Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 10:16:39 +1100 From: iarwain Subject: Peter's Mistake Parts Two and Three Usual Disclaimer: If you are not 18 years old yet do not read. If you are offended by male to male sexual content do not read. If the laws in your state or county forbid this type of material, do not read. Otherwise enjoy the story and all comments good or bad are welcome and I'll look forward to hearing them. The author retains copyright (2003) to this story. Reproducing this story for distribution without the author's permission is a violation of that copyright. Peter's Mistake. Part Two. After Michael had gone Peter gathered his thoughts and wondered why each time they met was kind of dramatic. The next day at College was busy and after a swim for about half an hour Peter went home and basically spent the night with College course work and planning. Friday was a full on morning of non-stop classes but he was really pleased with the structure of the timetable because after midday he had no formal classes and could spend the afternoon on planning or other College activities. He was hoping to use this opportunity to get enough preparation done to make his weekends his own. In the afternoon he went for a run down to the park and along the river trail. This run was a good one. His rough plan was to run for an hour on Fridays, a half hour run on Tuesdays and whatever running was involved with the surf club on the weekends. In the evening he sorted the paints and equipment into the different rooms and put down plastic drop sheets to protect the floors. When this was done he spent an hour setting up his computer and signing in to the internet. He'd heard of a new digital camera that Canon was meant to be releasing and wanted to compare it with the Nikons. The websites didn't have much information but all sounded eager to get their hands on one. First thing in the morning Peter nicked down to the supermarket to get food supplies for the day, rolls and assorted fillings for lunch, and drinks and chips for snacks. It was going to be quite a working bee. Brian, Pete and Michael were to be there all day and Anthony was coming when he finished his work at one. Peter hadn't even involved Andrew because the bungalow wasn't being painted. Michael was the first one there. He bounced in right on 9.00. After a bit of chit chat Peter got Michael started on the ceiling of the front bedroom. Brian and Pete ( the boarder Peter) arrived soon after and he showed them the technique of cutting out in all the corners and round the doors and windows. As soon as Michael finished the ceiling Peter organized for him and Peter to start on Peter's bedroom while he worked with Brian. Brian was a steady worker and wasn't really very talkative but was still easy company. They kept giving each other wondering looks as they heard gales of laughter coming from the other two. Peter wondered for awhile if they were getting much done but when he went in to check things out or answer any queries they seemed to be working quickly. The day went rapidly and Peter was amazed at how much they had done by tea time. Hey you guys! If you come back tomorrow bring your swimming gear. At the rate we're going we'll finish early and we could spend the afternoon at the Bay. It's meant to be hot tomorrow and I'm going to start painting at seven so we don't end up roasting inside. They all agreed this was a great idea and after having pizzas for tea they left. Pete gave Michael a lift as he had no transport. Next morning they started early and were really pleased they did as the rooms started to get uncomfortably warm. Everyone was in high spirits as they finished at about 11.00 a.m. All the painting gear was taken to the back lawn for a good cleanup. Peter was showing Anthony a good way to clean the rollers by making them spin off a post when war broke out. The first he knew of it was when he was blasted on the back of the head by water from the hose at full pressure. Pete and Michael had decided to cool things down and proceeded to squirt everyone. They had the upper hand for a few minutes till Brian put a kink in the hose and stopped the water flow. Their payback came because the only obvious weapons were the rollers being cleaned. Just as well someone invented water-based paint. Pete ended up with green hair and cream stripes on his shirt and Michael really copped it. He had taken his shirt off for the water fights so ended up not only with green hair but his whole upper body looked like a modern art canvas. Everyone discovered that day that Michael liked to get the last word. He went to one of the paint trays and just dipped his hands right in and chased everyone. After we'd all been hand-printed he then proceeded to put patterns all over his jeans. Michaelangelo the great artist at work! Does anybody else want to become a work of art? Peter made sure that they cleaned themselves straight away. Luckily they had brought other gear for the beach. He had them standing on the lawn getting hosed down and washing as much paint off as possible and as quickly as possible. Michael was most apologetic because he'd ripped Peter's shirt a bit with his hand-printing efforts. Michael! I don't even know why I'm washing it. I wore a throwaway for the painting anyhow. They all ended up having showers to make sure there was no paint left in their hair. Pete and Michael went in Peter's van while Brian and Anthony wanted to take their own car and they all headed for the bay. Peter found that afternoon to be a very interesting one. He knew that all these guys were part of his life from now on in one way or another and was really pleased at the friendly atmosphere amongst them. >From some of the comments made he worked out that Brian in his serious way had let Michael and Pete know that he and Anthony were partners and had been, 'stirred but not fried,' about it. Pete was a good swimmer, and knew it, and challenged Peter to a race. He had no idea of Peter's experience at ocean swimming and beautiful technique and was amazed when he was just left behind. When they got back with the others he was very forthright and said, Well! I feel like a bit of an idiot. I thought I was a good swimmer and would show Peter what a hero I was, but he just made me look like a tortoise. Do you think I should keep trying for the College team Peter? Peter laughed! Pete! You really are good. You're not really as far behind as you think. You just have an awful lot of things to learn. You stay on that team and I guarantee you will be pleased with yourself. The funny thing is that I start showing you some of those things tomorrow, because I'm helping Kevin from now on. Peter noticed lots of things about Michael. He found himself continually watching him. His skin was quite pale and though he had big bursts of energy he frequently stopped for a rest. He often gave Peter a kind of questioning look. He was so friendly to everyone. Peter suddenly realized he wanted to photograph Michael. The afternoon passed enjoyably and Peter had a burst of happiness. In the space of a week here were a whole stack of good new friends. It was like a new world just arrived. Listen you guys! Here I am getting all serious! We are having tea out tonight at the Beach Taverna. It's only a short distance away and we can sit outside while we eat. The food's top class but we don't need to be dressed up. It's on me tonight because I've just been saved over a week of full on painting for a start. But mainly it's me welcoming you to our house. I mean you too Michael because I hope you'll be there lots. Peter could see that there were going to be arguments but Pete took charge of their answer and made it very definite. Well! We've been slaves for two days. Non stop work. We've had no fun! We got covered in paint, which was all Peter's fault. I was given the tortoise treatment, then we've had to stay here with our skins blistering in the heat, and now he's trying to boss us into eating fish guts at some beach dump. Let's show him what we really think! Peter made a halfhearted show of resistance as they dived on him. He had to beg for mercy and promise never to enslave them again, then they buried him in the sand till just his head was out and he couldn't move. They sculpted the shape of a big fat person for his body then put enormous sand boobs on it. Anthony pulled a pair of jocks from his bag and they were added to the body and filled with so much sand he could have been an elephant. Michael had the cheek to ask a lady nearby for some lipstick and made him up with red lips, red eyebrows and big red rouged cheeks. Pete wanted a camera but none of them had one and Peter wasn't going to tell them that he always carried one in the panel-van. After he'd been dug out they had a quick swim and muck around to get all the sand off. Peter tried to get rid of as much of the lipstick as he could but realized he would need a cream of some kind. The sunscreen worked a bit but he couldn't get rid of it all. The other's just looked at him then started arguing over who's girlfriend he would be. Brian and Anthony had a mock fight about each other falling for him, Pete moaned for his kissable lips, and Michael puckered up and made kissing sounds. Peter felt slightly embarrassed but still enjoyed the banter. Their meal was excellent and a beautiful sunset across the Bay topped off a great day. The next day after College Kevin introduced Peter to the swimming group and explained the weekly swap around. Peter took his half and watched as they went through all the different strokes, sorting their strengths and weaknesses in his mind as he got to know them. On the way home he had half a dozen keys cut for the house. As soon as arrived he opened all the windows and doors to let the strong smell of paint out. He then settled to catch up on some of his College work. Andrew dropped in for his key and said he would be moving in over the next few days. Brian and Anthony also arrived with a carload of belongings and started to sort themselves out. When Peter checked the net a bit later he saw that the official specifications for the Canon digital camera were posted. As he read through them his excitement mounted. It was more than he expected. Twelve megapixel images meant it would match the quality of his current equipment and the eight times optical zoom lens tested out brilliantly. The most exciting thing though was a new accessory. Described as a, 'remote control, variable speed time lapse shutter release,' it meant he would be able to control the camera from up to forty metres away in either single shot or time lapse mode. It would open up the whole new area of photography for him. The release date was set for two weeks away. The price was high but he figured he could recover the cost from his photography work in about a year. The next night Peter spent on College work as well. Michael would be there the next day. On Wednesday evening Peter found himself impatient for Michael to arrive. They hadn't said much during the week at College and he was keen to see what progress Michael had made with his work. About a quarter of an hour before he was due, Peter saw Michael being dropped off, and met him at the door. Once again he was dressed well and looked great. As they went in Peter saw that as well as his bag, he had a package. This is for you! Said Michael and handing Peter the package, gave one of those disconcerting questioning looks. When Peter opened the package and saw that it was a brand new designer shirt, he started to protest, but Michael interrupted him. O.K! Peter! Listen to this! One. I ripped your shirt. Two. You're the only teacher who's ever done this much for me. That makes you special. Three. I enjoyed last weekend so much I almost feel like I should pay you. Four. I want to give you a gift anyway. So! Don't argue about it. That's how it is. Cheeky little bugger! Thought Peter. Well if he can throw that in my face I'll do the same to him. Peter jumped at Michael and grabbed him in the same hug he'd received last week. Once again he felt that same shock go through him. O.K! Michael you win! Peter let Michael go and took out the shirt. He looked at it in amazement. The design was a magnificent print of a dragon. Michael this is fantastic! How did you know I like dragons so much? I didn't! It just seemed to be right when I saw it in the shop. Aren't you going to try it on? Peter took off his shirt and slipped the new one over his head. It was high quality material and felt great as it moved over his skin. Peter heard himself say, Michael! This is now my special shirt and I'm going to wear it every time you come here for your maths work! When they got upstairs Peter gave a sort of mental shrug and put himself into teacher mode. Michael was keen to show what he had done and had some questions to ask. When Peter looked through everything he realized that Michael had covered far more ground than he'd expected. How did you get so far? Most of this stuff is the extension work. Michael explained that he liked to go over the work he'd covered till he was sure he knew it but the ordinary questions seemed to be a bit too easy so he skipped them till he came to the ones he had to puzzle over. Peter spent about ten minutes answering the questions. He'd decided that tonight they'd work on surds and indices. Once again they went like wildfire and covered more than expected. Peter tried using the texts from the following year on the same topic and Michael just sailed through them. They used the same pattern as last time, spending the last half hour on the current class topics. When they finished Peter gave Michael the following years texts and showed the sections which matched the topic and suggested that he have a go at them if he wanted something challenging enough. You know I'm sort of glad you missed on that maths last year or we mightn't have got to be friends. That was certainly the way Peter was looking at things. What did happen anyway? Peter got a fright, because Michael went very quiet for a moment then in a flat voice said, I don't talk about that! Peter looked at Michael, his mind racing, as he understood that he'd trodden on forbidden ground. Sorry! Have you thought about that scholorship idea at all? Peter watched Michael sort of pull himself together. Oh! Yes! I'm interested but can we talk about that next week. I think my lift might be waiting. Peter saw that they had indeed gone about five minutes overtime. As Michael left Peter felt bad. The good bond that had been there all night seemed to have been wiped out in an instant and he didn't know what to do about it. The next day when he walked in for Michael's group he saw smiles on many of the faces and wondered what was going on. On the front desk was a big juicy looking red apple and a sign saying, 'Apple for the Teacher.' He scanned the room to look for some kind of reaction and when his eyes reached Michael's he was given a cheeky wink and a big smile. Peter made a joke about health food fanatics but was relieved that things were back to normal. PETER'S MISTAKE. PART THREE. Surf Club Weekend. Peter had his van packed on Friday morning and drove straight from college to Fairhaven. Last weekend he hadn't driven down because the painting needed to be done. He didn't feel good when he missed a weekend. When the weather was good the beach was crowded and every lifesaver was needed. He grabbed some food as he went through Geelong and then eagerly waited for the first glimpse of the ocean at the Anglesea lookout. Yes! There were some waves but nothing spectacular. When he reached Fairhaven he got into his speedos and grabbed his flippers. No wetsuit needed this time. The day had been sunny and he decided on about half an hour of bodysurfing and then a run along the beach. He loved this feeling. The seawater was so clean and fresh after the treated water of the indoor pool and it felt so much easier to swim in. He powered out to the break in a burst of exuberance and surfed for a while then did a beach run in the shallows for a couple of kilometers. When Peter got back to the club he had a quick shower then organized himself for the night. The club had a neat arrangement for the regular members which made it easier to come down more often. There was a large open room looking out over the ocean with a stack of foam rubber mattresses in one corner. These could be used by anyone wanting a place to sleep for the night. Most of the guys came from Geelong and didn't stay, but a few like Peter traveled from Melbourne and it saved getting accommodation somewhere. Peter grabbed the blue mattress and dragged it to his favorite spot. He always tried to sleep here because he could just turn his head and look out over the ocean through the glass doors. He grabbed some food and settled down with his latest Mercedes Lackey fantasy novel. He noticed on the wall beside him that someone had put up the latest version of the little symbol some of the club guys used for him. Usually it was just the male symbol of a circle with an arrow pointing up to the right with his initials -PB- inside. This one had the PB written above, SLEEPS written inside the circle, and HERE underneath. Hmm! He thought. That limits the authorship a bit. His mind went back to how PB had become his club nickname. It was a bit embarrassing really. Most club members thought it just stood for his initials but a few knew there was more to it. Of course it was all his dick's fault. He liked his dick and they had good times together but the damned thing had a mind of its own and seemed to be a bit of a show off. It had always been like that since he became a teenager but not too long before Christmas he'd been sprung a few times. The first time, he'd been surfing and then for a big run, and decided to relax and have a sunbake in the afternoon sun. He took his towel and found a spot in the sand dunes not far from the clubhouse. He lay down on his back and in his relaxed state soon fell asleep. He gradually returned to consciousness with a delicious erotic feeling. His cock was straining hard against his speedos, and when he felt it twitching slightly, he reached with his hand to adjust it. He did this a couple of times more, as the feeling persisted, when he suddenly realized that something wasn't quite right. He opened his eyes to see that he was the center of attention for five of the regular guys in the club. One of them had a long stem of grass and was brushing it against his cock, which had been enough to cause the twitching. Peter jumped over onto his stomach and felt his face go crimson as a great chorus of comments came at him. Sprung bad! Go for it! What a show! For the next few weeks he was stirred. Everyone stirred everyone - it was part of the culture of the place and it was all in fun but Peter was the celebrity of the moment so he had to suffer the comments with a smile. Hey! Peter! Going for a sunbake? When are you going to model those speedos for us again? You'd better stop eating spinach! Peter! Got a bone to feed him? - when people walked past exercising their dog. The second time he was caught he'd almost set himself up. The group of them were sitting on the sand after a swim, watching the waves and carrying on in general. A bit of banter was going on between a couple of the guys about how fit they were, and how weak the other one was, when Peter made the mistake of stirring. Big talk for a bunch of weaklings! I'd have to wear army boots on the runs for you to keep up, and if you didn't have your water-wings you'd drown more people than you rescue! I could take on the lot of you without even noticing you were there! Peter saw the looks pass between the other guys and thought Whoops! I asked for it this time. These were the guys who kept the club going. They had known each other mostly for three to four years and basically ran the day to day activities of the club and were all strong and fit. Peter knew he'd had it, but that was all part of the game. Five bodies dived on him with cries of - 'I'm scared' and 'Please don't hurt us Peter.' He fought back well for few minutes but was soon overpowered and pinned down. The next part he knew was coming was the dreaded red chest. While he was held powerless to escape, a couple of the guys started to tap his chest rapidly with their fingers held stiff. It wasn't painful, but it certainly wasn't comfortable either, and if it was kept up for long your chest would get redder and redder. Peter bucked and writhed, trying to escape then collapsed for a moment to get his breath back. Someone put sand in his speedos and half of it spilled onto his stomach as he pushed and tried to get away. Hey! He's got sand in his belly button. Peter watched as a hand moved to clean it out. His stomach muscles twitched and his body jerked as his tickle reflexes cut in. Oh Boy! Look he's ticklish. Oh! No! This was evil! If they realized just how ticklish he was he was done. He was done! His reactions were so strong that they knew almost straight away. The rules of the game now meant it was tickle Peter to death time. Peter tried to twist away and his heart pounded with the effort. You guys win! Uncle! Uncle! I'm a wimp! You're all Mr Atlas! But they wouldn't let him up yet as they tickled different areas of his body. Someone tickled his inner thighs and the situation changed for Peter. This was a super sensitive area and any touch there would send his balls into a kind of internal dance. That was it. He could feel his cock reacting and getting tighter. Once started he knew it was hopeless. He always got hard before he got soft again. Arthur was the one who first noticed. Hey! Look! Here's the famous bone. Does tickling do that to you? It certainly did for Peter. Everyone stopped and had a good look of course. Now was the time for things to stop but Arthur kept tickling his thighs and then his balls. He even grabbed them and jiggled his fingers till Peter became totally cranked up. David said, Now we are scared! That thing would frighten anyone. You win Peter! Peter was thankful to David. He'd realized they'd gone just a bit too far, and finished things with a bit of humor. Peter gathered his wits as they all jumped back in mock terror. Well I'm going for a swim. I need to cool off. Of course this got a bit of a grin from everyone but Peter could escape the limelight while he really did cool down. Once again there was lots of stirring for a while with comments about everything that went on being a ticklish situation and Peter using scare tactics to win his fights. The third time he didn't even know about till later. Around New Year it had become a tradition to have a celebration night at the club and lots of awards were given out to people for things that had happened over the course of the year, nearly always a stir because that got lots of laughs. Peter was surprised when he didn't get one. Usually he was copping it left, right and center, probably because he gave such strong reactions. David said to him, You haven't got away without anything. Yours comes later. Well! What did that mean? David had a grin on his face so he knew there must be some mischief going on. Later when things had quietened down Peter got a message that someone wanted to see him in the office. When he got there the core group of five was waiting. Peter! Come in and sit down. We have a special double presentation for you. Peter moved to the chair they had set up and thought what have they been up to this time, as he watched the door being snibbed. Gentlemen! You all know what a great reputation Peter has here at the club. Recently he has built this reputation and we'll never look on him in the same way again. He has gone to great lengths and worked hard to impress us. He has really made a point of responding to every ticklish situation and such is his loyalty that we know he would never grass on us. Peter realized that there were quite a few double entendres in there and the chuckles from the others confirmed that. He has provided stiff competition and stands out well as a club member. When we want a full frontal approach to anything then he's the one to come up with something. Peter didn't quite get this last bit but the others seemed to just about collapse with laughter. First in recognition of your interest in photography we would like to present you with this unique, one off picture, which has come to our possession, along with the offer of a hanging position in the club trophy cabinet. Peter took the package handed to him. It felt like a picture frame through the wrapping. Yes! You are expected to open it now! Peter started removing the paper. The first thing he saw was the back of the frame. It appeared to have been signed by all the club members. Well thanks you guys I .... As he finished pulling off the wrapping he turned the frame over and his eyes nearly fell out. There on an A4 size photo was a good quality picture of himself, lying on his back on a towel, completely nude, and with a raging boner and balls jutting out. Well! Peter knew that the chameleon was famous for its color changing ability but thought that he must have left every chameleon in the world for dead as the blood rushed to his face. Everyone else was delighted. This was just the reaction they wanted. Sprung again! Peter recognized the situation. About a week before, the beach had been fairly deserted and he'd walked a few hundred metres to a secret little spot up in the dunes where he liked to be by himself at times. He'd stripped to enjoy a bit of all over sun and remembered falling asleep. After awhile he'd woken up and made his way back to the club. Well! Ahh! Thanks guys! I Think! I'll give a miss on the trophy case though. A picture this valuable is definitely going to be kept at home, probably in a safe. David went on to the second part. Now Peter! In recognition of these efforts to impress us the club has decided to grant you a name change. He handed over a certificate claiming to be a deed poll. It was generated on some publishing program and stated that henceforth his name was officially changed from Peter Bonner to Peter Boner and abbreviated to PB. Underneath was the male symbol with PB drawn inside it David went on to explain that he didn't have to worry about the general club members seeing the photo. They'd used a scene of the beach when they handed it round for everyone to sign but it had him worried for a few minutes hadn't it. Peter read his book for an hour then went to sleep with the sound of the waves crashing in his ears. Next day the forecast was for hot weather. Peter had a swim and a surf before the crowds arrived then spent about four hours on patrol. This involved spotting for people who might be in trouble, trying to keep the general mass of people between the flags and answering any queries that people might have. In the afternoon Arthur asked him if he'd like to go for a run, he'd missed a couple of weekends and reckoned he needed a workout. The club encouraged running together as they found people tended to challenge each other more. After all they were a pretty competitive lot. They headed west for about half an hour and then decided to do some sand sprints. This was really hard work as it was done in the soft sand and involved racing over about 100 metres. Peter could beat Arthur easily but the task demanded that you put your full effort in every time. They had done four of these sprints and decided one more would be enough since they still had to run back to the club. Peter took off determined that this would be his fastest sprint. About half way through he heard a cry from behind him. He caught enough of a sense of distress to stop straight away. Arthur was on the ground and apparently in pain. My leg! Peter took one look and knew immediately that Arthur had an acute cramp. Where is it hurting most? At the top of my thigh on the inside! For nearly six months Peter had gone through a time when cramps struck him regularly. It meant that he knew some techniques for treating them. He put Arthur on his back and made him lie with his legs straight out. Whatever you do don't let your leg bend up at your hip. We need to keep that muscle in an extended position. Peter explained what he was doing as he went. I'll have to locate which muscle group is playing up so press with your hand where you feel the most pain. I see! O.K! Let me check that out. Peter searched in the area Arthur indicated and immediately found the knotted muscles. Arthur! If we can relax this quickly you'll be O.K. If we take too long, you could have a strain, which will take weeks to get better. I'll have to gradually try to ease these muscles from their spasmed position. This will be painful for a while but if I can do it right it should gradually become more bearable. If that happens you'll be all right. Then I'll need to massage it. It must stay relaxed for about another ten minutes in case it spasms again. Don't move unless I tell you. Peter positioned himself kneeling astride Arthur's cramped leg and started to press and knead the hard knots of the muscles. He could feel Arthur flinching with the jabs of pain this caused but kept his efforts going. He knew some temporary pain was better than several weeks of recovery. Gradually he teased the muscles from their contracted state and kept working along them with quite a strong pressure. Yes! This is going well! Arthur! By now your muscles should just have a kind of ache rather than any pain. Yes Peter! That's amazing! It feels so much better but I can still feel twinges of pain when you press on some spots. All right! That's not quite what I hoped to hear so we'll have to keep this massage section going for at least fifteen minutes to be on the safe side. Peter changed his movements from direct pressure to a more natural massage style and concentrated on the upper area at first. Before long he felt the tension disappear from Arthur so he started lengthening and varying his strokes. Peter smiled to himself as he realized that this was, almost exactly, one of his J. O. fantasies. After five minutes Peter laughed because Arthur had very obviously forgotten his previous pain. The massage was having a secondary effect, which couldn't be missed in his surfclub speedos. Hey Arthur! Who's in a ticklish situation now? I am serious about you not moving and I am going to do a proper job with this massage but aren't the tables turned now? I think I'll make this pay back time. You could say that we'll have to keep this up for about another ten minutes Peter had occasionally brushed his knuckles and fingers against the swell of Arthur's balls in the speedos, but now these little accidents happened much more frequently. A slight change of stroke meant that his fingers now bumped against Arthur's rod as well. It certainly could be described as a rod as there was nothing soft about it. Arthur covered himself with his hands but Peter just bumped them away and said he needed free access for the massage. Let's see how good my memory is? What happened first? Peter kept the serious massage going with his right hand but with his left he tickled and caressed Arthur's thighs just as had been done to himself. I'm loving the irony of this, thought Peter, when he heard Arthur gasp a little. And what was next? Oh! Yes! That's right! He traced his fingers round the shape of Arthur's balls. He tickled a bit through the silky material covering them and gave a few gentle squeezes. There we are Arthur! I'd say that just about makes us even don't you reckon? It wasn't even at all. Peter certainly hadn't been kept with a hard on for ten minutes of intermittent touching and teasing. Whoops! Thought Peter! Those last few touches really got to him. I'd better back off. He could see a dark moist spot in the speedos where Arthur's dickhead was pushing against them. Peter kept the massage going for what he thought was the needed amount of time but there was no more teasing. Arthur's feelings had communicated with him enough that he knew he was close to getting a rise himself. Peter helped Arthur stand up carefully and watched as he tested his the weight on his leg. He made no move to hide his boner. He probably thinks 'why bother' I've seen so much of it by now. Peter insisted they walk all the way back and they had a good talk about their lives and hopes. When they got back to the club they drove to Aireys Inlet and sat down for a hamburger. Arthur started to speak. I want to say thanks for this afternoon. I was scared that I had done some kind of serious damage when it was hurting so much. Now there's just a bit of an ache like I've been exercising too much. It was like magic the way you fixed it so quickly. I've got no problems with your payback either as I guess I deserved it. He glanced at Peter for a moment. Just as well you stopped when you did though. I might have been super embarrassed otherwise. Peter blushed a bit. That was a fairly personal admission. There was nothing magic about it, just a bit of knowledge and experience. Don't strain it for the next few days though - your leg I'm talking about of course. They both grinned at that. Arthur continued. I'd like you to come to my place for a meal as a bit of a thank you. I make a really nice stir-fry. Do you think you could manage that? Peter thought that would be great and he worked his timetable out in his head. Great! It would have to be Thursday though. I'm pretty busy at the moment with College stuff. They made their arrangements then Arthur drove on to Melbourne and Peter made his way back to the club building. He finished his novel and then went to bed. He reflected on the days happenings and thought it was interesting how you could know a person for a long time then have just one talk and see them in a different light. It had taken them over an hour to make the walk back that afternoon and Peter knew that a bit of a bond had built between them in that time. He did make sure that he had his towel beside the bed. Before he went to sleep, there were a number of images in his mind that he was looking forward to taking care of. The next day was to be another hot one. Peter got up early and set off in his car. This was his own day. He used it to explore the coastline with his camera. His current project was an exhibition with a sun and surf theme. This was actually very challenging. So many people had done this before that to make his work stand out was really stretching his imagination.