Training
Chapter 14 - Reconciliation


Notes/Disclaimer: This fic is based solely on the Dinotopia movie, NOT the series. I apologize for any inconsistencies with the books. I don't apologize for any inconsistencies with the series because it bit. I don't own the movie, or the series, or the books. Thank you.

This chapter has a bunch of different episodes. I hope the time changes don't get too confusing for you guys.

David awoke slowly, for once emerging from sleep with the feeling of sunlight playing on his face. It was odd, because he was so used to waking up before dawn. And even in his old room, his window was on the wrong wall for the rising sun to hit his face.

But of course, he wasn't in his own room.

David opened his eyes and winced as his body painfully reminded him what exactly he had done last night. He turned his face into the pillow with a groan as his mind cheerfully presented him with the top ten most embarrassing things he had said or done while he and Sebastian were... David wasn't sure he could actually even think the words without dying from sheer embarrassment.

Turning his head back to the side (mostly because having a face full of pillow was making it difficult to breathe), he stared at the sleeping face of Sebastian. His lover. Oh God.

It was worth it, David thought, and somewhat to his own surprise, realized that this was true. He had wanted this to happen for a long time, and now that it finally had, he couldn't bring himself to regret it.

I slept with Sebastian. I had sex with my teacher. It was a difficult concept to wrap his mind around, but he was managing. The comfort of a lightly tanned, muscular arm draped possessively over him helped to solidify the idea.

He scooted himself forward a few inches until he could feel Sebastian's bare skin against his own and snuggled as unobtrusively as he could manage against Sebastian's chest. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, relishing the musky tang that filled his nostrils.

There was a murmur from the body next to him, and the arm around him tightened. David couldn't see Sebastian's face, but he could tell that the other man was waking up.

"Good morning," Sebastian mumbled.

"Mm," David agreed, not trusting himself to talk without saying something ridiculous.

The arm that was around him moved up, and David felt the hand previously resting on his back come up to stroke his hair softly. "You okay?" Sebastian asked.

"Hurts a little," David admitted.

Sebastian chuckled lightly and kissed David's forehead. "It'll pass pretty quickly, don't worry."

There was a long moment of silence as the two of them took their time to work their way into full consciousness. The day after the test was generally treated as a holiday, so neither had a pressing need to get up. Which was good, David thought, because it was awfully warm here and he wasn't relishing trying to stand, anyway.

"I never got to thank you," Sebastian said finally.

David was caught off guard by this seemingly out-of-nowhere statement. "For what?" he asked.

"The test yesterday," Sebastian clarified. "Your little stunt, where you grabbed that hoop midair? That was fantastic. You have no idea how good you made me look."

David could feel himself blushing. "It was pretty easy compared to some of the things you had me do."

"Still," said Sebastian, "I'm very proud of you."

David looked up into Sebastian's eyes and smiled. Somewhere in the back of his mind lurked the thought that he should be freaking out after having woken up in a man's bed, but somehow he was just too relaxed and happy to freak out. It felt good to be where he was, and he wouldn't have changed it, even if he could have.

With a quick grin, Sebastian rolled on top of him, pinning him to the bed and kissing him deeply. "I'm glad you followed me last night," he said when he broke away.

"I am too," said David, reaching up with one hand to pull Sebastian's head down for another kiss.

That was when the door opened.

"David?" asked Karl, stepping into the room. "Are you in here? Someone said they saw you c- Holy shit!"

This last was of course directed at David and Sebastian, who were caught in what David would definitely have labeled a "compromising position." David felt like a deer caught in the headlights as he stared dumbly at his brother, who in turn stared back in shock.

Finally Karl shook his head, seeming to snap out of it, and covered his eyes, backing out of the door and slamming it behind him. "Jeeze! Jesus, sorry! Sorry," they heard before the door closed, shutting him out.

David closed his eyes in a heartfelt grimace. "Shit," he said.

Sebastian chuckled, still looking towards the closed door. "Hell of a way to find out." Then he looked down at David and frowned. "You okay?"

"No," said David. He opened his eyes and, seeing how worried Sebastian looked, tried to muster a smile. It was difficult. "Do you remember me telling you... about how preferences were, well, are treated where I come from?"

"I remember you saying something about it," said Sebastian. "Something about how most people were exclusive, rather than just normal."

David closed his eyes again and felt Sebastian settle himself beside him, stroking his cheek with the back of one hand comfortingly. "It's worse than that," he said, trying to concentrate on the pleasant warmth of Sebastian's hand rather than the slightly disgusted look he had seen in his brother's eyes.

"Where I come from, where my family comes from, liking someone of your own gender is... not socially acceptable. To say the least. What my brother just walked in on was, to him, me doing something really perverted and... well, wrong."

When he at last opened his eyes, David saw that Sebastian looked astonished. "But... that's foolish!" said the older man. "Does he not know how these things work in Dinotopia?"

"I have no idea," said David. "Even if he does, I'm not entirely sure he'll care. That sort of prejudice is pretty deeply ingrained." He paused. "I should probably go talk to him."

Regretfully disentangling himself from Sebastian, he stood up, and found immediately that he had done so too quickly. His body reminded him that he'd had quite the exercise last night, and after all he didn't want to be standing quite so fast, did he?

He winced and just barely managed to keep himself from falling over. Holding still a few moments to steady himself, he then began to hunt for his clothes. Sebastian watched him dress in silence, and didn't say anything until he was nearly ready to leave.

"So," said the white rider, "what happened between us. Was this just a one time thing? Or will it happen again? ...Or what?"

David couldn't remember ever hearing this much nervousness in Sebastian's voice. It was endearing, really. Turning back towards the bed, he saw that Sebastian had propped himself up on one elbow and let the sheets slide down to his waist, exposing a delicious amount of bare skin. David took a few steps back towards the bed.

"Do you want this to happen again?" he asked seriously.

"Yes," Sebastian answered immediately and without hesitation.

David smiled and leaned down, giving Sebastian a light kiss. "Then it can happen again."

Sebastian stopped him one more time as he approached the door. "Hey David?"

"Yeah?"

"Let me know if you need any support talking to your family."

David grinned. "I will."

He went to look for his brother.

It didn't take him long to find the room in which Karl was staying, but he didn't enter it right away. It was not nerves that stalled him; he had prepared himself to confront his brother the entire way there. No, what halted him were the raised voices from inside the room. The door was open a crack, and from within, David could just make out the form of Marion sitting on the bed as Karl paced back and forth in front of her.

"A guy, Marion, a guy!" Karl was yelling. David winced.

"Yes, Karl," Marion replied patiently. "Don't you think you should be happy for him? It is good that he has found someone, isn't it?"

"You don't understand, Marion. David, my brother, was in that room, kissing a guy. He was... They were... They were naked! They've been sleeping together! My brother is sleeping with a god damned guy!"

"Yes Karl, so you've said." From the sound of her voice, Marion's patience was beginning to run thin. "So what's wrong with that?"

This seemed to throw Karl for a loop. He spluttered incoherently for a few moments before eventually saying, "Doesn't that even phase you? I mean, it's not exactly normal."

"Actually," said Marion, sounding surprised, "it is. I'm not entirely sure what has gotten you so worked up Karl, but in Dinotopia, men and women are encouraged to love indiscriminately, regardless of gender. From all your protestations, I take it that is not the case in the outside world?"

"No," said Karl, his tone rather deflated. "No, it definitely isn't. But... it's okay here?"

David couldn't hear her reply; he assumed she nodded.

"David always was one to embrace the Dinotopian customs," Karl muttered.

David decided that he had been eavesdropping long enough, and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, Karl opened it. He looked surprised to see David; surprised, and a little annoyed. But he stepped aside to let David in.

"I'm sorry you had to walk in on that," David began. Although he had to admit, the bright side of the experience was that it saved him the trouble of telling his brother about his relationship with Sebastian.

Karl sat heavily next to Marion on one of the two beds in the room. David took a seat tentatively on the edge of the other one, facing them. "Are you angry?" he asked.

"I haven't decided yet," said Karl. "Right now I'm too busy trying to grasp the fact that you're sleeping with another man. ...You are sleeping with him, aren't you?"

David could feel himself blushing as he nodded. "Yes. As of last night, actually."

Karl rolled his eyes. "Well, at least you didn't waste time before letting me know," he muttered sarcastically.

David put his head in his hands. It was far too early in the morning to deal with something like this, he thought. "I know that it kind of sucked for you to find out like that. Honestly, I have no idea how I'm going to tell Dad." He sighed. "It wasn't like I planned on this. It just kind of... happened. Sebastian and I sort of bonded during the whole training thing and it seemed really, I don't know, inevitable."

Karl stared at him in silence for a long time, until David began to feel vaguely uncomfortable.

"I'll tell you what," his brother said eventually. "I'll make a deal with you. If you go tell Dad right now about you and Sebastian, I'll try my best not to be upset about this."

"Really?" said David, surprised.

Karl nodded. "He should know. And if I know you, then you'd chicken out and not tell him if you didn't have any motivation."

This was probably true, David conceded. He held out his hand for Karl to shake. "Deal," he said.

"So," said Karl, "get out of here, then."

"What, now?"

Karl nodded. "I did say right now."

David gulped. "R-right. Let me just... Let me go get Sebastian. I think I want him to be there. Just for, you know, moral support."

Karl shrugged. "Whatever. Dad's in the room to our right. He should be awake by now."

David nodded and stood, "I'll... I'll just go now, then." He hurried out of the room.

Sebastian had apparently just finished dressing when David returned to the room. He looked surprised to see David back so quickly. "Are you finished already?" he asked.

David shook his head. "Karl wants me to tell Dad about our relationship. So I'm going to. But I was wondering if..." Despite Sebastian's promise earlier, David still felt nervous about asking. "-If you could maybe come with me? Like, now?"

Sebastian smiled brilliantly, which somehow made David feel slightly more relaxed. "Of course," he said easily. "Lead the way."

David did so, his nerves returning as they neared his father's room. Doubts assailed him. What on earth was he doing? He didn't want to do this. Why on earth had he made that stupid deal with Karl? He wasn't even entirely sure himself about his relationship with Sebastian; what right did he have to spring it on his father?

David put his hand on the doorknob and told himself that he would turn around right now. Screw the deal. Karl could be angry all he wanted. He just wasn't ready to tell his father about this. He didn't want him to know.

He opened the door.

Frank Scott was indeed awake and sitting on the bed, reading a book. He looked up as David entered and smiled. "Hey son. What's up? And... Sebastian, isn't it?"

David took a deep breath.

"Dad, can we talk?"

"Sure." Frank moved over and patted the bed next to him in an invitation for David to sit down. But David shook his head.

"I'd rather stand," he said.

"Is something wrong?" Frank looked alarmed.

"No, no, nothing's wrong," David hastened to assure him. "It's just..." He took another deep breath. "Dad, I wanted to personally introduce you to Sebastian." He gestured at the man behind him. "He's... my lover."

Frank's mouth dropped open and he stared at the two of them with a shocked expression. He didn't speak for so long that David felt on the verge of turning and fleeing the room in blind panic. Fortunately, Sebastian stepped forward first and broke the silence.

"Sir, I hope you don't mind," he said, curiously formal, "but I really care about your son, Sir. David tells me that where you come from, there are different customs regarding one's choice of lovers. I should tell you, Sir, that he will face no rejection from society in Dinotopia."

David nodded, his face flushing, and stared at the floor. "In Dinotopia, bisexuality is considered the norm, rather than a deviation. I know that probably doesn't make you feel any better, but, well, there's not much else I can say."

"How... When?" managed Frank.

This was the part that David was dreading. He knew he couldn't define his relationship with Sebastian. Heck, he wasn't certain that they even had one, come to that. So he answered as best he could.

"He and I just started sleeping together last night and well, Karl convinced me that I should tell you right away."

"You told your brother?" Frank sounded surprised.

David blushed. "He sort of walked in on us this morning. Not that he-! I-I mean, we weren't doing anything like that, it's just, well, it was sort of a... compromising position."

Frank nodded, though from the look on his face, David doubted if he was actually absorbing any of this. He looked as though he were still reeling from the shock of it all.

Suddenly, a trumpet blast rent the air. David's heart spasmed, recognizing the pattern of the call. And even while the adrenaline shot through his nerves, a part of him was glad to be out of this awkward conversation.

Sebastian saluted his father, which somehow seemed less odd than David thought it should. "I'm sorry Sir, but that's the alarm. Duty calls. Come on, David."

David nodded and rushed with Sebastian out the door of the barracks and towards the cliff edge.

He was exhausted when they finally returned from the impromptu mission late that evening. It had been easy, but long. Even though they had managed to work in shifts so that the riders could rest and grab a hurried bite to sustain themselves, they had still been riding and fighting most of the day. But he didn't head back to the White Squad barracks right away once they had landed.

"I'm going to talk to my dad some more," he told Sebastian, and smiled at the other man's slightly disappointed look. He brought Sebastian's head down and kissed him on the cheek, feeling his own face flush slightly as he did so. It still felt odd to him, these little expressions of intimacy, but it was something he thought he could get used to. "I'll be back soon," he assured his lover.

He jogged lightly back towards the guest rooms, wondering whether talking to his dad more was really what he wanted to do after all. That morning's conversation had been awkward, and most likely this would be just as uncomfortable. But it was better to get the weirdness over with now, he reasoned. Letting it fester was probably a bad idea.

When he got to his dad's room, he was surprised to find his brother sitting on the bed next to his father. They both looked up at him when he entered, and said nothing as he closed the door behind him. David felt uncomfortable, as he had suspected he would.

"Everything alright?" his father asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, yeah," said David. "Since the installation of the new sunstones, the Pteranodons have been testing the limits of their territory. It was nothing major. Just a little skirmish."

Frank nodded. "That's good. So. Sebastian seems... nice."

David winced slightly. "I know this is really weird. And I wouldn't hold it against you if you wanted me to not bring him around you at all, but I just wanted you to know that I'm not going to stop seeing him, even if you ask me to. I'm-"

Frank forestalled him by holding up a hand. "It's alright David," he said. "Really. Come, sit." He patted the bed next to him, on the opposite side as Karl. David sat.

"Look," said Frank. "It's obvious that you and Sebastian are really close. And I'm not going to pretend that that's what I would have chosen for you, but what's important is that you're happy. I almost lost you guys forever in that plane crash. I'm not going to let us break apart over something as trivial as this. We are family, and we've got to stick together."

To David's surprise, Karl nodded. "It's not like we really have anyone else. No one we can talk to about the outside world, anyway. We need each other. And Dad's right; this is too small a thing to break us apart."

David smiled. "Thanks. I have to admit, I hadn't really expected that attitude from either of you, but I'm glad. And I promise, Sebastian is a good person. He really is."

Karl grinned back at him, a mischievous glint in his eye. "He'd better be. Or he'll have to answer to me. Now." He stood up, stretching. "It's getting late. I think I'll go to bed."

David nodded. "That sounds good." He held the door open, and Karl walked through. David bid his father goodnight and stepped out into the hallway. Marion was just opening to door for Karl, and she smiled when he caught her eye. Ushering Karl into the room, she stepped into the hallway.

Taking the few steps towards David, she leaned up and kissed his cheek, much as David had done with Sebastian earlier.

"I'm very glad that you found someone to care for," she said quietly. "You deserve to be loved."

"Thanks Marion," he said. "You too. I hope you and Karl will be very happy together." And he meant that, he realized. He truly wanted her to be happy with his brother. He smiled brightly at her.

She kissed him again and went back into her room, and David headed back to the White Squad barracks.

When he got there, he debated for a moment whether to use his own room; his and Romana's rooms had been prepared now and were ready for them to use as soon as they moved in their belongings. But the thought of spending another night with Sebastian quickly changed his mind, and he moved softly down to the end of the hall.

Sebastian was waiting for him when he entered, and greeted him with a grin and a swift kiss.

"Did it go well?" he asked.

"Yeah," said David. "I think everything's going to be okay."

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