:Why would it be the same??:

:Wouldn't everyone be confused if they're not the same?: 

:No? There's not, like, a hundred genders, and most people have parents of both sorts...:

:I guess: Every once in a while Ma'ar manages to forget that most people have parents, period. 

:So for most people it would work fine if there's something they do and they're dating people who do some other matching thing. But Ranara'll know:

:Mmm: 

Ma'ar seems to consider this settled, and peels off. 

Aza asks Ranara and the next day tells Shann that she will go on a walk in the gardens with him if he still wants.

He blushes. "Um, yes, I - would like that." Smile? 

Smile! "When is a good time?"

"How about, uh, tomorrow after classes in the afternoon?"

"Sure, I can do that." She does not have book deadlines.

He smiles again, nervously. "I can meet you at the courtyard by the big entrance?" 

"Sure."

Ma'ar catches up with her after classes that day. :So, did you talk to Ranara?: 

:Yeah, she said I'm a good age to start thinking about what I like in boys and dating some of them is a good way to find out as long as they're nice and not, like, a lot older than me or otherwise sketchy, and then I had to sit through her entire lecture on sex even though she also did that when I was eight and again when I was eleven and I still have the notes from both times, and then she gave me a script for if I don't really feel like going out with him again after the once, but she said that when her mother did that it turned out not to work well because the way people talked had changed too much since her mother was a girl so I am encouraged to improvise to suit the situation:

:- Is telling their children about sex something parents normally do?: 

:I think so? ...you can't have my notes, I did not write them to be read. But you could ask Ranara if you want, she probably wouldn't mind?:

:I probably know the important things? My parents never told me, but - we did all sleep in one tent: 

:...I guess that would demystify some stuff!: A lot of things Ranara covered were not just basic mechanics you could pick up from being in the same tent but Aza doesn't SUPER want to go into it. Except what if he's not in fact going to figure the rest out on his own or something even though Aza is pretty sure she could have. :If I were you I might find a grownup to ask about - not even just that but all kinds of stuff, just in case, because it would suck to be time-sensitively confused and not already have that lined up: she says.

:Maybe: Shrug. :I don't think it'd be relevant anytime soon: 

:If you say so:

Ma'ar seems to notice that she finds the subject awkward, and switches topics to asking her what she thought of some recent class material. 

That's not awkward at all! She has plenty to say about recent class material.

Then they can have a perfectly normal conversation about it! As usual they're both doing pretty well in the class, although they're less far ahead this time, since it's a cohort that includes some older and very talented students. 

And after classes the next day, Shann is waiting in the courtyard for her. He's combed his hair and is wearing a nice shirt rather than the school uniform.