From: elf@halcyon.com (Elf Sternberg)
Newsgroups: alt.sex,alt.sex.stories,alt.sex.furry,alt.sex.homosexuality,alt.sex.bondage
Subject: Journal Entry 181 / 1026  [ Planetfall: Last Day ]
Date: 5 Jul 1996 17:44:26 GMT
Organization: Pendor, UnLtd.
Lines: 1198
Message-ID: <4rjk9q$j9a@news1.halcyon.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: coho.halcyon.com

Aldea, Urim 10, 1026

    "Somehow, it all seems so unreal to me," I said, watching 
quietly as the maintenance crew slowly tore down the main tent.  
"We've been here so long."

    "I know," P'nyssa said, her mitt on my shoulder.  "Noah's all 
grown up now, and Sheja's just about there herself."  She leaned 
against the table and gave me a long and careful view.  "Do you 
think you'll be wanting children again soon?"

    "I don't know.  Why?"

    "Oh, just wondering."

    "You're starting to like having children, aren't you?"

    "The last two weren't mine," she said, rubbing her belly with 
her free mitten.  "The Han have virtually been shooting them out 
under automatic fire, and... Sorry."

    "That's okay," I said.  "Four months should be long enough for 
me to be over a gunshot.  I've been shot before.  It's not a 
pleasant experience, but I'm not about to give up sex because my 
dick got bent out of shape one night."

    She laughed.  "Aaden's right.  You do have a one-note mind."

    "A millennium of sleeping with me and you've only just 
noticed?" I asked, giggling.  "Besides, any band will tell you that 
it's difficult to function without percussion."

    She smiled.  "Watching all these people give birth around me is 
starting to get to me, and... I just want one of my own again."

    "We can talk to Aaden.  I doubt he'll say no."

    "Then you'll let me?"

    "Let you?  It's not like I have much choice in the matter."

    "Yes, you do.  I hate when you say that, Ken.  It's not true.  
You do get a say in what I do with my body, because I choose to let 
you have one."

    "And you could withdraw that say at any moment."

    "And lose the two men I love more than life itself in the 
process.  No, Ken," she said, shaking her head.  "If you want me to 
hold off, I will."

    I grinned.  "It'll be pretty empty at home without Noah and 
Sheja around."

    "I knew you were going to say something like that."

    "But what if we get another Dommi?" I asked.

    "I promise, I'll use euthemol if it gets out of hand."

    "We had to use it on Dommi anyway.  She was quite the teek."  I 
smiled, remembering the angelic little face that could cast the 
firepower of an exploding grenade wherever she wanted just by 
crossing her eyes.  "We were lucky her power reserves were small.  
Just enough to blow up something once a day or so.  Are we going to 
be traditional?"

    "Like what?"

    "Well, we've always had one of each... one boy and one girl.  I 
was thinking maybe just having one, or maybe three?  Or how about 
two girls?"

    "We should ask Aaden if he wants another so soon.  We know you 
won't contribute anything.  Silly rules."

    "Yeah, well, they're my rules," I said.

    "And I say they're dumb," she shot back.  "Pendor is all grown 
up now, Ken, and I don't think anyone will think less of Vatare' 
Shardik because Ken Shardik, the mel, chooses to have children of 
his own. Really."

    "I see it differently," I replied.  

    "I know," she sighed.  "I love you, Ken, but sometimes you can 
be so damned exasperating."

    "My life," I replied.

    "Mine, too," she said, giving my cheek a peck.  "Come on.  We 
should get ready.  It'll be night fall in an hour and I want a 
shower before the event tonight.  It should be interesting."

    I smiled.  "That it will be.  Are you still going through with 
yours?"

    "Of course," she replied with a smile.

              -               -              -

    "Close your eyes," Aaden said.  Standing naked on the beach 
with him, I felt more vulnerable than I was used to.  I had leather 
restraints on my hands and feet and a leather collar around my 
throat, and that was about it for personal decoration.  I did as 
commanded, and he fit a blindfold around head, shutting out the dim 
light.  "Now walk," Aaden said, tugging on the D-ring in the 
collar, hauling me along.  I scrambled to keep up, trying 
desperately not to trip on the loose sand.  He pulled me along for 
a good long while, until I started to hear the crackle of fire 
along with the light sussurus of the surf and realized we were near 
a bonfire.  Compared to the night's breeze, it was pleasant to feel 
the heat coming off the burning logs even if I couldn't see them.

    "I'm in a mood..." Aaden began, "to make you suffer, Ken."  His 
palm came down solidly on one cheek of my ass, and he said "Hands 
in the air!"

    I raised my hands over my head and heard the sounds of chain.  
Soon  thereafter he pushed my feet apart with his and I felt a 
spreader bar being affixed to my ankles.  Slowly he walked around 
me, one hand on my chest.  "I love you, Ken, and I'm going to make 
you hurt so much tonight you're never going to forget it."

    I kept my mouth shut as he walked around me slowly.  "I've got 
a bench full of supplies here that should keep me entertained for a 
good long time."  He came to a halt in front of me.  "Kiss me."

    I leaned forward, my mouth meeting his muzzle, his warm lips 
peeling back to expose his teeth and his tongue to mine.  I 
shuddered softly as his claws ran down my left side, slowly biting 
as they got closer and closer to my ass, and suddenly he was 
digging in.  I gasped.

    "Heh," Aaden chuckled.  "You'll do well tonight, Ken.  Trust 
me."  I heard a loud >clunk< sound to my right and wondered what it 
was before figuring it out.  Aaden's toy trunk.  "Hmm, let's start 
with this, shall we?"  I felt something cold touch my leg.

    Up until this point I'd been pretty cocky.  I love when Aaden 
and I play like this, and I knew that, so far, I had been able to 
handle anything my furry lover had thrown at me without complaint.  
But as the tip of the cane ran along my legs I began to get 
nervous.

    That's actually normal.  It's always something of a struggle 
when we play to get 'in the mood.'  Not because I don't want to, 
but because I don't know if this time I'll get 'there.'  I start to 
fear, because my body is always redefining itself; sometimes I can 
take a lot, sometimes not very much at all.  It's part of our play 
to find out where we are today.

    He started to swing the cane back and forth between my thighs, 
very lightly.  It struck with a soft >thwacks< each time it struck, 
a rapid staccato of impacts that didn't hurt very much at all.  But 
each time the cane hit someplace it had hit moments before, the 
injury it caused redoubled, and my skin started to get tender and 
hurt.

              -               -              -

    A burning sensation, like my thighs were on fire, starting 
running up my body to eventually reach my brain.  I started to moan 
softly, a keening moan that even I call 'eerie.'  It's such an 
unusual sound-- I can only make it when I'm in pain, and nobody 
else I know sounds anything like it.

    I started to moan louder, the pain getting more and more 
intense.  But still, this buildup was slow and I wasn't really 
having any trouble dealing with it.

    Then the cane went away.  "That's not having enough effect on 
you," he mused softly.  "Maybe this will!"

    The cane came down across my chest!  Barely missing a nipple, 
he slowly drew it away.  The pain was so intense I barely 
remembered my scream afterwards.  Another followed, and another.  
"Stand still!"

    I tried, and succeeded.  I had no idea where he was for a 
moment, until his body pressed up behind me, his groin grinding 
against my naked ass.  "You and knives," Aaden hissed softly.  "I 
know how you deal with them, lover."  His arms slowly encircled my 
waist, and I felt a cold leaf press itself against my ribcage.  I 
gasped loud.  In my brain an alarm went off, and that irrational 
part of my brain that's completely and utterly afraid of knives 
starting shouting at the part of my brain that's in charge of 
calling safeword.

    He chuckled softly as I spasmed against him.  "Easy," he said, 
slowly turning the blade to draw it across my chest.  "I'm not 
going to cut you," he murmured less-than-reassuringly.  "Not yet, 
anyway.  But the knife does leave nice red trails as it goes.  It's 
so much fun to play with someone with skin."

    "A...a... Aaden," I whimpered.

    "Didn't say you could talk," he whispered in my ear as the 
knife ran slowly across my stomach.  I was keenly aware of the 
point, the tip, as he drew it across my body, getting closer and 
closer to my cock and balls.  It burned in my imagination like the 
image of a skater drawing a figure on ice.  I shuddered.  "Don't 
move," he said.  "I wouldn't want to cut!... you by accident."

    I nodded, shaking softly.  "See," he said, "You're doing pretty 
well."  The knife went away, and then so did he.  "But you've had 
enough time to recover."  The cane again, this time across the 
backs of my thighs.  I screamed as it came down again and again, 
building in intensity with each impact, hitting my butt and my 
thighs.  Once he hit my bicep, then against down across my ass.  I 
started trying to dodge, twisting and turning.  "Stop moving!" he 
barked, grabbing my chin. 

    I breathed hard as the pain slowly subsided.  He had me; I 
melted under his touch, would do anything he said.  And he knew he 
had me at that point, too.

    "Now then," he said cheerfully, "We have an audience here 
watching you get abused, Ken.  Can you guess who's here?"

    "Huh?" I asked, looking up.  My mouth was dry from all the 
panting I was doing.

    "Guess who's here," Aaden teased.  "Come on."

    "Okay," I said, shaking my head.  I could barely think at all 
and he wanted me to think of who he'd invite to watch me get beat 
up?  "P'nyssa."

    "That's one.  And that was the easy one.  Oh, if you're wrong, 
I'll hit you on the chest with the cane as hard as I can."

    "Kathy."  I waited.  Nothing.  That meant the next one had to 
be "Trianna."  Again nothing.

    "That's three," Aaden said.

    "Dao," I said.  "Tonni."

    "Four and five," Aaden said.  "You might actually get out of 
this intact."

    I tried to think, my brain roiling.  Who else could there be?  
"Beth?"

    "Very good," Aaden said.  Nothing happened.  Silence for a 
moment.  Then the cane came down across my chest.  I screamed.

    "You missed one," Aaden chided.

    "Who?" I asked.  

    "It's up to you to guess."  I closed my eyes and thought.  Who 
could be here?  Who else?  "Amanda?"

    "Wrong!" Aaden said.  The cane rose and fell three times.  The 
chains rattled; my legs hurt as I squirmed in pain.  "Try again!"

    I shook my head.  "I... I can't think of anyone."

    "Want to introduce yourself?" Aaden said to someone standing in 
front of me.

    "Hi, Ken."

    The voice stunned me.  "Lindsay?"

    "It's me."

    Aaden yanked my hair, pulling my head back roughly.  "You 
missed it,  dear.  You need to take five for that."

    I closed my eyes and waited.  The cane fell roughly, striking 
my chest, crossing my nipples.  I moaned as they fell, screaming at 
the last one.

    "You took those pretty well," Aaden said.

    "How the fuck was I supposed to guess you'd invite Lindsay, of 
all people?"

    Dead quiet.  And then he punched me right in my solar plexus.

    Pain burst through me; I was sure I was going to be nauseous.  
All I managed as protest was a sickly gurgle, and my breathing 
refused to kick on as seconds ticked by.  Finally, I managed a 
gasp.  I started to shake, and I know the symptoms of shock better 
than most people.  Aaden grabbed my hair and held me up.  "Stay 
with me," he whispered softly.  "Come on, Ken, stay here.  Stay 
with me, love."

    I nodded, and the shock slowly receded.  I felt his hands run 
along the insides of my arms.  "Skins's a little too tight here," 
he mused.  "I'm going to let you go," he said, reaching up.  I 
heard the click of the clasp as he let first my right, then my left 
hand free.  "Grab the chains at about shoulder height, love."

    I did as I was told, feeling stronger all the time.  "Guess 
what we're gonna do now?"  I didn't answer.  "We're going to play 
with clothespins!"  I whimpered softly.  "You're going to love 
this, Ken."

    He ran his hand slowly along my right arm, and fixed one 
clothespin to my arm right along the bicep.  Then another.  And 
another.  I closed my eyes and started breathing harder, taking 
deep, controlled breaths in the hopes of maintaining a balance.  
"That's it," Aaden said softly.  "Keep tight."  He stopped after he 
had six under that side.  "Okay, you in the audience.  How many 
clothespins do you think are in this bag?"

    "What do we get if we guess right?" Kathy shouted back.  I 
trained her far, far too well.

    After a moment's thought, Aaden said "The person closest to the 
right number without going over gets to take them all off!"  
Everybody guessed a different number, going down the line; the 
lowest guess, Lindsay's, was around forty, the highest, P'nyssa's, 
was over a hundred.  Thanks, sweetheart.  Wish for my demise.

    Aaden chuckled as he slowly began applying more to my other 
arm.  "That's twelve," he said, batting at them playfully and 
making them wobble.  "Doing good."

    I moaned.  I could barely think coherently, the pain searing 
like hot wires.  Every pin was a point of suffering.  Three more 
went across each nipple, and then he began applying them to a row 
along my lower ribcage, four on a side.  More attached to the loose 
skin over my forward hips, and then he began attaching them to my 
balls.  I moaned and squirmed as he attached two to my perineum, 
and then started down the top of my cock, finally attaching two to 
each side of the corona.  I was breathing hard, and my mind was 
totally blank.  Not a single straight thought occurred; I was 
nothing but a suffering mass of pain, and I loved the mel who was 
doing it to me. 

    He chuckled softly.  "Trianna, you guessed seventy, and there 
are seventy-two.  So you get to take them off."

    I heard her pad softly over the sand to us, and Aaden stepped 
back.  She asked Aaden something I didn't hear, and then her 
fingers reached up and pulled off the blindfold.  Suddenly free, I 
blinked, looking into her face.  "Hi," I gasped.

    "Hello, Father," she whispered, slowly brushing her fingers 
over the clips on my chest.  My shoulders knotted in pain.  "No..."

    "Where shall I start?" she asked.  Her hands reached down and 
grabbed my cock.  "The first man I ever had inside me.  It's a 
shame to watch you suffer like this."  She opened the two on the 
head of my cock and pulled them off.  The pain and the relief were 
both immense.  She started systematically taking them off my penis 
and testicles, and as sensation flooded back into each little pinch 
I moaned and whimpered.  The shaking returned, this time in my arms 
as well.  I felt control slipping away again.  She stood up and 
looked me in the face as her hands brushed the ones on my hips, 
slowly removing one.  "Are you going to make it?" she whispered.

    "If I... If I fall... to my knees..."  My voice wasn't more 
than a whisper, but I had to tell her.  I had to let her know.  
"Tria... if I'm still conscious... don't stop!"

    The trembling in my arms grew worse; my right hand slipped on 
the chains, and I reacted reflexively, wrapping the chain around my 
wrist.  Not that it would have helped; I was so sweaty the chain 
would slip right through my grip the second I truly lost it.  
Slowly she pulled off  the last one, stepping back and announcing 
"That's it."

    "Good," Aaden said, grinning.  He stood up in front of me and 
pulled on the D-ring, pulling me to my knees the rough way.  Not 
that my knees were going to hold me up much longer anyway.  "You're 
so brave," he said.  "It's amazing how easy it is to make you cry."  
He held the knife in front of my eyes again.  Twelve centimeters of 
cold blade, the handle was just a continuation of the steel that 
made up the knife, carved to fit a hand.  Holes had been punched 
through the steel to make it lighter to hold.  It was double-
bladed; there was no safe side.  Slowly he placed it against my 
cheek, and I did start crying, shaking.

    "Please..." I begged.

    He ignored me, slowly holding the blade against my cheek and 
sliding down over my jaw and down my throat.  I stared up into his 
eyes the whole time, whimpering softly as he threatened a nipple 
with it, then slowly slid down to my crotch.  "I could just... cut 
it off, right here," he said.

    "Aaden..."

    "Ah-ah," he said, slowly circling my cock with his knife, then 
bringing it back up to my throat.  He placed the tip right under my 
right ear.  "You know, that throat armor isn't everything.  Why, 
someone who knew what they were doing could slip right under it."  
He slowly traced the line where the armor ended and my collarbones 
started; my heart went into rapid palpitations, as did my 
breathing.  I knew I had to bring myself under control, but I 
couldn't.  I just couldn't.  That knife, my crying, it was all 
crumbling away as the knife traversed my throat and came to a stop 
under my left ear.  He pressed just a little harder, and I felt a 
sudden soft tearing; he was pushing it into me, and I felt for sure 
I was going to die. 

    Then the knife vanished, and Aaden's hand slid under my chin, a 
finger touching where the knife had been a second ago.  He raised 
that finger to my lips.  "Suck," he ordered.  I pulled his finger 
into my mouth with both hands and tasted the tiny drop of blood he 
had collected there with a reverence and a worship I hadn't felt in 
a long time.  Then he pulled his hand away.

    "Look up at me," he ordered.  I did as I was told.  "Your turn 
to thank me."

    I looked up at him.  Somewhere in my brain, I found the 
strength to  form the words.  "Thank you."

    "I love you," he said softly as he dropped to his knees in 
front of me.

    I almost literally fell forward into his arms, wrapping mine 
around his.  "I love you, too, Aaden.  Oh, gods, I love you."

    We sat there on the sands, holding each other, as the small 
crowd slowly gathered around us, applauding gently.  Aaden and I 
looked around, and I suddenly reached out and pulled P'nyssa into 
the hug with us.  Aaden didn't object.  "Thank you both.  Thank you 
so much," I gasped.

    "What are friends for?" Aaden said, chuckling.  "You looked 
like you were ready to lose it a few times during that."

    "I think I was.  I'm not sure why, but for some reason it was 
really hard to keep going."

    "I was sure you were going to call safeword, oh, six times."

    "Six?"

    "You surprised me," he admitted.  "Even though we haven't 
played that hard in a while, you came up to it pretty quickly."

    "I do pretty well by water," I said.  "I think it's being able 
to hear the surf and the fire."  I looked out over the beach, where 
tonight was just one of many important and loving nights I had 
spent here.  I was glad tonight was the last night on Battia, but I 
was sad to leave it.  And I never did go surfing with Kumy; I still 
owed her that.

    "How about when I punched you?"

    "That really surprised me.  But it was like a lot of other 
things; just more to take."

    "You should have seen the look on your face," P'nyssa said.  
"You were stunned."

    "In more ways than one," I admitted.

    "Here," Aaden said, handing me a bottle with a wide-mouth top.  
"Drink this.  You look like you need it."

    I thanked him and proceeded to force most of the cool liquid 
down my throat and into my stomach.  It tasted wonderful.  It was 
just water with some sugar, salt, and flavoring in it, but in my 
endorphined state it was simply wonderful, affirming that I was 
still alive.

    I looked at the crowd who sat around us.  "So, Lindsay, what 
did you think?"

    "You like that?"  She sounded somewhat stunned herself, as if 
still processing that I was the same mel she'd slept with.

    "Uhm, it's not something you say you 'like' the way you like 
pleasure.  It's... it's a challenge, it's an animal thing about 
being alive, being sentient.  The fact that Aaden does it lets me 
take it in knowing I'm completely safe.  He cares for me."  I 
reached up and put my arm on his shoulder.

    "I love you," Aaden said, tossing me a smile.

    "That's... I don't know."  Lindsay looked confused.

    "Well, you're going to stay for the second part, aren't you?"

    Lindsay gulped, looking around.  "There's a second part?"

    "For some of us, yes," Katherine smiled.

    Aaden grabbed my hair and pulled me down to the sand  "And 
we're going start on Ken!"

    My heart started up again, but this time I was ready.  I knew 
what was coming, and I had had enough time to recover.

    Trianna brought forward a heavy wooden box, held shut with 
brass fittings and lock.  Kathy produced a key and placed it in the 
lock.  P'nyssa laid a large blanket of dark-blue wool on the sand 
and Trianna set the box onto the blanket.  A large paw covered my 
eyes; Dao's, I surmised from the smell.

    "On Pendor," Aaden began, "We have this belief that we call 
mind-body integrity.  For centuries, certain religious beliefs and 
certain scientists have maintained that what goes on in our 
heads... what we call the 'soul'... could be moved somewhere else 
without the body."  He crossed my arms on my chest and began 
winding two-centimeter thick cord around my wrists.

    "Which is all bullshit," Aaden continued.  "Both Christians and 
honest spiritualists know that.  The silver cord and the 
resurrection existed in their mythologies because they knew that 
what goes on in their minds has a lot to do with their brains, as 
well as everything else in their bodies."  I felt his hands on my 
legs, by my ankles.  He clicked the spring catch on the spreader 
bar and pushed my legs further open. 

    "It's true that the mind is not some ghost in the machine of 
the brain, easily moved from one place to the other.  But it's also 
true that you can't, by any means at all, read what the 'brain' is 
and automatically assume you have a model of a mind you can move 
from one place to another."  I felt something cold between the 
cheeks of my ass as Aaden slowly slid a gloved and lubed finger 
past my sphincter and into my rectum.  "Watch this.  He'll get hard 
almost instantly."

    I felt my erection swelling as the blunt end of his finger 
slowly tickled my prostate gland.  It hurt, but it also felt 
wonderful.  "There's more to us than just the two kilos upstairs.  
Part of what we are is built by how we react to our environment.  
Change the environment in any radical way and you change the 
reactions.  You change what the person is.  Tape."

    I felt a cold strip of body tape get laid across the head of my 
cock.  "P'nyssa, you'll have to do the prep.  As I was saying--  If 
this weren't my body, all this fur and muscle and bushy tail and 
big dick and strong scent, I'd be a different person.  I don't want 
to be a different person.  It's the ultimate application of being 
proud of yourself."  I felt a coldness on my erection, somewhere 
near the base, right above my scrotum, and smelled alcohol.  Then I 
heard an odd clicking sound.  "Okay, a little pinch, Ken."  I felt 
a cold clamp, not unlike the clothespin earlier, around the same 
spot.

    I heard Lindsay ask, "What's the flashlight for?"

    P'nyssa answered, "To make sure I don't have a vein in the 
clamped area.  See?  Okay, Aaden, he's ready."

    Aaden's finger slipped out of my asshole easily, and I heard 
the snap of a glove being pulled off.  My erection started to 
subside almost immediately, so Aaden stripped the tape off my cock, 
but that hardly mattered.  He had the two spots he wanted.  "Okay, 
Ken, take a deep breath through your mouth and then exhale slowly 
through your nose.  Ready?"  I nodded.  Dao's hand still covered my 
eyes, and I felt P'nyssa's mitt on mine.  I grabbed it and held her 
tight as I started to exhale.  There was a sudden pinch, and a soft 
scream escaped my clenched teeth, my bottom lip between them, as I 
felt the needle push through two layers of skin... of my penis.  I 
gasped, taking a deep breath because I needed one.

    "How do you feel?" P'nyssa asked, smiling down at me as Dao 
took his hand away.

    "Endorphins," I joked, looking up at her, "are my friend."

    She laughed.  "I love you."

    I mouthed the words back to her as I felt Aaden manipulating my 
now completely soft cock.  "Okay, now this is going to hurt with 
the alcohol all over this barbell."  Actually, he lied; I didn't 
feel a thing.  The endorphins must really have hit for that to 
happen.  And the more I thought about it, the more I realized how 
little that had really hurt.  It had been more the shock, the 
realization that I was allowing someone to, in all honesty, 
mutilate my manhood, that had made me scream.

    "Okay," Aaden said.  "Take a look."  I sat up slowly, Dao 
putting his hands under my shoulders and lifting me up as Aaden 
untied my wrists.  I looked down and saw the barbell, only two 
millimeters thick but that was thick enough for me.  The bar itself 
was just long enough to fit through the wound channel; all I could 
see were the two small beads affixed at each end.  I was surprised; 
there was no blood.

    I lunged for Aaden, taking him in my arms and holding him.  
"Thank you so much for everything!"

    He grabbed me in response and held me tight.  "You're welcome!" 
he laughed.  "But we still have more to do!"

    I nodded, sitting back up.  "Yuch.  We've got sand in 
everything."

    "Well, go stand by the fire and towel off.  We're keeping this 
area as clean as possible.  Dao, go with him and make sure he 
doesn't fall in."

    "I won't fall in!" I smiled.

    "You're still stoned out of your mind," Aaden pointed out.  
"Dao?"

    "I'll watch him," the very sexy Ssphynx replied.  "He'll be 
okay."

    Aaden nodded as I stood up and, sure enough, he was right.  I 
was still pretty woozy.  "Thanks for comin' along, Dao," I said 
slowly as I walked downwind of the blanket instead of towards the 
fire and brushed off the sand.

    "No problem," he smiled.

    "What did you think?"

    "It was interesting.  I know it's nothing I ever want to try, 
but I can understand now what Tonni's after."

    "Are you afraid of losing him?"

    "I don't know," he replied, his tail dropping.  "I keep going 
back and forth.  Right now, I don't think so.  I just think I'm 
going to have to learn to deal with this thing in him that I don't 
understand yet."

    "On the other hand, your sudden interest in females must be 
something he's finding confusing, too."

    He nodded.  "I think we'll work it out."

    "Keep me posted, would you?" I asked.  "I'm interested in how 
my friends are doing."

    He nodded.  "I will."  We walked back.

    "Your turn, Aaden," I snarled softly as we walked back into the 
light.

    "Wha?" he asked as Tonni grabbed his arms and pinned them 
behind his back.

    "Hold him just like that, Tonni."  I knelt down in front of him 
and smiled.  "You said you wanted them back, Aaden.  And I'm going 
to give them to you."

    His face dropped slightly as I spoke.  "Ken..."

    "Shh..." I said.  "This will barely hurt a bit, and you know 
it."

    He nodded, gulping softly.  I rummaged into the wooden box 
which Lance had assembled from our collective requests and found 
five small surgical clamps.  With careful deliberation, I reached 
up to Aaden's left ear and ran my finger along the almost hairless 
outside edge.  I measured the distances I wanted from the bottom 
with a short ruler, and one by one fitted the clamps into place.  
Then I washed the region carefully with alcohol and, like P'nyssa 
had done with me, checked through the open hole in each clamp to 
make sure I didn't have a vein or artery dead center.

    "Five rings, Aaden.  Two and half millimeters thick, going down 
from thirty seven to twenty five mils in three-mil increments.  
From the bottom up.  Ready?"

    He nodded slowly.  "Dao, hold his head."

    "I don't need that."

    "But I want you to have it," I said.  "I think that you 
should."

    "Okay," he said, taking a deep breath.

    "Come on, Aaden.  Compared to what's going to happen to 
Trianna, this is nothing."  I found the first needle, lubricated it 
with antibiotic-laced petroleum jelly, and aimed it from the front 
through the bottom clamp.  "Okay, deep breath."  He inhaled.  "Now 
release."  As he breathed out, the needle slid through his ear 
easily.  "Another one."

    Aaden took all five bravely.  He didn't even make a noise as 
the needles slid in.  "Okay, lover," I said, looking at his ear.  
"We've got five needles through your ear, now we need to put in the 
jewelry."  I found the largest of the five rings, and fitted it 
behind the opening in the lowest piercing needle.  I slid it 
through easily and the jewelry followed.  Within two minutes all 
five were done.  I slid the surgical clamps down and around the 
jewelry and then fitted the clasps into place.  Aaden shook his 
head and they tinkled softly.  "I can't even hear these!" he said.  
"They're perfect!"

    "They sound loud enough to me," I said.  Inside each ring tiny 
computers powered by thermocouples and controlling microvibrators 
calculated the sounds made by the rings and followed the movements 
of Aaden's ear, issuing cancellation waves for the tinkling of the 
rings.  Aaden had removed his first set several centuries ago 
complaining that the noise they made when he moved had been too 
loud.  I held up a mirror, not so he could see them, but so the 
sound would reflect off and he could hear them, and said, "Shake."

    He shook his head playfully.  "Now that I can hear."  He 
grinned up at me, his eyes as wide as a child's with new toys.  
"They're perfect.  Thank you, Ken."

    "Hey, don't thank me.  I asked Lance if there was anyone here 
qualified to find a solution to the problem.  Sure enough, he found 
a few folks willing to look into it."

    "They're perfect."  He smiled and looked around.

    "I recognize that look," I said, smiling.  "It's your turn.  
You're stoned.  Dao, walk it off with him, would you?"

    "Sure thing," Dao said, taking Aaden by the arm and leading him 
around the bonfire.  I sat down on the beach towel and said "You're 
next, P'nyssa."

    She grinned.  "I know."

    "Ready?" I asked.

    "Everybody gets their ears pierced once in their life.  I mean, 
one hole.  It's just an ear."

    "It's not just an ear," I growled softly.  "Why do you say 
that?  It's an ear, yeah, but it's your ear.  And I think you and 
Aaden are a lot braver than I am."

    "That's ridiculous!  You had your dick pierced!"

    "But who's going to see it?" I asked.  "I mean, be honest.  
Unless you start wearing hoods and a veil, Nyss, everybody in the 
world is going to be able to see that you let someone mutilate you.  
Me, only my lovers get to see that."

    "Do you always have to word it like that?"

    "Isn't that what it is?  It's mutilation, an alteration of the 
integrity of the body."  I looked over at Lindsay.  "That's what 
Aaden was talking about earlier.  On Pendor we have a real respect 
for the... for the shape of our bodies.  Even in this age where a 
one-time shape change  is simple and becoming a shape-changer isn't 
all that difficult after all, we are very loathe to change how we 
look.  Fashion... how we wear our clothes, our hair, our fur, even 
those are complicated issues about appearance, self-image and 
narcissism.  To make a shape change is to become a whole different 
person, a whole different kind of person.  And we start to worry... 
If you want to change, does that mean you hate who you are, or are 
you bored with who you are?"

    I opened up the wooden box and took out the needle and the 
2.0mm thick hoop, about four centimeters in diameter, that would 
hang against P'nyssa's right ear.  "I'll wait until Aaden gets 
back.  But that's why I can't stand when people say 'It's just an 
ear.'  For some people it is just an ear.  But depending on your 
commitment, it's something you'll have to care for every morning 
and every night possibly for the rest of your life."

    P'nyssa looked embarrassed.  "I didn't mean it that way."

    "Well, yes you did.  Piercing isn't something that happens 
instantly.  It takes forever.  And the appearance of that 
mutilation, that adornment, changes you.  It changes how other 
people react to you.  Especially when it's something visible and 
public like an ear.  Piercing  your ear, your muzzle, anything like 
that... is a minor shapechange.  And it's more shocking than most, 
because it's a visible mutilation to a standard form; it's visibly 
not organic, not natural.  It's just not to be taken lightly."

    P'nyssa nodded, smiling abashedly.  "How's the ring?"

    "Hurts a little," I admitted.  "A dull throbbing pain, but 
that'll go away eventually."

    "Eventually."

    "I'm back," Aaden said, stepping up on us.  "I see the lovely 
lady is ready."

    "I am indeed," P'nyssa said politely.  "Which of you two ham-
hands is going to do it?"

    "With an attitude like that, I could go find some kind Uncia to 
do it," Aaden growled.   "With his teeth."

    I chuckled.  "You do it, Aaden.  I've been involved in the last 
two."

    "So have I!" he replied.  "In case your brain was on hold, Ken, 
we just did each other."

    "So we did, so we did," I admitted.  "Okay, you're right.  I 
still want you to do it, Aaden.  I'll get behind her and hold her 
up."

    "Fine with me.  You do Tria."

    "No problem there," I said, scooting around behind my beloved 
coimelin and wrapping my arms around her.  "Ready?" I said.

    "Yes," she replied simply.

    Aaden washed the top of her ear carefully with a compressed 
cotton ball and alcohol.  "I'm going to do this one by hand, Nyss.  
This part of your ear is a little too complicated for me to get a 
standard clamp on, so I'm just going to mark it with the pen and go 
from there.  Ready?"

    "Uh-huh," she affirmed.

    "Okay.  I'm going to move the ring down your ear.  Tell me to 
stop when it's where you want it."

    "Stop!" she said after his hand had moved just a few 
centimeters.  The fact that he moved so far reminded me of just how 
large P'nyssa's ears are; they're each almost as long as my hand 
and just a little narrower.  "Right there."

    "Okay," he said, taking a fresh surgical pen and marking the 
spot.  "Close your eyes and get ready.  On the count of three, 
Nyss.  One."  He drove the needle through her ear just after that.

    She gasped, then looked up, smiling.  "You bastard."

    "It's true," he said, smiling back.  "My mother was a tank, my 
father was a laser.  So was yours.  Now hold still.  I still have 
to put the jewelry in."  A second later the ring shook free along 
the back of her ear.  "How do you like it?"

    "Feels weird," she admitted.  "I'll get used to it eventually."

    "Does it hurt?" Lindsay asked.

    "Not really.  It might a little later.  We'll all hop in the 
showers and clean off when we get home."

    I looked around the fire at people who were lounging or 
talking.  "Kathy!" I shouted.  "Guess who's next?"

    Kathy smiled softly and led Trianna over to the blanket.  She 
settled down onto her Ssphynx belly, her legs outstretched in front 
of her.  I knelt down on my knees before her.  "You're last, 
Trianna," I said.  "Are you ready?"

    She nodded.

    "Trianna, I'm going to be your piercer.  Now, Kathy knows that 
she could get this done in a million places, but I did her and I'm 
going to do you as well, because she has asked me to.  She knows 
that I could, if I wanted to, say no, and if I said no she might 
not get it done somewhere else."  I took a deep breath.  "This is a 
big decision for you, and you're only forty-two.  Tell me clearly, 
who asked for this?  You, or your Daddy?"

    Trianna looked straight into my eyes.  "Please, Ken.  I did."

    "You're sure."  It wasn't a question.

    "Yes," she replied, adding one short, simple nod.

    "I even tried to talk her out of it," Kathy said.  "I think 
it's a little extreme."

    "They're going to be beautiful," I said, looking up at Kathy.  
"If they're what she wants to feel beautiful."  Trianna nodded 
slowly.  "Okay, Tria, look into my eyes again."  I rested my hands 
on her shoulders and tried to find the words to express my 
feelings.  My heart actually hurt a little to think of what we were 
about to do.  "You've been one of the best friends I've had on this 
trip, and I have to thank you for more than a few idyllic 
afternoons together.  And while we've made love and I've helped 
your Daddy along, I've never hurt you.  I'm going to inflict pain 
on you tonight.  Are you ready to love me like the friends we are 
afterwards?"

    She looked hesitant at first, then nodded.  "I think so."

    "You're sure?"

    "I can't know.  You know that, Ken.  Any more than Daddy Kathy 
knows." 

    I nodded.  "Trianna, one of your strengths is that you know the 
truth about yourself, and you always have.  I love you for that.  I 
think it's incredible how ready you are to be honest with yourself.  
Okay."  I shivered to look at the 2.5 mm silver hoops I was going 
to be putting through her nipples in a few minutes.  They sat in a 
small velvet-lined wooden box inside the bigger box, and I took 
them out and laid them aside.  "Trianna, do you want to be 
restrained?"

    "Yes," she said after a moment's reflection. 

    "Aaden?"

    "Got it," he said, tying her hands behind her back with the 
rope he had used on me, then taking two lengths free and tying them 
under her rearlegs.

    Her back was arched slightly.  "Stay up, Trianna."

    "I've got that, too," Aaden said, standing up behind her back 
and leaning forward, providing something for her to press against.  
"Okay," I said.  "First the left one."  I took a small brush and 
scissors and slowly clipped away at the fur surrounding her left 
nipple, and then I did the same with the right.  Trianna has small, 
soft breasts, but she has very large nipples atop average aureoles, 
and when I tweak them to hardness they're easily something I could 
get a clamp on and aim properly.

    With an ice cube I teased them into solidity, and with a pair 
of short-handled forceps placed the ring clamps onto each one, 
providing for perfect aim.  "A little like clothespins, right?"

    She nodded.  "Okay, Trianna.  I'm not going to blindfold you.  
I want you to watch what happens."  She nodded again.  I picked up 
a long 2.5mm needle, lubricated it with a vegetable grease, and 
placed it against her nipple, right at the circle defined by the 
clamp.  "Deep breath, and exhale through your nostrils."

    She did as she was told, and as the needle slid through she 
screamed.  I didn't wince at all, but grabbed the first ring and 
slid it through while Aaden grabbed her shoulders and kept her from 
squirming too much.  "Okay, Trianna, that's one."

    She whimpered.  I looked up into her eyes.  "You asked for 
both.  And I'm going to do both."

    "I... I..."

    I stroked the side of her muzzle softly.  "It's okay.  It's 
what you wanted, remember?  Want it now.  It'll all be over in less 
than a second from when it starts.  You can't even feel the other 
one like you did when I pierced you.  Pain is gone, you can't 
remember what pain feels like.  You know that," I coaxed her, 
trying to soothe her fear.

    She nodded.  "All right.  Do the other one."

    Carefully, I aimed the second needle.  "Same thing.  Inhale..."  
She held her breath for a moment, and then let it loose.  The 
needle slid through the base of her nipple, and the only sound she 
made this time was a soft "rrph!" as the ring followed.  I found 
the two tubes that screwed into the bases of the rings and closed 
them.  Aaden took out his knife and cut her bonds free, and she 
immediately reached forward to touch her nipples.

    "How are they?" I asked.

    "I don't know," she said.  I smiled up at Kathy.  "They're so 
beautiful, just what I wanted.  But they hurt.  Will that go away?"

    "Eventually," I said.  "Mine hurts right now, too.  I bet even 
Aaden and P'nyssa are feeling a little strange right now."

    "Actually, mine itches," P'nyssa said.

    "That's not unusual," I pointed out.  

    "Thank you, Ken," Kathy said as Dao and Lindsay took the now-
dorphed Trianna for a walk.

    I pulled her down into a soft snuggle.  "Hey, anything for my 
first slave.  You know it was you who taught me how to top."

    "Rings, we were both so incompetent back then."

    "Being a good bottom does not mean you automatically know how 
to top," I said.  "It just means you've got an empathy for your 
bottom.  But knowing how to whip, cane, punish... hell, just 
knowing how to call up your sadist... those take a little while."

    She nodded.  I reached out unconsciously and pulled at Aaden.  
He crawled over and I gave him a soft kiss.  He returned it gently, 
his rings tinkling softly.  I giggled.

              -               -              -

    "We should take showers before we go to bed," P'nyssa said.  "I 
know the stalls are still up.  I can't believe this our last night 
groundside."

    "I can," Aaden said.  "We're taking three seeds with us, and 
the next mission ship will be here in five years to pick up more.  
Since Battia doesn't have to concentrate on launch mechanisms 
anymore she can make them much quicker.  Also, I get the feeling 
this sector of space isn't going to be all that bereft of our 
inhabitation until then."

    "You got that right.  Guess who're already on their way here?"

    "No need for guesswork," Aaden said.  "The Shigokais."

    "You got it.  The whole family and a crew of nearly two 
thousand, just like ours.  They're going to dig up New Haven."

    "That what I liked about them.  They never do anything 
halfway."

    I laughed.  "That's because you're Alanailen, Aaden.  They 
teach you to be excessive."

    He tossed me a towel.  "Are we going to go get clean, or what?"

    "At the rate he's going, it's 'or what,'" P'nyssa said.  "I'm 
ready."

    "I'm comin', I'm comin'" I said, following them out onto the 
grassy field.  Many of the tents had already been picked up, but we 
had felt like sticking it out to the very end.  Not sure why, 
really.  Maybe it's inertia; we just don't like moving much.  Or 
maybe we really have become attached to this land, which has killed 
one of us and tried to kill others.

    Aaden held the quaint spring-loaded door to the showers open 
and we stepped into the plastic-laid circle.  Around us the shower 
stalls were all empty.  "Pick one," Aaden said, gesturing.  I did, 
stepping in with my new bottle of bactericidal soap among my 
washing things.  Being fond of both very hot water and of long 
showers, I quickly had the place steamed up.  Aaden and P'nyssa did 
the same.  I hissed softly as the soap found its way into the wound 
channel of my new piercing, but already it didn't hurt nearly as 
bad as I thought it would.  In fact, the pain was almost nice, by 
my usual s/m standards, and I started playing with myself, stroking 
my cock gently.  With enough soap to slick my hands the barbell 
barely hurt at all.  I leaned back against the wall and began 
masturbating, watching myself with each stroke.  My cock was fully 
hard, the head bright purple  and flared as much as possible.

    Then I heard P'nyssa chuckle.  Looking up, she was blocking the 
door to my already miniscule shower stall.  "Uh... Hi."

    "I don't believe you," she said.  "You're masturbating again?"

    "I'm in the mood.  Can you blame me?"

    She shook her head.  "I guess not."  She stepped into the 
shower and leaned up against me, her beautiful breasts pressing 
against my chest as she kissed me.  With a muffled "mrph!" I kissed 
her back.  "I love you," she said.  "Thank you for everything."

    "Hey, thank you.  I don't think I would've gone through with it 
if you hadn't been there to hold my hand."

    She smiled as I hugged her.  Her mittens crept down my back and 
she began stroking my ass, pressing between my cheeks and running 
the edge of her soft mitten against my asshole.  "Nyss," I sighed 
as I returned the favor.  "I want you."

    "Then... " she grinned.  "You want to do something completely 
obscene?"

    "Like what?" I said, eyeing her suspiciously.

    "Everyone is asleep after the big public party except us.  The 
steam is making this place warm.  If we asked Aaden to be a 
lookout, you could fuck me from behind on the showerroom floor."

    The mischievous look in her eyes was undeniably lustful as 
well, and I laughed.  "Hey, Aaden!" I shouted.

    "What?"

    "How close are you to being done?"

    "If one of you would come over and help me with my ear, I'll be 
done in a few minutes.  Why?"

    "P'nyssa and I would like to ask you for a favor," I said as I 
stepped out and walked over to his stall.  "Okay, lean over.  And 
be careful, this stuff is really harsh on eardrums sometimes."  I 
washed each ring carefully, making sure to get the soap completely 
through the relatively shallow wounds.  Eventually, he was done.

    "Okay, so what do you two want?"

    We explained, and he laughed when we were done.  Pulling on a 
heavy terrycloth bathrobe, he said "Sure, I'll be lookout."  Then 
he stopped.  "Isn't that going to hurt your piercing?"

    "No pain, no gain," I laughed.  "Besides, I want to."

    "Pervert," he complimented me.  "Have fun."

    "Thank you," P'nyssa said, taking me by the hand and leading me 
to the center of the showerroom.  I pulled her close and kissed 
her, pressing my hands against her soft ass.  Her mittens found my 
balls and tugged on them, and I gave a little "Eeep!" of pain.  
"Don't.  That hurts."

    "But playing with this doesn't?" she asked as she wrapped her 
mitt around my cock instead and began masturbating me slowly, 
pouring on some of the liquid soap we all used in the process.  

    "No..." I sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder to stay 
standing.  "I'm probably going to pay for this in the morning," I 
said, "But I'd really like to fuck you right now, lover."

    She grinned.  "You're always so randy, Ken."

    "It's what I am," I said, slipping out of her grasp and 
dropping to my knees with a >k-thud< against the floor.  I pulled 
her close and pressed my lips to her cunt, flicking my tongue 
between her labia, teasing at her clit.  She moaned softly.  
"Careful," she sighed.  "That's so good."  She slowly came down to 
the floor with me and laid down, throwing her bathrobe down 
underneath her.  I crawled between her legs and began licking her 
cunt like a desert-dweller at a watering hole.  It had been almost 
two weeks since I had slept with her and it told in how her scent 
sparked memories in my mind and sent me reeling with lust and 
desire for her.  I dug in with my tongue, playing with her outer 
labia and then with her inner lips as well.  She moaned and cooed 
as she grew wetter and wetter.

    "Turn over," I ordered, and she did.  I reached down and pulled 
her up onto her knees, spreading them apart with mine.  I aimed my 
cock for her cunt and with one easy thrust, facilitated by saliva, 
juices and soap, I had my hips pressed against her buttocks.  I 
could feel the jewelry just barely pressing against her hole.  I 
smiled.

    Withdrawing just enough, I slid back into her, and she moaned 
at the feelings.  "Right there," she sighed.  "That's nice."

    "Thanks," I said as I grabbed her hips and pulled us together 
again.  With slow, methodical thrusts we began to set a rhythm on 
the steam-filled floor.

    I looked up to find Aaden doing a poor job of look out when he 
was busy looking in and watching us.  I laughed and began stroking 
her harder, fucking my coimelin „of the past millennium or so as I 
had so many thousands, hundreds of thousand of times before.  I 
could feel her mitten pressing against her clitoris as she rubbed 
herself.  "Does it hurt?" she gasped.

    "No.  It doesn't quite go in in this position."

    "Good position then," she gasped.  "Slow down a little."

    I did as I was asked, looking down to watch my hard cock slowly 
sliding into and then withdrawing from her swollen cunny.  I ran my 
open palms against her blue-furred buttocks, reveling in the soft 
tickling sensations against my hands during a slow insertion, and 
as I pulled out the sensation of her cunt pulling on the flared 
corona of my cock sent wonderful shivers up my spine.

    The expression on what I could see of her face was 
concentrated.  "Faster, now," she said.  "Oh, faster!"  I began 
fucking her as she asked, stroking her cunt.  My hips met hers with 
every thrust, and she moaned as she came, her whole body shaking.

    I kept going, feeling the fatigue of our scene at the beach and 
the socializing and dancing afterwards burning in my thighs.  I 
hadn't done much of either when he had returned home, but I 
couldn't tear myself away from the Terran friends I had made over 
the past years and had forced myself to stay among them.

    Now I paid for it.  My cock, my body craved release, but it 
also wanted relief from this final exertion.  Exhaustion and orgasm 
warred for supremacy, but I knew which was going to be the winner.  
Even when I'm nearly dead I can still find the strength to make 
love, and I could feel that strength coming now as I got closer and 
closer to my climax.

    "Come for me, Ken... it's starting to burn."

    "I'm right there... right there... YES!" I shouted as I came, 
slamming my hips up against her one last time.

    I slowly pulled myself into an erect posture before keeling 
over onto the floor.  "You okay?" she asked.

    "I should ask that of you.  Why was it burning?"

    "I think it was the soap.  It does that sometimes when I'm 
close to my period, you know."

    "Oh, right," I said.  I should have remembered that.

    "Go rinse off," Aaden said, his muzzle opening wide with a 
yawn.  "We still have to get up and pack tomorrow."

    "I know," I said, yawning back at him.  "That's catching, you 
know."  I helped P'nyssa to her feet and led her into the shower.  
With a free showerhead I rinsed us both off quickly.  "I'm ready 
for bed," I said.

    "So am I," she admitted.  "Come on, let's go."

    We grabbed the big Mephit on the way out.  Aaden made one last 
check of Sheja's room and she was there, sleeping, before he joined 
P'nyssa and I.  I was so tired, I barely noticed.

--
"Journal Entry 181 / 1026  [ Planetfall: Last Day ]"
The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik, et. al., and Related Tales
are copyright (C) 1989-1995 Elf Mathieu Sternberg.  Redistribution of
this work for profit is reserved to the author.  Redistribution by
portable media (CD-ROM, floppy, paper, etc.) is expressly forbidden.
Any redistribution must include this copyright notice intact.