The locals didn't have a name for the place. They just called it "planet", or the general translation of the word, in common speak.
I called it 'Venus'. Mostly because of all the sex going on all the time.
When I first arrived, I really couldn't get over how much was going on, out in the open, between all the creatures. Race and species didn't seem to matter. I figured there must be a population problem, or a boom, or both. You could barely walk or take a transport from point A to point B without stumbling upon two beings going at it with wild abandon.
Most people, unless they fancied watching, just went about their business after a simple note. I mean – it was rude to *step* on people or get in their way or interrupt them when they were concentrating on what they were doing. And of course, the golden rule applied.
As an apothecary, I'd come to Venus because the need for my trade in a lot of the known territories had waned. Plus, I'd really wanted to connect to some of the more diverse races and creeds out there, and their interminglings and the hows and whys of them coming together. Plus, I had an adventurous spirit and an open mind. Something in short supply in the core systems.
I set up my residence/shop inside an absolutely huge hollowed-out tree – one which had the characteristics of red Oak. There was more than enough space for three whole floors, once I'd set up the cellar area to hold my various potions, salves, and ingredients I'd brought with me. The second and main floor I made as a simple shop/workroom, with a door to a hidden garden/backyard. Upstairs was my private space – my bedroom. With a small window I could use to see out to the fields beyond.
The main village wasn't far from my shop – but I'd made sure to travel for a long, long way after arriving at the drop-port. Drop-ports were notorious hang-out spots for sex tourists and photographers. The 'real' Venusians (as I called them now) lived out in the country. In the wild, so to speak. Mixed together in their homes.
The Centaurs. The Baurians. The Geldars - many... many Geldars. Elgens with their wide, plush wings and then the thick-skinned Ursid-like Taurans, whose young were born postively enormous. Others that were crosses, and some off-worlders that were staying for long periods that I didn't even know the names of the races of. They all came, loved, stayed, or left. Everybody seemed to get along very nicely.
I loved the place right away. My first... 'customer'... so to speak, was a tiny plump-looking Geldar named 'Celia'. I was barely finished setting up my upper floor bedroom in the tree, on a fine sunny warm day, when I heard a gentle coughing from down below on the first floor. Never one to really worry about an 'intruder' or 'thief'... I simply coughed back, to indicate my presence, then stuck my head down the ladder hole.
"Hello." I smiled.
As if taken by surprise by the sudden appearance of my upside-down head, the female turned her enlongated head to me with a start and her eyes widened. The locks of her mane on the back of her slightly longer than human-sized neck flopped over to the other side, and then she raised a hand to her chest.
"Oh! Mis... Mister... Uh... Apothecary.." Her breath came up and her large rounded breasts heaved a bit.
"Heheh. Sorry. Hi. Name is Jace." I glanced about, as if surprised I was upside down. "Hang on a second." I then looked back at her – noting her appearance in more detail. She was hardly wearing anything – a shirt which hung off her rounded breasts and touched the top of a bit of a distended belly.
{ Hmph. Maybe pregnant, } I thought as I pulled up my head from the hole and swung myself around, before dropping my legs to the rungs and quickly sliding down. I turned around with the same smile on my face – to see she hadn't moved one iota from before.
"Now... what can I do for you?"
"Um... Mr... Jace... sir..", she blushed for a moment, then laughed in nervousness. "Sorry... I've never met an apothecary before."
I glanced up and down at her. { Yep, definitely pregnant. } "I've never met a pregnant Geldar before either. What's your name?" I said, offering my outstretched arm and hand."
She held out her own, which had a tuft of hair right above the wrist. When she gripped my hand, I was suddenly overcome with the amazing feeling of the softness of the skin of her palm. "I'm Celia."
My face couldn't help but flush a bit at the feeling of her hand – it was uncanny.
"Uh...well... Celia. What can I do for you today?"
She lifted her shirt with no hesitation, exposing her full, round right breast. The areola was large, but the nipple was flat against it. My face didn't redden much at that – I'd seen many naked creatures and indulged in many sexual situations. I simply smiled.
"This one is normal," she smiled.
"Very nice." I said nonchalantly.
"Thank you." She countered.
She lifted up the other side of her shirt, showing the left breast. It looked pretty much like the right one, except the nipple itself was slightly distended – as if it were puckered the wrong way.
"Oooh. I see." I said. "Inverted. Mmmm."
"Yes." She said. "Or... something like that. I need something to help bring it out. When they're hard and I'm hot.. it looks weird."
"Does it hurt then?"
"No.. just looks weird."
"Mmmph." I frowned. "If it doesn't hurt... not sure there's anything wrong..."
Celia frowned. "Well... I just... don't like it."
"What does your partner think?" I asked.
"My.. partner? Oh... you mean..," she looked down to her distended belly. "Oh.. heh. The little one... is mine. I asked a friend to help me... but... I have many... partners." She smiled.
"Ah. I see." I smiled warmly back at her. "As is the case with much of the locals... I'm learning."
"Yes," she smiled coyly. "Do you think you can help me then?"
"Well...." I answered, feeling sheepish as I turned around. "Let's see...."
I started to think about what I could use on her nipples to help ease the skin tone... or to bring out a new pattern in the cell form. Or even to reinforce it once it had been brought out. I tapped my chin for a moment. Then I looked back at her.
