The man behind the desk studied the two applications on the desk in front of him, intrigued. It wasn't unheard of for couples to apply together, but it was rare. By the time people were ready to make an Exit they were usually alone in the world, though sometimes the Exiter brought a friend or partner along for support through the application process.

But this time both were applying for Exits.

He recognized the man and woman on the far side of his desk as revelers from one of the more popular recent Exits. They'd been among partiers at Melpomene's decapitation. In fact, the woman, Euterpe, had caught Melpomene's head before it could drop unceremoniously into the guillotine's basket, held the head so, before her consciousness faded, Mel could see her own headless body still being fucked by her beaux.

Euterpe had then lovingly kissed Mel's lips before tenderly laying her head face up in the basket.

She'd then welcomed her partner's enthusiastic buggering of her as she'd looked down at her friend's smiling face. She'd even said something to her dead friend, too softly to be heard.

He'd watched replays of that Exit often. It was one of the most erotic and classy exits in his library.

He wasn't surprised to see Euterpe across from him. Often one Exit triggered another among friends, and Melpomene and Euterpe had apparently been particularly close.

Euterpe, known to friends as Terpe, was a buxom girl, with curly dark hair, a generous mouth that seemed incapable of anything but a playful smile. She was what was known as a 'waif, ' a woman who'd chosen to style herself as a teenager on the cusp of womanhood, though her breasts were a bit generous for the role. Her companion, Hercules, appeared older. He was buff, broad shouldered, big boned, built, presumably by choice, like his mythical namesake. His curly hair was almost as long as Terpe's. He was an "older" man paired with a waif, thereby known as a lecher, or lech.

Being immortal and ageless, of course neither was what they seemed.

"Both of you are interested in making an Exit?" the EXITS man inquired.

They looked at each other, and Terpe giggled, while Hercules nodded. "Together," they answered simultaneously.

That was enough to make the man cock an eyebrow. Men usually chose to Exit in one of the battle scenarios, and Herc certainly looked the part. The women tended to choose tidier Exits, often alone, sometimes in a romantic or historical social setting, such as Melpomene's French revolution scenario.

"We had such a good time at Mel's party," Terpe explained, "that we've decided to throw one of our own and Exit together."

"Twenty or thirty people," Hercules elaborated, "lots of wine, food, and sex..."

"LOTS of sex!" Terpe emphasized.

"And then, lights out," Herc continued. "During the act. At the peak of pleasure, you might say."

The man frowned. "That presents a challenge. It is difficult to Exit two people simultaneously during the sexual act. Timing it so both are at their peak is very difficult. Not impossible, understand..."

"Oh, it doesn't need to be simultaneously," Terpe corrected.

"Anything but," Herc agreed.

"I don't understand," he admitted.

"We, well, we're not Exiting exactly the same way," the girl explained.

"Though we'll each be doing an asphyx scenario," Herc concluded.

The man mused a bit over this. There were many variations on the Asphyx scenario. The most common was hanging, either long drop or slow. They were the most popular, but there was also the plastic bag over the head, garroting, manual strangulation, which required a willing strangler, or the old pillow over the face method, with the one making the Exit either awake or sedated.

Euterpe leaned forward eagerly. "I want to be ravished, a sex toy in the hands of the party, used and tossed away like an old rag. And then, while he buggers me, Herc will strangle me with his beautiful, strong hands -- slowly -- as I'm coming."

The man from Exits gulped at her graphic description.

"And then, after Terpe is gone, I'll slow hang, while someone sucks me off," Hercules concluded.

The man squirmed in his seat, and cleared his throat nervously. "I see."

He busied himself at his desk while he regained his composure. This would be an Exit to look forward to!

"So, a party of twenty or thirty people, a manual strangulation followed by a slow hanging. Do you want a historical setting, such as Mel's French Revolution, or something contemporary?

As expected, it was Euterpe who took the lead. "Historical, a time of debauchery."

He flicked through the choices, putting a few holos up for display -- ancient Rome, the dark ages, the Italian renaissance, the ever popular French revolution. As an afterthought, he keyed up the English Restoration, a time of celebration and old scores settled, lavish parties by some, desperate poverty, and many who enjoyed public executions, as long as they weren't the ones at the end of the rope.

Euterpe pounced on that. "That's it! That's what we want."

The man looked at Hercules, who nodded.

"An excellent choice," the man agreed. Hanging fitted in well in that time period. It would require a gallows, of course, some furniture appropriate to the period, props, costumes, etc. "Would two weeks from today suit you?"

Euterpe's eyes were shining with anticipation as she looked at Hercules and took the lecher's hand. His jaw muscle was jumping as he nodded. "Perfect. It gives us plenty of time to put things in order."

"Excellent!" The man rose and shook their hands, managing not to wince as Herc's casual grasp threatened to crush his fingers.

It was improvisational theater, a bawdy gathering of waifs and leches in Restoration costumes, replete with wine and ale and a groaning board of food. There were Morris dancers, musicians banging away on instruments of the period, a near riotous gathering, with the stark frame of a gallows in the background.

Euterpe enjoyed playing the drunken slut, though she deliberately refrained from actually drinking. She intended to Exit with a clear head.

She went from person to person, letting them paw her, bruising her breasts, men and women alike taking advantage of her. On the lap of a dandified gentleman, to use the term loosely, she reveled as his hands explored her bosom, rubbing her soft breasts, making her nipples burn. He pushed her full skirts up her bare thighs and probed her naked pussy, while he kissed her painted lips.

In the background sulked Hercules, playing the part of the spurned suitor, jealousy oozing from every pore.

It wasn't long before Euterpe let them strip her naked, ripping her clothes from her body. Her naked flesh was pale, her nipples hard pink knots capping her soft breasts. She was begging for them to be pinched and rolled, flaunting her ass, as white as snow with an inviting dark valley between, spreading her thighs to offer her pussy.

She wanted to be their plaything, and they were more than willing to oblige. They passed her around, fingers tweaking her tits, probing her pussy, with its light, immature curls of black hair, withdrawing fingers coated with her juices, offering them to her so she could suck them clean. Lust engulfed her, made her giddy with pleasure, horny beyond belief.