Xanadu Weyr - Infirmary
The infirmary here is intended for human care. It is spotless and smells of disinfectant, cots are lined up against one wall, a curtain can be pulled to give some privacy to the occupants of the cots if they so desire. A cabinet stands off against another wall, instruments and medications stored against when they will be needed. A couple of curtained off beds are used for examinations of patients and the treatment of minor injuries which won't require long term care. A desk with chair is just off of the doorway for the healer to sit and catch up on record keeping after a long days work.
Since his sudden departure for duty, M'kal has continued to pop into the infirmary with any free moment he has. He's even taken to sleeping in an empty cot with Kiraz curled up at his head. While he is gone though the bronze continues to stay with Marel to offer a comforting ( he hopes) presence even if he is just perched at the head or foot of her bed. Today’s sweeps took him out of the infirmary for most of the morning so now it's late afternoon that he finally returns. Looping his riding jacket over his shoulder he approaches Marel's cot. Kiraz croons a low greeting as he approaches.
There's no healer to be seen beside Marel's curtained-off bed, nor are any in the immediate vicinity. It's entirely possible that Kiraz might have sighted and shared what exactly has been going on for the past few hours, notably the visit of one of the Journeymen and the reappearance of the crutch beside the brownrider's bed. Behind the curtain, Marel is not in bed, but beside it, back in her own clothes and out of an infirmary gown, her hair tied in a messy knot, and anything that she arrived with or has been brought to her since she herself was brought in now all folded up and bundled into a small bag. Her features are still pale and her eyes faintly shadowed, but she's upright.
M'kal peeks in behind the curtain before he shoves it to the side. "Heya Marel." he smiles brightly, his gaze sliding briefly to the crutch returned. "This mean you get to get outta here finally?" he inquires. Kiraz flits over to land on his padded shoulder. "Hungry? We can stop in at the caverns and maybe I could cajole some sweets from the cook." he offers.
Whether she's hungry or not, Marel shakes her head and claims that she isn't, stating, "No, I'm fine," in a murmur, gaze darting from M'kal and back to the bag that' sat on the bed. Her withdraw from everyone and everything has been more obvious since the visit from the headwoman and the steward, both words and interaction with people kept to a minimum. Still, she doesn't pretend quite so much with the bluerider, and so simply declares, "There are too many people I don't want to run into." Newly turned seventeen (even if she did spend her turnday in an infirmary bed), she sounds even more beyond her turns than she usually does when she says, "I just want to go home and get settled."
M'kal knows that she's withdrawing and clearly doesn't like it. The easiest way for him to protest against that though is simply to ignore that and insist on being around her! He's not going anywhere not that sweeps are finally finished and he has cleared his schedule. "You know you can't…." hide forever. But the rest of the words die on his lips unspoken. Instead he pulls out a smile and then reaches for the bag on her cot. "Then we shall go home and I'll make tea! And some cakes. For myself." he adds. "C'mon we can take it slow if you need to."
"I can," Marel insists, easily able to predict what the end of that sentence might have been. "My sister thinks I'm some horrible, twisted creature. I made a fool of myself in-front of the man she's going to marry, who must now think I'm a helpless child. Mur'dah says I'm not a burden, but he's been stuck with me since forever, so of course he's going to say that." Her lips twitch and there's a sudden glassiness to her eyes as she clenches her jaw and brings her expression back to a nice, even nothingness. "I never thought I'd be pleased that my father's too permanently drunk to notice." She doesn't dare go anywhere near what she's convinced herself Thea thinks of her. Permitting M'kal to take the bag, the steadies herself with both hands curling around the edge of the bed. "…And I don't blame you if you want to walk away. I don't need to be pitied."
M'kal snorts at that. "You and Mur'dah have been together…well forever but I suspect he thinks that it is you that has been stuck with him." says the blue rider firmly. His green eyes flash as he levels a steady look upon her. "Talk to your sister again. I suspect she doesn't think you are a horrible person. You did what you thought you had to do. Next time though we'll find another solution." a pause. "Together. There's plenty of time to think of something so no one needs to go rushing into something now for an event that will be at least a turn away okay?" his heads shakes. "Nope. You're stuck with me and don't even give me the line of you being a burden. Just wait until you get better, it'll be you thinking I am a burden. After all I think I've forgotten everything my foster parents taught me in the kitchens." he adds cheerfully enough though he has a non nonsense don't argue with me look about him. "Ready then or maybe you want to wait until a new shift of healers come aboard?" he teases lightly.
Given her shuttered expression, the chances of Marel talking to anyone but M'kal for the time being are slim to none. Even if the time being could be defined as 'today'. "…I don't… I don't want to talk to anyone," she says firmly, finally shifting some of her weight against the crutch she picks up to support herself. She sneaks another, brief, look up at the bluerider, but she leaves off with the subject of him walking away from her, at least for now. A single nod is given in answer to being ready, yet her balance is somewhat worse than it was before, making turning away from the bed a slow, problematic thing. Given a few moments to try and find her centre of gravity, she manages a few, tentative, shuffling steps that have her lip curling in self-contempt. "…Have you moved anything in?" It's a safe enough question, perhaps meant to distract from how awkward she looks.
M'kal is patient as he stays at her side to let her set the pace on which they move. "Not yet." he answers her question, leaving the matter of her talking to anyone alone for now. Slipping on his riding jacket so that he doesn't have to carry that and her bag he continues chatting casually. "I was waiting to move stuff in until you can let me know where I can put stuff." safe enough answer! He's a boy. Chances are he'll put something somewhere wrong. "Xeosoth says he's excited for the move. Pesters me daily on /when!/"
"…Will you stay tonight?" From the lilt of her voice, it's not a invitation that Marel is extending, but a question of his intentions. He mentions Xeosoth and she keeps well away from speaking of Isyriath, even though it's her brown who will have to share his living space with his blue brother. She might not speak about it, but perhaps she dwells on the state of things with her lifemate for a moment or two too long, since she's silent for an awfully long time, staring down at her feet. "How much stuff do you have? You have hardly any furniture to move." None of it is really a question; more of a statement.
The subject of Isyriath lingers on the forefront of M'kal's mind but it's a tentative attempt on his part. When she doesn't take the bait when he mentioned Xeosoth he doesn't press the issue. "With you home now I'd like to stay the night." he confirms with a nod. "No…not too much stuff really." he answers once she finally breaks her silence that he simply waits as she withdrew inside of her own thoughts a moment. "A table that can stay in the weyr and a potted plant. Chest with clothing." he pauses in thought. "That's about it.
Indeed, even when they reach the outside world, there's no sign of Isyriath. Whether that means he's waiting for his rider at home or has simply absented himself out of her way remains to be seen. "…So, basically, it's you, Xeosoth and clothes?" Marel utters dryly, trying to crack a very weak joke. "The healers say I need to take fellis before I sleep, so I'm under enough not to move around much. They're worried about me doing damage in my sleep." What she thinks of that is signalled with a roll of her eyes, but since she's told him, she must be intent on doing as she's been asked, or having him remind her. "And I need to stop at the shop to pick up the books." That's the only stop she plans to make, gaining some confidence now as she begins to get the hang of walking.
M'kal keeps all his attentions upon Marel though he does his best not to hover. The lack of Isyriath is most disconcerting but he tries not to let that show. "Just me, a big blue dragon and clothing. And a potted plant." he adds cheerfully. "Then to the shop and home it is m'dear. And once there I shall make you tea." or attempt. It'll most likely include him hollering across the cottage asking where everything is. But the intentions are good. "Fellis at night. Got it. But not too much though." he adds, his first worried tone showing. "Don't need it too long." he's not a fan of the stuff it seems. "C'mon on then. Get you home and tomorrow I'll move my stuff over."
And home it is, then. Even if it is something of a slow journey.