TRP - Corona Abscenta (Patreon)

"Corona Absentium - Heart Shaped Boxes and Skeleton Keys. Corona is about control, plain and simple. They don't bother with crowds usually, but a casual conversation with one always runs the risk of you spending an indeterminate span of time doing their bidding. Knowingly, or not." - Samuel

Corona Abscenta is easily the most dangerous of the Houses of The Pit! With so many classes on hypnotic, pheromonal and other forms of control easily available, it was only a matter of time before a group was formed that was willing to use these techniques, in the hopes that it would grant them the edge they needed to survive The Rendering Pit's harsh environment. This picture and story is once more brought to you by Rabidbadger of FA, and it's as amazing as those prior to it! Here we explore a student's first visits to Corona Abscenta's lodgings and the ways in which they effect them. I hope you enjoy!

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“Hey Mom, Dad, sorry I missed you. Just wanted to let you know I need to stay here at the university over break, I’ve got some extra classes I need to squeeze in okay? I’ll call you soon. Later!”

Andrew looked over himself in the reflection on his phone’s screen – not the face he’d seen in it last week, which he felt a strong impulse to smile over. The hot pink fur, the high-end broadcasting ocular replacement, the little gold nub on his forehead and the secondary nodes in his ear, and the silver blue hair that was hanging over his other eye. The feline student rubbed his finger over the small pyramid of metal on his forehead. He could feel it buzzing a little, warming up some. The warmth spread out a bit inside, like the comfort of a friend at his back. It took what few doubts he had left, and dashed them apart.

He reached into the pocket of his uniform robes and fished out a small flask, swallowing about half its contents in one go. Enough to leave him feeling pleasantly warm, a little floaty, and ready. The doors before him were to the primary men’s lockers, the home of The Rendering Pit’s more athletic students. Pushing the doors open, Andrew shed his robe and continued on in wearing little more than a shiny, gold speedo and a dumb grin. 

The moment he turned the corner, his grin was met with the suddenly caught attention of a bustling locker room full of half-clad or less furs, ranging between the lean runner to a couple who could only be here for sumo or something of the like. Andrew’s grin widened as a feeling of intoxication that had nothing to do with the swig of booze began to rush straight to his head.

A good half the room grinned right back at him.

*** 

Some hours later, Andrew found himself rousing slowly to consciousness. His head hurt a little, but someone was stroking him across the ears, and that was nice – also he was at least on a fairly comfy bed. 

“Ngh. My head is not happy… What did I get up to last night?”

The cat tried to get up, but found the surface he was on a bit too cushy, and his lower back stiff. The hand between his ears gave them a fond little ruffle, before a silky voice filtered into them.

“Everything, and then some. Now, lullaby and goodnight Andrew.”

Andrew felt a twinge run up through from his tail to the base of his neck, along with a sublimely comfortable heaviness in his mind. One that seemed to beg him to shut his eyes, and stop thinking. One he was happy to oblige. He didn’t really think to question it, the voice in his head urging him to obey was his own after all.

*** 

A sharp, buzzing sound drug the bright pink cat from his odd, hazy dreams about… giant, orange cream sundaes he was lounging in? Andrew blinked slowly, trying to place where he was – what was going on – what that noise was. The questions answered themselves in short enough order, he was in his dorm, in his bed, with his phone ringing – though the last… well, the recent past was a blur. Given that it was the only problem he could solve quickly and definitively, Andrew plucked his phone up and answered.

“Nghello?”

A quick blink later, Andrew found himself looking down at the bespectacled and slightly graying face of his mother. Under normal circumstances, he shared her tawny coat. Not so much right now – the sight of all that pink was causing him to feel something in the back of his mind itch.

“There you are Andy! I just wanted to call, and see your face, since you said you’re staying for the break dear.”

A vague memory of the last time he’d used his phone trickled back in. He had said that – there’d been some kind of excuse to it, he was pretty sure. Then something… nice?

“Right! Sorry, just waking up and things are a bit uh, a bit hazy. Glad you caught up with me though. Dad’s not too hacked off, right?”

The pleasant, warm smile staring back at him shook gently.

“No he’s fine, in fact I think he appreciates the responsibility the whole thing shows. That, and he might be fixing up some kind of impromptu vacation – but I’m not completely sure on that one yet.”

Andrew chuckled a little – he knew that probably meant camping and ‘quality time’ for them, and that they didn’t get enough opportunities to do that lately. Maybe that’s what he’d had in mind when he made that earlier call?

“Yeah I wouldn’t be surprised if that was it too.”

His mother’s face took on a slightly more serious tone in the next moment, curious as well.

“How’ve things gone with you going to see that counselor fellow? The one who was supposed to help with the stress from the exams you have coming up? I mean, you don’t seem as high strung as you were – and, well, you’re pink – which looks fantastic, by the way – but don’t let your father see it. I’ll make sure there’s a video filter up on our end if you call again.”

The cat felt himself blush a little about the commentary regarding his fur. She was right of course, his father would hate it, and possibly outright lose his mind about the idea. 

“I- wow, yeah. That, thank you Mom. I’m okay, by the way. At least, I think so. Everything’s got my head spinning still lately, but it doesn’t feel like it wants to pop off anymore so that’s a step in the right direction, and that’s after just three or so sessions. In fact I go back to see Donovan later today.”

His mother’s brow narrowed just a little. 

“Awfully familiar – you mean Professor Donovan, don’t you?”

Andrew shook his head gently.

“Nope. He’s actually a graduate student, and says he prefers to keep things informal anyway. Makes the sharing easier, or so he says.”

That seemed to set the last of his mother’s worries at ease, restoring her to her benign little smile.

“Oh! Alright then, that’s good. Well, I think I hear your father… I should probably go find out what all that noise in the garage is about, as if we didn’t both know. Love you, Andy!”

The bright pink feline smiled back.

“Love you too, Mom. Talk to you soon.”

Andrew watched the screen go dark, exhaling slowly. Donovan. Andrew’s brow tightened as he looked back to his phone again, getting the screen up and checking the time. 

“…Okay. That – I’m uh, I’m missing a day there. That’s not… maybe I should stop at the nurse’s station after the appointment with Donovan. …Which is in fifteen minutes. Crap.”

The cat shifted gears into frantic gathering of his clothes and general effects instantly, he wasn’t really sure how patient Donovan Ingram was. Yeah, the guy seemed pretty relaxed, but he was also a graduate student and the head of a student organization – he had power. Only a little less than a proper professor. Good enough reason to hurry – Andrew was ‘ready’ and out the door with ten minutes to spare. Just enough time to make it to Corona Absentia’s dorm hall.

*** 

The Absentia dorms were a strange place by Andrew’s reckoning – he expected something other than lots of polite and orderly students roaming around. Yeah, there was some ‘fraternizing’ going on from the sound of it, but with how spooked most students seemed to be of the place he’d expected something a little more like a wretched hive of scum and villainy. He’d expected to have to be careful, not to be welcomed politely and ushered along to Donovan’s quarters with no fuss apart from compliments on his fur, hair, and the shiny, gold point on his forehead. 

The room he wanted looked like all the rest on the outside, apart from being at the end of the hall (and thus, a bit larger). Andrew felt a small twinge in his forehead as he neared the door, and heard it unlock just as he reached for the grip to open it.

Pushing through, Andrew almost stumbled on the second step into the room as a wash of tension and vertigo seized him. 

“Still getting those little twinges? Did you make an appointment like I asked? I’m a little concerned about your blood pressure, and the nurse can give you something for anxiety, including the anxiety you seem to have about medication Andrew.”

There was a slight haze over Andrew’s vision briefly, fading away to what he expected to see. A comfortable room with subdued lighting, and a large round bed with a young, orange-furred, short-haired, unassuming young man sitting in the leather armchair beside it, smiling welcomingly. Donovan even gave the bed a gentle, inviting pat. There was no time wasted acting on that – Andrew felt more relaxed the instant he heard the older student’s voice, and the bed was a fantastic addition to the process as far as he was concerned. Those weird little couches most counselors used were never as comfortable as they seemed to think they were.

“Once in a while…”

 His hand sank in a fair way when he touched it first, it was warm – pliant – welcoming. Yeah, it was a bit harder to climb on the rest of the way up and work his way into the mountain of pillows sitting atop the thing with such unsteady footing, but it was ever so worth it. Andrew nuzzled his face in when he’d clambered up enough fluff to sprawl his whole form out, relishing the way it felt against his mostly bare form and-

The cat blinked briefly – he didn’t remember removing his robe on entering, had he… had he walked down here in just the gold underwear? The presence of a friendly, familiar hand between his ears, ruffling the fur on his head fondly, seemed to take that (formerly) legitimate worry and dispel it like a strong breeze would a cloud of smoke.

“Let the worry go. Roses and rainclouds, kitten.”

Andrew felt something shift, in the back of his head. Like his brain had a funny bone, and those words had hit it square on. He dug his hands in further to the soft mound he was resting against, breathing a little faster as a wash of vague yet potent delight seemed to well up from in his chest. A smile drug itself onto his face, and he wasn’t entirely sure why. 

Lazily, Andrew looked over at the empty leather armchair. He then slowly let his gaze drift over, and upward. Smiling down was a ginger furred face, with big pillowy cheeks, shaggy orange hair, and glorious blue eyes. It only took Andrew a moment to shuffle himself further up Donovan’s immense, slowly undulating body. The ‘bed’ was a bit unsteady to crawl on, but he liked getting himself fully atop the person-sized swell of Donovan’s gut and resting his head in the center of that plush chest that rested on it. It was more comfortable, he loved how it swayed to and fro, and made it easier for Donovan to reach his ears.

It was a strata of relaxation he’d not been aware of before, resting on top of Donovan while the immense fur’s breathing lulled him into a quiet, open frame of mind. Yeah, it had taken some light suggestion techniques to get him to even try it the first time, but that hardly seemed important anymore. He’d walked in and laid eyes on that giant, cream puff of a body – so much of which seemed to shift and flow with every little movement its owner made – an idea that left him with a funny feeling between his legs, accompanied by the odd idea of how absurd it was to think of Donovan moving. The boy hadn’t moved since his second year at the academy, he’d told Andrew as much. 

Of course, back then he’d been bed-bound – not an actual bed. By the time Andrew had met him the gobsmacked cat (whose fur was a more subdued gray at that point) had just stared at the arms thickened to the point of having ‘sleeves’ of fat up to the elbow, of sausage fingers pressing dimples into a sea of flesh He’d wondered if he could even lift the sides of beef that Donovan had growing out of his chest. Seeing the immense form held in a loose ‘sitting’ positon by the rolling spill of his belly as it spread several feet out in front of him, forcing the tree-trunk swells of his legs apart, and the twin flattened orbs comprising Donovan’s ass – each one the size of a small cargo pod by itself, forcing the young man’s back up to the reclining state he perpetually occupied now, had seared itself into his memory quite thoroughly. 

Andrew had taken one look at it and been ready to walk right back out – or run. Then he’d been asked to sit, and have some tea – he still wasn’t sure precisely why he’d done that, or stayed so long, or talked so much. The phrase ‘one thing led to another’ didn’t seem to do the continuing string of events justice. He’d never actually been able to answer the question of why he listened to Donovan that first time, it had just stopped seeming likely an important question. It nonetheless had brought him here, to being nestled up against his favorite person, who knew just where to rub his ears.

“How did the call to your parents go?”

The reply came lazily, almost as if dazed.

“Talked to mom – things are good there.”

Donovan’s thick, soft fingers curled around underneath Andrew’s chin, bringing it up to where they could make eye contact.

“You brought up transitioning to her yet?”

That got a slightly guilty looking glance elsewhere.

“No, but her I’m not worried about. Dad’s the one who’s liable to disinherit and/or disown me when he finds out. Hell, he’d probably lose his mind over the peep implant permissions I gave you – he just isn’t the understanding type.”

Donovan’s hand gently drug Andrew’s gaze back to the center.

“Well, ask him to come visit then, kitten.” 

The mountainous fur’s lip began to curl upward at that, something that sent a faint shiver down Andrew’s back for reasons he didn’t completely understand. Especially not with how adorable those wobbling cheeks looked.

“I’ll see if I can’t help him see reason.”