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Luster & Celyn in

The Heladian Sun: Conflicted Attractions

© 2024 Bruno Hirschkoff, for Luster Unicorn

*

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Prologue

Luster's ears swivelled furtively, seeking out any sound that might have been approaching hoofsteps. The unicorn's nostrils flared, his heart rate and breathing elevated with excitement, even as the tingling burn of arousal pulsing through his body juxtaposed itself abrasively against his apprehension of being caught. His bedroom was dark, the unicorn's naked body illuminated only by the flickering bluish glow of his tablet, propped against the pillow in front of him. His breath shuddered in his throat, a barely suppressed whinny of arousal. On the screen before him—the volume turned to zero—a video was playing of a gorgeous young stag wearing a tiny brief-cut swimsuit in a public locker room. His crotch was in focus and in the background, Luster could see several other people. The stag's barely contained erection strained at the silky fabric and, in staccato bursts, his hand flew up and down along it with vigorous urgency. It was incredibly arousing. Luster wished he could be one of the seemingly nonchalant onlookers in the background of that video, watching this handsome buck work his erotically distended Speedo into a foamy lather of his own lust.

Luster glanced down from the screen to his own twitching arousal. It pulsed and tingled with the seemingly endless virility of a young and healthy Equid. For many such insatiability might have been a blessing, but for Luster it felt closer to a curse, a nigh-uncontrollable force that created more than its fair share of awkward situations. Luster milked his hand forward over his medial ring and flexed firmly. His glans flared a little, sending a messy spritz of watery fluid into the palm of his other hand. He smeared the slickness around his blunt equine bell and suppressed a whicker of pleasure at the thrill of sensory pleasure it induced. He could finish at any moment. Half a dozen vigorous strokes would push him over. He'd watched this video a dozen times before and it never seemed to get any less arousing. It pushed all of his buttons and filled his mind with fantasies about not only witnessing such an act of exhibitionism, but of partaking of it himself. Not that he ever would. He couldn't. He couldn't even bring himself to use an open urinal, let alone find any comfort or joy in displaying himself with such eroticism.

Luster's dark, heavy equine orbs ascended fitfully with each flurry of masturbatory strokes the unicorn applied to his spire. They clenched into his abdomen, his well-practiced rhythm bringing him closer and closer to the trembling peak of pleasure. He edged a few times, his eyes fixed to the handsome stag on his screen until his member gleamed with precum, swollen and engorged, his flare a persistent, taut hammerhead that weighed down his flesh. The stag was almost at his climax. Luster paused his masturbation for just long enough to make sure a wad of paper towel was within easy reach on the mattress in front of him, and then after one more nervous moment of listening for movement outside his bedroom, went for it. No one else in the house was awake. He was clear.

The stag in the video was gripping his tight swimsuit tent roughly by that stage, hunched forward and masturbating in full view of not only his camera, but of several other people behind him. Luster envied his confidence. The unicorn could clearly see the stag's foreskin bunching up behind his glans with every upward stroke, the thin, slinky fabric clinging to his tip with a slimy matt of foamy precum. He began to shake, and Luster knew from having watched this video so often what was coming.

The unicorn worked his equine shaft with determination, milking his clenched fist firmly over his medial ring. With his other hand, he covered his flared tip, twisting his slippery palm around it and squeezing it in his fingers. He bit down another shuddering whinny at the pleasurable sensation, endorphins lancing into his brain from the root of his stallionhood. Precum drizzled freely between fingers which rhythmically squeezed and twisted around his flare, and the unicorn held his breath.

The stag convulsed on Luster's tablet screen. For a moment Luster could see the stag's cock pulsing rhythmically, before a thick drool of white oozed through his speedo to drip over his fingers and be flung outward by his continued masturbation. Luster ejaculated with a suppressed whicker just as the stag's public climax began to subside. Grappling for his paper towels, Luster cupped them in front and beneath his flare to catch his emissions. He hunched around himself and bit his tongue to stay silent, huffing and snorting into his pillow while the familiar convulsions of orgasm tingled through his body, pumping forth his seed with quiet hisses and splats into his handful of paper towels.

As his third orgasm of the day ebbed, Luster carefully dabbed at his rapidly shrinking flesh and scrunched up the soggy paper towels. He cleared his browser history, pulled on a pair of soft sweatpants and moved as silently as his hooves would allow to the bathroom to dispose of his 'evidence.' This was likely to be the last opportunity he got for a few days, and he was deeply concerned about how he was going to cope.

*

Luster's guts churned with anxiety. It felt as though someone had released a swarm of locusts into his chest, and they were eating him alive from the inside out. It was six in the morning, but he had woken up too late to squeeze in one final moment of sexual relief before he had to leave—the train to Vinegress left the station just before eight and he needed to get moving.

He had always enjoyed swimming. Being an ungulate, Luster was hardly the fastest or the most graceful creature in the water, but in a part of the world that was predominantly peopled by ungulates, the ungainliness of his hooves did not stand out—and the ubiquitous presence of aquatic hoofwear went a long way to alleviating the constraints of his biology. In the silky embrace of the water's silence, with his eyes down and the buoyant weightlessness of the deep blue all around him, his anxious mind found a measure of peace. Certainly, swimming came with its own challenges for an anxious young man; the ever-present spectre of communal nudity or the unspeakable horror of his body betraying him in a public place remained nagging doubts in the unicorn's mind, especially as the bodies and nudity of others around him drew his curious eye. But Luster was well used to the gut-churning pangs that came from his mind generating the worst-case outcome for whatever scenario he found himself in. He was used to them, but it did not make them any easier to deal with.

He had always been a solitary colt. Friendships, conversations and the like had never come easily to him. The fact that his parents furrowed their brows and worried about him only worsened things. He knew in the back of his mind that attending a summer swim camp at a fancy college hundreds of miles away was his parents' attempt to socialise him while immersing him in an activity they knew he enjoyed. The Heladian Aquatics Outreach Program, it was called. It was designed to bring together the best young swimmers with those who were interested to learn, to develop their skill and make new friends. But it was a camp. Hundreds of miles away. With crowds of people he'd never met, from all the dozen nations around the Mare Internum, and even beyond.

He hurriedly farewelled his parents and made his way at a trot to the bus that would take him to Habury Central Station.

Luster felt a spike of adrenalin and cold pinpricks of sweat on his cheeks when he heard his train being called for boarding, the moment he rushed into the station. Habury Central Station was bustling with people. There were more than a few people in his age bracket with similar amounts of luggage, evidently sharing a destination with the unicorn, but he studiously ignored the few glances that came his way as best he could. Thankfully, the train was packed enough that Luster could get away with pretending not to have noticed a few other athletic individuals with duffle bags full of clothes and towels boarding the Overland Express to Vinegress.

*

Celyn jolted awake with a start.

“Attention passengers, attention passengers," came a monotonous, unmistakeably Transport Authority voice over the train's intercom. “The time is now seven thirty-three, Scordomnan Standard Time. We will soon be arriving into Habury Central—please ensure you have your tickets, passports and all your personal belongings before disembarking the train, as this is our final stop. Those travelling on to Vinegress, please make your way to Platform 7, where the Overland Express is currently boarding. Passengers travelling on to Hordifell, your train is scheduled to arrive at eight-fifteen, on Platform 3. For other destinations, please consult Habury Central staff. Thank you for travelling West Doregal Rail."

The intercom cut out with a fuzzy click. Celyn knuckled his eyes and then blinked rapidly to clear them. It was a particular type of sleepiness, that kind of restless doze that can only come from sleeping uncomfortably while travelling. The black-tailed stag sat up straight, arched his spine and rolled his shoulders to loosen them. His head throbbed dully, and it wasn't the only part of him to do so. He supposed getting morning wood after an overnight journey was only to be expected, even if he didn't sleep soundly. The train had begun to slow, and Celyn pointedly stared out of the window as the rolling countryside of Scordomna gave way to the urban sprawl of its capital. It took a focused effort, but finally, the young stag's erection relented and allowed him to disembark the train without hobbling awkwardly with his backpack held in front of him. He had to hurry. Platform 7 was on the other side of the station, and the Overland Express was already there. He could see it in the distance, a gleaming streak of ribbed aluminium panelling, bisected by a stripe of glass.

“Hey!"

Celyn's attention was suddenly focused as a grey wolf, roughly his own age or perhaps slightly older, loped up alongside him. He was slender and athletic, and Celyn smiled in greeting to him.

“Are you going to Vinegress? For the Aquatics Outreach Program?" the wolf asked.

His voice was heavily accented, but Celyn did not struggle to understand him.

“Yes! Is it so obvious? I'm Celyn."

“Celyn. I am called Zain," the wolf said, extending a hand to Celyn, who shook it. “Yes…it is a little obvious, perhaps. Although mostly it is that you seem as far from home as I, in this place!"

“Where are you from, Zain?" Celyn ventured, turning to face the wolf.

He was a handsome creature; his meticulously groomed grey fur and dark hair framed a slender muzzle and golden eyes which seemed full of sly mischief, even at first glance. Zain cleared his throat and shrugged his duffle bag higher onto his shoulder.

“I… have come from Zeiram. Do you know it?"

“The capital of Forlasea? That's halfway around the world!"

“Yes—it has been a long journey already. I came to Habury from my city by train and ship. I could have flown, but travelling in the air is not a natural feeling for wolves, and would have taken even longer! Come on, we should hurry—the train to Vinegress leaves soon!"

Celyn nodded agreement, and the wolf and stag hurried across the bustling station towards the Overland Express. They were some of the last passengers to board. Celyn muttered his apology to a frustrated-seeming conductor, who punched their tickets and hurried them onto the train. Zain immediately sought out other passengers who seemed likely to be heading to the Aquatics Outreach camp, flashing a toothy grin that bordered on cocky to more than one of them. Celyn swallowed a mild embarrassment at the wolf's attitude—he radiated a kind of extroversion that the stag simultaneously found appealing and a little confronting.

The train was packed solid. Zain and Celyn couldn't find two seats together anywhere along its length. Eventually, at the orders of the train's conductor, they sat apart. Zain immediately struck up an animated conversation with an otter who, judging by his attire, was headed to the Aquatics Outreach as well. Celyn, by contrast, found himself seated with three suited business travellers. He glanced over his shoulder. Zain and the otter were some six or seven rows behind him. The wolf grinned at him and waved. Celyn would have preferred to be sitting with them.

The train jolted gently as its brakes were released, the low hum of its electric engines rising steadily to propel it out of Habury Central, through the eastern sprawl of the Scordomnan capital towards its destination. Celyn settled in for the trip.

Damn, he thought. Headphones.

Once the train was moving, the stag rose to his hooves and excused himself, clambering over the business traveller beside him to fetch his earbuds from his duffle bag. It wasn't until he was almost back to his seat that Celyn saw him. How could he have missed that? He sat at the very rear of the train car, leaning on the window frame and pointedly staring at the scenery as it rolled past. His ears and silvery mane were unmistakably equine, but between them rose a single, pointed horn… A unicorn! Celyn was aware that unicorns existed, but he had never seen nor met one in the flesh. They were a rare sight even in central Doregallian nations like Scordomna with their large Equid populations. There was an empty seat beside him. The stag felt an unexpected little rush of excitement as he moved along the length of the train car to stand beside the unicorn.

“Hey! I'm Celyn—mind if I join you?"

*

Luster jumped in surprise when a young stag in athletic shorts and an aged, well worn Fràwic Central High t-shirt appeared right beside him. He seemed to be around Luster's age and based on his attire was heading to the Aquatics Outreach Program as well. The unicorn stumbled over a greeting, unsure of where to look or what to say. The stag's t-shirt was perhaps a size too small, and combined with its wide laced tunic-neck—obviously intended to fit easily over his sizeable antlers—it revealed his toned physique to an extent that Luster was unsure how to process.

Celyn sat down lightly beside Luster and held out his hand, which Luster hesitantly took with a slightly clammy grip.

“So you're heading to Vinegress too?" Celyn ventured, seeking to break the ice. “I mean, obviously, that's where the train's going. You know what I mean though. The Aquatics camp?"

Luster's ears flicked back and forth and at length he nodded, just once. His heart was fluttering in his chest. What if he said something wrong? The stag's voice was soft and delicate and he spoke with a gentle lisp, lending him an almost effeminate, impish quality.

“So… what's your name?" Celyn pressed.

“Lus—Luster."

“Luster? Cool," Celyn cast an eye over him with a lopsided smile.

Luster's ears pinned themselves back to his skull. He didn't leave right away. Maybe all the other seats on the train are full… that must be it. I hope he'll put up with me, for some reason. Don't fuck it up…

“Well, it's nice to meet you, anyways. Do you mind if I stay here? I was sitting next to some crotchety old business crow back there, I think he'll peck my eyes out if I have to climb over him again."

Luster's lips twitched into a nervous smile. He felt a little surge of intrigue about the handsome stag. The unicorn nodded again and gave the stag a more obvious smile. Celyn relaxed visibly into his seat.

“Whew. Thanks. So, you enjoy swimming, huh?"

Luster shrugged slightly. “I guess so."

“Well of course, why else would you be going to an Aquatics Outreach camp? Unless you're going for the eye candy?" Celyn's grin was cheeky, and Luster felt his muzzle burning.

The stag wasn't wrong, on a level. Sure, Luster's parents might have arranged this trip for him, but the unicorn couldn't deny that the prospect of being surrounded by so many fit bodies piqued his curiosity—even as it sent his anxiety into overdrive. He'd never been in a situation like that before. He squirmed uncomfortably. Celyn was, he decided, almost certainly not straight. Bisexual, perhaps, although it was not Luster's place to judge. But his soft voice, his choice of attire, his friendly and subtly flirtatious demeanour gave Luster butterflies in his stomach.

“Hey Luster, I uh… I didn't mean to, you know, say too much. Sorry if it made you uncomfortable," he said, at length.

The unicorn's ears perked forward, and he turned to face the stag.

“It's fine," Luster replied. “I'm sorry. I'm just shy."

“You're sorry? What have you got to apologise for? I'm the one who barged into your space just now! Don't you worry about it at all. Hey, what kind of music are you into? Want to borrow an earbud?"

Luster felt his anxiety ebb and flow like waves crashing onto a beach; he shrank from Celyn's words at first, worried that he'd said something wrong, but then calmed when the stag held up an earbud towards him. Maybe the week ahead wasn't going to be so bad, if only he could stop himself from saying or doing anything stupid…

You're going to fuck it up, his anxiety screamed inside his head.

*

Celyn was silent for a long moment, worried that he'd crossed a line by invading the unicorn's space. He didn't want to seem pushy, but he was having a hard time keeping his curiosity to himself. He'd always had a particular attraction to stallions and, as far as he could see so far, Luster was the only Equid on the train who was obviously travelling to the Outreach camp. And he was a unicorn. Several euphemisms about the size of his horn occurred to Celyn, which he dutifully kept to himself. Luster seemed shy and unsure of himself, and Celyn didn't want to scare him off with such shallow vulgarities. The possibility of sharing a dorm room with him occurred to the stag, a prospect that caused him a tingle of excitement.

He was a handsome young stallion; his grey pelt was subtly dappled with splotches of lighter fur that were only apparent in sunlight, a similar colour to the silvery white of his mane. His fetlocks bore the characteristic feathering that suggested he had more than a little heavy draft Equid in his lineage. Celyn resolved to himself that he would stick to this unicorn as closely as he could for the week ahead, if he'd have him. Almost immediately the stag had felt a pang of empathy for the Equid, whose awkward shyness he could relate to, on a level.

The train rumbled southeast on the high-speed overland track for almost four hours. The softly undulating, densely wooded landscape east of Habury gave way with surprising suddenness to an intensively farmed coastal plain; mile after mile of vineyards, orchards, olive groves and greenhouses flew past the speeding train, interspersed with buildings constructed from the bright limestone bedrock of the region.

“Diligentia requirantus, viatores—nos larem ad nostrum Vinegress. Favore, colligentes substantiam tuaest, post tantum comitatum cessaveruntesti. Speramus frui via com Superterra Celeritus."

Celyn frowned, his ears swivelling, and turned to Luster. “Do you speak any Heladian? What did they say?"

“Attention passengers—we shall soon be arriving at Vinegress. For those disembarking, please collect your personal effects only once the train has come to a stop. Thank you for travelling with Overland Express."

Luster smiled and shrugged when, as soon as Celyn had spoken, the announcement was repeated in liltingly accented Scordomnan.

“You didn't tell me you were a ventriloquist!" Celyn laughed. “Wait, did I hear that right? The Heladian word for 'thanks' is something like spermus? Oh wow."

“What?" Luster tilted his head quizzically.

“Sperm?"

“Oh… haha!" Luster's laugh sounded forced, even to the unicorn's ears.

“Sorry, I have a dirty mind."

“N-no, no, it's fine. I'm just sleepy," Luster mumbled.

Luster momentarily wondered just how dirty the stag's mind was. His nostrils flared. Celyn was disarmingly casual… the unicorn had never met anyone like him. Was he trying to flirt? If he was, Luster felt oblivious to it. Was he missing signals? How would he respond if Celyn was being flirtatious?_ _Luster wrung his hands subtly in his lap.

The train jolted to a stop at Vinegress station. On the platform, Luster and Celyn could see several athletically-dressed people who were obviously there to meet the passengers bound for the Outreach camp. Even without their Imperial Athonian College uniforms, their demeanour was unmistakeable. The camp had begun a couple of days earlier for local participants, so those arriving on the train would be joining an already-established group.

Luster and Celyn were among the last to stand to leave the train. Celyn cast an eye over the unicorn as he stood, and smirked.

“You doin alright there, big guy?"

Luster nodded hurriedly, busying himself with making sure he had all his essential items—phone, wallet, passport, travel cards, entry voucher for the Outreach Program. All present and correct.

“Celyn!"

Both Luster and Celyn's ears must've perked in unison, because the young wolf who'd called out burst into peals of laughter.

“Hey Zain! We made it, huh?" Celyn replied as the wolf joined them, along with the otter he'd been sitting with on the train.

“Sure did. Hah, you ungulates are so funny when you prick your ears like that! Who's this? Hi, I'm Zain!" the wolf thrust himself between unicorn and stag and took Luster's hand in a firm grip.

“L—Luster, I…" Luster stammered, shrinking from the wolf's intensely extroverted nature like an erection in a cold shower.

“Luster? Huh! This is Vossler, we met on the train!"

The otter gave a quiet smile and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his muzzle. Luster shrank back from the trio. Zain was talking energetically to Celyn in his thick Forlasean accent, his back to Luster. The unicorn looked around the platform. Should he say something? Insert himself into the conversation? The thoughts jangled around in the unicorn's mind, and the moment passed. There were people everywhere, but the Outreach Program instructors each had a growing cluster around them. Luster began to make his way towards one of the groups. He was almost there when Celyn appeared alongside him again, catching his elbow.

“Hey! I'm sorry about that, he… I met Zain at the station in Habury and we got chatting."

“He's very energetic," Luster said, quietly.

“You can say that again. Hey uh, we should go sign in with the staff and get assigned to a dorm room! Would you be okay to share with me, perhaps? If we get the choice? I'd like to share with someone I know at least a little, and I think Zain and Vossler have already decided they want to share."

Celyn tugged Luster forward by his elbow towards one of the groups and, when prompted, presented his entry voucher and ID. Luster did likewise.

“H-how many people to a room?" Luster asked Celyn.

“Only two to a room!"

“Luster? Celyn? You two are in Quintus Canidius Building, Room 24. Zain? Hello! Vossler? Yes, good—you two are in Room 32 of the same building. Is that everyone now? Does everyone have a roommate and a dorm key?" the voice of the Outreach Program instructor cut through Luster and Celyn's conversation.

Celyn found himself with a keycard on a lanyard, which he comedically hung from one of his antler tines. A titter of laughter ran around the assembled group, which the stag seemed to relish.

Luster wasn't quite sure what to make of the knowledge that he'd be sharing a space with Celyn for a whole week after only meeting him for the first time a few hours beforehand. He'd known the accommodation was shared, though, and on balance he decided he was glad Celyn was his roommate. Sharing a room with Zain the wolf would've been a far more challenging prospect for the unicorn—Celyn seemed far quieter, and at least he knew him a little already.

A couple of small buses waited outside Vinegress station, baking in the near-midday glare of the twin suns. The College campus was only a short distance from the centre of town, a short drive up the coast, but it was a little too far to expect the out-of-town attendees to get to alone. The seats on the buses were a good bit narrower than those on the Overland Express. Luster seemed far more concerned about that than Celyn did; the stag seemed to have no problem whatsoever sitting close enough to the unicorn that their thighs were pressed tightly together. Luster focused as hard as he could on the scenery out the window. Anything to distract him from the warm firmness of Celyn's thigh, the stag's slender, toned body bouncing and jostling against his own as the bus negotiated steep and rough-surfaced roads, away from the centre of Vinegress and towards the glittering coast of the Mare Internum. It was a breathtakingly beautiful part of the world. Bright sunlight glinted from the azure ocean and, ahead of the convoy of buses, the Imperial Athonian College campus nestled atop a low coastal cliff. It looked ancient. Even from a distance, the colonnade that surrounded the complex looked like something straight out of a history book. It was a reminder, as if any was needed, that the Heladian Empire had once ruled the world, in the distant past, and before it, the Athonian Empire had sprawled from Bryctam Brynn—Celyn's ancestral home—to Sargon.

Luster was glad that the layers of historu in the view were so engaging. It allowed him to forget his anxiety for a few minutes, particularly about how he was going to manage the lack of privacy over the week ahead.

*

Celyn slotted the keycard he'd been given into the door of Room 24. Quintus Canidius was the name given to the dormitory building, one of three along the northern perimeter of the college campus. To the south sat the lecture halls, common areas, smaller faculty buildings—and a world-class aquatics centre. It boasted multiple pools both indoors and outdoors, a large and well-appointed locker and changing room with showers, and a variety of sporting and entertainment facilities. He and Luster had both been agog at the scale and quality of the place on their walk from the buses across the campus. Celyn seemed to be in his element.

“Oh wow, look at this place," he exclaimed as the door swung open. “How great would it be to come and study here?"

Luster stared at the stag, then in at the room they'd be sharing for the week to follow. It seemed nothing special, to the unicorn. It was small and utilitarian. Two identical single beds occupied opposite walls. Between them was a window that looked out over the glittering outdoor pool and the indoor facilities beyond. A simple chest of drawers, two cupboards and a tiny bathroom which was little more than a closet with a lavatory and a tiny, cramped-looking shower completed the space.

“This is gonna be great!" Celyn persisted, tossing his duffle bag onto the bunk closest to the bathroom. “Like a school camp, only fun!"

Luster deposited his luggage on the other. “It's uh… kinda small."

“Unlike your… horn, right? I hope they've got a swimsuit to fit you!"

Luster's ears burned. He could almost feel Celyn's cheeky grin. “Why would I wear a swimsuit on my head?"

Celyn was silent for a long moment. His smile evaporated slowly and Luster's heart sank. Had he completely ballsed that up? It sure seemed so.

Nice one, idiot, his anxiety jibed. He was making a joke, and you ruined it.

“Never mind. Come on, we should get down to orientation. They're giving out towels and swimwear and taking us through the activities."

With his stomach twisted into knots, Luster followed his roommate out of their shared room, and down towards the main aquatics hall.

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