Shock Value
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: Corrin, Devin
Date Posted: 20th May 2025
Characters: Sybana, K'mai
Description: Sybana seeks out K'mai to finally hear out his secret...
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 7, day 16 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: I'serin, Aydhan and N'kevyn (Not by name)
Sybana had an excellent memory, especially on matters of pride and K’mai had pricked hers the day he’d implied that she was sheltered, that there was something so shocking at the weyr that he couldn’t even speak to her about it without endangering her dragon. She wasn’t so fragile! Neither was Galgi.
So, guard in tow, she sought him out after dinner a few days after being elevated to senior weyrling. He was easy enough to find in the ranks of the Cyan wingriders finishing their meal and she stepped carefully into his line of sight. “Bluerider K’mai, a word?”
"Goldrider Sybana," he said with an amused smile. "of course."
She walked with him a ways from his whispering wingmates, not out of the dining hall--it was snowing outside--but to a quieter stretch near the exit where they could talk with a modicum of privacy.
"Well," she said finally, turning to face him, chin up. "I'm a senior weyrling now. What was so shocking that you couldn't tell me before?"
"You remembered!" He grinned. "Junior Weyrlings aren't supposed to think about sex too much until their dragons are old enough to handle it. You've had the flight lecture by now, right?"
"Of course, I remembered," Sybana said primly, her posture poised and perfect and just that slight bit confrontational. "And we've had the lecture. It was... awkward, but hardly _dangerous_. Really, I don't understand the fuss. Despite what you or the Weyr think, a few words won't make me faint."
Her voice was steady, her expression carefully schooled, but the faint pink flush rising in her cheeks betrayed her all the same. So it _was_ about sex. She had expected as much, in truth, but she wasn’t going to back down now. She’d resolved to hear him out, if only to prove something to herself.
"Well it's not you, specifically, but a lot of holders are . . . weird about sex," K'mai said. "Like men aren't supposed to have sex with each other, and you're supposed to be married first, and you can only have sex with one person at a time, and you can't have sex with your friends. Things like that."
"I think we have very different ideas about exactly who is being weird about-- about what," said Sybana diplomatically. "But you still haven't answered my question. When we first met, you implied there's something I missed seeing at the Weyr. Something I'll be sheltered and kept from now that I Impressed gold. Is there actually something or was that all just a ploy to catch my interest?"
"It wasn't about you Impressing gold, it was just that the most shocking thing you'd seen was the bathing caverns and not say, men kissing, or a mating flight. But maybe I was wrong, and those things just weren't as shocking to you." K'mai shrugged.
"The bathing caverns _are_ very shocking," said Sybana defensively. "Everyone just-- together. It's--“ Improper? Dangerous? Salacious? "I still don't think it's right."
"I thought you said there was some 'good stuff' I'd be missing out on," she continued, starting to feel a little miffed.
The bluerider chuckled. "Is sex not the good stuff? It's one of my very favorite things. I like sleeping with men, and women, and both at the same time. I could tell you all about it, if you'd like. Or show you." He grinned.
Sybana stared at him, breath caught somewhere between disbelief and exasperation. Her lips parted, but for a long beat, no words came-- just a sharp, almost inaudible inhale as she reeled herself back from the edge of stunned silence.
"_That's_ it?" she said at last, the words clipped and incredulous. "The thing I had to wait months to hear is that you like sex?"
She actually said the word, and the shape of it felt foreign and raw on her tongue, too loud and crude in the air between them. A faint flush crept to her cheeks, but she blazed on. "I thought you had some secret, or at least a particularly colorful anecdote. A man--a weyrman--liking sex is hardly a revelation."
His chuckle, his grin, his bold invitation, all grated now. She felt tricked--worse--she felt foolish for thinking there had ever been anything more to his mystery.
She had been so determined to face whatever K'mai said, ready to prove her maturity, her sophistication-- but she didn't care for this mix of disappointment and embarrassment. Sybana's earlier curiosity wilted away as she retreated to a bulwark of manners and pride. Her features smoothed to a mask, lovely and cold. "I'll pass on the demonstration," she said, already turning to leave. "I've had enough disappointment for one evening."
"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." K'mai couldn't remember exactly what he'd been thinking of saying to her that day -- a lot had happened since then -- and he frantically tried to think of something shocking to tell her. Not I'serin, obviously. Oh! "I had sex with a goldrider and a bronzerider at the same time. Is that colorful enough?"
But the moment had passed. She was already gone.
Last updated on the May 27th 2025