Try Not to Panic (2/3)

Writers: Aaron, Corrin, Duskdog, Halyonix, Heather, Iluva, Sia, Yvonne
Date Posted: 5th May 2025

Characters: T'lonas, S'yen, M'rhas, Rh'din, Sybana, Halia, E'kirim, Nosarre, Katora, A'ten, L'kayric, Z'renh, A'ris, Zaphare, Sanvi, M'thos, K'yne
Description: The weyrlings get The Talk
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 6, day 1 of Turn 12

T'lonas

T’lonas smiled patiently. “Yes yes, I’m sure some of you are. But unfortunately things are somewhat complicated when you’re bonded to a dragon. It’s important that you know what to expect so that you don’t panic and frighten your dragon, or inhibit your dragon, or -- quite frankly -- hurt yourself. Put simply, to start: your dragon, if female, _will_ rise to mate. Your dragon, if male, _will_ chase sometimes. And when that happens, you _will_ be having sex with the rider of the dragon who rose and/or flew your dragon. This isn’t something you can ignore, or avoid, or suppress. It will happen. Our goal here today is to make sure that you’re as informed as possible and as prepared as possible, so that you can have a pleasant experience rather than an upsetting and traumatic one.”

His smile, now, was sympathetic as he looked out over their faces. There were always a few who had strong feelings about this, and he knew it was harsh to squash their hopes of avoiding it, but unfortunately it was necessary. The sooner they could move past that hope, the easier it would be.

“Now. Let’s start with the greens and golds. I’ll let M’thos elaborate, but for now: can anyone tell me the signs that a green or gold are soon to rise?”

E'kirim raised his hand lazily, not bothering to wait for T'lonas to call on him. "Their riders get really horny."

T’lonas bit back a laugh. “Well… you’re not wrong. Though it’s not true of everyone. There are a lot of feelings involved, and _that_ isn’t always one of them until the last moment. But it certainly _can_ be a sign, yes!”

L’kayric, unlike E’kirim, raised his hand and waited for T’lonas to notice and nod to him. “Their hides get brighter. Especially the golds -- they almost seem to glow.”

The Weyrlingmaster nodded. “Yes, that’s one! Again, this will vary a bit between dragons. Some will have more obvious physical changes than others.” He turned to M’thos. “M’thos, what should our green and goldriders expect to feel, or what might they notice, as the time approaches?”

"Every dragonpair is different." M'thos continued easily, "Their hides getting brighter is the most common amongst all of them. You might notice them start to get restless. They might want to preen more or seek more attention. They could get crabby. It's important to keep checking in on your dragons as they start to reach maturity, so you can catch any changes in their personalities that might mean they're going to rise. As they get closer to rising those feelings likely get stronger, especially at first, and it can end up impacting you, too."

Katora scribbled down all of these notes. She was certain that she would recognize the signs in Saoirth before her dragon did.

“Proddy,” Sanvi said, making air quotes with her fingers. It would be a good excuse to yell at someone, or skiv off from duty. The Lower Caverns were always complaining about proddy greenriders.

In the front row, Sybana slowed in her own diligent note taking, a flicker of dismay crossing her usually serene features. She had thought rising dragons to be a rather sudden event, that’s how it always seemed when she saw greens go up in the weyrbowl. A single afternoon of chaos perhaps-- dramatic, inconvenient, but brief. A lingering build up that changed personalities and leaked through to the rider--to her--seemed even more alarming. She hated to do it, but she had to know. She raised her hand. “Is this a matter of candlemarks before they rise? Or… days?”

Halia sniggered. It always surprised her how little the goldrider knew about the basics of the weyrlife.

M'thos raised his eyebrows and grinned at Sanvi. He used the proddy card to his advantage every once in a while, though he shouldn't encourage it as a weyrlingmaster. Then, to Sybana, "It depends on the dragon, but if she's going to be sultry or angry, it's usually over the course of days. Galgaith is more likely to have a longer turnaround than the greens. Fianwyth usually has about a day and a half lead up, though she's surprised me before."

A’ris didn’t add it out loud, but he’d noticed conversational changes in dragons as well. Not only could greens present as “proddy” on the outside, but some of them got downright sassy verbally as well. Conversely, they could suddenly become very flirty in their conversations with other dragons.

Days. Oh, stars above, it would be days of being consumed by some base animal instinct-- again! Sybana thought they were _past_ being at the mercy of their dragon’s moods. “Will it be like… how we felt their exhaustion after Hatching?” she asked. “Will it grow less potent with time?”

M'thos looked like he was considering it for a moment. "It is like that, in that the two of you are learning and growing together. Her exhaustion is less potent because you're learning how to separate her from you, in a sense. You'll always feel her strong feelings, and her minor ones less so. Pain, grief, arousal. You'll recognize it's _her_ feelings easier, but you won't ever really stop feeling them."

Well, that was something at least. It had taken a while, but these days, even Galgaith’s deepest slumber hardly bothered Sybana. Carefully, she wrote: Like post-hatching exhaustion. Will become less affecting with time and experience.

Z’renh shifted in his seat. He could only imagine feeling his dragon’s feelings _more_ strongly than he already felt Adamanth’s, and he was not chasing anyone.

“I can’t wait,” S’yen muttered quietly to whomever was sitting nearby. “I’m getting laid every day.”

Sanvi covered her mouth to hide her laughter. “That’s optimistic of you!”

“What should the rest of us expect? Uh, who don’t have a green or a gold dragon?” A’ris asked the Weyrlingmasters.

“Well, you shouldn’t have to deal with the effects of your dragon’s feelings as much ahead of time,” T’lonas replied. “Some males will notice a female becoming proddy and show interest for a couple of days, but it isn’t the same as what the riders of the greens and golds will be feeling. Others won’t care at all until the moment comes. But once that moment does come, you’ll be swept up in their feelings just the same. You’ll feel what they’re feeling -- you’ll likely even have trouble remembering that you’re separate creatures at times during the flight itself. That goes for the lady dragons too, by the way. And, just as your dragon desperately wants to mate, you’ll desperately want that relief, as well.”

He paused to look over the class, gauging reactions. This was the hardest part for some.

“Your own preferences won’t matter here. I know that may be difficult for some of you to hear. But when the time comes, you’ll understand. You’ll be so caught up in that need that it won’t matter who the rider of the female, or the winning male, is. It won’t matter if they’re not your preferred gender. It won’t matter if you dislike them outside the flightroom. In that moment, all that will matter to you is having sex with them immediately, as your dragons twine in the sky. It isn’t something to be ashamed of. It’s something every rider goes through, and it says nothing about you or your preferences. Even if you normally don’t care for sex much at all, in the flightroom you’ll suddenly care very much. But it doesn’t change who you fundamentally are, and no one expects you to maintain any sort of relationship with the rider you wake up next to. You can leave immediately afterwards, if you like -- though it’s generally expected that you be polite about it. Are there any questions about this so far?”

Last updated on the May 19th 2025

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Try Not to Panic (2/3)