A Lesson in 'Flying'

Writers: Aaron, Heather
Date Posted: 20th January 2020

Characters: F'aen, T'ner
Description: F'aen shows T'ner the ropes and keeps him from falling out of the ring.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 5 of Turn 10

It was very hard for F'aen to turn off the "teacher" in him and think about his ... date... with T'ner in a normal manner. Realistically he knew that if he wasn't on the Weyrlingstaff, he would have been able to look at T'ner as he did any other bluerider. T'ner was just the sort of build that F'aen liked in a man. Not too tall, but compact in an athletic way.

}:You're not a teacher tonight. Loosen up, would you?:{ Scarleth sighed, which F'aen found amusing, since the green never had trouble 'loosening' up.

**It's not just that. I'm pretty sure he's never even kissed a guy before. That's a lot of ground to cover.** Even as F'aen said that to Scarleth he realized that having a lot of ground to cover might not be a bad thing. It wasn't as if they had to rush, they had time before T'ner's blue would catch a rising green.

"Maybe we'll need a little wine," he said outloud, but even as he stepped over to his selection of wine, he stopped short. "Shells, he's not graduated yet, K'sedel would flay me alive." F'aen considered that problem, before decided that it couldn't hurt if _he_ had a little sip of wine to calm his nerves.

}:They're here,:{ Scarleth announced in a sing-song mental voice.

F'aen set his glass of wine aside, reminded himself to just be a greenrider, and then waited for T'ner to enter.

"Hello?" T'ner called in. "It's me, T'ner." The weyrling had resumed his nervous – and excited shivering – at the prospect of what he was about to do.

It's training, he told himself. Nevermind the fact that F'aen is wonderful and handsome and... Perfect for teaching him this lesson.

}:You really are going to expect me to catch Scarleth every time, aren't you?,:{ Lehystrath mused. }:Or will you extend your 'training' beyond graduation?:{

**You know I can't do that.**

}:I can already tell you want to. You want to keep them both, hm? But the first one won't have that, will she?:{

**Leh, we're nowhere near that. Even if... I mean, you're jumping... We're nowhere near that. It's just training.**

}:Mmhmm.:{

"Come in," F'aen said, offering T'ner a smile as he did. "I nearly had a glass of wine waiting for you before I remembered that K'sedel would have both our hides."

"I'd promise not to tell, but I won't put you in that position," said T'ner, returning the smile. "My offer from before stands – I won't hold it against you if you have a glass without me."

F'aen gestured to the empty wine glass behind him. "I already did," he grinned and went to the couch. "Come, sit." It had been ages since he'd had anyone over, so he'd taken extra care in making sure his weyr was clean and tidy before T'ner's visit. "Tell me about your day."

"I had a class on etiquette for Searching," said T'ner. It had been fairly easy for him, considering he was from the Holds and was already quite familiar with what was and was not acceptable for a Searcher from the Holders' perspective. This was not to say there was nothing new. If Lehystrath could be a Searcher, T'ner was very interested in the excuse to visit home.

"I hope you haven't had any more trouble with that junior brownrider and shamming on chores." He grinned. "What did you do today?"

"Oh I got to give the talk to a Candidate class about Weyr etiquette and rank. Real exciting stuff," he added dryly. "Do you think you'll be interested in Searchriding?"

"I think I will, if Leh is good at it," said T'ner. "I hadn't really thought about it until we had this class, though. Is Scarleth a Searcher?"

F'aen laughed out loud. "Oh no, she is far too concerned with herself to try and determine if others are suitable Candidates." There was a loud exhale of air in the direction of Scarleth's weyrcouch.

T'ner chuckled along with him.

"She's a very beautiful girl," he said.

}:Very beautiful,:{ Lehystrath agreed both to T'ner and to Scarleth herself.

"She is, and knows it." F'aen agreed. "Tell me more about yourself, T'ner. What was the hold like that you came from? What does your family think of you being a bluerider?"

T'ner sat back a little a tried not to sigh. He really did not want to think about the Hold. If he could separate out this T'ner from that T'ner, everything would be a lot easier to roll with.

"Well, my oldest brother seemed to have an idea of what it said about me before I thought it through myself. But he didn't kick me out of the family or anything. I haven't gone back much since. Not yet, anyway. So I haven't really talked to the rest of them yet."

"I was going to take over the forge there someday, but not after... well, not after my son came along. I made Ayressa's cousin angry, and he just so happens to be in charge there for now."

"I ask," F'aen expained, "because I am assuming that you've never kissed a guy before?"

"Oh, never," T'ner confirmed. "Is it very different from kissing a woman? I mean, you're taller than any girl I've kissed, but... I didn't think that part would be. I mean, we have the same parts on the upper half."

F'aen couldn't help a little snort-giggle at the 'upper half' comment. "I guess some people would say that lips are lips, so all kissing is the same, but you and I are coming from two different perspectives. You don't mind the idea of kissing a woman, clearly, and you don't mind the thought of kissing a man. Whereas I find the idea of kissing a woman absolutely repulsive. So I would say, yes, there's a difference, but I mean," he lifted his hands, "that could be because I'm gay. I guess you'll have to tell me if it's different after we kiss."

"Absolutely repulsive, eh?" mused T'ner. He pondered for a moment. Kissing men had been programmed into him as repulsive – for a man – but now as he sat with F'aen, the thought was almost exhilarating. Maybe partly, even, because of the quasi-forbiddenness of it. "Lips are lips... So, we'll be kissing, then?"

}:Very astute...:{

"Well, what I mean to say is... I don't suppose I thought that would be... Hm. Kissing just seems a little more on the romantic side. Is that going to be OK?"

"While kissing might not be necessary practice for a mating flight, it's pretty necessary for us. Don't you think it would be a little easier if we started with smaller physical touches and worked up to sex?" F'aen supposed kissing could be avoided, but T'ner had a nice mouth and he thought it would be a shame to miss out on tasting it.

"That part's the same, too, then," said T'ner with a grin. His heart raced. While there might have been a bit of guilt, he knew that whatever he passed up now, he may never get to have again. Unless Lehystrath started winning Scarleth's flights. "Sorry. I didn't mean to say I wouldn't like to kiss you. Here." He scooted closer and reached out to touch F'aen's jaw.

"Like this?"

F'aen's pulse quickened. "That's right."

See? Not so different after all, T'ner thought to himself. He grinned and leaned in closer. He let his hand slide up to run his fingers through F'aen's hair and then brushed lips against his.

"Let me know," he whispered, "if it's not right."

The fingers in his hair sent chills down his spine. "Oh, it's right," F'aen assured him, returning the brush of lips with a more confident, thorough kiss.

T'ner smiled and hummed a happy half-chuckle. Kissing someone for the first time had a kind of electricity to it T'ner had almost forgotten. Not entirely, though. He had certainly felt it again after three months with no kissing at all.

He let his hand rest on F'aen's thigh.

F'aen had been worried that T'ner might be shy or hesitant so his participation was a nice surprise. He felt T'ner's hand on his thigh like a searing iron. "It seems like you're a natural. Are you sure you never thought about men this way before coming to the Weyr?"

"I'm sure," T'ner said, letting another chuckle bubble out along with a bout of shivers. "But I've been at the Weyr for a little while now... Makes me think things really aren't so different after all. For the top half, at least. This is... well, this is how I usually do things. I've been hoping it would work on you."

Perhaps he might have considered that F'aen might want to take the lead – after all, Ayressa did from time to time. But for as many first kisses as T'ner had kissed, few as they may have been, he had always been the one to make the first move.

He leaned back in to kiss along F'aen's jaw toward his neck, leaving the hand where it was. He wondered how far F'aen would expect him to – or let him go, but T'ner did not want to go home unfulfilled if he could avoid it.

"Is it working on you?" he asked in a whisper as he lifted his head to put his lips next to F'aen's ear.

A shiver raced from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. "Oh, it's working," F'aen assured T'ner. The greenrider's mind was frantically making mental calculations. He had thought that they might just start simple for the evening but at this rate.... "Are you wanting to go all the way tonight, T'ner?"

"I thought we would," said T'ner. "But we can go slower." He traced his hand down F'aen's neck and massaged his shoulder. "I'd hate to skip ahead to the final exam and miss the whole class." He nibbled F'aen's earlobe.

F'aen was having a hard time thinking of words while T'ner's teeth were on his earlobe like that. "Oh, um, no, I think you're ready to go to the head of the class. Come on," he said, rising and tugging the bluerider to his feet. Grabbing the front of T'ner's shirt, F'aen led him back toward the bed.

T'ner could hardly argue with that. He grinned slyly as he followed after F'aen to his bed.

"Alright," he said as he gently pushed F'aen back onto the bed and then crawled up over him. "Let's go to the head class... I might need a little more help with getting this part right, but I've heard enthusiasm is the key."

F'aen wrapped his legs around T'ner's waist and began making quick work of the buttons on the bluerider's tunic. "Don't worry, I'll walk you through it, step," he leaned up and kissed him, "by," kiss, "step."

T'ner shivered with excitement as he got the tunic off and tossed it aside. Following F'aen's lead now, T'ner unbuttoned his tunic in return – not quite so quickly as F'aen. He had never disrobed a man from the outside of the clothes before....

**Fade to black**

"How was it for a first try?" he asked. True, he had a bit of an unfair advantage over someone who was truly new at the whole thing...

F'aen chuckled as he rolled over to face T'ner. "You don't get to be the big spoon, I'm taller than you." The remark was made teasingly. "You did good. How was it for you?"

T'ner grinned. "I like to be the little spoon sometimes," he said. "It was amazing for me. I loved every second." He leaned in to peck F'aen on the lips.

It was on the tip of F'aen's tongue to ask if it was better, worse, or the same as sleeping with a woman for T'ner, but he thought that might seem disrespectful of the bluerider's weyrmate. Instead he rolled onto his back and looked at the ceiling. "Well, now you know exactly what you are heading into in a mating flight if you happen to win a male greenrider."

"Are you sure?" asked T'ner. "We still have – what, two, maybe three more ways to learn at least, hmm? Not every greenrider will want it from behind like that, surely..."

"It works the same way whether your partner is on their back or any other way you might imagine it. The only thing that would be different is if you are ever the bottom in a pairing, which isn't as likely in the mating flights you'll be in." F'aen told him.

T'ner chuckled and glanced sideways at F'aen.

"I'm getting the feeling that you don't want to have another go. And here I thought I did all right!"

F'aen turned his head to look at T'ner. "I didn't say that. I just don't think finding a loophole in the agreement you made with your weyrmate by inventing things we need to practice is the best course of action for you. Call me old fashion, but I'm not a home-wrecker."

T'ner's eyes widened, and his cheeks colored. He turned to set feet on the floor and stood to begin getting dressed.

"You're right. I – I... Thank you. For... for that. I shouldn't have tried to..."

}:He is a good friend.:{

"Really. Thank you. U-uhm... Is there any other advice, anything else I should watch out for? Where do they keep the oil stuff in the flight rooms?"

}:He just wanted to fly with you again.:{ Scarleth said to F'aen.

**I know, I just...** F'aen left the bed and pulled on his pants before turning to face T'ner. "They keep it beside the bed, not that you'll have time for logical thought during the flight. All of that will be instinctual and afterwards you'll only have vague recollections of what took place." The greenrider chewed on the inside of his cheek in hesitation. "Look, T'ner, I didn't mean for that to sound judgmental. I just don't want you to do something you might regret later."

"I didn't get judgmental from you at all," T'ner answered, forcing a smile. "I really shouldn't have tried to sidestep the agreement. And I really do thank you. I was right to ask you to teach me. Because you care enough about me not to let me do all my thinking with the wrong head." He had a feeling T'kala would have played along with the excuses for more lessons if it had been him.

"So I don't want you to think I'm mad at you or anything like that. It's just the opposite."

F'aen nodded, although he still felt that he had perhaps damaged things between them in some way. "Okay, well, if you need anything else.... My door's always open."

"Thanks," said T'ner as he pulled his boots back on. He hated to just run out like he was running away from what they had just done. But after he tried to mess things up, and F'aen had to correct him... Well, what what could he do?

"You'll be the first person I ask if I do." He offered a smile. "Knowing me, more like 'when I do', right?"

"Right," F'aen returned the smile as he walked T'ner out.

Last updated on the February 1st 2020

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

A Lesson in 'Flying'