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Before she opened her eyes, Cetalese was aware of having slept for some time and of there being a warm body behind hers (both of them naked under her covers). She let herself rest that way for another few minutes, her mind filtering her thoughts back into her and helping her to process life and the day's events, which all seemed nebulous in the moments after she initially woke. Eventually she had painted the picture for herself, the work early in the day, Halith Rising, the short but playful Flight (and how could she be surprised that for all of Halith's loud boasting she ended up cutting the Flight short to get to the "good part?"), and finally the stumbling back to her weyr with the victor's rider and... all subsequent activities.

She gently reached out with her mind just to see where Halith was, content to find that she and Asoth had made it back to the Weyr after the Flight and were sleeping in Asoth's hovel several huts down, though Cetalese was sure that she had gone into her own hut with M'lan after Asoth won the Flight.

That thought suddenly made her aware of several aches across her body, not the least of which being the throbbing between her legs. That had certainly been... passionate. Eliza and D'lin hadn't been kidding when they said it wasn't a gentle experience.

Cetalese suddenly opened her eyes with that thought. She looked out in to her room for a moment, able to tell from the window that it was night or at least late evening. She also assumed that Mercy had vacated the hut and found somewhere else to stay for the night as soon as Halith had Risen. She had warned the Whiterider about it a day or two ago, anyway. She did hope Mercy had had somewhere else to go.

Rolling over slightly, Cetalese turned back towards M'lan, easing her way on to her back so she could get a better look at him and determine if he was awake or asleep-- and assess her own mood. She felt surprisingly calm, but she likely shouldn't have found that surprising at all. The Flight was a normal part of a rider's life and now that she'd been through it, she found herself more relaxed when she thought about it than she had. It really had been just about getting through it once so she knew what to expect. The experience hadn't been horrible. Actually, from what she could remember, even with with aches and pains of 'after' it had been something she enjoyed intensely. A lot of that was Halith, of course, but looking back in the aftermath Cetalese thought she wouldn't again dread the thought of Halith Rising.

"I'm a little sore," she admitted, "But I'm all right, yes." She adjusted her own position to be a little more flat as he removed his arm, smiling at him as she shifted to move some of her tangled hair out from underneath her. They fell in to silence and Ceta thought she saw concern still in M'lan's face.

"I wasn't sure what to expect going in, no matter what people said." She took a little breath and gave him a little half-smile. "That was certainly better than I think I expected it to be. And shorter. Halith never did have much of an attention span unless it was something fun. I think her interest in getting to the part that was new may have been what cut things off in the end." Cetalese rubbed at one shoulder, where she felt as if she might end up with a bruise after all. She tried to ignore that her cheeks were heating in a blush and was thankful that there was little light coming in from the windows anymore and that her skin was dark enough to hide blushes most of the time. M'lan had been... forceful. They both had been, of course, but he was built for that kind of force. She wouldn't be surprised to find another bruise or two in the sort parts of her body over the next few days.

She tried to get a look at M'lan's body as well, but in the dark it was tough to tell more than faint outlines. She reached out and gently rested a hand against his arm, her fingers brushing against raised welts along the outside of his bicep. She carefully followed them, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that her nails had caused it. She even faintly remembered that part, despite the blur that was Flight-lust.

"Oh, M'lan, I'm sorry." Cetalese lifted herself slightly on one arm, turning toward him. It seemed that Flightlust was almost as dangerous for the man as the woman. "Are you all right?"

Cetalese smiled broadly at his joke, glad that despite the initial hesitation and worry he was showing, it would eventually fade. Ceta would do her best to make that transition easy for him; she certainly didn't blame him for any of the things they did to one another while possessed by Flightlust.

"I think the table was just looking to give you a nice scar for girls to admire," Cetalese replied. "It missed your eye, didn't it? And the secret is safe with me; Asoth will never know. He certainly impressed Halith enough that he's welcome to believe that. It isn't that far from the truth."

M'lan's repeated questioning of her health earned him a light pat on the chest. "I'm fine, M'lan, really," she insisted, but she did sit up slowly as he did. "I should have some, though. Hang on and I'll get a glow and the numbweed."

Navigating her way from the bed across the room in the dark was a skill born of long practice and only complicated slightly with the addition of Mercy's cot and the few things she had brought. The glowbasket was first, and Ceta cracked it slightly so that she could search for the correct jar. The last thing she needed was to select the oil instead of the numbweed. From M'lan's hesitant replies she was worried it might just make him feel worse, rather than serve as a pleasant reminder (or suggestion, not that she was still in that sort of mood... okay, the thought didn't sound half bad, so clearly the lust was still wearing off for her as well).

Once she was sure she had the correct jar, she used the glow to light the floor by her feet, then set it on the bed before sliding back under the covers and using them to cover her. She had no housecoat, and since M'lan seemed to have no covering other than the clothes bunched right by the door, she didn't want to put anything on and make him feel awkward about his own nakedness.

Ceta tucked the sheet under her arms to keep it up as she sat beside him and offered him the jar. "Since you're concerned, you're welcome to start with soothing some of my marks and then I'll soothe some of yours."

It helped that she had woken up already at peace with the idea. That was just how she was though. She always adapted fairly quickly to new things; M'lan didn't seem to have that same trait.

Cetalese adjusted the glowbasket so that they wouldn't be blinded, but their bodies would be illuminated enough that any marks would show and they could see one another's faces as more than faint outlines. Cetalese checked her shoulder first, but the bruise that would eventually show from the pressure of M'lan's hand pinning her down hadn't appeared just yet. Cetalese checked her wrists carefully to the same result, but the dark bruise just above one of her breasts from... what appeared to be his teeth was going to need a bit of attention.

"You can start here," she offered. "I really think this is the worst and the only spot so far that's going to need anything on it. The rest are sore, bruises mostly, and they don't hurt that badly. Do you have anything that needs numbweed right away?"

Cetalese withheld a sigh at his behavior, allowing him to apply the numbweed to soothe the sting of the most painful of her Flight-scars. When he was done, however, she reached out to rest a hand on his shoulder. In the light of the glow her green eyes were still mostly shadows, but they glinted faintly as she kept her direct gaze on him. "I. Am. Fine. Bruises heal, scratches heal, marks fade. It was a Flight, M'lan. This sort of thing happens during a Flight I'm told." Her gaze was as frank as ever, showing that she was in control of her faculties enough not to be phased, even by their close contact, when a more serious concern had arisen. "I enjoyed being with you for the Flight. I really wasn't sure what to expect at all, but I am glad that Asoth won over some of the other choices, because from what I remember we both enjoyed ourselves thoroughly." She was definitely flushed enough now that it was showing through her olive skin, but she tried to ignore it so that only minor embarrassment showed through. "I am not disappointed at all and I certainly don't mind that you left a few marks on me. Understand?"

Cetalese hesitated, not having expected the offer, and then a shy kind of smile crossed her face briefly. She dropped her gaze, ducking her head slightly. M'lan was one of the riders from her batch of Weyrlings that she always found it easy to talk to, even though they didn't see each other much. Despite that they both may have been encouraged a bit by the recent Flight and any lingering emotions from that, the thought of getting to experience sex without the haze of her dragon's filters was tempting. And M'lan she thought she could trust with that, aside from the obvious logic of 'we are still in bed and naked and it isn't like we haven't done this before.' It also helped that she found him physically attractive, too. It was difficult not to.

When she met his eyes again, Cetalese nodded, her smile stronger now. "I'd like that." Her hand slid down his arm, fingers curled into his skin as she dragged her hand back up. She rose up to let her lips meet his experimentally, a gentle pressure against his mouth.