Archive-name: JourEntr/j918-163.txt
Archive-author: Elf Matheiu Sternberg
Archive-title: Reunion, part 11


Reunion 163 / 0918

     "No!"  Garth came to consciousness with a start, the nightmare of
drowning fresh in his mind.  He ran his hands over his body, checking to
make sure it was indeed his body.  He found his chest, stomach, groin...
all familiar, all the same.  He was still himself, still a Katckin.

     He was lying in a bed, which filled most of the bedroom he found
himself in.  A desk against the opposite wall was made of some dark
wood, stained cherry perhaps.  The walls were papered in a faded
off-white color with small flowers printed in rhythms down the walls.
He rose out of bed and looked in the mirror that hung over the desk.
"I'm still me."

     Someone had apparently heard his shout, because a knock on his door
caught his attention.  "Garth?"

     "Hello?" he replied.  The voice sounded familiar.  "Who's there?"

     The door opened and a short femMarten looked up at him.  "Are you
okay?"

     "Kiza!" he said, rolling out of bed onto his feet and crossing the
room.  He pulled her close, using her as a brace against the sudden
exhaustion and dizziness he felt.  He finally managed to say, "What are
you doing here?"

     "Mom and Dad found you!"  She grinned at him.  "Guess the Hall
works in pretty strange ways sometimes."

     "But... where am I?"

     "You're in my home town of Callinbar.  Mom found you yesterday by
the river, unconscious.  The doctor thought you might have drowned.  We
were really scared."  She shook her head.  "But he said there was no
water in your lungs."

     "I... The Hall tried to drown me."

     "No, I think that was really just your test.  Sometimes the tests
the Hall gives are a little extreme."

     "A little," Garth agreed.  "I think I need to sit down."

     "You okay?"

     "Just, just a little dizzy."  He rubbed his stomach.  "I think I'm
hungry."

     "I hope you do more than 'think,' Garth, 'cause Mom makes pretty
huge meals."

     "What time is it?"

     "Sometime in the late afternoon.  Almost time for supper."  Her
black eyes smiled at him.  "I'm just glad you came back."

     "Does... does Skii know where I am?"

     "He should.  The AIs were told to inform us when you surfaced
again.  Nickolai too, but he got away with it by coming out somewhere
beyond the AInet."

     Garth nodded.

     A new voice came through the door.  "Kiza?"

     "In here, Mom!"

     Another Marten poked her head around the door.  A little thicker in
the middle than Kiza, whiskers slightly droopy but the same bright eyes.
"Ah, he is awake.  You perhaps would like dinner with us, then?  Kiza
tells me your name is Garth."

     "Yes, Miss..."

     "Ah, I am Naiza," the Marten said.  "My mate is named How.  And you
already know my daughter."

     Garth nodded.  "Thank you."

     "It's nothing," Naiza said, looking away.  "We are not used to
finding handsome young men washed up on the side of our aqueducts."

     "Still, thank you for a place to recover."

     "You are hungry?" Naiza asked.  "Kiza, get your young friend some
clothes.  I am sure he must feel terrible being naked; humans are so
much used to dressing."

     "I'm fine, really," Garth replied, embarrassed by the sudden
attention of two Martens, even if one of them was interested only in
seeing to his more mundane needs.  He grinned sheepishly as Kiza reached
into a curiously shaped pack and handed him suitable clothing.  He put
on a loose pullover and then a kilt held in place with velcro.  Kiza
found the idea of easy-tear clothing entertaining.

     "Come," Naiza said, interrupting Kiza's teasings.  "We have food
downstairs."  Garth enjoyed the sound of her voice as it lifted up and
dipped downwards with the progression of her sentences, as if her pitch
followed a slow sine curve.

     He followed them down stairs that were too small for him; he felt
like he teetered on the brink of falling down with every step.
Fortunately, the downstairs was built more to his scale, and the door
was positively enormous.  Like much of Pendor, it had apparently been
built to the scale of the largest species that used the 'indoors,'
Centaurs.

     Garth found his hunger as she set down a plate of food before him. 
Meat, potatoes, corn... real food.  The meat stunned him; he had almost
never seen that much red meat in one place.  He ate with gusto while
Naiza and Kiza did the same, but they also watched him closely.  Another
Marten with a deeper voice came into the room behind Garth.  "How, he is
awake."

     "I see, I see, Naiza," the other Marten said.  "It is good to see
you moving again, young mel.  We were worried about you."

     "His name is Garth," Naiza said.

     "Hush, Naiza.  Let him speak."

     "I'm glad someone was worried about me.  My last memories were of
drowning in the Great Hall."

     "Yes," How said.  "Kiza here told us you were walking the great
Hall."  He examined Garth closely.  "I thought people didn't do that any
more."

     "Most people don't," Garth agreed.

     "You are still a Katckin," How observed.

     "Yeah, the Hall has changed.  No more changes for people going
through."

     "Really?" How asked, surprised.  "That's interesting.  I have not
read news in months.  When did this happen?"

     "About three weeks ago."

     "Hmm.  After the time I stopped reading, too.  Interesting.  I
wonder if it will affect the political balance between Pendor and Terra.
Not that  I care much; there is no reason for us to fear.  Pendor is
strong, and we here in the outback care little for the ways of politics.
My daughter here, she wants to be an engineer; she lives back in the
civilized zones.  Goes to school."

     "Garth?" Kiza asked, blushing slightly under the reminders her
father tossed in her direction, "Can you ride a horse?"

     "Ride a...?  I've never ridden one before."

     "Then getting you home is going to be interesting.  Horses are our
most common method of getting around out here.  The SDisk far out in the

FTS grain fields."

     FTS!  Garth realized he was in the midst of one of the largest
charity organizations in the galaxy.  Feed The Stars had a reputation
for being as much a political tool as a humanitarian effort, but its
effect could not be denied; whole colonies existed soley off the efforts
of FTS.  And Kiza grew up as a farmer for FTS?  "I guess I'll have to
learn," he said.  "Naiza, How, thank you for being so kind."

     "We like having visitors," Naiza said.  "They are so rare."

     "That is because most Pendorians are lazy, Nazia.  They have no
appreciation of a real day's work."

     "Now, How," Naiza said.  "You know that is not true."

     How didn't reply, and Garth got the feeling he was listening to a
very old argument.  He finished the dinner and Naiza placed another
plate in front of him, and within a short while he had finished that off
too.  "Oh, my fah!  At that rate, I should slaughter more sheep," How
observed.

     "Sorry," Garth said, abashed.

     "Pfah!" How laughed.  "Eat as much as you need, Garth.  I don't
slaughter my sheep just so that they may rot and not feed your stomach. 
Eat!"

     Garth blushed and finished off the second plate.  "No more, Naiza,
thank you.  Just one more roll."

     "You like my cooking?"

     "Delicious," Garth agreed.

     Kiza touched the back of his hand.  "Kolya is climbing the walls.
He loves you, you know.  We've been trying to keep ourselves occupied,
but we were so worried.  Even Shardik commented that you had been gone a
long time."

     "Friends in such high places," How muttered.  "She talks to
Shardik.  Kiza, where do you meet such people?"

     "I don't know, Daddy," she said solemnly.  "I just sort of fell in
with the right crowd."  She turned back to Garth.  "I missed you too."

     "I... I haven't had enough time to miss you, except the first day
of the walk.  I hope you don't think that's awful."

     "No," Kiza said.  "Not awful at all."  She looked over his
shoulder.  "Daddy, do you think we can spend the night here and go in
the morning?"

     "Of course!" How said.  "Why not?  It is good to have you in the
old farmhouse again, Kiza."

     Kiza started asking questions about the condition of the farm and
the animals.  Garth found keeping up with her hardgoing; there was
something to her life here that he, as a Londoner, was just not privy
to.  It bothered him a little.  And the more he thought about it, the
more it bothered him.  It had nothing to do with her, really; more that
her life and his weren't meant to be compatible.  Even when she was an
engineer, she was an earthy female with her own, grounded life.

     "Come," How said.  "Kiza, would you like to do a reading?"

     "Yes!" she said.  "Oh, yes!"

     Garth was surprised at what happened next as How, Naiza, and Kiza
led him into the living room.  "What will you have?" How asked.

     Kiza walked to one wall that was thick with books.  "Oof!" she
grunted softly as she pulled a huge red tome down from the wall and
opened it until she was nearly at the back.  Garth's surprise grew when
she began reading from Shakespeare's sonnets.

     Her voice carried across the room, and Garth found himself
listening first with idle boredom, then with rapt fascination.  Her
reading touched him; sometimes she seemed to be talking right at him,
and sometimes she seemed to be wishing for someone not here.

     Time flew as she read, and Garth found himself supressing yawns.
He felt exhausted.  And the last straw came when he awoke suddenly to
find Kiza shaking him on the shoulder.  "Garth?"

     "Huh?" he said, looking up.

     "You want to go to bed?  You look exhausted."

     Garth nodded slowly.  "Yeah, I think I should go to bed."  She led
him up the stairs into the room he had awakened in just a short time
earlier, then turned around and pulled on the rope holding his tunic
shut.  "You look good," she said.

     "I feel tired," he sighed.  "I don't think I'm up for this."

     "Nonsense," she said.  "Here, pull that thing off."  She reached
down and tugged at the velcro; his kilt fell to the floor.  "I knew I
was going to like that feature."  She discarded the kilt into a corner. 
"Now, sit down on the bed."  Garth obeyed.  She stood before him and
stripped off her jumpsuit, looking at him.  "Garth?"

     "Hmm?"

     "You're not bothered because I...  I think I'm gay, are you?  I
don't know what to call it.  I've had one relationship that lasted, you
know?  It was with Furry, and now she's got someone more important to
her than I am, and I understand that.  I understood it even when our
relationship began.  But I still like mels, only just as friends and... 
I just can't imagine living with you."

     At a loss for words, Garth just stared at her.  He found his tongue
fast enough to say, "I, um, I don't..."

     "Do you want me to stay?" she said.  "There's another room.  I
could go there."

     "No," he said.  "I... wanted to tell you that I don't think you're
what I'm looking for either.  And it has nothing to do with your being
gay.  You just aren't."  She nodded, her face flat and unmoving.  "I
still think it was nice that we spent those nights together in bed."

     "Yay!" she said, jumping next to him and making the bed creak
slightly.  She pushed him back onto the bed, and they tumbled together
onto the sheets.  "Kiza, wha?"

     "Shhh..." she said, her hands reaching between his thighs.  Her
fingers caressed his ballsac softly, and he squirmed and whimpered
slightly at the ticklish sensations she created.  "I want to show you
how much I appreciate your being here."

     "But you... you just said..."

     "Garth," she whispered, kissing his neck.  "When I said I thought I
was a lesbian, I meant to say that I can only imagine myself settling
down with a fem, living with one.  But that doesn't mean I don't
appreciate your company.  I do."

     "Oh... okay..." he said.  Experimentally, a little put-off by her
confession, he ran his fingers over the fur of her side, touching her.
She moaned softly.  "Yes, I like when you touch me like that," she said.
"Press a little harder.

     His hands rubbed against her fur, pressing down against the flesh. 
He could feel her ribs underneath as his hands caressed her chest.  She
didn't have visible breasts, and he felt a little abashed as he touched
her flat chest, as if he were caressing someone who was either too
young, or of the wrong gender.  In any event, it felt peculiar to him.
But she seemed to like it.

     Her hands stroked up along the length of his shaft, touching the
tip and playing with the head of his penis within.  He squirmed,
giggling more.  "Dammit, Kiza!" he breathed.

     "You're ticklish there?" she asked, surprised.  "Oooh!"  Her finger
stirred in his foreskin playfully, and he giggled at her merciless
intrusion.  "Stop!" he demanded.

     "Okay," she said.  "But I can see it got you excited for me to do
that."  Her fingers stroked his erection, not half out of its sheath,
and it surged more fully to life.  Her hands pulled and tugged on his
sheath, pulling it up over the head of his penis, then letting it go.
He moaned softly; she was starting to pull so hard it almost felt like
it hurt.

     He returned the favor, reaching down between her thighs and finding
a pair of tiny ridges, the lips of her vulva.  They were so small he had
first wondered if she would be able to take his cock.  He knew now that
she could.

     He rose up on one arm, pushing her down to the bed on her back,
then slid down the length of the bed until he lay with his head between
her legs.  He wanted to lick her but he also wanted to look at her cunt,
to see the soft pink of it.

     His arms rested on her thighs as his hands gently pried her lips
apart.  From this angle she looked impossibly small, but he had seen his
cock go in there before.  He lowered his head to her vulva and ran his
most unfeline tongue along the length.  Kiza moaned softly as he made
small circles around her clitoris.  Her breathing became short as he
licked her, tasting her juices.  Her hands gripped the bedsheets as if
she were fighting something.  He wondered if her tension came because he
was male, or because she was already close to climax.  Unable to tell
and with no clear word from her, he continued licking her tiny cunt, his
tongue brushing against the top of the hood and tugging it up, exposing
but not quite touching the clitoris underneath.  She groaned softly as
he licked at her.  "Against my clit."

     He lowered his tongue against her clitoris and immediately she went
into a frenzy.  "Oh, yes!  Garth, ohhhhh yes.  Harder.  HARDER!"  Garth
pressed down with his muzzle, licking until his jaw ached.  It began to
burn harder, and just when he thought he had no more strength to give,
her body tensed irrevocably and she came, moaning, her legs thrashing.

     She smiled up at him.  "Your turn," she said.

     "My turn for what?"

     "Your turn to come," she replied.  "Fuck me, Garth."

     Garth rose to his knees and unsurely positioned himself between
hers.  She reached up with both arms, a big smile on her face.  "Go
ahead," she said.  "I don't bite."

     "I don't know that," he smiled.

     "I haven't yet," she said.  He slid forwards, his cock nudging up
against her vulva.  He pushed downwards, and suddenly slid into her.

     He gasped.  She was tight, so tight he could barely move.  He felt
her body shiver under him as he slid deep into her.  Her hands pulled
him down until his chest touched hers.  She licked his cheeks softly as
he buried his cock deep within her, fucking her softly.

     "Harder," she whispered.  His hips complained as he slid into her
deeper.  He pushed himself up on his arms and began making love to her
with more intent, stroking harder.  He looked down; he could see her
tiny lips gripping his cock as he buried himself completely into her
cunt and his sheath was pulled back to the root of his cock.  "Like
that?"

     "Yessss..." she hissed.  "Like that."  He began to push harder and
faster, speeding up as his cock slid in and out of her.  Her cunt was
incredibly slick as well as tight, and only that slickness kept him from
being held to a standstill within her.  His body felt tight and he began
panting as his cock insisted he was about to explode.  He felt it
coming, felt so close, and...

     He came!  He felt himself coming within her, could feel the walls
of her cunt holding his cock as his semen spurt into her cunt.  "Yes!"
he growled, pushing against her.  Then it was over.

     He blinked, smiling down at her.  "Hi," he said.

     "Hi," she replied back.  She reached up and pulled him down again,
and again they tumbled on the bed, rolling.  In the course of things, he
slipped out of her.  "That was nice."

     "Just nice?" he asked.

     "Just nice," she agreed.  The she registered the look on his face. 
"I hope you're not upset with me because I'm glad you were nice to me."

     He shook his head.  "No, it's just a little weird.  Usually people
treat sex as if it means something."

     "It does mean something!  It means you like me, and I like you, and
I was nice to you, and you were nice to me.  Does it have to mean more
than that?"

     Garth smiled, embarrassed again.  "I guess not."

     "See?  Now, are you tired?"

     "I'm exhausted, Kiza.  I was exhausted even before we started."

     "Then lets get some sleep.  Turn over, close your eyes, that's it. 
You'll be asleep in no time."

     Garth did turn over onto his side, and she was right.  His memory
of the day stopped there.

--
"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.