Natural State
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: Eimi, Paula
Date Posted: 15th December 2005
Characters: Birigundi, Rigella
Description: Rigella and Birigundi meet at the infirmary and she learns he's going to be father.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 9, day 20 of Turn 3
Birigundi waited patiently. Seemed as though everyone in the Weyr was suffering from winter flues. The healers did their best to attent everyone in a timely manner, but the candidate knew he was the least in need of a healer's attention. He continued to wait, trying to stay as far away from the sniffling, hacking weyrfolk that surrounded him. The last thing he wanted was to make Nialyn sick!
Rigella hurried thru the corridor and the stopped, when she saw a familiar face. "Birigundi! Don't tell me you have got the cold?"
"Ah, no," he replied, his voice raised over the sound of blowing noses and coughing fits. "Actually, I'm here to pick up some tea the healer's perscribed for..." What should he _call_ her? 'The girl I impregnated?' 'The mother of my future child'? "For a friend of mine."
"What kind of tea? I can get it for you," Rigella asked.
"Um, well... It's for a pregnant woman."
"That friend of yours...don't tell me... you knocked her up, didn't you?"
**Knocked her up. What a pleasant way to put it.** "I am the father, if that's what you mean."
"Well, that figures. It was bound to happen to you sooner or later," Rigella snorted. "The way you spread your seeds, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner."
Birigundi crossed his arms across his chest. "You speak as if it's a _bad_ thing that she's pregnant."
"Well, that depens if she wanted to get pregnant or not, " Rigella replied. She gave the candidate a curious look. "You know, I would thought you would be running away screaming by now, instead of picking up her medication."
"I know my responsibility," he said defensively. "It wasn't planned, but I would not leave a woman for something I had a hand in."
Rigella cocked her head and studied him with strange look in her eyes. That didn't fit to her mental image of Birigundi. She was smart enough to realize she had her own prejudices. Seemed like she had to revise her opinion of Birigundi.
He shifted feet uncomfortably as he stood under her gaze. Her expression was unreadble to him, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know what was going through her head, what her opinion of him was at that moment. "So, can I get the tea?"
"Oh, yes, of course, I'm sorry," Rigella was started out from her thoughts. "What's her name? So I know which tea to get. It's probably already mixed and bagged, with name tag. That's what we do in rush times like these."
"Nialyn. Her name is Nialyn. N-I-A-L... Either Y-N or I-N I would think." Shards, he probably looked the real responsible father. He didn't even know how to spell her _name_!
"Nialyn," Rigella repeated. "Wait here," said and left. After few moments she returned with a bag. "Here you go, her tea. She should drink it twice a day."
"Twice a day. I'll tell her," he nodded as he reached for the bag.
"Anything else I should pass along to her?"
Rigella shook her head. "Being pregnant is natural state for a woman. If she has problems, she should check in with healer. But she should already been told that."
"Right..." he nodded. "A natural state." He said it almost as if he were convincing himself of the fact. Somehow it just didn't feel natural to him...
"Yes, if you study anatomy, you will notice that most woman are built to have babies and nurture them."
"Well, I have studied the female body rather extensively," he said with a knowing smile. **After all, that's what lead me here...**
Rigella rolled her eyes. "I bet you have. Do you always have to turn the talk into that subject?"
"Rigella, we're talking about a woman I made pregnant. It didn't happen by reading harpers romances."
"Harper romances don't happen in real life," Rigella said.
Birigundi shrugged. "Sex does happen in real life. Check your anatomy charts. We are built to have sex."
"Not to me, it doesn't happen," Rigella murmured. "I better get going, we are packed here."
"Of course. I should go. Thanks for the tea." He turned and he rolled his eyes as he walked away. **If anyone on Pern could actually _use_ some sex...**
Last updated on the December 15th 2005