Xanadu Weyr - Weyrling Barracks
A long and roughly oblong cavern, about a third of the space is open, used for classes or chores as required. The rest of the space is filled with couches of varying sizes, all with plenty of space between them. Some couches are obviously intended for the very young weyrlings while the largest ones at the back are for the older weyrlings.
V'dim has decided to try something a little different this time with the weyrlings. Instead of the usual group lecture where he talks and everyone listens, then asks questions, he's decided to split the weyrlings up amongst the weyrlingmasters and have little one-on-one sessions with each of them for the mating flight lesson. After all, this was more of a private thing, where everyone's own personal experiences were going to factor in. So he's cleared out the barracks to prepare for everyone's little lessons. And now it's Thea's turn. V'dim sits at a table with some juice and cookies, his green sitting behind him, waiting for Thea's arrival.
Thea walks in with Seryth and strides towards V'dim's table - apparently one of the Assistants have briefed her. As the pair draw near, Thea gives the Weyrlingmaster a smart salute and a pleasant, "Sir." There's a slight smile for the teacher, too. Seryth croons a melodic greeting to Isobeth and settles to the ground, sprawling there to rest. Thea smoothly takes her seat and looks to V'dim.
V'dim is looking… well, like himself. With reading glasses on the end of his nose, and a clipboard in front of him. He's not sure if he's made the right choice here, because he's had to give the same lesson over and over again. He motions to the chair across from himself for her to take a seat. "Thea and gold Seryth, then?" He looks at her when she sits down. "Hello. Since you're going to be a weyrwoman, I have a special lesson designed for you. So bare with me." He takes a sip of his juice and looks over his notes. "So first the usual. You ride a gold dragons. Depending on the queen, she can rise once every one to two turns, sometimes less than a turn given her circumstances. Since Seryth hasn't had any problems we expect she'll be egg producing. Her first clutches may be small, or they may be full sized. Either way, she'll be taking the Xanadu sands once she's clutched and you will be effectively grounded. During this entire time from proddiness to when her eggs are hatched she will likely act out of the norm for her. But this is to be expected. Any questions about any of that before I get into the flights?"
Thea nods, to indicate she and Seryth are the pair he's looking at on is list, then rests her elbows and forearms on the table. As she hears the words 'special lesson' an eyebrow quirks slightly. Hmm. Her expression doesn't change, but she's listening. And thinking. "So you mean…" she speaks the words slowly as if she's thinking through all of the many facts they've been taught during Weyrlinghood, "…I can't leave her, even for a short time? If there was some emergency with say, a family member?" She doesn't look too pleased.
Not /that/ special of a lesson, Thea. Just different than all the other riders were getting. There weren't a lot of goldies around, obviously. And the weyr couldn't handle another junior flying the coop right now. V'dim blinks at her a bit. "Well no. Not necessarily. You can leave on another dragon or the like, but Seryth will not. Many golds don't even like to leave for long periods to eat or do their business. I'm assuming that Seryth has met her clutchmother once or twice, but she should also familiarize herself with the other golds in the weyr. Kilaueth and Avaeth are not as mild mannered as Ellamariseth is, from what I hear. There will inevitably be a time when she will be sharing the sands." He looks down at his clipboard. "Any other questions?"
"Oh, I see. So Seryth will be the one grounded, not I." Thea looks satisfied with that and hastens to add, "Not that I'd leave her long - or often." She turns her head to give Seryth a fond look, receiving a purring rumble in return. She nods at his next words, "She's met them all on the Beach a time or two." She doesn't sound concerned about Seryth sharing the sands, but does murmur, "Have they ever killed anyone?" She's half-holding her breath, partly serious. Likely she'd have heard about something like that, but…
V'dim nods to her. "Obviously someone else can take you to see your family, should the need arise." Isobeth is somewhat bored with the conversation. This lesson was boring since she didn't get to show off at all! He nods to her about the other dragons. "Good." Then he raises an eyebrow to her. "No, they've not killed anyone that I know about. Though Kilaueth has come close." He quickly moves on. "Now the flight business. Before your dragon rises she will move into a proddy state. This will affect both you and her. Each rider and dragon pair is affected differently. Some become more timid, some more open. Some like it, some try to hide it. Some become meaner, some nicer. You'll have a better feeling once you've gone through it once. Gold dragons especially tend to become more confrontational especially right before and during a flight. This is to encourage competition amongst the chasers and sometimes to scare or prevent the smaller males from taking part."
Thea doesn't look all that thrilled about Kilaueth, but she doesn't speak, choosing instead to listen to V'dim. She shoots a speculative look at Seryth, who is serenely taking it all in. Thea's lips twitch in a half-smile before she returns her attention back to the Weyrlingmaster. And lest he get the wrong idea, she shares her dragon's thoughts with all the innocent nuances of her voicemind, "Seryth says she likes races and the smaller ones can join hers, but they probably won't catch her." She's flashes Seryth a 'tolerant mama' look and shakes her head before wryly adding, "So the pair of us get to be the Weyr's entertainment for the day, eh? Won't that be fun." Slight sarcasm there, but she she's seen the way these things go in her nearly 2 turns at the Weyr.
V'dim removes his glasses to wipe them off on his shirt. Then he replaces them to look at Thea over them. "Well, whatever it is she likes to do. Most smaller males know that they're being out raced. Oh, and one more thing. Often greens skip the blooding, but since gold flight can last quite a while longer, it is unlikely Seryth will skip it. This can be hard on the rider depending on how squeamish you are, though you may be so lost in your lifemate by that point that you won't care." He clears his throat. Now onto the more personal part. "Of course once Seryth is caught you will end up in the same bed as the rider of the bronze. I'm not sure how long you'll have until Seryth's first flight, but if that sort of thing is meaningful to you, you ought to work on getting it out of your system sooner rather than later."
Thea shrugs, flippantly adding, "I've seen her eat. Doesn't bother me in the slightest. How bad can blooding be? It couldn't be any worse than helping my Da butcher the porcine he raised for the table." She is struck with a thought and before she can stop it, out it slips. "Good thing E'lgin didn't impress a brown or a bonze, cos he'd go coma." Her snickering dies out as V'dim mentions the results of the Flight, "Yeah, I've heard. More times that I'd like to have." And then she's blinking in a sort of confusion. "Get what out of my system, exactly?"
V'dim nods to Thea. "Good. Then we won't have to bring you out of a coma when your dragon sucks the beasts until they shrivel. It's a different kind of disgusting, than slicing up something you plan to roast." He gives her a brief nod, then raises a brow at her. "Get out any other non-flight induced sexual experiences. It is unlikely you'll remember much about that first flight. I find that the women especially tend to have issue with this. I won't ask about your personal preferences, but I figured I should warn you anyways."
S'ya knows exactly what's going on in the Weyrling barracks! The greenie walks in, her hazel eyes darting about the room as they land on V'dim. "Hello, Sir! Talking about mating flights then?" She has her network, her anything related to love making network! "Oh, Thea! Your turn to learn about the golds and bronzes, huh?" She says with a giggle, moving over to join V'dim happily.
"We did a lot more than slice up meat for cooking," Thea tartly replies, tacking a "Sir" quickly, and carefully respectful in tone onto that. "Slitting a carcass and draining the blood into a barrel is no picnic, I assure you. Although," thoughfully, "It didn't turn purple and shrivel up , but…" She's shrugging nonchalantly. As S'ya walks into the barracks, Thea nods and lifts one hand to wave a welcome to her, then listens to the rest of V'dim's explanations. She comments dryly, "Hmm. Not remember much… works for me." She leans back in her chair, appearing almost bored, "It's the way things are, not much I can do but just go with it, I figure." Her hands still rest on the tabletop, "Anything else?" And she gives the Weyrlingmaster and Assistant her sweetest smile.
V'dim raises a brow when S'ya makes her appearance, and he looks at her over his reading glasses as she sits down in the seat next to him. "S'ya. Something you care to add to my lesson, then?" He nods to Thea. "I'm sure you'll do fine with it then. Oh." He motions to S'ya, as if her presence makes him remember something. "Since there are female brownriders, there is a very very slim chance you may end up in bed with another female. Normally this does not happen, but it could." V'dim had certainly slept with other men before. Which seems a bit funny, considering his overly masculine appearance.
S'ya waves the issue of mating flights away, making herself nice and comfy. "It is actually rather nice, at least I think so. I feel the closest to Sophyrinth during flights, we really are one being then. You can feel every little thing so by the time, well, it is time for the deed you are totally lost to what your lifemate is feeling." She lifts up a finger with a grin. "Just remember to keep her in line though, the first time is always the roughest. They can get carried away and may even hurt themselves." She turns back to V'dim, giving him a smile. "Just that, love. I mean, sir. Sorry, old habits die hard. Oh yes, you might. Ysa slept with a female brownrider friend of hers from Ista." She announces happily, not really caring who she woke up next to after a flight.
Thea just sighs at the two instructors, "Whatever. I think I get it." Her composure is obviously strained, for she forgets to address them by rank, isn't aware that she didn't. "Saw the breeding stock in the fields at home and all that." She waves a hand wearily. Seryth reaches a wingtip gently to where it can nudge against Thea's shoulder, reminding her she is not alone in whatever is stressing her. She blinks at S'ya. "Control her? How do I do that if I'm taken over by her instincts? We don't get a practice run at this, I take it. What if she," Thea swallows hard, "gets hurt?"
V’dim eyes S'ya. "I don't feel quite as close to Isobeth during her flights. It's more of an out of body experience for me." He coughs a bit. "It will be rather hard /not/ to focus, of course. But you should try to keep your composure. You don't want her flying too hard, or too long. Or getting into a scuffle with some of the larger males who might hurt her accidentally. Otherwise she'll be spending the next few weeks in the infirmary, and you'll be grounded for even longer." He sets his clipboard down. "Since you'll be so in tune you'll be able to exert at least a small amount of control over her. And it will get easier with time. Some riders even learn to enjoy flights." Like present company.
Thea reaches up a hand to tighten on the tip of wing resting on her shoulder; Seryth croons in response, but her eyes remain riveted upon the Weyrlingmaster and his Assistant and she's nodding wordlessly. She smiles faintly at V'dim's reference to S'ya's so obvious joy regarding Flights, but her main concern is Seryth's well-being. "I won't let anything happen to her!" She says fiercely, almost in a whisper. Ice-green eyes flash sparks of agreement.
V’dim nods to Thea, then gets up to excuse himself. "I have only the utmost confidence that you won't." He picks up his things. "I suggest you take some time to explain in detail to your lifemate what will happen during a flight. How you think you will most likely feel, before during and afterwards. It is at least a bit of preparation for when the time comes. If you'll excuse us, then." He motions for S'ya to come with him, giving Thea one last nod.
Thea stands as well, giving the two a salute. "I will surely do so, Sir. Thank you." And she's moving towards Seryth, needing to be closer to the young queen. Together the two also head out tofind a place of solitude and do some much-needed thinking and talking. It appears the conversation has already begun by the preoccupied look on the rider's face.