New Experiences
Ryan awoke slowly but happily. His flight had been long and uneventful. The movies they showed were bad, and he didn’t know how to pay for the Wifi on the plane. After listening to his Ipod for hours, it died, and he went to sleep. While he slept, though, a baby started to cry, waking up everyone in the plane. The baby was three rows back, and the man next to Ryan couldn’t take it. Being tired, Ryan only remembered some of it. He remembered the man yelling, “Shut that stupid baby up!”, and then getting up and telling the guy to “calm the hell down before he was tossed out the door of the plane.” The guy promptly sat back down, but grumbled some nonsensical gibberish. After the flight, the mother of the baby had thanked Ryan for keeping the angry man in check.
Now, though, he was waking up in the guest room of his friends house in Cairns, Australia. It was a nice house; two floors and a basement, three bathrooms, a nice kitchen, three bedrooms, and several other rooms for other purposes. It was just the right size to fit four people. Harris had had a sister, but she was out of college, and no longer living in the house, so they had a guest room. It just had a really personalized theme.
As Ryan got up, he looked at the clock: 10:30 AM. Even after being awake until 5 AM, he could still get up earlier than most kids he knew could on a non-school day. He could function well, too. He figured this would be good for his hopeful career.
Getting dressed took him half an hour, and then he meandered in the room for a bit longer. At about 11:30, he went down to get his first meal of the day.
Upon entering the kitchen, he was greeted by Harris. “G’day, Ryan. How did you sleep?” he asked. Ryan smiled a little. The two hadn’t met face to face since Harris moved here.
“Pretty good. The flight wasn’t SO horrible. I did get a couple hours of sleep.” he responded.
“Good. My flight here was awful when we moved. This guy next to me was farting nonstop. When he noticed me cringe, he went into disgusting amounts of detail about this weird medical problem he had. He couldn’t digest properly, and because of that, he basically had this nasty form of Diarrhea all the time. Let me tell you...” Harris began.
“Let me stop you there, and say, ‘Please spare me from cruel and unusual punishment’.”
Harris laughed. “I’ll let you off this time, but next time I have a nasty story, I’ll make you hear it.” Ryan would, unfortunately, have to believe that.
The two boys ate their lunch, simple pasta, and decided that they would go out and have Ryan meet Harris’ friends. Harris’ parents both worked, so they pretty much gave him free reign over his own activities. This had given him freedom to do all kinds of ridiculous activities; he did mild parkour, played pranks on kids, went to parties, etc. He lived in a life oddly different from Ryan’s.
They walked into the city to a little park. Harris had told his friends about Ryan coming by, and they all wanted to meet, so they went to their typical meetup places. In the park, this was by a statue commemorating the Australian SAS’ service in the war in Vietnam.
As Harris and Ryan approached the statue, Harris called out. “Hey!” he yelled. From the other side of the large statue, three other kids came out. “Sup, guys. This is Ryan, just came here from America.” Ryan smiled and said hello.
Harris’ friends were quick to greet him. “My name is Catherine.” the one girl said. She was short, had long brown hair, was clearly an athlete, and had a nice figure. “From what Harris told us, I have a feeling that you’ll be making some comments to me.” It was obvious to Ryan that she knew she was attractive.
“More than some.” he replied. She laughed, and moved aside for one of the guys to step forward.
“I’m Jackson. I like long walks on a moonlit beach, romantic dinners, and porn.” That last one caught Ryan off guard. He smiled.
“Me too!” he announced. They both laughed. Jackson was pushed aside by the last guy.
“My name is Paul.” he said sticking out his hand. Ryan took it and shook it firmly. “I work hard, and play harder.” That was all Ryan had to hear to know he was gonna be cool with this guy.
Ryan told his new buds about himself; his Karate, his SCUBA diving, and his various experiences. They would often ask him questions after he finished explaining something, especially about Karate. “So you could, like, wreck people in less than ten seconds?” Jackson asked.
“If they’re not trained, I’ll flatten them in ten seconds.” This got him a chorus of “nice”es and “sweet”s. After he told them about himself and his home and other friends, they all decided to peruse the mall for random nonsense. Exploring shopping centers is always fun.
They made their way to the local mall, which was close by. On the way, Ryan noticed people looking at his group of friends and felt uneasy. “Why are we being looked at?” he asked Paul.
“Them? Don’t worry; they’re probably just curious. You do kinda look like you’re not from here.” He was right.
“I’ll get some new clothes at the mall.” he decided. He always felt uncomfortable when people looked at him intently.
Once at the mall, Ryan felt comfortable again. People were too busy to care about him, and they ignored him. He and his friends started off by going to a clothing store, with which Ryan was entirely unfamiliar. It was some new place, by the looks of it. They went inside and split off a bit to look at what was there. Catherine went with Ryan. “I think I know what will look good on you.” she told him.
“Would that be you?” he responded. She stifled a laugh. Satisfied at his work, Ryan turned to the clothes in front of him. They were light colored. “Is it good or bad that the only thing I can determine about clothes is color and sometimes the type of fabric?” he wondered.
Recovering from her giggle fit, Catherine turned to Ryan. “Just to be totally clear... you’re not flirting, are you?” she asked with a hint of worry.
“No,” Ryan replied, “I treat everyone this way, if I deem it appropriate.”
She looked at him confused. “You think it can be appropriate to talk to people that way casually?” she asked, disbelief evident.
“Shame is for the shameful.” Ryan responded.
Accepting that response, Catherine pulled out a pair of shorts and a short-sleeved shirt and handed them to Ryan. “Go try these on.” she commanded. Ryan obeyed, and went to the changing room. After trying them on and seeing that they fit nicely, he got back into his clothes and went back to Catherine. When he got close, he heard a voice talking to her.
“Get lost.” she said.
“Uh oh.” Ryan thought. He got behind a rack right next to the voices and hid.
“Come on. You would look great in it.” a man’s voice resonated. That was enough for Ryan to hear to know what was happening. He went around and got behind the man, still hidden.
“I told you, get lost.” Catherine ordered.
“Don’t be that way. “ the man said. He went to put a hand on Catherine’s shoulder. Ready to shove it away, she never got the chance.
“When a lady says no, it’s considered gentlemanly to leave it at that.” Ryan said, grabbing the man’s wrist. The man was at least 3 inches shorter than Ryan.
He turned. “Get outta here, mate. This isn’t your business.” he said, trying to be intimidating.
Ryan leaned in close to his face. “Do we have a problem? I REALLY hope we have a problem.” he said, beginning to twist the man’s wrist. He took the cue.
“I gotta be elsewhere anyway. Maybe I’ll see you around, eh?” he said, winking to Catherine.
“No.” Ryan said, stepping between them. “You won’t.”
Swallowing a bit, the guy tucked tail and ran. Ryan turned to Catherine, who was stunned. “You alright?” he asked her.
“Yeah.” she replied. “How did you do that?” she asked.
“Lots of factors played into that one.” he said. “Anyway, I liked the clothes. Let’s pay and keep exploring.” he said.
They rounded up their other friends, paid for the clothes, and went off to see what else was there. They came across a survival and sports store, where Ryan bought a pocket knife, much to Jackson’s insistence. It had a 3½ inch blade and an ornate handle.
“Gotta admit, it’s a nice knife.” Ryan thought. He could appreciate a good knife.
After finding little of genuine interest, they started talking about plans for that night. A lot of kids were out on their own trips, so anything with other kids was ruled out. No parkour at night. They couldn’t mess with people they didn’t know, that was dangerous. Then, Paul had a lightbulb.
“Let’s co to the club!” he announced. They all agreed that it was good, except Ryan.
“Do I look old enough to drink?” he asked sarcastically.
Harris cut in. “Remember, the United States is the only place where the drinking age is twenty-one. It’s eighteen here, and you could easily pass off for nineteen if you just say it.”
Ryan felt a change of heart. “Well, then, I think that sounds like a plan.” he said. His thoughts were just a bit different. “I won’t drink a ton... just a little. For the same money that they’ll spend, I’ll get top shelf, too.”
Their plan was set; they would meet at 8:30, and so they each went to their respective homes to prepare.
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Luna watched as the group of colts, and a filly, dispersed. “It’s good to see that he is going to consume alcohol in a responsible manner.” she said. She looked at her clock; 5:00 PM. They had said that they would meet later, well after sunset, and so Luna made her way back upstairs. “How to pass the time?” she wondered. Lightbulb. “I’ll torment my guard!” she concluded with a mischievous grin.
When she went to get her guard, she found herself distracted by a letter on her bed. She went over and looked at it. It was from Celestia’s student.
Dear Princess Luna,
I have been looking into those spells that you inquired about. Unfortunately, I do not have the tome that contains them, nor can I do them myself. I find out, though, that the spells are contained in a book called Cantus Prodio. It is most likely in the forbidden section of the library, but you can get in there without issue. I can’t help but wonder why this interests you so.
Your Friend,
T.S.
After finishing the note, Luna started bouncing and giggling. “Yes, yes, yes! It CAN be done!” she announced happily to no one.
A knocking on her door quickly followed her exclamation. “Your highness? Is everything alright?” her guard asked.
“Could you come in?” she requested. Using a spell, she took the friction from the floor in front of the door. As her guard rushed in, he slipped and slid all the way to where Luna stood tall over him.
“Your... highness?” he asked.
She picked him up and pranced about. “I just thought I would share a happy moment with someone, and you were right there!” she told him.
He smiled. “It’s good to see you this happy... may I please be put down?” he asked.
“No. I will carry you for a time, I think.” she said. He blushed, embarrassed at being carried about like a baby as Luna left her quarters to raise the moon. Her regal sister laughed at the sight.
“Why do they do this?” he wondered.
When they finished that business, Luna took her guard back to her door and left him there. She teased him with great frequency, but it was all in good fun.
She decided that, over the next few days, while the wedding was going on, she would research the spell and try to contact the colt of her studies. Oh, the exchange of knowledge! It would be great!
Going back down to her secret room, she looked into the pool. The colt and his new friends were approaching the “club” of which they spoke. “I wonder if it is of a... adult nature.” she thought.
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Ryan was at the back of his group as they approached the nightclub. It was a very “adult” club; it apparently had strippers and private dance rooms. When he found that out, he decided that he would probably spend VERY little money on alcohol. The place looked pretty good. It had only a few neon lights outlining the sign, which read, “Private or public; we don’t judge.” This was most wonderful, as it showed that the club was at least somewhat classy, even for a nightclub.
The line wasn’t very long yet, but Ryan could see a lot of people driving by already. Harris decided to make haste so that they wouldn’t lose their spots. It turned out to be a pretty good idea; people were starting to flood by after they got into line, which advanced quickly. When it was their turn to get past the bouncer, Paul was the only one he stopped. The bouncer asked him for an I.D., thinking he didn’t have one. Instead, Paul produced a fake I.D. Without even checking its authenticity, he let Paul past.
The inside of the club was very much alive. There were stirpper poles in various places, a fully stocked bar, and a dance floor. Jackson and Catherine immediately made their way to the floor, while Paul, Harris, and Ryan made their way to the bar.
They grabbed three open seats, with Ryan sitting in the middle. Harris and Paul waved over the bartender. “What’ll you have?” he asked, eying them with suspicion.
“Shots.” Paul replied. Harris asked for scotch. The bartender turned to Ryan.
“And you?” he asked.
“What’s on the top shelf tonight?” he asked.
The bartender’s face lightened up. “We got all kinds of stuff. How much can you afford?” he asked.
“About,” Ryan checked his wallet “two hundred fifty.” he said. The bartender was quite pleased.
“You only brought two-fifty for the top shelf?” he asked incredulously.
“I plan on getting a dance.” Ryan replied with pride. The bartender’s face changed.
“Well, then. I have an idea.” he said. Ryan listened. “See that girl?” he said. Ryan looked over toward the girl the bartender was pointing at. “She’s new here. Real nice girl. If you would be a mate and get a dance from her, and give her a good review, I’ll give you two shots of 55 Macallan. On the house. She hasn’t been given a chance to prove herself, but I know she’s got talent, and I’d hate to see her go. Plus, it’ll get lots more people to get dances from her.” he said. Ryan considered this.
“What’ll the owner think of two free shots that should each be nineteen hundred dollars?” he asked.
The bartender chuckled. “I am the owner, and I think it’s fine. No one buys it anyway, so giving it away won’t actually hurt me that much.”
Ryan was convinced. “You have a deal.” he said.
After a couple more words about the girl, Ryan got up and went over. He wondered how to do this. “Am I really about to go up to a girl and say, ‘Can I have a lap dance?’ I guess so.” He continued toward her. She noticed this.
“Hey, baby.” she said. “How can I help you on this fine night?” Ryan made an awkward smile. He had never done this seriously before.
“Do you do private dances?” he asked. Straight to the point is the way to go, after all. The girl’s face brightened.
“Yes I do, honey. Come with me.” she said, and led Ryan to a room toward the back of the bar. As he followed, he observed her figure. It was pretty good; obviously firm butt, not too skinny, decent breasts, and a pretty face to boot.
“This will be good. Probably.” he thought.
As they walked into the room, the stripper had Ryan sit down on a small chair. “Just relax, honey. I’ll show you a nice time...” she purred. Ryan could already sense his enjoyment rising to explosive proportions.
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“What in the world am I watching right now?!” Luna yelled out. The colt was in a chair, his... anatomy, clearly in view. The filly he was with had stripped her clothes off and was practically wrapped around him. Luna was dumbfounded. “I have heard of these in our fine city, but never really seen one...” she said. Continuing her observations, her face grew red as the dance approached the end. “Did he just..?” Indeed. Indeed he did.
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“I probably should have done this before, but... that’ll be fifty bucks.” she said. Ryan pulled out a fifty.
“That was a good show, and good service has its rewards.” he said, pulling out another fifty. The girl took it gratefully.
“Um, thanks.” she said. With that, Ryan used a towel for himself and exited to write a review and obtain his ‘hard’ earned reward.
“It would suck if anyone saw all that.” he thought.
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Luna was in fetal position, still watching the colt go about the club. “Why? Why?” she kept asking. Why did she let herself watch that? She tried to distract herself from what she saw by thinking about messing with her guard. Lightbulb. “Maybe I could use that type of thing to my advantage!” she said. Then blushed fiercely. “I would hopefully find another to do the dance, though...” She turned her attention to the colt again.
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“So? How was she?” the bartender, and owner, asked.
“So awesome.” Ryan responded. “I even felt a need to tip her for excellent service.” The bartender whistled.
“And you did a written review?” he asked. Ryan nodded. “Then here you are my friend,” he said, pulling out two shots of Macallan 55. “On the house.” Ryan pulled the glasses close and picked one up.
Sipping it, he thought to himself, “Now, this is classy, right here. Getting hard alcohol for watching a stripper.” Before he knew it, he had spent ten minutes sipping up all of his two shots. Then he noticed that his friends were missing. “Where did my two buddies go?” he asked. The bartender pointed over to a table, where Paul seemed to be arguing with someone.
“Uh Oh.”
Ryan went over, and as he got closer, he heard a guy say, “You best back the hell up, kid.” Paul was about to be in trouble.
“Mayybe you shud a-poligizze to my fraynd, Mate.” he said. He was wasted out of his mind. Ryan came up next to him.
“Is he bothering you, sir?” he asked the man. Paul turned, startled.
“Yeah. You his friend?” the man asked.
“Yeah. Don’t worry, I’ll get him outta here.” he said.
“No!” Paul responded. “He needs to apologize to Catherrine. He grabbed her ass and then just left. Harris took her outside, she wuz so trumutized.”
Ryan sighed. “Look, I don’t care. Let’s go. I’ll talk to him.” Ryan said. Paul moved back slightly. Ryan turned to the man.
“Just a bit of advice from a story; I once saw a guy get stabbed in the balls for grabbing a girl like that uninvited.” he said. The man grunted.
“She was asking for it, the way she was dressed.” Ryan was about to “respectfully disagree” when Paul intervened.
“You’re just a secksual perdator, you piece’a crap!” Ryan saw that the the situation was turning volatile.
And he was right. The man was not going to have any part of being insulted, and decided to lunge at Paul. Ryan wouldn’t react in time, and the man brought a mug around, striking Paul across the face. Ryan yelled out as Paul went down.
The time for diplomacy was over. Ryan went up behind the man and kicked out his leg from behind, following with a prompt elbow to the back of his head. grunting, the man hit the floor hard.
Ryan went to check on Paul. Most of the ones on the left side of his face were broken; the skin of his face hung down off his head like a wet rag. Blood from the impact point was seeping onto the floor, and Paul was moaning quietly on the floor. Unfortunately, this is why bar fights are dangerous; glasses don’t break like they do in movies. Bones break much easier than in movies, typically. And, when a person’s face is thoroughly wrecked, their skin has nothing to tightly hold to, so it hangs loose.
Behind him, the man was getting back up, peeved that this kid put him on the ground so quickly. He stood up and yelled at Ryan, who quickly turned around and stood. “You think you’re hot stuff? Come at me, mate!” Ryan stood there.
“No.” he said.
The man was most confused. “What? What do you mean, no?”
“I mean, I’ve been taught not to fight unless necessary. I don’t need to fight you, since you’re too much of a pussy to come at me.” Ryan was goading him to attack. He really wanted to put this guy down for the count.
And it worked. His adversary lunged with a feral roar. The guy clearly had no training. Ryan sidestepped his lunge and brought his knee up to meet his opponent’s gut. Instead, though, it connected with his chest. It knocked the air out of the guy’s lungs, and he went tumbling into a nearby table. While he gasped for air, Ryan went over to him nice and slow. He stood over him.
“Didn’t go how you thought, did it?” he asked. The guy, gasping for air, looked up fearfully. “You simply have no idea what you’re doing. Me? I have thirteen years of Martial Arts. I grew up learning how to fight.” Ryan explained. He leaned in close. “I also know how to get around the laws when it comes to beating the crap out of people. So don’t. Hurt. My. Friends.” he ordered.
Ryan pulled Paul over to the bar. “Yo!” he called out. The bartender turned. “Call an ambulance; we got two injured people here.” The bartender gasped at the sight of Paul, and quickly called the Emergency Services.
Ryan dragged Paul out of the club and was greeted by ambulances. They took Paul in and brought him to the hospital. As Ryan watched them go, Harris and Catherine came by. “What happened?” Harris asked.
“Paul got messed up,” he said and pointed to a man being pulled out on a stretcher. “...by that guy. I took care of him, though.” he said.
Harris looked angrily at the stranger. “No good sonnofa...” Catherine looked at the guy wide-eyed.
“He grabbed my ass!” she yelled.
“Yeah, that’s the guy.”Ryan replied. “For his trouble, he got hurt.” The EMT’s came close enough for the kids to hear them.
“He’s got two broken ribs and one cracked rib. Let’s get him to...” and they passed out of earshot.
“You messed him up, bro.” Harris commented.
Ryan shrugged. “He attacked first. My rule is that they always have to attack first.” With that, they went off to the hospital to visit and/or check Paul’s condition.
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Luna fumed. “The audacity of that one!” Then she huffed. “It is good that he was put in his place. To injure someone like that...” she said. “It is so awful!” looking at the time, she decided to hit the hay for the night. She walked up her stairs.
Once in bed, she thought about the contact with the colt. “It will take time to prepare,” she said. “but I will take the time. I don’t believe that anything so eventful like that will happen soon anyway.” Her mind turned to the upcoming wedding. “I suppose I can just watch the colt while that is happening.”
Thinking about the wedding of her niece on top of contacting strange being excited her. She felt quite playful. Looking around, she saw a piece of wood that was easily ten feet long. Using magic, she cut it into a pole. “Oh, guard!” she yelled.
He entered cautiously. Who knew what she would do to him this time? “Yes, your highness?” he asked. Then he saw her on her back legs leaning on a wooden pole.
“Do explain to me the nature of this type of dance. I would like to know more about the activities of my subjects, and I was told you would know all about it.” Her guard blushed furiously and began stammering. “Better yet, why don’t you show me?” He was totally red. “Well, come here!” she said playfully.
He approached slowly. “Now, how about you show me this type of dance?” she asked. Groaning, he climbed up and started his dance. Luna watched in a gigglefit. “Now how about a lap dance?” He stared at her, mouth agape, and resistantly climbed down to obey.
Once done, Luna laughed uncontrollably. The guard thought of how he could turn this around, but nothing came to mind. “I will call you again, should I need you.” she said, waving him away. He sprinted out, causing her to laugh harder. “I must share this with my sister!” she said.
With that, she slept.
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The kids arrived at the hospital by bus. It wasn’t very crowded, since not many people were out at 10:30 at night. Harris had called his parents and told them that Paul hurt himself; he said that he’d fallen on a sidewalk. For whatever reason, his parents believed him, and they all decided that they would be back at their respective homes by eleven.
The hospital was pretty nice. It wasn’t great, but it clearly wasn’t bad. The walls were standard white, no carpet, doctors walking around. Pretty normal. “Is Paul here? Has a broken...” he turned to Ryan, who shrugged. “face.” Upon hearing that, the front desk woman looked up.
“Yeah. They just finished him up. Lucky guy; today was the day that we happened to have one of the best reconstructive surgeons in the world. He was visiting to teach some nurses.” She gave them the room and sent them off.
When they arrived at the room, they opened the door slowly. Paul heard them come in. “Hey, guys.” he said. He wasn’t already sober, was he? “I’m still drunk, and now I’m on meds, heh heh...” Apparently not. Realizing this, Harris stepped forward.
“Will you remember any of this?” he asked.
“Yeah." Paul replied.
“Good." Harris replied. "Now; you’re an idiot! I’m kinda buzzed, but I didn’t get wasted. In two ways!” he said. Paul didn’t respond. “You need to moderate- wait, where did Jackson go?” he asked.
“Oh!” Catherine exclaimed. “When the guy grabbed me, Jackson made a beeline for the exit. He was terrified of the guy, said he was going home.” Ryan brought his hand to his eye and rubbed.
“Nice, Jackson. Real nice.” he thought.
Harris waved it off. “Anyway, you need to learn to control yourself. This is what happens when you don’t. You were lucky that Ryan was there, or you’d be a lot worse off right now.” Ryan concurred, reminiscing his brief encounter with the angry man. After he finished, a nurse came in.
“Time for rest.” she said. “You kids need to go home, now.” And that was what they each did.
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When Harris and Ryan got home, they started talking about their shot plans for the week. “What should we do? Paul was gonna pay for a bunch of the stuff we had planned.” Harris complained.
Ryan shrugged again. “I don’t know. Do stuff we can afford without Paul?” he suggested.
Harris scoffed. “Yeah, I didn’t think of that. What will we do?” Ryan thought about that.
“We could do stuff on the beach. Or we could see movies.”
Harris looked a little less glum. “Yeah, that would work.” he said. He elbowed Ryan in the shoulder. “The babes down here are something, too.”
Ryan smiled wide. “Now you’re talking.”
Now they had their plans. Little did anyone know, a storm was brewing. And it was gonna be big.