September 20, 2007

Lessons - a Slipping the Stream story by Mike Shade

Orry hated his hair.

He had to think about making it gray, making it quiet, making it dull.

He had to think about making it not show everything -- every single thing he felt.

Today he was fighting to keep the dark red-violet streaks of pain out of it. It wasn't a bad pain, more a stupid pain, a kid's pain and he didn't want Cents to tease or Dar to stop just because his foot hurt.

It was just blisters.

Just silly blisters and he hid behind his dead gray hair that he hated, because he might be able to keep the colors away, but he couldn't make his hair lie.

Cents nudged him. "You 'k, Or?"

Orry nodded. "Yeah. I'm cool." He gave his best friend a grin. "You?"

"Bored." Sometimes when Cents talked, it was like he had hair that showed what he was feeling -- his voice and his eyes, they said a lot.

"Yeah?" Orry moved closer, walking so they were touching. "Whatcha wanna do?"

Cents giggled. "Cybersex?"

Orry grinned, nudged Cents with his pack. "I got hotwire cables and a converter box."

"Really? Cool. You think we could do it while still moving?"

"Dunno." He shrugged. "Will it piss Dar off?"

"Probably." Cents grinned at him.

"Is he going to find something else to be pissed off about first?"

Cents shrugged and the two of them bumped into Dar who'd stopped. "What are you two up to?"

"Up to?" Think gray, Orry. Gray. Graaaaaaay.

"We're just talking, Dar. I'm bored."

Dar snorted. "Which means you're up to something." Dar's eyes narrowed. "Are you okay, baby-gold?"

"Okay?" He grabbed a glance at his hair. Gray. Gray. Gray. "Why?"

Dar crossed his arms and started down at him. "Because your hair is gray."

He started blushing, hair turning light pink with his embarrassment.

"You two planning something or is it something else?"

"Something else?" How did Dar do that? He shifted, feet aching.

"Orry..." Cents was no help, bouncing quietly beside him.

"I..." His hair shifted -- the red-purple of hurting showing clear.

Dar growled, but it was Cents that spoke. "Oh man, Orry -- what's wrong?"

"Nothing. My feet hurt, is all. Blisters." His hair went pink again.

"You should have said something." Dar picked him up and headed toward a building, Cents trotting along to keep up with them. "We would have stopped."

"No reason to stop. 'm okay. Put me down, Dar. I'm okay."

"I do that and by tonight those blisters are bad enough you can't walk and then we're stuck out in no-man's land for who knows how long. You just lie still until I get us under cover of this building and we'll set up camp for the night. I'll first aid the feet and you'll be right by tomorrow."

Orry blinked. "Huh?" He looked down at Cents. "Am I in trouble?"

Cents shook his head. "Maybe a little for not saying nothing, but not for the blisters."

"Oh." He looked up at Dar. "I was trying to be brave. I can do it."

Dar rolled his eyes. "Brave. Orry, you and Cents don't have to be brave, all right? I'd rather you were alive, healthy."

He stuck out his tongue. "It's just blisters."

"On your tongue?" Dar asked, one bushy red eyebrow raised.

His hair went bright pink. "No..."

"Your feet then, I presume." Dar put him down once they were inside, Cents securing the door. The big man started to take off his shoes.

"Mm-hmm." He bit his bottom lip, tears springing to his eyes. "Ow. Don't, Dar. It hurts."

Dar sighed. "You see -- what if you'd gotten to the point where you couldn't walk?"

One big hand came out and slid along his cheek, brushing away his tears. "I need to know anytime you're hurting, baby-gold. Am I really such a spider that you'd suffer instead of telling me?"

"You're not a spider!" Orry shook his head. "It's just blisters and we were busy and I'm not a weakling kid, I'm not!"

"You listen to me. You, too, Cents, this is important."

Cents came and sat next to him, taking his hand.

"It's not just blisters. It's not just anything. Hurting is hurting and I need to know. You both remember that infection Base had that took his arm almost up to his elbow? You know how that started? A splinter. He didn't think he needed to tell anyone about it 'cause it was just a splinter. It got infected though, didn't it? And we didn't have enough first aid to fix it. So it just got worse until the arm had to come off. You think if Base could have a do-over he'd say it was just a splinter and not bother anyone with it?"

"I'm sorry. Don't be mad. I was trying to be good." He curled into Cents' arm, hiding his face in the thin shoulder. "I was."

"I'm not mad, Orry. I just worry about you boys. It's what I do. If Base had come to me with that splinter, I'd have taken it out and put on a dab of alcohol and that would have been the end of the story. Same with these blisters -- they're not too bad now, though if you'd told me when they started in, I could have just bandaged them and we could have kept going. Now though, you've got to give your feet some rest. And if you hadn't said anything and I hadn't guessed something was wrong? You might have lost your feet by the time we were done."

Cents held him tight, petting with one hand. "He gets you, Dar."

"What about you, Cents? Do you get me?"

"Yes, sir."

Dar sighed. "You boys think I hover and worry and generally just try to make your life a misery, don't you? You think I don't want you to be able to jack in whenever you want? You think I don't want everything to be pie and ice cream for you?

"I'm not the bad guy here. Or at least, I'm not supposed to be."

Oh, now he felt bad.

Orry cuddled tighter. "Don't be mad, Dar. I'll be better. I will."

"I'm not mad at you for being hurt -- I'm not even mad you didn't tell me, just... a little upset and worried, okay?"

Dar's thick fingers slid through his hair, pushing it back behind his ear. "You and Cents are special to me, yeah? Don't want nothing bad to happen to you."

He hummed, pulling Cents into Dar's heat. "Do that again?"

Dar's arms slid around them both and a kiss was dropped onto his and then Cents' heads. "You're my boys."

He raised his face along with Cents, begging a kiss.

Dar licked Cents’ lips and then his own and then the big hands moved their heads closer together and they were all kissing and it felt so good. Cents snuggled with him, pushing him into Dar. Dar's heat sank deep inside him, making him relax, making him moan.

"It's my job to make my boys feel good, yeah?" Dar nibbled his and Cents' lips, encouraging them to keep kissing each other.

"Mmm..." Orry settled into the kiss, nodding. Cents tasted so good. So good.

While he and Cents kissed, Dar worked at making them naked.

Those thick, warm hands slid over his skin, pulling off all his clothes and Cents' clothes and he didn't feel the cold at all because Dar was solid and warm and pressed close.

Cents was making noises and pushing them into his lips, and he ate each one up, so hungry.

Once they were completely naked, Dar took him and Cents' cocks in one hand, stroking them off together.

"Oh! Dar..." His fingers found Cents' nipples, stroking, tugging.

Cents gasped and touched him back, fingers skittering over his skin.

Orry shifted, thighs parting, eyes wide. How did this happen? How did they go from kisses to heat?

The answer was in the solid body behind him, in the big hand stroking and Cents off. Dar knew just what buttons to push to make them both mindless with need and want.

One of his hands reached down to wrap around Dar's shaft, finding Cents' fingers and twining with them. Dar moaned, the sound low and needy.

Cents grinned and groaned into his lips, the kiss growing wild.

They all moved together and it was sweet and hot and good and he loved it, loved them.

"That's it, boys. Come for me now," muttered Dar.

Cents cried out in his mouth and Orry jumped and jerked and came hard, spraying over Dar's fingers. Dar moaned and pushed against him, heat spraying over his and Cents' twined fingers.

They were panting now, warm and settled, his hair almost glowing, the gray nowhere to be seen.

Dar rumbled, fingers sliding through his hair. "That's better, baby-gold."

Cents giggled and wriggled against him, whispering. "We'll have to try that walking cybersex thing later."

"What was that?" Dar asked.

"Nothing," said Cents, still giggling like crazy.

He started giggling, snuggling into Dar's chest.

Dar kind of harrumphed like he didn't believe a word of it, but those solid, warm arms wrapped around them both, pulling them close.

He cuddled, arm wrapped around Cents, resting easy. Dar's breath was warm and good against his neck.

"Sleep. Rest. Tomorrow we go again."

"We ever gonna stop going, Dar?"

"I hope so, Orry. But as long as we go together, yeah? That's what counts."

"Yeah. Okay. My feet are gonna be fine?" He was almost asleep, hair a soft blue against his cheeks.

"Just fine, baby-gold. Just fine."

Orry nodded, trusting in Dar's word above all else. Dar knew. Dar always knew.

end