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21-10-02: /That/ talk
Lydiere's not truly an expert at mating flights (queens don't rise nearly so often as greens, after all), but she does her duty nonetheless.

[DTU/Project] Petryth senses that Llysereth's mind touches against yours, nudging sweetly. << Mine would like to see yours. In the *guest weyr*. >> She projects an image of the weyr - located in the ground weyrs, just off of the bowl.

[DTU/Project] Llysereth senses that Petryth seems somewhat groggy as his oaken voice slowly stirs << I'll bring him >> is all he says in a somewhat grumbly tone, apparently a nap had been disturbed

Ez'ial has arrived.

Ez'ial yawns a little as he slides down off Petryth's forearm. The bronze grumps his way out to the ledge and stretches out. Ez'ial himself gives a wave, "Petryth said you wanted to see me?"

Lydiere is curled up within the chair, lazily rocking back and forth, the chair legs lefting up off of the ground. "My apologies for waking you up, Petryth," the woman notes towards the dragon, before turning her attention back to Ez'ial. "And you, too, obviously. I heard that you hadn't had the mating flights lecture yet, so I thought-- well, it was probably time. Make yourself comfortable."

Ez'ial grins at Petryth, "he just ate.. and after the usual arguement about how much is 'enough' he was dozing.. so I did too" He nods and settles down into a chair opposite of Lydiere, "Yeah, can't say that this has been one I was hot to make.. but, can't avoid the inevitable." He smiles amiably and settles into the chair.

Lydiere chuckles, the chair swinging back again. "Oh, I see. I'd like to say that he'll grow out of that habit - but I have my doubts." Her head is inclined forwards, as she wiggles her toes upon the chair's edge, remarking, "You're not alone in that reluctance, to say the least. What do you know about flights already?"

Ez'ial grins over at Petryth, "no.. I think that's with him for life" He hrms and shrugs slightly, "I know that greens rise a couple of times a year, queens usually only once.. Petryth is starting to notice flights so I wouldn't be surprised if he starts chasing.. the riders tend to get swept up and so when the dragons mate, the riders of said dragons tend to as well.. there is pretty much the long and short of what I know"

Lydiere nods her head, quickly. "That's more than some know, to be sure. All right - we'll start at the beginning. When a female, green or gold, starts to get ready to mate, we call it proddiness. She'll usually start to glow a little, and suffer some kind of personality change. She may be moody, or giddy, or flirty - it depends. The female's rider is also likely to undergo some kind of change, as an effect of it."

Ez'ial nods listening. Idly running one nail under the other, his focus on what is being said but slight discomfort showing with the whole topic.

"Petryth will probably notice proddy females even more than he does non-proddy," Lydiere nods. "And you might be attracted to their riders, too. It may be somewhat uncomfortable, especially if the person is not someone that you would usually be interested in."

Ez'ial says "I had noticed that recently.. though he hasn't chased yet he was taking an interest which for him was unsual" Ez'ial comments, he hrms, "I haven't yet felt attraction for one of their riders, but he is just now noticing so.. it's something to watch for.." He frowns slightly looking down and over at Petryth before turning back to Lydiere."

Lydiere nods. "If he's not quite ready to chase, he won't get as far into it as he will otherwise. Anyway, just before a female rises, she'll go into a deep sleep - at least, most of the time; some differ from this - and just before she wakes, all of the males will go to the feeding grounds to blood their kills. She'll join them, and then you will all, male and female, get caught up in your dragon, rather than yourself. You'll not just be attracted, you'll last after her rider."

Ez'ial nods looking at his hands and listening quietly. The tension in his shoulders is obvious, but he makes an attempt to smile as he listens.

Lydiere notes that tension, and gives a quiet smile. "Don't worry too much, Ez. I know it all seems daunting, and scary, but it doesn't end up being that way - not much." She takes a deep breath, and continues, "The female's rider may have trouble controlling her lifemate, getting her to blood, but the males know what to do instinctively. When the green has had enough, she'll lift off into the air, the male dragons will follow her, and all of you riders will come here. Unless, of course, she's gold - you'd go to the goldrider's personal weyr, then."

Ez'ial hrms at Lydiere, "all of the riders go to her weyr?" obviously not having really thought of where all this occurs.

Lydiere nods her head. "The female rider isn't particularly going to want you there, but you'll all want to be there -- you'll want to look at her, and probably drool over her." She wrinkles her nose. "It also means that you're all out of the way of the rest of the weyr, during the flight. It's better that way. While you're in there, anyway, the female tries to get away from all of the males, and the males chase her. She'll usually do all kinds of acrobatic tricks, but in the end, she'll just keep going upwards. Eventually, she starts to get tired, and she either makes a mistake, lets herself be caught, or is simply caught unawares."

Ez'ial nods listening and trying to take all of this information in.

Lydiere swings the chair backwards again, watching Ez'ial. "If you have a question, just ask." Another deep breath is taken. "As the dragon is caught, the male dragon wraps his neck and tail about her, and they fall downwards, back towards the ground. It's said that in the case of gold flights, the further they fall, the larger the clutch. Back in the weyr, the riders of the two mated dragons mate as well, and everyone else leaves." She pauses, uncertain.

Ez'ial sighs softly, "are... do things start to happen while other riders are... still there?" He looks over at Lydiere solemnly.

Lydiere's head shakes. "Not really - at least, as far as I can remember. The other riders leave pretty quickly, because they're disappointed and frustrated, though between the two winners it's really more or less just a grasping of each other. Even if they see it, I don't believe they - I mean, the losers - pay any attention at all."

Ez'ial nods to that looking a little relieved. Then hesitates before asking, "I have heard the riders who don't win most often drink themselves into a stupor. Is it always that way?"

Again, Lydiere shakes her head. "There are basically three options available to you, after losing a flight. Firstly, the drinking. Secondly, a very cold swim - try the waterfalls. Thirdly, finding another willing partner."

Ez'ial nods looking down, "what about Petryth.. I mean drinking, cold swims, another partner.. what about him?"

Lydiere hesitates. "He might try and curl up to another female - else, he might just sleep it off. It's disappointing, for a dragon, but not quite as uncomfortable to deal with, as with the rider."

Ez'ial nods again, "how long does it take for them to get over it?"

"I don't have much experience with it," admits Lydiere, "I don't pay much attention to most flights, I admit, but not long. No more than an hour or two, and then they're back to normal."

Ez'ial nods, "I was a little worried since with so many more males than females.. well he's going to lose, that's just a fact. I worried for his confidence if he lost too often"

Lydiere nods her head. "Well, at least they don't have long-term memories - he'll forget, entirely, so it won't make such a lasting impression."

Ez'ial nods and smiles, "Yeah he is good at getting distracted easily by the newest shiny thing he's found.." He cants his head, "will he pick up on memories from me though?"

"Depends. If you get upset by it - very upset - then he might. Llysereth doesn't remember any of her mates, even though I remember their riders quite vividly." Lydiere smiles. "It quite depends on the dragon, I believe."

Ez'ial chuckles, "that must be unsettling to her former mates..." He shakes his head before nodding, an internal diaglog answered in his own head. He looks over at Lydiere, "will all the males start chasing soon?... I know that April's brown chased recently somewhere.."

Lydiere shrugs her shoulders. "Besides Ahreluth, I don't think they really notice - oh, well, Zymanth, perhaps. But she has a soft spot for him, anyway." She lets her hands rest within her lap, and nods, "They will. Any time now, they'll start chasing."

Ez'ial looks a little sheepish as he finally asks, "and Vaerlanth?"

Lydiere's expression doesn't quite hide her amusement. "Not for another turn or so, at a guess, though it changes from queen to queen. Certainly not for a while yet."

Ez'ial nods a little bit looking thoughtful, "is there anything else I need to know?.. I mean it all seems pretty much autopilot.. you get swept up and that's that.." He frowns slightly then his expression clears as he looks over at Lydiere.

Lydiere hesitates, thinking. "Nothing /specific/. Well. If you catch, the morning after may be somewhat uncomfortable; a lot of people get very embarassed, and feel stupid or guilty. But if it's a green, that's it; you never really have to think about that flight again. With a gold, of course, there's then a few months of the gold being egg-heavy, another month of sand-sitting, and so on. But no, nothing else that's important. I think you've got the main of it."

Ez'ial blink again not having thought of that, "I had forgotten that Ysmalath wasn't alone on the sands all that time..." He smiles, "I guess that's sort of being grounded for fathering a clutch.."

Lydiere grins wryly. "Sort of. The male doesn't have to spend all of his time there, but she may well want him there as much as possible. It's tedious - and hot."

Ez'ial chuckles, "only fair I guess..." He says amused more than anything about that.

"Yeah. It's /boring/, if you're out there on your own all of the time. One of my least favourite parts of life." Lydiere grins.

Ez'ial grins at that and nods, "so.. I heard this is the last one before we are set free.. you guys save this one to the last so it doesn't stir us all up?"

Lydiere gives an amused grin, shrugging lightly. "Mostly, we wait until your dragons are mature enough so that flights become more important -- but I suppose you might be right. That works, too. You'll all be graduated soon. Scary thought, huh?"

Ez'ial nods at that, "very.. then I have to start lessons for my dragonhealing apprenticeship.. life is just moving.. too fast"

Lydiere draws her feet back down onto the ground, nodding. "Life always does, I'm afraid. The bad bits go on forever, but the good ones never last - they move on, and we move on, and in the end, I think it's rather better that way."

Ez'ial nods slightly and smiles, "well I hope some of the good bits go on forever as well"

Lydiere smiles, lazily. "Of course. Lifemates - life itself. There are always good things."

Ez'ial nods and smiles leaning back in his chair finally, "gonna be glad when you finally have all of us out of your hair?" he asks with a grin.

"I don't know," teases Lydiere, swinging in the chair again, "You'll always be in my hair - the whole weyr is."

Ez'ial laughs, "some more than others I'm sure.."

Lydiere laughs. "Oh, absolutely. R'yn and Lymera most of all!" She winks.

Ez'ial laughs again and shakes his head, "I admit that one of the things that makes this particular weyr so attractive as a place to live is that you never really know what is going to happen next." He grins voer at Lydiere, "just pray that Ysmalath stays fertile for a /long/ time to come"

"Oh, I agree. Predictability is a horribly boring thing. It's the reason I rarely go to visit my mother - she's utterly predictable in her suggestions that I should transfer to Telgar, and end up Senior there." Lydiere rolls her eyes, cheerfully, adding, "Oh, absolutely. I am /terrified/ of the day that Lymera retires."

Ez'ial grins at that, "well you can't blame her for wanting you to be the 'best' at something.. people just don't seem to get that the 'best' doesn't necessarily equate to being in charge." He cants his head, "why Telgar?"

Lydiere grins ruefully. "I suppose. You'd think I was like - I don't know, destined to lead Pern. She's leadership-obsessed. Telgar's where she lives, these days. She, along with much of the family. I don't think she's thought through the concept of my leading her."

Ez'ial laughs at that, "I think it's just a point of pride for her that you impressed gold and she'd love to see you be a senior somewhere as another notch in her 'mommy' belt"

"You're right," agrees Lydiere. "What do your family think, in regards to your getting bronze?"

Ez'ial chuckles, "bragging rights of course... I hadn't really heard from then until recently, but apparently my mom has been making sure /everyone/ knows I ride a /bronze/ dragon" He shakes his head, "if only she realized how much of a freak accident it was to impress at all"

Lydiere's head is shaken quickly. "Not a freak accident. It happened for a reason - never doubt that. You should make sure that you visit them; I'm sure they'd like that, and it is nice to go home every so often." She rises, adding, "I'm supposed to go pick up Llysah from the nannies. I'll see you around, okay?"

Ez'ial nods getting up himself, "yeah I'll be out to visit them once I've graduated.. I think having a real rider's knot and wearing the dragonhealing knot will tickle my mom pink" He nods and smiles, "thanks for taking the time Lydiere.. see you around"