Wise are Those Who Keep Their Mouths Shut

Writers: Devin, Len
Date Posted: 18th April 2012

Characters: J'kri, G'wen
Description: G'wen remembers why he doesn't like gossip
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 6, day 19 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentioned: E'ner, Sh'lua, Cardella, S'vin, J'darin (not by name)

"This place is _huge_," Jykri muttered as he followed G'wen.

"Is it?" G'wen stopped from leading the candidate around the place to
take it all in. Growing up here it had never occurred to him that it
was large. It was all he knew. "You should see Dolphin's Cove if you
think this place is big."

"I thought the Hold was big, but I guess this place would have to be
bigger to house dragons."

The smaller boy nodded in an absentminded sort of way. He hadn't
really thought about it that way before. "So you settling in better
now?" As they talked they walked across the bowl and towards the
baths.

"I guess so. It's a lot to get used to." He shivered a little. At
least one thing was the same -- the cold weather.

"I'm sure. What is it like in the Holds?" G'wen hadn't really ever
thought about what Hold life must be like. He was Weyr-bred, through
and through, and liked it that way.

"More careful. More controlled. Everyone is expected to get married
and have children. I didn't like the idea of only staying with _one_
person my whole life." And of course that person had to be female. He
had a hard enough time trying to choose a craft, how was he supposed
to choose a wife?

"Oh, I like the idea of being with just one person..." G'wens voice
trailed off as he thought about E'naer. How would it be, if it was
just him and the Weyrlingmaster 3rd? His thoughts trailed off to
Sh'lua then and he mentally pinched himself.

"But wouldn't you always wonder what it would be like to be with someone else?"

"I ride a green." G'wen looked at the candidate and shrugged his
shoulders. "I don't have to wonder what it'll be like if I'm with
someone else, it'll
happen if I want it or not."

"That's not what I meant, I meant by choice. Someone you wanted."
Jykri's head was still spinning at all the opportunities the Weyr
offered.

"Erm...but I_like_the fella I'm with. I wouldn't want another...by
choice." Again his thoughts drifted off to that wild Flight with
Sh'lua. What would it be like with him_and_E'naer as lovers?

"If you're happy, that's good. I want to explore all my options."

G'wen rolled his eyes. "You're_so_gonna Impress blue, if you Impress
at all. Trust me on this." He mocked smacked the other boy's arm
before leading him into the vast chamber that housed the Inner Lake.
Several browns and a few bronzes were bathing, along with a couple of
greens. Off to one side was his own Neath, watching the males and
warming herself. She saw her lifemate and--with a few graceful sweeps
of her wings--flew across the lake and settled close to the boys.

"Oh, is she yours? She's beautiful." Jykri smiled as he admired the large green.

"Thanks!" The slender boy leaned rather sensuously against Neath, his
usual social awkwardness forgotten for a moment. She arched her neck
so that he could reach her head knobs as he reached over his head to
do just that. "She likes the soft bit of her skin just behind her
eyes rubbed," he told Jykri, mentally asking her to lower her head so
the other boy could touch her.

As the green came closer, his smile widened. Jykri scratched just
where G'wen told him, watching the dragon's swirling eyes. "What's it
like, having a dragon?"

"What's it like...?" How would you describe it, to someone that
hadn't Impressed? He crunched his face up, thinking. "It's just...
so beyond anything that I've ever been through. I suppose you could
imagine falling in love...and then multiply that by at least 100
times. I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders as Neath nudged his
torso gently and crooned her love to him. "It's just beyond anything,
really. And threadfall..." At that he shuddered. He was starting to
find himself some nights waking in a cold sweat, reliving his
Blooding.

"That must be terrifying." It was frightening even safely deep in the
Hold. Going out to face it was almost unimaginable, but if he
Impressed, Jykri would have to. There must be someone at the Weyr with
expert knowledge of Thread and how it functioned. Jykri knew the
basics, but there was so much he didn't know.

G'wen made a face, and changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on
his Blooding anymore than he had to. "That far bathing pool down
there..." He pointed to the one furthest to the left. "Try and stay
away from that one, unless you want to be molested. All the troll
types go to that one. Trust me, you don't want to wash in that
water."

The Candidate's eyes went wide. "Is it really as bad as they say it
is? People having sex all the time, everywhere?" Jykri hadn't been
here long, but he'd yet to see anything confirming the worst of the
rumors. "Even ... when someone doesn't want it?"

G'wen started to shake his head at the first questions but then
hesitated. "I...uh...it's_not_usually that bad but..." He ducked his
head down, ashamed. "Just keep your nose clean and you'll be okay.
I...erm...had something happen a while back and that set off a lot of
scummy blueriders to try some things out..."

Jykri kept staring. "Did someone ... hurt you?"

"They tried..more than once." G'wen shuddered at the thought had any
of them gotten their way. "But you're a lot bigger than me so you
shouldn't have the same problems. Just, if you_do_Impress green, keep
your nose clean or you could get taken advantage of. It's not just
Holders that have funny ideas about greenriders."

Now he felt sick. "Maybe I should go home. This isn't what I wanted,
not at all." Jykri thought the Weyr would mean freedom and choice, not
abuse.

At that G'wen felt terrible. "Oh no, don't let that get you down!
It's just in my case, my da was a certain way..." He couldn't spell
out he was a man whore so he left it at that. "And a lot of
blueriders figured I was the same way and that I would be pleased to
lay down with them. But that was just my own case, not many
people have to put up with that." And how to explain that trouble
seemed to follow closely at his heels?

"Do they listen if you tell them no?"Jykri asked.

"Ah..they listen if you punch them. It all stopped when I got hurt,
anyways, so there you go." G'wen pulled a face and caressed Neath's
face.

"So you _did_ get hurt. Did they get in trouble -- the person that
hurt you? Or do people just _let_ things like that happen here?" Maybe
he'd find one of the weyrlingstaff and make sure that kind of behavior
wasn't tolerated. He'd already had it explained to him that fighting
wasn't allowed.

G'wen felt he was going to need a shovel to get out of the mess he had
created. "No, no, I didn't get hurt from one of them, I got hurt by
Thread." He quickly turned and--though he normally didn't show anyone
bar Cardella and S'vin his scar he figured he had made such a mess of
things it was only fair to show this boy--held up his tunic, the lower
half of the long predominate scar showing across his back.

That made Jykri more confused. "So ...after you got Threadscored,
people stopped molesting you? Because they felt sorry for you, or was
it some kind of respect thing?"

"Uh...I think it was a respect sort of thing...maybe it was pity.".
G'wen looked confused. He had always assumed it was out of respect
but... "Or maybe no one wants to be saddled with an idiot weyrmate
like me." He gave the other boy a rueful smile.

"If they were touching you when you didn't want them to, they weren't
looking to weyrmate you anyway. At least I _hope_ courting doesn't
work like that here."

At that G'wen rolled his eyes. "Okay, that done, care to see the
feeding pens?" He already was walking out of the giant cavern, Neath
having flown on ahead of them. Note to self, he mused, keep your
bloody mouth shut!

Last updated on the April 30th 2012

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Wise are Those Who Keep Their Mouths Shut