Event | Sinbrilee | Bacchanal

[ironwood]

Characters: Any and all!
Date: August 24 - 30th
Location: Sinbrilee
Situation: An ancient festival of an ancient city, all are welcome at the Bacchanal!
Warnings/Rating: Please label threads as appropriate.

Death and destruction cannot curtail the single most important festival celebrated by the denizens of Sinbrilee: The Bacchanal! The ghosts in and about the city have begun to gossip about high fashion and festivities, sending any that inquire to the Amphitheatre -- a grand, circular structure nestled in the west side of the city.

This structure bore the fall of Sinbrilee and the wear of time with dignity, having lost handfuls of archways and one long stretch of wall to crumbling decay. Despite this, it is obvious that the amphitheatre once hosted many a display and every more festivities than the mind can grasp. This was their solace and safety; here is where the people of Sinbrilee came to find the mind's escape from all that threatened them and their great turtle.

Ghosts have been busy throughout the week, clearing paths through debris and hanging great cloth banners of soft blues and greens to disguise the more blatant signs of its decline. Many hundreds of them shimmer and slid through the area, providing for tables upon tables of food, offering drink, and overseeing competition of sport and skill (some even denying death's non-corporeal curse to enter).

Here, well... Here is where the party begins!

Food & Drink | Music, Discussions, & Dancing | Wrestling & Competitions

Comments

[alphatar]

[Having been around older women that had long lasting relationships, Korra just assumed everything had to be perfect and just fall into place. And she had somehow messed it all up, her tangled up love life being the evidence.]

So I should have sex with a friend I trust first? [She bit both her lips while looking at Jim nervously. That sounded all too awkward and she had never even though of anyone in a sexual sense. A making out sense, sure, but this was new ground and she was scared to set foot on it.]

I always thought that my emotions and body would show me who I loved. No one really taught me any of this stuff, it was just all about being the Avatar day in and day out in the compound.

[Which sounded more like a prison now that she was aware that most others her age already knew about this kind of stuff.]

Love isn't needed for sex. [She repeated quietly. It sounded weird, the casualness of it versus it never really even being mentioned outright during her training tenure.]

Well, I can try to not be embarrassed. But that's not easy.

[She nodded at the explanation of erogenous zones, but wasn't sure she understood what hers were or if she had any.]

I've never really let anyone...touch me like that. Guess I'll have to figure that out sometime too.

[She almost felt betrayed by her own body for not letting her directly know any of this information. As always, Korra needed things spelled out for her to clear up any confusion.]

I think so. [Her mind went back to the kiss she shared with Jack, how her hand went to his neck and through his hair.] I think I know a couple of places that are nice to touch while I'm kissing someone.

[A beat.]

So there's the kissing and the touching of the erogenous spots. [She took her hands off her chin and placed them on her shoulders.]

What else is there? [This was a bigger tutorial and it felt a lot more important than any other lesson she ever received.]

[jirk]

Hey, a boyfriend or a girlfriend can be 'friends that you trust'. And trust me, everybody else is in the same boat as you, okay? We look at our -- [there's a very, very tiny pause] parents, or some other example, and they seem to have it all together, so we go why isn't that me? But you have to realize, they had years to figure each other out. And they screwed up just as much along the way. We're just seeing their highlight reel.

[He tries to keep his tone firm. It's okay to 'screw up'. Hell, experience is the best teacher, right?]

For other things, depends on the person. Some people like oral sex. But hell, massages can count too. And I slept with this girl once who loved hearing poetry. There's no clear-cut thing I can tell you that everyone's going to love.

[... And then Jim gets the most perplexed, vaguely unsettled look on his face.]

Listen, have you ever--

[Oh god he's actually asking this question. Give him a minute.]

-- You know. With yourself? Solo?

[alphatar]

I do trust you. [She said, and she rubbed her shoulders. He said not to feel embarrassed or awkward about any of this stuff. But she was.]

[Her eyebrows tried to completely explore both the top and bottom of her forehead at the mention of oral sex.]

I thought sex was just sex?

[Way too many questions were coming to her head, and she felt that she was wasting his time by even just wanting to ask them. When he looked at her with that somewhat unnerved look, she squirmed slightly.

Then he asked a question that she just stared at him, a complete blank on her face.]

...with myself? [That blank look was accompanied by raised eyebrows.] I've never kissed myself, no.

[Because, what?]

[jirk]

Man, there's-- no. There isn't just one kind of sex. There's a huge amount of variety to it, and there's no shame - or harm - in trying whatever interests you. As long as everyone consents to it, that's the big part.

[Aaaaaaaugh Korra why is this a conversation he's having.]

No, with your-- [THIS WOULD BE A REALLY GOOD TIME FOR SOMEONE TO STAGE A DRAMATIC RESCUE OR A SPACE INVASION OR SOMETHING. He waits a beat as if such a miracle will actually occur, and when it doesn't he just heaves a sigh and shakes his head.] With your hands.

[alphatar]

Someone should write a book, because I thought there was just sex, like sex-sex for the whole- baby thing.

[Korra pushed her lower lip up as he paused mid-sentence.] My hands?

[Moving them off her shoulders she held them out to him for inspection, curious to see what he meant.]

I haven't touched anyone like that with them if that's what you mean...?

[jirk]

There are lots of books. Seriously. I'll find you one with-- pictures and diagrams and stuff.

[AND THEN HE JUST. MAKES THE MOST STRANGLED NOISE and pinches the bridge of his nose.]

I don't mean anyone else. [His tone is a tiny, tiny bit plaintive. He's trying to be patient, and a decent teacher, but some things are too much for any mere mortal.] I mean with yourself. It's a good way to find out what you like. And there's-- [ohgodhelp] things that you can use to make it more interesting. They're called toys, but they're kind of like... objects that simulate sex with a partner, but you use them alone.

[alphatar]

[Korra bit both her lips again when that noise came out. She wasn't trying to be difficult, just to understand what he was asking her. Any other teacher and she would haven't cared how aggravated they would have been, but this Jim and she trusted him. A lot.

A lot, a lot.]

Oh. Ohhh. [She tilted her head like the wind had just pushed it over.] No, I never have. I always thought someone else had do the touching- or something. [Always was a strong word, especially since she never really did think about it until right at this moment. It didn't make sense because, then wouldn't she know how her own touch and wouldn't it just feel normal?

Sex was turning out to be a whole mess more complicated than she was expecting.]

I thought toys were- [She simulated the motion of her slinky.] just toys, like the spring thing I have.

[jirk]

[He's not aggravated with Korra, just at the fact that no one ever thought a teenaged girl might need sex education back in her world!! G O S H.]

No, it-- well, they're that too, but sex toys are different than kid toys.

[alphatar]

Guess I really haven't seen the whole city yet, because I've never seen those.

[Or she might have, there were a lot of things on sale in the metal sector that were far beyond her world's comprehension.

She clasped her hands and sighed.]

I have a lot of questions, but I don't really know how to ask them.

[jirk]

You have to know where to look. A lot of times they're kept out of sight so nobody gets all offended.

[He wiggles his hands in the air, ooh, spooky.]

It's normal to have questions. I'll answer them if I can, but you don't have to ask them all at once. I'm not going anywhere, okay? Or you could-- talk to Dinah, maybe? She might be able to understand some things about women that I don't get.

[alphatar]

So I should try and find one the places that sell them then?

[Because that did sound awkward, especially when she didn't even know what to look for.]

Dinah. [Korra remembered all too vividly how Dinah hadn't mentioned her marriage or the adopted kids she had. Sex might be too invasive.] She has a lot on her plate to deal with, I don't think I should add to it.

[She wrung her hands as she fidgeted. All the new information was just sitting there and it was still so incomplete, even though there had been nothing regarding the issue there before.]

Umm- So-

When-

How-

I mean-

[jirk]

I'll come with you. I know a few.

[Translation: he's kinky as fuck, okay.

And then he raises an eyebrow inquisitively.]

What, you wanna know when I first had sex?

[alphatar]

[She nodded at that, going alone almost didn't feel safe for some reason. And she wouldn't have known which ones to buy, if any or what they were supposed to do.]

...No, I hadn't even thought about that question. [That actually caught her off guard, but she was curious and stowed it away to ask later.]

I was going to ask, since, you know, I don't want- well I haven't really done anything. Just some- good kissing and I really want my first time to, you know, be really good.

[She ran her fingers through her hair and her cheeks flushed.]

Well, you know all this stuff and, I mean, we're friends and we trust each other. So-

I don't know. Some of my questions are hard to ask, they're more for feeling I guess?

[A beat and a very deep breath.]

Can you show me how to have sex?

[Talking about it wasn't really helping her emotions or bodily urges.]

[jirk]

[THAT. IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT HE WANTED. IN FACT IT'S THE OPPOSITE OF-- EVERYTHING. IT'S THE ANTI-QUESTION. BASICALLY A CONVERSATIONAL BLACK HOLE FROM WHICH THERE IS NO ESCAPE BECAUSE MOVIE SCIENCE SUCKS!!


Jim.

Just.

Stares at her and then blinks and looks away. And then squints, and looks back at her. And then looks away. And then brings a finger up to his lips, and then drops it. Hoo boy. This is. Way above his paygrade. By like, several miles. Actually, no, forget miles, light years.]

Korra, that's--

[H E L P.]

-- Flattering, but I'm not going to have sex with you. [HE PINCHES THE BRIDGE OF HIS NOSE AGAIN.] It's... hard for some people, especially for their first time, to separate emotion from sex. I trust you, and I care about you, but I'm not going to do that to you, okay? It's-- a lot of people think that your first time should be special. And I'm not saying it's the right or the only way to do it, but you should decide for yourself, and not some spur of the moment thing ten minutes after learning what it's all about in the first place, okay? You've got time, you don't have to rush into it. Besides, I'm like a decade older than you. It's kind of illegal where I'm from.

[alphatar]

[Never had Korra a more uncomfortable moment than when Jim didn't respond to her right away. Each passing second that he spent trying formulate any kind of words was like a hammer that drove a nail straight into her self confidence. This wasn't something she would have asked of just anyone, even if she was rushing into it like she had always done with anything new she learned.

When he did answer, her brow lifted slowly and she hugged her knees and he dress sparkled slightly from the reflection of the party far below in the amphitheater. Accepting what had always been the case for her, being the sole exception.

'It's okay with friend's a person can trust, except Korra.'

She just nodded as she stared at the bleachers they sat on.]

[jirk]

[Whoa, no. No, that is not okay. Jim sees it in her posture and body language, that fear of rejection, and unhappiness, and he gets up and goes to sit beside her on the bench, reaching to wrap an arm around her.]

Whatever you're thinking, stop it, okay? You are beautiful, you're smart and talented and determined and totally amazing. You are going to rock somebody's world some day. It's not about you. It's me not being the right choice. I-- look. There's rules in Starfleet about not sleeping with people on your crew, because it's an abuse of the power and authority you have. It's like that here too, okay? I've got more experience, I'm older, it's just-- even if you want it, I'd feel like I was taking advantage of you, and that'd be awful for me, because of how much I care about you. If we were closer to the same age, absolutely. I'd do it in a heartbeat. You probably wouldn't even have to ask, I'd have been chasing after you from the moment I met you.

[alphatar]

[Every other teacher, instructor, mentor and master would have just relieved to get finally get some silence and acceptance from Korra. When Jim moved, it jolted her out of the usual slide she made into just giving up and doing what she was told.]

No, it's okay. I'm used to it, I know. [Mako had avoided her when they first met and she just tried to chalk that up to bad luck.

She had received similar compliments from Bolin, and even from Jim they were hard to take. Any good word that fell outside of her bending or fighting had been hard for to take, even harder to believe.

After a long pause, she finally leaned into his arm a little.]

...I can figure it out. I'm not stupid.

[jirk]

I know you aren't, why would you even say that?

[There's genuine concern in his tone, and he rubs his hand along her shoulder, aiming for comfort.]

[alphatar]

Because that's what it usually means when I'm doing something wrong. [Being stupid, charging head first into things without thinking of consequences or how other people would feel, how they would be affected by it.

She hugged her knees to her tightly.] I don't have many friends I'd feel I could trust with something like that. My boyfriend and I never even had time to be a couple, too much was going on to even think of ourselves. Now that he's here after I've been here for four months, I don't even know how to say 'hi' to him without feeling confused.

[Her stupidity at thinking she'd never seeing him again, her stupid need to kiss Jack without holding anything back, and now her stupidity at thinking she could really understand anything about sex with Jim.]

I'm used to it, I know. [She repeated quietly.]

[jirk]

So? Talk to him. The best thing for a relationship - any relationship - is just. Communication. Knowing what the other person's thinking or what they mean when they say certain things.

[He nudges her gently.]

Just give it a try, okay?

[alphatar]

You make it sound really easy. [Months of separation really made it all the more awkward, but she knew he was right. Finally she looked up at him, the nudge being the thing that got her out of that sense of rejection.]

There’s a lot we haven’t talked about yet, and I don’t think he’s going to like any of it. [And the sex part was the least of worries now that she thought about bringing Mako up to speed on what she’s been doing during her time on the turtle.]

But if you think I should, I’ll try it the next we’re alone.

[jirk]

It's not easy. But when it's over, it's over. Like-- I dunno, surgery or something. Conversational surgery.

[Because that totally makes sense, and is totally advice Jim takes for himself, right? Wrong. But hey, you can't spell Jim Kirk without 'hypocrite'. Hypokirk? Whatever.]

[alphatar]

The sex part or the communication part?

[Not a lick of sense, but she's trying to roll with it.]

[jirk]

[... Korra no.]

The conversation! Sex is way easier than talking about your feelings.

[alphatar]

I hope so, because feelings are way too complicated as it is.

[That's official since it's coming from the biggest, walking relationship disaster on the turtle.]

But sex doesn't sound that easy either. [And why did they have to be related to each other?]