Orbit Like Moons
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Avery, Yvonne
Date Posted: 3rd August 2024
Characters: J'nus, Kapera
Description: Riyanth and Kopth help their riders take an important step.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 11, day 18 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: D'hol, Timassa
J’nus was reading her a sexy novel, but for once Kapera wasn’t paying attention to it. She had been at first, mentally replacing the male hero with J’nus - but that just led to thinking about J’nus, about wanting to throw aside the book and slide down his body and set her mouth on him till he took control and flipped her over.
By no means was she keeping herself entirely monogamous to him. She still craved the occasional variety of hooking up with a someone who wasn’t him. But now she always turned them out afterwards instead of letting them stay over for morning sex. The days of a different man or two every sevenday and of wild threesomes were well behind her. When she slept with someone, it tended to be with a previous dalliance, or with a visiting individual who didn’t live at Barrier Lake. And sometimes it wasn’t just sevendays apart, but _months_.
It wasn’t just physical, either. Oh, the physical was a benefit! The sex with him was fantastic. He blended the skills of an older experienced man with an intense familiarity with her own body and her reactions and likes. He knew how to play her like an instrument.
But other men just didn’t feel like him. She didn’t let them stay over because they weren’t _right_ when they spent the night. They wanted morning sex, but they didn’t let her initiate it. They didn’t know the way she preferred to sleep in bed and would undignifiedly sprawl all over her or push her out of her spot. They didn’t remember to call for the right breakfast juice. They put their clothes in all the wrong spaces.
She certainly never went out of her way to put extra effort into spending time with them, either. She’d bring D’hol klah or food sometimes if they were going to work together on a long project. But she never ducked into his office for non-work reasons, even with it right there. Never went in to sit and do hidework together companionably. Never locked the door and took a few minutes to distract them both.
And she’d noted another thing - Riyanth _never_ allowed their dragons to join her, not even the bronzes. Out in the Weyrbowl and rim, she’d let bronzes lay court to her and snuggle up to them. On her own ledge, however, she would often share with Yumath, if he wasn’t with Saryolth. They were mated, after all. But the only other dragon she allowed on her own ledge was Kopth.
He was an observant man. Surely he’d noticed how he was the main one in her bed, that others had decreased. (Assuming he tracked them. He never verbalized jealousy to her. Perhaps he didn’t know? Or perhaps he accepted it as her due and so said nothing.) Surely he must have noticed Riyanth’s behavior. Perhaps he was already aware of the changes in her behaviors over the past Turn - or was it Turn and a half? Perhaps he already knew what she was thinking. Maybe _he_ would suggest it, and she could say yes to him, and she wouldn’t have to say anything to him.
Riyanth started a soft croon as her encouragement. }:He waits for us to make our choice, as all bronzes should. There is no one for him but you. You mate others but have no heart in it. You should claim him.:{
**You won’t claim Kopth,** she thought back.
}:That is different. Yumath and his rider are good leaders for the Weyr. I think you need a person who is just for you, not for you and the Weyr both. And Kopth’s rider is good for you.:{
For so many Turns, they had orbited each other around each other like the moons around Pern, pushed and pulled at each other like the moons did the seas. At Dragonsfall they’d gone from distant to close - till she’d gotten ill and had to leave. Then she’d been too ashamed to see him and had rebuffed him at Windswept Islands whenever he tried to visit, feeling like she couldn’t separate her feelings from him from the disaster she had been at Dragonsfall, feeling like him coming after her was a trap. Next, they’d reconnected at Dolphin Cove and become close again, especially after Riyanth had been flown by Kopth - but she’d pulled back and been secretly relieved when the second time it was Yumath, since she was worried he was trying to pressure her into monogamy with him.
Then they’d gone together to Barrier Lake, spent more and more time near each other. She’d waited for the feeling of pressure and confinement to close it. But it hadn’t. Not after Riyanth rose the first time and he lost. He hadn’t put more work into seducing her to ensure Kopth would win next time and he would achieve the bronzerider dream. He hadn’t decided to pull back from her either and turn his affections elsewhere. To someone who was older than her, more stable. Who hadn’t failed before. Who didn’t flaunt her sexuality and her conquests. Someone who could be a nice domestic who’d always be home for him at the end of his day. Someone who -
}:He is not like that. He does not want that,:{ Riyanth interrupted. }:Every time you fly, you choose your partner. It may be temporary mates, or it may be a forever mate. He will not pressure you for fear he will lose you by caging you. But if you make him your choice, J’nus will stay. Because he wishes for you.:{
**Have you been talking to Kopth about this?** she asked, wondering if they were scheming. And then it hit her - Riyanth had used his name. Had she ever used a man’s name before? She couldn’t remember now.
Riyanth stayed silent in her mind, but crooned harder, loud enough to echo into the weyr, loud enough to disturb Kopth against her.
“I’ve been thinking,” Kapera said before she could talk herself out of it. “What if we made this permanent? Really permanent.”
J'nus looked over at where Kapera lay on her side beside him. It was late and their dragons were curled together on the ledge, just like they were curled together in her bed. The furs draped elegantly across the dip of her back and he could see the curve of her calf from where he was propped up on pillows.
J'nus set the book he'd been reading aloud aside. "What prompted that question?"
“I’ve been thinking about it for. Awhile,” she said, leaving the timing ambiguous, afraid to confess just how long it had been. “But Riyanth is bothering me to tell you now, and - you know how they are.”
**Dragons.** Her weyr already felt like home in a lot of ways. He spent most of his evenings with the goldrider, and more often than not he'd share her bed instead of heading back to his own weyr.
But he didn't want to impose, either. There was still a part of him that felt like Kapera would change her mind at any moment. She was beautiful and smart and so much younger-- he was still surprised that she hadn't found her attention caught by a man closer to her own age, one without the lines beside his eyes and grey in his hair. Selfishly he loved that she loved him. He didn't feel like he was entirely worthy-- and yet, there she was, lying beside _him_.
There was very little that he wouldn't do for her, up to and including packing up and moving his clutter of a weyr. After a nomadic childhood having _things_ was a comfort, and he dreaded having to pare down his belongings to fit in with Kapera's well ordered life. But he'd do it.
"You sure about having me here permanently?" J'nus asked. "You won't miss having the space to yourself, or the ability to get rid of me when you want the whole bed?"
To avoid speaking about her big feelings, she went for a joke.
“This weyr is palatial. It’s certainly big enough for the both of us. I think it’s bigger than any other Senior weyr I’ve ever been in. There’s surely space for us both to have some private time if we need it.”
}:My rider is being foolish because she is scared to say she chooses you,:{ Riyanth said, bypassing Kopth to speak directly into J’nus’ mind (though she let the bronze hear as well).
He stilled. Had another dragon ever spoken to him before, let alone a gold? And that _Kapera_ was scared to say what she meant? He felt off balance, like he'd been standing on solid ground and was now falling through the air. **I...**
**I do.** He shook his head, then ran his hand through his spiky grey hair. "Good thing its palatial. I have a lot of books. And nice rugs. And chests. Have you seen my tapestry from the Northern Weaver Hall?"
“Yes. If you’re worried, I’m happy to make space. you know my luxuries are mostly jewelry and clothes.”
}:Just tell her that you'll move in tomorrow,:{ Kopth said, clearly irritated by his rider's recaltrience. }:But not now. I am too tired now, and Riyanth is comfortable.:{
The bronzerider hid a smile. "Kopth says that he'll move me in tomorrow. I think he likes Riyanth's ledge."
She broke into her own smile. "They're arranging our lives for us. But I'm all right with that. They made their good choices picking us, so..."
"I trust Kopth, and Riyanth. So, if they think it's a good idea, and you think it's a good idea, why would I say no?" He leaned over and kissed her. "So I won't."
"I love you," Kapera said. For once the words were true and sincere, not a pretty lie she said to convince a man to fall into her furs for a time; for once there was no hesitancy, no fear, no reluctance preventing the words from slipping free; for once it was only truth.
Last updated on the August 18th 2024