Bitten
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: AL, Yvonne
Date Posted: 18th July 2025
Characters: Vandor, Reyela
Description: Reyela has to bring an embarrassing problem to a hot healer.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 19 of Turn 12
**Flame it.** Reyela looked up as the Healer assigned to see her entered the little room and suppressed a wince. Why did he have to be a man, and why did he have to be a handsome one?! She smiled a bit nervously as he sat down beside her. "I'm so sorry. I hope this won't take long..."
Vandor couldn’t help but note the expression upon the woman’s face as soon as he entered. Obviously, he hadn’t been whom she expected, and he wondered who exactly she wanted. Offering a warm smile, he set aside the documentation on the table and pulled up a chair. WIth his size, he could be intimidating, and his initial reaction to how she had responded was to immediately make him look like less of a threat.
Plunking down into the seat, his dark eyes examined the woman in front of him. From her knots, he could tell she was in Rapids Wing, though certainly not the youngest he had ever seen in that position. Despite the rather disappointed expression upon her face, he could tell she was the sort who smiled easily. Bright blue eyes peered out from a pleasant face, and her hair was almost as golden as the Weyrwoman’s dragon. “Now, you have nothing to be sorry for here, all right?” Why was it people were so inclined to apologise when they had done nothing wrong. Reaching up, he offered a hand to the Weyrling. “I’m Vandor. And you are Reyela, right?”
Vandor hadn’t met her before, though something about her gave a sense of familiarity, though it was one he couldn’t place. Rather, he’d been giving the documentation on the patient, so knew who he was meeting. Hopefully he could help ease any nervousness she might have.
The wingrider nodded. “That’s me. Reyela. Um.” The silence stretched for a moment and she went beet red. “I, ah… got a bug bite. I think. It’s really sore.”
“A bug bite?” With the numerous bugs that resided on the Southern content - a population that Vandor bet outnumbered the North’s by three to one, and he wasn’t really a betting man - such occurrences weren’t rare. “Did you see what type of insect bit you?”
“No?”
All right, well, that didn’t narrow down anything much. “Where is the bite? I’d like to take a look at it.” Vandor arched an eyebrow at the young woman, though his face remained in a pleasant expression, a smile gently curling up his lips.
Reyela winced. “Ah… well, sorry about this. Nothing personal.” She stood and reluctantly undid her belt before turning around to show the healer her bottom. Right in the middle of her left cheek was an angry red mark twice the size of a thumbprint.
Vandor had certainly seen worse during his time as a healer, and dealt with many rather intimate issues. Observing the bite, he frowned. “That means it’s likely something you got when you were undressed - either bathing or at home.” Or anywhere else she might run around naked. Weyr residents didn’t really have the same modesty standards as holds. “Go ahead and get dressed. When did it first appear?”
**Thank Faranth.** Reyela hurriedly pulled her pants up again and hoped that she wasn’t too red in the face. “Uh… I don’t know? It’s been bothering me for a few days but got really bad today at drills. I really don’t want to sit down.”
Well, that was understandable. Nodding, Vandor noticed her discomfort, but rather than calling attention to it, he simply continued on as if such a thing happened every day. “That’s because it’s gotten infected. I’m going to give you some cream to apply twice a day, once when you awaken, and once at night. If you bathe, make sure to wait and apply it after, not before.” While he trusted the woman to have sense not to do this, at times, people just didn’t think about it until it was too late. “If you continue to have pain in a sevenday, I want you to come see me again.”
She winced. A whole sevenday!? But at least it was just a cream and not getting it popped or something equally disgusting" like some awful insect nesting in there. “I will definitely be back. But… I don’t suppose I can get a pass on drills for the next day or two? I came in because it’s getting really hard to sit on Brandith and get jostled around while she’s flying.”
“Hm. That is a problem isn’t it. I recommend covering it when you do drills. Not only will it help the pain, it will prevent further irritation of the bite. If it’s not feeling any better at all in two days, go ahead and come back in, but otherwise, it should be completely healed within a sevenday.” It could heal far more quickly than that, but it all depended on how regularly she applied the cream and prevented rubbing.
“I promise I wear pants while flying drills,” she said dryly. “I don’t think my Wingleader would approve if I didn’t.”
He couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Fair enough. I meant to suggest that you cover it with a bandage. That will help more than simply pants.” Vandor lifted a finger and called to an apprentice, sending the young woman scrambling. She returned quite quickly and handed a package to him, which he then stepped back inside and offered to her. “This should give you a few days' worth.”
“You sure you don’t want to write me a note? For a day at least?” Reyela batted her eyelashes.
“I understand you’re uncomfortable. I’m afraid I can’t excuse you for this.” Vandor plopped the little package into the woman’s hands, amusement colouring his expression. “But some extra padding will help. There’s a little numbweed in the cream as well, just enough that it should ease the soreness enough to let you function.”
She sighed. **It was worth a try.** “Thank you for the help.”
Vandor nodded, smiling at the woman. WHen it was necessary, he would certainly write a note of excusal, but during Threadfall, every single dragon and rider mattered. Sometimes, one had to deal with discomforts, and Reyela’s case wasn’t bad enough to require an excuse. Shaking his head, Vandor watched the woman leave, then turned to tend to his next patient.
Last updated on the July 29th 2025