Chapter 16:

Dearly Beloved
*)October 02, 2009 - 10:04 KDT(*
That bastard Eoin! He's decided on his own volition to abandon the assignment, and is now living as a part of the storm itself, having fallen in love with a Pikachu in the storm (male, naturally). The two will be bonded in a (public, oddly enough given the homophobia in the storm) mateship ceremony in about five days. I can't get him to commit to continuing the experiment at all, with every reason he has for not doing so rounding back to human civilisation as a whole, and how he's tired of it. It's a sob story at best and outright political ranting at worst. He's let his emotions compromise his judgment, and thanks to his having disposed of much of what he brought in he's unable to come back even if forced.

Ah... I'm honestly at an impasse as to what to do. I can't convince Eoin to come back, and even if I did, there's things here I know that would bring... unwanted attention to us. I won't elaborate on it, except to say that if I come back early, even with a small part of the storm, then we are in major danger.
*)October 07, 2009 - 12:00 KDT(*

The sky was overcast on this day as Eoin and Mudiwa stepped onto the stone dais in the centre of the storm. In its centre was a crude bed made of leaves and straw, and judging by the smells on it it had been used several times before for the mateship ceremony. Berry markings on the face of the suit and the belly of Mudiwa were painted on to mark Eoin as the husband, and Mudiwa as the wife.

Nicolau watched over the storm and motioned for the omulosi to stop anybody attempting to intervene. “Today, we are here to witness two Chu come together as mates,” he began, “and, while fertile they may not be, both are valuable members of the storm. Eoin, our newest omulosi, and the newest Chu admitted to--”

“FILTHY HUMAN SCUM!” The omulosi wasted no time shutting Farai up before he uttered anti-human propaganda.

“--admitted to the storm.” Nicolau waited to let the news sink in. Half of the crowd cheered; the other half looked utterly bewildered.

Another Chu piped up. “A human omulosi?”

“Eoin is totally dedicated to this storm,” countered Nicolau. “He has formally joined as of five days ago. And then we have Mudiwa. One of our most diligent gatherers, up for the Ascension Ceremony come spring. Now... Mudiwa, if you would prepare your husband.”

Mudiwa nodded. Usually, this meant fellatio, but Eoin and Mudiwa reached an agreement beforehand. Eoin sat down and parted his legs, his penis already out of his suit. Mudiwa came forward and gently wrapped his right toes around it, softly rubbing the flaccid piece of flesh with his right hindpaw. Eoin groaned as the pawpads rubbed up and down that part of his anatomy, his eyes locked on his wife-to-be's face, covered in a smile. The almost silent noises of flesh rubbing on flesh were drowned out by breathing as the crowd witnessed omulosi Eoin's penis growing erect. Again, half the crowd were stunned at the human's length and girth; the other half found it disgusting.

Mudiwa withdrew his footpaw and pulled his other one to his mouth, slathering it in his saliva before putting that one onto his husband's gender. The Pikachu saliva tingled Eoin a little bit, with Eoin suspecting a bit of electricity from the cheek pouches leached into it. Again, the foot rubbed on Eoin's, leaving behind Mudiwa's saliva as the Pikachu himself became erect. The crowd remained as awed or disgusted by this moment as before, but the tension in the air increased as more Chu turned away from the homosexual act being performed before them. After a few strokes, Mudiwa returned his foot to his mouth to add more spit and repeated this process until he was satisfied with Eoin's slickness.

Once he was done, Mudiwa turned around and got on all fours, his tail lifting up slightly and moving to the side as he lowered the front half of his body, his chest and head almost touching the ground. Eoin nodded, and maneuvered himself so that he was behind him. He took a gentle sniff, and could barely smell Mudiwa's scent underneath him. His penis poked around the Pikachu's ass for a few seconds, then, with a loud gasp from the crowd, penetrated Mudiwa. “Pi-kaa~!! gasped Mudiwa in pleasured pain. This was only the second time he and Eoin had mated, and so he was not yet used to Eoin's girth.

The crowd watched, a mixture of aghast and stupefied, for several seconds. Then, they saw Eoin's hips slowly begin to move back and forth. It was a gesture most of them knew - Eoin and Mudiwa were mating. The human's flesh made lewd noises as it fled from and ran into the other male's anus, helped by the saliva that had been spread on it not a minute before. Gentle phrrt noises were heard for the first few thrusts, but then disappeared as quickly as they came. Mudiwa's and Eoin's testicles gently swayed over the bed of litter as the two continued the ceremony, with Mudiwa's penis visible just behind his testes, also swaying. Both sets of male hips rocked back and forth almost in unison, with Eoin's moving further and faster than Mudiwa's, due to Eoin's mass.

“P-pi... pikhaaa~” Mudiwa's mouth didn't lack for noise as Eoin continued. The noises were sweet, but slightly pained as Eoin gently began to thrust a little harder. The crowd winced as the sound of balls making contact began to emanate from the couple. Lori, who had been stuck on guard duty, looked away, having had enough of seeing Eoin disintegrate in her eyes. Mudiwa's moans got steadily louder as the ceremony continued. Farai tried to voice another objection, only for Sithembile and Chausiku to shut him up before he could get more than a pronoun out. “ Pii-khaa~... aah... Ahpiih...”

As the two continued, the less vehement of the anti-gay Chu quieted down, less out of defeat and more out of a sullen acceptance that these two were lovers and there was nothing to correct that. The more vehement were quickly stunned with Thunder Waves from the other omulosi, determined to protect their own from being viciously attacked at his most vulnerable moment. Lori made note of this behaviour even with her eyes averted; the Chu were more than willing to attack those who upset the status quo if they have a compelling reason. In this case, the compelling reason was more likely than not the fact male feces doesn't turn into a viable fetus when semen fertilises it.

A cry of pleasure from Mudiwa filled the air, as his semen joined the bed of leaf litter. Almost immediately after, Eoin buried his full length inside Mudiwa, his testes by his body. The crowd grew silent... deathly silent. Almost a minute passed. Then, as suddenly as he had hilted, he pulled out of his new wife, letting his semen dribble out from Mudiwa Smith.

“This concludes the main part of the ceremony,” announced Nicolau. “All family members and friends of the mated and the Omulosi may now join us in the meeting hall for the customary feast.” Lori and Eoin had both seen a few mating ceremonies, but were never allowed into the meeting hall afterwards due to having no particular link to them. The crowd began to disperse, with a few non-omulosi members headed towards the meeting hall as Eoin and Mudiwa stood up. Lori approached them.

“You're making a massive mistake, Eoin,” hissed Lori.

“Shut up,” growled Mudiwa in Common as he gently rubbed his rump. Human semen was slowly spilling from it.

“Look, Eoin, I know you have no family back home. But you can't walk out on a fucking college course for this!” Lori continued, ignoring Mudiwa.

“And what would that college course have gotten me, Lori? A job in ten years, if I'm lucky?” growled Eoin.

“It would have given you a stable life,” came Lori's icy retort. “Here, if it rains too much or too little, or it's too hot or too cold, you starve.”

“And there, everyone wants to ruin your day,” shot back Eoin. His flaccid penis remained outside of the suit; he no longer had any incentive to hide it. “Didn't some asshole gyp you for a few hundred before you came here?”

“At least I didn't sell out my own fucking principles!” screeched Lori. Eoin was genuinely taken aback by this. “Did you think I came out here to be treated like dirt by you and like a tree by that fucking crackpot Farai?! Did you think I came out here to dump my fucking husband with my kid to suckle on a Chu's penis?! Did you think I came out here to get the fuck away from civilisation?!”

“Obviously you did or else you wouldn't have fucking come out here!” retorted Eoin.

Lori's face looked furious. Her tone of voice, strangely, got closer and closer to a peaceful voice as she spoke the next few sentences. “I came out here solely to further my research, you bastard. Unlike you, I couldn't leave this project even if I wanted to, you dick! I have a husband and a son at home! What do I do, tell Vladmir that we have to live on the streets because I can't get a job that pays well and a mountain of student debt from an aborted course? Do I tell my husband to go find someone else because I can't afford electricity and water? Do I tell Tshofelo that--”

Mudiwa interrupted. “And just what were you planning to do with Tish?”

Lori growled. “Stay out of this, mouse.” She turned her attention back to Eoin. “Do I tell Tish that I damned my family because I can no longer provide for them?”

“Do you honestly think I expect you to abandon your course? You have people counting on you, cunt!” Lori and Mudiwa flinched again. “You're so damn focused on your 'experiment' that you're rationalising every single fucking thing as being part of or against it!”

“No, I'm pissed because you're the only person who can actually continue it! I've learned all I can from these Chu as far as my major is concerned; you're the one holding me up!” roared Lori.

“Then go back!” shouted Mudiwa. “If you're done here why are you still about?”

“Because the University refuses to let me be recalled!” spoke Lori.

Silence. Eoin's face looked astonished. “...What?”

“The university refuses to allow us to return, claiming there's more we can learn.”

Eoin's face showed a mixture of anger and realisation. “The Chu weren't our target.”

Lori had a counter for this. “I heavily doubt the University knew about the Magnezone.” Lori was using “Magnezone” as a codeword for the UFO.

Eoin shook his head. “Likely they found out about the Magnezone's Joltik.” Eoin was using “Joltik” as a codeword for the dead bodies that were around the UFO. “They wanted us to retrieve a sample, but didn't want to explicitly say it for fear the SDF would catch wind of it and put us down. Studying the Viridian Storm was a perfect pretext since they're in proximity to it and we would have discovered the Magnezone eventually.”

Lori looked astonished for a moment, but quickly realised what Eoin was talking about. “Then what do we do?”

Eoin looked at Lori, then Mudiwa. “I'll confer with Nicolau, and spend some time with my wife first. Then, I'll come back with a more comprehensive answer, but for the time being, keep quiet. Both the SDF and the storm have good reasons for keeping the Magnezone out of public controversy. I'm still not going back. I want to live in the storm, with the nimbus I love.”

Lori looked completely defeated. “...I'll meet you in the meeting hall.”

*)-(*
The meeting hall's table was covered with berries, Pidgey breasts, and other sorts of food suitable for a storm's wedding reception. Lori and the Smiths entered to applause, with Eoin and Mudiwa being given seats at the head of the table and Lori taking a seat closer to the middle. Cheers erupted as the new couple took a seat.

“So, Mudiwa,” asked Nthanda in Chu, “How's it feel being done by a human?”

Mudiwa turned to Eoin and, in Common, asked, “Should I answer that?”

“Only if you want,” was Eoin's reply, also in Common.

“I can hear you,” scolded Nthanda in Common.

Mudiwa turned to Nthanda, still speaking Common. “It feels... rough at first. Humans are so big... but after you get used to that size, it feels like nothing you've ever felt before.”

“It only feels that way because you're one-foot-six,” said Lori. “Not exactly the size a human's meant for.”

“I honestly doubt Nthanda'd handle human-size either,” noted Eoin. “He's only two-six.”

“'Two-six'?” asked Nthanda, cocking his head.

“Two feet, six inches tall,” said Lori.

“...Does that mean Mudiwa has one foot?” Nthanda cocked his head again.

“No, we measure in inches and feet. One foot is twelve inches,” said Eoin.

Another omulosi asked in Chu, “So Eoin's one of us?”

“Yes,” confirmed Nicolau. “He's more dedicated to this storm than quite a few of us.” Ime did not look thrilled at this praise. “He's already made arrangements to move into the storm permanently.”

“What about his studies?” complained Chausiku, concern covering her face.

“He has indicated his studies are... inimical to his goals,” said Nicolau. “That said, he will still cooperate with Lori until such time as Lori leaves.” Eoin nodded.

Lori turned to Eoin, expecting an explanation. Eoin was quick to give one. “Just because I don't want to go back doesn't mean I want to fuck you over.”

“As for Mudiwa? Surely he won't be left alone!” came Tatenda's voice.

“The wives and husbands (such as they are) of omulosi are rarely harassed,” commented a gay omulosi. “My own husband has been left alone simply because I am an omulosi.” He looked knowingly at his Pikachu husband, who merely smiled and chewed on a Chesto.

“Not to mention Eoin's suit can generate electricity, as you well know,” said the kabaka. “He can protect his loving wife.” Mudiwa beamed at the praise.

The feast continued without interruption for a good while afterwards, allowing Lori a better look into Eoin and Mudiwa as both of them spoke in Common. There was genuine infatuation in Mudiwa's voice, and she noted Eoin adopted a much lighter tone from his usual, and also spoke very affectionately towards the Pikachu. She realised then that Eoin had no reason to go back - he had nothing there to work for, whereas here he could help the storm his lover was a part of.

“...You sounded beautiful, Mudiwa,” commented the gay omulosi's husband. “Eoin must truly love you.”

Eoin nodded to confirm, then looked down at his section and found it empty. Looking down the various logs that made up this crude semblance of a table, there was likewise nothing there but a few assorted berries ignored by the Chu around the table. The feast was over.

“The table is cleared, and the feast is over. Come now, let's get back to work,” said Nicolau. All the Pikachu and Lori got up and left the table and meeting room. Eoin started to as well, only to be stopped by Chausiku. “You need to be confirmed,” continued Nicolau.

“Confirmed?” asked Eoin, turning to face Nicolau. He noticed that Ime was absent, and was about to ask where he had left to, but Nthanda quickly answered before he could do so.

“Yes. We normally do this ceremony for the Pikachu that comes back as a Raichu, but under the circumstances it's necessary to do it for you as well,” explained Nthanda.

“Remove his suit,” ordered Nicolau. Two Raichu approached.

“I'll do it,” said Eoin, carefully stripping off his suit so that the other omulosi didn't accidentally damage it. As he did this, a small tray of purple-black pigment was brought out, and a torch was lit, revealing a wall of footprints, each representing a present or past omulosi. Eoin looked at his own foot, realising it was an abomination compared to the long, three-toed feet of the Raichu.

“Raiichuu Eoin, raichu raii...” started Nicolau.

Eoin didn't know the Chu tongue; Nthanda translated for him. “'Raichu Eoin, ascendant lord...'”

“...churai aiuu churai airai rai Viridia...”

“'...today your fate becomes the fate of all in the Viridian storm...'”

“...ai chuai chai Adebowale uu rai raichuai.”

“'...and with Adebowale's blessing you become omulosi.'”

The tray was offered to Eoin. Long and shallow, it was clearly made for Raichu feet. Eoin suspected he knew what he was expected to do, and placed his left foot in the pigment, before firmly planting it on the wall to the right of the existing footprints. Once the foot left the wall and the mark left on it, Eoin's fate was sealed.

“Raichurai Eoin,” intoned Nicolau. He then turned to Nthanda. “Nthanda, raichu chu.”

“I'm going to be teaching you our language, Eoin,” explained Nthanda. “Pay attention, since we don't use Common in the chamber...”