The Vengeful Zelle

Writers: AL, Jane
Date Posted: 25th April 2008

Characters: K'hetah, Zelle
Description: K'hetah strives to entertain a bored Zelle.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 21 of Turn 4

K'hetah didn't like the way Zelle looked when he popped in to see her that morning. With twenty Turns as a healer the bronzerider knew that the greenrider had reached the stage that everybody feared ...

Zelle was well enough to be cranky.

"Hello," he said brightly, hoping his cheerfulness would set the tone of his visit. He bit back the urge to ask how she was feeling. No point in walking into an ambush when he knew exactly where it lay.

Zelle's sharp, grey gaze settled upon the bronzerider. She crossed her arms over her chest, wincing as her ribs were still quite sore. "And what, do tell, has got you in such a fine mood?"

"It's a restday?" he suggested, settling down on the chair beside the bed.

"Maybe for some." Zelle wrinkled her nose, then sighed. "I am so sharding _bored_."

"Nothing to stop you going and sitting somewhere else. Haven't they given you any crutches?" He was sure that her boredom wasn't about where she was sitting, just about the fact that she was having to sit at all.

"Not yet." Zelle let her lower lip jut out and she tossed her hand impatiently. "I think they _want_ me to be bored. And you know, it's all your fault that I'm here, you big wherry."

"Well, that's true," K'hetah agreed complacently, not at all worried by being to blame. "And crutches might not be too much good if your ribs are still painful. Those wheeled chairs ... No, perhaps not. You wouldn't trust me to push you around in one, would you? Even if I could take you along to see Rillith?"

Zelle jabbed an accusing finger at K'hetah, though her mouth struggled not to turn up in a smile. "You just want me in one of those chairs so you can tip me over into the lake."

"I'm sure you'd be able to swim with that leg," he teased. "It must be nearly healed by now."

"Yes, I'm sure." Zelle rolled her eyes. "One would think you don't want me to leave."

"Happy to see the back of you," the bronzerider said cheerfully, "as long as you're well enough to go."

"You know, just for that, I think I'm never going to leave." The greenrider narrowed her eyes, though a smile preyed upon her lips.

"I shall warn the Weyrleader you're a disruptive influence and he'll send you home as soon as Rillith can make the visualisation. So, can you put weight on that ankle, yet?"

"Barely." Zelle tried to wiggle her toes and, while she was successful, it still hurt to do so. "It's pretty bad, though it's not broken."

"So walking is out. How are the ribs? _Can_ you manage crutches if I find some?"

"Maybe." Zelle gently poked herself in her side. "They're much better.
There wasn't a break, I don't think, just bruised.
I might be able to manage. It's worth a try anyway, right?"

"Anything to stave off the dreaded boredom." And the less-than-cheerful mood that went with being bored. "Just wait there while I see about some crutches - and promise to look after you while we're out and about."

"Look after me...as I plummet down a chasm?" Zelle called out, though she couldn't help but smiling. It would be so nice to get out of the infirmary. Boredom didn't suit her well at all.

"Right," K'hetah said, arriving back with the promised crutches. "Now, have you used crutches before?"

"No, I've never had need to." Zelle shifted and eased her legs over the side of the bed. "And I have you to thank for that experience." She smiled then, easing the sarcasm in her voice with the expression.

"You're welcome." He couldn't help but smile. "You'll enjoy this then.
It's not as easy as amputee dragonriders make it look."

"I'm sure." Zelle stood up, keeping weight off of her right ankle and holding out her hands for the crutches. "So have you done this before, then?"

"I'm a healer. I keep telling you that." He supposed his own disinclination to be involved with his craft since the return of Thread made that a difficult thing to remember - or believe. "And I've got a lot of leg-injured patients on their feet."

"No, I mean you personally." Zelle rolled her eyes. "I was just wondering if you had ever been on crutches."

"These things are _toys_ to junior apprentice healers. I've _played_
with them enough to be able to use them if I ever have to," the bronzerider said with mock hauteur. "But _I_ don't and _you_ do. The Trick is to go slower than you _can_."

"I see." Zelle wrinkled her nose at K'hetah, then held out her hands toward the crutches. "Well then, show me how to use them. They don't look very friendly, I must say."

"Like this - but these are too short for me." He crossed the room and returned with only the occasional wobble.

"I'll give it a try." Zelle wondered if she was going to hurt herself further on those things. "I'd ask you to catch me if I fall, but you might just wind up punching me again."

"I didn't do it on purpose! Look, just take it slowly - a new concept for you, I know - until you get the idea. All right?"

"What are you insinuating?" Zelle eyes flashed at him, but took the crutches and eased them under her arms. "Okay, so I guess you should spot me."

"Spot you?"

"Yes." Zelle carefully balanced herself with the crutches, wrinkling her nose at the way they dug into her armpits. "That's what you do when someone is doing something where they could fall and hurt themselves.
You 'spot' them. Basically, you watch them and if you spot them falling, you step in before they do. That sort of thing."

"Didn't we try that out on the rocks? Not very successfully?"

"Yeah, like I said, you mind wind up punching me again." Zelle tried to move forward using the crutches. She managed pretty well, though she wobbled a bit. "Ugh. These things are going to make me sore."

"But mobile. Up to you. I can get a wheeled chair, if you prefer."

"Let's see if I can manage these." The less she relied on others, the better. It was annoying to Zelle that she had been relying so much on someone other than her self as it was. "I just need practise."

"That's right. So, come on, let's get out of this room and wander along towards a door where Rillith can come and snuffle you."

"I'll try." Zelle made her way, slowly, carefully. The crutches were uncomfortable, to say the least, and her ribs were complaining with every movement. However, the prospect of getting out of the infirmary, and even better, getting to see her lifemate again was more than enough motivation.

The greenrider heaved a sigh of relief when they finally made it outside. Rillith moved over to where the two dragonriders were so Zelle wouldn't have to go any farther. She breathed delicately upon her rider and Zelle gently rubbed her nose. "I've missed you too, girl."

"Sometimes we forget how much physical contact we have with them, day to day," K'hetah said gently.

"Yeah." Zelle leaned into her lifemate and Rillith made snorted gently.
"I'll be glad when we can finally fly together again."

"Shouldn't be too long. The gash is probably not half the problem now as the ankle. And your head turned out all right."

"I have a hard head." Zelle turned a grin to the bronzerider.
"Thankfully, otherwise I'd probably be dead with all that you did to me."

"Me? Why blame me for your clumsiness?"

"Because if you hadn't taken me on that silly wherry chase, I wouldn't be here." Zelle jabbed a finger into K'hetah's belly button. "You owe me."

"What _exactly_ do you think I owe?" he asked, shielding his stomach with his hand from any more unexpected attacks.

"I don't know yet." Zelle's grin turned into a smile full of mischievousness. "But when I think of something, I'll be sure to let you know."

"Ahhh. For some reason that terrifies me," the bronzerider said, his expression wary.

"Good. It should!" Zelle's expression became smug as she stroked her lifemate's eyeridge. "Beware the vengeful Zelle!"

Last updated on the May 1st 2008

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

The Vengeful Zelle