Overwhelmed

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 11th December 2020

Characters: Enamra, Ayressa
Description: Enamra arrives at the Weyr and meets Ayressa in the barracks.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 8, day 17 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: T'ner, Thayde

Enamra

Enamra stepped into the barracks quietly, her satchel of belongings
over her shoulder and her feet aching from the walk from the Hall.
She'd reported in to the Headwoman and was now listed on the Candidate
roster, but now that she looked into the large barracks, she felt at a
loss. It was so crowded with people and they all seemed to be busy
doing different things for the evening. She lingered by the door,
looking down at the number of her cot given to her, then back up.
Where did she even start?

"Overwhelmed?" a voice beside of her asked. A friendly smile greeted
her from a blonde-haired Candidate, who couldn't have been more than
three Turns older than Enamra.

She jumped a little at the sudden voice, feeling for an instant that
she was again just a drudge waiting to be scolded. It was the friendly
smile that reassured her enough to not immediately duck away. Enamra
tucked a stray stand of hair behind her ear, a nervous gesture, then
offered a hesitant smile. "A little. I just got here and I'm not sure
what to do next. "

"Oh, I remember. I came from Green Valley Minor Hold with my husband,
who was Searched. It was like walking into a dream, or something."
Ayressa said. It amazed her to think how much she had changed since
then, a Turn ago. "Here, these are the empty beds," she said,
gesturing to a few bottom bunks. "You can just put your stuff in the
trunks at the foot of the bed."

"I was given a cot number..." she handed Ayressa the slip of hide,
then paused. "You're married?" There was a sudden feeling of relief;
she wasn't the only one! "I'm married too. I'm from Dolphincraft
Hall. But my husband is still there. He couldn't come with me. "

Ayressa took her over to the cot number on the piece of hide. "Well,
technically, I'm not married anymore. When my husband was Searched,
the Weyrlingmaster made it _very_ clear that if he Impressed we would
no longer be husband and wife. They said we could be 'weyrmates' but
they were so picky about the words 'husband' and 'wife'." She leaned
in conspiratorially, "We still call each other husband and wife when
we're alone, though."

Enamra's face fell a bit; there had been some hope that her case would
be different, that she could still remain married to Thayde in some
way. If she Impressed, Thayde wouldn't be able to come to the Weyr and
be "weyrmates" with her, not as Hallmaster. How would that work for
either of them? "Oh." She put her things down and sat down on the
bunk. "But you still get to be together. Well, that's nice at least."

"Yeah, it's been.. an adjustment. My husband impressed to a blue
dragon... You know what that means, right?"

Enamra blinked, her brow furrowing. "No, not really. I haven't been
around many riders, to be honest. But it was a blue dragon that
Searched me. I don't know much about the Weyr. I kind of grew up a
little..." She tried to find a good word for it, "well, I didn't grow
up being taught those things."

"Well, men who ride blue dragons like to sleep with both men and
women, usually." She lifted her shoulders to say that she didn't know
if that was always the case. "So I had to give my husband 'permission'
to practice sleeping with men for when he wins a greenrider's flight."
Ayressa shook her head. If someone had told her a Turn ago that she
would have agreed to such an arrangement... she wouldn't have believed
them. But T'ner was happy, and she still got a part of him when he was
home in the evenings. She didn't see how it was terribly different
from those Lady Holders who knew their Lords had mistresses. "Anyway,
I just tell you that to say, it takes a lot of adjusting, coming to
live at the Weyr."

Her eyes widened in utter surprise. She'd heard that male greenriders
shared intimacy with other men but this woman's husband did too? And
she was okay with it? She couldn't imagine Thayde _ever_ being so
permissible. "Uh...Oh. Uhm...I'm not going to be expected to sleep
with women, am I? I mean, I'm _married_ and I don't think I could
sleep with someone besides my husband." She raised a hand. "Not that I
think your marriage or...weyrmating is strange, I just," She
floundered a little. "I don't think he'd like it very much."

"The only time you'd have to sleep with someone besides your husband
would be a mating flight. Any man in the Weyr could win your flight.
Our teachers told us that most of the time, after a flight, when you
wake up, your partner might want to.. you know... go again. Residual
lust, they call it."

"Oh." Enamra thought about that. "And you and your husband worked that
out? Mine, he can't come here to live. He's the Hallmaster at Dolphins
Cove and his brother and sister are riders, so maybe he'd be
understanding about it." But would anyone be as pleasing as Thayde
was? The thought of sharing that with anyone else just felt...wrong.
But if she had to do it... "I'm sorry, it's just really overwhelming."
She looked down at her hands. "Do you think it's worth it to be here?"

"It is for me and my husband slash weyrmate. He is so happy with his
life as a dragonrider and with his dragon. And his dragon is
wonderful. I'd like to have that kind of a relationship, too. A dragon
is part of your heart, they'll never betray you, they'll always love
you unconditionally, and you will always be the first person in their
lives. There's no second place between you and your dragon." Ayressa's
words were wistful.

Listening and watching Ayressa, Enamra felt a sudden wistfulness as
well. What would that be like? To come first and never worry about
being replaced or to have such an intense closeness like she talked
about. There was a sudden intense desire to have just what Ayressa
described and she sighed. "It sounds wonderful." Her voice was soft,
reflective. Ayressa and her husband had worked it out, could she?
Could she have that opportunity too? "I wasn't sure, but it does sound
so lovely."

Ayressa looked down and suddenly seemed to notice what Enamra was
wearing. "Did you bring some breeches? You're going to need them."

The sudden change in subject drew Enamra out of her reverie. "Hm?" She
followed Ayressa's gaze, then went back up. "Breeches? Uhm...no. I
didn't have any. I've never worn them."

"You will definitely want to go by the Headwoman and get a couple of
pairs then. Trust me, some of the chores and things we do are torture
in a skirt."

"I've always done chores and work in skirts," Enamra protested, but
the protest died quickly. She should probably listen to the voice of
experience. "I suppose I can adjust. Breeches, then. Is there anything
else I might need?"

Ayressa looked down at Enamra's sandaled feet. "Did you bring any boots?"

Last updated on the January 13th 2021

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Overwhelmed