Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2011 06:43:30 -0800 (PST) From: Tague Micheals Subject: Buddy This is another story born from a dream I had. Many of the particulars in the story were in the dream including the sweat lodge piece and the dip in the lake. Like most of my stories that come from a dream this one is long on the set-up but the set up is very important. I hope you enjoy it. Hugs, Tag_m ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ His name was Buddy, although that was a nickname and not his birth name. His birth name was Harshad which in a couple of native languages means "One who gives pleasure". In retrospect I couldn't have thought of a more appropriate name. Buddy was of the Cherokee people. He was 14 years and some months old when I met him. Like many Cherokee people, even full blood which he was, Buddy was fair skinned. His hair was a light brown as opposed to dark blonde, worn in a short spiky do, and his large eyes were a soft hazel green. His complexion was smooth and clear although there was a very slight hint of light colored hair starting to show on his upper lip. Buddy had full generous lips that framed crystal white teeth which I saw a great deal of because he was equally generous with his smiles. At 5 feet 7 inches he was more on the husky side than not, although there wasn't an ounce of fat on him. While he was a serious boy when we practiced ceremonies, outside of that spiritual arena he was easy going and light hearted, easily able and willing to banter. I had met him as part of my own spiritual practices as well as my private therapy practice. I did a great deal of work with women, working on trauma and women's issues. Although my clientele was non-native I employed a variety of native practices in my work. I was native, although I didn't look it any more than Buddy did, but hadn't grown up around native people. I had gotten more into my culture in college and began participating in native ceremonies, finding comfort in them. I felt they were very grounding, very soothing, and offered a great medium for doing therapeutic work. I was not, however, trained to lead in such ceremonies so relied on someone who was to lead them for me. That also gave me the opportunity to just wear a therapist hat and not the spiritual leader hat too which allowed me to focus on the therapy job. I had utilized a tribal healer slash spiritual man named Hobie to lead the ceremonies that my clients participated in. After a couple of years he had asked if I minded starting to use one of his acolytes. There were a variety of reasons for that, not the least of which was that Hobie was starting to do a great deal of traveling to work with tribes other than his own. Another reason was that the young man he wanted to work with me needed the practice of working on his own and not under Hobie's wing especially since I used an abbreviated version of the ceremonies or I combined ceremonies. I wasn't trying to foist native beliefs on my clients. I used the ceremonies because they created a different mind set than typical western European therapy did and as I stated a moment ago, I think they fostered a better environment than say, the standard therapy group although I used that technique as well. Lastly Hobie said, "I think Harshad," Hobie always used Buddy's Indian name, "has some things to learn and to work through and I think you will be good medicine for him Yeowitsen." My native name was Yeowitsen but my birth name was Chace and like he did with Buddy, Hobie always called me by my native name. Hobie and I talked often about the fact that we all learn from each other; that the parent can learn from the child if the parent is open to that. We all have some good medicine that others can use if only we look for it. So it was that I was introduced to Buddy at a social gathering of native and non-native people. I was taken immediately by the youth. He was more than pleasing to the eye and his outgoing personality increased his likeability factor ten fold. Buddy greeted me warmly shaking my hand in the manner used by many traditional natives, that being a gentle grip that would be interpreted by non native men as "wimpy" or weak. It wasn't either of those things. Native men considered a firm or strong handshake as disrespectful or a show of power or to prove superiority over another person. Buddy seemed to hit it off with me as well and within an hour he was bantering with me in the same manner that he and Hobie bantered. His voice was somewhere between the high pitch of preteen and the deeper voice that he would achieve as he neared the end of his pubertal process. I loved the sound of it. Buddy's acceptance of me crossed the physical barrier as well. The boy frequently touched my arm to emphasize a point or he gave me a gentle poke in the ribs when he felt that he had zinged me or Hobie with a good one. I didn't spend the entire evening with Buddy but had mingled with others as well. As the evening wore on I found myself sitting in a seat that was one of 6 seats that were attached together in a row, the typical office waiting area type of furniture. Buddy showed up and plopped down in the seat next to me. The boy looked tired and I commented on that. "Yeah, I've been pretty busy the past few days so my wheel is out of balance." Buddy was referring to the medicine wheel, an iconic symbol of virtually all native tribes in North America. The medicine wheel symbolized wholeness or completeness, balance. Divided into 4 equal parts the amount of things that it could symbolize was limitless. Among other things it represented the 4 stages of life, the 4 directions, the 4 seasons, the 4 winds, the 4 stages of life and the 4 major life areas and it was the latter that Buddy was referring to. Native people believed that wellness and harmony were contingent on our lives being in balance and when one part of the wheel was receiving less attention and was thus larger or smaller than the other 3 then illnesses and/or strife occurred. After commenting on his wheel being out of balance Buddy turned away from me and tossed his legs over the arm that separated the seats and rested his feet in the seat next to him. He then leaned back against my shoulder and let his head rest against mine. I felt a shiver of pleasure rush through my body at the intimate physical contact, that the boy felt he knew me well enough and trusted me to allow him to do that. I felt his hair against my face, breathed in the fragrance of him and felt relaxed by it. I felt the warmth of his body flowing against mine and the whole of it all caused a thrill for me. "You smell so good Chace," he whispered, "what is the cologne that you're wearing?" I told him the name and he said that he was going to go out the next day and get some. I told him I'd be more than happy to pick him up and take him to the store where I'd purchased it. Buddy sat back up and looked at me. "Really; you'd do that for me?" I nodded my head and smiled. "Absolutely Buddy, I'd be more than happy to do that for you." I meant it too. Although I'd only known him for a few hours it felt like much more than that and I found myself liking Buddy a lot. Since we were going to be working together I felt that the more time we spent together the better we'd get to know each other and that would be a huge benefit for the clients as well as ourselves. "That's really incredible Chace. Thank you so much." He turned back away and let his upper body rest against mine, and his head returned to its former position against my head. Instead of holding my head still I let the weight of it rest against Buddy's head too and the boy let out a heavy sigh and seemed to snuggle to me a little more. We stayed like that for a good 10 minutes, the gathering seeming to dwindle around us. Hobie came by and nodded slightly as if saying that what he saw was as it should be. "I have some things that I need to do Chace, can you get Harshad home for me." At the mention of his name Buddy sat up and turned forward in the chair. I nodded my head and said I'd be glad to. Ten minutes later we were in my car and headed to where Buddy lived in tribal housing. We talked some but nothing of any significance. We got to tribal housing in another ten minutes and Buddy gave me directions to the 4-plex that he lived in with his auntie and her boyfriend. As we pulled onto the street and Buddy pointed out the building that was his I could see a small crowd of people out front and a number of cars on the street. "Looks like another party tonight," he said and I could hear the sadness in his young voice. It was barely 4 in the afternoon "And my auntie and Merlin aren't home. It's Friday night so they're probably at the casino." "Does this," I said, waving my hand to indicate the party and his living situation, "happen a lot?" He nodded his head and said that it did which was part of the reason he hadn't gotten as much sleep as he needed lately. "Look," I said, turning to him, "why don't you stay at my place tonight. I have a spare room and that way we can go get your cologne in the morning. We can grab a pizza or something for dinner." "Really? Are you sure Chace?" "You bet I am Buddy. You can get a good night's sleep and we'll get a jump on tomorrow." He said that would be great and he'd go inside and grab a change of clothes and be right back. I watched him head toward the building, fully cognizant of the slender tightness of his butt. I liked everything about Buddy so far and his looks and body were part of that. I adored boys and had since I was a boy. I fully understood my sexual orientation before I reached puberty, not uncommon in today's world what with all the hoopla in the media. As a young teen my first real experiences had been with a man in his mid 20's. Sure I'd messed around with boys my age, but Daniel taught me about intimacy, about love, about trying to please the person you're with. He had been my first real lover, the first male to fuck me and the first male that I in turn had fucked. He had taught me all about being a gay boy and a gay man and I still looked back at the year that we'd been lovers with a great deal of fondness. As an adult I'd been with men close to my own age and I'd been fortunate enough to be with more than a few boys and had the opportunity to share with them in the same manner that Daniel had done with me. When I looked back on some of them I hoped that they remembered me with the same fondness that I'd remembered Daniel. About Buddy. Sure, I was attracted to him. Hell, he was boy and a good looking boy with a terrific personality to boot. There was nothing not to be attracted to but I wasn't going to make a play for him. He was a friend, soon to be co-worker of sorts, and he was a student of a man whom I considered a dear friend and mentor. I wasn't about to try and initiate anything with Buddy nor was I going to groom him. I would be as polite to him and offer to do things for him that I would for any friend and I considered the boy to be a friend, first and foremost. That being said; if Buddy gave me some clear signals or made overtures that he was interested in taking our relationship to a sexual level then that was another story. He was well adjusted enough to make such a decision with a clear head. However I wasn't going to dwell on it or hope for it. I had no suspicions that Buddy was anything other than a heterosexual teenager. But if it turned out that he wasn't... Buddy came back out of the building in less than 5 minutes, was stopped by some of the people that were drinking outside and chatted for just a moment. There was no indication that the interaction was anything but friendly. He finally broke away and a moment later we were headed toward my place out of the city. Along the way Buddy had said that he knew most of the people who outside of the building where he lived and some of them wanted him to stay and drink with them even though they new he didn't use mind altering substances of any kind. "I don't even do peyote ceremony through the NAC," he told me. "For me there are too many other ways to achieve what I want or need to achieve." I admired him for that although I had no issues with peyote ceremony because I understood it and how it worked although most non-natives had no clue about it and even many natives didn't understand it either. Small talk got us to my house in a small town close to the city but not considered the suburbs. It was a 40's style 2 bedroom on a quiet, tree shaded street and had a white picket fence surrounding the lawn. Most of my neighbors were elderly; close to or past retirement. I pulled into the driveway which was mostly just a pair of cracked concrete ribbons, and parked in the carport alongside the house next to my pickup. "That's pretty cool," Buddy said as we headed up the 4 steps to the covered front porch. He was referring to a 2 person bench swing that was hung to the left of the front door. Indeed it was. I kicked my shoes off next to the door and buddy did the same and once inside, I gave him the 2 cent tour then showed him the spare room. Besides the queen sized bed it housed a desk and my computer and the wall above it had 3 shelves that were filled with my books. Buddy set his bag on the floor at the foot of the bed. "Anything special you'd like to do for dinner," I asked him. "Anything would be fine but can I take a shower first Chace? I feel kind of sticky." "Absolutely. Feel free to use anything in the shower. Towels are in the cupboard." He went to his bag, got some clean clothes and headed out of the room with me behind him and again, I couldn't help but stare at his butt. I headed into my bedroom to change and had my slacks and shirt back in the closet when Buddy called to me front the bedroom door. I turned to face him, dressed only in boxer briefs and wasn't totally surprised that he glanced quickly at the front of them. I meanwhile stared at Buddy. He was wearing a bath towel wrapped below his hips and nothing else. He said something to me and I had to visibly shake my head, refocus and said, "I'm sorry I didn't hear you." "That's okay, I said you're out of toilet paper." I nodded my head and aahhh'd then went past him to the hall cupboard and pulled out a roll and handed it to him. "Sorry," said. Buddy shot me a wide grin, said thanks and went back into the bathroom while I went into my room and sat on the bed, thinking about what I'd seen. Yes, he'd been wearing a towel and the second thing that I'd noticed was the bulge at the front where his cock angled downward. What I'd noticed first though was his body, which was as defined as any I'd ever seen and then only in photographs because I'd never seen one like his in real life. Not only were the muscles of his torso defined, they were defined and well developed. Starting at his hips the lower abdominal muscles curved in and very slightly downward before angling sharply downward and inward. It reminded me of and outline of a steer's head and horns. The definition was such that if you put your finger in the crease you'd notice a good finger's depth difference between it and the rounded abdominal muscle. Above that, the six pak of abs were as clearly defined as his waist was, the center line that separated the sides a deep crease. The outside creases of the lower set angled inward as well then faded into the pelvic muscle. Buddy's chest was similar to the rest of his torso; deep creases underneath as well as a moderately deep crease separating the two sides. His pectoral muscles bulged outward although not hideously so. His biceps and shoulders were developed similarly to the rest of his body. I finally managed to stir, threw on some shorts and a t-shirt and went barefoot into the kitchen to see what I had for snacks when Hector came in through the cat door. Hector was a tuxedo, that is, a cat whose fur is black on the back with white on the front in some degree or another. Hector was maybe 8 years old and was big boy, weighing in at about 21 pounds. His nickname was fat ass. He rubbed against me, allowed him to pet his head and face then sauntered off into the dining area and who knows where else. After finding what little I had for a decent dinner I figured we'd go out somewhere so I went into the living room and plopped down on the sofa and flipped the TV on and was sitting there when Buddy came out of the bathroom. He surprised me again because he was only wearing a pair of white cotton briefs which, I noticed, he filled out quite well. He was holding the towel in his hands about chest level. "What should I do with this Chace?" I told him to hang it on the shower curtain rod since he'd likely want to use it again. He turned back into the bathroom and this time I got a great glimpse of his butt. Buddy's ass filled out the back of the briefs just as nicely as the front, the thin fabric clearly outlining the bubbly orbs. He came back out and turned right, into the spare room. Buddy was back in the doorway a moment later, this time having nothing to cover his torso. Goddamn the kid was incredible. "You better come Chace; I think there's a problem." I went into the room to see Buddy standing next to the bed. He was standing sideways to me so what I saw was his profile and thus the definition of his belly as well as the bulge at the front of his briefs. When I got up next to him I could see and smell the problem. Hector had puked in the center of the bed then pissed in between the pillows. I knew that he'd been having some urinary issues but I'd thought it was cleared up. I was also wondering why in the hell he hadn't done his business outside before coming in so decided that perhaps his cat box needed checking. I asked Buddy to get some paper towels from the kitchen while I pulled the pillows off the bed. I saw right off that the pee had gone between them as well as on them and had gone through the sheet onto the mattress cover, hopefully not the mattress. I pulled the thin blanket off the bed and set it on the floor and saw that the liquid from the cat's puke had gone through onto sheet. I got that off as Buddy came back in the room and handed me the towels. "Go ahead and pull the sheets and mattress cover off please," I asked him while I went about cleaning up as much of the solid parts of the cat puke that I could then examined the bed. No way could Buddy sleep on that bed that night and I told him so. "I really don't want to put you on the sofa either Buddy." He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't mind the sofa Chace," he said. He was still clad only in underwear and it was difficult for me to keep eye contact with him. "I also don't mind sleeping in your bed, if that's an option I mean." It was an option but I had been a little leery of bringing it up. I said that would be fine too. He stopped moving and his demeanor suggested that he was thinking about something. "I have an idea Chace. How do you feel about doing a sort of mini sweat?" I asked him what he meant exactly. In essence, his family owned some property not from where we were at that moment. It was a fairly large tract of land that was in tribal trust. They had a small sweat lodge out there that sat at the edge of a large lake about half of which belonged to Buddy's family. "It's a spiritual place Chace, quite beautiful, and I'd like to share it with you. Besides, if we're going to be working together it might be a good idea for you to see a little about how I work." I couldn't argue with him. I asked him about dinner. He said maybe we could stop by Costco and pick up a half salmon and he'd cook it by the fire in the traditional manner. Why not? I said sure, and Buddy got dressed while I hauled all the bedding out to the washing machine and tossed it in and set the washer on heavy duty. It didn't matter if the load sat damp in the washer all night cuz it'd likely need to be washed twice anyway. I met Buddy back in the living room and he asked if had a sleeping bag, I did, so grabbed it out of the closet in the spare room along with a couple of pillows. I ran into the kitchen and grabbed a plastic trash bag, stuffed the pillows into it and we headed out the door. I stopped and got the fish, picked up some bottled water a couple packages of beef jerky and we were on our way. Buddy gave me directions and I knew about where we were headed so it wasn't difficult. We made more small talk and 25 minutes later I was pulling off the county road onto a gated dirt road. Buddy got out and unlocked the gate that guarded the road then locked it again after I pulled in. I drove another half mile before coming out into a small clearing maybe an acre in size that sat at the edge of the lake. Buddy directed me to park alongside a small manufactured shed and we got out. I looked around. It was exactly as Buddy had said; beautiful. The lodge was off to the left, a small mound covered in a gray tarp and sat on a little hook of land that jutted out into the lake. Buddy went straight to the shed and worked a heavy duty combination lock and popped the door open. "If you could set up the tent over underneath that blue tarp I'll get a fire going." He handed me the nylon tent bag then grabbed a small stack of newspaper and a bundle of cedar kindling and went out while I went to where Buddy had indicated. The tarp was about 7 feet up and between four small alder's, each corner tied to one of the trees. The back was lower than the front so any liquid would run off that way. I saw a narrow shallow trench that would carry any heavy rain water away. I opened the tent bag and pulled everything out then put the 2 fiberglass arches together. Since they were connected end to end with tight elastic they snapped into place with ease. I shook the tent out then ran each of the plastic poles through the appropriate loops then planted the ends in the corner sockets which bent the arches and created a 4 man domed tent. It took all of about 4 minutes. I simply picked the whole thing up and set it on the Cedar boughs under the tarp. I turned around and saw Buddy striding over with paper and kindling to start the camp fire, a deep rock lined pit about 12-14 feet in front of the tent. I knew that Buddy wasn't planning on a full fledged sweat but that didn't mean he would forgo propriety. Because the sweat fire was spiritual it was sacrosanct. It was not used for heat. Debris and litter were not burned in it, cigarette butts were not thrown in it. People didn't stand around it and chit-chat. It was used for heating the rocks that would go in the sweat; period end of story. And you never walk between the fire and the sweat lodge. "Will you get my drum from the shed please Chace." It had been hanging close to the tent so I knew where it was. I knew too that Buddy wanted to prop it up close to the fire to warm the head giving it a much better tone. I retrieved it for him and once the campfire was going good he propped the drum up about 4 feet from the sweat fire facing it. Buddy then went back to the shed and came out with a sleeping bag, what looked like a length of rope and a fish stick. A somewhat square stick of cedar about 7 feet long and half again as thick as a broom handle, the stick is split from a sharpened end to about 12-18 inches from the other end. A side of fish is placed between the split halves and then 3-4 very thin strips of cedar about 6 inches long are placed crossways between the fish and the stick on both the front and the back of the fish to keep it straight. A metal ring, only slightly larger than the entire stick is pushed down from the top to bring the two sides of the cedar stick in tight against the fish and hold it in place. The stick is then jammed into the sand or dirt about 5 feet or so from a hot fire and the fish is cooked. That is the traditional way that northwest tribes cook salmon. Buddy set the stick down then strung the rope from one of the trees holding the tent tarp to another small alder tree about 10 away. He then opened his sleeping bag and draped it over the rope to air it out. He then checked on the sweat fire, built it up some more, and added more wood to the camp fire before finally sitting down on one of the 3 log benches that placed around the fire pit. "So, I hope you don't mind Chace." Buddy said, "but I'll be sweating without any clothes on, which is what I usually do if I sweat alone or with a few people that I know and trust. Part of the reason is that I don't have any other clothes to wear after the sweat and the cool down in the lake but I also believe in having as few man made or I should say manufactured things in the sweat lodge as possible. You can wear underwear or shorts if you chose to, I don't mind. I just felt I needed to tell you that up front." I wanted to make a comment about being distracted by his naked body but chose to keep my mouth shut. "It's your sweat Buddy. I'll respect however you choose to run it. If you don't mind I won't wear clothes either." He nodded his head then asked if I wanted to do any songs. I said that I'd be honored to do a song that belonged to my family, one that had been taught me by a tribal elder who was a distant cousin of mine. Again, he nodded his head then got up and went back over to the sweat fire and grabbed his drum and striker. He gave it a few taps to test the sound and came back over to where I was sitting. While we continued to talk a while the sun had moved behind the trees. Buddy had gotten a small woven basket from the shed and gone to the lake's edge to fill it with water and took it to the edge of the sweat. He did a little ceremony then set the basket outside and to the left of the entry. He moved his drum as well then went into the shed and came out with some other items. "It is time Chace," said to me. I walked over to the fire, careful to approach from the left, the correct direction. Buddy began to remove his clothes and set them on a log bench about 10 feet from the fire. I did the same, my belly in a bit of turmoil that I was going to see the young God as nature intended him to be. We got to underwear and at the same time, took them off and lay them on the log. I watched Buddy crumble some sage into a large shell then squat down and pull a long cedar ember from the edge of the fire. He then stood facing me and placed the ember into the small pile of sage in the shell. Without trying to stare I admired his body. The lower belly muscles that I described before continued down in sharp line to create the classic V and culminate in all that made him boy. And what a boy. At least 7 and a half inches of uncircumcised cock hung from his lower belly and behind it, hanging quite low, was his sac of sperm makers. Maybe the lack of hair made everything look bigger because I couldn't see any hair on his balls and the sandy colored hair at the base of his cock appeared quite short, without much if any curl to it. Clearly it had been shaved in the past couple of months. Without saying a word Buddy stepped up to me. I stood still with eyes closed as he used an Eagle feather to fan the smoke from the sage over my entire body from head to toes front and back. Done, he asked if would smudge him and did. During the entire process I could hear him mumbling softly, praying. When I was finished he set the shell and feather on the log then pulled some strands of sweet grass from a bundle and squatted in front of me and tying it loosely around my ankles and wrists then asked me to do the same for him. I couldn't help but look at his groin as I squatted down and when I stood up but I hoped that I wasn't overly obvious. "Can you pass rocks Chace," he asked me and I nodded my head. He nodded back in understanding then got his drum and striker and approached the lodge from the left side, grabbing the water as well. At the entrance he squatted down then got to his hands and knees, his upper body inside the lodge. I probably don't have to tell you about the view. Buddy's nuts hung like so much ripe fruit, his cock still visible on the other side of the low hanging bag. Once again, I didn't detect any hair at all, even up to where his most secret spot was barely hidden between the delicious orbs of his butt. He slid the water in first and then his drum then crawled in and sat to the left of the opening. "Okay Chace." I grabbed the long handled pitchfork from the outer edge of the fire and got the first rock. Moving from the left side just as Buddy had done I handed the fork through the opening and a moment later he handed it back out. I repeated the move 5 more times, put the fork back and went to the opening and crawled in going to the right. I turned and reached up and pulled the heavy moving blanked down and closed the door. I then moved in and sat cross legged facing the fire. Buddy started with a basic prayer calling on creator to guide and protect the two leggeds, the four leggeds, the multi leggeds, the fin people and the winged people, to watch over all those non brained people and protect them. Here he was referring to plants and trees. He surprised me by asking Grandfather to be especially watchful over the two spirited people and to help protect them from the hate and misunderstanding of others. Then the shocker came. "And I ask for your help and guidance Grandfather for me to more clearly understand and live as a two spirited." Buddy had just stated that he was a two spirited person which often meant a transgender person but in more recent history included any and all sexual minority people. I suspected that what Buddy was saying was that he was gay and that he was still trying to figure that out. He handed me the drum and I took it, composed myself for a moment then began a song. When I was finished I said my own prayer, the beginning of which was like Buddy's. I then thanked Grandfather for the people in my life and the wisdom to help and guide them through their journey in whatever way was needed. I thanked grandfather specifically for placing Buddy in my life and for the opportunity to help and guide him in whatever ways he needed. I finished by saying "Que ahn us nas cha cha" which translates to "all my relations." Using a large shell from the basket Buddy poured some water on the rocks creating steam and a rise in the temperature. He poured 4 times then put the ersatz ladle back and began another song. His prayer afterward thanked Grandfather for placing me in his life and asked for guidance in helping me with my clients. I did another song and non-specific prayer then Buddy added more water and sang a third song. This went on for the better part of an hour. The heat became intense but nothing I hadn't experienced before. Buddy finally did a closing prayer and when he finished nodded to me and I shook my head. He signaled for me to leave the lodge and I did so, moving to the left of the door where I stood and pulled the covering back. I then squatted and reached out toward Buddy, who handed me the drum then poured the rest of the water on the rocks before handing me the basket. I stepped backwards away from the lodge and Buddy came out then stood before me. The heat and humidity had done their work and Buddy's genetalia seemed to hang even further than they had been. He stepped up to and extended his arms and we hugged. It wasn't the typical back slapping hug that guys do but and intimate full body hug. "It was a good sweat my brother. Thank you. Now let's cool down." He took his drum and set it on a log with the basket then walked toward the lake and I followed him admiring his very slender butt in the dwindling daylight. Buddy got to the edge of the lake and dove in, surfacing 10 feet further out and as he broke the surface I was in the air. I broke the surface close to where Buddy was treading water. "AAGGGGHHHHH," I screamed. The water was more intensely cold than the lodge had been intensely hot. Buddy laughed and started for the shore, swimming toward the camp area not where we'd dove in at. He didn't swim for more than 15 feet but stood up, the water at his waist, and waded the rest of way. I was right behind him and of course ogled his ass as soon as it cleared the water. We went straight for camp fire where Buddy threw some more wood on it. Needless to say Buddy and I had both shrunk up considerably. "If you get the fish I'll get more wood for the fire." I did as he asked. He'd put the fish and the bottled water in a small rocked in pool of the little creek that ran into the lake about 20 feet behind where the tent was pitched. Buddy pulled wood from the pile at the side of the shed and brought it closer to the fire then split some cedar kindling into thinner strips to help keep the fish in baking stick. I watched him move around, still fully naked, as I was, and continued to admire his body, his lack of self consciousness, as well as his confidence. Once the stake was in the ground he came and sat next to me on a wooden bench. Roughly carved from a cedar log it had a back as well as a seat and the arm rests at each end were open holes that could cups or in this case bottled water. We sat in silence watching the fire, the water drying rapidly and allowing me, at least, to warm up. Finally Buddy spoke in a soft voice. "I cut all my body hair off except lashes and brows a couple months ago when my great grandmother died." I knew that in many tribes, family members hacked off their hair when someone died. I'd not heard of anyone doing what Buddy had done but that didn't mean anything really. I didn't say anything. "I miss my braids sometimes but the worst of it is this grow out," he said with smile and rubbed his fingers in his pubic hair for emphasis. "It itched like crazy for days." I smiled. "Yeah, I know." Buddy raised an eyebrow and I told him that I'd shaved it all off once when I was 15. He wanted to know why I'd done it and I said I'd wanted to see what it looked like. I knew a couple of guys that had done it and one of them said his girlfriend told him it made his dick look bigger. Buddy grinned at that and nodded his head then said, "What did your girlfriend say?" I shook my head and told him I didn't have a girlfriend. "My best friend Mike saw it though, said it made me look bigger. Every boy's dream," I added and Buddy nodded his head knowingly. "Can I ask you a question Chace?" I told him he could always ask me questions. "Well, it sort of looks like you still shave, or trim or something." I nodded my head, pleased that the boy had looked at my stuff, and said that I did and he asked why. The opportunity for me to out myself was handed to me on a silver platter and I wasn't about to let it pass. "I am also two spirited Buddy and I think that we, two spirited people, tend to be more experimental or tend to take more care in that area. We want to be able to look good, to be attractive to others and, not wishing to be rude or anything but when someone else has their face down there, everything is softer and there's less chance of coming away with a hair in your mouth or something." So there, the subject was on the table, the ice broken. Buddy was quiet for a moment. "I appreciate your honesty with me Chace. I thought that you were. Hobie always has reasons for doing what he does so recommending me to you was a way for you and I to be in contact, which of course was the first step. Hobie didn't tell me you were though, he would never do that," Buddy added quickly. I knew that Hobie wouldn't have said anything to Buddy about my sexuality, that isn't how the man works, just like he didn't tell me about Buddy and just like he would never ask me or Buddy about how we were getting along or if we shared those intimate details with each other. He wouldn't do that on principle but also, he'd know how things went or were going with Buddy and I just by our behavior. "Do you want to talk about that Buddy, the two spirited issue." He nodded his head then said, "I gotta check the fish first." He stood up and went to where the fish was sizzling on the stake. The sun was almost gone and Buddy's body seemed to look even better in the fire light and it was clear that warming up was causing another transformation in his boyhood charms. Mine too. "This is ready to eat Chace," he said then trotted over to the shed and came back carrying something that turned out to be a pair of cedar planks about 12 inches by 6 inches and a knife, all of which he handed to me. He pulled the stake out of the ground then told me to hold one of the planks under the salmon after he rested the sharpened end on one of the benches. He then loosened the ring and pulled some of the cedar cross sticks out then gently eased the fish out onto one of the planks. He propped the stake up against the log, cut the fish in half and slid one half onto the other plank. "Dinner is served," he said, handing me a plank. Of course we would be eating in a traditional manner; fingers and not flatware. He set his plank down on the bench and trotted over to where he'd left his basket and drum, took the basket to water's edge and dipped in then came back to where I was sitting. His softened cock swayed as he walked and his sac gently banged from side to side. For the zillionth time I admired his tight body. Buddy grabbed a 2 foot length set of steel tongs that had been resting against the log bench. He put it in the edge of the fire and snagged a medium sized rounded rock then dropped the rock in the basket of water. The fish would be messy but we'd have heated water to clean up with which was good cuz I wasn't about to get in that damned lake again. Buddy started to talk while we let the fish cool for a moment. He told me he'd known he was different from other people from a young age and that wasn't just about his sexuality but his spiritualism as well. The latter had been recognized or diagnosed or figured out, whatever you want to call it, by a medicine man when Buddy was quite young. The man had taken the boy under his wing and began teaching him the ways of the "Real People." Buddy had known of two spirited people early in life by virtue of there being some two spirited people in his village and Buddy had suspected that he might be two spirited. His parents died when he was about 9 and he moved to this area to live with his mother's sister, his auntie. The medicine man had referred Buddy to Hobie who had also taken the boy under his wing and continued his education in native healing and spiritual practices. At age 12, after much internal debate, he formally declared himself to Hobie as two spirited. Hobie, in his infinite wisdom, told Buddy that he was proud of the boy for sharing that with him and he would support Harshad in whatever way the boy needed. "You know what though Chace? Hobie knew. He knew before I ever said anything to him." That didn't surprise me in the least because Hobie as much as told me he had known that I was two spirited before I ever mentioned it to him. Buddy started picking at his fish and I did the same. I took the opportunity to share my experience with him, my belief or discovery that I was gay and how I went about exploring that part of me. Part of the story of course included Daniel and the things that he'd taught me. "I could have discovered those things with other boys, and some things I did, but Daniel was much older and thus more experienced and actually loving. He took his time and that of course allowed things to move at my time. I couldn't have gotten the same thing from another boy. Sure, the physical part I could have but not the real intimate, loving and caring part." I shared with Buddy that I still had fond feelings for Daniel and it had been a good 14 years since we'd been together. "Learning from our elders is the way of the people; it's the way it's always been. You are very fortunate Chace," Buddy said to me. I agreed with him completely. Things were quiet for a moment and I mulled over what I wanted to say and how I could say it. "I don't want this to sound like a come on or something but would it be helpful for you Buddy if I were to take on a Daniel role with you? Before you answer please understand that I will respect and be comfortable with however you choose to answer that. I understand that you are in a position where you have to be careful about how you act or how your acts might appear to others. There's also the consideration that you and I will be working together in a semi-professional manner and add to that what Hobie's reaction might be if we do choose that road." There were other things I wanted to add to that but I didn't want to come across like a used car salesman so just shut up. We both remained silent as we finished off our meal. I got up and set my plank on the other bench then dipped the shell in the water and poured it over each set of fingers to clean them then put a palm full of water to mouth and rubbed off the grease. I went back to where Buddy still sat. the boy watching me approach. "I am honored that you would consider being in my life in such a manner as you suggest Chace. I have much to think about." That was that. Buddy went through the cleaning ritual then used the rest of the water to clean off our eating planks then propped them against a log bench to let the fire dry them. He set the basket on its side for the same reason then added more wood to the camp fire then wandered over to the sweat fire which was down to embers. He picked up his smudging shell and Eagle feather and returned them to the shed. I kept my eyes on him the entire time and continued to admire his body and not just the physique but the way he moved, the confidence that he exuded. He was not just an admirable boy with an incredible body but an admirable person and I was grateful to have him in my life in whatever capacity creator deemed. The term two-spirited originated in Canada in the late 1980's or early 1990's. Two spirited people have been revered in virtually all indigenous cultures for centuries. A great reading on the topic is THE SPIRIT AND THE FLESH by Walter Williams. I encourage the reader to check it out.