Haven smiles softly, already starting to blush a bit. Oh, I hate these talks sometimes. She pulls off her knot and tucks it in her cargo pocket on her pants leg, indicating she's here more as a friend than training.

Amalthea pauses half in the middle of a salute, glancing faintly at Kilaranth before crouching down next to the green and leaning comfortably against her foreleg.

Vincent strides over from the Lakeside Meadow.

Vincent says "hello."

Kaleum smiles at Haven and makes Nevorth crouch down lower. "It is getting very crowded here."

Haven ahems softly and clears her throat. "Well, everyone, I'm here tonight for your first lecture on mating flights. I want everyone to know that you can stop me at anytime with any questions." She nods to the visiting. "Evening sir, may I help you?"

Haven grins at Kaleum. "You'll be in weyrs before you know it, Kaleum"

Vincent says "Oh, I'm sorry, I just wondered in..."

Kaleum hears the voice and looks over to see a new person standing in the doorway.

Tiarnath isn't the one making it crowded, oh no, she's still smaller than her dam. She croons and settles herself down on the ground

Haven grins. "That's alright sir, though I'm about to start a class in here. Did you have any questions about the weyr?"

Amalthea's expression loses a little bit of its enthusiam, and a faint blush comes to her face at the mention of the topic. Shifting a little, she nods to Haven's words, her hands carefully folded in her lap. Kilaranth rumbles faintly, eyes whirling.

Vincent smiles, "No, no... sorry ... I'll excuse myself."

Vincent walks toward the Lakeside Meadow.

Nevorth shakes his head back and forth realizing that he is part of the problem and he is still growing.

Telinda fiddles with her knot as she sits back and tries to listen, though she's looking everywhere but at Haven.

Haven takes a seat. "Well now. Lets start with your dragons right now. They are still immature, sexual, but are growing fast. You've probably noticed that they've been more prone to pick up feelings from other dragons and are most likely confused at times. This is all normal at this stage."

Kaleum nods at Haven, looking very serious.

Amalthea chews her lower lip, nodding slowly. "Kila.." She pauses, clearing her throat, "She was wondering why Savanath is really green, and why she can't be green like Savananth is.."

Haven smiles a bit. "Its very important for you to be the level headed one, though it will be a challenge. All weyrlings should be very cautious about refraining from /any/ sexual activity, including something as innocent as kissing someone you like. You're emotions feed back into your dragons, and at this point, it could be harmful to their well being."

Haven smiles at Thea. "She is starting to notice others proddy greens, and may be envying them. Greens can get /very/ jealous of each other, espescially when they are proddy."

Amalthea winces faintly at the words 'envy' and 'proddy'. She twists around the peer anxiously up at Kilaranth, relief flooding her features the next moment. "She says she won't go proddy if it upsets me so!" How little poor Thea knows.

Haven says "Now, you'll need to know the signs of proddiness in a female and how to know its affecting you, whether you ride a female or male. Female dragons can show any level of proddiness, some none at all. This may go on for several weeks prior to her rising to mate. She'll waver between being very happy to suddenly moody and mad at everyone but her rider. She'll seem to move with a bit more... senuous grace than before and be keenly interested in males"

Telinda wrinkles her nose, "Tia just wants to know why she can't chase Savanath. I know its strange, but she's insistent." Swallowing, she glances up, eyes meeting Haven's for a moment, "K'laarn?" she asks. Not like she's seen the bronzerider since Hexenth's flight, but well, hope springs eternal.

Haven reaches out to put a hand on Thea's. "I know it scares you both, but you have to be strong for her too. Thats why I'm here tonight, to let you get used to the issues and problems, so you know what to expect."

Haven smiles softly at Telinda. "She may still think Sav's proddiness is a game, watching how the males trip over their tales for her." She shrugs a bit, "K'laarn knows this is an inappropriate time, Tel. He'll wait."

Amalthea bites her lip a little at Haven's words, nodding slowly after a moment. "I.. I can be strong for Kilaranth." Still afraid, but strong nonetheless.

Haven smiles and squeezes the weyrlings hand. "I know you can be. And you can be scared too. Anytime you are worried over this, Thea, you can come and talk to me."

Kaleum nods and pauses. "Hmm, that explains why Nev wants to be around Savanath all the time.

Telinda wrinkles her nose. Most times are inappropriate for K'laarn. Why, it took him six turns to profess his love, never mind doing anything else. She nods though, listening to the conversation, a hand lightly touching her lifemate as if for reassurance

Amalthea looks somewhat more at ease by those words, "I will.. and thank you, Haven." She smiles gratefully over at the Weyrsecond, eyes going over to Nevorth at Kaleum's words. "Is it true that males chase younger than females start to rise?"

Haven sits back upright, and nods to Kaleum. "Well, he may be justt a bit to young to realise why he wants to, but yes, he's starting to feel an odd fascination with her. When greens get proddy, they don't affect every male in the weyr," Thank the egg for that or she'd never get any work done, "but males that they tend to socialize with, or males that have riders that their rider tends to socialize with will be affected. The males will want to adore the female, and may fight for attention with each other."

Haven nods to Thea. "A male may be a few months younger than his green clutchmates. Golds tend to rise even later into their 2nd turn than greens do."

Kaleum nods again at Haven's words. "Does that mean that Zale and I would........." Her words trail off.

Haven gulps a bit. She was hoping to stall that some. "Well, Kaleum, uuh... lets talk first about how your dragon's emotions will affect you during this, then I'll address that."

Amalthea's eyes widen as she catches Kaleum's meaning, letting out a soft 'oh!'.

Kaleum glances around at the others and slumps next to Nevorth.

Telinda hrms, "This mean that I have a little more space than the greens do before Tia decides to" she coughs,"you know?!"

Haven smiles a bit, color reddening her ears a bit. "The rider is the dragon and the dragon is the rider. Therefore, you /will/ find yourself echoing his or her emotions. This makes it hard for a new greenrider to really recognize proddiness the first time. Riders of males will take interest in the greenrider, and he or she may find themselves irritable, or amorous. Same with the male riders." She smiles a bit as more color rises to her cheeks. "You've all seen how M'ren and I are when Hexenth is proddy. We both swing from lusty... attraction to each other, to bickering and fighting for no reason."

Haven nods to Tel, "There will probably be at least a good half turn longer before she rises."

Telinda grins, a little happier about that. There's something to be pleased about at least. An eyebrow arches, "Are golds similarly affected? Eliora and Olwen don't seem the same to say M'ren or Zale."

Haven shrugs a bit to Kaleum. "As for your question... you may find yourself attracted to the greenrider, or not. Your preferences /do/ have sway, but you may find that your preferences are not what you've thought." She coughs softly and tries to find the words. "I'm.. not scared to say that before I came to the weyr, the thought of being attracted to another woman was foreign, but now... I don't mind."

Haven smiles a touch - oh good, off that subject, I hope! "Umm.. golds tend to have stronger emotions, and their riders tend to have more of the negative emotions, battling to control her queen. Eliora often gets downright surly before Maristh rises."

Telinda looks up at Tiarnath. Oh shards. Negative? "I don't think Tia has any, she's always wanting to play."

Amalthea, amorous? She blinks a few times, staring up into the swirling eyes of her lifemate before blinking back at Haven. She opens and shuts her mouth for a moment, before finally spluttering, "How.. how do the greens pick who wins the flight? I mean.. do I have a say in it or something?"

Haven looks around the room at the faces, hoping she hasn't scared them completely witless. She waits for questions for a moment

Kaleum remains uncomforted about what can happen and preferences, even though Haven has made an attempt.

Haven nods to Thea. "Well, its not an exact science, but the feelings of the rider /may/ have a sway. I've seen weyrmates who's dragons only flew with each other, and I've seen weyrmates who's dragon's couldn't catch each other if they were tied together." She swallows again, "For instance, Hexenth's last flight? She and Pendrath had been very close since he flew her last turn, and during the flight, she was actually flying to him to be caught before she was taken away by Rnayth"

Amalthea gulps faintly, not liking the sound of the 'may' part at all. A soft croon from behind her, and she giggles softly. "Kilaranth will pick well, I'm sure." Well, she hopes at any rate.

Kaleum grimices, remembering what had happened to M'ren when that happened.

Haven shrugs a bit at the memory, and then notices Kaleum's uncomfortablness. "As for after the flight, since we are speaking of the rider's preferences, let me jump to that for a bit. When your dragon wins or is caught during a flight, you very strong echo his or her excitment and pleasure from the coupling. You will find that you want to physically join your dragon in that extasy." Gulp, swallow, gulp. "Now, you /will/ find youself, regardless of your preferences, strongly attracted to the rider of the mating dragon. However, if you /very/ uncomfortable with the rider, you may choose to be with another person, though this is very difficult for you to do, due to your dragon's desires. Staff and other riders not in the flight usually are around in case such an occurance happens, and you may choose another partner."

Telinda winces at the uncomfortable subject and mumbles somemore under her breath. She looks like she probably wants to ask a million questions, though its doubtful she can remember any of them.

Amalthea lets out a soft sigh of relief at Haven's words. Well, at least that's one of Thea's worries out of the way. She looks a trifle bit unnerved by the subject herself.

Haven sighs softly. "Sometimes, depending on the rider you are with, this can still be a... pleasurable experience. I tend to, especially if we've caught a green with a female rider who has never... well, I'm polite and courteous and will leave and quickly and quietly as I can if it is uncomfortable to her afterwards. Some riders... are not." There, got it all out, cards on the table, stop blushing, oh, please no embarasssing questions, how did I get talked into this.

Telinda frowns, sensing the weyrseconds discomfort and adding it to her own. "How does that effect me? As a rider of a gold? Is it the same?"

Kaleum begins shifting her position and is /clearly/ uncomfortable.

Haven * OOC note - you do /NOT/ have to RP any "aftermath" Heck, I usually jump up and down on the bed until an appropriate time passes while the other rider and I talk about the RP we'll do about it later. You can /always/ use the "substitue" NPC in an incompatable rider catches you. Males can RP flights and ask not to win if they want, and if a green isn't comfortable, she can rise "off-camera"

Haven nods to Telinda. "Yes, and maybe moreso. Golds have the strongest wills and emotions. That is why when she rises to mate, all the browns and bronzes want to give pursuit, not just close ones."

Kaleum *no guts no glory :)

Telinda blinks. All? "_All_?" she remarks fairly loudly. "How many is _all_?" Hands twist around each other in nervous anxiety

Haven gulps a bit. "Full weyr, with just a few wings out? Maybe upwards of 30 + males."

Kaleum hears Telinda's voice and turns to look at her realizing the impact Haven's words will have on her.

Haven says "Not all males will be around when she rises. Wing are out on sweeps and practices"

Telinda's eyes nearly bug out. She's never really seen a gold rise. Always hiding inside with the pretense of something important to do. "How _many_?" she asks, colour draining from her face.

Haven gulps. "Last gold Pendrath gave chase, he had to compete with 18 browns, and 22 bronzes. Weyr was kinda lean that day. Many males fall out quickly, snapping and wearing each other out. Usually halfway through the flight, less than 15 are still chasing, and it comes down to about 3-5 at the catch"

Amalthea's mouth falls open at Haven's words, and she stares at Telinda somewhat sympathetically.

Haven says "Greens can expect 15 males at the start, and usually 2-4 at the catch"

Telinda blinks. Oh my! "There's no way I can, well, get out of it?" she asks, trembling slightly and causing Tiarnath to croon in concern, nudging her rider gently

Kaleum gulps at the thought of a full flight and becomes somewhat calmer at her own predicament.

Haven looks down a moment. "No, Telinda. You could... lock yourself up, but honestly? You'd be unlocking the door at the end. The emotions are too strong. When your dragon is up there... you are up there with him or her." Her face looks a bit wistful of that

Amalthea thinks quickly, taking a deep breath after a moment. 15 is not so scary. Not so scary as 50..

Kaleum turns and looks at Tel, "Gosh, I had no idea it involved that many."

Telinda gulps, looking down at her hands, clenched and white at the knuckles. A terse nod to Haven's answer. "I don't.." she trails off, becoming quiet.

Haven smiles a bit "When you're dragon is up there, their emotions are so strong, that you join them in their glorous flight. You see /everything/ through their eyes, and you finally become one wholly with them. At that point, only their thoughts and emotions matter." She frowns a touch and shrugs. "Its something you need to be prepared to handle, Tel."

Telinda laughs, a little hysterical in tone, "I don't know how to sharding handle it, Haven" she says, tone terse. "I mean" she looks around, ah no males, "I still, well, I haven't been with a man -- ever."

Amalthea blushes faintly at Telinda's words, then adds in a soft voice, "Neither have I.."

Kaleum nods at Tel to send a little support. "This conversation has not made me feel very well, II think i'm more nervous."

Rapt flies off of Nevorth's headknob.

Haven gulps a bit. Ah, geeze, and I thought I was done with the really embarassing stuff. "Tel... its not that.. horrible. Scary?" She chuckles nervously, "Hell yes it is. You're dragon's emotions will keep you from feeling scared, or nervous... you'll want to join them in their extasy. You won't hesitate." Oh, like that's going to make them less nervous Haven. Then again, we're talking about a woman that was pregnant at 13 turns. She can't /remember/ being nervous.

Haven gulps a bit. "Maybe... maybe you'd prefer to talk to a rider of a female dragon?" Scare the weyrlings senseless - good job, Haven. Now they'll lock the doors to their weyrs and never come out.

Telinda shrugs, "They are going to say something different?" she asks

Amalthea's fingers are still clasped loosely together, though if you payed close attention you might notice that they were a little white around the knuckles. She shakes her head to Haven, "You know as much, don't you?"

Haven shrugs. "Tel... maybe I'm not the best person to talk about that. I... well... I was very young when I... Hell, Telinda, I was scared out of my wits the first time... even the second and third. All riders are! But you have to trust my word that you're dragon will take care of your emotions at the time and you won't be scared!"

Haven puts her hands on her forehead and props her elbows on her knees. "Maybe I botched this all up."

Telinda nods, "And what about _afterwards?_" she asks, "How in Faranth's name do you deal with _that_?!"

M'ren walks over from the Lakeside Meadow.

Kaleum nods in agreement with Tel. "How do you deal with the after, I mean about yourself?"

Haven looks up. She takes a breath and answers softly. "You just /do/. You're an adult. Through them out of your bed, toss shoes at them, call them names, or make love to them again? I can't answer that for you"

Amalthea coughs nervously, nodding to Telinda's words.

M'ren just about skids in through the doorway, looking like he's been running. He glances around, looking for...whatever's the problem. First glance shows no blood anywhere, at least.

Haven hears something and turns, looking like a rope has just been thrown to her while drowning. "M'ren! Oh jays... I need help here. We're talking about mating flights and... well... "

Kaleum glumly leans against Nevorth's side. Then looks over at M'ren peeking through the doorway.

Telinda snorts, "Whats _love_ got to do with this? I didn't think it had anything to do with dragons, apart from how we _feel_ about them!" Yep, Telinda's resorting to her old trick. Hide the confusion with anger and terse words

M'ren blinks at Haven, looking rather startled. "Is /THAT/ what Pendrath was telling her?" he says, and whews. From the message his green relayed, he was sure the barracks were burning down or something.

Haven takes and breath and looks back at the small group of women. "You just have to be prepared for it to happen. That's why we're here talking. Because it /will/ happen. Maybe with someone you like, maybe with someone you hate, maybe with someone you don't know. You've got to think about all of those."

Amalthea's eyes flicker to M'ren, then back to Haven. "I think I'd prefer not to think about it at all," She mutters softly under her breath.

Haven sighs "Look look look.. I've won flights with riders that I hated, or didn't want to be near the moment the dragon lust was gone. And I handled it, whether it was leaving as quickly as I could, or yelling, or staying and ..." she waves her hands in small frenzied circles, "... again. There's no right answer to this."

Kaleum stomping her foot. "I'm with you and really don't want to talk or think about it right now."

M'ren leans against the wall and manages to feel totally out of place, yep.

Haven says "But I enjoyed sharing my dragon's emotions"

Telinda nods at Haven, "But _you_" she jabs a finger at the weyrsecond "are different! You are a male rider and can leave the person's weyr! I won't be able to!"

Haven sighs softly. "I'll stop for tonight. You /do/ need to... consider... what does happen. It can't be avoided." She stands up slowly, and takes a breath. Last time she'll be asked to give this lecture.

Amalthea closes her eyes, a soft croon coming from Kilaranth. "I'd never give up the chance to share Kilaranth's emotions -- never. But.." She sighs softly, shaking her head.

M'ren considers making a break for it.

Haven looks pleadingly at M'ren, hoping he can answer Telinda's comment.

Kaleum turns and rubs Nevorth's spicy hide as he croons encouragement.

M'ren sighs. Wonderful, put him on the spot why don't you. "If you want them to leave, after, you have every right to tell'em that," he says, finally. "And if you really insist, you could probably arrange to, um...have someone else on hand, so to speak. But that takes some planning, and ya never know when they're gonna rise, so usually by the time she's blooding, it's too late."

Telinda wrinkles her nose, "I don't want them there in the first sharding place,kicking them out will be a pleasure."

M'ren chuckles slightly. "Well, you can always try," he says.

Telinda smiles, "I still have my broom somewhere."

Haven chuckles a bit. "Ask Tria to put a heavy lock on your door."

Amalthea giggles at Telinda's words, looking at least a little more at ease.

Haven sighs softly and tries to quit her blushing. "Ummm... anyways. If you ever have a question, even one that's keeping you up at night, have your mates speak to Pendrath and we can talk. I'm very honest," obviously, based on that talk, "and I'll give you the best answer I know."

M'ren feels like he's busted in on a tupperware party, or something, and starts backing towards the door.

Haven turns and decides to join him, quietly leaving, and hoping she doesn't have to hear complaints about a barracks full of crying weyrlings

Haven strides over to the Lakeside Meadow.

M'ren strides over to the Lakeside Meadow.

Kaleum turns and looks at Tel. "I'm sorry Tel, if there is anything I can do?" Her voice trails off.

Telinda smiles at the other weyrling, "I think you'll have your own problems Kaleum, but thank you for the offer."

Kaleum nods and blinks. "Yea, and I'm /really/ scared."

Amalthea leans her head carefully against Kilaranth's hide, sighing. "They never mentioned anything like _this_ during candidacy.."

Antigone flutters over and perches in an empty space on the rim of one of the vats.

Telinda laughs, "Course not, that would be almost too silly" she remarks to Amalthea

Amalthea grins to Tel, "What, they might have scared away have the candidates?"

Kaleum rubs Nevorth's head. "Even if I knew ahead I wouldn't change anything."

Telinda nods, "Don't you think so? I do." She sighs, "Anyways, I have to go find a replacement part for this flamethrower, I'll see you all later."