Anthology

This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real people, places and events is unintentional.

ANTHOLOGY

You are travelling into an alternate dimension. Do not adjust your connection to reality. Here we find a universe of infinitive possibilities, of extraordinary powers and incredible circumstances. Welcome to the Anthology...

Anthology (V) – Seasons Meetings (part two)

Steve and Hugh are friends. Steve is cool and popular and an empathic superpower lets him see the hearts on people's sleeves. Hugh is odd and struggles to feel his own emotions, also he can translocate himself and others in the blink of an eye. After parting on the day before Christmas, they find themselves drawn together again. Will the unlikely pair see the New Year together?

WHIT'S FUR YE'LL NO GO BY YE!

(WHAT'S FOR YOU WILL NOT GO BY YOU!)

Steve was drying his balls and perineum.

The damp white towel contrasted against his rich, dark skin which, although dry, remained attractively moist and hydrated. Steve had not long stepped out of the shower and he had the house to himself. His important and self-important father had a meeting to keep – even on Hogmanay, the man wouldn't take a break from his work as a political advisor.

It worked out fine for Steve who liked knowing that his parents wouldn't be home and enjoyed the freedom of walking around naked. His bedroom had an en suite bathroom with a shower, but Steve showered in the main bathroom and walked back along the hall starkers – just because he could.

On a whim, Steve had trimmed his pubes and thought it made his penis look bigger.

Hugh appeared in the room.

"Fuck!" Steve started.

Steve dropped the towel as he jumped back and fell onto his bed. Steve lay, totally naked with his legs splayed wide and looked up at Hugh who stared back with detached but studied interest. Steve could see Hugh's actual emotions...

Let's back up.

Steve and Hugh went to school together in Inverness in the north of Scotland. They were in S6, their last year of high school, and were among the brightest boys in the school. For this reason, Steve and Hugh had attended the Four Nations Academic Decathlon (and won) that had taken place a few days before Christmas.

On the drive home, circumstances had conspired to strand them overnight. Well, circumstances and a mysterious man called Matt who could literally control the weather and who had blanketed their path with snow. On the other hand, the white Christmas had been picturesque.

The boys had believed Matt was their teacher who was chaperoning them to and from the decathlon but Matt was not their teacher. Steve and Hugh's memories had been manipulated to make them believe he was a teacher and so accept his interventions.

When confronted, Matt admitted that there were very real "superpowers" or abilities in the world. Steve and Hugh already knew this because they had such abilities. Steve could literally see emotions (Hugh called it synesthetic empathy while Matt called it optical empathy) and Hugh could teleport (transposition, Matt called it).

Matt's intervention had been designed to edge Steve and Hugh towards each other on an emotional and relationship level. By accident or by fate, they had discovered each other's abilities when Hugh saved Steve's life. Matt had gone on to suggest that Steve and Hugh were meant for each other and that together they would be important. Steve was not sure he believed the future could be foretold; he didn't believe in fate, that what's for you will not go by you. Steve believed things took work and Hugh was a lot of work.

Since parting ways on Christmas Eve, the pair had talked several times but this was the first face to face. It was only seven days but it felt like seventy. Steve had been looking forward to seeing Hugh but they had some serious things to discuss too. Hence, Steve had invited Hugh to come over at 10AM.

Hugh's eyes shifted in their sockets as they took in the sight of the naked stud. His eyes were green-grey and sat in a face that did not give much away as to what he was thinking or feeling. Hugh had a problem with articulating both thoughts and feelings.

Luckily, Steve could see the sexual excitement in Hugh's halo. Steve called it a halo but the colours and shapes that Steve saw that related to emotions were not just around the head, they could spread all around the head, shoulders and emanate deep within the body – depending on the emotion and the strength of that emotion. Hugh's current halo was pink and yellow and red: love, enthusiasm and passion.

"It is 10AM," Hugh reported.

Steve looked at the clock besides his bed – it was six minutes slow.

"Also, I can see your penis again," Hugh added. "It is nice."

Steve clamped his hands over it with embarrassment.

"You are naked," Hugh said.

"I was showering," Steve replied.

"I understand. I thought perhaps you had been masturbating," Hugh replied.

Hugh's eyes had slid away from Steve's body - he was still looking and certainly interested but eye-contact and staring made Hugh uncomfortable. Hugh spoke conversationally as if discussing the weather. For his part, Steve could not explain why he hadn't picked up his towel yet or tried to get dressed... except he did know. Steve wanted Hugh to see him naked. It felt strange but exciting being looked at while he was naked and Hugh was fully clothed – he even had a winter jacket and backpack on.

"I wasn't masturbating," Steve replied.

"Ok. I understand," Hugh responded neutrally.

"Do... do you masturbate?" Steve asked.

"Yes, I masturbate," Hugh answered.

Sitting at the edge of his bed, with Hugh still standing close by and looking at him, Steve moved his hands towards his knees and uncovered his dick. It was not totally flaccid anymore.

"What do you think about when you mast... jerk off?" Steve asked.

Like most boys, Steve was not so formal when talking about masturbation – he hadn't even realised that he'd been emulating Hugh's dialogue.

"I think having oral sex. I think about being penetrated anally. I think about penetrating someone else anally. I think about being naked at school..." Hugh reported methodically.

Steve interrupted because, well...

"You think about being naked at school?!" Steve interjected.

"Yes. I also think about being naked in other public places," Hugh responded. "For example: in McDonalds, a football pitch, the park, online, in a car, on a bus, in a train, in an elevator, at a shopping centre, in the street on Halloween..."

Having given a nice, round ten examples, Hugh stopped and looked curiously around Steve's room, his eyes passing over Steve and his penis several times. Hugh was not always compelled to list items in tens but he did like the symmetry of a nice, round ten.

"Wow!" Steve replied, unsure what else to say. "Why?"

"I need more information," Hugh said.

In fairness, Steve's question had not been very specific and Hugh had some difficulty extrapolating vague questions from the available context.

"Why do you think about being naked at school and in other public places?" Steve asked.

This, to be clear, was not the conversation Steve had been expecting to have with Hugh. Steve had not expected to be caught naked and he sure as hell hadn't expected to be talking about Hugh's sexual fantasies.

"I find it exciting to think about being exposed. I do not want to be exposed but it is interesting to think about," Hugh replied. "Also, my brother told me that public exposure is frowned upon and that nudity is a taboo."

"Kinda, yea," Steve agreed.

Hugh had developed sexual feelings like most seventeen-year-old boys but had more difficulty expressing them and understanding the boundaries between acceptable an unacceptable. It had been an extremely uncomfortable conversation for his parents, a hilarious conversation for his brothers and an indifferent conversation for Hugh.

Hugh had shared many more thoughts with his brothers. His little brother had proved to be a valuable and sensible confidant. Most boys did not need to be told to not expose oneself in public – Hugh needed to be told. He had only discovered the interest after teleporting for the first time – a year and a half ago.

"So, who do you think about... when you jerk off?" Steve added for clarity.

"You, Blair, Logan, Iain, Jamie, Scott, Mr Pate, Mr Blackburn, Mr Carey, my cousin Jason..." Hugh related. "Perhaps I should not have mentioned you... or my cousin Jason."

Steve got the sense that Hugh was flowing an internal set of rules regarding talking about sex – probably his brother's influence. What must it be like to not have the kind of autonomic insight that most boys have?

"I'm glad you mentioned me," Steve said. "I am naked remember."

Steve felt his heart flutter. Matt's manipulation had brought Steve and Hugh together – to realise each other's abilities and helping Steve accept his sexuality. He had already told Hugh: "I think I might be gay." But Steve's feelings went deeper than that; there was a reason why he enjoyed Hugh's company so much, why they had spent so much time together to prepare for the decathlon. Steve had been crushing on Hugh without realising it. And now he was naked in his bedroom and Hugh was there too.

"I remember."

"Do you want to be naked too?" Steve asked as he stood up.

"Yes," Hugh admitted.

"Come here," Steve said as he stood up.

Hugh vanished and reappeared in what seemed like the same instant. One moment he was across the room and the next he appeared directly in front of Steve. Hugh's clothes fell to the floor where he had been standing, his winter jacket making a heavy thud as it landed atop the jeans and trainers.

Steve closed the short gap between them and kissed Hugh's lips. Hugh's arms lifted and wrapped around Steve's back; as their bodies pressed, both boys started to get hard. The moment felt passionate and intimate and unexpected.

When the kiss broke, Hugh's arms dropped but he smiled. He was just a few inches taller than Steve, who was himself quite tall, but Steve felt like Hugh was looking down on him benevolently. Steve put his hand on the centre of Hugh's chest. Steve had a small spread of chest hair but Hugh's chest was smooth except for a few wiry sprigs in the centre.

"We were going to discuss what we were going to say to Matt," Hugh said.

Steve was thrown for a moment.

Oh yes, literally the reason for Hugh coming over was because they had arranged to talk to Matt about whatever Denego Potentia was. Matt had explained he was "putting together a team" of people with special abilities. Matt had given Steve a card with a contact number and a few other details. The DP Department seemed to be an elusive organisation that contacted people like Steve and Hugh but they had many questions.

Steve glanced at the clock – he and Hugh had arranged to give themselves a few hours before Matt arrived but surely they had some time for... Hugh kissed Steve this time, an action that felt spontaneous and exciting. Steve brought his hands up to Hugh's face, cupping his cheeks, while Hugh's hands stroked Steve's impressive biceps.

"I am curious what he knows about our abilities," Hugh said when the kiss ended. "He said we had both only taken our first steps towards discovering what we can do."

"Which means we can do even more," Steve murmured. "Like, you leaned to teleport..."

"Matt called it translocation," Hugh interrupted.

They were still intimately close yet they seemed to switch between serious conversation and dalliance. Steve found it a little disorientating but Hugh barely seemed to notice the difference.

"You learned to translocate but you said you were naked the first time you did it," Steve continued. "Then you learned to control it so you kept your clothes. Then you leaned to translocate other things and other people."

Steve seemed very excited about it but Hugh was introspective and his emotions were conflicted, seemingly chasing themselves around Hugh's head.

"You can see the emotions of others as colours and shapes. Perhaps you can learn to feel those emotions too?" Hugh speculated.

Or make other people feel emotions, Steve found himself thinking. It was a dark thought.

Afterall, they had already encountered someone who could manipulate their memories. There was a moral quandary lying in Steve's path – what if he could manipulate emotions? It could be a fearsome weapon.

"Maybe," Steve agreed.

Steve kissed Hugh's lips again – just a soft peck – and then moved to Hugh's neck. Steve felt himself getting hard and as his cock rose, Hugh's did too. They touched, glancing against each other like foils; feint, parry and riposte.

"Steve, would you like to have sexual intercourse?" Hugh asked.

Steve coughed and his eyes bulged.

"Wh-what?" he replied.

"Would you like to have sexual, penetrative, anal intercourse with me?" Hugh asked.

While Steve generally found Hugh's directness charming, it could also be disarming. Hugh's face was so open and honest, there was no mockery or flirtation; Hugh proposed fucking as casually as asking to borrow a pen.

"I don't think I'm ready for that yet?" Steve replied.

"You are aroused, I am certain you could participate effectively," Hugh assured Steve.

"No... I mean... I'm not ready emotionally," Steve said and felt lame. "I'm not ready psychologically."

"I do not understand but ok," Hugh said.

Hugh stepped back, his cock now fully hard and totally magnificent. Steve was still hard too and he wished he could just suck or fuck Hugh. What was holding him back?

"Have you ever had sex, Hugh?" Steve asked.

"I have not but I am interested in exploring the experience," Hugh replied.

"Top or bottom?" Steve asked with a grin.

Talking about it was easier. Flirting with Hugh was such a strange experience because Hugh never responded the way most people would.

"Are you asking about sexual position?" Hugh asked and Steve nodded. "I have no preference; therefore, I am versatile. However, I am more interested in exploring the active or penetrative role."

Hugh's a top. Who'd have guessed?

"I'm more interested in exploring the passive role," Steve revealed.

Steve's a bottom. Who'd have guessed?

"That would be agreeable," Hugh said in what he thought was a reassuring tone.

Steve could see green-blue (teal?) colour swirling like a crown around Hugh's head; harmony, trust and safety. Steve was touched that Hugh was trying so hard to be supportive.

"We've not made much progress discussing what we're going to ask Matt," Steve observed.

"No but I have enjoyed the content of our conversation," Hugh said.

"We'll just have to play it by ear I guess," Steve proposed and immediately regretted it.

Understanding idioms were not Hugh's strong suit.

"I do not understand," Hugh replied.

"It's when you decide what to say or do in a situation as it unfolds rather than planning in advance," Steve said. Then he added, because he knew Hugh would ask: "I think the original phrase referred to playing an instrument without sheet music so you either remembered it or improvised."

"Improvisation is not a particular skill of mine," Hugh admitted.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be there for you," Steve assured him.

"That's nice," Hugh said.

Steve could see a contentedness around Hugh and the colour had a calming influence on Steve's recent nervousness. Both boys had started to go soft but their dicks remained plump. Steve reached for Hugh's hand and they locked eyes. Hugh's gaze slowly slid away; the eye contact made him uncomfortable after a few seconds.

"Let's lie down," Steve said.

Steve led Hugh to his bed and slipped under the covers. Hugh slid in beside him and pulled the cover over them. Steve turned on his side, facing away from Hugh, and reached behind himself to guide Hugh closer. The two boys spooned, Hugh's semi-hard penis pressing against the crack of Steve's ass. Steve's cock grew fully hard again but Hugh maintained a pleasing balance of half-hardness.

"I like looking at you naked, Steve. And I like touching you," Hugh said as he made himself cosy against Steve's back.

"I like looking at you too," Steve admitted. "Can I ask you something?"

"I am sure you can," Hugh replied.

"You said when you learned to translocate, you were naked the first time..." Steve said.

For most people this would have been enough of a prompt.

"That is not a question," Hugh pointed out.

"Right. It was eighteen months ago, right? You said it was June?" Steve replied.

"Tuesday the first of June two-thousand and twenty-one, four fifteen PM," Hugh specified.

"Tell me about it. What happened the first time?" Steve asked.

FIVE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-EIGHT DAYS AGO

"You want me to punch you in the face?"

"No thank you," Hugh replied.

Backtracking for a moment...

Hugh's birthday was three days ago and he had just turned sixteen. It was a lovely day – warm and bright, well warm by Scottish standards anyway. School had just finished for the day and the summer holidays were just a few weeks away. Hugh followed his usual route home – what other route would he take – when he had been met by a group of cocky teens.

They were pretty and good looking. They were all around Hugh's age give or take a year but Hugh was already tall for his age – nearly six feet tall and only sixteen years old - and none of them could quite meet him eye to eye. That didn't stop them squaring up to him.

Of the five boys, three were in school uniforms – but they did not go to the same school as Hugh. One of them was in what looked like the school PE kit – shorts and polo shirt with a school logo, socks and trainers and a schoolbag on his back.

The last boy was also wearing shorts; his dick made a little dent in the front of them and his legs had a slight fuzz on them. The boy was wearing ankle socks that left most of his legs exposed. Also, he was shirtless and had a remarkably toned body but small, brown nipples.

Hugh had offered the group a passing glance that had lasted too long – he looked without staring and made no eye contact. Hugh had an exceptional memory so he didn't need to look for long to commit details to memory that lasted forever. Nevertheless, the boys had taken offence and Hugh didn't get sarcasm. Nor did he understand their cocky hostility.

Hugh didn't have the sense to just walk away or, more importantly, lie when they started asking him questions as they circled around him.

"You pervin' or us?" one asked.

"No," Hugh replied.

"I saw you looking," another said.

"Yes," Hugh agreed.

"I knew it. You like what you see?" the shirtless boy said.

"Yes," Hugh admitted.

The five guys laughed.

"You want to see more?" said the fourth boy as he teasingly unbuttoned his school shirt.

"Ok," Hugh replied keenly.

The shirt opened and Hugh did indeed like what he saw. Another toned and tight boy body greeted him.

"You a poofter?" asked the last boy.

"I am a homosexual, yes," Hugh replied.

The five lads laughed again.

"Are you a robot too?" the shirtless boy sneered.

"I am not a robot," Hugh assured him.

"Why do you talk like one?" demanded the last boy.

Hugh was used to people thinking he "talked weird" – it was a combination of nature and choice for Hugh. For example, he was perfectly capable of using contractions but genuinely enjoyed the exactness of complete speech and so he avoided it most of the time.

"This is how I choose to talk," Hugh replied.

Hugh's speech was sometimes described as mechanical but he preferred precise. Criticism didn't really bother him anyway and everyone's voice was criticised for something – too loud, too camp, too deep, too fast.

"We were going to play footy at the Valley Vale Club," said one of the cocky boys. "You wanna come?"

"No thank you," Hugh replied. "Also, Valley Vale is a tautology."

"You're a tautology!" the boy snapped – because he didn't know what tautology meant.

"That does not make sense," Hugh shouldn't have said but did.

"You calling us stupid?" asked the open shirted boy.

"No but you are ignorant for not knowing what tautology means. Also, your nipples are hard," Hugh said.

"He's lookin' at your nipples."

"You're a weirdo."

"Fucking poofter."

"You should fuckin' run, mate."

"You want me to punch you in the face?" the shirtless boy asked.

"No thank you," Hugh replied.

...All caught up.

The shirtless lad shoved Hugh, who staggered back and suddenly registered the intimidation of the boys. Hugh didn't process information the way most people did but his brothers, while intellectually not his equal, had a far superior emotional intelligence. Little brother helped Hugh to read situations, people and dialogue better and being shoved or threatened was a red flag.

Hugh turned on his heel and ran.

Hugh had a lofty height, with long legs that were built for speed. Hugh's only experience with exercise was his "enforced regime" also known as PE. Hugh needn't complain about PE, he was actually perfectly adequate... at solo sports like sprinting or 1500 metres or cross country. Team sports? Not so much.

As Hugh's legs pumped, he raced across the pavement and up the long street ahead. However, the five guys were giving chase – Hugh didn't know what they'd do if they caught him but then, neither did they. Were they really spoiling for a fight or just to scare Hugh? Hugh did not want to find out.

The shouted in incomprehensible chav as they ran after him.

"Un orrest unn!"

"Eer gonna et yah!"

"Ahhs icker!"

"Onna boot yah in the alls!"

"Ooofta!"

Hugh didn't dare look behind him but he thought he could hear them getting louder which meant they were getting closer. Hugh panicked as he reached the end of the road and turned, crossing the road (taking the time to look both ways because he wasn't stupid) and leaping onto the grass on the other side. Hugh ran up the grassy hill which was a shortcut home that he didn't usually take. The hill had no actual path, not even a desire path, so he assumed the hill wasn't actually a legitimate route. But needs must.

Hugh glanced at his watch – it would be one thing to get home but he wanted his one of his brothers or dad to be there to protect him. It was fourteen minutes past four in the afternoon so they should be home soon.

A fresh bout of shouting and Hugh knew they were still following him.

"We're gonna fucking get you, bitch!"

The words were too clear to be coming from a distance! Hugh reached the top of the hill and leaped across the grass, finally looking over his shoulder – they hadn't crested the hill but they were coming. Then Hugh stumbled and his worst fear was realised – he was going to fall. The five boys were going to catch him and then...

Hugh found himself running on a flat, grassy terrain. He was no longer going downhill but his momentum was the same so Hugh still stumbled, falling to his knees and putting his hands out to brace the landing. When he came to a stop, Hugh was on all fours; he looked at himself – his bare chest and his penis and his thighs.

He was totally naked! Why was he naked?

Hugh looked over his shoulder and saw his bare back and the curve of his naked ass. The sixteen-year-old got to his feet – his bare feet because even his shoes were gone – and looked around. He didn't recognise the sight. It was certainly a sports pitch of some kind but he had never been here before and more importantly he had not run here. Hugh had simply appeared wherever here was.

"Hi," said a voice.

Hugh turned to see a single lad (not one of the boys who had been chasing him) coming towards him. He was dressed in rugby shorts and t-shirt; he had sweaty blonde hair and rosy cheeks, his thighs were muscular and his lower legs mostly covered by long socks. As he got closer, Hugh estimated the young man was in his late teens or early twenties. The lad was a few inches shorter than Hugh which became apparent when he jogged to a stop.

"Hey man, you streaking?" the young man asked in what Hugh now realised was a Welsh accent.

"No. I am not streaking," Hugh replied.

Hugh literally could not and did not imagine how it must look to the Welshman. Hugh was a tall, totally naked boy standing in the middle of a fresh, green rugby pitch – blue skies were overhead and it was warmer than it had been in Scotland.

"Am I in Wales?" Hugh asked – based on inference rather than making assumptions.

After all, it is possible for a Welsh person to be in Scotland.

"Yea, dude, you're in Wales," the lad replied as if it were obvious.

The Welsh lad looked at Hugh with a mixture of attraction and disbelief. Hugh hadn't even covered his genitals – it didn't occur to him to do so. What kind of boy did that (or didn't do that)?

"You are looking at my penis," Hugh stated.

"Yea... a little bit," the lad chuckled. "Why is your penis... why are you naked?"

Hugh did not know.

He had somehow travelled through space.

"What is the time?" Hugh asked because his watch was gone.

"Oh, eh..." the lad was thrown by the change of conversation. "It's just after quarter past five."

So, Hugh had not travelled through time then – only space.

Hugh turned around to take in his environment and treated the Welsh lad to the sight of a long, bare back, a petite bum and long legs with wispy hairs on them. Hugh turned back and the lad couldn't stop himself looking at the three inches of exposed penis and the round sac of balls behind and underneath it.

Dylan couldn't help but think the naked lad was very strange. Being strange was fine, nothing wrong with that but he was still very strange.

"My name's Dylan," the Welsh lad said.

"I am Hugh," he replied.

"Were you attacked or something?" Dylan asked with concern.

"I do not know. I was being chased and then I was here," Hugh said.

"You were being chased? Where?" Dylan asked.

"Along West Avenue towards Allen Drive. I ran up Garrick Hill and stumbled and then landed here," Hugh pointed to the ground.

"You were being chased naked through the streets?" Dylan asked hopefully.

Dylan was obviously not hopeful that the poor guy had been stripped and then pursued but the idea of a totally naked guy running along a residential street was totally hot!

"I was being chased but I was not naked. I do not know what happened to my clothes, my watch, my schoolbag or my phone," Hugh reported.

"You just... magically ended up here?" Dylan asked doubtfully – thinking maybe the dude really was a bit special.

Hugh cocked his head at the healthy scepticism.

"I do not believe in magic or hocus pocus because I know what can be achieved if you focus," Hugh replied almost musically – something his mum was prone to say.

Hugh understood and valued information rather than accepting something to be true without any proof. It is called belief because it is not knowledge. Hugh did not believe magic communicated him from Scotland to Wales in the blink of an eye and the fact he did not have the information to say how it happened was not a licence to believe an illogical answer. In the history of questions, the answer has never turned out to be magic.

"Ok... you know you're naked right?" Dylan asked because it was not clear that Hugh was conscious of his exposure.

"Yes. I am aware," Hugh acknowledged.

"I mean, you look great..." Dylan said.

"Thank you," Hugh responded.

"But most guys don't walk around with their dicks exposed," Dylan said.

Unfortunately.

"It was not intentional," Hugh stated.

Dylan smiled back. The way Hugh spoke was so measured and precise. It was odd but not unpleasant and Dylan thought better of asking about it – he didn't know how to ask such a question.

"Say, why don't you talk like a normal person?" implied that Hugh was not normal. To be honest, Dylan didn't think Hugh was normal but he didn't want to be rude.

"Why don't you come inside and I'll find you something to wear? Maybe try to call home?" Dylan suggested.

"Ok. That's nice," Hugh agreed.

The bulky young man in a rugby outfit and the naked, beanpole of a boy walked together towards the rugby club. Hugh could feel the soft, dry grass under his feet and when they reached the edge of the pitch, the sensation of concrete under his feet felt unwelcomingly solid.

At no point did Hugh cover up, he just meandered beside Dylan with his penis slightly swaying. Hugh had a nice, neat bundle of pubes above an above average, limp dick. It was flaccid but already looked impressive. Dylan had no intention of taking advantage of the unexpected visitor but he might as well take a shot and see of Hugh was interested.

"Normally my team practices on a Wednesday but I came in today because I had some free time and wanted to work on some drills," Dylan said.

"I do not know what that means," Hugh admitted.

"It means this place is empty so at least no-one else will see you naked," Dylan replied.

"Ok. That's nice," Hugh said.

Dylan led Hugh into the main locker room and sat down on a bench. Hugh didn't know whether to sit or stand so he remained standing. Dylan pulled off his boots and then his socks, revealing furry but not hairy legs. Dylan lifted his t-shirt to expose a well-developed chest and a muscular but not well-defined belly. Hugh watched without comment as Dylan stood up and dropped his shorts, stepping out of them and then dropping his underwear and stepping out of them.

"You are also naked now," Hugh needlessly pointed out. "I like your penis."

Dylan's eyebrows shot up. Dylan was already half-hard but he was pleased that Hugh voiced his attraction without shame of guarding his true thoughts.

"Do you want to take a shower with me?" Dylan asked.

"Yes, ok," Hugh agreed.

"So, you're from Scotland?" Dylan asked.

"Yes. I live in Inverness."

"I've never been to Scotland," Dylan revealed as he turned on the shower.

"I had never been to Wales until twenty minutes ago," Hugh said, glancing at the clock on the wall.

Dylan chuckled – Hugh was such a strange guy; it was hard to tell if he was joking or being serious... or thought he was being serious? It occurred to Dylan that Hugh might have special needs. Dylan gave up asking questions about how Hugh ended up naked on the rugby pitch – he wasn't going to get a straight answer.

"So, what are you into?" Dylan asked as the water started to cascade.

Dylan offered Hugh's naked, and now wet, body a once over. He smiled seductively and ran his hand suggestively over his dick.

"I am into lots of things. Including but not limited to: music, movies, books, comic books, science fiction, physics, chemistry, English literature, general knowledge..." Hugh counted the items in his head as he spoke before adding: "And also sex with men."

Dylan could not stop himself laughing at the brutal, unfiltered honesty. He had of course been asking if Hugh was attracted to men but he had not expected to be given so many other details – he had started to think Hugh hadn't understood the question.

"You like men?" Dylan asked, taking a step forward. "Do you like me?"

"Yes. I like you," Hugh admitted.

Hugh did not have much experience with boys or men – most people called him a freak or a weirdo – but it didn't mean he wasn't interested. Hugh might not have called it flattery but he was flattered by the attention from Dylan.

Dylan stepped closer to Hugh, who turned so his back was to the shower wall. Dylan put his hands on the wall on either side of Hugh's head. Hugh looked into Dylan's armpits which had a decent bush of dark hair matted by water.

Dylan leaned in and touched his lips to Hugh's. Hugh pressed harder, leaned in and putting his hands on Dylan's slippery hips. Dylan's hands moved to Hugh's face and the pair kissed with increasing interest and passion. Hugh had been kissed a few times but never so fervently. Hugh had also never been naked when kissing someone.

Hugh's hands slid around Dylan's back and their bodies were pulled tighter. Hugh could feel a firm rod of meat pressing into his abdomen – Dylan's cock was hard. Hugh was also fully aroused. Hugh felt Dylan's hands move from his face to grasp his cock.

"Oh my..." Dylan said breathily.

Hugh had a seven-inch cock, an impressive member that Dylan was now yanking. Dylan's hand was wet, making the shaft of Hugh's cock slick. The head of Hugh's dick was intensely stimulated as his foreskin was pulled back and it slipped back and forth over the glans.

"You have a big one!" Dylan said.

Hugh's hands moved from Dylan's back to grope blindly for the young man's dick. They had resumed kissing, which Hugh rather enjoyed, and then Hugh felt Dylan's cock. It was strange. Not peculiar. It was strange because it was not his own.

Hugh could feel the hard and hot cock, an inch smaller than his own but girthy, but the sensation of masturbating someone other than himself was not like onanism. It felt very good and Hugh couldn't find the words to articulate his feelings.

Suddenly, Hugh found lips around one of his nipples as Dylan suckled on it. When Hugh let out a moan, Dylan stopped and looked up at him. Dylan flicked his eyebrows up before bending even farther over and gripping Hugh's cock by its base. Before Hugh could say anything, his cock was in Dylan's mouth.

Fuck!

Hugh was filled with overwhelming sensations – he could feel his hot blood surging and he was almost trembling. Dylan was having the time of his life – sucking on the big dick of a hot young man. Normally he had to meet a guy in the toilet of a nightclub for this kind of quick action.

While Dylan sloppily sucked on Hugh's dick, his hands groped Hugh's buttocks. Hugh didn't even know what to do with his hands so he just stood there with lightly closed fists at his sides. Dylan finally needed to breath and came up for air, kissing Hugh on the lips.

Dylan's lips tasted funny!

"You... you should suck my cock," Dylan said hopefully.

"Ok," Hugh said.

Hugh had never sucked a cock before but he had seen and felt how Dylan did it and he watched porn. Hugh dropped to his knees and put his hands on Dylan's hips. Dylan's cock was a rigid six inches that almost stood completely upright – pointing towards his navel.

Hugh used one hand to pull it down and then moved his face towards the horizontal tube of man meat. Hugh held the dick by its root and licked the head. When Dylan moaned encouragingly, Hugh continued. He kissed the head a few times and then pursed his lips tightly over the knob, twisting and turning his head as he worked the shaft into his mouth like he was screwing it into his face.

Dylan was impressed – he hadn't been expecting such an impressive blowjob from such a strange guy. Dylan put his hands on Hugh's head and Hugh happily continued to suck and lick. Hugh had been curious what the first penis in his mouth would feel like. He needed more information and processed every moment with interest.

The feel of the spongy mass of tissue was hard and firm yet squidgy and yielding; it was hot and wet, leaking salty yet sweet nectar down the back of his throat; it was long but Hugh could take it almost to the hit, he could feel pubes tickling his nose; the smell could be coming from the cock or the balls and it was strong, musky and manly.

"Oh! Fuck! I'm gonna cum," Dylan said.

Hugh looked up and before he could decide if he wanted ejaculate in his mouth or not, Dylan unloaded. Hugh had tased his own cum but Dylan's tasted different.

It was warm and sludgy; slightly salty and almost greasy; it was liquid yet had thickness that coated his tongue; it was not particularly voluminous but the three or four millilitres went a long way.

Dylan let go of Hugh's head and he leaned back against the shower wall, his cock slipping free from Hugh's face, dragging across Hugh's lips and smearing them with discharge that coated the head of his dick. Hugh spat on the floor and Dylan felt unreasonably disappointed that Hugh hadn't swallowed.

Hugh was perfectly aware that swallowing was a convention when giving a blowjob but he didn't want to so he didn't. His own cock was still hard and he sat back on his heels as his hand gripped it and he started jerking.

His cock was hot and his balls were heavy. Hugh hadn't planned on cumming today but he did enjoy masturbation and he knew that opportunities like this didn't come along very often. He had to be flexible and take advantage of hot naked men when he had the opportunity.

"Stand up," Dylan said.

Hugh stood up and Dylan knelt down.

"Cum on my face. I love that stuff," Dylan said.

Hush jerked with one hand and tugged his wet balls with the other.

"Do you want me to warn you?" Hugh asked.

"No, surprise me," Dylan said sarcastically.

Hugh liked the way his wet skin helped to lubricate his cock and when he concentrated on the head of his dick, how whole body tingled. Hugh passed his grip back and forth over the ridge of the glans until he was at the tipping point: the threshold beyond which change is rapid.

Hugh's ejaculate, unlike Dylan's was enormous. Hugh only masturbated a few times a month so his balls unloaded massively. Dylan was surprised by the first load that hit him hard in the face, splashing off in many directions. The second load glued his eye shut.

"Fuck!" Dylan said.

A third and fourth load discharged across Dylan's nose and lips, dripping over his chin. Dylan could feel all four loads streaming down his face. A final, weaker, spurt or two were released over Dylan's lower lip and chin as Hugh leaned forward to let it all out.

Dylan's face was a mess of jizz.

Hugh thought Dylan looked like he had been slimed like in Ghostbusters except not green.

"What happened to my warning?" Dylan chuckled as he stood up and swept cum from his face with his hand.

"You told me not to," Hugh replied.

"I was being sarcastic, Hugh," Dylan said. "It was obvious I was being sarcastic."

Hugh did not pick up on the inherent criticism and Dylan didn't add anything else because he had actually quite enjoyed it. Dylan put his face back under a stream of water from the shower and rinsed his face.

Hugh wiped his mouth and wanted to rinse the taste away but not with shower water. When the showers turned off, the pair walked back towards the locker room where Dylan gave Hugh a towel.

"I think I have a spare pair of shorts and a t-shirt you can borrow," Dylan said.

"Thank you," Hugh responded.

"And there'll be a pair of trainers knocking about somewhere," Dylan added.

"Ok. That's nice," Hugh replied.

Dylan pulled on his own shorts and t-shirt first. He liked looking at Hugh who was still naked and he was dressed. Hugh didn't seem to mind being looked at. Dylan wondered if Hugh would let him take pictures?

Dylan pondered this for a moment but worried it was taking advantage of the guy – more so than getting a blowjob from him? Yet Dylan would love to do other things to Hugh. Maybe fuck his little ass? Dylan imagined Hugh's hole was tight. Even better – getting fucked by the big-dicked lad. Seven inches inside his ass would feel absolutely amazing.

Maybe they could meet again sometime? He still didn't know the real story of where Hugh was from.

"So, are you going to go back to Scotland?" asked Dylan casually.

"Yes."

"Train?" Dylan enquired.

"I do not travel on trains by myself," Hugh said.

Not after what happened when he was thirteen.

"Car?" Dylan proposed.

"I cannot drive. I am only sixteen," Hugh responded reasonably.

Dylan's mouth fell open with shock as he looked at the magnificent, tall, boy – naked but for a towel that fluffed his dick.

"You're... you're what?" Dylan asked.

Hugh's eyebrows pinched as he worked past the incorrect question word. Hugh deduced that Dylan meant: "You're how old?"

"I am sixteen years and four days old," Hugh elaborated in case it was the imprecision of his answer that was causing the problem.

"Oh my god... I just let a kid suck my cock," Dylan said.

Dylan looked him up and down again. How could a sixteen-year-old be six feet tall? He was so handsome and yet... boyish, now that Dylan took the time to look.

"Is my age a problem?" Hugh asked. "How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-five, Hugh!" Dylan said.

Dylan was aghast that he'd just let a teenager suck his cock. Ten seconds ago, he had been thinking about butt-fucking the boy or getting ass-fucked by the kid.

"You look younger," Hugh offered.

"You look older!" Dylan retaliated.

Hugh didn't see the problem - he was sixteen and able to consent. Dylan had clearly wanted to perform sex acts and so had he. Yet Dylan seemed to be upset.

"I do not understand your reaction. I need more information," Hugh said.

"More information? Are fucking stupid?" Dylan replied.

"No," Hugh said but Dylan was still talking.

"You're a sixteen-year-old kid who just sucked my cock. I came in the mouth of a boy," Dylan protested. "It's disgusting."

"I liked it," Hugh said unhelpfully.

"You are a total freak," Dylan said in consternation.

Hugh looked hurt – he didn't always catch sarcasm or get jokes or understand when he was being insulted but he knew he was being insulted now. Dylan turned away from Hugh and heaved a deep sigh. He hadn't been fair. It wasn't Hugh's fault and technically neither of them had done anything wrong. It felt icky to get a blowjob from a schoolboy but it wasn't a crime.

"Hugh, I'm sorry. I..." Dylan started to say as he turned back.

Hugh didn't want to hear anymore. By the time Dylan turned around, Hugh wasn't there – the towel he had been holding was on the ground.

Hugh wasn't sure how he had moved through space but feeling upset had triggered the shift just like feeling scared had triggered it last time. Wherever he was this time, it was even hotter, brighter and sunnier.

Also, busier, noisier, more public and outdoors.

"Woah!"

"Oh my god!"

"That boy is naked!"

The accents sounded American. Hugh was standing on the steps of what looked like a F.A.R. high school. How had he travelled to the Federated American Republic in the blink of an eye?

"Smile!"

Hugh looked to see multiple cameras pointed at him. He did not feel fear of exposure – Hugh didn't consider that naked pictures of him might end up online – but there were hundreds of people leering at him. Hugh felt frightened and he would never know if anyone actually took a picture or not but one moment he was in front of hundreds of American high schoolers and the next...

It was night time and chilly but not cold.

Hugh was still outside - it was a park of some kind - but the area was well-lit with lampposts. It wasn't actually cold despite the obvious lateness of the hour. Assuming he had not now discovered time travel, Hugh surmised he was in a time zone plus four or five hours or minus eight hours.

"Are you ok?" asked a sniggering voice.

Hugh turned to see three guys.

"What's wrong with this picture?" the amused man asked

His voice sounded Australian.

"Laundry day. Nothing clean, right?" asked another of the men.

"I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle," said the last man.

The three men laughed.

Hugh didn't see their shocked expressions after he vanished.

Hugh was surrounded by neon lights.

Around him, the people reacted with surprise as Hugh stood barefoot and naked. Hugh literally could not understand what they were saying but it was night-time again and the accents sounded Japanese. Hugh turned in a circle and saw the universal reaction to nudity – everyone was looking at his penis again.

This time, Hugh concentrated instead of reacting autonomically. He needed to get home, he needed clothes, he needed his phone and his house keys... Hugh moved through space again.

Hugh appeared on the hillside where he had been chased and fell. He was alone on the hillside and so walked barefoot back up the hill. The grass was prickly under his feet, tickling him and bringing a smile to his face. If his clothes had dropped when he first moved through space, they must have fallen at the top of the hill but they weren't there now.

Hugh considered this and imagined the boys chasing him, cresting the hill and unable to find him but finding a pile of clothes. What would they think? Hugh couldn't infer this but he could deduce what they'd do next – take his things.

The Valley Vale Sports Club.

That's where they said they were going to "play footy" and, Hugh hoped, where they had taken his things. Hugh concentrated and vanished, reappearing indoors. The locker room smelled like damp boy, cheap deodorant and mouldy socks. Hugh took a deep breath and then moved on. As he searched the empty locker room, he considered the attention his nudity had attracted. He had not been fearful of exposure or cameras but the way so many people leered at him had been intimidating; now, with the benefit of distance and hindsight, Hugh had rather enjoyed himself. Being naked and looked at had been quite exciting.

Hugh found his bag in an open locker. He got dressed, checked his phone and keys were accounted for and headed for the exit. He would have to practice this unusual gift and see if he could learn to move through space without becoming naked. Maybe one day, he could learn to move other things or people too? Hugh would have liked to just move through space to get home but needed his things and so he started his walk. It was still warm and sunny outside.

Five hundred miles away, Dylan was wondering how Hugh had disappeared and was thinking about the blowjob from the novice sixteen-year-old. Three and a half thousand miles away, kids were in the school cafeteria and wondering where the naked boy had come from and where he went. Ten thousand miles away, three Australian men were stumbling home and wondering if they'd collectively imagined the naked young man. Five and a half thousand miles away, the nightlife of Tokyo was wondering if Hugh was part of an entertainment show and if the vanishing was part of the act.

Hugh had travelled thousands of miles as the crow flies – all around the world in eighty minutes. What a special enhancement he had just discovered...

RESOLUTIONS AND REVELATIONS

"Wow!" said Steve.

Steve and Hugh were now facing each other, still naked as they lay in bed.

"I need to pee," Hugh said, perhaps ruining the mood.

Steve chuckled – Hugh's earnestness and innocence were charming. Steve had gotten hard during Hugh's storytelling and he would think about that story for days and weeks to come. It was almost amusing how swiftly Hugh moved on from a story about sucking cock for the first time. On the other hand, for Hugh this was the story of teleporting for the first time.

"Ok. Well, we should get dressed I guess," Steve said.

"Yes," Hugh agreed.

Hugh got out of bed – his long legs and cute but and smooth butt tempted Steve.

Hugh pulled on his underpants and socks, his jeans and a t-shirt and then a jumper. The jumper had a pale blue body with one white sleeve and one pink sleeve – the colours suited Hugh and made him look very cute. But Hugh was always cute.

"There's a toilet there," Steve pointed to his en suite.

"Thank you," Hugh replied.

Steve pulled on clothes too but gave his cock a few tugs while Hugh was in the toilet. Although they had faced each other and both had been hard as Hugh told his story, neither of them talked about their arousal. Hugh was too busy recounting his tale of teleportation and Steve was still trying to find the courage to be who he really was.

When Hugh re-emerged, Steve suggested relocating to the living room. Steve was quite happy in the bedroom but they had planned to discuss what they would ask Matt and they clearly weren't going to get much done in the bedroom.

Steve couldn't stop checking Hugh out. Steve accepted he must have been crushing on Hugh for a while but being consciously aware of it had made Hugh distracting. Hugh was wearing skinny jeans and a jumper that looked baggy of his gaunt frame. Hugh was tall and so needed large sizes but skinny so things never seemed to fit. He looked cute in the warm, multi-coloured jumper though.

Steve had a different style. He was wearing comfy jogging bottoms (that emphasised his lovely bottom), a muscle fit t-shirt and hoody that was open – to show off his muscles.

They were about to start talking when the doorbell sounded.

"Matt?" Steve asked as if it were a complete question.

Hugh looked at the time.

"He is early," Hugh replied.

Steve walked into the hall and opened the front door but it wasn't Matt there, it was Blair – his best friend.

Steve and Blair still hadn't seen each other face to face – not since the showers when they had been naked and Steve had sucked his best friend's cock. It wasn't the most ideal way to come out to his friend. They had texted and chatted since then but not seen each other face to face. It was like seeing each other for the first time in years rather than the first time in ten days.

"Blair... eh... do you want to come in?" Steve said.

"Yea, cool. Thanks," he replied awkwardly.

The anxious colours around Blair's head relaxed and dispersed.

"What are you doing here?" Steve asked and then laughed at himself. "That sounded really confrontational. I meant, what are you doing here?"

Blair laughed too, "It's your New Year's party tonight and I didn't want things to be weird. I thought maybe we should see each other before it and make sure everything's ok... in case we turn the party into a soap opera."

Steve chucked and Blair walked down the hall and turned into the living room before Steve could warn him.

"I know we've talked about what happened but we've not actually seen each other since... Hugh," Blair said.

Steve blushed as his friend turned back to him. The halo around Blair's head became a combination of tight, confused scribbles and a fair mist of amusement.

"Hello, Blair," Hugh said.

"Hey," Blair replied and then added to the pair: "Am I interrupting something?"

"Yes."

"No."

Blair looked between them – his emotions looked intrigued and amused, but bewildered too.

"Perhaps we should confer before answering?" Hugh suggested.

Blair started laughing.

"Have you got your headphones in your bag?" Steve asked.

Hugh had brought his jacket and his bag downstairs with him. He looked at it as if for confirmation.

"Yes," Hugh replied.

"Put them on," Steve said.

"Ok."

Hugh sat contentedly, unable to hear the friends talk, and cocooned himself in sound that isolated him from the rest of the world.

Steve turned to Blair, "It's not what you think."

"What do you think I think?" Blair asked with a raised eyebrow.

Blair was joking and he had a mischievous glow around him.

"I don't know. But it's not that," Steve said and then realised how ridiculous he sounded.

"Steve, I wanted to see you because I thought things might be weird between us the first time we saw each other," Blair said reasonably.

"Yea... good thing we avoided that..." Steve jested.

Blair laughed and then shuffled his feet. He was worried about saying what he was about to say.

"I'm not gay," Blair said. "We've figured out that we're still friends but we keep talking around what happened. I'm not gay or bi- or curious or confused..."

"I'm gay," Steve interrupted. "I think I'm gay."

They looked at each other for a long time. They had been friends forever. Neither of them expected this to be a moment in their lives but it was. Blair threw his arms around Steve and hugged him with big, strong arms.

"Thank you for telling me," Blair said. "You can tell me anything."

"I didn't mean for that to happen," Steve said into his friend's neck. "The shower... I didn't mean for that to happen."

As if it were unclear what he was talking about.

"I know," Blair replied.

"It just happened," Steve confessed.

"I liked it," Blair confessed with an air of embarrassment.

"And I didn't mean for you to think that I thought you were gay..." Steve said. "Did that sentence make sense?"

"I know what you mean," Blair responded. "I always know."

Blair was Steve's best friend and they knew each other very well. The big lads parted and Blair could see Steve visibly relax just as Steve could see Blair was unburdened too.

"Have you told you dad?" Blair asked.

"Of course not," Steve snorted.

"Good," Blair replied.

Blair was among the few people who knew how tense Steve's relationship was with his father. Steve's dad was judgemental and had high expectations, he was also distant, cold and critical. As a political advisor, he was a manipulator and planner and he had little time for Steve who never seemed to measure up.

"What's going on with him?" Blair asked with a tilt towards Hugh.

Steve looked at Hugh who sat still with a placid look on his face and music streaming into his ears.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked.

Blair tilted his head just smiled.

"I don't know," Steve added.

"He's nice," Blair said but he wasn't telling the whole truth.

"But?" Steve prompted his friend.

"He's kinda... eccentric, man," Blair replied. "It's cool you guys get along and it's been obvious you like him since you started practicing for the decathlon but..."

"He's eccentric, I know. Except he's not," Steve interjected. "He's smart and sweet. He's insightful and thoughtful and funny. He's my friend."

Blair seemed to glow, impressed and touched and supportive. He turned to Hugh and waved – Hugh waved back. Blair laughed but behind him Steve mimed taking the headphones off and Hugh realised Blair wanted to talk. Hugh took down his earphones.

"I need to go. I was just stopping in to say hi," Blair said.

"Hi," Hugh said and he might have been joking or making a pragmatic speech error.

"Are you coming to Steve's party tonight?" Blair asked.

"I did not know there was a party," Hugh replied.

It would have been awkward if Hugh were the type of boy who knew he had not been invited by someone he was increasingly close to.

"My dad's having a party. Blair and some of my other friends were going to hang out and get drunk," Steve said.

"We are seventeen. Eighteen is the minimum drinking age," Hugh said.

"We're rebellious," Blair said jokingly.

"I understand," Hugh responded seriously.

"You should come," Steve said.

Blair had basically invited him already. Steve wondered what his other friends would make of Hugh's inclusion – they were all on the football and rugby teams and played regular sports together; they all knew Steve was the smartest or second smartest boy in school and that he and Hugh had been studying for the decathlon together.

They also knew Hugh was gay. Hugh was the butt of jokes not only for being an "oddball" but also for being out and proud. Steve was neither out nor proud and he worried what his increased association would Hugh would look like to his mates. At the same time... fuck them!

"Please come," Steve added.

"Ok."

"I need to go. I was going to pick up some booze," Blair said. "Are we cool?"

"We are," Steve said.

"We should make a New Year's resolution to talk more," Blair suggested.

"That would be good," Steve agreed.

"Nice seeing you, Hugh," Blair added.

"It was nice seeing you too," Hugh responded conventionally.

After Blair left, Steve and Hugh sat together. They finally got down to what they planned to talk to Matt about – they wanted answers about why they had been coveted, by whom and what for. They were almost cuddling by the time Matt was due to arrive.

However, when Matt did arrive at Steve's door, he wasn't alone. There was a young man with him – he was taller than Matt, lean with a runners build, nearly as tall as Steve but shorter than Hugh. Quite cute too and standing close to Matt so their arms touched. There was a halo of affection and attraction between them.

"Come in," Steve invited them.

"Steve, Hugh... this is Jay," Matt said.

"Is he on your team?" Steve asked.

"New recruit," Jay said enthusiastically.

"Are you like us? Specially enhanced xenogeny?" Hugh repeated how Matt had described those with powers.

"I guess so," Jay replied. "It's all pretty new to me."

"It is new to us too. We have many questions," Hugh asserted as they entered the living room.

"I knew you would both have questions. It's important we trust each other because we need you," Matt said earnestly.

Steve saw no dishonesty in Matt's response but it was dizzying to feel invited into such a strange world. Steve guessed that Jay had been brought along as a friendly face, close to their own age, to ease them into the extraordinary.

"Are there many like us?" Steve asked.

Matt and Jay sat down beside each other while Steve sat in a separate chair and Hugh remained standing. It was like they were sitting down to a tea party – any one of them might be the Mad Hatter.

"Around one hundred and fifty In the Albion Commonwealth," Matt responded.

One hundred and fifty across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales? How could no-one know?

"Matt and others organise an independent agency that looks for people who are enhanced. To protect or recruit them," Jay said.

"And you came to recruit Hugh and I?" asked Steve.

"Why us?" added Hugh.

"We need to work together to stave off disaster, to stop individuals using their abilities for evil and try to stop public exposure of extraordinary powers," Steve answered said.

"To deny power," Hugh inferred.

"Denego Potentia," Steve said. "That's what was on the contact card you gave us. DP Department, Denego Potentia."

"I know all of this is hard to believe," Jay said. "Believe me, I know. I only found out last month what I can do."

"What can you do?" Hugh queried.

Jay grinned and then vanished. He did not vanish like Hugh did – moving from one place to another. Rather, Jay disappeared – his clothes remained floating with an invisible boy inside them.

"Whoa!"

"Fascinating."

"I know, right?" Jay said and then reappeared. "Matt wasn't even looking for me, he'd identified my bother... you might be familiar with Milo's ability? He can alter and implant memories."

"He made us believe Matt was our teacher," Hugh recalled.

"He manipulated us so Matt could manoeuvre us like pawns," Steve said more critically.

Steve couldn't be too mad about it – it had help him to come to terms with his sexuality as he grew closer to Hugh. Hadn't Matt said he and Hugh were important to each other somehow?

"What's so important about us?" Steve asked. "You don't recruit everyone so why us?"

"Because some powers are subtle. Maybe increased stamina or intuition or an uncanny ability to cold read someone," Jay said – he had learned a lot since being recruited. "And other people have great powers. Like us."

"The DPD are not the only one's recruiting people. We have an enemy, he has a plan and we need your help to stop him," Matt said ambiguously.

Steve could see Matt was holding a lot back but he was afraid – he was very afraid.

"An enemy? Like a supervillain?" Steve asked archly.

"What is the evil plan?" Hugh asked.

"Matt won't say," Jay huffed. "I've been trying to get him to tell me for nearly two months."

"The important thing is that each of you learn more about your powers before we act to stop him," Matt said patiently. "Each of you have only begun to learn what you can do and our enemy will use that against you."

"How?" Hugh asked worriedly.

"Well, let's take Jay here," Matt suggested. "We believe he's capable of extending his invisibility to shield his clothes..."

"Wait, you can only turn yourself invisible?" Steve asked.

"Yes."

"So, if you want to walk around undetected you must be naked?" Hugh prompted.

"Yes."

"We would like a demonstration," Hugh said.

Steve guffawed, even with his ability to see Hugh's emotions, he was unsure if Hugh was joking or being serious about seeing Jay naked. Or not seeing him, which was kind of the point.

"What if our enemy were able to retard Jay's ability to turn visible again?" Matt said gravely. "What if Milo's powers were triggered to erase the memory of our mission? We are only an effective opposition if you can master your abilities."

"We do not even understand our abilities," Hugh admitted.

"Transposition. You have an intuitive sense of space-time co-ordination," Matt explained. "It allows you to transmit matter through higher dimensions from one location to another."

"Hugh's already learned to move himself and other people through space... what else can he do?" Steve asked.

"Hugh's ability is incredible," Matt replied. "The Earth rotates at four hundred and sixty metres per second. That's one thousand miles per hour, yet Hugh is able to co-ordinate spatial transposition across short and long distances. We really don't know what else he might be capable of."

Both Steve and Hugh fell silent so Matt turned to Steve to continue his exposition.

"You have a form of optical empathy," Matt addressed Steve. "You can see emotions. It would be a powerful tool in interrogation but we think you can also feel emotions and even make others feel them. Imagine if you could literally compel an enemy to fear us as a critical moment?"

"You talk as if we're going to be fighting for our lives," Steve said.

Worryingly, Matt did not respond. Steve could see Matt's fear again, the colours mixing with regret and sadness. This was not a mission he wanted to be a part of – but he had no choice and Steve was starting to think he and Hugh had little choice too.

"We have a prophet on the team..." Jay said cautiously – it was always going to be difficult to persuade the pair to join the team.

"He's not a prophet," Matt admonished. "Angelo can see potential futures and dip into alternate timelines."

"It is he who has predicted calamity?" Hugh asked – recalling Matt's past warning.

"Yes. And I can't say more unless you join the team. For your safety and ours," Matt responded.

"The SEX Men, that's what our team is called. My brother thinks it's hilarious," Jay said as he stood up.

"We still have questions," Hugh claimed.

"I know," Matt replied but he too stood up.

"This enemy you're so afraid of... does he know who we are?" asked Matt.

"Not yet. He can't find you but there are other risks..." Matt replied.

Matt's hesitation was painful, filled with something resembling sorrow.

"It's too much to take in all at once. We'll be in touch," Jay said diplomatically.

"There are other risks?" Hugh prompted; his eyes fixed on Matt.

"Steve," Matt said regretfully – he put his hands on Steve's arms and looked into his eyes. "You must not let your father know what you can do."

Hugh's head turned in surprise towards his friend and Steve pulled away from Matt's attempt at reassurance.

"Why? What do you mean?" Steve demanded.

"Our enemy is not just gifted; he has powerful political influence and your father is within that influence. For him to find out would put you in grave danger," Matt said gently.

"This is crazy," Steve said.

Movement caught everyone's eyes as clothes started dropping to the floor. Matt supressed a smile – Jay was providing something of a distraction to defuse the moment and ease their exit. Within a minute, a pile of clothes was on the floor of Steve's living room and Jay was gone.

"That is incredible," Hugh stated.

Hugh jumped as he felt someone blow in his ear but there was no-one there. Hugh put out a hand and Jay walked into it – Hugh felt a tight, lean chest and drew his fingers down it towards the invisible abdomen. Hugh felt a trail of hair and then pubes and then...

"That was your penis," Hugh said.

The penis moved out of range with the sound of giggling. Steve watched as a halo appeared from nowhere – it surrounded Jay's head even though Jay was still invisible. He was so surprised that he focussed on the shapes and colours of amusement and borderline arousal.

"Ouch!" said Jay, who reappeared – totally naked in Steve's living room.

Everyone looked at the naked eighteen-year-old and Jay himself was surprised to be visible.

"I didn't mean to do that," Jay said sheepishly.

Jay covered his genitals and turned invisible again.

"I think I did it. I could see your feelings and concentrated..." Steve focussed again.

Jay reappeared, again exposed, blushing furiously and nursing a headache.

"You have a very nice bottom," Hugh complimented.

"Hey, what about my bottom?" Steve asked jealously.

"You have a very nice bottom too," Hugh agreed. "Can I see your penis to compare it to Steve's?"

"What? No!" Jay responded.

"Oh, go on," Matt egged him on.

Pink and violet colours streamed between the pair. Jay was only eighteen and Matt in his mid- or late thirties but there was clearly a mutual attraction. Matt was also engineering the moment to distract from the questions he had not answered and to defuse the revelation about Steve's father. Stoking (or stroking) discussions about Jay's penis was a very effective distraction.

Jay moved his hands and revealed his penis to Hugh and Steve.

"That's nice," Hugh agreed.

"Nicer than mine?" Steve asked peevishly.

"I like your penis and buttocks more, Steve," Hugh asserted.

"Hey, I'm standing right here!" Jay said with mock indignation.

"So we can see," Matt chuckled. "I like your penis and buttocks more."

"Thanks," Jay said happily.

"Get dressed," Matt told him.

While Jay got dressed again, Matt turned to Steve and Hugh who were now closer (physically) than ever.

"I know I haven't told you everything but if I did, you'd run for the hills in terror," Matt said.

"Inverness has mountains," Hugh told them.

"And on that revelation..." Jay said.

Jay was dressed again and walked past them all to leave the room.

"We'll talk again," Matt promised.

THE OLD LONG SONG

Hugh left shortly after Matt and Jay departed. It was a short journey for Hugh of course – all he had to do was think. Steve had expected Hugh to want to talk about everything they had been told but there were still things they hadn't been told too.

Steve had asked Hugh if he wanted to join the team and Hugh had looked very thoughtful for a moment before unhelpfully and anti-climactically replying "I don't know."

It was strange to think this was the last day of the year. Steve had spent the morning with Hugh, reconciled further with Blair and learned something of why he had Hugh were being courted. Steve still hadn't told Hugh what Matt had revealed on Christmas Eve...

"You're going to fall in love with him, Steve, and Hugh will fall in love with you. Nothing is more important."

Steve still wasn't used to anyone knowing he was gay – only Hugh and Blair knew but it felt like an enormous step. Steve spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about and helping his parents prepare for the Hogmanay party they were hosting. Steve smiled to himself as he thought about Hugh being there. His friends were going to be there too and Steve wondered how Hugh would fit in with them. Steve's friends all accepted that he was "the smart one" in the group and that Hugh was a peer but what would they make of him being a friend?

Steve made sure to send Hugh a message suggesting he arrive by conventional means to avoid discovery. Steve had thought Hugh's parents would not allow him to come but they had been so surprised Hugh had a friend to spend New Year's with that they had nearly cried with happiness for him.

As people started to arrive, Steve watched his father greeting people, shaking hands and muttering conspiratorially. What had Matt meant that his father was in the influence of the enemy? It was true that Samuel Evans worked for the Scottish office of the Senior Ministers Advisory Taskforce; they were unelected consultants who offered advice to the political decision makers in London. Steve had a difficult relationship with his dad so it was easy to accept the worst but did he really believe his dad was a willing participant in some nefarious plot?

What if he was an unwilling or unwitting participant?

"He's a hard man to love, your dad," Blair said once after a particularly hostile argument with his father.

"Steven! Your friends are here," his dad said as if it were a chore to inform his son.

His dad turned his back on him as soon as he delivered the message. Steve had pre-warned Hugh that the party would involve underage drinking. He'd joked about it being a popular pastime in Scotland but Hugh hadn't understood the joke.

Blair, Aaron, Charlie and Darren left the main reception rooms where most of the guests were gathered. Steve's dad had agreed they could have the conservatory – which was cold in the depths of winter and therefore not a room where his guests would have an interest in gathering. The five boys all played football and other sports together so physical activity was their main shared interest. Perhaps that was what set Hugh apart – Steve and Hugh shared cerebral interests. And superpowers, apparently.

"So, I know we're dumb..." Aaron said as he nursed his second beer of the night.

"You're not dumb," Steve cautioned.

They all attended a very affluent school, there were no dumb kids. On the other hand, there were few who could recite the Fibonacci sequence into seven digits like Hugh and Steve could.

"So, I know we're less clever than you but why did you invite Hugh again?" Charlie took over.

"He's my friend," Steve said.

It was what he had already said and there was a distinct air of scepticism from his friendship group. That said, the boys were all quite mellow after a few drinks. Steve's dad either had not noticed them swiping the alcohol or he didn't mind. Steve knew the answer was more likely to be indifference.

"But he's weird," Charlie replied.

"Nice, don't get us wrong," Aaron admitted. "But..."

"Don't say weird again," Blair admonished.

Blair and Steve shared a look – it was the same rebuke Steve had made in the locker room before the decathlon.

"Besides, Hugh's kinda funny," Blair said – trying to help.

"Oh, he's very funny," Darren agreed with a totally different intonation on the word "funny."

There was a knock on the conservatory door – the silhouette of Hugh hovered outside. Steve had suggested that Hugh avoid the main house where it would be loud and crowded. Steve knew how uncomfortable Hugh would find that experience.

Steve opened the door and a chilling December air wafted in. The conservatory was not warm compared to the main house but it was positively balmy compared the frigid outdoors.

"Come in. It's freezing outside," said Aaron.

"It is two degrees Celsius," Hugh disagreed.

Aaron, Blair, Charlie and Darren chuckled at the oddity of being so pedantically corrected but Steve was genuinely charmed by the comment.

Aaron rolled his eyes, "I stand corrected."

"You are sitting down," Hugh said. "Ha ha."

Steve chuckled at what he knew to be a joke from Hugh and Blair grinned too.

"Hi Hugh," said Blair welcomingly.

Steve was grateful for his friend trying so hard. They hadn't talked about it but Blair had correctly inferred "something" was going on between Steve and Hugh.

"Hello Blair," Hugh replied. "Steve, thank you for inviting me."

"You're welcome," Steve answered.

"I brought a gift. I believe it is customary," Hugh said.

"Sure. You didn't have to though," Steve replied.

"But I did. Here," Hugh said and shoved a giftbag towards Steve.

The other boys looked faintly amused. If they were honest, they liked Hugh – he was peculiar and nothing like them but he was gentle and funny and the very fact Steve liked him put Hugh up in their estimations. They were used to Steve meeting him to practice for the decathlon and it was obvious the pair had bonded.

"You're making us all look bad, Hugh!" laughed Charlie.

"I am sorry," Hugh said automatically – because he knew when one should apologise even if he wasn't sure why he was apologising.

Steve pulled from the giftbag a bottle of Tanqueray No.10 gin. It was... not what Steve had expected.

"Gin?" Darren asked with unconcealed surprise.

"Do we drink gin now?" Aaron asked. "Are we ladies now?"

The others laughed and even Steve was perplexed about the gift choice. He had told Hugh they would be drinking booze, but still. Yet, Steve knew there would be a logical reason for the choice – logical to Hugh at least.

"Beer, alcopops and vodka are more our speed," Blair explained gently.

Steve and his friends quite enjoyed getting tipsy or drunk – underage drinking was common pastime especially when the winter nights drew in.

"This is 47.3% alcohol," Hugh replied.

"Give me the bottle," Blair responded, snatching it from Steve's hand.

"Woot! We're gonna get hammered," Darren asserted cheerfully.

"You're seventeen, how did you get export strength spirits?" Charlie asked.

"There is a corner shop near my home that does not ask for photo identification as proof of age," Hugh answered.

"Ok, be more specific... where exactly is this shop?" Aaron joked as they each poured a measure and added lemonade to make it drinkable.

"Number fourteen Roddenberry Avenue," Hugh said because he didn't know Aaron was joking.

"Cool, have a seat. Well done for winning the Academic Decathlon, by the way. We heard you and Steve smashed it," Darren said conversationally.

Hugh looked at Steve with a slightly worried expression. Steve could see the bewilderment float over Hugh's head like a cloud.

"They mean we did really well," Steve said.

Idioms posed something of a problem for Hugh sometimes. Not always, but often.

"Yea! You did amazing," Aaron complimented genuinely.

"What was the last question anyway?" Charlie asked out of interest.

"The last round was about dictionary definitions, so..." Steve thought back.

"What is a coxcomb?" Hugh recalled the exact final question.

Blair barked out a laugh; Aaron and Darren aspirated on gin and lemonade; Charlie sprayed the room with his drink.

"What's a cocks comb?" Darren laughed hysterically.

"It's a little brush for your pubes," Blair joked.

"It is a vain or conceited man," Hugh said seriously.

"You should totally hang out with us more often," Aaron said.

"Do you want to try some?" asked Darren who was now in possession of the bottle.

"I am not old enough to legally drink alcohol," Hugh replied.

"That's not what I asked," Darren said, giggling at his own cleverness.

Hugh pondered on this and conceded the point.

"Yes, I will try some," Hugh replied.

Darren poured a small measure and topped it up with lemonade before handing it over. The boys watched expectantly for Hugh's reaction. Steve wanted to sink into his seat – worried that Hugh would embarrass himself or his friends would laugh at him.

Hugh took a sip and swallowed it. Then he looked like he was having some kind of malfunction. Hugh's mouth pulled down in a frown and he shuddered with his whole body. The colours around Hugh's head were incomprehensible.

"I hate this. Make it go away," Hugh said and he offered the glass to anyone who would take it.

Blair patted Hugh on the back, "Nice try."

Aaron, Charlie and Darren were all pacified that Hugh had at least tried it and they were quite happy that it left more for them. They didn't even notice that Steve nursed a single drink for most of the night. As the hours passed, the boys got not just tipsy but positively drunk – they were seventeen after all – except for Steve and Hugh.

Hugh did not drink and Steve made his single drink last for a long time.

By the time midnight was approaching, Aaron, Blair, Charlie and Darren were nearly passed out.

"Do you want to go outside? We can probably see fireworks," Steve suggested.

"I do not like the noise," Hugh confided. "However, I like the colours."

"Me too," Steve said and he opened the conservatory door.

Hugh put on his jacket but Steve made do with just his jumper, albeit he rolled the sleeves down to cover his forearms.

"Steve, do the colours of the fireworks resemble your synaesthetic empathy when you look at people?" Hugh asked.

Steve was surprised to be asked about his ability. He had never really thought about it like fireworks.

"Not really," Steve said uncertainly. "It's more like... like coloured lightning flashing though coloured clouds in the sky. The flashes endure and change colour, they linger like mist and float around."

"That sounds poetic," Hugh said.

"It's just a few minutes until midnight," Steve changed the conversation. "Do you make any resolutions for the new year?"

"I would like to spend more time with you," Hugh said. "You are nice and kind and handsome and intelligent and a homosexual..."

"Yea, ok," Steve said – blushing in the dark.

He looked around in case they were overheard but they were alone in the garden.

"You do not laugh at me or treat me like a burden. I like the way you make me feel," Hugh said.

Steve felt touched by what was, for Hugh, a great outpouring of emotion.

"I like the way you make me feel too. I can be myself with you," Steve confided.

"Who else would you be?" Hugh asked.

There was a quiver of yellow and orange above Hugh's head, bright against the darkness of the sky.

"You're joking," Steve asserted.

"Ha ha," Hugh replied.

Steve turned to Hugh, facing him in the dark with faint cracks of fireworks far away and the enclosed sound of revels from within the house.

"I like being around you, Hugh. It's... peaceful," Steve said.

The sound of fireworks escalated and from within Steve's house they heard cheers and singing. Hugh looked at his watch.

"Happy new year, Steve," Hugh said.

"Happy Hugh year," Steve punned with a chuckle.

Hugh smiled, lighting up his face. Steve leaned in and kissed Hugh's lips softly. The kiss persisted but never became frenetic or passionate – it was affectionate and slow. Steve could still hear singing and he smiled when he realised his friends were all passed out and missing the turn of the year. They were close to the house and could be caught at any second but the moment with Hugh was too sweet and it meant a lot to Steve.

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?" Steve whispered, as the singing inside continued.

"That lyric is a rhetorical question," Hugh answered.

"And if it wasn't? What would the answer be?" Steve prompted.

"No. Of course not," Hugh replied. "I would never want to forget you."

"We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet," Steve sang as he embraced Hugh.

"For days of auld lang syne," Hugh almost sang in response.

HUGH YEARS DAY

"Steven?" a voice fell into the dark.

Steve freed himself from Hugh and looked towards the house where his dad now stood at the door of the conservatory. The light behind him illuminated Steve's dad whereas Steve was enveloped in the dark.

"I'm here," Steve called back.

Steve's voice trembled – not out of fear or being caught but because of the cold which suddenly seeped into Steve's bones. Also because of fear of being caught.

"You didn't come in for the countdown?" Samuel Evans asked disappointedly. "I expected you to be there. There are a lot of important people here, I have a reputation you know."

Steve was well aware that his dad valued the façade of being a family man but in practice the man was apathetic about Steve and his wife.

"Sorry, we stepped out for fresh air," Steve replied.

His dad barely looked at Hugh.

"Your friends are drunk," his dad said then nodded at Hugh. "What is he doing here?"

Steve looked at Hugh who was totally oblivious to the derision in Mr Evan's voice.

"You said I could have friends over. You told us to stay out of the way," Steve replied cautiously. "And this is Hugh..."

"I know who he is, Steven," his dad snapped. "I thought with the conclusion of the Academic Decathlon, your charity towards him would come to an end."

As Steve listened to his father's unconcealed animosity, he could not stop thinking about Matt's warning. Maybe Matt as right – his dad could not be trusted.

"Charity?" Steve replied.

"Loss the dead weight, Steven. You don't lift people like him up, they drag you down," Samuel said.

People like him?

Fuck off!

"He can hear you, you know," Steve objected.

"Hello, Mr Evans. You have something on your tie," Hugh replied.

Steve supressed a laugh. His dad had spilled sauce or something on his tie – probably from a canapé. It was just such a lovely observation that would have been bitchy from anyone else. Steve had heard the disapproval in his father's voice and it was articulated darkly in the halo around his head, now the midnight blue cloud flared with dark red; it clung close to his father's crown, constrained but bitter.

"Hugh has outlived his usefulness to you, Steven," his dad said to him. Turning to Hugh, he added: "Thank you so much for coming."

The insincerity and dismissal in his voice was unmistakable.

"Thank you for having me," Hugh replied – taking the statement at face value.

Mr Evans turned away and walked back into the house.

Steve took Hugh's hand – it was cold. It was now below zero degrees and Steve was almost shivering.

"Let's go somewhere," Steve suggested.

"Where would you like to go?" Hugh asked.

"Can you still translocate across the world?" Steve asked.

Hugh had practiced many things about his ability in the year and a half since he discovered it. Keeping his clothes was one additional capability and he had learned to move someone else but he was uncertain he could take Steve with him long distance.

"I can," Hugh asserted. "However, the only time I have moved anyone else through space was you on Christmas Eve. I do not know if I can do it."

"I believe in you," Steve assured him.

Hugh looked at Steve's hand and then back into Steve's eyes.

An instant later, Steve's garden was vacated...

Hugh and Steve squinted in the sudden brightness. They had transitioned from a winter's midnight in Scotland to a summer's midday in Southern hemisphere. The sun was high, hot and bright and the boys had to shield their eyes while they adjusted.

Hugh had practiced many times with moving through space and there seemed to be no limit. He didn't need to be able to see the target, he didn't need to be there before (though this had only been tested with random teleporting) and he didn't need GPS co-ordinates. Matt had called it an intuitive sense of space-time co-ordination. It was an apt description, for it was as if Hugh could reach out and infer any location. Hugh chose an isolated beach on an uninhabited island he had discovered while testing his powers.

"It's beautiful here..." Steve said with awe.

"Yes," Hugh agreed.

"Where is here?" Steve asked.

"Gravett Island. There is no-one here," Hugh assured Steve.

White sand stretched in both directions, along one edge there was blue water and at the other a cliff that stretched towards blue skies. At the base of the cliff, stone slanted gently in the direction of the water before giving way to the sand.

Steve walked towards the water and then turned back to Hugh, smiling and suddenly laughing with delight. Steve pulled off his jumper, his t-shirt riding up to expose his toned abdomen an V lines that dipped into his jeans.

"Take you clothes off," Steve said.

"Ok," Hugh acquiesced.

Hugh didn't spend the time that Steve did. Hugh blinked from where he was standing to one step to his right. His clothes fell where he had been standing and in his new location, he was total naked. Steve was unbuttoning his jeans having already toed his shoes off and stepped onto the sand in his socked feet. He stopped to look at Hugh though. Hugh was absolutely stunning – too tall and too thin, like a palm tree that dotted the island. Hugh's hair was even a messy mop like a palm tree.

Hugh's penis was flaccid and his testicles were close to his body from the cold environment of three minutes ago. Hugh was also very white!

Steve started moving again. He had never really thought about their different races – it was not something that mattered to him – yet as Steve reduced himself to his boxers and then pushed them down and stepped out of them, he became aware of the contrast between them.

Steve's skin was a gorgeous, rich brown stretched over muscle while Hugh was a creamy white slab of lanky boy meat. Steve walked to him and wrapped his arms around him as they engaged in kissing again. This time it was passionate.

Hugh, tall and quiet and quirky, was a surprisingly horny boy. Or perhaps it was just Steve that he liked so much? Hugh grinded his groin into Steve's and they both started to get hard. Steve pulled his lips from Hugh's and started kissing his cheek and jawline.

Hugh had very short, soft stubble along his jawline but Steve's lips dragged over it and down onto Hugh's neck and into his collar. Hugh giggled and then squirmed eventually pulling free.

"Sorry. I am ticklish," Hugh apologised.

Steve barely noticed – his eyes were now on Hugh's enormous cock! Eight inches, the foreskin open just enough to reveal the eye but not yet peeled back fully. Steve reached forward and gripped Hugh's cock and after a moment, Hugh reciprocated. Hugh's fingers wrapped around the shaft of Steve's magnificent dick – not quite as big as Hugh's but still very enviable.

The two boys tugged on each other, rocking to and fro – each seeking friction from the other. Steve looked at Hugh and smiled again – he had never felt this way before and their isolation gave Steve a sense of freedom he could never have felt at home.

Steve dropped Hugh's cock and there was a look of disappointment on Hugh's face. Hugh released Steve's cock too and Steve could see the regret looming over Hugh's head. Then Steve dropped to his knees and reached around to grab Hugh's buttocks. Steve squeezed the soft little mounds and pulled Hugh `s cock closer to his face. Steve dragged his fingers across Hugh's hip, reaching around until both hands found Hugh's cock and balls.

One hand tugged on Hugh's testicles while the other gripped the base of the shaft; then Steve wrapped his lips around the head of Hugh's cock and started to suck. Hugh let out a contented sigh and curled his toes into the sand. He had never expected this from Steve – things between them had changed since Christmas Eve.

Steve looked up at Hugh as his mouth worked on the firm tube of flesh. Hugh enjoyed having his cock sucked and Steve very much enjoyed sucking it. It was funny in a way – when Steve had first told Hugh about his ability, he had admitted to being disappointed in it. Steve was a fit and athletic boy with a highly emotive power – superstrength or superspeed would have been the more obvious choice... except Steve didn't get to choose.

Steve sucked hard on the head and then licked the underside of the shaft from root to tip. Steve's tongue felt the coarse hair of pubes on Hugh's testicles as he returned to the root. Steve hadn't had much practice sucking cock so when he put it back in his mouth, he attempted to take it deeper and then deeper still.

Hugh's impressively long cock stretched Steve's mouth and as the shaft sank into Hugh's throat, they both felt pleasure like nothing they'd felt before. Steve coughed and gagged as Hugh's great dick went farther than Steve was able to take. Steve pulled back and gasped, spluttering emissions that slopped over his chin.

"Put your hands on my head," Steve said.

Steve stroked Hugh's dick a few times and then slurped on the messy head. Steve felt Hugh's hands on his head and as he took more of Hugh's dick he stared into Hugh's pubes, treasure trail and bellybutton. Hugh kept his hands gently on Steve's head but exerting enough force that Steve was not in full control. Exactly what he wanted.

Steve tried to pull back and Hugh pulled him deeper. He tried to smile and laugh at the powerplay but that was impossible with a big dick stretching his mouth! Steve was pulled deeper until tears formed in the corners of his eyes which dripped down his face. He was so happy!

Hugh was happy too. Fuck the warmth of Steve's mouth was amazing and the feel of Steve's hair laced through his fingers was surprisingly connecting. Not so long ago they were in the cold darkness of Steve's back garden and now they were in the sun. They were naked and heat and light touched their skin until Hugh could feel sweat in his crack and ticking his thighs as a bead flowed down.

Steve was pulled deeper still - his nose touching Hugh's pubes and all Steve could see was Hugh's midriff.

It tickled Steve that people would assume he was a dominant partner in any relationship but Steve was very much more comfortable and more interested in sucking than being sucked. He was an enthusiastic bottom and could not imagine a more suitable partner for his first time.

Emissions from Hugh's cock mixed with saliva from Steve's mouth, creamy and stringy ropes of stickiness stretched between Hugh's cock and Steve's mouth when he leaned back to get a breath.

"Have you... have you ever had sex?" Steve asked nervously.

Hugh looked surprised but then intrigued. Hugh's brain buzzed with interest – happiness, passion, excitement.

"I have not," Hugh admitted. "Do you want to have sex with me?"

"No," Steve replied. "I want you to have sex with me."

"Ok. That's nice," Hugh agreed.

"Do you want to do that?" Steve asked.

"Yes, I want to have sex with you," Hugh replied.

"Let's go over there," Steve said.

He put up his hand and Hugh took it, helping Steve to stand. They walked, hand in hand, away from the water and towards sand covered stone at the foot of the cliff. The stone was warm under their feet and Steve turned to Hugh, awkward and unsure what to say or do next.

"It would be nice if we had something to lie down on," Steve observed.

Hugh pulled his hand free from Steve, "I will be right back."

Steve would never get used to the silent blinking out of existence that marked Hugh's translocation. It occurred to Steve that if Hugh did not come back, he was stranded on a desert island.

Steve knew Hugh wouldn't do that to him but he daydreamed about having to be rescued. Waving his arms at a passing boat which would come close to shore and beckon him to come aboard. Steve would stand on the deck, still naked as the uniformed crew checked him out.

He would be ordered to stand at ease, legs slightly parted and hands clasped behind him at the small of his back. Steve was still hard on the back but in his fantasy he was flaccid and the crew would laugh and point at him before taking selfies with the fool who got stranded naked in the middle of nowhere. Steve chuckled at himself – he must have gotten his interest in embarrassment and exposure from Hugh or was he interested in it because Hugh was and Steve wanted to emulate him?

If flaccid CMNM selfies were embarrassing, it was even more mortifying when he started to get hard...

Luckily Hugh reappeared carrying a beach towel and a picknick blanket. Hugh was still naked, the sun shining again on his white skin. Steve had never noticed the dash of freckles across the back of Hugh's shoulders before. There were so many things Steve still had to discover.

The boys spread out the blanket and beach towel and then Steve lay on his back with his hands behind his head. Hugh liked the look of Steve's muscular arms, the black hair of his armpits against brown skin, his pecs and abs, the black and curly hair above his cock and the muscular thighs and lean calves. Even Steve's ankles and feet were sexy.

Steve bent his legs, bringing his heels back until they almost touched his ass and then he separates his knees. Hugh knelt down and reached between Steve's legs, massaging just under his balls. Steve could feel Hugh's fingers massaging his perineum and getting closer to his hole.

"Are you sure you want to have penetrative intercourse?" Hugh asked.

His language was always so precise and where others had called it robotic, Steve heard the timber of meticulousness borne out of earnestness.

"Yes, Hugh," Steve replied. "I want you."

"Ok. That's nice..." Hugh replied. "I want you too."

The addition of "I want you too" made Steve feel special. It was an emotive admission by Hugh's standards.

Hugh knelt between Steve's legs and stroked his penis until it was hard again, which did not take long. Steve watched Hugh jerking and got himself excited too, stroking his own cock with one hand but lazily leaving the other behind his head.

Steve lifted the small of his back from the surface of the towel, making it easier for Hugh to aim his erect penis for the virginal butthole. Hugh pointed and then eased the tip of his erection against Steve's sphincter and smeared his precum around it. Steve gasped as he felt the naked hardness of an erection against his hole. Ooze of cock snot helped to lubricate the hole and then Hugh pressed the spongy head of his cock against the hole and increased the pressure until his flesh slid inside.

"Oh... my... god..." Steve breathed out the ragged words.

"I do not believe in god," Hugh said automatically.

The glans of Hugh's cock was inside Steve's anus and as he pressed harder, eight inches of unprotected shaft started to slide inside.

"Me neither," Steve agreed.

Steve was gasping and biting his lip, gripping his thighs and squeezing them tight.

"Am I hurting you?" Hugh asked gently.

"Fuck me," Steve whined. "No... it's... it's amazing."

Hugh momentarily placed his hands reassuringly over Steve's and then continued to push. Steve was not in pain per se but the sensation was incredibly powerful. Steve was almost seeing stars! He watched Hugh, who seemed to glow. Hugh's head was glowing brighter, like a second sun.

Hugh kept pressing until most of his erection was inside and there was increasing resistance from Steve's internal biology. Then Hugh pulled back until he felt Steve's sphincter tugging on the helmet of his cock. Steve could see colours all around Hugh's head – the seemed to blink, flashing from Hugh's brain and disappearing into the blue sky.

"Push it back in," Steve said.

Hugh obeyed and Steve clamped both hands over his mouth to stop from crying out. He could have screamed! Pleasure and something close to pain filled Steve's body. He had never felt like this and Steve could have cried out if he'd wanted to – they were all alone in their own special place.

So Steve did moan – loudly and with pleasure. Hugh started to grunt while increasing his pace and varying the force of his penetration. The fleshy connection against Steve's ass punctuated the teenage soundtrack of sexual grunting.

Tears prickled Steve's eyes and he moaned as Hugh pulled and pushed, thrusted and tugged. The colours of excitement and passion waned, the pulsing of the halo slowed and a more persistent glow of concern permeated Hugh's halo.

Steve stuffed a fist into his mouth, tears pricking his eyes again when Hugh slammed him deeply. Hugh was not a rough lover but he had a fucking eight-inch cock and they were barebacking virgins. This was not just their first time together but their first times respectively.

"Are you sure you are ok?" Hugh asked.

Hugh paused his lovemaking putting his hands on Steve's knees and looking over the boy who was trembling and moaning.

"Yes," Steve said. "I just... I didn't know it felt like this..."

"I understand," Hugh said – his voice trembling with satisfaction.

"I never imagined losing my virginity to you," Steve admitted.

"I have imagined losing my virginity to you many times," Hugh commented in return.

It felt strange to laugh with an erect penis in his butt, but Steve giggled and enjoyed the effect on the sensation in his body. Steve gripped his cock and jerked it a few times which was all it took for his dick to release a spurt of watery fluid – more precum than normal but not enough to be a full ejaculation.

Steve had never had sex before and Hugh's cock seemed to have lubricated things but it was still hard (difficult). After all, Hugh had a very big cock. Hugh pulled his cock out and clamoured over Steve until he was on top but face to face. As Steve dropped his knees and straightened his legs, he wrapped his legs around Hugh's. Hugh's upper body touched Steve's chest and their erections touched. Their faces were so close now and Hugh brought his lips to Steve's.

The kiss was magical – tender and sweet and Steve swell of emotions that were not just his own. Confusion but excitement, passion but compassion, worry but enthusiasm. The boys grinded against each other, frotting their cocks and smearing slime between them. Steve put his arms around Hugh and rolled over until he was on top.

Hugh let out a giddy little cheer and giggled while Steve continued to kiss him.

Steve rolled more gently this time so they landed side by side. Steve reached between them, his fingers brushing Hugh's nipple and then dipping into his belly button. Steve continued and grasped Hugh's massive cock, stroking it with great interest and rubbing it against his own.

Hugh reached out with his hand and put it on the side of Hugh's face, caressing his cheek and then his thumb wiped away the tears beneath Steve's eye. Steve smiled and nuzzled his face into Hugh's hand.

"Put it in me again," Steve said.

"Are you sure?" Hugh asked. "I do not want to hurt you."

"You won't hurt me," Steve said. "I want you to be inside me."

Steve rolled away and this time bent over so he could be taken doggy style. Hugh positioned himself behind Steve and found entry easier this time – so did Steve. As Hugh pushed his erection back inside, they both felt an explosion of pleasure and emotion. Hugh felt it so intensely that he put his hands on Steve's back and needed to close his eyes against the sensations and sentiments.

Hugh's hands found Steve's hips and together they bucked. Hugh's pelvis slapped against Steve's ass, his pubes tickled Steve's sacrum and his balls swung between Steve's legs. This time, Steve moved with Hugh, rocking back and forth just a little while Hugh entered and pulled back.

Steve's cock was achingly hard and begged to be touched again but his hands were on the beach towel beneath him, propping his upper body up. Steve looked over his shoulder at the most beautiful boy he'd ever seen. Neither of them had ever felt this happy before.

"I am going to ejaculate," Hugh announced.

In his excitement, Hugh pulled back too far and his cock slid out. The extra pull against the ridge of the head was enough to tip Hugh over the edge and his cum shot violently across Steve's back. The liquid was hot and loose – he had not cum for days and the build-up had been long and tantalising. The warm splash of cum across his back surprised Steve but he rather liked it. Hugh aimed the next shot between Steve's cheeks, splashing the hole that had not quite closed. More shots followed, socking the hole and tripping over Steve's perineum and over his balls. Steve was delighted by the warm splashes that sluiced between his legs and dribbled onto the beach towel beneath them. Hugh pressed his spent cock against the hole and slid it in a few more times while the post orgasmic high persisted. Hugh watched the creamy blobs that were splashed on Steve's back dribbled across the surface and drew tear tracks of jizz across the muscular skin.

Hugh pulled out again and when he did, Steve rolled over any lay on his back. Spunk transferred to the beach towel. Steve watched an almost total whiteout of emotions overwhelming Hugh's halo but even that was tinged with happiness and affection.

"Do you want to reciprocate with anal sex?" Hugh asked.

"No... no thank you..." Steve replied.

Steve could not explain why he did not want to be on top – at least not today.

"Can I suck your penis?" Hugh asked.

Steve grinned and nodded like a fool.

Hugh sat at Steve's side and dipped his head over the cock; his hand stroked Steve's warm, brown skin as he kissed the erection and tasted the juice lubricating the head. Hugh grasped the cock and popped it in his mouth. Steve's cock poked into Hugh's cheek and then found the back of Hugh's throat.

Steve resisted the urge to put his hand on Hugh's head by putting his hands behind his head again and feeling the quaking and quivering sensations of pleasure that transmitted from his cock and all through his body.

"I'm... I'm going to cum," Steve said as he got closer.

However, it was another minute or so before his balls finally released their seed, bound up in warm slime. It rinsed Hugh's mouth and spread across his top lip and then over his chin.

"Yummy," Hugh whispered as he swallowed what was in his mouth.

Steve liked the look of Hugh's face with cum on it. Hugh collapsed beside Steve, their bodies so hot from both exertion and the temperature in the midday sun.

"Was that ok?" Steve asked.

"That was scary," Hugh panted. "At first I thought you were not going to ejaculate. And then you did. And it went in my mouth and on my face..."

"Did you like it?" Steve interrupted.

"I did," Hugh replied after thinking.

Hugh lay down beside Steve and they rolled to face each other.

"I like it too," Steve said. "And I liked the other thing... the thing you did."

"Yes, sexual intercourse was very pleasurable. Would you like to do it again sometime?" Hugh asked.

Steve watched Hugh and could not make sense of the colours around his head.

"Again? Yes, but why?" Steve asked timidly.

"I do not understand. I need more information," Hugh answered.

"Why do you want to do it again? Because you liked having sex? Or because you liked having sex with me?" Steve asked.

Steve wanted to be desired but more than that, he wanted Hugh to desire him.

"You are the only person I have had sexual intercourse with," Hugh replied.

"I mean, do you like... do you want to be with me?"

"I have no desire to sample sexual intercourse with others," Hugh said in a reassuring voice.

"Do you want... to be my boyfriend?" Steve asked explicitly.

Even after having sex which had been a blistering display of emotions, Steve had never seen such a brilliant array of colours as those over Hugh's head at that moment.

"Yes. Very much," Hugh replied. "I like you, Steve. I would like to be your boyfriend."

Steve laughed happily but he felt a stab of guilt too.

"I haven't come out yet. Except to Blair," Steve clarified. "Can we just... can we keep this between us?"

"A secret?" Hugh asked.

"Yes. Is that ok?" Steve replied.

"Ok, I understand," Hugh said.

Steve reached behind him and found the picknick blanket. The beach towel under them was an adequate cushion and it was still hot and sunny so they needed no cover but Steve bundled the blanket into a pillow for them to share.

"This is such a special place, Hugh. Our own special place," Steve said.

"A secret place?" Hugh asked.

Again, that word – secret.

"Yes," Steve said. "We can be together at home too if we're careful but we'll always have this place."

"Ok. That's nice," Hugh agreed.

"If we want to be all alone we can come here. I'll see you on Gravett Island," Steve said.

Hugh closed his eyes with a smile on his lips. Steve drew closer to Hugh and they cuddled affectionately.

"It can't believe it's New Year's Day," Steve said. "Yesterday we were talking about abilities and supervillains."

"Should we join Matt's team?" Hugh asked.

"The SEX Men? Isn't that what Jay called it? I don't know... what do you think?" Steve asked.

"I think we should help them if we can. We have to do what is right," Hugh asserted.

Steve felt Hugh's uncommon kindness – it still hadn't occurred to him that he had literally been feeling some of Hugh's emotions during their intimate moments. Hugh had felt Steve's feelings too – powerful and almost overwhelming. As their feelings for each other deepened, they seemed to be joined in a way that was important.

"The kindness to help and do what was right, what could be more powerful than that?" Steve asked rhetorically.

Hugh surprised Steve then with an intuitive leap – returning to what they had said back in his garden as the new year was born.

"We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet," Hugh replied.

"For days of auld lang syne," Steve concluded.

AFTER CREDITS SCENE

Matt pinched between his eyes to try and make the headache go away unfortunately, it kept talking.

"And that's why New Year's resolutions are a lot like TV finale's," the headache known as Milo concluded.

They entered a large hall with a table that could seat at least a dozen people. Matt was followed by Jay and Milo but there was already someone else in the room. Jay and Milo had each met Angelo once before but this was the first time all four of them were in the same room together.

"OMG! The whole team is here," Milo said excitedly.

"Could you just..." Matt snapped tersely and the caught himself before calmly continuing. "Could you just shut up for a second."

"Maybe?" Milo answered uncertainly.

"Probably not," Jay observed.

"How was your mission?" Angelo asked Matt, ignoring the banter.

"Steve and Hugh are very clever. They realised I wasn't their teacher pretty quick," Matt admitted.

"How?" Angelo asked – because it always helped to know why aspects of an operation had failed.

"Well, when this one," Matt said – pointing a thumb affectionately at Milo; "Implanted the false memory but he neglected to give me a last name. The boys at the school call their teachers by their last names."

"Hey!" Milo objected. "How was I supposed to know they were meant to respect you?"

Matt and Angelo shared the tolerant look of parents but it was time to be serious.

"We need to talk," Angelo said seriously to Matt.

"Go over there and play... quietly," Matt said to Milo.

Milo rolled his eyes but walked with Jay – the brothers moved to sit at the table.

Jay, the invisible boy and Milo the memory manipulator had been invited to join a team – The SEX Men – but still didn't have a clear idea why. They faced an enemy, sure, but... so what? What was all this about? They sat and waited to find out if they were finally going to be told.

"Were you successful?" asked Angelo.

"I think so. I have a good feeling about them," Matt replied.

Things had not gone exactly to plan with the recruitment of Steve and Hugh but they were making progress.

"How was..." Matt started to ask but changed his mind. "How was your mission?"

"Your husband is fine..." Angelo answered the unasked question.

"Separated," Matt said and could not help but glance at his eighteen-year-old lover sitting at the table with his annoying but cute little brother.

"...And he has agreed to join the team. He's already started the unenviable task," Angelo answered the completed question about the mission.

"He's not coming today?" Matt asked – hopefully or with relief?

"No," Angelo replied.

Matt and his husband had been separated since the death of their son and the years had stretched into distance and an aching deep in their hearts.

"Yes, you are," Angelo called over to the boys as he walked to the table.

"We are what?" Jay asked.

"Going to be included in this conversation," Angelo replied.

"But we didn't ask," Milo said worriedly because he had been about to ask.

"You were about to... I guess you don't have to now," Angelo added.

"How do you know that? What exactly is your ability?" Jay asked.

"If you're a mind reader, I promise those thoughts were just thoughts. Very sexual thoughts but just thoughts..." Milo confessed.

When Jay and then Milo had been introduced to Angelo it was obvious he and Matt shared the leadership role within the team. It was a job sharing that could get problematic when they failed to agree. However, the brothers had not actually been told what Angelo could do. The control and cryptic reveal of information seemed to be a deliberate strategy.

"I can see through time," Angelo said simply.

"You're the chrono... something guy?" Jay replied interestedly.

"Don't be ridiculous," Milo said.

"What are the lottery numbers going to be?" Jay asked challengingly.

"I don't see that kind of thing. Also, I'm capable of parachonal cognition which means I can traverse parallel event chronologies in linear time..." Angelo explained. "I visit alternate realities but the actual time of day remains the same."

"Ok... but... how?" Milo asked.

"We all interact with time but most of you do so linearly. I have a more complex relationship with space-time. I can interact with multiple continuum fields within the causal nexus," Angelo explained.

"Yea, I thought it was something like that," Milo said and Jay tried not to laugh.

"It also allows him to receive information about future events. Warnings of things to come," Matt said.

"That's impossible. The variables involved would..." Jay started to say.

"...be astronomical," Angelo finished.

"Y-yes," Jay agreed – that's what he was about to say.

"So..." Milo prepared to say.

"Why can't I tell the lottery numbers?" Angelo finished.

"Y-yes," Milo replied – that's what he was going to ask.

"Because the information I get from the future is important, lottery numbers are not. My ability gives me warnings about calamity and danger and shapes our collective experience of reality," Angelo said – and sometimes helps to persuade sceptics.

Milo grinned mischievously.

"Ok, but there's one thing I don't get?" Milo said.

"Four, seven, two, nine, three, eight, five," Angelo and Milo said at the same moment.

Milo's eyes bulged.

"One, four, two, nine, seven, eight," they spoke in sync again.

Milo's eyes shifted in his head as he thought again.

"Fourteen. Sixteen. Twenty-two... whoa!" they both said but only Milo added the "whoa!"

"How did you..." Angelo and Milo said and Milo was starting to get freaked out. "Ok, I believe you..."

"Stop it!" Milo said – this time his words were not echoed but Angelo suppressed a smile.

"That was really weird," Jay commented.

There was an extended pause.

"Oberleutnant von Gerhardt," Angelo and Milo said in response.

"Oh my god! Stop doing that!" Milo and Angelo exploded in unison.

"Stop it!" Milo squealed at Angelo – alone.

"Please stop antagonising him. I have to live with him, you know," Jay said.

"My condolences," Matt and Angelo said – but not because Angelo had information from the future.

"Angelo doesn't use his gifts for cheap tricks. None of us do," Matt said seriously.

"Oh, how little you know me," Milo giggled.

"If you can see the future but change what happens, doesn't that timeline collapse? So, where does the information come from?" Jay asks.

"You're asking about temporal probabilities, Jay?" Angelo asked, somewhat impressed. "I receive information from specific future causalities, preventing those events does not change the existence of that information in my past."

"You receive information?" Jay pondered over this phrase. "So, you're sent details from..."

"Yourself," Milo muttered.

Finally, some insight from the boy!

"I see images and feel things. Spatial information is transmitted temporally but sometimes I get complete memories," Angelo tried to explain. "If we accept there are multiple branches of reality, then this one is informed by the information I receive, or don't receive, and the decisions we all make... But there is no perfect future. There can't be."

"Sometimes bad things happen. We still loss people, things can still go wrong," Matt interjected pointedly.

"My head hurts," Milo moaned.

"The point is, one of the things Angelo saw was a pair of young men with abilities," Matt contributed.

"Me and Jay... In the shower maybe? Rimming a cabana boy?" Milo asked.

"No," Angelo replied and resisted rolling his eyes at the boy.

"Steve and Hugh," Jay said sensibly. "That's why we were sent to recruit them?"

"I don't know why yet but they are vital to the success our overall goal. We must stop..." Angelo stopped when Matt cleared his throat.

"Not yet," Matt said.

"Stop who?" Milo asked

"Angelo's abilities have grown stronger since he got his wings... metaphorically," Matt said – ignoring Milo's question.

"It used to be that when I saw aspects of the future it was like getting a single page from a future chapter," Angelo tried to explain. "Now I'm getting multiple pages from multiple chapters."

"The farthest events have numerous variables and causes. It's not as simple as cutting a wire or capturing one guy," Matt assisted with the exposition. "We need to rewrite the pages of multiple chapters to prevent a terrible finale."

"That's why we've formed this team. It's going to take the eight of us to change the first page," Angelo said.

"Seven of us," Matt contested.

"Debatable," Angelo said.

"Seven or eight?" Milo asked thoughtfully. "You and Matt, Me and Jay, Steve and Hugh... who are the others?"

Angelo looked at Matt and then back at the brothers.

"The seventh man is an intelligence agent. The less you know about him and his mission for now the better," Angelo said truthfully but it didn't answer Milo's question.

Jay saw the look and guessed it had something or someone to do with Matt.

"And the eighth?" Jay asked.

"Need to know," Matt said tersely.

"Ok. What have you seen?" Jay turned to Angelo. "What would be so bad that you needed to form... the team?"

"The SEX Men!" Milo insisted.

"We are not calling it that," Matt said exasperatedly.

"I see an island in the South China Sea. I see a rising from the ashes and a world within the world. And I see a tunnel with a parting of the ways..." Angelo revealed. "In the far future... the thing we're trying to stop... I can see a beautiful city in flames."

No-one knew what to say to that. How many months and years, pages and chapters into the future Angelo was talking about. Luckily, Milo had an important query.

"Ok... but... did you see any hot guys? Maybe DP scene?" Milo asked.

ANTHOLOGY will continue!

Matt, Angelo, Jay, Milo, Steve and Hugh will return...

If you liked Anthology V, take one minute to let me know. I'd really appreciate it. I'm totally in love with these characters and hope you enjoyed them too. The Anthologyverse is shaping up nicely but I don't have a schedule for Anthology VI or The SEX Men. I will keep everyone up to date.

I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and all the best for 2022...

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