No Better Time

Writers: Estelle, Paula
Date Posted: 24th June 2019

Characters: Olwinna, R'fal, Alfrin
Description: Olwinna tries to work out what's troubling R'fal
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 11, day 2 of Turn 9

A journeyman healer slipped out of the consulting room with a slight,
worried frown on his face. Alfrin was fairly new to his rank, and he
wondered whether he was making too much of this. He had only been asked
to give the young rider a quick check-up, which should have been
straightforward. When he saw that Olwinna was on duty, he let out a sigh
of relief. She would know what to do.

"Journeywoman?" he asked. "Sorry to bother you, but can I ask you about
something?"

"Ask away, that's why I'm here," Olwinna replied.

"Well, I've been doing a routine check-up for a dragonrider who's just
joined the Wings," Alfrin explained. "Everything seems normal, pulse,
breathing, measurements all fine. He's a bit underweight, but not badly,
and some people naturally have a slim build, you know. But..." He
hesitated. The more he spoke, the more trivial it seemed. "I had this
feeling that something wasn't quite right. Something in his manner, that
I couldn't quite put my finger on. So I went back and checked the
results from his last visit."

He opened the folder he was carrying, and showed it to Olwinna. There
were only a few sheets in there, indicating that the rider hadn't been
at the Weyr very long. "Look, he's actually lost weight since he was
here last. Doesn't that seem strange? A young man his age, just out of
weyrling training, he should be gaining weight, not losing it."

"Can I take a look?" Olwinna requested. Once the journeyman had given
her the folder, she quickly read thru it. "You're right, in his age,
he should be gaining weight and building muscles-mass. How was his
general attitude during the check up? Annoyed, resigned, cracking bad
jokes?"

Alfrin shook his head. "He was polite. But guarded," he added, thinking
back. "I could hardly get him to say anything except 'yes, journeyman'
and 'no, journeyman'." He'd found that a little disconcerting, since he
was only a Turn or two older than the brownrider. "He's in the
consulting room, I asked him to wait. Maybe you could have a talk with
him? It might be nothing, but I'd feel better for a second opinion."

"Send him to my office," Olwinna said with a nod and handed him back the
folder.

The journeyman thanked her and left. Before long, there was a tap at the
door and he looked in again. "Journeywoman? This is R'fal, Marlath's
rider. R'fal, this is Journeywoman Olwinna. She'd just like to talk to
you for a moment, if that's all right?"

"Yes, journeyman." The brownrider who entered the office didn't look
quite old enough for his wingrider's knots, and his eyes were wide with
concern as he glanced at Alfrin, then Olwinna. "There's nothing wrong,
is there?"

"Take a seat. R'fal. Alfrin was concerned about your loss of weight.
In your age it's not supposed to happen, so I'm making sure everything
is alright," Olwinna replied with a kind, motherly smile. Young people
often responded best to the motherly concern-tone.

R'fal sat down as Alfrin quietly slipped out of the room, closing the
door behind him. "Everything's fine, ma'am," he said. "I'm sorry about
my weight. I just don't seem to get very hungry, but I'll try to do better."

"Why aren't you hungry? And don't try to fool me, I have son who's
only two Turns older than you, so I know how teenager boys work. In
your age, you're hungry all the time." Olwinna gave him a mock-stern
glare.

"I don't know, ma'am." He lowered his gaze, trying to think of an
excuse. "I suppose have a lot on my mind, now I'm in the Wings. I have
my duties, I need to study and practice fighting, and take care of Marlath."

None of those were out of the ordinary, every weyrling graduating to
Wings face them, and they weren't something that made a healthy young
man to lose appetite. Quite the opposite. So, she kept prodding.
"Anything else going on in your life? Girl-trouble? Boy-trouble?" She
was well aware he was brownrider, she just added it to provoke a
response out of him.

R'fal looked up, his cheeks flushing. "No, ma'am. I don't have a..." His
voice trailed off. Although he knew from his classes that he ought to,
it seemed simply wrong to be flirting with girls when his father was
imprisoned, who knew in what kind of conditions, and his family were
going to be evicted from their home. And what girl would want anything
to do with the son of a convicted criminal? Fortunately, Marlath had not
yet shown any interest in chasing greens.

"So, what is it then? For something is bothering you," Olwinna was
patient, she would keep prodding until he told the truth. "You can
tell me anything and it will remain confidential. That's why that door
has a lock."

"I know, but there's nothing to tell." R'fal glanced at the door as if
he'd have liked to escape. He summoned the energy for a brief, subdued
smile. "I'm doing fine, really. Marlath and I are proud to be in the Wings."

"Don't try to lie to me, it's not going to work," Olwinna said and
considered her options. There was carrot and the stick. She didn't
know this young man but she knew teenaged boys in general. And they
were proud and afraid of being embarrassed or just singled out as
something out of the ordinary. "Or is it yourself you're lying to? If
you can't work it out with me, I have to go your wingleader and tell
you have problem that possible endangers your well being. He would
mostly likely ground you until it's fixed. So, who is your
Wingleader?" she picked up a pen, like she was ready to write it down.

As she might have expected, his downcast expression swiftly shifted to
one of dismay at the thought of being grounded, only a few sevendays
into his service with the Wing. "Please don't tell him, Journeywoman,"
he pleaded. "I'm really sorry. I'll try to eat more, I promise."

"Just eating more won't help," Olwinna said seriously. "It's just the
symptom, we need to find the cause for your lack of appetite."

"I just...don't feel like it right now." R'fal tried to think how he
could explain, without giving too much away. He couldn't be grounded. If
he was then he wouldn't even be able to visit his mother. "I don't come
from the Weyr, my family are cotholders. They've been having some
problems and it doesn't feel right, to be feasting here, while they suffer."

"And how does your suffering help theirs?" Olwinna asked, softening
her voice and using compassionate tone. "If your mother is anything
like me, she'll just worry _more_ if she knew what's going on with
you. If she already has stress, you not taking care of yourself will
just add to it. I'm sure she's counting on you being happy and alright
here at the Weyr."

"I know, ma'am." He stared down at his hands. "I'll try to do better. I
don't want to get ill." That might see him confined to the Weyr, too.
"But I can't just act like everything is normal."

"You don't have to act normal, you have worries, they'll affect you.
You just have to acknowledge them and deal with them with healthy
manner that doesn't risk your wellbeing. Talking about it usually
helps."

"Yes, Journeywoman," R'fal said, not meeting her gaze. He couldn't think
of anything he wanted to talk about less. No-one at the Weyr could
possibly understand what it meant to see your father branded a criminal
before the entire Hold.

"Well, that's not talking," Olwinna said with dry tone. She summoned
her firelizard with mental command and pulled his message tube out of
the desk drawer. Havoc landed on her desk and let out excited chirp
when he saw the message tube. The blue flit just loved delivering
messages. It usually meant extra scratches from people he delivered
the message for.

R'fal watched her with alarm. Was she writing to his Wingleader?
"Please, ma'am, don't," he begged again. "If I'm grounded, I won't be
able to help my family."

Olwinna gave him a stern glance, then flashed a quick grin. "Relax,
I'm just going to reschedule my next patient. I think this is going to
take long. I'm not writing to your wingleader, yet."

"Oh, but you don't need to do that," he said hopefully. "I can always
come back another time."

Olwinna shook her finger at him. "There's no better time than now."

R'fal thought that there was no better time than never for discussing
his family's shameful fate, but he said nothing and waited while she
wrote her note, taking comfort from his link with Marlath. The dragon
couldn't understand exactly why his rider felt as he did, but he did
know better than anyone how deep the hurt went.

Last updated on the June 24th 2019

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

No Better Time