Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2014 12:15:05 -0800 (PST) From: Seth Kirkcauldy Subject: Brother Mine 10 Brother Mine Chapter 10 copyright 2014 Seth Kirkcauldy seth-kirkcauldy@sbcglobal.net ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This story may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the author's permission. The author grants the Nifty Archive a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, and non-cancellable license to display this work. This story is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. They are a product of the author's imagination, or used fictitiously. This story contains erotic situations between brothers not yet of a legal age. If it is illegal for you to read this, or you just think it's yucky, please leave now. Please donate to the Nifty Archive. Part 1: Aiden Outside, the crimson leaves were flying through the air like fire from heaven. The wind whipped the fallen foliage into a whirlwind of red and gold, raining Armageddon upon the window where Aiden looked up from his breakfast. The dried husks scraped against the glass in their wind-driven frenzy, a susurration of prophesy that whispered to the young man who watched their aerial dancing. He did not like what they portended. Aiden was losing Connor. During the past month, the loss had been written in every tentative cursive line that his brother traced upon his skin; it was implied by the hesitant, wide eyes, the bit lips, the body parts rubbed raw; it was said silently between the terse commands to lick, to suck, to kiss; and it was telegraphed in the tap-tap- tapping of the fingers upon the back of his head that drew him, face-to-crotch, for pleasure, desire, and love. Aiden could almost believe there was enough love to buoy them past the implausibility of orientation, and carry them into the hazy, uncertain future. It was disconcerting to suddenly be uncertain; Aiden was usually confident when Connor was beside him. Connor mapped the journey and led the way, and Aiden would follow him anywhere. But what should Aiden do when he knew that Connor was the one who was lost? Aiden understood what he must do, and he had been working on his plan for weeks. It left him shivering with the bone-deep cold of emptiness. He conspired silently with the leaves and wind outside the window, and he hoped that Connor wouldn't kill him. "You slept in your own bed last night, Spaz," Connor said suddenly, not looking up from his tablet where he was reading the news. With the frown of concentration upon his face, a casual observer would think he was engrossed in the material he read and unconcerned with the casual topic he tossed onto the breakfast table. "Mmm hmmm," Aiden responded with his mouth full of Lucky Charms, looking away from the autumn drama outside the window. The problem with Lucky Charms, he decided, was that it had cereal in it. If they would just fill the box with marshmallows, it would be a fine breakfast food. The problem with Connor's demeanor was that Aiden knew him so well he didn't even have to glance at him to know he was merely pretending to read. "You, uh... particularly tired last night?" "Of so many things..." Aiden answered quietly. But the words were heard, and Connor's green eyes confronted him directly. Aiden squirmed. "You're straight." Connor sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, I believe I am rather straight-ish. But it's hard to claim to be straight when I have sex with a male every fucking day." "Your brother." "Every brother I've ever met was male," Connor said implacably. Aiden rolled his own eyes, unaware how much he parroted his brother, and took another spoonful of Lucky Charms. "You don't love me because I'm male. You love me despite it." Connor smiled, glad they agreed on this. "Yes." Aiden let his spoon fall from his fingers and tried not to cry. He knew it would freak Connor out, but was his brother really THAT stupid? "What's wrong?" Connor asked suddenly, reaching across the table, freaking out and being stupid. "Truth or Dare?" Aiden growled, ignoring the hand he loved so much, the one that once gently cupped the back of his head and taught him that he belonged and had worth. "Uh, what? Look, I don't want to play a game right now, Spaz. Let's talk about this; this topic sounds like it might be important to you." Aiden's eyes narrowed. "Exactly," he said flatly. "It's important to ME, and to ME only." "I don't really..." "A bet then." Connor gave up all pretense of patience, throwing his hands in the air. "What the FUCK are you talking about? What the FUCK do you want from me?" "It's a simple bet, Connor. Don't be afraid." Now Connor narrowed his own green eyes. They were glaring at each other over the battlefield strewn with Lucky Charms and bits of toast. "I'm not afraid, Spaz. What the fuck kind of bet did you want to lose? And what are the stakes, because I'm pretty sure the stakes are what this is all about, yeah?" Aiden thought hard for a second. "That trigonometry test you took yesterday?" Connor nodded; Aiden had helped him study for it. "I bet you got a B or better on it. If I win, you go out on a date with a girl I choose for you." Connor scowled. "Why would you want...? Is that what this is all about? I ain't goin' out on a blind date, Spaz. I got you, and I don't need anybody else." "Coward," Aiden said softly, looking down and taking a big bite of cereal. Connor slapped the table with his open palm, making the bowl jump and the milk slosh. "I am NOT a coward. You're trying to make me mad so I'll take the bet. I only want YOU, Spaz. There is only YOU." Aiden's eyes seemed to get all watery and his confidence wavered a bit, but then he gathered his courage and licked his lips nervously. "You think about girls when you fuck me," he said quietly. "I'm who you love, Connor; but I'm not who you need." Connor's nostrils flared and he tried mightily to resist the trap his brother had laid for him. He knew getting into a battle of wits with Aiden was a really stupid thing to do. "What do I win if I get less than a B?" The truth was that he thought he failed the test. Even with the help Aiden had given him to prepare, he'd bumbled his way through most of it. "What do you want?" Aiden asked quietly. He looked up at Connor innocently and batted his eyelashes suggestively. "Naw, anything sexual just rewards you," Connor said, thinking he'd found the trap. Whether Aiden won or lost, he would win. "How about you come on a fishing trip with me?" Aiden's jaw dropped open and he stuttered for a minute. "F-f-for fish? Real fish? Like with worms on hooks and other devices of torture?" "Scared you'll lose?" Aiden's eyes were merely slits and his nose flared in perfect imitation of his brother. "Deal. It's a bet? If you get a B or better on that test you'll go out with a date I choose for you? If you get less than a B, I'll go fishing with you?" He placed his open palm across the table. Connor looked at it for a moment and then placed his large hand over it and shook it. He loved holding Aiden's hand, although he wouldn't admit that to anyone. He saw Aiden's tense jaw soften at the contact, too. Their skin knew truths that their brains did not. "Deal," Connor said confidently; he had totally bombed that test. Aiden nodded and then returned to his Lucky Charms, picked up the bowl and brought it up to his lips to gulp the dregs like it was a cup of tea. He put it down firmly and wiped his mouth, then burped quietly. "Well," he said. "I graded all those tests yesterday for your professor. You got a B+." He got up from the table and went back to his room to start phase two of his plan. "Are you nuts?" Bo exclaimed. He held up a framed picture of Connor at the lake, shirtless. "This man is gorgeous, kind, loyal, heroic, funny, strong, and hung like a donkey. Are you nuts?" "As a matter of fact, I am." "Because you sound fucking nuts to me! He loves you, Aiden. Why would you go out of your way to screw that up?" "Because I love him, too, Bo." "But he's willing to overlook the whole lack-of-a-vagina thing and make the best of it with the person he loves. Why can't you accept it if he can?" Aiden took the picture from his friend and set it back carefully on his dresser before collapsing on his bed and covering his eyes with his arm. "I love him more than anything," Aiden said softly. "He's straight, Bo. He needs me in his life, I know that; but he doesn't need me in his bed. Not like I need him, anyway." Bo looked at his friend with a strange expression. "You act like the label is more important than the reality. He's not straight when he's with you." Aiden threw his arm aside and glared up at the ceiling. "I get the whole 'sexuality is a spectrum' thing; I'm not trying to shove him in a box. It's just that there's the fact that he fantasizes about women, dreams about women, and he misses women." Aiden shook his head. "He does everything for me. Everything. I'm going to do something for him that he won't do for himself." "This is going to break your heart, Aiden." Aiden shrugged and looked out the window pensively. "It breaks my heart to say goodbye to him every day when we go to classes. So, are you going to help or not?" "Of course I am. But I think you're going about this the wrong way. Connor seems to be all about giving you what you need. Maybe if you made this about what you need... and, hey! You're awfully coherent. No Aidenisms in this very long conversation." "I'm trying a new medication that seems to help me narrow down my thoughts some; plus, I'm never confused about Connor. I've already posted the ads, but that took a couple tries. I put them online and even put in some on the back pages of the alternative Columbus papers." "Oh my God. That was yours that everyone is talking about. Please tell me you didn't post an ad that just described his cock in loving detail..." "You saw it? Cool. Yeah, that one didn't get as many hits as I expected. I listed out all the dimensions, texture of skin, but I should have gone with a picture, I guess." "You said his semen tastes like peaches and almond milk." "Yeah! You did see it! Well, I'm glad it made an impression..." "You don't want him dating any girl that answers that ad," Bo sighed. "You need to tell them what Connor is like." "Yeah, yeah. I figured that out. I posted a new one a couple days ago with a picture I took of Connor while he was sleeping. It shows all of him, and then I just wrote an ad about his personality. I expect that one will do better." Aiden got up and went to his desk, jiggling his mouse until his screen saver went off. He clicked for a moment or two before a high resolution photo of his brother filled the screen. Connor lay stretched across the bed with the sheets twisted like a rope around the calf muscle of one of his powerful legs. His cock was plumped with blood and lay across one thigh, clearly uncut and large, albeit in a softened state. His bed-mussed head was tossed to the side, his long lashes closed and his face softened and innocent with sleep. "Holy fuck," Bo whispered reverently. "Holy fuck! Does he know you took this picture?" "God, no. He'd kill me." "You posted this online with his face clearly shown and he doesn't know..." Aiden waved off the concern. "End justifies the means." "Yeah, well, the end may be your own. Jesus, that one should certainly get some results. What does the ad say?" "Ummm..." Aiden clicked a bit more and brought up his ad copy: Do you need a hero? Do you need a dragon slain, a wrong righted, an evil defeated? Young hero seeks maiden in a tower who also knows her way around a dungeon. Heroism is a lonely business, and after holding others in safety, he needs to be held. The hero longs to be unmasked and uncloaked. Send pictures and responses to the hero's trusty sidekick, who will set up the first date upon successful interview. Phenomenal oral skills required. Bo's mouth fell open. "That was going so very well until the end." "I figured there was no reason to beat around the bush about it. They might as well know up front what he likes." Click. Click. Click. "Let's see, I have... um... wow." Bo squinted over his shoulder to look at the screen. "Two hundred and twenty-three? Those emails can't all be just for the ad." Aiden turned and looked at him. "Do you think they're from all my friends, Bo?" "Yeah, okay, you've got me there." "How am I going to narrow these down? I can't interview hundreds of women." Bo nodded. "Start by eliminating all those that didn't send a picture. Then we look at pictures to eliminate any who wouldn't appeal to Connor. Then we read the responses of those and interview the top five." "You've done this before." "Uh... let's just say I was lonely and leave it at that, okay?" Aiden shrugged. "And you're still a virgin?" "I said let's leave it at that, huh?" "But if you had that many responses and you're still a virgin, then something must have gone pretty wrong..." "Aiden!" "I'm just saying that they must have expected sex..." "They didn't want me when they saw me, okay?" Bo was blinking furiously, and his face was bright red. "They didn't want a scrawny little fag with a scrawny little dick like me. They all wanted what I want. They wanted..." he gestured all around the room angrily until his gaze settled on the framed picture atop Aiden's dresser. "Him. They all wanted him. And you're so stupid, you're giving him away." Aiden went to his friend and gave him an awkward, stiff hug, patting his back with rhythmic thumping. "There. There." Bo snorted and started laughing, burying his face in Aiden's neck. "God, you suck at comfort." "I know." Bo laughed harder and they both collapsed on the bed in a fit of the giggles, arms still wrapped around each other. "This is better," Bo sighed finally, cuddling his head into Aiden's chest. "Thanks." "They're idiots," Aiden declared fiercely. "You're beautiful, Bo, funny, and smart. Not as smart as me, but you're really, really smart." Bo hiccupped and shook his head against Aiden's chest. "You're hopeless." Aiden sighed heavily, the weight of his decision suddenly unbearable. "You may be right about that. Let's get started on these responses, okay?" Aiden walked out into the surreal autumnal evening, uncomforted by the caressing hand of the breeze. It swirled around him like a recalcitrant child, but it had at least finished its tantrum from earlier and no longer threw leaves into the air. He huddled into his jacket and clutched the slip of paper in a tight fist within the pocket. Upon the paper was her name. Meghan Flynn had flaming red hair and a splash of freckles across her nose. Connor didn't know he had a weakness for his own Irish background, but Aiden knew it. Meghan was warm and funny and a bit wicked. She was sharp in both her mind and her tongue. Meghan hadn't called for the interview; she actually knew nothing about it. It was her roommate who had set her up when she saw from the posting that Connor was also being set up. Her roommate had spoken to Aiden for over an hour, from a tentative, embarrassed beginning, to a laugh-filled conspiratorial conclusion. And the fear in Aiden's heart confirmed the most important thing: she was perfect. She was good and honest, and had integrity, but she was human, and fragile, and loved dirty jokes. She was beautiful to look at, but plain in her speech. She valued loyalty, honesty, and bravery above all else in her companions. She was not prone to jealousy, but she was fiercely competitive. The wind tousled Aiden's hair and brushed against the tears that streaked his face, offering him a literal cold comfort which he shrugged away. A mere year ago, Aiden needed many things, but wanted only one. Now, he had everything he needed thanks to Connor, and it was time to let his brother go and be the person he was meant to be. He would do this because he loved Connor with all his heart. And his heart knew with certainty that Connor was going to fall in love with the woman whose name was Meghan Flynn. Within his pocket, her name bled within his sweaty fist, transferring her inky name so that it was written upon his palm, etched upon his fate line. Aiden finally succumbed to the misery within him and sobbed his grief into the arms of the wind. Part 2: Connor The good thing about working out with Roderick was that he pushed me much harder than I would normally push myself; but the bad part was that he made me feel inadequate. The guy was a machine. He wore tank tops to work out, not for the vanity of showing off his arms, but because his biceps would rip open the sleeves of any shirts he worked them in. They weren't guns, they were fucking cannons. It had been a week since Aiden had tried to drown Roderick, and I'd finally gotten the whole story out of Aiden after I'd asked Roderick to leave with promises that I'd explain it all to him after I understood it. It turns out there wasn't a whole lot to understand. Aiden had tried to drown Roderick. "I'd have killed those cowardly fuckers," Roderick muttered, curling an obscene amount of weight. His face was set in the sneer of a weightlifter, but the big man didn't scare me. He was the nicest guy I knew. He wasn't talking about killing Aiden and Bo, he was talking about the boys who had hurt Aiden; he hadn't really talked about much else. "It's amazing he even survived." "He's the bravest guy I know," I replied solemnly. It was the truth. He startled me with a sudden chuckle, and then he started laughing, letting the weights down too hard. "You should have seen him come after me, Connor. He was this wild warrior with his fiery hair and green eyes. He was snarling like a barbarian and swinging his backpack around like it was a fucking Irish sword." "A claideamh," I replied quietly, picturing it in my head and sharing a bit of the awe that Roderick seemed to have. "Wha...?" I waved it off. "It's Gaelic. Basically an Irish sword." "You speak Gaelic?" "Aiden taught me some." "He's pretty smart, huh?" I snorted. "In the same way that the sun is pretty hot. Yeah, he's smart." Roderick picked his weights back up and started back in with his curls, but his face was pensive and he set the dumbbells right back down again. "He's gay, ain't he?" "Your workout today is shit, you know that?" He shrugged his big shoulders and looked up at me with wide eyes. "I'll work harder tomorrow. He's gay? That's why they did all that stuff to him, huh?" "Yeah. Yeah, he's gay. That a problem?" He looked down then, so I couldn't quite see the expression on his face, and he took a long time to answer. He finally looked back up at me. "It's not a problem." He grinned nervously then and sort of focused his eyes over my shoulder. "I just wondered if he was, you know... dating anybody?" I had so many instantaneous reactions to this question that my brain sort of short circuited. My mouth fell open and I stared at him dumbly. I've rarely been rendered speechless. In fact, the only time I could remember was the first time Aiden had shoved his tongue up my ass. That left me just about as speechless, but was unaccompanied by the weird nausea that churned in my stomach now. I felt my jaw working, trying to say something, but I was coming up with absolutely nothing. I finally clamped my mouth shut to keep from growling. That would not do at all. "You look like a grouper," he said, smiling shyly, and then mimicked my mouth opening and closing like a fish. "You're gay?" "No. No, I'm bi," he shrugged. "I've always been pretty equal opportunity. My last girlfriend was a... well, a girl," he seemed to have confused himself. "But I've dated guys a few times. I like 'em both just fine. I've never met anyone quite like your brother. He's sort of amazing." "Yes, he is," I blew out a breath. "He's also only sixteen, yeah?" "Fuck, no. He can't be... he's in like the senior classes -" "He's sixteen, man." "Smart like the sun, just like you said." "Uh... ? Well, yeah, something like that, Roderick. The point is that he's still just a kid really, and you're an adult. So..." Roderick grinned guilelessly. His charm was almost blinding. "I haven't even asked him out for dinner, Connor; are you threatening me with statutory rape charges?" My self-control was slipping. "Are we going to fucking work out, or what?" His eyes got even wider, if that was possible, and he blinked at me a couple times. "I didn't mean to make you mad, Con. I just like him, is all. I thought maybe since he was trying to find you a date that you might be trying to find him one. I thought it might be a brotherly thing." "How do you know about that fucking bet? How do you know he's finding me a date?" "Well, that naked picture of you is all over the place. Williams and Baptist both messaged it to me just yesterday, but I'd already seen it anyway. You're fucking hung, stud; but I'm bigger." I could feel my face draining all its color and I slapped a hand over my eyes. "Oh God. He didn't..." "Oh! Hey there, Aiden!" Roderick gave a small wave over my shoulder and I whirled around to face my brother who was entering the gym. I was going to fucking kill him. "I'm going to fucking kill you," I growled at him. He seemed completely unfazed by it and ignored me while he glared dismissively at Roderick. "Hey, you stupid oaf." Roderick winced at the barb and mumbled, "there's no reason to call me names, Aiden. I was just trying to be friendly." "I'm not friendly to people who walk around waving WEAPONS at totally innocent pedestrians." "It was a stupid plunger, and I had it for my stupid toilet and your stupid brother gave it to me. And I didn't know then about... well... I didn't know." Aiden's eyes darted to me. "You told him?" I spread my hands widely, "I felt he deserved an explanation, Spaz. You did try to kill him." Aiden winced too, and then glanced back at Roderick guiltily. "That might have been a slight over- reaction to a jock with a plunger. My shrink says it was a kind of PTSD thing going on." "It was fucking awesome," Roderick laughed. "You totally knocked me ass over teakettle. But I'm sort of hard to kill." "Yeah? I guess I am, too," Aiden said softly. They looked at each other for a moment longer before Aiden turned his attention back to me. "I've got your date all set up, but I wanna know if you'll..." "You put a fucking naked picture of me all over the internet, Aiden? What the fuck were you thinking?" Aiden rolled his eyes and dug into his backpack to pull out a photo, which he thrust at me. When I looked at it, all the breath left my lungs. "Holy fuck," I whispered. "She's gorgeous." "Look, Connor, I need you to do me a favor." I found myself tracing the picture of this beautiful girl with my fingertips, but at his words, I looked up and glared at my little brother. "A favor? What kind of fucking favor? I'm pretty ripped at you, Aiden." "I want you to fuck Bo. Can you do that before you fall in love with Meghan? See, he's still a virgin and he really-" "What the hell...?" Behind me, Roderick started laughing, slightly at first and then big whoops. Both Aiden and I turned to look at him, but he had his hands over his face while he totally lost it. Aiden sighed. "Please, Con? He's been rejected by a lot of guys, and..." "I'm real sorry to hear that, Aiden, but I am not fucking your friend." I gritted my teeth, glared at him, and said, "I'm straight, remember? You remind me just about every fucking day." "It's okay that it doesn't mean anything, Con. He just needs..." "You are not a pimp and I am NOT fucking your friend!" "I'll do it," Roderick said. Aiden and I both whirled around to look at him. Aiden's mouth was hanging open, and I know my eyes were as wide as they go. "What?" We both said. Roderick was grinning broadly, but he was looking only at Aiden. "I'll do it," he said again. "It's the little blond guy who was with you when you tried to kill me?" Aiden nodded wordlessly. "He was really cute. Not as cute as you, Aiden, but he's really cute. I'll do it, under one condition." No. No. No. No. No. No. No. "What?" Aiden asked in a strangled whisper. Then he cleared his throat and said it again, steadier: "What?" "You're there, too." I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. "Sixteen," I said through clenched teeth. They both ignored me. Roderick was only looking at Aiden, and Aiden was speechless. His face was white, his hands were shaking, and his lips trembled. "Y-y-you just.... You! You just want to hurt... It's like beekeeping and mechanical engineering! I'm not falling for it. You're trying..." "I have no idea what you're talking about, but I don't want to hurt anyone, Aiden." Roderick stood up slowly with his hands held high in surrender. He walked slowly over to my little brother, looking him in the eye the whole way. He bent down and whispered something in his ear that I couldn't hear, but the tips of Aiden's ears glowed bright red and blood bloomed across his entire face. My little brother staggered back a step and then said breathlessly, "I'll think about it." Then he fled. "What did you say to him?" I growled, but Roderick only smirked in answer. We didn't talk for the rest of our workout. Somehow I'd lost control of everything. I could feel Aiden suddenly slipping through my grasp and wondered if I shouldn't just open my fingers and let him go. It filled my stomach with a leaden feeling to think of him with someone else, but if I was completely honest with myself, I felt much better whenever I pulled out the picture Aiden had given me and looked at the girl within it. Maybe he was right about us being honest about what we needed. Meghan? I'd never seen her around campus; I'd remember. She looked a lot like my brother, to be honest, but was all curves where he was angles. My body responded to her even if I felt like a traitor. That night, Aiden went into his own bedroom again and shut the door. I stood outside it for a few moments and touched my fingers along the wood. I didn't know how to do anything but give Aiden what he wanted, so I retreated to my own room and spent an hour staring at my dark ceiling. At some point deep in the night, a shuffle in the hall caught my attention and I turned my head upon the pillow. Aiden stood in the doorway of my bedroom, limned in the nightlight from the hall and looking like an angel lost on his travels. He hesitated there, watching me. He was probably unable to tell if I was awake or asleep since his own shadow stretched across my face. "You're awake, Con?" "Yeah." A long silence followed while he fought whatever doubts were holding him back. I didn't expect him to win on his own; I had learned long ago that Aiden looked to me to fight his fear. "You need something, Spaz?" "I... uh... no. No, I don't need..." I threw the sheets off my lower body, and since I'd slept nude since we moved to college, I was fully bared to him. The effect of my body upon my brother's brain was an alchemy I'd never understand, but it served the purpose of stopping his denial in its tracks. I wordlessly slid my legs open upon the slippery sheets, making room for him between my thighs. He was there in an instant, curled up and safe with his mouth full of my balls, his tongue reaching and caressing me. My hand gently cupped the back of his head, and while I sighed my pleasure his eyes dripped silent tears upon my sheets and his lips moved ceaselessly against my skin. My brother was speaking to me without words; and what he was saying sounded very much like goodbye. * I appreciate hearing from people who are reading my stories. Shoot me an email and let me know what you think. Your feedback is the only way I know you're reading and whether or not it makes sense to continue. I have other stories, too. Look up Seth Kirkcauldy in the author's section. seth-kirkcauldy@sbcglobal.net