Juvenile Pursuits

Writers: Eimi, Yvonne
Date Posted: 6th October 2005

Characters: Harki, U'kaiah
Description: Harki pays U'kaiah a visit in the infirmary, and brings him a little something to keep him occupied
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 7, day 23 of Turn 3

The infirmary was quiet - a nice change after the chaos of multiple Threadfalls. Everyone had settled comfortably into routines, and Harki felt a momentary twinge of guilt that she hadn't come earlier.
But there had been no time: the last few Threadfalls had been hard on them all, and she'd volunteered herself and Cerillith for an extra sweep and ended up with two, and then there was the Hatching to attend and drills to be on time for. She stifled a yawn as she walked along the curtained corridor - the journeywoman had said the fifth on the right... right? The greenrider looked over her shoulder back down the way she'd come, but the healer had disappeared again. **Right?**

Cerillith's sleepy reply was unhelpful - }:Just call his name loudly,:{ she said. Harki rolled her eyes but secretly envied her dragon. Sleep sounded like a good idea. She drew back a corner of the curtain and frowned slightly when saw that it was U'kaiah, only paler and pinched. His eyes were closed and he lacked the sense of coiled energy that he usually displayed, even in sleep. The greenrider bit her lip, trying to decide whether to wake him up or just leave her gift with a note and let him lie there.
She opted with the latter, moved in stealthily, and then realized she didn't have a pen. **Shards.** The bronzerider's side table already had a few odds and ends on it - gifts from friends, flowers in a vase, a plate.. she put her package down on the chair and moved aside a seashell, then reached for the vase. Her hand brushed against the plate and sent it off the edge of the table with a crash, and she cursed.

"What in the name of the..." U'kaiah sat up with a start. Blinking a couple times as he focused on his visitor, he finally smiled. "Why, Harki. I didn't know you cared."

The greenrider bent over to pick up the plate and examine it for chips. "I don't. You owe me marks and I wanted to make sure that you were alive to collect. How are you feeling?"

"Well, I have just been awoken from a blissful sleep by a crashing plate. How do you think I feel?" He leaned back in the pillows with a sigh.

"Happy to see me." The plate passed the inspection and Harki put it back on the table before sitting down on the chair by his bed. "I was going to just let you sleep, but apparently subconsciously I had other plans for you."

He smiled as his eyes began to drift shut under their own weight again. "Despite how touched I am that you took the time to see me, Harki, if those plans don't involve a naked woman..."

"Actually, they do!" Harki said cheerfully. She handed him the package she'd brought, which was clumsily wrapped in a scrap of fabric tried with a purple ribbon. "Since I doubt even you'll be seeing much skin for a while..."

"Sadly, my dear greenrider, this is true." U'kaiah unceremoniously pulled at the ribbon. He was astonished to see a well worn book inside. "Harki, you _read_?"

"I am a woman of hidden depths. I wasn't too sure about _your_ level of literacy, however, so I made sure that it was an... easily understood novel." She leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs, and tried to suppress her sly grin. "It'll be right up your alley."

U'kaiah peeked at the first page and then grinned. "You know, I think I know this one." He held up the old block-print of a naked woman sunning on a beach. "Where did you find this thing?"

The greenrider held up her hands. "I swore not to reveal my sources, but I _will_ say that my dealer has been providing quality literature to young men for turns."

"Oh yes," the bronzerider chuckled as he thumbed a page almost grey with age, "this is certainly quality!"

"Scorching right it is! It's only the best for my cripple friends."
Her smile faded slightly. "How long do you think you'll be stuck in here, anyway?"

"If I behave myself, perhaps a sevenday or so." U'kaiah decided not to tell Harki about the Dolphin Hall. There was no need to worry his friends over things that were beyond their control. Besides, the healers assured him having his heart checked was just a precaution...

The greenrider smiled in relief. "That's good. I couldn't imagine being cooped up in here for any longer than that without wanting to go _between_ out of boredom."

"Yeah, well, I am this close sometimes. But the book will help." He considered making a big deal about how considerate she was being, but thought better of driving his guest away.

"Thought it might." Whatever she was going to say next was interrupted by a large yawn. Exhaustion would drive her away anyway. "But.. I might have to let you get back to being bored. I've got some sleeping to do."

U'kaiah rolled his eyes. "Yes, the healers keep telling me I have some to do as well. No matter how many times I tell them that I'm not sleepy anymore."

She smiled. "And yet you complained when I woke you up. Fickle, fickle."

"Well, I had nothing better to do with my time. Now I have something better to... well, at least _look_ at," he teased as he tapped the book.

"As if that's all the use you'll get out of it." The greenrider stood and stretched, and her shoulder popped. "Just don't let the healers catch you or they'll feed you some nonsense about going blind."

"Oh, I think that if I made it through adolescence with perfect eye sight, I have pretty much proved that theory wrong single handedly. And double handedly. And sometimes three-handedly. Care to find out how _that_ works?" His eyebrows lifted in invitation and challenge.

Tempting... "I'd rather not have to explain to the healers how I gave you heart failure. I'll see you tomorrow." She blew him a kiss and slipped behind the curtain, leaving him alone.

Last updated on the October 7th 2005

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Juvenile Pursuits