Xanadu Weyr - Infirmary
The infirmary here is intended for human care. It is regularly scrubbed spotless and smells of disinfectant, redwort and other herbs that are - if sometimes strong - preferable to the scents of sickness. Cots are lined up against one wall, with a set of curtains that can be pulled to give some privacy to the occupants of the cots if they so desire. They're mostly used for examinations of patients and the treatment of mild injuries that won't require long term care; near the back are some more private areas with folding dividers.
There's a number of cabinets that stand off against another wall, instruments and medications stored against when they will be needed, and a back room holds those supplies seldom required.
A desk with chair is set just off of the doorway to the caverns, meant for the healer to sit and catch up on record keeping after a long day's work or await patients. If things get too busy, the patients can do the waiting on a set of uncomfortable chairs set nearby. The other doorway comes directly from the clearing, wide enough for a team to carry a stretcher through.
IT'S. BEEN. TOO. LONG. That's what Risali feels like anyway, especially when she sends out an army of firelizards to family that SMACK PEOPLE IN FACES because if RISALI HAS TO SUFFER, so do THEY. And if you didn't hear all the humming and fanfare when Leirith dropped her babies, you were one of the LUCKY ONES. It's been hours now since that tiny bundle of newborn baby joy came into the world, hours enough for Ila'den, and R'hyn, and Cita, and D'lei, and K'vir to get kicked out of the room TIME AND TIME AGAIN (except maybe Cita, who may or may not been forced to deliver a baby because Risali Would Not take shit from anybody else). SO HERE SHE IS, now in her bed exhausted, holding tight to blue blankets, and the wonder inside, staring at him with the kind of wonder that only a Mom can manage. You know. I made this mixed with How the hell did I push this out and I am in pain and I am tired, but Look at him he's perfect I love him how is this possible I only just met him and I will kill anybody who so much as tells me he has a stray wrinkle on that cute face. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK, VALE.
You know what Valerian loves even more than annoying the heck out of his beloved sister? Being smacked in the face by a firelizard. Its the best, really. But, despite this, he's one of the last of the siblings able to physically get to the infirmary on their own and long after everyone else has wandered off to get food or whatnot after being kicked out time and again. It was hard to miss the eggs being dropped and because he was just as fond of Leirith as he was of Risali, he had swung by to pay his respects as closely as was allowed. Now, it was time to face the music, slipping in when visiting hours were over as if it was the most natural thing in the whole world. There was no hiding his grin, a near constant as much as any other part of him, grey eyes finding the first time mom and letting his feet carry him to the side of the bed…well out of swiping or kicking range. Hand slid into the pockets of his trousers, he peers over at his nephew and then to the woman who'd borne him. "Oh good," h says, sounding relieved, "He's not ugly at all, pretty cute actually, you sure he's yours?" MEAN! But there was no hiding the affection he had for his big sister, regardless of the things coming out of his mouth that would have surely gotten him killed could Risa actually get out of that bed. See, there were reasons to him being out of striking range. Then, that wolfish grin softens, and a heart felt "You did good…" falls from his lips as he looks over at the tiny bundle, decidedly leaving off the 'sis' that he wanted to say.
That's the thing with Risali, Valerian. You can never be far enough away. Valerian's shadow-cat arrival long after visiting hours have been concluded finds Risali never looking up, never looking away, staring at that face that's perfect (to her) even as she listens to quasi-insults made in affectionate jest and tender compliments that make those attentive grey eyes suspiciously wet. "Do you think?" Risali whispers, no less wonder in her tone, no loss of maternal affection that's so near overwhelming that Risali can't breathe and - rest assured, there's probably a bronzerider sleeping somewhere nearby, perhaps awake but silent as they allow an exchange between siblings to occur uninterrupted. "I thought I was going to die." A shaky pull at the corner of her lips, an exhale that carries breathy laughter and what might be a hiccup of a sob. "Look at him, Valerian, he's beautiful." But she doesn't move to share him; in fact, weak as she is, the goldrider is finally looking away to look at her brother, wetness clinging even as her face screws up into something considerably less gentle than her tone was only moments prior and - "You're late." A biting whip, a crack of sound that damn near lends sweet moments before a kind of unrealistic quality for having happened at all. Especially when Risali is THROWING SOMETHING at Valerian's head. "I sent you a firelizard hours ago and you ignored me. You're late."
Vale could have not shown up at all, that would have been far enough away, right? Then again, he liked his gibblets where they hung and having them removed by his sister was not the way that he planned on leaving the world. He doesn't mind though that Risali is enraptured, taking the time to just breathe it all in, this rare serene calm as she gets all teary and bursting with love for her child. It was beautiful really, but the starcrafter wasn't getting any closer because he trusted that woman about as far as he could throw her. "Yeah, I think." he confirms with a nod, and indeed he is looking at his newborn nephew and he really doesn't see anything about the boy that was at all out of place. She really had done a great job cooking that kid to perfection, but his brows lift as she tells him she thought she was going to die. He opens his mouth as if to ask why and then his nose crinkles because she had to mean one of those gross icky girl things that he would never ever have to worry about himself. He didn't have the equipment, thank Faranth. But he's blinking a second later as she honestly starts to cry and he is just not equip to deal with that either, almost taking a step towards her when her tone and mood shifts, again. "Whoa!" he says, barely dodging whatever it was that she threw at his head, hands held up between them in a defensive gesture, "Calm down, I am not. I wasn't even in Xanadu…we were on a trip in the deep south star charting. I couldn't just up and leave, and there was no dragon to take me back any sooner than…" But he stops, sighs, and rolls his eyes towards the ceiling with a long breathless chuckle as he drops his arms back to his sides and slides his hands into his pockets again. "You're right, I'm the villain here…sorry I was late…" He does not sound sorry at all! The liar! Why was he grinning all too many teeth like that? Why was he chuckling? Bastard.
The set of Risali's lips doesn't falter, top and bottom pressed together in a thin line, brows furrowed inward in a physical manifestation of anger before she exhales and tension eases from her face. "As long as you know," she breathes, about him being a villain, of course. SHE SEES YOU VILLAIN. WITH YOUR VILLAIN MOUSTACHE. But maybe she's joking, because the corner of her mouth quirks upwards even as she stifles a full-out smile, grey eyes dropping from kid brother to bundle of joy in her arms and - "His name is Kyriel." A beat, and then another look at her brother - stern, determined, a jut of her chin in the direction of wayward objects that she'd aimed at her brother's head only moments before. "Get that for me. I just had a baby and I can hardly move, let alone walk." EVEN THOUGH SHE SHOULD BE WALKING. Even if just the thought feels world-ending. Still, Risali holds her hand out, palm turned up, grey eyes fixed on Valerian expectantly because yes, yes she absolutely does expect to be obeyed. SHE JUST HAD A BABY. SHE IS IN PAIN. IT MEANS THAT SHE GETS TO ABUSE HER STATE OF BEING FOR NOW. Also she's cradling a newborn in one arm so come at her, bro.
A long suffering sigh born out of absolute amusement and Valerian drops his eyes to his bedridden sister, grinning back at her for that mouth quirk of hers. "I got it." Yep, he's the villain. Totally on the same page, but his brows raise and his expression smooths out as she starts taking about the baby again. He just can't even with the emotional mood swings. Pick one woman! Still, he can't help but be proud of her even if there was a part of him that felt weird just being there to begin with. He'd only known he had a sister for a couple of turns, but he pushes this aside just in time to have a chin jut at him. "Wha..uh…sure?" he says, dropping his gaze to the floor and finding whatever it was she chucked at him and plucking it up off the ground without even really looking at it. Just, whatever it was on the floor that didn't seem like it belonged there. Admittedly as he turns back towards her, he gives her a look that says he was apprehensive about getting close enough to deposit it in her hand, but that look she was giving him there leaves no room for argument and resigned he takes a breath, lets it out, and marches on forward towards his doom. YOLO, amirite? So, here goes nothing, and he places the item into her hand as bidden even as his muscles start to prepare to get the heck out of dodge the second that things start to look like they were going south.
CORRECTION: he tries to place it in her hand. Risali withdraws her hand at the last possible second shifting as movement from the corner heralds the placement of a body closer to Risali's - D'lei's, K'vir's, it's hard to tell - in order to retrieve their son from the goldrider's arms. And Risali's attention is pulled away only from Valerian for long enough to relinquish her hold, to ensure the Kyriel is safely placed with one father or the other before grey eyes are back on Valerian. There's no actual mood swing, see. It was Risali, trying to play off what she's about to do next: close her hands around Valerian's in a gentle touch, holding his fist closed as she studies knuckles, wrists, the curl of fingers. "Leirith has been watching you for a long time," she whispers, and the pull at the corner of her lips holds no joy; it's something warmer, something tentative even as she continues with, "and she felt like the time was right. She…" a beat, an exhale. "I know that I'm not the best sister, and that you've only just discovered that I am your sister, but…" Grey eyes jump up to grey, hold for a moment, two, three - a soft smile. "I'm proud of you. Dad is too, though he'll never admit it. And Leirith, she thinks… she thinks you're one of the most worthy people she's met so. She would be honored — we — would be honored if you said yes." A beat, as Risali pulls her hands away so that Valerian can FINALLY TAKE A GANDER at what she tossed: a white knot. And Risali's eyes are fixed on it for one, two, three beats before her attention is back on her brother's face with a whispered, "Please?"
Oh, the leeriness, all of the eyeballing, and he might just be tempted to jump back when Risali actually moves. But, it's just to hand off her son, grey eyes darting from sister to child and back again with all the preparedness that says that he was not about to let his guard down. She was tricky this woman, and she'd gotten the drop on him more than a few times, once with a whole dragon landing just over his head. There is admittedly a ripple of tension in his arm as she takes his hand, his ever grin wavering as Risali does the sort of things that made him wonder just what is Valerian. A chasing, screaming, throwing of things sister he was used to, but this kinder gentler side had him unsettled. He looks between where she is touching him and then to her face, looking about as unsettled as they come especially with the words that were falling from her lips. Who was this, and what had she done to his sister? He wasn't sure what to make of it, but as she goes on, deeply furrowed brows and pursed lips relax until he's staring at her like she was an insane person. "Whoa, wait…what?" he says, definitely thrown off kilter by this proposition. Something in all of that completely knocks him off guard and just might be the white knot that he looks down to see sitting in the palm of his hand. "Uh, I…" Brows crease and he stares at it like it was some alien thing about to squiggle up his arm and hug his face so it could lay its eggs in his chest. Grey eyes dart to hers that so perfectly match his own, and she's finally managed to render him speechless. No wise cracks, smart ass remarks, no loving insults tossed her way, no wolfish grin, just completely taken aback. You win this round sister. "Okay…I guess?" Eyes dart, distractedly, off to the side and then he slowly closes his fingers around the thing she'd so recently thrown at him for being late. Slowly he withdraws his hand, because Risalis are attracted to quick movements.
"Good," Risali says, tension and apprehension bleeding out of her as Valerian withdraws his hand and Risali withdraws both of hers, settling back on pillows. "Because you owed me, for being late." DON'T WORRY, she is just teasing. The soft pull at her lips says just that, the set to her eyes, the quiet amusement that observes his caution in response to her, his inability to conjure adequate words when she zigs instead of the expected zag. "You need to tell whoever is over you in your craft, and Leirith made sure to summon somebody outside that will help you get your things and move you into the candidate barracks so that you can pick a cot." A beat, two, three, and softly, "I love you, Vale. You're going to be great." But then healers are coming in to do rounds and to check, pulling Risali's attention to them, to her son, to those vital things a new mother must learn if they've any hope of surviving the next few months with their sanity in tact.