Dual Quads and Gizmo Sex

Bob and Jeannie arrived precisely at 0900 Friday, per plan. The men would go do their exercises together, the women would stay at The Monster and visit, then they'd have a group lunch and set off on the all-hands outing.

HAL greeted them and let them in: they found their hosts on the deck again. Hellos all around and handshakes between the men, then a little mild confusion about how the men were to greet the women. That uncertainty was relieved after a quick, shared stare between the women -- it was amazing how well they seemed to be communicating already -- a slightly raised eyebrow a la Toshiro Mifune conveyed paragraphs of quite specific meaning.

Unnoticed by the men, Jeannie gave Gisela the go-ahead she was seeking.

Gisela opened with "Okay, so now that the Mister Macho handshakes and backslappings are over, how about something for us girls? A kiss would seem to be a reasonable approach to saying 'hello', don't you think, Jeannie?"

Jeannie murmured agreement.

The men exchanged their own glance, not devoid of meaning but much less heavily burdened, then stepped past one another to change partners. Almost as if choreographed each squatted down beside the 'other woman'.

Two nearly identical, brief cheek-pecks followed -- followed in turn by Gisela's loud complaint: "Dammit you two, air kisses are fine between divas and society dames, but that's NOT what I meant. Did you mean that sort of nonsense, Jeannie?"

Jeannie shook her head no, blushed brightly, and said "No way, Jose!"

Gisela gave an order: "OK, you two get to try again, and let's at least make it worthwhile! After all, we seem to be compatible all around, and I doubt any of us have any communicable diseases. So how about a real kiss, with feeling and technique and all that good stuff! Frankly, my dears, I haven't been properly kissed by another man for well over a decade, and I'm more than a little curious. Besides, I kind of like Bob, here. You don't mind if he really kisses me, do you, Jeannie? So long as symmetry is conserved, that is?"

Jeannie's head was spinning slightly: she certainly wanted a serious kiss, but this openness in discussing its possibility -- and desirability -- was disconcerting. She found Jerry extraordinarily attractive and the whole idea arousing in the extreme, but wasn't sure she could handle the reciprocal experience that Bob was in for if she accepted. After a moment, however, the immediate and very real urgency of wanting overcame the potential for some minor or even nonexistent (she hoped) future mental discomfort.

All that cogitation took about 500 milliseconds. She decided, shook her head, cleared her throat and said quietly "Not at all, so long as it's reciprocal. Symmetry is a good thing. I feel the same way. I mean, it's been forever and I do like Jerry. Con su permisso, of course!"

Gisela's orders were followed to the letter. Eyes closed, the women studied and enjoyed -- the men had very different techniques.

All found the arrangement completely satisfying and very much worthwhile. Jeannie's self-doubts about both herself and her ability to handle the situation post-kissing simply evaporated.

Gisela and Bob broke first, their gazes staying thoroughly entangled as he retreated slightly: together they looked over at the others, who were still engaged. Gisela waited a few more seconds and then quietly "ahemed".

The Jerry-Jeannie break was every bit as slow. A long, thick, embarrassed silence settled over them, finally broken by Jeannie who sighed, giggled, and said "Well! There's a proper way to wake up and start the day! I detect a mocha latte over here. What did you get, Gisela?"

Gisela laughed delightedly, looked back and forth between the men -who shared a beautiful rose- complexion, and said "Looky there, Jeannie -- they're embarrassed! Aren't men cute, sometimes? I got orange juice."

Bob and Jerry left a minute later, dismissed by the women who declared that they needed to get started on their "Girl Time" ASAP. The women sat facing one another in a long contemplative silence. Finally Gisela smiled and then giggled. Jeannie sighed, mirrored the giggle, and then said "Can I tell you something very private and special?

Gisela nodded: "Of course!"

"Angie, I haven't... I haven't been kissed by anybody except Bob for years and years -- not really, seriously kissed. And your Jerry is an absolutely superb kisser. I haven't been so instantly turned on, or so thoroughly, for eons and ages and years. It'd worry me to tell my Bob just how hard your man's kissing hit me! Am I embarrassing you with all this?"

Gisela shook her head no.

"Gisela, I have lots and lots of fantasies... about other men than Bob. But being a quad really does slow down my pursuit of any other man... not even to mention how it limits almost to zero the field of possibly-interested candidates. Bob and I have discussed my fantasizing as a fact of life, and it seems to be okay. So if I ever let something slip in conversation all Bob does, bless him, is grin at me. He's the same way, of course, about other women as I am about men. Symmetry. Hell, right now, it's purely obvious to ME that he's that-a-way about YOU. But I don't think either you or I could do much about it..."

Gisela nodded, said "Of course. You're no different in all that from me and Jerry. Or the rest of Homo sapiens, frankly! Imagination is free, private, low-calorie, and infinitely renewable. And, Dearie, your Bob ain't no slouch as a kisser." She sighed, giggled again and ended "Frankly - you bet, let's be frank! I loved it -- Bob kissing me is one huge, and I do mean HUGE turn-on. Made me all go butterflies and juicy, bingo, instantly. Scary isn't it, hearing that about your man from "another woman" face to face?"

Jeannie agreed. "Yep. I think the scariest part is wondering, with that huge, HUGE rush you get, whether this signifies something serious and fundamental wrong with the permanent relationship... you know, the doubts - "Oh My God, am I falling out of love with my real partner, am I doing something stupid? Can I control what's going on? If I let on that I liked this what will hubby think? Will he reject me...?" All that stuff! Scary as hell, and all because of a half-minute kiss. Mind you, a kiss that turned me to pure jelly. Since we're being frank, that is."

Gisela nodded, smiling broadly, "I got exactly the same sort of rush. Whizzer! What a zoom. We have a pair of numero-unos in that department. Hope they feel the same way about thee and me!! Anyhow, more seriously, would you care for some philosophy? About those ideas?"

Jeannie nodded -- any intelligent discussion was welcome, her insides were in a terrible flutter, talk might calm things a little. "Jerry and I have talked this through... a lot. We've decided that each human being's abilities to enjoy or participate in intimacy with other people is a lot like a river -- we both love metaphors, you know... the river represents the reservoir of love-capability in a person, and it's huge and wide and deep and each person is utterly incapable of draining it... hell, they can't even really make a DENT in it. And however much you dip out to lavish on one person of your choice, there is always lots more. Which could be used on other people, and without diminishing in the least the amount you pour onto that first person."

She stopped momentarily, thought, then went on: "So - if I am really going to believe what I just described, then I have to logically think, and FEEL, that it would be perfectly alright for you to totally, and I do mean TOTALLY, enjoy being kissed by "My Man" -- Huh... "my man" - what a conceit! - as if we own one another or some such bull anyhow. That wouldn't mean there was any diminishment of his affection for me, not in the least. But I do agree about that "butterflies" feeling inside, despite all the intellectualization. All the worries you just voiced. I hate the contradictions amongst rational beliefs and hormones and evolution!"

Then after a pause Gisela finished up: "But- Jeannie, I really do feel, after watching you and Bob together, seeing how you deal with one another, that the fundamental love between you two is the core of your thing... you might get momentarily distracted by something new, but I just cannot imagine that making any significant ding in you two as a couple. Even if you were to have a real affair, somehow, not just a random deep kiss. So -- when it comes to my Jerry, well, you just kiss him all you want. In private or in public. I'm not scared of losing my man, or of causing a problem betwixt you and your own man. That's both an invitation and an order."

She grinned wickedly: "But only so long as I can act similarly on my own internal butterflies! There's plenty to go around -- I really do believe that, and who knows, maybe a little flutter with you might just inspire Hubby towards some new adventures between himself and ME? Supposedly it's apt to work thataway. Come here. Please!?"

It took some jockeying with chairs and getting wheels inside one another's wheels, but they managed to just barely reach one another for a kiss and a couple of minutes of cheek-to-cheek leaning. When they straightened up Jeannie exhaled a prolonged sigh and muttered "Oh, God, whatever ARE we getting into? But it's sure nice to have someone to talk with about all this crap! We're pretty lucky to have found one another, couple-wise, don't you think?"

Gisela agreed wholeheartedly.

Meanwhile, the men spent a full hour working with free weights at the university gym as teacher/ student. Jerry was surprised at himself for actually enjoying it. And then it was runtime: Jerry was as far advanced over Bob in running as Bob was over Jerry in weights, but at least Bob had good aerobic capacity from lots of treadmill-miles. Now they were plodding at Bob's beginner's pace up the long hill in the arboretum, on what they thought just might -- when Bob was acclimated -- become a regular five-mile noontime route. Bob was struggling at the top, so Jerry dropped them to a fast walk.

Bob puffed in silence for a minute, then startled Jerry with a question. "So... seems our ladies had a lot of very frank talk yesterday. Just about no secrets left, so Jeannie says. Heard about the twins under incubation, and all that. Pretty fast, those two. Probably good for them both to have one another available." He paused. "Tell me, can I ask a very personal question? About how you and Gisela manage things?"

Jerry shrugged and said "Sure. Fire away. Whatever interests you."

Bob had trouble getting started, but finally muttered "I was just wondering if you've ever -- well -- cheated on Gisela, since her accident?" He finished in an embarrassed rush: "The idea has certainly occurred to ME in our situation."

Jerry stopped, leaned against a tree, shrugged again, sighed. "Depends on what you consider to be cheating, I suppose. In our situation, we have to invent our own rules as we go along -- society hasn't a clue what we're up against, and really doesn't give a goddamn, anyhow. So the answer is clearly NO, no cheating -- not by our own private local rules."

He paused, thought for a few seconds, then went on. "Gisela and I had a pretty good sexual relationship before her accident -- and afterwards, once she surfaced from her depression and suicidal stages, she insisted that I have every right to take on lovers if I want or need to -- she's pretty adamant that I have to stay sexually satisfied. She even brings up the topic every once in a while, out of feminine curiosity I suppose. Checking up on her own performance, perhaps. At any rate, I haven't made a practice of having lovers, and would never ever discuss one with her directly. Outside lovers aren't really necessary -- at least not an urgent priority, because most of the time our sex life is pretty fine. If anything, and it's hard to believe this, it's better now than before the accident."

"One of our own important rules is that we always let the other know in no uncertain terms when we're horny. Rule two is that it is always our duty to satisfy. She's practiced -- actually WE have practiced as a team, it takes teamwork -- until she can give the best deep--throat I've ever imagined. Got to be careful and set things up right for her so she doesn't choke, but we've figured it out. And she can actually come that way herself -- she read that some women can climax from touches in the damnedest places, and thought she should be able to cultivate such an ability. She's concentrated on transferring her sensitivity to mouth and throat and neck. It worked beautifully. My wife, the quad BJ artist supreme -- that's really what the whole layout of the Romper Room is all about -- I gather you two figured that out last night?"

He grinned at Bob, who muttered with mild embarrassment "OH, yeah! Works just fine! And we really do love The Notch!"

Jerry continued: "We four could make a film! At any rate, usually things are a good deal more than just satisfactory... because we're forced to be inventive and pushy and caring and all those obvious, common-sense things the books recommend but nobody ever does in a "normal" relationship."

Bob was surprised at the soliloquy he'd elicited, and took his time replying. "Interesting. Even though we and you folks seem to be in the same boat, we're not. The two situations are different, and we got here by completely different routes even if the end results are pretty similar - convergent evolution, perhaps? Your Gisela lost all functions in a blink, from full throttle to near zero. I knew all about Jeannie's condition and where it was going and so forth from the first date, and we've talked about it nonstop as we adjusted to the progression."

"She could still walk okay with crutches when we first got together. Now -- well, you know. She can hold up her head, has full control of her face and neck but no other motor control at all. Not a thing in the world wrong with her INCOMING nerves -- she can feel every little thing, in minute detail. She's hypersensitive and hyper-aware of her body. But no volitional movement below the base of her neck. She's been stable for several years -- and we have no idea about the speed or timing of any future changes. At least you folks know the extent of Gisela's damage and have a pretty good handle on the future. Not so for us. Puts us into a true "Carpe Diem" universe, it does."

Bob paused, musing, then took a deep breath and continued. "Anyhow, Jeannie's told me much the same as you got from Gisela -- I'm free to go sample elsewhere, just have to come home clean and not talk about it. And of course, don't go actually falling for some casual alternative person. But it doesn't happen with great frequency -- she's pretty damned good. Has me all figured out, she does."

He grinned at Jerry. "Funny thing, though -- the hypersensitivity has led us to an odd situation -- she's got the DAMNEDEST sex drive... it was strong back when she could walk, and it's stronger now. Probably some sort of compensation. I've never known a woman who could come so hard and so long and so easily. And she's pretty insistent, too, like Gisela. Not that I'm about to complain, you understand."

Then, after a longish pause, "So, we're quite the odd pair of odd pairs, aren't we? Talk about special rules for special situations, who in the outside world would think two women in their situation could find ways to hang onto their men sexually? Or, turn it around, that two men would be able to figure out how to help keep their injured women sexually active? Ain't we humans an adaptable bunch, though!"

Bob pondered -- Jerry waited, felt no hurry. "What about the women, though? For both couples, the whole situation is really lopsided and unfair. I mean, look, they've given you and me tacit permission -- hell, it's almost explicit -- to go play around if we feel we need it. And of course we've said the same thing for them."

"But the reality is whacko: for you and me, using that permission can be trivially easy. We get lots of contacts and prospects, infinite opportunity -- far more opportunity than if the women weren't handicapped, clearly! Their situations could be outrageously advantageous to you and me if we chose. But the women, they're really in a bind, our permission to them amounts to zippo. Even if there are prospects -- and there sure as hell ought to be, since both of them are really physically attractive and mentally superior and horny as the devil -- they get no opportunities I can think of. I mean, Jeez, it's obvious that you and Jeannie are attracted to one another, just like Gisela and me -- this morning's kissing seriously turned me ON, brother, in a way I really didn't expect. But suppose either of them wanted to come on to one of us, how the HELL would she DO it? And how could we respond in a way that would be satisfying?"

The conversation seemed to have ended, but a few seconds later, just as Jerry made to start off again, Bob reached out and took him by the shoulder and said "I'm going to be dead serious for another couple of seconds, then we can run again. Jeannie and I really do believe, after all we've been through, in Carpe Diem. If there's enough mutual attraction between you two, and if she wants it, I have no objection whatever to her having a fling. I've had mine, she's every bit as human as the rest of us, has the same physical and psychological and emotional needs as you and me. Who'd have thought it possible even to entertain that idea in her condition? If she CAN entertain it, what an ego boost for her. But if she tries and fails, what an ego body-blow -- she'd probably never ever try a second time, god knows I wouldn't! So -- perfectly serious now -- if you and she want some extended, unrestricted time together, just let me know. It's not a social, or physical, or psychological problem if you do."

Jerry shook his head in disbelief, then said "Whoa. Let's sit down on the bench for a second." As they sat, he asked "So -- did you just give me permission to sleep with Jeannie?"

Bob shook his head. "Nope. That's not mine to give. I don't own or control her. Nor do you own or control Gisela, I'll bet. What I mean is pretty simple -- Jeannie's on her own to decide if she wants adventures, and if she does, she's entitled to them -- far be it from me to interfere. We're pretty solid as a couple, I wouldn't expect it to raise any havoc with that. If it happened to be with you, well, that would be interesting and I feel it would also show some good taste on her part."

"So all I'm saying is, IF something were to happen -- and I'm not going to try to either encourage or prevent it -- that IF such a thing happened, it wouldn't be cause for concern, at least not to me. Local rules for local conditions, Carpe Diem, a short life and a merry one, and all that. There's also the "Cut Loaf Rule" -- meaning nobody misses a slice taken off an already-cut loaf. If I can apply that rule to others -- and believe me, I do - I sure as blazes ought to apply it to my own situation and relationships. At the very least, she'd be safer with you than with someone who hadn't a clue how to handle the disability, n'cest pas? And for sure, our two ladies deserve their sex-lives, since it's not like they have all the other stuff any more!"

It was a while before Jerry replied. "Whew. You're right. But -- honestly I haven't thought about coming on to Jeannie, although after just that one kiss this morning it's, well, a bit more real. Hell of a kisser you have there. Anyhow, I hardly feel she and I know one another well enough for real sex, and besides..." He stopped, smiled gently, tacked verbally - "Jeannie's a beauty, though. Body, mind and drive. Great package, just happens to come with other conditions as well. Just like Gisela." Then, with a grin, "You and Gisela certainly seemed to get along well together last night. It's easy to tell that she's attracted to you. You seemed to get kissed as thoroughly this morning as I did, too. You like her as well, do you?"