Clan Short Pacific Rim Division

Oneula Beach Rec Room

Monday, November 8, 2004, 9:50AM HTZ

Using the PADD provided by Alden, Billy and Robbie took notes on the various games available at the base. With Alden's help, Billy had organized his first spreadsheet, naming games and listing pro and con columns by age groups. Jason, Jimmy and Scott were with groups of boys their own ages, testing games and chattering up a storm, so Billy saw everything was very kewl. Not far from Billy and Robbie, dancing to the jukebox music, Travis McAuley was with his roommate and new boyfriend, Erik Kendricks. Some other teenagers were playing foosball or billiards. Level one and level two orphanage teen boys were watching and asking questions, to learn the rules and how to play both games.

Heading out of the rec room to get sodas from the kitchen, Lance Kinchen and Scott Shetley, the two guitarists rescued from New York City, were losing interest in exploring the bases. Lance sighed, "This is all kind o' kewl, but getting good at a video game seems pointless to me. I'd rather play guitar or dance."

After a restless night, Scott sleepily nodded, "Your pick, I'll do either."

Giggling, Lance teased, "Ya wanna dance with me, big guy? I didn't know..."

Moving closer and guiding Lance to a private area of the dining room, Scott stopped Lance from walking. Gently resting a hand on Lance's shoulder, Scott whispered, "I saw and heard you last night, and I know you saw me." Not quite a year younger than Scott, Lance fiercely blushed, apologized and briefly tried stammering nonsensical excuses. "Shush," Scott warmly smiled. He released Lance's shoulder, whispering, "Every guy does it, and I'm not bothered at all. The thing I have to tell you is that I was looking at you, wishing we... ya know, uh... weren't so far apart. If you... ya know... want... we could try... if it's kewl, and we still want, then we'll see?"

Relieved, but also very surprised, Lance nervously glanced around. Since no one else was nearby or paying any attention, Lance whispered, "I didn't think you'd want to."

Scott shrugged, "I just don't know, Lance. We walked out o' the city together and stayed together. My time's spent playing and practicing guitar, for four years. I never gave much thought to being with anyone at all before. Since Saturday, I can't seem to stop thinking about it. If I can't with you, then I just can't with any guy. Together, we could try. If we both like it then we can talk it out, and see what we wanna do about it."

Lance blushed and softly confessed, "I didn't think you'd be interested. I'm just gonna admit it, I would've joined you in your bed, or asked you into mine, if I thought I had any chance at all."

Scott carefully shared, "Thanks." He then wondered, "Why wouldn't you have a chance?" Only turning redder, Lance decided to keep his thoughts private and shrugged. Scott smiled, "After three days together, you and I have the best chance. No matter how it works out, we'll still be roommates and buds, Lance. A while ago, during last summer, I got two hand-jobs, from a guy and then from a girl. Neither ever spoke to me again. I guess they were embarrassed, and so was I, but not that bad. Maybe it was my fault. I could've returned something, but I was too freaked out and didn't. No matter what the reasons, we ain't going there, man. When this experiment is over, you tell me what you liked or didn't like. I'll tell you the truth too."

Lance worried, "What if one of us likes it more than the other?"

"We can figure that out if or when we get there," Scott offered. "If it's kewl, we've got bunches of gay guys to confide in and talk to."

Nodding, Lance suggested, "Let's get some sodas, and then tell Billy we're heading to our dorm to jam." Scott agreed and they did exactly that. Knowing that the two older boys played guitar, Billy nodded and reminded them to find the group again when they were ready.

Watching the teens walk out of the Oneula Beach rec room, Robbie giggled, 'Ya know, I guess some dudes are just thick as a brick.'

Tilting his head, Billy smiled, "What do you mean?"

"Lance and Scott," Robbie grinned. 'You seemed a little bummed that they were leaving, so I did a quick scan. They're already best friends. Lance would walk on his hands through glass if Scott told him to. Scott thinks Lance is the cutest, most cuddly dude around. Every time Lance smiles at him, Scott feels like king of the universe. They've got the same interests and the exact same thoughts. They ain't playing guitar, Billy; they're gonna try making love, like a test, to see if they can deal.'

Billy grinned, 'Those two guys? Never in a million years would I have guessed.'

Robbie shrugged, 'What makes any guy gay?'

'Attraction first, I think,' Billy offered.

Robbie nodded and smiled, 'Exactly. As much as I'm attracted to the way you look, the way you think is the kewlest. It's exactly the same with Lance and Scott. All the attractions are there. The difference is that you and I know we're gay. They're just now considering it more seriously than they ever needed or wanted to before.'

During the silent walk from Oneula Beach to their room, Lance tried to wrap his mind around what they were going to do. For three days, Scott had been the best friend ever. Lance completely suppressed any sexual thoughts involving Scott. The fact that Scott wanted to make love with him was simply too unreal to be true. Considering what could very likely happen when they were alone, there wasn't a single idea that didn't thrill Lance to his soul. If he wasn't so terrified, Lance might've actually gotten more than a chubby, but the truth was, he was scared to death of doing something wrong.

Only minutes later, Lance and Scott were back at Ewa Beach, walking into dorm room thirty-one-fourteen. They noticed their beds were remade and the room seemed spotless. Once the door was closed and locked, Scott put his soda down on his desk, sincerely imploring, "Don't ever stop talking to me, Lance." He pointed at the two guitar cases leaning against the wall, firmly reminding, "That's us, no matter what. Before we got here, we were talking about getting our own band together. Before we crashed last night, all we talked about was the Platinum Habits concert. Music is the foundation... our reason for being together from the start, early Friday morning. The second anything seems wrong, let me know and I'll stop."

After putting his soda down on his dresser, Lance nervously replied, "Kewl, you too, okay?"

Hearing the soft and shaky tone of Lance's voice, Scott asked, "What's wrong?"

Turning to face his best friend in the world, Lance shrugged, "Nothin'." Shyly glancing across the room, he sighed, "I don't know how to do anything, man. I've never... with anyone before. I'm so scared that I'm really shaking like a leaf. I want to, but I'm just thinking, maybe I can't."

Scott grinned, "Course ya can! I caught you spankin' it, and you must've caught me. Did you shoot?"

"Yeah!" Lance giggled. He wanted to add, 'it was the best ever', but held back the remark.

Moving slowly toward his roomie, Scott smirked, "Then you can, when we get to step two."

"What's step one?" Lance wondered. Done explaining, Scott demonstrated by softly running a hand up Lance's arm. Lance watched his friend's hand travel up his arm as far as he could then locked eyes with Scott. The slightly taller, older boy moved closer and placed the first tender kiss on Lance's mouth. Lance returned it, trying to copy it as best he could. Scott kissed Lance again, with only the tip of his tongue brushing Lance's lips. It tickled and Lance uncontrollably giggled. Moving back, Scott grinned. Lance giggled, "Obviously you've practiced step one."

Shaking his head, Scott assured, "Only in my dreams, man. I made the first move, now it's your turn." Wrapping his arms around Scott, Lance planted a deep, lingering kiss; tasting lips, tongue, teeth and mouth, causing both of them to breathe through their noses. When the kiss broke, Scott chuckled, "Whoa! I thought maybe I was moving too fast for you, but I guess not!"

Turning beet red and vigorously shaking his head, Lance giggled, "Was it okay?"

"Incredible!" Scott assured.

"I would've kissed you last night, before we went to bed, but thought you'd slug me," Lance giggled.

Scott smiled, "We're still thinking the exact same things, Lance. I would've kissed you last night, but thought you'd freak out on me."

Relieved, Lance sighed and let some truth slip out. "I wouldn't let myself consider this before. We like all the same music, play some of the same tunes; we're already teaching each other songs, and you don't treat me like I'm younger than you at all. I want to learn everything with you. Just cos I'm scared doesn't mean I don't want to do this with you... ya know?"

Scott nodded, "I know. It's only a little weird when I think of it. Like, what might happen if..." He let his hands travel down Lance's back to his butt. His right hand gave Lance's left butt cheek a firm squeeze.

Jumping in place, directly against Scott's front, Lance's eyes widened. He giggled, "I haven't moved away, so I must've liked it, from you, I guess."

"See, that's what I mean," Scott chortled. "I think of kissing you, and it's weird, but the reality was it was really nice. I think of goosing your ass, and it's weird, but the reality is that now I want to touch more of you." He paused, and then grinned, "Holding you close like this feels really good. Your heart is beating just as fast as mine, I can feel it. I would've hugged you Saturday, but then Paulie showed up. Instead of giving a hug, we both wound up on the ground with a VI Panda on top of us."

Lance wanted to say so much, but couldn't find words to express himself without talking for an hour. He reached up and gave Scott a second deep kiss, pushing his taller friend backward a step. The whole time he was kissing Scott, Lance hoped and prayed that his message of complete acceptance was being clearly received.

After a moment and muted chuckles, Scott let Lance push him back again, and kept slowly moving back, until they were standing at the foot of his bed. By the second backward step, Scott knew precisely where they would eventually wind up. Lance broke the kiss, giggling, "Look where we are."

Surprised again with Lance's actions, Scott laughed, "Ya know what? Fuck it! I don't care anymore if I can't give you a descent hand-job or blow-job. I promise, I'll learn exactly what makes you crazy. I'm falling in love with you, Lance. I was so scared to think that, never mind say it."

Lance nodded, "I'll have to agree, screw all the worries. I feel perfect like this, real close together. I love being held by you, and holding you here, against me. It's not so surprising, now that I think about it. If this is what the Core Rimmers feel like, no wonder they travel in pairs all the damn time."

Scott checked, "Do you want to try it, being boyfriends, I mean?"

Nodding, Lance grinned, "After kisses like that, we already are, it seems," and then tried to shove Scott over, so he'd fall back on his bed. It didn't work; Scott only wobbled.

Scott evilly snickered. Lance cackled and the battle began to see who would land on the bed first. Being two inches taller and about fifteen pounds heavier, Scott eventually won the battle of the bed, and the subsequent battles for Lance's sandals and clothes. He then stripped in record time and climbed onto the bed, over Lance, softly checking, "You've got a chubby?"

"Yeah, that was fun," Lance giggled. "You do too, it seems. You're pokin' out of your foreskin."

Carefully lying down on top of Lance, Scott smiled, "If I ask you something, promise you'll tell the truth?"

"Uh, we're naked on your bed," Lance cackled. "I think I can promise that easily enough."

"How far do you want to go?"

"All the way and everything," Lance blushed, "if not today then soon. If this is going to work, we need to know what it's all like. I just don't know all the specifics, ya know? I've never had any friend like you before. During the shower Friday night, and every shower since, I thought stuff about you that I've never ever thought before. I'll admit that I pictured you and me rollin' around together last night. It's all scary, man; thinking about the stuff I'm thinking and feeling; dicks in hands, mouths and butts, I mean."

Lowering all the way down, Scott whispered in Lance's ear, "I want it all too, everything and every way. But I want it more than good for both of us. It's gotta be great, cos I really don't wanna fuck it up by hurting you, or being hurt by you, only cos we're dumb virgins. Agreed?" When Lance nodded and whispered approval, Scott asked, "Would you get pissed if I asked Mike for a few recommendations?"

"I'd rather talk to Drew or Corey," Lance confided. "I just feel like they're the best two to ask, since they're younger, but married, and were probably where we are now not so long ago."

"Then you talk to one or both of them, and I'll talk to Mike. Between what you learn and what I learn, we'll be kewl."

"It's gonna be a real hot night tonight," Lance giggled. Wide-eyed and rapidly nodding, Scott evilly snickered, and then dove down to munch on Lance's neck. Cringing from tickles, Lance howled laughing. He couldn't get Scott to stop either. Before hyperventilating, Lance figured he had to fight fire with fire, and reached up to nibble and suck on Scott's neck. In seconds, both were loudly laughing, and only occasionally getting nibbles or sloppy wet sucks in.

After taking a breather to cuddle, Scott teased, "Gonna squeeze your lemon, boy."

Getting the Led Zeppelin reference, Lance giggled, "Make the juice run down my leg?"

Sliding down Lance's body, Scott shook his head, teasing, "Over my hand or in my mouth." He soon had a hand wrapped around Lance's circumcised bone and inspected it up close. Wondering what was going to happen next, Lance's wide eyes watched his best friend's every movement. The new sensation of someone else's hand firmly stroking his rod caused a guttural groan to escape. Scott checked, "Okay?"

"Friggin' awesome," Lance panted. Scott returned to his inspection. Having never been in a similar situation, everything was brand new. He didn't expect another guy's cock to feel so warm, look so perfect or smell so intoxicating. Lance's pubes were the same color as his hair, light brown. Scott lowered his face closer and gave a tentative lick. It didn't taste of anything; like wetting a finger to turn a page of a book. He licked again, longer and slower this time, to be certain he could finish what he was about to start. At the warm, wet lick, and subsequent coolness, Lance shivered, "Oh God, Scott. That feels awesome, man. Do just that, as long as you want."

"Yeah?" Scott chortled.

"Definitely!" Lance cheered.

"Ya want some too?"

"Definitely!" Lance giggled, "You have got to know what that feels like."

Shifting around so they could progress together, on their sides and with plenty of access, Scott sniggered, "Judging by the way you're shaking, it must feel great."

Dizzily nodding, Lance reached for Scott's hardness. It was as if Scott's two previous quick experiences never happened. Scott reasoned that they were quick because they were meaningless. The girl and the guy were only acquaintances that Scott barely knew. Time already spent with Lance far exceeded both his other times combined. It dawned on him that it was probably a safe bet that neither wanted him as a boyfriend, they only wanted sex. He had never even kissed the guy or the girl. Being with Lance was much more important. Just feeling Lance's hand on his dick caused Scott to gasp.

Lance had no issue with foreskin and was soon discovering that even with a stiffy, the flesh could still completely cover the head. This was the greatest first time; far better than he had ever dared imagine. Foreskin was different, and Lance could see how it attached, rolling over and back off the head. He gave the length a good long lick.

Moaning, Scott repeatedly blinked, wondering if his brain had melted and would ooze out of his ears. Lance giggled at Scott's reactions. Realizing he was being goofed on, Scott smirked at Lance and took the unsaid dare by licking completely around the glans of Lance's throbber. Lance was sure something snapped inside his head. Ravenously, he engulfed a comfortable mouthful of Scott and twirled his tongue around.

Scott softly instructed, "That's really kewl, man. Pull the skin back and forth like that, yeah. It's great both ways, covered and uncovered." He then dove onto Lance's cock to share the same process and good feelings. Explorations continued to scrotums. Lance had only a couple of scattered hairs on his sack, so Scott licked the wrinkled flesh and carefully sucked each testicle. Even though Scott was a little hairier, Lance again enthusiastically repeated his friend's actions. They then took the first looks at pink, puckering sphincters. Both had brown hair and brown pubes, even down there. Scott wet a finger and gently rubbed Lance's orifice, pausing only to ask, "How's that?"

"Really nice," Lance softly replied. He wet his middle finger, and then said, "Here, check it out." He rubbed, tapped and then carefully inserted only the fingertip.

Pulling his face out from between Lance's legs, Scott sighed, "Really, really nice." He then called for his new boyfriend. "Com'ere, sexy lover boy."

Lance worried, "Is it too funky down there, Scott?" and pulled his head out to see Scott's expression.

"Not in the least," Scott firmly replied. "I showered with you, ate with you and we've been together all morning. Nothin's stinky; you smell and taste awesome. I only wanted to see... to look in your eyes... to remind myself it's really you that I'm doin' this with."

Smiling, nodding and sitting up, Lance crawled over and lay on top of Scott. Gently running his fingers through Scott's shorter and darker brown hair, Lance warmly smiled, "It's no dream, but it sure feels like one. It's me you've been touching, and you're the one I'm touching. Everything you've done that I did too, I wanted to do.

"How many times can I think something you say is kewl, something you show me on guitar is better than my way? Who did I choose to sleep beside Friday night and have as a roommate? The likes have way outweighed the dislikes from the first minutes. I've prob'ly been falling in love with you since we walked out of New York. I wouldn't let myself admit it, but now I want you to know, I really love everything about you."

"I love you too," Scott whispered, and sealed it with a series of varying kisses. Lance accepted and returned as many kisses as he received. Becoming desperate, the two teens started grinding against each other, resolutely calling each others' names between kisses, leading to their first uncontrollable orgasms as a couple, with open eyes and open mouths. 

Giggling with relief, neither could believe they climaxed so quickly. It wasn't what either had thought would happen when they walked into the room; Scott expected and wanted to suck dick, and Lance would've been happy with jackin' off, but it was still the most intense sexual experience either had ever had. They shared those expectations and firmly assured what they had done was better, although neither knew why exactly. More important to them at that point was fulfilling the others fantasy. They did all that and enjoyed themselves immensely. After three orgasms each, they cuddled on Scott's bed. Lance really felt fantastic in Scott's embrace, with his head resting on his friend's shoulder. Scott liked it very much too, but wanted to try reversing, so he could cuddle against Lance. Once settled with Lance's arm around him, Scott had to admit it was the better place to be.

Checking the clock on the night stand, Lance sighed, "I don't want to move, but it's getting near lunch time. Prez said they'd be back in two hours, and it's quarter to eleven."

Rubbing the crusty dried cum spot on Lance's belly, Scott chuckled, "And we must smell like we've been having sex. Since no one else is around, we could probably have a shower."

Lance giggled, "We need to and I really want to, but..."

After waiting a few moments, Scott widely smiled and finished, "But we're gonna be hard as steel the whole time?"

"Yeah," Lance giggled.

After thinking a few moments, Scott grinned, "We have two choices; chance a shower, and go to lunch looking and smelling innocent..." Lance evilly snickered. Scott giggled, "Or we go to lunch stinking like cum and sweat."

Lance laughed, "The shower is a risk we have to take."

Scott smiled, "Agreed. If anyone comes in the toilet or shower, the first thing we do is hug and hide our bones."

"Kewl," Lance giggled, "but if we get caught, my bone and the rest of me will shrivel into the smallest corner."

Propping himself up on one arm, Scott confirmed, "Was what we did good?"

"It was awesome!" Lance cheered.

"I want to do it all again, and more."

"Me too."

"We'll protect each other."

"Always, man. We love each other."

Scott leaned over for a short, tender kiss. Lance returned a deeper, passionate kiss. Grinning like madmen at the experiment that had apparently become a lifestyle change, they got out of bed and went to the door. Like a city thief in the night, Scott stuck his head out the doorway, checked the hallway, turned and nodded at Lance, and then took his hand. They ran for the lavatory and into the mob shower, laughing and giggling the entire way. 

Once under the shower spray, they started bathing each other. To keep their intimacy and presence secret, they only whispered affirmations that their friendship was growing into a serious love affair. Beginning to relax, Scott showed Lance how to wash his uncircumcised dick. Getting excited and forgetting where they were, they locked eyes and locked lips, caressing the other's erection and jewels. The world around them vanished. It wasn't their intention to climax, but neither would break the kiss or release the other's erection.

From the changing area, Chris Stokley gasped, "Whoops!" and spun around, toward Jay and the wall.

Their trance shattered, Lance's and Scott's heads snapped to the sound, and they saw Chris and Jay. As one voice, the two startled lovers shouted, "AW FUCK!" and slammed together, hiding their erections as previously planned.

Not the least bit disturbed, Jay took his T-shirt off and tossed it on the bench.

Moving as one with Lance, Scott reached to turn the water off. Embarrassed far beyond his thirteen years, Lance began sincerely apologizing. 

Jay grinned, "Don't even try, you're not sorry."

Chris smirked, "Jay, be nice."

Together, Lance and Scott began shuffling toward the shower exit, and both profusely apologized.

"Well, I sure wouldn't be sorry," Jay told Chris.

The two long time lovers blocked the shower exit and loudly demanded, "CHILL AND RELAX!" Holding on tightly to Scott, as if his life depended on him, Lance quivered in fear and hid his flushed face on Scott's shoulder. All Lance could picture was Chris pounding him unconscious, and Jay turning the lump on the floor into soup.

Jay grinned, "That's why we're here, guys."

Paying close attention to Scott and Lance, Chris nodded, "Since everyone else is busy..."

"We decided to chance it too," Jay smiled.

Locking eyes with Scott, Chris gently shared, "Of all the guys we expected might be here, you two weren't even on the list."

Holding Lance's head down and his body firmly against his own, Scott nervously stammered, "Well... uh... we just... alone... and then... umm... and before lunch... so-oo..."

Jay checked with Chris for help interpreting. Chris reached to hold Lance's and Scott's wet shoulders, and then confirmed, "You just started and discovered you're more than friends?" Feeling his face flush more intensely, Scott slowly nodded. Chris smiled, "Kewl. Listen and hear me, okay?" Again, Scott nodded. Chris admitted, "We're here for the exact same reason, to make love."

Jay gently called, "Lance?"

"This is so fucked up," Lance softly whimpered.

"No, it isn't," Jay assured. Since Scott seemed a little more composed, Jay asked, "Do you love Lance?"

Nodding, Scott replied, "Yeah, a lot."

Barely believing what he had heard Scott say, Lance's head turned enough to see Scott's hyper-serious expression. Tears that were pooling in Lance's eyes flowed freely down his cheeks and onto Scott's shoulder.

Pointing into the mob shower, Jay gently begged, "Please, stay? We can deal with this easily."

Releasing Lance and Scott, Chris turned to his lover, blinking, "We can?"

Jay chuckled, "I'm burning up, man! You know I am."

"It's their first day," Chris grinned. "I can't understand how they spent two nights in the same room, but only this morning did they decide to try anything."

Nodding, Jay reminded, "It's not our first day. We can relieve their embarrassment or let it fester. Sorry, but we live in the same dorm and the same hall, two doors away from each other. We have to fix what we accidentally screwed up." He turned to Scott, saying, "It's better to become closer friends than barely be able to face one another, right?"

Scott checked with Lance, carefully asking, "Can you do this?"

Barely lifting his face up, Lance sniffled, "Jay's right. We have to try, or we'll wind up avoiding each other, running in the opposite direction."

Jay smiled, "We'll make it worth your while, I promise."

Glaring at his long time lover, Chris cackled, "Ya wanna rephrase that, Jay?"

Hiding his face on Scott's shoulder, Lance began giggling. Scott sniggered, "It did sound pretty bad, Jay."

Untying his board shorts, Jay chuckled, "The important point is, it's not bad. It's who we are. The Core Rimmers told us to be brothers." He slipped his shorts and boxers off, then tossed them onto the bench, telling Chris, "By sharing three years of history, we can make this better." On his way into the shower, Jay tapped Lance on the back, prompting, "Come on, back under the water, so I can explain a few dozen things."

When Lance nodded, Scott led them back under the same shower. Chris began undressing. Jay turned on the shower across from Lance and Scott. Once he was soaked, Jay turned to face his two new brothers, sharing, "Do you want to know what's bad? Being in love for three years and not feeling comfortable to show it is bad. Knowing you're gay, and happy that you are, and happier that you have the best boyfriend in the world, but feeling the need to always hide all of it, is bad. Telling the most important guy in the world, 'don't hold my hand, here and there and those places too, because someone might see and figure us out,' is very bad. Saying, 'don't try to kiss me anywhere, except behind closed doors in your bedroom or mine,' is extremely bad. Saturday morning, when I was brought here, I learned it doesn't have to be that way anymore. It was like having every worry I've carried suddenly shoved off my back. During the day Saturday, Chris showed me around this base, and for the first time, I kissed him in public. Every chance I get, I'm gonna hold his hand and kiss him, simply because I finally can without anyone caring. A lifetime of worries began falling off and away. I've got three years of major fuck-ups to fix."

Chris padded naked into the shower. Jay glowed and proudly beamed, "Look at this sexy guy!" Pausing about two meters away, Chris glared at Jay like he barely knew him. Jay prompted, "Really, look at all of him, guys." Seeing Lance and Scott giving Chris a good once over, Jay shared, "He was cute when we were eleven. Cute has become almost blindingly hot. Dozens of times Chris could've told me, 'the hell with you!' Dozens of times, I had to fix what my big mouth fucked up. The number of times I could've lost him forever is horrifying; that's exceedingly bad."

Barely believing what Jay was saying, Chris sighed, "You're making mountains out of molehills, Jay." He went directly to his lover.

Sliding close to Chris and taking him into his arms, Jay seriously said, "They're molehills now, but they were the Himalayas at the time."

"We've gone over this the last two days," Chris reminded.

"Now I'm proving how serious I am," Jay smiled. "If you want me to, I'll scream it to this entire base; I repeatedly fucked up."

Shaking his head, Chris smiled, "You don't need to; it's over and done, way in the past. The way you've been since getting here proves it."

Jay leaned closer for a tender kiss that was passionately returned. Jay softly said, "For each time I denied my love, I'll declare it, starting right now, with these two guys." Stepping back and exposing his hardening dick, Jay told Lance and Scott, "Lesson one, do as I say and not as I've done. When you really love someone, tell him, all the time, whenever the mood strikes you. Don't wait for an argument to say it; it becomes a desperate plea when you haven't said it enough."

Chris giggled, "It's the concussion, guys. Jay hasn't been well since an apartment building fell on him." Scott and Lance softly chortled.

Jay sniggered, "It knocked some sense into me."

"Well, one of us needs serious psychological help," Chris giggled. More loudly, Lance and Scott chuckled.

Jay grinned, "See, because I haven't said three simple little words enough, he thinks I've lost my mind, now that I'm saying private things in public." Trying to sound disappointed, but failing miserably and wearing a wicked grin, Jay huffed, "I guess I'll just have to show Chris how much I love him." Turning around, Jay backed up to Chris and ground his butt against Chris' hips, madly chuckling, "You'd better believe I'm his bottom, especially now with this damned cast. Have you guys gotten this far yet?"

Going into a giggling fit, Lance vigorously shook his head. Slipping in front of Lance and reaching back to hold him in place, Scott duplicated Jay's grind and chuckled, "It's next on our list of things to do." Cracking up, Lance blushed crimson. 

"Great!" Chris giggled, "Your insanity is contagious, Jay."

Glancing back over his shoulder, Jay grinned, "I've only just begun." Like an Olympic skater, Jay spun around behind Chris. Exposing his lover's erection and grinding his woody against Chris' ass, Jay gleamed, "The game is dare-match-dare. Are you guys playing that game?"

Sliding in front of Scott and reversing the grind, Lance giggled, "Yup. I did everything Scott did."

Jay sniggered, "Very kewl. I was beginning to wonder if you would get into this, Lance."

Chuckling insanely, Scott playfully wondered, "What're you doin', Lance?"

"Recovering from the heart attack I just had, and what they're doin'," Lance giggled.

Chris grinned and confirmed, "You two guys just started today?"

Slightly out of sync, Lance and Scott answered, "Yeah."

Lance blushed, "We've barely been alone a whole hour."

Jay smiled, "But you haven't had intercourse?"

Scott blushed and sang, "Not yet."

Chris smiled, "I'm Jay's bottom boy. In the dare-match-dare game, nothing is really out of bounds. You decide what's kewl and when." He paused then giggled, "Of course, I never expected this to happen. Since it has, and you're both obviously ready, I'll strongly recommend careful and slow penetration. We started before we turned thirteen, and found careful and slow is the only way."

Sliding in front of Chris again, Jay intensified his grind, causing his cock to crazily swing. Jay checked, "Are you guys getting the picture?"

Slipping back behind Scott and holding his hips, Lance confirmed, "We're each bottoms and tops, all the time?" Jay nodded.

Scott asked, "Its not like one leads and the other follows?"

Chris replied by posing the question; "Real life isn't that way, so why expect anything different now? Just like one of you might have an off day, but the other is doing just fine, so get used to being versatile in the sack. When either of us has had a bad day, the other knows it, so we do what's necessary to fix the problem, at least temporarily."

Jay added, "You guys set the pace and the rules. From what's been said, I got the impression that Scott led the way, this time. The next time around, let Lance lead." Showing off the cast on his wrist, Jay smirked, "This damn thing is slowing me way down, but the best part is, I'm getting some great bottom action for the next week, simply because it's easier with this cast."

Chris sniggered, "And next week, my butt or my legs are in the air as often as possible." He suddenly shoved Jay and loudly reminded, "DAMMIT! We'll be in school by then!"

"Oh, really?" Jay innocently chuckled.

At Chris' twisted smirk, Lance and Scott cracked up. They decided to turn off the shower and leave the room, so Chris could get Jay back. In a flash, Chris jumped and landed on Jay's back.

Under attack from Chris and cracking up, Jay quickly asked, "Are you dudes wanting to be out, to more than us?"

Picking up two towels from the stack, Scott shrugged at Lance, waiting for his decision. Taking one towel, Lance moved closer to Scott and stole a tender kiss. Holding Lance in place against him, Scott turned to answer, "Yeah, it's kewl, Jay."

With his feet off the floor and still hanging onto Jay's back, Chris prompted, "Let's have lunch together then."

"Kewl," Lance answered.

Scott replied, "We'll see ya later then." Taking the towels with them, Lance and Scott left their two brothers wrestling in the shower.

Alone in their room drying off, and at last comfortable enough to drop the bullshit along with the towels, Lance grinned, "So, I guess we don't have to talk to Mike, Drew or Corey anymore."

Nodding, Scott chuckled, "Let's get their opinions anyway. We also need to talk to Horacio at lunch. We'll need lube and rubbers, and he's got 'em."

Lance widely smiled, "You told them that you love me, a lot."

"I do," Scott grinned. "My boyfriend is my best friend."

Going to wrap his arms around his new boyfriend, Lance giggled, "Ask for two dildos too, smaller than either of us. You've got a mouthful that will stretch my skinny ass."

"You've got length I gagged on, twice!" Scott sniggered. He leaned over and nibbled on Lance's ear, softly assuring, "I'll get used to it soon enough. I know I want more of you."

"Now?" Lance incredulously giggled.

"Now we jam, and then we have lunch," Scott chuckled, "and then this afternoon, you're my dessert!"

"So much for exploring," Lance grinned.

"We are exploring, each other."

"I want beefy Scottish sausage."

Scott giggled, "Before we jam?"

"After," Lance corrected, "with the dildos, lube and rubbers."

"Kewl."

"Can I play your Strat? You can play my Les Paul."

Going to the guitars, Scott giggled, "Now I know we're serious! First we swap mouthfuls of spit, then cum, and now we're sharing our axes too?" Sadly shaking his head, Scott joked, "I must really love you."

"Hey!" Lance laughed, "Don't forget I love you back!"

Pulling the first of two guitar cases out of the corner, Scott teased, "Guaranteed by tomorrow morning, neither of us will ever forget it."

The only reason Scott wasn't immediately tickled is because he was holding Lance's Les Paul case. At the first opportunity, when the cases were on his bed, but the guitars not yet out, Lance started a tickling free-for-all. As Jay had suggested, Scott allowed Lance to lead the way, wherever he was planning. All Lance really wanted was more kisses. Landing on top of Scott on the other bed, Lance freely shared his love mouth-to-mouth, and received Scott's tight hug and desperate moan, "Damn, I love you so much!"

Pulling back to look into Scott's eyes, Lance giggled, "That's all I wanted to hear."

"You were so scared when they walked in on us. That scared me way more than anything they saw or thought."

"Why?"

"I thought maybe you'd change your mind about us."

"Never," Lance firmly declared. "I couldn't hide from you. This is where I need and want to be, holding you and being held by you."

Scott smiled, "Doing regular stuff seems a little weird too, huh?"

"Yeah, it does," Lance giggled, "but that's what we do, besides suckin' face." Scott sniggered and softly slapped a bare butt cheek. Lance gasped then cackled, "Do that again!"

Cracking up, Scott laughed, "Get off me or I will. Once I get started, it may be hours before I leave your pretty butt alone." Still cackling, Lance rolled off Scott and the bed.

They got the guitars out and started playing a twelve-bar blues in A. From Lance, Scott learned new lead licks. Lance learned new chord patterns from Scott. For about half an hour, they sat on their desk chairs with their male bits hanging out, playing their guitars without amplifiers. When they were ready to take a break, they were horny and hungry. Rather than chance making a mess that would require another interrupted shower, they dressed and went to the CIC dining room.

---

At Sullivan's Island, Aunt Mary's lunch had been devoured. Rikko was on the dining room floor with Fluffy and some kittens. Still sitting at the table, Joey, Paul, Reyes and Ryan were wrapping up their plans for the afternoon. Also at the table were Rich and John Murphy, and KC, Chauncey and Fred Eckhart. 

In the weeks since their arrival in South Carolina, neither John nor Rich had been surfing. They decided to join the party going to Hawaii. Once Joey was safe on the Pacific Rim Division base, they would take a trip off base to surf for a few hours. They would then meet Joey on base before returning to Sullivan's Island.

While that conversation spun around the table, KC asked Fred, "Have you ever played any musical instruments?"

Fred grinned, "Only pianos, for family sing-a-longs at Christmas, Independence Day, and other gatherings like that."

Sitting between Fred and KC, partially paying attention to Rikko, Chauncey noticed his brother and KC, smiling at each other, but not saying another word. Waving his hands before their faces, Chauncey giggled at them. KC grinned, "I was just thinking of practicing guitar for a while." Before doing anything else dumb where everyone would notice, KC stood with his empty glass and left the dining room.

---

At eleven-twenty, the morning test was finished. All the kids walked out of school feeling like they had played games or watched cartoons and movie clips for two hours. From a respectful distance, the teachers watched the kids, joking about the morning's pointless test concerns and worries. Everyone was surprised to various extents. A beeline was made to the CIC dining room.

Leading the pack, Sean and Troy were in a bit of a hurry, wondering how Billy and their sons were doing. AJ, Jerry, Kaleo and Tory just wanted to see their sons. The remaining Core Rimmers found it cute, and now knew what they looked like a week earlier when racing to find their kids.

Almost everyone else went directly into the CIC to get lunch, except Corey, Drew and Leo. Having a stray thought during the test turn into a revelation of sorts, Leo asked for a few minutes alone with his dad and pop. Knowing that Friday dinners and Monday lunches included pizza, Geoff and Lenny raced to the dining room door. Corey, Drew and Leo took the long way around the auditorium and the CIC, so they could talk.

Worried silly, Leo told Drew, "This morning, you asked how I felt after your shower and before we went to sleep." He wondered, "Did I understand what you were asking, or jump too fast?"

"That's exactly what I was asking, Leo," Drew proudly replied.

Only partly relieved, Leo bluntly asked, "Did you think you were molesting me?"

Drew sighed, "We're in a weird situation, because of our ages, Leo. Part of me did think we went a little too far, but your responses last night and this morning made me feel better."

Corey carefully reminded, "I told you that you could easily be our friend, Leo. I'm surprised that you're calling us dad and pop so quickly."

Leo smirked, "Because you wanted the jobs as much as I wanted you to have 'em. Yeah, the age thing is a little strange, but it's so good too. I couldn't have had so much fun learning the facts of life with my mom or dad, as I did with you, pop. You two did stuff for me last night; it wasn't done to me, I all but directly asked for it. We are friends, and we are family, willingly adopting each other. I won't be asking you more than questions about boyfriends and the next steps. You're a couple, and I ain't looking to squeeze myself into that picture. I want a boyfriend of my own, to have what you two have, and all my uncles have, and the other Core Rimmers have too. My younger brothers know sex stuff that I don't."

"Didn't, past tense," Corey briefly corrected.

Confused, Leo glanced at his pop and then his dad.

Drew grinned, "You know plenty, Leo. From what you've said, I know for certain that if your folks had ever met our folks, they'd be friends and we'd be friends. You know how to care about people. The only thing you didn't know was the sexual stuff. Geoff and Lenny learned it in the wrong order and wrong way; first the sex and without any caring. The right way is caring first and then the sex."

"You've gotta have the closeness to be able to deal with the sex," Corey smiled. "Just like our first time, and how much we talked afterward and for days later, you're talking to us about your first time. And you'll do all this again, with your boyfriend. Like you wanting know how we feel, he'll want to know that you're okay with what was done. You'll want to know if he's okay, and if you did it right, or if you could do it better. First the friendship, and then the fun, in that order."

Drew said, "Keith told me once that someone you have sex with, but don't talk with, is just a sex-buddy, and not a boyfriend. Sex-buddies can still become boyfriends, and boyfriends can fall apart and away, becoming sex-buddies. You and your boyfriend talking keeps the friendship going, so you're more than sex-buddies. Fail to tell the truth and you're in trouble."

"It takes hours to talk about every first time experience," Corey stated with certainty. "There's immediate questions and answers, and then additional stuff that has to be talked about. I taught you only one major lesson about oral sex – covering your teeth with your lips. The rest you'll learn about with a boyfriend."

Drew checked with Leo, asking, "You're comfy thinking about intercourse too?"

Blushing, Leo shrugged and giggled, "Only thinking about it. I can't see myself as either top or bottom, so that's way off in the future. Hugs and kisses are all that seems doable for now."

Squeezing Drew's hand, Corey reminded Leo, "Years of hugs, leading to months of kissing, leading to months of masturbation, months of oral, and only now have we reached the last, best stage. It's all worth the time it takes." He giggled, "I was in a rush, Leo. I would've gone from hugs to humping in four days." Drew and Leo cracked up and so did Corey. When he could speak again, Corey giggled, "Be like Drew. Taking your time is better, believe me!"

Drew chuckled, "I'm only curious, but did Geoff or Lenny try to wash your dick this morning?"

"OMIGOD, NO!" Leo gushed. Blushing, he softly giggled, "After how quick it happened last night, I wouldn't let them. I felt weird enough with all three of us sportin' wood, seeing them and them seeing me like that."

Drew offered, "We've watched Geoff and Lenny bathe. They know how to only wash a dick. They'll get silly about it, but now it's a game to them. Exactly three quick passes with a soapy hand, rinse, and then they return to teasing and playing grab-tag."

"Exactly where little dudes like them should be," Corey smiled. 

Leo nodded agreement. Another stray thought crossed his mind, prompting him to ask, "Dad, was I too heavy to lift yesterday?"

Drew chuckled, "I got us to the chair in the nick of time."

Leo giggled, "Kewl, I won't ask for a piggy back ride then." Evilly snickering, Corey and Drew rounded on Leo. Before Leo knew it, each father had one of his legs in an arm, and their other arms behind his back, lifting him off the ground. Holding onto their shoulders, Leo happily cheered, "This works great!"

Corey smiled, "If you're into the idea, have lunch with my mom and dad. Tonight, have dinner with Drew's parents."

"Kewl, I'll do that," Leo giggled.

While that was going on outside, AJ, Jerry, Kaleo, Tory, Sean and Troy saw other newbies in the kitchen chow line, and sitting at tables already eating, but didn't find their sons. Walking through dimensional doors to Oneula Beach, they found all twelve sons and some other boys still in the rec room there. Jason was surrounded by a bunch of eight-, nine-, and ten-year-old boys, including Kenny Hunnicutt and Stan Given. Jimmy, Scott, Leonard, Marv, Mark and Russ had a pack of rug rats around them. All six new fathers proudly watched the kids interacting. Initially, Billy wasn't seen, because Robbie had decided he was comfortable standing behind his boyfriend, with both arms wrapped around his belly. 

Suddenly, Robbie stopped telepathically communicating with Billy and turned around. Billy looked around for the problem, making himself visible to his fathers. Troy's jaw dropped to his chest. Between his lover's obvious surprise and the wide grins of the other four Core Rimmers, Sean sputtered then completely lost it and howled laughing.

Giggling, Robbie told Billy, 'Remember how confused Jason was earlier this morning? I think Troy's twice or three times worse.'

Displaying the PADD to his dad and pop, Billy giggled, "Alden got me this to keep track of games and rank them."

Still speechless, Troy grinned and slowly nodded. Sean howled, "Alden got you a boyfriend too?"

"It's not my fault!" Alden giggled from the speakers. 

Briefly looking up at the ceiling, Billy blushed. Robbie planted a kiss on the back of Billy's head, and then explained what had initially happened earlier that morning, minus his brothers' telepathic remarks. He then shrugged, "We were holding hands, but then Billy needed both hands to work the PADD. This is where I've been ever since."

Nodding, Billy giggled, "It works out pretty good too. Robbie gets stuff from his brothers, and the Steibs, and the Stoeher twins too, then passes it to me, vocally or telepathically." Hanging his face and rubbing his eyes, Troy could only quietly wonder.

Robbie told Sean and Troy, "Billy's a telepathic receiver, at the very least. He's heard every word sent to him. He knows a lot about me, my family, and I know some stuff about him and his family. I know how you two guys became a couple, and how you adopted Billy and his brothers. What started out pretty good has been getting even better."

Billy nodded and joked, "Yeah, I think I'll keep Robbie around."

Robbie incredulously laughed, "You think?"

Blushing fiercely, Billy giggled, "I've been waiting over two hours for a kiss." Robbie stepped back, took hold of Billy's shoulders and turned him around. Instantly, they were face-to-face and grabbing hold of one another. Anxious and nervous, Billy's heart rate doubled in mere seconds. Robbie planted an open mouthed whopper of a kiss. They held it for a long minute, only breaking it off when the room of giggling turned into applause.

Clapping his hands along with the others, Sean told Troy, "Insecurities are bursting like balloons, I guess."

Also applauding, Troy found his tongue and smiled, "I expected something positive, but not this." He and Sean stopped clapping and moved closer to Billy and Robbie. Seeing their dads going to their older brother, Jason, Jimmy and Scott prompted their groups to get lunch, then went to join their fathers, and Billy and Robbie.

The new young couple remained hugging. Billy smiled at his dad and pop, sharing, "I told Robbie a bunch of stuff about my old life. He don't care."

Robbie told Billy, Sean and Troy, "Course I don't. Richie and Ronnie had it like that too. We talked with my folks about that, all Friday night, and privately shared more, on-and-off all day Saturday. With Ralphie on my side, we've got that all out of the way now. It hasn't been mentioned since the adoptions yesterday, now that I think about it." He softly giggled, "I didn't wake up thinking about a boyfriend, but I got lucky."

"I'm luckier," Billy warmly smiled, and stole a quick kiss before breaking into giggles again.

"Let's all have lunch together," Troy prompted. "I'd like to know how the remainder of the morning went." The rest of the family and Robbie agreed. On the way out of the Oneula Beach rec room, they decided to remain there for their meals. Kaleo's and Jerry's families agreed it was a good idea and also stayed at Oneula Beach. This was their new home and it was time to start treating it as such.

Back at the Ewa Beach dining room, Prez, Keith, Derrick and Mike noticed only some of the level two orphans were there, and that the rest of their Core team mates hadn't returned. That allowed them to sit and eat their meals with their sons. Reyes' small group had returned from AI Division HQ. John and Rich Murphy had already left to go surfing. Sitting at a table for twelve, Reyes was with Paul, Ryan and Joey. They were with Randy, Dillon, Jonah and Gage, who were chattering about school and the tests they had taken. Placing their lunch trays down, Mike and Derrick took two chairs at the table.

As soon as his dad and pop sat, Reyes smiled, "Fred's been checked and upgraded. His sense of humor hasn't changed."

Seeing only a soup bowl before Reyes, and salad plates before Paul and Ryan, Derrick nodded and wondered, "Eating light today, dudes?"

Munching on a cheeseburger, Joey broke into giggles. Paul grinned, "It's our second lunch in just over an hour."

Ryan nodded, "Our mom fed us another huge smorgasbord." He paused to glance at Joey, and chuckled, "Joey is a bottomless pit."

Glancing at both his fathers, Reyes shared, "We'd like to go out tonight, off base. What do I need to do?"

"All three of you?" Mike checked. Reyes, Paul and Ryan grinned and nodded. Mike answered, "Take your security and two of mine, since there are three of you to keep safe."

Reyes confirmed, "That's it?"

Nodding, Derrick smiled, "That's it. What's the plan?"

"We were thinking the Ocean House at Waikiki," Reyes offered. "It's always been nice and has good food. We can dress casual too."

Paul asked, "Is security really necessary?"

Mike nodded, "Definitely. Think of the Clan more like Vulcan diplomatic facilities, Paul. Each of us are citizens of Earth and of Vulcan. Also, Reyes is part of our leadership team, and you and Ryan are wards of the Clan, with family in South Carolina and here."

"It's just precautionary, dudes," Derrick added. Noticing Joey eying the pizza on his plate, Derrick grinned, "There's more where this came from, Joey."

Rapidly nodding, Joey swallowed then giggled, "I'm gonna ged some doo, Uncah Dewwick."

Mike chuckled, "The pizza at the beach house was okay. This is ten times better, Joey."

Widening his eyes, Joey inhaled the remainder of his cheeseburger and stood. Still chewing, he hurried toward the kitchen.

"Bottomless," Ryan giggled. "He ate good at home too."

Across the room, Chris and Jay shared a table with Aaron Farris, Stephen Wickes, Roger Mosqueda, Nick Shavers, Keanu Hekekia, Liki Kealoha, Lance Kinchen, Scott Shetley, Travis McAuley and Erik Kendricks. Chris wiped his mouth and told the other boys, "Me and Jay used to be real careful of what we did in public. Now that we're here though, we've been holding hands everywhere we go together."

"We always wanted to, but couldn't," Jay smirked. "Now that we can, we almost always do."

Scott wordlessly checked with Lance. Chewing pizza, Lance shrugged and mumbled, "If ya want."

Scott grinned, "Do you want to though?"

Aaron offered, "It's not like you have to, Lance. Stephen and I are done looking around. We'll be long term, so we show it."

Stephen noticed, "Liki and Keanu don't hold hands." Glancing at them, Stephen asked, "Have you made up your minds yet?"

Nodding, Liki grinned, "It's been a real good week, so we're goin' for it."

"We tried holding hands a couple of times," Keanu explained. "It's not something we're very comfortable with yet, but we'll keep on trying. We want to, but one or the other of us suddenly feels odd actually doing it."

Liki smiled, "Trying is enough, Keanu. Don't sweat the small stuff."

Lance asked Scott, "Do you want to?"

"If you do, I do," Scott smiled.

Giggling, Lance assured, "I will if you will." Aaron, Stephen, Chris and Jay softly chortled. "What?" Lance giggled, "It's true!"

Slowly shaking his head, Aaron chuckled, "We can tell you're just starting out."

"You're still being careful," Chris sniggered.

After swallowing, Jay leaned forward to speak softly. "It starts that way," Jay told Lance, Scott, Keanu, Liki, Travis and Erik. "Telling the truth only seems rough, guys. You've all managed to say enough of it to get started, so keep on keepin' on. Every time you tell each other the truth, it helps to let the other guy know what to expect. If you can't truthfully say whether or not you really want to hold hands, what're you going to do when you're bent in half, with your partner hovering over you? He may be perfectly fine and happy, but you can't stay like that very long. It's the same on top, holding that one push-up, on top of a bouncing, soft mattress, for a couple o' minutes. One of you has to be able to say, hey, let's change positions, before my aching back bitches about it later."

Aaron also leaned forward to confide, "After our times in the orphanages, and with fosters, we go out of our way to always make it excellent. For us, the best way to start is by straddling and going for a ride. That way, the one on top has more control, how fast and how deep, and can say when it's kewl to shift into another position."

"Even if it's only for a few minutes," Stephen smiled. "The dude on top is actually bottoming, and can choose to stay in that role in another position, or he might ask for a complete reversal. You've gotta tell the truth, be glad to hear it, and respond to it. For months, pedophile scum tried to make us believe we were worthless because our parents died. The whole time, we were telling ourselves, no, they're worthless, and Joel proved that. I don't recall ever hearing a single news story about one of those fuckers; they all simply vanished, and no bitter tears were ever shed."

Aaron, Liki and Keanu stopped eating to applaud Stephen's rant. Erik, Travis, Lance, Scott, Chris and Jay also clapped their hands. Intensely blushing, Stephen laughed, "That ain't even half of what I'd like to say, but we're eating, and my folks did teach me some table manners."

Offering his fist to Stephen so they could knock knuckles, Chris smiled, "Getting back on the topic of being a couple; by talking and listening to each other, you can make what usually lasts five or ten minutes more like thirty or forty."

Travis chuckled, "Can it really last that long?"

Aaron, Stephen and Chris nodded. Jay explained, "When Chris and I were younger, it was kewl enough just going five minutes, but we weren't being truthful either. I wasn't telling him, hey, my arms and back are getting sore. Because I was uncomfortable, and didn't say anything, I wouldn't get off on it. Then it's him making it up to me so I do get off. That's kewl and all, but it's the very best is when we both get off during intercourse. No matter what the position happens to be, it's always better that way."

"We swap all the time," Chris grinned. "Especially with the cast on Jay's wrist, we have to swap roles and positions. Yesterday morning, after two entire days apart with no sex, neither of us lasted long at all. By last night, we were back in the groove and lasting thirty minutes. This morning's romp took almost forty minutes."

Nodding, Aaron giggled, "Slow and easy wake up calls are awesome."

"It's a hell of a lot better than an alarm," Stephen smirked.

Jay grinned, "Going longer than five or ten minutes requires communication, guys. Just because you started in a position doesn't mean you have to remain that way. The whole purpose is to make each other feel good, right? So, share it all and make it last. Taking more time is more fun, but say something if you'd be just as happy with a quickie."

Chris sniggered, "Yesterday morning, once Doc Andrews said it was kewl, there was no reason to say a word. We expected that first time wouldn't last very long, but we got to play both roles."

Turning to Scott, Lance sighed, "I want you, all the time now, and I want everybody to know this ain't fake."

"We've got a lot in common," Scott brightly beamed.

Erik asked, "What about condoms? Do you guys use 'em?"

Keanu nodded, "We are."

"We stopped last night," Stephen cheekily smiled.

Chris grinned, "We used to use 'em all the time, but now, after thinking Jay was dead for a day, we agreed to not bother."

Thoughtfully scowling, Travis admitted, "I think they're really uncomfortable. Erik's not quite as bad, but he's said it too."

Jay thoughtfully frowned then asked, "Trav, are you beefier than Erik?"

Travis paused to consider the question. Before his boyfriend could reply, Erik giggled, "Yeah, he is." Widely grinning at his partner, Travis turned red. "What?" Erik giggled, "I'm about a half inch longer than you, but you're at least a half inch thicker around than me."

Locking eyes with Travis, Jay chuckled, "Switch to the next larger size, bro. Length is how they measure, but thickness matters too. Just don't unroll it all, so it fits you."

Scott checked, "So the more permanent a couple you think you are, the less need for rubbers."

Jay nodded, "I don't want anybody else, male or female." Chris brightly smiled. Jay had always been the voice of reason, reminding Chris of what was kewl and where and when. Now he could tell that Jay never lied and was only dealing with high school and homophobes. Seeing Jay acting completely unconcerned about their relationship was the best part of Clan life.

Nick checked with Roger, saying, "Without isn't all that different from with. It's only a little more comfortable for both of us, I think."

"No elastic pullin' pubes out," Roger nodded, and then scowled, "but it seems we're not lasting as long again." Nick giggled and the others around the table knowingly grinned.

After clearing his throat, Keanu sighed, "Because of the orphanages, me and Liki considered ourselves more on the straight side of bisexual. The men we were with were nowhere near as fun or good as most women."

"Since getting together this past week, we're really confused," Liki shared. "We'd both like to have kids of our own, but we can still say that where we've been at all week has been really awesome, better than the men and women we were with."

"I'd love to have some kids," Jay chuckled. "Now, in the Clan, we can eventually adopt some. If you want to make babies of your own, there's ways to accomplish that and still be partners."

Chris laughed, "You're blowing me away!"

Jay smiled, "What?"

Chris squealed, "You want kids now too?"

"Course," Jay smiled. "I always have. I think most guys would admit they want to be fathers. Some admit it, do the deed, and then run away from 'em too. Here, adopting is a different deal. The kids have as much say as the parents, as it should be."

Chris hollered, "PREZ!"

Prez looked over, found Chris and replied, "What's up, Chris?"

"Someone put Maui-wowie on my pizza!" Chris laughed. Prez, Jay and half the dining room cracked up.

Mike chuckled, "You thought it was oregano, didn't you? Surprise!"

Scott checked with Lance, asking, "Are you done? Maybe we could talk with Mike now?" When Lance nodded and picked up his glass to empty it, Scott called over, "Have you got a few minutes, Mike?"

"Sure," Mike answered, "come on over, when you're ready." Leaning over nearer to Derrick, Mike whispered, "I've been expecting this since they showed up Friday."

Derrick nodded and grinned, "Here they come. It's fairly important, obviously."

Scott smiled, "How's it goin'?"

"Good," Mike grinned. He gestured to the two chairs beside him, abandoned by Dillon and Randy, saying, "Have a seat, dudes."

Saying, "Thanks," Lance and Scott sat down. Scott took the chair closest to Mike.

"We've got two issues to talk about," Scott began.

Nodding, Mike placed a hand over his forehead, mystically muttering, "At least one of 'em has to do with guitars."

Lance giggled, "You're pretty good, with a room of telepaths around."

"No brain leeches this time," Mike grinned. "We're axe wielding brothers. I fully expected this, so tell me what you'd like."

"Without amps, we can't hear what we're playing," Scott smiled.

Derrick asked, "You'll be taking music classes here too?"

Lance nodded and Scott smiled, "Definitely. That's the primary reason we chose this division."

"We've got several options open," Mike said. "First, living in the dorms, I can get both of you amps that you can even play at night, without disturbing your roomie or neighbors, by using headphones. Another possibility is, I can get you acoustic guitars for the dorms. And you can check out the auditorium at Oneula Beach. There are amps, drums and keyboards there you can use. I haven't seen them, but I expect they'll be the same sort of stuff our band got from Starfleet."

Lance loudly cheered, "KEWL!" Reyes and Joey cracked up.

At his boyfriend's reaction, Scott chuckled, "Are they alternatives, one or the other, Mike?"

Shaking his head, Mike grinned, "Music students, and all our students, no matter what their specialty, will get what they need. You'll eventually need acoustic guitars anyway. You two came with electric guitars, so I'll assume you had amps to go with them. Since you can't really rock out in the dorms, make use of the Oneula Beach auditorium when you want to blast the jams."

Before Joey bounced out of his chair, Reyes held his little android brother down, giggling, "We'll go over there with you. I promised Joey we'd jam today anyway."

"Excellent!" Lance happily gushed.

Nodding agreement, Scott chortled, "It's been a while since I played with a drummer. I'm looking forward to it."

Derrick asked, "Can either of you read music?"

Lance shook his head, answering, "I always played by ear."

Scott replied, "Only a little bit. I took lessons for two years, got off the ground, and now I mostly play by ear too."

"We're heavily into Zeppelin," Lance smiled, "a little Deep Purple, and a little Black Sabbath too."

"Guitar music, mostly rock and metal," Scott offered. "Your band kicked ass last night, by the way."

"Thank you," Derrick, Mike and Reyes smiled.

Mike asked, "What brand acoustic guitars do you prefer?"

Scott grinned, "I rarely played acoustic. I traded my old Yamaha in for a down payment on my Stratocaster."

"I never touched an acoustic in three years," Lance admitted.

"We'll get you guys going right away," Mike said, and tapped his sub-vocal, calling, "Alden, musical education expenses for Scott Shetley and Lance Kinchen. Get two Fender Mustang amps, and two sets of headphones. Also, get two Taylor 214CE acoustic-electric guitars. Throw in extra sets of strings, electronic tuners for both of them, and tool kits so they can change their strings. If they don't know how now, they'll learn next week." After a brief pause, Mike chuckled, "Kewl. Thanks, Alden."

"This is so amazing," Lance giggled. "I spent a year whittling down my parents to get a guitar, and the next year to get an amp. All we had to do is ask."

Derrick nodded and grinned, "Next week, when drummers need stuff, I'll be making similar calls."

Mike asked, "What's the other thing you wanted to talk about?"

Glancing between Mike and Joey, Scott softly balked, "Uh, it's not for younger ears."

Getting up from the table, Joey giggled, "Id's okay, Uncah Mike. I'ww go dawk widh Jonah and Gage."

Reyes promised, "I'll call you over when it's time to jam, Joey."

"Okay, Weyes," Joey giggled, and walked toward the other table.

As soon as Joey was away from the immediate area, Scott reached for Lance's hand and took it in his. Displaying their clasped hands, Scott blushed and chuckled, "We learned some kewl stuff this morning." Reyes, Ryan and Paul began chortling. A moment later, four additional clasped hands were on the table.

Madly chuckling, Derrick leaned back, calling, "Prez? Keith? A couple of minutes, please?"

Mike grinned, "It never ceases to amaze me, really. I have no idea why usually, but with you two, I got no gay-dar pings when we met."

Intensely blushing because two more leaders were coming over to join them, Lance giggled, "I guess ya can't from two virgins who thought they were straight."

Watching Prez and Keith come around and join them at the table, Scott chortled, "Yeah, two mostly ex-virgins now."

"I love it!" Prez beamed.

Keith nodded and smiled, "Horacio has the lube. His girlfriend, Sonia has the rubbers. Problem solved."

"I wish," Scott sniggered.

Slightly tilting his head, Derrick wondered, "What's the problem?"

Scott explained, "As best as we can tell, it's nothing too unusual. Having never gone there before, we just want everything as good as it can possibly be, ya know?"

"Then go slow and easy, like you're in love," Reyes smiled. "Quick and rough is for jerks that don't care." 

Paul thoughtfully hummed. Widely grinning, Ryan's eyes danced.

Mike nodded, "That's pretty much it. Instinct says, slide it in and pound away. The reality is that people in love care enough to make it good all around."

Keith smiled, "We started young, so everything was a game. Keep the love and friendship, and keep it fun."

Leaning back and relaxing, Prez grinned, "I saw you over there with Chris and Jay and the other couples. You talked with them too, I suppose?"

Nodding, Scott helplessly chuckled, "We kind o' tripped and fell out of the closet, when Chris and Jay walked in on us in the shower." Everyone at the table cracked up. When the laughter and remarks faded, Scott giggled, "That's what they were going in there for too, so it was kewl... eventually... after my nervous breakdown and Lance's heart attack."

"No surprise there," Prez grinned. "Jay arrived with a concussion to match his broken wrist. When Doc Andrews said no exertion for a day, I thought Jay and Chris would flip out."

Keith nodded, "They've actually been a couple about a year longer than any of us. It's a fair assumption that they made the same mistakes and learned the same lessons we did."

Derrick grinned, "The bonus you two have is being musicians, like us. So, we'll put this in musical terms." He locked eyes with Lance, pointed at Scott and prompted, "You play guitar with him and keep the tempo, right?"

Getting the implication, Lance giggled, "Yep. So we make our own tempo with this too now?"

"Precisely," Derrick smiled. "This time, it's more like building up to a crescendo. Like in any good tune, the melody, harmony and rhythm build to the finale. We could give you tons of advise, but the fact is, it's your love that will keep the tune going."

"Your moods affect the music you want to hear or play," Mike added. "The same applies here; your emotions tell you exactly how to do everything. We've got built in barometers too. When it's not good for one, you'll both see it. All it takes is harmonizing together. Talk with each other and not to each other. To get the difference, consider it as working with each other, and not working on each other."

Prez offered, "The word 'with' implies teams together; at least one speaking and at least one listening. The other way, talking to each other, doesn't require a listener. Hear each other and participate, in the conversation, in the music, and while making love. Today you're a giver, tomorrow you're a receiver, and that has nothing to do with roles or positions; it's way more emotional than physical."

Keith reminded, "You're dudes, but still human beings; flesh and blood with thoughts and emotions. Treat each other that way, and everything will be kewl. Misunderstand each other, and we'll be chatting again."

As if in a hurry, Prez quickly asked, "Scott, from the heart, do you love Lance?"

Looking into Lance's green eyes, Scott warmly answered, "Yeah, I really do. There's never been anyone like him. As friends, it's been great. Since this morning, it's surprisingly getting even better." 

Suddenly, Lance couldn't decide if the dining room was very cold or very hot; he was shivering and sweating at the same time. Scott had proclaimed his love twice, to two different sets of guys, effectively scrambling what little remained of Lance's brain.

"Show him, all the time, dude," Prez smiled. "Lance has to know how you feel and what you're thinking. Saying it and proving it to anyone else is time wasted."

Keith softly sang, "Every breath you take, every move you make, every single day, every word you say."

"And play guitar too," Mike sniggered. "For the four of us, just like the two of you, music started the friendships. If I don't get to hear you for myself, at Oneula's auditorium later today, I'll be following you back to your room sometime soon. I thrive on competition, dudes; with Derrick, Keith, Prez and now Troy too."

"We're not there yet, Mike," Scott sighed. "We're pretty good, but not at your level."

Lance nodded, "We saw you playing, most of the time without looking at either hand."

"Then we'll be learning a lot," Mike smiled, "you two as our students and us as teachers. It's all good."

Prez shared, "What I used to do was multitask; I'd be running simple scales, but watching TV, or reading a book for school. It's something you learn, just like everything else." 

Around the table, there were a few moments of silence. Paul wordlessly checked with Reyes, who checked with Ryan. Receiving a nod, Reyes asked Scott and Lance, "Are you dudes ready for Oneula Beach, or would you rather have time alone first?"

Scott checked with Lance. Releasing Scott's hand and covering his face, Lance loudly giggled, "Oh my God, I really can't decide!" Around the table, the boys softly sniggered and chuckled. Lance whined through his giggles, "This was an easier decision earlier today. Guitar or Scott, music or sex? Suddenly there's no difference! Either way, I win!" All nine boys cracked up.

Locking eyes with Reyes, Scott chuckled, "We'll get our guitars and meet you there, Reyes."

"Kewl," Reyes giggled and nodded.

Standing up, Scott turned to Lance, sniggering, "Let's go, lover boy."

"Don't start that," Lance giggled as he stood. "I'll pick up my axe and fumble around, lookin' for a zipper, completely lost."

Keith chuckled, "The neck is the long, hard, wood thing your left hand holds on to."

"OH MY GOD!" Lance loudly laughed. "That was too funny." Helplessly chuckling, Scott led his confused partner back to their table to clean up their trays.

For a few moments, Prez and Derrick watched Lance and Scott. As soon as Lance and Scott returned, all the teenagers at that table stood and gathered their trays to take to the dishwasher. Derrick smirked, "Don't you wish we had someone like us to help us make fewer mistakes?"

Prez shrugged, "Apparently, we did all right, for eight- and nine-year-old kids."

Keith nodded, "Just like we learned, they'll learn too. We can't do it for them."

Glancing around the table at the four Core Rimmers, Paul softly asked, "It's true then, you really did learn everything together?"

All four nodded. Mike grinned, "It's really not much of a secret anymore."

Ryan smiled, "Have you got any advice for the three of us?"

Shaking his head, Derrick answered, "The same rules apply. You three know how bad it could be, so just don't go there. Remaking the same mistakes some other butt-head made will get you nowhere, except frustrated and alone. As much as the little head wants to take over, don't let it, use the brain in the bigger head."

"Understand, I was the last one to move here," Prez gently explained. "Keith and I were six-years-old, and going on seven, and Derrick and Mike were already seven-years-old. We were friends that summer. Mike and I played guitar; Keith played keys, and Derrick was playing drums. Like every other kid, there were sleep-overs with one or all of the other three. Unlike straight kids, we figured everything out together. Two years ago, it changed to the two couples we are now. Just before school started last September, we all agreed intercourse was only for the couples. What you witnessed Saturday was me, with toasted biscuits, and barely maintaining with only oral sex when I wanted more. Derrick and Mike knew it would be kewl for the four of us to get together again. It was kewl and will probably always be kewl, because we know each other so well. If four can manage, three can too."

Checking with his new boyfriends, Reyes smiled, "Like I said, what we had to do versus what we want to do are two entirely different situations." He then tapped his comm-badge, calling, "Alden, make reservations, for a party of three at the Ocean House restaurant in Waikiki, at six o'clock, please, dude?"

Alden replied, "I'm dialing now, Reyes."

Noticing Paul's eyes darting around the table, Prez asked, "What's wrong, Paul?"

Shrugging, Paul sighed, "I guess I expected someone to say it's wrong; two brothers adding and sharing a common partner."

Mike grinned, "Different strokes for different folks. How we grew up isn't like Drew and Corey, or Kaleo and Tory, or anyone else I know."

Keith assured, "You won't hear a single negative remark from us. I'd doubt anyone else would pass a comment either. Especially after what you dudes went through, you've earned the right to choose to be happy. Don't allow anyone to interfere with that, cos I sure wouldn't if I were in your shoes."

Derrick thoughtfully scowled, "Are we that different? Someone please say we're not different."

Leaning forward, Mike softly assured, "I'm sure it's not us. Common sense dictates a lot of this stuff, from sex between couples, threesomes, foursomes, and so on, to knowing when it's inappropriate to judge another person's choice. I saw Saturday how much Reyes cared for you two dudes. It seems you also care about Reyes. My kid is happy, there's no reason for me to interfere, so I won't."

Keith reassured, "I'm sure Scott and Lance got our message clearly. It's up to them to decide to take the advice." Smiling at Paul, Reyes and Ryan, Keith added, "The three of you together is already becoming the expected norm. Don't worry about anyone's opinions except your own."

---

Meanwhile, immediately after finishing their lunch, John and Stephen went to take care of a very important task. It was lunch recess time at Stephen's old school in Hilo. Since the prior Monday night, John had wanted to pay a visit to the boys that had harassed his husband. Only Blake and Mitch, their young human security, went with them to the Hilo Union Elementary School's playground, but all the security guys were ready to execute the plan.

Stephen pointed to where his class was playing kickball. Holding Stephen's hand tightly, John led the way. These boys weren't any taller than John. They were several inches taller and many pounds heavier than Stephen was though. John was ready for more than a fight that he could've won without his N-Gen powers. Not knowing any better, four boys began walking toward them, shouting anti-homosexual remarks at Stephen and John, who were still holding hands. Suddenly, the leader of the pack tripped and fell. Not knowing how or why he fell, he got up and angrily pushed his buddies' hands aside. Brushing himself off, he continued his homophobic tirade.

As planned, John pulled Stephen behind him. Blake and Mitch kept Stephen out of harms way while John went off. "You think you're so tough? I'll bet you suck three tiny dicks at once, every night." Pointing at the other three boys, John said, "His, his and his. Puny little peckers make you shiver and shake, huh?"

"Who the fuck are you?" the lead boy screamed.

"I'm Stephen's husband, here to teach little jack-offs like you dudes a lesson you'll never forget."

All the boys began laughing at John and mocking him. Mysteriously, another boy fell and knocked over the boy standing closest to him. John giggled, "I knew it. Too afraid to admit you like dick, but there's your pals, one laying on the other. Hump away boys, hump away, now!"

The lead boy took a swing at John, which never came close, but sent him and his three buddies flailing to the ground. 'Now' was the pre-planned keyword. By the time the boys stood and were ready for a fight, Lucky appeared behind John, Stephen, Blake and Mitch. Behind the other four schoolyard bullies stood Bond, Stephen's personal gorilla. Noticing one massive gorilla wearing military fatigues was shocking enough, but when the second gorilla behind the four bullies was seen, the lead boy lost bladder control and started bawling like a baby. The other three boys screamed and scattered. Blake and Mitch moved so that the remaining boy couldn't get away.

John laughed, "Big bad bully pissed his pants. Where's your suck-buddies now, big bad bully? Don't cry bully, I won't let the gorillas tear your little dick off. Be careful who you bully from now on, pussy. Clan Short is watching. If I have to come back here and see your sorry ass again, I'll let the gorillas deal with the problem."

Bond growled, "Stephen is mine to protect. A word of warning; I like my bullies shaken, not stirred." Another few drops of urine escaped, further dampening that boy's shorts and underwear.

Stephen stepped forward and yelled, "Did you hear my husband and my gorilla? We're watching for pants-pissing jerks like you." Wiping bitter tears from his eyes, the boy nodded. Stephen then shoved the boy with all his strength, saying, "I thought I might feel sorry for you, but I don't. How many times did you make me cry? I don't even know, dozens maybe. Think twice about squealing to teachers too. John's a Vulcan trained telepath and will have you all expelled from school, right, hon?"

Floating two feet above the grassy ground, John nodded and smiled, "You got it right, baby. I have enough on all four of them to have them locked away for a very long time. You're not the only kid they bullied." The bully couldn't believe he was seeing John floating above the Earth.

Lucky noticed two adults rapidly approaching and said, "It's time to go, Johnny-boy."

John told Lucky, "No, I want to talk to the teachers too," and lowered to the ground.

Rolling his eyes, Stephen teased his tormentor, softly giggling, "And scan them too, if I know my husband."

Already doing precisely that, John innocently smiled, "Who, me?" 

Sadly shaking his head, John's eleven-year-old enhanced human security, Blake smirked, "In the mood you're in, the halos aren't working, bro."

Reaching a hand into his shorts pocket, Stephen reminded, "Get your ID cards out, guys." John and all the boys pulled out their wallets.

"What's going on over here?" one of the two adult women shrieked.

Coming to a halt before the group, the other woman asked, "Stephen? Where have you been this past week?"

Holding up his wallet for the woman to see, Stephen answered, "I'm part of Family Clan Short, Pacific Rim Division now, Mrs. Kravitz." The woman looked closely at the cards held before her; one proved that Stephen was a Clan Short leader, and the other identified him as a Starfleet Lieutenant Commander. While the two teachers inspected the cards and suspiciously eyed the two gorillas, Stephen explained, "I told you that Jaiden was harassing and mocking me, Mrs. Sherman. Since no one would believe me, I told my boyfriend, John Hundser, who became my husband last Tuesday."

John took over for Stephen, adding, "Mrs. Sherman, since you are the Principal at this school, I must tell you that I know your actions have been proper and just for the majority of similar cases. However, when you have a bunch of larger boys and one smaller boy in your office, it's almost always a case of bullying. Similarly, when there are several normal girls and one larger girl, who is a bit of a tom-boy, again it's generally a case of bullying. It's worth the time it takes to get to the truth. The rules and guidelines you have been adhering to will be changing. King Aalona is at our base, I'm sure you know."

Nodding, Mrs. Sherman said, "Yes, I saw his speech."

Glancing at the two adults, John sweetly smiled, "Where the King's actions and laws end, Clan Short's actions and laws fill the void. As my identification proves, I am head of Pacific Rim Division's Intel team. I am telepathically scanning you and Mrs. Kravitz as we speak. Also, personnel are being briefed for operations at all schools in the ROH. Kids from the Clan Intel departments will be monitoring schools for more bullies, and for adult personnel that fail to act appropriately to cases of harassment. We will act upon all cases where the school could not or did not act."

Gesturing to Stephen's tormentor, John smirked, "I've telepathically scanned Jaiden Levy. In many cases, bullies are themselves victims of abuse. That is not the case with Jaiden. In this case, he gains power from having three friends back him up."

John continued speaking calmly and logically to the two women, but also telepathically sent to Jaiden, 'You're gay, dude. Don't bother denying it or saying a word aloud; you'll only out yourself to everyone here. Stop thinking you're weak because you like boys and dick. That's where you're messing things up majorly. The Clan can help you too, if or when you need it, but you really have to stop thinking that you're a bad person because you're gay. Continuing the way you're going, you'll wind up in jail for assault, or rape or both, before you're out of high school. I'm going to help you change direction right now. Of your three friends, Tann Cheng-ho shares the same secret. Grow up, Jaiden, and talk to Tann. Your parents would be kewl too, dude. Go that route instead of this one, and maybe you can avoid years in a jail.'

Naturally, everything John was silently sharing with Jaiden, Stephen also immediately knew. Jaiden could tell by Stephen's expression that his secret was out. Stephen could tell from Jaiden's expressions that the only reason he was targeted was because his tormentor found him cute. John and Mrs. Sherman wrapped up their conversation. Mrs. Sherman assured, "We'll gladly work with all Clan representatives, Commander Hundser."

"We have the same purpose and goals," John smiled, and glanced at Jaiden, adding, "We're here to help, educate wherever possible and prosecute when necessary."

Taking hold of Jaiden's shoulder, Mrs. Kravitz wondered, "What should we do with Mister Levy?"

Humming and smiling at the two women and Jaiden, John offered, "I think Jaiden understands how and what he screwed up. He needs some time to talk with his parents and figure stuff out anyway." John asked Jaiden, "What do you think; three days or the remainder of the week?"

Jaiden sighed, "Probably three days with my folks, and the rest of the week for me."

John grinned at the women, "There you go." He also sent to Jaiden, 'Dude, don't make such a big chore out of what simply is. I couldn't imagine fighting what you've been, or acting the way you have. Instead, I saw a really sweet and cute boy last week and acted upon that. Because I acted, Stephen and I couldn't be happier. As if that wasn't kewl enough, we've adopted two sons. Chill out and give me a call if you find the bullying table has turned. Lucky really likes acting grumpy and mean. He'll do it just for laughs.'

John politely asked, "May I roam around the field another minute or two?" and quickly explained, "I think I need to have a few words with Tann Cheng-ho. Perhaps he could use some think time, or maybe he needs more help than that." He sent to Jaiden, 'Assuming Tann's parents are kewl, you might have a boyfriend by the end of the week, dude.'

The two women glanced at each other. Mrs. Sherman told Mrs. Kravitz, "I'll deal with Mr. Levy and contact his parents."

"I'll escort Stephen and John until they leave," Mrs. Kravitz softly assured.

The teacher and John's group went over to the field where Tann was playing kickball. John scanned the other bully and found his situation was the same as Jaiden's; he had two loving and understanding parents. Tann and Jaiden were on the exact same page of the same book. John started telepathically speaking to Tann. Trying to play the game and listen to John at the same time, Tann made two major errors in the field, causing the inning to end. Tann walked off the field, directly to Mrs. Kravitz and sorrowfully told his teacher that he had also been bullying Stephen.

Mrs. Kravitz took Tann inside to the Principal's office. Determining that the other two boys from the group were not homophobes or the type who might become bullies, John left them alone. Having completed the mission, John, Stephen and their security returned home. On the lawns between the Rimmer family homes, John thanked and dismissed the security teams. He then turned to Stephen, giggling, "I did good?"

"In so many ways," Stephen warmly smiled, and lead John into the Hundsers' home and to their bedroom. They would remain there until needing to return to Clan school to take their placement tests.

---

While Lance took care of the trays and waited with Chris and Jay, Scott had a brief chat with Horacio. A comm-badge tap later, Scott was assured there would be condoms, lube and two small dildos waiting in their room. Chris and Jay walked out of the CIC with Scott and Lance. Both couples were holding hands and heading across the quad, back to dorm three. Chris glanced over at Lance and Scott, wondering, "How'd it go with the Core Rimmers?"

Scott smiled, "Really good. We'll have new amps and new acoustic-electric guitars soon. While talking about us being a couple, they put it in terms we easily understood. I expected more sexually descriptive information, but they skipped right over that. Honestly, I learned as much about music as I did about having a sexual relationship."

Jay checked with Lance, asking, "You're good too?"

Nodding, Lance smiled, "About so much, I'm not sure where to begin."

Chris offered, "It's obvious why they wouldn't get too descriptive with you. Being leaders, they probably guessed you'd heard enough. That's for us brothers to share. We all have sex the same basic ways, it's only the individuals sharing the acts that make each of us unique."

"Damn!" Jay grumbled. "Where's my fuzzy hand puppet when I need it? At the bottom of a pile where our apartment used to be." Facing Chris, he then bounced his eyebrows and grinned.

Out of sync and very loudly, Scott and Lance incredulously laughed, "WHAT FUZZY HAND PUPPET?"

"No, Jay," Chris softly chortled.

"I miss that thing," Jay sadly moaned. "Chris misses it too."

"No, I don't," Chris giggled.

Jay smirked, "I'd have to put it on my left hand, temporarily."

Widely grinning, Scott told Lance, "Don't ask. I'm sure we don't want to know."

"Very strange images are running through my mind, that's for sure," Lance giggled.

Jay chortled, "I could prob'ly make one just like Mr. Fuzzy."

Rolling his eyes, Chris explained to Scott and Lance, "Amongst other reasons, Mr. Fuzzy was Jay's way of making up after an argument. It wasn't used for sex, but a way for Jay to get me laughing, wrestling and instigate sex." While Lance and Scott softly sniggered, Chris told Jay, "That concussion really scrambled your brain. How you went from uniquenesses to Mr. Fuzzy, I can't begin to fathom."

"You were getting too deep, man," Jay teased.

Chris sighed, "You forgot how scared we were before our first time."

"No, I didn't," Jay sniggered. "Mr. Fuzzy helped me that day too." Unable to hold it any longer, Scott and Lance roared laughing.

Sadly shaking his head, Chris giggled, "Those days, plural. You seduced me over three frigging days!"

"You used Mr. Fuzzy to seduce me too," Jay playfully reminded. Practically breathless from laughing, Scott opened the dorm three exterior door and held it for Lance, Chris and Jay. Following Lance and Chris inside, Jay chuckled, "Another very important lesson is that make-up sex is awesome. It doesn't make arguing kewl or fun by any means, but rekindling the flames after big fights is fucking hot! All that stuff we said about making it last longer goes right out the window; forget all about it."

Walking down an empty hall toward the common room, Chris softly giggled, "Sure, be more proud of yourself, if you can."

"I don't think I can," Jay laughed. Hysterical, Lance staggered through the common room. Jay teased, "We're killing Lance. Don't you know this is a very serious, romantic day for them, Chris? Be kewl, dammit." Snickering, Chris shoved his lover.

Unlocking his dorm room door, Lance stumbled inside the room. Scott, Chris and Jay followed. In seconds, the two couples were holding their partners close and trying to kiss between giggles and laughter. Moments later, and still wearing a wide smile, Scott softly told Lance, "I love you." He also saw the two amplifiers on the floor near their packed and stacked electric guitar cases.

Having caught his breath, Lance hung off Scott, giggling, "I love you too." Facing the opposite direction, Lance noticed acoustic guitar cases and piles of something blue on each bed. Lance excitedly told Scott, "We got our acoustics, man!"

Before Scott could tell Lance about the amps, Jay hollered, "Look Chris! It's Mr. Fuzzy! Dozens of 'em!" Turning and seeing the heaps of fuzzy blue on the beds, Chris howled laughing. Jay bounded to a bed to get a Mr. Fuzzy puppet. Lance and Scott hurried to the other bed and worked together to open the guitar case latches. Getting their first looks at the new acoustic-electric guitars, Lance and Scott wickedly grinned. In the meantime, Jay had put a puppet on his left hand and began tickling Chris' neck, throat and torso.

Forgetting all about the amplifiers, Scott pulled the guitar out of its case. In the little storage area of the case, Scott found strings, an electronic tuner and a zipped case containing tools. Only glancing over at Jay, who had digressed to Mr. Fuzzy attacks on Chris' ass and naughty bits, Lance saw the amps and pointed them out to Scott.

"Yeah, I know," Scott smiled. "I just forgot to mention 'em, man. Sorry, but these guitars are sweet! We've gotta bring them to Oneula with our electrics."

Nodding agreement, Lance slightly turned, loudly giggling, "Jay, we're outta here, man."

"Kewl," Jay chuckled, and fuzzied Chris toward the door, asking, "Bring a couple of puppets with us, guys?" Mr. Fuzzy got in a good one that caused Chris to squeal and jump almost a foot off the floor. Jay giggled, "I'll bet Trav and Erik and a bunch of other gay couples would really enjoy 'em."

Returning the Taylor acoustic to its case, Scott teased, "Not as much as you, Jay."

Jay sniggered, "Once they get instructions on proper use and abuse, they will."

Thinking about it for a moment or two, Scott nodded and loaded the empty space around the guitar with Mr. Fuzzy puppets. Seeing what his boyfriend was doing, Lance went to the other bed, stuffed a few extra puppets in his pockets and grabbed the other Taylor acoustic guitar case. Once out in the hall, Chris ran away from Jay, starting a chase back to the CIC. Walking out of the room, Scott sniggered, "We might be like them in time."

Following his friend, who was now his new lover, Lance nodded and giggled, "Not a terrible thing." Seeing other new items on the top of his dresser, Lance cheered, "We've got the lube, rubbers and dildos too."

"I'm hoping I remember all we learned, and don't attack you the second we get home," Scott grinned.

Putting two guitar cases down to close and lock the door, Lance mooed through giggles, then playfully asked, "Promise to attack me?"

Watching Lance pick up the guitar cases, Scott nodded and sniggered, "I promise, and I'll even treat your pretty butt nice too." They started back through the dorm, taking the same path they came in from.

"Check a mirror sometime, Scott," Lance giggled. "My butt's skinny compared to your tight muscular cheeks."

Scott laughed, "I can't believe we're talking like this!"

Lance smiled, "Between us hookin' up, new amps and new guitars, and getting to jam with Reyes, I've got a chubby." Scott glanced over and evilly grinned. "Seriously!" Lance giggled. "I wasn't lying before when I said I was confused."

Scott nodded, "I'm there with you too now. We'll jam with Reyes for an hour or so, then get back to our room. I've got a plan, if you'd like to hear it?"

"I'd love to," Lance warmly smiled.

"Tonight's about you and me," Scott shared. "We'll have at least another hour or two alone before dinner, then the rest of the night together. Once we're back from dinner, our clothes are off. With amps and acoustic guitars, we'll actually hear each other. The rest of the time, we're on a bed together, learning how to be a gay couple."

Lance softly admitted, "I loved holding hands, man."

"Me too," Scott smiled. "Four days ago, and until last night, I considered myself bisexual, just sexually inactive."

"Did I do something that changed your mind?" Lance wondered. "Was it showers, or something else?"

Scott sighed, "Don't think that stuff, man. If you're to blame, then so am I. I'm completely thrilled with you and us, okay? Honestly, you were my best friend in the world by the time we arrived at Des Moines, and that's what made us want to try stuff. It's also what made everything so great. It's just a quick about-face. Last night, I thought you were asleep."

Near the inner doorway, Lance put the two guitar cases down, sharing, "Saturday night, I woke in the middle of the night with a hard-on. You were out cold, so I took care of it, rolled over and went back to sleep. Last night, I guess it was the concert that made me horny, but very tired too. I was almost asleep when I heard your sheets rustling." He opened the door and Scott passed with his two guitar cases.

To open the outer door, Scott put his cases down. Lance approached with the other two cases. Scott smiled, "So you watched me and I saw you?"

"Yeah," Lance blushed and giggled.

Holding an arm out to make Lance pause, Scott admitted, "Before breakfast this morning, in the shower, I watched you closely."

"I didn't notice," Lance softly giggled and turned more red. He took a few steps outside and turned to wait for Scott.

Releasing the door and picking up the guitar cases again, Scott admitted, "I think you're extremely cute. You're only a year younger, but you've got pubes, a deep voice..." He trailed off then blushed, "And a really nice dick. You show a nice bit, and I've learned that you grow a little too. This morning's shower is when I knew that I had to say something to you about last night." Recalling ten teen and tween boys taking showers at once and the collection of limp dicks, he paused, thoughtfully scowled, and then softly shared, "Figuring out what to say and how to say it was a problem." He started walking with Lance and huffed, "You mentioned dancing, and I was already processing a lot. I slipped."

"You're not regretting it, I hope."

Vigorously shaking his head, Scott firmly assured, "Not in the least. Everybody said to tell the truth, so I'm only clearing the air. I don't carry any excess baggage about gays or lesbians. Whatever rocks your boat, ya know? Before we go any further tonight, you needed to know. I do love you, Lance. Since we met on the road out of the City, you've been great in every way. I hope I've shown that."

Crossing the quad between dormitories, Lance reminded, "I asked you if you wanted to be roommates Friday after dinner. When I said I was tired Friday night, I was surprised you joined me, and set up your spot in the nest right next to mine."

"I knew you best and felt safe," Scott admitted.

Taking a deep breath in preparation to share more truth, Lance huffed, "Friday afternoon, at Des Moines, I realized how cute you are." Scott warmly smiled at Lance, but Lance continued to look forward and didn't notice. Nervously, Lance admitted, "Having any close relationship outside of my immediate family wasn't high on my list of things to do. I had chances with girls at school. For every dance, every opportunity to go anywhere with anyone, I chose to practice rather than do anything else. Girls aren't scary, but were never a priority either. It seems most guys aren't generally attractive. I saw enough dicks hangin' in high school locker rooms to know I never thought much about them. At Des Moines, I noticed every Clan boy there - every one, even John and Stephen and other younger guys. Once we got here, it was suddenly like, jeez, all the cutest guys in the world are right here. You though, you've changed everything I used to think. You're a little taller, a little more muscular; a nice flat belly, a tight chest, strong arms that aren't overly buff, and wide shoulders."

Barely controlling his voice, and trying to hide the fact he was becoming emotional, Lance shivered, "I have to wonder if I've always felt this way, but was too into guitar and music to notice or care. There never was anyone attractive enough, or interesting enough to make me think about it, until you. Almost immediately, I couldn't stop following you, looking at you, listening to you. What you've got hangin' are the most perfect, completely beautiful dick and nuts I've ever seen. Seeing it chubby and getting harder and bigger... For me, of all people... I... wanted... to touch... feel... taste..."

Quickly putting the guitar cases down, Scott hurried to get in front of Lance. Seeing his tears and puffy eyes, Scott pointed to the ground, ordering, "Put the guitars down, man."

Sighing and doing as he was told, Lance muttered, "I'm sorry."

"No," Scott softly and firmly said. When Lance looked up again, Scott took him in his arms, resolutely and gently assuring, "I am definitely not sorry, so you don't need to even think that ever again. It was fate, Lance. A fucked up morning of insanity allowed us to meet. In a city of six-million, we might've lived our entire lives and never crossed paths. Instead, I saw this other guy, a teenager like me, carrying a guitar case, like me, getting the fuck out of town. You were alone and so was I, so I went over to you. We talked while we walked. Every chance we had at evac centers, the guitars were out and we were jamming. You were the center of my world by the time we went to sleep Friday night. You're the one I followed around every bit as much as you followed me. I noticed that Saturday and forced myself to stop following you for a while, only to find you following me. 

"We lost our families, but gained each other. Right now, I feel like you're my life. Every moment I started to miss what was, you were right there, showing me what is. What I heard you saying is that you need me. Well, I need you too, Lance. Know this too, I got hard for you. That shows, in no uncertain terms, that I think you're incredible, naked and dressed, alone and in groups, and at a table eating lunch with a bunch of other gay teenagers. I wouldn't have done that at my school. I can guess you wouldn't have either. Here, it's kewl, man. Our leaders are gay couples. We're all allowed to be whoever we are. You heard what Chris and Jay were saying about how they used to be. In the City, we would've been like that, if we ever met. And by the way, did you notice Reyes?"

Still a little nervous, Lance wondered, "What about him?"

"I took your hand, said we're becoming a couple, and Reyes took the hands of those other two guys on either side of him. He's got two boyfriends, Lance."

Pulling back and looking into Scott's eyes, Lance's jaw dropped. He grinned, "Two? I was so into your hand in mine and the conversation, getting amps and acoustics, it never even registered!"

Scott smiled, "You see what I mean? I want one boyfriend – you. I want to touch, feel and taste one body – yours. When you want me, I am all yours, so don't ever hold anything back. The truth is all out now, and I still think you're the best I could've ever hoped for." He sealed all they had said with a tender kiss, and followed it with a deep, lingering, passionate kiss. When they broke the kiss, Scott asked, "Better now?"

Lance shyly grinned, "You really like my skinny butt?"

Smirking, Scott replied, "You're perfect, man. Everything about you, I love; from the color of your hair to the tips of your curled little toes. Given half a chance, I might find a way to kiss your green eyes. Those parts in the center are what I'll be concentrating on later, to show you that this ain't a whim or a quick fad that I'll get over. That facts are, I love you and lust for you. I really don't give a shit that I'm gay. It really means nothin' horrible to me, cos I'm still me and you're still you. What matters most to me is having someone that's got the same interests as I do." Lance blushed and giggled. Stepping back, Scott assured, "Believe me, the only thing more exciting than what I'll be doing to you, is wondering what you'll want to do with me. I'm getting hard just thinking of it, so let's get to the jams, before I turn us around and get crazy on you."

Picking up the guitar cases, Lance widely smiled at Scott. Scott bounced his eyebrows at Lance. They continued walking to the CIC. After humming thoughtfully, Lance softly giggled, "I've got some ideas for when we're alone."

Scott chuckled, "I'm sure you do. Save 'em for later though. Think music, like what songs we're going to play that might sound good, after three days of farting around without amps. Reyes is as good a drummer as Derrick, so we've got our work cut out for us."

"Music, yeah, right," Lance giggled.

Scott laughed, "You're not gonna be able to do this, are ya?"

Lance giggled, "I am trying, but..."

Pausing outside the CIC dining room, Scott chortled, "But what?"

"But everything," Lance giggled. "I'm trying to process it all, really, but it's all too much."

"Be more specific, please," Scott grinned. "I need you in music mode, so let's hear it."

"Think about it, Scott," Lance playfully prodded. "In a couple o' hours, between breakfast and lunch, we went from straight friends to gay lovers. That's such a complete flip around, that I'm really happy about, but still trying to figure out. I know the how and why everything was so awesome, but it's like, wow; I did that for you and you really loved it; you did stuff for me that snapped my sorry little brain into pieces, and made me flop around like a fish out of water."

Scott patiently smiled, "We're the same, man. Everything that we were before today is still here, just with more attached. This is like learning that you know a song I want to learn too. It's news to me, but you're kewl about it and showing me the chords and leads. Now we know that our music is loud and raunchy, but there's a ballad melody playing just under the surface. Don't ever doubt that I love you."

"Kewl."

Walking into the dining room and finding it empty, Scott asked, "What tunes do you want to play?"

"Pour Some Sugar On Me," Lance giggled.

Scott loudly laughed, "STOP!"

"I'm serious," Lance giggled. "I watched Mike and Troy like a hawk last night."

"We've only tried a little of that tune once last night."

"Without amps; we couldn't hear what should have been crankin'."

Scott giggled, "We'll try it. If it works, we'll have drums."

Lance enthusiastically sang, "Love is like a bomb, baby, c'mon get it on. Livin' like a lover with a radar phone. Lookin' like a tramp, like a video vamp. Demolition woman, can I be your man?"

Amazed and thrilled that Lance could sing it so easily, Scott sang, "Razzle 'n' a dazzle 'n' a flash a little light. Television lover, baby, go all night. Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet. Little miss ah innocent sugar me, yeah!"

"Kewl!" Lance cheered, "We can sing it too!"

Pausing at the dimensional door, Scott ordered, "Oneula Beach," and the silvery facade faded to show the dining room there. He walked through and waited for Lance. Once Lance had joined him, Scott wickedly teased, "Television lover, baby, go all night. Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet."

Stunned wide-eyed for a moment, Lance laughed, "And I'm right back in our bedroom again!" Scott cracked up, turned and started walking again. Following his partner, Lance giggled, "You rat bastard! I'm gonna sugar you sweet, all right!"

Nodding, Scott sniggered, "A reminder that I'm right there with you."

"Great!" Lance sarcastically giggled. "Do you think my cock will work as a slide?"

"Prob'ly, but shockingly!" Scott laughed.

Sadly shaking his head, Lance giggled, "I can see us already. You're gonna be the serious, quiet type, then slam me into orbit with some wacky remark."

Scott provocatively sang, "I'm hot, sticky sweet, from my head to my feet!" Lance howled laughing, and Scott continued singing, "Listen! Red light, yellow light, green-a-light go! Crazy little woman in a one man show. Mirror queen, mannequin, rhythm of love, Sweet dream, saccharine, loosen up!"

"It's your job to loosen me up," Lance giggled.

Nodding, Scott assured, "I promise, it's a task we'll both love. Then we'll flip it over for you to loosen my ass."

Stepping out of the Oneula Beach dining room, Lance dreamily sighed, "This is exactly what I'm trying to process. You're talking about loosening my ass, man. It's like I should be saying, no way, get away from there, that works one way, as an exit only, but I'm not. Instead, I'm looking forward to it."

"Don't even think about it," Scott recommended. "The virgin straight boys are gone now. We're past that. Do you know where we are?"

"Besides tired of carrying these guitars around?" Lance huffed, and put the cases down. Swinging and shaking his right arm, Lance bitched, "That damned Les Paul is heavy." 

Also putting his guitars down, Scott seriously asked, "Do you love me?"

Lance nodded and smiled, "Very much."

Scott smiled, "I love you too. Since this morning, my body isn't mine any more. I walk around in it, but it's completely yours. I've only begun checking out your hot bod. It's a task I may never complete. As soon as I think I know every inch, you'll be an inch taller, or a pound heavier, or hairier. Are you getting it?"

Lance nodded, "I'm yours and you're mine. It's kewl with me, man, but I've never even thought this stuff before."

"Look at Chris and Jay," Scott prompted, "or the other guys we ate lunch with, or any of the Core Rimmer couples. Do you think they're not doing what we are, or saying what we are? Married or not doesn't matter, because anyone can see they're in love. Even Keanu and Liki seem to be in a similar place; trying to reconcile what they thought they wanted with the reality of being a couple in love. I can easily understand them and you too. It's a mind fuck, but I'm totally blowing it off, because I am very happy with my new friend, who is now my newer lover and partner. Did you expect the actual acts of making love to feel anything like they did?"

"Not at all," Lance grinned.

"Neither did I," Scott admitted. "The stuff that happened to me last summer was nothing like what we did. Just kissing and grinding was awesome, man! Your hand was far better than my own. I never knew when you were going to speed up or slow down, or make a looser or tighter fist. As if all that wasn't enough, we blew each other in a sixty-nine and swallowed. As worried as I was about what it would taste like, I wanted to take all of you. No was quickly replaced with yes, believing I was getting a part of you inside me. Never once have I bounced around the way I did three times with you."

Nodding, Lance smiled, "I thought stuff like that. You were great too."

"So why should I worry about any of it? You love me, I love you, we showed it then and we're showin' it now. I couldn't last like Keanu and Liki, talking about what was versus what is, for days. This is how I feel. This is how you feel. Kewl, we're in love. My job is to keep you, right here with me, by my side, each of us following the other around, because that's where we want to be. From now on we're in my bed every night. That's what I want. One clean, unused bed with guitars on it. The other bed is now ours, and a lot less clean."

Dreamily sighing again, Lance assured, "I want all that too. You make it sound so awesome and easy."

"It is awesome," Scott smiled. "All the facts of life and what we've been taught all our lives makes sense now. You're the one most worthy of caring about and for. What we're feeling, every new couple must feel. The better long term couples feel it all their lives. I haven't talked about my parents, or yours, since Saturday, when you told me your folks had to die together, it was destiny that they even crossed over together. That was a wicked kewl idea, man, and it came out of your mouth. That thought fixed everything for me."

Blushing and shrugging, Lance giggled, "It's true enough."

"I got it, completely, at that moment. At this moment, I know that this is our destiny now. Our parents' generation, human and Romulan, almost fucked everything over for everyone. We won the war for our planet. Now we're Clan. There's no better place to be and no better person than you to be with. If you disagree with anything I've said, then tell me you do, because this is important to me. We've absolutely got to understand where we're coming from; without that, forget knowing where we're at and where we're going."

After thinking for a few moments, Lance smiled, "I can't find fault anywhere in anything you've said."

Counting it out on his fingers for Lance, Scott made his points again. "The circumstances that caused us to meet was chance as far we know, but maybe it was destiny." He grasped the second finger saying, "You brought your Les Paul, I brought my Stratocaster, and we learned that we're into the same music; we might've been two completely different extremes, with one playing the raunchiest, evil death metal, and the other playing Christian hymns at church. Nope, we're friends on the same page from the same city." A third finger was grasped when Scott reminded, "Right after we saw the dorms, you asked me to be your roommate; kewl with me, kewl with you. Travis even gave me an alternative, asking me to be his roommate. All this could be happening with him, but it's not. Trav's got Erik. They're both obviously in love. There's that same dreamy quality to Trav's eyes that you have, and I know I've got it too, cos I feel it. It's perfect as is though, because two west coast kids hooked up, just like two east coast kids are doing now."

Dropping the fourth finger, Scott chuckled, "Before we even moved into our room, we knew exactly where we were at; virgins spankin' it a couple o' times a day." Nodding, Lance went into a giggling fit. Wrapping his thumb around the other four fingers, Scott sniggered, "You heard me pounding it and watched me across a dark room." Lance howled laughing. A sixth finger was presented when Scott laughed, "So I watch you and wonder, does that thing stay about six inches long or what? It's damn nice as it is, but what if... it... gets... b-b-biggerrrrr - UGH! SPLASH! Okay, that was really good. Now I'm all wet." Shaking his head and laughing too hard to say anything, Lance waited for Scott to display another finger. He did, warmly smiling, "This morning you joked about dancing. I was scared to admit what happened last night. I had two choices; either go there and see what happens, or ignore it. I went there. You could've denied it all; then I would've been angry about it and simply said, fine, you stay over there jackin' off and I'll stay over on my side of the room. We're roommates and axe wielding buds, and that's it. Again, none of what might've happened did happen. That's seven different times in a couple o' days anything might've happened to change what is. Lucky seven, man. We rolled the dice and won."

Tilting his head and only briefly glancing at Scott, Lance shyly and cutely wondered, "Are you really that happy with me?"

Stepping closer, Scott gently lifted Lance's chin, passionately assuring, "Extremely happy. In addition to those seven things, you did everything I did this morning. Neither of us ever said, 'no, I won't do that'. All that stuff we thought might be weird wasn't odd at all; every hug and kiss was better than the last. You treated me real nice. We weren't too happy our first loads blew between our bellies, but shared what we expected and wanted. You made my fantasy a reality and I made yours too. All that was awesome."

"Getting caught in the shower wasn't so awesome," Lance giggled.

"Again, we got lucky. A gay couple caught us, not two straight dudes. The latter would've been grossed out. They might've even mocked us. Instead, we got the former, who loudly got us calm enough to hear why they were there. Chris and Jay stripped and took the shower right across from us. Chris is absolutely a real blond, and his bone was pointing straight up, proving beyond any doubt that he had no problem that we were there. Jay's a muscular brunette hunk; plain and simple. The fall he took when his apartment crashed might've killed you or me. And what did you do? Did you pay attention to the other two extremely cute guys with major woodies? No, amazing and thrilling the hell out of me, you did what you saw them doing, grinding your ass against my cock. My brain spun, my heart raced and my dick got hard really fast."

"They're cute and all, but I barely knew them. I know them better now, and they're great, but I still choose you, Scott. None of the guys I've seen naked in the showers, here or anywhere else, is better lookin' than you."

"Not many people would say that. The fact that you did has my brain flippin' and spinnin' again. Now that I think of it, I did what Jay did; I showed you that my ass is yours. What really knocked me for a loop was when you showed me the same; that your ass is mine. It was a question lurking that you answered with actions, in front of two other guys. I knew when we started that I would willingly give my ass to you, but wasn't sure if you thought the same. You answered that question in the most awesome way."

Realizing that Scott didn't consider himself that good looking, Lance sadly shook his head, smirking, "I don't want the two blonds, Chris or Erik. I don't want the two Cali surfers, Erik or Travis. As kewl as Jay is, he's not a musician, he's way too buff for me, and most importantly, he's crazy for Chris. I've got so much in common with you, and you've got everything they've got, plus one other thing that they can't have."

"Such as?"

"Me, crawling all over them and lovin' every second of it," Lance warmly said, and pulled Scott into a tighter embrace. He shared, "Goin' from losing everything to gaining the best of everything is what's blowin' me away. I'm really very happy with you, and have been since we met. Part of me is screaming; how can you be happier than ever after loosing it all, you fucking dope, what's wrong with you? The answer is you, right there, every time I turn around. I was happy enough with you as a friend. It's not even so much switching from a straight virgin to active gay boy, it's loving the change. It ain't like I've never seen dicks before, man. What we did already was such an extremely awesome, fun time, I'm in heaven right now. I lost my virginity with my best friend in the world. What we haven't already done, I know we will. All that is what's making me dopey and silly, from the sex to standing here and holding each other now. I don't give a fuck who sees us like this. I should care, shouldn't I?"

Scott smiled, "In New York City and lots of other places, we probably might, but here, there's no reason to worry about it."

"And what about suddenly liking dicks?"

Scott shrugged, "That's an important part of all this, sure, but talking like this is almost as good. If we both had erections too, then I could say it's every bit as good. Since this is a serious chat we're having, boners are kind o' inappropriate, so it's kewl. A dick is only flesh hangin' most of the time. I can be gay easily enough, cos I'm still me and you're still you. I've noticed plenty of dicks in showers too, and always compared what I saw to what I have. To some extent or another, I'll bet most guys do that. What matters most now is that my dick is only for you to have, and your dick is only mine to have. Your dick is the one I want to caress when it's limp, and the one I want in me when it's hard; every other guy's dick is just decoration to me, because they're not attached to you. The changes that have happened makes everything that was already great, far better. We both knew people called the ROH a paradise; for us it was a kewl idea because of virtuoso leadership. Little did we know what was already awesome would really become our shared paradise." He paused to joke, "Don't start wearing dresses though, man. You'll force me to take drastic measures."

Lance giggled, "Not that I ever would, but what drastic measures are these?"

Scott chuckled, "You're a guy, all male, I checked and know it for certain. If you start acting like a girl, I'll have to be on the bottom constantly, to remind you that I not only like your dick, it's mine; I want it, in my hands, mouth and ass." Lance watched Scott speak every word and saw he was very serious, but having such a major cutie admit all that caused a brief giggle. Scott assured, "Don't ever change a thing, Lance. All of what you are now is exactly what I want. Liking dick doesn't make either of us effeminate, it makes us gay. Besides, your legs are too hairy for dresses and nylons."

Lance giggled, "No nylons pulling my hairs out by the roots, all at once, thanks."

Scott grinned, "Plenty of changes will happen whether we like them or not. We've got a couple o' years before we're fully educated and grown up. Think of learning from Mike, Prez and Troy for the next few years. We're pretty good now. By then, we'll be as good as they are. Also, what's very kewl now between our legs will get even better, and very probably bigger. You're thirteen and have exactly what I want. Thinking of what you've got now, and what you'll probably have, my mouth is watering."

Lance nodded and smiled, "I have briefly considered both of those things, and our things too. Is it kewl to be this happy though, Scott?"

Scott sighed, "We can't stay sad. We've cried for our families, man. They wouldn't want us to do that. My dad would crack my ass into the middle of next week, for crying over what can't be changed. Doc Wiener..."

"Doc VEE-NER!" Lance laughed.

"Whatever!" Scott giggled, "He said we're survivors. We knew when to get the fuck out o' there; without which, this conversation wouldn't be happening. I believe we're lucky, in so many ways, not the least of which is that we might've died too, without having ever met. That's a loss we'd have never known, but a damned sad state of affairs, dying as virgins, never feeling any of the love we've already felt."

"Others did die that way," Lance groaned.

"That's exactly why we need to follow through, to make surviving worth our effort and the whole worlds' time. The Clan is changing the world and we're part of it, man! A universe of opportunities has opened up for us. Ya wanna talk about chance versus destiny, how about this thought; this division was created, exactly seven days before we needed it, and half of the leaders are virtuoso musicians! Holy fuck, that still makes me shiver, man! Deciding to come here was a no-brainer decision for both of us."

Nodding, Lance agreed, "It was a freaky thought Friday, way before we crawled around your bed. Now we're even more like them."

"So, do we cry over the past and worry about shit, or go jam with Reyes?"

"We jam," Lance smiled.

Scott stole a quick kiss. He stepped back and tapped his comm-badge for the first time, calling, "Alden?"

Alden sniffled and sobbed, "Here guys."

Scott frowned, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing and everything," Alden whimpered, "I heard every word you both said and watched the two of you. I've seen some extremely sweet and romantic stuff before, but you two... I wish that I had eyes to wipe."

Lance smirked, "How do we help an emotional AI?"

"Got me," Scott shrugged.

"I'll be fine," Alden sighed. He wondered, "What did you need?"

Scott said, "We got tired of carrying guitars and stopped walking. Can you make life easy and get us onto the Oneula Beach auditorium stage?"

"Oh yeah, that's right," Alden said. "Reyes, Chris and Jay have been wondering where you are. One free trip, and another when you're ready to leave for Ewa Beach." Before either boy could say another word, they were exactly where they asked to be, with guitar cases still near their feet.

Looking up and around for the nearest camera, both thanked their AI. Out in the audience front seats sat Jay, Chris, Travis, Erik, Paul and Ryan. Erik approached the stage, calling, "Lance, toss me one of those hand puppets, dude."

Lance pulled a Mr. Fuzzy puppet out of a pocket and tossed it, giggling, "Better hurry, Travis is making a run for it."

Catching the puppet, Erik giggled, "Thanks, dude," and hurried after his prey, still pulling his puppet onto his hand.

Holding up his Mr. Fuzzy puppet hand, Jay grinned at Chris, squeaking in his Mr. Fuzzy voice; "A new Pacific Rim Division tradition for gay couples is born."

"Still born, maybe," Chris giggled.

---

Ewa Beach School 

Monday, November 8, 2004 1:01 PM HTZ

Prez walked into the school's computer lab, raised his right hand and loudly teased, "Okay, I swear, the teachers said this will be the easier part of the test." Kids started giggling. Younger kids, including Prince Kaimi howled laughing. Doubling over, Richie grabbed his belly, dropped to his knees and rolled. Knowing what he had said wasn't that funny, Prez blinked at his youngest son.

Sadly shaking his head, Keith sniggered, "Look up, T'hy'la. What's that on your hand?"

Seeing the blue hand puppet with it's whacked out, crooked eyes, and big red mouth, Prez chuckled, "Alden, what the hell is this?" Older kids cracked up. Kaleo, Tory, Keanu, Liki and Horacio had to turn away. Sean collapsed against Troy and they roared laughing.

Over the ceiling speakers, Alden giggled, "Jay mentioned it. I found some and made sure he got plenty to pass around. Jay's planning on giving them out to every gay couple in the Division, and making it a tradition. I thought you'd like to know."

Grinning at the puppet and Richie, now pounding his little fists onto the carpeted floor, Prez chuckled, "A tradition, huh? I can see this. As a matter of fact, I can see it Clan wide. Share the wealth and puppets, Alden."

"I was hoping you'd agree with the idea," Alden giggled. "Ten thousand Mr. Fuzzies are being passed around. Another twenty-five thousand are on order, boss. You guys in school will find them in your rooms..."

"No," Mr. T grinned, "if it's going to become tradition, let's make them available here too. Anyone that wants one can grab it."

Alden cheered, "Two boxes of two-hundred Mr. Fuzzy puppets, comin' up!"

As soon as the cartons appeared, behind Prez and beside Mr. T, every kid in the room congregated. Squatting down, Mr. T opened the boxes with a small pen knife and got out of the way. He pulled Prez, Keith, Kaleo, Derrick and Troy aside. AJ, Jerry, Tory, Mike and Sean were with the rest of the kids, handing out Mr. Fuzzy puppets. In a small huddle, Mr. T whispered, "Do you know the boy that started this?" All five Rimmers nodded and grinned. "A new teammate has presented himself," Mr. T told them. "It's your decision, of course, but I highly recommend him."

Nodding, Prez tapped his sub-vocal, softly calling, "Alden, log this date and time. Christopher Stokley and Jason Montigua are Morale Rimmers, reporting to Troy and Sean. Their commission is effective immediately, but I'll wait until Jason's wrist is out of the cast before telling them. Please remind me when Doc Andrews removes the cast."

"Got it, boss," Alden giggled.

Keith wondered, "Why wait to tell them, baby."

Prez grinned, "When they get their ID cards, prob'ly tonight, neither will look that closely. Then they'll get debit cards in a day or two, and again, they won't think to check their balances, just like we didn't. If they come screaming, then we'll know that they know, but let's assume Jay's out of commission until the cast comes off. Don't say a word, dudes. It would be even funnier if they don't find out until they're notified of phaser training."

"Ba-a-ad Head Rimmer," Troy softly chuckled. "Pissed Off Chickens lost its charm?"

Prez giggled, "Lance has Scott to shake his chicken. I challenged Reyes, but with Paul and Ryan around, I don't expect a response anytime soon." Around the room, a variety of Mr. Fuzzy voices began escaping mouths of puppet-masters.

Mr. Taylor loudly called, "As soon as you've got your puppets, return to your seats. The test is timed from when you begin. You may leave for the day, after reporting to a teacher to learn your recommended career and educational paths."

"We have baseball caps for everyone," Mr. Stevenson added. "The caps are marked with insignia, or symbols, that show your field of expertise. That way your friends know your specialty too. You'll get twice the learning experience you might normally get by helping your friends understand assignments. For examples, musicians like the Core Rimmers will likely wear hats with treble clefs; the math whiz kids get pi symbols, the scientists with physics knowledge will see the equation e=mc2, biologists will see the DNA double helix, literature experts will see an image of William Shakespeare. Everybody gets a hat today and knows what they'll be studying."

"Prez gets a hat with a deceased chicken," Mr. T calmly announced.

With kids beginning to giggle again, Prez chuckled, "Really?"

Nodding, Mr. T smiled, "You'll have to take your test first."

"Aw," Prez sadly groaned, and wandered toward Keith. Holding up his puppet hand, Prez squeaked to Keith, "I still don't get any respect."

Taking Prez's un-puppeted left hand, Keith led his lover to the computer workstations, so they could finish playing the games and watching cartoons that had been cleverly disguised as a placement test. "Come on, fuzzy sex-machine," Keith sniggered, "we can't be the last to finish."

"You only wanna play with my fuzzy," Prez squeaked.

"Damn right," Keith leered.

Running up to his dad and pop wearing his Mr. Fuzzy puppet, Richie raised the pitch of his already high voice, giggling, "Mr. Fuzzy wants to play with Jimmy." Troy wasn't far away, and sputtered trying to hold in his laughter. 

Prez's Mr. Fuzzy told Richie's Mr. Fuzzy, "You can find Jimmy's fuzzy right after school."

Wearing an extremely evil grin, Sean approached Troy with his Mr. Fuzzy. Troy cracked up and jogged away. Sean chased after his Lover. All around the room, kids were being silly with their puppets. Couples of every orientation were being provocative. Aaron Farris and Stephen Wickes were being uncharacteristically bad, starting a fuzzy-grab-tag game. Bruce Downing was already at a station, taking his test and consulting with his Mr. Fuzzy for the correct answer to the current question. Seated at the next row in, Carmella, Dewi and Kokaku were watching their big brother and completely hysterical.

---

Since Billy had done such an impressive job that morning with the spreadsheet, Troy and Sean promised to arrange for the data to be uploaded onto the web server. There it would become part of the Morale Rimmer's section of the web site, so kids could see what games were at which base. Billy was relieved of his data gathering role to concentrate on building his relationship with Robbie. The task was passed to Jason. Enthusiastically, Jason took the job, believing that if his quiet and shy big brother could score a boyfriend, then maybe he could too.

Deciding to break the larger group of kids into smaller teams, so they could cover more ground, Jason asked for volunteers to check the pools, pool house, indoor rec center and playground. The youngest kids, led by Jimmy and Scott, were sent to the playground. Terrance Parkinson and Mike Busse had just volunteered to scope out the pool areas with the other teens when Travis raced into the rec room, with Erik only a few paces behind him, wearing his Mr. Fuzzy.

All the teens and tweens began giggling and laughing at the two goofy boyfriends. Bouncing their eyebrows at each other, Neil and Tad knew exactly how to play fuzzy games and evilly grinned. Jason giggled, "Where did you guys get that... thing?"

"It's a Mr. Fuzzy!" Travis laughed.

In an altered voice, Erik snickered, "It's a randy Mr. Fuzzy!"

Carter Rackham chuckled, "Where did you get it?"

"At the auditorium, next door," Erik answered, and circled the pool table that Travis was using as a blockade.

Travis giggled, "There are more over there."

"Oh, hell yeah!" Carter cheered.

Carter's roomie and boyfriend, Doug Zimmerman chuckled, "You wouldn't?"

"We would," Carter smiled. He took his boyfriend's hand and started out of the room.

Glancing around and noticing that all the kids were interested in the toy, Jason giggled, "Okay, let's explore the auditorium and get our Mr. Fuzzy puppets." Giggling kids started out of the rec room. 

To Jason's right, Kenny Hunnicutt shook his head, softly sniggering, "It's a baby's toy, man."

Stan Given, on Jason's left side, pointed to the two teens in a stalemate at the pool table and smiled, "Looks like any one can have fun with it though." As soon as the last of the youngest kids were out of the rec room, Erik faked a dash across the top of the pool table. Roaring hysterically, Travis bolted. His next stop would be their dorm room, where he hoped to get his Fuzzy possessed boyfriend under some semblance of control.

On the way through the dining room, Jason tapped his comm-badge, calling, "Jimmy?"

Jimmy giggled, "Yeah, Jase."

"We're going over to the auditorium to get some toys, bro," Jason shared. "I'm pretty sure your group of kids would like them, so meet us there, 'kay?"

"What kind of toys?" Scott suspiciously wondered.

"Goofy hand puppets," Kenny giggled.

A bunch of little kids prompted Jimmy and Scott to go see the puppets. Jimmy giggled, "Kewl. We're on our way, Jase."

"See ya in a few, bro," Jason smiled.

The Oneula Beach auditorium was about one-fifth the size of the auditorium at Ewa Beach. With five thousand seats, they could still accommodate the entire division's future needs. The kids from the rec room came in the theater, not realizing anyone was in there. On stage were Reyes, Joey, Lance and Scott, playing the Rolling Stones classic Brown Sugar. Lance and Scott were singing and playing their guitars. Behind them and on risers, Joey played electronic drums and Reyes played a drum kit. In the audience front row seats sat Chris, Jay, Paul and Ryan.

First down to the stage and front row, pulling Doug along with him, Carter saw the puppets on Jay's and Ryan's hands. Over the music, Carter loudly asked, "Where are they, Jay?"

Pointing Mr. Fuzzy forward, Jay hollered, "On the stage."

The puppets Lance and Scott had brought with them were in a pile near a stage monitor. Thankfully, Alden saw the group of kids and teleported another box of two-hundred puppets directly beside the quickly diminishing pile. Over the auditorium's ceiling speakers, Alden giggled, "There are more in the box guys, plenty for everybody."

Taking over the lead vocals, Lance helplessly sniggered at the crazed and enthusiastic kids. Backed away from the microphone, Scott cracked up. 

Slowly shaking his head, Chris muttered, "Look what you've done, Jay."

Shrugging, Jay grinned, "My idea was gays only. How would I know all the kids would want a Mr. Fuzzy? Now that I think of it though, it makes sense." Chris suspiciously squinted and smirked at his partner. Leaning closer, Jay explained, "These kids have had years of cold prickly circumstances and lives. Now they've got a kewl place to live and lots of warm fuzzies."

Chris giggled, "You're a sick, sick man," and then stole a kiss. Around and behind them, kids armed with Mr. Fuzzies and playing with their friends took seats.

On stage, the song ended and all four musicians laughed at the kids. The kids applauded the musicians. It was the first time Lance and Scott had ever been on stage, and they were surprised with the applause. They looked back at Joey and Reyes, who began tapping their drums stick together to applaud the two newbies. Reyes smiled, "You guys are pretty good." He checked with Joey, asking, "Did you expect them to play and sing complete songs?"

Shaking his head, Joey answered, "I jusd wanded do jam widh you. I didn'd expecd anyone ewse ad aww. We god an audience doo now." He wondered, "Whad's dhe nexd song?"

Shrugging, Scott wordlessly checked with Lance. Lance suggested, "Do you guys know Girls, Girls, Girls?"

"Yup, I do," Joey giggled.

Putting down his drum sticks, Reyes said, "Since I don't know it, take over, Joey. I'll go spend a few minutes with Paul and Ryan." Standing, he prompted, "Call me back up, if you need to." Reyes walked down off the risers and out toward the audience, where his boyfriends were sitting.

"Keww," Joey giggled. Looking over at Lance and Scott, he asked, "Wouwd you guys wand do meed anodhew good guidaw pwayew?"

After checking with Scott and receiving a nod, Lance said, "Sure, Joey."

Tapping his comm-badge, Joey called, "Casey, ged youw guidaw and come jam widh us."

"Let me change into shorts and I'll be right there," KC replied over Joey's comm-badge.

Using his Mr. Fuzzy puppet to talk to his brother, Chauncey giggled, "You like KC, I can tell."

Fred grinned, "It's that obvious?"

"His name was mentioned and you immediately brightened up," Chauncey giggled. "I think he likes you too."

Standing to hug Reyes, Paul asked, "With all these kids in here now, do you think we can make the sound system a little louder?"

Offering both hands, Reyes nodded, "Sure. We only needed the stage monitors to hear ourselves before." Paul and Ryan each took one of Reyes hands. Sandwiched once again, Reyes gave each boyfriend a kiss and got kisses returned. In this smaller auditorium, the PA system was situated in the middle of the auditorium floor. The threesome walked back to the gear.

Fred softly wondered, "What am I going to do about KC?"

"What do you want to do?" Chauncey's puppet covered hand sniggered.

"I'm more concerned about you, bro," Fred admitted.

Dropping his Mr. Fuzzy, Chauncey smiled, "I know you are. We're brothers, not boyfriends though. What we've done together is fun. It's something you enjoy more than me though. That's obvious from your kisses. You taught me as much as mom and dad, in the best ways. I'm pretty sure I'm straight, even though I could possibly go for the right cute guy. This is about you though, Fred. You were my dad's brother, and you are my brother. For almost fifty years, you've been family, and you'll be family another fifty more years, easy. When I have kids, you'll be their brother. You're allowed to be happy, bro. Find who makes you happy. You know me and Brandon will love whoever, and make him part of our family."

Nodding, Fred smirked, "It's never hit me like this before, Chauncey. I've always known I'm homosexual; your dad knew, your mom knew and you know. I just never met anyone like KC before."

"This is the place and now is the time," Chauncey assured.

Transporting onto the stage a few meters before Joey, wearing boardies, a T-shirt, and carrying his guitar, KC glanced around. "Sweetness!" he cheered, and put down his guitar case. Joey introduced Lance Kinchen and Scott Shetley to his adopted big brother, Kenneth Casey McKensie. While KC got situated and ready to play, he and Joey told Scott and Lance about their band, Time Touched. Joey shared the tune they chose to play, and KC hurried to get his guitar strapped on and plugged in to an amplifier. Lance and Scott couldn't help commenting on KC's custom made Carvin electric guitar. It had a pearl white finish, a twenty-four fret ebony fretboard and a Kahler tremolo system. It was a hot rod guitar that Lance and Scott wished they could try out.

Noticing his android brother's dreamy expression, Chauncey nudged Fred, giggling, "Yeah, they put all his parts together right."

"Gimme a break!" Fred cackled and blushed.

From the mixer's microphone and over the stage monitors, Reyes told the guys preparing to perform, "You've got the primary monitors active and an audience waiting, dudes. I'm ready for a sound check when you are."

Joey concentrated on the tempo and beat for 'Girls, Girls, Girls' and then started playing. To keep his boyfriends involved, Reyes explained the mixer, what he was adjusting and why. Having never operated a PA system before, Paul and Ryan had plenty of questions that Reyes patiently answered. With his new databases, Reyes had more knowledge than his life experiences to draw upon. KC started playing the riffs to the song. About thirty-seconds later, Scott joined in, and then Lance did. Stepping up to a microphone, KC sang the lead vocals. On queue, Scott and Lance added backup vocals during the choruses. The group jammed to an audience of about one-hundred-fifty girls and boys.

Having been on stage before, playing to much larger audiences, KC and Joey performed for them. Lance and Scott were doing their best to keep up without flubbing their guitar and vocal parts. They were doing very well, considering they had only met four days earlier, and this was the first time they'd played through amps and could hear one another.

Scowling, Chauncey asked Fred, "What are you waiting for?"

"They're singin' about girls," Fred smirked.

"That's what Lance and Scott wanted to play," Chauncey sniggered. "If ever I saw two completely straight guys, there they are." He wondered, "Would you be more willing to at least talk to KC if I weren't here?"

Shaking his head, Fred sighed, "Probably not. At least with you prodding me, I might have a chance."

Nudging his brother again, Chauncey grinned, "Go get a Mr. Fuzzy and show him you're interested."

Fred chuckled, "How?"

"Oh, don't you dare try acting shy with me," Chauncey laughed. Fred put on a perfect halo and innocent act for his bro. Chauncey giggled, "KC might buy that, but I know you. All I ever had to do was ask or show I was interested, and you were right there." Chauncey stuck his Mr. Fuzzy puppet inches from Fred's face, teasing, "Long dirty blond hair, I'm not sure if his eyes are blue or gray, and that's a really nice pair of legs attached to a nicer ass. With him dancing and shakin', I'm only wondering what's swinging. Maybe I should go find out." 

Fred cracked up. Chauncey started to stand, but Fred pulled him back down into his seat, giggling, "I can do it!"

"I'm not the one you need to tell," Chauncey cackled. "Tell KC!"

At the end of the song, while the audience applauded, KC asked Joey, "What do you think?"

Joey smiled, "Dhey'we good, jusd need some mowe pwacdice."

Nodding, KC approached Lance and Scott saying, "You are planning on taking music courses at school from the Rimmers, right?"

Lance nodded. Scott answered, "That's on our list of things to do. We've only been here since Friday, so we're taking the week off that they recommended."

Pointing to the acoustic guitar cases still closed and pushed off the side of the stage, Lance grinned, "Mike just got us those acoustics, and we each have new amps in our room. This is the first time we've played and could actually hear each other."

Scott nodded, "We didn't even know the other could sing until minutes before we came in here."

KC chuckled, "Very kewl. Let me tell you a few things." Seeing Scott and Lance nodding, KC explained, "Our band is really good, but let me tell you about your leaders. Saturday, I met Derrick, Mike, Keith, Prez and Troy. At dinner, they gave me some free info, which was really kewl. They named a chord and sang that chord in perfect five-part harmony. It's no lie, dudes, I checked it on the piano there. I'm still processing what they said, and trying to get a jump on the classes they'll be teaching. After dinner, I challenged them to learn a song from scratch. In about twenty-five minutes, they learned all of 'Band On The Run'. They played it twice, the second time as good as the record. For a comparison, so you understand, it would've taken our band three or four hours to learn that tune, and then rehearsing it as a band another couple of hours."

Scott raised his eyebrows and checked with Lance. "That's a kewl song, I guess," Lance cheekily admitted, "but not exactly what we're into."

"I figured," KC smiled. "But even the heaviest rockers toss in ballads. That's what I'd like us to try next, if you're into it?"

Lance enthusiastically giggled, "Sure. Anything new we can learn is kewl."

Scott smiled, "Show us the way, KC."

KC asked, "You've heard The Eagles tune, 'Best Of My Love'?" When they both nodded, KC instructed, "Get your new acoustics out. I'll teach you the progression, you play rhythm guitar, and I'll play lead slide." Noticing Fred Eckhart standing before the stage, KC asked, "Can you handle the keyboards?"

"It's a sing-a-long I've played before," Fred answered.

"Come on up here then," KC prompted. Watching Fred walk toward the stairs, KC added, "We need some bass to fill out the bottom, Fred. With three guitars, drums and you, we might be able to make this sound pretty decent." Scott and Lance plugged their acoustic-electric guitars into the Acoustasonic amps on the stage.

In the audience, little kids began playing a game of Fuzzy-go-seek between the rows of seats. KC taught Lance and Scott the chord progression. Fred added some piano chords to KC's instruction. Joey moved over to the full size drum kit, where he all but disappeared. KC also taught the three newbie musicians, "Since we're dudes with deep voices, the trick to singing high background vocals is to back off the microphones; that way there's less of the booming male voices and more highs. It's called proximity effect; the closer you are to the mics, the richer the sound, kewl?"

"Got it," Scott assured. Lance nodded.

KC checked with Joey, "You set back there, punk?"

Through his head set, Joey giggled, "Weyes, is dhis dhing on?"

"Sing something, twerp," Reyes answered through the stage monitors. Lance and Scott suspiciously eyed each other, wondering how good anything might sound with a vocalist that had a speech impediment.

Joey sweetly sang, "Whoa-oh-oh-oh, sweet darling, you get the best of my love. Whoa-oh-oh-oh."

Hearing perfectly enunciated words with the correct melody, Lance and Scott hollered, "WHAT THE FUCK!"

Joey loudly laughed. Something similar had happened at Archnania the first time he sang. KC sniggered, telling Scott and Lance, "This is why Joey's a twerp and a punk. When he speaks, he's not really thinking or trying, so his words come out messed up. When he's singing, he's thinking of the words and the melody, so bye-bye speech issues."

"Fucking amazing," Lance softly giggled.

Scott grinned, "We haven't started the song and I'm blown away."

KC checked, "Then let's play the tune." When Lance and Scott nodded and were ready, KC prompted, "Count us off, Joey."

Joey began hitting the hi-hat then softly counted, "One, dwo, dhwee, fouw." Scott and Lance began strumming their acoustic guitars. KC played slide guitar and Joey played the drums with brushes. Stepping up to the microphone, KC sang the lead vocals. As they had been instructed, Lance and Scott stayed about a foot back from the microphone edge and sang the second verse with KC, Fred and Joey.

Kids in the audience got up and started slow dancing together. Chris rested his head on Jay's shoulder. Jay's Mr. Fuzzy gave Chris a kiss. Chris goosed his goofy partner's ass. Jason talked Kenny Hunnicutt into dancing with him. With space between them, the two younger boys swayed and swung their clasped hands. At the end of the song, the kids applauded and cheered. One of the loudest was Chauncey, who was very proud of his android brother, sitting at a piano on the stage.

Facing Scott and Lance, but pointing at the audience, KC smiled, "See what I mean? Kids want to rock, but they want to slow it down and dance too. We're their entertainment. If we're not entertaining them, we might as well stay home."

"Let's try another tune," Scott suggested.

Humming thoughtfully, KC grinned, "Okay, The Eagles again, this time with a little more of a beat. Let's try 'New Kid In Town'." For the next few minutes, KC taught the progression. Calling Reyes back onto the stage to help him out, Joey moved back to the electronic drums, only because his short arms couldn't reach the tom-toms or cymbals on the big kit. Scott played arpeggios on his Stratocaster. Lance strummed his acoustic. For the first time, Fred tried an electric piano, since they needed those tones on the tune. When they were ready, Joey and Reyes counted off, and all six began playing.

For their audience, this tune was especially appropriate because they were all 'new kids in town'. Many of the kids got back on their feet and danced to the band. At the end of the song, they clapped and cheered even louder.

While he was playing, Lance didn't think very much of the simple chords he was strumming, but the enthused audience taught him the valuable lesson that KC intended. The song ended and the dancing kids in the audience applauded. Taking his guitar off his shoulders, Lance went to KC, giggling, "Man, we've learned so much. I can only say, thank you, but it don't feel like enough."

Nodding agreement, Scott suggested, "Would you mind playing one more tune, KC? We'll be standing right in front of the stage watching, but I'll be honest, we need to absorb some of what we've learned, or risk forgetting half of it."

KC chuckled, "That's kewl, dudes. Me and Joey can think up something for these kids."

"Pway Id's My Wife, Cwash," Joey prompted. Going to put their guitars away, Lance and Scott helplessly sniggered.

KC giggled, "I don't have a wife and don't want one, punk." Joey cracked up.

"I'm way glad to hear that," Fred softly muttered.

"Oh, really?" KC laughed. Caught like a deer in headlights, Fred blushed, giggled and nodded. Walking over to Fred, KC smiled, "Do me a favor?"

"Like?"

"Hang around for a while? I think we've got a lot to talk about."

Nodding, Fred giggled, "Yeah, I think we do too." Overhearing the two teen androids, Scott and Lance grinned at one another.

Joey went into a giggling fit and cackled, "I'm dewwing Uncah Scodd!" Hearing his name mispronounced, Scott Shetley glanced over. Seeing no one looking his way, he shrugged and finished packing his gear.

KC smirked, "As of a few days ago, we're only friends, punk."

Fred asked KC, "You broke up with your boyfriend?"

Nodding, KC shared, "He's human and sixteen. He'll be getting older and I'll always appear thirteen. What's not a problem now will eventually become one, when he's thirty and seen with me. We figured it's better to stay friends."

Fred sighed, "I'm sorry to hear it."

Shaking his head, KC grinned, "Everything happens for a reason. When I saw you today, I wondered if maybe you were the reason. Were you thinking along the same line?"

Nodding, Fred giggled, "Yeah, and wondering why Joey calls you Crash." Joey howled laughing and slipped off his drum throne, falling to the riser floor absolutely hysterical. Reyes helped his android brother up and made sure he was all right. Joey never stopped laughing to answer the question.

Rolling his eyes, KC grinned, "I promise, I'll tell you later, when certain little twerp ears can't hear."

Walking down the drum riser's steps, Reyes softly chortled, "Does anyone want to go surfing at Malibu Bay?"

"QUIET YOU!" KC laughed. Sputtering and trying to not crack up, Reyes nonchalantly walked down off the stage and returned to Paul and Ryan.

Suspiciously glancing around, Fred wondered, "In California?"

Nodding, KC chuckled, "You'll know everything there is to know tonight." Gesturing to the piano bench, KC smiled, "Have a seat. After me and Joey play another tune, we'll go for a walk."

Nodding, Fred softly muttered, "I like the view better here anyway," and looked over his shoulder at KC.

Beginning to realize that Fred was a nice mix of shy and sly, KC bounced his eyebrows. Joey giggled, "Dhad means Fwed wikes youw budd, Casey."

"I know what it means, punk!" KC chuckled. "Are you ready to play, or just make bad jokes?"

"I can do bodh," Joey giggled, and returned to the drum throne behind the full acoustic drum kit.

Tapping his comm-badge, KC ordered, "Stevie, get my acoustic guitar, dude." When the guitar didn't appear and Stevie didn't reply, KC called, "Stevie?"

Sounding very annoyed, Stevie sourly grumbled, "What?"

"Uh, my acoustic, please?"

"No."

Slumping, KC scowled, "Why not?"

"Because you're hooking up with Fred," Stevie bitterly complained. "All the really cute androids are dropping like flies! We lose Paul, Reyes, you and Fred, in one day's swipe! This bites!" Out in the audience, Chauncey cracked up.

Fred giggled, "Stevie, and all you guys listening, you need to check out Brandon, over at Des Moines."

Six previously disgruntled AI's pleasantly sang, "That's right!" and the arguing over the cute Des Moines Division's android began. KC rubbed the center of his forehead, as if his positronic brain were about to explode.

Sniggering his ass off, Fred called, "Joey?"

Unseen behind the drum kit, Joey giggled, "Yeah, Fwed?"

"Are you thinking of a boyfriend?"

Joey blushed and giggled, "Uh huh, aboud my size, maybe a widdwe tawwew wouwd be weawwy nice!"

"There aren't any androids or humans about Joey's size," KC softly teased.

Breaking the audio connection with his five brothers, making an audible pop over the comm-badges, Stevie giggled, "Can we talk later, Joey?"

"Suwe, Sdevie," Joey giggled, "pwease ged Casey his guidaw fiwsd."

"Anything for my well endowed boyfriend," Stevie giggled, and the acoustic guitar materialized on its stand, as it had been in KC's bedroom.

KC returned his electric guitar to its case, and then picked up his acoustic guitar. He checked with Joey, "Ready, well endowed boyfriend?"

Waving the brushes high over his head so KC could see, Joey giggled, "Weady, cude-blond-budd!"

"My butt's not blond," KC sniggered.

"I'ww have Fwed doubwe check," Joey cackled.

"This is not a problem!" Fred cheered, and uncontrollably blushed. Joey cracked up.

KC sniggered, "Don't encourage him."

Fred giggled, "I'll encourage you then."

KC smiled, "I really hope so," and went to the center stage microphone. 

Well hidden behind the full-sized drum kit, Joey teased in a sing-song voice, "Casey and Fwed, sidding in-a dwee..."

Stopping before the microphone, KC ignored the remark, and instead told the audience, "This song's called, It's My Life." He began playing the solo acoustic guitar introduction that he had spent hours rearranging.

Standing directly before center stage, Lance and Scott watched KC play and start singing. KC only occasionally looked at his fretboard. He was playing an intricate combination of chords, bass lines and licks. It was obvious that KC had experience before an audience. Lance leaned over to tell Scott, "We've got a lot of work to do. Singing for six was okay, but over a hundred freaked me out."

Nodding, Scott assured, "When we're not in bed, we're practicing all day and night, every day and night, from now on."

Moments later, Lance leaned over again, giggling, "You're making plans?"

Nodding, Scott made eye contact with Lance, promising, "Lots, about twenty of sixty years worth, I figure, but give me time; I'll fill the sixty years."

Completely speechless, Lance reached over and took Scott's right hand in his left hand. As badly as they wanted to watch KC perform, Scott and Lance kept gazing at one another. They occasionally squeezed their hands, until the song ended. KC smiled, "Thanks, you've been awesome; that's about it for now though. We'll catch you later."

Releasing one another, Lance and Scott clapped their hands like the rest of the audience, and then walked the length of the stage to climb up the steps. Since the show was over, Mr. Fuzzy armed kids in the audience began filing out of the theater. Fred noticed that Chauncey was leaving too, with Pat, Ralphie, Richie, Ronnie, Garrett, Carrol and Trevor. Once down off the drum riser, Joey flew across the stage and down the steps to Reyes, Ryan and Paul. Lance and Scott thanked KC for a great time and chatted a few minutes. Knowing that KC had plans with Fred, Scott shared that he and Lance had become a couple that morning. Scott and Lance went to stand near their guitars. Lance tapped his comm-badge, calling, "Alden, can you get us home, please?"

Both were instantly transported with their guitars into their dorm room. Alden giggled, "There you go, guys. Just so you know, the video and audio feeds in your room are now being routed to one of my VI's. That means that only if the VI hears 'a kid in trouble' will I see or hear anything. You already taught me so much, you deserve privacy, and you'll get it."

Looking over at the corner camera, Scott and Lance sniggered, "Thanks, Alden."

When there was no response, Lance asked Scott, "Sixty years?"

Scott grinned, "Until we're old, gray and can't get it up without a day's forewarning."

"If I can't get it up for you, check my pulse, I must be dead," Lance giggled.

Scott smiled, "Tell me that you love me?"

"I do love you, very much," Lance assured, and lifted Scott's hand. Concentrating, he inspected Scott's palm and then traced each finger. "I never thought I'd be doing anything like this," Lance muttered. "I just can't help it though." He looked up into Scott's eyes, softly asking, "Am I being dumb?"

Reaching up and gently wrapping his free hand around Lance's ear, Scott whispered, "No. Nothing you've ever said was dumb."

"This hand plays guitar and touches me. Before we met, I was never touched the same way."

"Your ears hear me. You make me feel like I have something important to say."

They moved closer together, embraced, kissed and remained like that several minutes. They softly chortled when their bodies reacted to the closeness. Without delay, they helped one another undress. Lance confirmed, "You want me in your bed, all the time?"

Nodding, Scott smiled, "It's our bed now. We haven't disagreed once in four days. If we ever do, we'll talk it out and then still sleep together. I don't even like the idea of one of us getting sick, so that we can't sleep together." He led Lance to his bed. A few Mr. Fuzzy puppets had to be tossed over onto Lance's bed. Scott then flipped the top blanket and sheet down to the foot of the bed. He lay on his bed, took Lance's hand and guided him onto the bed.

Only laying as far as a propped arm allowed, Lance warmly smiled, "What would my boyfriend like?"

Scott shivered, "I've already got what I love. Take what you want."

Nodding, Lance stole a tender kiss then flew off of the bed. He went to both dressers, gathering lube, dildos and condoms then returned. He put everything down on the night stand beside Scott's bed, explaining, "It's the only scary thing left to try."

Patting the bed, Scott nodded, "My ass is all yours, sexy lover boy."

Joining Scott on the bed, Lance checked, "You want me to do you first, really?"

Scott nervously chuckled, "I'm as scared as you are. Those dildos are smaller than either of us, but I know it's gonna hurt a little bit."

"That's why I want you to do me first. You're more careful and gentle."

Patting his chest, Scott instructed, "Right here, on top of me." Shifting and rolling, Lance got situated. Holding Lance in place, Scott warmly smiled, "You were great this morning. Nothing you did hurt me. You can do this every bit as carefully and gently as I can. I don't want more instructions from anyone. I want you, Lance."

Lance whined, "If I hurt you, I'm going to completely freak out."

"I know the feeling. Just like this morning though, take it slow and easy. You tell me everything you're going to do, and I'll tell you everything I'm feeling. This is going to take time; probably as long as three did this morning. We'll flip every now and then, so our bodies adjust and we each learn a little more. We've got plenty of time before dinner, so we'll take breaks to play guitar too. At some point tonight, I want to try and sit on your cock. Stuff might not work perfectly the first time, so we'll tell each other what we're feeling, exactly like all the other talks we've had since Friday morning."

Lance sighed, "Only we can make it work. I guess I'm scared that it won't work. This is way different than screwing up a song. If I mess this up, you're hurt and I'm limp as a noodle, crying my eyes out, apologizing over and over."

Warmly smiling, Scott assured, "I'd be in the very same place too. I'll tell you something though; limp dicks will get hard again, wet eyes do dry. I know you're not gonna jam an entire dildo in my ass all at once, cos your ass is just as tight as mine, and you can guess what's too much, too fast. Understanding all that, I can pretty much guarantee neither of us will be crying."

"You're awesome, man. I really do love you."

Scott chuckled, "I love you enough to go first and give you my ass. Now take it and make me yours."

Nodding, Lance giggled, "We'll take turns?"

"Here's where I want us to be real soon," Scott shared. "I want us to have our own little signals. Like singing a line or two from 'The Lemon Song', like we did this morning, only in public and without getting as suggestive. That's me telling you, 'I want you, alone, right now.' We wander back here and get busy. Nobody knows a damned thing, but we're in tune. We'll have simple looks and gestures that to everyone else are completely innocent, but we're getting it and taking off for quickies."

Nodding agreement, Lance leaned down for a deep, soulful kiss. When the kiss broke, Lance checked, "Ready?" Scott nodded. Pushing up off Scott, Lance asked, "How do you want to start?"

Spreading his legs and bending them at the knees, Scott grinned, "Like this, so we can see each other. If it don't work, I'll flip onto my belly. That's a last resort though, cos we can't see each other that way." Nodding, Lance grabbed a dildo and a bottle of lube then knelt between his lover's legs. He poured a few drops of lube onto two fingers then reached to get Scott wet.

Writhing around and reaching up over his head, Scott found a Mr. Fuzzy puppet hiding under a pillow. He slipped it over his right hand and used it to display his erection. Looking up and seeing the crazy-eyed puppet holding Scott's big, hooded bone, Lance giggled. In a goofy Mr. Fuzzy voice, Scott sang, "Well I left home just a week before, And I'd never ever kissed a woman before, But Lola smiled and took me by the hand, And said dear boy I'm gonna make you a man."

Giggling, Lance sang, "Well I'm not the world's most masculine man, But I know what I am and I'm glad I'm a man, And so is Lola, La-la-la-la Lola la-la-la-la Lola. Lola la-la-la-la Lola la-la-la-la Lola."

---

Finished showing Billy around his new house, Robbie led the way back downstairs, asking, "Do you really want to check on your brothers?"

Billy smirked, "Only partly. I'd really rather be with you, but us being alone is making me nervous."

At the landing, Robbie nodded, "I understand." He silently shared, 'I want to be with you too, Billy. Stop thinking you're a perv cos of what happened to you. If you're a perv, then I must be too, cos I want all that same stuff. Before we go there, let's spend more time getting to know each other.'

Billy nodded and sighed, "I barely know what I like, Robbie. Until I got here, I ate frozen and canned dinners. We weren't allowed to do school home work or play normal games..."

Taking a baby step closer, Robbie placed a finger on Billy's lips and softly shushed his boyfriend. Robbie smiled, "Then we have a lot we could do, besides kissing and hugging."

Intensely blushing, Billy smirked, "That's what I was taught should happen."

Robbie nodded, "Today, we're going to try a bunch of stuff." Taking Billy by the hand, Robbie led the way to the basement, saying, "The normal way to play cards is for money or plastic chips, not for clothes and dick." He took Billy to the velvet covered card table his parents had always owned. Robbie sat his boyfriend down and then parked his butt in the next chair. Picking up the deck of cards, Robbie explained the rules to Blackjack. They played a few hands without chips, just to enforce the rules and teach Billy the game. Robbie passed out equal piles of red, blue and white chips while Billy shuffled the cards. The first hand Billy dealt gave Robbie two fives, so Robbie patiently explained, "I can keep these together and work towards twenty-one, or I can split them and double my chances of winning. That's what I'm gonna do, so when I say 'hit me', you add onto only one of the stacks. Only when I've stayed or busted do you move to the next stack. Kewl?" He put an extra chip down to cover the split fives.

"Kewl," Billy smiled.

"Hit me," Robbie instructed, and pointed to the five closest to Billy. A seven was dealt, so Robbie nodded, "Hit me again." A Jack landed and Robbie groaned, "Busted!" and pushed the stack aside so he could pull the other five closer to Billy. "Hit me," Robbie prodded. Billy laid down a King and started giggling. Sadly shaking his head, Robbie huffed, "I hate fifteen! What the heck, hit me!" Billy placed a six of clubs down, and Robbie cheered, "SA-WEET! I'll stick with twenty-one." He giggled, "Now the dealer shows the goods." Knowing what Robbie meant, but acting as if he didn't, Billy stood and reached for the fly on his shorts. Pulling Billy back down into his chair, Robbie giggled, "We'll show each other those goods soon enough! You got to pee alone after lunch. Next time, I'm following you to the toilet. I want to see my boyfriend's wiener, while he's leaking, so it won't get really stiff. Another time, away from a bathroom, I'll start playin' with it."

Billy grinned, "I'm happy enough knowing that, for now, I guess."

Tapping the table, Robbie giggled, "Show me your cards." 

Already face up before Billy sat a four of diamonds. Billy flipped the other card to show a deuce of hearts. Both boys mooed.

Robbie reminded, "This is a good one for a possible five-card-charlie, the only way you could beat my twenty-one, Mister Dealer." Billy placed a three face up on his pile. Cautiously, he placed another card on the pile. It was an eight of spades. Again both boys mooed. Pointing at his busted other hand, Robbie explained, "You've gotta go for it, Billy." Another card was placed on the pile face up – another three. "LUCKY!" Robbie loudly laughed, and pushed the chips over toward Billy.

"It figures," Billy giggled, "for years I kept losing at cards and losing my clothes. Now I win plastic chips."

"You're winning way more than that," Robbie smiled. "Maybe someday we'll play your way for clothes, with Ralphie, Pat, Ronnie and Garrett."

Billy squealed, "Seriously?"

"Sure, dude," Robbie giggled. "It's fun and normal for gay dudes like us. It's not fun or normal for adults to play with kids, who're less than half their age."

Fumbling the cards, Billy balked, "Uh... that sounds dangerous."

Helping gather the fumbled cards, Robbie assured, "Us getting boners isn't a problem; that's completely expected, before the first card is dealt. The only thing dangerous is flirting with somebody other than your boyfriend. It also proves how serious each of us really is. I know who I'm most interested in. How about you?"

Unsure how to say anything, Billy softly whimpered then abruptly leaned over to steal a quick kiss.

'I know,' Robbie silently grinned, 'I'm falling for you because of what you think, Billy. There are bunches of really cute guys around these bases, but none are like you. There's only one reason why we're not rolling around a couch or a bed right now; I want my parents to meet you. Once that's done, we're set, dude. As close as we've been all day, we're going to get lots closer tonight. You'll see my folks treating my brothers the same as me. They really don't care about Ronnie's or Richie's pasts. All they want to do is fix what was seriously messed up, by showing a real parent's love, not some pervs whacked out bullshit.'

Vocally, Robbie gently but firmly assured, "You'll learn that you're exactly like every other dude in the Clan. What you wish you could keep a secret from me is exactly the stuff I need to know, as your boyfriend. The only way I can prove to you that everything is very kewl, is to show you. We're here because this is where my parents will come after the school day is done. About the same time, Ralphie will be here with Pat, and Richie, Ronnie, Carrol and Trevor will be here too." He paused a moment then grinned, "Ronnie just told me Garrett is here too. You're gonna see another example of a real family, right here."

Billy softly wondered, "I'm not as bad as I think?"

Vigorously shaking his head, Robbie smiled, "Pissing on your dead foster mom was completely appropriate for that bitch. You might not know it, but I'll tell you now, since you'll learn it soon enough anyway; Garrett killed his foster father for raping him one too many times. My parents don't care about that. Actually, they think the scum got it ended too easy. Thinking about that jack-off, my dad had the most violent thoughts I ever heard – seriously worse than any horror movie I've seen. A lot of the adults here are just as disgusted as my folks are with that stuff. Knowing what their sons can do and have done, the Core Rimmer's parents are ripped up inside. That's where you are now, Billy; completely safe with everyone, surrounded by good men, women and kids. Most of all, you're safe with me."

With a brief pause, Robbie easily read Billy's next worry. He sighed and smirked, "I don't know exactly what's in your pants, but it don't matter; it's a dick I'll love only because it's yours. I know from two of my brothers exactly how sex shouldn't be. I learned from my parents how sex could and should be. You deserve to know what real love actually feels like. What Troy and Sean can't show you as parents, I can and will."

Billy grinned, "You really did stuff with your brothers?"

Nodding, Robbie smiled, "As equals, as brothers, and with lots of love. Like I told you, the first grind off was automatic the other morning. Now we're kewl to do anything, but we want to save intercourse for boyfriends. Right now, Richie is the only one of the four of us who hasn't found a boyfriend he really likes. Once you and I start doin' stuff, my brothers are on their own. Ralphie and Ronnie said the same thing, telepathically, of course." Nodding, Billy giggled. Robbie assured, "Me and my bros know exactly what's goin' on. We're reunited now and making up for twelve years apart. Soon enough, we'll each have boyfriends. That means the stuff we've done will be happy memories of something awesome that we shared. Don't be jealous of them, cos I'm not jealous of you and Jason."

"That was forced though."

"Think of it this way then; you're not a virgin and I'm not really either. You preferred Jason over the scum-bag fosters, and he preferred you too. That makes you two exactly the same as me and my bros."

"Not quite exactly the same," Billy softly shared.

Robbie sighed, "What that perverted man did to you I don't even consider sex or love, Billy. He shot his wad and was done, the fuckin' bastard. That isn't what love is. When you and I decide it's time to go there, it's gonna be way more than a wet stain on the sheets; it's going to be fun and silly and warm and all the best stuff we can give each other. That's why me and my bros decided we won't go there, dude. As brothers, we can only have the fun and part of the rest of the best stuff. A part of that isn't good enough, especially for Ronnie and Richie; they deserve it all too, just as much as you."

Robbie suddenly got up from the table. He went to a shelf unit where his old stereo boombox sat and turned it on. Loud rock blasted the room from the station it was set to the prior night. He lowered the volume then flipped the station until he found something slow and smooth. Returning to Billy, Robbie offered his hand, smiling, "Dance with me?"

Standing up and taking Robbie's hand, Billy giggled, "I didn't know you liked to dance."

Robbie shrugged and grinned, "Dancing alone or with my mom wasn't too kewl, but this is one of many dreams coming true. I want to hold you close, hear all your thoughts and reply to them." Soon, the two boys were close together and swaying. Robbie purred, "You're a really good dancer."

"I can count to four on good days," Billy sniggered, and then shared, "My dad's been teaching me a little too. When he dances, it's like he's completely fluid."

Robbie pleasantly sighed, "This is love too, Billy. It's at least ten times better than I ever dreamed it might be."

Feeling a rising problem, Billy whispered, "Don't get mad, but I'm getting stiff."

"I'm not mad," Robbie softly assured, "I'm getting a woody too. That means we really like what we're doing and who we're with. It's sex without actually having sex, cos we can feel it."

"I can feel your heart. It's beating really fast."

"So is yours."

Billy and Robbie remained in the basement dancing close together until the radio announcer told them it was approaching three in the afternoon. Bursting bladders also proved it had been too long since their previous bathroom visits. As promised, Robbie joined Billy in the bathroom off the kitchen dinette. Slow dancing for about two hours meant they shared far more than originally planned. Giggling through the time it took for their erections to deflate enough to allow a good piss, they had chances to pass several silly remarks. Robbie had dropped his shorts to give Billy the entire picture and had gotten a good look at Billy's goods. Far too quickly, Robbie's leering grin was replaced with a worried frown.

Billy wondered, "What's wrong?"

Robbie smirked, "Here comes my brothers and Pat." Because it was faster and silent, Robbie sent, 'Pull your shorts up, Billy. Wash your hands in the sink here, I'll wash mine in the kitchen sink, and we are totally innocent.' Pulling his underwear and boardies up, Robbie made a hasty exit from the bathroom.

Watching Robbie's white ass wiggle into his clothes, Billy helplessly giggled.

'Very funny!' Robbie giggled, 'Get it out of your system, cos one of triple-trouble will read your thoughts. They can know we're falling for each other, but that's it.'

The front door opened and Trevor ran into the house, down the wide foyer and into the kitchen by the time the other five made it into the house. Sticking his Mr. Fuzzy covered arm into the bathroom, Trevor giggled, "Hi Billy." He ran to his big brother Robbie at the sink, proudly displaying his new toy and telling him, "We got you and Billy some Mr. Fuzzies too!"

Entering the room, Ralphie grinned, "All the kids love 'em, bro." He added, 'And watch what happens with a boyfriend,' and then had his Mr. Fuzzy covered right hand nibble on Pat's neck.

Cringing, Pat laughed and countered with a Mr. Fuzzy neck nibble of his own. Cracking up, Pat backed off and down the foyer with Ralphie pursuing his Fuzzy quarry.

Carrol scooped up his little brother, telling Robbie, "Jay and Chris started it. Scott Shetley and Lance Kinchen are boyfriends too now. They were at the auditorium here, jammin' some tunes with Reyes, Joey and another teenager. You missed it!"

Holding up his Mr. Fuzzy before Carrol, Richie evilly grinned, "I get the feeling Robbie and Billy had enough fun this afternoon." 

Robbie smirked, 'Careful, bro. With no boyfriend, I think you'll be needing helping hands, if you get my drift.'

Richie giggled, 'I'm being a good boy, unlike you and Billy. I think it's awesome, bro, you know it too.'

Ronnie chuckled, "Garrett was here. We played some Fuzzy games too, right up until he left for home, with both our Mr. Fuzzies."

Richie sniggered, 'Ronnie's not allowed Fuzzy fun until Garrett returns.'

Smirking at Richie, Ronnie reminded, 'You've always got Mr. Fuzzy to give you a hand!'

'I'm being good!' Richie giggled. 'All this is private, unless Robbie tuned Billy into us. We're on the private line, as far as I know.'

'Would I do something like that without telling you?' Robbie sweetly asked, halos hanging on every letter.

Walking out of the bathroom, Billy saw a lonely looking Mr. Fuzzy laying on the dinette table. He slipped it on, pet the blue fuzzy head, made the eyes bounce and then displayed his Mr. Fuzzy to the room, wickedly grinning at Robbie.

"Billy!" Robbie incredulously laughed, and started backing away. Watching with great amusement, Richie, Ronnie, Carrol and Trevor saw shy, reserved Billy transform into a Freakin' Fuzzy Fanatic that had only one goal – to Mr. Fuzzy fondle Robbie everywhere he possibly could.

Ralphie and Pat stopped their Fuzzy fun to see what Robbie was laughing about. Billy advanced and Robbie backed up toward the dining room. Madly giggling, Ronnie, Richie, Carrol and Trevor cleared Billy's path. Laughing his ass off, Robbie bolted through the dining room. Without a word of warning, Billy uncharacteristically leaped between Pat and Ralphie to intercept his prey. Met by a madman in the living room, Robbie roared laughing and raced back through the dining room and kitchen, with his Mr. Fuzzy possessed Mr. Hyde chasing after him.