Who

Kelati, Odesse

What

Kelati is looking for stuff on the beach and ends up being recruited for a medical procedure instead!

When

It is midmorning of the first day of the tenth month of the eleventh turn of the 12th pass.

Where

Southern Weyr - Beach

OOC Date 21 Aug 2017 05:00

 

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"I hope," she says hesitantly, "that is not his name."


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Beach

An eerie mirror, the glass-quiet Sea of Azov: the clear waters stretch along the dark-pebbled shores, and along this narrow beach. Here the faintest lap of waves belies the calm beyond; here the rocks have been ground down into finest, softest sand - those observant would mark upon the similarity between it and the sands of the hatching grounds. The soft sand soaks up summer sunlight as a sponge; painfully hot during the warmer months, it is only truly pleasant at wintertime. Rocks rise to east and west, lichen-limned and green against the abyssal darkness of stone.

It is the sixty-first day of Spring and 86 degrees. It is sunny and bright. The skies are clear.


Clad in toe-rings and flowing skirts doesn't make her look an oddity in Southern, though the way Kelati is choosing to spend her morning might: she is walking along the shore until she stops, leans down, picks up some sand, puts it in a medium-sized box she's carrying with her and then repeats the process. Occasionally she glances over her shoulder at the ferry, currently unoccupied, looking annoyed — maybe she was expecting a boat trip that isn't happening. Then her attention is caught by a specific larger rock, and she lets out a triumphant "Ha!" before putting that in her box, too.

And swimsuit clad Odesse definitely isn't an oddity on Southern's beaches, especially since the dolphineer is currently in the water doing her job and it would be weird if she was wearing normal clothes for that. A trio of dolphins are in front of her, two larger and one definitely a calf. It's the baby that's the focus of the blonde's current attention. "Op, Fuck! Get 'im to hold still!" There is more cursing as well as the blonde tries to struggle with needle and thread and slippery dolphin flesh. There's a thin gash across the calf's head and he keeps giving some panicked squeaks.

These are not the river dolphins of Kelati's childhood, and so they are a little odd, but just to her. However, as she approaches they certainly provide more intrigue than collecting smooth sand and finding the right kind of stones to heat — not entirely just because they are dolphins, but also because of the words of their handler. "I hope," she says hesitantly, "that is not his name." What she means is 'fuck,' though that may not be clear.

Fuck might as well be his name at the moment. It's definitely the word coming out of Odesse's mouth the most at the moment. She ever so briefly takes her eyes off the wound in front of her to glance at the backseat healer. "His names Cas. 'N if ye feel like being useful… I could use another pair of hands." The two older dolphins have their flippers full trying to keep the little one in place. And flippers aren't much good for holding a wound together anyway.

"A … better, if not presently more suitable name," Kelati determines solemnly, then seems to think about it for a half-second. She doesn't know much of anything about dolphins besides having had a conversation with a river calf or two as a kid — that doesn't mean she can't provide help, does it? "If I can, I will, sure, what do you need? Besides probably my putting the box down," Kelati puts the box down. Away from the water, even.

"I just need ye to hold," Odesse doesn't need a lot from the impromptu helper. Literally just needs a pair of hands. She's going to nod her head to where one of her hands currently is. The one without the needle. "Here. So I can make sure I do this right." Dolphinhealing isn't her specialty. The journeywoman is much better with maps. Luckily though the wound isn't too serious, just long and at a very awkward placement.

"Okay." Good thing Kelati is the agreeable sort, even if she isn't the most trusting, because she's doing just as instructed. She has touched dolphins before and so she's not surprised by the wet smoothness of their skin, but it has been a while. "Hopefully he doesn't mind the stranger's touch — hi," she tells the dolphin, polite, "I'm Kelati." That introduction could go for Odesse as well, but she was more concerned with the sentient being whose wound she is helping hold. It's nice to know people's names when they're touching you, especially injured.

Odesse also tends to be the agreeable sort, even if this first impression might not give one that idea. Apparently Kelati's holding skills pass muster as the journeywoman is going to continue with her stitching. Much quicker now and with much less muttering. Cas doesn't seem to mind a stranger's touch. And with the extra pair of hands, combined with the holding skills of the two other dolphins, he's actually still. "Odie." That might be her name. Or one of the other dolphins. (but it's totally her name, or what she uses most often). Attention is mostly on the work for the moment. Just a little bit left now.

Kelati isn't going to assume, and so her decision is to simply go with, "Nice to meet you all, even if the circumstances are — different, maybe a little unfortunate," with deference to the fact that Cas is injured and probably uncomfortable. She gives him a few scritches, though, hoping that maybe she can make the strange hands a more pleasant experience. "You know what happened to him?"

"He thought he could fit somewhere he couldn't," Odesse will elaborate for the reason of the wound right as she gets the last of the stitching done. "Opo, three days." The largest of the three will click her agreement. "Three days. We'll be back." She's also hanging close to little Cas. The calf is looking a bit sleepy after his ordeal. It's been a lot of excitement for the young one. The third dolphin however, is going to slip away for a bit, which doesn't seem to phase the dolphineer. "I'm Odie. Or Odesse. Forget if I introduced myself." She doesn't list her craft though, cause that's obvious, right? "Thanks for the help." And now that the tricky business is done, the woman is all smiles and sunshine and no cursing to be seen or heard.

"It's no trouble, it was a very — interesting sudden experience," Kelati says with a continuation of that measured hesitance, her demeanor the opposite of someone who speaks very quickly when nervous. She embraces talking extra slowly and carefully when nervous. "Must be troublesome to start out little and not know how big you're getting until you find out the hard way. Poor little guy." Getting stitches removed as a dolphin calf likely isn't fun either.

Odesse laughs a little at that. "Interestin' 's one word for it." She can nod her agreement at that. "'N they grow fast, so they can get into trouble quick." As poor little Cas demonstrated. He couldn't be more than four or five months old. Luckily getting stitches out is a lot easier than putting them in! And quicker. "So, Kelati, what do ye do around here?" The woman's going to put what is left of her thread and needle in a pouch she's been wearing.

Removing stitches is essentially painless, if a little itchy, but Kelati is lucky enough to not know that. Burns, she's had plenty — her feet are not even noticing how hot the beach sand is — but stitches, never. "Sea dolphins are cuter than river dolphins," she points out quietly, as if this is something terrible to say. "I have a stall at the boardwalk. Soaps and lotions, I'm learning candles, too."

And it's about this time the mysterious third dolphin comes back. In her mouth, there's a large shell. One of the kind with the pretty nacreous interiors. And she's going to swim to right in front of Kelati and wait as if she expects the woman to hold her hands out. "Looks like yer gettin' a present." Odesse is going to point out as she rubs her hands together in the ocean water. It'd kinda like washing hands, right? There will be some soap washing later, but this will do for now. "'N don't let them hear ye say that. Flatter 'em 'n you'll never get 'em to shut up." There's a little eyeroll and it's probably a good thing Opo is concerned with seeing to Cas or there'd probably be a demonstration of just how much they love to talk.

Salt is definitely an ingredient in some soaps, Kelati could tell you that! But she's distracted from hand-cleaning by dolphin presenting, and after giving Odesse a nervous smile for her proclamation, she extends her hands as expected. The smile doesn't get wider, but it does get a bit brighter. "Very kind of you," she tells the returning dolphin, sounding a bit less apprehensive.

Once hands are held out, the dolphin will drop the shell in the outstretched hands and gives a "Tanks!" And then flips on off. She's got dolphin things to go do, along with the other two. Now it's just people on the beach. "If yer a trader, I guess I don't need to tell ye what all ye can do with that." Odesse grins. Never mind that the woman was walking along the beach collecting rocks. Surely pretty, pretty shells could also fit in that collection.

"You're welcome," Kelati calls to the parting dolphin, then gives the shell a thoughtful and pleased once-over. "Oh, I intend to keep it; I wouldn't sell a gift." The rocks, on the other hand … well, those were actually meant to be sold. Unlike the sand. That's an ingredient. "There's a shelf over my bed I think this will suit much more nicely than bringing in profit." Likely, there are gifts she would sell, if they were bad gifts. This isn't one.

"There are also some crafters that take it 'n make it into some jewelry," Odesse may know this fact because she has sold those shells more than a time or two. But they're also not gifts normally when she gets them since she goes and dives for them herself. Gotta make some extra marks somehow, even if all she spends it on is booze apparently. Definitely not spending it on clothes. "Or smiths can use it as an inlay. Or ye can just put the shell on a shelf." She shrugs. Her decoration is pretty much maps, which is all work related and boring.

The idea of jewelry certainly seems to appeal to Kelati; her eyes brighten even more for a half-second before she blinks to control it. Clearly, it wasn't something she had considered prior. "Oh, that's an idea. If I can find someone willing to trade for putting a chain on it for me, maybe they'll want some soap. Or candles." She is determined to get good at candles. "Real smiths, I'm not sure I know any anymore." She has to stop and think about that one. "Have any need for sand soap? You helped me find a good spot, if inadvertently."

Odesse laughs lightly. "Traders trade." The fact that she's having to explain this to a merchant seems to make it especially amusing. It is in the name after all. "'N they're in the smiths' wing, up in the craft complex." The journeywoman waves a hand in the general direction. It's not a helpful gesture considering most of the Weyr is that way. "Just poke yer nose in 'n ask." Shyness is not a trait this particular woman has ever had. "Sand soap? Like, the normal kind or the smell good kind?"

"It's very nicely smelling, or so I'd like to think; I have a few different scents. The additional sand is used to remove dead skin and leave it feeling fresher. Has to be just the right sand, though, hence my pickily beach-hunting for the correct feeling stuff." It's smooth and black, mostly, and Kelati has a box of it. But also good, solid, smooth rocks. "It's more I'm not sure any of the jewelers haven't already got anything of mine they'd want." She has a lot of jewelry. She has a problem. She's just not displaying most of it.

"Eventually they gotta use up the sand 'n will need more, right?" Odesse winks. One of the perks of selling a disposable good is much more repeat business, right? But she does consider the offer for a moment and nods. "I could use some different smellin' stuff. It's nice to not smell like the ocean ever now 'n again." As much as she loves the ocean. "'N is there anythin' particular ye look for with the sand? I map the coastlines." So she knows all the beaches. Or at least a ton of them and all the ones easily accessible from Southern for those that aren't dragonriders.

"Oh, I hope so. Unless they actually all hate it, though I haven't had complaints." Kelati hasn't been around too long, either, but getting compliments and not complaints is still the most important part! Even if it is miraculously easy to typo one of those for the other. "See the way some of it gets darker, and it's got that different texture right by the shoreline? It's still sand, but it's sort of soft and … mud-like, at the same time. That's it, it's also wet so annoying to transport, but," she shrugs, "Well I would not ask you to bring it to me. But it isn't found everywhere so if you notice any," Another stop rather than trail off, but the end statement is implied as Kelati swings back to a semi-previous topic. "What sort of scent do you like?"

"Ye got a shop on the boardwalk, right?" Odesse has been paying attention all along and with her finely tuned navigational skills, she's pretty certain she can match up this woman to a stall when it comes time to go investigate all the soaps. "I can at least mark the spots that could be promisin' on maps for ye. So ye don't waste as much time exploring things that aren't. But for now, I gotta go work with a pirate." The journeywoman rolls her eyes at the last bit. Even if the excuse isn't completely serious, the leaving is as the woman is waving and heading off towards the direction of the docks.

Kelati nods, possibly once or twice more than a normal person might nod yes — it's the enthusiasm. "I do. I'm pretty easy to find, even if pretty much in the middle," she says with a little grin, "I apparently have a lovely scent that wafts." That's a quote from a satisfied customer! "And I'd very much appreciate that, happily in exchange for a non-ocean-scented soap. Oh! Yes, I'll see you later, bye, I — er." Odesse has turned away by the time Kelati has processed the fact that she said 'pirate,' and undoubtedly the girl will be wondering later if she meant a real pirate or just someone who made unfair deals.

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