Curled up in his master's bed, Skal was briefly awoken at an ungodly hour before shuffling into the warm depression left behind as Kadan got up and prepared for the day. The five year old rejuve was soon back into a deep slumber, and remained that way until some time later when the covers were pulled back and a hand gently rocked his shoulder.
"Skal, you need to wake up now," Kadan growled as the boy was roused. "I hate to do this, but I won't be back until late, and you are due punishment."
Skal flinched at the news. Unearned spankings were a part of life for many Penitatas, at least those whose owners remembered, or cared enough to administer them. The contract that defined his terms of indenture specified the Kyyreni boy was to receive three 'unearned' spankings a week, but as Kas had helpfully pointed out several times now, it was one a week at best in most cases.
"Just stretch out on your stomach," Kadan ordered, and it was then Skal caught the sight of the crop. It was a short, stinging thing; a special source of misery that Skal would rather not experience at all if he could avoid it. With a slight whimper, he lay as ordered and buried his muzzle into the pillows, hoping that Kas wouldn't hear his cries.
The blond furred boy felt his tail lifted and braced himself for a stinging strike against his rear, but it was his thighs that felt the crop's bite instead. His initial yelp, though muffled, sounded painfully loud to the boy himself, and he barely had time to register the first stroke before the second bit into the flesh of his upper leg. Instinctively, he tried to shift away from this unfamiliar pain; paddles, belts or even switches to the buttocks he might have been able to handle, but Kadan's choice of punishment suggested he was making up for missed punishments. "Skal, lie straight," Kadan ordered, taking the boy's ankle and tugging him back into the proper posture before delivering a third stroke.
Skal tried his best, but by the sixth the pain was too great to merely endure, and he was once again writhing out of position. Again, Kadan scolded him, growing more frustrated as time was wasted, "Skal, if you don't take this like a man you'll earn extra!"
"S-sorry!" Skal whined in reply. He gripped the pillow tight, finally surrendering to the punishment. He quickly let out a rapid sequence of desperate yips and whines as six more strokes were delivered in rapid succession, three on each leg. Every blow let a small chevron of red, inflamed skin under his fur, each of which bit bone-deep and pulsed with angry urgency. "Alright, it's done," Kadan whispered after the final stroke, releasing the boy's tail and running a hand down his back to comfort the Penitatas. There was an awkwardness to the contact, but it was neither the heartless neglect, nor the drunken overcompensation that Skal had known in the early days; in fact, he found the touch soothing, although it was not enough to lessen his crying at all.
"I have to go now. You can stay here, go back to sleep. Kas will come and get you when you need to get up. At least one of us has a fun day ahead," he finished with a sigh, giving the sobbing Penitatas a well-meaning scratch behind his ears before leaving him to tearfully work through the anguish. As soon as the door closed, Skal curled up into a ball and clutched at his aching thighs, trying to rub the burn away. In his shifting, he inadvertently raised his head enough that one of his louder sobs was let out towards the door rather than into the pillow, but he was past caring at that point.
He didn't remember going back to sleep, but he must have done. He lifted his head to find Kas sat on the side of the bed, clutching a bread roll that sang a siren song to his nose; the hot, dribbling fat hooked him with such intensity that he rose as if yanked by the muzzle. It came with a plate, which was just as well because from the first bite Skal was dribbling meat juices and spicy sauce. "Wow, does the captain not feed you or something?" Kas chuckled.
"I just needed this so badly!" Skal exclaimed in the solitary moment where his muzzle wasn't stuffed. Before he'd even swallowed the last mouthful he was sucking his fingers clean, and once he'd swallowed he shamelessly licked the plate, much to Kas' loudly-voiced amusement.
As Skal set down the plate and dared to try and sit normally, Kas' smile slowly slipped from his muzzle. "I didn't remind him, just so you know. I joke about doing that, but I wouldn't. I think I've put you through enough."
"Never thought you did," Skal answered with a wince. Sitting was an issue for the moment. "It's not so bad though. I've had a lot worse," he added, determined to put a brave face on what had been a miserable start to the morning.
Kas glanced at Skal's back, noting the faint lines of scar tissue beneath the fur. "Yeah, we both have. Right, shower time! Go on, Mister Sticky! I want you scrubbed and presentable for today!"
"Why? What's so special about today?" Skal asked as he was physically dragged out of the bedroom.
"You'll see!" Kas replied in a gleeful, sing-song tone, revelling in the knowledge Skal did not yet possess. The Penitatas did as told, being careful to operate the taps with the sides of his paws rather than his fatty fingers so he wouldn't have to clean up after himself too much. The water heater was acting up again, leaving the water too cold to be truly soothing, but not so brisk that he needed to rush. Working up a nice, soapy lather for his hands, Skal wondered if he should ask to be taken to a proper baths. He'd not been to one as a rejuve, and his idle daydream conjoured memories of soaking in hot, bubbling pools while servants worked enriching balms into his fur, easing out every knot and tension from his muscles. Even Penitatas deserved a little pampering, right?
Skal emerged from the shower a new boy, bright and ready for whatever life was going to throw at him. He told himself as much as he used a pair of towels to rid his fur of clinging water, although by the time he reached the hallway he quickly added a series of caveats, mostly around potential punishments he might endure. Skal was under no illusions that he was better off than most Penitatas, but he also knew he had farther to fall.
"Look who just arrived!" Kas announced with a triumphant flair, prompting Skal to peer into the living room. It was Sam. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she was here, in his home, with him. The boy almost forgot how to speak. With a wink and a seedy grin Kas said, "Why don't you two go into your room? I'll be out here not hearing anything."
Both Penitatas blushed at the implication, but it didn't stop Sam from rushing over and taking Skal's offered hand. They both slipped into the small bedroom, now 'his' only in the technical sense; most of Skal's meagre belongings were now in Kadan's room. "So... Kas stays in here?" Sam asked, despite already knowing the answer. Skal merely nodded in reply.
Sam perched herself on the edge of the bed, paws on her lap, and glanced shyly at Skal has he hovered nearby. "I... got thrashed this morning. Not keen on sitting down just yet," he confessed, to Sam's amusement.
"It's okay. I had some things I wanted to say to you, but I've never been sure if the time was right. After... what happened... I've done a lot of thinking, a lot of searching, and... well, I think I finally found where I need to be. In myself, I mean. Am I making sense?"
She wasn't, but Skal nodded anyway. That seemed to bring a smile to Sam's face. "I guess I just want to be more like you. In a lot of ways, you aren't a Penitatas anymore; you don't even wear our mark now. Only the people who know you know the truth, and they don't seem to care. I want that too, and I think I can have it."
"How?" Skal asked, testing his luck as he sat beside her. The brief sting was worth it, as it allowed a physical closeness he'd been denied for too long.
Sam's small, blonde paw found Skal's own, their fingers meshing together as though made for one another. Their smiles, blushes and shy flicks of the ear were in perfect synchronisation; their breathing hastened together; two pairs of lips parted in unison, each forming a wordless question to the other. It was as though the Gods themselves had willed the moment, and the two Kyyreni met in a simple, intimate kiss. Skal let his eyes slide closed, losing himself in the moment. His head swam when at last they broke apart, and Sam gave an eager sigh of anticipation as he carefully eased her shirt open, button by button. Sam shed her skirt as she rolled onto her back, giggly with the thought of what was to come as Skal crawled on top of her.
"I have wanted to do this for what seems like forever," he whispered as he lowered his head and nuzzled Sam, rubbing the sides of his muzzle against her own. He briefly wished he hadn't showered, so that his scent would linger on her. With a playful purr, Skal eased himself lower down his partner's body, tickling her chest and stomach with sharp huffs of air from his nose as he worked down towards her underwear. Sam's hips rose from the sheets to aid the removal of the soft, white garment, leaving her bare and ready for Skal's attention. He held his muzzle just shy of touching her intimate slit, tormenting her with gentle blowing that drew a needy murring from Sam's clenched jaw. Those sounds became a sharp gasp as Skal pressed his tongue inside her folds and swiftly licked up and across the nub of her clitoris. Each tender stroke of the boy's tongue made Sam writhe with pleasure, her moans becoming louder with no regard for the possibility of being overheard. A few more slow, deep licks brought a hungry swelling to the girl's privates, and the growing scent of her made Skal's length pulse with desire.
When the throbbing need became unbearable, Skal crawled on top of his partner, easing the tip of his member against her warm, wet entrance. "Are you ready?" he asked, and was answered by a lustful pawing of his chest and shoulders. He whimpered at the intensity of the penetration, his boyhood squeezed tight as the act of penetration brought on a premature orgasm from the girl. Sam shifted beneath him, drawing him closer, and both Rejuves gasped in unison as his growing knot was enveloped, embraced and clenched tight against. Raw, primal instinct made Skal bite down upon Sam's neck, gripping tight to muffle his howl as he was forced over the edge. Every twitch of his orgasm brought a new source of stimulation as Sam clenched and writhed beneath him, overwhelming him with sensations until all he could do was hold tight to her and surrender.
Their first orgasms faded, but like youths in season both remained lustful and locked together. Skal felt Sam pressing against his chest, and broke his hold on her to give her the space she desired. With a shy bite of her lip, the girl tucked her leg up and shifted, rolling onto her front with Skal still docked, drawing from him a shameless cry of delight. One of her paws slipped to her crotch, teasing her clitoris as Skal began to hump against her once again. The two moved in unison, heightening each other's experience until Sam was brought to climax once again, and her sudden tightening squeezed a second, shuddering orgasm from her partner.
"Blood and Iron! Ah! Ow ow ow!" Skal mewled as he clenched up, curled over Sam's rump and whimpering through an unbearably intense climax. For a moment, it was as though he forgot how to breathe, only to gulp down great lungfuls of air as he eased himself free. The boy fell back onto his rear, both hands shielding his hot red boyhood, which still twitched and leaked beads of fluid from the tip.
Sam flopped onto her side and shot the boy a smirk. "Does it hurt you every time we do this?"
"Yeah, but it's a wonderful kind of pain," Skal chuckled, breathing a sigh of relief as his erection began to fade. "That last one was so intense I thought I'd broken something!"
"I can tell," Sam chuckled. She probed her tender passage, reaching in as deep as she could, and withdrew a finger sticky with his load. "You've been saving that up for a while, I think."
With a bashful grin he answered, "my paw just doesn't compare to you." His silly attempt at flattery earned him a kiss before Sam stole his towel to wipe herself down. The odd twitch of an ear or lip told him she was just as tender, despite her teasing. Once they were both clean enough, Skal pulled her to his chest and lay down on the bed, nuzzling her tenderly from behind. "I want us to be together forever," he confessed. Sam answered by nibbling gently of his fingers, leaving them both in giggles as their emotions and bodies settled back to normality. They enjoyed a quiet restfulness; not sleep, but an almost meditative sort of calm born of their closeness. Ultimately, it could only last so long, and it was Sam who first wriggled off the bed to make herself decent and answer the call of nature. Skal watched her go with a smile, though he inwardly mourned the death of the moment.
Any hope of rekindling their intimacy was ruined by Kas, who upon seeing Sam leave had bounded to the door and wasted no time in prying for details. After deflecting long enough to take his own turn at the latrine, Sam begged for a chance to speak about 'something important'; a phrase that seemed designed for the express purpose of freezing a boy's heart with dread. Skal settled down beside her in the living room, with Kas keeping a respectful distance, while Sam slowly worked up the courage to speak. With each passing moment, the happy, lustful girl faded, replaced by a fragile and anxious child.
"A few weeks ago..." she began, stopping to bite her lip as a tear leaked from the edge of her eye. "I went to see a doctor. He was some kind of specialist who wanted to study rejuves. He... he said I had radiation poisoning, 'Chronostatic' or something like that. It's the stuff that rejuvenators use to make us young again, only something went wrong with my rejuvenation and now I have some left over inside of me."
"Radiation poisoning?" Skal asked breathlessly. In the corner of his eye, he saw Kas lean back and turn away to give the pair a little extra privacy.
Sam nodded slowly as she willed together enough strength to continue. "Normally, they'd tread this with another rejuvenation, but because of how young I am already they can't do that. If I go back into the rejuve machines then I won't come back out. I mean, I will physically, but my brain won't be able to hold my memories, my feelings... I'd be reset, an actual child again. Dead, in a way..."
She let out a soft blub, prompting Skal to throw his arms tight around her. She took comfort from him, and with forced optimism added, "the doctor has some new kind of treatment he wants to try, one that doesn't need rejuvenation. He's confident about it, and afterwards I can carry on as I am."
"That's good!" Skal exclaimed, clinging desperately to the branch of hope she'd offered. "If he's confident, we should be too! You're going to be fine, Sam. I promise."
To his surprise, Skal felt Kas' paw on his shoulder. "Hey, Sam? Can I have a word with Skal in private? We won't be long."
It took Skal a long time to let Sam go, but eventually, Kas pried him away and steered him into the kitchen. With a brief glance to make sure Sam wasn't looking, he whispered, "Skal, she's hiding something. Given what she's told you, I think... I'm not saying assume the worst, but you should be ready for it."
"No!" he snapped back reflexively. "Don't tell me that! Don't tell me she won't be okay! Look at her, she's fine!"
Kas gripped the boy's shoulders and held him tight as his emotions overwhelmed him, giving him a moment to cry before saying, "Sometimes people who are sick look fine. They can go from healthy to the death bed in no time at all. I've seen it happen, Skal. Hard as it is for you to hear, you need to accept she might not make it. I want her to be okay, but I... my gut says she knows the odds are worse than she said."
Skal turned back toward the living room. Sam sat alone on the sofa, staring at nothing, moving only to wipe her face. "Go sit with her," Kas said, "I'll tell the captain."
The boy did as ordered. It seemed as though the dimensions of the room had changed, creating a gulf of miles between him and Sam, and every inch of it burned his insides with such intensity that he wanted to scream. Somehow, he endured, finding his place beside her once again. With a loving arm wrapped around Sam's shoulder, he forced himself to ask the one question he did not want answered. "Sam, what we did before... was that you saying goodbye?"
With a fresh sob, Sam placed her head upon his chest, and Skal threw back his head in a howl of pain unlike any sound he'd made before.