Damnd1

Inter-dimensional milking

Chapters 19-

Max has finally accepted his feelings for Brill. In return, Brill has revealed that he has some alien DNA that gives him special powers.

Although it was almost 10pm according to the 22 hour Herschellian clock, it was bright and summery thanks to the syncopation between their adopted clock, and planet Herschel Majoris' 54 hour rotational period. Out on the golden fur grass that covered much of the outer grounds of the school, many of the older students sat in groups chatting or goofing off. Further out, in the shade of the sponge vines couples who sought great privacy sat or lay. Sponge vine spores floated in light ripples carried on the breeze.

Max was with a group of 12 students.

"Hey Max, what did Miss Janeway about your implant?" Troye asked "Did she tell you why it's malfunctioning?"

"It's not malfunctioning," Max said, sniffing. "There's something weird going on."

"Oh yeah sorry sib. So you're 100% sure someone's messing with your junk?"

"Yeah. 100%"

"How can you be sure?" Braden asked.

"Because it feels different. Not what you would program if you were trying to make someone feel good."

"In what way?" Julie asked.

Max didn't feel like going into the intimate details of the groping and oral attention he was receiving with the girls present. He wasn't really comfortable discussing his bodily functions with his closest male friends.

"It's just… a lot creepier that's all."

"So what'd she say?" Troye asked.

"Nothing much. I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm imagining it."

Max sniffed a couple of times.

"That's harsh," Bryan said.

"Yeah, it's frustrating. She said to make a note any time it happens for the next month."

"I heard of this," Kane chipped in, feeling increasingly at home amongst the older kids. "One of the guys said it's a harvesting ghost."

Several of the guys laughed.

"It's not a ghost Kane!" Julie said not unkindly. The core group was quite protective towards him. "There's no such thing."

"I heard it'sh a perve who likes shucking off young boysh," Stan said.

Julie punched him on the arm.

"Trust you Stan. YOU'RE a perve. Are you getting enough? Maybe you should go wrestle with someone."

Max and Stan exchanged a glance. There was no warmth in Max's glance. Stan coloured slightly and looked away.

Max sniffled again and turned to Brill.

"Hey Brill, can I talk to you in private for a moment please?"

"Sure Max."

They stood up and walked 25 yards away from the group and sat down facing each other.

"I guess you probably already read my thoughts right? You know what else happened in the Nurse's office?"

"Actually no. I'm not reading everyone's thoughts all the time. It's like your eyes; you don't see everything in a room even though it's right in front of you. I have to focus where I want to read or it's just too tiring."

"Oh, I never thought of it like that."

"Yeah, and most of the time I'm just kind of chilling. I'm aware of people's thoughts but I'm not picking up any detail. So what else DID happen?"

"She showed me my portal from the other side. Gave me a double green. I can't tell you how weird it is sitting there with her, looking at your own dick on her screen. Especially when she can give you a boner any time she likes. She even made me squirt."

"While she was looking right at your boner? Wow, that IS freaky."

Brill stared intensely at Max then frowned.

"What? Something wrong?" Max asked.

"No. Not exactly. I just can't read you today. I wanted to see your memory of it."

Now it was Max's turn to frown.

"Why's that?"

"I have no idea."

Max smirked back at Brill and raised his eyebrows with a sparkle in his eye.

"I'm a real man of mystery!"

"Man? Right. If you say so."

Brill grinned.

"You've got a beautiful smile," Max told him.

Brill's smile broadened but it was not a vain attempt to fish for another compliment. He was simply happy that Max felt comfortable to pay him that compliment.

"But I think it's your eyes I love best," Max continued. "They're amazing. When they're not gold. That was… well, it made me nervous."

"Hey no problem. I'm not like Ragooon; I can control myself."

Brill was referring to a superhero in one of the virtual movies. When he was angry, he transformed into a kind of bipedal dragon that incinerated or ripped apart his enemies.

"I'm not gonna turn into a monster and go on the rampage."

Max smiled.

"Well that's good to know. They are kinda cool with just those little gold flecks around the edges."

He moved closer and looked deep into Brill's eyes.

"It's not there now."

"Nah, it comes and goes with my emotions."

Brill paused for a few seconds.

"Max, I've got something to tell you. You might not like it. You might not like ME after I tell you, but I've got to be upfront with you if we're gonna… get closer."

Max felt his heart sink. He couldn't bear it if Brill said anything bad that would ruin things. Not now that Max was starting to get comfortable about his affection for him.

"Go on then. Don't keep me in suspense."

"It's kind of embarrassing. Max, I watched that vid of you jacking off in the shower."

"Oh that."

Max looked sad. The memory of it still put a heavy lump in his stomach. The only way he got by was to pretend it never happened.

"I think everyone in the school did."

"Yeah, but I didn't just watch it once. I watched it loads of times. Especially at skin time."

Comprehension slowly dawned on Max's face.

"You jacked off to a vid of me jacking off?"

Brill looked like a puppy that had been caught peeing on the carpet. He pulled a sheepish, appeasing grin, smiling too wide.

"Yeah. You're really cute the way you do it."

Max had only thought of his performance in terms of how dumb he looked. Now he was starting to realise that some people might view the video in another way.

"Dude, I guess if there's anyone on the planet that I wouldn't mind hearing that about, it's you."

He thought about it a bit longer.

"It's pretty hot actually."

He smiled at Brill; more of a leer.

"Very hot actually. Did you squirt?"

"Yeah. Three times."

Max laughed.

"Three? Fuck! I must be sexier than I thought."

"You don't mind?"

"Sib, I really wish that vid wasn't out there, but if anyone was going to get off on it, I'm glad it was you."

***

"What do you think they're talking about?" Stan asked.

"I dunno dude, they're real close now. Max probably feels more comfortable talking to Brill about that stuff with the portal."

"Yeah, I guesh sho," Stan said, watching Max laughing with Brill.

***

"I've got a confession to make as well," Max said, with a sniff.

"Max what's with all the sniffing?"

"Oh it's hay fever. I think I must be allergic to all the spores coming off those sponge trees. I don't usually get it. I should really get a shot from Janeway."

"Ahh okay. So what's this confession?"

"I've seen you naked as well."

Brill's brow furrowed.

"Yeah, when?"

"Soon after I got here, Sam showed me a glam you sent him. Then a month or two later, this girl was trying to ramp me. She showed me a few photos."

"She was ramping you? You never told me."

"We weren't that close at the time."

"Did it work?"

Now it was Max's turn to feel awkward. He dropped his head and looked bashfully up at Brill.

"Yyyeah."

Brilled beamed at him.

"That's good."

He rose to his knees, leaned forwards and kissed Max on the lips. Max momentarily recoiled in surprise, then he moved back and wrapped his arms around Brill's neck.

"I'm lousy at kissing. I haven't really, you know, done it much before."

"You just turn your head to the side and press your lips together, like you're massaging the other person's mouth. Here, I can teach you."

Brill wrapped his arms around Max's waist and pulled him close. They kissed for several minutes, then still hugging they lay on their sides and continued. Both of their lights turned green.

***

"They're kishing!" Stan said indignantly.

"No shit," Julie said disappointed, as her hopes at a chance with Max evaporated.

"Yeah, they're an item. They were touching hands and stuff when we went to Capital the other day," Bryan added.

"Yeah, and they were hugging when we went to EV Cave," Kane said.

"What movie did they watch?"

"Stowaway."

"And you were in there too?"

"Yeah me and Sam…"

Kane stopped himself. He'd revealed to the group that he and Sam had watched gay porn together. He looked at Sam blushing brightly. He was mortified in case he'd outed the older boy and harmed their friendship. Sam grinned at him.

"It's okay Kane, everyone knows I swing both ways. There's nothing wrong."

Relief washed across Kane's face like wave.

"I gotta go. Homework to do," Stan said, rising abruptly and walking back towards the dorms.

He quickly turned away from the group to hide the tears he feared were about to roll down his cheeks.

Max is starting to become comfortable expressing his feelings for Brill in public, but as he is about to discover, there may be a price to pay.

"Hey kiddo! You finally remembered how to use the Vone then?!"

Max's father Jonathan chided him gently, smiling as he spoke.

"Yeah, sorry about that. It's so easy to forget. Time just goes so quickly here."

"No need to apologise Max, I was only kidding. I know what it's like to be a teenager. The last thing you wanna do is talk to your old man on the vone."

"Nah it's not that at all dad, it's just…"

"Hey kiddo, I'm only messing with you. It's great to hear from you. How are things going?"

"Things are pretty good most of the time thanks dad. I'm in the infirmary though – quarantine. And I got into a fight."

"The infirmary? Were you hurt? Who were you fighting?"

"I'm not here 'cause of the fight. I'm here because I've got this virus. It's not too serious, but I've gotta stay here for a couple of weeks while it clears up."

"How bad is it?"

"It's not so bad really dad; runny nose, headaches, and all my joints are really hurting so I can't really walk around much."

He held up his hands so that his father could see his nails.

"Look, blue fingernails too. Apparently that can last for years. Something to do with the capillaries."

His fingernails were not truly blue; more of a very pale purple, but it was clear that there was an issue with the blood flow there.

"My darling, sorry you're suffering. Is it infectious?"

"Yeah it can be, but not between humans."

"Now what does THAT mean? Tell me you haven't been kissing the tarabellas have you?"

Max hadn't even SEEN a tarabella since he'd arrived on Herschel Majoris, but the small primates were legendary for their massive libido.

He laughed.

"Nooo dad. This is called Pasolini's Complex. Apparently you only catch it from close contact with Herschellians."

"How close?"

Max looked coy.

"Oh you know, pretty close. Kissing close."

Jonathan beamed.

"Maaax, have you been seeing someone? I'm so happy for you. We were so worried that you might find it hard to make friends."

Max heard his second father Dominic speaking from out of the field of the camera.

"Max is seeing someone? That's fantastic. I hope it doesn't distract from his studies."

"So tell me all about her. What's her name? How long have you been seeing her?"

Jonathan was like a giggly teenager at the thought of his son's relationship.

"Him," Max corrected.

"Excuse me?"

"It's not a her, it's a him. His name is Brill."

"You're seeing a boy? Omj! Omj!"

Max grinned at his father's attempt to use teen language. Jonathan was almost unbearably excited at the thought that his son was seeing a boy. Of course, his base emotional level was pretty excitable at the best of times but this news was made him happier still. As a gay couple, Jonathan and Dominic were careful never to push heir son in that direction, but having a gay son meant that they would be close in ways that would not have been possible before.

"What's he like? How did you meet?"

"We met at school. Of course. We wrestled a few times. Got to know each other."

"Wrestled? Jeez, it's like something from a Norman Rockwell painting!"

"Who's Normal Rockwell?"

"He was a painter on Earth hundreds of years ago. He did paintings of boy scouts, and kids fishing, growing up paintings, that kind of thing. And kids wrestling."

"Yeah, he probably didn't paint this sort of wrestling."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we're locked in this EV suits almost all the time. It can be kind of difficult to cope with. Sometimes you feel frustrated, you know, sexually. So you wrestle someone, and the light goes green and, well, you know the rest."

"The light?"

Max frowned.

"You know, on the EV suit. It shows when um, when the harvesting thing is working."

Jonathan look back at Max blankly.

"Jeez dad, you signed me up for this. Didn't you bother to look into how it works?"

"No not really. It's the law. They wouldn't do anything to hurt you. We didn't really get into the details."

Jonathan turned to his husband.

"Hey Dom, do you know how these harvesting things work?"

"No not really. They use some kind of portal technology to collect semen that's all I know."

"Daaad!" Max said, his pitch rising. "I can't believe you don't know how it works."

"We're a bit old for it sweetheart."

"Not true. We went to Central and there was a homeless guy, and he was wearing an EV suit, just lying there being milked. And adults can hire them to watch EV movies."

"Wow, it sounds like a different world out there. So you were telling me about this wrestling."

"Oh yeah, so when you're feeling, you know, horny, you find a boy to wrestle with, then, well, if you get a boner, the harvester and the implant takes over, then afterwards you err, well, umm, you don't feel frustrated anymore."

"What a great idea!"

Dominic stuck his head into the top of shot diagonally from in front of Jonathan. Max cracked up. Dominic didn't play the fool often, but Max always loved it when he did. He grinned broadly at his dad.

"Hi dad! Yeah, so that was one of the first times I met Brill."

"So he's a native?" Dominic asked.

"I don't know. I never asked, but he's part Herschellian. He's got these weird powers. He can read your thoughts, and I think he can kind of make people do whatever he wants. He used it to stop this fight we got into."

"Yeah, tell us about this fight" Jonathan said.

"Well these city kids EV jacked one of our friends. That's when they beat you up and steal your EV suit. So we bumped into them and got into a fight then the EV suits started a max stim and we would have been in trouble cause the kids weren't wearing EVs so it wouldn't have affected them but then Brill just stood up and told them to back off and they just did then sec came and arrested us all and…"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down Max, take a breath," Dominic said.

Jonathan slapped Dominic on the arm.

"Leave him alone Dom. Can't you see he's excited?"

Dominic hugged Jonathan and kissed him on the cheek.

"Oh I can see that, but he's talking a mile a minute and I want to find out what happened."

Max interjected.

"Anyway, we all got arrested and taken to sec, but once they saw the cam footage and called the school, they realised it was self-defence, so they arrested the kids and let us go."

"Well that's a relief," Dominic said. "I don't think you'd look good in stripes."

Max smiled.

"So tell us more about this boy. What did you say his name was?"

"His name's Brill."

"How long have you been seeing each other. How serious is it?"

"We've only been going steady for a few days, but we've been friends almost since I first came here."

"And how serious is it?"

Max sighed and got a far away look.

"Dad, he's the most perfect person I ever met in my life."

Dominic hugged Jonathan again.

"I know that feeling Maxxie. I knew the first second me and Jonathan met that we'd be together for the rest of our lives."

Jonathan looked up at Dominic and they kissed tenderly on the lips. Dominic wasn't big on public displays of affection but his feelings ran deep.

"Dad, he's… he's amazing. He's kind and patient and funny and smart and… I don't know. There's so much that I love about him but it's hard to describe."

"What does he look like, can you show us a pic."

"Sure."

Max picked up a pad from the top of the bedside table.

"Here we, oh oh no, not that one, not that one, not that…"

He swiped past photo after photo of Brill. Eventually he looked up.

Blushing, he sheepishly said, "I don't have any that aren't nude."

Dominic burst out laughing. A hearty belly laugh that he very rarely released.

Jonathan said, "Well, can you put your finger over his dangly bits and show us?"

"Umm, no, better not," Max said.

Dominic smiled.

"Alright, so what does he look like?" Jonathan asked. "Can you at least describe him to us?"

Max got that far away, happy look again as he thought of Brill.

"He's beautiful. Perfect. He's got blonde hair, kind of a thinnish face, nice lips. He's slim, a bit muscly but not much. He's quite tall. And he's got the most amazing eyes. They're brown but they have these little bits of gold around the edges, and they get brighter when he feels strong emotions. Oh zip, look here he is."

He covered the bottom half of the screen with four fingers and held the pad up to his vone as he spoke. Brill's image smiled at Max's fathers.

"See, isn't he great? He's perfect right?"

"Darling, he's absolutely gorgeous. We're so happy for you, aren't we Dom?"

"Absolutely. Max, I hope that you guys will be happy together for a long long time."

"Yeah me too!"

Dominic and Jonathan both knew that the odds were massively against Max's first relation lasting but they both resisted the urge to keep his feet on the ground with a cautionary warning. There was no need to cast a cloud over his obvious happiness.

Max chattered happily for a further half an hour before he ran out of news, then he said his goodbyes. Jonathan blew him a kiss and Dominic wished him well then they hung up.

***

That evening, Brill called.

"Hey Brill!"

Max was delighted to hear from his friend.

"Hey Max. Sorry to call but they're not allowing visitors. Especially not me. They reckon I might have given it to you; a carrier or something. I'm really sorry."

"Why?"

"For making you sick."

Max beamed at him.

"Don't be. I'd feel like this a hundred times for what you did."

Brill frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"You taught me how to kiss. You haven't forgotten already. How many boys have you taught?!" Max asked playfully.

Brill smiled warmly. Max's words made him inhale with happiness.

"Just you Max. A couple of people taught me, but you were the first person I ever wanted to teach back."

"That's good," Max smiled.

"So how you feeling?"

Max shrugged.

"Not so bad. I'd rather be out there with you though."

"Yeah, I wish you were here too."

"Miss Janeway said I'll be out in a week or two."

"That's not so long I guess. I was hoping we could skin time together."

"Yeah, that'll be great."

"I guess I'll have to save it till then. I guess I could go wrestle Stan."

"I wouldn't."

"Nah, I was only joking. I know he gets aggressive."

"Yeah."

"Hey Max, I gotta go soon; late study, but is there anything I can get for you? Anything you need?"

"Nah, I've been watching my classes on holo, and the teachers are all getting homework to me. All I want is to get out of here."

"Yeah, I bet. Well feel better soon Max. I'll vone tomorrow. Love you."

Max was overwhelmed by emotion. He could barely speak. Those two little words meant the world to him.

"You too," he whispered, fearful that he voice would crack if he spoke louder.

Max lay thinking for ten minutes, a perpetual smile on his face, then he picked up his pad to continue working on the game he had begun months ago.

Brill and Max are a couple at long last. Max has contracted a virus from Brill for his trouble.

Nine days later Max returned to his dorm, relieved to see the back of quarantine. Brill was waiting outside for him.

"Hey Max. Welcome home!"

He beamed at Max. For Max, the inconvenience of living in a sterile room for over a week was bad enough, but having to be away from Brill just when they were getting close was almost unbearable.

"Couldn't Sam let you in?"

"He didn't answer. Probably out."

Max gave Brill a hug that was so fierce it even caught Brill by surprise.

"I've wanted to do that for 9 days 7 hours and 14 minutes!" Max said letting them into his room.

Brill was delighted. Now that Max had finally admitted his feelings, he seemed to be embracing them fully. For a moment, Brill just hugged, cheek to cheek, then he drew back and Max kissed him on the lips.

"Hey careful," Brill cautioned with a grin, "that's what got you into quarantine in the first place!"

"It's okay. Miss Janeway said you're immune after you've had it once."

"Well that's good to know."

"The gold in your eyes is brighter. I'm starting to like it now."

"Yeah, like I said, it shows up more when I feel strong emotions."

Max grinned at the implication and they hugged again longer this time. Within a few seconds of each other both their lights turned green. In a harvesting station a million miles away, two unexceptional teen penises rose and strained hard for a minute before the tubes plugged into their urethras filled with white.

Max and Brill hugged unabated and their cocks stayed hard. Five minutes later, both tubes turned white again.

"I've been so horny," Max confided. "They switched me off the entire time I was there. And no skin time."

"Oh man that must have been torture?"

"Yeah it was."

"Did… did you get any more of those weird feelings?"

Max looked unsettled.

"Yeah once. It went on for over 20 minutes. It happened in the middle of the night."

"What did it feel like?"

"Like someone playing with my nuts and sucking my dick."

"But your implant was switched off?"

"Yeah."

"Did you squirt?"

"Yeah, eventually. I think that's why it went on so long. Brill, this is driving me crazy dude. I can't stand the thought of being locked in this fucking suit while some creep is groping me on another planet."

"I'm really sorry Max, but we'll get to the bottom of it, I promise." He gave Max's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Why don't we skin time together this weekend?" Max's smile was so broad it almost split his face. "Fucking pacing!"

***

A couple of days later Max was in Study Hall with Sam. Although libraries had long since been made obsolete by the Galactic Info net, the hall was a good place to do homework in a quiet, studious environment.

Max was reading his pad, occasionally swiping across it with his finger to access further information. It could be voice operated but it was considered rude to do so in public places.

Across from him, Sam was writing on his pad, whilst using a terminal on the desk to review a recent class.

Brill joined them to study as arranged earlier. He kissed Max on the cheek and Max turned and pecked him on the lips.

"Hey Max, Sam," Brill said in a low voice.

Sam looked up.

"Hey sib."

"How's the homework going Sam?"

"Good. Almost done. History. Might get my maths done before dinner while I'm at it. Leave my night free. Might go to Central with Kane. Watch an EV or a Virtu."

"Does he have an earlier curfew?"

"Yeah, but it's only an hour, and he can get an extension if he's with me."

"Oh that's cool."

Brill turned to Max.

"What you studying Max?"

"Oh nothing, just floating."

Brill gave him a querulous look.

"Floating? Sure. Come on dude, what you looking at?"

"It's nothing," Max said, ensuring that the back of his pad faced Brill.

Brill grinned.

"It's porn isn't it? You're watching porn. Dude save that for your room!" He stood and walked behind Max. Max turned his pad face down.

"Come on," Brill said snuggling his face close in to Max's neck from the rear with a playful grin. He tickled Max, "what you looking at."

Max giggled and squirmed like a little child.

"It's nothing Brill, honest!"

He twisted away from Brill's tickling fingers laughing. "Stop, we're gonna get banned from study hall!"

But Max was giggling even as he protested.

"Then show me!" Brill insisted.

Max finally capitulated. He'd always had a weak spot for being tickled. It was something his father Jonathan did, and even at the age of fifteen it still reduced him to tears of laughter.

"Okay okay, I'll show you!"

Brill stopped tickling, resting his head on Max's shoulder. Max turned the pad, it was full of text and photographs. Brill had to read for a while to get the general picture.

"You're studying Herschellians?"

Max nodded.

"I wanted to know more about them. How humans first met them. What they're like."

"You studying them in civics? Biology?"

"No, I've… got a friend who's part Herschellian. I wanted to find out more about him."

Max avoided looking in in Sam's direction. He didn't think he could lie and look him in the face. Brill looked over at Sam.

"It's okay Max, Sam knows. He's one of the few people I trusted to tell."

An expression of relief crossed Max's face.

"Thank Spag, I was worried after what you said about losing friends."

"Ohhhh hanks Max," Brill said nuzzling Max's neck. "That's so sweet that you were watching out for me."

Max smiled.

Brill pulled a chair over and sat beside him.

"So what d'you find out?"

"It's really interesting. Herschellians are taller and more muscly than humans. The muscles are no surprise with the extra size and gravity here on Majoris, but I was surprised that they're taller."

"Maybe they needed longer legs to get away from those damned tarabellas trying to hump them all the time?" Sam threw in.

Max and Brill both grinned.

"More likely their food was just higher off the ground, or it gave them an advantage over predators," Brill suggested.

"Anyway," Max continued, "it turns that Herschellians don't have any more special powers than humans."

Brill was surprised.

"Oh really, I didn't know that?"

"Yeah, it turns out that our DNA is only 85% compatible."

"Herschellians have DNA?" Brill asked.

"Yeah come on sib, Sam said, "how else you think they breed with humans? Didn't you pay attention in Biology?"

"I thought I did. But I never really thought about that question much."

"Sib, they discovered that DNA was the only stable naturally occurring form that carbon based life could take. The only difference between species on any planet in the Galaxy, is the way that it adapted to the local conditions. Dude that's basic biology."

"Jeez Max, you sound like Doctor Phlox."

Max grinned.

"Yeah I love his classes."

"No kidding!"

"So anyway," Max continued, "they had to use gene splicing to help the first Herschellians and humans to have kids. What they didn't realise was that the Degrasse radiation from Prime would create these mutations in the new DNA. But the mutations were not completely random – they only occurred with certain chromosomes, and THAT'S what gave the kids these special powers that their parents never had. It seems like the mutations can be stronger or weaker according to each person."

Max turned gave Brill a kiss.

"It seems like yours are stronger!"

"Well, I have to admit, I have been holding some of my powers back?"

"Oh yeah, like what?"

"Well I can fly."

"No kidding?!"

Brill's face cracked into a broad smile. "Yeah kidding. You're so gullible Max!"

Max has recovered from the virus .

Two days later Max stood by Brill's bedside in quarantine. "So I guess you're not immune after all?"

"Nah, apparently it can go both ways." Brill's nose was streaming.

"Guess you're not coming to Explorers tonight then?"

Max was grinning. He did that a lot since he and Brill had become a couple.

"Nah, I think I'll skip it tonight. Tell Squad I'm sorry."

"Sure thing Brill. Feel better soon."

Max leaned forwards to kiss Brill but Brill recoiled.

"Careful, you'll catch it again!"

"Nah, immune now remember?"

"Oh yeah."

"But I still don't want your snot all over me!"

Max kissed Brill on the cheek and headed off to Explorers.

***

In room 2, they were studying survival skills. For 15 minutes, Squad Leader Jarvis outlined rules for how to identify what planets were safe to eat and which were not going by scent, colour, texture and leaf shape. Then they were paired off with a holo-tab to run a test. The test showed various plants. The boys could use haptic sensors to feel the plants and they were free to examine them in 360 degree detail. They could even cut them open and look at the insides.

"Now obviously guys, you're not going to get the true scent of these plants, but you should have enough information to determine which are safe to eat and which are not. See how many you can get right."

Max paired with Jurnal, although it would be more accurate to say that Jurnal paired himself with Max. Jurnal was an accelerated student from the Southern continent. He was only 12 years old, and unlike everyone else in the room, he was wearing streets as opposed to the EV suits that were compulsory for all boys old enough to be harvested.

Max had met the boy on several occasions around the school, and on each occasion it was clear that the shy boy held Max in high regard.

They started working through the plant identification catalogue, conferring on each entry. Max was careful to listen to everything Jurnal had to say to build the kid up, but it was clear that Jurnal hung on Max's every word.

After a while Jurnal said, "Max, why are you always so nice to me?"

Max was taken aback.

"Why WOULDN'T I be nice Jurnal? Why has someone been harsh to you?"

"Nah, not really. They just ignore me. I guess 'cause I'm younger. But it can be lonely."

"I thought you were friends with Maden?"

"What, just 'cause we're the same age? No, not at all. He's umm, well he's quite cocky. And loud."

Max thought about Maden. Jurnal was right. He might only be 12, but Maden did have a certain brashness to him. Max put that down to the fact that despite his young age, Maden had the genitals of an adult and was already being harvested.

"Yeah, he is," Max agreed. "So is everything okay Jurnal?"

"Yeah, I suppose so."

He let out a world-weary sigh.

"It's just…"

Max looked at him with concern.

"What's up sib? Something bothering you?"

At that moment, Shaun arrived late and immediately came over to their table.

"Yo Max, mind if I join you? What we doing today?"

Max was immediately irritated by the way Shaun ignored Jurnal.

"Hey Shaun, actually do you mind joining another group? Nothing personal, we were just having a private conversation."

"You two homos planning skin time together?"

Max gave him an icy look but Shaun ignored it.

"Brill wouldn't like that. I hear you two are spanking it together now."

"Shaun. Fuck. Off."

Shaun was younger than Max, and Max was far from amused by Shaun's unwarranted familiarity. He looked at the red-headed boy with a stony expression.

Shaun's playful expression bled from his face as he realised that he had well and truly crossed the line. His looked Max in the eyes, not in challenge, but locked by the gaze of a more powerful male. His mouth moved up and down a few times but no sound emerged. All of his bravado evaporated.

Then in a small voice he said, "Sorry Max, I was only kidding around."

He backed nervously away to join another group.

When Shaun was gone, Max continued.

"So Jurnal come on, what's bothering you?"

Jurnal looked at Max for a few seconds, weighing whether or not he was comfortable speaking openly with the older boy. Eventually he decided to press on despite his discomfort.

"Max, can you teach me how to jack… how to masturbate please?"

"Excuse me?!"

Max was completely taken aback. Of all the things Jurnal might have said, that was incredibly low on the list of things Max would have expected.

Jurnal blushed and looked shyly at the ground.

"Can you um, can you show me how to masturbate?"

Max looked at the kid. He looked so small and innocent, but he had such a solemn expression on his face. It obviously meant a great deal to him. Max decided to treat the boy's request with the utmost compassion.

"Jurnal, you're a little young. It would make me very uncomfortable."

"But Sam and Kane have sex. Everyone knows it."

"Kane is a couple of years older than you. And anyway, it's not about what everyone else thinks. On Earth we've still got some old fashioned ways."

Jurnal looked deflated.

"Oh."

"Why do you want to learn?"

Jurnal looked on the verge of tears.

"I'm the only boy in the school who's not on the harvesting program. Everyone treats me like a little kid."

Max thought back to swimming class. To his embarrassment, they all swam nude. He remembered seeing Jurnal naked. The boy had the genitals of a little boy. Smooth, tiny. A little slug poking out of his groin an inch or so, certainly not as much as two.

"I guess that must be annoying," he ventured.

"Annoying? No, it's really embarrassing. Everyone knows I'm too young to squirt, and when they see I'm not wearing an EV suit it proves it. It's like a reminder."

"Oh wow, I never really thought about that," Max admitted. "So will you?"

"But how is learning to masturbate going to help Jurnal?"

"Well maybe if I learn how to do that, it'll make me start to squirt, then I'll get an EV suit."

"I'm not sure it works like that."

"It couldn't hurt."

"True enough."

"So?"

"Can't you look it up?"

"No, my parents are strict like that. I'm not allowed to look at porn till I get my EV suit."

"Wow, that sucks."

"Yeah."

"I could show you on my pad?"

"Couldn't you just show me yourself? Then I could ask questions. Only once, then I'll never bother you again I promise."

Max looked kindly at the angelic blonde haired boy. The kid looked so earnest, so desperate.

"You're not bothering me at all Jurnal. Any time you need a friend, or a big brother to talk to, you know you can come to me."

Max was feeling increasingly protective towards the boy. Jurnal smiled appreciatively.

"It's just that; you know I'm from Earth right? And I'm still not comfortable with doing stuff with other boys myself yet."

Jurnal looked miserable.

"Oh, okay. I get it. Sorry I asked."

"Don't be sorry. You did nothing wrong. Look can you… can you get a boner yet?"

"I don't know. How can I tell?"

"You do know what a boner is don't you?"

"Yeah, it's when my penis gets big."

Jurnal was so formal. Max grinned. He doubted that 'big' was the word that would apply to whatever Jurnal had when he got a boner.

"It gets hard right?" Max clarified.

"Yeah."

"Can you make it do that anytime you want to?"

"How would I do that?"

"Well for most guys it's easy. It does it all the time, even when they don't want it to. They just think of something horny and it gets hard on its own."

"What do you think about?"

Max smiled. If he was going to mentor this kid he was going to be honest.

"I think about Brill."

"Brill who comes here?"

"Yeah."

"He's really nice as well."

"Yeah."

"And that makes you hard?"

"Oh yeah, definitely."

"Why?"

Max shrugged. He'd opened a Pandora's box with Jurnal. "Because I like him. Sexually. Do you know what I mean?"

"Not really."

Max smiled and tousled Jurnal's hair.

"You will do one day. Maybe you'll like girls better. Are there any girls or boys who make you feel funny in your tummy, or your privates when you think about them or see them?"

"Yes, you."

Max was astounded. The thought that he was the object of a preteen's nascent lust was as flattering as it was unsettling.

"That's so nice of you to say so Jurnal, but I'm seeing Brill."

"So it's bad that I feel like that?"

"Oh no, not at all. It's just, well it can't lead anywhere. It will just make you frustrated."

"I'm already frustrated."

"Yeah, I can see. So anyway, if you want to make your wiener hard you just play with it."

"What do you mean?"

"Just roll the end in your fingers till it gets hard."

"Then what?"

"Then you hold it in your fist and move your fist up and down. It should feel nice."

"How fast should I move my hand?"

"You'll get a feel for it. You'll probably want to move faster after you've been doing it a while."

"Why?"

Max shrugged.

"It feels good, and doing it faster feels better."

It was clear that the information Max was imparting made as much sense to Jurnal as Sanskrit. Max grinned.

"It'll make a lot more sense when you do it for yourself."

"Okay. And how long should I do it for?"

"You'll definitely know when it's time to stop. It can take anything from 30 seconds to 5 minutes or even longer. You'll get this really nice feeling, like pissing but a million times better, then after you really won't want to even touch yourself for a while."

"Is that everything?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Okay, thanks Max." Jurnal rose to his feet. "I'll be back in a while."

Jurnal spoke to Jarvis briefly then left the room.

Ten minutes later he returned and rejoined Max.

"What was that about?" Max asked.

"I wanted to try it out."

"Now?!"

Max looked at the kid's red face. Clearly Jurnal was not kidding.

"Sure, why not?" Max laughed.

"No reason I guess. Most guys are a bit more patient about it. Even here. So how'd it go?" Jurnal gave him a big smile and a thumbs up.

"You got that nice feeling at the end?" Jurnal nodded happily.

"And did anything come out?"

"Something's supposed to come out?!"