And The Blind Can See!

Writers: Bree, Paula
Date Posted: 1st February 2006

Characters: U'das, Branalie
Description: U'das gets his checkup for his eyes and enjoys flirting with the healer.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 10, day 1 of Turn 3

The apprentice on duty led U'das to a small room off of the infirmary, gesturing for him to go inside. A woman stood just inside, studying a hide so intently that she didn't notice U'das' arrival. U'das just stood and studied her for a moment, waiting for her to notice him. It gave him a change to assess her. "Pretty enough, but dresses dreadfully," he mused with quiet voice. Branalie looked up, squinting at him over the hide in her hands. Her cheeks flushed a little, but she put the hide aside and straightened. "Bronzerider.
I'm sorry, I didn't notice you. Please come in and have a seat."

"Thank you. You're journeywoman Branalie?" U'das replied and checked he got the right person. "Yes, of course. Have a seat," she said again, pointing him to a stool that she'd set carefully on a mark painted onto the floor. "I'll be testing to see how well you can see."

U'das sat down. "I can see you well enough," he said with suggestive voice. For a moment Branalie blinked at him stupidly, then she shook her head.
"Well, I should hope so," she said sternly, trying to cover for her lapse in composure. "If you couldn't see me, we'd have bigger problems than a pair of reading glasses!" She marched across the room and shuffled through her hides before picking one up and pinning it to a board on the wall.

"So, how do we proceed? I've never had an eye-specialist check my sight before," U'das asked with matter-of-factly voice. "It's not difficult," Branalie replied, her voice muffled as she reached up on her tiptoes to smooth the hide down. "The Master who trained me said we lost a lot of information in the plague, so we can't be a precise as we used to. I've got writing on this chart, and when it gets too small for you to read tells us how bad your eyes are. There is a glass smith in the Weyr trained in making the glasses, but sometimes it takes a few tries to get them just right."

U'das nodded and stared the chart. He could see well the bigger letters and medium sized letter. With squintting, he could see almost all of the smaller letters, except the two lowest lines. Those were just blur to him. He told that to the journeywoman. She spent a few moments scribbling notes before going to a cabinet and coming back with a box with several sets of eye glasses in it. Referring to her notes again she selected three different sets before moving to stand in front of U'das. "We'll try these one at a time... hopefully one of them will make things clearer."

Some of the glasses made it worse, some had no effect. But trying on them and straining his eyes were starting to create a headache. "Anything?" Branalie asked hopefully as she handed him the last pair. "Or do you need something a little stronger?"

"Yeah, like something for the headache," U'das grumbled. He was getting tired trying on the glasses. The put on the last one without much hope. The difference was quite obvious and surprising. "Hey! These works!" He studied the journeywoman. "You know, you are quite pretty." Branalie flushed, obviously not quite sure how to respond to that--or if the response she had in mind would be appropriate for her to say to a wingleader. "Well, perhaps you could look at the chart for me? Can you see the smaller letters now?"

"Yes, and without squinting too." "Good." Giving him her first real smile, Branalie took the glasses back. "It will take about a sevenday for us to make you a set, and when you come back we'll have to spend a little time making sure they fit. They need to be comfortable, or they could cause more headaches then they cure."

"Right, we'll see then." U'das stood up and before she could react, took her hand and kissed the back of the hand. "Thank you journeywoman." "You're welcome," she replied, feeling flustered again. "I'll send you a note when we're ready for you." Reclaiming her hand, Branalie took the glasses back to her table to begin the tedious process of filling out chart.

Last updated on the February 2nd 2006

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And The Blind Can See!