Cyrano wanders through these woods, whistling a klezmer tune to himself, 
obviously in good spirits.

Athena is sitting on the stone again, head resting against her knees. It jerks 
up at the whistling.

Center of the Caern--Umbra
The expanse of grass up and down the valley becomes much thicker here, a 
circular plush carpet of deep green fibers. Lunes dance wildly in the air, 
especially around the perimeter of the circle, and water sprites leap from the 
cliff's edge to the southeast down to the valley floor, giggling the whole way. 
An omnipresent light mist fills the umbral caern, not fully obscuring vision 
but blurring more distant objects. In the center of the circle is a large white 
boulder, with crystals on it glimmering with reflected light of the lunes. 
Etched into the boulder is the wandering glyph of the Wyld.
The air here is charged, and seems to tingle. Even the least perceptive can 
feel the presence of this place, sense the strength here. Power reverberates 
through the Earth's shell like the sound of distant thunder, rumbling so deeply 
it must be felt rather than heard.

Cyrano continues moving in the general direction of the circle, and stops 
whistling to chatter mindlessly at some of the lunes.

Athena looks at Cyrano warily and rises up on her knees, looking at him.

Cyrano espies the movement and turns to advance directly toward Athena.

Athena's eyes widen and she sits very still. "Hello."

Cyrano moves into the clearing and spares a long wink for Athena. Then, he 
starts moving around the circle, grabbing at handsful of air, which can he 
heard to crackle in his grip, and then placing his palm upon his throat.

Athena watches Cyrano curiously, settling into a thoughtful crouch. After a 
moment, she bites. "What are you doing?"

Cyrano spins about to look at her, eyes a little wild. Then he moves toward 
her. "Eating." he whispers.

Athena turns her head this way and that, eyes round. "I thought you ate... 
rabbits and stuff."

Cyrano nods. "I can feed on those too. It's easier to feed here. Why do you 
think so many of us cluster near the circle?"

Athena shakes her head. "For the power... the light. Because it's safer?"

Cyrano smiles widely and spreads his hands. "The magic rock here radiates 
power. Power for living. Power for tricks. Power for..." He looks at her, and 
it's almost as if there are sparks dancing in his eyes. "Anything."

Athena breathes, "Anything?" It is an invitation to continue. She falls back on 
her butt again and hugs her legs.

Cyrano moves closer, a hand suddenly lashing out and grabbing something from 
the air that crackles. His eyes never leave hers. "Anything. If you can find 
the way to... to. Channel it."

Athena shakes her head a little. "I'm just... learning to channel the power 
inside me. You really eat it?"

Cyrano chuckles. "Of course I eat it. Either here or from others." He opens his 
hand, pushing it toward Athena. If she feels anything, perhaps it's just the 
power of suggestion. But the hair at the back of her neck does stand up smartly.

Athena shivers, her hand drifting up to her throat and her back hunching. She 
gazes at the spirit for a long moment, and then asks, hesitantly, "Do you 
remember my name?"

Cyrano relaxes a little, the intensity slipping a notch. He reaches out a 
finger to brush the tip of her nose. "Of course. You are the Closed WrongSider."

Athena shivers again, her shoulders clenching at the touch. "How am I closed?" 
Her tone is curious, despite her body tension.

Athena:
Barely a teenager, this girl's body is surprisingly graceful for somebody in 
the throes of adolescence. Her stocky, strong child's body is beginning to 
aquire the hint of a woman's shape; although she is still short, she somehow 
also seems lean, with long legs. Her skin is a dusky olive indoors, but closer 
to bronze in the sunlight. Her black curly hair is cut to chinlength, without 
bangs. Her eyes are grey.
She is not truly pretty, with a short nose and a square face, but there is 
something about her that demands attention. Perhaps it is the way her grey eyes 
seem to observe everything around her. Or perhaps it's how confidently she 
stands, or how efficiently she moves-- graceful even when she is not quick. 
There is something wild in the tilt of her head, and the way she shifts her 
weight forward onto the tips of her toes, as if at any moment, she will spring 
forward.
Belted around her waist, incongruous with her jeans, is a rather large knife 
with an oversized hilt wrapped in leather. There is a hat perched on her head, 
a little too big, and a bit incongruous with her jeans and sneakers.
        
Cyrano tugs gently at her hat, runs a hand along her shirt. "You are closed. 
You were the one who explained closeds."

Athena bites her lip, holds her breath for a moment. Then she remembers to 
breathe again. "Oh, yes... Most people call me Athena..." Her eyes are getting 
a little wild and unfocused by this point.

Cyrano nods. "I suppose you are, yes. Do you like the rock?"

Athena nods slowly, and then more vigorously as she realizes the subject has 
chanaged again. "It makes me feel in touch with... things. The wyld. Nature. 
Um." She ducks her head.

Cyrano grins and nods. "I like to touch nature too." He clambers up on the 
rock next to her. Then he hesitates a moment. "What is it?"

Athena blinks. "What is what?"

You say "Nature."

Athena makes a little 'o' with her mouth, glances down briefly at how close the 
coyote is to her, and concentrates on nature. "It's... life. And life from 
life. And death from life. And the things that give life and take life away. 
Most people sort of use it as the opposite of cities-- do you know what they 
are?"

Cyrano shakes his head slightly. "Is it like sitting here? Or a different sort 
of sitting?"

Athena shakes her head, hair flying. "It's the big dirty place where all the 
humans live. Lots of huge buildings and much and slime and filled with things 
that men built. See, most people consider 'nature' to be... anything not built 
by man. Although it doesn't make a lot of sense, since beavers build dams, and 
/they're/ natural." She stops, breathless.

Cyrano peers at Athena, lips slightly parted, crouched on the rock.

Athena waits for a moment and then asks cautiously, "Did you understand all 
that?"

Cyrano smiles widely and shakes his head. "But it was a pretty noise. And much 
of it made sense."

Athena sighs and drops her forehead in her hand for a moment. "Nature is the 
primal bits of the world. I expect you're part of nature." She raises her head, 
looks at him dubiously and mutters, "You're primal, anyhow."

Cyrano nods now. "And you? Are you nature? Did man make you?"

Athena smiles, just a little. "Man and woman. But I think I'm natural, because 
they made me out of themselves."

Cyrano licks his lips and nods. "Good. Very good. Promise."

Athena looks, strangely enough, a little apprehensive. "Promise?" Her eyes are 
intent on his face.

Cyrano nods again. "Yes. Much promise. You could become wise."

Athena blushes. "M-m-maybe someday. I don't know what promise I have now, 
though. 'm just trying to explain what I know."

You say "You have promise. I like you. Would you like to be a friend?"

Athena's eyes grow round again, and hesitantly she nods, and then, perhaps 
uncertain if he knows a nod (silly girl), says, "Yes..." She pauses. "Your 
friend?"

Cyrano cocks his head. "Yes. My friend. We shall perform the ritual then." He 
thrusts his hand out toward her, and it stops between them.

Athena glances down at the hand, and then back up at Cyrano. Then she takes the 
hand in her own and holds it, waiting to see what he's going to do next. The 
faintest spark of mischievious humor dances in the back of her eyes.

Cyrano grins and squeezes her hand. "Very good. Now we are friends." he 
whispers conspiratorially.

Athena nods her head and whispers back, "Okay." She doesn't seem terribly 
inclined to let go of the coyote's hand. "Now what?"

Cyrano rolls his shoulders. "I'm not certain. This is all they taught me. But 
it's nice, yes?"

Athena nods eagerly. "Yeah! Who taught you this much? It's very good..."

You say "The Shy WrongSider did, but mostly the Other WrongSider. They also 
taught me of hugging and kissing."

Athena blushes, a nice rose color, but manages to stammer out, "Shy Wrongsider? 
Other Wrongsider? Who're they? I don't know those names..."

Cyrano frowns for a moment, nearly releasing her hand. "The Shy WrongSider... 
is shy. And the Other WrongSider... is different. Yes." He nods firmly, pleased 
with his job.

Athena doesn't let Cyrano's hand slip away that easily, although she tries not 
to grip it tightly. "That doesn't help me much," she says apologetically. "I 
know a few shy different people. My packmate, even."

Cyrano shakes his head. "No. She is an Other. She is not like you." He frowns 
as he tries to come up with better words.

Athena looks enlightened abruptly. "She was here, in the right side?"

Cyrano nods. "Oh yes. Otherwise she could not have hugged me."

Athena nods. "That was Brian's mate." She looks wistful. "And she kissed you? 
Did you like it?" Her voice is tiny.

Cyrano nods. "Yes. It was pleasant. But only for demonstration. We did not 
mate."

Athena coughs a little. "I don't think you /have/ to mate when you kiss 
somebody. I don't think so, anyhow." She frowns. "They just do it because it's, 
uh, fun. I guess."

Cyrano frowns. "Shy WrongSider had told me the kissing ritual was performed 
when a mating pair parted. Was this wrong?"

Athena touches her throat again with drifting fingers, unconsciously. "I," she 
licks her lips, "I think people kiss when... they meet each other, if they like 
each other that way. And sometimes... just because it's fun. They'll go out and 
have food and then go home and kiss. Sometimes they don't want to... mate for 
some reason, I guess..." She shrugs. "I don't know. I've never been kissed." 
And a look of alarm crosses her face.

Cyrano nods slowly. "Other WrongSider closed herself before the ritual. Is this 
how it is always done? Or do you know?"
Athena looks relieved when the coyote does nothing... coyoteish. "Actually..." 
she considers. "Maybe she closed herself so you wouldn't... be tempted to mate 
with her. Because you have to not be closed for mating to happen, and sometimes 
kissing does become mating, and... people get tempted, I guess. Anyhow."

Cyrano looks all thoughtful at this, and stares at nothing in particular.

Athena looks at Cyrano anxiously, uncertain what she's triggered in his 
bizarro coyote brain.

Cyrano returns to the present after a moment and looks directly into her eyes. 
"Have you performed the hug ritual, then?"

Athena cocks her head. "It's not really a ritual. It's just... a nice thing to 
do with people you like. I've given lots of people hugs. If I liked them."

Cyrano nods. "Good. Would you like to learn the other ritual?"

You paged Derrick with 'Quick opinion poll. Did Chloe teach the ritual with 
tongue or without?'.

Athena ducks her head briefly and says cautiously, "Which ritual?"

Derrick pages: It looked /very/ thorough, on this end.

You say "The ritual of kissing. You said you had not learned it."

Athena looks briefly like a deer caught in headlights. And then that blush, so 
common that the coyote must think she changes color all the time, creeps up 
again, and she gives a tiny nod, and squeaks out, "If you want to."

Cyrano shrugs. "It is not unpleasant. It seems to help if one performs the hug 
ritual previously."

Athena nods again, miniscule as it is, but she's as stiff as a branch.

Cyrano slides off the rock and graciously extends a hand to Athena. "Here. The 
hug ritual is performed erect."

Athena pushes herself to her feet, and then sort of looks at Cyrano. Then, 
belatedly, she takes his hand.

Cyrano pulls the girl gently to him, then puts his arms around her like 
somebody who's hugged twice before.

Athena sighs, and wraps her arms around Cyrano, like somebody who's hugged all 
her life, long, comfortable hugs. Hesitantly, she leans her head against his 
chest.

Cyrano cocks his head and looks down. "We will need to have our faces together."

Athena leaves her head against his chest for a long moment, as if she hasn't 
heard. Then, slowly, she raises her face up to his, and opens her mouth as if 
she's about to say something; there's even an indrawn breath, and then she 
shuts her mouth again. Her neck and back muscles are so tight they're twanging.

Cyrano smiles and nods. "Very good. There appear to be a few steps to this, but 
once we start I cannot speak. All right?"

Athena nods mutely. Apparently she's already lost the power of speech.

Hard muscles under soft skin under her fingers move smoothly as he bends down 
and presses his lips to hers, softly but firmly.

Wax, she's like wax. Mostly. Her lips are soft, but she seems to know even less 
about this than the coyote.

Cyrano actually doesn't seem to be doing too poorly. He seems to have learned 
quickly from a good teacher. His lips part slightly, and his hair drapes gently 
over his shoulders as he leans forward.

Athena follows mostly in Cyrano's example, although there's a noticeable lag 
where her brain battles her body and loses, each time.

Delicately, his tongue brushes her lips and then pushes between them as his 
hands begin to roam along her back. A soft, almost painful noise comes from his 
throat.

Athena freezes again, and then centuries of purely-bred agression kick in and 
she begins to take... a clumsy, but enthusiastic initiative. Hands move higher, 
lower, tongue flicks, eyes close tightly.

Cyrano opens his eyes and pulls back, smiling. "You played a joke on me! You 
/did/ know this ritual." he says softly, still holding her.

Athena seems a bit unwilling to stop, once again, and once she has to, she 
opens her eyes and looks at him steadily, no blush now. "No. I learn fast, 
though."

Cyrano nods. "I told you you had promise, didn't I?" He licks his lips again. 
"You taste pleasant."

Athena grins, starts to say something to match her grin, and catches herself, 
saying demurely, "Thank you," instead.

Cyrano thinks for a moment, brow furrowed. "Now. Do we repeat that ritual when 
we part, since that was a learning session? Or does that count?"

Athena cocks her head, her arms still resting comfortably around the coyote's 
waist. "What do you think?"

Cyrano frowns. "It /is/ pleasant. And since we are friends, there is no ban."

Athena nods solemnly. "Sometimes, though, it's bad to do right before you need 
to leave."

Cyrano blinks and frowns even more, arms still absently around her. "Any why is 
it bad?"

---- World richworld ----
Cari grumbles. Dammit. I wanted to be there first. :>
You say "What? You /were/ the first."
---- World cyrano ----

Athena points out, "That was very nice. If things get too nice, some people 
would rather stay and do more nice things rather than leave and do other 
things. My mom and dad would only peck each other--" she demonstrates a brief 
brush of the lips, reaching up on her tip-toes, "when they had to leave each 
other."

Cyrano looks very puzzled. "I--"

---- World richworld ----
Cari oh. So it was just a kiss?
Cutter nods. Yes, dear.
Lenny says "Yes. Well. Not 'Just'. But a kiss."
Cutter will arrange a mud-wrestling match between Seppy Chloe and Athena for 
first breeding rights.
You say "Chloe /does/ have a bikini, yes?"
Xandra chokes at Cari and laughs.
Lenny pages: Derrick. If he ever gets over himself. Which I expect he won't.
Long distance to Lenny: Cutter swoons. We could make room in the pit for him.
From afar, Lenny giggles.
You say "Well, I suppose she doesn't need one, but it's traditional to have 
/something/ that can be easily torn off."
---- World cyrano ----

Athena settles back down again, looking faintly worried again. "Hm?"

Cyrano shakes his head. "I'm afraid I don't understand. It must be a 
wrongsider phenomenon."

Athena sighs and nods. "Maybe it is. I don't know much about rightsiders yet." 
She shrugs. "But we wouldn't have metis if people didn't get... tempted. So. 
Anyhow. You can kiss me goodbye, if you want."

Cyrano nods. "Should I only perform the abbreviated ritual, so you are not 
tempted to have metis?"

Athena laughs, delighted. "I don't think I can have metis with you. Other 
things, maybe... Metis is only with others of my kind. Anyhow, whichever you 
like." She eyes him wickedly.

Cyrano nods. "The second one was not as pleasant, I don't think." He lowers his 
head, pressing his lips to hers.

Athena is less agressive this time, more thoughtful, as if she's cataloguing 
things in her head. Her eyes are slitted, her lips willing.

Cyrano parts his lips slightly at exactly the same moment as last time, 
brushing his tongue across her lips again.

Athena, not one to knock a good thing (until it becomes boring), responds in 
kind. She doesn't seem to have th body-vs-brain lag as before, perhaps because 
her brain has entirely vacated the premises, but she's still slow, unhurried. 
Her timing /does/ vary, though.

His doesn't. His tongue slips between her lips, and he makes that oddly 
feminine cry from deep in his throat again.

One of Athena's hands drifts up from behind Cyrano's back and touches his 
throat just after that odd cry, and she breaks off the kiss to look at him 
thoughtfully.

Cyrano blinks in mild confusion. "This was where we stopped last time, but 
there is more of the ritual. I only stopped because I thought you knew it."

Athena cocks her head. "More of the ritual?" She lifts a hand to his mouth to 
forestall any more examples for the moment. "It doesn't have to be the same 
each time. You... improvise. Do it the way /you/ want to do it. It doesn't have 
to be the same as it was taught to you, I think. As long as the basic idea is 
there."

Cyrano blinks and processes this thought. "Improvised ritual. Very Coyote." He 
winks. "I think I like it."

Athena nods. "I thought to myself, it's very coyote to make things up as he 
goes along. And so I was surprised." She flashes a grin.

Cyrano bows slightly within the embrace. "Shall we try again?"

Athena nods, although she seems to have a slight return of her earlier 
self-consciousness.

Cyrano again presses his lips to hers, one hand moving high on her back as he 
slides up against her closeds.

Athena is again thoughtful, pliable. Observant.

Cyrano lets this first stage prolong itself, hands moving in leisurely circles 
along her back.

Athena moves her fingers up to Cyrano's neck and trails them up and down, 
through the mane of hair.

Cyrano slowly pushes his tongue between her lips at the same time as one hand 
gently squeezes her cheek through her trousers.

Athena is a little surprised by this, but adapts quickly. It's in the name of 
education, after all.

Cyrano lets his tongue drift around a bit, hand massaging on a maintaining 
course again, letting things flow.

---- World richworld ----
Xandra says "I wonder if Athena can get a gnosis point if this keeps up long enough. SHeesh."
---- World cyrano ----

Athena is pretty passive at this point, more interested in seeing what the 
spirit improvises than doing any improvising of her own. Her eyes remain 
slitted.

Cyrano apparently has finished improvising. He begins to pull away, but then 
catches her lip between his teeth and nips at it painfully.

Athena grins at Cyrano. "Very good." She licks her lip. "Even the last."

Cyrano shrugs. "I'm afraid that's the only things she taught me."

Athena shrugs. "There's no reason to hurry." She cocks an eyebrow. "Is there?"

You say "For tonight, yes. I should see my lady to bed."

Athena nods. "Well then. I'll be here on other nights. Friends, now?"

Cyrano grins. "Of course. We have performed the ritual." He glances up at the 
sky, then back down again. "Thank you very much, friend. This was pleasant."

Athena nods eagerly. "I liked it. Thank you for teaching me the ritual."

Cyrano slowly releases the girl from his hold. "Hunt well, and the lady watch 
over you, Closed Wrongsider."

Athena waves a hand slowly. "And you, Coyote. Be well."

Cyrano slips away into the early morning mists of the woods, the pink of false 
dawn tinting his retreat.

Athena blows out her breath and looks around, and then up at the setting moon. 
"He asked!" she says, a bit defensively.

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