As Good As Weyrbred

Writers: Devin, Estelle
Date Posted: 4th June 2026

Characters: Tr'vel, Gilbek
Description: After Lirioth rises, Tr'vel and Gilbek talk about how they'll handle Eboroth losing a flight
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 1, day 10 of Turn 13

Tr'vel

All that morning, the storm had kept Gil working indoors in the humid heat of the tunnels behind the lower caverns, helping with the never-ending task of sweeping and dusting the storerooms and checking for signs of snakes, rodents or other pests. It wasn't until they broke for lunch that he overheard some gossip that the Weyrleader's dragon, Loseth, had caught green Lirioth again, and he smiled to himself, thinking how I'lek would be giddy with delight.

"Have you seen Tr'vel?" he asked, wondering where his weyrmate might be. They often met for lunch with the rest of Lightning Wing, although sometimes he was busy with his wingleader's duties.

"Oh, Eboroth chased, too. I think he went with a moth?"

Gil caught his breath. Of course, he'd heard that term before; it was hard to avoid it among the weyr staff, where there was often talk about which dragonriders they'd like to snag coming away from a flight, but it wasn't a topic he'd felt comfortable exploring too deeply. And he'd thought Tr'vel... He'd warned him that this would happen, but he'd not wanted to think about it and now he understood how unprepared he'd been.

The rider he'd asked didn't appear to notice and went back to speculating with his wingmates, somewhat enviously, about Loseth and the green. Gil carried his half-finished plate back to the kitchens and offered to help wash up until it was time to go back to his task, in something of a daze.

Later in the afternoon, they finished their assigned list of stores and, unsure what else to do, he headed back to Tr'vel's weyr and slipped in quietly, not sure if he'd be back.

Tr'vel was sitting in a chair and looked up with a smile as Gil entered. "Hi, how was your day?" It was such a pleasure to have someone to come home to, or in this case to come home to him. True, they'd spent a lot of time together before, but it was different now that they were weyrmates -- the knowledge that this would be their every day.

"Hot and sweaty. The weather kept us indoors, though I suppose it's better than being soaked in the rain." Gil was puzzled by Tr'vel's manner, which seemed completely relaxed and normal, as if it had been an ordinary day. Perhaps that other rider had been mistaken. That thought was a relief, and he came over to sit on the arm of the chair, bending to kiss his weyrmate. "Yours? I heard..." He hesitated. "Lirioth rose today?"

"And Eboroth had to chase. He's still sulking about losing," Tr'vel said.

}:I am not,:{ Eboroth protested from where he was curled on his couch, well out of the rain. He thought about Loseth and Lirioth cuddling on the bronze's large couch and let out a little huff.

"Poor Eboroth. Better luck next time...I think." Gil couldn't be entirely sincere in that wish, but nor could he expect Tr'vel's blue to be eternally unsuccessful in chasing greens.

He hesitated, unsure how to ask his next question. "And after the flight, did you... Were you... Was it like that other time, when you were guarding me?"

"Oh, uh . . ." Tr'vel's cheeks warmed at the memory and at the realization that they were going to need to talk about this. "Nemari was there, and I went with her after." He took Gil's hand to stall any protests. "I didn't know if you'd be up for . . . handling me after a lost flight."

He knew he should have been prepared, that Tr'vel had warned him, but Gil couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat when he heard it had been Nemari. "I... Would you have liked me to?" His fingers clasped around Tr'vel's hand. "I would always be there for you."

The thought of having Gil under him while he was . . . Tr'vel swallowed. "I would have liked that. It's my fault for not bringing this up sooner. It's not something I wanted to surprise you with, or assume. It's . . . more intense, and I can be a little rough."

Gil slipped down to squeeze into the chair, half in Tr'vel's lap, relaxing into the warmth of his weyrmate's arms. Although he'd experienced the sudden, strange waves of desire from rising queens several times now, the way riders reacted irresistibly to their own dragons' mating flights was still a mystery to him. The thought of it both terrified and fascinated him. And if it was Tr'vel, who he trusted above all...

"I can take a little rough treatment." He touched the bluerider's cheek. "I can't believe you'd ever hurt me."

"Not seriously, no." Tr'vel slid an arm around his waist. Despite how long they'd been sleeping together, he was still a bit worried that a holdbred man might not be able to handle the raw feelings of a lost flight. "Next time, I'll come to you. And if it's too much, please tell me. My feelings for you aren't any less if I burn off my flightlust with someone else."

"I know. Well, my head knows that." But his body and his heart rebelled. He'd known that Eboroth had flown greens since they'd been become lovers and he'd managed to avoid thinking about what that meant, but now they were together, he knew he couldn't ignore that part of his weyrmate's bond any more. Gil leaned against Tr'vel, his cheek resting on his shoulder. "I guess I'm more of a holder than I thought, but..." He turned his head, looking up at him with a smile. "Not so much that the thought of being with you like that doesn't sound a little exciting."

Tr'vel smiled, his hand moving up Gil's back. "You've been thinking of it since that day back when I was your guard. It's very unfair of me to make you wait so long to find out what it's really like."

"Or admirably self-controlled," the holdbred man teased. "But at least all of that practice I've had since will come in useful." He shifted to straddle Tr'vel's lap, his worries vanishing like the sea mist now that he was in the arms of his lover.

Tr'vel pulled him into a kiss, grateful that Gil was always so accepting. "I could joke about giving you more practice, but right now I'd like you to take me."

Gil's gaze turned decidedly intimate as he slipped his arms around his weyrmate's shoulders. "Exerted yourself enough for one day?" He pushed aside the momentary sting at the thought. A weyrbred man would laugh it off, make it seem unimportant in the pleasure of their being together, and though he wasn't that, still he was determined that one day he'd be as good as.

"You think I just want you to do all the work?" T'vel chuckled and slid his hand under Gil's shirt. It was, a little bit, because he didn't want Gil thinking about how he'd burned off his flight lust. "I want you inside me. Rough or sweet, however you'd like."

"Sweet, then. And slow," Gil murmured, leaning in as strong fingers caressed his back, his lips brushing Tr'vel's ear. "I'm going to draw out every inch, until you can't stand it and you plead for more..." And, he added silently, until his weyrmate forgot all about the existence of flight moths.

Last updated on the July 8th 2026

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As Good As Weyrbred