Actually the women probably had caught on, but would pretend they hadn't. There were few real secrets kept from Glamors of any age. There was a lot of necessary pretense in this family, as both young and old understood. Rather than keeping secrets, they were letting the children know that real love abounded here, and how it could be expressed.
“So what's your interest,” Havoc inquired once they were safely away from the sphere. “A game of checkers?” He conjured a board.
“Ifrits,” Flame said immediately.
“The clouds,” he agreed, banishing the board. “What's going on with them?"
“Augur and Aura talk with them,” Weft said. Her vocabulary and syntax were strengthening day by day. “They're called Ivor and Iva."
“And they have sex with them,” Warp said.
That was a surprise. “How do you know that?"
“Minds not shielded,” Flame said.
Another surprise. “You can read their minds from a distance?"
“Just the sex,” she clarified. “The raw feeling."
So the strength of an orgasm broadcast far enough to be read at a distance, if a telepath was there.
“Negation, dummy,” Warp said witheringly to Flame. “Yellow Glamor did it."
A ball of fire formed and hovered menacingly near to him. “I knew that,” Flame said.
Time to break this up. “I didn't,” Havoc said. “What did the Yellow Glamor do?"
“She sent a—feeling to the ifrits,” Weft said. “So they could feel the feeling for sex."
“It's a sort of surging, very strong,” Warp explained helpfully. “A nice bursting."
“He knows that, dummy,” Flame informed him. “He just did it into Symbol."
“And into Mommy,” Weft added.
Warp scowled, floating off the ground, magic coalescing.
“Orgasm, that's the feeling,” Havoc said quickly. “Yellow's the Glamor of Demons, and the ifrits seem to be demons. But why did she send it?"
“They want to know,” Weft said. “Why humans have sex."
“And ifrits don't know,” Warp said. “So they did it with Augur and Aura."
“And the Glamor sent them an orgasm,” Weft said. She already had the word down.
“So they could understand,” Havoc said, getting it straight. “Because ifrits don't reproduce the way humans or animals do, so don't have orgasms."
“But they do have babies,” Weft said.
“Little clouds,” Warp agreed.
This was interesting indeed. “I think I need to know more about this."
“Tomorrow,” Flame said. “Mom's going to make you help."
“We want to play with them,” Weft said.
“Play with clouds?"
“When they turn solid,” she said.
“I think I'd better be there."
“Affirmation,” she agreed, laughing as she floated up and kissed his cheek.
After that he was able to get them interested in a ball game. He conjured a spherical balloon, and they batted it about mentally; the one who made it get within another's circle got to pop it in his or her face. It was no-fair to fill it with water just before popping.
Time passed. Symbol appeared. “The ifrits know an eerie amount,” she murmured, picking Flame up.
“Aw, they just read Mom's mind,” Flame informed her.
Gale soon enough confirmed it, after the children were down and asleep. “The ifrits are making extraordinary progress. Augur and Aura feel they have taken it about as far as they can. Now it's time for the Glamors to educate the ifrits about Glamors. The ifrits have caught on that Glamors can do more than mortals. Since you are now available, you should be there."
“Is it wise to tell them everything?"
“Yellow says they mean no harm. We're learning much about them; they want to learn about us. It's a two way path."
“And the children want to participate."
“Question?"
“To play with the little ifrit clouds, tomorrow, when they turn solid."
Now she hesitated. “We don't know that much about the ifrits. They are alien to all our prior experience. Even Yellow is wary."
Havoc realized he had been had. “I gave them a tacit agreement. I didn't realize you had reservations."
She smiled. “Weft played you like a dulcimer. You can't say no to her."
“Or to any female of this family,” he agreed.
She kissed him. “Naturally not. Resignation. We'll just have to watch them carefully."
“As if that's possible."
She nodded agreement. Then she took his hand, placed it on her bare bottom, and went to sleep. It was flirtatious teasing, suggesting that he could do what he wanted, but that she had other business. So he gave it a squeeze, left his hand there, and slept himself.
Next morning Havoc and the family went out to the nearby Red Chroma zone with the ifrit party: Augur, Aura, Ini, and Futility. Sure enough, two ifrit clouds coalesced into a very human man and woman, followed by four little clouds that formed into small human forms. The ifrits had come prepared.
Warp, Weft, and Flame ran out to meet the ifrit children. Gale held Symbol back, masking her own nervousness; she wanted the children to feel free. Symbol went to sit at the table someone had conjured and left there, watching the children as if relaxing. Gale set Voila in her bassinet on the table, then took Havoc's arm, evidently determined to participate in the adult business. He felt her tension; she was definitely not easy about the children.
The two adult ifrits came to meet them. The male was handsome, reminiscent of Augur in color and frame; the female was a fetching red Chroma woman.
Augur performed the modest ceremony: “Ifrits, this is the Glamor Havoc, and this is the Glamor Gale. Humans, this is Ivor Ifrit, and this is Iva Ifrit. They accept the names we gave them, having no naming conventions themselves."
Ivor put forth his hand. “Greeting, Havoc.” The handshake, like the rest of him, seemed completely human. Meanwhile Iva exchanged a token hug with Gale. Then Ivor nodded to Gale, and Iva came to give Havoc a warm kiss.
“We have explained and shown what we can,” Augur said. “But some questions only Glamors can answer."
“Ask,” Havoc said. He had been told the ifrits had learned to make completely human forms, but the reality was striking. Iva seemed as if she would make an excellent sexual partner. He would not have known she was not human, had that kiss been all he knew of her.
“One of our number passed by when four humans were caught in the trap of the life eater,” Ivor said. “We thought that would be the end of the matter. Then you rescued them. How did you accomplish that?"
“Question,” Havoc said. “Was it to learn this that you made contact with us?"
“Affirmation. We realized that you could not be ordinary animals."
“Concurrence. When we learned of the difficulty our companions were in, we went to rescue them. Glamors can not be overcome the way mortal humans can, so the life eater could not hold us."
“Interest. The life eater can not hold ifrits either. But we are demonic rather than living creatures."
Now Iva spoke. “We discovered far more than we might have expected. We did not know of sapience; our normal level is equivalent to that of animals. You have taught us a remarkable thing."
“Sapience is convenient,” Havoc said.
Gale nudged him. “Less so in women."
Ivor looked at her. “Confusion."
She laughed. “I was teasing Havoc. Men prefer stupid women; they are easier to seduce."
“Teasing is a form of humor? We do not understand humor."
“Havoc will explain it,” Gale said, as she diverted her attention to Symbol. “Problem?"
Havoc paused to see what the problem might be. He was concerned for the welfare of their children too, and intended to be alert. Weft had privately petitioned Symbol.
“The littlest ifrit wants to play with Voila,” Symbol said. “But can't reach
her."
Havoc saw Gale hesitate only a trace. Then she lifted the bassinet and set it on the ground at the end of the table, where a tiny red ifrit stood. “Introduction,” she said. “This is Voila."
“This is Iolo,” Weft said. “He's the littlest ifrit."
“Voila can't walk yet,” Gale told Iolo. “But you may join her in the bassinet. May I lift you?"
The little ifrit nodded. Gale reached down, put her hands carefully about him, and lifted him into the bassinet. She set him at the end, facing Voila, who was tilted so she could see him. “She can't talk yet either,” Weft said. “But she knows what's up.” She dashed off to rejoin her own ifrit companion.
Voila sat up farther, by using magic to float her upper section. Magic was easier for her than physical processes. She smiled at the ifrit, who smiled back.
Now Havoc addressed the question. “Humor: something funny. Example: Gale is as smart as I am, but pretends I prefer her stupid so that I can trick her into having sex with me. I don't need to trick her, and we both know it, so it is humorous."
“It is a game,” Gale said. “Men generally are more interested in sex than women, but we exaggerate the difference."
Iva spoke to Havoc. “You would find me more sexually appealing if I were stupid?"
“Only in pretense. Your form is already appealing."
“But you should pretend not to know that,” Gale said.
Havoc let her carry it while he quietly oriented his attention on the children beyond the table. They seemed to be playing a game of tag, running madly in complicated patterns. They were not confined to the ground; at times they floated. It was apparent that the ifrits could not do that in solid form, so they reverted to cloud form. Now the little Glamors were flying around the small clouds, zooming close, until tagged by an extended vapor extension. It seemed to be working out.
He glanced at the bassinet, and saw Iolo doing the same. As a cloud he surrounded Voila, who seemed unconcerned. Evidently they were communication in their fashions.
Ivor saw the direction of Havoc's glance. “Your children have named ours,” he said. “We do not use names in our native state. They are Ilona, Igor, and Imre."
This was interesting. “You are in mental touch with your children?"
“It is not your telepathy,” Iva said. “We do not practice that. One of our adult number surrounds us, as you know, to facilitate contact. She keeps us current."
Havoc remembered that a thin veil of ifrit substance surrounded them, extending to the end of the table but not beyond. That left the bassinet and the open area clear for the children. “I think we are not properly conveying the nature of humor. Perhaps we will come across a clearer example in the course of further dialogue. Meanwhile, I am interested in the nature of your mental state. I gather that you are sapient in your cloud form, but not in your solid form."
“Agreement,” Ivor said. “Normally we are not sapient in either form, but as clouds we have the capacity to develop it, and have done so with human guidance."
Ini and Futility were standing behind Havoc, making notes. Now Ini spoke. “I use the analogy of the fabled ancient computers of Earth, which were machines capable of great storage and manipulation of information, but which were not conscious or intelligent in themselves. The ifrits in their cloud state may be considered as computers with the added quality of awareness. Their solid forms are normally used only for crossing between Chroma zones, or as defense against certain threats, so lack capacity for sapience in themselves."
“Appreciation,” Havoc said. “So the clouds are the minds, and the solid forms are mere bodies."
“Accuracy,” Iva said. “All of us, including the children, have access to the common store of information and awareness. However, the children lack the substance to utilize all of it."
“So we could not be having this dialogue, were the cloud ifrit not surrounding us,” Havoc said.
“Correct,” Ivor said. Indeed, it did not seem to make much difference which one of them spoke. “Our solid bodies are merely enabling us to relate to you who are normally solid. We regret the clumsiness of this interchange."
“But we are trying to relate to you as effectively as is feasible,” Iva said. “We are distinct entities. I approached Augur for sex, to facilitate his positive impression, and will do the same with you if you wish."
“Gale will surely veto that,” Havoc said, smiling. “She's a jealous female."
Symbol, at the end of the table, laughed.
Iva picked right up on it. “Humor? This relates to your interactions with each other?"
“Agreement,” Gale said. “I am Havoc's wife. He and I and the four children are a family. We love each other. Symbol is his mistress. She provides him with extra sex. I am not jealous."
Havoc nodded. “And, ironically, my mistress spends more time with the children than with me. So I remain sexually starved."
Iva gave him a direct look. “Is this an invitation?"
Gale nudged him. “Oh, go and do it with her, Havoc. You know you want to. She's an entirely new crafted woman, like a golem."
And he did want to, and not merely because golems could be remarkable sexual partners. The fact that Iva was completely inhuman in essence made her doubly intriguing. “Agreement."
“There is a private place,” Iva said, standing.
Why not? Havoc stood. “Brief parting."
“We'll come after you if it is not brief,” Gale said with mock severity.
They went to the glade that clearly had been prepared for this activity. “You travel with Symbol?” she inquired as she removed her clothing.
“Sometimes.” He did the same.
“No fault."
He caught on. “Negation. My relationship with Symbol is not no fault. She is my permanent mistress, and she loves me. With you it will be no fault."
“Love,” she said. “This is another difficult concept."
“More difficult than humor, perhaps,” he agreed. “To truly understand love, you must experience it."
“Paradox: we must experience it to understand it, but do not know how to experience it until we understand it."
He laughed. “I think some of our intellectual emotional concepts are as awkward for you as becoming clouds would be for us."
“If you became clouds, we could show you how to become clouds. Is this paradox parallel?"
“Likely.” He paused. “Question: is your interest sexual or intellectual?"
“Intellectual. Sex is a means to relate, to induce you to share more intellectual insights. However, one thing we have been shown is the pleasure of sex. I would like to experience that pleasure again."
“Can you receive telepathy?"
“We can receive the raw feeling. We are unable to send such feeling in the manner you can."
“Then I will send my pleasure to you, as I experience it. This will be male pleasure rather than female pleasure, however."
“Acceptance."
Greeting. It was Swale.
“Pause,” Havoc said. “I have a visitor."
“I do not perceive this person."
“It is Swale, the succubus. A sexual spirit. I am not sure the equivalent exists on this planet."
“Not that we know of,” Iva agreed. “Not among ifrits."
I could show her.
That intrigued him. “Swale could enter your body and perhaps provide you with sexual feeling. Would that be of interest to you?"
“Agreement, if it brings the pleasure."
It will.
“Then accept Swale's infusion of your body. She will enter the female channel you have made to enable sexual participation, and spread out from there. If you wish her to depart, think that thought to her, and she will go. Amenable?"
“Amenable."
Havoc waited a moment. Nothing happened. Then Swale returned. She has no womb.
Oh. “You must craft a new place, for the succubus to occupy,” Havoc said.
The
re was further dialogue, and it seemed that the ifrit did a partial vaporization and reformation, internally. In due course Swale entered it.
Iva looked curious, then surprised. “It is like sex, but there is no man."
“There is Swale."
Iva's expression changed. “Suddenly I desire sex in a way I did not before. Request: perform it immediately."
They were both standing naked. He took her in his arms and kissed her. She returned the kiss with surprising competence. He stroked her bare bottom. She pressed her breasts against him. He recognized schooled emulation of passion, having experienced it often enough with Futility, but this was not that. Swale was imbuing her with the reality.
They lay on the mat. She was quiveringly eager, but at the same time looking surprised. He penetrated her and thrust, and she met it with her own thrust, squeezing his member inside. She was certainly good at this. He suspected it was mostly the information stored in the surrounding cloud ifrit, played back for his benefit, but now there was an added urgency. Swale had that effect on a woman. He climaxed, and sent the feeling to her.
“No need!” she gasped. “I am feeling it from myself."
Her schooled cooperation had became genuine, thanks to the succubus. She writhed and groaned, transported by the intensity of the orgasm. Her internal pulses became raggedly powerful. That heightened his own feeling. They writhed together, and slowly subsided, falling apart.
“Forget intellectual,” she said. “I like this."
But he felt that once was enough. He held her and moved on to the intellectual. “Human beings find pleasure with each other in this manner. But love is much more.” He had an idea. “How do you feel about your children?"
“They are of our substance. We guide them and protect them and would regret their loss."
That wasn't sufficient. Evidently ifrits did not experience family love either. “It may be that intense emotion is not natural to you."
“Idea: can you project love similarly? Swale is with me, but this she lacks."
That might be worthwhile. “Here is my feeling for Gale.” He projected the encompassing love he had for his beloved.
“Oh, I wish I were she!” He wasn't sure whether it was ifrit or succubus speaking.