Penance [Arberus x Selini x Temara]

RE: Penance

Rayner wasn't even sure if it was a shame to hit her at the moment- neither one of the women seemed to mind in the least beyond the instinctual physical responses to the rebuke from Selini- and the bit from the choking, he supposed, watching the tears start. Despite the need to slap her though-

"Ugghff. Mmmm. Keep it up..."

He restrained himself from the kind of praise he gave Celeste at times, but despite the lack of stimulation from her hands the girl was squeezing his shaft about as hard as it went without it becoming a bad thing, and the muscles moved over and over again in rapid succession. It felt rather amazing, to be fully honest, and the physical pleasure certainly showed. If he'd felt so inclined, then he probably could have cum down her throat well before she risked passing out... but if he made it easy on her it would almost defeat the purpose of the practice. So instead, he made a conscious effort to hold out, enjoying the slow rising tide the diligently maintained momentum was giving him, white fire up through his gut. He just doubted she'd finish him in time this way, without her hands to stimulate him elsewhere, or even just to use her nails.

Still, he held her head nice and still while Celeste moved the knife about and he enjoyed it, a little bit of excitement to add to the pleasure.

But it wasn't to go quite so far, it seemed.

"Oh?" he asked, curious what his wife had in mind. He kept in place just long enough to let Selini color a bit more in the face, and wonder if he was going to remove himself after all. Then the shaft came out, and as suggested, he gently pushed her face against his now wet cock. Yet again, it tightened a bit at the sound of one slap following another, but he remained passive for the moment at least, except to give her enough wiggle room to get comfy and look him in the eyes to beg properly while Celeste spanked her and played with her down below.

RE: Penance

The blade stopped and her vision cleared briefly... just enough for her to see it come straight for her face. She winced in anticipation, but was surprised to find it drift away with little more than a tear. She felt a small surge of arousal at the compliment (the first bit of approval she had seen all night, stroking her with relief like the softest feather), but a lack of oxygen was making concentration of any sort rather difficult.

She barely noticed the light touch on her thigh, but the same could not be said for the sharp slap that sent her jerking forward, held only by the ropes and Rayner's hand at the back of her head.

"Don't hurt him in the least or I'll hurt you even more, precious girl..."

The acknowledgment or her command came as little more than a feeble whimper. It was something she was already keeping in mind anyways. With her mouth stretched wide and drawing her lips over her teeth... even as her body began to writhe in a desperate attempt at breathing, she resisted the instinct to fight back against him. It was an effort that resigned her to the merciless grasp of fate and brought even more tears rolling down her cheeks. That is, until he was instructed to remove himself. Her eyes perked up and another round of convulsions worked their way across his manhood as she anticipated sweet, liberating air. It wasn't until black splotches started dancing across her vision and she truly did wonder if he would listen, that he finally pulled out, leaving her to gasp and choke as she desperately tried to return life to her oxygen-deprived body.

Gasps of air soon turned into gasps of surprised pleasure, however, as Celeste went to work on a most exquisite spanking. After cooking rather thoroughly when she had fallen on Celeste in the match, she was already quite tender down there, so it didn't take long before the stinging pain threatened to overwhelm her entire body. All the blood making its way to just the right area brought a surge of arousal that was enough to threaten an orgasm right then and there. She couldn't hide it either, for as her mistress added a gentle rub to contrast with the pain she quite literally began dripping.

"Y-yes, mistress. I want to please you..." she whimpered pitifully in response to her new command. Even as she winced against another slap, she cast her watery eyes upward and looked straight at the man. Her expression had already been wide-eyed and pitiable; to say that it fit begging perfectly may have even been an understatement.

"Please, sir. May I have your~ nnnn..." Cut off by the sudden spark of pleasure as her highly sensitive nerves informed her that she had just been penetrated. Still, she regained herself and tried again (though in a much more raspy, high pitched toned) "Please, I w-want your c-AAH!"
That woman was just not going to give her a break. Only this pain was one she hadn't expected. As if being stretched to the limit wasn't enough, she found herself tightening against the invading fingers in protest, sending another surge of pain through her loins. Was Celeste actually threatening to put her whole hand inside her? That sounded even worse than the knife. For the first time in her life she considered using the safe word (which wasn't saying much, considering it was the first time in her life she actually had a safe word), but even as she considered it she couldn't remember what it was. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, yet all she could do was stare up at Rayner in disbelief, trying to form words as Celeste threatened to rip her in two.

"P-please..."

RE: Penance

Celeste flexed her hand within the girl's wide open cunny and gave her momentary relief before spreading them again, her fingers slowly inching their way further inside of her. "She wants something, Rayner...but I'm not quite sure what....and she doesn't specify where..." Celeste grinned up at her husband, delighting in how well he seemed to be going along with all of this. He normally wasn't too fond of her more dominating side but he didn't seem to mind as long as he wasn't the target. Green eyes sparkling with what could only be a bit of malice...Celeste locked gazes with her husband and he'd see exactly why she didn't want his member inside Selini's mouth...as the entire hand slid (quite a bit easier than Selini would have likely expected possible; thankfully Celeste's hand was rather small) into the depths of her body, leaving the outer region that were oh so sensitive and had the majority of nerves to be raped by the flesh of her wrist acting as a giant cock. Nice, hard, round, it felt the description perfectly other than the fact that the head that was now bumping against Selini's uterus was several hard knuckles that could hit multiple points at once as she thrust it in and out. Using it as a dildo to violate the girl.

"Perhaps she wants your cum...love" She grinned, she knew he loved what she was planning next but she wanted to build up to it. To see if the girl was as masochistic as she seemed. "Work yourself up...I think I'd love to see how she looks with a facial.... all that pretty bronze skin dripping with your white cum..." The knife was laid down on the bed and she used that hand to awkwardly, but still harshly, strike at Selini's ass even as she raped her cunt with her other hand.

RE: Penance

"Is that what you want now?" Rayner dropped his voice to a tease, running a rough thumb across her cheek and smiled down at Selini. He didn't really seem to be questioning it though, the question more rhetorical than anything. At this point he'd understand enough to know that unless she was somehow completely surprised and caught off guard by the idea of a facial (which seemed too tame for any such surprise to him) she'd beg for that simply because it was what they said she wanted; and as such, it was. His hand paused, thumb crossing under her jaw so he could have just a touch of control over her head's motion, more to indicate to her to stay still and to hold her gaze upward at him, even through the fisting, than to actually move it.

"Well keep begging for it. Be a good little girl and earn it."

If her hands had been free, and her mouth not suspect while Celeste gave her a seriously rough treatment- something he hadn't even seen in his videos until Tellus had done the like- he would have had her pleasuring him elsewhere while he worked his shaft as well. As it were, maybe if she begged well enough before he could finish off that momentum he'd gathered up, he'd let her. It'd be a lot sooner since he wasn't trying not to anymore.

"Tell us how much you'd love a thick load across your face."

She would help him one way (besides the visual and her begging) as he used the hand not on her face to sweep up a bunch of her hair. Celeste might have loved his hands in even the most sensitive places, but the scratching texture was not something he enjoyed on his shaft. With a thick handful of the smooth hair, he more or less wrapped it around his still somewhat damp cock, wrapping the shaft itself before gripping it tightly, leaving the head and a bit of the end uncovered by the silky dark hair while Rayner kept her watching upward, toward his face and the hand jerking himself off with her hair.

RE: Penance

'Hey! That's not fair!' ...is what she thought. Only it came out a bit more like, "HeeEegh! Nnnnnn~!!"
It sounded quite a lot like how it looked: a very painful violation. If only it weren't for the fact that 1) her voice was so sweet and soft that even her pain sounded ridiculously adorable, and 2) every time she tried to gather herself and gasp desperately for air there was no small hint of pleasure in her breathing and whimpering. The woman was stretching her as far as she could go, and then beyond. She felt as if she would burst at any moment, and that fear combined with the pain was more exquisite than she could have imagined. Then, just as she thought she had reached her limit, the hand passed its largest point and slipped completely inside. Selini was left in awe at the plethora of sensations, barely even registering the teasing remarks of the devilish pair.

"Yes!" she chirped out through a pleasured wince. She gently nodded in his hand, and stared up at him with ever pleading eyes. They were right on every account; both that she would agree simply because it was suggested, and that as soon as she realized what exactly she had just agreed to, the thought of such a humiliation compounded upon her already blazing arousal and brought her to a new plateau of pleasure.

"Please. I want~" cut off as another contraction around Celeste's hand sent yet another wave of painful pleasure through her body, "~your cum-nnn! ...Cum o-on... me!"

From the fervor of her song-bird, whining moans it was clear she sat upon the very edge of climax. Just a short moment more...

RE: Penance

Another husky chuckle slipped through Celeste's lips as she heard Selini exclaim agreement to her idea. "Such a pretty little bird..." Celeste then took her free hand and slid them around Selini's body, waiting for just the right moment that she was certain her wrist would feel as it would contract all around her wrist. Sliding her free hand up, she cupped the girl's breasts within her hand sliding the smooth skin over it in a teasing, playful manner. Then a hard pinch to flatten the nipple between her fingers and a twist to pull the breast away from her torso in that oh so tight death grip before releasing it with a snap before her hands slid elsewhere to explore.

At another moment, she was pressing her fingers through the cleft between her thighs, rubbing the pads of her fingers over Selini's tensed clit, just enough not to allow that oh so needed pressure even as her hand continued to rape Selini's cunt, pushing in and out in the beginnings of of a hard thrust and a mockery of the same thrusts that Rayner was using to violate her hair with. The two seemed almost synchronized. But as Celeste would feel the first strained tightening of the brunette submissive's walls around her hand and wrist, her own hand slid down and scrapped along Selini's thighs just as harshly as she had Rayner's flesh, even though his was much hardier and so she'd likely draw even more blood from Selini with her nails. "Such a little pain slut, aren't you, my dear..." She whispered from the other side of Selini's neck as she took the flesh there in her teeth and bit down with the first slide of nails, again not too gentle, enough to leave a lasting impression...at least for a while.

RE: Penance

"Look at you," he drawled, almost sweetly, even though Rayner had not half Celeste's talent of voice. "Taking your fistfucking and begging for jizz, like a good..."

He wasn't entirely sure what word he would have finished with, largely because the train of thought got interrupted. Her voice, eager and pleading and full of an almost airy and otherworldly type of lust- the kind one got when they were absolutely lost in a haze of pleasure, rather than a heavy head rush of passion and instinct- the eyes, the absolute eagerness, and the sound and what limited vision he had of Celeste violently fisting her, moving the woman's body on her- all of it. The truth was she'd worked him pretty good, and with no more attempts to really bring his stamina or willpower to bear, that and the air of almost violent excitement the threesome radiated had him on a high, and one he wasn't exactly getting ready to come down from. He didn't quite see what Celeste was up to in general at the moment, but he came undone as he saw his wife bite into their new toy's neck.

He didn't say anything in warning, but Rayner did growl urgently through his teeth, eyes closing and head going back.

So he didn't see the start as all the muscles in his body seemed to tighten together, hand still feverishly pumping with a handful of dark locks as his balls tightened up and the underside of his shaft bulged. The first burst of cum came, a white-hot (or white, hot as you prefer) line up the side of Selini's face, scattering trail up the cheek and onto the cheek bone, even leaving a bit on her forehead and a glob in her hair. Grasping her shoulder painfully tightly and thrusting his weight onto it, as if to hold her down to help Celeste fist her, Rayner supported his own wake as his legs shook and he kept cumming. The rest were more aimed, or at least pointed downward, while his hips thrusted slightly with the motion, and more semen layered itself over her face, from a thick glob over one eye (and potentially even more degrading and painful than was meant if she was being especially good about keeping her eyes upward) to more bunches and lines across her face, especially thick trailing over the lips and the left cheek above them. It would have been a joke to try and call it a mask or anything, but Rayner put out no meager amount of cum before at last the pulsing fire up his body turned to aching, and with little gasps all the shaft put forward was a little trail of white creeping out and hanging around the head.

He stopped for a moment to blink, and admire his handiwork with a hazy eyed but toothy grin.

And then, unless she'd had her mouth open to catch some or was very quick about helping him clean up, he'd wipe his head off on her (nearly) clean right cheek and let the hair go.

RE: Penance

AAAHNNN!! I can't~!" she cried, writhing and squirming under Celeste's relentless touch. I didn't even matter what she couldn't do (though if anyone cared to offer an educated guess "I can't hold it anymore!" would likely be the safest bet), the important part was how she said it. For how little exposure the pair had to this little sub, it may or may not have been difficult to notice that she always made a very direct and conscious effort in her speech; one of which the fact that she never used conjunctions... ever. What this meant exactly was also hard to tell. The older couple seemed to have a sort of surreal connection that kept them synchronized, and for a brief moment Selini had joined them. Her hips were unbiddenly rocking with Celeste's vigorous thrusts as she felt the woman's arousal build from her dedicated "torture". Her body tensed with Rayner at the searing pain in her thigh and neck, reaching climax at the exact same time. Yes it meant that, for that brief moment, she had given herself over to them completely.

Luckily her new connection caused her eyes to close with his (else she may have had an untimely interruption), but though Celeste would be able to clearly feel the similarities between their orgasms, it was the differences that really stood out. In their fun they had inflicted a great deal of pain upon her and left trails of dripping crimson down her chest, back, and thighs, super-charing her cursed blood with an overflow of mana that she had, until now, refused to use. However, as the surge of ecstasy shot through her body, sending every muscle into a steady convulsion, she unleashed a spell that she didn't even know she had, causing a second wave of pleasure as the mana left her.

Blood magic wasn't exclusively destructive, and with such strong emotions of pure, unadulterated pleasure in play it was little surprise when the unnatural, crimson fire that burst from Selini's open wounds and streaming blood didn't burn or hurt like it probably should have. It did spread like fire, though. There was more than enough mana in the spell to quickly engulf both the mage and her mistress. The spell itself was simple: for every injury Selini had endured, Celeste would be healed its rough equivalent. But with Selini's emotions what they were, the actual effect (while still curative in nature) ended up playing out something more akin to "sharing". Not unlike how she had shared her pain with Celeste to end the match, she was now sharing her arousal, tension (and by extension, release), and most importantly pleasure. Every. Last. Exquisite. Drop. Even Rayner, by proximity, would find his climax enhanced beyond what he had likely ever felt before, even as the nail scratches on his thighs healed themselves closed.

For the moment her new facial would go widely unnoticed. Her climax was sure to last a while yet, and she had every intention of sharing all of it.

RE: Penance

It was amazing the amount of details one noticed when one was paying attention, and one thing that her grandmother had taught her well, was to pay attention to everything. It was also fortunate that Celeste was blessed with an photographic memory, but it wasn't just pictures she remembered, it was details in general. So she did in fact catch the conjunction as it happened. Which caused her to speed up and to increase her own energy behind the thrusting fits into the girl's sweet little cunt.

What she didn't realize however was the shock of her own arousal being sent spiraling out of control. "Ahhhhghhhh~"A surprised moan slipped from Celeste's lips before she clamped down even harder on Selini's neck. But with the violent motion, she felt only the first twinge of pain from her side stretching before it eased into a dull ache. Not quite sure what was going on, she tried to maintain her focus, struggling through it by redoubling her efforts to push Selini even further as the girl's cunny wrapped and pulsed around her wrist and reached her other hand from Selini's thighs to her sweet little clit and pressed even more sensation into it, rubbing against it furiously with her fingers, prolonging her own enjoyment without even realizing it.

RE: Penance

It had to be about the second most intense thing Rayner had ever experienced, not involving blinding walls of rage or sorrow piled atop agony. At the very least, it was the second most intense sexual thing he'd ever experienced, and had it not had pure duration on its side, this might have been a close rival to the first. As it were, if Selini got a hold of this and he ever dragged her and Tellus into bed with them at the same time, they ran the risk of never leaving it again. As it were, he'd never gotten more than a tiny hint of a look at a female orgasm, reflected back from Celeste through the connection they had.

And now, he had his own orgasm just hitting the part where it usually died off and turned to after glow and a different, less selfishly urgent sort of hunger overridden by and influx of pure pleasure and emotion washing in from elsewhere. Had the fire come without that, he'd have reacted violently in defensive instinct. Had the pleasure come at an irrational point, he might have had mind just enough to realize the invasion and gone into hysteric panic. Instead, it all came together just the right way to make sure Rayner didn't react adversely this time, as Selini's orgasm flooded right on into him, and the little portion of it Celeste was receiving echoed a tiny little boost onto the whole thing, all while he was not quite done his own.

And the fact he just wasn't prepared for that this sort of climax was POWERFUL.

"OH FUCK! FUCK--!"

Rayner's knees all but buckled as he tossed his head back and his body all but gave out for an instant in the influx of energy, except for his hand. For a moment it kept going as he jerked himself as fast as he could, strength coming back, and then spasming into overwhelming again. The pleasure all drew out instead of fading, and his eyes lost focus. A second volley burst from his shaft within seconds in response- smaller than the first, but still enough as he blindly came across them to put another little mark on Selini- before most of it wound up between Celeste's face and the darker girl's shoulder and breast. Gasping for air, his knees gave again and this time Rayner let himself drop to the bed, still grasping at Selini's shoulder as a handhold.

Before thinking he put his hands on her ribs, but as number one instinct and then number two (to shover her onto the bed and fuck her wildly, and to shove her down and eat her out hungrily, respectively) were shot down by his wife behind her with hands hard at work, Rayner's mouth simply went to a breast, teeth pressing along a full mouth bite, slimming down as he worked toward the nipple until he had the tit's tip squeezed between his molars, canine pressing into soft breast beside it. He sucked hard, while his teeth ground across it, tongue tickling the tip inside his mouth as his hands grasped about and-

Well, by this point, a bit of his brain finally entered the equation, enough to direct himself within the flood of it all, but whether the orgasm was ending already or not didn't seem to especially matter. He'd been stuck in an overwhelming ongoing flood that was equal parts paradise and torture in a way he had his mouth watering over, and his shaft was still rock hard, endorphines still raging through his blood, pumped at a racing speed through him at the moment. He didn't notice much of anything at the moment except the warm female bodies next to him, and a little bit of recognition that one was his wife. And Rayner pushed himself up in as close to a bolt of motion as his body would support at the moment, moving behind Celeste and making a sound somewhere between a whine of over stimulation and groan of pleasure as his teeth clamped into her shoulder as well, while his arms wrapped around them. The first grabbed one of Celeste's thighs, pulling it spread and bracing her hips, while the other clamped onto one of Selini's breasts. Squeezing as if he meant to squash it, the arm pressed her body back against Celeste's front.

And somewhere between the two got plenty enough bracing to force his shaft up into Celeste's sex with no pomp or ceremony, splitting her pussy open and beginning to thrust with the kind of urgency one expected of animals in heat as his body tried to work up a second over-heightened climax after the first more usual one, all without that feeling of release and peace flooding in afterward. Not that he hadn't ever gone "mad with sex" before, but there was only really one experience to even compare.


...not to mention, his third body behind them would likely be pushing and pulling enough to put even more strain downward on their toy's arms, and quite possibly shoving Celeste's hips forward, for a bit of chance of stimulating her clit pressing against Selini's ass or thigh.

RE: Penance

Both literally and figuratively ablaze, Selini struggled to maintain any semblance of control as her body rocked and convulsed under her new mistress' ever-so-rough treatment. Hard, ecstatic whines soon turned into full on song-bird cries as her climax refused to end. Even Rayner, indirectly targeted by the spell simply because he had been touching the fire, seemed to be significantly affected. Hearing his exclamations, as well as the attention to her breast compounded upon the hormones raging through her, building into nothing less than complete euphoria.

She opened an eye to see him caught by that ecstasy. Probably a very strange feeling for a man... driven by this unique sensation to seek out an unoccupied source of lust and desperately try to reach the level of satisfaction he was feeling through magical proxy. In a way she appreciated the result. With Celeste as the direct target of her spell, the woman was likely to be sent into a doubled, powerful climax of her own at the first sensual touch... and penetration was very sensual. It was a feeble hope that the distraction would give Selini momentary reprieve. After such a powerful surge of energy her body felt extremely sore on the way down from her orgasm. Yet even as an airy light-headedness threatened to overtake her from all the strain on her arms, she felt the onset of a second climax poking alluringly at her. Teasing, just on the edge of her clouded vision.

RE: Penance

Everything about the moment was perfect, even though Celeste wasn't sure she'd agree. Pressing even harder into Selini's clit pushed the girl more into her, which lead to her sticking her ass out even further to accomodate the motion...which put her for perfect position for Rayner's assault. She'd been focused on the girl for the moment and had not forgotten her husband, but was focused on the girl. Her own slick slit was wet and ripe letting him slide home without a second thought. "Aghhhh~~!", releasing her teeth's vice grip on Selini's neck to scream her own pleasure combined from the feedback loop as well as the sudden penetration. Her own grip upon Selini's breast tightened painfully but her hand became even more furious as if she could rub her own clit through Selini.

And all of this weight would be pushing Selini's body further away from the strain of the rope and likely inflicting even more pain on the tender target. She pushed her ass against Rayner's cock, thrusting and shaking her ass as if to drive it even deeper within her. "Mon dieu, mon amour!", though with it being in french, it'd be hard to tell if she was speaking to Rayner or Selini, but she'd lost it enough to not even realize which language she was speaking. But still her hands managed to keep up, driviing Selini to further and further heights until they either collapsed or something gave. The question was which and who...

RE: Penance

The whole thing was overpowering on his head- sure, Rayner could focus when the dice were down and fight off distractions and pain as well as the next man- but always when he wanted to, and right now he was too caught up to have any interest in it. Besides- he knew pain. He knew pleasure too, but... not this particular pleasure. It was dragging the animal right on out, and the rest of him was covered up by it for the moment, drowned out by the maddened thrusting and moving. The mind was blank- forced so, and everything else was far, far from it.

Teeth grinding, Rayner groaned and grunted, eyes wide and lost in a haze, rocking the pair violently as his rough skin pressed into Selini's breast, then around it as he slid fingers across her nipple, squeezing the breast forcibly again before gripping a nipple between thumb and side of his index finger, twisting and pulling at it as he shoved Celeste into her and the two more bent over for him-

Practically hyperventilating as he fought valiantly after the third, sinking his teeth hard into Celeste's shoulder as he leaned over them. His cock swelled, underside pulsing in the building mania of sex, but the end just didn't seem to want to come yet- so close, yet stuck until something could come along to give him a little shove over the edge.

RE: Penance

The poor sub struggled to hold herself up under the strain 'lest the combined pull of the lust-driven pair pop her shoulder right out of its socket. Her wrists burned amazingly from the rope's friction against already sensitive skin, her arms were starting to tingle in protest (though still had a bit of strength left), and every other part of her body was alight in pleasure compounded upon exquisite pain. Just as she thought she couldn't handle any more Celeste redoubled her efforts and pushed Selini's arousal right back up. On top of it all, the pain continued to fuel her insatiable aura, allowing the empathy spell to persist long past its expiration. Thus, as the young mage threw her head back in another ebbing climax, the soft dancing flames once again carried the sensation to the heated pair behind her.

Yet it didn't stop there. Selini had long since passed the pinnacle of reservations, and the dedicated attention and persistent blaze of pain nipped at her lust-starved body, bringing with it yet another orgasm in the wake of the second. A third, fourth, fifth... they came like ripples on disturbed water, each only slightly less powerful than the last. By the end she had no strength, and would slump forward unless otherwise supported; a victim of her own curse, but a very satisfied victim. In the deepest recesses of her mind still capable of conscious thought, she wondered at the other two, but knew there was little point in trying to open her eyes.

RE: Penance

Rayner had lost himself by this point. He didn't know where his hands were, or what they were doing, or where he was exactly. He had Celeste, and the fact that there was another body in the tangle vaguely in his mind, and beyond that, he was white hot agonizing ecstasy. He might not have been getting as full an effect as Celeste, but ripples of semi-orgasm washing over him in that kind of repetition, especially when they were already like an alien extra sense, overwhelmed and made every inch of his body overly sensitive, skin tingling against Celeste's and burning where his hips hit hers. Each wave was a cry- half groan and half growl- between his teeth, which were now drawing blood, like it or not, as he tore into his wife through Selini's second, third-

White hot cum poured into Celeste, the shaft twitching wildly and unleashing everything that remained to it, the man's body reacting with admirable capablity and eagerness to keep upright and violently rutting for the moment, the extremes and mindless waves of sensation and emotion exactly what was needed to make his slightly-more-than-just-a-man show. Even so, it was no easy ride.

And on the fourth he ripped his head away from Celeste, inadvertantly drawing more blood than he ever would have in play, harming flesh as he whipped his head back and forth, making incomprehensible sounds before slamming once- with all his weight and might- into Celeste before his eyes flashed open, pupils blank, and passed out on the spot, just barely milking sensation for some nice memories when he came to, collapsed across his wife while his sex spasmed wildly, and the involuntary muscles took a bit to realize his mind was gone away for the moment.