Author's Note

Well, folks... my apologies for the delay on this chapter, but I ended up adding a whopping 2700 words to it yesterday as I read through it for editing, finding it needed a great deal of fleshing out and that Marco's proclivities were trying to make themselves known just as Fortrakt's had earlier.

You are hereby warned that this is the first chapter that some suggestively gay thoughts and leanings make themselves known. I'll say up front that Marco is not himself gay. Part of is the spiked cider; part of it is that he's at least loosely bi, but it's also that he's turned on by something that's independent of gender. Something both sexes of griffons can offer; perhaps the males even more so. The chapter hints at it but doesn't outright say what that something is.

Be advised there might be a one-day delay on the next chapter as well as it might require an equal amount of editing. We will see how that goes. Sorry for the wait, if so. I'll post a comment to the story if that's the case.

—Firesight

Chapter content: Increasingly intense gay and straight human-on-griffon fantasies, uncontrolled human M arousal, mild hints of Gilda-on-Tara contact, a brief glimpse of Giraldi erect.

8.9 - A Night to Remember: Marco’s Movies, Part 1

“Then it’s unanimous!” Marco Lakan announced as his latest movie suggestion met with the approval of all present, human and griffon alike. “Rolling 300…”

Sitting on a stool by the table that partially ringed the cooking fire where they’d mounted the projector hooked to his laptop, the 24-year old Filipino native sensed something was off with both himself and the evening’s events, but he wasn’t sure what.

Nor was he certain he cared. “Be warned, our griffon friends—this flick is a lot more adult,” Tara broke into his persistently sexual thoughts.

“Good,” Gilda replied, her head turning in Tara’s lap towards the screen but also seeming to Marco that she nuzzled her way a little deeper between her new friend’s human legs. “Think I’m in the mood for a little less cub stuff and a little more gore.”

“If you want gore, it’ll definitely deliver,” Marco replied. He was increasingly certain something was wrong, and yet he also increasingly didn’t mind as he watched Tara and Gilda get steadily more touchy-feely, silently urging the former on as she began to slowly divest Gilda of the armor that seemed to shield her as much emotionally as physically.

The latter took a greater interest in Tara’s touch and feminine features as she did so, even going so far as to lay her head in Tara’s lap and look up to note her ample breasts. As Marco watched, Gilda’s gold-eyed gaze traced their outline repeatedly—why did Tara rate that favor and not him?—and rest a set of sharp talons gently on her human friend’s creamy thigh, rubbing and sniffing like she couldn’t get enough of the softness or scent.

Even though it was unquestionably unusual behavior for both of them—especially for Gilda, since she had previously taken any form of uninvited contact as not just a personal affront, but grounds for outright attack—he sat back and listened to the griffons discuss the movie they’d just seen, each admitting that they’d enjoyed it after being initially certain they wouldn’t. “As much as Princess Bride was for cubs, this one ain’t!”

“Works for me,” Gilda replied with a grin as the movie’s opening narration began and all eyes turned on the projected image.

“And me!” Fortrakt added excitedly, staring at the screen in eager anticipation as the birth and upbringing of King Leonidas was detailed.

Though gratified at their enthusiasm, Marco couldn’t help but note that the pinkish tint at the edges of his vision was both growing more intense and slowly expanding inward. He didn’t know why, but he found himself less concerned about that than being on the constant verge of an erection that had already tented his pants repeatedly, leaving him at least mildly grateful that he was still wearing jeans and not having to resort to using a pillow like Fortrakt to hide his excitement.

You know, Fortrakt should just find a full-sized body pillow and lay out on it if he wants to hide himself—then again, I’m sure Chris wouldn’t mind being that pillow! he thought wtih a smile. He knew his old friend well enough to tell how taken he was with Fortrakt after seeing his impressive sexual stature up close.

Hell, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit jealous of him, too. God above, I can’t remember the last time I felt so bloody HORNY! he thought more than once, wishing desperately there was someone he could spend his growing passions on. His eyes fell on the two females in the room repeatedly, barely daring to hope that even if he couldn’t be with them directly, that their increasing affection and inclinations to undress might yet turn into outright intimacy.

To see Tara and Gilda going at it? How awesome would THAT be? Deciding Chris had the right idea in surreptitiously trying to film Fortrakt in hopes he might display his griffon dick again, he turned his laptop towards the couch and started its rear-facing camera recording, grateful that he’d invested in an ultra-powerful gaming model so he could both play the movie and record a brand new one all at the same time!

So, you won’t let me show Fortrakt some porn, Tara? Then I’ll just record him some NEW porn! he silently promised her, deciding it would be worth whatever anger she had at him after. Hey, she said they’ve already got an entire playlist of my escapades in Equestria and the Kingdom put together, so it’s only fair I get some good videos of HER!

Satisfied, he sat back to enjoy the movie, trying to appear casual despite the near-constant presence of the bulge in his lap and Giraldi sitting not far to his left, covering his slightly conspiratorial thoughts with another mug of cider and handful of popcorn from the bowl he shared with the big male earth griffon. It had taken him a while, but he’d finally figured out how to tell sky and earth griffons apart on sight; the former had large wings paired with a sleeker body while the latter possessed generally stockier torsos paired with marginally smaller wings.

He remembered that much, at least, though in addition to his ever-building arousal, it seemed like he was having trouble recalling things from not long earlier. Events that had happened just a couple hours earlier in the evening, like the visits of Sergeant Reyes and Lieutenant Nantz, were fading into the background haze of his memory, leaving him uncertain if they had actually been there or if he’d just imagined it.

Well, they were here for the chicken, weren’t they? He glanced at the remains of their dinner, recalling that they’d saved a platter of fried chicken for the two Marines that was now gone, so he could only assume they had. Huh. Kinda weird that I only half-remember it. Just hope they liked it. Wonder what they’re doing now…? he pondered idly as he reached into the popcorn bowl again, only to find that Giraldi’s talons were already there, accidentally grasping them.

He looked down in surprise, than over at Giraldi, who was giving him a slightly askance look. “S-sorry...” he immediately jerked his hand back, praying he hadn’t given the powerful earth griffon offense. Considering what happened when Gilda got mad over unwanted touching, there’s no telling what would happen if HE did!

“Not an issue. Your friend Christopher’s popcorn preparation as every bit as good as his chicken. And your movie is off to a promising start,” Giraldi reassured him with a warm smile as he withdrew a fresh handful of popcorn—Pawful? Talonful? Marco truly had no idea what the proper term for it was—from the bowl and began to pluck pieces of it from the held pile with his beak. “it would appear this ‘Spartan’ King is truly a warrior born. I look forward to seeing him in action. I have seen my share of battles, so I do hope this movie does them justice.”

“Don’t worry,” Tara told him easily from the couch, her midriff pulled up slightly to bare more of her belly to Gilda’s feathered head, which she continued to slowly stroke to a contented hum from Gilda. “You’ll get your naked females, and your epic battle scenes, First Spear,” she promised him with a tone she could only describe as coy. “I just hope you think I compare well to the former.”

“You needn’t worry, Tara Fields,” he replied easily in a note of amusement, punctuated by a slight rumble from deep in his throat that Marco could just hear. “For nocreature could compare to you.”

The exchange and the seemingly lustful sound caused Marco to blink an glance back and forth between them repeatedly. You know, it almost sounds like they’re flirting… but how can that be, if Tara’s now interested in Fortrakt? He wasn’t sure, but the question was quickly forgotten as both his gaze and increasingly heady thoughts drifted back over to Fortrakt himself, who was chatting in low tones with Chris while stealing occasionally envious glances at Gilda and Tara.

Guess he’s feeling a bit jealous of Gilda—I can’t blame him for wanting to be in Tara’s lap! And who would have thought that mythical half-cat creatures were so well-hung? he conceded with a second mental salute towards the young tiercel. He couldn’t help but feel a rare moment of jealousy himself; one he usually only experienced upon seeing the well-armed Marines.

Having a little penis envy, Marco? he asked himself with a mild chuckle as he reached down for more popcorn; this time making sure Giraldi’s talons weren’t already there. He couldn’t help it, though, as he simply wasn’t used to being overmatched in terms of male equipment. He was normally the best-endowed of any crowd; more than once he’d walked into a communal gym shower back home to demonstrate that certain stereotypes regarding people from his region were not true, and he’d been able to surprise more than a few ladies along the way with his skill and stature.

So is it just him, and most griffies aren’t actually that big? he found himself almost fervently hoping, idly wondering if he could get a look at Giraldi’s erect cock for comparison, even considering showing him some porn privately later to try and provoke one.

The thought might have made him blink before—Chris was the gay one, not him!—but now?

Now, the thought barely caused a ripple in his progressively more sex-fueled psyche as he found himself feeling ever more horny and even flirty, starting with teasing Tara earlier in the evening over a one-night stand they’d had a year prior.

It wasn’t that he wanted to relive it. A Filipino by birth, he’d been studying various flavors of earth sciences in America even before the portal to Equestria opened. When the first diplomatic mission to the Kingdom was being put together, his best friend and mentor Chris had applied for and earned the opportunity to come through means Marco wasn’t entirely certain he wanted to know.

But nor did he complain, as it earned the three of them an all-expenses paid visit to the lands of magical nations and mythical creatures the portal had opened Earth up to—at least once the COVID pandemic had finally subsided.

You know, that’s a year and a half of my life I’d like back… he thought ruefully, reflecting that perhaps part of the reason he and Tara ended up in that drunken fling was from simple pent-up urges after being cooped up and masked up for months on end, deprived of most human contact and even simply socializing by paranoid local governments and university officials who were, in his view, more concerned with appearances and controlling their populace than with actual safety.

In the end, they’d just needed to cut loose very badly, and Marco earning his American citizenship had provided them the excuse they needed, turning a small celebratory dinner at Chris’s house into a liquor-soaked mess of sloppy sex and sickness. The aftermath had been rather ugly, forcing his longtime friend, sponsor and mentor to clean up after him and Tara, nursing them both through the severe physical and emotional hangovers that followed.

Stupid move, Marco... he admitted silently to himself, feeling his half-hard cock soften in his pants. Never mind the fact I could have knocked her up, that could have been the end of our friendships right there... he knew ruefully, remembering how he was unable to even look at Tara for a month afterwards. Never regretted anything I did more than that, and I’m pretty sure Tara felt the same way. And speaking of Tara, why’d she change clothes? he wondered with a glance at her as she sat on the far end of the low reading lounge to his right, with Gilda laid out to her left.

After her talk with Giraldi, she’d changed from her looser-fitting casual shirt and cargo shorts to something much shorter and stretchier, showing off her midriff and the curves of her hips and chest quite clearly. In truth, it left little to the imagination, especially since he’d already seen her naked, suddenly vividly recalling what she looked like without clothes—he couldn’t remember much about that night, but he could certainly remember that!

You know, I don't think she's wearing any underwear! he belatedly realized. He shifted uncomfortably as he felt his loins start to stir again, even experiencing a renewed moment of jealousy wondering why Tara and Gilda were suddenly acting like bosom buddies when the latter still barely gave him the time of day.

Dammit, what do I have to do to make that griffon girl LIKE me? he wondered somewhat forlornly. He’d bent over backwards to make things up to her after accidentally groping her flight muscles the day he arrived—he was just trying to be friendly and had no idea he was doing anything wrong! But she still acted at least somewhat cool towards him, even if she’d actually complimented him for successfully defending Chris against the attack of two teenaged griffons three days earlier, who were looking to make a name for themselves as the first to fight humans.

Then again, he thought as the movie continued to play, reaching the point where Leonidas was a teen facing an enormous wolf with nothing more than a spear, maybe the ice was thawing as she’d exposed himself to him just a few short minutes earlier…?

He squirmed on his stool and licked his lips nervously as he recalled it. Was it an accident? Or did she mean that? He still wasn’t certain. He thought she meant it, especially when she flicked her tail aside a second time in response to his calling the view “a work of griffon art.”

Well, that was one of my better come-on lines! Still, why does Tara rate a head in the lap from Gilda and not me? he wondered somewhat despondently as he found his eyes roving over the pair repeatedly, having earlier been cataloging the fasteners on the griffon girl’s leather chest protection and shoulder pauldron straps—yes, he knew griffon women were called 'eaglesses', but he still had a hard time using such a strange term, even in his thoughts—that he could see.

He'd been trying to figure out how to quickly remove them as he would a bra from a girl’s back, but now that Tara had already undressed her—lucky girl, and Gilda truly did seem naked without her everpresent armor!—he found himself glancing over at Giraldi’s similar chest and shoulder armor arrangement for guidance, which was in easy reach to his left.

The big earth griffon had two pauldrons paired with some chest and foreleg protection like Gilda, but only one of the former was metal while the rest was leather, both bearing the seared or inscribed insignia of a large spearhead as opposed to the eagle talons on Gilda's.

He'd figured out by then that the griffon military denoted rank by both shoulder insignia and the amount/type of armor, giving their lowest ranked soldiers almost no protection at all—seems kinda dumb, but what do I know?—but what they wore wasn't as important to him just then as how to remove it. He leaned in closer towards Giraldi to see how they worked, rehearsing how to remove his armor—and by extension, hers!—in his head, just in case the opportunity ever arose.

Let’s see... to get the pauldrons off, I first pull those two short straps, then that buckle... and for the chest armor I have to slip each of those four belts right up against the base of his wings... He imagined himself taking pains to caress the big griffon's intimate wing areas as he did so to make clear his erotic intentions, turning him on even as he peeled his armor off!

His throbbing cock twitched appreciatively, producing a sudden surge of clear fluid at the thought, causing him to blink and look down at himself in surprise.

Wait—did I just fantasize about putting paws on a MALE griffon? And one I just MET? Holy shit, Marco, how hard up ARE you? he asked himself in disbelief, his hand unconsciously caressing his hardness right through his tented jeans and tucked shirt tail. The latter was starting to soak through from the sheer amount of precum he was producing from his cockhead that poked up above his waist all the way to his navel, leaving a wet spot increasingly evident above it.

He swallowed hard at where his thoughts were going, but they simply wouldn't stop. Well, I-I'm just rehearsing for Gilda, right? he rationalized somewhat weakly, having sudden flashbacks to a nightmare he'd had the previous night about accidentally molesting the male statues in the Hall of Heroes to the point they took exception and turned on him, coming to life and then retaliating by forcing him to sexually service them. It produced the same fearful puckering sensation he'd woken up out of the dream with accompanied by a cold sweat, but this time...

This time, it almost felt desirable, the prospect both terrifying and tantalizing him! In response to the remembered dream and reaction it produced, his hands moved automatically towards the base of Giraldi’s wings and might even have reached it if the First Spear had not spoken up just as a teenage Leonidas speared the wolf’s head.

“Excellent use of terrain and a superb tactic against a more powerful predator!” the big griffon openly praised. His words momentarily shocked Marco back to his senses, leaving him reeling despite his all-consuming desire.

All he could think to do was throw back another mug of cider, noting how it seemed to produce a calming effect within him. The pink in his vision crept further inward as he drank it, producing a progressively stronger but pleasing halo effect around everything he saw; it was as if he was seeing through rose-colored contact lenses instead of his regular ones.

So I want to strip and seduce not just her... but HIM? Marco realized dimly, finding himself with an intense urge to do so despite the undeniable danger; to bare their intriguing catbird bodies fully, followed by running his hands repeatedly through their fur and feathers to get a full sense of their four-legged masculine and feminine forms.

His jaw dropped open fractionally at the irrepressible idea; one his cock quickly savored as it somehow engorged even further, feeling like it had gained another inch of girth from the idea alone just as the movie scenes with the Persian emissaries began.

Marco, are you out of your flip-boy MIND?!? he asked himself despite the undeniably eager reaction from his loins. Never mind the fact he wasn't gay, he knew it was incredibly idiotic given what Gilda had already done to him for uninvited touching.

And yet, he couldn’t get the idea out of his head, forcing him to slip the button fly on his jeans before they got too painfully constraining on his hardness. He pulled his shirt tail free to cover its protruding head, covering it as it poked up hard through his briefs, even sitting on his hands to make sure his grabby nature didn't get the better of him again.

As Tara had said earlier back at the Hall of Heroes the previous day, he tended to be quite handsy and had been since he was a child, wanting to touch and feel everything around him; he was terrified that it would betray him again and cause him to reach for Giraldi or Gilda unknowingly.

Can’t help it, though. And I still have no idea why I’m so horny! Maybe it’s a disease and whatever Fortrakt has is catching? Some magical malady, maybe? he only idly wondered, but found he simply didn’t care that much; removing his hands to refill his cider mug and then holding it in both to keep them busy.

And you know, I also have no idea what’s in this awesome apple juice, but it never gets old to drink! he lounged back on his stool and pulled his zipper down fractionally with one hand while he raised his mug to his lips with his other to relieve more of the pressure on his engorged flesh, not able to remember the last time it felt so wonderfully swollen and sensitive.

"Would you please give me more cider, Marco Lakan?" Giraldi's voice broke into his thoughts, passing him his bowl without looking at him.

"Oh. Uh, sure..." He was startled but accepted it, grateful for the distraction as he twisted hard on his stool to do so, praying the big male hadn’t noticed him reaching for his pauldron straps.

To his mingled relief and disappointment, he apparently hadn’t as his gaze remained fixed on the projected movie before him, while a glance over at Gilda showed she had raised her head out of Tara's lap fractionally as the scene with the Persian diplomats proceeded. Her eyes narrowed as the emissaries disparaged Queen Gorgo, but then smiled as she returned their insults instantly with a tongue as sharp as Spartan blades.

Hey, Gilda really likes this! Marco instantly realized as he passed back Giraldi's bowl, followed by refilling his own mug and downing it. He felt himself relax further as it soaked into him and the pinkish halo around everything in his vision intensified further, wondering if his choice of movie might yet earn some favor from her.

If she does, maybe she’ll then forgive me fully? Maybe then she’ll let me touch her... and th-then TAKE her? His overheating mind picked up the idea and ran with it, grasping at it like a lifeline to take his attention away from Giraldi.

I-I mean I want to make what happened that first night up to her… so why not make it up by making LOVE to her? Though once again a ridiculous idea on its face, the strangely lurid notion simply wouldn’t leave his head, leaving his seven-and-a-half-inch organ feeling painfully pinched even in his loosened jeans.

For a moment he felt his hands start drifting again, this time towards her lounged-out hindquarters, intending to lay a paw on her leonine hip right then and there. And from there, he could move her tail aside and begin exploring both her openings beneath it in earnest before he filled each with his massive meat in turn—

No! He was just able to regain control of himself in a moment of pure panic, stuffing his hands hard into his lap, moving his stool to his left to be just out of reach for her. But that moved him closer to Giraldi, whose wings were folded at his side. He heard the noise of the shifting seat and glanced at Marco briefly, causing him to freeze in his seat when his orange harrier eyes landed on his lap and noted both his open fly and the prominent bulge there.

But far from offended, he gave Marco a disarming grin. ”You are not the only creature feeling irresistible urges this night,” he told him quietly, turning just enough to let Marco see his own organ had partially poked its way out of its sheath, making him go weak in the knees.

“I know not why, but nor will I fight it. Thank you for sharing this movie, Marco Lakan. Know that I am already immensely enjoying it.” he bared his throat in the standard griffon gesture of gratitude and then raised his cider bowl in toast to him, even offering a nod of acknowledgement to Marco’s lap before dipping his beak back into his bowl.

“Oh! Uh... thanks,” he offered weakly, feeling faint at both his excited state being noticed and the favor he was shown, amazed that a veteran soldier like Giraldi was so easygoing even with such potentially embarrassing and... intimate affairs when Gilda was so intense.

You know, he’s not just a nice guy, but a genuinely good griffon... guess that's why I like him? Maybe he could offer me some advice on dealing with Gilda? Or m-maybe I could just practice on... HIM? he swallowed hard and swiftly poured himself more cider.

Though confused by how strongly both his urges and their targets were whiplashing in his head, he found himself recalling Giraldi's advice about not fighting it as he downed yet another mug. M-maybe he's right? Maybe I should just... go with it... he finally decided over his third mug of cider in five minutes, just relieved to have the First Spear’s friendship and favor.

With that thought, he started to relax more, settling back in to watch the movie. Or at least, as much as he could as his organ throbbed hard in his lap, refusing to fall flaccid. But he couldn’t help it, knowing that he sat between not one but two desirable griffons.

Two desirable griffins who were in easy reach to either side of him, their wings and hindquarters there for the groping.

* * * * *

As the inaccurately named 300 movie continued to play—even in his endlessly aroused state, Marco knew full well that was a gross distortion, given that there were actually seven thousand Greek soldiers from various city-states present for the Battle of Thermopylae—Marco found himself constantly watching the reactions of their griffon guests to both the battle and sensual scenes in the movie carefully.

Will they like them? Will they like... us? He found himself fervently hoping they would, for that might make them more amenable to his advances...?

A promising sign was when they’d reacted not with distaste, but strong approval to the Persian emissaries being disposed of in a deep pit, he’d noted—”So they not only take no crap, but just up and kill those who threaten them with enslavement and insult the honor of their eaglesses? These are my kind of dweebs!” Gilda proclaimed from Tara’s lap when it was over. “I really like their Queen, too.”

“Agreed,” an impressed Giraldi said, nodding slowly to himself as he watched the scene unfold. “Her wit is the equal of her exquisite form. And you know, I think we’d have far less trouble with the Harpies and Ibexians if we observed a few less modern niceties like these ‘Spartans’ do.”

“Such old-fashioned honor…” Fortrakt whispered reverently as he watched the human king defend his female and then dispose of the diplomats who slandered his wife and threatened to defile his Kingdom. “So ancient humans are basically griffons!”

“Except for the fact they walk upright, don’t have fur, can’t fly, and even the males have teats on their chests? Yep, they’re just like us,” Gilda snarked, drawing a chuckle from Giraldi and an eyeroll from Fortrakt, neither of whom noticed Gilda’s face turn up from Tara’s lap and motion towards her breasts with her beak.

Either by accident or design, she tapped one as Marco watched, causing her to start and Tara to look down and grin, putting a reassuring hand on her head to idly scratch her scalp and play with her plumage once more.

Whoa… did Gilda mean to do that? Marco wasn’t sure, but a sudden twitch of Gilda’s tail and flush on her cheeks told him that she was either worried she’d given offense, or…

He blinked at the all-female interspecies fantasy that abruptly flashed through her head. So first you fantasize about Giraldi, and now about Gilda and TARA getting it on? Your mind is REALLY going some weird places, Marco! he told himself, glancing down again at the persistent and increasingly insistent bulge in his lap, as all attempts to distract himself with platonic thoughts kept getting tainted by far more passionate ones.

When he tried to think of some good times he, Tara and Chris had shared back home, he immediately recalled his fling with Tara, and to his surprise, he remembered the sizzling sex they’d had far more than the awful aftermath. When he thought of showing off some of his tech to Fortrakt, he immediately remembered his accidental exposure, leaving Marco with a strong urge to show both Gilda and Giraldi his impressive human equipment in comparison, imagining him displaying it with Fortrakt side by side before them.

And then when he tried to recall Gilda’s attack on him in hopes that would quell his arousal, he found the image of her feminine slit was burned into his memory, staring as he was at it from less than a meter away. He recalled clearly how she’d stretched out sensuously and raised her tail as she flattened her spine, stretching out her hind legs over the couch while her tasseled tail curled over her back, leaving everything deliciously visible at their junction and his throbbing cock all but ready to explode in his pants.

Though his memory of events even a couple hours earlier that night was increasingly questionable, he could recall every detail of his glorious view vividly, from the gently sloped mounds around her surprisingly large sex to what he thought was the barest hint of a glistening inside it. Or had he imagined it?

Was she turned on? he desperately wanted to know. Did she really like being flattered like that? I wasn’t lying, Gilda—you really ARE a work of griffon art! And if a little flattery is all it takes with a griffon... He suddenly wondered what he might say in compliment to Giraldi as well.

His swollen shaft twitched hard through his wide-open fly at the thoughts, his urges oscillating hard between the two griffons again, wanting to explore their exotic bodies regardless of the risk involved—risks that somehow only made it even more tempting...?

To his disbelief, his thoughts soon invited Fortrakt into his flights of sexual fantasy as well; he imagined being the center of attention of all three griffons, removing Giraldi's armor and groping the surprised but sorely aroused male's flight muscles with his left hand while simultaneously exploring an equally shocked but unresisting Gilda's sex with his right, watching in turn as an exposed and helplessly aroused Fortrakt knelt before him, grasping his human organ in his talons before proceeding to go down on him with his beak.

His eyes glazed and he almost came in his pants, making him nearly fall off his stool. Fuck... But this time, it was the movie that came to his rescue from the unlikely idea when it reached its first adult scene, involving a sensually moving oracle with a see-through top that showed her curves quite clearly.

Marco sighed in relief as he enjoyed a far more conventional fantasy. Now THAT’S the stuff! He had always been a sucker for a good striptease, and he once again found himself watching the reactions of their griffon guests carefully to see if they enjoyed the erotic action as well.

To his gratification, Giraldi seemed to take more than a passing interest in it; a glance at him showed his orange eyes riveted and his talons shifting backwards from his sitting stance more than once, like they were trying to drift towards his crotch.

He couldn’t tell from his angle if the big male was growing fully erect without being a lot more overt about it, but Marco found he desperately wanted to see it after his earlier glimpse. But not because I’m gay! he insisted in his thoughts somewhat weakly, telling himself he’d leave that particular proclivity to Chris.

I just want to know if he’s as well-endowed as Fortrakt—if ALL griffies are that big! he further rationalized, even if he was no longer sure he believed it. Or even cared. Dunno, guess I was just hoping I’d be bigger than most of the tiercels here! Then maybe I could offer the griffons something bigger and better! Or at least something NEW!

The desire to see might have shocked him more, if it hadn’t been for the cider and the fact he'd started peeking at the griffons long before. He’d been trying to do in the Kingdom what he’d already done back in Equestria with ponies—looking beneath tails to see what griffon girls and guys were packing, even if such peeping was ‘dweeby’ like Gilda said.

But as far as he was concerned, it was a simple matter of checking out the competition. He was certain he wasn’t the only one doing it; he didn’t know about Tara but he’d caught Chris more than once trying to ogle their males as well.

Well, considering how much more masculine these griffon males seem to generally be than the average guy we work with back home at the university, I can hardly blame him! Marco thought agreeably, hoping his friend would yet get some action with the mythological creatures he so desired—action Marco himself had already experienced back in Equestria.

Despite what the Marines thought, he hadn’t actually screwed a mare, though his hand might have strayed over the hindquarters of one in a pony pub after some hard cider spiked further with his Buffalo Whiskey. Well, that one unicorn mare didn’t seem to mind! he reminded himself with a grin, remembering the thrill he felt about getting to feel her up from behind; his hand slipping inside her willing wetness to elicit a shiver from her male-starved form.

She’d returned the favor by using her horn to unzip him and give him head under the table, which he hadn’t known at the time was a nearly unheard-of act among Equestrian mares. I wonder if griffies can give head too, or do their beaks make it impossible...? He found himself returning to the fantasy of being the center of attention of all three griffons in the room, with Fortrakt going down on him as he sat on his stool.

In contrast to Giraldi’s interest, he didn’t see much immediate reaction to the movie’s first X-rated scenes from Gilda, who remained laid out beside Tara’s lap. But Fortrakt immediately sat bolt upright as he set his green eyes on the sensually moving oracle, giving him his first look at a topless human female. He clearly went aroused again, to judge by the shifting of his hips and partial flaring of his wings, though this time, he carefully kept himself in shadow off to the side with a pillow in front of him.

A pillow which he started to slowly but unknowingly hump beside a sorely interested Chris, distracting his new human friend until Gilda spoke up.

“Enjoying the show, Second Spear?” she asked him idly from Tara’s lap, causing him to flinch and Giraldi to snicker. “Figures you’d get off on seeing a couple oversized teats.”

“Well, why shouldn’t he? I know I am!” Giraldi rejoined. “I admit human females do have a certain allure to them. Though not physically powerful, they seem to spark a potent protective instinct, even in griffon males.” He noted with a glance at Tara, who grinned back.

But then his eyes narrowed, and wings flared slightly—in anger, not arousal, Marco quickly realized, starting to understand there was a difference between the two. “Case in point, I genuinely wanted to kill those grotesque and lecherous creatures for laying their filthy beaks on that beautiful eagless…” he gave a trilling growl as he recalled the scene of the Ephors openly ogling and licking the oracle’s face.

“You said it!” Fortrakt agreed with a growl despite his embarrassment, his wings laying more flat with their ends pointed forward than they had been, like the tips of lances. “By the Ancestors, I was ready to jump right into the scene to save her…”

“How noble of both of you,” Gilda replied with a roll of her eyes from Tara’s lap; her hind legs hanging off the edge of the low reading couch they’d pressed into service as movie bleachers; her swishing tail tassel still occasionally catching Marco’s eye. “Willing to defend fictional characters like any good dweebs.”

“Oh, go pluck your headfeathers, Decurion,” Fortrakt insulted her with a surprisingly casual air as the scene shifted to show a brooding Leonidas uncertain what to do about the Persian invasion. He’d been forbidden by the Ephors to go to war during a religious festival, not knowing they were already bought and paid for by Persia. “I think you’re just jealous that their teats are way bigger than yours!”

“In your dreams, cub,” Gilda replied, but Fortrakt also noticed she’d been taking some interest in the buff bodies of the Spartan warriors, raising her head out of Tara’s lap and stretching it out towards the screen to look closer when they were prominent.

Huh. So she does appreciate human guys! Marco vowed to immediately start working out more in hopes of turning her head. I ain't gonna wax my chest like they had the actors in the movie do, though...

Despite her profession of disinterest in the features of human females—one that was belied by her chumminess with Tara, to say nothing of how she kept glancing up at her boobs—she’d fallen silent at the later sex scene between the King and his wife, even stretching out her hindquarters again before him and this time, leaving her slowly swishing tail aside.

He couldn’t see her slit in the dark, but this time Marco was certain there was some wetness on her that glistened with movie-colored sparkles in the light thrown off by the projector; he even thought he might have picked up a certain scent from her that wasn’t too different from the various women he’d been with over the years.

And then there were her slowly stiffening wings. Marco was starting to understand that griffon wings weren’t just for flying, but also a means to express themselves; involved in their daily lives with everything from flight and battle to lovemaking.

To that end, he'd sensed early on that there was a definite difference between wings flared in arousal and anger. In hindsight, he’d first seen the latter when Fortrakt and Gilda had nearly come to blows in the Hall of Heroes the previous day over a heated disagreement over a historical event, and the former when Fortrakt had dove for his pillow, releasing his wings from constraint and allowing them to go fully splayed, to Gilda's great amusement and Chris's awe as well as Fortrakt's total mortification.

As a result, Marco now knew that an angry griffon displayed twitching feathers and diagonally raised wings with the leading edges angled up to give them a more predatory and menacing appearance, while an aroused one produced a more peacock-like display of splayed pinions off a downward-arched wing structure that put the entire wing under immediately and very obvious tension—one that, he assumed, make them far more sensitive to being touched, just like his cock was when erect and his flesh was fully stretched.

Just like his cock was then. I wonder… He found himself eyeing Giraldi’s wings closely for a moment as they began to slowly flare in response to seeing Queen Gorgo topless, when she invited a brooding and uncertain King Leonidias to bed for lovemaking. Marco had to suppress a renewed urge to run his hands through them to confirm his observations; he once again began to reach towards the big earth griffon for a bare moment before he caught himself and shoved his hands back into his lap as quick as he could.

ENOUGH, Marco! Are you fucking crazy? After what Gilda did to you, you want to try that with GIRALDI? He’d learned the hard way the night of his arrival that touching a griffon’s wings or flight muscles was taken the same way as groping a human girl’s boobs.

The difference being that while a human woman might slap you, a griffon eagless could very well eviscerate you.

Never mind what a griffon MALE might do! He flashed back to his nightmare about the Hall of Heroes again, only to find it produced an identical reaction of a puckering sensation accompanied by equally intense fear and desire. He swallowed hard and immediately drank more cider, praying he could get through the movie and the night without touching something he shouldn't.

Or was it now his most fervent hope that he would...?