Getting an Education

Writers: Heather
Date Posted: 29th March 2019

Characters: Ranni, R'nar
Description: Ranni asks R'nar for a favor that he can't refuse.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 6 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: Aviday, Sh'del

Ranni

"How does this work exactly?" Ranni asked as she peered through the Eye Rock at the top of Dolphin Cove. She'd been told about the importance of the stones in Candidate lessons, but she still wasn't sure exactly how they worked.

"Well," R'nar scratched the top of his head, "when it's time for a Pass to begin the Red Star will be framed in the Eye Rock." He knew that was the logistics of it, but it wasn't something that had ever interested him because he'd been a child when Thread returned.

Ranni cocked her head to the side and closed one eye to squint through the opening, imagining what it must have been like for the Ancients when they first saw the crimson star perfectly framed in the rock.

"It's amazing, really," she murmured, marveling at the knowledge it must have taken to create such a thing as the Star Stones. Feeling R'nar looking at her from her peripherals, Ranni straightened away from the rocks. "Okay, we've seen the Star Stones, what now?"

"Now I'm going to show you the seaside weyrs." R'nar climbed back to Iorath's neckridge and extended a hand down for Ranni.

Chaysea had been right, Ranni decided, about needing the breeches in some occasions, as it had certainly made getting on and off of Iorath much simpler. She imagined how awkward and burdensome it would have been if she were in ankle-length skirts.

Ranni settled on Iorath's neckridge in front of R'nar, not even minding the way the bronzerider's hands brushed her sides and hips while he secured her riding strap into place. She was too busy rubbing Iorath's supple, coppery hide.

The bronze leaped off the top of the Weyr, where the Star Stones were located, and caught an upward draft that allowed him to glide out to the seaside cliff weyrs that faced the ocean. R'nar scanned the cliffside and directed Iorath to a perch where the bronze could land and allow them a moment to enjoy the view.

"There's nowhere for us to get off here," R'nar said in Ranni's ear as Iorath settled on a jagged piece of cliff, talons digging into stone for security as he tucked his wings. "But the view is great, isn't it?"

Ranni couldn't believe how beautiful the view was from the seaside weyrs. "How do you get lucky enough to live in these weyrs?" she asked.

R'nar grinned a little. "You keep your eyes and ears open and get to the Headwoman first when one comes open. Although, there are some cons to the seaside weyrs. There is no corridor access so you can only get to them via a dragon. There's nothing like being hungry and having to wait on one of the Weyrlings on elevator duty to take you up and down."

They were isolated? No one could reach them except a dragon? Ranni thought that they sounded perfect. They were safe. She would never have to worry about someone from Sunstone reaching her there. If she Impressed, it would just be her and her dragon in that weyr. Isolated. It sounded divine.

"Where to next?" Ranni asked over her shoulder. It was actually a little fun getting to see the different sights of the Weyr via dragon.

"To my favorite spot on the beach," R'nar answered. He hoped no one else was there.

Iorath launched from the cliffside, causing Ranni to grin as the air rushed past their faces, whistling in her ears as they flew along the coastline. Dragons and people were scattered along the beach here and there, until they came to a stretch of sand that was empty. The bronze came in for a speedy landing in the sand, sending it flying up in a plume of dust.

"What makes this spot your favorite?" Ranni asked once their feet were in the sand. Iorath had left them to go and soak down in the breakers.

R'nar sat down and tugged his boots off and then rolled his pant legs up. "No one else is here."

Ranni turned and raised an eyebrow.

"Easy," R'nar lifted his hands. "It's just nice to get away from people sometimes. Isn't it?"

She supposed he had a point. When she had a dragon of her own, if one found her worthy, she would be able to go anywhere she wanted to get away.... It sounded almost too good to be true, in her mind. Like those old tales that the grandmothers told about a Lord Holder choosing to marry a drudge.

Ranni sat down beside of R'nar but left a healthy space between them. "What's mothing?" she asked, turning her dark eyes onto him.

The question caught him off guard as it seemed to come out of nowhere. "Well," he said tentatively, "I assume you are talking about flight moths?"

"I don't know," Ranni shrugged her shoulders. "Another Candidate, Aviday, said that her mother likes to moth, but I really don't know what she meant by that. I didn't want to ask her and seem stupid, she's much younger than me."

"Ah," R'nar nodded slowly. It was one of those weyr terms that he didn't expect a holdbred person to know until they came to live at the Weyr. "Well, have you covered Mating Flights in Candidate classes yet? As far as, what's required of the riders?"

"Yes," Ranni said hesitantly, hoping this wasn't going to lead to a conversation about what had taken place between him and her in the closet on the day of the gold flight.

"Well, when a man's dragon chases, he's left with all of those feelings that the dragons stirred up in their flight. It's hard to explain because you haven't experienced it yet, but when your dragon is the one rising, and you join with them mentally, it feels like you _are_ the dragon during the flight." R'nar thought that was the best way to describe the sensation. "So only one dragon wins, right? Well, all of those losers are suddenly thrust back into their own bodies, but there are leftover effects -"

"Leftover effects?" she asked.

R'nar felt his cheeks redden a bit, not because he was shy, but because he knew that Ranni didn't know what she was asking. "Ehem, well, the man's needs haven't been satisfied."

It was Ranni's turn to look embarrassed. "Oh."

"So," he continued quickly, "there are some men and women who wait and they take one of the flight losers to one of the spare rooms to.... satisfy needs. The men and women who hang around are like moths to a flame, I suppose, so that's why they're called flight moths."

_THAT_ was what Aviday's mother did? Ranni couldn't imagine how embarrassing that must be. No wonder the other Candidate had wanted to avoid her mother at all costs when they were cleaning the Dining Cavern. **She just waits around to throw herself at some man?** Ranni couldn't imagine why a woman would want to do that.

"I see." Ranni answered, avoiding R'nar's eyes by looking out at Iorath wallowing in the waves.

That was the reaction that R'nar had expected, but at least she didn't seem upset with him, which was how things normally ended. "It'll be different when you have a dragon of your own," he said.

"That's what everyone keeps saying," she murmured. "First Chaysea, then Sh'del. Everyone is so concerned that I've not been with a man before."

R'nar wisely refrained from remarking on how odd he found that.... Just looking at Ranni he couldn't imagine that no one had ever paid her attention when she lived at Sunstone. She'd caught his eye the first time he'd seen her when A'vel had brought her in. Although, her prickly personality had probably deterred quite a few young men.

"It would be problematic if you were to Impress and then have your dragon rise before you'd had sex." He saw her cringe outwardly when he said the word.

"Why? Everyone says you're caught up in your dragon and don't even know what you're doing."

"Because when that wears off you're left with the aftermath. Your partner won't have very much awareness either, remember, and so you'll wake up very sore because a girl's first time can be painful." R'nar rubbed his nose, really wishing that a woman had had this conversation with Ranni. It's not as if he could speak from actual experience as to what a woman felt. All he knew was what he'd heard.

Ranni chewed on her lower lip as she thought over what R'nar said. How bad could it be? she thought. She'd survived a lot in life, but she didn't know if she could survive undressing and being intimate with a man without being under the influence of a dragon. A part of her thought she'd rather just wait and see what happened.

But what if the dragons sensed her general distrust of all men and considered it a weakness? Would that make them not want her as a lifemate? Ranni didn't want anything to stand between her and possibly being a dragonrider.

R'nar was grateful for the lapse in conversation. He'd hoped for something a little more light and easy while he showed her around the Weyr, but he was quickly realizing Ranni had a way of complicating even simple things. It would have been annoying if he also didn't find it intriguing.

"R'nar?"

He turned his head to look at her. "Yeah?"

"Will you have sex with me?" Ranni's dark eyes met his with a determined glint in them.

"Excuse," his voice squeaked and he had to clear his throat, "excuse me?"

"You heard me. Everyone seems to think I have this 'problem' so if I take care of it then they'll quit looking at me differently than the weyrbred Candidates."

**"Take care of it."** He could only imagine how that would go. Ranni was a little bossy and he could imagine that she would try to lay down ground rules for him during sex....

"I'll agree, on one condition."

Ranni studied his face, trying to predict what his 'condition' would be. "What?"

"We do it my way, and you do what I tell you since I know what I'm doing and you don't." R'nar knew how that sounded, but it was his condition.

Everything within Ranni automatically balked at the phrase 'do what I tell you' but she needed R'nar to do this for her. He was the only man at the Weyr that she knew besides A'vel, and that was definitely a no-go, and she knew that he liked her, so he would say yes.

"Fine."

R'nar stuck his hand out. "Deal?"

Ranni exhaled a loud sigh but slapped her palm against his in a firm handshake. "Deal."

Last updated on the April 4th 2019

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