Shake It Off

Writers: Devin, Len
Date Posted: 10th May 2025

Characters: R'lor, Sh'del
Description: R'lor and Sh'del discuss brownrider sexuality and how the previous class went.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 5 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: O'rosin, R'fayne, C'rand, B'lyse, Kadira, Tirraze, Ç'pier, N'vanik, V'tian, J'lor

R'lor

R'lor sat in his office, meticulously combing through his materials on
dragonrider sexuality and carefully crossing things out.

On his table, green Trouble played around with a crumbled piece of
paper, until she rolled off the table and fell with a little squeal.
Sh'del glanced down at her before looking back at the corrected
papers. "I used to think Seren had given me that flit egg out of love,
now I know it was for revenge." He snorted, thinking back on his old
lover from Dreams End Weyr.

R'lor kept his eyes on his work and said mildly, "As long as she
behaves herself in here. Kularth really might eat her _and_ you if she
misbehaves in my office again." The firelizard was only allowed back
in the Weyrlingmaster's office because Kularth had forgotten the last
incident.

"After this last weyrling class I might ask--no beg--Kularth to
eat_me_instead if we are so blessed to get another one just like
them."

"It wasn't as bad as I'd feared, actually." R'lor crossed out another
line and wrote in a correction.

The man was crossing out a lot. Cocking his head, Sh'del tried to peak
at the paper in R'lor's hand. "What has you going overeager with the
black pen?"

"I'm updating my class materials since some of the information is
incorrect, apparently," the Weyrlingmaster said.

"And what's that?" Sh'del half reached for the poor, abused paper,
curious as to what had been so wrong.

"Brownrider sexuality," R'lor said. "One brownrider weyrling being
attracted to men might be an exception, but two in the same clutch?
That means we were wrong."

“What’s this ‘we’ you speak of?” Sh’del gave him an amused look.
“Um…not every weyrmate I’ve ever had was of the fairer sex y’know.” He
idly watched Trouble pounce on one of R’lor’s pens and roll off the
desk again with a squeal. “Gotta say, the boys don’t leave weird presents
for you afterwards either.” He gave the obnoxious flit a long look.

R'lor paused for a long moment and then flipped over the page. "It
wasn't something I ever saw. Or heard of, aside from a rumor now and
then. All I was ever told was that men like me couldn't Impress brown
or bronze."

“So you never had a brownrider boyfriend or…?” Sh’del blinked at the
bluerider and gave him an ‘I’m right in front of you’ look. “…never??”

R'lor shook his head. "Nope. Not a lover, not a casual bedmate.
Nothing. I never thought they would have any interest."

Sh'del gave the man a long look, wondering how much it would blow
R'lor's mind if he ever found out about some of the pairing ups with
some bronze and brown riders. "Sooo...when did this come to you?" He
kept his tone light,
trying hard to hide his bemusement. Maybe R'lor had been in a
long-term relationship with one person and just kept himself to
himself...maybe...or maybe the man was just dense...

Trouble sat up and gave a curious chirp at her person's thoughts.

"When I found out O'rosin and R'fayne were involved." R'lor made
another correction to his notes. "C'rand and B'lyse were sweethearts
before C'rand Impressed, and I was certainly confused when he got a
brown, but I thought maybe that was just an oddity. But now there are
two in the same clutch. I thought this might be something like blues
Impressing to women, a shift in who the dragons are choosing." First
Kadira at Dragonsfall, then Tirraze. Now it was seeming to happen at
every Hatching.

“Not to mention C’pier.” He idly watched Trouble as she slyly walked
along the desk until she reached R’lor’s paper. Before she could do
something, he sternly told her, “come!” With a grumble she turned and
went to him. “Go find Loranth, miss.” When she popped /betwwen/ he
muttered, “I should have named her Sleepy or something nice, if she
feels like she needs to live up to her name.”

R'lor's shoulders dropped slightly as the tension he'd been
unconsciously carrying eased. Whenever Sh'del walked into his office,
R'lor wondered what he was going to have to clean up. This time it was
only a dropped pen. "C'pier?" R'lor asked.

“C’pier and B’lyse…which is why C’rand was not at all pleased with
C’pier being around…”

"Ah. I'd interpreted that as friendship," R'lor said. "And that
neither C'rand nor B'lyse were comfortable with C'pier being around
because of his lying and doing terrible things in B'lyse's name."

Sh’del narrowed his blue eyes and grinned at R’lor. “Now you’re
sounding like my old bronze riding Weyrlingmaster back when I was a
kid. A lot of those ‘friendships’ are more than they look. I’d say
it’s more that the Weyrs here in the south are finally shaking off the
prejudices of the Holders. There’s a reason N’vanik wanted a blue to
be in the position of leadership you know.”

R'lor arched an eyebrow, a flicker of uncertainty in his stomach. "I .
. . I thought it was because he believed me to be capable of the
responsibility."

Oh Faranth, not this old chestnut again. Sh'del was glad Trouble
wasn't around to echo his annoyance of R'lor's perennial insurcuity.
Why was he like this?? He took a moment to take a sip of his klah
before saying anything. It stopped him from just trying to bolster the
man's ego. He so just wanted to say 'that's a given!' But there was so
much more going on. Did this new knowledge (for R'lor) further
unsteady the man? Sh'del hadn't really had much time since the
Hatching to really see just how much it had affected R'lor's
confidence. Maybe now was as good a time as any.

After carefully putting his cup on the desk, he asked, "So...how do
you feel, now that you've had an entire class under your belt?"

A change in subject, then. Was Sh'del hiding something? Had the
Weyrleader chosen R'lor for some ulterior motive? R'lor took a breath.
"It was a challenge, though -- I almost hate to say it -- easier than
I thought it would be, at least in some respects."

“What parts were the most challenging for you?”

"C'pier, obviously." The Weyrlingmaster sighed. "O'rosin was a
struggle too. I wish I could've figured out a better way to help him,
but at least we managed to get him into the Wings."

“You did well with O’rosin.” Sh’del tipped his fingers to his forehead
with a smile. “It was V’tian that kept me awake at night. I still
worry about that kid.”

"We've got him a bit longer and he's seeing a mindhealer," R'lor said.
"I think V'tian will do all right. He's made good progress."

“I hope so. I think for me as much it’s about kids like him, who want
that shiny bronze because of what their family will say. No matter how
many turns doing this, that one always breaks me a bit inside.”

R'lor sighed. "It's hard to see. Them fearing rejection or actually
being rejected. I try to help them see that the Weyr is their family
now, where they'll be accepted and supported for who they are."

“How are you finding that aspect of the job?” Now was Sh’del’s turn to
sigh. “I have to admit all I wanted to do was go to those kids’ Holds
and knock some sense into the parents.”

R'lor chuckled. "Yeah, I feel that way sometimes. I was a
Weyrlingstaff Assistant for Turns before this, and often I was the one
to talk to the green and blueriders who were struggling with family
rejection or their sexuality."

"It never gets easy. But I suppose that's good in a way, as it means
we care, even after all these turns." Sh'del took another sip of his
klah before asking, "What were your favorite parts of the job?"

"I like seeing them grow into mature, confident pairs. But I also love
when the hatchlings are small, when everything is new to them and
their riders are still amazed at their new bond." R'lor smiled.

Sh'del smiled. R'lor was so much more relaxed when his focus was on
the weyrlings. If only he'd relaxed into the role away from the
youngsters and not see himself as threat. "Well, I'd say you've
settled well into the role, how are you feeling about it now with one
hatching under your belt? And now that you've worked with myself and
J'lor for a bit, what do you think you need more from us to make this
role easier?"

R'lor considered that for a moment. "I might give you a bit more of
the work. I felt like I needed to do most of it myself, to prove I
could handle the job." There had been too many nights with too little
sleep and far too little time for himself.

"I understand. Both J'lor and I would be happy with more
responsibility...it might keep Trouble busy enough to stop creating
havoc as well!"

Last updated on the May 12th 2025

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Shake It Off