Date: Sun, 14 May 2023 22:20:37 +0000 From: TCHASE MCPHEE Subject: 'YoGA MaT' o5 % This work of fiction is set in the format of real-world situations. Identifying details to real people, alive or dead, is entirely coincidental in nature. If a character from this story happens to have the same first name, use it to your advantage and put yourself in his place. The author is not responsible for leakage. % Countries have various rules regarding reading or viewing `adult material'. It is up to you, the reader, to research this subject, abiding by laws and conscience. The pages of this story contain `adult material', intended for an `adult audience.' Bypass this warning at your own risk! % If sexual scenes involving male-to-male relationships offends you, then why are you here? Seriously, if dude-to-dude sex & related stuff makes you wanna barf or is gonna screw up your mind, you should not read this story. % Sexual safety matters. Guys, this is fiction. In real life, use protection and I don't mean going out and hiring a security guard...unless he gives your nuts and bolt a jolt! % Hey dudes, if you have enjoyed reading NiFTy stories as much as I have over the years, consider adding some $upport for `internet $pace' or else I will have to start cutting handsome, hairy or steamy characters out of my stories. Do you dare imagine a story without any tops? http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html % Give till it hurts...and if that's not enough, get with some s&m! 'YoGA MaT' o5 WriTten by T. Chase McPhee % While sharing a carton of Rocky Road ice cream, each with their own spoons, which started out as feeding themselves, it turns to Hasan offering a fresh spoonful to Elton, causing the same in return. "I've been warned, not to eat ice cream directly out of the carton, being it could cause overeating. Think they were right?" Joking, Elton juts his belly out, inflating it more than it is, "more to love!" On stools facing each other, the comment causes Hasan to stab the ice cream with his spoon, leaving it. Getting the idea, Elton did the same. Turning to each other, they slip off the high benches, lining right up in front of each other. Approaching that fake air-filled stomach, Hasan says, "now I will make a meal out of you!" "I hope that doesn't mean you're a cannibal?" Taking both arms, Hasan lifts them until they look like wrists are tied in bondage. Divebombing towards the left pit, he takes a lick. "Damn, you love your pits, doncha?" Elton was partial with his giggles, Hasan's wet tongue working him over, but because he never thought about a man so attached to another's sweaty pit hair. "One of the hot spots I love to eat out, but much much more." Taking the upper grip on things, Elton says, "I bet if I were horizontal, you would show me how much more?" "That sounds like a great idea," Hasan taps the butcher block kitchen island they feasted on. "You mean right here?" "There's only one big bed in my house and I think Jason and Marc are using it?" Thinking on 'one big bed', Elton says, "how small is the small bed?" "For two big guys like us, we would probably collapse it!" Standing, Elton makes the decision for both, placing hands on the side of the prep table and hoisting his ass up on the edge, "butcher block it is." Purposely Hasan did not put the ice cream carton away, allowing it to sit at the side of Elton's hip. "I hope you will like this as much as me," he gets up on the table and much like in bed, but with steadier gait, walks knees up Elton's straddled legs. Dually, Elton got comfortable, placing hands behind head, but also for Hasan's benefit. Truthfully, even though he never thought about it, enjoyed having a tongue lapping at the tufts of pit hair. He got comfortable, looking above, observing, "hey, these pots and pans aren't going to come crashing down on top of us, are they?" Before he got an answer out of Hasan, he's screaming, "yikes, Hasan!" Gut reaction to feeling something cold on both pecs, Elton's hands go from cradling his head to elbows propping him up, to see what is giving his nips a chill! Seeing each pec with a glob of Rocky Road on each, Hasan says, "just adding a little extra flavor. I hope you don't mind?" "Um?" He didn't get a chance to explain himself, that foxy Hasan reaching down, slurping his tongue over Elton's left pec! It felt awesome, calmed Elton's thought process, now not caring if his pec was caked in ice cream or without. He resumes hands behind head, softly murmuring, "damn you know how to make a man feel good!" The cold turned to warmth with each lick. He only lifted his head after both nips had the ice cream coating sucked off. Elton lay his head back and raised it only a little when he felt the same chill at the end of his bod trail, Hasan digging his tongue in the ice cream cone of his navel. After making the deep bellyhole clean, Hasan announces, "now for a banana split?" Elton didn't think much of it, given the nip and navel treatment, until he feels two handfuls of Rocky Road on his balls, "oh shit, Hasan!" With a devilish grin, Hasan says of taking both balls and bathing them in the creamy mixture, "you don't like it?" Cold balls was a shocker, but the massaging of hands, followed by tongue, "I think I might get used to it pretty quick!" Neither thought of the mess it caused, ice cream melting all of over Elton's hairy pecs, dripping out his navel, down the sides of his stomach, nor the repeat applications, Hasan massaging more ice cream into the pectorals, lower stomach and just so he could get his fill, globbing up the tall shaft he managed to make hard as a rock despite the chill. In no time Elton was feeling his shaft ready to blow, "I'm getting close, ice cream man!" Hasan smiled even though his lips rounded Elton's shaft at the base. Seconds afterwards Elton began rocking his hips, hoping this was the deluxe model of a butcher block table and not a cheap imitation! Adding to the fire, in addition to following Elton's lead with the bucking hips, Hasan worked his lips up and down the hard shaft, while hands reeked havoc on the pair of icky, half-dried ice cream coating those hairy pecs, finding sticky nips to toy with. Seconds later Elton blasted Hasan's mouth, taking the sides and working it up and down his stick, much like how Eddie likened to have his tonsils worked. Erupting, he didn't think on anything but feeling the goo shoot from the tip of his 9c. After the fact he would find out Hasan loved the newly created flavor, Rocky Road mixed with sweet, salty cream! As Elton sits up his head makes contact with a bottom of a pan, "ouch!" "Sorry about that." "No real harm done," Elton says, "but I think next time you want to make a banana split out of me, we should try a bathtub!" Finally sliding down off the slick butcher block table, they turn to see the sloppy mess, stinking of sweat and man-fluid. "What can we use to clean this up?" Hasan says, "leave it. My house-man, he loves cleaning up after me and my guests. He has almost as talented tongue as I do!" With one raised brow, Elton says, "I'm not so sure I could swallow even one tablespoon of ice cream, mixed with cum." "Don't knock it till you've tried it?" Standing there with a lull in the conversation, Elton says, "no. You want me to try it? No way." "How about I go first?" "I thought you've already tasted it?" "Not deliberately. It was like, a byproduct." Elton, with arms parked below his gooey pecs, all dripped down like a veil over his stomach, says, after a minute of contemplation, "okay, but you go first." "Fine. You want me to get up on the table on all fours?" It was both stomach-churning, yet exciting, Elton saying, "however you want to do it." Really, he was under the impression Hasan had used trickery, wanting to lick the butcher block clean as some kind of kinky play. Along with that truth coming to light, Elton couldn't believe his hand had slipped down to his pubes, rubbing his deflated shaft. "Oh man, love the new flavor we've created," Hasan says in between licks. "That's nice," Elton says of it, focused on those hanging orbs and shaft suddenly coming to life again. Then, just as his cock was taking shape again, Hasan is down off the block, "okay, you're turn." Standing there, one hand on his shaft, the other cuddling one of his balls, Elton says, "not sure I can handle all that licking without barfing." He wasn't sure Hasan planned ahead or said for his benefit, "okay then, how about licking me off?" Not wishing to go back on his word, Elton picked the lesser of two evils, "okay, hop up on the table. I'll have a go at you." About ready to brace his hands on the block table for liftoff, Elton says, "hold it a second. No sense on having history repeat itself," he clears the overhead of pots and pans. "Smart," Hasan calls it, but deep down inside, all the way to his lower extremities, he's on pins and needles, waiting to be mounted. "Okay," Elton rubs hands together, "lets see how this goes." Without overhanging metal, Elton felt more comfortable propping his knees up on the table. Unlike Hasan, his knees found their way inside both legs, slowly splitting him all the way up to the balls. "Um, don't forget the Rocky Road?" Picking up the carton, a couple of inches deep in creamy slush, Elton says, "what ice cream? It's all melted?" Already in chosen position, hands behind head, Hasan says, "so what?" Smiling at that adorable cub's face, Elton says, "you're right I guess." Instead of spoonfuls or even handfuls, Elton takes the container, dumping its whole contents between Hasan's pecs and with a hammed blow of his fist, busts it wide open, the whole mess splattering over chest, stomach, even up on the front of his bod, almost getting it in the eye! "Oops, guess your housekeeper is going to be very busy tomorrow!" Strangely, as Elton got into the oral slurping, it felt more like sex than food play, enjoying taking both of Hasan's pecs, massaging them and making love to his perky nips. Making Hasan moan in ecstasy, it drove the two onward, each not immune to what was growing between them, for a second round. In his mind Elton could not compare munching on Hasan's bod, to Eddie. With his bro it was something very quick, deliberate, to get Eddie off. Taking his time licking that delicious sweet treat, he found Hasan's chest a real delight. So much, he lingered at the deep innie, tonguing in and out. A hand ran from pecs down the belly, scooping melted ice cream into that delectable navel and eating it out with his tongue. "Mm, good. Not bad." All the while he could feel not only Hasan growing, but himself, building to reach the apex, which went without saying. Such was the build up of desire, this time it wasn't only a mouth to feed, but taking a pool of ice cream in hand, soaped up his shaft and then picking up Hasan's legs, placed them on his shoulders. Unlike Eddie had instructed, to go slow, Elton was halfway in before remembering his bro's rule. From there on, he reaches the point of no return and fucks Hasan like an ice cream sandwich, his hard 9-inch shaft in the middle of the chocolate wafer! % Jason was everything an alpha male 'top' could be for Marc, even though wrists were shackled to the top of the bed. He chose to coddle Jason's balls, Jason wanting his shaft licked. A willing victim to a top's whims, Marc obliged without question. The last quest made him stop in his tracks. "No, I can't do that." "You can't or won't fuck me, boy?" "Both," Marc is stand-offish. "Shit, boy, I guess I'll have to do it myself!" Magically, the cuffs are loosened by Jason, taking them from his wrists. "Get over here, boy." "Oh cool," Marc says as Jason fastens the cuffs around his wrists. "You think it's cool? I'll show you just how cool it is!" Anytime Marc could release himself from the cuffs, knowing they were not the real police grade, so wasn't disturbed by Jason's sudden change of heart. "First," he hops off the bed and goes for the duffle bag he brought in, "a little warmup," Jason holds up a flogger, "shall we?" It made Jason smile, seeing Marc's shaft spring into new life, "I had a feeling you were yearning for this!" "That and more, sir." A matter of 'checking' to make sure Marc's intentions were real, Jason says as he flicks the fronds of the flogger softly over the chest area, "I've had my fun, time for you to have a sampling of yours?" Smiling, Marc says, "more than words could ever say sir." Marc was certainly glad to meet Hasan's 32-year old room mate, also happy to know they were in a relationship, other than sleeping in the same bed occasionally. He had it in mind, to ask how they met, etcetera, but in bed, cuffed to the top railing, legs spread and his chute being greased up, wasn't the time for light chat! It was like Jason had forgot, Marc reminding, "what about the flogger on my chest?" "Oh, that? Maybe later. Right now I have the yearning for something else." Thinking about it, while Jason split his legs into V-formation, "yeah, about that," Marc says with hesitation, "don't you think we should get to know each other, first?" On their way to the shower, Hasan pops his head in, "hey, how's it going?" But it was obvious to Marc and Elton, things weren't going good. "Jason, what's going on here?" "Nothing Hasan," Jason tries to hide the tube of lube and find the where abouts of the flogger, "was just about to get in a little kinky play here with Marc." Even Elton knew the signs, "what were you going to do," he comes over to where Marc is splayed out, "whip his balls?" "My balls?" Marc gets over dramatic, working to get the cuffs off his wrists. "No. Nothing like that," Jason claims. Marc, who was successful in uncoupling his hands, releasing himself form the bondage, works his way off the bed, coming to stand next to Elton, "looks like Jason is in deep shit!" "He's not the only one," Elton stands there like an alpha male, arms folded across his middle. Marc is quick to say, "what could I do? My hands were cuffed together." "Marc, don't bullshit me. You just now were able to let yourself out of the cuffs?" "Oh," he blushes, "you're right. My bad." Elton had to admit, even though a little dumb, Marc was a cute guy. Next they hear Hasan tell, not 'order' Jason out of the room and to bring the flogger with him. From inside the room they hear a little discussion, though nothing much could be deciphered. "I wonder what that's about?" Marc asks. Elton has the solution, "maybe we should eavesdrop?" They didn't need to, next hearing a cracking sound, followed by Jason yelling out, "akkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk, oh shit!" Peeking out into the kitchen, they see Jason hugging the butcher block table, Hasan, with the flogger in his hand, thrashing it over Jason's back and butt. "Oh shit that's gotta hurt," Marc says. "No kidding," Elton says, witnessing it by seeing and hearing. Hasan turns to them, "sorry for the interruption, Elton. I'll be done after a few more lashes, then we can go shower." Marc saves the day, "I remember something I forgot I have to do and Elton, he needs to help me." "Uh, yeah," Elton is glad to follow Marc's lead, "I just came in to get my clothes." As he does, it seems like Hasan is totally ignoring them, thrashing Jason's back and butt with the flogger. Even when Elton verbally says goodbye, all he gets is a wave. Outside, Elton hesitates, "I gotta put some clothes on." "Later," Marc holds the car door for Elton, "get in." Marc, sitting behind the steering wheel, says, "you want to tell me what just happened in there?" "Well, I don't know about you," Elton opinions, "but I never want to eat Rocky Road ice cream again!" Marc follows with, 'yeah about that?', Elton giving a brief description. "Damn then," he steps on the brake, even though they are still on the estate property, "does that mean you're getting ice cream all over my car seat?" "Oops," Elton says, sitting there with a little smile. How could Marc get mad, smoothing out his first response, "forget about it. I'm sure we can find something to clean the seat." As Marc drives, Elton comes up with, "y'know, Hasan has a man-servant who likes to lick ice cream off the counter. Maybe we can get him?" "Stats?" Marc laughs. "I didn't get any. All I know is he will get up on the butcher block table that we were on and lick up the ice cream and cum." Regardless of the car seats, Marc says, "well, it certainly looks like you got farther than Jason and me!" In an endearing gesture, Elton takes Marc's arm, "well then it all works out." "How's that?" "I thought maybe it might be me in Jason's place, lubing myself up?" Marc says, "y'know, my personal favorite is cherry vanilla?" "Well then, may I suggest we make a trip to the store, if you don't stock any in your freezer?" "Oh, we're going to my place?" "Or mine. Regardless, since I've been on this fitness kick, I don't have anything fattening." That's not what Marc was thinking, "you want to skip over a few dates and go right to bed?" "Truthfully, I didn't think I'd get that far with Hasan. He was more pushy than I anticipated. I thought perhaps we would sit out by the pool, get to know each other, then get our hands all over each other, that kind of stuff, before anything else. I'm just glad he had Rocky Road and not something plain, like vanilla." Older by about ten years, Marc has experienced much, but out of all those man-encounters never found Mr. Right-for-him, "I suppose Cherry Vanilla is not that simple?" "Speaking of cherry, I wonder how simple it would be, taking yours?" "You mean, if no one else has?" "Has anyone?" Marc says, "I came close, but explained to the guy I was saving myself for that special guy." Elton was getting an impression here, "you're thinking I'm that special Mr. Right?" "To put it bluntly, remember, it's me who stalked you and not the other way around?" "Stalk? Hm, I never thought of it that way." "So, shall we stop for that ice cream?" Feeling excitement like he's never felt before, a 'real man' admitting he was a stalker, him the stalked, "yeah, sure, long as it includes plenty of whipped cream?" "And a jar of maraschino cherries for all those high points?" Not getting it, Elton says, "high points? What do you mean?" Marc, wondering if he was going too far with this, decides not to have their newly forming relationship out of balance, switches from what he's thinking, a cherry teetering on the tip of his hard shaft, to farther north, "I know this sound kinky, but when my nips get hard?" He should've shot for the moon, Elton dreaming up, "does sound kinky, but you're not the only one!" "Oh?" "Yeah," Elton exposes his truthful imagination, "I was thinking farther south!" They laughed together, Marc then feeling uneasy that he hadn't been more outspoken, the one who thought of capping off the tip of his shaft with a cherry. Passing from rural to small country town look, Marc says, "you think they have cherry vanilla and all the fixin's at your store?" Even though having been through the turmoil of past management, to have things turn out in his favor, Elton says, "in case they don't have cherry vanilla, maybe we should try some place else?" "But we're only three blocks away and we'll be there?" "I know," Elton says, looking down in his lap, like he was spying on his own meat. There was space to pull off on the shoulder, Marc doing so, "what is it, Elton?" First thing to cross Elton's mind, was Marc's hand on his shoulder, which showed him a loving concern, "you really want to know?" "Of course," but then something Marc didn't mean to slip out, "I'm crazy about you. Why shouldn't I care to know?" It gave Elton a frame of mind to turn in his seat, much as could being he was belted in, "you're crazy about me? But you just met me." Marc then realizes what he's communicated, "yeah, I know, but you see, you probably don't know this, for about 2 months now, since the first time I've substituted for your bus route, I've raised my hand every time there was a call out for the route that goes to this part of town." This was getting weird-er, "they give you a choice?" How he got to this point, was a long story in this chapter of Marc's life, "it's complicated." Becoming more of a mystery by the minute, Elton says, "well, being that it involves me, I think you should uncomplicate things right now." It really wasn't that much of a puzzle, Marc stating six months ago, a new supervisor started, the new guy about his age, very good looking and after a few stares, they got the message they both were in the same 'closet'. A revelation, Elton asks, "oh, so you're not out at work?" "I don't go around broadcasting I'm gay, but I don't hide it from those who have insinuated that to be the case. Everyone I've told is okay with it." After bit of a laugh, he shares, "in doing so, I've found others in the same shoes as me, reluctant to come out. As it turns out, about half of those who work at the bus company are gay. Funny how that turned out." Of Marc's account so far, Elton says, "so, about your boss?" "Really, it wasn't me to come onto him, but the other way around. Acting like he was trying to find out how long I've worked for the company, and feeling comfortable about the subject, I mentioned I left the company I left to work there, sensing management was homophobic." "That was brave of you," Elton smiles. "Are you kidding? I was terrified," Marc laughs. "Let me guess. He came over to you, hugged you, then started to help you unbutton your shirt?" "You've been watching too many office porn flicks!" They both laughed, Elton saying, "there is such a thing?" Marc was on the cliff of admitting it, but then rationalizes with himself, it's petty, compared to what other men keep from a guy they are crazy about, "yeah, one or two. They can be quite an eye opener to what could go on in an office setting." Elton tries to be funny, "I was thinking more a zipper-opener!" "No need for that, when I'm lying there in bed, naked." "With your new supervisor?" Marc says, "aren't you the nosy one?" "You didn't eventually get it on?" "Nah. He already had a man in his life, but it's good we know the facts about each other, since I explained to him I had my eyes on a very hot guy, on a special bus route!" Elton got the inference, "you think I'm hot?" "Hey, we all have our own perspectives of life. I love the shape of your bod, your profile. I long to get with you, you know?" he didn't want to say in bed, in the raw. On the other hand, Elton says, "I don't know why I wasted my time trying to get to know Hasan." "I'm not any saint when it comes to that." "You know what?" Elton places a hand on Marc's thigh. "What?" "I'm really glad Hasan got weird on Jason and tore him away from you." Without needing the conclusion of Elton's thought, Marc says, "yeah, me too." "Huh?" It became more than fondling an arm, Marc grabbing Elton behind the neck and as they both struggled with the bondage of their seatbelts, came together in a kiss. "Wow!" "What?" Marc says, hand still engaged behind the neck, loosened up. "Except for Eddie, I've never really been kissed like that!" Seemingly a thought popping up to answer every little question, Marc says, "your brother doesn't count!" Said like a joke, Elton accept it, "yeah, you're right. Oh, but what about when Hasan was kissing my nips?" Another answer, "he wasn't kissing your nips. He was getting his fill of Rocky Road!" They both laugh, Marc putting the car in gear, driving off. % Leaving the Gay Pride Center in Nick's truck, he and Randy couldn't stay quiet, each asking questions about where they were from, how they happened to settle in town, and so on. "Yeah, I got to town without a penny in my pocket, but being I had worked at a homeless shelter with my church, I knew how to survive on my own 'without'. That's when I met Tom. He and Mat have been great." About ten minutes into their ride back to the green grocer, Randy wondered why they pulled off the main drag into a grove of trees. "I come here often," Nick says, "when I need time to breathe, to unwind." Parking at log bumper, Nick switches off the ignition. Randy looks around, seeing a half-built building. "Where are we?" "The town was going to develop this into a park, but halfway into the project the funds ran out. Now it's a place for gay men to meet up." "Oh," Randy questions, "and how many men have you met up with?" Totally frank, Nick says, "two or three or five, maybe eight, I've lost track," he laughs. Still inside the truck, Randy sat there, watching Nick outside, hanging on the window. "You up for a little walk? I'll show you where all the good fucking places are, in case you ever come here alone?" Getting out of the truck, Randy says, "I've never done it outdoors before." From their talks about 'little town, America', Nick guesses, "have you 'ever' even done it before?" Now peering at each other over the hood of the truck, Randy confesses, "no. You?" Nick just smiles, says, "it started with one time and I got hooked on it, but don't worry, I've always played it safe." "Safe?" Randy questions. Nick passes by the hood of the truck, takes Randy's hand, "c'mon. I'll show you some of the more secluded places." In talking, on their way over to the unofficial park, they had become more familiar with each other, Randy, barely twenty years old, has learned Nick is twenty-four, been to college for management, dropped out and because of those two years of collegiate experience, bullshitted his way into a management position of the green grocer fish department. At first Randy lagged behind, but being coerced into the woods by Nick, walked side by side on his own accord. "Kind of chilly. Maybe I should go back and get my shirt?" Nick says, "more like cold feet?" "No, really," Randy says, "my nips, they always get hard when I'm cold." Grabbing Randy's hand, Nick twirls about where he faces the long-haired blond, "I feel that's my fault, so I should do something about it." About two inches taller than Randy, Nick had to bend to the side in order to get his warm mouth on a perky nip. His first time having anyone or anything touch his chest, Randy feels more than surprise, "damn, Nick!" "What?" Nick pops his head up, looking all innocent. "It feels good, that's all." "Of course it does," Nick says, hinting, "and it's going to feel awesome having my cock massaging your ass!" He laughed, but Randy wasn't, "about that." It's not the first time Nick's used that tactic, ninety-nine percent of the time a guy caving into his will. However, now it was that 'one-percent guy' staring him down. "Listen, we're just here to show you around. Nothing has to happen." Nick went to move forward, but the whiplash of Randy's hand on his wrist made him turn back around, "something wrong?" "I want something to happen," Randy treads lightly, running his knuckles up and down the thin trail of Nick's contoured abs. Face to face, naked from the waist up, in the woods, time stood still around them. For Nick, all the times he's come to the woods, there eye contact prevailed, instead of rushing off to a place to put a guy over a log. Followed by a nod, pants dropped and that was more or less it, until him and his meet up sprayed leaves and tree roots with their semen. "I like you Nick, but I don't want to remember us together like this in the woods, for our first time, if you know what I mean?" Nick was already hard, but approached from an idea like not quickly venturing deeper into the woods, dropping pants and fucking the living daylights out of a chance encounter, "I think." He had never known true love, or any kind of affection, Nick thrown out of his comfy life over the thought of being different. One of the reasons he could relate to Randy's situation, except that his father, while he was alive, funded college and a rental in a town far, far away from where he grew up. When his father passed, his step-father cut him off, cutting his college stipend, but Nick had already found a job and was getting by with the rent, even though it ate up most of his profit. Nick wasn't sure about what Randy was getting to, "are you saying you might be y'know, saying you love me?" "I can't say that I've ever loved anyone," Randy concedes, "but it might be what I'm thinking and I'll never find out if, you know?" Frozen in place, that hand still massaging the trail to his navel, Nick wasn't feeling an icy, rather warmth of human compassion, "want to go over to my place?" Hightailing it back to the parking lot, jumping in the truck, Randy wondered, "heve you ever gone from the park to your place?" "Once," Nick was truthful, "but it never amounted to anything except kicking the guy out. All he wanted was my drug stash." "You do drugs?" "No, but because many people do have a stash, it doesn't stop a guy from thinking it. I woke up to him going through my stuff, looking." "Must've been a shock." "Yeah," Nick giggles, "it was, for him, when I threw him out on the front lawn without his clothes!" With saying, theying pulled up to that same front lawn, "here we are." It was a development of homes, nothing like Hasan's house, multi dwellings, though each one different than the other. "Your house is which one?" "Oh, I have to park in front of my neighbor's on account of the fire hydrant in front, not enough room without getting a ticket. I learned from experience." However, for right now, Nick wasn't saying how he beat paying the ticket! "It's the one that looks like a triangle stacked up on top of two boxes. That's how I explain it to anyone who asks." "Looks nice," Randy says as he exits Nick's truck. Walking up the winding flagstone path, Nick says, "the inside is a wreck. I admit it," he laughs, "I'm like, the worst housekeeper." Right inside the front door, Randy says of Nick hanging his house keys on a nail, "quite the decorator, though?" After a single laugh, Nick says, "wait till you get to the bedroom. I've got briefs hanging all over the place. It took a lot of nails to do it!" As they near the kitchen, Randy is blunt, "what's that nasty smell?" "Probably I forgot to take the garbage out this morning." That was the tip of the iceberg, Randy entering the kitchen and being he feels comfortable saying, "man, you're a true slob!" Turning around, it seemed to Randy, Nick coming at him for retaliation, but instead, Nick takes grabs shoulders up with his muscled arms, "thanks." "For what?" "For being truthful. I like that in a man." Nick pushes the strands of Randy's dirty blond hair behind the shoulders, "y'know some guys are nice, just to get what they want." He wasn't good at 'softness' when it came to mushy love, Nick breaking off the affection, "I guess I better get busy and clean this mess up, or else you'll think I'm a terrible housekeeper." "Too late," Randy says, smiling at each other. From Randy's perspective, he couldn't tell the difference between the dirty dishes, pots and pans and what appliances could be stashed away on the counters. Pulling the dishwasher open, he says, "want to tell me what the heck this is, Nick?" "Oh yeah, I neglected to see that it says not to put in the dishwasher." "Obviously," Randy says, pulling out not one, but two bent plates. "Where's the garbage?" Nick says, "they don't need to go in the trash. I'll just bend them back in shape." Failed, Randy watches as Nick breaks the first plate in half, the second, same, "oops!" "Any other bright ideas?" "A couple," Nick feels amorous, closing in on Randy. Feeling the flow, Randy says, "when I get to see those nails in the bedroom wall?" With his broad shoulder, Randy in front of him, they marched through two rooms till reaching a stairway, "up there." Except, Nick stood there in place, chest to Randy's back as it seemed like the wrong move to make, "what's the matter?" "I don't know," Randy says, turning around, "I'm feeling something, like, I never did it before?" Nick had an idea, "we'll take it one step at a time." Randy was cool with that, the way Nick put it, but also the gesture that followed, the two of them able to fit side by side in the width of the stairway. It was like his first baby steps, a memory of Randy, as a young toddler, growing up in a happy family. It still haunted him, that all that love built up over nineteen years had disintegrated over the fact he liked boys and not girls. His mind turned on him as he took every step, so much, that when he and Nick reached the top step, he was in tears. "What did I do?" "It's not you, Nick. You've been great. It's me." Down at the park, Nick was the alpha male of the pack who met up for instant sex. Here, in his own home, he was feeling more surrender, tamed by the true feelings of someone who lost everything they had, but managed to escape from their troubles, seeking a new start in life. "I have a confession to make," Nick says as they stand in the doorway to the bedroom. "What's that?" "There's no nails in the wall." Looking at the place, after Nick switches on an overhead light, "maybe there should be," Randy picks up two briefs with one set of pinching finger and thumb. "Nah," Nick says, "I just have to get my act together and clean up." "No time like the present?" They hadn't even put a dent in the kitchen cleanup, Nick tossing clothes from the bed to the floor, then diving in himself, "not now. We'll get it later. Right now I want this to be about you." In his past Randy had been deeply hurt, thinking he was safe in coming out to people he loved, was loved by, only to be stabbed through the heart. Coming up the stairs he had a flashback of how love was. In front of him, maybe he was thinking of another start to life, "one thing my dad used to say is, you can always start life over again, as many times as it takes to find happiness." "That's deep. I'm surprised he couldn't find it in his heart to accept you are gay." Nick had hit a nerve, Randy crumbling into the bed and even though his nostrils were picking up a funky scent, it wasn't anything compared to the beauty of Nick's man-scent! % % Copyright 2023 T. Chase McPhee Developing segments of ''YoGA MaT' may not be amended, distributed, sold, used, quoted, paraphrased, chopped, sliced, diced, nor made part of any collection, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the author. Drones are prohibited from overhead viewing.