing this? I mean,
restocking?" She gestured to the cot. "I guess the dull kinda goes
with the craft a bit?"

"I don't mind too much," Lokkun said honestly. "I get to talk with Pegas and
other apprentices, and if things go well enough, my mind can wander a little
and unwind. It's just something that needs doing, so we get it done."

"Kyuu!" Pegas chirped randomly, as if agreeing.

"Well, honestly, I don't think this would be the craft for me." Lanniya
spoke openly. "I know I'm supposed to find something to do, just in case,
but I think I was a little bit unprepared for some of the smells. I like
outdoors and fresh air." She turned to Pegas and reached over to pat him
lightly. "And dragons and flits of course."

"You'll fit right in when you Impress, then," Lokkun said as Pegas crooned
happily, and asked her to open an examination room door for him.

Last updated on the October 19th 2014

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Unpleasant Chores Made Better