Dryser

All the usual legalities and warnings stated in previous installments of the Dryser series still apply.

Comments can be sent to me at forcewielder2000@yahoo.com (flames will just be ignored!).

~Mark

Hanging out in the communal commerce area a couple of days later, I met Tairn there. "Hey, I saw Kriz a few days ago," Tairn said. "Told him how hot you were in bed."

My eyes widened. "You told him what we did?!" I cried out.

Tairn was obviously taken aback at my explosion. "Well, yeah," he said. "I just wanted to let him know how lucky he was to have you for a boyfriend."

"Ex-boyfriend, now," I said, turning away from him. I didn't want to look at him for fear that I might do something that I'd regret.

"Ex-boyfriend?" he asked, confused. "What do you mean, ex-boyfriend?"

"He broke up with me," I said. "He thought that I wasn't being as committed to him as I should have been."

There were several moments of silence as Tairn digested what I'd said. "Oh, Mark, I'm so sorry!" he finally said. "I didn't mean for that to happen!"

"Well, it did, whether you meant it or not," I replied. "So next time, do everyone a favor and keep what you do in the bedroom to yourself." With that I walked away from him.

Rikel came to see me that evening. "Tairn told me what happened," he said when we'd entered my bedroom.

"Tairn needs to learn to keep his mouth shut," I snapped, annoyed that Tairn couldn't seem to keep quiet over anything.

"Hey, he made a mistake," Rikel said.

"A mistake that cost me someone I cared about," I said.

"Was is really that big a loss?" Rikel asked. "I mean, if once for old time's sake could drive someone out of your life, was it really all that serious a relationship in the first place?"

I shrugged, unsure of what to say. What Rikel said made sense. Tairn hadn't meant anything to me in the way that Kriz thought he did, and while I was annoyed with Tairn blabbing about what we'd done, I was equally annoyed with Kriz for blowing up on me on something I didn't view as that big a deal.

"I, on the other hand," Rikel said, coming up to me and nuzzling my neck, "will not mind so much if you fool around just a bit."

"Is sex all you Charal ever think about?" I asked, pushing him away with a grin.

He shrugged. "I'm sure you've noticed that sex isn't exactly something that we view as taboo. I guess it has to do with what happens to us Charal guys when we hit heat, and we just can't get enough of it after that, even if at times we have to do it with aliens to get some." He grinned at me, and grabbed his crotch. "Now, speaking of getting some..."

"You're hopeless," I said, grinning.

We were quickly out of our clothes and onto my bed. He got onto me and entered me. His cock began sliding in and out of me as we began kissing each other. Our hands explored each other's body as we coupled. He drove his massive cock deep inside me, and I moaned in response. Eventually, I reached the point where I couldn't hold back any more, and began coming all over us. Much to my surprise, Rikel began coming into me as I was coming all over us. The simultaneous orgasm was the most amazing thing I'd ever felt while having sex.

We laid there for a few moments afterwards, my butt sore from the pounding it had just endured. Then Rikel pulled out of me, and we slipped into the bathroom to get cleaned up.

After Rikel left, Mike muttered to me, "Is there anyone you won't have sex with?"

"You," I immediately deadpanned. "Who'd want you, anyway? You're too wierd."

He playfully punched me on the arm, and I jumped on him and gave him a massive noogie. He struggled out of my grasp, and we began wrestling around until our mom told us to knock it off.

The many naked Charal guys all danced rythmically around me, their erect cocks jutting out. Every so often, as a Charal moved near me he smacked me with his erection. Eventually they all began jerking off, and I was quickly showered in gallons of Charal semen. I saw even as I was being coated that the leader of the dancers was Kriz.

That was when I woke up. I started to settle down when I noticed the sticky feeling around my crotch. Lifting the blanket, I quickly realized that I'd had a wet dream. Getting out of bed, I changed my underwear and got back into bed. As I laid there, waiting for sleep to once again overtake me, I wondered what it meant to be having a wet dream where Kriz was involved. Did I really miss him a lot and just not want to admit it? Or was it just a wierd dream?

Finally, the day of the reception at the Kokoni Embassy had arrived. It seemed like the time leading up to it had dragged out far too long. Heading over, I was greeted by Tatch. We went in, and I found the reception hall - the same one where we'd been introduced to the Kokoni delegation when they'd first arrived - decorated lavishly with what looked like a variety of plant-style decorations, and there was a buffet set up. It was also, I noticed, somewhat more humid in there than was common on most parts of Dryser.

"Sorry for the delay," Tatch was saying, "but some of us found the local climate to be rather dry, and it took a little time to get the environmental controls in the embassy to adjust the indoor humidity more to our liking."

"Not a problem," I said. "After all, if you've got to be far away from home, you might as well be comfortable, right?"

Tatch shrugged. "I suppose you're right, but I wouldn't really know - about home, that is. My father's been in the diplomatic corps for most of my life. I haven't been on Kokoni since I was very little."

"Must have moved around a bit, then."

He nodded; I was amazed at the similar body gestures that we had. "It is a bit hard," he admitted. "Though I've seen and experienced a lot more than most my age, it would be nice to have a more permanent home."

"We humans have a saying: 'There's no place like home.'"

"How true," Tatch said. "Sometime, though, I must tell you about the falls on Dataries. Over one of your miles high. The view from the top's breathtaking."

"Just don't fall," I said with a nervous laugh. That would be one long fall if you did! I glanced around and froze, gazing over at a group of Charal. While it wasn't strange to have a Charal delegation herer - Dryser was their planet, after all - one particular Charal's pressence surprised me. It was Kriz! What was he doing here?!

He apparently hadn't noticed me; either that, or he'd chosen to ignore me. Tatch noticed my reaction, and followed my gaze. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," I quickly said. "Just saw someone I know, and I guess I'm kinda surprised to see him here."

"Who might it be?"

"Well..." I started hesitantly. "Are you familiar with the treaty between the humans and the Charal on this planet? Specifically what they've asked from us if we wanted to stay here?"

"Ah yes, I imagine that you're refering to the part where several of them become physically involved with one of your males once a year," Tatch said. I nodded. "Am I correct in understanding that you were the most recent human representative?"

"Yes, I was," I said. "Does that surprise you?"

"Not really," he said. "Same sex pairings are common among the Kokoni. Is is common among humans?"

"No, not really," I said. "It's taken a long time for the idea to become socially acceptable among humans, and there are those who still frown on it."

"I don't know why," Tatch said. "At least among the Kokoni, it's not like one's orientation is a choice or anything."

"Same with humans," I assured him. "No one's really figured out why that is, but that doesn't change anything."

"Exactly," Tatch agreed.

"So, what's the plan for tonight?" I asked. "Anything in particular planned, or do we just mingle around?"

"There is some mingling around for now," Tatch said. "There will be a tour of the embassy in a little while. Then there will be a few speeches, the usual stuff: 'Welcome to the Kokoni Embasy on Dryser, we hope for fruitful relations, blah, blah, blah.'"

I nearly choked from laughing on the piece of fruit I was eating. It was one thing to hear the phrase "blah, blah, blah" coming from a human, but to have it coming from a non-human was something I hadn't ever expected to hear, and for some strange reason I found it hilarious. I wondered for a moment how Tatch had even known about it, much less wind up incorporating it into his vocabulary. I was reasonably sure that it wasn't included in the standard English/non-English dictionary made avaliable to those non-humans wishing to learn English.

After a short time, Ambassador Elarn Likxs announced that the tours would begin. Since there were quite a few people there, they would break up into several groups in order for it to go more smoothly. I wound up in the tour group in which the ambassador himself was the guide. I guess he wasn't above doing some honest-to-goodness work himself. Of course, he wasn't the only Kokoni in the group, as both Tatch and two uniformed individuals I assumed were embassy security were near the ambassador. I couldn't help but notice, though, that Kriz had also wound up in our group, as did Mayor Thomas, though I didn't know any of the other nine humans and Charal.

We were taken to those areas that guests were allowed in. We didn't go to a few spots, like the centeral security monitoring room, for security reasons. Among other things Ambassador Likxs commented on how the embassy had been empty for a while; it seemed the Charal had the basic structure up already for some time in preperation for the possibility of receiving foreign ambassadors, and most the work that had needed to be done was things like getting things set up for the physical specifications of specific species, depending on which species would be using a particular embassy.

After a while, I found myself in the back of the group with Kriz. "Mark," he said stifly, nodding in greeting.

"Kriz," I said. "It's been a while."

"Indeed."

Geez, he wasn't going to speak to me any more than he absolutely had to, was he? I was torn between turning to him and demanding to know what his problem was, kissing him, and slugging him. He didn't say anything more, and I didn't press him. What would have been the point, anyway? I wasn't sure I could say anything without making a fool out of myself, so I chose to remain silent. He wanted to give me the silent treatment? Fine! Two could play at that game!

We finished the tour of the embassy on the third floor and were heading back to the reception hall when one of the guards stopped, and listened to the earpiece in his left ear for several moments. I could hear something in the distance that sounded slightly familiar, and I tried to place the sound.

"We need to have everybody come this way now," the guard who'd been listening to the report suddenly said, motioning in the direction from which we'd just come.

Everyone was puzzled, but we quickly complied. The guard who'd spoken whispered something to his companion, who looked grim at what he'd heard (not that that was saying much, as I though the Kokoni looked kinda grim to begin with) and nodded. Both had drawn their side arms by that point, and I suddenly placed the sound I'd heard - it was weapons fire!

We were ushered at a fast walk down several corridors. I tried to remember this part of the embassy, but I didn't recognize it. It must have been one of the areas we hadn't been shown. Several shots suddenly came at us from the direction in which we were headed. Fortunately no one was hit. The two guards returned fire, and one gestured at the door nearest us with a hiss of "In there, now!"

The door, hooked into a motion detector, parted as the group approached. I was the last in the group, and was about to go in when I saw one guard topple backwards, a smoldering hole in his chest. His laser pistol clattered from his now-limp hand to the floor. I stopped and went to retrieve it, the doors shutting in response to the fact that I was no longer heading through them. I squeezed off a shot in the direction of the unknown attackers. My aim still wasn't very good, but I figured it didn't matter. The remaining guard, the one who'd been alerted to the situation, spun around and aimed his own pistol at me before he saw it was me.

"Though you could use some help," I said meekly.

"Careful, boy. That could have gotten you killed."

We both ducked into the room. "Now what?" Ambassador Likxs asked.

"We need to get out of here," the guard stated. "Here," he said, directing us to a particular wall pannel, which he removed. "It's an emergency access corridore. It'll take us to a secure area." He moved over to the door, and tapped several commands into a pannel. "That should hold them for a while."

"Who are they?" the ambassador asked.

"From the report, it appears to have been Zyndrie," the guard said. "They must have infiltrated the serving staff."

"Who?" I quietly asked Tatch, who was standing next to me.

"Bipedal species that has very limited shapeshifting abilities," he responded. "They could make themselves look like a member of another species, assuming the species is physically close enough to the Zyndrie's normal form. They can enhance their own abilities with surgical altercations."

The guard and the ambassador had been quickly discussing something, and then the guard gestured to me. "Go first," he said. "The ambassador will be right behind you. When you get to the end of the corridor, stop and do exactly as he tells you."

I nodded, and crawled into the corridor. It wasn't very wide or high, and I figured that was probably done deliberately for situations just like this. Ambassador Likxs got in right behind me, and the other members of the group after him, one by one. We made our way forward as fast as could be done.

When we reached the end, the ambassador said, "Knock on the panel in front of you three times, pause, then knock on it two times, then pause again, then knock on it once. Keep the pistol ready though, in case the person who opens it isn't on our side."

I did as instructed, hoping that we'd have a way of knowing if the person opening the panel was on our side and not a shapeshifer in time, and moments later it opened up, revealing several unifomed Kokoni. The ambassador, who must have had enough of a view to see at least some of them, said, "They're on our side."

I got out, and the others followed, with the guard taking up the rear. I glanced around, and noticed that Kriz wasn't among the Charal. "Has anyone seen Kriz?" I asked, and everyone looked around, apparently realizing that he wasn't with us. I couldn't recall having seen him in the past little while, either.

"Who?" the guard asked.

"Charal, a little older than me," I said, suddenly panicking. I still had feelings for him, and didn't really want anything bad to happen to him!

"Haven't seen him in a while," the guard said.

I then did what had to be the most rash thing I'd ever done in my life - I dove back into the corridor, and began making my way back to the room we'd just vacated. "Wait, Mark, come back!" I heard Mayor Thomas call out, but I called over my shoulder, "Shut the corridor! I'll be fine!"

I didn't stop to see if they followed my instruction. Arriving at the other end of the corridor, I found that the panel had been replaced, probably by the guard as he left, to cover our tracks. It made sense; the panel had been indistinguishable from the other panels on the wall. I put my ear to the wall, and heard someone making a racket in the room for several moments before the sounds faded. I waited for what seemed like an eternity, just in case they came back, before carefully pushing the panel out and taking care not to let it clatter onto the floor. Easing out, I quietly replaced the panel. I noticed that the door had been forced open, though the room was empty, with no place for anyone to hide. Listening as I slowly went to the door, I could hear no indication that anyone was nearby. Poking my head out of the door, I looked around, then hesitantly exited the room.

Moving quietly back the way we'd come before having to duck into that room, I looked around, trying to figure out where Kriz might have taked refuge. The smell of the dead guard's charred flesh was powerful, and I tried not to gag on it. A sudden sound off to one side, in a dark recess, caused me to spin in that direction, and I nearly pulled the trigger of the pistol.

"Mark, it's me!" I heard an all too familiar voice hiss.

Taking several deep breaths and trying to calm my racing heart, I said, "Kriz, don't do that! I nearly shot you!"

"Sorry," he said, coming out into the open. "When the shooting started, I got seperated from the group, and I had to hide from those patrols."

I wondered just how far the altercations could be taken with the Zyndrie; how could I know that this was the real Kri, and not someone who'd been made to look and sound like him?

"Kriz, what'd you use your tail for at that banquet after we'd dealt with the Y'Kor'Tiz'aaaa?" I asked.

"I used it to flirt with you," he replied, sounding puzzled. "You liked it when I used it to play with your cock later on. Why?"

One of the guards said they thought the attackers were Zyndrie."

"Ah, so you were wondering if I was a shapeshifter who'd made himself up to look like me," Kriz said.

I nodded. "We'd better get out of here," I said. "Let's go. There's a passageway back this way."

"Hey, how do I know you're not a Zyndrie?" Kriz asked.

"Besides the fact that you shoved your tail up my butt when we had sex, and that you're mad at me for having sex with Tairn after he wasn't in heat anymore?"

"All right, let's go," he said dryly, apparently not caring to think about what I'd done.

Unfortuantely, it seemed that at least one Zyndrie had gotten in between us and our intended escape route, so we headed in a different direction as I sqeezed off a couple of shots to keep them from shooting us in the back as we ran. We found an elevator. Unfortunately, it was inoperative; we found the doors forced open, and no car at our floor. Glancing down the shaft, we noticed it in a wreck at the bottom.

"Well, there goes that route," Kriz muttered, turning back. I heard a pistol shot, and Kriz spun around and fell, crying out and clutching his torso. His momentum as he staggered carried him towards the elevator shaft. I turned in the direction of the shot, and saw someone pointing something in our direction. I didn't hesitate, and brought up the pistol and began firing. At least one shot found its mark, as the figure was knocked backwards.

Once I was sure the guy was down for good, I turned back and didn't see Kriz at first, then noticed his hands clutching the floor at the elevator shaft. I rushed over, and found him dangling in the shaft. Setting the pistol down, I said, "Hang on, Kriz!"

I grabbed his arm, and began pulling him up. I hadn't ever realized how heavy he was before that, and I struggled with his weight. He managed to help a little, but I suspected that his feet weren't finding anything to push against. Working together, we finally managed to get him out, and we laid there gasping for breath for a few moments.

"Someone's coming," he said weakly.

I scooped up the pistol, and said, "Come on, let's go!"

I helped him up, and began moving. He couldn't move very fast, and his breathing was labored as he held his side where he'd been shot. I looked at him, and saw the blood seeping through his fingers. I went back and draped his other arm around my shoulders. He leaned on me for support, and we began moving again. I soon spotted a dark corner that I figured would provide at least some concealment, and we headed over there. Getting down on the floor, Kriz slumped against me.

"Kriz?" I said hesitantly.

"So...tired..." he said, his eyes barely open.

"No, Kriz," I said, starting to cry. "Don't do this. Don't die on me!"

"Not sure...I'm going to...make it..." he said.

"Come on, Kriz, stay with me. I...I love you, Kriz. I want to be with you again. I'm sorry I hurt you."

"I love...you...too, Mark," he said, his voice getting weaker with every passing moment.

I heard someone approaching, and moments later a light was shined in our faces. I held up the pistol, wondering if I could get a clear shot at whomever it was. "Stay back!" I said.

It looked like one figure raised a pistol at us. But someone else said, "Hold on. Scanner says they really are a human and a Charal."

The light was lowered, and I found myself looking at two uniformed Kokoni. They moved towards us. "Hey, how do I know you guys are real?" I said.

"Besides the fact that you'd be dead right now if we were Zyndrie?" one said.

"He's...right..." Kriz said.

I lowered the pistol, and they continued forward. "This one's hurt," the other Kokoni, the one with the scanner, said, scanning Kriz. "He's in pretty bad shape."

The other held up a communicator. "We need a med team to Floor 3, Section 47," he stated. "Injured Charal."

"We're on our way," someone on the other end said.

"Hang on, Kriz," I whispered to him. "Help is on its way."

A med team arrived a short time later, though to me they seemed to take forever to arrive. They worked on Kriz for several minutes before one said, "We need to get him to the medical bay!" The others, including the two security guards who'd found us, snapped into action, and we moved it to the medical bay.

Upon our arrival, Kriz was moved into one of the surgical wards, and I was left out in the waiting area alone, tears streaming down my face, as I stood there watching him carted through the doors. Several moments later, I moved over to a row of chairs against one wall and sat down, burying my head in my hands and sobbing.

I don't know how long I cried before someone sat down next to me and put their amrs around me in a fierce embrace. I looked up and saw that it was Kriz's father, Proat. I threw my arms around him and cried some more.

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault!" I said. "I couldn't save him!"

"He's not gone yet, so don't think like that," he said gently, through his own tears. "There's a Charal medical team in there working on him, and we Tranum are fighters. It's not going to be that easy to remove Kriz from our lives."

"I don't know. It looked pretty bad," I said.

"You love him, don't you?"

The question startled me. "How...how did you know? Did Kriz tell you?" I'd thought Kriz hadn't planned on informing them yet.

"Do you really think that us parents don't notice what's going on in the lives of our children?" he asked, smiling at me.

I smiled back weakly. Here we'd been so worried about what our parents might think about our relationship, and at least one set had known all along!

"Oh, and just so you know, your parents have been notified, and are on their way," he told me. "My wife and I just happened to be the closest ones."

I glanced over and saw Kriz's mom nearby. I reached out an arm to her, and she came and joined the group. My parents arrived soon after, and I went over to them when they, and Mike, came in. They fretted over me, my mom checking me over repeatedly to make sure I was all right.

"Mom, I'm fine," I said after the umpteenth time. "Kriz, though...he's not so well."

"We know," Dad said, glancing over at Kriz's parents. "We heard."

"There's something else," I said, knowing that if I didn't say this know, there would be no other opportunity. "I love Kriz."

There was a moment of silence as my parents considered what I'd said. I continued, "Not as a friend. I guess I should say that I'm in love with Kriz."

Tears began rolling down my mom's face. "I'm not surprised, really," Dad said after a few moments. "Lately, you two always did act a little too chummy when you were together to be 'just friends' any more."

"I guess I can't say I'm surprised, either," Mom said. "Call it a mother's intuition. Just...be careful."

"And prepare for the worst," Dad added. "From what little I've heard so far, Kriz may not make it."

I nodded. I glanced over at Mike, who came in and hugged me. "Be strong," he said quietly.

We all went and sat down next to Kriz's parents. Mike and I sat together, and held each other. After what seemed like days of agonizing waiting, a Charal doctor in a dirty surgical outfit came out. We all rose, hoping for good news but bracing for the worst.

The doctor went over to Kriz's parents, but not without glanced at me and my family, surely wondering why we were here. "They're with us, Doctor," Proat said, in English.

The doctor nodded and said (also in English), "We did our best, and it looks like Kriz will make it."

We all let out our breaths, probably not having realized before then that we'd been holding them in the first place.

"He's fortunate," the doctor continued. "If the shot had been left any more than it was, you'd be making funeral preperations right now."

"May we see him?" Proat asked.

"He's still sedated, but a small group should be fine," the doctor said.

It was quickly decided that Kriz's parents and I would go in to see him. We were ushered in to a recovery room while Mike and my parents waited in the waiting room. Kriz was laying on a bed, his eyes closed, and covered by a sheet which didn't quite cover the bandage around his middle. Kriz's mother, Tiana, slowly approached him, and brushed a few strands of his main off of his face. Proat went up next to her and put his arm around her.

I stayed back, not wanting to intrude, but Proat glanced back, and signaled me over. I went and stood next to him, and he put his other arm around me. We stayed like that for I don't know how long before an orderly told us it was time to go. Kriz's parents soon arranged for the three of us to take turns being with him while he recovered.

The doctors said that while he was out of the woods, he was well on his way to recovery. Two days passed with us being by his side in a private room; Kriz, though, didn't show any outward appearance of that fact.

Finally, on the evening of the third day, while I was in the room trying to read a book my mom had brough me, Kriz moaned and stirred. I jumped up, nearly dropping the book. I tossed the book aside, and moved to his side. He opened his eyes, and it was the most wonderful thing I'd ever seen.

"So, why are you here?" he asked. "Shouldn't you be off with Tairn?"

"Kriz, he doesn't mean anything to me. Not like that," I told him. He started to speak, but I put my hand on his mouth. "Let me finish. If you decide you still don't want to be with me, fine. But at least hear me out."

I heard him give a muffled "O.K.", so I took my hand off of his mouth.

"I'll admit that I've been a jerk about this," I said, "and for that I'm sorry. You were right. I should have been giving my, ah, personal attention to you, but I didn't. I'm new to these feelings. I haven't been sure about how to appropriately deal with them or express them. I've hurt someone I love, and I feel terrible about that. I acted badly. I got physically involved with another guy, when I shouldn't have. Yes, it was only a one night thing, for old time's sake, but I still should have been more considerate of your feelings. And I have to be honest with you. Tairn wasn't the only one. After we broke up, I had sex with his brother Rikel several times. I was angry at you, and did it to get back at you. It was childish, I know. Now, if you don't want me back because of this, I understand. But remember, I do love you." I looked down at the floor.

There was silence for several moments. Finally, Kriz said, "When Tairn told me that the two of you had had sex, I'll admit I was crushed. Here was someone getting something from you that I feel should have been reserved for me. I'm sure that you've figured out by now that sex is a big thing for us."

I smiled weakly. "Yeah, that detail kinda came to my attention."

"But for all our seeming facination with all things sex, we still believe that when we commit our love to someone, we believe in being devoted to that one person, and that includes, with a few exceptions, not running around having sex with every other good looking guy that crosses our path. But I'll admit that I've been a jerk about this too. Maybe I overreacted just a bit." He hesitated a moment. "And I'll admit that I wasn't exactly living a life of chastity after I dumped you, either. I went and made out with a guy I know from school."

"Look, perhaps we were both jerks," I said. "But do you think there's any chance of us, y'know, getting back together?"

He thought for a few moments. "I think there might be. It won't be easy, and we should set some boundaries. But I think it can be done. Besides," he said, smiling at me and reaching out with one hand to caress my cheek, "I have to confess that I still love you too."

He then drew me down for a kiss, and we knew then that Kriz's body wasn't the only thing that was starting to heal.