Happy New Year everyone! Thank you for waiting patiently as I nail down the direction of my newest story during the holidays. If you do enjoy Bear & Cub, please read some of my other works on Nifty & AO3 (TuxEdwards): Counting, Counting Down (the sequel to Counting), Not Capable of Love, Fire (Boys of Grizzly Valley on AO3), Go Bag (Boys of Grizzly Valley on AO3), and Jaded (on AO3). Please take a few minutes to drop me an email to let me know if Bear & Cub is for you: Foxfire3730@proton.me

 

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"The Universe is Made of Stories, Not of Atoms" -Muriel Rukeyser

 

Round Table

Clyde Burns

 

The hospital is in full swing, and its day-to-day noise mixes with construction drills, hammers, and saws. I lazily watch the repairman work on the security door to Gus's room. Ryder and Gus are sitting on the hospital bed, and I'm half paying attention to them.

 

"Wow, that's so coow! Did it hurt? Do you have anymore tattoos?" Ryder asks excitedly.

 

Tattoos? I get up from my chair and walk over to the bed. Gus is in his underwear; his hospital gown lies on the bed next to him. His back is to Ryder, showing the muscles he's so very proud of. I work my way around the bed and see a tattoo on Gus's right shoulder of a little bear cub sitting up and batting at a butterfly. The two-inch-tall bear is mostly black, and the butterfly is blue and yellow.

 

"It hurt a little, to tell you the truth; it was also the first time I got drunk on whisky, so I don't remember much. I can't wait till I get another one," Gus confidently responds.

 

"Where did you get that tattoo?" I ask with a little disapproval in my voice. I can tell Ryder recognized it by the way he slinked back so I could get a full view of the little inked bear cub on Gus's shoulder. On the other hand, my tone almost seems to bolster him.

 

"Bud knows a guy; he knows everyone," Gus continues, then spins around. The focus of my vision shifts to his incredible, hard dick nestled in his tiny cartoon briefs. It twitches, and a guilty urge surges through my body, making my groin tingle. My mouth is watering, and a past that I thought I buried deep within myself pushes towards the light just a little more with every impure thought. My eyes flick up to Gus's, and he's smiling at me like the cat that caught the canary.

 

"People see us as homeless, but we're not, you know. Bud says that LA is our home, and all the people that call the streets home are family. Now that the government hands out free cellphones to us. There isn't anything that we can't find out. There are homeless everywhere; we see everything."

 

"Look, there's something I want to talk to you about," I begin as I pull a chair to the hospital bed.

 

The boys sit on the edge of the bed, and Gus thrusts his dick towards me, giggling, "Is it my willy? Do you want it? It only cost fifty bucks."

 

Ryder giggles, and my eyes shift around the room to make sure the guys fixing the door don't hear. They don't react, so I'm guessing the power tools are too loud. "No, that isn't what I want to talk about, and that's something we'll have to talk about later," I say seriously, and I lower the bed so I can be on eye level with Gus. "Gus, I need to tell you some real bad news. I need you to pay attention and keep in mind that Ryder and I are here for you. Destiny has brought the three of us together, and I'll be taking care of you from now on."

 

Gus looks at me suspiciously, and Ryder must feel that I'm going to drop a bomb because he takes Gus's hand. "What's wrong?" Gus's little voice asks as it weakly escapes his rosy lips.

 

"Gus, it's about Bud. I know he meant a lot to you, and I'm really sorry, but Bud was killed yesterday," I tell him bluntly. I had no idea how to tell a nine-year-old his father figure was dead, so I did a little research this morning when Ryder was in the shower. It told me to be as blunt as I could and then just be there for him to answer his questions.

 

The look on his face is one of lifelessness. It was just then that I realized that tears were streaming down my face. "No, that can't be," Gus whispers. "You have to be wrong." Gus's right eye releases a tear, and his hands begin to shake. "Burns, tell me you're wrong," he begs quietly.

 

"I'm so sorry, Gus. I wish I was," I softly tell him.

 

"Why!? Why was Bud killed?" Anger flashes across his face as Gus begins to get louder. "Was it the people that did this to me!?"

 

I reluctantly nod and whisper, "...I believe so." 

 

"So, they killed Bud... cuz of me?" Tears flow down his face, and he begins to tremble--out of anger or grief, I'm not sure. His eyes searched the room for something. A way out, danger, someone to tell him I'm lying--I'm not sure until he locks eyes with me. Without warning, he leaps from the bed into my arms. 

 

I hold him tightly and cradle his head as he grips me with everything he has. He randomly pounds my shoulder, cursing Bud for leaving him alone and then begging him for forgiveness for causing his death. Ryder watches in horror, tears streaming down his grief-stricken face.

 

I wave him over, and he hops off the bed and joins us before completely breaking down. I do my best to console the boys, but it seems impossible. I've single-handedly ripped Ryder from his life and am trying to erase his brainwashing, telling him he's not worthless and deserves to be happy, but for Gus, I've just told him he's alone and has lost everything. 

 

I hold the boys till our tears dry up, and I hear a soft murmur coming from Gus. I pat Ryder's back, and he steps back with a yawn, and a rub of his eye tells me Gus isn't the only one tired. I lift Gus up and lay him down in the hospital bed. As I gathered the thin covers, Ryder crawled up and cuddled up next to Gus, and an unexplainable feeling to always protect these two perfect boys overtook me. 

 

I don't know how long I held those covers and just stared at Gus's nearly naked form lying next to Ryder in his shorts and t-shirt, but it was the boy's nurse who brought me back to reality. "Excuse me, detective? Can I talk to you out here?" She asks in a hushed tone.

 

She took me over to the nurses station and handed me a photo of a homeless man at the front desk. "I meant to give this to you the next time we crossed paths. This man came to the hospital looking for a child that fit Gus's description. He had no proof of identification and admitted he wasn't family, so he never got past the front desk, but they did write down what his room number was so he could call the young boy tomorrow. He should have called yesterday, but with all the commotion, I totally forgot to tell you," she told me, oblivious to the fact that the man in this photo was murdered yesterday morning. 

 

I thank her and inform her, "I just told the boy some bad news, and he cried himself to sleep; let's give him time to get some rest." She agrees, and I close and lock the door. After getting coffee orders from the officers at the door, I head to the cafeteria. 

 

A week later

Gus's Discharge Day

 

A week has gone by, and Gus is finally getting to go home with me today. Over the last week, I've turned half of Gus's room into my office. There are case files everywhere, and before the doctor comes in with the necessary paperwork for me to get Gus out of here, Ryder is in the bathroom with Gus, who is helping him get dressed in the new clothes I bought him. 

 

"Detective," the doctor says, coming into the room. "I've got the paperwork for releasing Gus." 

 

"All of it--there can't be any records of him here. Make sure all the nurses understand that Gus is not here. There are some nasty people coming for him, and the best way to keep him safe is to keep him off the books."

 

The doctor agrees, and we shake hands. We are interrupted by little boys giggling from the bathroom and Gus shouting, "Don't squeeze that so hard!" 

 

There are a few seconds of silence, and the doctor and I just chuckle uncomfortably. I walk him out and then open the bathroom door, expecting a view from my dreams, but what I find is Gus wearing the new jeans I got him and the new yellow shirt over his head. Ryder has some kind of bottle in his hand and white goo all over his face and on Gus's chest. 

 

"Do I want to know?" I ask.

 

Ryder giggles innocently, and Gus wipes his chest. Then he begins to clean up Ryder as he tells me, "I told him not to squeeze that so hard. It's like he's never seen an enigma bag made for a little boy." 

 

"It wooked wike a waterbawwoon. I've seen it before on the TV," Ryder laughs moving his fingers through the goo on Gus's chest.

 

I chuckle some more and go to finish cleaning up my files as the boys play in the bathroom. It doesn't take long to get all our things together and head out of the hospital. "Stay here," I tell the boys, and I walk out to the Jeep, paying close attention to who's just standing around. Who might be noticing me and who is interested in what I'm doing? I stand next to the Jeep and take one more look before I hop behind the driver's seat. 

 

I pull the Jeep around, and the boys come running out with Bear. I catch Ryder as he jumps in my arms, and I swing him into the back seat. I help him with his seatbelt as Bear jumps inside. I turn to find Gus looking towards the parking lot exit. I can see it in his eyes.

 

Bear & Cub

 

I could run. With one command, Bear would be right behind me, and we'd be running towards the city. It's where we're meant to be, but we're supposed to be there with Bud. Bud is gone. I've always been on my own, but Bud's been there to help me and tell me the tricks of the trade. Did he teach me them all? What lessons did he not tell me? Suddenly, living on the street seems so scary.

 

"Hey Gus, are you coming?" Asks the detective. He's giving me my space and letting me think. I look back at him and realize that I'm crying. I quickly wipe my tears before he sees them, I think. Ryder, sitting in the back of the Jeep petting Bear's head, looks at me and looks like he's about to cry. "Look, Gus, the bottom line is, I need to keep both of you safe. It's best we stick together." 

 

Is he right? Would I be safe on the street now that Bud is... Burns is a detective, and he's saved my life already. "Yeah, I'm coming," I tell him, "but I'm not going to some orphanage. If you try and make me, I'll run away, and you'll never find me." 

 

Burns holds his hands up like he's giving up and says, "Deal, I won't make you do anything you don't want to do. But I really need your help."

 

"Help with what?" 

 

"Let's talk about it when we get to my house," Burns says, holding his hands out to pick me up. I accept his help, and he picks me up, swinging me into the Jeep. I find myself giggling as he pretends to have trouble buckling my seatbelt but is mostly tickling me. 

 

The ride to Burns' house is long but way faster than if I ran or walked it. Bear moves all over the Jeep, trying to find the best seat to hang his head out of the vehicle. We talk about our favorite foods, and I tell him I'll eat just about anything as long as it's not hospital food. After a while, it all began to taste the same. The three of us decide to have pizza tonight to celebrate my getting out of the hospital. Even Bear barked his approval. Ryder says Bear loves pizza crust. I didn't tell him that Bear eats just about everything; hell, I've seen him eat a rock. That had to hurt pooping that out, hehee.

 

The yellow Jeep pulls into a hotel called the `Palms Hotel.' It looks rundown and closed, with boards on most of the windows and a hundred years of dirt on the walls. The outside pool is empty and covered in dirt and sand. Two palm trees are next to it, and they lean in opposite directions. 

 

"You live here?" I ask because I think this is exactly the place a camp of homeless people would squat.

 

"Yeah, it's so awesome!" Cheers Ryder as he unbuckles and jumps out of the Jeep into Burns' arms. He hugs Burns before sliding his legs down and racing Bear up the stairs. 

 

"I bought this place in the `70s for real cheap. I knocked down a few walls and did some repairs, and it's turned out to be a nice house," Burns says as he lifts me out of the Jeep. 

 

"I never got the chance to say thanks. Thanks for finding me in that duct, hehee, both times."

 

"You're very welcome," he replies and flicks my nose, making me smile. "I'll find the people that did this to you and the other boys. I'll put them behind bars, where they belong," he promises me. Something in his face makes me want to believe him. Something in his face makes me feel safe.

 

He sets me down and pats my butt aiming me at the stairs. I hurry up, trying to catch up with Ryder and my dog. 

 

The front door is open, like the house was expecting us. The first thing I see is Ryder's t-shirt lying by the door. My body stops just inside the door as my eyes scan the room. More of his clothes lead past the easy chair where my dog has curled up. Bear looks at me and gives me a doggy smile. 

 

A strong hand lays on my shoulder, and I look up to see Burns looking down at me. "For the time being, this is your home. Feel welcome to do... whatever you normally do, just do it inside. If you want to play outside, just let me know, okay?"

 

I nod with a smile and walk over to where Ryder's underwear lay on the floor. Looking back, I see Burns heading into the kitchen, so I hurriedly pick up the briefs and smell them. Ryder's scent fills me up, and it's like electricity. My groin warms up, and my pecker begins to thicken. A noise behind me startles me, and I spin around, hiding his underpants behind my back. 

 

Ryder comes bouncing out of the bathroom, completely naked. I'm... I'm... 

 

"Oh, that feews so much better! The bathroom is free!" He yells out and smiles at me as he rushes by to hop on the couch. His body is gorgeous. Everything is perfect: a plump little ass, a little dick just a little smaller than mine, and smooth, perfect skin. My breath shortens, and my dick finishes getting completely hard. I try secretly to move my pants a little to give my hard-on some room, but Ryder sees me, I'm sure, because he begins to stiffen up and is blushing.

 

"Boys," Burn says, "let's sit at the table and talk. We need to get some information out in the open." 

 

Ryder hops off the couch and skips past me, and all I can do is watch that little hard pecker bounce up and down. If I turn around, they'll see my hard-on, so I do the only thing I can think of. When I have the most disgusting `John' I let them suck and finger my hole a little, then when I'd had enough, I would repeat Bear's commands over and over until I lost my hard-on, so the ugly man would stop and give up.

 

Clyde Burns

 

Ryder skips over and sits down next to my chair, and Gus just stands with his hands in his jeans pockets with his back to me. "Gus, are you okay? Please join us," I ask him. He stands there, mumbling and moving his pants around. I'm not sure what the problem is, but soon enough, he spins on a dime and hurries to his chair. By looking at the front of his pants, I think I understand what the problem is. 

 

"Okay, first of all, I need to make you two understand what I expect at this table," I tell them both as I set a notepad on the round table with a pen. Sitting down, I continue, "I need you boys to tell me things that I'm sure someone has told you to never tell anyone. But I need to know them, and it isn't fair that I don't tell you a secret about me. So, I'll start." 

 

Both boys are locked on my every word, and I take a deep breath. I'm about to tell them something that I can't take back. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I wipe my clammy hands on my shorts. 

 

"It's okay, Cwyde; I awready know," Ryder says so sweetly. I don't know what to say, and my face must have been as blank as it could be. "It's the way you stare at my naked body and the way you howd me as I sweep."

 

"You're a perv?" Interrupt Gus, and Bear lifts his head from the arm of my easy chair. 

 

"No, there's a difference; Cwyde's not wike that." Ryder defends me. I'm speechless and just nod. "Cwyde wouwd never hurt us; he just wikes to be cwose to boys. That's why he keeps turning me down when I offer my body to pay him back for saving me. I think I understand what you've been trying to tell me," he says as he blushes. "Cwyde wants a boy to make decisions for himself, and perverts use the boy as a thing." 

 

"Is that true?" Gus asks suspiciously, pulling my attention back to him.

 

"Is it hot in here?" I respond, and Ryder embarrassingly shifts in his chair. "I'm not a pervert. I'm a boylover. I understand that people think we're all the same, but we're not." 

 

Gus looks at me as if he doesn't believe me and asks Ryder, "He hasn't touched you?" 

 

"No! Weww... not wike a pervert. I wawk around here naked aww the time, I cuddwe with him, and hug him wots and when he touches me, it's never my wiwwy or my butt. It never feews... gross. It's nice and makes me want to be cwoser to him."

 

Gus thinks about it, and I can see the gears turning. "I just want to be straightforward with you two," I continue. "I want you to know you're safe here. I won't touch you unless you want me to. Gus, I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that you are free to be you around here."

 

After a very uncomfortable silence, Gus says, "I'm good with it. It'll be nice to have a man love me for a change. I've never not had a man pay me or force me to do stuff."

 

Gus's words choke me up. I can see it in his eyes. He's been through some shit. Changing the subject, "Ryder, please tell us your story."

 

"I'm not sure what to teww you that you don't awready know."

 

"You two boys are tied by fate. Gus, the District Attorney more or less leased Ryder," I tell him, watching his face go blank. 

 

"Isn't that the man that won me at the auction? He `leased' you?" Gus asks in a soft, shaky voice. 

 

Ryder looks shaken by the memory of the last two years, like he wants to crawl in a hole. He scoots off his chair until his feet land on the floor, then shuffles over to me. I recognize that shuffle, and he's about to cry. I take him in my arms and hold his naked body to mine. I do my best to reassure him that it's going to be okay. Ryder pulls his little body into my lap and says, "How much do I have to teww?"

 

"It's best you begin as far back as you can remember," I tell him and remind him, "remember, you're among friends. What you know will help us both."

 

Ryder gives Gus a half-look, and Gus slowly stands. He pulls a chair over to us, and we watch intently as he sits as close as he can. Then he does something I would have never expected: he takes Ryder by the hand and says, "I'm sorry he hurt you. The District Attorney hurt me too." Ryder's thumb slowly moves to his mouth and slips between his soft, fleshy lips. A soft whimper escapes out of that perfect thin mouth, and Gus says, "How about I start? Is that okay, Burns?"

 

"That might be best. I think Ryder needs a minute or two."

 

Gus gets comfortable and begins, "There's not much to tell really before that night, but that night, everything changed. I've lost everything for the promise of a large sum of money. I live on the street, and if I need money, I either give a blowjob or allow a man to blow me one until I get that lightheaded feeling. Then that man found me sitting on the street and offered me a lot of money. The boy auction was supposed to change my life."

 

"Gus, can you tell me what the man looked like? Or maybe his car?" I ask, and Ryder lays his head on my shoulder. 

 

Gus thinks and shrugs, answering, "He has short, flashy hair, kind of spiky. He isn't as tall as you, and his car was black with a driver. The car had a sticker on the back window. It looked like a triangle with a dog in it."

 

I write the new information down in the notepad and try to make it clear: "Dog, like, what kind of dog?" 

 

"Um, more like a puppy. It was small, and the triangle had words along the sides, but I don't know what they said."

 

By the look in his face, he's not telling me everything. I'm not going to push him; he'll tell me when he's ready. The sticker is a better lead than anything the S.C.U. has. It's maybe a limo logo or maybe private security; I'll have Jen look into it. "Gus, did you see the driver?" 

 

"No, he never got out. Did that man kill Bud?" 

 

"No. I don't believe so. I think there is another organization out there. An organization that used to own Ryder," I say and give him a little shake, asking, "used to; no one owns you any more, right?" He nods, his little thumb still in his mouth. "I think they killed Bud; I just have to find them and prove it."

 

Gus gets up and hugs me tightly. He's tearing up and mumbling in between sobs, "I miss him so much."

 

"I know, kiddo," I tell him as I begin to feel his little body show the sorrow that he's been storing up for weeks. "I'm so sorry, Gus."

 

Ryder slides off my lap, and I pick the grieving boy up, carrying him to the couch, where he cries uncontrollably on my shoulder. Not another word is spoken for the rest of the night. The boys move around the room like zombies, and Ryder never leaves Gus's side. Gus falls asleep pretty early. I don't think he's truly had a chance to mourn Bud, and once the floodgates were open, he laid his head on my lap, fading into dreamland.

 

Gus

 

My eyes flicker open in a dark room, and the silence is deafening. I'm laying on the couch with a small blanket covering me. It's uncomfortable because I'm fully clothed. Sitting up, I rub my left eye and yawn, looking around. Over in the bedroom, I can just make out the shape of Burns holding Ryder under the sheets. Bear looks up from his sound sleep at the other end of the couch, at my feet. 

 

I hush him and walk as quietly as I can to the kitchen for some water when I see it. The cardboard box that Burns used to move his crime files here is here. I check once more that he's asleep, then I open the box, and pull the top file out. The folder is packed with pictures, and it can barely contain them all. Without warning, due to my not having the folder gripped right, the photos spilled out, covering the floor at my feet. "Fuck!"

 

I hurriedly pick them up when one catches my eye. The other photos fell back to the floor from my hands as I caressed the face of Bud for the last time. I find my eyes looking towards the door and remember Bud's words, `We can only trust ourselves, Cub. Keep in mind that no one will care for you like I do.' Bud is gone, and I don't have anyone anymore. 

 

The cold tickle of tears falling down my cheeks alerts me that I'm crying. "Fuck! What is wrong with me? I've got to stop being a baby." 

 

Setting Bud aside, I scoop up the rest of the crime photos and place them back in the folder. I pick Bud's picture up and walk over to the bed where Ryder and Burns lie. Ryder's beautiful face pokes out of the sheets with his thumb in his mouth. His thumb sucking is so adorable. I know it's a bad habit, and he shouldn't be doing it at our age, but there's something about it. Something that just makes him perfect. Burns's arm lays over Ryder and keeps his nightmares away. I look back at the photo and think to myself, `I'm sorry, Bud. I can't do this by myself.'

 

"Gus, kiddo, are you okay?" Burns asks softly. 

 

I look up and suddenly feel embarrassed that I'm standing here watching him sleep with tears continuing to trail down my cheeks. "Burns, I, um, I don't want to be alone." 

 

He gently sits up, trying not to wake Ryder. His drowsy face turns caring, and I get the feeling from him that he understands. "Gus, you don't have to be. I'm willing to make sure of that."

 

"You're not saying that because you want to do to me what you must have done to Ryder last night, are you?" I ask suspiciously when I see the blanket pull off Ryder's naked form. "I sleep naked also; will you.... take advantage of me?"

 

"No, Gus. I give you my word. I haven't done anything to Ryder, and I won't touch you as you sleep. It will be your decision. Your choice."

 

"Will you hold me?"

 

"If you want me too."

 

The photo slips from my fingers, and I take off my shirt. My blue jeans drop to the floor, and I take off my underwear. I carefully climb over Ryder, who I can't believe hasn't woken up yet, and lay in the small space between my bedmates. The warm sheets are a welcome change from the freezing couch, and when.

 

"Are you okay, Gus?" Burns whispers in my ear.

 

I cuddle with Ryder and feel how soft and delicate his body is. My eyes roll to the top of my head as he coos and scoots his bare ass into my already hardening cock. Burns snugs into my body from behind, and I wait for the, 'Reach Around,' and his cock between my cheeks, but instead, he wraps his massive arm around me and Ryder; it feels right- it feels safe. Bear jumps on the bed and finds a comfortable corner of the bed to lay on. I softly whisper my answer, "Call me, Cub."