Mind Over Misery
#13 of Dinosauria
After the events of the previous chapter, Seth decides to have some downtimes.
I believe the best course of action is to give the team time to recover, not just physically but mentally as well. I'm sensing some particularly strong mental stresses in some of the pawns.
Seth was leaning back and looking up at the ceiling. He could sense the stresses in his team too, but there was so much work still to do to help the city clean up from the earthquake and tsunami. The mayor of the city would tell him every time that he came to help that the team didn't have to continue helping and that they should take a day or two off. The final death toll was nearly five thousand, including some poor wolf that was crushed against the entrance of a parking structure. They had found survivors in the structure, but hearing the pained cries of the dead wolf's wife and daughter was... excruciating.
That coupled with the physical stress of Seth making the team clean up the city was proving to be detrimental to the team. The large tyrannosaurus sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and finger, squeezing some tears out of his eyes. The image of the broken twisted lupine body falling to pieces when he moved the truck burst into his mind and he sat up with a shock in the seat.
"DAMMIT!" Trihexa had tried to tell him that what he was doing was making the team clean the destroyed city due to his own guilt about not saving more people. He sighed again, wiping his eyes and took a deep breath in.
"I... you're right."
We were aware of that. The team needs time to recover and time away from the city would accomplish this. You need to-
"I KNOW!" Armaseth yelled, his voice booming and echoing into the room. He growled as he calmed himself down, "I know. I need a break too. I see their faces all the time. What can we do? What's around here to help the team relax?"
There are a number of massage parlors, amusement parks, and even strip clubs that might help the team. But, looking through your history, I see that you enjoy getting your body taken care of at a spa. That does seem to be a very appropriate way to help the team heal.
"A spa huh?" Armaseth immediately thought of having some cute twinky guys rubbing all over his body, worshiping his muscles, and definitely giving him a happy ending. "That... sounds pretty great actually."
_Good. There's one spa in the next city that is large enough to host men of your size and the others. Though, I'm sensing not everyone would enjoy the spa. _
"Hmmmm... well, we don't all have to go to the spa." Armaseth stood up, having his mind filled with erotic images now which almost instantly changed his mood for the better. He walked through the mansion until he came upon the room that he had given to the Ankylosaurus. He knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Armaseth opened the door and saw that the ankylosaurus was watching a movie on his tv. He saw the movie get paused and he looked back to the other male, seeing his solemn face.
"What is it, master?" The voice was friendly but quiet, as if still weighed down by the heavy thoughts and burdens carried from their latest mission - and subsequent clean-ups.
"Meet up in the living room. Spread the word?"
"You know you can just send the info to us right?" The ankylosaurus chuckled as he stood up, stretching his body a bit after sitting for a while. The muscular body of the solemn dinosaur was covered by a t-shirt and loose shorts, which did little to hide the features of the body underneath.
"I want to say this in person... in the living room. It's good news." Armaseth turned to leave, but smirked and turned back, unable to reign in his lusts entirely as he discarded the robes he'd been wearing himself. "And no clothes allowed."
The ankylosaurus smirked himself, letting his leader's licentiousness cut through his pensive attitude. "You got it, master."
************
The ankylosaurus made his way through the mansion intent on spreading the master's word for a meeting. He was happy to hear there was good news to share as the team needed a break from the destruction and stress of helping the city clean up. They had saved so many lives which they were proud of... but every body they found soured that pride.
There was a plap sound from his bare feet stepping on the polished marble floor with each of his steps. Though, his feet weren't the only bare parts of his body. His cock bounced between his thighs with every step, making the thickly muscled male smile.
Turning down a hallway he smiled as he heard muffled moaning and the sounds of bodies colliding in erotic ways. He went to the door the sounds were behind and knocked on it.
"Co-come... oh fuck yeah! The door's open."
Knight 1 opened the bedroom door and was hit with a wave of sexual musk. The scents were so strong, with evidence of sex covering every inch of the raptor's large room. There were clearly dried patches of cum on blankets and walls... even on their bodies. Some raptors were taking the cocks of their brothers while others were making out with the ones that were getting fucked... every raptor was getting pleasure one way of the other.
The ankylosaurus took all this in quickly, "Guys, you can stop. We have a-"
"Stop?" Ruby said, the red striped raptor hammering the ass of his purple striped brother. "Nah... why don't you join us?"
Sapphire pulled away from a sloppy kiss with Emerald, "Yeah!"
Emerald added, "Get that big dick in here!"
The ankylosaurus stepped into the room and shut the door behind him, further examining the raptors as they continue with their incestuous orgy. The obvious was true; the males were engaging in copious amounts of sex, there was not a stitch of clothing on or around any of them, and there was nothing in this room that hadn't been splashed with cum at some point. What concerned the larger male, though was how clearly tired the raptors were.
"When was the last time you guys slept? Or showered?" The ankylosaurus asked calmly.
The sex slowed for a bit, with the raptors looking at each other. Pearl - the white striped raptor - opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again when words failed him. Amethyst's eyes began to tear up and held his hands over his eyes. The sex started back up vigorously with it being clear now that the raptors were using sex to distract themselves from the trauma they had suffered.
"Guys! STOP!" The ankylosaurus bellowed, "This isn't helping you!"
Ruby snarled at the statement, holding Amethyst down and fucking him harder, "It is helping! None of us can sleep without nightmares!"
Amethyst whined from the hard impacts, but didn't stop his brother from fucking him so roughly. He closed his eyes and clenched his ass tight, reaching to his own cock and stroking himself fast. The other raptors were in a similar state of frenzied sexual acivities, hiding from their collective trauma through nearly non-stop sex.
Knight 1 ignored the mess and the scents in the room and rushed to Ruby, hugging him tightly, "It's okay. Just stop. Master has a plan to help us."
"H-he... does?" Ruby asked barely above a whisper.
The sounds of sex slowed down as the other raptors had heard the promise.
"Yes. I'm sure of it. He asked for a meeting." The ankylosaurus saw the other raptors collapse in a naked heap from their collective exhaustion. He felt Ruby fall limp in his arms and he gently hugged him, reaching down to rub a hand over Amethyst's back. "It's okay guys. We're all here for you."
"It was just... easier... t-to..." Ruby choked out through barely contained sobs.
"Shhhhh... I know." Knight 1 assured. "I'm not at all sure what Master has in mind, but I think he finally understands we need a break."
"To the meeting then?" The red raptor questioned, lifting his teary eyes up to meet the ankylosaurus'.
"Yes. But..." Looking around at the smaller raptor bodies, covered in various layers of sweat and cum, "You might want to clean up first. Though, afterward just come to the living room after drying off. Master says no clothes are allowed in this meeting."
************
The door opened and Armaseth walked into the room, seeing the second knight on the team in a meditation position on his bed. The stego was wearing only a thin but tight pair of shorts, allowing the tyrannosaurus to see the tight muscles under the slowly moving scales.
"Hello, master. Do you need something?"
"I've called a meeting. In the living room."
The stegosaurus stood up, stretching his body with his plates twitching as well. He turned to face the leader and smiled the kind of smile that displayed genuine happiness but the eyes gave away the pain inside. Even if he didn't have the connection to the stego's mind through the nanomachines, he could still see the burden in those eyes. They were puffy and red as if he'd been crying... alone and trying his best to deal with the trauma he was buried under.
Armaseth saw this and instantly regretted letting his own desire to absolve his guilt overcome his responsibility over his team. They had been clearly suffering from their guilt and the disturbing things they had seen during the rescue and clean up of the city. They carried their pain internally, because they were forced to... Armaseth would ignore their protests and force them all to come with him to help the city even without meaning to overpower them.
A tear welled up in the dark-skinned tyrannosaurus' eye, sliding down while his body slumped down. "I... I'm... sorry."
"Master?" That single tear carried so much emotional anguish.
Armaseth felt his own burden crushing down onto his soul. The guilt he felt dragging his soul down into a dark pit of despair. He dropped to his knees, holding his head in his hands, "I just wanted to help them. I thought we... I could've... done more. And because of my... my guilt... I dragged you all through that barbed wire too!"
A loud crack was heard as his giant fist swung into the wall, cracking the polished stone.
The stegosaurus walked over to his leader, standing in front of him and rubbing his head gently. "Seth, it's..."
"Don't tell me 'it's okay'. I fucked up. I made you all pay with me for my own feelings of failure." Armaseth relaxed and leaned his head forward, against the scaled abs of his second Knight. "I'm a terrible leader."
"Yes, you fucked up, Seth," The stegosaurus replied bluntly, "but you aren't a terrible leader. You're a kind and compassionate man. We saved hundreds of lives, which is a good thing to focus on. You focusing on the lives we couldn't save is only going to drive you crazy."
"Someone... s-someone should be upset they're gone." Armaseth wrapped his arms around the stegos waist, hugging him close and trying to contain his sobs that threatened to erupt from his throat.
"I agree. The city will remember their dead, it's not our responsibility." Knight 2 picked up the leader's head forcing him to look up at him, "Our responsibility now should be to heal so we can do all of this all over again the next time a city needs us."
Hearing such conviction from the stegosaurus, brought a smile to the leader's face. If this was the kind of heart that the other members possessed - willing to suffer emotional and mental agony for the sake of helping other people - then he had made a good team.
"Alright then, let's get to that meeting. But..."
"But?"
With the tear still on his face, Armaseth grinned, "You're overdressed." The leader gripped the tight shorts the stego was wearing and yanked them down. The sudden exposure obviously surprised the stegosaurus, but what surprised him even more was when he felt a pair of strong lips kissing his cock. Armaseth stood up with a sly smile, wiping the tear away and smirking at the other male. "I'll meet you in the living room."
************
In the living room, most of the team were talking and some remained quiet. The room was rebuilt and refurbished with large comfy furniture designed to fit their unique frames. The only ones missing were Seth and Queen, but the heavy footfalls coming from the hallway told everyone present that would change shortly.
As the Queen stepped into the large living room, his bloody knuckles were the first thing everyone noticed. They all had their own ways of trying to work through what they had been carrying inside them. The large male sat down on a huge couch, sitting next to the brachiosaurus, who was strangely not caged at all. But the mood wasn't right for something like that.
Armaseth stood in front of everyone, just as naked as they were, making them all vulnerable and exposed. "As Knight 1 said to me earlier, I could've just sent this info through the nanomachines. However, as I told him, I wanted to say this in person."
The leader took a breath and laid his soul bare. "I did wrong by you all by dragging back into the city to help clean up. I was so focused on relieving my own guilt that I didn't see what I was doing to you all. So, we're taking a break for a bit."
The room remained quiet for a moment, until Pearl spoke up, "It's not that we don't want to help them."
"No! I know that," Armaseth assured, "but the police and firefighters were being rotated out so they could deal with what they saw and come back refreshed. I... I only have you all... so I couldn't do that. And instead of giving you a break, I continued to drag you all back day after day. You all need a break! I... I need a break."
"A break, huh?" Queen asserted, "Is that supposed to make it easier to sleep at night?"
"We all need time away from the disaster. I should've listened to you and the others." Armaseth looked straight at Queen, "You were right... I'm sorry for not listening to you."
"Yeah, well, how are we going to spend this break?"
"At a spa." Despite the heavy tone, the tyrannosaurus smiled.
"A spa?! No thanks." Queen shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, his cock twitching despite his attitude.
"Well, that's fine. Not everyone has to go to the spa. But we are going to be having some fun for the next few days." The leader clasped his arms behind his back, "The spa I'm considering is one that is large enough to facilitate our bodies, includes a lot of fun stuff, but the best part is the Roman Bath style sitting area. It will be very relaxing, but if some or all of you want to go somewhere else, we can discuss that now."
"I'm out." Queen stated flatly. "I'm not sure where I want to go yet, but I definitely don't want to go to a spa."
Bishop 1, the brachiosaurus, shook his head as well, "I've never been one for a spa either."
"I think the spa could be fun." The shapely sissy pterodactyl added in his two cents.
The stegosaurus leaned back onto the couch he was sitting on, "Well, I'm definitely opting for the spa."
Sapphire, the blue-striped raptor sitting on the stegosaurus' lap, can I come too?"
"You don't have to ask me," The stegosaurus grinned as he rubbed a hand over the agile legs of the raptor, "though I'd be happy to have you there."
Amber, the yellow-striped raptor, sheepishly spoke up, "Um, I heard there's a carnival in the city. I'd like to go there."
"A carnival sounds fun!" Onyx declared, adding to his brother raptor's excitement. He leaned over and kissed the other raptor's cheek, "I'll go with you."
"Well," The mosasaurus spoke, "a carnival does sound fun. But I want to go to a pool. Get some eye candy while relaxing."
"Ooh! Ooh! Nevermind!" The pterodactyl practically bounced off his seat with his exciting jumping, "A pool sounds better! Plus I've been wanting to get a new bikini!"
Topaz, the orange-striped raptor sitting next to the pterodactyl, grinned and smiled, "There's a really fun water park a few hundred miles away."
"Perfect!" The pterodactyl hugged the orange-striped raptor.
A small sigh escaped the mosasaurus' lips, "So, a water park instead of a pool then?" He saw how excited the other men were and he smiled, "I guess I can still get my eye candy. I'm in."
Armaseth looked to Queen, seeing the quiet rage still in his eyes. When he had entered the giganotosaurus' room he had found the guy punching the wall and repairing it only to start punching again. "Queen?"
"What?!" Queen snapped, but shook his head and calmed himself down, "Sorry... what is it?"
"What do you feel like doing to relax?"
"I am relaxed." Before Armaseth or anyone else could protest, he continued, "That's not what I need. I need to reacquire my peace. I need to be away from all this... city noise."
Emerald, the green-stripped raptor, questioned, "What about a hike?" The giganotosaurus turned to look at the much smaller dinosaur, but he just smiled at the hulking male, "There's a beautiful mountain up north."
The giganotosaurus snorted as he pondered the thought. "That's actually not a bad idea."
Emerald wrapped an arm around the red-striped raptor sitting next to him, "Good! We'll go with you."
"Uh... we will?" Ruby stammered.
"Yep."
Amethyst and Sappire, the purple and blue-striped raptors, were both laughing and whispering together. Sapphire finally turned to their leader and declared, "We'd like to go to the spa too."
"What were you two whispering about?" Armaseth asked with a smirk, as if he already knew the answer.
"Oh... you know. Just stuff." Sapphire answered.
"We were wondering if Knight 1 would come too!" Amethyst corrected.
The ankylosaurus looked to the raptors with narrowed eyes, "Uh, sure. I can come to the spa. Though, I don't know how they're going to massage my back."
Hearing all this the triceratops just chuckled and shrugged, "You know, I've never climbed a mountain before. I think I'll go with the Queen, too."
"That just leaves you, big guy." Armaseth stated, looking at the brachiosaurus.
"Oh, really?" The brachiosaurus looked around at the others and settled his eyes on the yellow and black striped raptors. He smiled as he looked back to his leader, "The carnival sounds like a fun time to me."
"Then it's decided!" Armaseth stood up with wide open arms and smiled, "Everyone go get ready for your trips. I'm wanting you all to have fun and enjoy yourselves, but I'm also trusting you to keep yourselves and each other safe. Am I clear?"
The group of men acknowledged their leader and broke off into their chosen pairs to go get themselves ready for their planned mini-vacations.
~~F~~ I ~~N~~