[G] [F] 745.01.10| Underneath the Moonlight

The wasn't terribly late by the time Nonalia had made it to the dining hall for supper. She was a little on edge for the last few days, the glint to Laniath's hide growing more and more obvious as the days wore on. Her temper surely didn't help keep her rider from being entirely on edge since the week began. Hopefully a calm dinner would help, and then she could get a little work done before curling up in bed and having a good, long sleep. If she was lucky, Laniath would rise sometime tomorrow, and this whole mess would be behind them for at least another turn.

The kitchen staff didn't disappoint. Everything was warm, and moist, and perfect, and she-

Lia. The gold's honeyed voice purred at the back of her mind, and the woman's utensil paused halfway to her mouth. She felt her heart starting to race, but was that because of her, or the dragon her life was tied to? Come. The command harkened back to her hatching, to the first words she'd heard Laniath speak to her. She was about to protest, when that realization dawned, and she raced out of the dining hall as quickly as she could.

Please, please, please wait for me. She called back as she ran through the halls, not minding if she knocked anyone on their ass as she went. If they were in her way, it was damn near deserved. It only took a few minutes to run from the lower caverns to her weyr, but it felt like hours. She could feel that itching they'd talked about at lessons in the back of her mind, that need to crawl out of her clothes, her skin, her body burning up with the shared desire. She made it back to her quarters, throwing open the door without her usual care. Go! And bloody those damn herdbeasts only, don't bother with anything else.

Laniath didn't wait much longer than the acknowledgment that her rider was safe back in her weyr. She took to the skies with an earth-shattering roar, the red-gold of her wings sparkling in the moonlight. She flew over to the pens, blooding one- two- beasts, coloring her muzzle in a near identical red to that of the markings already shading her paws. She begrudgingly heeded her rider's parting words, emptying those two before rising to the skies once again. Satisfied, she roared once more, dragging herself higher and higher through the air.

She didn't speak, didn't call, there was no need. Anyone near enough would know, anyone smart enough wouldn't need words to chase. If any bronze was worthy, he could come and leave those flowery words behind.

Posting this early, as I stated in flight plotting, and I'm planning on rolling the winner around 2pm EST on Sunday. That should give everyone enough time to post their dragons so I know who wants in. And then it'd going to go into the awkward morning after with possibly the shyest goldrider on Pern. Take your time, have fun with it, and we'll see who wins come Sunday.

Xyxyth had, like many other bronze dragons, spent the last several days keeping an eye on Laniath. She was showing the signs of Rising soon and he didn't want to miss it. He'd even prepped A'tay for the Flight, knowing it would take a few days to convince his rider that there wasn't anything wrong with Chasing golds or greens regardless of who the human bonded to them were. He loved A'tay but the man worried too much.

When he saw Laniath head to the pens, Xyxyth gave an excited chirp and playfully headbutted Edath and Halomirth, his ledge companions that evening, out of the way. He got along with most every dragon, but he'd also learned over his short life that a lot of attitude came to the surface when dragons waited on a gold. It's time! Laniath is bleeding her prey.

A'tay was taking advantage of the cooling evening that still held some natural light to work on the carving of a lid to a memento box someone had commissioned. He still couldn't believe someone wanted to pay him for his work! He had yet to tell Cazan the news since he got it shortly after his last trip to Telgar Weyr, but he would soon. She had been the one to encourage him to put himself out there and trust in his own work. So he had by selling a few things he had made here and there when he had time over the last year. Being Weyrsecond to a freshly opened Weyr took up a lot of his time. But the patience paid off and someone had approached him with an idea and A'tay couldn't wait to set himself on the task.

Until Xyxyth had to ruin that. "Do we have to?" It was a conversation they'd had a few times already, but A'tay had to try one more time now that the moment was upon them and he wanted to do something else. We've been over this, TayTay. Why wouldn't we Chase? We're Weyrsecond and they're Junior Weyrwoman. It makes sense and they're fun. Winning is also fun. A'tay sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. While his dragon was developing quite the fondness for Flights, he also wasn't entering every single one and A'tay appreciated that. He supposed it would also look bad if they didn't enter given the positions.

"Fine, but try to give me a few minutes to tidy up before we have too much fun, okay?" A'tay didn't want to come back in the morning and find his progress smashed by excited or sad dragon depending on how the night went. He quickly packed up, setting everything inside on a table before checking what he wore. He wasn't wearing much, which was probably the proper dress code for a Flight and didn't bother adding or removing anything as he made the short distance from his weyr to Nonalia's as Xyxyth took off after Laniath.

We should Chase.

I'm sorry, what? I thought you said you wanted to enter a Flight. He clearly hadn't heard correctly, regardless of the fact that Geith was in his head and there wasn't a lot of noise around him. H'riru was visiting with a friend after delivering some letters for Igen Weyr residents from Ista ones. It didn't matter that he was a brownrider; he was recently graduated and didn't mind being useful with little tasks.

That is what I said.

But... you hate crowds and attention. This will have both, Buddy. Geith was many things, but top of the list were introverted and awkward. His dragon was happy to blend in with the background and H'riru supported it as that was where he liked to hang out as well, although he was a bit friendlier and outgoing. But Geith hadn't even entered a Flight yet, barely showing any interest. A few greens had at least caught his attention enough for him to consider it, but ultimately always backed down before even leaving his ledge.

Geith knew all of that and would have been happy to continue digging along the edges of the Lower Bowl until H'riru was ready to go, but he had already drawn some attention. A few dragons asked what he was doing and then prodded him about his lack of interest in Chasing their Junior Weyrwoman. He knew he was being goaded, but entering the Flight was becoming the better option with each second spent around the older dragons. He finally said he was waiting on his rider to be decent and give his partner some courtesy before having to bail. He had just done some of what he said out of order.

I know, but we can also kill anyone that laughs at us, Geith replied in his usual gentle tones that H'riru adored, even if it made such statements a little harder to hear the humour. All right, Buddy. If that's what you want, off you go. Be careful!

As Geith stretched and prepared to join in, H'riru finally turned his attention back to his friend with an apologetic smile. "Sooo, plans have changed. Wanna direct me down to your Junior Weyrwoman's weyr?"

You may want to put that somewhere safe, Adraith said, mindvoice pulling Sh’dar from his reading.

“Flight time, is it?” he said, marking his place in the book he was reading and setting it down. Adraith rumbled a confirmation, though now that Sh’dar was paying attention he could see the signs of something happening in the way other people moved around in the dining hall he’d settled in so he could maintain an endless supply of snacks while reading. Many people still seemed unaware, but there was an underlying energy that was building, even if most of them weren’t aware of it yet. Adraith, experienced bronze that he was, always knew early when a gold was ready to fly. For many reasons, Sh’dar found it a useful skill.

Sh’dar made his way from the dining room back to his own weyr to deposit his book and switch into a less favored jacket. He’d lost a number of books in the aftermath of Flights, and Sh’dar had little interest in permanently losing things he wasn’t finished with. He almost forwent the jacket, but unfortunately Sh’dar tended to get colder faster than he used to and decided to chance the extra layer, though he checked all the pockets for anything important first.

He checked his connection with Adraith, and from the dragon’s lack of urgency decided there was no need for him to rush heedlessly over to wherever Nonalia happened to be, and set off at a more leisurely pace. By then even more people had determined that a gold Flight was imminent, and Sh’dar nodded to several bronze and brownrider acquaintances as he made his way over to the goldrider’s weyr.

Adraith, long settled into a good position to wait, launched himself after Laniath as soon as the right moment came, winging after the pretty gold with his usual quiet focus.

Laniath of Igen’s Junior Weyrwoman is Rising, Iexikelth informed him. J’zaq, who’d resigned himself to an evening of boring paperwork, breathed a sigh of relief at the distraction.

“Did you want to join?” he asked.

Might as well, Iexikelth said. Give a solid showing from Ista. J’zaq nodded agreement. Even if his Weyrsecond’s bronze would also most likely participate as well, it didn’t hurt to have both of them there. Now that all the Weyrs were inhabited again, it was even more important to keep good relationships between them. And if it meant Iexikelth got to Chase more golds, well, that was simply a bonus, wasn’t it?

“Tell Thallyath she’s in charge while we’re indisposed,” he said. Iexikelth passed on the message, as politely as possible; she wasn’t his mate, but she was the Weyrwoman’s gold, and Iexikelth was old enough to remember when that would have made them mates. Given he was both rather fond of her and valued their working relationship, he didn’t want to sound too eager to go off chasing golds from other Weyrs.

By the time the message had been relayed, J’zaq was ready to go, and Iexikelth took off from the weyr ledge and blinked between to Igen and Laniath.

Ta'sin had been floating between Weyrs, keeping himself entertained... if that entertainment tended to come at the (gentle) expense of someone else, well, never had anyone claimed that Ta'sin was innocent. Of anything, really. Probably he'd been born a thieving little trouble maker - that's what his mother had always told him, anyway, and really, she would know. Conveniently, it was that reason that found him in Igen when one of their little golds decided to take to the skies. An excellent way to spend an evening!

Convenience? Really? Cernovith's voice positively oozed with innocence, and Sin laughed softly to himself as he watched from a lower level weyr he'd occupied for the last couple of days.

"Oh, I see," he laughed, watching as his dragon floated through the flurry of wings above, moving from where he had been lounging around by the lake, half dozing, to joining the others in the area surrounding the very lovely young gold. Sin rolled his eyes as he listened to his dragon waxing mental poetry - he wasn't prone to flooding a blooding gold with babble, after all, it hadn't done him any favours with the greens he'd chased.

Leaving his dragon to his internal wooing, Sin slipped out of his clothing, and pulled on a pair of lazy-day pants, and a shirt that had seen better days. Win or lose, he was planning to have some fun, but not at the expense of his clothing! Grinning cheerfully, Ta'sin bound out of his weyr, and slipped in to follow the others that were meandering their way towards goldrider whatever her name and rank was. Ta'sin wasn't really interested in knowing that information right now!

The sky filled with chasers, and Laniath delighted with the fine group that came to see her maiden flight. She rose higher and higher in the air, each beat of her wings taking her far above the heights of Igen Weyr, peeking up above the sparse gathering of clouds, before stalling and diving back toward her suitors. She spiraled down toward them with her wings held back against her body. She was shooting down toward the sands, toward the bronzes and browns following behind, reaching her paws out for her intended as she fell. With Geith in her grasp, she continued to plummet toward the ground, opening her wings at the last moment to catch them before they hit the sand.

At the same moment, Nonalia opened the door to her weyr, eyes singling out H'riru from where he stood. There was a hint of recognition, a memory from long ago, but it was gone as she pulled him in through the door. The others were shut out, left standing on the other side of the junior weyrwoman’s door to find their own release.

—

She woke up very warm. That wasn’t unusual in Igen, but she noticed the warmth was beneath the covers rather than in the still air around her. In the back of her mind, she was acutely aware of Laniath’s flight the night before, at least that it happened. She tried to stay in ignorant bliss a moment longer, until the body beside her shifted, and she couldn't ignore it any longer. Her face flushed red, the blanket wrapped around them brought up to her eyes to hide her face beneath it.

So you plan to simply lay there in awkward silence? I'm sure that will work wonders, my love. The gold was still curled up with her chosen suitor, pleasantly intertwined with him upon her couch. Nonalia would have stuck her tongue out at her, if she could see her from where she lay. Childish, but no one ever said she was the most grown personality wise. Shy, however, was said quite a bit. And prude, as untrue as it was.

She finally looked up at her bedmate, gazing up at the familiar freckled face of Hurirunarn- no, H'riru now, she had seen that hatching not long after her Laniath's own. They had grown up in close proximity, had been only a month or so apart, and with her mother being one of the creche workers, the pair had been in close proximity any time his own mother needed someone to watch over him. They may not have been close, but something about knowing the rider of her gold's flightmate before either had met their dragons made the blush on her cheeks darken noticeably.

"Hi," her voice was barely a squeak. The comforter was still pulled up to her nose, and the sound of her own voice almost made her want to pull it entirely over her head until he got bored or annoyed and decided to leave. She didn't, but the thought still played in her mind as green hues looked back into pale blues. "Uh, welcome to Igen?"

It sounded stupid as she said it, and the blanket did, in fact, rise up to engulf her head.

And the winner is;

Thank you to everyone who threw their riders into the fray! And now... onto the overwhelming awkwardness.

Why was he in bed when he didn't remember getting there? He wasn't really into the party scene and it had been years since he learned how awful the morning after being black out drunk was, so it couldn't be that. Besides, his head wasn't pounding and stomach wasn't ready to revolt. In fact, he felt pretty damn good. It was like a light floaty feeling that made him want to drift back to sleep--a feeling like after a good night of sex.

...like a good night of sex. Shit.

We won! Geith's tones were still soft but somewhat louder, which showed how excited he was. I guess we don't have to kill anyone, H'riru did remember Geith's easy comment about such a thing if anyone laughed at their attempt. Unless people found a brown winning to be humorous, but he hoped not. Geith's own sire was a brown and that was a strong and amazing clutch, if he said so himself.

You did it, Buddy! I'm so proud of you. He really was, even if he would have been fine with losing. It would have been a lot simpler, given everything that would now come of it until the Hatching. No, we did it. You were a big motivator with how determined and enthusiastic you were. He was? Whoops. Hopefully he hadn't done anything too embarrassing during the Flight, but H'riru could admit to having always found Nonalia to be pretty so it wasn't that surprising he'd be eager for her once the flight lust nabbed him.

At a softly spoken greeting, H'riru turned to see the goldrider in question. Yup, still pretty. He flushed at the thought, but why should he be embarrassed at such thoughts? He was in another 'off' period with Quiselin so it was perfectly acceptable to have such thoughts and be very naked in bed with another woman. Even if they were back on again, Flights didn't count as cheating--even though H'riru knew he'd still feel guilty if that ever happened.

When Nonalia welcomed him to Igen, he blinked twice in confusion and she hid under the blanket. That caused H'riru to laugh and lightly pull at the blanket. When that failed, his hand went to the remaining side that partially covered his torso and pulled it up so he could dive down under it and lie on his side, smiling at the goldrider. "I'll be sure to tell the Weyrleader and Weyrwoman how much I enjoyed my time in Igen."

But her words sat with him, and H'riru bit his lower lip in thought before finally adding, "do you mean it? Welcome me, I mean. I don't have any responsibilities in Ista, so I could put in for a temporary transfer until the Hatching. If you want us around, that is." The sire didn't have nearly as much to do as the gold pair, but it felt appropriate to offer all the same.

Where Nonalia was a ginger ball of anxiety, Laniath was calm and collected. She was the extrovert of the pair, the one always willing to introduce herself, and her shy little rider, to anyone willing to give either of them the time of day. When she knew her flight was approaching, she wondered how well the young woman would take the lust and the resulting awkwardness thereafter. Her enthusiasm during the flight had been a surprise, but not this reaction. She had expected her to be shy and nervous, to want nothing more than to hide away from whomever had been the one to catch her.

Relax, little one. I'm sure he'll only bite if you ask him to. Well, she couldn't help but tease a little, even as she remained tangled up with Geith in her own post-flight glow. It had the intended effect; Nonalia hissing softly, her face growing ever more red as she hid beneath the covers. The gold rumbled a draconic laugh and moved to brush her nose underneath Geith's chin.

It didn't help that H'riru was just as handsome as she remembered. They weren't particularly close, but they certainly weren't strangers, either. Her mother working the creche, and the rare occasion when his mother had needed someone to watch the boy, meant there were more than a few instances where the two were brought together by age and proximity. He'd always been nice to the poor, shy little thing. It certainly didn't help the still-darkening blush that colored her cheeks.

Neither did his laugh, and though she knew it wasn't really directed at her, she couldn't help the bit of a pout that jutted out her lower lip just slightly further than the other. Of course he slid further beneath it with her when his gentle tugging failed. Lia's vice grip on it didn't extend to his side of the thin little blanket. If her face wasn't the shade of her hair before, she was sure it was now. She could see all of him beneath under here, and fuck, was she a little jealous of last night Nonalia. "I'm sure they'll be glad to know your stay was satisfactory."

She chewed the inside of her lip, gaze dropping to her hands as she released the blanket. "I... I'm sure Laniath would like that. It being her first clutch, having the sire around would probably be helpful." She finally looked back up at H'riru, her face portraying a nervousness that she often tried to hide away. "And I wouldn't mind you sticking around, either. It'll be nice to have someone to lean on as things move forward."

H'riru gave another low laugh and grimaced. "Well, hate to tell ya, but we're in the same sinking boat. This was the first Flight Geith has even had an interest in joining so we don't even know what we're supposed to do right now." Sure, he paid attention to the lessons about Flights and the etiquette for before, during, and after, but it was very different being in the moment. At the time, sitting around in a class setting, H'riru liked the option of simply asking his partner if she was interested in riding out the lingering lust together or if he should leave. Now, with Nonalia inches away from him, it seemed like an unscalable mountain.

So he focused on the other awkward part of winning a gold Flight. "But we're happy to figure it out and lend a hand. Geith will enjoy providing Laniath with food and I'll... keep you company on the Sands? I think I might have the easiest task." It certainly wouldn't be a trial to spend time with a beautiful woman, even on the sweltering Sands. The time away from Ista and Quiselin would do them both good as well. Probably. Maybe. It was hard to think of other people so soon after a Flight and he was getting unusually fidgety.

He reached out to Geith and found his little guy sulking as he was wrapped up in Laniath. Really? You were happy minutes ago! Because we proved ourselves. But this is a lot of togetherness. I am not sure if I am a fan or not. Can we go soon? H'riru gave his dragon some mental pats with reassurance down the bond. When the ladies say we can. We're in their beds and their winners so we should probably let them decide. And later we can talk about this proving ourselves thing.