"So, who do you think will win?" Theresa asked to Kip as Animalia's "mane six," Mary-Anne, Sara-Jane, Elizabeth, Jessie, Vera, and Theresa, sat around the stallion Animalian as they watched the broadcast on the Year of the Rat competition.
The community access channel that had been set up for Animalia had often served a good means to allow people in Lyre and Animalia to see the events as they happened and it avoided too much in the way of crowding streets or the Claw Coliseum where much of the events were being held. Kip was fairly interested, as some of the broadcasts that Animalia Ambassadoria had put up which often showed the highlights from past contests along with the naming of the winner of the contest was something that was fairly intriguing for him and privately taught him some things about the Chinese zodiac, though he'd privately admit that it probably wasn't enough to be an expert on it. But still, it made for an interesting competition to watch.
Some of it was also informative on the nature of the animals involved. For he'd never had that much interest in rats and mice before, but with 2020 being the Year of the Rat, there was plenty of things to learn. Such as the differences between the Pouch Rats from Africa the Brown Rats, which were the majority of the contestants, and the House Mice that were also competing. Some things were pretty standard in terms of telling the differences between the various species, but there were also a few cases where the differences were more between groups within a particular species. The fact that pet rats were the same species as the wild Brown Rat and pet mice were the same species as the "wild" House Mouse were things that Kip had never known before, and that the more unique coat colors and patterns for them was more a result of selective breeding done by Humans.
Of course given the six mares he was presently with, he wasn't quite sure that learning or even the competition was really what they were in. Mary-Anne and Jessie were both completely topless and the rest were wearing only their lingerie, which gave Kip some idea that they were interested in dating and romance more the competition. Some of the flirty conversation that they offered reinforced that, and Kip tried to do his best at being polite, particularly as he learned that most of the other stallions in Animalia were either otherwise married, had bond-mates but hadn't had their official wedding, yet, or wouldn't be in Animalia for long. One of their "targets," this "Archie" that he'd heard about ultimately intended to return to the UK as part of his work and planned work with Lord Chumlee's estate. The "main six" meanwhile were left to look around for stallions elsewhere. And since his Homosexual Anonymous sessions explained the effect that the Animalia Virus had on homosexual Humans when they converted to become Animalians leading to more bisexual tendencies and that their full choices wouldn't be taken away and that he could make a choice, Kip was somewhat willing to go along with some of the "Mane Six's" antics so long as they remained polite and respectful. And for the most part they had.
"I really don't know," Kip admitted, "I think I'm more just enjoying the contest and thankful that no one's made a mess."
"Oh we can make a mess, if you want," Vera said with a wink.
"No thank you," Kip answered a bit nervously, "I wouldn't want to lead into anything that would be too much of a reminder of my own conversion..."
"Tell us about that, luv," Elizabeth urged, "it may do you some good to get things off your chest, as it were."
"Well," Kip began to recount...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"And this is it, the party room," Mr. D said to the group that he'd brought up to a top floor penthouse apartment.
Though as Kip looked out over it, he noted the windows were small and much of the room's lighting was internal and many of the features and fixtures were oversized. Though some of which seemed to fit with what was on offer. There was a large fridge built into the far wall and a heavy bar set in front of it, with what looked like either steal or titanium for its counter top. There was a massive hot tub in the center of the room and a large flat screen television that was mounted on the wall, though it was presently off. Kip looked across the room and noted one small door at the back of the room , which likely lead to a bathroom.
"I spent a pretty penny upgrading this room for these sorts of things and the conversion you guys wanted," Mr. D said from behind him, "but since you've all paid your rent on time for quite awhile... I'd figured some of this was due. Think of it as loyalty for all you've done."
Kip looked over to his friends, Liam, Walter, Jack, Stefan, Duke, Mike, and Nils as they looked around the room with some awe on their faces. Jack and Stefan were even holding hands as they looked to the hot tub. Eventually Kip turned back to Mr. D who was readying a large igloo that he'd brought up with them on the elevator and into the hallway from it that lead to the room. In it was a series of syringes and alcohol swabs. The syringes contained various does of the Animalia Virus for them to convert as a sort of reward for paying their rent and not messing up their normal apartments.
"I can't believe you were able to get all this Mr. D," Stefan commented as he watched Mr. D walk to approach the counter and lay out the syringes next to each other with their names and species/breeds written on them.
They read: Kip, Akhal-Teke Horse, gold color. Liam, melanistic Indian Leopard. Walter, Golden Retriever Dog. Jack, North American River Otter. Stefan, Orca/Killer Whale. Duke, Siberian Tiger. Mike, Golden Eagle. Nils, Atlantic White Sided Dolphin. There were two syringes each and Mr. D seemed more than ready and willing go through the process of administering the shots.
"Won't you need some training?" Kip asked as Mr. D readied the syringes.
"The remote order process included an online tutorial on how to administer the shots so that you guys get both your doses and the needle doesn't get broken in the process," Mr. D answered, "though thankfully you'd made the request for this kind of thing before that Seven on Four night happened... As I hear they're closing down remote orders of that nature. You'd have to go to a Horizon facility to get new samples... but you guys are grand-fathered in and I made sure the place is suitable for full parties..."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"And from there we changed," Kip then finished, "we kinda had the strip... given that a few of us were becoming Animalians that were larger than Humans... but then a part of that was also part of the whole party. To celebrate being able to pay our rent on time with a bit of a private orgy in a giant party room."
"Sounds like fun," Mary-Anne smiled and leaned back, letting Kip get a good look at her bosom and her nipples poking out through her fur.
"At the time it seemed so," Kip admitted, trying to ignore the erection growing in his pants and surprised at how open some of the new "bisexual urges" were, "but despite some of the planning that Mr. D had made for the party room... there were a few things that he wasn't ready for. One was that eight homosexual men having a bit of an orgy to celebrate their conversion left a bit more of a stain than what Mr. D expected..."
"I can imagine," Sara-Jane looked back over her shoulder to the tent in Kip's trousers.
"There was also the fact that while the hot tub was of good size... it's water capacity was not suitable for a few large Animalians in it," Kip said weakly, "particularly while enjoying themselves. I think Jack and Stefan ended up overflowing the hot tub and the spilled water ended up getting into some of the wiring in the building as a result of the flooding... "
That got a bit of a cringe from the six mares and it was eventually Vera who asked.
"Was anyone hurt?" Vera asked, her own voice sounding nervous.
"Thankfully no... but Mr. D had to rewire a few things, and the building lost power for a little while," Kip answered, "and he had to rethink some things for the party room's design in order to prevent those problems from repeating again in the future. It won't cost as much as the Seven on Four night did... but since it was our conversion... it's only fair that we pay Mr. D back for his costs. I mean... he went so far to do something special for us. It's not his fault we got a bit to excited."
"So what about your friends?" Jessie asked, "we haven't seen them around town too much..."
"Some are just in different jobs," Kip answered, "for the moment we're up here in Animalia/Lyre as part of the acclimation process and all that... not to mention the Homosexuals Anonymous courses... help us understand that gaining the bisexual urges doesn't mean we have to give up who we were... something Jack and Stefan were very happy about."
"They love each other then..." Elizabeth surmised.
"For quite a while... they've liked different animals but have always loved each other," Kip nodded.
"Well... Animalia's edicts only forbid interspecies breeding, they don't necessarily forbid interspecies couples," Jessie assured Kip, "so I'm sure there is no problem with them loving each other."
"Not that there is anything wrong with being bi, either," Theresa commented, "in fact you might get it better than those who are purely homosexual or purely heterosexual. You'd get to have fun with both if you want."
"And that's why you're all after me?" Kip wondered.
"Well that could be fun... though none of us have ever tried," Vera admitted.
"Or thought about it," Jessie added, "but you are a handsome stallion, and we'd be lying if we said we weren't interested in having a bond mate as handsome as you or Archie."
"And you'd have your freedom to have both when you need or want it," Sara-Jane commented, "an "open-marriage," I believe its called. You'd have one of us, but we'd share you with man that catches your fancy and you have that need... No force on our part."
"Uh... thanks," was about all Kip could manage to that. Thankfully the final round was about to begin with the contest and that might quiet some of the flirting down enough to where Kip could think on the non-flirty things that the six had shared with him.