The unbearable lightness of being

Aliseth might have fought - the instinct was there (it was always there) - but she had chosen. And, blurred and drowning in emotions stronger than he could have imagined, E'zen surfaced - partly - in his partner's mind.

He might as well have been gasping for air, the way he reached for Asteriel, the way Aliseth wrapped around Emanoth as they fell, and fell, and fell...

*
Dividia, not a bit lost in flight emotions, but more than observant enough to see the shifts and flows of same, could tell the flight was won. She didn't know flight etiquette, but she did know there was a much more private tunnel not far from where the cluster of riders was, and that she didn't especially want to eat meals picturing moody young dude and Casriel's little sister naked and grinding.

So. Etiquette to someone else's ass, she sidled her way into the group as it began to come apart, and shoved/tilted/moved/tripped/whatever she had to do until the pair of young riders were at least mostly behind a wall.

Asteriel went to him; who would not have went? She folded into his arms like a dove or a slowly bending rose to the wind. Her mind swam with the growing passion of their mating dragons but her blue eyes were full of E'zens face. She allowed herself to be moved to whatever room they had decided was close enough. Then her lips pressed against his and all knowledge stilled except for that warmth.
-----
Osgilath snarled as he peel away from the mating pair. He had been outmaneuvered by a weyrling. The knowledge scalded his pride. The midnight blue touched Cobalt turned away and headed for the bathing pools. A long soak was needed for all his wasted hard work.
---------------
Hesriath had kept an "ear" open for dragon chatter as the flight progressed. It did not take long for the scarlet to discover who had mated Aliseth.

Emanoth has caught Aliseth. Hesriath reached out to Ashrah and Yllaveth in the same motion. Ashrah nodded and mumbled to herself. She supposed that was best for all involved; given the mutual affection between E'zen and Asteriel she was only a little surprised. She was sure one of the older, more experienced males would have won her. Ashrah would have put a mark or two on Nolinth for the winner but that was before Aliseth had banned all bronzes, browns and blues from her flight. She had no idea how the Weyrleadership would handle that but it was out of Ashrah's hands. Hesriath couldn't command Aliseth to accept the males and likely wouldn't have agreed to try even if Ashrah wanted her to.

'Dragons know best.' Ashrah thought. She wondered what new dragons might appear from the mix of Shadow and Smoke. Likely more of the same but could another sport be found? Likely cobalts, scarlets and quartzs given their parentage. Casriel would know; she obsessed like any hobbyist about the bloodlines.

Cosenne cried out in anger, frustration, loss. She had won it, she knew it, but like the incorporeal darkness for which she was named, Shadow Aliseth seemed to dissolve into nothingness as she chose another.

Her consciousness slammed back into her body, and she stumbled. Her skin felt simultaneously hot and cold. Hot, for the fires of disappointed lust that burned within. Cold, for the air upon her bare, still-wet skin. She shook her dark hair back from her face and forced herself to focus on the male figure in front of her as her hands reached out hungrily...

N'set.

No.

"No," she said out loud, her voice rough. "I love you too much." She turned and reached out blindly for someone else, anyone else who might be willing to slake her need.

E'zen's eyes focused on Asteriel, slowly and then all at once. His smile - if a bit brief, in favor of other activities - was brilliant.

*
Dividia all but wiped her hands, eyes fastening on Kane's. Lunch time or no, she needed a drink, and raised her eyebrows at him in silent question, glancing pointedly over to where a few bottles were always stowed.

*
In the barracks, Vianne laughed outloud as her lovely quartz told her the resolution of the flight. "E'zen and Asteriel, then. Who's surprised? I wonder if they'll let Revel do as she likes, after being part of...all that."

Vorganth hissed his displeasure, teeth bared, as Aliseth let herself be caught by one of the smokes-- a weyrling, a baby, not nearly as strong as he was.  He was clearly the better choice, and she should have seen that.

Snaking back around on a hard turn, the cobalt headed straight for the river, needing to cool off.

R'fariel, for his part, wasn't too disappointed as he came back to himself.  He felt bad for Vorganth, but his heart wasn't in this flight by any means.  He didn't need it to be-- he had two scarletriders who would be plenty happy to see him if he showed up in the wake of a loss.  Or any other time, really.

That in mind, he sucked in several deep breaths as he turned away from the crowd surrounding E'zen and Asteriel.  Wanna come get me?

Vorganth didn't answer, having just reached the cool water of the canyon's river.  He dove deep, letting it soothe what it would.

It wasn't enough, of course, but unless another female was going to follow in Aliseth's wake, he had no choice but to shake it off.

Anarath and Nwynth are waiting for you, Raf reminded his dragon, hoping he wasn't going to have to walk up to V'tayn's weyr on his own.  He'd much rather get there faster, if at all possible.  The other two would likely get their little party started without him if he took too long.

The cobalt finally rumbled in response, emerging from the river dripping wet and uncaring who or what got caught in his trail.  Of course, that included his rider when he finally touched down close enough for Raf to mount, but R'fariel didn't care-- he was pretty sure neither of his friends would mind once he reached them.

In no time at all, Vorganth was settling onto Anarath's ledge, in whatever space the two scarlets left him.  His rider slid down to the rock and flippantly called, "Hey, guys.  Vorganth got me all wet after he jumped in the river."  It was a bit of a stretch, his dragon having dried some as he flew, but Raf wasn't above taking advantage of the situation to tease either of his lovers.  "You want me to leave my clothes out here?"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Revel came back to herself with a far more violent snap than she was expecting.  She wasn't sure why it hadn't been smooth-- perhaps because she'd spent so long trying to keep herself separate from Sanovith  while she was worried about E'zen and Br'son beating each other up.  Or perhaps that's how it always was?  She wasn't sure, and her brain was still too muddled to make much sense of it.  Bending over and placing her hands on her knees, she sucked in great gulps of air, trying to clear the last of her smoke's vision from her gaze.

It had been a lot to take in, despite all the warnings they'd been given beforehand.  Flight lust was… intense.  That was the only word for it-- the way it caught hold and swept her under, the way Sanovith's consciousness overwhelmed her own once she allowed it to do so.  And now that Sanovith hadn't won… she was left with the remnants, still keyed up, still wanting.  And trying to decide what to do about it.

Sanovith, at least, seemed fine, if not sulky and disappointed.  Tired and worn out.  And maybe the slightest bit sore-- that had been the hardest flying they'd done yet, despite Ashrah's drills, and she wasn't entirely sure chasing Aliseth had been the smartest thing for him to have done.  But there'd been no stopping him, not when his mind was made up.

Despite knowing the other smoke was likely in the same boat, she was glad Emanoth had won.  Asteriel and E'zen deserved some time together, even if it wasn't exactly of their own choosing.  She doubted either would mind in the end, and was happy for them.

For herself, though… she didn't quite know what to do.  If she had choices… and what they might be.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Somewhere across the Mess Hall, Kane had watched the proceedings with vague interest.  Of course, there had been flights before, but not queen flights-- and none that centered around such a public space.  He found it interesting that there was such a mix of reactions, and some riders were clearly able to keep their heads better than others.  Some were even able to resist becoming part of the group, as had been proven by the brownrider he'd been sitting somewhat close to.  Then again, the man had all but screamed at something at one point, the sound agonized, and Kane wondered just what had drawn out that reaction when there was no one and nothing physically touching him.

Idly, he also wondered if the same effects would come of being involved with whers mating-- considering he was now tied to one, he'd eventually find out, he supposed.  But he didn't think things would be quite the same for him as he'd just observed.

Seeing the queenrider and another come together in the end, he realized the flight must be over.  And then he had to chuckle as he watched Dividia shuffle the two young lovers off to the side and out of view of prying eyes-- clearly, they were too wrapped up in each other to think of finding privacy themselves.

A smirk was still playing about his mouth when the woman looked over at him, and he received her message loud and clear.  Pushing to his feet with only the slightest bit of compensation for his bad hip, Kane moved towards the space she indicated and joined her.  "Well, that's something not everyone can say they've had the opportunity to do," he murmured teasingly, of her attempt to save the modesty of the two dragonriders locked together.

Dividia poured them both a pull of the white lightning, and held her glass up. "This is where we eat," she said matter-of-factly, though a smile hinted along her lips. "Kanesk sleep through it too?"

There was a hand on his arm and when E'ret turned it was with a wanting and a question in his eyes deep eyes. Itzelbith was on the heights, watching the flight but unaffected by its amours. E'ret was conscious in that moment how long it had been since he had held any woman. There was a tightness in his lower belly and a lonely keen in his chest. He smiled and nodded.

"Yes." he murmured huskily.

Cosenne didn't need to hear more. She wrapped herself around E'ret, arms, legs and all. "Outside," she murmured in his ear. "My weyr's not far..."

E'ret followed her, his green-grey eyes drinking her face as if she was water and he a man dying of thirst. Her lips had brushed his ear and it set a wildfire in his veins. He felt as if he walked on vapor. He had no words but his movements were swift. He followed, loosening the collar of his tunic as he went.

We have to go. NOW! The Weyrleader comes for us!

Ensieth suddenly said, leaping to her feet. She had been enjoying a light splash in the lake while her rider ate a light lunch on the shore, but now she charged to the girl and crouched down.

Get on, we are going between.

"What's going on?" Teagan asked, confused but listening to Ensieth and mounting up. The shadow didn't have time to answer, though, before Sidrian was there and the two dragons were in the air.

We are going here, we are going here, Teagan repeated to herself, over and over like a mantra, having the visual in her mind as well. Her eyes were closed when the cold of between hit them, and then they flew open in the blackness. For a moment, she felt pure terror, not able to feel Ensieth underneath her. But then she realized Ensieth was there, perhaps more than ever before. She felt surrounded by the protectiveness of her dragon, and she marveled at the sensation.

And then they were in a cove, small, secluded, and far from the madness at the Weyr. "WOOOOOOOOOOO!" she shrieked, throwing her head back and laughing like a lunatic as Ensieth circled to land. "That was incredible, Ensieth! I'm so proud of you!"

Kane gave a little half shrug, an indication that she had him there, as he accepted his own glass.  "They might remember it a little differently later, regardless."  Not that the rest of the people who'd been unused to such things and born witness to it wouldn't.  But the young dragonriders would certainly have made some new memories floating through their minds the next time they came to the Mess Hall.

"He did, mostly.  I thought I felt him stir when she first went up, but it didn't last long."  Whether he'd truly risen to full consciousness, or not, the bronze wher had at least been radiating annoyance at the interruption of his nap.  "Is that normal?"

"The queenflight, or the wher?" she asked with a flashing blade of a smile. "Divisk is still settling in on how he feels about all these new minds - above and below ground - so I won't pretend anything's normal." Not with Kane, at least, who could sometimes figure out when she bluffed (and few enough who could say that). "He didn't burst out to challenge any of the dragons, and went back to sleep, so it's about as right as we can hope for."
"

"He was used to being the baddest thing around."  Not that Divisk didn't still qualify as high on the list.  "Now he's got all these others to contend with."  

Rolling his glass slightly in his fingers, Kane contemplated the liquid inside.  "I think I'm glad Kanesk mostly ignored the flight.  That was a lot to deal with on its own."  Aliseth's anger had been enough to deal with on its own… let alone adding a young wher's to it.  Were all flights quite so… intense?

"It's the noise he objects to," Dividia replied after a deep - if brief - chuckle, "Worry not whether his sense of himself remains unchanged." She lifted a shoulder and knocked back her drink. "As for the rest of it - it seems we were a bit protected, from how intense it could have been, but still." She cocked her head slightly, a half smile lifting the corner of her mouth. Invitation, or challenge - for her, after all, it was always likely both. "Care to take a break, or do you have somewhere pressing to be?"

He eyed her over the rim of his glass, deliberately drawing out his response.  "Mmm.  It'd be a shame to waste the quiet we currently have."  From their whers, at least, though he rather thought the atmosphere seemed far less… charged than it had been earlier, too.  "And as it happens, I'm free for the time being.  I'm sure you could convince my boss you were in far more need of my services if it came down to it, though," he added teasingly, before draining the rest of his glass.  Dividia had never needed to convince Avidian of any such thing, though, and he doubted she ever would-- the goals of father and daughter were far too aligned.