This file is a part of Elf Sternberg's Collected Works on ASSTR.  The
complete archive of Elf's work can be found on his website at:

http://www.drizzle.com/~elf

The author can be contacted at:

mailto:elf@drizzle.com

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                              Object Lesson

Journal Entry 216 / 00525

Erwer, Narquel 05, 00525

With a sigh of soft pleasure I sank into the comfortable water of the
roofpool. The day had been rough; it was unusual of me to get involved
in politics, especially Terran politics, and this recent development
with their engineering Norvegicus for sentience was starting to eat at
me. I needed a break.

One thing about the roofpool that I keep forgetting about is the SDisk
on the floor, the one for dolphins. I was lying along the rocks by the
shallow end on my belly, my legs in the water, my head up, and I failed
to notice the dolphin swimming up behind me. He slipped a fin along my
thighs and up the crack of my ass before I even had chance to squeal.

"What the- !?" I shouted, turning over. "Shirmin! Dammit!"

He rolled over in the water and said, in Anglic,

  But you like it, you know, You've told me so, Several times.

I grinned at him. It's not true that dolphins speak in haiku, or whatever
it is Terran writers dictated they should speak in. But the idea of
doing so is something of a fad among dolphins, and there are those who
do it well. Shirmin is one of them. I paused for the thought and replied
in kind,

  That's true, my love, You've fit like a glove, Several times.

He laughed and lazed over to me. "Like a glove?" he chided. "That's not
a concept the Purist dolphins would approve of."

"Really?" I asked. "And are you becoming a Purist in your old age?"

He wagged his tail in the water. "Not in a million years. No way."

"No?"

"Purism has got to be the stupidest thing I've heard of in the past three
centuries. There's no point. We aren't Tursiops Truncatis, and no amount
of fantasizing is going to get us there."

"Still, I don't think you should get upset with a group of Dolphins who
insist on trying to survive without biocybe. Just because we live with
wires in our heads doesn't mean we should criticize those who don't."

"But the ones who get it all taken out?" he asked. "Taken OUT?" He
shivered. In the water I felt it run through his body, and what little
empathy people tell me I have told me about pain. "Do you have any idea
how much trauma that entails? And then, those who come back out of the
Purists have to have it re-installed? They'll never function the same
way again."

I sighed. "I don't like it. There's nothing I can do about it. Besides,
you're there for that. To try and educate them." My hand slid along
his flank, gently. We had been lovers for a few years, and I hoped I was
still allowed this small privilege. He didn't protest; quite the opposite,
his shivering subsided. "Anything else new?"

"I've got a new pup," he said proudly.

"You do?"

"Uh-huh. We've named him Rivert. Toma was the mother."

"Toma? I don't know her."

He smiled. "I don't expect you to keep up, not with a population climbing
for sixty thousand now. She's a nice person. You should meet her."

I grinned, embarrassed. "I guess I should. By the way, I owe you
a thanks."

"For what?" he asked. Was it my imagination, or did he roll his belly
closer to me?

"You know how Aaden and I are getting along?"

He nodded. "It's been the only thing on the gossip circuit for the past
six months."

"I couldn't have gotten there without you."

He looked up at me, the expression on his face unmistakable. "Me? How so?"

I sighed and stroked his belly. He had offered it to me. "When I built the
'phins, I was still, well... entalie'. Straight. I had slept with Jahn,
a few times in fact, and there was that time at Rhysh, but I didn't
think I was comfortable with males."

"So why am I responsible for you and Aaden?"

"I needed you. Does that make any sense? I needed a dolphin compatriot,
and you were it. The fact that you were male didn't make much of a
difference... somehow, despite the fact that I knew how legendarily horny
Tursiops was, I didn't make the connection, and when you and I started
getting along and it became kind of obvious that you were the dolphin
who would end up with the family name, it... Do you remember the first
time we had sex?"

He laughed. "I wouldn't call it sex!"

"You wouldn't?"

"Would you?" he asked.

"It was certainly voyeuristic. Turning on the lights at 10 in the night
to find you rubbing yourself up against the glass like that."

"I was... lonely."

"Uh huh," I replied, smiling. I slid my hand further down his belly. "You
were masturbating like there was no tomorrow. I think I saw you come
four times before you bothered to look and see if the lights were on
downstairs."

He grinned. "The glass was the smoothest part of the pool." He swished
his tail gently, angling closer to me again. My hands passed over the
opening where his sheath lay hidden, and then further down his tail.

"Anyway," I said, "You remember how... intimate we became."

"Mm-hmm," he replied. He was deliberately sliding back in the water so
my reach could extend only as far as his penile slit.

"It was more important to me that you were a dolphin than that you were
male. When we started to get... along, I only did what I felt was natural
and gave what I had to offer. I didn't feel I was engaging in erolie'
sex, like I did with Jahn. But when it came down to me and Aaden, the
fact that I'd been intimate with you was as important as the fact that
I'd been physical with Jahn... both allowed me to get closer to a male
without many qualms in the way. Does that make sense?"

He answered in his favorite way:

  You make life so hard!  We know what we are, In the end.

  I'm a symbol, Of a chosen role, I'm your friend.

  My body's stock, Shaped like a cock, As you intend.

  Did you really need, A symbol like me, To love Aaden?

  And one last time, This won't rhyme, You're exciting me!

"What?" I asked. I suddenly realized that his cock had come to full
erection and that I had been sliding my hand along it for possibly a
full minute already. I blushed hot, and apologized. "Sorry."

"That's okay," he said quietly. He had long ago had the highest-quality
vocoder installed in his blowhole, and if I closed my eyes only the
touch told me I was fondling a dolphin. His cock is pretty impressive,
as far as I, a human, was concerned. "You know I don't mind."

I sidled up next to him, rubbing my body against his. "How do I feel to
you?" I asked with sudden curiosity. "All angles and edges, huh?"

"Not really," he whispered. "It's more... enveloping. Dolphins don't
have reach. Even with the 'hands, it's better to have you touch me." To
demonstrate, his four hands came floating through the water. Each is
a four-fingered robotic hand, with not much for support; just fingers,
really, with a base. They use gravitics to move.

As the 'hands moved over my body, I found myself tickled, but I had to
agree with him. It wasn't as good as being touched by flesh, even by his
flukes. "You're right, it's not the same. Send them away," I whispered.
They seemed to droop in the water as they sank to the floor of the pool.

"One more time, for past time's sake?" he asked quietly.

"If you'd like," I whispered.

"I would," he said gently. He took a deep breath and rolled over onto his
back, his huge cock bobbing gently out of the water. I slid on top of him;
slowly his tail sank into the water, pulling him into a vertical position,
and he began stroking back and forth with it, mostly to keep his blowhole
out of the water; I had always found the motion suggestive. As I held on,
his erection slid between my thighs and against my buttocks. I wiggled
into position, using my hand to guide him in; the first time I did this,
it hurt like hell. I came to treasure the slight burning sensation of
salt water as he slid into me.

I heard my delphin lover gasp. "Good as you remember?" I asked.

"Better," he sighed. "Hold on." We held together, my hands gripping
his pectoral fins up close to the shoulder. He began stroking in and
out of me; I wrapped my legs around him, holding him close as he fucked
me. It felt good to be with him, feeling his incredibly powerful body
against mine. The sheer unending strength a dolphin has to keep swimming
continuously was applied to my ravaged asshole; the water swished
between us with great force. His cock slid deep into me; I could feel
that wonderful rearrangement going on within me as we made love. He
lost control of his voice, and descended into a delphinic chirping;
I pressed my cheek against his broad chest and held on, gripping his
pectorals harder. He was thrashing so hard our bodies were halfway out
of the water; I couldn't see it, but the speed of his penis within was
so fast the signals weren't getting to my brain fast enough for me to
sort. It was all I could do to just hold him and whimper.

Which I did, griping his fins tighter. His huge body slapped against mine,
the slick surface of his skin loud against my belly as we hit in rhythm
with his tail. "Gods," I whispered, "I'd almost forgotten..." He didn't
say anything; I held on for my life and his pleasure.

"I'm coming!" he screamed. I grabbed hold; our bellies slapped together
as he jammed his semen into me. I held on tighter, hoping I didn't hurt
him as he collapsed back into the pool; I felt his cock literally pull
from me as we separated, the burning of salt against my tender flesh
painful and rewarding.

"You certainly were," I smiled, gasping. I managed to haul myself up
against the rocks on the shallow end of the pool.

He lolled up against me and said, "Did I hurt you?"

I stared down at him. "Did you hurt me?" I exclaimed. "No, you didn't
hurt me. I was afraid of hurting you, the way I was grabbing your fins
like that."

"They're okay. I was just a little worried, Ken. I was being a little
rough."

I climbed out of the pool, leaned over and kissed him on the dome of
his skull. "Just a little. But that's okay. I've gotten used to it."

"You're still used to it?"

"No, Aaden 're-educates' me from time to time."

"Almost daily, if the rumors are true."

"Almost," I smiled. "So, what's up?"

"I have this... problem, I was wondering if you could help me with." He
paused. "It's a little your fault, too."

"My fault?" I asked. I could feel repair mechanisms at work within
me. I asked Dave silently for a nanochine drink. It slid out quietly
on gravitics.

"Well, not so much your fault as ours. A lot of 'phins treat me as the
Delphin Shardik, and come to me for advice. Let's be honest, you and I,
Ken, and admit that we're too nice guys."

"Two nice guys?"

"No, too nice. As in for our own good."

I nodded, understanding the words if not the meaning. But I think I
was getting it. I downed about a quart of the nanochine drink, which is
functionally equivalent to any real sports juice- lots of glucose, salt,
and water. "Go on," I said, putting aside the bottle and slipping into
the water. No burning. I smiled.

"Do you have enough time for everybody who comes to you?" he asked.

I scowled. "I wish I did."

"There aren't enough nice guys, are there?" he asked. I shook my head. "Do
you have to stop being nice?"

I slid up next to him in the water, fishing an oxytab out and holding it.
"No, I just have to decide who's really priority to being nice to."

"I don't copy," he said. I smiled. I hadn't used that phrase myself
in decades.

"I... had to decide who was really important to me. The family, if you
will. You. I'm a nice guy, but it's up to me to seek you out, if I care."

"Like your friend, Nance."

I nodded. "Do I sound harsh when I say I can't care about everybody?"

He waved his tail in the water slowly. "No," he admitted, sighing as
only Dolphins can. "No, you don't. Even I know that's impossible."

I scratched my hair gently, feeling the salt itch slightly against my
scalp. "I went after Nance full speed because I wanted him in my house. I
didn't want him to get killed, and if he had a family he wouldn't be as
reckless as he was at first."

"He still got hurt."

"Yes, but he came back. That's the important part. He fought for me. And
I fought for him. I don't have the resources to do it for everybody,
not the time, not the will, but I when I pick those I care for, there's
a good reason for it. Am I making ANY sense?"

He nodded, a single, quick jerk. "You're saying I have to realize I'm
just one 'phin."

"Sadly enough, yeah." I kissed him, feeling my lips slide along slick,
dolphin hide. "Everybody told me not to bother with Nance, he wasn't
worth the effort, or the pain, because he was just going to die, probably
sometime soon."

"Do you do that often?"

"What, have self-destructive tendencies that sometimes pay off?"

He gave a laugh, which sounded not unlike a kazoo being tortured by cats.
"Yeah."

"Sometimes. Not... not often, I would hope."

"How often are they worth it?"

"Always."

"Always?" he asked. "How can self-destruction be always worth it?"

"Because I always learn something. I never learn not to do that again,
but I learn something. Because always the situation is different."

He didn't seem happy with the answer. "Is that what I have to do?"

"No, you don't have to."

"But you do. I can't picture it."

I shrugged, kissing him again, this time closer to his dorsal. "That's
the way I am."

He sighed. "I guess I'm not built that way."

"Guess not. Hey, Shirm?"

"Eh?"

"Wanna do an open water?"

"What, now?" he asked as I scratched him gently. He began to chitter
softly; he's always liked the way I scratch him.

"Yeah?"

"Keep doing that and you'll have me convinced. Got that breathing thing
you need?"

"Better," I said. "New nanochine. Oxygen reprocessor." I buckled a
belt-pouch about my waist. Other than that, I went naked.

"Let's go," he said. We dove for the SDisk and the lagoon, following it
out as fast we could manage, my holding him close. We stopped about a
hundred meters offshore and I closed my eyes, sinking into the sea. About
a meter down, I got ready for stage one.

I put the oxytab in my mouth and held it there; the feeling of it's
activation is always creepy, but I'd been getting used to the sensation
of millions of tiny spiders crawling along my brachiation. It settled for
a second, and I opened my eyes. The focus was off, but adjusted quickly;
Shirmin was watching me with concern. It was time for stage two.

I inhaled. Water flooded my lungs, burning and chilling at the same time.
Like the last occasion I tried this stunt, my entire body shuddered,
screaming in defiance, fearful of drowning. I cursed and wished for self
control. It came back slowly. I was not going to die.

"Are you okay?" I heard him say. Like I said, he had good taste in voders;
this one let him talk equally proficiently underwater.

I tapped my throat; I couldn't talk this way. It was a major difference
from the old mask, where I could. At least this way I felt less
encumbered. I pointed to my head, then fished out a little Brace radio
center from my belt pouch, turned it on. Can you hear me?

"Better," he said. "That's weird."

Sorry, I replied. Water won't move past the vocal chords fast enough.

"How long does that thing last?" he asked.

About six hours or so, I replied. And there are other limitations. It's
a warm day, though, so we shouldn't have other problems.

"That's interesting," he said. "You're more fish than I am."

You were never meant to be a fish.

He smiled. "You know what I mean."

I hate when people mistake Dolphins and fish. That's so stupid. You're
not even close.

"We're sexier, for one thing."

Uh-huh! I replied, reaching out to stroke him as he swam by. I let myself
drop to the ocean floor, checking for marine life before letting my toes
sink into the white sand. The last time I'd played with the oxytabs I
had nearly been sliced in two by a sleeping leopard ray.

He swam by casually. "You have to stay down, don't you?"

Well, I can't breathe air until I undo this thing.

He nudged up against me. "We'll manage," he said, rubbing by me,
deliberately dragging a pectoral fin over my crotch lazily.

Is that a hint?

"This was your idea," he said. He swum around me in circles; it is true
that dolphins are huge phallic symbols, and I wanted the one in front
of me.

I remember the first time we tried this. I smiled.

"At least there wasn't as much screaming and yelling as the first time
I tried you."

I knew I could handle the size, I replied, I forgot about the salt water,
however.

He nodded, shooting up to the surface for a breath before coming back
down. "Meet me halfway?" he asked.

I pushed off the bottom and ascended. Halfway up he met me and shouted
"Grab on!" I took hold of his dorsal and we were off, full speed through
the ocean. The warm water parted before us, he and I, as we shot down into
the bright sea. He took a turn; I wrapped my legs around his midriff,
wanting to turn around, get underneath him. My erection was pressed
against his spine, which massaged me with every stroke as we exploded
out into the sunlight and were tossed apart by his violence. I fell back
into my newfound element, and he was suddenly beside me again. I rubbed
him and kissed him. I remember.

"Get in," he smiled. "I want to, too." I clambered underneath him, the
phrase 'sea monkey' running through my head as I did so. As I pressed
my erection against his anus and slid in, I remembered about him, and
all dolphins, especially males. His anus is actually slightly elongated,
so my cock felt like it was wedged between two tight but very soft and
wonderful plates. I reached up and grabbed his dorsals, pulling myself up
and wrapping my legs around his tail. He decided to provide the motion,
swimming carefully, in that slow and gentle action. I held on underneath,
my legs gripping his sides; there was just enough motion for me to feel
the pleasure of his anus again.

"Feels neat," he sighed as we slid down into the water.

You do, too. Thanks for coming by, I replied. I began to flex my knees
gently, providing my own motion.

"That's it... you never did know when to stop." He own cock swelled
out of it's sheathslit, pressing up between us. I bent down, putting
a terrible amount of drag on our already less-than-hydrodynamic shape,
and reached for it. I took the head into my mouth and sucked down, gently.

"Ohfah!" he gasped. "You don't have to stop this time, do you?"

Nope, I replied. It's great to be able to talk with my mouth full!

He laughed into the water. I felt it more than heard it. I let loose
his cock and began stroking his asshole harder, fucking him. It's my turn.

"Yes," he sighed, arcing his body to break the surface and get a breath
of air. "I want to feel you lose it, Ken." I smiled; my arms and thighs
burned with the force of our lovemaking, and I began to shove my cock
deeper into his slick, sexy body, gripping tightly.

I'm getting there...

"Yeah.. come on."

Oh, Shirm... I said, losing the ability to even think clearly, and then
exploding into him, control following thought into sweet oblivion. I could
feel each jet of semen squeeze out of me and I held on. I felt dizzy.

He stopped moving then, floating in the water at a stop. "Are you okay,
Ken?"

I don't know... I paused, then realized what had happened. The oxytabs
aren't meant for real serious exertion; I had apparently pushed this
one past it's limits.

"Should I get you back?"

That would probably be a good idea. I held onto his dorsal and he made
his way back into the lagoon. Hold it, I said.

"What?"

I need to take this thing out. I fished into the beltpouch and found the
detab. I waited until I felt I was ready and climbed up onto shore. I was
now literally a fish out of water, and would die if I didn't deactivate
the nanochine I had incorporated. Dave, shut down my autonomics.

Ken, the AI replied, That's not a good idea.

Do it, dammit.

There was a pause, and my whole body seemed to go completely numb. I put
the deact-tab into my mouth and watched, but did not feel, as I went
into convulsions, coughing up water onto the beach, plus significant
portions of my lunch. I was quite sure that the other orifices of my body
were equally abused. When it was over, I swept the entire mess into the
stream leading down and out of the lagoon, sure that either the tide or
Dave would make sure it was cleaned up before anyone else came along. I
watched the entire process with a sense of clinical detachment. Okay,
Dave, let me have it.

My senses came back on line, suddenly and painfully. I groaned, suffering
with the return of sensation, feeling every last centimeter of my throat
and GI-tract twist and knot.

"I hate to repeat myself, but are you okay?"

"I..." My voice sounded terrible. "I will be."

"Why didn't you take the mask?" Shirmin asked, concerned.

"Because I like those tabs."

"But look what they do to you!"

"So?" I asked. "It was worth it, to be with you, Shirm." I leaned out
over the water and kissed him between his eyes again. "Will you be okay?"

"I think so. I'm just worried about you!"

"Don't be. I'll recover. By tonight I'll be my usual healthy safe."

"I hope so."

"I know so."

"Then..." He paused. "I guess I'll get going. Toma's going to wonder
where I am."

"Take care, lover," I said.

He turned over in the water, waving one fin in my direction. He dove down
into the water, then suddenly vaulted skyward. "Goodbye!" he shouted,
then careened down the stream as if with rocket-assist. I waved good-bye
to him as he disappeared once more into the wide Vinyare' ocean.

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The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik, et. al., and Related Tales
are Copyright (c) 1989-2000 Elf Mathieu Sternberg. Distribution limited
to electronic media not-for-profit use only. All other rights are reserved
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