Accidents Happen (R'gar)

[Marnark]

R'gar watched with some interest as she felt of everything he handed her. He couldn't imagine living in a world that was completely dark. Not being able to see. Just the thought of it gave him the heibie jeebies. He couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

When she asked how long, his heart sank. Telling her this was not going to be easy at all. To confine her already severely limited world even further ... it was a thing that made him feel like a very bad person. "A minimum of a month." he said, quietly. "Maybe longer. If you don't stay off of it, you might seriously damage it beyond your ability to heal. If that happens, you might end up unable to walk for the rest of your life." He warned. He hated having to say things like that, but at the same time, sometimes it was the only way to get them to listen. To tell them the cold, hard truth.

"If you need anything at all during that time, you just let me know." R'gar emphasized. "You're liable to run out of salve eventually. When you do, I will give you some more. I want you to use them religiously. This will last you about a week, give or take."

[Lady Smara]

As Prontin heard his words, what happiness she had been feeling when the pain had disappeared vanished. Letting her head hang, her hair fell forward to hide her face. She couldn’t deny the fact that she was not nearly dependent upon moving as many others in the Weyr. She didn’t need to carry and move things to complete her work like the drudge, nor did she have to be able to move and care for a dragon like the riders. Even so, she had learned to treasure what freedom she had found in learning the lower cavern walls.

“I understand.” She said, her voice softer than it had been previously. She would have to ask someone to help her each day move from her bed to a place to sit. The WeyrHall was too far from her rooms to ask her aging father to carry even her light frame. So she would be stuck to her quarters or the small living space the privileged harper was allowed. While it wasn’t so bad, she could think of two other problems she would need to ask her parents for additional assistance for that she had learned to do herself over the years. Having food brought to her and making her way to the bathing areas.

Putting those problems to the back of her mind to think upon later, she brought her attention back to his words. Even as he spoke he promised to help her and asked her to send for him but she also found the problem with that too. He was not only a healer, always to be found in the infirmary. He was also a dragon rider and there for had the whole Weyr, WeyrBowl and the world beyond that. A world she couldn’t even imagine. How was she suppose to be able to let him know if she ever needs help or more salve?

[Marnark]

She looked so dejected, downtrodden. Even what little she did say was so ... sad. R'gar hated having to tell her that. He seriously did. After a moment of thought, he realized she was just sitting there in silence. Not even saying anything anymore. This ... this wasn't healthy. He would have to do something. He seriously didn't know what yet, but he would fix it. Depression would not help her heal.

"Tell you what. I think I might have a few ideas." R'gar said, breaking the uneasy silence that was beginning to build. "I don't want you to worry about this. You just take care of yourself, and the rest will take care of itself, okay? Don't look so glum, it'll be alright." He promised. Taking a bag, he shook it open. A moment was spent carefully rolling each jar in a small towel, and then he placed both of them in the bag. Tying the top shut, he placed that in her lap.

"I think I remember where your door was, do you want to go back there? Or would you rather sit outside for awhile?" R'gar asked.

[Lady Smara]

The mention of having ideas caught Prontin’s attention and fed her curiosity. Ideas for what, was the first question to come to her mind but she had no time to actually frame the question before she heard him moving about again. He mentioned taking care of herself and she couldn’t help but wonder if he did not realize that she had been practicing taking care of herself all her life and in one accident she would be reliant on others all over again.

The sudden weight on her lap was what finally slapped her out of her own self pity. Jumping at the contact made by the bag, she put her hands on either side and took a moment to see what it was. Lost in her own thoughts she hadn’t even listened to his rummaging about. Pulling the bag a little closer, she raised her sightless gaze and gave the open air a puzzled look. Thankfully the distraction of the bag suddenly appearing in her world was enough to make her actually listen to his next questions.

“Outside?” she asked, surprise still coloring her voice as her hands felt the tie done on the top of the bag. “But if you leave me outside, how will I find help to get back in?” After gingerly lifting the bag and feeling its weight, she decided it must be the jars he had just given to her moments ago. Reaching a hand to her side she did indeed find them gone. Mystery one solved, now to figure out why he would suggest leaving her outside of all places.

She might have understood asking if she’d like to go to the WeyrHall, she was often found there with her violin. It didn’t often occur to Prontin that some in the Weyr might not realize who she was, too often she heard whispers of the ‘blind girl’ and she had just grown use to the idea that every knew where her table was. But outside? The thought of the sun warming her skin was welcoming, but after being told she could not use her own foot and the thought of that big void known as the Weyr Bowl… she didn’t understand the question.

[Marnark]

"Yes, outside. I did say that." She was looking more alive now, and that was far better than the legarthic look she'd had just moments ago. Though he hadn't meant to startle her so badly by placing something in her lap. Poor girl. He had to admit he wasn't very good at the operating around her being blind. Thinking in terms of what she could sense was difficult at best. "I'll get you back in, don't worry." He assured her. "I won't forget you and leave you there, I promise. But really, anywhere you want to go. I don't want you cooped up in one place for all that time. It's worse than torture."

R'gar fully meant every word he said, too. He would take her there, and he would fetch her back in too. "Furthermore ... here. Imp! Get over here." R'gar called. In a disorganized flapping of wings and a mildly startled squawk, Imp roused himself from where he'd been sitting and dozing. Flying over to where R'gar was standing, the brown flitter landed on his shoulder and wrapped his tail around his neck.

"Gaaak!" R'gar pulled the tail off again, and lifted the flitter down off his shoulder. Containing any flailing limbs on the creature with his hands, he set the flitter in her lap too. "This is Imp. He's going to stay with you, and when you need anything, you send him back. He'll come get me." R'gar told her. "Don't let him sit on your shoulder though. He's got this fascination for wrapping his tail around throats."

[Lady Smara]

Listening to his promise, Prontin’s spirits slowly began to rise. Even if he only stopped by once a week, if he was willing to take her outside it would be 10 times more often than anyone had offered to walk her out and in before. Maybe… Maybe this would not be so bad after all. Just as her lips had started to show her growing happiness, she found herself jumping.

The sudden sound of the flap of wings was enough to scare Prontin out of her skin, but the gush of wind it made blow past her as the flit settled on the man’s shoulder had her ducking and covering her head with her arms. Taking a moment to regain her senses and realize she was not going to be hit by a flying object, she slowly uncurled herself only to find that flying object placed in her lap.

Holding her hands up near her head for a moment as she turned her face toward her lap, she hesitated and wondered for a moment if she was brave enough to find out what this rider has put there. It was warm and had a decent amount of weight to it. Between R’gar’s words and the movement in her lap made by the object, Prontin finally put two and two together – it was a flit.

She had heard of the creatures, many around the Weyr had them and she had even heard them fly around from time to time. None had ever approached her, however, so she had never had the chance to find out exactly what they looked – or felt – like. Her finger tips tingled and she wanted desperately to reach down and feel the creature that sat in her lap. She could even feel the little claws as they pushed through her long skirt. It was fascinating but she did not reach down.

“I… Will it bite me?” she finally asked, lowering her arms a little bit, but still not reaching for the creature. Prontin dropped her voice to almost a whisper, “I don’t want to scare it away… but I want to see it…”

[Marnark]

Imp paddled around on her lap, not really sure why he'd been placed there or what he was supposed to do. Being in a lap that was already occupied by a bag didn't help matters any. It was kinda crowded! Clambering around, his little talons pricked here and there as he hung onto what he was standing on. Most notably ... her lap. Clambering up on top of the bag, he chirped. Sitting up on his haunches, he leaned forward and sniffed her nose before giving it an experimental lick.

R'gar shook his head, and then realized belatedly that it was a stupid thing to do. She coudn't see him after all. "No, he doesn't bite. He does nip when I try to feed him something and he gets over excited. But its not a true bite." He said. "You don't need to worry about feeding him though. Go ahead, he likes being scratched." So far as R'gar could reckon, Imp was going to thoroughly enjoy being fingered all over.

Why she was being so tentative about it, he couldn't guess. Had a flitter attacked her at some point? She sure had reacted like she expected something really drastically terrible to happen when he'd flown over.

[Lady Smara]

She felt the creature shift on her lap, its little claws poking lightly through her skirt. Imp was what R’gar had called the creature. Feeling the bag grow heavier as the sets of claws disappeared one by one, she put her hands on either side of the bag to steady it for the creature. She felt the small breath of air hit her nose and she smiled, jumping with an ‘o’ of surprise on her lips when she felt the wet, smooth tongue flick across the tip of her nose.

Hearing his words, she lifted her hands and found Imp’s body first. Her fingers touched the thin membrane of the wings first and let the tips of them run feather light across the creature. Leaving on hand on his back, one hand’s fingers brushed down his tail to feel its length. Once knowing how long the creature was that way, she brought the hand back to the middle and carefully brought it up the creatures long neck. Finding its head, she let her fingers turn and come under its chin, scratching it lightly at R’gar’s suggestion.

“He is so soft, R’gar. He is a fire lizard, right?” she asked, still scratching its chin as the other hand continued to feel its back, memorizing the muscles beneath the skin. “I’m sorry, I’m sure that’s such a silly question.” Letting out a sigh, she gave the little creature a smile. “But I haven’t felt one before.”

[Marnark]

R'gar laughed softly as Imp crooned under the gentle attention being applied to his hide. "Yes, he's a flitter. A brown one, to be more specific." He answered. Hooking a stool's leg with his foot, he dragged it over and then settled down to sit on it, watching his flitter interact with the girl. It was something of a learning experience for him as well, watching as she coped with being blind. Ironic, that he was just sitting there doing exactly what she couldn't do. Watch.

Deciding that standing precariously on the top of the wobbly bag was not a good spot to be, Imp gathered his haunches up underneath him, and settled down to sit on one hip, atop the bag and against her chest. Leaning a shoulder and folded wing against her chest as well, he reached up with his head and licked the underside of her chin a few times, returning the under-chin caresses.

R'gar couldn't help but grin at the flitter making himself right at home. Well ... he wasn't going to have to worry about Imp not liking her and taking off despite being told to wait with her. But, in her confession of never having felt one ... or 'seen' as the case might be ... he had to wonder what else she had been missing out on. What else she would like to discover about the place she lived in yet was oblivious to.

"It looks like he likes you well enough." R'gar mentioned. And she hadn't even fed him anything! Wonder of wonders.

[Lady Smara]

Hearing the little flits croon made her smile and reassured her that she was okay touch and feel the little guy. She had been introduced to few canines and even tunnel felines, but it was always a random guess as to whether or not they would put up with her clumsy fingers. She had even been bit by a few though nothing ever too severe, it was just enough to make her cautious when touching something that moved and was not human.

“A brown one.” She said, more of a comment under her breath as she let the hand that had been scratching und his chin move to his long neck again. While she had been told that she was once learning her colors before her eyes began to turn milky, she could recall none of them and didn’t bother to attempt to paint a so called color onto the picture she had drawn in her mind of Imp. Instead she painted it with the sound of his croon. She knew the colors that dragons and flits alike came in, everyone at the Weyr did, and she knew the ranks associated to them. She just had no concept of what a color would look like and she certainly couldn’t feel it.

Feeling the creature put more weight on her chest and the wet tongue tickle her chin, she actually let out a light laugh and wrapped the arm that was not busy caressing the guy around him to offer a little more support and make a sort of cradle for him. “I do get the feeling that he likes me.” She said in response to R’gar’s own statement. Lifting her sightless eyes back to the brown rider out of habit, she gave him an almost child like smile.

“Does Imp here like the sun too? If so, I think outside would be a wonderful treat for the both of us. I don’t get to sit outside very often.”

[Marnark]

When she repeated the word 'brown' R'gar realized his folly. Shards, but it was something of a challenge to talk to a girl who couldn't see. "That means he's kind of medium in size. Not big, but not small either. And male." Naturally. Hopefully she wouldn't take that the wrong way ... though she probably knew all that information associated with Browns anyway. Even if brown was only a word to her, and not a color.

It must be sad, to live in a dark, colorless world.

It was like a breath of fresh air, though, to see her smile again. She would be alright, he was sure now. If she could smile like that, she was definitely going to be alright. It was amazing to see someone who couldn't see expressions make some that could brighten a room so. R'gar had to wonder if she even knew.

"Outside. Yes, he likes being outside, and just a moment, I'll get you there." He promised, getting back to his feet. First he pushed the stool he'd been siting on out of the way, and then he moved toward her again. Sliding a hand under Imp's rump to support him and prevent any talons grabbing for pale flesh, he extracted the bundle of salves. "We'll leave this here until you're ready to come back in." he explained. There was no point in risking them getting smashed after all.

Imp wiggled about, knowing that his perch was missing. Turning about in Prontin's cradle, he hooked talons in her shirt anyway. Thankfully, they didn't prick her skin, as he hadn't done it in fright. Once Imp was settled and still, R'gar carefully scooped up the girl and flitter both. Again he lifted her up, one arm around her back and the other under her knees.

Taking care to not smack her head or ankles off of anything on the trek back outside, he pushed doors open and shut again with the toe of his own boot. Outside, he walked until he found a stone bench resting against a wall. There, he carefully set her down again. It was not in direct sun, but it wasn't in shade either. More of a speckled shade from the shade of one of the jungle trees. Which he had picked out deliberately with a mind toward her unnaturally pale skin. R'gar was afraid she might burn after only a few moments of being outside if she wasn't in the shade.

"Are you good?" He asked.

[Lady Smara]

“And male.” The comment turned something over in the back of her mind, a brief memory of the night several days before and how very male R’gar himself was. Thankfully it was a thought that was not at the forefront of her mind and as mercy may be, she was able to push it further back before any emotion shone on her face.

Listening to him push his stool back at the comment of taking her outside, she waited patiently as he moved the bag and the little brown grabbed hold of her shirt. She couldn’t help but take a moment to run two fingers over his shoulder and down his arm to feel the small claws grasping her shirt. Lightly she felt them, not wanting to send the wrong message that he needed to let go – but rather wanting to see how they were shaped. It reminded her almost of her own hands, but with less digits.

As R’gar lifted her, Prontin found herself unable to hold onto the little brown with one arm and the Rider with two as she normally would. Instead, she waited for him to get her weight comfortably in his arms before carefully leaning more toward him that she normally would, letting the arm that was not holding Imp reach across him and lay lightly on his collar bone to help steady herself.

It was not long before she found herself being carefully set down on a stone bench. Taking her free hand, she took a moment to feel the bench around her before turning back toward the voice that was growing in familiarity with her. “Thank you, R’gar. This is wonderful.”

And she really meant it. Not only could she feel patches of the warm sunlight across her skin, but she could also feel a slight breeze, warm and fragrant. It almost smelt salty. Closing her eyes and raising her face to one patch of sunlight, she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before leaning back and caressing the soft hide of the flit in her arms. “Yes, I am good here. And no, I won’t walk away.” She said, that smile still on her lips. What had begun as an unavoidable accident and potentially terrible day, was turning out to have its own treasures hidden in it.

[Marnark]

R'gar was beginning to wish his memory was as short as Apolloth's appeared to be. Having her leaning on him in such a familiar and comfortable manner only dredged up the memories of that day when he'd first met her, and all the things that he'd been forced into thinking and noticing. About her. To make matters more complicated, he probably never would have noticed her if it hadn't been for Apolloth influencing him in that fashion. Now? He couldn't help but notice everything.

Carrying someone around shouldn't do things like that. Having contact with someone else shouldn't be that warming. He was used to being one of the bigger fellows around, and he was also used to taking care of people. But all this was combining in a way that it never had before. And it was entirely Apolloth's fault. Entirely!

He couldn't deny being happy to see her so happy to do something as simple as sit on a bench. Some of the things that just put life into perspective. On what was important and what wasn't. "You're quite welcome." He answered. "Remember ... if you need anything, anything at all, you send Imp. I'll get you what you need."

At the sound of his name, Imp chirped. Once all the movement stopped, he crawled upward to perch on Prontin's shoulder. Sitting there backward with his tail dangling down her chest, he set one paw on the side of her head and looked around from that perspective, wings flaring slightly to maintain balance. Finally, he turned around and then wrapped his tail around her neck.

She wasn't his pet, but his pet wanted him to stay with the female. For now, he'd do it. Until he got bored, anyway.

[Lady Smara]

“I will send Imp.” She promised, a smile still light on her lips. There were no words to express her gratitude for this man, for all he had done for her in just this day. The longer she spent with him, the more she was beginning to believe he would actually keep his promise to help her over the coming month – that the words he spoke were not the promises given by people who simply felt obligated to help.

Feeling the flit moving once again, Prontin held still, not wanting to bump him off or make him unbalanced. It was strange, to feel something moving on her body. His little claw tickled her hair and she felt his tail wrap lightly around her neck. She remembered R’gar mentioning it as a bad habit and she lifted her own hand to the tail. Feeling it warm and light on her skin, however, she was surprised to find herself not feeling threatened by it.

Running her fingers along it, she leaned back on the stone bench and let out a sigh of contentment. She could sit here all day, enjoying the warmth of the sun and listening to the whole new varieties of sounds that came with the outside world that she rarely got to visit.

[Marnark]

R'gar smiled and nodded, forgetting himself again. She couldn't see a nod. But she looked content, and Imp looked content to stay. So he turned and walked back to the infirmary to finish what he had been doing. She would be alright, and if she needed anything, he would be notified quickly.