The Flamekeepers of Delta Psi Theta - 3. Hell Week

“Ok boys, go grab the shorts outta yer dressers and get dressed. I'll take ya upstairs and get y'all started for today,” Ryan said as Nick walked down the hall.

Those already in our shorts stood around, sizing each other up. Track and another pledge looked like they were about to fall asleep standing up. Ryan was leaning on the fridge, watching us stand around, confused.

“You boys look tired. Need some coffee or a Red Bull or something?” Ryan said with kindness about the boy's situation.

Track was not ready for words beyond what he’d said to me, so he raised his hand. Ryan cracked open that fridge, and it was a thing of beauty. Cans of beer and energy drinks filled the shelves, and water bottles filled the veggie drawers. Every kind of grab-n-drink beer was represented, from PBR to Yazoo Sue. Energy drinks similarly ran the gamut from the classic blue and silver red bull can to the white can of monster zero. I would have given anything back on deployment for a fridge like this.

“Can I get a white can?” I asked, trying to get my brain kickstarted after my confusing morning with Teo.

“Got you, bro,” Ryan said, tossing the can to me.

“Same,” Track said, finally shaking enough sleep from his eyes to connect those dots.

“Can I get a red bull?” One of the pledges from the room right to our left said.

Track and the other pledge caught their cans.

I put mine out in front of me, “Cheers.”

Track slowly put his Monster out and the other pledge met us with more energy “cheers, bros!”

We all cracked our cans as the other pledge introduced himself, “Declan.”

“Novo,” I said, tipping my can to him.

Track stayed looking into the middle distance. “This is Track; he apparently doesn’t do mornings,” I said, chuckling.

“No, I get it; only reason I get up is I used to work on my parent's farm. If I wasn’t up before sunrise, there was hell to pay.”

“Marines, I feel you.”

I turned to Ryan and said, “Thanks.”

“No problem, that’s what this fridge is for. Right now, it's well stocked. Don't lose that privilege this week.”

We sipped our drinks, thinking about the implication while the rest of the pledges came out donning the same shorts as us.

“Help yourselves, guys; we can also make coffee upstairs. ” Ryan said, moving away from the front of the fridge door as the rest of the guys came out. Morning wood was slowly retreating due to the quiet resignation that other things had to get done, and it wasn’t going to get taken care of in a fun way. Track looked the most uncomfortable, moving his legs in a way that said he hadn’t gotten off in a while.

“Ok pledges, follow me upstairs, and I get to explain y'all's amazing first task in service of Delta Psi Theta,” Ryan said with enthusiasm bordering on a joke.

We all followed him up the stairs into a hallway that connected the front and back of the main floor of the house. We looked in either direction, and it was a wreck.

“Your first task is to get this house cleaned up. The party was for you, and you delivered awesome times. Now time to pay the piper. Trash bags are in the closet behind me. When you get to the point of wiping stuff down, I’ll have cleaner and towels ready for you in the kitchen, where I’ll be posted up if you need me. Let's get going.”

I am not going to lie, the code switch from Teo and I talking about the shadows and my mom to picking up trash was a hard one. No worse than any other shit.

“I think let's each grab a trash bag, and two people hit a room getting all the trash? Sound good?” The pledge that looked like a bodybuilder said, trying to smile through his very apparent hangover.

“Who the fuck are you to be giving orders,” another pledge said.

“Sorry bud, I'm Logan, just had an idea of how to knock this out quick. You got a different idea?”

“Yeah, let's gang each room and knock 'em out with everyone, then we each don’t gotta carry a bag,” he said, getting extremely close to Logan's face.

“Hey, hey, let's not fight over this. Logan is right; let's each grab a bag that way, we can get rid of trash fast. But we should use the gang up on a room approach; I'm sorry, what was your name again?” I asked him, trying to diffuse any fighting. I wasn’t ready to play sergeant this early.

“Kevin,” he responded, almost mad I asked his name.

“Ok, unless anyone has complaints, let's grab a bag and start in those front rooms where everyone was. I have a feeling they are going to be the worst.” I said, taking the lead.

No one protested, but Kevin stared at me like he wanted to fight. The gentile giant that was Logan handed out trash bags and stuck near Track, Declan, and me.

“Pick a table or shelf,” Kevin said, happy to give orders.

The front room was a disaster, with discarded solo cups, cans, and bottles covering every flat surface.

“Oh god, it’s so much worse than a barracks party,” I said, remembering our shindigs in the service.

“They weren't scared of superiors. Plus, they were probably told to leave a massive mess for us,” Declan said, looking a little overwhelmed.

I started grabbing empty bottles and cans and dumping them in my bag. I watched Track doing the same with nearly closed eyes. He seemed to have cleaned a place for his monster and was working out from there.

“How ya feeling, Track?” I asked.

“I'm awake. Gimme like 15 minutes and ill be conversational, I promise,” he said, very clearly and slowly waking up.

“Awww, buddy,” Logan said behind me while clearing off a bookshelf that had become a shrine to abandoned beer. “So I must have missed some introductions while I was putting clothes on. Like I said earlier, I'm Logan,” he said while he extended his hand toward me.

I grabbed his hand for a handshake “Novo.” His firm handshake quickly became a bit more.

“Jesus man, that’s beyond a firm handshake,” I said, slightly playfully rubbing my hand.

“Sorry man, I forget my own strength sometimes.”

“All good, all those muscles. I'm not shocked.”

He turned to Track and Declan expectantly. Declan was the first to notice and extend his hand.

“Declan,” he said with a smile.

“Careful Logan,” I said jokingly as he grasped Declan’s hand.

Track seemed to wake up during this process and did the same, introducing himself.

“So what brings you to UofA?” Logan asked, trying to get some conversation going.

“Closest school to work with the degree I want,” I answered.

“Nice! What about you, Declan?”

“Was just the right distance, far enough away my parents won't come and close enough I can still make the trip to see em”

“Nice! What about you, Track?”

“It was the only school that sent me an acceptance that didn't rescind it. I didn't even apply to come here. What about you, Logan, why are you here?” Track said, sounding confused but wanting the attention off him.

“Pretty campus, hot students, and good shine. What more can an Indiana farmboy ask for?” He said while flexing.

“Is the gym going to be able to keep up with you, bro? You are massive,” Declan said.

Logan then fully flexed his arms “Bailing hay does a body good.”

Looking at his massive biceps, I can’t say I wasn’t intrigued by the idea of tracing his bicep veins with my tongue, but I knew better than to let that thought get too much traction. Track, however, looked like a puppy who just saw a toy.

“Down boy,” I said to Track before his eyes got too crossed and he got to drooling.

Declan and I locked eyes for a second as well. These boys were awakening something in me. Jesus Christ, I hadn’t felt like this since before that night on post. This was definitely a positive distraction.

“About how much more you think we are gonna have of these rooms to clean,” Track said, showing off how much he wasn’t paying attention.

“Till the house is clean dumbass,” Kevin yelled from across the room.

I just shook my head. There’s always one. They want to be the biggest swinging dick in the room. His rude comment effectively pumped the brakes on the conversation for a few minutes. I had dumped everything except the beer bottles that still had a little beer in them.

“Got an idea on where to dump these?” I asked, staring at Kevin. If he wanted to be the swinging dick, let's see how he actually problem solved.

“Ummm, a sink?” Kevin answered, thinking it was obvious.

Logan just shook his head behind me and put down his bag. I could tell he had left the room, but I was locked in a staring competition with Kevin. Logan returned with two mop buckets with wheels and rolled one over to Kevin.

“We can dump the half-empty beers in these; that way we aren’t wasting a bunch of time walking back and forth to the kitchen,” Logan said, looking very proud of himself.

“Good thinking,” I responded.

“Nice bro,” Declan said

Track just put his fist out for a fist bump. The boys were starting to do it. They were getting a bit of that most necessary task of any unit. They were beginning to learn how to work together. The four of us on our side of the room started to empty our beer bottles and non-empty cups and fill our bags with the last of the trash. It took us about 30 minutes, but the room looked much better.

“What do you say we do the heavy pick-up in the other rooms, then we can swing back to do the vacuum, mop, and wipe-downs?” Logan asked, trying to keep up the momentum.

“I'm in,” Declan said quickly, tying up his almost full trash bag and heading to the closet to get a new one.

“Grab me one too, bro,” Track said

“And me,” said another pledge

“Please bro,” asked yet another pledge

“Fuck y’all, I’ll bring the roll,” Declan answered, heading into the other front room.

It was just as bad as the one previously. Solo cups and beer bottles were everywhere. Logan walked into the room, then immediately walked back out. We heard him dump the mop buckets while we got bags opened up and started to get moving. Logan came back, and track handed him his already-opened bag. When we settled in, there was another pledge closer to us than Kevin. Eventually, Track and him bumped into each other.

“Sorry bro,”

“All good man; I'm Apollo.”

“I'm Track; this is Declan, Logan, and Novo”

We all did the bro nod and kept picking up cups and other trash, shoving it into our bags.

“How’d you get that name, bro?” I asked when the silence got a little too punctuated.

“When my parents adopted me, they asked what I wanted my name to be, and I was really into rockets at the time, so…” he trailed off, starting to get lost in thought or feeling the hangover kicking in.

“When did you get adopted? You had to be far along in growing up for them to allow that,” I followed up with.

“I was 7. I still think it's a cool name. Part of me wants to get the Apollo program insignia tattooed somewhere”

“That is super cool, man,” Declan followed up with.

“Very cool, bro. How was workin by Kevin in the other room?” Logan asked, clearly still annoyed by his attitude when we got started.

“Eh, he wants things done his way. He isn't a fan of you, Novo.”

“He will get over it, or he won't. As long as we can work together, I'm good,” I answered honestly.

We kept up the pace of cleaning and had this room done in about 30 minutes, talking about sports, school, and girls. Track got a little tongue-tied on that last one which made me bite my tongue not to laugh at the kid. I'd been there, trying to fit in when my interests and theirs didn't align.

“What about you, Novo? You got a girl?” Apollo asked.

“Got a dear John letter and walkin papers,” I answered casually with my practiced lie. I tied off my packed bag and carried it to our growing of full bags to try and mask the wave of emotion. I knew it was coming. I had my cover, and still, the question hurt. The pain reminded me that I had lost everything of value over there.

“Hey Ryan, where should we dump our full bags?” I said, thinking this would be an excellent way to get out for a second and get some air.

“Follow me, grab some more hands cuz I'm only doing this once,” Ryan answered, putting his phone on a clean spot on the kitchen counter.

Logan and one of the other pledges I still needed to meet grabbed bags. Logan was carrying 2 in each hand, the other pledge taking one in each hand, and me carrying one over my shoulder and one in my good arm’s hand. We followed Ryan to the back porch and down a small set of stairs to the side yard. There were 4 of the big plastic roller cans. I dropped the bag in my good hand so I could open up one of the cans while Ryan watched us. Logan fully just lifted those four heavy bags of trash and dropped them in the can like they were nothing. Ryan and Logan started to walk back while the other pledge and I dropped our bags off. Before I could close the can, the other pledge hugged me. Startled out of what apparently was me zoning out, I jerked and must have scared him off.

“Sorry,” the other pledge said, looking sheepish.

“It's all good; why’d ya hug me though?” I asked.

“You looked like you needed it,” he answered confidently. “Middle-distance stare after finding a way to get away from a conversation that had a rough answer from you. You needed one.”

“Novo,” I put my hand out.

“Jeremy, but I prefer Jer,” he met my hand to shake it.

“My actual name is Issac, so I get it,” I told him, “Wanna get back in there before Kevin and Logan fight?”

“Aw, Kevin’s not a bad dude.”

“You share a room with him?” I asked as we walked back.

“No, I'm with Declan; I think Apollo and Kevin are together.

“So, who’s with Logan?”

“Travis, him and Kevin might fight, though. Kevin has said a few out-of-pocket things Travis took offense to.”

“Oof, that's going to be fun.”

“He hasn't said anything rough since we swapped rooms.”

I opened the door as Logan led Kevin and the other pledges to the trash cans.

“I'll get started in the kitchen if you wanna pop those cans open for em,” I told Jer.

He gave me a slight nod and started to jog ahead of the line to get the cans open before the rest of the guys could get there. I stepped inside and took stock of the kitchen. My stomach was starting to tell me it was ready for some food, but the kitchen was a wreck, so it would be a few before I could make something.

“Sup Novo?” Ryan asked, watching the gears turn in my head

“Thinkin’ about breakfast which means we gotta get this room clean enough to cook,” I answered.

Ryan just laughed.

“This kitchen is for show when it comes to you pledges. You got meal card access for a reason. And before you argue you don't have that Novo, yes you do. We don't like even grown-ass pledges burning the house down for food. They don't open for another hour yet, so get the bulk clean outta the backside of the house like ya did in the front, and then you boys can go shower and get into clean clothes for food.”

As Ryan finished, the rest of the guys came in.

“Food?” Logan said, perking up.

“After we get the back of the house picked up like the front. Then we can shower and head to the chow hall,” I said.

“Chow hall?” Travis asked, confused.

“Meal hall? Cafeteria? What do you call it cuz I’m clearly institutionalized?” I said with a laugh.

“Dining hall is what they called it on the campus tour, but all those mean the same thing, so fuck it, call it what ya like, ya ol jarhead,” Track said with a smile.

“You little shit,” I said as I grabbed a trash bag.

“You were prior service?” Travis asked, clearly wanting to get to know everyone and talk to people other than Kevin.

“Yeah, one of Uncle Sams's Misguided Children,” I responded.

“God, you love that joke,” Track said shaking his head and putting more empty cups and beer bottles into his trash bag.

I found a napkin, balled it up, and threw it at Track. This lighthearted banter kept us awake and moving to get the bulk of the party's detritus cleaned out of the back rooms. It took us about 45 minutes, but we had 15 full trash bags ready to get put outside and rooms that looked less like they needed a wellness check.

“Hey Kevin, wanna round up the guys and get these bags out?” Ryan asked to show we were far enough along that he was happy with our progress.

We all carried the bags out, but Kevin decided to take issue with how we put bags in the trash cans. He went on a bit of a tirade seeing one can have a gap when the lid was closed; “God dammit, don't overload em! For fucks sake, drop the bags, and I’ll put em in the cans. Swear to god if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”

We dropped our bags and watched him toss them into the cans he wanted. We walked back in, proud of our work but annoyed that Kevin wanted his perfection without giving instructions.

“Y'all did a good job this morning. Still, there is a lot of work to do, but good enough y’all have earned a break. Y’all also smell like bad decisions and stale beer, so I’mma take you down to shower. You have a toiletry bag in yer dressers in the top drawer with body wash, shampoo, and toothbrushes. Go on down, grab the bags, strip off yer clothes, and meet me in the showers, and I’ll give you yer first trial”.

Shit.

We all filed downstairs and into our rooms. Track and I both stripped down and grabbed our toiletry bags. When we came out of our room, all 8 of us pledges stood in a line naked while Ryan, Nick, and another brother walked up the hall to meet us.

Nick stood in front of us, looking all of us up and down before speaking:

“Look at you guys following instructions! Before you shower and get some food, some ground rules. When we walk out of the house, you are not to speak to anyone not part of this house. You want to talk to your girlfriend outside? Earn it.

You get to earn those rights by passing tasks and trials. You also lose things by failing tasks. I also told you yesterday that the more tasks you fail, the harder it gets. I think Ryan warned you about energy drinks and beer being stocked in here going away.

This morning's task is pretty straightforward: make sure your roommate gets clean and taken care of. However, Kevin had a fantastic idea while taking the trash out: if you want something done right, do it yourself. Therefore you will be washing your roommate. Make sure to get them clean; Bear here doesn't like dirty boys.”

Nick and the unknown brother, I guess his name was Bear, smirked at each other.

“Be aware; we are watching and listening to you. Good ideas like this will surely come if you don't start working together.” Nick finished. Bear uncrossed his arms and clapped his hands together before saying, “Aight boys get in there and pick a shower head. Figure outs who is washin’ who first. You got bout five minutes of hot water, so make 'em count.”

We walked into the bathroom and grabbed shower heads, mostly staying in line with our room order. Track looked confused, so I moved him under the shower head.

“Get yourself wet, champ; I’ll soap ya up,” I told Track.

“Ok,” he said with some trepidation before raising his armpits and getting his hair wet.

I opened my bag and got some body wash in my hand.

“Aight buddy, when yer wet, turn the water off. Let's save that hot water.” I told Track with a wink, hoping the other guys heard.

I could see him working up the courage to have me wash him. I don't think I was what he was thinking about when humping the bed before we cleaned. After about a minute, he finally worked up enough courage to turn off the water and step back into my hands. He was still facing away from me while I worked the body wash in my hands into a lather.

“Ready, champ?” I asked him

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” he answered, trepidation obvious in his voice.

I started to work my calloused hands in circles down his back, working the suds over his hairless, unblemished skin. As I worked down his back, I added a little pressure which made Track let out a small moan.

“You ok, champ?” I asked him, making sure I wasn’t hurting him.

“Yeah,” he answered softly.

I kept working down his back, realizing this kid was putty in my hands. I grabbed a bit more soap and began to work his butt and upper legs. When I rubbed my soapy hand up his crack, his moan was loud enough for everyone else to hear. I looked to my left and right and saw the other pledge groups moving less surely than I was. Bear came over to Track and I while I was working my hand to his taint.

“See boys! This is what I mean when I say get each other clean! See how Novo isn’t scared to wash his future brother? That’s what we need.” Bear said over the one shower head still running.

I went for broke. Bear wants to use me as an example; well then I was going to put a bit of a show on. I got more soap and turned Track around. His impressive weapon hit my hip, hard as a rock and bobbing in the air. I began to work the soap around Track’s front, starting at his neck up to his chin and working down to his chest. He moaned again when I rubbed my fingers over his nipples while rubbing the suds across the peach fuzz covering his chest. After doing it a few times, Track shot me a dirty look.

“Arms up, champ; I’ll make it up to you in a minute,” I said with a wink.

He lifted his arms, and I worked some more soap into his pits, washing all the hangover funk out of them. I pulled each arm and washed it individually, including his fingers, before he dropped them back to his side. I grabbed one last handful of soap and winked at Track one more time before getting on my knees in front of him.

His throbbing weapon was in front of my face while I rubbed soap down his legs front and back. Every time my thumb would get close to his balls or crotch, you could see him intake a quick breath of air. I could feel the other pledges and Bear taking a keen interest in what I was doing. When I finally ran my soapy fingers through his pubes, Track grabbed my shoulder.

“Yeah, champ? You gonna be able to holster this weapon, or do you want my help?”

“Mmmpphhh,” was all he could muster as I worked my soapy hand around his balls.

“Yeah, I don't know what you meant by that,” I answered, working my soapy hands around his cock without touching it.

He almost growled in response before composing himself enough to say, “Can you help Novo?”

“Sure, champ, I got you,” I answered with a smile while taking that beer can into my fist.

“Ohhhh fuck” was all Track could say as his remaining hand grabbed my other shoulder.

I could feel all eyes on Track and I as I worked my soapy fists up and down the kid's impressive meat. Bear had stripped off his shorts and shirt and was in just his underwear looking intently at what I was doing. I could feel Track’s grip on my shoulders, getting tighter in waves. I wrapped one of my hands around his balls while stroking with my other. I could feel his balls wanting to tighten up, so I slowly increased the speed of my stroking. His grip on my shoulders was almost painful when he let out a snarl, and his already impressive cock started to get even harder and swell even more.

“Keep going,” Bear whispered, now naked on his knees next to me, watching me stroke the kid's meat.

I could see Track start to convulse as his balls almost disappeared. I wasn’t stroking anymore as Track inconsistently jammed his swollen boner into my soapy fist. He let go of my shoulder as his weapon finally went off, spraying nine impressive shots of potent teenage cum from my chin to my own throbbing boner.

“Fuck yes” was all track could say.

I looked to my left and right, and all the pledges’ eyes were on me. Declan had Jer’s bone in his soapy fist, working it slowly. Travis was rubbing around Logan's steel rod, and Apollo looked like he was trying to keep himself from touching Kevin's dick while Kevin enjoyed the hot water streaming down his back.

“Good job, guys; finish up and swap,” Bear said. I looked over and saw Bear's bone, foreskin still covering half his head. Bear looked like, well, a bear. His beard thinned past his neck, but the hair didn’t stop until his toes; his thick rod sticking out from a forest of black hair. His stomach looked solid, with a layer of beer remnants protecting his abs. My attention was broken from Bear's hot body by a groan to my right.

Logan's throbbing meat was in line with Travis's mouth, and when Travis went to ask if Logan was ok, Logan shot off, sending his first shot into Travis's mouth before painting his face with the rest of his load. Jer shot off simultaneously, painting Declan with his thick cum. As we all caught our breath, Kevin shouted, “Motherfucker”

“You ok” Logan immediately asked, almost as a reflex.

“Yeah, fuckin water just went cold,” Kevin responded.

“The fuck, dude! Bear told us we only had 5 minutes of hot water at the start. Did you think that didn’t apply to you!” Declan shouted across the bathroom.

“Declan, down boy” Track said, still catching his breath from playing Pollock on my chest.

“Easy for you to say, you don't gotta wash yer bunkmates jizz off you with cold water,” Declan shouted back.

“At least you didn’t have to taste it,” Travis said.

“Eh, it's not that bad,” I said louder than I intended.

“The taste or washing it off with cold water,” Kevin asked, quick to try and turn attention off of himself.

“Both; I've washed worse off in cold water.”

“Like what?”

That question legitimately confused me. I had to think for a second before responding; however, Apollo cut me off.

“You are going to ask a Marine what he’s washed off his body. You are thick.”

“Thicker than pig shit if you ask me,” Logan added.

“Now that’s tough to wash off,” Bear said before laughing and breaking up the tension.

Even Kevin and I had to laugh at that.

“Ok, Track, go rinse, then wash me. I'm starving.”

“Logan, same, plus I wanna get yer load off my face,” Travis added.

Declan chuckled, poking at Jer’s load. Track and Jer turned the water back on to rinse off the soap. Logan braced for the cold water only to say, “hey, it's not cold.”

“I said you have 5 minutes of hot water,” Bear said.

Track pulled me to my feet and moved me into the water, rubbing my hairy chest and stomach to get his load off me. Travis jumped into the water to rinse the cum off his face. Logan started running his hands to get it out and ensure they were working together. It was almost cute the way Logan had to play so softly with his massive muscles, almost like a giant trying to clean a kitten.

“Uhh, thanks,” he said, speaking to me for the first time since he shot off.

“No problem; it’s what battle buddies are for,” I replied with a smile.

He returned the smile and started to work the soap into a lather in his hands. I turned off the water and turned around so he was facing my back. I was caught off guard by how excited to be touched by Track I was. To feel his hands running along my body, down my back, legs, chest, and stomach. My dick started to wake up to the thought that Track might help clean my meat the way I cleaned his. When his soapy hands finally touched my neck, I'm not ashamed to admit I growled a bit.

“You ok, Novo?”

“Yeah,” I said with broken breath.

I was happy how much easier it was to talk when all the shower heads were off, Apollo braving his cold water like a champ to put up with Kevin's asshole behavior. All of our small groans and moans amplified from the tile shower. Track's hands moved down my back, pausing at each scar to run his thumb across it. My hands became fists with me trying to stop each touch from becoming a wave of emotion. When he got to my lower back and his hands started to rub my ass, my fist hit the tile in front of me.

“Novo,” Track asked with fear in his voice.

“Just felt good, champ,” I responded, reassuring him.

The kid was skilled, working the soap and touching every millimeter of my body. If you asked him, I bet he could tell you where each hair on my back was. He got a bit more soap and started working down my butt, his hands almost trembling with excitement. His motions got jerky as his hand ran down my crack and over my hole before he scrubbed with the same vigor I did with him.

“Ready to turn around, Novo?”

Oh fuck. I looked down, and my cock was throbbing, my foreskin partially retracted. Fuck it, the kid couldn’t keep his eyes off it yesterday, so why not give him a good show now. I turned around, and Track had the biggest shit-eating grin.

“Loaded rifle on the line there?” He asked me.

“How are your jokes worse than mine?” I asked him right back.

Declan laughed next to me as Track began to work down my chest, again giving special attention to each scar. When he got to my nipples, he realized he could graze them and make my dick bounce. This kid was mean. Sure I had just done it to him and let him paint my chest, but god damn, this was torture. Thankfully he moved to my abs and finally the top of my pubes. He got more soap on his hands and then got on his knees.

“Spread yer legs a bit, Novo,” he commanded.

“Yes, Sir,” I answered, trying to hit his forehead with my cock as I spread my legs.

Bear seemed to take a particular interest in me. Maybe because we were the only two with foreskins in the room. Track washed my legs slowly and forcefully enough to make me moan. He also did the same trick I did, avoiding touching my cock and balls but running right near them. The kid was a quick study. I would need to watch out for that.

His fingers finally grazed my cock, and just like he did with me, I grabbed his shoulder to steady myself. Through gritted teeth and nearly closed eyes, I looked to either side. Declan and Travis were in similar states as I was, our bunkmates taking care of our aching hangover morning wood. Kevin looked like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to take care of Apollo, and that uncertainty meant quick jerks and rubs before returning to his legs. He was very torn.

Bear came up next to Track, almost at eye level with my twitching bone.

“Be careful with that one Track; he’s going to be more sensitive than you.” He said quietly.

“What do you mean” Track responded with the same low voice.

“His foreskin means his head will be more sensitive like mine. That means you can get the same amount of pleasure with a lot less work, but if you put in the same amount of work you use on yours, it will hurt him. Let me show you.”

Bear grabbed my dick and slowly worked the skin back and forth, making me grab his shoulder as well as Tracks.

“See, it doesn’t take much to make him putty in yer hands there, Track. Give him some shaft action, and the skin will take care of the head.”

Track did precisely as instructed, and Bear took a step behind Track, stroking his uncut piece.

“Damn, Champ, keep it up,” I groaned as my nuts tightened.

Apollo groaned from the end of the line when Kevin decided to take care of his bunkmate.

“Fuck yeah, Kevin, join the party,” Trevor said, instantly putting Kevin on the spot.

Track kept working my meat, and Bear locked rhythm with him, stroking his own meat behind Track's back. The heady atmosphere of the room, the slapping motions of 5 dicks getting worked, and the grunts of all of us started to feel electric. I could almost see points of blue light in the corners of the room as my breathing became more unsteady. Everyone began to look like they were starting to glow as my nuts tightened one last time. I could feel myself lose control and grab Track’s shoulders tighter as the first shot worked its way out of my tortured dick.

Six volleys painted him from chin to dick, fully repaying him for what he did to me. That set off Declan and Trevor, painting their bunkmates as well. Right as Apollo was about to nut, Kevin must have lost his nerve, and he let go of his dick, allowing Apollo to cum but not getting the entire wave of pleasure the rest of us got. Finally, Bear unloaded his load on Tracks back, and the heady energy dissipated, followed by confusion.

“Let's get you cleaned up, Track,” was all I could manage to say while catching my breath.

I helped him up and turned on the water. I grabbed a little soap and quickly washed our loads off his body. The other groups followed, getting us all clean and letting the reality of what we did settle in.

“Good job, guys,” Bear said before scooping up the last of the cum leaking from his deflating dick and sucking his finger clean. “Towels are near the door; go ahead, dry off and meet me in front of your doors.”

Bear walked out of the room carrying his shorts and whistling a tune I didn’t recognize. The rest of us grabbed our bags and towels and dried ourselves off before filing in front of our doors. The mood was confused, as guilt troubled a few over what we did, while others were just wondering if we would get in trouble.

Bear stood next to Nick in front of us.

“Ok boys, above the fridges you see this whiteboard, do you not? This is your pass/fail rate on our tasks and trials. Today most of you did a good job. You took care of your brothers and made sure both of you had the water to be comfortable. One of you did not. You are judged both as a group and individually in hell week, so everyone except Kevin has checks for ta1. Now, Apollo, you did not fully take care of Kevin as he did you. No marks either way on that, but be aware that you are all brothers and need to take care of each other.

A reminder for when you head to the dining hall. You talk to no one outside this house until we tell you that you can. For this morning, the only people you can speak with are the food service people. Make sure to treat them with respect. Don't make me have to call your moms and grandmas to have them re-teach y’all manners.

You will find your clothes in your drawers. Make sure you look like a unit. You have 3 minutes.”

We all moved with a purpose into our rooms. The drawers were filled with more clothes than before we went to clean, with multiple choices for shorts, underwear, and folded shirts in 3 piles. Track pulled the top one off each stack and started putting them on. I slid on the white briefs, shorts, and the grey t-shirt with the fraternity logo. Simple and elegant, I liked it. Hopefully, the other rooms didn’t overcomplicate the process the way I was about to. Track and I checked each other the way we had before stepping into the house last night and outside our door. Everyone seemed to follow the same plan as Track and I.

“Fantastic. Each of you drop your shorts; let's make sure you all followed instructions,” Bear said with a grin while Nick stood with his arms crossed.

I undid my pants and dropped trou, followed shortly by everyone else.

“White, white, white, white, white, white, none, white,” Bear counted off as he moved down the line.

We looked down to see Kevin's cock waving in the air, him going commando underneath the shorts.

“Fantastic, Kevin. A real show of not listening coupled with hubris.” Nick said, clapping his hands.

“Remember when I said failure to meet our tasks will mean you lose your perks? Everyone take off your shirts and pick up your shorts. Kevin just decided you don't get clothes. All of you will get breakfast in your underwear. Kevin will get 30 seconds to put his underwear on, or he will decide something else for the rest of you.”

Kevin quickly disappeared into the room while track and I folded our shirts and shorts. When he returned, his boner was bulging towards his hip, but it was staying in the briefs. Bear walked down the line again, making sure we all matched.

“Put your shorts and shirts where you found them. Grab your shoes and get ready to head out. Remember you need your student IDs to get food.” Bear told us.

After putting our clothes back in their drawers, we lined up in our underwear with our IDs in hand. All of us were nervous to even say a word or take a single step without being told. Our hunger and collective embarrassment made us accidentally all work together for the first time.

“Ok boys, let's get some food,” Bear told us.

We followed him out of the house and towards campus. The sight of the 8 of us clad in only tighty whities in a single file line with two fully clothed brothers at each end certainly drew some attention. Once we left the safety of the neighborhood streets and crossed onto the campus proper, the energy changed. Lots of students stopped in their tracks. Cell phone cameras came out and took a ton of shots of our somewhat indecent display. We moved between the low-rise student housing buildings before we came to a stop outside the dining hall.

“Stay here; let me make sure Miss Tonya isn’t going to be mad at this,” Nick said, moving ahead of us and into the hall.

Bear kept us to the side of the door, showing us off to everyone passing by. Nick knocked on the glass and signaled something to Bear, who got an evil grin.

“Ok, boys, Miss Tonya is going to give you boys an inspection before she lets you into her dining hall like this. Make yerselves look as good and impressive as you can before putting your hands on the back of your head. That understood?” Bear said with seriousness as an older small framed woman walked out with Nick.

We finished adjusting ourselves and put our hands on our heads.

“Well, you gents never disappoint in giving an old lady something nice to look at the week before classes start.” She said to Nick and Bear.

She inspected each of us with her piercing brown eyes like we were a piece of meat as she walked down the line of us. Her golden earrings were shiny enough that you could almost see your reflection in them. Her grin became more devilish as she went down the line until she got to Kevin.

“I heard you are having a hard day, son,” she said while she put on the glasses hanging from her neck.

Kevin froze until Apollo tapped their elbows together.

“Ummm… yes, ma’am,” he finally said without any of the confidence or bravado of earlier in the morning.

“Let's get some food into you so you can start using your brain, ok?” She asked with a touch of caring in her voice before addressing the rest of us. “I am Miss Olson; this is my dining hall. Do not show up like this again; don't make this a spectacle inside. You get your food, you eat, and you leave. If you can’t do that, I will make you eat out back and take those undies from you as payment for my trouble. I'm willing to put up with some shenanigans from Bear and Nick, but not you. Do you boys understand me?”

Without thinking, I said, “Yes, ma’am!”

No one else did.

Miss Olson said, “Bear, that one can go eat. The rest of them will eat when they learn some respect.”

“Permission to speak,” I roared, again mostly running on autopilot.

Nick crossed his arms and walked close to me. “I'm curious; go ahead, Novo.”

“If we succeed or fail as a group, I would share in the punishment of the group,” I said, entirely not wanting to be the only guy in his underwear in the dining hall.

“You got at least one,” Miss Olson said to Nick before coming to me. “Put your arms down, son; call me Miss Tonya. Come with me for a second since you just bought those boys their breakfast.”

I looked to Bear and Nick, who just nodded.

“You know this is my favorite part of day one.” She told me as the rest of the pledges started to do jumping jacks. I looked over, and you could follow her eyes to each of the pledge's packages bouncing in their briefs.

“Does every class screw up like this?” I asked her.

“Usually, they do for at least breakfast. Sometimes lunch, but usually breakfast.”

“And you let them?”

“Would you pass this up every year?” She asked me with a devilish grin.

“I would not,” I answered with a chuckle.

“Sometimes you have to enjoy the perks in front of you. Come on; I need to get back to my register and get you boys checked in.” She said, grabbing my arm.

I opened the door for her as she went back to her stool. She might as well have been a queen sitting on a throne with the respect she demanded with her confidence and poise. There were a few students who passed her as she sat. If she knew them by their first name, they seemed to call her Miss Tonya; if she didn’t, they seemed to call her Miss Olson. There was an unspoken rulebook about her, and it was fascinating to watch the interactions.

“Novo come here,” I heard her say once her line was gone.

“Yes, Ma’am,” I called back as I crossed the distance from the door to her register.

“You have no idea how this works, do you, son?”

“I do not, ma’am.”

“Now I'm going to scan your card, and then you are going to eat your fill. It's that easy, I promise. Also, it's Miss Tonya, not ma’am; being called ma’am makes me feel old.” She said with a smile.

“Yes, Miss Tonya,” I said as the other pledges lined up behind me.

“Go eat, boys,” she said, handing my ID back to me and scanning the rest of the line.

I grabbed a plate and got what I was used to getting at the cafeteria at work for breakfast. The other pledges excitedly grabbed what was probably too much food. Nick brought back two plates, and Bear also started to dig in. We all made it to the table where Bear was sitting and began to chow down.

People were circling and giggling at the eight guys in underwear but looking around the dining hall, several other strange rituals were happening. Some guys were sitting at tables with all shaved heads, others with pink shirts, and some had to eat without utensils. However, none of those rituals were as showy as the entire pledge class in white briefs eating. Miss Tonya seemed okay with allowing almost all of the traditions to go by as long as they weren’t too disruptive to other people.

Once we had all eaten, Nick showed us where to drop off our dishes. We left after we all said goodbye to Miss Tonya, with only Kevin having to call her Miss Olson. The rest of the day continued in a similar vein as the morning had. We cleaned, we talked trash, and we joked. At around two, Bear called us to the basement to try getting dressed again. This time we all matched as instructed, and we were allowed to get food while wearing clothes. We ate again with a hint of disappointment on Miss Tonya's face when we came in clothed.

Mealtime was calm, almost relaxing, as we began to get into a relaxed, conversational flow. When we returned to the house, we finished making it look as good as we saw it when the doors opened for us until about 6. Nick and Bear again took us to the dining hall for dinner. When we got back, all the brothers were in the front room again, almost like last night.

Teo stood before us and said, “You guys did a great job cleaning the house up but not such a good job with the cleaning the house. You did, however, struggle with the listening thing. We know you hear us, but we are wondering if you understand what is being said. We are curious if this is an issue of failure to listen or a failure to hear. To that end, we have your first trial tonight: The trial of listening. Thankfully you all have been speaking all day. Hopefully, you listened to what your fellow pledges said”

A wave of panic passed through us as the words sank in, and the brothers moved to reveal eight stools in the center of the room. At that moment, I would be shocked if I could remember my name, much less anything about anyone else. This was the first taste of the actual hell of hell week.