I Have A Problem - It's You

Writers: Eimi, Yvonne
Date Posted: 19th May 2006

Characters: M'galec, F'lin
Description: M'galec realizes that Felarin has NOT gone to see a healer about his snoring, like instructed, and does something about it
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 11, day 25 of Turn 3

Felarin sighed, then knocked on M'galec's office door. He had a fairly good idea what the Weyrlingmaster Second wanted to talk to him about, and he had a fairly good feeling that he wasn't going to like it.

"Ah, Felarin, please, take a seat," the Weyrlingmaster Second said in a less than inviting tone.

The Candidate slouched in and sat.

"How are you enjoying your new room?" M'galec asked as he flipped through a file absently.

"Very well, sir. I get to sleep through the night without anyone waking me up." That was a definite plus... and the other boys thought so, too.

"And the specialist?" M'galec asked, rising his eyes to search the boy's face.

Shards, he knew. So there was no good lying about it... "I haven't had a chance to go yet."

"You 'haven't had a _chance_'? What have you been doing in your spare time?" the bronzerider asked unimpressed by the boy's answer.

Felarin could smell a trap. "I've been- busy." There was no way out.

"Doing what?"

He sighed. "Working, mostly. Eating meals. Doing chores. I visited some of my newly Impressed friends, and spent last evening with my grandmother. And then there was her birthingday. I'll get around to it."

The bronzerider crossed his arms over his chest. "You had time to visit with friends and your grandmother, and yet you could not find the time to stop by the infirmary like you were _told_ to? That is unacceptable, candidate."

"It's pretty hard to say no to my grandmother," Felarin mumbled.

M'galec was unimpressed. "You sure had better learn to say 'no' to your grandmother."

**It's not as if _you_ could say no when the Weyrwoman asks you something,** Felarin thought rebelliously, but he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. He was in no position to argue. Much.

"Now tell me the _real_ reason you have not yet been to see the specialist as I _told_ you to do." The look in the bronzerider's eye told the boy he was completely unamused by the situation and was loosing patience quickly.

"The real reason is that I had other things to do and didn't go,"
Felarin said.

"Uh huh." The bronzerider pulled out a scrap of hide. "Well, lucky for you, I have the journeyman's schedule right here. When are you available to go?"

The Candidate sighed in exasperation. "Look, M'galec. Thanks for your concern, but I _don't_ need to see a healer because I _snore_."

"_Now_, candidate."

"Snoring isn't going to kill me," Felarin said stubbornly.

M'galec snorted. This boy was in for a long hard Weyrlinghood if he managed to actually Impress. "Just where do you think you are, Candidate? I am not interested in what _you_ think. Now give me a time when you are free."

It was embarrassing enough to have been kicked out of the Candidate's barracks (although the fall-out was pleasant enough) without having to have his so-called 'problem' rubbed in his face by sending him to a healer. Felarin sat in stubborn silence for a moment, glaring at the Weyrlingmaster Second. "I _said_ I'd get around to it, and I will. But I can't give you an answer, Weyrlingmaster. My schedual depends on what needs to be repaired and how urgent it is, and isn't really set."

"Do you see these knots, boy? These knots mean your schedule is set when _I_ tell you it is set. Now give me a time." M'galec met the boys glare with his own rock hard stare.

"Fine! I'll go tomorrow. After lunch." Let the Weyrlingmaster deal with his supervisor. Felarin crossed his arms and subsided into his chair. Maybe he'd go talk to his grandmother too - although it seemed idiotic to run to the old lady when _he_ had a problem.

"No, that does not suit his schedule. Tomorrow after classes you will go," M'galec said with a note of finality. "You can make up your chores after if you need to."

So much for free will. Felarin grit his teeth. "Will that be all?"

"Do you have a craft, Candidate?"

"I'm a carpenter." What did that have to do with anything?

"Good," M'galec said with a nod. "I am glad to hear that you have picked up a skill. I am sure there are many people who could use your talents. I am putting you on extra chores for the next sevenday for insubordination. This is a _Weyr_, young man. Orders are to be obeyed - not questioned, not put off. It would be best for you to learn that lesson as soon as possible."

The young man's eyes flashed angrily, but he bit back his reply -
that idiotic orders were _meant_ to be questioned, and orders meant to humiliate weren't worth respecting. So he snored - the problem was dealt with when he was moved to his own room. M'galec was obviously on a power trip and nothing he could do or say would change that. But he hated feeling helpless.

"I believe there is nothing else. I will look forward to the journeyman's report. If you have no other questions for me, you are dismissed."

Felarin rose from his chair silently and exited the room with his back stiff. He tried to tell himself that he was making a strategic retreat instead of running away, and that he was choosing to go rather than being dismissed like a bratty child. M'galec had gotten it into his head that it was okay to humiliate him, and there didn't seem to be a thing that he could do about it.

Last updated on the May 19th 2006

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I Have A Problem - It's You