DISCLAIMER: This story is based in truth. Some events/persons have been altered for the purpose of the story. There may be scenes of unsafe practices which are not endorsed by this author. All other usual warnings and precautions should be considered here. Feel free to write with any comments, corrections, etc. Think of this as a Gedankenexperiment. And remember to donate to Nifty to support all of these great stories. Also a geographical mistake has been corrected. The hometown is now located in Maine.
People consciously alter themselves to adapt to their social environment. As inherently social creatures it would make sense that our evolution would also take place on a level which isn't directly correlated to genetic fitness. Social manipulation could mean monetary success or other such benefits. If someone lives abroad for an extended time, they begin to develop the mannerisms of the surrounding culture. Human beings want to fit in and essentially remain unnoticed. An evolutionary social camouflage. But it may also be the case that becoming more comfortable around someone will bring out parts of your personality which were once hidden.
My phone woke me up at 8:15 that evening. I had succeeded in sleeping for around 10 hours that day. Groggily, I shifted myself over to maneuver my phone from my pocket. Cole had texted me three times in the past hour wondering what I was doing. After a few moments of collecting my thoughts I sent him a reply that I had been sleeping all day and that maybe he should just come over to my place or wait until tomorrow. His response was immediate and stated he would arrive shortly.
In the interim I decided to take a seat out in the living area to see if my apartment-mates were home. Indeed, both Lex and Kyle were watching a tennis match of some sort on TV and Alyssa was in the kitchen cooking something. The relationship between Lex and Alyssa seemed to have developed quite rapidly. Initially I would have pegged Lex to keep this in the "out-to-dinner" phase of dating for as long as possible. But then again, I didn't know anyone as well as I thought I did.
"How was Maine?" Lex remained focused on the tennis match but was somehow alerted to my presence.
"Same as I left it really, cold and rocky. Oh and my parents, they're still that way too," I sat down next to Kyle who was watching the match with intensity.
I didn't really enjoy classifying myself as "from Maine". Since I wasn't really from a stereotypical town built on the tradition of lobster and chowder. I would definitely say I was from the New England region. My coast of Maine was in the very Southeast area, nearly considered the coast of New Hampshire. I could identify with toughing out harsh winters and enjoying summers which quickly became fall. But, I could not identify with those who lived closer to our Canadian counterparts and depended on the sea to earn their living.
"Hella fun up in the corridor for our buddy Lucas," Lex enjoyed using West Coast mannerisms to mock me and refer to the New England area as "the corridor".
"Some gnarly surf in lobsterville," Kyle chimed in. Lex was always the instigator in these situations and you could count on Kyle to join in too. It didn't bother me much though considering that Lex hailed from North Carolina and Kyle was from Maryland. We all liked to pick on each other for stupid reasons. "Catchin' some rays and some crabbies at the same time."
"So radical," Lex added before cheering at some development in the tennis match.
Cole could not come soon enough.
"Yup, I got myself a tan and ate myself some chowder. The California of the North, as it were. But oh my I'm nothing of the southern gentleman like yourself Mr. Lexington," it was my turn to poke fun.
"Blazes, Mr. Lexington it sure is hot in here, wouldn't you fix us up some lemonade. Or at least ask Mrs. Lexington in the kitchen for us," Kyle could barely maintain his high pitched southern accent without laughing.
"Why Mr. Lexington, you never did teach little old me a thing about fixing lemonade," Alyssa had also joined in on our fun.
"I'm not even from an area where that would be remotely accurate, Mr. Surf and Surf," now Lex was pulling out the big guns.
"Leave the kids be and come eat," Alyssa said as she stood over Lex and put a hand on his shoulder. Luckily the situation was diffused right there. Girls and food could pretty easily distract Lex, and sports.
"So, what's happening with tennis?" I inquired.
"It's the Valencia Open. Some place in Spain I think. I don't know the players really, but I like to watch," Kyle did seem to have a general enthusiasm for the sport, which I clearly lacked.
Luckily, as I was beginning to dread having to sit and watch tennis, Cole came through the door. At this point we kept the door to our apartment unlocked since all of our bedroom doors had locks. No one in the complex showed signs of suspicion so we decided it would be safe enough. Cole didn't immediately look any different and he wasn't carrying anything with him. He was wearing contacts today, but that surely was not the surprise he had in mind.
"How was your trip back?" he asked while taking off his shoes, I liked keeping my shoes on if they weren't dirty.
"Slept the whole way, and for most of the day too," I was actually kind of hungry now that I thought about it.
"That was probably for the best," he came and sat next to me on the couch and I could tell he was eager to show me something. It was something about that smile of his that I could just tell he was excited.
"So Lassie, who needs saving from the well?" I would entertain him. Normally I hated people who fished for some sort of reaction, but this was Cole.
"I need you to lift up the back of my shirt first," Cole said.
"Eating over here," Lex protested.
"Sitting over here," Kyle almost immediately echoed.
"Well you guys might want to see it too actually," Cole said after a brief moments thought.
"In case you haven't noticed, I have a girlfriend," Lex continued his jest.
"Keep it up Alexis and we will engage in explicitly romantic activity in front of you," I yelled back.
"Could be kinda hot," Alyssa said nonchalantly which caused everyone to laugh at the absurdity.
"Ok for real this time, just lift up the back of my shirt," Cole turned so his back was facing me and he bent forward a little.
He was wearing a black and white checkerboard t-shirt so it was easy enough to lift up. I had no idea what to expect as I slowly lifted the shirt. Nothing on his lower back seemed out of the ordinary to me. It was still trim and muscled as I had remembered it being. Once I got the shirt up to his shoulder blade area I noticed something was different. His left shoulder blade had a large medical bandage covering most of the area. There wasn't a lot of blood or many bruises to indicate some sort of injury. I began formulating a guess.
"You get into a fight? Or fall over a fence?" Kyle asked upon inspection.
"Nope," Cole responded.
"What happened to him?" Lex asked as he was cleaning off the dishes. Alyssa had made her way over to the couch to investigate "the surprise".
"Something with bandages on his shoulder. I think a dog bit him," Kyle responded.
"No, he got a tattoo. You got a tattoo, didn't you Cole?" I was pretty confident in my answer, mostly because I had wanted to get a tattoo in that exact spot for quite some time.
"Yeah I did. You can peel back some of the tape and see what it is," he looked back over his shoulder at me and smiled a little.
I feared it would be something terrible. The reason I never got a tattoo is because I could never decide what I would want to get. For me it had to have a very deep meaning which I could explain. I didn't just want some design because I was "tough" or felt like getting one. This would have to be an expression of my inner-self. I just hoped Cole hadn't made a mistake.
Slowly, I peeled back one edge of the bandage. The design was still red from only having been done a day or two ago, but it was very clear what it was. The main object was a plain, battle-worn, iron heater style shield. The nicks and slight dings were detailed beautifully. Over the center of the shield were two lines of text styled in a very retro 8-bit fashion, "Without Fear". Some of the letters spilled over the shield edges. The top of the shield had a faint green aura about it while the bottom had a faint yellow one. Clearly Cole had been inspired by the various talks we had been having, and to him this served as a reminder and a victory.
"Pretty radical, digging the whole glowing 80's thing going on," Alyssa commented.
"That's pretty hardcore man," Kyle noted before returning to the tennis match.
"Hey Alyssa what if I got a tattoo?" Lex was almost done cleaning the dishes.
"If you get something stupid, I will freaking murder you. Don't think I won't either," Alyssa was clearly the tough leader she made herself out to be on campus.
"What do you think Lucas?" clearly I was the only one whose opinion mattered to Cole, or at least I liked to think so.
"I really like it, and I understand. Now, Hal Jordan of Earth, I am going to put your bandage back and your shirt down," I let him know that I did understand what his tattoo meant.
The design held a good amount of symbolism. I guessed that the shield was a reminder of the shield he had given me not a few weeks earlier, and it also served as a symbol for protection. The shield was worn to show the level of the mental and emotional battle he had already been through. The text was simple enough, a declaration that he no longer had a fear of trusting others or himself. Choosing the retro styled font served as an homage to a time period where a good deal of his entertainment and pop-culture references were from. Plus it was a reminder that video games were a source of enjoyment for him. Green and yellow were the two original colors of the spectrum used in the Green Lantern comics. Willpower was represented by green and fear was represented by yellow. In this instance the green was dominating and eliminating the yellow. This reference was similar to the Abin-Sur one Cole had used when he came to one of his revelations. All of this was just so perfect for him and everything made sense.
"I'm glad you think so. I was kinda nervous getting it done alone, but I knew this design would be awesome. It just came to me when I was eating breakfast on Thursday, so I got it done the next day," Cole explained.
"How spontaneous of you. I'm actually pretty hungry right now so we can continue this conversation in the kitchen. If you wish you may have some of my mac and cheese. Compliments of Kraft Foods," I stood up and headed into the kitchen, Cole followed behind. Lex had finished washing the dishes and was back between Kyle and Alyssa on the couch.
I set a pot on the stove with water to begin boiling. Cole recounted his tattoo experience to me while I impatiently watched my pot. He told me about how the artist was able to illustrate his breakfast revelation so perfectly. I obsessively read over the instructions on the blue box even though I already knew what to do. This was a habit of mine; reading any given directions no matter how simple or intuitive they might be. It was still in my nature to leave as little as possible to chance.
"Lucas, cooking mac and cheese is like the easiest thing in the world," Cole noticed my deliberate following of the directions. He took the box from me and broke down the cardboard after removing the cheese packet and pouring the pasta in the boiling water. The unspeakable had happened. This wasn't exactly a crisis, but I felt like something was missing. "We're going to make the whole thing, I'll have some too. Fake mac and cheese is the best. Just don't freak out." He kissed me lightly on the neck.
"I'm not freaking out. Then again, I'm not the guy `without fear'" I added in, and I couldn't let Cole think such a minor thing would bother me.
After the pasta cooked for some unknown amount of time it was drained of the starchy bath. Time always seems to go slower when cooking and much faster when eating. Cole poured the pasta back into the pot, added some unmeasured amounts of butter and milk, and all of the cheese packet. He mixed everything about with a fork which he proceeded to lick clean after a few minutes.
"Grab yourself a bowl and a fork," he announced and left the cabinet open for me to do just that.
We sat across from each other and ate our pasta. His appetite still amazed me. Then again, he did play basketball and swim recreationally pretty often. To my surprise the pasta tasted perfectly fine despite the unmeasured ingredients. I guess Cole was going to be the needed randomness in my life. I just hoped he wouldn't also be the instability as well.
"I didn't know you were so `not-by-the-book'," I said.
"You didn't even notice it a little? The rule writer himself didn't notice the mess?" he countered.
"Well I guess I noticed it, but I never really considered it as part of who you were. You can't be too sure of some people."
"So will the calculating cyborg account for the undefinable in his equations or am I being written off?"
"Cole I could never dislike you for who you are, only for what you do. Actions are the final product of thoughts derived from past experiences and personality. That's my interpretation anyway."
"I should've expected that. It's good to know I'm being judged fairly, I guess."
"Don't think you're always being judged, you don't have to please everyone. Mostly just me," I smiled.
"Got it. Want the last of the mac and cheese?" I already knew that he knew the answer would be `no'.
"You can have it, I'll clean these dishes."
I cleaned up as Cole told me of how getting a tattoo felt. He mentioned that luckily whatever muscle and other tissue he had on the area was able to buffer some of the pain. Mostly, it felt like getting clawed gently by a cat or having a hot pin push against your skin. Eventually though it just felt like a deep buzzing. He carried on a conversation with the tattoo guy about what designs were cool and which ones were overused or just weird. Apparently bird feathers are stupid along with snakes, but most designs with sugar skulls are cool. Tigers are also acceptable. Apparently the guy was well versed in American style tattoos.
"When do I get part two of my surprise?" I asked as the last dish was cleaned.
"Whenever you like," Cole hugged my waist from behind.
"Right now?" I turned and kissed his lips.
"Your room?" he released his arms.
"Let's go," I led the way.
Once we were in my room I quickly closed and locked the door. Getting him undressed would not be difficult, but I had to stay mindful of his bandage. I removed his shirt swiftly but he stopped me before I could unbutton his jeans. He held my hands near his face.
"Something wrong?" I asked with slight concern.
"No, I just wanted to ask something first. Can I?" I nodded, "I wanted to know if you would come to my hometown with me the second weekend in November."
"Sure that sounds interesting. Any reason why?"
"Mostly because Fish is driving home so we can hitch a ride, but also because I think we should do some stuff together away from school."
I smiled and said that his idea sounded great. It could be true that the whole school atmosphere could prove stifling and slightly invasive at times. Cole certainly had a point. But now I was more focused on other matters.
His jeans were no challenge to unbutton for me anymore. I had him down to his underwear with ease. To my surprise he was wearing a pair of light green Calvin Klein briefs. They did not remain for very long either. By the time I released his engorged cock from the fabric holding, he was already beginning to drip precum. One such drop landed on my carpet. I took this as my signal to envelop his bobbing dick. He grasped my nearby desk chair with one hand for support and let out a shallow gasp when I took him in my mouth. Deep hums of pleasure met the movements of my tongue and throat. I took all of him in at first but then settled for just half while I worked him over with my tongue. My knees started to hurt a little so I decided now was the time to bring on his orgasm.
Once again I took his full length into my throat. I let him move his hips and clutch the back of my head with his other hand. The sheer masculinity and dominance of the scene was a definite turn on for me. As Cole fucked my face I did all that I could to make him cum. I began fondling his testicles with one of my free hands which only excited him further. Finally I left him tense and begin to release. The length between this orgasm and his last really had him pent up. Once his eruption subsided and I had swallowed everything he had to offer he moved and sat on my chair. Naked.
"Is it my turn now?" I asked as I moved in front of where he was sitting.
"I don't know, I'm kinda full from that pasta," Cole joked.
"Well I do have a lot of cum here for you to eat. Think of it as dessert," I said.
He smiled and undid the button on my khakis. My pants and underwear were pulled down, but my clothes remained on me. This only added to the slightly erotic atmosphere. It wasn't hard to tell how aroused I had already become from all of this. Cole took all of me in his mouth from where he sat. My dick loved anywhere it could be put inside of Cole. He was clearly more experienced than I was in this department and my orgasm came quicker than his had. As I was building to that climax I thought that one day soon, Cole should fuck me. The thought made me cum all the more intensely. I could tell that Cole was really trying to keep up with swallowing everything.
"That was a long one," Cole said once everything was done.
"I was thinking of you fucking me," I stated it plainly enough.
"That's hot," he replied.
"You have to do it, soon. I want you to. I love you Coleton," I kissed him.
"I love you too. If you're sure then we can do it Friday," he kissed me a second time.
"Definitely," I never thought it would come to this.