Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2023 02:14:11 -0500 From: Fang Saito Subject: Cadence - Chapter 30 This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any real people or places is purely coincidental. This story is the property of the author and is protected under copyright laws. The author retains all rights. No reproduction is allowed without the author's consent. Conversations and feedback are appreciated to Greyson B. via email at hokkaidohotel86it@gmail.com. I love hearing from readers. If you enjoy this story, please support the Nifty archives today with a thoughtful donation by visiting https://donate.nifty.org/. This story will contain graphic depictions of sex between males of teen and adult ages (M/m, m/m). If this is an issue for you or the laws where you live, you are obviously in the wrong place. This is it. After this, there is only the finale and then we must say goodbye to Cadence. Please let me know what you are thinking. Cadence Part 30 Cade spent the next few days stressing over when Duncan was going to show up again. On the one hand, there were bills that needed to be paid and eventually, groceries were going to be needed. But on the other, he was going to have to deal with Duncan. No matter how often he thought about it, Cade hadn't worked out any plan for how he was going to react to Duncan the next time he saw the man. In other concerns, he had called and spoken with Nathan for over an hour after James left on Monday. His friend was ecstatic about the game club, and thought it was a great idea for Cade to try running a game. He didn't sound too thrilled that Cade was pushing James to join the game, but he admitted that he understood why he was doing it, and that new players could come from unlikely sides. What went unsaid in their conversation, but ran through it as an undercurrent, was the situation with Duncan. Cade could feel all the times that Nathan seemed to want to ask about him. Wednesday turned out to give Cade some confusing mixed messages. As soon as he walked in the door off the bus, Jordan walked up to him with a note, in Duncan's handwriting. All it said was: "I'll be unavailable for a while. The bills are paid up." Cade read it through several times, then looked at his brother. "What's going on, Cade?" asked Jordan. "That was laying on the stove, and the fridge has been stocked up." Jordan looked worried. "Is Duncan gone?" Opening his arms, Jordan melted into his hug. "I don't know what's going on, man," Cade said. "But don't worry about it. We'll be fine, whatever happens." He pulled back enough to look his brother in the face. "I haven't let you down yet, have I?" Jordan shook his head in confirmation. Then Cade grabbed his shoulders and stood him still, looking at Jordan with a serious look. "Have you grown?" Jordan looked confused. "I swear, you're almost as tall as I am!" He smiled and said, "Stop that! You aren't allowed to be as tall as me!" "Maybe you're the Dwarf!" giggled Jordan. "Are you sure you're gonna be alright here tomorrow?" asked Cade. "Of course! I'm practically eleven now!" "Not for a couple of months, Jor-bear," grinned Cade at his brother. "Don't get too big headed, just because you are getting taller." He patted his shoulder and let him go. "I just love you. But you're right. I trust you, and you've earned it." Thursday, Cade spent the day in a state of nervous expectation. Obviously he was just a participant in the after school meeting. But even if that was true, it also only existed because he started the ball rolling. Plus, he was going to be expected to run the game. He almost thought he'd rather face Duncan again than a group of strangers expecting him to tell them what to do. James wasn't helping any. He showed up in the library halfway through lunch. Mostly, he was being a little too hands-on for being in the middle of the school library, but he was also teasing Cade about the kinds of kids that were going to be at the after school club. "How many pocket protectors are going to be there today?" James joked. "Hey, I could probably say the same thing about your drama club." "Hell no," James laughed. "Drama is all girls and their Gay BFFs." "But you are still going to go with me, right?" asked Cade. "They want me to run a game, and I really want you there with me." "Yes, yes," teased James. "I'll be there to give you a ride home." "No, meanie! I want you there with me. And I want to do this with you!" exclaimed Cade. He realized that he had spoken out a bit too loud, and stood up to look over the dividers. Ms. Finch, the librarian, was looking over in their direction and gave him a face. He winced and mouthed, `sorry' before sitting back down. Looking at James with a pleading look, he said, "I really want to see if we can do this together." "I know, babe. I'll be there. But for now, I gotta go." He leaned in and kissed Cade on the cheek, then scooted away and left Cade alone. The moment the last bell rang, Cade rushed to the assigned classroom. He seemed to be the first student there, and was met by a man already in the classroom. He was a bit shorter than Cade was expecting in a teacher, about as tall as his fellow freshmen. He was Asian, and kind of cute, for an adult. As Cade entered the room, the teacher came over, offering his hand to shake. "Good afternoon," he said. "I'm Mr. Kape, your faculty advisor. Are you here for the D&D club?" "Yes, sir. I'm Cade Dylan." "Nice to meet you, Cade. So have you ever played before?" "Yes, sir." Kind of hesitantly, he explained, "I was kind of, well, the reason we're having the club. Mr. Jordan said I needed an extracurricular activity, so my regular DM suggested this." "DM, that is the Dungeon Master?" Mr. Kape asked. When Cade nodded, the teacher asked, "Well, if you are so experienced, are you hoping to run one of our games?" "I don't know if `hoping' is how I would put it!" joked Cade. "But Nathan, that's my regular DM, set me up with some stuff on my laptop and gave me some tips. So I'm willing to give it a try." Looking as nervous as he felt, Cade added, "I'm not sure I can control a table, when everyone else is going to make me feel like a Gnome." Mr. Kape laughed at that, patting Cade on the shoulder. "I understand how you feel," he said. "I teach basic computer programming and networking classes for Juniors and Seniors. I'm looking half my students in the chest. You'll get through this just fine." Motioning Cade over toward the table where there were stacks of papers, he said, "Just remember that you are guiding, not lecturing. And if you're in a real game group, keep in mind that you want to keep these sessions to the basics. Your friends here are not going to need all the rules, and we only have an hour and a half each week." "I understand, sir," said Cade. He and Mr. Kape started arranging desks to make groups of gaming tables. They agreed to try for five man groups, with a Dungeon Master and four players. Cade didn't want to go larger than that, but Mr. Kape said it would depend on the number of people who showed up, and that since these were going to be more basic games, it might be easier to run more players in one game than Cade was used to. They had barely got started when two more students arrived, both boys. One was an average height, while the other was really tall. They began moving desks as well. Almost immediately, another three more guys came in, one of which, Cade was relieved to see, was James. He really wanted to go kiss his boyfriend, but settled for going over and saying hi. They talked for a few minutes, while a few more people arrived, including two girls. By the time classes had been out for 15 minutes, Mr. Kape called a halt to all the chatting, and got everyone's attention. There were a total of 13 students, which Cade thought was a pretty awesome turnout for an opening meeting. He didn't know how he really felt when there turned out to be two other guys who were pretty eager to run games. On the one hand, he was relieved that the pressure was off him. But there was that secret disappointment that he had psyched himself up to DM a game, and now he kind of felt like he was backing out. Cade made sure he and James were together, and they joined a game with a bigger guy that introduced himself as Marcus. It was explained to everyone that today, they would be making characters and getting introduced to the game. Cade and two other guys were able to pull out Player's Handbooks, which were a big help in supplementing the intro set papers that were being provided. Cade and Marcus started helping others out at their table. Once everyone began getting an understanding of how open the character story options were, James started loudly teasing that his character and Cade's should be married. Cade didn't necessarily care who knew about him being gay, but he felt this was a bit brazen. "Dude, do you have to be so loud about that?" asked Cade. "Babe, don't worry so much," James said, still keeping his voice at a level that carried. He looked toward their DM, saying, "You don't mind, do you, big guy?" "No," answered Marcus in a calm, measured tone. It was clear that he was evaluating the situation, trying to figure out James' intentions. "As long as you aren't doing it just to make others feel uncomfortable." "Yeah, it's fine.," replied James, blowing off the advice and putting his attention back to Cade. Cade was in his element, running around, helping others with their character sheets, showing them how to calculate their characteristic, stats, and other information they would need for their sheets. Marcus was wicked smart, and seemed to be genuinely nice to everyone at the table, showing a lot of patience. Cade was looking forward to seeing how his game was going to flow. Because he was having so much fun with the thoughts of the new game and new friends, Cade wasn't noticing that James was sitting back, sighing dramatically and acting bored. Finally he seemed to have had enough. "Babe, can we go?"James said quietly to Cade. "I wanna go back over to your house." "Come on, please?" answered Cade. "This is important to me. I told you, I'm hoping this is something we can do together." Cade reached over and put his hand on his boyfriend's arm. "Look, I'm sorry if the starting process is a bit complicated and maybe boring for you. I promise that the actual game is fun." "It's math, disguised as storytelling," groused James. "The math keeps it fair," explained Cade. "But it is storytelling, just like your plays in drama club, right?" "Where's the script? Besides, I don't do any of the lame acting. I just keep up with some of the manual labor behind the scenes, collect an easy A, and have something sweet to put on my resume." "It's like improv acting," said Cade. "It also lets you practice problem solving," added Marcus, who had been helping one of the other players a few feet away. "As well as teamwork, conflict resolution, and how to think on your feet." "Thank you, tubbo," said James. "This is an A-B conversation, so see your way out, yeah?" Cade was stunned. This wasn't James. He had never acted this way toward Cade. "Can I talk to you, please?" Cade muttered quietly to James. "In private?" He stood up and grabbed James arm, heading toward the door. He really didn't give the older boy any options but to either follow along, or fight off his grip. Fortunately James got up and followed. Cade took a guilty glance at Mr. Kape as he opened the classroom door and led James out into the hallway. Half of the students watched with the faculty advisor as the door closed behind them, curious what was going on. "What the hell?" asked Cade once they were alone. "I've never seen you act like this? What's your problem?" "Look. Babe. I'm sticking with you. I'll give you a ride home." James sighed, adding, "But this shit just isn't for me. It's way too nerdy." Cade wasn't sure how to answer that. "So I'm too nerdy? `Cause this is me, babe. I love you. I was hoping this could be something we do together." Grinning down at Cade, James wrapped his arms around the younger boy's waist, pulling them together, hip to hip. "I already like the stuff we do together, babe." Rubbing their crotches together, he cocked an eyebrow and said, "Let's go do that, instead." "Uuuugh" moaned Cade. "I love you, and I love doing that stuff with you! But this is important to me. This whole club got started because of me, so that I would have some extracurricular activities for my school record." "I like our private extracurricular activities better. Come o-on," whined James. "Don't be like that," begged Cade. "It's already half over. Let me get back in there and help Marcus out with the other guys, and then in another half hour, we can go, alright?" James shook his head, clearly annoyed. "So you're choosing that fat-ass over me?" "The fuck's with the name calling?" Cade yelled. "He's a fucking geek, and a queer." "You're queer, you ass! And so am I!" Cade was just about done with this. Having James act up and turn on him was the absolute last thing he needed. "You and me are gay," James smirked. "He's just weird and creepy. Can we please just go?" Cade took a step back, shaking his head. "You go ahead," he muttered. "I thought you were in my corner with me. Go on home." James looked confused. "How are you going to get home. I'm your ride, goofball." "You're being mean, and right now you are being too cruel for me. I'll walk, thanks." Cade walked back to the door, opening it and slinking back into the classroom. He was saddened, but somehow not surprised, when James didn't come back in after him. It took Cade a good five minutes to collect himself, but eventually someone asked him a question, and he threw himself back into the gaming mindset. After they began wrapping up a bit later, Cade watched as Mr. Kape finished going over some of the preparation details with Marcus and the other DM. Once they wrapped up, he made his way over to the trio. "Mr. Kape?" he said hesitantly. Once the teacher look over at him, Cade asked, "Is there- Um, is there a phone I can use? I mean, well, James was supposed to be my ride." Marcus jumped in. "Want me to see if my mom can give you a ride?" he asked enthusiastically. "I live about a five minute walk from here." "Thanks," said Cade to Marcus. "But I really want to see if I can get my friend to come pick me up." Mr. Kape and Marcus both pulled out their cell phones, holding them out for Cade to take. Mr. Kape grinned at Marcus, saying, "Cade, you had best use mine, since none of the students here are going to have their cell phones at school." Marcus grinned sheepishly, tucking his phone away. Cade took the teacher's phone and dialed Nathan's number from memory. Nathan answered and Cade explained the problem. His friend sighed, but said that of course he would be there. "It's probably going to take around 30-45 minutes to get there, though. I'm still at school, wrapping something up. Is Duncan not available?" Reluctantly, Cade said, "No, sorry. I'll have to tell you about that later. Hang on." He cupped his fingers over the mic and said to the others, "I can get a ride, but it will be 45 minutes before he can get here." Mr. Kape said reassuringly, "Tell your friend thank you, but your teacher will get you home." Cade was surprised, but nodded and said, "Thanks." Then back on the phone, he said, "Nathan? My teacher's going to take me home." "You sure?" asked Nathan. "Is he going to pull you off in an alley and have his way with you?" He was laughing as he said this. "I don't know," said Cade with concern in his voice. "Do you think I should let him?" He grinned as his friend on the other end laughed in surprise. Then seeing that Mr. Kape was still standing right beside him, he blushed, praying the teacher couldn't hear Nathan on the other end of the line. "I really appreciate it. Sorry to bother you, DM. I'll tell you what happened when I see you tomorrow." The ride home was kind of weird, riding with a teacher Cade had never met before that day, but he got home safe and unmolested. Jordan had also made it home safe, and had no trouble waiting for Cade to come home. He was proud of his little brother, and told him so. While they ate dinner, Cade told Jordan about how James had been that afternoon. "I've never seen him act like this before," said Cade, shaking his head. "Really?" said Jordan. "After all the Smurf comments? And how Nathan wanted to go after him that first time they met? You even told me a couple of times how it was frustrating you that he was teasing you about our D&D group." "Yeah, but-" "But nothing," interjected Jordan. "You like him, fine. I hope he keeps being nice to you." His little brother grinned. "You need me to go remind him to be nice to you?" "Naw, man. I'll be good." Friday, Cade was nervous about how James was going to be, whether he was going to be mad. However, he didn't come to the library at lunch, and Cade didn't see him in the halls or at either of their lockers. He was disappointed, but decided he would have to call him once they got home Saturday. Nathan scooped up the brothers after school, and their game was its usual excellence. Nathan and Rusty gave Cade some flak for backing out of DMing one of the games. Cade tried to defend himself, stating that the other two were older, and already had experience. He even offered that if they got enough students to warrant a third table, he would volunteer then. Meanwhile, on Saturday Cade had to fill his friend in on everything that had happened with James at the after school club. Nathan stayed quiet, not offering his opinions, but to Cade, it was obvious what he wasn't saying. He also had to admit to Nathan about the note Duncan had left, and how all his calls were rolling over to voicemail. Nathan couldn't stay quiet on that one, and did his best not to get Cade too worked up as he verbalized his frustration over the situation. By the time they had eaten dinner with the Sendic family and the brothers had been driven home, Cade wasn't sure how much longer Nathan's disappointment was going to stay quiet. Cade tried calling James as soon as he got home, but didn't get an answer. He got what he always heard in this case, a message saying that voicemail had not been set up for this number. He tried again about an hour later. When he tried one last time before going to bed, James finally answered. They talked for about five minutes, dancing around what had happened Thursday. After just a few minutes, James said, "Look, I gotta go. I'll see you Monday, yeah?" Then the line went dead before Cade could even say anything. Sunday there was still nothing from Duncan. After debating back and forth, Cade finally decided to call one more time. Still nothing. Then, as they were just finishing up dinner and clearing the table, they heard him come in through the front door. The two brothers looked at one another, Cade with concern, Jordan with anger. Cade held out his hand, palm forward, silently begging his brother to hold off before he started something. He went around the corner to the living room and stopped cold. There was a complete stranger standing in the doorway, slipping a set of keys back into the front pocket of his jeans. He was tall, built, and handsome in a rough way. Then Cade realized something. "Greg?" Cade asked in disbelief. "Are you Greg?" Greg smiled. "Just call me Duncan two point oh." Cade backed away, trying desperately to figure out how to handle the situation. Finally he managed to say, "You can't be here like this. It doesn't work that way." "Come sit down, boy," said Greg. He sounded like he was trying to be friendly, but there was a level of command, of menace, behind his words. "You're Cade." He grinned. "We've met, boy. Is Jordan in there in the kitchen behind you? Or is he back in his bedroom?" "It doesn't work like this. You shouldn't be here." "Boy, I paid Duncan a grand to be here. It'll be just fine. I'll answer to `Uncle Duncan' just fine." "What about teachers?" asked Cade, desperate for some way to logic this away. "I'll avoid `em for this year. Next fall you'll have all new teachers. Everything else, we'll work out." Glancing behind himself when he sensed movement, he saw that Jordan was creeping forward. He had a steak knife in his hand, and was offering it out for Cade to take. Was this really the only way to solve the situation? Surely not. There had to be a way to talk this down. It was insane. What was Duncan thinking? Was this why he was being so nice lately? Did he know he was going to be disappearing, leaving the two brothers to this new guy? A guy that had already raped Cade once? He took the knife from Jordan. Please stay tuned for the conclusion. It will be tense, but you can hear all about it in Cade's own words. Coming soon to a Nifty near you.