Then The World Settled Softly (PG-17)
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Aaron, Sia
Date Posted: 25th April 2025
Characters: E'kirim, J'ler
Description: E'kirim's allowed to have intimate relations again
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 6, day 15 of Turn 12
Rating: PG-17
The trip from K'aur's weyr to J'ler's was short and impossibly long at the same time. Norrianth rumbled a greeting to Maishoth as he landed hard, and might've jostled E'kirim clean off if he wasn't used to the eager bronze throwing his weight around. He was too impatient to try and correct him this time, quickly unstrapping himself and sliding down his side without any kind of ceremony. His boots hit the stone and he was already moving, every step charged with months of denial finally behind him.
There was no warning. There were no words. J'ler barely had a moment's notice before E'kirim was there, with a hand in his hair and lips that found his like they'd been holding back for far too long.
If J’ler had not known better, he would have sworn E’kirim had found some way to spy on his fantasies. For a moment, he even thought he might be dreaming. But this was far more vivid than a dream. It was more than enough to distract him from Maishoth rhyming at Norrianth on the ledge.
Norrianth snorted and pawed at Maishoth, saying in as few words that he didn't care for all the flowery effort. He'd prefer to play, especially since his rider was otherwise occupied.
E'kirim's hand was already fisting in J'ler's shirt, dragging him close. He wasn't gentle. This was need, plain and simple. Months of tension and longing coiled tight and snapping loose.
He pulled back just enough to breathe, chest heaving, resting his forehead against the brownrider's. "Tell me to stop." He said, but it wasn't a real offer. He didn't want to stop. He just needed to hear that J'ler wanted it as much as he did.
“Don’t stop,” J’ler begged, just as breathlessly. He would not actually die if E’kirim stopped, but he definitely wanted to _say_ that he would. For the poetry. He did not know where Maishoth got it. “Please.”
Maishoth found that he greatly enjoyed Norrianth’s unusual method of communication. One could say a great many things without words. And even feelings rhymed in their own way.
}:Play!:{ Maishoth agreed, letting the feeling speak for him.
E'kirim smiled against J'ler's skin, his mouth moving from J'ler's lips to his jaw, then down his throat, dragging teeth along skin just to feel the way J'ler shivered against him. He took a few steps forward as he did, guiding J'ler backwards towards his bed. He clumsily worked on pulling off the brownrider's jacket, too eager to feel his skin against his. "Good."
J’ler let E’kirim guide him, fairly certain he would not let him trip over anything. At least, not until he would fall onto the bed. He shifted his shoulders and arms so the jacket could come off and then unbuckled E’kirim’s belt.
-----Fading to black-------
When the world settled again, it did so softly. The steady hum of breath. That place partly between asleep and awake, bodies kept warm together despite the chill.
E'kirim lay on his side, one arm curled under his head, the other lazily draped over J'ler's waist. His fingers idly traced small, absent shapes along the curve of the brownrider's hip. "Norri didn't care at all." He reported in a half-whisper, half triumphant boast. "Not even close to being interested. It's strange, having a body that's mine again."
“Instead of it belonging to Norri?” J’ler wondered. Maishoth had never minded J’ler having sex. He even liked to sort of ‘listen in’. But this time, he was fully engaged with playing with Norrianth-- and not a rhyme to be rhymed.
"Yeah, not that Norrianth has ever been particularly sensitive. He must've …heard? me thinking about this for months. But it's also been months of feeding, bathing, oiling, making sure he's doing all his exercises, walking him through 'drill formations. I've never had to be so fully consumed with the health of someone else before." He snorted, "I dunno how people have kids and do more of this."
“I know what you mean,” said J’ler. Maishoth was so much more independent now than he had been for that first little while. But things had also been different for J’ler. He had put himself into a position of still not being free even when Maishoth was ready for it.
“I’m glad you didn't try to punch some kid from another Weyr.”
"Pff. I don't have anyone's honor to defend." E'kirim teased. "Though I'd rather you not try to duel anyone else over Kadira. Unless she asks. She looks like she could fight her own duels."
“You’re right. She could,” said J’ler. And he should have realized that all along. But he could not change what he had done before; he could only change what he did going forward.
He was tempted to make a joke about defending _his_ honor. But that was more likely to scare E’kirim away than to get a chuckle from him. Or, at least, that was what J’ler was afraid of.
“Was it everything you hoped it would be?” It certainly had been better than J’ler’s own imagination of how it would go.
E'kirim grinned and casually shifted, leaning forwards slightly to capture J'ler's mouth in a kiss. "I would have preferred to go a little longer, but I can think of other things we can do." The hand tracing circles on J'ler's hip slid downward.
J’ler leaned into this kiss, and a little moan escaped him.
“Let’s do all of them.”
Last updated on the April 25th 2025