A Mental Break (open)

[midnightscribe]

Teowyn had just let go her last scheduled patient for the night. She sat at her desk and scribbled something down on the papyrus sheet she had out. She stopped to think and then wrote something else. Then the pen dropped the pen with the flick of her hand. Then she sat back and took her cup of klah and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and attempted to clear her mind.

Only, for Teowyn is a difficult necessity. Constantly different thoughts invaded her peace. Perhaps that girl Beracleen had a traumatic even in her life that she could not remember. Perhaps something she repressed? Could it be a fall? Maybe a huge disappointment? She wondered how Teothur was, if he was sleeping by now or giving her sister a hard time of it. Teowyn would have to sew a patch on his stuffed feline toy. Maybe tomorrow she should cancel her first appointment and take an extra hour to herself for lunch hour. No, as much as she could use the rest, she had to counsel that bluerider. He had such an interesting story, and it seemed like a complicated issue to get through.

Teowyn sipped on the lukewarm klah, holding it with one hand and rubbing her right temple with the other. So much for winding down, it seemed like her mind was too busy tonight.

[hbk]

::: Goldrider Suynie :::

Suynie rolled her head to one side as she slid a hand up and massaged at the aching curve of her neck. She'd been in her office for a while pouring over some old hides and doing some much needed hidework that had been neglected as of late. Now with things caught up the Junior Weyrwoman was looking for a bite to eat and a sip of klah to hopefully clear the sleep from her eyes.

Striding into the Dining Hall, the goldrider flicked her long, dark hair over her shoulder as she approached the service table and helped herself to some food. She could have sat and allowed a drudge to come and service her but Suynie wasn't that type of leader. She could fetch her food just as well as anyone else and didn't mind doing so.

With plate of food in one hand and klah in the other, Suynie turned and surveyed the other occupants in the Dining Hall. The goldrider was making a habit of trying to sit and get to know someone different each time she was in the Dining Hall. It was a lot easier to help the Weyr if she knew its people.

"Good evening, Healer Teowyn, do you mind if I join you?"

[midnightscribe]

At the voice she opened her eyes slowly. Ah, yes, the healer thought to herself as she recognized the woman. "Good evening, Goldrider." The rider had always seemed friendly enough, always with a smile on her face, though Teowyn had to admit the mind behind the smile was a mystery to her. And Teowyn was always curious about unfamiliar territory, so she said kindly, "Please, won't you sit down a while?"

The healer sat up in her chair and placed the klah on the table and then her hands in her lap. She wore a dark red dress with silver embroidery, with a full pleated skirt and a grey under dress, her sleeves tight against her arms and stretch to just past her wrists. She wore a long, plain silver chain that fell near her waist. She said with a small smile, "I am flattered that you would take your meal with me. Frankly, I thought perhaps you'd take your meals in your own room."

Of course, Teowyn had meant no offense with her comment, or to insinuate anything about goldriders in general, but she thought Suynie knew that. "Busy day, weyrwoman?"

[hbk]

Suynie wrinkled her nose in regards to the thought that she would take her meal in her own room. If anything Suynie tried to find excuses to get outside of her quarters as often as possible. Having your office attached to your living area meant that she spent a lot of time between the two areas. The only times she really got to get some fresh air were for Threadfall, Rhiannoth's baths, and when she came out to get some food.

"I try to be a social goldrider." She said with a wink of humor as she sat down at the table with Teowyn. "Hard to know the needs of the Weyr if you never interact with its people, hm?" The question was rhetorical, but still made a point, she thought. There were riders of rank, at Refuge included, who never seemed to socialize outside of their own elite group.

The Junior Weyrwoman took a sip of her drink before tucking into her meal, "So how are things going in the infirmary?" She asked in between bites.

[midnightscribe]

Teowyn dipped her finger in her klah and stirred it almost habitually three times before taking a sip. She looked down as the lukewarm liquid slipped down her throat. Then as she put down the cup, she lifted her eyes at the same time to catch the goldrider's wink and smiled at the weyrwoman, "Of course."

Teowyn was very familiar with those ranked riders she categorized as "elitist." Though, it was hardly just riders she placed there. The healer liked to compartmentalize personalities, taking what she knew of behaviors and reputations to guess which type of personality people were. Unfortunately for Teowyn, proud 'elitist' types were the hardest to figure out, since they didn't often care to talk to Teowyn.

Casually the healer said, "Oh, you know, fevers to break, bones to mend, and numbweed to jar." She paused a moment, and then clutched the mug with a sparkle in her eye, "It must be much more exciting to be in your shoes. dragonflights and clutching times. You must tell me what it's like to have dragon bond, I have always wondered what it's like to share a mind."

[hbk]

What was it like to have a dragon.... It was a question that Suynie had been asked more than once, and she supposed, that most every dragonrider was asked something along those lines once in their life. Describing one's relationship with their dragon was never easy, because Suynie didn't know if words existed to describe the love and level of connectedness that a dragon and rider shared.

"You know those subconscious thoughts that you have? Having a dragon is sort of like those, only, louder and much more opinionated." Suynie smiled a bit, even as she felt Rhiannoth's amusement over the answer. Although the gold was egg heavy and spent most of her time lounging on her ledge, she was still in a pleasant mood. The large queen enjoyed knowing that she was bringing to the Weyr life.

"Once I Impressed Rhiannoth it was as if she'd actually always been there with me, only now she's in a physical form...." The Junior Weyrwoman trailed off and then looked at the healer with an impish grin, "Hopefully that didn't sound too crazy. There's never really a way to describe it aside from 'wonderful'."

[midnightscribe]

"Crazy' is only a matter of opinion, my dear queenrider." Teowyn said with a soft smile. Of all the riders she asked, none of course had put it exactly the way Suynie had, never as a physical form of something that had always been there. Could it be then that dragon-bond was a sort of destiny? Predetermined by, well Faranth knows. Some people certainly held that belief. Was one predestined to have their dragon, versus luck? Such deep thoughts always got Teowyn excited... Some things to consider, and then she added after a pause, "For what it's worth, I don't believe you are crazy. And thank you, the mind is somewhat of a great passion of mine, and the fact that one could share it fully without effort has always intrigued me. I am considered too old for dragonbond, so to understand it, it is somewhat been a hobby of mine to ask many riders for their thoughts."

"I think I'm right when I your dragon should be close to clutching?" Teowyn was never one to keep the conversation on herself for more than three beats, so while she had a queenrider all to herself, she thought she'd delve a little further into the aspects of riding. Then Teowyn added, in her soft, almost innocently inquisitive voice, "That is a very exciting time for everyone, but certainly yourself? Or does it get sort of just routine?

Three more times Teowyn stirred her klah and then finished it. She ran a hand through her hair and listened intently. She never meant to pry or be nosey, though certainly some people might think her that why. Teowyn was just naturally curious, a scientific mind with a huge file of theories and hypothesis tucked away and a giant dream of one day teaching what she knew to a younger generation. Posterity was her only end.

[hbk]

Finishing up her plate of food, Suynie pushed the empty plate aside, not even batting an eyelash when a drudge swooped in to collect the plate and refill the Junior Weyrwoman's cup with fresh klah. With a smile of thanks to the drudge, Suynie returned her attention to the healer's questions.

"It is a very exciting time, clutches always bring security and hope to a Weyr. With Issarith's eggs already on the Sands the Weyr is sitting in a very good place. As you can imagine, with no footholds in the North, it's necessary that Haven and Refuge succeed." In Suynie's estimation, adding more dragons to the fighting force was the only good thing that had come of Issarith's surprise appearance, beyond that, the tiny gold and her rider were nothing more than a nuisance and dead weight to boot.

Suynie gave a flick of her hand, sending a wave of her dark hair over her shoulder, "This is Rhiannoth's first clutch so I can't remark on it being a routine, although from what I understand from older goldriders, each clutch is special and unique and just as exciting as the first. Because of her sheer size and the experience and strength of Zorometh, I thoroughly expect that my queen's clutch will be large and strong." Unlike the pitifully small eggs that Issarith had layed. It nearly made Suynie laugh that dragonhealers actually had to be present at the small queen's clutching incase there were difficulties. Rhiannoth would have no such difficulties, she was a true Queen.