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From: elf@halcyon.com (Elf Sternberg)
Newsgroups: alt.sex,alt.prose,alt.sex.stories,rec.arts.prose
Subject: Journal Entry 153 / 0918  [ Reunion ]  (part 8)
Date: 29 Aug 1993 21:37:58 -0700
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     Reunion 153 / 0918
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     Garth awoke slowly to light filtering in through the thin material
of his tent.  The sounds of birds accompanied the morning insects in a
light if chaotic sort of sonata.  He rolled over, taking care not to
disturb... who was it today?  Kiza.  She moved, very slightly, as he
eased himself out of his sleeping sack and crawled out into the morning
air.

     Looking across the small, rocky clearing he saw that Skii's tent
was still closed and it's occupant still enclosed.  He felt the urgent
need of his bladder and stepped down the slope a couple of meters off
the trail and relieved himself.  Then, walking back to collect his
boots, he stopped to look around.

     From where he stood two geological features were most apparent.
The first was Marbletop Ridge, a low hill, projecting at most twenty
meters above sea level, that ran the shore of the Vinyare' Sea for as
long as his eyes could make out features.  The other was the Rocchodain
Mountain Ridge, the geologically young and dramatic collection of
mountains that, less then thirty kilometers from Marbletop, ran the same
path from Pendor North to Pendor South.  Garth had learned early on that
Pendorians thought of North and South in terms of their sun because on a
ringworld, especially one so electromagnetically maintained as Pendor
was, such "magnetic" terms were pointless.

     Garth had been shocked to learn that Pendor was not "geologically
stable."  But his reading on the spaceflight had said as much; while
Pendor did not possess "lava" in its understructure, the ferrofluidic
(it really used suspended neodymuim crystals, but the "iron" technical
term for a magnetically susceptible fluid stuck, much like the phrase
"surgical steel" is used for substances which are these days primarily
ceramic) 'base' of Pendor, which among other things provided large-scale
climate control, also provided a constant, geological 'ebb and flow' to
the surface of Pendor, in some places causes land masses to shift as
much as a centimeter a year!  The book he had been reading explained
that the measure was necessary to prevent Pendor from becoming "a flat
land of eroded sand" during it's many millions of years of evolutionary
control.

     But as he looked out over the beautiful, mist-shrouded valley, even
as the mist broke up under the hammer of summer sunlight overhead, he
appreciated this massive construction effort for what it was... an
effort to keep mountains young and beautiful.  Old mountains had their
place in a world, but once he knew what they were, they even looked worn
and old.  Spectacular constructions like the American Rockies, which
were relatively young, held his attention.

     A birdcry made him jerk his head around, and he saw what was either
an eagle or a falcon carrying some small rodent in its beak.  He smiled,
wondering if a Neorat would feel any empathy.  As a Katckin, he was
pleased to be able to say that he had no prejudice against Neorats, no
matter what the popular literature might imply on the subject.

     "Good morning!"  Skii's voice interrupted him, and he turned and
smiled at the naked Felinzi.  Skii was completely shameless, more then
anyone else he had ever met.  While at times Skii's antics had made his
whiskers droop, at other times, he admitted, it made his erection rise. 
He had never been serious about playing with males before; the last two
times had really been moments of convenience, not attraction, and while
he still found himself much more attracted to Kiza (or any female, for
that matter), repeated contact with Skii's gleeful mannerisms and
skilled sexuality had made him appreciate males more then ever before.

     "Good morning!" he replied in kind.  "You sound alive this morning!

     "Oh, I am!  I am!"  Skii scratched at his chest and then, almost
unconsciously, at his crotch.  "It's a beautiful day out, not a cloud in
the sky.  We should be home by eleven or so.  What do you think?  A good
time to get home?"

     "Fine with me."

     "Well, let's wake Kiza up and get rolling," Skii said.

     "I'm awake!  Don't you dare do anything, you two!"

     Skii laughed.  "Well, I guess that takes care of that little
problem.  In any event, we really should get moving.  So come on, Kiza,
get out and take your leak and eat your breakfast bar.  There's a lot of
mountain and fifteen klick of road ahead of you today."

     "I'm coming, I'm coming."  Kiza crawled out of her tent and blinked
into the summer sunlight.  "It's bright."

     "It's summer.  You said so yourself just a week ago, and every day
since," Skii pointed out.  "If you want winter, well, there are other
sections of the ring you can travel to where the insulation is much
thinner."

     Kiza shook her head.  "That's okay.  I keep forgetting that PST is
aligned not only with GMT but also with Terra's Northern Hemisphere in
terms of seasonal climate."

     "Used to be," Skii pointed out.  "We lose a a second or two every
year.  It's finally caught up with us.  We're almost half an hour
behind."

     Garth nodded, then shrugged.  "Makes no difference.  Has Shardik
thought about altering the rotational speed of the ring to make up the
difference?"

     "Are you nuts?" Skii asked.  "Well, I imagine he's thought about
it.  But think about the sheer number of pendular and other mechanisms
that would be altered by even a minuscule change.  No, Pendor's
rotational speed has not altered by one hundred thousandth in over six
million years.  And there's a reason for that."

     Garth nodded.  "I kinda figured."

     "Now, altering Terra's speed, that's different."

     "What?"

     "Just kidding."  Skii laughed as Kiza returned from wherever she
had disappeared to.  Together the three of them picked up their tents
and supplies and packed them away.  "This way!" the Felinzi shouted, and
down the mountainside he went in leaps and bounds.

     "Idiot," Kiza said.  "He'll burn up kilocalories doing that, and if
he hurts himself the Shatha will probably kill him trying to put him
back together again."  She took a bite of the fourth highly dense
breakfast bar she had dug into that morning.  Garth was starting to
appreciate just how much food it took to keep a Pendorian "running."
Most of the ones who led any sort of active life seemed to eat almost
constantly, or at least voraciously when they had an opportunity.  It
seemed to be a major, or at least significant, drawback.

     But the lovely day drew his attention back and he wished, idly,
that he could whistle as humans did as he walked down the meandering but
always-headed-downwards path that eventually bottomed out in a small
gutter, on the other side of which was the Spinward March.  To his left
would be Rocchodain, and on his right, Shardik Castle.  He knew that
this range and the accompanying primordial forests were not the oldest
in Pendor, but that didn't matter.  Nothing on Terra conveyed the sense
of antiquity and isolation that this narrow ribbon of green of stone
managed to say.

     Skii leaned over and whispered in Garth's ear, "They say that
sometimes Pardalets come down from the southern part of the mountain
range, especially when they learn to enjoy the taste of sentient flesh."

     "Wha... What's a Pardalet?"

     "It's a small feline.  They don't get much bigger then around 15
kilograms.  But they hunt in packs of six or more, and like the
Pamthreats, they make telepathic hunting gestalts."  He grinned, then
hit Garth on the arm playfully.  "I'm just giving you a hard time,
Garth.  There's been only one Pardalet attack on a sentient in all of
recorded history."

     Garth nodded, swallowing his fear.  "But that means that they have
attacked.  And there's always room for a second occasion."

     Skii shrugged and laughed.  "You're paranoid.  Don't worry about
it.  They attacked a child."

     Much to Skii's amusement, Garth spend most of the day scanning the
treeline, fearful of an attack.  Just as the trees parted and the rising
wall of the eastern face of Marbleridge came into view, Skii said "You
know, there's a better chance of a wolfpack attacking a walker along
this part of the march then there is of pardalets."  He laughed.  "We
get wolf reports about once a year."

     "And you didn't warn me?"

     "Come on.  Once a year is nothing.  Nobody ever actually gets
killed by those things.  Usually the wolves have just had the bad sense
to set up a pack's perimeter within reach of the road, and the sentients
and the wolves get to alpha each other around."  He laughed as if
enjoying the idea.

 
 
    They walked through the long, dark tunnel that led into the Lagoon
area of Shardik Castle.  Garth recognized the two people lying on the
sand under the shade of one of the peculiar blue palm trees that lined
the southernmost wall of the lagoon crater.  "Furry!  Kolya!"

     "Garth!"  They both jumped up and ran towards him, their arms wide.
Both of them were smiling.  "It's so good to see you!" Nickolai said,
hugging his old friend as they collided.

     Garth stepped back and examined Nickolai.  "You got sunburned."

     Nickolai shrugged.  "It happens when you walk all day in the sun."

     "Guess you should have worn some sunscreen," Garth laughed.  "You
look red.  Let's get you into the shade.  I don't want to make your burn
any worse."

     They retired indoors to the third floor of the Castle, a small
common room that lined the western wall and faced out over the ocean.
Nickolai recounted his tale of his trip through the Hall and Garth
caught Nickolai up on his adventures with Kiza and Skii.  "More like
misadventures."

     "Something wrong?" Nickolai said.

     "Ehhh."  Garth waved his hand flat before him.  "It's not like I'm
not enjoying myself.  It's just that both of them are, well... It's hard
to say.  Pushy, I guess."

     "I could have told you that about Kiza," Furry admitted.  "She gets
like that when she thinks she's got something.  And Skii is just
competition."

     "He's worse in some ways.  He knows he's not going to have me
around for long, so he's trying to get in as much as he can.  It's not
such a bad thing.  Kinda fun, really.  Just wish it didn't all feel so
hectic."  Garth sighed.  "I guess that's the biggest thing.  I mean,
come on, Nickolai, I used to whack off to things like this back when we
were in Redbridge.  Now it's real and I'm getting burned out."

     Furry reached over and pulled Garth towards her.  He startled,
surprised, then allowed her to hug him tightly.  He laughed softly as he
wrapped his arms around hers.  "You know, that's the really surprising
part."

     "What is?" Furry asked as she let him go.

     "You two.  I've actually missed you two.  I... Kiza and Skii are
just company, you know, just 'fun.'  Nickolai's been my roommate for
almost two years now and he's sorta like family.  And he's talked about
you so much I think that you're part of the family too."

     Furry nodded.  "Thanks."

     "So," Nickolai said quietly, "What are you gonna do?"

     "I don't know.  I mean, I don't want to get into the politics.  It
makes sense for me to walk the Hall, Nickolai, it really does.  But I
just don't know."

     "Why does it make sense, though?"

     "Because it does.  I mean, look at this place.  As much as I hate
to admit it, this is the center of the universe as far as we know.  We
don't have a thing that matches up to the power of Pendor.  It's time we
realized that evolution points us in this direction."

     Furry shook her head.  "I don't agree.  I think Pendor's solution
is one direction for evolution.  But at this point to say it's the
direction is foolish."  She sat back in her chair.  "Listen.  I'm an
archeologist and my specialty is end-time cultures.  Well, that's what
I'm studying at any rate.  But to classify a cultural period as
'end-time' is a bit unfair because the culture doesn't just vanish
usually; it breaks up into lots of smaller cultures that don't fall back
all the way to the state the original one was in when it started."  She
stopped to collect her thoughts.  "All I'm saying is, Terra fell apart
about six centuries ago.  You know it and I know it.  We live so long,
though, that it's taken us this long to figure it out.  Pendor's just
one of the many lines that, culturally, Terra took on it's long, slow
rise out of the gravity well."

     "So..."  Garth said, looking puzzled.  "What are the others?"

     "Who knows?  Pendor is steeped in rationalism.  There are planets
obsessed now with monoculturalism.  Take a look at the 'Empire' with its
blatant racism.  You and I think it's funny, but really it isn't.  That
stupid argument about food imports a few years back is a great example;
when they had a famine we offered them grain support but they refused
it.  Because, they said, their stomachs were different and wouldn't
accept our food.  And all for their pride they let their population
starve."  Furry shook her head.  "Of course, they could care less about
most of their population."

     Garth knitted his eyebrows together, his whiskers twitching.  "I
don't scan.  What does this mean to me?  Should I walk the Hall or not?"

     "That's still up to you," Furry said, putting her hands in the air.

     "I guess it comes down to, would it be the best thing for you to
do," Nickolai added.  "Think about it, Garth.  What are the benfits and
disadvantages?"

     Garth propped his head up in his hand, chin to palm.  "Hmm.  We've
been over this before.  About the only disadvantages I can think of are
that I would need more to eat.  That and I'd lose a couple of days of
vacation time."

     Nickolai laughed.  "You're always so practical, Garth.  Think about
it that way.  You were good to me two years ago.  I guess it's time you
thought about what was good for yourself."

     Garth nodded.  "I'm trying not to add in all the little things
about Kiza and Skii and Pendor in general that bother me.  From an
external view, I can't see a reason not to."

     "Tell Ken," Nickolai said.  "He'll want to know.  You're his guest
now."

     "And what are you?"

     Nickolai looked out the window.  In the reflection, Garth could see
he was smiling.  "I'm family."

     "You're what?"

     "I guess I'm family.  I... "  Nickolai sighed, looking abashed but
still smiling.  "I'm accepted here.  And you know what?  It doesn't mean
anything to me.  It makes me feel good to have a place to go to, but
it's not really the important part.  What is important is that I have
Furry."

     She turned and smiled at him as he said it.  "Thanks."

     "What?" he said.  "It's true.  I used to think, a long time ago,
that I wanted you.  Then I realized Ken Shardik wanted to know me and I
got all starry-eyed and... and it took me a long time to realize that
doesn't matter nearly as much as you do.  I love you."

     She slid an arm around him and pulled him to her.  "I love you too.
And I'm glad you feel that way."  She turned to Garth and held out one
hand, gesturing in a 'come hither' sort of way.   He rose and fell into
her arms, and she hugged him tightly, holding him against her and
Nickolai, and then she kissed his nose.  "You're neat, Garth.  I won't
tell you to never change, but when you do, try and retain your neatness.

     Surprised, he took a moment to find something to say.  Finally he
settled on the familiar.  "Thanks, Furry."

     "You're welcome.  Now go tell Ken. You still need to tell him."

 
 
     "You're serious about this?" Shardik asked him.

     He nodded.  "I thought about it for a long time, and I got Nickolai
and Jofuran's advice.  I...  No offense to your household, Ken, but I
don't think Skii's a great adviser for life-changing decisions."

     "No, he isn't," Ken agreed wryly, standing up and looking out the
plate glass windows that formed the doors of his porch.  Beyond, the
curving surface of the Vinyare Sea glistened.  "You know," Ken said, "I
used to worry that the Vinyare would be black and unfriendly.  From the
center, everything in a ring gets reflected back upwards.  I keep
forgetting about winds and waves."  He turned around.  "You should do
that, too, Garth.  Remember the winds and the waves."  He pointed out
over the ocean.  "They make what could have been lifeless vibrant."  He
shook his head.  "Sorry, I get strangely philosophical."  He sat down in
a wooden chair and crossed his legs.  "Garth, no matter which choice you
make, you'll have to live with yourself and your decisions.  I can't
make them for you.  I try not to make them for anyone."

     Garth nodded.  "I'm going to do it."

     "Morphing off."  It was not a question.

     "Yes, sir.  Morphing off."

     "Dave, run Garth through the usual options.  See to it that he's
fully prepared for tomorrow."

     "Of course," the AI replied calmly.

 
 
     "So the decision is done," Nickolai observed calmly, taking a bite
of salad with his fork and chewing thoughtfully.  With his mouth full he
said a muffled "Congratulations."

     "Don't congratulate me before its done," Garth said.  "I might back
out."

     "You won't," Furry replied softly.  "I have faith in you."

     "That sounds weird, coming from you.  'I have faith.'"

     "What?" Furry said.  "It's true.  I don't have religion.  'Faith'
may be a religious word, but it's also a personal one.  I have faith in
you as a person, Garth."

     Garth understood what she meant, but still felt slightly uneasy.
He looked around the Castle rooftop at the assembled diners for the
evening meal.  He had learned the names of most of them in the past
couple of days and felt more at ease with the denizens of Shardik
Castle.  He wondered if that was a permanent thing.

     "Furry?"  Kiza's voice pulled his eyes up until he was looking at
her.  She was looking down at Furry however.

     "Yeah?"

     "Could I... could I talk to you?"  Kiza's voice halted and started,
sounding more than a little fitful.

     Furry smiled and said "Sure.  Be right back, you guys."  She stood
up and the two of them walked away, disappearing behind some of the
smaller trees that occupied the easter face of the rooftop garden.

     "What do you suppose that's all about?" Garth asked.

     "Furry mentioned earlier that she felt bad about the way she and
Kiza broke up.  It bothers me too."  Nickolai put his plate aside and
leaned back against a large rock.  Garth thought he looked oddly
peaceful.  He felt at ease himself, despite his own big adventure
tomorrow.  "I mean, on the one hand I do understand that they agreed a
long time ago that this was a temporary arrangement.  On the other, I
don't like the idea of leaving anyone in a lurch."

     Garth nodded.  "I haven't been very good for her.  I'm going home
soon too."

     "We all are, in our own ways.  Or, we're already there.  In any
case, Kiza feels like she's being left behind."

     "How do you feel about her?"

     "About Kiza?" Nickolai asked.  "Good question.  I've never been
jealous of her, and I'm proud of that fact.  I believed Jofuran when she
told me where her loyalties lay.  God, I hate wording it that way.
There's got to be a better way to describe this."

     "Try," Garth urged.

     "She's... Well, Kiza's a little less mature than Furry, a little
impetuous.  She's very pretty, but I've already got my interests firmly
assigned to Furry."  He laughed.  "Aside from that, I don't know.  I'd
like to know her as a friend.  She's Furry's friend, at any rate."

     "They're coming back," Garth said, noticing the two fems walking
down the stone path.

     Furry spoke first.  "Listen, Garth, tomorrow you're going to be
walking the Great Hall, and almost as soon as you come back you're
leaving for Terra again.  Kiza and I are, well, I guess we're friends
again, although I don't see why we ever thought otherwise."

     "It's called jealousy and it happens to the best of us," Kiza said.

     "I guess," Furry shrugged.  "Anyway, I guess I want to ask you,
both of you, if you wanted to spend the night together.  All four of us,
just sorta being friendly and getting along."

     "And making love?" Nickolai asked.

     "That could happen," Furry admitted, smiling and kissing Nickolai
softly.  "If you want it to."

     "I want," Nickolai replied.  "Garth?"

     Garth glanced at Kiza, then at Furry, then at Nickolai.  "I...
Sure, I guess."

     "Then it's settled," Furry said.  "Before we retire for the night,
though, there's a game going on down at the sand.  Ken and someone named
Kori put it together.  It's called Ultimate, and I have no idea what
it's about.  It's apparently the big thing tonight."

     "Sounds good," Nickolai agreed, standing up and brushing off his
pants.  "You two coming?"

     "In a minute," Garth said.  "Kiza, could you stay behind for a
moment?"

     She nodded, smiling.  When Furry and Nickolai had departed, Kiza
sighed.  "Whew.  Feel like I'm playing musical chairs."

     "What's that?"

     "Children's game," Kiza said.  "You run around a circle of chairs,
one for every person, and while music plays the referee removes one
chair.  When the music stops, everyone rushes to sit down.  The one
without a chair is eliminated, until there's only one person left."

     "Oh," Garth said.  "Who's been eliminated from this round?"

     "I think Skii," Kiza said.

     "Huh?"

     "He said earlier that he didn't feel comfortable.  He appreciated
that you were really not interested in boys all that much."

     "What?" Garth said.  "Damn, I was starting to like him."

     "You were?"

     "Yes!" Garth insisted.  "I mean, it took me a while to get
comfortable, but I really did like him.  I was really starting to enjoy
being with him, even sleeping with him."

     "You should tell him that.  He thought you were turning away from
him."

     Garth swore under his breath.  "I will.  Anyway, Kiza... Do you
really want to do this tonight."

     She nodded, her head bobbing rapidly.  "Why?"

     "I... I wondered if you were maybe using this as a chance to get at
Furry one last time.  I feel a little useless here, like a fifth wheel
or something."

     "You know, Garth, I felt the same way."  Garth waited for an
explanation, and so she continued.  "There's something about the way you
and Nickolai just sorta walked into this together that, to me at least,
makes it very obvious that both Nickolai and Furry like you a lot, and I
was feeling left out.  I'm glad Furry asked me first.  It made me feel
better.  I feel thought about."

     "Wow," Garth admitted.

     "They took you into their counsel before they did me," Kiza pointed
out.

     "They were giving me advice, not the other way around."

     "Still," Kiza said.  "It did feel a little strange."

     "Come on," Garth said, smiling.  "Let's go to that game."

     Kiza nodded.  Garth stood, then helped Kiza to stand up as well.
As they walked, Garth said, "Kiza... I'm walking the Hall tomorrow.  I
know you know that already, but I wanted to let you know that I really
care for you and I'm glad you've been my friend for the past couple of
days."

     "My pleasure, Garth."

     Ultimate, Garth was to learn, was a Terran-invented game similar to
basketball or soccer, involving a glowing white disc and glowing team
shirts of two different colors so that they could tell each other apart
in the almost-dark.  It was an ideal game for sandy environments like
the beach where the average ball would have neither bounced nor rolled
anywhere.

     Watching it played by Pendorians was something more dramatic than
he anticipated.  From the dodging of Mustelids and Markals to the
dramatic running of Centaurs trying not to crush their friends, the
game's tide turned and turned again with frantic throws and the
occasional need for someone to jump into the ocean and recover the disc.
The rules were few and easily explained, and after watching only a few
minutes he found himself joining Nickolai and the two fems in the middle
of what could only be described as a friendly brawl.  Everyone was
mindful of him, being the only Terran and therefore regarded as somewhat
more fragile then the rest of the combatants.

     Still, he was more than a little frightened when Karin, the
six-legged feline beast who had frightened him earlier on the trip,
leapt over his head to snap the disc in her jaws and then toss it easily
to a teammate of hers.  More than once he found himself in the direct
path of a hurtling Centaur or Ssphynx, or bowled over accidentally by an
Uncia.  By the time the game was called over, Garth felt that he had
collected enough bruises to last himself an entire lifetime.  He
mentioned that to Ken.

     Ken laughed.  "Then count yourself lucky that a new one starts
tomorrow, Garth.  Although in your case we don't have to consider that
the old one ends tonight."  Placing his hand on Garth's shoulder he
said, "You're a good person, Garth.  You have your place in the world."

     "I hope so," Garth admitted.

     "I know so," Ken agreed.  "Come on, let's head in.  I need a shower
and then some sleep."

     A few of the people nearby groaned their agreements, and everyone
filtered through the great crack in to rock back towards the lagoon and
Shardik Castle.  In threes and fours they jumped into the water of the
lagoon, taking the submerged SDisk back to Shardik Castle.

     Garth found the water invigorating, and swam in the lagoon casually
for a few minutes before heading indoors.  He wasn't alone in this,
either.  He felt frustrated that he hadn't seen Skii all night.

     After SDisking into Shardik Castle, he walked down the hallway to
Nickolai and Jofuran's room.  Feeling a little apprehensive, he checked
his appearance in one of the reflective surfaces of the dining hall
before stepping up to their door.  It opened.

     "Hi!"  The voice was Skii's.  He waved from the chair where he sat.
Across from him Nickolai, Furry and Kiza were all cuddled closely on the
couch.  Skii bounced up and hugged him tightly.  "I'm glad you told Kiza
what you did.  I was feeling a little hurt."

     "You did bother me a little with that tale of the pardalet."

     "Sorry," Skii said.  "I was just having a little fun.  I didn't
mean to be cruel about it."

     "It's forgotten," Garth agreed, holding his arms out to pull Skii
into a hug.  Skii fell in gratefully.

     "So," Nickolai said, "Who's in the mood for what?"

     "Is this officially an orgy?" Garth asked, laughing.

     "I don't think so," Kiza said.  "At any rate, I don't want to have
an orgy.  I really want to just go to bed and cuddle."

     "Skii?"

     Skii yawned wide.  "Riao.  Just mentioning the word 'bed' makes me
tired."

     Jofuran agreed.  The five of them made their way downstairs, where
they took their turns at the bathroom.  Garth suddenly appreciated that
the bed was more than big enough to hold all five of them.  He thought
that three more human-sized figures could have probably slept alongside
them; the bed was simply huge.  He also appreciated that Nickolai was
the largest among the five of them and at 170cms he was only of average
height for a human.

     Having had the privilege of using the bathroom first, he was also
the first to get into that enormous bed.  Furry slid in beside him, her
leg brushing his as she kicked her way under the covers.  "Hi," she
said, giggling.

     "Hi yourself."

     "Have you ever done anything like this before?"

     "Not in my wildest dreams," Garth admitted.

     "Garth?" Furry said softly.  "I want to tell you something.  I have
had one fantasy since hearing about you in Nickolai's letters.  Well,
one that didn't involve only Nickolai.  I want you to know that everyone
is going to be wanting our attention.  Skii and Kiza will be wanting you
and Nickolai and Kiza will be wanting me, and, well... I think it would
be very... kinky... if this kittyKatckin made love to this mouse."

     Garth's mouth gaped, and Furry reached up and touched his lower jaw
with one finger.  She slid forward to him, her chin raised.  Still
stunned, Garth barely knew how to react when the tip of her muzzle
touched his.  He finally got enough thoughts in line to kiss her back,
letting his tongue touch hers.  She whimpered softly, and he felt his
confidence become stronger.

     He knew that any second now Nickolai was going to walk out the
bathroom door and find him kissing Furry, and he hoped Furry and
Nickolai had discussed this before hand.  As his hands touched Furry's
soft stomach and brushed against the fur covering her small breasts, he
felt the blood rushing in his groin and his erection extending from its
sheath.  Furry's hands found it almost immediately, and the touch of her
hands upon his cock made him suck in breath sharply.

     Furry's mouth explored the curve of his neck, her hot breath
spreading and penetrating his thin coating of fur.  Her hand cupped his
scrotum as she turned over onto her knees and leaned over to kiss the
head of his erect penis.  Garth gasped.

     She turned her head to give him a mischievous half-smile, then
slowly took his cock into her mouth.  At first she only held the tip in
her muzzle, her tongue swirling about it until Garth squirmed and moaned
in the intensity of pleasure before he finally groaned "Stop!"

     She didn't stop, however; instead, she took the rest of his cock
into her mouth slowly, and he could feel as every millimeter slid past
her teeth and was caressed by her tongue.  "Ohhh...."

     "That's the first time I've ever seen a mouse eat a cat."
Nickolai's voice cut through his pleasure like a hot knife, and Garth
turned to stare at his roommate.  But Nickolai was just standing there,
naked, arms crossed and grinning widely.  "I said I wouldn't mind,
Garth.  Enjoy as much as she gives you."

     "She's wonderful," Garth groaned in agreement.  Furry gave no sign
of noticing the discussion, instead concentrating on Garth's cock,
stroking it with her mouth.  Her hands caressed his balls with care,
squeezing them just enough to heighten Garth's growing pleasure, and one
finger reached between his buttocks and the base of his tail to caress
his asshole.  Although it had hurt the first time, he had wanted to give
back to Skii what Skii did for him, and the second time had been a
surprise for him.  He had actually enjoyed it.  And Furry's finger was
just the right stimuli to remind him of that delightful revelation.

     As he lay his head back against the pillow and allowed Furry her
complete freedom, she raised one leg and slowly slid it over his head,
coming down.  Garth opened his eyes to see her mons only centimeters
from his muzzle.  Reaching up with both hands, he grasped her buttocks
with his hands and slowly pulled her down, her cunny touching his muzzle
as tentatively as her kiss had.

     Cunnilingus was not among the things Garth counted himself as doing
well, but he gave Furry the best he could, licking her muskiness and
locating her clitoris.  Garth knew he had no sense of rhythm, no sense
of timing, but he licked her as patiently and slowly as he could.  As it
was, her cocksucking was making it nearly impossible for him to
concentrate.

     She stopped.  "Garth?" she said, raising her head.

     "Yeah?"

     She maneuvered away from their head-to-tail position and turned
around, her hips above his.  She smiled down at him and said "Ready?"

     "Yes."  Slowly, she lowered herself onto his cock, and he could
feel the lips of her cunt spread apart to permit him entry into her.
Her felt her opening grasp him and slide down the length of his cock,
and what had gone past was surrounded in a warm, wet glove of flesh.

     When they were together, hips to hips, she leaned over and
whispered into his ear, "Turn me over, Garth.  Fuck me."

     Garth reached up for her shoulders, pulling her to him.  With a
kick of his left foot, they turned over and he came out on top of her,
between her legs.  "Like that?" he said, his voice low.

     "Like that," she agreed.  He held himself up by his lanky arms and
began stroking into her cunny, feeling her body shudder with every
downstroke.  He fucked her gently but continuously.  Her hands stroked
her breasts, a sight that just turned him on more.  Between them his red
fur mingled with the grey between her thighs; he could feel her fur
slipping along the length of his cock as they made love.

     Their bodies slapped against each other as he felt his powerful
erection swell in anticipation.  He knew he couldn't hold off forever.
He wondered if he shouldn't come at all; what would Skii and Kiza expect
of him?  What would Nickolai be expecting of Jofuran after this?  He
decided it didn't matter; they would understand.  Furry began pushing
her hips up against him with every push, her hands gripping his
shoulders.  She began chanting, "Oh, oh, oh..."

     He understood how she felt.  His own breathing was coming in gasps,
his hips burning with the effort.

     His orgasm surprised him; he was used to being able to guage when
it was going to happen, and this time it came out of nowhere with the
force of an explosion.  One moment he was worrying about how long he
could last, the next he was shouting out her name as his body exploded
with pleasure.

     He shuddered and blinked, looking down at her.  She was smiling up
at him, and then she languidly tossed her arms above her head and
laughed.  Garth followed the line of her arms, and saw that in one hand
she held Nickolai's hand.  "Well?" Nickolai asked.

     "I'll keep you," she said, then looked up at Garth.  "No offense,
Garth."

     "None taken at all," Garth said, smiling.  A heartbeat pause, and
then all three laughed softly.  "Thank you, Furry."

     "You're very welcome," she said.

     "And thank you, Nickolai."

     "What can I say?" Nickolai said.  "It's hard to deny someone as
wonderful as she is.  When she asked, do you think I could have said no?

     "You could have," Furry said.  "I'm glad you didn't."

     "I am too," Nickolai said.

     Garth slowly slid himself out of her, the last sensations making
him shiver intensely as he did.  "That was wonderful."

     "It certainly was something to watch," Skii said, his hand touching
Garth's shoulder and wrapping around his chest.  "Enjoy yourself?"

     "Yeah," Garth said.  "I hope you don't expect anything of me after
that."

     "Give it a while," Skii said.  "If you're really out of it for the
night, well, I can be patient."

     "Since when?" Nickolai said, tousling Skii's headfur.

     Skii looked up at Nickolai sharply, a look of realization on his
face.  "Ohmifah..."

     "What?"

     "Nothing," Skii said quickly.  Too quickly, Garth thought.

     "Yeah, Skii, what is it?" Nickolai asked.

     "Nothing," Skii said, his voice tinting slightly into frustration. 
"Really.  Maybe I'll tell you later."

     "Okay," Nickolai said.  "I'll keep it in mind, though."

     Skii caressed Garth's chest, touching the root of his cock
sometimes.  Garth felt something poking him against the base of his
tail.  "Hello."

     "What?"

     "You want to do something with this?" Garth asked, reaching around
and grabbing Skii's erection with his hand.

     Skii shifted left slightly and looked at Garth.  "I thought you
said you didn't like that."

     "I hadn't tried it.  For you, I guess I'll try."

     "Really?"  Skii sounded surprised, then delighted as he said,
"Well, then," and pitched Garth forward onto his stomach.  Garth waited
for what he knew was next, as Skii coated the shaft of his cock with
something slippery and got into position above him.

     He felt Skii's thighs against his as the Felinzi slowly lowered
himself on top of him.  Garth reached back to touch Skii's thigh with
his hand, waiting.  "Ready?" Skii asked.

     "Go gentle."

     "I will," Skii said, his cock slowly easing forward to touch
Garth's asshole.  Garth took a deep breath and tried to relax as he felt
Skii's cock pressing firmly against his hole.  He felt the muscles there
tremble slightly, clenching and relaxing reflexively to the invasion
that threatened to come.  Skii pressed more, and in one of the sudden
relaxations the head of his cock slid past Garth's sphincter.  Garth
felt it as a dull opening and then sucked in a deep breath as Skii
penetrated deeply into him.

     "You okay?" Skii asked.

     "Yes," Garth said, nodding.  The experience was still new to him.
He felt surprised at how little embarrassment he felt at his submission
to Skii's lust.  He was used, just by virtue of being male, at being in
the initiative.

     Skii kissed the back of his neck.  "Good."  He pulled out slowly,
then pressed back in.  Garth moaned softly; it actually felt good.  He
had been surprised at how gently Skii's cock had treated him, and slowly
he loosened up and felt himself acclimating to Skii's cock.  The
thrusting of malehood behind him, pressing into him, caressing his
prostate, made his head spin with pleasure.

     "Skii," he gasped.  "Faster."

     "Wait," Skii said, sliding out of Garth as he did so.  "Turn over. 
I want to see you."

     Garth turned over, looking up at Skii's grinning muzzle.  Skii
grasped him under the knees and pressed his knees up to his chest.
Garth smiled up at Skii and took over, holding his own legs up and
apart, giving Skii easy access to his hole.  Skii returned the smile and
pressed down, refilling Garth's emptied hole.

     "I like watching you," Skii said as his cock stroked inside Garth's
body, fucking his hole slowly.  Garth's hands curled into the sheets,
feeling the surprising pleasure that had invaded his body at the
entrance of Skii's cock.

     "I like being watched," Garth said.  "You're beautiful."

     Skii shook his head, his body shuddering softly as a pre-orgasmic
spasm overtook him.  "You're the one who is beautiful," Skii said.  "And
I'm going to come soon."

     "I'm watching," Garth said.

     "Then..."  Skii's voice became husky.  "Watch."  He shuddered
again.  "THIS!"  He shouted the last word, sliding his cock in deep,
pressing his hips to Garth's buttocks, his eyes clamped tight as his
spasms emptied the content of his balls into Garth's body.  He opened
one eye, staring down at Garth.  "How was that?"

     "Great!" Garth said.

     Skii slid out of him, taking a towel from the side of the bed and
wiping both of them off calmly.  He then collapsed next to Garth.

     The sounds to their right dragged Garth's attention, and Skii's as
well he noticed.  Nickolai and Furry were making love in the oldest
position known to Mammila; she was on her knees, her head buried between
Kiza's legs while Nickolai penetrated her from behind, her tail in the
air, whipping back and forth slowly against Nickolai's chest.  Kiza was
whimpering loudly, and Garth thought he could see tears in the corners
of her closed eyes.

     Nickolai's thrusting grew harder, and then he gasped loudly,
speeding into a blurred frenzy as he came.  Skii pressed closely to
Garth's back, cuddling him as they watched the last three of the
celebrants break apart.  Garth watched as Nickolai and Furry pulled Kiza
into a broad and careful hug, accompanied by whispering he didn't quite
catch.

     "So," Skii said, looking over the four of them, "What did you
think?"

     "Honest opinion?" Nickolai asked.  "I don't know if I enjoyed
myself as much as I could have."

     Kiza kissed Nickolai's cheek and said, "I understand that.  But I'm
glad we did it."  She kissed Furry just as strongly.  "And I've come to
realize a few things."

     "Like?" Furry asked.

     Kiza smiled softly.  "Like I'm really much more attuned to living
with fems then I am with mels.  No offense, Garth."

     Garth, surprised, gave her a long stare.  Then finally he shook his
head and smiled.  "I understand.  I don't mind."

     "What took you so long?" Furry asked.

     "I... "  Kiza paused.  "I think it was just reluctance.  I didn't
want to be a lesbian.  Now I know I'm not... just mostly."  She turned
to Garth.  "And I owe you something of an apology, Garth.  Because a lot
of the... frantic sex we were having was because I wanted to prove I
wasn't a lesbian.  I'm sorry if you feel used."

     "I don't.  I'm not going to throw away the experience because maybe
the motives weren't the greatest.  I'm not going to forget you, Kiza."

     She lunged forward and hugged him tightly.  "Thank you!"

     Garth nodded, noticing Furry nod as well.  "And you, Garth?" Furry
asked.

     "I'm mostly straight," he said, kissing Skii's cheek while he was
at it.  "But I've finally learned to appreciate what I didn't know I was
missing."

     "Maybe someday..." Nickolai sighed.

     "You'll get your chance if I have anything to say about it," Skii
leered at him.

     Nickolai rolled his eyes.  "Okay, maybe it'll be you.  Anyway,
let's get some sleep."

     They all agreed to that sentiment, and after a quick second run on
the bathroom, Nickolai lowered the lights.

--
"Reunion"
The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik, et. al., And Related Tales
are (c) 1989, 1993 Elf Matheiu Sternberg.  May be freely distributed by
cybernetic media; hardcopies are limited to single printings for
personal use.