Dignified Retreat {Open}

Tedaon was thankful that she hadn't dragged him to his feet. It would have made him feel even worse than he already did. So dignified had been his attempt at returning to the Weyr previously that anything he managed not was a huge step up. He could feel the pain returning, the faint feeling in his head and sickness in his stomach making it tough to focus. He was focused enough, however, to hear her voice as she ducked under his arm. She would probably get muddied but then... He somehow doubted that the Herder would mind terribly about that.

"Thank you... Canines... Yes... That would have been useful. I have Neras... I'm surprised he hasn't come out fretting yet... But Canines must be easier to train that Flitts." Tedaon spoke a little softer than previously.
He knew he had to speak now to keep his mind off the pain. It wasn't so bad until he actually placed a large amount of pressure on it. It was strange how one injury could affect almost the whole body. Even a cut could cause irreparable damage if left untended. A lot of riders seemed to forget that entirely.

He took a few tentative steps, teeth clenched determined to make it back to the Weyr at least upright and with some of his dignity intact. Honestly, they'd just about look as though they'd come back from wrestling with Wild Whers in the woods. In fact, he'd just about decided that would be the story he'd tell anyone who asked.

Tedaon smiled at the thought of his Flitter. Neras was perhaps one of the few creatures that could so easily distract him from what was happening in his life. He loved to talk about the Flitt.
"Neras, is a fairly old codger. About fifteen now. He tries to be a help but sometimes he just... struggles." Tedaon spoke slowly and clearly with careful thought put into forming each word.

He had indeed come to the conclusion that he'd tell anyone who asked that they had been wrestling Whers. He wondered vaguely why more people didn't do what they'd just done. The Greens weren't that large and there was barely a scratch on him! By this point he had already started convincing himself that they had indeed found two Green Whers to wrestle. He seemed to be a master at convincing himself the lies were the truth.

"Canines, or the larger ones, would probably be able to carry more than a Flitt." Tedaon mused.
In fact, had it been a Canine it would have almost followed him out of the Weyr and to the banks. It would have helped him wrestle the Whers and then drag him by his coat back to the Weyr without a care in the world... Almost. Neras probably would have, if possible, dragged a Wher back and left Tedaon in the woods.

It was true, at least the little Flitt tried to help and Tedaon could not thank the creature enough. Sometimes he got it right but it seemed as though the Firelizard understood things about him that even he didn't. To him it seemed at though Neras knew what was happening before Tedaon did and, even though he sometimes seemed a little... Well, silly, Tedaon knew that the creature had the best interests of almost everyone else at heart. He understood what she meant by everyone struggles at times. He couldn't think of Neras ever battling as hard as he did...

The pain was shooting up his leg and so he closed his eyes to distract himself, thinking of anything else, listening intently to her words as she spoke, nodding a little.
"I'm certain he will be worried. He seems to have no other feelings towards me." He said with a chuckle, "I wonder whether the canines would feel the same way. I've heard that some animals can almost sense the emotions of their trainers."

He'd heard that dolphins could talk but very little indeed about other animals possibly being able to communicate much to human companions. He held no illusions that they could talk, no, but he often wondered whether an animal could sense the emotions of the humans enough to respond in certain ways. Who better to ask than someone who worked with animals every day? Plus, it was better to speak because he was almost certain that if he didn't he'd eventually throw up. Speaking, thinking and moving truly did work wonders to distract him.

Tedaon was grateful for the care that she was showing. He wondered whether he should suggest that she take more training in healing humans. She probably wanted to concentrate on her Herding though. If it had been anyone else he suspected that he'd be a less than easy patient to work with, grumbling the whole way back to the infirmary and telling them they were doing it wrong. Something about Atenna made him feel far more comfortable about the situation. Perhaps it was that she lacked the arrogance he knew most healers and candidates had. He knew this because he had some of it himself.

She spoke of animals with a rather obvious amount of passion and truly make him almost want to become a Herder himself. If she was a spokesperson for the craft there'd be no free spaces in it. He smiled.
"You're making me want to get a canine." He chuckled after she'd steered him around a boulder, "If you were spokesperson for your craft in the Holds I doubt any of the other ones would have any apprentices."

They were not too far from the infirmary. At least it wasn't on the other side of the Weyr. That would have been disastrous. Tedaon was almost certain he would have just dropped where he was had that been the case. Probably waited here until something ate him or Neras found him.

It was true that he had noticed the positive effect Neras seemed to have on some of his patients in the Infirmary. Generally speaking, the children especially seemed to like the tiny Black sitting beside them and watching over them intently, eyes wide and observant. Most of the kids seemed distracted enough by the miniature dragon that they didn't even seem to care about their pain. Some kids still seemed a little frightened about having a Firelizard around though... Tedaon often wondered at the cleanliness of pets being in the infirmary but didn't generally have them near wounds that could possibly be infected.

He chuckled, breathing deeply still, when she mentioned that it was probably better she wasn't a spokesperson. It was true, the whole of Pern worked on an economy of exchange almost.
"Of course." He replied, smiling.
He thought back to her comment about the canines though, wanting to keep his mind on work almost so as to really keep the pain from his thoughts.

"Perhaps have a canine for the infirmary. Maybe one of the older, retired Herd canines." He commented thoughtfully.
If the thought of having a canine in the infirmary was making him forget about the pain it was a wonder to think what they could do if they were actually sitting there with the children. And for some of the older canines... It was a possible retirement choice.

Yes, they would probably have the dogs in the recovery ward where there was little to no risk of infection and where children would have to lay still for days at a time waiting for the healer to walk over and finally tell them they could leave. A dog would at least serve to keep them company a little. He supposed that having a dog in the infirmary was no less hygienic than having Flitters around... He had been asked to heal some of the pets a couple of times not to mention Neras.

"That would be lovely." He responded.
It would be nice to give the patients something to look at to distract them. Tedaon couldn't help but feel the nagging in the back of his mind. All this was an elaborate way of distracting one person. Himself. He knew it deep down, all this care he seemed to be showing for the animals and patients was as much for him as them... Perhaps even moreso.
"Ah yes, the ratters would be a good idea. A little smaller. Uh huh. Yes, the hounds can be quite large."

He was fairly certain they had already established that fact, couldn't hurt to repeat it. Speaking always helped to distract him when he was feeling most stressed.

Tedaon nodded a little, bringing himself back to what she was speaking of, forcing himself to focus. Yes, the felines could be... Interesting. He had received a couple of scratches from Felines who didn't take too kindly to being pushed out of his infirmary.
"Yes, some of them seem to like the infirmary. They take to hiding in the cupboards and things. I suppose it must be warm for them especially in winter. They seem to like going for the eyes." He replied quietly.

Yes, he didn't particularly like Felines. Well, that wasn't strictly true. They were fine so long as they didn't hide somewhere and then get upset when he opened a store door and they happened to receive a gust of cold air. When he thought of it... He wasn't certain how they would have gotten there in the first place. He couldn't fathom the mind of a Feline and, to be quite frank, he wasn't game enough to try.

"Well, at least they get rid of the rats sometimes..." He continued after a moment with a grin.
They were close to the infirmary now. He could almost smell the sickness. That was not true but he could indeed tell that they were not all that far away from the infirmary and, for him, numbweed. The pain was ebbing or, perhaps, he wasn't noticing it as much so he doubted he was going to pass out anytime soon...

"Oh, that's what they'd want you to think and then when you're not paying attention. Claw to the face." He replied.
Apparently he'd had some bad experiences with Felines before. Of course, he didn't mind them all just the ones that liked to hide in his storage cupboards. It was probably the most terrifying thing that happened to him on a regular basis and even then, it wasn't all that regular.

"I don't mind them most of the time. But they can be something of a surprise when they're somewhere you're not expecting..." He continued.
He stumbled a little but caught himself before he actually managed to fall. It was surprising that he had managed to make it so far without tripping and causing Atenna to fall. Lucky more like it. They were just about inside the lower caverns and Tedaon could already feel the warmth of the Weyr.
"I'm sorry for being such a pain." He said after a moment.

Tedaon smiled a little. She sounded sincere. Good. It was something he had been a little concerned about for sometime now. The fact that she had answered so quickly reassured him. He smiled as they walked into the Lower Caverns of the Weyr. It was then that Neras decided to join them. The black Flitt charged out towards them, rushing down the corridors chattering in an anxious manner. He sent Tedaon a flurry of images, of him sleeping and then of a toonish looking Tedaon being half eaten by toonish Whers.

He seemed to notice Atenna then and chattered in her face in a bustling manner, sending her emotions and images in an attempt to thank her. One of the clearer images was of her single handedly fighting strange toon monsters and saving Tedaon. He then took to flying ahead of them as though he was some sort of guard.

"Uh, that's Neras. He's... He gets worried about things." Tedaon explained with a smile.

Tedaon looked sideways at Atenna as she spoke back to Neras. Tedaon wondered whether the Flitt had thought up the worst thing to happen to His and gone with that. The Black did seem to think the Whers more dangerous than most creatures. Neras calmed down rather quickly when Atenna reassured him of her strength. He seemed to think that with her looking after His he wouldn't have to worry as much.

Tedaon smiled at Atenna when she went along with what Neras had guessed. Tedaon thought that the Flitt had picked up part of the cover story and perhaps just guessed everything else for himself, assuming that something had gone horribly wrong when Tedaon had not returned as soon as he normally did. Tedaon limped his way down the corridor with Atenna's help pleased to be back inside.

"Yes, my brother gave me his egg when I was made Candidate Master at Telgar." Tedaon decided to explain, "Even then, he used to worry about me. My worst injury. Well, he was right there waiting for me..."
Tedaon broke off and forced a smile.
"I'm pretty lucky to have him."
Neras trilled happily, feeling the love through their bond. Tedaon knew it was not nearly as strong as the bond between Dragon and Rider... But it was just enough.

They reached the infirmary and Atenna lowered him onto a cot. Tedaon was a little concerned about the mud he was tracking through the Weyr but there was not too much he could do about that. Besides, it wasn't as though he was actually going to clean it up any time soon. Fortunately, there were a few candidates who actually did their chores and she was certain he could get a few of them to clean up the Infirmary while he fixed his ankle up. There were already a couple of people looking at the mud with some annoyance.

Atenna had grabbed some bandages and Tedaon took the scarf off his own leg, moving his hand slowly so as to not cause too much pain for his wrist also.
"Yes. I am too. I couldn't imagine how it would be with some of the other Flitts. Some of them can be so... Aggressive. Or arrogant sometimes."
As he spoke he managed to pull the scarf from his ankle. He looked at it and some of the mud that it had gathered. He smiled apologetically and handed it back to her.

"Ah... That might be a little dirty."
He knew he was stating the obvious but he was also feeling a little better about being somewhere both familiar and guaranteed to lessen his pain.

Tedaon was thankful that Atenna decided to stay and help him a little. He wasn't sure how long he would have been sitting there trying to figure out the bandages had she left. Not to mention that a couple of the healers seemed more... preoccupied by the mud that had been trekked through their infirmary than by the fact that he, covered in mud, might possibly need some help. Then again, a few of them probably just looked at him, recognised him as a healer and assumed he could do it himself.

"Yes, Thanks. I was a little worried about working out the bandages myself." He replied.
He'd have to get rid of the mud eventually but that could come later now that they'd made it back to the infirmary.
"And I suppose that is something. Nothing worse than trying to get blood or ichor out of clothing."

It was a morbid thought but one he'd had a couple of times when dealing with patients. He felt bad for it but there wasn't too much he could do to stop the thoughts. After years of healing people he had become somewhat removed from a lot of things.