It Wouldn't Help Anything

Writers: AL, Miriah
Date Posted: 15th July 2013

Characters: D'hol, Meledei
Description: Meledei managed to get D'hol to talk...if only a little.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 9 of Turn 7

D'hol

He was tired and as he pulled off Yumath's straps, D'hol felt the
overwhelming need for a bath to get rid of the layer of ash and char
that was dusted over him. It hadn't been a particularly difficult
fall, but there had been injuries in his wing, although minor. After
making sure that his wing was settled and cared for, he turned his
attention to the wingtip score Yumath had received. }: Do not forget
your own.:{ Yumath reminded him.

D'hol shrugged. **It's mild. I've had worse.** He slathered numbweed
over the score and nodded as his bronze visibly relaxed. **I'll take
care of it after I get cleaned up.**

}: It's on your back and it hurts you. How will you reach it?:{

**I'll manage. Go for a swim to get the dust off. When I'm done, I'll
scrub you down.**

"You okay, D'hol?" Meledei had, of course, made sure that her dragon
was taken care of and the riders of her own wing were all right before
she checked on the bronzerider. She didn't know why, but she had a
sense that something wasn't quite right. Well, maybe that wasn't
completely honest. Cyradis had, after all, mentioned him and Meledei
really hoped that his injury wasn't because of distraction. That was,
unfortunately, a possibility in their line of work though she and
every other rider she knew did their best not to be distracted.

Watching Yumath wade into the lake and immediately make his way
towards a large gold, D'hol sighed at the necessity. Meledei's
familiar voice caught his attention and he turned slowly, arching a
brow. "I'll be fine." He pulled off his flight jacket carefully, cheek
twitching at the pull and sting along his back. "Just need a long
bath."

"Elleth said that you and Yumath got scored a little." Meledei's eyes
turned in the direction of the bronze. A lot of other dragons were in
there as well, including Elleth who slid into the water and submerged
most of the way o that only the top of her head and nostrils were
showing.

D'hol turned back to eye Yumath, who quite pointedly didn't respond.
He shook his head and turned back to Meledei. "Yumath's was a wingtip.
He's fine." His own back had started to sting where sweat dripped into
the score. "My own is shallow. I've had worse. I was just about to
bathe and take care of it."

"Are you sure you shouldn't let a healer take a look at it? Bad thing
to get infected." Meledei's score was healed and she didn't even limp
anymore, but she still remembered the pain it had caused. Even if it
was a minor score, she was sure it was painful.

D'hol took a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why go to a
healer when I know what they'll say? I've treated enough of my own
scores to know what to do." He liked Meledei, but he was tired,
irritable and wanted a bath. "All it needs is numbweed. If it was
deep, I'd go, but it's not." His lips thinned. "Look, if you're
concerned, then you can take a look after my bath." There, that should
send the woman off.

"Might be wise to have someone else look at it. Just in case." Meledei
wasn't a healer, but all dragonriders had some basic training in first
aid, for both dragons and riders.

D'hol scowled and began stalking to the bathing chambers, muttering.
"Sharding gold riders. First Cyradis, now her. "

Meledei caught the comment but didn't say anything. She let D'hol go,
but asked Elleth to have Yumath tell her when D'hol was washed up. She
didn't smell of firestone, but she still had a stink about her and went
to go wash up herself.

Once she was clean, she prodded Elleth to communicate with Yumath, then
made her way to the bronze's weyr, numbweed and another ointment in
hand. She rapped on the door, then waited.

Shirtless, and still slightly damp from his bath, D'hol opened the door
a bit harder than necessary. He eyed Meledei and sighed, then stepped
back to gesture her in. He turned and moved to sit on a stool, his face
set in cool displeasure. The score on his back was angry red, but as he
said, it was shallow, though it deepened slightly at the end of the
mark. "Satisfied?"

"Nope." Meledei unscrewed the two jars and began to gently apply the
numbweed. "It's pretty superficial for the most part, but down here it
gets deeper. I personally would have had a healer look at it, but if
you're not going to do that, I guess I'll have to do for now." As she
trailed down the injury, she got even more gentle. Surely it had to
hurt worse down there. "I have this other ointment too. It will help
cut down inflammation and encourage healing."

D'hol tensed as she first touched him, but the soothing numbness of the
numbweed made his back relax slowly and finally his shoulders. "I've had
worse. Doesn't need a healer." He paused. "Thank you."

"Well, don't let it get infected." Meledei finished with the numbweed
and then peeled off the glove. She left it inside out to keep the stuff
from getting everywhere, then pulled on a second glove so she could
spread out the other ointment. She didn't bother being quite as gentle
as the numbweed had time to do its thing so she was able to finish more
quickly. "There you go. I bet it would have been difficult to get this
done well without someone helping." She pulled off the second glove and
then moved back. "I'd say good as new but I think it's going to be a
sevenday or so before that's quite true."

He nodded in both agreement to her statement about the difficulty and
assent to her instructions. He then turned and arched a brow. "Why do
you bother?"

Meledei leaned to the side to gaze at the bronzerider from over his
shoulder. "Why wouldn't I?" She screwed the cap back on the two jars
and scooted back after throwing the gloves into a small bag.

"Because the last person to do this for me was another goldrider and
it had led to other more interesting activites." He said bluntly. "And
I don't see those forthcoming with you."

"Nope, sorry, I'm taken." Meledei smiled and moved away to let D'hol
have some room so he could put his shirt back on.

"But that doesn't answer my question, Meledei," he replied blandly. He
stood, slipping on his shirt and tucking it in with quick motions.
"Did our lovely Weyrwoman put you up to this?"

"Huh?" The conversation had taken an unexpected turn and confusion
shifted over Meledei's youthful features. "Cyradis? No. Why?"

D'hol wanted to believe that the confusion was real. Perhaps it was.
But, the appearance and behavior of Cyradis during his time with the
Weyrbrats made him wonder if she might gave enlisted Meledei to soften
him for some reason. "She didn't suggest you do this?"

"No, she didn't. *I* suggested to myself that I do this." Meledei
tilted her head to regard the older man. "Look, I know there's bad
blood between you two. But that's between you two. If you want to talk
about it, fine, I'll not say anything to her, but that's up to you. I
have no agenda here, except to make sure a friend is okay. That's all."

"Bad blood." He snorted. "That's one way to put it." He sighed and
shook his head, setting his jaw. "Then I apologize for the assumption.
Thank you."

"I forgive you." Meledei smiled a little and wondered. She
hesitated. Wondered again, then finally asked, "Want to talk about
it?"

D'hol's face fell into the familiar cool mask. "There is no longer
anything between Cyradis and I to talk about. She made her choices and
left me with mine."

"Okay." Meledei wanted to press for more information, but at the same
time, she could see there was a lot of hurt there - just like she could
see the same feelings in Cyradis. "If you ever _do_ want to talk about
it, I'm willing to listen. And not a word would ever be breathed to
anyone, not even Cyradis. Not even if she threatened to torture me with
feather tickling."

D'hol had to chuckle at that, his mask cracking slightly as he shook
his head. "Not exactly comforting, Meledei." He shook his head. "I
appreciate the thought, but...it would help nothing. " And he wasn't
one to speak about himself. "Thank you for your help."

"Hey, that's what friends are for. I'll leave you alone now. But I
warn you, I'm going to check on that wound and if it doesn't look like
it's healing fast enough, I'm going to demand that you go to see a
Healer. I'll have Elleth drag you with her teeth if I have to."
Meledei wagged a finger and squinted one eye. "Just fair warning."

D'hol reached and lightly squeezed her shoulder, the closest thing to
revealing affection that he did any more. "I'll remember that." He
paused and stepped back to allow her to leave. He was about to turn to
his desk when he paused and his voice was soft, pained. "She was
everything to me once." He cleared his voice and shook his head, his
voice hardening. "But that was a long time ago. Thank you Meledei.
I'll be sure to see a Healer if it gets worse."

Meledei nodded, then paused. She smiled a little, sadness reflecting
in her gaze. "You know, I think I understand better than you think.
You take care, D'hol. I'll see you later." And with that, she left
the bronzerider to his thoughts.

Last updated on the July 19th 2013

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It Wouldn't Help Anything