Chapter 3: Affliction

Gulf of Tunis: Friday Morning

It's probably a conceit of mine, but the sunrises and sunsets of summer are quicker affairs than those of winter - when I was a child, I imagined the longer days meant that the sun had to cross the sky quicker, so it had less time than it did in the cooler months. And that impression is still there - every summer sunrise and sunset goes quickly, and every winter one feels languid and slow.

Until that morning, at least. That morning, the sun seemed to crawl across the sky, each moment excruciatingly longer than the last. Ignoring the erection I had when I left the twins only seemed to make it worse, strain harder. Just my luck, I'd thought to myself, not only do I have seizures, but they give me 'blue balls'. To add insult to injury, I'd downed quite a bit of coffee trying to keep myself awake. By the time the sun was fully in the sky, I had to pee.

I was thankful for the elastic in my boxers that morning - if not for that, and a tendency for my erection to curve upwards anyway, my cock would probably have been sticking out for the world to see. Still, despite the haphazard camouflage, I felt self-conscious as I swaggered my way across the deck towards the bathroom. I was sure the world could see the bulge in my shorts.

"Eric!" Marissa's voice came out of nowhere. "Where've you been all night? Eddie was sleeping in the bed you got and you've been nowhere to be found." She stuck her lower lip out. "Have you been avoiding me?"

This was the last thing I wanted to deal with. The men's room door was taunting me, out of reach. "Um, no, I just got a little preoccupied." I didn't want to tell her about the Evies - I had no idea how she'd react.

"Is that perfume?" She leaned in closer, sniffing. "It is! And Eric, are those hickeys on your neck?!"

I tried to play it cool. "So what if it is?" I shrugged, blushing.

"Well, if it is," she said, stepping even closer. "That's hot!" Her hand brushed against my crotch - and despite my best efforts, my cock betrayed me, twitching eagerly. "Oh!" Marissa giggled. "Looks like there's some left over for me."

I groaned. "Marissa..."

She looked away, embarrassed, blushing. "I'm being too forward, aren't I? Too greedy?" I nodded, and she pressed on before I had a chance to speak. "I'm sorry. But it's like I told the girls last night - I'm not staking any claim on you." She stroked my shorts again, looking into my eyes; I twitched again. "They can have you too. I just want a share." Twitch. "Besides, there's nobody else around to take care of this, so why not let me?"

Marissa made a pretty compelling argument; at least, my cock thought it was convincing. I thought it was straining before, now it felt like the elastic was going to break. Twitch. I groaned, and maybe a little of it was pleasure. "I'll regret this later but..." Twitch. "Okay! Okay, already."

With that permission, all pretext of restraint on Marissa's part went out the window. She started to reach her hand into my pants. "Marissa!" I hissed. "There are people around."

She pulled her hand out and looked around, presumably for a more private place. "Okay, over here!" She pulled me into the men's room.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," I said.

She giggled. "I'm still saving myself for you, Eric." A brief cursory glance showed no one around, so she pushed me up against the sinks and yanked my pants down. "But I'm not going to lose my virginity in a bathroom." She started to stroke me.

I still wasn't comfortable with that idea, anyway. "Um, fair enough?"

"It's got to be special," Her technique with her hand had improved since yesterday - or maybe it was just I'd been hard so long my cock was less picky. "But that shouldn't stop you from having other girls." She brought one of my hands, then the other, to her chest. "Like Shelly, maybe ... she was so jealous I got you first."

"Richelle?" I shook my head 'no' as I started to unbutton her blouse. "I don't believe you. I've known cacti with less barbs." Marissa wasn't wearing a bra this morning, I noted idly. "I figured she only tolerated me for Dee's sake."

Marissa laughed. "No way!" She started moaning and gasping as my hands started their work on her. "Diana's been, oh! Trying to, uh, to get you guys together, oooh! All week." Her hand started working faster; I was more sitting on the counter than standing up.

"I don't get it." I furrowed my brow, the new information distracting me from her hand.

"Well, it's true." She started squirming, gasping. Her hand stopped stroking, and tightened around my cock. "Oh God, it wasn't a fluke," she whispered to herself, then started whimpering, thrusting her chest into my hands, bringing me back to the present. "Oh Eric..." She shuddered. "Oh God, Eric. Don't stop..."

"I'm not planning on stopping," I said, "but, um, you could maybe let go?" I looked down; her gaze followed mine.

"Cazzo! I'm sorry!" She let go of me like my cock was scalding hot. "I promised myself I'd do better this time." She looked down, embarrassed, blushing. "I lose a bit of control when I cum. It's funny..." She bit her lip and whimpered "Oh God, oh God..." Another orgasm ripped its way through her.

I traced light circles on her chest, letting her catch her breath for a moment. "What's funny?"

"Huh?" She giggled. "Oh, yeah! Um, well, before yesterday afternoon, you were totally not my type." She reached down between my legs again and started stroking, more gently this time. "And now, here we are."

I chuckled a bit nervously, nodding. "Here we are. Wherever this is."

"Thinking about it just makes my head hurt. I mean, I want to share you with other girls. The idea makes me hot!" She started breathing heavily again, licking her lips. "Just thinking of you and Shelly, or Val ... or whoever gave you these hickies ... That's not normal, you know? Mmmm..." She lost herself in the moment. "Why aren't I jealous?" She shrugged. "Any ... uh ... anyway. Um, anyway, I ... oh ... figured I'm ju ... ooh! ... just going to go with the flow ... oh ... ohhhhhh, Eric." She started shuddering again, arching her back, pressing into my hands. "Yes. Yes!"

Marissa stopped stroking me then, her breathing ragged. "Okay, I give up," she said, pulling down her shorts. "I don't care if it isn't special, I need this." She pulled down her panties. "Now." I started to ask if she was sure, but she shoved her tongue in my mouth when I opened it, then pulled back, putting a finger on my lips. "Don't talk me out of it," she whispered. "I need this."

"But..."

"No buts, Eric." She grabbed me again, trying to guide me into her.

She probably would have made it, but just then the bathroom door crashed open, startling me, the guy at the door stumbling inside. "No, no, no," she said, but it was too late. I was already off, cumming into Marissa's hand. Like lightning she dropped to her knees, trying to get it in her mouth. The guy at the door groaned, then said, "Eric?"

"Ward?!" "Eddie?" Marissa was startled long enough that she got some of my cum on her face. Then, I was empty.

"Sorry, dude," he said, grabbing his stomach. "I'll find another bathroom."

Marissa got up off the floor and grabbed a paper towel for her face. "It's too late, Eddie," she said, sighing. "You ruined it."

"Ok good," he said, then dashed past us to one of the stalls, and fell to his knees. Marissa and I got out of there in a hurry. I had to find another bathroom before I could finally pee.

Tunis - Friday Morning

About an hour later, we docked in the city. Maybe an hour after that, we were finally back on land. I looked around for the twins, but I didn't see them, so I hoped they were doing well and kept disembarking. I kept trying to fend Edward off, as he'd gotten some idea what was going on in the bathroom.

"So," he whispered, sitting next to me on the bus. "You and Marissa, huh? Is that going to be a thing with you two?"

I sighed. "I have no idea. She's coming on strong. Things are getting really weird, Ward. I wound up with those twins last night."

"No kidding? I knew if I greased the wheels for you, you'd come through!" He slapped my back, then something clicked in his head. "Wait a minute, you did BOTH of them?" I nodded. "You fucking lucky dog! How the hell did you pull that off?"

"I think they were just kinky," I said, though I suspected it was more than that. "And lonely. Maybe they're screwing their way across the world? I told you things were getting weird! I swear it's like I have some kind of mind control."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

I'd been aching for someone to talk to about all this. The talk in the bathroom with Shelly and Marissa had only made me more frustrated. So I spilled to Edward about the whole dream thing, everything that happened with the twins, and finally what led to the scene in the bathroom with Marissa. "So you think these seizures, or whatever they are, are doing this?"

"Well, duh. Doesn't it seem like it?"

"So, how did you get the twins?" Edward gave me an incredulous look. "I mean, you didn't start going all Scanners on them until after they fucked your brains out."

"I don't know? Maybe it's some kind of overflow? I told you about Shelly saying I was hot, right? After she'd been mean all week?"

"Dude, I told you. She's been pulling your pigtails. You've got what the girls want; you just have to use it."

Marissa poked her head over the seats in front of us; I guess she'd been listening in. "He's right, Eric. The girls have been talking about you all week."

"Yeah, right, Missy." It was my turn to be incredulous.

"It's true! You're just unapproachable." Marissa rolled her eyes at me. "It's hard for them to get past your denial. You're so oblivious you don't notice the signals they send off."

"Well, if they actually said what they wanted," I grumped, grumbling. "Maybe they'd be less frustrated. Girls suck."

"Only if you want me to," Marissa said, licking her lips. She giggled, then blushed. "Oh my God, did I really say that?"

Edward laughed. "Yeah, Missy. You did."

"Shut up, Eddie!" She kept blushing. "Anyway, Eric. You suck too! You send off all these weird signals, instead of saying what YOU want."

"That's what I've been telling him!" Edward slugged me in the shoulder. "See? From the horse's mouth. Not that I'm calling you a horse," he said to Marissa.

"Of course not," she winked at me.

I didn't really have any response to Marissa, so I just sat there and sulked. Yeah, sure, she had a point. But I wasn't going to give in, let the double standard of the dating world bow me down. Besides, it was their fault.

Tunis: Friday!

Tunis was an incredible city, and exotic in ways that Italy couldn't touch. That morning we bussed out to the ruins of Carthage, once the most powerful city in the Mediterranean. A beautiful and striking place, even after millennia of disuse.

After spending the morning in Carthage, we were brought to our hotel, where we managed to relax and lunch. After that, we were taken to the medina, a smorgasbord of architectural delights. We saw a beautiful cathedral and an impressive mosque - it's amazing that so much falsehood can inspire so much beauty.

Some time in the evening we were let free to stroll through the "souq" - a marketplace similar to the one in my dream. It was a little bit freaky, the deja vu ... I found myself looking around, wondering if I would see Valerie anywhere. Of course, I didn't; she couldn't afford the trip. She wasn't anywhere on the continent.

Unfortunately, that's when things started going downhill again. Suddenly, I felt a sinking in my heart, like I was being abandoned. Everything in my vision started to go black and white. Clearly, I wasn't isolated - I was surrounded by people. And I wasn't being abandoned either - and by then, I'd realized what was happening. "Crap crap crap," I muttered as I ducked into a nearby shop that didn't look too crowded.

"You are American?" A gruff voice came from behind me, quite accented. I whipped around to see the proprietor of the shop, smiling, excited. I nodded, trying to catch my breath. Sweat was pouring down my face. A look of concern came on his face. "Are you okay?" I tried to nod, but just then I felt a stabbing pain in my pelvis and staggered. The man hurried around from behind the shop counter. He guided me to a nearby chair. "Come, come over here, sit down ... Sit!" Then he looked behind me and barked something in a foreign tongue - Arabic, probably.