-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kiwi, Ketchup, Knives, and Kharisma Date: January 16, 1998 Places: Telgar Weyr's Living Cavern, Inner Caverns, and Outer Infirmary Game: PernMUSH Copyright Info: The World of Pern is copyright(c) to Anne McCaffrey l967. The Dragonriders of Pern(r) is a registered copyright. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kassi's Note: When Kaylira was born, some said it would prove to be the end of the world. Kassi? A mother? Couldn't happen. And yet, somehow, it did... though chaos *could* be said to have reigned that night. Can the world survive a second Kassi-Spawning? Can an ineffectual Healer, a knife-fearing bronzerider, and a greenrider father-to-be who's allergic to pain live through it, too? Read on, and see for yourself! Many thanks go first to Jh'rin, without whose marvelous self this whole TP couldn't have been possible; secondary (but no less heartfelt) thanks go to Maylia, Meli, and A'lex for making the spawning such a... unique... event. ;) I had a fantastic time role- playing this, and I think it won't be hard to see why. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Log: Tinya waves her spoon vaguely in Maylia's direction. "Ask her. They were already working on it when I got here, I just helped churn it." Yes, A'lex *IS* licking the bowl. "It was REALLY good." R'val's eyes alight, "Shards, but this is GOOD!" Maylia explains around mouthfulls, "I figured that with ice, we could make it. And Jorenan produced this thing from stores," she gestures to a barrel-shaped object on the table, with a handle and gears sticking out the top. "With this, it was easy." Meli pauses after the first mouthful, as if she expected the stuff to explode in her mouth or something. And it does, in flavor at least, and she starts eating with some zest. Xin walks here from the Inner Cavern. Kassima's own portion is gone within an unfortunately short time, too-- before she can even add ketchup to the stuff, in fact. "Even *without* the ketchup, 'twas delicious. Thankee most kindly, Maylia!" She flashes Meli a grin and asks archly, "Nay so bad as you'd thought?" R'val smiles at Maylia, "Brilliant! You really should've been a baker.' He winks. A'lex says "It would be great on a sweetbread, too..." Meli nods, her mouth full. D'thon's ears prick up as he sits elsewhere... His expression is evident. KETCHUP?! Xin trudges into the living cavern with a small sack slung over his right shoulder. He's wearing a full winter jacket. He walks over to the table and stares at the food for a long moment. Telgar Weyr> K'tyn sighs, and wants Kiwi ice cream. Telgar Weyr> A'lex says, "Aye, me too! Gonna have to settle for peach yogurt..." Telgar Weyr> L'mis grumbles about so many Terran foods still on Pern in this 10th Pass. Though kiwi ice cream does sound good. Maylia makes a face towards R'val, shking her head. "Nah, thanks. I'll stick with being a rider." Kassi's ketchup comment is ignored this time around. These cravings, too, shall pass. "My pleasure Kassi," is her response. After all, she wants to be on her mentor's good side, come the day of the delivery. Xin opens his sack, and starts tossing rolls into it. Telgar Weyr> M'kla grins. Food's Food, L'mis. Telgar Weyr> K'tyn hrms. who says that a pernese Kiwi equates to a Terran one? And aren't they in the DLG? A'lex says "But you could be the Flying Baker, Maylia!" Telgar Weyr> M'kla says, "We have the snow handy, and milk, and fruit... hey, icecream seems logical enough. After all, it was invented independantly by the Romans, the Egyptians, and the Chinese." Kassima grins broadly at D'thon, probably enjoying the hapless bluerider's nausea. "Sorry, D'thon--cravings, y'know! G'deve and greetings, stranger," she adds, turning her attention to Xin... and blinking, eyebrows arched, at the roll theft. "Duties t'you and yours." Telgar Weyr> R'val says, "Some things do seem to be invented in every society in the universe. o O ( Gin and tonic.. )" Maylia considers A'lex's comment a moment, trying to come up with a comeback. Finally, "Twasn't any baking involved, here!" Telgar Weyr> L'mis shrugs. It's the combination. Kiwis, ice cream, ketchup. Telgar Weyr> Tinya was not aware that kiwis-with-ketchup were a standard terran food. Telgar Weyr> Kassima certainly *hopes* they're not. That would be sick. Telgar Weyr> M'kla grins. Now that I can't argue about. A'lex notices the stranger in the doorway, "Greeting, Telgar's duties to you. It's a might hot to be wearin that coat isn't it?" Telgar Weyr> L'mis hsm. That's a good point. Xin closes the bag, and announces to Kassima, "I'm leavin' the weyr. Too many strangers. Anyone wanna gimme a ride to the Hold?" A'lex buh-blinks. "'Twas nay aware that you lived here," Kassima remarks mildly to Xin. "Guess I've nay seen you about a'fore. 'Tany rate, I can't offer you a ride, but there's nigh bound t'be someone hereabouts who can." A'lex says "Where are you headed?" Xin shrugs, "Been layin' low. As I said, plenty of strangers about. And you're stranger than the lot of Telgari I've met in all my turns, combined." A'lex snorts, he does have a point afterall. Kassima smiles slightly with that, saluting the man with her spoon. Kaylira, pausing in copying 'Lex's example by licking her bowl clean, merely peers at the man in puzzlement. "Thankee. I consider such words as those t'be compliments." Maylia just looks at Xin, confusion apparent on her face. Really. They're just eating Kiwi ice Cream, and discussing it's possibilities with ketchup. Most of them are even disgusted by the idea. A'lex says "Where ya be headed, sir?" Xin glances at A'lex, "I'm thinking Telgar Hold. No Ketchup-eating Bendenites there, I hope, just honest, mayonnaise-eating people." R'val finishes his bowl with a contented sigh, and regards Maylia hopefully, "There any more, Maylia...?" A'lex mouths, "Ketchup eating Bendenites?" Maylia half rises, peering into the canister. "There's some, but it's almost melted. Help yourself," she says, pushing the contraption towards R'val. Jh'rin walks in from the bowl. Meli runs a finger along the inside edge of her bowl, then licks it clean. At least her face is clean. She contents herself to listening to the conversation. Tinya snorts at R'val. "Greedy," she says, teasingly. R'val takes it eagerly, and spoons what little remains into his bowl. He sticks out his tongue at Tinya, and grins, "I'm trying to get fat." he says, patting his flat tummy. A'lex nods to Jh'rin as he enters, too confused by this Xin fellow to manage a proper greeting. Maylia gulps, she can't believe she's going to do this. "Kassi, if'n you'd like, there might be some left after R'val gets through. Shall I find some," gulp, "Ketchup?" Jh'rin comes to a quick stop after what's apparently a hurried arrival; his forelock's in his eyes, his ponytail askew. "Uh..." is what he says, intelligently. Xin winces at the very word, "Firstly, my momma taught me to call it catsup, not ketchup. And secondly, it doesn't belong in any sweet meal." Kassima snorts in revulsion. "Mayonnaise? Yick. That even sounds foul. I'll stick with m'ketchup and ki--oh, *would* you, Maylia? You're too kind. Jh'rin!" Kassi isn't confused at all, you see. She hears people calling her weird all the time. "Duties and such! You're just in time for kiwi ice cream, if'n 'twould be your fancy." Upon seeing the greenrider for whom he was looking, Jh'rin strides toward Thunderbolt's table and Kassima. "No, uh, thanks, Kassi. Y'okay?" A'lex quirks an eyebrow, "Cat-sup, as in feline?" Maylia pales, still unable to believe the things she'll do for a pregnant mentor. Off she dashes to the kitchen, returning moments later with two jars of preserves, each slightly different in colour. "Which would you prefer, Kassi?" she asks, bobbing her head in a hello to Jh'rin. "I found Crabapple _catsup_ and tomato, too." Xin shakes his head, dropping his sack onto the ground, and goes into the kitchen, returning a moment later with a darker, thicker, slightly sweeter version of ketchup, "This is catsup." Meli leans back, resting her elbows on the table top as she looks out over the room. A quirky grin plants itself on her face, as she watches the various pockets of semi-confuddledness. "Right as rain, or thereabouts. Which doesn't make any sense since rain isn't that right anyway, but...." Kassi tilts her head, one stray bang falling into her eyes. "Insofar as I know, I'm all right. You look like you're in some sort of hurry; is everything all--oh, yuck, crabapple? With kiwi? Eeeeeeeeeyach. Even I have some standards. Tomato, Maylia, if'n y'please?" Telgar Weyr> Kassima says, "Read: Kassi's player is too disgusted to have her character eat such a thing. Finally, Maylia, you've found something too revolting even for me. ;)" Telgar Weyr> Maylia howls with giggles! Really, it's kinda like jam, only tarter :) Jh'rin smiles thinly and leans down to brush Kassima's bang away from her forehead and to kiss the space he revealed there. "I'm just fine. I was dozing and had a weird dream. I got worried, though...I reckon I could have had Sia bespeak Lysseth." Puzzlement registers on Kassi's face, in the form of a furrowed brow and confused eyes. "I'truth, I'm glad t'see you in person instead, but what's this dream that was so worrisome?" A'lex is divided between flabbergastment at this Xin, and consern for Jh'rin. Maylia shrugs, looking at the jar of crabapple ketchup. Or catsup. Same stuff. With a quick wrench of her wrist, the small jar of tomato preserves is opened. Her own bowl of ice cream finished, the greenrider opens the other jar, and dips in a spoon for herself. Jh'rin lifts his shoulders in the barest of shrugs and flops down beside Kassima. "Oh, Ista's duty," he tacks on belatedly and absently. "Sia was asking earlier about Phediath's clutch and got me thinking about babies, that's all." He looks, in fact, rather pointedly at Kassima's prominent, ah...feature. Maylia sits back, eyeing the goings-on, spoonful of sweet-tart-vinegary preserves of crabapples in her mouth. Mmmmm. "M'sure glad I finished mine before th'cat-ket-sup-chup came out," Meli comments. Telgar Weyr> Kassima just laughs as something pops into her head: 'It's not the Benden Bug, it's the Benden Feature!' Sorry. Really bad joke, I know. You may shoot me now. :) Telgar Weyr> L'mis eyes the culinary delights in the LC and exclaims, "Faranth preserve us!" Telgar Weyr> Maylia grins, and has to rub in the catsup/ketchup thing, as well as the idea that -something- sickens Kassima's player. :D Telgar Weyr> Richenda is officially afraid. Meli finally rises, collecting her bowl and spoon. "Anyone else done?" she asks, moving to pile up dirty albeit licked clean crockery. Xin shudders again at the revulting mixtures being concocted, and grabs his bag, "This is *so* disgusting. Have you no sense of taste?" Kassima rests one hand on said feature, while reaching for the ketchup and pouring a bit into her bowl. There's no ice-cream left, but this doesn't seem to stop her. "Ah, I see... huh. Well, better that than cannibal kiwi. We've just been making this iced cream all day; there's been nay trouble, that I know of...." She trails off, brows still furrowed, as though she's not sure whether there *should* have been trouble. "Taste? A'course I have taste, stranger." Odd taste, but still.... Jh'rin lifts a hand and waves it, stating, "I really, Kassima, would just as soon not know." Pause. "Yer quite well, then? Nothing amiss?" Xin mutters under his breath about the things some people eat. Maylia peers at the jam jar full of brownish-reddish sort of paste. And spoons out anoher glob. "'tis good, honest! Like crabapple jelly, only... more vinagery." She says, directed towards the stranger. "Buncha savages in this weyr," mumbles Xin. A'lex says "Maylia, you're not... like Kassi... are you?" "I think so," Kassi says dubiously, scanning through her memory to see whether something has been amiss. "Just the usual. Backache, headache-- well, and stomach-ache," she admits with a faint wince and grimace. "Too blasted much garlic, methinks. That stuff *never* bodes anyone any good. I don't know why I drink it." One might guess that she could successfully plead insanity, though. "Hoped the iced cream might help, but nay luck... Kay, run back to 'Maeva, would you, love? 'Tis past your sleeping time." The little black-haired girl who's been watching all of this with curiousity makes a face at her mother, but obediantly climbs down from her chair. "Bowl's tha' way," Meli gestures absently, to Xin. "Nice weather f'travelin'." Jh'rin's twisted expression makes it evident that he really isn't entirely that delighted with what Kassima's been eating. "Well, er. Awright. I can go back t'Ista, then. If yer sure." Maylia pales, and shakes her head. "No." is her flat answer to A'lex. Quite vehemenant, she is. A'lex draws back, "Okay then..." "Gah, garlic too," Meli calls over to the pair of greenriders. "Las' time y'did tha', we nearly brought down th'weyr, f'I recall, Kassi." Kassima frowns at that, not looking entirely pleased by the prospect. "Already? Shells, Jhor," she says with another grimace, "y'just got here... eh, Meli?" Galadryl swoops down towards A'lex. A'lex looks up at the flit diving his head, "Hoah there sweetie, watcha got?" Galadryl chirps and drops a roll of hide infront of A'lex. Xin puts a jar of catsup into his bag, along with the buns, then ponders the cavern. Finally, with a final mutter, he heads back into the lower caverns to reconsider. Xin walks towards the inner cavern. Meli sidles over on the bench, so she's not yelling across the room. "Wasn't it garlic an' rivergrain puddin' tha' precipitated Kay's arrival?" A'lex picks it up and reads it over. A'lex raises an eyebrow, "Anyone remember Skylyn... the girl from Benden Hold that visited the Weyr every once in a while? Apparently she's having a turnday party... I may have to make a trip back that way." "What a strange young man," Kassi mutters, watching Xin go. "You'd think he'd never seen greenriders eating kiwi and ketchup a'fore. Gah, Meli, I'd almost forgotten that regrettable combination--with vinegar, if'n I recall. 'Twas the last time I'll ever take a food suggestion from Emlyn!" Oh dear. This is enough to get the former healer apprentice burried somewhere in Maylia to rise to the surface. "Headache? Backache? and stomach ache, did you say?" Her eyes flicker to the ice cream contraption. "No river grains, but you've had something odd, and garlic... and vinagre in the ketchup..." Jh'rin gets to his feet with marked slowness, watching Kassima uncertainly. He's been looking particularly unsettled of late, in fact. "Kaaaasssssii..." Meli drawls out. "Wha' exactly have you been doin', an' feelin'?" A'lex pulls a charcoal stick out of his pocket, scrawls on the note and holds it out for the flit. A'lex then glances up at "That Tone" of Meli's. Galadryl swoops down grabs the hide and pops *Between*. Maylia hardly hears A'lex's question, but waves absently in his direction. "Where in your back does it hurt? And your stomach?" The healer in her is compelled to ask. Kassima nods an affirmative to each question of the former Healer. "Aye, aye, aye... 'tis normal, isn't it?" She looks somewhat unsettled herself. Nervousness is catching, especially when one has a paranoid dragon. "Doing? Sitting here making kiwi ice cream and repulsing the general Cavern, a'course." Nothing unusual there. "Feeling? Well, what I just said. Headache, backache, stomach-ache--all the sharding ketchup's fault, I'm sure! Lower in both cases, Maylia... why?" Telgar Weyr> Kassima says, "Aye, aye, aye. Say that fast enough, and Kassi sounds like that little robot from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Just thought I'd share that with you. ;)" A'lex raises another eyebrow, but says nothing, knowing nothing of food's effects on pregnant riders. Meli turns to give A'lex a *Look* of some sort. Half-puzzled, half- concerned, half-annoyed, even if that is 150% ... in other words, paradoxically quizzical. Jh'rin was halfway to his feet when he hears Kassima and turns a little pale. "Y'sure yer okay? Okay. I'll, ah, head back then. Uh." A'lex bites his lip, if she's having cramps or the like, things are likely to start flying around this cavern like it's the end of the world. Please Faranth, don't let her have any knives on her... Meli leans over slightly. She mutters to A'lex, " She'd know... labor... second... neh? " A'lex shrugs, looking mildly worried now. Maylia drums her fingers, scanning around the cavern before turning her eyes back on Kassi. "You sure that's all it is, Kassima? Is it like normal pain, or crampy-pain?" Jh'rin starts backing away from the Thunderbolt table, like a wherry who's realized the hovering bronze isn't just sightseeing. A'lex stands and leaves the long table for Skyfire wing. A'lex says "Uhhhh...." Yea, typical man, get stupid NOW... Kassima does, in fact, have knives on her person. She always does. Rather than answering Jh'rin's question herself, she turns to Maylia with anxious eyes, since she's the closest thing to a Healer at hand. "I am all right, aren't I? 'Tis just indigestion. Right? Shells and shard-blastings and Faranth's liver on a bed of kiwi on a platter, I don't know--I don't usually *have* stomach pains!" If she did, she'd be a heck of a lot more discreet in what she eats, no? Maylia rolls her eyes, loosing the tense attitude she'd been holding herself with. "Of -course- you're alright Kassi! I just thought - I mean, you might be starting labour. That's all." All. She's not considering knives now. Jh'rin announces to no one in particular, "Pain and blood bother me rather much. Honest, it's best if I'm just alerted of what happens later." His voice cracks too, shattering like a glass dropped from the Star Stones. "Kassima? Love? Yer awright, aren't ya?" Meli continues to watch from her seat on the bench, though it's not exactly a relaxed pose. *Might* be nothing, after all. Yeh, right. Having come to some conclusion in her own mind, she rises and starts to make her way down to the inner cavern. A'lex walks over to Jh'rin, trying to look reassuring, "I'm sure it's nothing..." "Think I'll jus' see who's on duty in th'infirmary," Meli calls back nonchalantly, it's nothing really. Though she does step sharply. Jh'rin tries to smile at A'lex, but he ends up just baring his teeth. It's not a pretty sight. R'val stands, and murmurs to Tinya, "Headed to the hot springs, care to come?" Maylia takes a seat by Kassima, brave girl that she is. She even perhaps manages to look relaxed, which is amazing concerning that there's one little thing she doesn't tell many. She *hates* births. Trying again, she asks, "Alright, d'you remember how it felt, when you started with Kaylira? Or have you ever had... you know? Cramps?" Kassima worries her lower lip with her teeth, considering whether or not denial would be a good stage, here. "Well," she admits hesitantly, "thought 'twas a stomach thing last time, too, until I ruined V'dan's jacket, but...." She looks up at Jh'rin with what might, if deer and cars existed, be identified as a 'deer staring into headlights' expression. "Uh... aye? Nay? I suppose," she finally admits, surrendering to reality as she so seldom does, "that I'm nay." Jh'rin clears his throat for a good half-minute before intoning deeply, "I've seen one before. I'll be fine, I'm certain." As if. Tinya blinks, then looks up and away from the group around Kassi. She nods. "I've no desire to watch _this_, that's for sure," she says as she stands. Despite the fact that she was just short of staring. It was the godawful-train-wreck sort of stare. A'lex rolls his eyes. Ok, he lied to Jh'rin. "Um, how about some klah there Greenrider." Jh'rin replies out of the side of his mouth. He mutters to A'lex, "... rump,... Y'got... strong?... uh,..." Telgar Weyr> Meli giggles. "Rump?" Maylia gives first Kassi, then Jh'rin, exasperated looks. "She's not -sick-, she's just having a baby. Maybe." she says, to the room in general. "I mean, of course she's having a baby, she might just be starting to -have- it, now." R'val chortles softly, and exits hurriedly. R'val walks towards the inner cavern. Tinya walks towards the inner cavern. A'lex nods, paling at Maylia's words. Yea, he'll need some too. "I'll find something." A'lex bolts for the kitchen. A'lex walks off towards the kitchen. Yes, let's ask one of Pern's more modest (when sober and not proddy) greenriders about cramps in front of an entire Living Cavern, shall we? Kassi shoots Maylia a faintly mortified look, which becomes rather more mortified of a sudden. "I suspect," she observes in a voice that's admirably un-squeaking, "that the question is moot. Um, Jh'rin, love? Think you could help me t'wherever I'm supposed t'go? I think m'water just broke." Telgar Weyr> Maylia LAUGHS! From the kitchen, A'lex is trying not to shout as he says, "I don't CARE if Ofira is saving it, GIVE IT TO ME!" Telgar Weyr> Maylia reminds all, she didn't get beyond JR apprentice at Healer Hall. Can't expect her to have a perfect bedside manner ;) A'lex walks in from the kitchen. A'lex calls over his shoulder, "Thank you!" "What?" Jhor's voice is high enough for someone to wonder about a sudden kick to his more sensitive areas. "Oh, uh, sure, sure sure certainly uh huh sure you bet right I gotcha uh huh okay." He hurries to Kassima, putting an arm around her waist and hoisting her. Meli returns at just that moment, followed a moment later by a harried looking junior healer. "Most ev'ryone's out, Ushu's only one available," she calls over, then grimaces as everyone suspicions are proven correct. "Hope he'll be all right." She turns to said healer, "Y'not goin' t'faint this time, are you?" Calayborn swoops down towards A'lex. Strolling over to Jh'rin with a confident (well, as confident as one can look when one is expecting sharp things to start flying from places unknown) look, A'lex proffers a wineskin. "Benden Red, 12 turns old. Ofira's private stock. Don't tell." A'lex ohs, "Do you need help moving her?" Maylia nods, mildly amused, mildy un-amused. "Could be a while, yet, but hmmm. Best get to the infirmary," she quietly agrees. Jh'rin nods. "Infirmary." At present it's a long word for him to comprehend, but he seems to have grasped the proverbial nubbin. His eyes, though, are fixed on A'lex and his wineskin. And there stands Ushu, red of face, adam's apple moving visibly as he gulps once or twice. "Water's broken?" he calls over, voice cracking with the last syllable. J'lyn walks in from the bowl. A'lex slips himself under Kassi's other side and helps to get her up onto her feet, "Ok then, don't stab me...." Kassima borrows V'dan's jacket, which the man foolishly left draped over a chair, and ties it around her waist. He won't really mind losing another jacket, surely. "Why," she demands, rather rhetorically, "did I eat that blasted ketchup? *Faint*???" She gives the Healer a long, hard look, one composed primarily of disbelief. Oh, boy. And she thought Garant was bad. Telgar Weyr> J'lyn says, "Oh, great timing, J'lyn..." Telgar Weyr> A'lex says, "BAhahahhahaaa!" Ushu taps a finger along his pointy chin, muttering to himself. "Water first... pains... dilate... push... or is it push then dilate..." he rambles on as he moves over towards the group maneuvering Kassi. Jh'rin peers at Ushu. Worriedly. Kassima assures A'lex with a wan smile, "I promise you, I'll save eviscerating all the men of the Weyr until *after* the birth. Probably. Maybe. Or," she adds, with another grimace of pain, "mayhaps nay. The infirmary would be a good place t'go. Like, now?" she suggests hopefully. J'lyn takes in the scene in front of him as he walks into the Cavern, and his face loses all its color, his eyes growing larger than seems humanly possible. Finding a chair, he slowly lowers himself into it, trying not to look but not accomplishing it very well. A'lex is too busy worrying about dying to evern bother with Ushu. Maylia gives Ushu a rather bland look, having delivered herbs here once or twice as an apprentice she knows him. "YOU don't dilate," she reminds him. "She dilates. Unless you're talking about your blood vessels, right before you faint. Then you also wouldn't be any help." Her tone might indicate that she doubts his help anyways. Telgar Weyr> Kassima giggles. 'Lex, I think I might have to let you live through most of this at least, just for the comic relief. ;) "Right, right," Ushu replies to Maylia, too intent on wiping sweat from his brow to be offended. "I always forget that part." He turns and starts back to the infirmary, then stops suddenly. "Right, right, wait for the patient..." Maylia gives Ushu another dubius look, before asking Kassi, "Ah... I can't believe I'm gonna offer this... Would you like someone with you who'll likely NOT faint?" Jh'rin and A'lex have the patient. They're waiting. And are NOT patient. J'lyn stays away from the ensuing mess. He'll faint, honest he will. Telgar Weyr> A'lex says, "Pern needs SHOTS! Shot of scotch would do wonders for our nerves, eh Jh'rin?" Kassima eyes Ushu with quite understandable concern, murmuring under her breath, "What have I gotten m'self into...?" The last word is rather high- pitched, her squeak like that of a hamster being sucked up into an Electrolux. "*Please*, Maylia." She shoots her mentee a grateful and somewhat less panicked look, then tries to waddle towards the Infirmary, tugging the men along with her. Maylia gives Ushu a scathing look. She learned well from the masters. "Ushu, would you stop wiping yer hands on her forehead?" She whispers to him on her way out. Telgar Weyr> Kassima says, "What *is* an Electrolux? I borrowed that line from somewhere, but I have no idea where from." Telgar Weyr> J'lyn says, "A vaccuum cleaner, Kassi." Is 'Lex frisking Kassi for weapons? Nahhhhhh.... Meli stands near the door to the inner cavern, torn as whether to wait or go ahead or get out of the way entirely. Telgar Weyr> Maylia thinks it's a vacuum clean... what he said... Telgar Weyr> Kassima says, "Good. That's what I thought. :)" Kassima gives Meli the same sort of pleading, 'Don't leave me alone with these lunatics' look that she gave to Maylia on her way into the Inner Cavern. A'lex glances about the Living Cavern, as if this were his last goodbye before hauling the squealing Kassi to the Infirmary. You walk towards the inner cavern. A'lex walks in from the living caverns. Benden LC> "Wiping my hands on /her/ forehead?" Ushu mutters to himself as he heads out. This comment obviously confuses him further, a deep puzzle to unravel, one that locks his mind into a new track, though his feet propel him onward. Meli walks in from the living caverns. Benden LC> Maylia grabs Ushu by the arm, and propells him out the door. Maylia walks in from the living caverns. Jh'rin walks in from the living caverns. Telgar Weyr> A'lex says, "Wow, there was a really long delay between me and Jh'rin getting here... she must be HUGE!! (just kidding! don't kill me!)" "Ouch!" Ushu remarks. "You're tugging my arm!" He blinks, looking up and regaining his awareness. "Oh, right, baby." Telgar Weyr> Meli bol Telgar Weyr> Kassima doesn't kill A'lex, but she *does* make him Pern's first non-masculine bronzerider. Telgar Weyr> A'lex shaws, I've never been that masculine anyway... Maylia gives Ushu another one of those looks she'd never have dared to give him as an apprentice, though they all did behind his back. Telgar Weyr> R'val o O ( Non-masculine bronzeriders? Plenty of them around. ) Ushu steps on to the infirmary, counting things off on his fingers. "Nay anyone is wiping their hands on *my* forehead," Kassi tells Ushu firmly with a dagger-glare, before waddling into the infirmary. You walk off towards the Outer Infirmary. Meli walks in from outside the room. A'lex walks in from outside the room. Jh'rin walks in from outside the room. Meli finds a spot of wall that looks as if it might lean suddenly, and holds it up with her shoulder. Maylia walks in from outside the room. A'lex finally notices Ushu, and promptly ignores him. Turning to Maylia, he asks, "Where do you want her?" "Water, rose petals, cloths," Ushu can be heard to say as he putters around collecting things. "Forceps, scissors, twine..." Maylia immediately grabs Ushu by the arm again, leading him to the redwort hand bathes before he can do a thing. Removing her new ring from her finger and tying it to the cord around her neck, she sighs, and redirects him again. "W-A-S-H. first. Oh, over there," she vaguely gestures. A'lex looks up, "Twine? Scissors? What, are we wrapping gifts?" "Rose petals," Kassima repeats, taking a deep breath as she was taught and eyeing this man like she's already planning on strangling him. Quite probably, she is. "Rose. Petals. Jh'rin, promise me something?" She has the decency to lower her voice so that Ushu can't hear before asking, "If'n aught goes wrong, and I don't beat you to it, could you kill that man? For the safety of the other women in the Weyr?" Ushu blinks at Maylia, then refocuses yet again. "Oh, right. Wash. You going to put the flowers in the water and wet the cloth for her forehead?" he asks her, brow furrowing as he tries to place her face. Jh'rin nods to Kassima. For all he knows, he's just agreed to marry Lessa of Benden. Maylia sighs, and shakes her head. "Nope, I'm gonna wash, then collect the sterile equipment." She plunges her hands into the redwort. "Ushu, her water's broke. Infection? Remember? Something we'd like to avoid? Rose petals won't help with that." Lysseth> Lysseth has been staring towards the Living Cavern with eyes whirling a mix of blue and yellow for some time now, tail lashing and wings rustling with agitation. Shaking off a dozen fire-lizards or so, she sidles closer to the Infirmary, poking her head in the entrance with a questioning hum. A'lex glances across Kassima, then leans behind, then in front again, but he can't seem to get a good look at Jh'rin either way, "Put her? Where?" Lysseth> Lorieth watches the other green with a bit of the alarm her rider is feeling showing through. Jh'rin mutters, "Um. A cot?" Yeah. That sounds good. Cot. Prostrate is good. Isn't it? Lysseth> Golrath just hums softly. He knows what's going on, and there's nothing bad about it (to him). A'lex says "Don't they have to have their feet in the air or something?" "Makes the cold compress nicer," Ushu replies. "Doesn't it?" He starts to wash, at least his training has ingrained that skill in him automatically, as he does a good job of it even while his brain skitters off to something else. The snout, muzzle, eyes, and eventually entire head of a dusky pine-green dragon appear in the entranceway, emitting a sound that's a cross between a worried rumble and a hum. "Lyss, I'm fine, in the name of the Egg," Kassi yells to her green, taking another one of those deep breaths. If only she could just tell herself this was all a dream, but dreams tend to exclude the element of pain. "They had me walk around for awhile, last time," she says vaguely, trying to remember. "Meli? You remember that, don't you?" A'lex starts when he sees Lysseth, "Shards but she look huge in here." Jh'rin speaks behind Kassima to the bronzerider. He mutters to A'lex, "That's... said... I... us into..." Maylia shrugs, shaking her head. For all that she's exasperated with Ushu, he must've gotten promoted for -some- reason. Alright. He wants rose petals in the water, he can put'em there. Hearing Kassi's question, though it's directed at Meli, she nods, patting her hands dry. "You c'n keep walking, might help. How're you feeling?" Dangerous question. One she'll likely not ask later on. Meli drawls from her spot on the wall, "I think so, Kassi, 'course I went into labor not long after you, an' was a bit distracted after tha' m'self. F'it feels right t'walk, though, your body'd know best." A'lex guffaws, the nervousness broken. "Yer bad!" Jh'rin and A'lex are still holding Kassima. They're unaware of this need to walk. A knife skitters quietly across the floor. How did A'lex get that out of her boot?? Ushu now has red up to his elbows, and might have gone further if the dragon snout hadn't distracted him. "Walking... I think I remember something about that." He moves over towards the trio of riders, speaking to Kassi a moment. "Tell me exactly how you feel, I'll put it in my research," he asks her with the first focused expression of the evening. Sort of like a scientist studying a new species of bug or something. A'lex looks as if he's ready to headbutt this red armed reasearcher infront of them. Jh'rin notes, trying to help, "I hear the second baby comes faster, and is usually bigger. Also often gets to walk faster. I have three sons already. And my dragon's named Siaroth." "I feel as though I have just been dropped into a den of madmen, all of them babbling about rose petals," Kassi informs Maylia, looking both pained and bemused. She's never done this solo before or anything, but she's quite sure that even Garant didn't start talking about rose petals. "Walking, running, jogging, aught that'll make this go faster and keep Lyss from having hysterics, I'm *fine* with. 'Lex, what'd you just do with m'knife?" The look she gives the bronzerider isn't entirely kind. In fact, it's more like the sort of look meant to make a person spontaneously combust. Said look goes up in heat a few degrees when it's turned on Ushu. "Your *research*?" A'lex changes the subject, "You said walking Kassi, should we be moving you about?" Meli straightens, moving through the crowded room to Kassi's side, pretty much pushing Ushu out of the way. "Jhor, A'lex, Kassi needs t'walk a bit, d'you mind lettin' go a'her?" she asks through a smile. Kinda a creepy smile, but a smile nonetheless. A'lex says "Oh, she can do it by herself?" Kassima pats Jh'rin's shoulder comfortingly. "Try taking some breaths or something, eh?" she suggests, not quite so unkindly. "And let me walk a bit? I think I should walk. Or do *something* that doesn't involve rose petals. And mayhaps get out of these clothes at some point or another." And, if A'lex is fortunate, leave the knives behind too. Jh'rin nods and puts his side of Kassima down. "Okay. I can be right here, though. I've done this before. Well, no, I haven't done this before, but I've watched this done before. Actually...oh. You wanna walk. Okay. I can breathe too. And undress you. I know how to do that. Yeah." Ushu's lost in thought again, oblivious, then suddenly turns back to start collecting stuff again. Not necessarily the Right Stuff, but stuff at least. Mutterings continue. Telgar Weyr> Kassima just howls at Jhor, and dies laughing right at the keyboard. Maylia rolls her eyes. right. That's why Ushu got promoted. "Kassi, just do whatever feels good. Or less bad. If walking helps, walking helps. If you'd like a backrub, I'm *sure* Jhor'd be delighted." She turns to Ushu, debating whether or not to tell him to just sit and take notes. "Look," she decides to tell everyone. "This is something Kassi and most woman do *fine*. Or else none of us'd be here!" A'lex quickly ducks out from under Kassi, eying up her backside, incase she has any knives stuck in her belt... Meli chuckles at Jhor. "Undress her... I'll bet y'do." She steps out of the way, moving to the cot and fiddling with the sheets and the table beside it. A'lex has this look on his face which blatently says, "If I don't get those knives away from her, someone will surely die tonight." Jh'rin is now Kassimaless and is feeling, well, at a loss. He sticks his hands in the pockets of his leathers and follows Kassima like a shadow. The sound Kassi makes is an interesting cross between a laugh, a wheeze, and a choking noise. "Aye, I rather recall that you do." If she's going to give birth in a den of lunacy, at least she'll be following the family tradition. With a hiss of breath through clenched teeth, she starts pacing around a select square of the room, muttering under her breath about shards if she'll ever let herself get into this situation again. Just because she's a sadist, she draws one of her knives and offers it to A'lex--first point first, and then, with a sweet smile, hilt first. "Hold this for me?" Jh'rin eyes the knife and the manner in which it's presented to A'lex and finds himself following a little LESS closely. Maylia resists holding her own hand to her forehead. "Aren't things s'posed to be kept calm around now?" she asks herself, surveying the mayhem. A healer, interrested in research, and fussing about minor details. A bronzerider terrified for his life. A greenrider-father, who's just beyond help. And Kassi, who likely has knives stashed in places she'd rather not think about. A'lex sighs, "Surely dear." "M'calm," Meli replies, though she's obviously a bit amused at the gentlemen as well. "F'you need m'help," she says to the two women, "let me know." A'lex sets the knive, as well as the one he pilfered earlier on a counter, then, as if by accident, discovers the Wine skin slung on his shoulder. Uncorking it, he offers it to Jh'rin, "Here." Telgar Weyr> A'lex says, "The knive? Where am I from?" "Is that *my* jacket she has tied around her waist?" a squeaking voice asks from the direction of the entrance. V'dan, it seemed, has noticed his item of missing apparel. When Kassi gives him a positively incindiery glance, he gulps, turns paste white, and flees like the hounds of hell were at his feet. "You kidding, Maylia? This is Telgar. Naught's ever calm here." Again in that plaintive, unsure voice, she asks, "How long should I do this...?" Telgar Weyr> Kassima says, "The Lunatic Fringe, A'lex. Where else?" Jh'rin takes hold of the wine like a fishwife takes hold of her philandering husband's throat and puts the skin to his lips. For a very, very long moment. Maylia flashes Meli a larger smile than she ever has before. And utters a relieved sigh. "Meli, wonderful! Would you mind washing up, just'n case?" She looks around. Towels, and various healer implements that she hopes to Faranth they'll not need (not a sharp blade among'em) "As long as you want, Kassi. You'll know when you don't want, or can't walk any more. And tell Lysseth that if she keeps sticking her snout in here, I'll get someone to wash IT with redwort." Thinking a moment, she amends that, and says more kindly, "Or rather, just ask her to keep back, a bit?" A'lex says "Don't bruise the wine!" Ushu sets a bowl of cool, rose-scented water on the table beside the cot, dropping a clean cloth in it. "There. That's perfect," he congratulates himself. He stares at the tableau a moment longer before turning around, regaining his puzzled expression as he watches the activity. Ah, well, that other healer, what's-her-name, seems to have things handled. He heads back towards the cupboards, still muttering. Meli smiles and nods at Maylia, pushing up her sleeves as she heads towards the redwort bowl. "Knew I shouldn't have worn m'dress t'day," she murmurs good-naturedly. Kassima eyes Jh'rin with some concern--but since she'd get drunk too if she could, elects not to say anything. She just walk-waddles on over to her dragon's snout and gives it a not ungentle shove. "Lysseth," she explains through grit teeth, "is somewhat paranoid. I'll be *fine*, love, honest. You can't do aught t'help me. Just go hum, or something." She's fairly certain that's what dragons are supposed to do in these circumstances. Faranth knows, her fire-lizards are making enough of a racket. "I think," she says, turning back, "that I would like to stop walking now." Very calm, very collected, while inside she's still as panicked as that vacuumed hamster. A'lex is seriously worried about that wine... Jh'rin doesn't want to point out the sort of thing that's inside the wineskin is what's lead them to where they are at present. He offers A'lex the wine, not looking particularly happy about the prospect. Maylia glances up from her contemplation of the healer, wondering if she should get him to do the ever handy but completely useless task of boiling water. Doesn't do anything but occupy someone who's in the way. Shaking her head, deciding he's not in the way, and A'lex or Jhor might need such a distraction later, she speaks up. "Try taking deep, long breaths, Kassi. How're those contractions?" Duh. A'lex gladly accepts the wine, and downs a bit himself. "Love? Is there anything I can, uh, do?" Jhor inquires with even greater reluctance that what he showed relinquishing the wine. "Like, uh...uh..." Like not faint? Meli moves over towards the cot, ready to assist in the grand lowering, and smiles over at Kassi. "Y'doin' really well. Be over 'fore y'know it, luv." A'lex says "I can help you with that Jh'rin..." Maylia nods quickly as Kassi decides she's had enough walking. That's usually a good sign that things are moving along well. Maylia arranges towels and pillows on the cot, so that her Mentor can half-sit comfortably. As comfortably as one can, mind you, while trying to force something as large as a baby's head through where it's got to fit. "Alright, Kassi," she doesn't even bat an eyelash, as she would were she not in the old apprentice-healer state she's presently in, "Now would be a good time to lose some clothing. Jhor, A'lex, why don't you grab some blankets for her, to keep her warm?" "As painful as if'n m'innards were being torn out and tied into a child's feline's-cradle," Kassi replies succinctly. "I don't think walking's helping much." Expression softening just a touch--but not a great deal, because she does remember what and whom got her in this mess in the first place, and the wine gets a truly murderous look before she suggests, "Breathe, and hide m'knives from me? I think I should lose 'em a'fore I lose m'reason instead." She tries to smile, and not give away the fact that it's all too easy for her to picture herself trying to kill, or de-masculinize, every man in the room before too long. A'lex says "There's more knives? Shards!! I thought I got them all..." he looks at the pile of three.... THREE? Where'd he pull the third from? Ushu, though red of arm, sits himself down and starts writing on a bound set of hides, looking up every once in a while and studying the scene. "Hmm." Jh'rin knows this part. He can do the undressing thing. Placing his hands on Kassima, he starts to work at clothing. One hears, beneath his fingers, a little rip or rending of cloth. A'lex frets about the knives for a moment longer, then goes in search of blanket... Meli wrings out the cloth in the rosy water, and then gently wipes Kassi's brow with it. "Least he's good f'somethin'," she comments. "Once we get y'undressed, we c'n see how well you're doin', know whether it's time t'push yet or not." Kassima explains to A'lex, with a wince as some part of her clothing tears, "You forgot the one in m'jacket, the wherry-skewer, and the one in m'other boot. Jhor, love, be careful? Don't know if'n I'll ever need this stuff again, but y'never know." A'lex swears, puts blankets down next to the cot and works on stripping Kassima of all dangerous objects... unfortunately, her hands won't come off. Jh'rin nods rapidly, head bouncing up and down as he finally gets things free. "Yes, ma'am, careful, ma'am, yes you betcha." A'lex passes the wineskin back to Jh'rin. Jh'rin chug chug chug burp hiccup chug gasp gulp. "And *don't* call me ma'am," Kassi adds, with some force as another contraction hits. She gives A'lex a truly befuddled look as he tries to remove her hands, but is too busy trying to breathe properly to comment. "Isn't there some sort of gown thing I can wear or something? Oh, blankets. Right. Those'll do." She snares one and tries to get *herself* onto the cot, since the men are busy getting drunk. Typical, just typical. She mutters a curse or two under her breath, the sort that might not only make a Seacrafter blush, but *could* make a drunken Seacrafter who's just had his legs amputated after hearing that his wife left him blush. Meli gently tries to remove the removed clothing from Jhor's hands so that she can set them aside somewhere safe, even as A'lex disarms her. "Under th'blanket, now, Jh'rin, don' want her catchin' a chill." Jh'rin nods rapidly, shoves the wine at A'lex's chest, and puts Kassima where Meli directs. At present, he is rather easy to command and lead, like a docile old runner mare. A'lex takes the skin back, takes a hit from it, then checks for hidden daggers in and about Kassi's hair. Although he does it from a distance, seeing as she is naked and in labor and all... distance is a good thing, yessir! Maylia watches the wine disappear, shaking her head, and murmuring "Shards. Shells and Shards." They're going to get drunk. And pass out. Some help theyll be if... hmmm. They'll pass out anyways. Extending her arm to help Kassima down, she gestures to the two males actually in attendance. Ushu's not being counted, fussing as he is with notes and things. "Alright, how'bout you two give her shoulders some support." Not quite a command, not quite a question, either. Meli moves back towards the counters, collecting a fresh set of cloths and blankets for the baby, whenever it eventually arrives. "Maylia, how's she look?" A'lex says "Support?" You mean TOUCH her? "How?" Jh'rin has done THIS part before and sits beside Kassima, at the ready to offer his body and arm and whatever else (now the knives are gone) to give the mother of his child some assistance. Kassima sighs with relief, both at the help and at not having to stand anymore. For all one could tell, her knee-length, unbound hair *could* contain daggers... it would be just like her to stow one or two away in her tresses if she could. "Shells, shards, fardles, and bloody Faranth's golden effing excrement," she corrects Maylia almost absently, clutching at one side of the cot with whitened knuckles. "Why, why, why, why, why, why, why did I let myself get into this mess again?" Just because she's already asked that question several times tonight doesn't mean that she's arrived at a satisfactory answer. Maylia gives A'lex a -look- as if to say, I'm gonna look at my mentor WHERE? and you don't want to touch her? "Sit yourself behind the pillows, so she can lean back. And hold her hand if she wants it, I can always bandage that later." As descretely as she can, she nods back to Meli, then tells the soon-to-be-mom-again "Not much longer, really. You'll start to want to push, soon." A'lex says "b-b-Bandage?" But her moves to comply, ever good at taking orders. He grins weakly at Kassi, then hands the skin back to Jh'rin, "Here" Jh'rin shakes his head, as if trying to gather some of himself and be Brave. "I'll be fine. And I'll hold yer hand, Kassima." Kassima flashes Jh'rin a brief, genuine smile, probably the last that'll be seen from her this evening until the fun and games are done. A'lex gets a dark green glare that promises he *will* be singing soprano as soon as Kassi can get her knives back. "Good. Good. That sounds good," she mutters, leaning gingerly back against the pillows. "Hands would be nice, too." She can break them, and for once, she probably won't get punished by the Wingleaders for undue violence! That thought wins another wan smile from her, which is notably short-lived. She lets go of the cot long enough to take up any hands offered. Ushu leans forward, licking the tip of his writing stylus, squinting a bit to see. Suddenly, all color drains from his face. "It gets _that_ big?" he exclaims, before toppling over sideways and landing in a crumbled pile in the corner. A'lex flinches as Kassi applies the deathgrip to his left hand. Jh'rin kisses Kassima's temple and whispers, "It'll be all right, love. I'm here. I won't faint this time, not like I did with Rykel. I promise." Maylia turns, first to the corner at the solid *thunk* that the Healer makes as he topples over, then aghast towards Jh'rin. Now is *not* the time to be mentioning other women. Meli sets her pile of things on the far side of the cot, ready for the baby. She then moves around to the head of the cot, past the two men, and reaches down to return the cool cloth to Kassi's forehead. "You," Kassi informs the Healer in a voice that would and has sent V'dan and other wise males screaming desperately from her presence, "are a dead man." But even as she starts trying to get up to kill him as she so obviously wants to do, he faints, and she subsides into a long string of quite creative (and anatomically impossible) curses. "He dies," she chants, once she's run out of verbal ammo. "He dies, he dies. Just as soon as I can get up, he dies. And don't worry, Jh'rin. If'n you faint, I'll just break your hand." Well, no one ever said she excelled at this reassuring business. A'lex says "I won't faint, no sir..." Jh'rin looks panicked. Worried. Shocked. Terrified. Pale. Near fainting. Until that last bit. "Not me either, uh uh." Maylia, more casually than she would ordinarily think possible, sits and waits. Quite a feat, considering what the woman in labour is threatening to do to the hapless healer. With an attempt at being reassuring, she smiles at the remaining men. A'lex manages a grin back... Telgar Weyr> Maylia thinks it'll be a long, long time before I give birth. Thanks. Had to say that. Telgar Weyr> J'lyn grins. Better let Tas know that now, Maylia. :) "Feel like pushin', Kassi?" Meli asks, with a glance at Maylia at the same time, as if to inquire if it's time yet. Sure, she can stay relatively calm, it's not /her/ this time. A'lex grunts, "No, she definately feels like squeezing." Kassima doesn't look too mollified by that; she's still stewing, and the only break in her angry glower--stress such as this has a way of breaking Kassi's usual control on her temper, you see--is when she enters the next contraction, at which point her features contort in a horrendous grimace, accompanied by an extorting of the death grip on *both* hands and a suppressed scream. "That does it," she pants when it's finally over. "That *does* it. After this, either men will have to have the babies, or I will castrate them all. *All.* Each and every one. I don't know how I'll do it, but by shards, I'll find a way!" Telgar Weyr> Kassima says, "Oh, but Maylia, don't you want to have an excuse to break peoples' hands too? ;)" Jh'rin looks like he's about to scream, too; his hand is certainly being crushed into cinders, and he's allergic to pain. Telgar Weyr> Maylia considers this. And might change her mind... :) A'lex sits there and politely sweats... Telgar Weyr> Kassima says, "Politely sweats? No, I *don't* want to know." Telgar Weyr> A'lex laughs! "Yeeeessss," Kassi hisses at Meli, shaking her head irritably to dislodge sweat and rose-water soaked bangs from her eyes. "I. Want. This. Over. *Now.*" Will anyone be brave enough to tell her that she can only dream? Maylia talks softly to Kassi throughout, nodding politely to the threats Kassi's making. No, she doesn't point out that she'd rather one in particular was left fully male. The rest of 'em, be hanged, but she wants one left alone. She says totally useless things, things that were told to her to say, like, "Push only during contractions, yes, that's right, push, push, push, OK, breath, relax..." On and On. A'lex whimpers, staring at his hand, which is already showing signs of bruising, "Me too." Meli takes a moment to head over and check Ushu, resettling him into a slightly less awkward position, though she doesn't do anything else for him. "Jus' think about your lovely new baby, Kassi," she calls over. And then adds, "An' how many fun things y'can do to Ushu later." Jh'rin says quietly as he holds Kassima's hand, "Meli's right, Kassima; think about the baby, love..." Maylia grins a thanks to Meli as the older rider rights the fainted Healer. Perhaps she didn't do it out of former apprentice revenge, or perhaps she wanted someone who wasn't male in close attendance, just in case they didn't get all the blades away from Kassima. Since Maylia, at least, is being moderately helpful, Kassi allows grudgingly, "Mayhaps I could leave your bronzerider alone. *If'n* you let me castrate Solarith instead." She's not taking any chances, nope nope. "I can push?" Oh, good. That *does* mollify her a bit, and she even relaxes her Greenrider Grip O' Death for a moment. Of course, just when she's feeling merciful is when her muscles contract again, and she manages to tighten her hold somehow. "I know, Jhor, I know," she whimpers between breaths. "But this *hurts*!" If anything was going to make Jhor forget his own fear it is Kassima's sheer discomfort, and he says quietly, like the fearless man he is in Threadfall, "I know, Kassima, love, I know, but I'm here. Lysseth's here. The baby's almost here. We're all together and won't leave you. Promise." Unless knives come out, that is. The pain is outrageous. A'lex mumbles, "This is my punishment for enjoying that Ice Cream too much, isn't it?" "Promise?" Kassi pleads, trying to stay focused and *not* scream or threaten the lives of the peanut gallery like she did last time; she learned that doesn't help much. From where she's hovering near the entrance, Lysseth gives a quiet, supportive whuffle. "I suppose I can do this, then. But can I *pleeeeeeease* kill the Healer when this is over? Please? Please please please?" A'lex says "YES! Kill the healer!!" Jh'rin smiles, giving her a kiss on the temple. "We'll toss him into th'feeding pens right before Leilanth's next flight. That'll give him a sporting chance." Telgar Weyr> A'lex adjusts his Status. Maylia just lets the Solarith castration idea slide, being -relatively- certain that, this being much more difficult than castrating human males, she'll leave it to last. Continually checking on the progress, she keeps muttering advice as to when to push, and when not to, reminding her mentor to breath. At least once in a while. She doesn't say yea or nay to the idea of killing the healer, but instead asks, "If it would help, grasp your knees for pushing. But ONLY during contractions. Or, keep fracturing away, I think I can remember how to set hands." Telgar Weyr> Maylia giggles at the changed status for both Kassi and A'lex :) Kassima grumbles gamely, "That's so *impersonal*. But at least it'll be amusing. Can I strangle V'dan?" Why quit while she's ahead? A'lex's exclamation earns him an odd look even from Kassi, and she grips *his* hand with a little extra strength the next time she needs to push. "Don't wanna break m'legs," she gasps between breaths. She'll just break the men's hands, thank you. "How soon...?" Jh'rin gives Maylia a rather unhappy glance, then he grins. Could be worse. HE could be trying to force that thing out. Name Sex Position Status Idle Q -------------------------------------------------------------------------- * A'lex (M) Wingsecond YES! Kill the Healer! 1m * Alwyn (M) Resident 7m - * Halam (M) Stablehand Muckin'Stalls Wanna help? 1m * Kassima (F) Wingsecond < InsertApocalypseHere > 4s * Maylia (F) Greenrider < insertCENSOREDhere > 25s * Meli (F) Greenrider Any Dream Will Do 12m * R'val (M) Acting Wi2 Weyr Milkman Dan 7s * Tinya (F) Bluerider The prodigal daughter 7s ---------------------------- ( 8 players ) ------------------------------- Player Name On For Idle Doing Kassima 14:00 0s PlanningToKillAHealer,Doo-Dah,Doo-Dah. 60 Players logged in. Telgar Weyr> Kassima sets her @do, to the tune of 'Camptown Races.' :P ;) A'lex is slowly sliding to the floor due to the imminent implosion of every bone in his hand. With the happy, free hand, he unstops the wine again, and takes a nice big gulp. "'Rin?" he offers. "Not much longer, Kassi," Meli calls over after a quick look. "Startin' t'crown... Maylia, you'll support th'head, an' turn th'shoulder?" "Kassima, if y'break my hand, I'm stuck here," Jhor reports, by the by. "Can't take a busted hand /between/," A new tack. A'lex says "You can't? Kassi, that means Channie is here all the time too! If'n I can't go and see her!" Kassima asks hopefully, "Would that mean you'd be here t'change diapers and whatnay?" She's never really liked that particular chore, no matter how much she loves her kids. "And if'n Channie's here, she can't be spreading rumors at the 'Reaches!" So... the downside of these things would be, what? Maylia adds her voice to Meli's confirming. "Not long't'all." She nods, positioning herself to aid the delivery. Telgar Weyr> Meli pictures Maylia in full catcher's gear... Telgar Weyr> Maylia laughs! Telgar Weyr> A'lex says, "Put one right in here..." Telgar Weyr> Maylia's roomie didn't understand the concept of attending an online barbeque months ago. He's really having trouble grasping the idea of assisting a birth, needless to say... Kassima takes a deeeep breath, expelling it in a long half-sigh, half groan. "Nay much longer, then--" Her chant is broken as she leans forward with the force of the next contraction, and this time, *does* scream. Loudly. Piercingly. But at least that means the fire-lizards are drowned out for a second; their humming was really starting to get on her nerves. Benden LC> From deep in the weyr, probably from the infirmary, come the rebounding echoes of a particularly loud scream. Telgar Weyr> Kassima invites said roomie to create a female character and give birth online. It's fun! You get to scream and curse and threaten to kill people! :) Maylia simply nods, she's heard her mother scream, her aunts scream, and countless other women at Healer Hall scream. It's a fact of life. She just fixes her attention on the baby making a rather rapid appearance. Jh'rin clenches his teeth and glances past Kassima at A'lex, as if he's wondering whether the other male is suffering the way he presently is. A'lex's eyes are rolled back in his head, and he seems to be mumbling some sort of singsong phrase over and over to himself. A'lex mutters, "....don't you.... buy you a.... momma's gonna... ring." "I hate that song," Kassi informs A'lex raggedly, somewhat hoarse due to the fact that she probably just ripped her vocal chords raw. "Once more only?" she begs Maylia, as though the greenrider has the power to make that so no matter whether or not it's actually the case. Jh'rin uses his free hand to brush Kassima's hair from her face, and he whispers, "Just a little longer, then, love, and you can...." Stop breaking our hands. "Rest fer a while." Maylia nods quickly, if only for the sake of the two men present, and answers, "Only one more, just one more!" Assuring the greenrider of this, even if she thinks it might actually be two. A'lex starts to cry, whether from the wine, the pain, or the fear for his life, or any combination there of, he just lets loose, sniffling and snerking, tears streaming down his face. Maylia doesn't even bat an eyelash at A'lex's sniveling. He's a man, and can only be expected to tolerate so much. Besides, she's more concerned with the purply-gooey slippery head making an appearance, and getting the shoulders free next. Telgar Weyr> Maylia knows. Too much information. :P Telgar Weyr> A'lex says, "I was going to comment on your attention to detail..." Telgar Weyr> Maylia sorries for the too graphic details. Kassima gives A'lex a look of utter disgust, and Jh'rin's hand a quick squeeze, heedless of the fact that this is probably not the best way to demonstrate affection at the moment. "Rest would be good," she whispers. "All right, then. I can do this." Nodding a weary assent with Maylia's assessment, she steels herself and gives one more push, looking indeed as though her intestines were being torn out--and screaming like it, too. If that Healer manages to stay unconscious through a yell like that, he probably won't even notice when Kassi kills him. Telgar Weyr> Kassima just shudders. The mention of purple made me think of Barney for a moment, and *that* would really be a horror. A'lex looks up at Kassi, "Thank you for letting me be here for this, it's just... beautiful." Ok, it's definately the wine talking. Jh'rin is an older hand at drinking. He's not THAT affected. Besides, this is his child being born. He has other reasons for emotions. "One more push, love. And just...y'know. Bear down." Like he can -feel- his hand anymore. As it turns out, Maylia was wrong. Once more was enough, and she finds herself holding a black haired slippery little thing, which this early on only remotely resembles a baby. With a triumphant yell (despite not really having done much herself at all) she declares, "You DID it!" Accompanied by a SQUALL from the little one. As she lays the baby on Kassi's still swollen abdomen, she tells her softly, "It's a girl!" A'lex snerks again, "A girl..." Jh'rin no longer feels the pain in his hand. He doesn't, in fact, feel anything at all except what Maylia's words instill in him. "A girl?" he answers hollowly. Kassima collapses back against the pillows, gasping for breath and relaxing her grip on the hands--a grip one would've sworn it'd take the Jaws of Life to extricate either man from just a moment before. "A girl?" she echoes Jh'rin, looking amazed. You mean there was actually a baby that resulted from all of this? "A daughter?" A'lex unggghhhhs as the bloodflow returns to his hand and the pain returns. A'lex says "Congratulations." Kassima would probably slap the snerking A'lex, but she's entirely too awestruck by the tiny human being currently lying on her stomach to register anything else. Fortunately for him. Hey, that was a snerk of happiness... A snerk's a snerk, man. It's not like Kassi can tell the difference. Maylia quickly takes care of the necessities of a newborn, wrapping her up carefully. Surprisingly, given her distaste for babies, there is a tender expression on her face. "Thought about a name?" she asks, softly. But it was all wet and snotty with tears... Jh'rin gazes at the baby, then at her mother, and he asks tremulously, "Our daughter? We have a daughter?" One might even wonder if perhaps Maylia's softening to the idea of children. Despite what she just saw Kassi go through. Somebody better warn T'saren. Telgar Weyr> Maylia smirks. Y'all think Mya's hormones were in overdrive -before- huh? Telgar Weyr> A'lex FEARS... Tears and snot which had just *better* not be dripping on Kassi right now. Not that she'd notice, or care, even if they were. Struggling to sit up, she shakes her head. "Names? Names, what? Nay... nay girl's names, anyway... can I hold her?" She extends her hands, the fingers of which are turning red where her rings cut into them. "I think that's what this means, Jhor," she says, with a slow beam of purest joy starting to spread over her face. Jh'rin bends forward to kiss Kassima with utter tenderness, whispering, "Thank you, love." Telgar Weyr> Kassima cackles. *I'm* not about to warn Tas, nope. ;) A'lex just sits back and smiles at the little wrinkled face. Maylia smiles tenderly, helping Kassi to move the warmly wrapped baby girl as the new mother sits. "That's what it means, alright." Lysseth> Lysseth rears back on her haunches, wings spread wide as she raises her voice in a triumphant, crystalline *bugle* of draconic joy! Lysseth> Nraith warbles his congratulations. Lysseth> Tierth joins in the trumpeting, wings spread for balance, out of excitement, and congratulations. Kassima cradles the baby close, tears welling in her eyes as she stares down at her newborn child. "Thank *you*, Jhor," she whispers back, raising her gaze to meet his, still beaming in utmost delight. "Look, look--isn't she beautiful...?" "Just like her mother," says Jh'rin softly, meaning every syllable. "Just like her mother." A'lex sighs. Pondering Fatherhood? Naaaaahhhh. Dragon> Lysseth senses that Tierth projects a wash of congratulations, and excitement. << My rider is very *beyond happiness* for your rider >> It's incredible how pain can sober you up. A'lex says, "That's just amazing. She's so tiny..." Kassima laughs, raising a trembling hand to touch the baby's nose and caress her cheek. "Nay *just* like. In some ways, she's your spit and image... shells, what name can we find for her? She'll probably need one, y'know. The way of things and all." Maylia watches the couple, no trio, with a content little smile, not wishing to invade further. Her eyes dart to A'lex, and seeing the expression on his face, she nods. Because she knows just what he's thinking, and it's certainly close to what she's thinking. Telgar Weyr> A'lex kinda is partial to Jhorima... then she can be Aunt Jhorima and invent syrup for our flapjacks! ::grin:: Lysseth> Tierth senses that Lysseth's reply is given in a whirl of dizzying, iridescent silvers and golds, shot through with rainbow starbursts and mental pyrotechnics produced by the sort of joy that no other situation can match for this dragon. << My rider, >> she says in a voice that resonates with pride and delight, << is *beyond happiness* herself. I think she will appreciate your rider's sentiments, once she is capable of noticing anything but the hatchling! >> Jh'rin says lamely, "It doesn't matter what we call her, love. Anything you think of is fine." Telgar Weyr> Kassima says, "A'lex, I'm not currently inclined to kill you, but don't push your luck. ;)" Telgar Weyr> A'lex smooches a Kassi. Telgar Weyr> Maylia is partiall to Jhassila, or hmmm. Gotta start with a K, huh? Telgar Weyr> Kassima nodnods and has a name picked out. :) OOCly, anyway. ICly, Kassi's still thinking. :) Telgar Weyr> A'lex says, "Alexina?" Telgar Weyr> Maylia really hopes it's pronouncable, as most of what I can come up with that starts with K isn't... ;) There's a long moment of silence from Kassima as she gives this matter the consideration it deserves. Finally, a slow, almost impish smile replaces her 12,000-glow beam for an instant. "I think, considering who her father is, that there's really only one name that'd be suitable for her. What say you to Kharisma, love?" Telgar Weyr> Maylia oooooos, and likes it! A'lex grins. Jh'rin repeats slowly, as if testing the name on his palatte, "Kharisma? Like...oh. Oh, that's really pretty...." Maylia murmurs softly, "Kharisma," nodding slowly. Telgar Weyr> Kassima grins. When I realized it'd fit perfectly if you replaced the C with a K, I couldn't resist. :) A'lex whispers, "Khari... that's nice." Telgar Weyr> Tinya thinks 'Karin' might be nice, but what'd you pick, Kassi? Kassima nods firmly, the matter decided. "Then Kharisma 'twill be. Daughter of Jh'rin and Kassima, and more lovely than any girl on the planet--save a'course for her sister," she of course must qualify. Telgar Weyr> Kassima says, "Kharisma. :)" Telgar Weyr> Mehlani ack. :) Telgar Weyr> Tinya says, "Oh, good lord. That's awfully contorted, although I suppose it does technically fit. :)" Jh'rin, tired (though not as weary by near as Kassima, but half-drunk) and in some mandiblish pain, leans his head against Kassima and gathers her close, letting the moment for the three of them become closer and more personal. Telgar Weyr> Kassima says, "It was better than Khjorassimna. ;)" A'lex stands and makes his way towards the door, time to let the family be a family, if only for a while... Telgar Weyr> Tinya laughs. What _wouldn't_ be? A'lex catches Jh'rin's gaze and points to the knives on the counter. A'lex starts off down the long tunnel to the inner cavern. Kassima sighs quietly, a happy sigh, and rests her head against Jh'rin's shoulder. She is very, very tired, but the euphoria and wonder of the moment erase all memories of pain as nothing else could. "Thank you, love," she murmurs again, almost too quiet to be heard. "Ssssh, sleep," he encourages gently, making himself comfortable beside her as if not intending to leave anytime soon. Maylia quickly finishes up what needs to be done, being as unobtrusive as possible. After washing her hands again, she replaces her ring, and softly asks, "Anything else you need?" Kassima shakes her head wordlessly in reply to Maylia, letting her eyes close in the sleep that even adrenaline can't forestall for long. Even the baby is quiet, but then, she's been through a lot tonight too. Maylia smiles again, shields the glowbaskets, and assists a barely concious Ushu out. Maylia walks out into the bowl.