New Normal

Author's Note:

Quite a bit later than I wanted, but such is life, especially when people are busy.

I've unfortunately been bouncing around between a few projects, so not sure if I'll get anything out on the 15th (or if this will even be up by then), but I'll try.

Enjoy!

Tags up front:

oni, magic, fantasy, harem, nonhuman

Dinner was... weird.

I don't mean that the food was unusual - it was, Xeria isn't Earth, after all - or that the meal itself was somehow different than it should have been - buffet-style, like breakfast, and I'd had a few too many Chinese buffet dinners to call

that

weird.

No, what was weird was how I felt like I was 'meeting the family,' only everyone here also seemed to want to fuck me. And none of the women here were related to each other, let alone parents. Although those two satyrs across the room looked fairly twin-like...

Anyways. The regular, significant glances being sent my way as I sat down at an unoccupied table with Rhaliyah, Kukyu, and Stheskiths, by about every woman in the room, suggested not a passive-aggressive, 'is he treating her well?' and rather an interested, 'I wonder if he'll fuck me too?'

If you think that I was just imagining it, then you've clearly never had a Blessing from a love Goddess. Similar to how I

knew

that my refractory period was basically non-existent now, or had what seemed like a mental guiding hand to how to treat my partners during sex, there was this bizarre sixth sense in the back of my brain cheerily informing me that nearly every pair of eyes that lingered on me for longer than a second was interested in sex. With me.

And no, that was not a major ego-boost (well, not at first). It was like walking into class 5 minutes late and having everyone stop what they were doing, turn, and stare at you. Despite the fact that there were no overt pauses, no distracting turns, and no judgemental stares, I literally felt it every time someone looked at me with lascivious interest.

Despite the discomfiting attention, the simple knowledge that practically every woman in the room wanted to have a tumble in the sack with me did manage to make - and keep - me hard as a fucking rock all through the meal. And even as I grumbled silently in irritation to myself, I also fought off fantasies of informing my dinner companions of my plight, and of one or two of them crawling under the table and lavishing my cock with their wonderful attentions...

God dammit. Or, wait... gods dammit? Divines dammit? Whatever. Sometimes I swear, imaginations are a curse.

"Someone seems rather tense," a sultry voice purred in my ear as arms looped over my shoulders and a pair of soft tits pressed against my back.

I jumped, surprised, and turned to glare at Di'ia, who's face had appeared over my shoulder. "Not helpful," I grumbled.

The Kitsune hummed her amusement, then sauntered towards the buffet tables, her hips and tail swinging far more than they really needed to. And if I did watch for a few - long - moments, well, who could blame me? I'd never really been an ass guy, but maybe it was that tail?

Wait. That brought a whole new meaning to 'getting some tail.'

"Aaron!" Rhaliyah all but shouted. As though she'd called my name several times.

A second jump in half as many minutes. "Wh-what?" I stammered.

The Elfess' eyes darted sideways towards Di'ia for a moment before turning back at me. "As enticing as Di'ia's butt is, your food will get cold if you keep staring," she said, a lopsided smirk forming on her lips.

My face burned as I ducked my head and silently began eating, too embarrassed to say anything. How the hell - was there even a hell in Xerian mythology? - anyways, how the

fuck

was it that one minute I could take control of a situation, like with Rhaliyah and Di'ia back in my quarters, but then the rest of the time I was... well, me? Practically timid. A minute later, I shivered as a tail flirtatiously caressed my back, and Di'ia sat on my left, her soft curves sandwiching me between Kukyu's hard body, who sat across from Stheskiths, while Rhaliyah sat across from me. The Kitsune playfully bumped my shoulder, her tail coming to rest around my waist and on the bench, then began to eat her own meal.

I

felt

someone's gaze to my right, and turned my head slightly, peering around Kukyu's back. A petite woman with wings for arms and plumage for hair was gazing at me from between her table companions. When she caught me looking at her, she smirked, and shifted in her seat enough that her robe pulled tight over her petite chest, revealing the hard points of her nipples even from a few dozen feet away. With a lascivious wink, she went back to her meal - I blinked several times in shock upon realizing that her legs were long and flexible enough to use as hands, despite her being seated.

Another gaze came from between Rhaliyah and Stheskiths - this time one of the 'tauric' women, a Dryad. I think... I racked my brain, trying to recall that conversation with Gladra earlier that morning, though it felt like half a lifetime ago already. Dyal? I think that was her name. When she saw me returning her look, she beamed at me, and straightened slightly from her... seat? The deer half of her body was laying down, legs curled under her, but she was still tall enough to 'sit' at the table like any of us bipeds. Anyways, she straightened up slightly, smiling as she returned to her meal. Even that relatively innocent interaction made my dick harder. Not surprising, given that simply being stared at let me know that she wanted to fuck me. Or be fucked by me.

Thanks

, Au'rea.

I resolutely kept my gaze confined to my own table from then on, though it barely helped - anyone who's had lewd thoughts that got them all hot and aroused would understand that the mere inaction of not meeting the gaze of my... admirers wouldn't help much.

Then I felt a gaze directly from my right. I looked up at Kyuku, who grinned, glanced significantly downwards, then met my eyes. "Getting yourself into trouble, Aaron?"

I looked back at my food. "More like Au'rea's getting me into it," I grumbled. When, after a moment, Kyuku's gaze didn't go away, I frowned up at the Oni, then saw she looked confused. Right, nobody else would know how this damn Blessing worked. I sighed. "I can... well,

feel

when someone's looking at me with... let's just say

interest

."

If anything, her confusion just grew. "That sounds

useful

, Aaron, not bad," she said with a raised eyebrow.

I frowned back at her. "Useful?" I mirrored her significant glance down towards my lap, then back up at her. "You mind explaining how, exactly, walking around with a hard-on from all the...

attention

is supposed to be useful?"

The Oni laughed in exasperation. "Because you know who to ask to satisfy the 'problem.'"

I blinked. "You..."

A soft pair of breasts pressed into my side, and Di'ia's tail wrapped tighter around my hips. "It seems," she all but purred in my ear, "that you forgot where you are, Aaron. Remember what you were told earlier today? Nobody here would even

think

about trying to keep you for themselves - at least, nobody aside from potentially Rhaliyah, but she's already proven that's not the case. And if they're looking at you and you get that

feeling

of yours, it almost certainly means they wouldn't mind if you asked... or that they may ask in the near future."

I froze up, feeling like a deer in headlights. I numbly looked across the table at Rhaliyah, who rolled her eyes, an amused smile lighting up her face. "You

do

remember what we talked about before running you ragged today, right? And I've sheltered here enough times over the years that even

I

, a relative outsider to the Disciples of Au'rea, know that what Di'ia says is true. The only thing stopping you is you yourself."

I stared at the Elfess for a moment, then looked down at the table in thought, before returning to my food, mindlessly eating while my brain spun. The problem here, I realized, was that I was torn between two conflicting parts of myself. On the one hand, I had just over two decades of socialization in a relatively conservative culture (at least when it came to sex and relationships); a culture that demanded monogamy and sexual exclusivity by default. On the other hand, I wanted, and was now immersed, in a culture that celebrated and encouraged non-monogamy, open relationships, and that valued sex in pretty much any form. My nature and current environment were fighting with the way I'd been raised.

And there I was, stuck in the middle because I wouldn't bring myself to make that final push - at least, not for any longer than an hour or so. It wasn't that I didn't believe Rhaliyah, Di'ia, or Kyuku, I just... I suppose I was afraid. Humans are, by nature, afraid of change, and while I always tended to be in favor of adapting as needed (after all, adaptation is how species survive and avoid going extinct), that was different than challenging years of what was effectively cultural indoctrination.

I found myself thinking in ever-unhelpful loops: since I was in a culture where it was acceptable and encouraged, and I wanted it too, why not practice polyamory and casual sex? But then, what if I screwed it up somehow; what if I gave someone too much attention, or developed deeper feelings for someone who I had was supposedly 'casual' with? Though, that was the point, right? Fall in love with who and however many people I happened to? But, what if, in doing so, I neglected my earlier partners? It wasn't like I had infinite time to spend , and relationships always take time and effort to build and maintain. But then...

I suddenly realized what I was doing.

Stop it,

I reprimanded myself. I knew that sort of circular thinking would never get anywhere. I'd already thought of all the problems at least once, I'd already considered all of the benefits I could think of at least once; going over them again was just going to drive me mad, and I would never come to a decision.

So, I had a choice to make, and really, it wasn't even a choice: I either embrace my new reality where I could partake in what I wanted, with the people and number of people that I wanted; or I could resist what had already been determined to be what I did want - and what was the status quo in Xeria. Again, there wasn't really a choice.

Of course, making a choice and acting on it were two completely different things. And I still had doubts, worries. But as they say, 'there's no time like the present.' Right? I found my gaze had slid up to Rhaliyah, who was talking with someone at another table off to the side. After a moment, she seemed to notice me, because she looked over, gave me a small, reassuring smile, then resumed her conversation. And somehow, from that brief, all of two-second interaction, I knew that I wasn't going to mess up. At least, not this time.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, I turned to Kyuku, who noticed my attention almost instantly and turned to me with a curious look. Before my nerves got the better of me, I asked, "Would you like to... have some one-on-one time after dinner?"

The Oni got an amused smile. "You mean right now?" she asked in a teasing voice.

I blinked, then looked down at the table... she was right, both of our plates were picked clean. "Unless you're still hungry," Kyuku continued, her voice still amused, but I could sense the sincerity of her sentiment.

I thought for a moment, then shook my head. "If you're done, I'm full," I said with a small smile, which I actively fought to keep from becoming shy or embarrassed. I was going to be confident in my decision, damnit!

Kyuku grinned. "Lead the way," she said, standing from the table and stretching, though whether it was out of a real need or just for my benefit - I think I mentioned before that her muscles were enticingly toned, despite her massive body - I wasn't sure.

I stood as well, but was brought to a halt and a jump when Di'ia smacked my butt. "Go get her!" the Kitsune purred, turning back to the table after a sly grin at me.

With an irked frown, I was about to just walk away when I got a flash of Au'rean inspiration. I took a step closer to Di'ia, standing over and behind her, and slid my hand through her hair at the back of her head. Just as she started to turn, a question on her lips, I made a fist, grabbing a handful of her hair and gently arching her head back. Even as she gave an aroused gasp, I slid my free hand down the front of her robe, cupping one of her tits, and pinched her nipple between my thumb and forefinger, while I leaned over and hungrily kissed her. I grinned when I felt her tail wind around my leg, then broke the kiss and whispered into her ear, "Behave yourself, and I might get

you

next." Then, with a kiss to the top of her head, I released my grip on the now-horny Kitsune and walked away, leading a laughing Kyuku to my quarters.

It was only once we were there and I turned to look at Kyuku that I came to a mental halt at a startling realization: she was, as I had guessed back at the hotspring, pushing 7'6" tall, while I wasn't quite six-foot. And unlike what I pictured when I thought of 'tall person' - as in tall but lanky, with almost spindly limbs - Kyuku was more built like a MMA fighter. Yes, her sheer size was intimidating, but it also brought a secondary consideration to mind: if her overall mass was an Oni thing rather than just a Kyuku thing, that probably meant that Oni males were even larger... and probably had even bigger dicks.

Kyuku chuckled at my sudden hesitation. "Second thoughts?" she asked.

I started to blush again. "Er, yes, but not in the way you're probably thinking." She arched an eyebrow questioningly at me. "Well, it just sort of clicked that... well, you're a lot bigger than I am. And I'm not really sure that... well, I don't know if I'll be able to..."

Kyuku huffing a quiet laugh brought me to another pause. "You silly men," she chided playfully. "Always thinking with your dicks." I made to protest, but my mouth just hung open silently when I realized that she was basically right - though I was thinking

about

my dick, not with it. "So, yes," she continued, "on average, Oni men have bigger pricks than humans - or a lot of other races, at that - but there's two things. One: it's not all about the cock. Two:

on average

. Oni are bigger than humans, sure, but we're not even twice your size! And unless things are very different where you come from, the human range of dick size goes large enough to easily match the Oni average." She grinned. "Oni aren't Centaurs!"

I was thoroughly blushing now, but I managed to keep from worrying with my hands and bashfully looking down at my feet. "Okay, so... uh, how do you want to..." I trailed off uncertainly.

My Oni guest snorted. "Well, your Blessing lets you know who wants to fuck you; does it tell you how to fuck them?"

I almost slapped myself. Right, yeah, the thing I had been thinking about earlier, of course, why hadn't I thought of that when it became pertinent? Once I was done kicking myself, I thought for a long moment, trying to... I didn't even know. 'What does Kyuku like,' I wondered. 'How would she want to fuck?'

Nothing. That's helpful. Then it occurred to me. I hadn't been

concentrating

on the others when I had been with them. It just... happened. Which was... maybe actually worse, once I thought of it; how the

hell

do you stop thinking about something once you realize you have to stop thinking about it?

Just as I was about to start panicking, Kyuku interrupted my off-rails train-of-thought by gently grabbing me by the shoulders while laughing, saying, "You think too much, Aaron Wells." The grin she was giving me must have kick-started the Blessing, because at that instant, I suddenly knew.

The Oni had leaned over just enough that going up on tiptoes put me at the perfect height to kiss her, right on the lips. The surprise on her face when I pulled away was totally worth the moment of panic.

"Yes," I said, a smile pulling the corners of my lips up. "The Blessing

does

tell me that."

The surprise was washed from Kyuku's face with a wave of lust. Grinning, stripped off her robe before tossing herself backwards onto my bed, where she propped herself up on her elbows. "Well then, let's get to it."

Needing no further invitation, I stepped forward, then knelt down beside the bed. Apparently, it wasn't just sex, but any intimacy, because I knew that Kyuku was

dying

for a relaxing massage, all over her body. And again, while muscles had never really done it for me before, I would be lying if I said I wasn't eager to get my hands all over this toned and fit Oni.

I started at her bare feet, which were just barely hanging over the edge of the bed. A class in high school had a small section on giving massages - all about the health benefits, not only of the physical act, but the relaxation too - and while it had been a few years, I still remembered the jist of it. I kneaded Kyuku's feet firmly, a happy smile splitting my lips at her contented sigh, and the way she simply relaxed back and went limp. I only spent about twenty seconds on each of her feet before moving onto her calves. Another twenty seconds each, then up to her thick and powerful thighs. As I moved up her legs, Kyuku propped them up or twisted them around, so that I could get all around every bit of them.

Then, reaching her hips, I guided the Oni's legs flat onto bed and gently straddled her. My hands went to the outside of her hips and I massaged inward. "You missed a bit," she playfully complained.

I grinned in response. "I'm saving the best for last," I replied, teasing her by allowing my thumbs to slide down the crease between her thighs and her pubis. But only once, before I moved back up towards her belly, much to her frustration if the groan was anything to go by.

I kept moving up the front of her body, bit by bit, and skipped over her large, though slight breasts. It was so weird seeing boobs that were

huge

in simple mass, and yet were rather small on the big Oni's bulk, maybe proportionately a B-cup. Kyuku grumbled unintelligibly when I skipped over her tits, but when I simply leaned over and blew gently at her nipples, she shivered and went eagerly quiet.

Her face was last, and as I massaged with careful firmness, I took in her beautifully handsome complexion. She wasn't pretty or gorgeous in the sense that no modeling agency on Earth would be likely to hire her, but she was certainly attractive. Unlike the fine, round features of Di'ia or Rhailyah's faces, Kyuku had larger-boned, firmer features; a more square or boxy face.

As I finished massaging her face, my hands, which were up at her forehead, were drawn to her horns. They were fairly slender, maybe about an inch in diameter, and gently curved back while tapering to a rounded point over their four-inch length.

The moment my fingers touched them, Kyuku's eyes slid open a sliver, and a shiver ran through her whole body. I paused, meeting her gaze, then slowly continued my exploratory touch. Another shiver wracked her body, accompanied by a tiny whimper.

I grinned again, teasingly. "Sensitive?"

The Oni bit her lip. "Yes."

"Do you want me to stop?'

"Au'rea's tits, don't you dare," she growled, then gasped and moaned as I continued to gently rub her horns. I kept up the gentle touch for almost a minute, and was positively delighted when I discovered that making circles around the tips caused Kyuku to practically vibrate in pleasure.

After a minute or two of focusing on the Oni's horns, I eased off, trailing my hands down the sides of her face, around the edges of her ears, and down onto her shoulders. A moment's sigh later, Kyuku opened her eyes lazily, and we smiled at each other. "Roll over and I'll get your back?" I suggested.