Clearing the Air
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: Heather, Yvonne
Date Posted: 2nd August 2025
Characters: N'kayden, V'dryn
Description: V'dryn and N'kayden clear the air after the intensity of Ketlyn's mating flight.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 6, day 7 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Ketlyn, Aydhan/N'kevyn (not by name)
It was going to be an awkward conversation but it was warranted. Needed. V’dryn was not one to let things fester, especially with someone in his weyrling class. What had happened yesterday had been…unexpected.
}: I’m sorry, :{ Zhomoth said again. }: I wanted Varinth. I didn’t intend to start a problem. :{
**It’s fine, Zee. It’s something that N’kayden and I need to work through together. Talk to Aberath for me please? See if N’kayden is willing to speak with me.**
}:Zhomoth’s wants to see you.:{ Aberath’s voice felt like a piercing dagger through N’kayden’s sleep-fuddled brain.
The lanky brownrider was laying half-on and yet somehow half-off the small couch in his small weyr where he’d passed out while trying to study Skybroom’s Wing formations.
**Well, tell him to come up then,** N’kayden groaned as he sat up, sending the pieces of parchment fluttering to the floor. **Who would ever want to be a Wingleader?** He nabbed the formations off the floor and stacked them neatly.
His hair was still mussed and sticking up on end when he heard Zhomoth and V’dryn land.
“N’kayden?” V’dryn called as he slid from Zhomoth’s back.
“In here, man,” N’kayden called around a yawn, which meant it actually sounded more like ‘Ahnhur, maahnn.’
“Was that even language?” V’dryn immediately joked before remembering the reason why he was there. “Sorry. Ah…can we talk, please?”
The brownrider leaned against his counter, waiting for the klah to get hot enough to drink. “Sure. What about?”
V’dryn scratched the back of his head. “About yesterday. In the flight room. I...owe you an apology, I think? I was not expecting…that.” He waved one hand expressively, indicating the events and the emotions that had come up.
N’kayden’s brow furrowed, as if he wasn’t sure what V’dryn was talking about, and then realization dawned on his face. “Ooohh, you mean the territorial stuff over Ketlyn? Don’t even think about it, man. I didn’t give it a second thought.” He rubbed the side of his nose. “I think I might have shoved you,” he laughed a little. “Dragon emotions.”
V’dryn could have exhaled in relief but also felt a little silly for holding on to the issue. Was he supposed to have let it go? “I definitely wanted to fight you and had no reasons as to why. I’m not a possessive man. I felt as though I owed you an apology for that though.”
“Yeah, don’t even think about it. I’m sure we’ll end up in the same flight room again. We can just agree now that whatever happens in the flight room, _stays_ in the flight room.” The brownrider poured himself a steaming mug of klah. He gestured for V’dryn to help himself to a cup if he wanted. “Did you end up with anyone fun after Ketlyn’s flight?”
As the bluerider poured his own cup, he exhaled loudly. “I did. I was not expecting him though. He was a bit rougher than I like.” There was a bite mark on V’dryn’s shoulder under his tunic that he rubbed idly, eager for it to heal.
N’kayden winced in sympathy. “I got lucky and bumped into Lynavia in the hallway right outside the flightrooms. She’s amazing, and doesn’t leave the kind of love bites that need numbweed later.”
“I…do not think I’ve met her yet,” V’dryn replied. “Is she usually found near the flight rooms?”
“She moths often,” N’kayden said, but didn’t share anything further about Lynavia. He didn’t want to give too much away about her. He shrugged. “Anyway, hopefully the next time we’re in the same flight, we can be a little calmer. It might have just been because it was Ketlyn.”
V’dryn looked down at his drink. “Perhaps,” he agreed quietly. He fidgeted, deciding if he should speak on that further. Would keeping quiet on it remove the feelings next time or would it just simmer? He fidgeted some more, his fingers thrumming against the mug softly. “I was envious of you,” he finally said.
N’kayden visibly blanched. As if he couldn’t imagine why anyone would be envious of _him_. “Me? Why?”
“She asked you first.”
“Ah,” N’kayden said, realization dawning on his handsome face. “Well, if it’s any consolation, she’ll likely never ask again.”
V’dryn nearly choked on his drink as N’kayden said that. He hadn’t expected the brownrider to admit to it, honestly. Most men were fairly boastful if it went well or quick to project if it didn’t. “I’m…sorry?” he fumbled.
“Well, I thought it was pretty common knowledge that it didn’t go well. Neither one of us knew what the shell we were doing.” N’kayden’s laugh was self-deprecating.
“That’s…quite embarrassing,” V’dryn answered, aiming at first to be sympathetic but then just joining in the laugh. “I do swear it’s a rite of passage though -- awkward sex. My first time was hardly noteworthy either.”
“I’ve been trying to fix that problem,” N’kayden admitted. “That’s how I knew Lynavia, and why she grabbed me after Ketlyn’s flight.”
“That makes sense.” V’dryn’s head wobbled back and forth for an indecisive moment. Then he shared, “That was something I fixed within my first sevenday at the Weyr. I…knew that coming here, I did not want to live anything like my old, structured, boring life.”
“That was smart of you,” the brownrider complimented.
V’dryn chuckled. “I didn’t do it as a matter of preparation,” he remarked. “Rebellion, most certainly. I’m certain that my father would be properly scandalized to know.”
“I sometimes think my parents are impossible to scandalize. They do enough weird shit on their own,” N’kayden smiled.
“_That_ must have been embarrassing for you growing up,” V’dryn remarked with another chuckle.
“You have no idea. It’s probably why I’m mostly immune to embarrassment now…. Mostly.”
Last updated on the August 17th 2025