After Flight [Valerian]

He felt oddly comfortable, though he knew he wasn't in his own hut even without opening his eyes. Charath had risen the day before, and not really that close to the evening which would warrant him staying in someone else's bed. But, he had at least enough sense for long enough to put himself in a hut with some familiarity. Flight lust could be overwhelming, but Erisi dealt with lust on a daily basis (happily so). He could at least keep himself together long enough to occupy Valerian's bed. Shells, Erisi wasn't quite sure he had even ended up with his classmate - he had just wanted to be a big enough dick to steal Valerian's hut. It had been a little closer to where Charath had decided to rise than his own, which would be his excuse if Valerian waltzed back home and saw him in his bed with somebody else.

Finally, he opened his blue eyes and lazily looked over his shoulder to see who he had ended up with this time. Hopefully it wasn't M'bal, because he couldn't stand to be thought of as a goldrider again... though M'bal had proven to be a decent partner when he managed to temporarily conquer his I'm-not-gay attitude. He eyed the young man sleeping next to him, and decided that he simply didn't care, and flopped back over to get a few more minutes of sleep. The fact that he didn't care probably spoke wonders for who had been the victor of Charath's flight. If he did give a shit, he would have put his clothes on and walked out of the hut before his partner woke up... because that would be an unnecessary hassle that he did not want to deal with.

I got him.

'For Faranth's sake, Charath, I am trying to sleep!'

Good job using you inferior body to woo my Valerian.

'...Who the fuck taught you the word "inferior", and shut up.'

You. I grant you permission to use your inferior body to woo him further for me.

'Shut up, shut up,' "Shut up..." He realized belatedly that he had said that part out loud, as if verbal responses would shut Charath up more efficiently. That was never the case, but he could hope for one day in the future where it would work.

Smooth. Charath's voice was dark and mocking, and while she rested next to Veeth it was clear that she wasn't exactly cuddling with him.

'How's the hatesex?' Erisi mentally growled in response.

A means to and end, which you have now secured for me. Charath eyed Veeth with what was probably a tolerable disdain for the blue. He'd never actually win her over, but apparently it made him a fairly decent suitor in flights.

Erisi was definitely awake by now, and if he was awake, he was going to make sure that Valerian was as well. He nudged his nude partner with his elbow, rolling over onto his back so he could more properly converse with his friend. Secretly, he was truly relieved that it was Valerian with him over some unknown blue or brownrider, or shells, some of the ones he was familiar with and hated. The plan had been for Valerian to try and get Veeth to win Charath's flights - it sort of helped that Veeth chased after everything - but he didn't actually expect it to work. "Good job," he complimented, which was probably the only compliment Valerian would receive.

Shut up? Had he said something? Valerian woke at the words that didn’t entirely register so soon upon returning to the land of the conscious. He opened his eyes just enough to get a glimpse of the wall and while he didn’t have any discernable features in his bedroom, Valerian knew that was where he was. It simply felt familiar and while he had seen too many beds in the last turn, he still knew his own. It was a given there had been a flight involved thanks to tired he was and how sated Veeth felt as well. The strange thing was though that while Veeth seemed content and pleased with a win, he wasn’t entirely thrilled with who he was with. Not every win is about me, love. Well that was boggling.

Valerian didn’t really want to think on it and thought sleep was a better idea until he remembered there was someone else in his bed. He’d have to roll over to visually verify who it was but that was a lot of work. Thankfully the man spoke again and Valerian snorted. Of course it was Erisi. That made sense over why Veeth wasn’t entirely happy with his win and cuddling up with the female. “I don’t do anything less,” he tossed back at what he supposed was a compliment. With Erisi it was hard to tell and the man rarely gave them out.

You flew well, Valerian gave out his own compliment to the one that did all the work. His own desire to win the flight may have helped inspire Veeth but the blue did all the physical work and caught Charath before anyone else managed to. Yawning, Valerian rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling a moment before rubbing at his eyes and looking over at Erisi. “This is one flight I don’t mind waking up from.” There had been too many interesting and even shocking reveals for Valerian to handle in recent months and to have a win with Erisi was something that seemed normal and relaxed. It was well-deserved and well-needed.

"That," and Erisi yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth with his hand, "is up for debate." Apparently he couldn't allow Valerian to have such a total victory. He was sure his fellow Harper could be subpar - he just hadn't run into an occasion that proved his suspicion. For Erisi, it was guilty until proven innocent. Valerian always had a way of avoiding the young man's ire, and they had settled into a natural friendship that was somewhat baffling to Erisi. He didn't tend to keep friends for long. Before long he would push them away in favor of the next new shiny thing. When Erisi pushed Valerian, the other Harper only bended, and did not break. Erisi was silently thankful for that, which was another thing he'd never tell Valerian. Their friendship was easier when he didn't think about it and just had fun with his classmate.

"Same," Erisi agreed. "If you can't recall who won Charath's first flight, it was horrendous. It was M'bal." That was all Valerian needed to know. He assumed his friend was familiar enough with Katila by now to at least know about the bronzerider, even if he had never spoken with him before. "Win the next one and I will really have to start kissing your ass." Valerian was someone he didn't mind winning again and again. Erisi hated steady sexual partners, but with such limited stock at Katila, he had to adjust his lifestyle. Valerian was one of those exceptions that he didn't mind making. In fact, Valerian was his usual sexual outlet. Okay, he'd admit it, Valerian could get him really worked up, and knew by now how to get him off. It was nice and convenient, and fairly hot.

Wow, I did not expect you to follow my orders so quickly! Shall I give you some privacy?

'Fuck you'.

Ignoring his dragon, he focused on lazy conversation with Valerian. Charath would undoubtedly interject her opinion every chance she got, but he could at least tune her out. Valerian's voice was far more favorable right now, anyways. "Veeth's been on bit of a winning streak lately, hasn't he? Or at least it looks like he's been chasing after everything." Erisi couldn't argue - Veeth had won Charath, and Valerian was one partner he was happy to end up with.

There wasn’t any debate; Valerian knew he was amazing and did everything above average but he also knew it wasn’t worth the bickering or bitching that would ensue if he said anything. The topic of his greatness was dropped and Valerian was content to just relax a bit more before finally getting up since the sun against his curtains seemed bright enough to say it was approaching that hour of the day where lazy bones weren’t appreciated. Not that he really cared especially since he couldn’t think of anything pressing waiting for him aside from B’jin trying to pawn more papers to mark onto him. He really shouldn’t have marked that first batch out of boredom; he was stuck with the task for life now.

A questioning look was given to Erisi when he admitted to who won Charath’s maiden flight. In truth, he hadn’t even known that flight had happened. The pair must have been secluded for it to be so overlooked by everyone. If he had more energy, Valerian would have snorted in amusement at the parallels of their first flights. He had been alone with B’jin on the beach when Larrikith rose, making for a quick and easy win for Veeth. While it was still hard to think about without cringing, Valerian was glad Veeth had that win to bolster his confidence and break the dam for wins. Besides, if he had to pick a greenrider outside of Erisi, he supposed B’jin was a good one to be with. They were friends and they got over the awkwardness of the flight quick enough as well. Erisi, however, didn’t seem to have that luck.

“At least you can claim to have a bronzerider be your first flight winner. Even if it is M’bal.”  Bronzeriders were an interesting breed. Most claimed they were only into women but he had caught a few discreetly eyeing up other men or not being overly convincing when they complained about their dragon entering and winning a green flight with a male rider. Some people just needed to relax and go with the flow. It was far more interesting and easier as well. He was learning to do that with Veeth now as well. He still didn’t like entering every flight and Veeth tossing him into bed with seemingly everyone but he was coping with it. One day the desire to win everyone would wear off.

He hoped.

“Yeah, Veeth has fun with the chase and seems to want to show every female that he adores them,” Valerian knew better than to say Veeth also wanted to win all females at least once as well and took anyone who didn’t show interest in him as a personal challenge. It was hard to say how Erisi and Charath would react to that knowledge, especially since it didn’t really apply to them. Erisi was his friend and while the dragons didn’t care for each other, they did seem to care for the other’s rider. This win was something they could all benefit from. “Even with Veeth’s busy schedule, we’ll make sure to show up for Charath’s flights.”

"Is that something I'm supposed to take pride in?" Erisi inquired with a playful arch of his brow. Knowing the young Weyrling, he probably would rub it in someone's face that Charath's maiden flight was with a bronze dragon. He'd consider it making something good out of a bad situation. The flight had been awkward and a little humiliating - though that by no means indicated that he didn't enjoy himself. It was sex, of course Erisi enjoyed himself. The Harper was usually in someone's bed by the start of the night. He found it easier to sleep with someone than actually hold a polite conversation with them. He was not a social butterfly, and he liked being that way. It was fairly clear that Erisi saw no problem with his own behaviors, even if he ended up hurting someone in the process. "I suppose I'll take what I can get. M'bal is still a step up from most of the people in this sharding Weyr."

Veeth did seem to be coming into his own lately, as in he wanted to be with every female possible. Erisi couldn't blame him for it, and liked to think that because Veeth was so open Valerian also was more than willing to sleep around with him. Valerian was about as steady a bedmate as Erisi would ever have. It was sort of nice to have someone who knew exactly how to get him off. "And I'm sure he's charming enough for every,' he paused for a moment, and corrected himself, "almost every female to want him."

And only because Valerian is clearly the far better half. He outweighs Veeth's numerous and headache-inducing faults.

Erisi didn't scold her, mostly because scolding her would likely only make her worse. He'd rather have her ire turned towards Veeth than himself. Veeth could put up with it, Erisi would throw a fit. Perhaps he wouldn't throw as much of a fit with Valerian around to either calm him down or tease him for letting Charath ruffle his feathers.

"So did that uh... thing," and he waved his hand dramatically in the air, "with Talian ever sort itself out?" Clearly he wasn't going to go to Talian to ask how he was. Erisi was going to keep his head away from any sort of emotional conflict. The young man lazily slipped out of bed, though he admitted that he'd far rather stay than do anything right now. Sharp blue eyes looked around for his clothes, and at least finding his pants he shoved those up his legs, though he wasn't adverse to Valerian seeing him naked. He was beginning to think he was more naked than clothed with Valerian.

A thing with Talian? Valerian wasn’t sure which thing Erisi was referring to. There seemed to be a lot that could be linked to his friend. Talian had to deal with being a brownrider in the making, he had been accused of poisoning D’ren, he had a horrible flight experience with Valerian, there was the birthday mess, and then there were feelings neither of them knew what to do with. Valerian decided to go with the birthday mess that was caused by the tension between him and Talian since Erisi was around for that and everything else wouldn’t have been noticed too much by the green weyrling. Erisi was a fun friend and interesting man but he didn’t handle drama and emotions all that well so a glossed over story was given. “It did. I think everything’s more or less advancing beyond that thing now.” Details would only lead to questions and Valerian wasn’t sure he had all the answers now either.

He lazily watched Erisi saunter around the room to find his clothes, no intention of his own to move. It was a bit unusual to see Erisi so quickly getting dressed with him. Valerian knew how his friend was with other people after sex and how the green weyrling wanted to get out as soon as possible but their relationship was far more relaxed and left them naked together in bed far more than was usually expected. Then again, it was morning and the day likely held tasks for them both that shouldn’t be neglected. Valerian didn’t think he had anything important to get to but lately it wasn’t worth risking a long lounging in bed with S’kef in charge and looking for someone to blame for D’ren’s attack. Valerian was convinced the brownrider would pick someone at random soon just to end the hunt and make himself look all the better.

I would like a bath when they leave. Valerian rolled his eyes and glanced off in the direction of where he knew the blue was sitting. You always want a bath. His dragon was slightly vain and loved to look his best. Valerian was convinced he was going to have a better body than some of the other older blueriders running around with how often he was scrubbing a pretty blue hide. …I need a bath, then. That was the usual retort when they got into the light bickering over something Valerian didn’t really mind treating Veeth to. It was just a little routine they had picked up. You always say that as well but we do have time to head to the river in a bit and get you sparkling.

“It seems like my morning will be finished off bathing Veeth. Any major plans waiting for you today?” He wasn’t inviting Erisi to come along with him; they had learned before that Veeth and Charath near water and mud didn’t mix too well. It was just general small talk as he stretched out a kink before meandering around the room to help sort out clothes.

Valerian's answer was simple enough to satisfy Erisi's curiosity, and not so long-winded that he got irritated and wanted to find a way to shut Valerian up. Of course... he could think of a few good ways to do that right now, but he'd save his energy for another time. Erisi's interest in finding out how things had gone after the fight had been more small talk than anything else. All Erisi wanted to know was whether things were well between them or bad so he could act accordingly. Erisi viewed Talian as a bundle of fragile emotions that he did not want to get near enough to harm or be harmed by them. If Valerian wanted to continue that friendship, he had no issue, he just didn't want to get too deeply involved.

"Mmmm, I'll probably get roped into doing something today. They probably think I've been slacking as of late." Which he had been. When Erisi was truly interested in something he did take very well to it, but being a dragonrider had never been on his initial 'game plan'. Erisi had adjust slowly to the change, and now his only interest when it came to dragons was Charath and the few other dragons he liked. Charath wanted him to succeed, but Erisi would far more enjoy a life of bar hopping and singing to earn marks. Her pressure was the only reason he wasn't a complete failure, or worse, had ended up like one of their more unfortunate classmates who was lost between.

"I'll probably bathe Charath later," when Veeth was no where to be seen. Charath would be sure to sabotage the Blue's bath, in fact, he could hear her 'malicious' thoughts drifting over to him. Charath probably just wanted a bath to wipe Veeth's scent off of her.

With Valerian helping him sort out pieces of clothing thrown across the floor, Erisi was quickly dressed in his attire from the previous day... which meant he'd be heading straight back to his own hut to change into something a little more fresh, or at least didn't smell like sex. "I'll see you tonight, then," which was a promise. Which also meant that Valerian probably shouldn't make too many plans for the day. If all he had to do was bathe Veeth, then he'd certainly have ample time to attend to Erisi's needs.

No rest for the wicked? Charath asked with a mental roll of her multi-faceted eyes.

Erisi passed by Valerian with a sly smile, thinking to himself that he could have kissed Valerian to convince him to keep his evening open, but then realizing that he really didn't have to. The young man dismissed himself from his friends hut, and since Charath was eager to leave Veeth's side, it didn't take too much to convince her to take them back to his own hut.