Sexuality

This page is a work in progress and is subject to change unpredictably.

This page deals with sex and sexuality of a non-human species. If that makes you uncomfortable, you may want to leave. Don’t worry, there won’t be any images.

Let’s start out with some of the basic biology (I won’t get into too much detail here). As with many vertebrate animals on Earth, the cenya have males and females; males have penises, from whose tips semen is ejaculated, and females have vaginas, which (if you’ll forgive the phrasing) act as semen-receptacles during copulation.

Like reptiles on Earth, cenyi genitals are almost completely invisible when unaroused. Males have internal testes, and the penis is entirely contained within the genital slit until it becomes erect. Females do not have visible vulvae like mammals; unless aroused (thus slightly engorged), a female’s genitals can be hard to find among the lower crotch scales.

Sexual attraction

In both males and females, sexual attraction is usually instantaneous. Deciding whether someone is sexy usually only requires looking at the other cenyi – and, preferably, inhaling their scent.

The cenya are a fairly strongly pair-bonding species. There is very little sexual dimorphism, and males do not fight aggressively among each other for females. As a result of this, both males and females tend to look for cenya of the opposite sex who will make good parents and good providers. Since the cenya are a strongly predatory species, attractive features include: strong legs; sharp and reasonably large claws; and long, sturdy tails (for balance).

Romantic love is present, but there is no notion that it’s supposed to last for one’s entire life. Few relationships endure that long. The notion of love at first sight is entirely absent.

When and where

Unlike human females, cenyi females are not capable of reproducing all the time. Females instead go into oestrus twice a year – usually once in spring, once in (early) autumn – which cycles tend to last 6–18 days, though successful impregnation usually causes the cycle to end. Males, on the other hand, produce sperm and semen all the time.

Despite this, females are actually sexually active all year around; sexual activity does rise during oestrus, but rarely reaches zero in the anestrous phase. There is no direct benefit to being sexually active in this phase. However, the genitals are still sensitive to touch; and the brain system for sexual pleasure can still be activated. It does not respond as strongly as when the female is in heat, but the brain responds nonetheless.

What all of this means is that a huge majority of cenya, both single and in couples, both hetero- and homosexual, masturbate and have sex fairly regularly. Certainly no less often than humans, but also probably not an awful lot more often. One-night stands are not unheard of at all. Like human begins, the cenya have developed the odd and highly unusual social norm that sex is something you do in private.

How do they do it?

Missionary, doggy style, cowgirl, cowboy, rodeo, 69, against the wall, spread eagle, seesaw... Let’s just say flexible bodies with dexterous hands, long tongues and fully prehensile tails combined with creativity and imagination can lead to some fairly... interesting results. It is worth pointing out that the cenya are long-necked and flexible enough that every one of them can engage rather easily in autofellatio or (for lack of a better word) autocunnilingus, which talent they also use to groom their nether areas.

As females are only fertile for relatively short amounts of time twice a year, contraceptives are not required during casual sex in the anestrous phase.

Social aspects

Although the cenya have sex in private, there is no social notion at all that sex is something naughty or dirty or (lord help us all) unnatural. It is not an awkward topic, even when speaking to one’s mother-in-law. That said, highly explicit and detailed descriptions of what you did to your partner (or to yourself!) in bed last night are usually seen as rather distasteful, unless you’re talking a very close friend.

Due to the presence of two specific oestrous phases, most cenya are born (or hatched, rather) in one of two months which are almost on “opposite” ends of the year. As a result of this, “hatchdays” are completely culturally insignificant. Most cenya don’t even know exactly what date they were hatched on, though they do tend to know the month.