Participants:
| Date: | 8/8/10 |
|---|---|
| Location: | EW - Infirmary |
| Synopsis: | Cheusia summons Ahnika to the infirmary and presents her with a proposition, one that - perhaps unexpectedly - causes more distress than joy. |
| Rating: | PG |
| Logger: | Ahnika |
Eastern Weyr: Infirmary
Long beds and examination tables are placed strategically throughout this room, each having its own set of curtains to give some sembance of privacy when needed. The walls are lined with counters, each housing cabinets containing the necessary items Healers need to do their jobs. A small sink fills the east end of the counter: the one nearest the entrance to the bowl. The entrance is sloped so as not to allow the sun to shine in the patients' faces. At the far west end of the Infirmary, a small darkened tunnel curves around to the larger rooms where the dragonhealers take care of their draconic patients.
The infirmary is somewhat busy, a few construction incidents that numbweed could handle and a few minor concussions. Luckily, most of those with the concussions have been out for awhile so there's no icky stuff in the infirmary at the moment. And the prim and proper Cheusia is waiting, impatiently for the apprentice that she sent to acquire one Ahnika and one cup of tea.
Following on the heels of the apprentice with the cup of tea, Ahnika holds her bewilderment very much in check, affecting a more curious gaze at the unexpected summons. She still wears the apron she was using in the kitchens for her candidate duty work, but otherwise shows no appearing of having been interrupted unexpectedly. When she spots Cheusia, Ahni gives the apprentice another quick look, and then continues following the apprentice right on up to the Healer. Ahni then bows her head a bit in polite deference, and smiles, “Journeyman, good day to you.”
Cheusia brightens, considerably as the apprentice arrives with her tea. "Thank you, Dan." It's short for something and the boy simply nods his welcome before quietly returning back to work in sorting files. Fun stuff, that! Che sips at the tea, thoughtful before grey eyes find the young woman and she considers her. "Good day. I'm glad to see you came." Another sip of her tea before formalities are tossed out the window completely. "I need an assistant. Who is willing to learn and seems competent enough to handle the tasks I throw at her. I've been watching you and I've decided I would like to offer you the position. And, maybe, if you're showing skills… I'll apprentice you. We can always use healers and we could always use healers on dragons. Of course, dragonhealing is something else entirely but, we can cover that later."
Ahnika’s own grey eyes briefly follow the apprentice as he leaves the tea and departs for paperwork and filing. More curious than otherwise, as Seren, her Healer foster mum, never really had much in the way of paperwork to file. She quickly returns her attention back to Cheusia, however, and smiles as the woman expresses pleasure over Ahnika answering her summons. She seems ready to respond to that, and then Cheusia claims she needs an assistant. Ahni nods, and thinking that Cheusia has called her in a quasi-assistant headwoman capacity, the redhead mentally goes over a list of people in the weyr who would be suitable, her gaze straying ceilingward as she focuses on the internal task. And then Cheusia puts the offer out there and Ahnika is drawing her gaze back down, turning and looking over her shoulder at whomever it must be that Cheusia is addressing behind her. Not finding anyone immediately there, Ahnika blinks and turns back around, looking at Cheusia for a long, quiet moment. There are few things that simply leave the girl speechless. One of them is Max shirtless and sweaty from hard labor in the stables, which has its own … conflicts. The other is, well, this. The candidate opens her mouth, and then promptly shuts it. She is unable to hide the bewilderment and a healthy amount of fear and trepidation on the redhead’s freckled features. She opens her mouth again, then shuts it again. Her chest begins to work in shallow breaths, and for someone in the know, like a Healer, it looks almost like she might be on the verge of hyperventilating, resulting no doubt from the panic attack that is coming on the teenager—unusual for Ahni to be sure.
The paperwork is more inventory, keeping a record of everything that goes in and out of the Infirmary. It is a horribly boring task to file this, therefore, apprentices get stuck with it… Mostly because it's Cheusia's own personal pet peeve about knowing everything that is in the Infirmaries and what leaves or gets put to use. Grey eyes remain on the teen as she waits, sipping quietly at her tea and allowing the girl's poor mind to catch up with the situation at hand. Another sip of her tea as the girl struggles to find the words for a reply and she simply looks quite amused until she's placing the cup down and away from where it can spill before pulling up a chair and gesturing out towards it. "It'd do no good if you faint and give yourself another concussion. Then I'll have to keep you here again… Now, take deep breaths and calm down." She leaves the teen alone for a moment, drifting away and out of sight for a moment before returning and offering candy out to Ahnika.
Ahnika seems entirely grateful for the seat as her knees were the next to start going weak as she tried to wrap her head around this offer. She sinks into the chair rather hard and ungraceful. Too dazed and short of breath to make any sort of verbal reply to Cheusia’s comments and instructions, she merely nods slightly and closes her eyes, trying to work some control over her breathing and heart rate and get it back to a normal state, relatively speaking. It’s only when Cheusia returns with the candy that Ahni reopens her eyes, her breath coming to a more steadier rate. Still a little dazed, Ahni takes the candy more out of reflex – something is offered by a Healer – than any real mental grip on what it is being offered. Finally, she looks up at the Healer woman and, still mildly stunned, shakes her head a little, “I’m … I’m sorry, ma’am.” She looks forlorn and for more than one reason.
Cheusia remains horribly amused by the panicking teen, taking her tea into her hand once more and sipping at it as she waits for Ahni to regain composure. Even little Dan is looking over with a wide-eyed look between Che and Ahni, perhaps in fear that the Healer did something to the young woman. There's a visible gulp before he quietly returns to his work and attempts to keep the attention off himself. "Oh. It's perfectly fine. I assume that you wouldn't be expecting this kind of offer. And I have to say I'm flattered for such a reaction."
Not expecting this kind of offer? Understatement of the turn. Ahnika takes another breath, and then slowly exhales, closing her eyes for a long moment as she finishes regaining her composure well enough to speak more at length. Her fingers fidget with the candy, rolling it a little against the pads of her fingertips and palm. “Oh, I’ve always wanted to be a Healer, or even just work in the craft in some way, really,” Ahnika explains solemnly the sense of respect and reverence she feels for the position in the hopes of making it clear it’s much more sincere than meant to be flattery. She leans back a little in the chair, shaking her head softly, “So, I really do appreciate the offer, ma’am. You’ve no idea what it means that you think so much of me to think I might make a good assistant for you, even on a trial basis,” and her heart sounds like it is encroaching on her throat. She is unable to lift her gaze to the Healer, and looks nothing short of miserable for her next words, “I will be only too happy to try and help you find a suitable assistant. I wish I could accept the offer myself, but,” she shakes her head, again, and rubs the back of her neck a little, and then sighs softly.
"Oh, really? Perfect, then." Che decides easily enough, making to finish off her tea and watching the younger woman with a rather thoughtful look, tilting her head just slightly as she listen to the other's words and the considers them. "Mm… And why won't you accept the offer? Do you not think yourself talented enough? We could easily find time for you to work with me alongside with your chores."
Ahnika takes a long time to respond to this, and her expression looks more and more distraught with each passing second. In some ways, this is a touchier subject than even the mystery surrounding her arrival to the cothold where she was raised, because it means she has to own up to her own inadequacies, and for a girl who strives to be the best at everything, who wants to feel needed and useful no matter the circumstances, it hurts to have to concede there are just some things lacking about her. She shifts uncomfortably in the chair, and yet still does not meet Cheusia’s gaze. Her hand slides from the back of her neck to the bridge of her nose and she rubs there a moment, feeling a headache coming on. Finally, she just responds slowly, rigid with politeness, “Thank you. Very kind of you to offer, Journeyman. Please understand that I’m doing you – I’m doing this weyr – a kindness by respectfully declining.” She shoots out of her chair now, suddenly, a little too suddenly as he balance wavers briefly, and then she straightens, regaining her equilibrium. Her hand closes around the piece of candy tightly. She makes no move to eat it, though. She looks at the floor and says, “If there’s nothing more, then I’ll return to my duties in the kitchen now, ma’am.”
Cheusia gives Ahnika a long look, watching as the girl remains in silence. She presses her lips together for a moment before the cup is considered and then the teen is also considered once more. There's a constant look between the two, quietly debating between the two before she shrugs. "Ahnika." She starts, turning a way and gesturing for the girl to sit once more. Dan? Oh, he looks scared witless because suddenly he's fleeing into the tunnels and away from the Journeyman healer. Or, he was summoned. Either way. The tea cup is dropped, shattered completely without so much as a flinch from the healer. Who, a moment after, is reaching for the broken shards and quite thoroughly cutting her hand. "Oops." This is in a droll tone. "I'm so clumsy." She turns then back to the teen, holding the shard with a now cut and bleeding hand. And then, she waits.
With a soft exhale, Ahnika starts to retake her seat as Cheusia gestures and tries to bolster herself against the lecture or whatever that is coming. But then the teacup hits the floor and shatters and Ahnika straightens out of her seat once more, not exactly startled, but definitely surprised. And there Che is, standing there bleeding all over the place, well, as much as one bleeds from a cut like that. Ahnika may not have a lot of tact, or even could be said to have much in the way of common sense at times—at least when it comes to weyrlife, but she’s not a complete idiot. Her grey eyes narrow a little at the Healer as Ahni takes her apron off, “Are you a sharding simpleton or what? What do you mean by carrying on this way? This is ridiculous, really, Journeyman,” and she roughly shoves her apron at the bleeding cut. Well, strike one against her bedside manner, at least. And she’s not terribly gentle. Perhaps that is strike two.
Cheusia watches Ahnika, whether or not the young woman notices her or not is of no matter to the Journeyman. She simply waits, considering each of her actions and only smiling for the words the young woman speaks. "No." But, her answers are entirely too simple, waiting until the woman has taken off her apron and shoved it against the cut. If Ahni gets strikes for her bedside manner, it would be that this whole situation would have never occurred in the first place. Nor gentleness. Just ask Max about how gentle Che is when it comes to broken noses. "I was simply sating my curiosity and… Well, you certainly didn't fail. I see no reason why you don't think you can be a Healer. You reacted fast enough, you're applying pressure to the wound. Let's just say I was also proving a point." Though she might get an earful later for breaking the glass.
Scowling, Ahnika withdraws her hands, leaving the bunched up apron to stay or fall as Cheusia’s own reaction time dictates. “I was raised by a Healer,” she finally allows, “so do I know a couple basics? Certainly. But that does not make me Healer-worthy, Journeyman. Don’t you think that with my desire and her fostering me, it would have been riddled out by now if I’m any good at it? Just trust me in this and leave me to this new … destiny,” the last said at a flustered murmur and she turns to go, “Just leave me the shells alone!” And she heads for the closest exit.
Cheusia allows the apron to drop, watching the younger woman with a frown. "If you are interested, you should pursue it. Don't let others dictate what you would be good at or not. Don't make rash decisions without trying." She leaves it at that, turning away as the young woman moves to leave. There's no attempt to stop her as she goes about cleaning and wrapping the wound properly before cleaning the Infirmary of the mess. Shortly after she can be seen scribbling a letter to a certain Beastmaster and sending it off on it's way when Dan returns from being the scared wuss that he is.
Closing Credits Theme Music: Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams