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Zegram worried about how he smelled only briefly. He could tell he’d been sapped on, but Jaster and Kisala didn’t act differently, so he figured it wasn’t strong enough for them to notice. And who could smell much anyway past the humid odor of the jungle, the aroma of one’s own body sweating from battling all these damned beasts in this clingy heat? Zegram hated the wet, heavy heat, how it made his hair wilt, his eyepatch chafe as it rubbed damply over his skin.
More beasts again, more fights. Zegram was getting annoyed with it all, how Kisala and the kid seemed happy to mindlessly run through the jungle hacking and slashing at whatever came across their path. Zegram was beginning to suspect there were more beasts here than last time he was on Juraika, too. He didn’t particularly care for that.
They rested at the creek, far enough away from the piranhas. Kisala pulled out some primeval beef jerky and they ate the rancid stuff, Zegram restless despite the action they’d been getting. The kid looked unwilling to sit too long also, occasionally getting up and peering down the creek banks as though he could see anything other than vegetation and clouds of gnats.
“Which way should we go from here?” asked Kisala.
“Straight ahead, up that slope across the creek,” said Zegram. He knew from previous experience that was the direction Burkaqua Village was, but he didn’t want to outright say he’d been here before.
“We could try to the right,” said Jaster, still trying to peer down the creek as though it didn’t just twist and turn out of sight immediately.
“I think we should try left,” said Kisala. “Upstream is a good place to put a village.”
Zegram ground his teeth. He knew how this would go. He’d follow these assholes as they wasted time exploring the jungle just so he wouldn’t blow his cover, but that meant he’d have to spend more time with them and he already had a headache. But the stump had him thinking about the other beasts in this area, which variety were responsive to human needs. He began looking for an opportunity to slip away.
Damned if he knew why they tried Kisala’s way first, but the kid must be trying to bed her. Good friggin’ luck with that—Zegram had seen better men than him try and fail. He’d even seen her pin a pirate’s hand to the ship’s bar table with one of her daggers when he tried to touch her. Dorgengoa had later fired the guy for being unable to use the hand.
The creek upstream proved to be much like where they’d rested, piranhas and other annoyances trying to slow them down. They filleted and otherwise hacked apart their opponents, Zegram trying to make their deaths quick when he could. It was a damn shame to cut through so many beasts when Zegram knew exactly where they had to go. When they could go no farther, Kisala sighed.
“Maybe we should try it your way,” she said.
Jaster shrugged. Zegram ground his teeth again.
They went the kid’s way next. More of the same, but with a fallen log bridge over the creek that of course the kid wanted to check out. This was a good place to give him and Kisala the slip, so Zegram did. While they dashed across he swung himself over the bridge and down, splashing into the creek. He cringed. The only thing worse than the humidity hanging thick in the air was wet boots. He had a feeling by the time he made it back to his bunk his feet would be pale and puffy, skin so wet for so long it would peel off in the coming days.
The least he could get out of this shitty experience was a bit of action. He prowled through the undergrowth, weapons stowed, following the scent of smileys. There had to be a pod of them nearby for the air to be so heavily pollinated. The scent grew stronger, headier, and then he was in a small clearing beneath a massive tree. Pollen littered the ground, and smiley tracks led into and out of the place. Damn. They must be out on a hunt. Just as Zegram turned to go he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.
“Hey,” he said, and casually flipped the hair out of his eyepatch.
A lone smiley lingered at the edge of the den area, observing him. Its pod pieces were still furled tightly around its tender inner body, but it bobbed slightly with curiosity.
Zegram waited for it to come closer. The thing about smileys was you had to crack ‘em before you could fuck them. Their outer pod shell was rough and covered with fine, prickly hairs that could really fuck your dick up—no, you wanted to put your dick in the inner, smiling part that gave these beasts their name. And contrary to what Jaster and Kisala had been doing while battling the beasts, there was a better way to get them to open up than stomp on them.
The smiley, curious, sensing stump sap and sex on Zegram, approached. Zegram stretched a hand out, crouched slowly enough to just barely brush against the top of the smiley’s pistil, exposed despite the shell. He was careful not to brush against any of the hairs as he began to rub the sensitive area, circling the apertures containing the smiley’s pollen. These beasts were some of Zegram’s favorites—they had just the right combination of elements in the right ways, unlike some beasts. This would definitely be much better than fucking some animate stone.
Zegram’s smugness mingled with arousal as the smiley responded to his touch. Just as the beast was slowly unfurling its pod shell, Zegram’s cock was stiffening, perking up in his clothes. The smiley relaxed further, its green shell tumbling in four parts to the pollen-laden ground. He could smell the delicate scent of the fleshy inner part of the beast, a bid like a raw gourd, a bit like a daylily. He saw the eager face gaping at him.
This smiley was ready to be mounted. Zegram pulled out his cock, still fragrant from stump sap, and got down on his knees. He lined up with the mouthlike stigma and pushed his cock in, grabbing the back of the smiley with a hand as the beast shuddered. With the pod shell hanging limply on the ground, there was little risk of the hairs snagging him anyplace sensitive. After a moment, the smiley relaxed again, and Zegram began thrusting in earnest.
He would have rather taken his time, but he didn’t know how long Kisala and Jaster would take before they got bored and went looking for him. Smileys responded better to gentle fucking anyway, but Zegram wasn’t about to push it and get caught with his dick up a semi-sentient monster plant. He kept his hand on the back of the smiley so the beast wouldn’t pull away from his forceful thrusts. He gave the beast a few gentler, slower strokes too, but he wasn’t going to make love to it when he needed to finish up and get going.
The smiley shuddered in his embrace, around his cock. Zegram pounded the beast, heady gourd scent clogging his nostrils, sweat making his grip slip slightly on the smiley. But then he’d reached the tipping point, felt the orgasm sweep through him, and dumped his second load of the day in the trembling beast. Disappointed the smiley hadn’t performed for him, he continued to thrust while his dick was still hard, this time more gently.
It was then the smiley gave him what he wanted. Given slow, deliberate strokes, the beast went off, ejecting pollen from the stamen-holes in the top of its bizarre pistil. A cloud of it sifted upward, clogging Zegram’s nose, falling around the two of them. Zegram pulled out.
“See ya around sometime,” he said, and thumbed the sensitive top of the beast again. He wiped pollen off his face, heart still beating strong. No woman could do the kinds of things this humble smiley did. Damn, he was just drawn to beasts like this.
But he’d better find his way back to the other two before they stumbled on this smiley den. He didn’t want them hacking up this pod, not when he’d just made nice with one of them.
At any rate, it was about time they take the path he’d suggested to begin with. Zegram looked forward to both Jaster and Kisala having to admit he was right.