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This story was written for Murashu. It contains intimate scenes between consenting adults, non-sexual violence and fantasy themes. :3

[center][b][u]New Lands, New Worlds[/u][/b][/center]

[b][u]Day One.[/u][/b]

They found him by the oasis.

They took him back to their camp. Dressed his wounds. Touched cool water to his parched lips. Rubbed oils into his flaking, sun-scorched skin, dark and bare, some portions coated with fine hairs but by no means coated in thermoregulating fur like theirs.

Murashu stayed by his side while the rest of the caravan went about their business, the aardwolf taking this time of quiet and solitude to consider many things, the presence of this strange creature only one of them. His only visitor during the day was Nisaba, bringing both him and the creature water, food, fresh linens to bind some of the more raw and open burns upon the male figure's flesh. Sometimes she departed almost immediately afterwards, simply leaning down to plant a single gentle kiss upon Murashu's muzzle, no words required to be shared between them. Occasionally however she would linger. Watching the furless form alongside his de-facto guardian. Observing his bare body where it lay and no doubt considering the same question that was running through Murashu's own mind.

Which of the worlds was he from?

At around sundown, a cry rang out from the edge of camp. Murashu departed the tent to go and investigate, and soon was helping practically the entirety of the caravan's population to drag a huge, unfamiliar object back into camp from where they had discovered it half buried in the sand several miles away.

It bore wheels, heavy, wooden with spokes of wrought iron. Upon its cart like base however there stood a vast arch of metal, intricately engraved with symbols and designs that resembled nothing Murashu had ever seen before. Of course, there was a great deal that no members of the caravan had ever seen before each time they ventured out into the Glimmer, so that wasn't entirely surprising. What was surprising however was how well preserved this object appeared to be. Hanging from the arch, heavy, pendulous but entirely intact, was a vast metal bell. A bell that swung as they moved it, and would have rang out with its peals for miles around had someone not already had the good sense to wrap the clapper in linen.

"Do you remember when the largest things we found were the size of stones?"

As Murashu walked back to the tent following the bell's safe relocation into the centre of camp, a canvas thrown over it to protect it from the elements as night drew closer and the winds picked up, swirling sand high into the air, Nisaba joined him. He nodded as she spoke, chuckling as they slipped through the flaps of the tent and set eyes upon their unconscious but very much living discovery once again.

"The glimmers grow with each passing year. But... whatever dangers may come through on occasion, I can't say I'm sad to learn more of these other worlds."

Nisaba nodded, the long haired and more lush-maned aardwolf moving over to the resting figure and placing a hand gently upon his chest, feeling it moving up and down as a heart thumped rhythmically within.

"No. I don't think any of us would be here if we didn't think the opportunities for discovery outweighed the risks. I just... I feel bad. All the things those worlds lose. And as the Glimmers get bigger on our side... they must be getting bigger there, too. Wherever [i]there[/i] may be. I mean... do you think that he came from the same world as the bell cart?"

Murashu placed a hand atop Nisaba's own, but drew it and hers away from the figure's dark and exposed skin soon after. He shook his head, guiding both himself and her towards the seat where he had rested for most of the day.

"If we let him rest, see if our medical care has proven adequate, maybe we will have the chance to ask him ourselves."

They both sat down in the seat, Nisaba first, with Murashu resting gently upon her lap. She stroked his hair, he leaned his head to hers, growling softly.

"He looks so much like us. In anatomy I mean. Two arms. Two legs. Sure he's a bit naked looking without fur, a bit odd that he has no muzzle. And no tail, but... there are plenty of animals that don't require a tail to balance and manoeuvre."

The male aardwolf chuckled at his companion's words.

"You said the same thing about the four legged creature which attacked us a few trips back. So much like us, except for the being on all fours, and the fluid filled egg sacs upon its back. And the jaw that unhooked, and the six rows of teeth dripping with saliva laden with enough bacteria to kill us with a single scratch..."

He smirked as he saw Nisaba pouting playfully though, and nuzzled against the side of her face.

"But, in this case I think... I hope your optimism may be a little more justified. Every Glimmer we've seen with constructed material coming through it, it's seemed like it was made for bipeds. For creatures with two legs. Arms. Opposable thumbs. And with construction so often comes intelligence."

Nisaba couldn't help but begin to grin herself, and even before she'd spoken Murashu knew what was coming. She stroked his hair and whispered playfully.

"There are exceptions to that rule of course."

He kissed her again, growling without the slightest shred of genuine malice.

"So mean. Why do I let you treat me like this?"

The female aardwolf's eyes sparked with teasing tenderness, and one of her hands ran all the way down from the back of Murashu's head to his shoulders, then down to the side of his furred torso, running over his flat, firm stomach before drifting towards the loose cloth shorts bound around his waist. She squeezed what lay beneath them, giggling as the male growled more deeply and intensely, then shot a nervous look towards the sleeping figure.

"A-ah. Okay. Good answer. But... mmh... maybe now isn't the best time. We're... I'm meant to be looking after him. No distractions."

Nisaba whispered into one of his ears, her voice low and sultry.

"Oh, am I distracting you?"

She squeezed again, and with her free hand lifted one of Murashu's own paws to her chest, pressing it against the cloth bindings which held her thankfully modest breasts in check while active during the day.

"Then please, by all means... focus on your work. Don't let me stop you."

Her muzzle was pressed gently to his even as she continued to speak, and its corners turned up in a gleeful smile as she felt Murashu's fingers beginning to tease her binder loose, freeing her breasts and beginning to toy with them. To stimulate and tease, just as she was doing to him.

They looked back to the bed upon which the figure remained asleep and peaceful in his recovery. They looked to one another, then to the flap of the tent in which they were resting. All day, Nisaba had been the only one to come in and check up on Murashu and his charge. Now, in the evening and when people were already heading to bed to avoid the nightly sandstorms, it was even less likely they would be disturbed.

Their eyes shifted location again, to the tent's other bed. Only designed for one. For Murashu to rest while still guarding the wounded figure. But still a bed. Still soft. Warm. A perfect place to lay themselves down together.

They rose from the chair.

Clothes were cast aside as they moved to the bed, tumbling down upon it laughing, growling, then moaning softly as they wrapped themselves up in one another.

Outside the tent, the nightly sandstorms drummed against the canvas. And through it all, the rattling of sand, the moans, gasps and cries of pleasure, the furless biped slept on. Recovering, and growing ever closer to consciousness once more.

[center]***********[/center]

[b][u]Day Two.[/u][/b]

In the early morning light, sun piercing through the tents' heavy canvas and illuminating everything with a gentle red glow, a figure stirred.

Not one of the two lying upon the tent's other bed, one lying half draped over the other, both sound asleep in their satisfaction, but the third figure. The one without fur. Without a tail to wag or perky, head-topped ears to twitch. The human male groaned as he broke from the unconsciousness that had claimed him more than a day ago, and after dragging in a deep breath through parched, dry lips, pulled himself upright where he lay. His eyes ached, his vision hazy, but he soon honed in on a vitally important object within the room. A broad, ceramic cup filled with clear liquid sitting upon a chest of some sort next to him. He wanted to grab it and drink it, to down the whole thing at once. Rational thought overcame instinct though, and he first dipped a couple of fingers into the liquid. Touched it between his fingers. Then to his cheek, before finally dabbing it against his lips and allowing the tip of his tongue to flick out and taste it.

It was water.

Clear, clean water.

A soft groan of wonder escaped his lips as he now grabbed the vessel and pressed it to his face urgently, gulping and choking as he sought to quench his thirst, spilling droplets in little rivulets down his chin and onto his chest.

Only when the bowl was empty did he set it down, gasping, huffing, shuddering in relief as colour seemed to come back to the world. He still felt rough as hell. Nauseous. Dizzy. But... he was here. He was hydrated, or at least on the way to being such. And above all else, he was alive.

Alive, despite what had happened.

His eyes bulged.

"Fuck."

He looked around again. At this tent. At the design of the various items within it. The weave of the bedding upon which he was lying. The thickness and sturdiness of the linen bandages wrapped around his aching, presumably heavily sun-burned skin. The design of the bowl from which he'd just taken a drink. So many things, so many signs that should have clued him in from the very first moment he was conscious. And then... then he saw them. They hadn't been hidden of course. Hadn't been disguised or camouflaged. Yet somehow it was only then, after nearly fifteen seconds of panicked observation, that the human set eyes upon the figures lying sprawled and naked together upon the tent's other bed.

"O-oh my... oh... fuck."

A hand slapped itself over his mouth, half to keep himself from screaming in shock, half to keep himself from vomiting in sheer stomach churning terror. For months now he and the rest of his team had been studying the strange and sometimes destructive phenomena which had sprung up in one of his home's major cities. A shining, flickering wormhole in the fabric of reality, impossible to all previously known science and yet now opening at random, jumping from place to place within a thirty mile radius, and swallowing up whatever it appeared around. At first it had only been tiny. Consuming a circle of brickwork from a building's wall. Then a car tyre. Little by little growing larger. Hungrier.

The only upside to be found from the phenomenon's more frequent and more noticeable appearances had been their ability to better track it. Observe it. Learn about it. The data they'd gathered in the last thirty days alone had been incredible, expanding the bounds of human scientific knowledge by decades with regard to quantum and particle physics, the relationship between time and space, even lending credence to theories regarding alternate realities. Not simply other worlds, but other universes overlapping with their one.

And therein lay the truth.

The terrifying, mind-bending truth that was now dawning upon the human male.

He had been out studying a build up of the same energy particles which had been found as a precursor to past rift openings. His team had been hard at work analysing the data, while he had been measuring it right from the source. It was a dangerous job of course, because there was no way of knowing beyond a sharp spike in readings [i]immediately[/i] prior to the rift's opening to announce when it would happen. But as the team leader, he felt obligated to not risk any of his people on a task he wasn't willing to volunteer for himself.

He recalled seeing the meter in his hand flashing. Then feeling a burning pain as it shorted out, almost melting the rubber of his hazard suit as it exploded within his grasp. He'd turned to run. To get out of range of the rift. But... it had been so large. Far larger than anything they'd encountered before.

He'd been tossed through the air. Into a reality between realities, of glimmering lights and strange impossible shapes of more than three dimensions.

Just as quickly though, he'd been dumped back to earth. Or rather, to the solid, three dimensional surface of somewhere. A desert. Burning hot. Scorching his flesh, his protective gear and the clothes beneath it so shredded and torn that it had been easier to move once they'd been cast aside.

He'd wandered for hours. Feeling the hot sun burning his flesh. Feeling his energy waning. His body dehydrating.

When finally night had come, he'd thought it a mercy. But when the sand had started to kick up into the air, blinding him, pummelling him with a hundred million tiny, granular fists, he'd dug himself a hollow in a more earthy patch of ground, scraping and wounding his bare hands, and finally falling into slumber.

The next day, when the heat returned, it had only taken a few hours for him to reach the edge of his physical limitations.

He recalled collapsing to his knees. He recalled laughing, rolling onto his back in the scorching hot sand, and almost wishing that he was on some alien world. At least that way, his death would mean something. At least that way he would go down in history, if only the history of his own mind, as the first living human to walk upon the sand of not simply another world... but a whole other universe.

Except, apparently he hadn't died.

Apparently he had been found.

Taken.

Helped, perhaps, considering the bandages upon his wounds and the water provided to him freely. And left in the care of... of whatever those creatures were. Bipedal. Fur covered. Possessing tails, and though not directly upon their bodies, clothes, scattered around the room.

His eyes widened, and he blushed slightly beneath his dark skin.

"Oh."

He couldn't help it, he averted his gaze and looked away slightly as one of the figures shifted and the one lying beneath them murmured a soft growl, wrapping their arms around the other creature. He found it embarrassing to realise why these creatures might be lying together, but at the same time the scientist still present as a huge part of his identity was fascinated. Had he arrived in a world where sex was not a cultural taboo? Had he been brought here not expected to wake up, so the creatures hadn't cared what and where they were conducting their private business? There were so many questions he had to ask, and though the ones regarding this pair's sexual practices were way, [i]way[/i] down on that list, he couldn't help but steal another few glances at their entwined, intimately arranged bodies as he dragged himself into a more comfortable sitting position.

"Um..."

He spoke a little louder than before, clearing his throat.

"Uh. H-hello? I... I'm awake."

One of the creatures stirred.

"Please don't be scared. Don't be alarmed. I... I'm not here to do anything harmful."

He spoke calmly and plainly, but didn't try to over-simplify. Until he knew who and what these creatures were, he dared not be so arrogant as to assume he was smarter than them. Before his eyes now both creatures were moving, slowly returning to the land of the waking world at his prompting.

"My name is Michael. Do you... can you understand the language I'm speaking?"

The two creatures suddenly tensed, and seemed to realise that the sounds they were hearing were not coming from them, nor indeed any other source nearby that might have made sense. Suddenly they sat bolt upright, scrambling off one another and dragging themselves to their feet. They turned and faced Michael, eyes bulging as they stared at the human sitting upon the edge of his bed, legs now resting over the side. They looked at each other nervously, then back at him. One of them, the male judging by the equipment hanging between his legs, spoke.

Michael sighed. Not surprised, but a little crestfallen. The language was entirely alien to him. Not a single syllable registered as coming from a root he was even remotely aware of, never mind having spoken. For maybe five seconds the creature spoke, then fell quiet. Both he and his female counterpart looked at Michael expectantly. The human shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I don't understand."

They looked at him, a little afraid yes, a little concerned, but mostly sorrowful themselves. They too shook their heads, and the female said something else equally unintelligible. Back and forth they attempted a few different simple forms of communication, but while some of the gist of what was being said was relatively easy, Michael soon realised the difficulty of the task at hand. Without any base reference, even the most simple of translations was deeply complex.

If he were to hold up the water bowl from which he'd drunk, it would make total sense for him to say '[i]bowl[/i]', and then to assume the two creatures before him knew that was what he meant. But in reality, they could just as easily assume the word he said was indicating that he had lifted something. Or that he was referring to the material from which the bowl was made. Or its shape. Or its colour. Weight. Texture.

"Murashu."

That word however, or rather, that word and the gesture that accompanied it most definitely hit the human hard. It sounded like a name. And the tapping of the chest as the furred male spoke that single word seemed to suggest it too.

"Murashu."

Michael pointed at the male. Both he and his female companion looked at one another, seemed to smile, and nodded back at the human. He pointed to the male again. Spoke his name, then gestured to the female.

She touched a hand to her bare chest, either too caught up in the moment to care or utterly unabashed by her nudity, and spoke a word of her own.

"Nisiba."

He pointed to her, spoke her name. Then to Murashu, and spoke his. They nodded more vigorously, and clutched at one another's hands. Together, with their free paws, they pointed to themselves, spoke their names, then pointed to Michael.

He touched his own chest, wincing at how sore the dark, flaking, sunburned flesh was to the touch, but persisting nonetheless.

"Michael. I am Michael."

Slowly the two creatures approached him, and he held his body as loose and relaxed as he could under the circumstances, letting them do so.

They held out their hands in front of them, getting closer and closer. The more they drew near, the more Michael was surprised by how familiar they looked. How much like some earth based animal he had seen before, not in person,but on wildlife documentaries and in a zoo once. A relative of the hyena. He couldn't quite place the name, but the resemblance was striking regardless. Beyond that though, his scientific curiosity was darting between a thousand different questions he wanted to answer. A thousand different terrifying and yet fascinating things he needed to know, now that he was in a world which seemed populated by sentient, intelligent bipedal mammals of its very own design.

All of that fell away though, disappearing for a few short moments as the two creatures' outstretched hands came to rest upon his chest, and they let him do the same to theirs with his own hands.

Each of them spoke his name, and he spoke theirs.

They smiled at him.

He smiled back.

And for just a moment, before the overwhelming shock caught up to him and he was forced to turn away and vomit, Michael was almost glad he'd been caught up in the rift.

[center]***********[/center]

[b][u]Day Nineteen.[/u][/b]

"My name is Michael. I am human. I am from another place. Through the Glimmers."

Murashu nodded, clapping without turning as he and Michael wandered over the lip of a dune on their latest salvage run.

"Good. Now tell me about the food you ate last night."

Michael remained silent for a few moments, then Murashu heard one of the words which the human let out in his own language when he was frustrated. The aardwolf turned upon the spot, still walking, and winced as the early afternoon sun caught his gaze where it shone over and just behind the furless figure's body. Michael shook his head, and said something in his own language before pausing and collecting his thoughts.

"I'm sorry. I didn't understand what you say. No. What you said."

Chuckling, Murashu held his hands up to show that he didn't mind. He tried again, slower, more simply.

"The food. The meal you ate last night."

He gestured, miming himself scooping something from a bowl or plate into his mouth.

"Tell me about it."

He pressed a finger to his lips, then pointed to his ears. Michael's brow furrowed for a moment beneath his short, tightly curled hair, then his eyes widened and he snapped his fingers.

"Ah! I... uh... I had meat. The animal we caught from yesterday's Glimmer. It tasted good. Like..."

He said a word in his own language. Murashu cocked his head.

"What is... cheek-en?"

Michael smiled, shrugging.

"Something we eat a lot. A bird. When people don't know how something tastes. They say it tastes like chicken."

His smile widened when he finished talking. Murashu beamed back at him. The human was incredibly fast at learning. It took him mere days to understand the Glimmers. How they worked. The job that Murashu, Nisaba and the rest of their caravan did collecting and cataloguing the various discoveries that fell into their world, sort of the opposite from what Michael had apparently done in his former world, studying what went missing. Once he learned their job, he was eager to join in with their daily expeditions. At first accompanying either one of them and their partner as a third observer, then simply venturing out alone with one of them. The caravan welcomed his help, and appreciated his efforts to fit in. They liked him. Murashu and Nisaba in particular however had an obvious soft spot for the human, having looked after him right from the start. Now though it was getting to the stage where he didn't need their help. He was picking up their language so quickly, and once he had that... well, a creature of his intellect could go a long way in their world.

"Murashu. Look. There."

Before the aardwolf could offer any of those compliments to Michael aloud however, he turned around as Michael suddenly began to point sharply over his shoulder. Sure enough, just rising into view as they crested the dune, was a Glimmer. A shining gateway between realities, like shattered glass just hanging, glimmering in the air. Several objects had already tumbled out of it, twisted lumps of organic plant matter that had been mangled by the glimmer's interior, several sprays of what looked like blood raining down upon the sand below. And then...

Again Michael cursed in his native tongue, more with awe than any dismay or anger this time around as a vast, intact tree came barrelling trunk first out of the rift and tumbled the thirty feet or so to the ground. It landed with a loud, heavy crack, and the trunk shattered in two. Before the tree's leafy branches could even clear the rift's flickering interior however, something else tumbled through the portal. A mass of black fur, sleek, powerful, and large enough that even from a distance of several hundred metres they could see was alive even after landing.

They began to run towards it, Michael tossing down the already heavy, scrap filled rucksack he'd been carrying onto the sand and leaving it to be picked up later. Right now speed was of the essence, and at the best of times he had trouble keeping up with the pace of Murashu as the aardwolf's broad, bare paws carried him effortlessly over the sand which Michael's own makeshift boots sank into with every step.

The closer they grew however, the more slow and steady their pace became when they realised that the creature had moved after its fall. It was no longer visible, and there were large, deep claw marks up the breadth of the fallen tree trunk. Murashu looked at Michael, and nodded as he saw the human's hand already moving towards the scavenged metal bladed axe upon his belt. The aardwolf drew forth his bow, notching an arrow within it. He didn't have time to raise it however before a large, dark shadow began to coalesce upon the tree trunk. Claws appeared already dug into where the vast scratch marks lay, and as the wild, monstrous creature that formed glared at the pair of males with each of its six emerald green eyes, it opened its horizontally aligned jaws and let loose a vicious, echoing roar.

"Run!"

Launching an arrow at the creature as it leapt at them, only for it to erupt into a cloud of black smoke and re-materialise with the arrow flying harmlessly past it, Murashu called out to Michael. It didn't matter though, for Michael was already running. Running forwards. Towards the aardwolf. Towards the beast. To defend him. To defend his friend from harm, regardless of whether that meant putting himself in danger.

The twelve foot long beast knocked Murashu to the ground with a wild snarl from both of them, and was just about to sink its teeth into the aardwolf's neck, claws already raking through his clothes and the flesh beneath, when it howled in pain and de-materialised once more. The smokey form vanished for a brief moment or two, the axe that had landed in its left flank dripping with thick blue ichor. It reappeared behind Michael however, and even as the human turned to face it, standing between the monster and the fallen, groaning form of Murashu, it readied itself for another deadly lunge.

A flash of bright, silvery light streaked through the air mere moments later, and the right side of the monster's face disappeared. Not in a puff of black smoke, but in a sudden, blinding burst of intense and potent arcane energy.

It collapsed to the floor, smoking, slowly but surely disassembling and falling into ash and mist and a whole lot more blue, haemocyanin laden blood.

Michael looked over, saw Nisaba standing at the crest of the dune near where he had dropped his pack, and smiled at her for a moment before rushing back to Murashu's side.

"You okay?"

He pulled up the shredded remains of Murashu's leather tunic, and was relieved to see that the cuts, while lengthy and numerous, weren't overly deep. The aardwolf grunted and snarled in pain as his wounds were touched by the human's hands, but he nodded and braced himself against the discomfort.

They rose to their feet again, Michael assisting Murashu in doing so just as Nisaba reached them. They embraced her together, but as Murashu licked his companion with gratitude upon the side of her face, Michael stepped back.

"Hey. Get back in here. I deserve some praise from you too, don't I?"

Nisaba spoke to the human with a raised eyebrow even as she continued to cuddle Murashu close, stroking the back of his head as he nuzzled into her neck. Michael just blushed, trying to find the words for about ten seconds before finally attempting to explain as best he could.

"It's not that I'm not grateful. I am. Every time I see one of you guys doing some magic... I still have to pinch myself. It's incredible. But, I just thought I'd give you guys a minute. After all... you're..."

He frowned, realising that in all the words he'd learned to describe parts of their culture, he hadn't yet learned much regarding their categorisations of relationships.

"Uh... bound to each other?"

He was trying to figure out some way to say married. Betrothed. But he didn't know the word, and that was as close as he could get. To his embarrassment though, both Nisaba and Murashu burst out laughing at that comment, so much so that Murashu winced, injured by the force of his own mirth.

"Fuck. I said something really weird again, didn't I?"

Nisaba shook her head, still holding onto Murashu even though he too was now regarding the human.

"No. We knew what you meant. It's just... you're talking as though because we are affectionate, that makes us somehow beholden to act that way only to each other."

Michael opened his muzzle ready to defend why he'd made that assumption, but soon realised he had no defence.

"Huh. I... fuck."

Murashu grinned, but he too looked curious as he stepped out of Nisaba's embrace, the front of her cloth binder stained with a few streaks of blood from upon his chest.

"In your world, if two people become intimate, is it expected they are intimate only with that one other person?"

Michael nodded.

"Yeah. I mean, not everyone believes that. There's... god, how do I say [i]that[/i] word. Uh... people with open hearts? People who love more than one. And you can have a more casual relationship where you see other people. But, society does tend to favour... single-pair relationships with its ceremonies."

The two aardwolves looked at him, then at each other, and laughed.

"How strange. Uh... no offense."

He grinned at Nisaba as she blushed slightly beneath her fur, shaking his head.

"None taken. I actually think it's kind of cool."

Murashu snorted with laughter, and in mock jealously put an arm around Nisaba's shoulders. He gasped in pain when she elbowed him ever so gently in his wounded chest, but they both laughed as Michael's face burned crimson beneath his rich brown skin.

"I... I mean... not like that. Not you guys. Just... in general, and..."

He went back to cursing in his own language, and Nisaba stepped forward, away from the aardwolf male and towards the human. She plucked one of his hands from his sides, lacing its smooth, furless fingers through her own, and pointed towards the tree.

"Come on. Lets go take some samples, then we can get Murashu back to the camp for some rehab before we head home."

Both Michael and Murashu's eyes widened slightly at the last part of that sentence, and Nisaba grinned.

"What, you think I just came out here for the fun of it? No. We got a messenger from the city. A new auction date has been set, so we need to get all our finds back so they can be studied and catalogued before then."

She released Michael's hand and began to do the two males' work for them, starting to peel some bark off the fallen, extra-terrestrial tree, moving up towards its branches and looking for any seeds, fruits or even twigs that might be viable for use as a cutting from which to grow a new tree of the same kind.

The human male just stood and stared out ahead of him though, and did so until Murashu stepped in close by.

"Don't be afraid, my friend. You were welcomed here. You'll be welcomed in the city, too. More so, I dare say, once they realise how smart you are."

Michael looked to him, then back towards the direction of the caravan, the only [i]home[/i] he had known in the last few weeks. The idea of trading that in for somewhere larger, possibly much, much larger, was a little terrifying. And yet in the back of his mind, just as he had when he first volunteered to go out on an expedition with Murashu in order to continue learning their language through exposure, his scientific curiosity was piqued once again.

"I hope so. But... don't worry. I'm not scared. I know... I trust, that whatever happens... you two will look after me. And I will do whatever I can to earn that kindness."

Nisaba broke the warmth and tenderness of that moment with a loud grunt, and fell back onto her rear from the tree, clutching a large, melon-sized fruit that was purple and yellow in disordered spots. She winced, setting the fruit down and scrambling to her feet, staring at the two men expectantly.

"Well great. You can start by giving me a hand."

Michael blushed, nodded immediately, and rushed back to grab his bag of salvage.

He wanted to do everything he could to help his new companions. And if indeed the caravan was going to be packed up and on the move soon, he suspected that hard work would be in abundant supply in days to come.

[center]***********[/center]

[b][u]Day Forty-Seven[/u][/b]

Michael watched as those who wielded magic soared overhead, some alone, others with arms outstretched, guiding and aiding in the flight of others who wished to get to their destination a little faster. He paused in his casual walk home however, stopped upon one of the city streets near the verdant, almost jungle like central park, and in the shade of one of the seven Spires grinned as he was approached by a mother and child. The child had heard about him in the daily messenger updates. The man from another world. The friend to the Glimmer Walkers, those who recovered precious treasures from the barren wastes to allow those here in the great city to study and learn and hopefully make the lives of all the rest of the population a little more comfortable and safe than they already were.

The child, feline looking and striped like a tiger only much more lithe, raced around the human's feet as his mother thanked him for stopping and talking. Michael simply and happily chatted with her for a few more minutes before bidding them farewell and proceeding on his way. Twice more he got stopped and spoken to, asked about his world, how it worked without magic users and what he meant when he spoke of [i]cars[/i] and internal combustion, but he was glad to talk to those people. To meet them. To share a little with them, just as he had come to learn that so many in this world loved to share their knowledge, experiences and stories.

Eventually of course he did make it home. Or rather, to Nisaba's home, just a few streets away from the similarly designed property in which Murashu lived. He opened the door, it was unlocked just as he knew it would be, and stepped inside.

"Oh. Hey guys."

He blushed a little, but didn't react with any meaningful surprise as he saw Nisaba pinned against one wall of the main living space of the small, dome-roofed dwelling. She had a focused, deliriously happy look upon her face, and whimpered to him in greeting as Murashu pressed firmly, insistently against her from behind.

Setting down his bag of papers upon a nearby table, the latest batch of research notes he had been writing from memory based on all that he had learned from the scientific community of his previous world, Michael wandered out of the main room and into the kitchen space. He was pouring himself a glass of water from the hand-pump set into the wall when a loud, keening whine of ecstasy rang out through the house, followed by a sharp yelp from Murashu. A couple of minutes later the two aardwolves strolled into the kitchen, nude and still visibly aroused from their actions, and proceeded to casually ask Michael about his day.

He told them, and they told him about theirs in return. Flush with the profits of their latest share of the auction haul, many of the caravan's members weren't doing much in the way of [i]work[/i] right now, preferring simply to enjoy themselves until the next expedition was scheduled to leave in a couple of weeks. They however kept in regular touch with many of their buyers, putting together lists of particular salvage items for the whole expedition crew to look out for and earning themselves a few extra percentage points of the total profits if they were found. It was a lucrative job, but it did mean they had erratic schedules. Sometimes meeting multiple clients a day, other times left with long, balmy city afternoons in which to do nothing but... well, [i]entertain[/i] themselves in whatever way presented itself.

Murashu stayed for dinner, which they all ate heartily amidst the male aardwolf's frequent jokes.

"Mmmh... tastes like chicken."

Of course, the vegetable and noodle dish they were eating tasted absolutely nothing like chicken, but Murashu loved to say that to Michael, and indeed to anyone who'd listen before explaining about the strange, mythical beast the '[i]chicken[/i]', which tasted like all foods at the same time. It still made Michael laugh too of course, and between that and how crazy it drove Nisaba, barely a meal passed with the three of them together where it wasn't mentioned at least a couple of times.

Following dinner, Murashu said his farewells, gathered his clothes and departed for home. Nisaba and Michael spoke for a while longer, before each retiring to their bedroom to get a little last minute work done before bed. After all, they each had the day off tomorrow, so they wanted to make sure they could spend every last minute of it without worrying about work.

And sure enough...

[center]***********[/center]

[b][u]Day Forty-Eight.[/u][/b]

The northern light of dawn shining in through the windows, and the sound of countless wild birds cawing and chirping in the canopy of colossal, ancient trees that rose high above the city's tallest spires combined woke Michael up early. And indeed, he wasn't alone in rising so fresh and eager to start the day.

He awoke erect, and sought to remedy the situation as he so often had in his prior world and indeed this one.

Except... merely a few minutes in, taking things slow, pacing himself with leisurely strokes, he felt a shadow pass over him. Standing in the bedroom door was Nisaba. She was naked, as she always was at home, but today there was something different about her.

Michael stopped touching himself.

"Did I... did I wake you?"

He didn't think he'd been loud. He never was normally. Regardless, the aardwolf shook her head.

"No. I was already awake. But... I've heard you before."

She gestured to her sharp ears. Michael's blush deepened.

"And this morning, I didn't want to just listen, and share from a distance..."

She stepped into the room. Towards the bed. She grabbed at one corner of the soft, light linen sheets, and pulled them off of the human male's dark skinned body. He groaned in a mix of embarrassment and desire.

"In your world, you said that people are normally with just one person. Does... does that mean you would be upset, you would sad, if I was with Murashu, or other friends, and you?"

Michael shook his head.

"I... t-this... this is my world now."

He watched as Nisaba shuffled herself onto the bed with him. As she crawled up to straddle him. And reached down between her spread legs, grasping at his manhood. He tensed. Gasped. She smiled.

"That wasn't what I asked."

He shuddered, feeling her already moving down. Pressing herself against him. Waiting, tortuously waiting to feel himself sliding in. He shook his head again, gasping in desire.

"I am happy to see you and Murashu together. And... a-ah... it makes me glad to know there are others who make you happy. But..."

She pressed herself a little more intimately close to him. He moaned. She growled happily.

"But?"

Helplessly, uncontrollably, he grasped at Nisaba's beautiful body with trembling hands, and lifted his hips up off the bed, thrusting sharply, firmly up into her. She screamed in pleasure, and he cried out in joyous relief.

"But... [i]yes[/i]! I... I want to share myself with you, too. To see all the new lands of this place. To study all the treasures of this and the other new worlds. But, more than anything else... I... I just want to feel, to share, to... to [i]know[/i] you."

By Jeeves

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