Gossip Girls

Writers: Aaron, Corrin, Duskdog, Halyonix, Iluva, Sia, Yvonne
Date Posted: 4th June 2025

Characters: Halia, Sybana, Nosarre, Sanvi, Zaphare, Katora, Erille, Vaissa
Description: The girls gossip after the mating flight lecture…
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 6, day 1 of Turn 12
Notes: Directly after Try Not to Panic

Sybana

Nosarre

Zaphare

“Well _that_ was an entertaining class,” Halia said, as the girls trooped back to their common room after the lecture on mating flights. She threw herself down to lounge on one of the low couches before the fireplace, pulling a fur throw over her legs. It was still snowing heavily outside and some of the dragonets were romping in it, but Halia had no desire to join them. A fire, some klah, and gossip were what she was after now. “Are you really going to ‘practice’ with C’uren, Zaphare? He's so… cheerful.”

“What!?” Erille sat forward so fast she nearly spilled her klah. “How did you… I mean, did you just, like, uh… ask him? Do you think he would say yes again? Just, you know, hypothetically.”

"You weren't listening to the lesson at all, huh?" Nosarre asked.

“Just ask him. It’s pretty rare that a guy says no,” Sanvi said as she sat next to Halia and stole half her blanket. Her legs were cold too.

Zaphare nodded, jerking a thumb at Sanvi. “Yeah, she’s got the right of it. Guys almost never say no. You’re lucky if they let _you_ say no.” She rolled her eyes, as if all-too-casually unbothered by this. “And why not C’uren? He’s cute, he’s enthusiastic. I’ve got Varethos, too. Good guy, well-trained. Just pick anybody who catches your fancy and ask!”

“There’s such a thing as too enthusiastic, you know,” Halia drawled. “I expect C’uren will last all of five seconds in bed-- but I guess that’s your mistake to make.”

Her tone was teasing and so was her mood. She quickly turned on the rest of the group, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Well, what about the rest of you? Who are you all eyeing to practice with-- No--!” she clapped her hands. “If you _had_ to pick someone from our class, who would it be?”

Nosarre took that moment to smile and inspect her perfectly-painted fingernails. "I can't say much about the men in our class, but Varethos _is_ well trained, isn't he?" She drawled, "It took some time. At least he's a good listener. You're welcome."

“Gross,” said Erille. “He's the weyrlingmaster’s kid. No, I don’t care if C’uren is done in five seconds, because he’s going again after that. Shells, I want to ride him like a runnerbeast!”

Zaphare sat up and leaned around to look at Nosarre behind Erille’s back, drawing a finger slowly across her own throat, then pointing at Nosarre.

"He wasn't the Weyrlingmaster's kid at the time, darling, and I wasn't a candidate." Nosarre said, though she smiled sweetly at Zaphare. "Though that's hardly a negative. He's the son that doesn't kiss and tell. I expect M'rhas will hold a parade the moment after he loses his virginity."

“I don’t understand what all of the fuss is about,” Katora remarked with all of the clinical distance of someone who approached intimacy like a problem to be solved. “It’s just sex. Animals do it all of the time and they don’t have to have talks with their young about it.”

“They don't have talks at all,” said Erille. “And they don't have to worry their Holder father is going to suddenly count them as worthless if they've been sullied by a dick.”

“True.” Vaissa intoned solemnly, though she peered curiously at Katora. “Kat, dear… you aren't a virgin, are you? Because they have a list of riders who are patient and take their time with the inexperienced. I've heard delicious things about K'mai.”

Zaphare wrinkled her nose. “It’s weird that they have a list. Like… can you really trust the motivations of all those guys? Guys who would volunteer and be like ‘yeah sign me up to feck virgins’? I’m telling you, just pick a guy in class. They’re wanting it bad right now… it’ll be fun. And if you’re worried they’ll be bad at it, just remind them that you’re gonna tell everybody if they are. So they better at least _try_ to make it good.” She shrugged. “I give points for trying.”

“They're Weyrlingmasters. They're terrified of everything we do, or could do, or ever want to do. I can't see them having that kind of list without… vetting them or knowing them. Something.” Vaissa reasoned, and more quietly hoped, at least for Katora’s sake. “But I do like the idea of the boys having to prove themselves. Not someone who’s just going to _lie there_ and expect you to ride the whole time.”

Katora watched Vaissa with her dark, critical eyes. “I’ve fooled around enough to know how the basics worked. I’m still a virgin because I just haven’t wanted to go all the way,” she said matter-of-factly. Katora wasn’t scared of sex; she just hadn’t found it as interesting as other things.

Nosarre made a face. "Zaphare's right. If the Weyrlingmasters are keeping a list like that, they're going to use it to tell you who to avoid. You don't want to be with a person that wants virgins and teenagers, and they certainly won't be _good_ at it. Shells, if you have the marks to spend at the tannery, you don't need a man at all."

“You don't?” Sybana had marks to spend. Cozy in an armchair by the fire, she finally looked up from the notes she had been reviewing.

“_You_ do,” Halia rolled her eyes and chucked a pillow at Nosarre. “Don't confuse the virgins.”

“There's no chance of Zaphare or Kadira catching _your_ flight,” she continued. “You’d better get used to men.”

"Perish the thought." Nosarre said with a roll of her eyes, though she grinned at Halia and tucked the pillow behind her back. She pulled her legs back to allow another girl to sit on the couch, tucking them underneath herself. "But why have to deal with a man until you have to? Especially since neither of our _ugh_ bronzeriders are the cream of the crop. You watch yourselves, half of them are going to be begging to _practice_."

“I’d follow E’kirim to an unoccupied storeroom,” said Erille. “He’s no C’uren. But he can cream my crop, ‘f you know what ‘m sayin’.”

“I wouldn't mind if A'ris begged for some _practice_, or anything else.” Vaissa smiled wickedly at the thought. “He already looks hard in all the right places, and he definitely knows how to use them.”

“I plan on asking Rh’din,” Katora piped up. “We’re both Traders. Saoirth likes Paskith. It should be pretty easy.”

“I thought we already established that they’re all easy?” Sanvi said, then tapped her finger against her chin as she thought. “Hmm… if I _had_ to, I could take L’kayric or A’ris for a ride. But not E’kirim. That scraggly beard of his is a hard pass.”

Halia sighed. “I’d do L’kayric, but not A’ris. Holder boy like that-- you’re delusional if you think he knows how to use the good he’s got, Vaissa. If you want to take the time to teach him, be my guest.”

"And the time that takes!" Nosarre drawled, "First time is what, two minutes and all he can say is 'wowee'? No thank you."

Vaissa snorted with laughter. “He really is like a puppy sometimes, isn't he. I'm not saying he _knows_ what to do, but he's got it in all the right places. I don't mind giving some direction,” although the way she said ‘direction’ sounded like something else, “not when they look like that. I'll take my chances. And besides, Z'renh just seems so stiff and awkward, I couldn't.”

She paused then, considering. “So. Who in the Wings would you take for a ride? Sybana?”

Sybana blinked, wide eyed, as the attention turned to her. She had been doing so well, she thought, in her quiet little corner, updating her notes from class and acting like she wasn’t inwardly spiraling with every frank comment that flew across the room.

“I-- I couldn’t say,” she blushed. They all seemed so confident, so casual in their choices. Even Katora, young as she was. Sybana envied them that. She had been sure once, before Corofel. She’d had her share of flirtations back at Opal Cove, teasing and toying with boys and men who’d fall over themselves for a smile, and had felt very mature and sophisticated for it-- but that was all child's play compared to _this_. “You’re all acting like this is… easy. Like you’re just picking out a partner for a dance.”

“We basically are,” smirked Halia. “It’s just a horizontal dance.”

“Well, I was never taught that ‘dance’,” Sybana said a little crossly. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be looking for. Or… doing.” And the mating flight talk hadn’t really clarified that.

“What do they teach you in a Hold, then?” Sanvi asked.

“...Not much, frankly.” And Sybana sounded a little frustrated now, as well as thoroughly embarrassed. “Like I’ve told you, I wasn’t even allowed to read romance books before I came here. I think the expectation was that, the more we know, the more trouble we can get into…”

She trailed off, taking in the incredulous expressions on the faces of some of her weyrbred classmates. “I’ve seen a foaling or two, canines in the yard-- and the weyrbaths were… enlightening. I’ve gathered the _basics_. I’m just unclear on the specifics.”

“We really don’t need to talk about this now,” Sybana said with a note of desperation. “Zaphare still hasn’t said who _she’d_ pick.”

Zaphare, having finally relaxed again after staring daggers at Nosarre for entirely too long, stretched casually, as if she had never been otherwise occupied at all. “Out of the class? Or the whole Weyr? Because if it’s the class, I’ll stick with C’uren. Or maybe Z’renh -- and I know what you’re thinking, but I see potential there. He has something to prove. That fire can be just _mmm_, you know?” She smirked. “Out of the whole Weyr? Well, I’d do K’mai. We met and he seemed fun. I wouldn’t do him if I was a virgin and he was on a list, though. _I_ know what I’m doing and don’t need a weird list, so it’s different if I choose. Other than that… have you seen M’thos’s weyrmate? Now _that_ is a man.” She paused. “...Varethos’ other dad though. He might think that’s weird. Huh.”

She paused again, her grin widening. “You know, there’s nothing saying you can’t practice with a _girl_. Obviously you’ll need a boy eventually, but maybe, to start…?”

"Not with Zaphare though, Sybana. She's practically salivating." Nosarre chimed in. "Get more than a romp in the hay."

“I…” Sybana blinked again, trying and failing to imagine what such practice would entail. She had vaguely heard about such deviants at the weyr, women who preferred women, but she'd never actually _thought_ about it. “How would that even work? It’s all-- the parts are different.”

“No, the parts are the same,” said Erille. “Come on, I'll show you.” She winked.

"They are _not_ the same," Sybana protested. "I've seen enough in the weyrbaths to know that much, thank you!"

"Don't confuse the poor girl, Eri." Nosarre chided. Then, to Sybana, "You know who knows how to please women? Other women. They know exactly what they're doing. And if we must, _ugh_, sleep with men, at least you'll know what makes you feel good so you can tell _them_. Or you can finish the job yourself, at least, once the Flight's over and you've kicked him out."

Zaphare hated to agree with Nosarre, but she did, and this _was_ her favorite topic, so enthusiasm won out. She nodded. “_Somehow_ she’s right for once. Trust us, there’s ways. There’s probably a lot more ways to have sex than what you’re thinking. Way better stuff than just getting poked.”

Katora began to think that maybe she should also be taking notes in this conversation. Inserting tab A into slot B now had a lot more variations than she initially thought.

Sybana sat stiffly in her chair, notebook between her and Erille like a shield. Her thoughts felt hot and tangled, Turns of Hold refinement ensnarled by Weyr ways. The idea of women laying together still felt wildly wrong, another hallmark of wanton deviance and excess at the weyrs, but she wasn’t deaf to their logic-- just uncomfortable.

“That’s… a lot to consider,” she choked out finally. “I appreciate you’re all trying to help, I just… I need to check on Galgaith.”

It was a lame excuse and she knew it, but she wasn’t sure how much more of this talk and attention she could bear. Gathering her things, she fled.

There was a beat of silence in her wake before Halia leaned back and gave the others a sly glance, one brow arched. “Well, anyway…”

Last updated on the June 10th 2025

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Gossip Girls