Early Enough

Writers: AL, Avery
Date Posted: 20th January 2009

Characters: Lirit, Karasi
Description: Lirit wakes up far too early and runs into Karasi while trying to procure some klah.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 1, day 2 of Turn 5

It was slightly before dawn, and Karasi was headed to the klah pot. He'd
drawn the mate night shift, and there were still a couple more
candlemarks to go before it was over. There was one other journeyman on
duty to cover for him, so he felt comfortable leaving long enough to
retrieve a pot for them both.

Since it was so early, it was a surprise to find anyone else
there. "Hello," he sad to the man with the stick.

"Hello." Lirit managed a small smile though he certainly didn't feel
like smiling. He felt like death warmed over. He had woken up way too
early and, despite his fatigue, hadn't managed to go back to
sleep When he had gotten tired of simply lying in bed, he rose and
made his way out to get some klah. He hoped it would jolt him awake
and perhaps he might be able to get through the day without his head
being in a fog. "Just came to grab a mug of klah."

"It's early enough to need one." Karasi agreed. The other man looked
familiar, but he'd never personally met him. "I'm Journeyman Healer
Karasi." he said, not extending his hand because he had a mug in it.

"I'm Lirit." Unlike Karasi, Lirit did extend his hand, not realising
that the other's hands were occupied. "Journeyman harper. Well met."

Karasi shifted the mug to the other hand and took it. "Well met." he
said. "I feel like I've seen you somewhere before- did you perform in
the dining hall last night?" Or maybe it was somewhere else.

"Actually, yes, I did." Lirit nodded, a smile finally flickering over
his face. "Hopefully the memory of my performance is a pleasant one."

"I enjoyed it. I always enjoy music, since I have no talent for it
myself."

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it, at least." Lirit chuckled
softly. "Perhaps you don't have a talent for music, but surely you
have other talents."

"I'd like to think that I'm a good healer. The Weyr is providing me with
new challenges, however."

"Oh really?" Lirit's eyebrows raised at the admission. "What sort of
challenges?"

"Well, Threadfall injuries for one. At the Hall we primarily dealt with
illnesses and accidental injuries. of course, some were serious. But
Threadfall does such trauma to bodies, and requires a completely
different way of treatment." He paused. "I suppose I'm rambling."

"I think we all ramble about things we love." Lirit certain could
ramble on about his music if he was given half a chance. "And it
sounds like you love what you do. I guess I never thought about
Threadfall injuries being different. I, of course, am not a healer."

"Well, have you ever cut your finger? Fall scores are a lot like a cut,
only they eat a lot more. There's usually massive damage and bleeding,
and...it just requires a lot of repairing that other injury types
don't. And, to be honest, I never realized they were different
until...oh, about 2 sevendays ago."

"I never realised that." It was certainly interesting, though Lirit had
to admit to himself that he was glad he wasn't a healer. He wasn't
sure he could handle that sort of thing. "So you're new to the Weyr?"

"I am." Karasi confirmed. "Just transferred from the Healer Hall at Jade
Harbor. I must say I'm excited to be here- but of course I don't know
anyone yet."

"Well, you know me now." Lirit pointed out with a grin. "And I'm sure
you'll get to know many people in time, especially as a healer. What's
your specialty?"

"I don't have one yet, since I'm only a junior. But I've always liked
the complicated work, so probably trauma or surgery."

"Surgery? Really?" Lirit found that rather intriguing. "Seems like
you would need a strong stomach and steady hands for something like
that."

"You certainly do. The first 'Fall injury I saw... But someone has to
fix them." he said with a shrug. "What about you, are you specializing
in performance?"

"Yes, I am." Lirit nodded. "Of course, I teach a few students private
lessons, but mostly I focus on my own studies and keep my teaching to a
minimum. It's just part of the whole parcel."

"Do you enjoy the lessons, or not really?"

"Well, I do enjoy it." Lirit admitted with a grin. "And, actually, it
helps me to be a better performer."

"How is that?"

"It gives me a different view of things," Lirit explained slowly,
trying to form the words, "And by figuring out how to explain things to
a student, it helps me to really get it into my head, to soak it in and
maybe even realise some things that I had simply been repeating by
rote."

"So it helps you understand when you make them understand? That seems
logical, but I still don't know if I could." he admitted. "I can be a
little...frustrated with apprentices who were slower than me. It also
meant they didn't like me."

"Well, people have had a lot of patience with me." Lirit was certain
he'd given his share of frustration to his instructors. "And since I
couldn't read the music growing up, I had to learn in a completely
different way than most other harpers, which I wouldn't be surprised if
that annoyed some."

"If you don't mind, I'm a little curious as to how they adapted your
training." Karasi admitted. He hadn't wanted to call any attention to
the disability, but if Lirit talked about it. "Were there some classes-
like instrument making- that you didn't do? Or did they adapt it for
you?"

"They adapted it for me. It was more stuff was carved for me and I just
put things together in the proper place." That hadn't been Lirit's
favourite part of the craft. "And, of course, not as much emphasis on
it as well. When I learned, it was all done by ear and repitition."

"I couldn't tell any difference last night." Karasi said honestly.

"Actually, I think learning by ear is the best way to go." Lirit's
chuckled softly. "But that's just me. To be honest, it seems that
children who learn by ear first and read music later do better
overall."

"Hmm. That's fairly interesting. Does that mean Harpers should teach
children by ear first?"

"Personally, I think that's the way it should be across the
board." Lirit knew not everyone agreed with him, but that's just the
way things went. "Actually, that's how some harpers teach. Some do,
some don't. It depends on who you talk to. I think it's becoming more
and more popular to teach by ear first, though."

"I think it's interesting. I knew a Master at the Hall who was
fascinated by child development- what methods could teach them new
skills better. This sounds exactly like something he'd be interested
in."

"Well, I'm not really sure how much help the ways of teaching music to
children would be to a Healer, but I'm certain any harper would be glad
to talk about teaching methods - especially those who specialise in
teaching." Interesting...perhaps setting medical terms to
music? Definitely not Lirit's area.

"Well, Master Moluskai was interested in what stimulates children to
learn. For example, if a woman sings to her child in the womb, will
that child learn music faster than if the baby doesn't hear music until
after he's born? I admit I don't quite understand how he draws his
correlations, but they're interesting research. I don't know if I could
ever just do pure research, though."

"I don't think I could do that either. Although, I guess being an
Archivist could be interesting." Maybe. Really, Lirit loved music too
much to go into any other specialty.

"It's nice to have options." Karasi said. "I think I should get going,
though." he said with a touch of reluctance. Lirit was his first new
friend here, really. "But maybe we can catch up some time?"

"Certainly." Lirit agreed readily. The healer had proved an amiable
conversationalist and he wouldn't mind revisiting the other man -
especially after he was a bit more awake. "Hopefully at a later time
during the day, perhaps?"

"Fine by me. Have a good morning, Lirit." Karasi said,pouring a second mug of klah to take back with him.

"You too." Lirit took the mug of klah and left Karasi with a smile. Hopefully he would be fully awake before his first session of practising. The question was, could he _stay_ awake?

Last updated on the January 24th 2009

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Early Enough