Avfriar of Elios

Chapter 1

"Miss Palatoa?"

Kav was staring off into space and didn't even notice that her professor was calling her name. Her elbow was propped up on the armrest of her seat and her cheek rested on her hand. She looked as bored and distracted as she felt.

"Miss Palatoa!" the professor repeated.

Kav just sat there as her fellow students either laughed at her or shook their heads with disdain. She was totally zoned out and paid zero attention to any of it.

The professor walked toward her finally and stood with an angry glare directly in the path of her vision. Kav realized she had done it again, she had gotten lost in her own head. This was hardly the first time that had happened. The tall, slender woman glared down at her with a cold look. Her dark hair was pulled back tightly into a bun at the base of her skull and she wore thin-framed glasses. She was the typical crone of a teacher, and seemed to have it in for the young Kav lately.

"Uh, sorry Ms. Aernor," Kav said, straightening in her seat.

The professor raised an eyebrow at the girl, and her glare said more than any words she would be able to conjure up. She sighed and returned to the front of the lecture hall. Kav stared at her from behind, trying to avoid any eye contact with the other students. Her perfectly ironed business suit barely moved as the older woman strode back to the giant transdisplay at the far end of the room.

"If there are no more interruptions," Ms. Aernor said, her voice edged with a smug confidence, "we can continue our discussion of cross-species anatomy."

Is that what she had been talking about?

Kav thought. She was honestly surprised that her attention wasn't rapt to the subject, in that case. This was the class that all of her Human friends had been buzzing about, it seemed. The one where they talked in depth about the birds and bees of both the Human and Xaru races that inhabited this world's terracolony.

"In order to talk about specifics regarding both Human and Xaru biology," Ms. Aernor continued, "we must approach the subject with the utmost maturity and scientific reasoning. I trust I won't have to deal with the usual snickers and crude jokes that typically accompany a subject involving genital organs and sexual habits. Isn't that right, Mr. Hobbs?"

Freddy Hobbs,

Kav thought to herself. He was the cut up in this class, well known for antics and pranks. He was the most immature person Kav had ever met. She was also known for laughing hysterically at the things he did.

She glanced over to where he sat. He gave Ms. Aernor an innocent shrug as if he had no idea what she was talking about, but then he flicked his pointy bovine ears once. The class began chuckling after he did that. It was the Xaru equivalent of winking, though much more obvious. Ms. Aernor was not amused.

"Perhaps we should begin with the physical traits that differentiate the two species," she said. "Starting with the ears." Her eyes pierced into Freddy when she said that.

Freddy cowered a bit, but the smile never left his face. That smile was one of the differences that they would surely discuss. The Xaru had slightly feral teeth in comparison to Humans, with longer canines in particular.

"The Xaru ear is larger than the Human ear," Ms. Aernor explained, "and can detect sound on a wider spectrum as well. Who can tell me the approximate frequency range for Xaru?"

No one raised their hand at first, and it was understandable why. The topic of Xaru ears, especially when discussed by Humans, was a touchy subject. After all, their likeness to cow ears was especially notable, and thus the derogatory term "cow" was coined for describing a Xaru. No one in the room felt comfortable at the moment, but that was surely Ms. Aernor's intent.

"Mr. Hobbs," she finally said, calling on Freddy specifically due to his flippant gesture earlier. "What is the frequency?"

Freddy glanced down at his anatomy textbook and flipped back to the section that might have the answer. "Uh...hang on...um...is it...here we go. 23 to 35,000 Hz."

Ms. Aernor was actually impressed. "Very good, Freddy. What animal from the Human homeworld does this most closely resemble?"

Now she was just being difficult on purpose,

Kav thought.

"Anyone?" She paced back and forth in front of the transdisplay waiting for someone to raise their hand. "No one wants to answer?"

All of the students remained quiet.

"The answer, of course," she said, "is a cow. Who here is uncomfortable with that similarity?"

Slowly, very slowly, each student raised their hand. Kav didn't bother to, since she didn't enjoy playing these games with her professors. It was obvious anyway that this wasn't an exercise in science, it was a discussion about sociality.

"I see," Ms. Aernor said. "As I hope you have noticed by now in our second semester together, I am most certainly a Human. Our class consists of roughly half Human and half Xaru students. There are many differences that we will be discussing, but you will also note many similarities on various levels of our biology. Some of these similarities are sexual in nature."

She stopped pacing and focused her icy stare out into the crowd, addressing her students of about forty or more with a stern expression that meant she was being deadly serious now.

"If one simple, basic similarity such as the ear makes you uncomfortable, then perhaps this is not the class for you. Because we are going to discuss body parts and functions that are much more intimate, and interesting, than the ear. I expect that you will all pay close attention, and there will be no squeamishness permitted, especially when we examine the digital slides that graphically portray these body parts. Am I to be understood?"

Kav could see heads nodding all around her. She had gotten her point across. Even Freddy seemed to settle down now. Ms. Aernor was well known for her no-nonsense attitude about education. No one really knew much about her, except that she was apparently no longer married and kept to herself even among the faculty. There was a rumor going around that she had left her Human husband because of her fascination with cross-species biology, Xaru males in particular. Apparently she didn't like Human men very much, if the rumor was true.

As Ms. Aernor droned on and on about the subtle differences between the two species, Kav found herself using her own appearance as a baseline for comparison. Like Freddy, and all the other Xaru students in the room, Kav had the trademark deep red skin with dark grey markings. Some Xaru were mostly dark grey, in fact, with wide swaths of it painting their extremities and parts of their faces. Others had only sparse grey spots, like ink blotches, dotting various parts of their otherwise red bodies. No two Xaru were exactly alike, though Humans would often say that they all looked the same. To Xaru, Humans looked the same too.

Unlike Humans, Xaru had prominent bone structures either at their temples or across their foreheads. Humans called them horns, but they were technically more like miniature antlers. In Xaru culture they were considered ornamental and beautiful, like a crown that was permanently affixed to their head. They prided themselves on their unique formations. The hair on their head, either completely black or completely white, grew around the formations. Aside from a Xaru's "tiara", which was a compliment to call a female's cranial formation, Xaru hair and Human hair was virtually identical in amount and style.

Kav absently touched her own cranial tiara as Ms. Aernor lectured on the various features of them. Her hair was naturally black but she took to coloring it with highlights of orange. It was a popular style among the Xaru, since it played off the red coloring of their skin. Human and Xaru style different greatly, which was encouraged by the Planetary Cultural Board, though not necessarily endorsed. Unification was the primary goal of this terracolony, which was the first of its kind.

"Human and Xaru eyes have the most in common..." Ms. Aernor continued.

Kav blinked unconsciously. It was true, the two races had virtually identical eyes. The coloring and functionality was indistinguishable. The first successful Xaru/Human eye transplant had occurred only a few decades ago, and the practice continued. Certain black market dealers on the old homeworlds had once peddled the other race's eyeballs as talismans of sort, promising that they would grant you extrasensory perceptions and even x-ray vision. Thank the deities those days were behind us now.

"The differences between Xaru and Human skin..."

Kav ignored most of this part, letting her mind wander again. She scratched at her arm though as part of her listened. She had a particularly exotic coloring, with her left side being mostly dark grey and the right side being mostly red. Spots and lines of both colors decorated her in various places, but the separation was very distinct. She found herself taking notice of it at this moment especially, clasping her hands together to join the two colors.

Xaru coloring actually made very little impact on other Xarus. However, Humans found a Xaru's coloring quite intriguing. Someone like her especially so, since it was just another unique feature that they didn't share. They all had the same color across their entire bodies, with only a few pink areas such as their mouths or their flushed genitals being different. The last time Kav had been with a Human male, she had been particularly fascinated by his foreskin. The strangely colored bulb of his penile organ that hid behind the foreskin seemed so bizarre to her, since the Xaru penile organ was the same color as whatever markings happened to decorate his body in that region. There was no distinction necessarily in that specific area.

Xaru females were the same way. But from what Kav had seen of her roommate, an obnoxiously cheery Human named Bethany, Human females had pinkish vaginas. Both Human sexes also grew hair in various parts of their body besides their head. A Xaru only grew hair on their head. It was not unpleasant to engage in intercourse with a hairy Human, but for females especially, Xaru were desired for their smooth areas.

Smooth, and perpetually engorged. As Ms. Aernor was getting around to mentioning, the Human birth canal required stimulus and emotional satisfaction in order to properly accommodate the Human penile appendage. Xaru females didn't have this particular requirement, as their birth canals quickly adapted to intercourse regardless of prior stimulation. Emotional satisfaction was also not a factor, which Human males found appealing for some reason. Kav didn't see what was wrong with it, though, and considered a real benefit to including emotions with sex. It just wasn't a requirement for her, physically.

"The Xaru male sex organ," Ms. Aernor was saying, "is notable for its unique quality of voluntary erection. Unlike the Human male, who must be sexually aroused in order to achieve an erection, a Xaru male has the innate ability to control this feature of his genitalia."

Kav was surprised that no one, including the Xaru males in the room, seemed to shift uncomfortably or even snicker at the topic. It was a well known fact, after all, but she didn't know any Human males that had a problem in that area. The few Xaru males she had slept with in comparison hadn't seemed to be any better at sex due to this ability.

"While we're in the general vicinity of the sex organs," Ms. Aernor continued, "we can also note the unique appendage that Xaru females possess, which Human females along the males of either species do not. The tail."

Kav fidgeted in her seat, not because she was uncomfortable by any means, but rather from the urge to twitch her tail at the mention of it. Xaru tails were thin and prehensile, with a distinct arrow-shaped tip covered in dark scales. "Devil tails", as Humans sometimes called them, though the reference was most offensive considering the implied resemblance between Xaru females and evil mythical beings. It wasn't the same as calling one of them a cow, but it certainly wasn't a polite label.

"The tail of a Xaru female is notable for its prehensility and its sensitivity to touch..."

Kav knew exactly what she meant. It was not a secret that Xaru females enjoyed being sensually touched on their tails. When a big strong male, of either species, would take her from behind and hold her tail at the base just above her anus while he pounded into her...mmmmm...

"...known to elicit heightened sexual response..."

Kav wondered if she was the only Xaru female who felt a stirring from this part of the lecture. Most people seemed to be staring straight ahead at Ms. Aernor with all seriousness. She rested her chin on her hand again, but tried to keep her eyes forward this time.

Class went on for what seemed like forever, as Ms. Aernor kept pointing out the physical differences of the two species. Kav found the subject boring, despite the tantalizing few moments of sexuality that were touched on. She much preferred listening to one of Mr. Wuriz's lectures. He was the history professor here on the terracolony, and being a Xaru himself, Kav found that she related more to his style of teaching. He was fascinated by the events that led the two species together to form this colony, called Elios.

The Planetary Cultural Board had ruled that all colonists that were past their formative years had to attend the university for twelve semesters. Kav wanted to be a doctor, or do something with medicine, and thus she had elected to take the biology courses that would lay the foundation for her future studies. Her family was a reputed Xaru lineage of doctors, and her older brother Tah had graduated last year from the prestigious Terra Academy, the finest medical school on the planet. She had been expected to follow suit, and was doing so with only some reluctance, but she had accepted her path by now. It was just the grind of it all that she hated. The day in and day out studying and learning.

She was leaving Ms. Aernor's lecture hall and walking down the hall of the quad when one of her friends caught up to her. It was Arne, the son of her family's old neighbor from Xaru Prime. He was a nerdy thing, for sure, but Kav felt comfortable around him and he seemed to take a liking to her. It wasn't anything sexual, and she had basically said as much to him a few months ago when someone joked about it in front of them both. He brushed off any concern and had always been a perfect gentlemen in her presence.

"Kav!" he said as he ran up to meet her. His hair was a disheveled mess behind his cranial formation. "Did you hear about Turece?"

Kav shook her head. "No, what?"

Arne was already laughing before he could answer her. "She slipped and fell in Mr. Erga's class this morning, and her face landed right in his crotch!"

Kav pictured the scene, which was not at all unbelievable considering how klutzy Turece was known to be, and her mouth dropped open.

"You've got to be kidding me!" she laughed. "What did he do?"

Arne shook his head. "What could he do? The whole class saw it happen. She was all, 'Sorry Mr. Erga' but afterward she was bragging about how she had groped him and how big his dick felt through his pants. He was furious at her!"

"Wow," Kav said. "She better not try that again, if she knows what's good for her."

"So anyway," Arne shifted the conversation, "are you going to lunch now? Or what?"

Kav shook her head. "I'm gonna head back to my dorm and relax, I have a good hour at least before Astral Science with Mr. Gaeog."

"Ooh, fun," Arne said. "K, see you later."

He was off as fast as he had appeared. Kav found him humorous but he was a dependable friend that would do anything she asked. She knew the value that she could place on such a thing. She had plenty of Human friends as well, but unfortunately it still seemed that the two species tended to associate with their own kind the majority of the time. There were plenty of weirdos too, the ones who harbored strange sexual perversions that centered on the opposite sex of the other race. Those people had mostly been weeded out of the terracolony, but that mindset still existed in isolated pockets. The Planetary Cultural Board was careful to separate healthy interactions between species from perverted fixations.

Kav felt a buzzing in her pocket, and reached into it to retrieve her commpad. She thumbed the small device to unlock it and read the message she had received across the Planetary Network. It was her roommate, Bethany, begging Kav to let her have the dorm for the evening. She must have snagged another hot date and thought her chances were good for the night. Bethany was a very attractive Human female, and Xaru males especially seemed to be her preference. She had confided in Kav more than once how some of her exploits had the "biggest grey cock" or the "juiciest red dick" she had ever seen. She certainly hoped Bethany wasn't saying any of her Human partners had red genitals, or else that could mean a contagious medical condition.

Kav sighed and replied back that it was fine. She supposed she would have to find somewhere to go for a few hours after class today. Normally she wouldn't mind so much, but she was feeling especially flush today. A memory of one of Ms. Aernor's previous lectures played out in her mind just then:

"The Xaru female often experiences a heightened peak of sexual craving near the end of each lunar cycle. Unfortunately for them, the orbiting moons of our new home on this planet have a shorter cycle than the one they are accustomed to on Xaru Prime. Thus, this bodily cycle occurs every few weeks, rather than once every month or so."

Damn Xaru biology. It could be worse, though. The menstrual cycle of Human females sounded like a bitch. Instead of enduring a period of genital discomfort and sexual unavailability, Xaru females had to endure the opposite. They craved sex during these cycles, and if they didn't engage in it either by choice or force, they would eventually auto-climax uncontrollably at the end of the cycle. It was their body's way of shifting their chemical balances, which were more potent in Xarus anyway. Sex wasn't so much a luxury for them as it was a necessity. The Xaru male felt a similar involuntary urge at the end of his physical cycle, which occurred even more often at about once a week. Of course, there were hardly any accounts of Xaru males auto-climaxing due to sexual neglect. Like Human males, they seemed to possess an innate mastery of "mano-intercourse", as was the coined term for it by Humans.

For Xaru females, masturbation was not exactly fulfilling. Their physiology required the absorption of male ejaculate for them to feel sexual gratification and satisfaction. It held the intense chemical cocktail that mixed with their own metabolism to create a heady feeling of pleasure throughout their awareness. Human semen contained the same basic ingredients. Absorbing these chemicals through the vaginal canal was quite effective, as was swallowing it and digesting it.

Embarrassingly enough, at least for the prudish, a Xaru female absorbed these chemicals best through anal delivery. It was established between both races that the rectum was the most efficient way for the body to absorb foreign material into the body. In the darker past of both worlds, addictive drugs and mind-altering substances had been introduced this way quite effectively. Nowadays it was not unheard of for Xaru females, and Human females that liked to compete for equal male attention, to take it in the ass for this reason alone. Some of them ended up quite liking it as a result. A sexually accomplished Xaru female could even climax from anal sex alone.