Have you been here this whole time?

Writers: Aaron, Paula
Date Posted: 28th February 2019

Characters: G'dori, K'don
Description: G'dori grabs K'don to help him finish up his chores in the dragon infirmary.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 8, day 2 of Turn 9

K'don

Carrying a numbweed jar towards dragon infirmary, G'dori was keeping up a steady complain about the drudge work expected from apprentices. The young greenrider was not yet done with growing, so he was all lanky limbs and the jar was quite heavy. The worst part was the awkward shape thou, it seemed to be impossible to get a good grip of it.
He spotted someone who looked idle. "Hey, can you give me a hand with this?" he asked.

"Yes, sir!" said K'don, jumping to assist G'dori as soon as he realized what he needed. The "sir" was reflexive, but he could hardly take it back now. "I'm sorry,' he said. "I should have noticed."

K'don might still have had a bit of growing to do himself, but he was bigger than one might have expected for his age, and he had no trouble adding his strength to G'dori's to lift the heavy jar.

"Sorry," he repeated. "I don't really know what to do yet... I've just been... kinda showing up and helping where I can."

"Sir? Now there's one I don't get to hear often," Ged chuckled. "Help me get this one to the storege over there," G'dori nodded towards the door at the back of the dragon infirmary. "It's usually just, you there, apprentice or lad."

K'don blushed as G'dori pointed out his gaffe. He lifted and continued to walk backward toward the door to the storage room, letting G'dori go forward.

"Well, I couldn't really call you anything like that. I'm just 'you there, lad' myself! I just say sir automatically when I'm here, I guess. I don't want to get kicked out."

G'dori used his foot to prop the door open, while they carried the jar inside and placed it next to others. "You're apprentice? What's your name. I'm G'dori, by the way," Ged asked. While he had seen the other boy around, he was still wearing weyrling knots, no craft knots. But then, many dragonriders used only the dragonrider knots.

"Kind of?" said K'don. Once they had set the jar down, he offered his hand to G'dori. "I was an apprentice beasthealer before I found Maciath. And now I come here to work whenever I can. Sometimes the dragonhealers show me how to do things or have me try them and watch what I do... but mostly, I just carry stuff and clean stuff and that kind of thing. That's what an apprentice does, yeah?" he said hopefully.

"Oh!" he said, realizing he had not introduced himself yet. "Sorry. I'm K'don. It's nice to meet you, G'dori."

"Hey, I started as a beastcrafter too!" Ged exclaimed when he heard the boy had been beasthealer. Then he listened rest of K'don's story with a deepening frown.

"Sounds like you might not be an official apprentice yet. Have you talked with the Weyrdragonhealer? I don't remember seeing your name in the infirmary shift-list. I mean, we tend to accept any helpful pair of hands here at the infirmary, no questions asked. When I swapped crafts, first I had to talk with my old master to explain why I wanted to leave beastcrafting and then I had to talk with Weyrdragonhealer and explain why I wanted to become a dragonhealer. Then there's the Headwoman wanting to know who does what, but I'm pretty sure master's take care of it, send her updated lists of their craft's members or something. Once I was accepted to dragonhealing, I got my name added to list, had some classes and started to learn stuff. We do not have as many classes as those who apprentice at Halls, just lecture here and there and then you're given book or other texts and get told to learn them for next time. Of course, once you Impress, the craft studies are kind of on hold for the duration of weyrlingtraining," Ged noticed the expression on the boy's face. "Sorry, that was kind of info dump. My fostermother always says my mouth runs off so fast my brains can't keep up."

K'don's face bore a worried expression indeed. "I hadn't really talked to my old master," he admitted, suddenly realizing that they might have wanted to know he was not planning to use his time to volunteer there. When he Impressed, he had assumed his time there was over. He had actually been rather sad about it. But now that he thought about it, he could not say what made him think he had the time for dragonhealing but not beasthealing. "Not since the feast after I Impressed, anyway. I thought... I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings..."

Briefly, K'don wondered if he might have hurt G'dori's feelings by not already knowing his name if they had both been working in the stables. He peered at him tentatively. As he did, his own mind caught up to more of what G'dori said.

"Oh. So I *am* supposed to wait until weyrling training is proper done? For it to be official?" At least that relieved him to a degree. His beasthealing master had likely not been waiting for him to show up, disappointed.

"Yeah, weyrling training is kind of intensive. They don't except you to be able to do anything but take care of your lifemate," G'dori replied. K'don looked so young to him that he just presumed the boy had started beastcrafting after his craft-swap. "So, no rush and nothing to worry about. Just talk with Y'gel with some point, he's the weyrdragonhealer and with your old master. I can't see why they would say no. There's never enough dragonhealers as it."

"I... I had been thinking about all this like I couldn't go back to beasthealing. I really hope everyone's not disappointed in me for coming here," said K'don, his eyes flitting back and forth as he imagined the faces of the herdsmen and beasthealers he had known.

But G'dori had done the same.

"Were they sad that you switched?" K'don asked.

"Pretty much: sorry to see you go and good luck with your new career," Ged replied. "Besides, have you thought what your lifemate thinks about beasts? Have you ever tried to brush a runner while your dragon drools on the back ground? Makes them nervous, believe me. I don't know about others, but my Naryath thinks anything four legged is lunch."

"Maciath is a lot like that," said K'don, trying not to frown too much about it. He and Maciath had done hard work on teaching the brown to always be quick and merciful when killing his food. K'don had not considered the effect he might have on working in the stables, either, and having it pointed out relieved a bit more of his guilt.

"So it might have been a bad idea to try to go back to work there anyway," he admitted.

"Yes, especially if he likes to hang around you all the time," G'dori chuckled.

"We try to stay close when we can, but if I'm going to be inside for a long time, sometimes he goes to sun up on the rim," said K'don. "But he always comes back down before I leave unless he fell asleep." He smiled and chuckled back a bit.

"Does Naryath like to stay close?"

"Yes, unless there's something more interesting going on. She likes to observe," Ged replied.

K'don's smiled warmed further.

"She sounds sweet," he said. It always warmed his heart to hear of an especially close bond. Of course, every pair was close, but some had dragons that were... different. And the closeness was different. He and Maciath were not alike in every way, but they were alike in enough ways at the core that he felt like they were especially close.

}:All dragons feel that for their riders,:{ said Maciath. }:Only you may not see it the same way they do, for you aren't in their heads like you are in mine. I think it is that way with riders, too.:{

"She's sweet and funny and lot of other things," G'dori grinned.

"Maciath wants to meet her. Is that alright?" asked K'don.

"Sure, she's over there," Ged pointed towards the sunning, large emerald green dragon. "She don't mind company. She might decide to flirt with him though," Ged warned him. "Wanna head for dining cavern for a bite? Lunging that numbweed made hungry and thirsty."

"Maciath wouldn't know flirting if it bit him on the tail," said K'don, grinning at the bit of a huff of protest he felt through his bond with the brown.

Great, K'don thought. Now he was going to try his best to flirt back even though he had no idea what he was doing, just to prove K'don wrong.

Maciath landed and immediately snuggled in next to Naryath.

}:Hello, fair Naryath!:{ he greeted her. }:You are truly lovely. Thank you for seeing me.:{

"Oh, uh, food, right. Let me ask to see if I've done enough to be finished. Be right back," he said, dashing off to inquire and then returning once he had acquired his approval. "Good. Let's eat!" K'don rarely said no to food.

"Don't worry, she'll teach him," Ged replied when K'don came back and they headed towards the dining cavern.

Last updated on the February 28th 2019

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