Fleeting Eternity - 13. Prelude

Kent was nervous. Nate had asked him to lunch as soon as he arrived at work, and he was very friendly and smiled when he did. They were going to head to Five Eleven again, and he simply didn't know what Nate intended.

'I'll just tell him. I'll tell him I can't do anything, or play around with him anymore,' Kent thought as the lunch hour neared. He had no idea if Nate had an open relationship with his pair of guys, but, regardless, Kent wasn't comfortable with what he considered would be cheating on Stanley.

Though he and Stanley had never discussed a monogamous relationship, Kent felt that it was implied, that Stanley should just know. While he worked in the store and mulled over his situation, he realized that he was expecting too much. They had never expressly entered into monogamy. Kent resolved to make his wants and needs explicitly clear the next time they were together so that Stanley knew what Kent desired from him. He hoped that Stanley would want the same.

"Liz, we're heading to lunch!" Kent's attention came back to the present as Nate smiled and waved at their coworker while she helped a customer at a display. Then he looked expectantly at Kent. "Ready?"

"Sure." Kent grabbed his jacket. The weather had turned cold, and there was even talk of snow flurries. Such a thing was rare on the Northern California coast, though not unheard of during their winter months.

They both shrugged into their coats, and they started on the brisk walk to Five Eleven. Nate looked over and smiled. "Thanks for coming to lunch with me." He chuckled. "I admit, I have an ulterior motive."

At that, Kent's feet stopped a dozen yards from the restaurant. Nate continued, then he too stopped and looked back at Kent in confusion.

"I have a boyfriend," Kent blurted out, then he reddened in embarrassment at his proclamation.

Nate blinked, then he grinned. "That's awesome!" He stepped up next to Kent and patted him on the back. Though his expression was still a little confused.

They continued, and the two men entered the restaurant. As they found seats, Nate smiled at him. "So, who's this guy you're seeing?"

"His name is Stanley," Kent said, then greeted their server who dropped off a couple of menus and waters at their table. She walked away to let them decide on their lunches, and he continued, "He's a nice guy."

"Well, that's great, Kent." Nate smiled, the expression was genuine and broad. "You deserve that."

"Thanks." Kent smiled, and he relaxed a little. 'Maybe this isn't about what I thought. Time to find out' He cleared his throat. "Uh, so, what motive did you have for asking me to lunch?"

Nate sighed. "I had hoped you'd be able to help us this weekend. I know you've got to work Saturday morning, but in the afternoon, maybe?" Nate grimaced. "Uh, we're all moving into a new place together, and we can use some help with the heavier stuff."

Kent felt relieved. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's totally not a problem." He made a thoughtful expression. "Stanley and I are going to hang out later on Saturday. How much time do you think it'll take?"

"Well, we're gonna have the stuff we can get by ourselves taken over already." Nate frowned as he considered. "I think it'll take a maximum of a couple of hours." Before Kent could reply, Nate waved a hand. "Just so you know, our new place is on the third floor of my apartment building." Kent groaned, and Nate laughed. "Yeah, I know." He smirked at Kent. "Why did you think I offered to buy lunch?"

Kent barked a laugh, and he grinned at Nate. "Okay, fine. It might cost more than a pizza, though."

Nate sucked air through his teeth. "Ah, tough negotiator, I see." He picked up the menu and glanced through the offerings. "But, I think we've got it covered. We'll have sandwiches and drinks on hand for anybody who helps us." He looked over the top of the menu at Kent. "Tad makes a mean sandwich too."

"Why didn't you say so?" Kent put down his menu, and he stopped trying to give Nate a tough time. "It's really not a problem."

Their server returned, and they gave their order. They'd once again split a pizza, though this time, the pair was dining in. Once the young woman left the table, Kent refocused on Nate. "So, things must be going well. I mean, you're moving in together. Pretty quick too."

Nate wore a chagrined smile. "Yeah. I know. Things are going great. We all three, we just, we fit." Kent watched as Nate frowned and bit his lip. "And, plus, Chris and I want to keep an eye on Tad. It's his business to share, but I can say that we're worried about him, and we'd like to keep him close as much as possible."

Kent felt an untold story there, but he could also respect Nate's decision to keep Tad's life private. "Oh, okay." He smiled at Nate. "Well, his work is outstanding. I emailed to tell him. We loved how the comic didn't use any words. It was just the art, and the situations. The way it was done we could tell exactly what was going on in each scene. It was beautiful. Just, quietly, silently beautiful. It could be in anybody's hands, and they'd understand it."

Nate looked joyful as he heard the feedback on Tad's work. "That's so awesome. I'm thrilled you and your boyfriend liked it." His smile slipped and he looked down at his hands on the table. "If you wouldn't mind, tell Tad when you see him. Whatever bit of encouragement he can get, it's good."

Kent could plainly see the love and concern on Nate's face. He considered, then he leaned forward. "Hey. If you need to talk about anything, you can. I'll keep it to myself if it's something that you want to stay with me." Kent wasn't sure why, but he felt that he could handle not only his own load of worries and stress, but that he could help Nate with his too.

Nate looked with uncertain eyes at Kent, and his thumb nervously rubbed circles in the condensation on the glass of water that sat in front of him on the table. Nate swallowed, and then he let out a long breath. Finally, he nodded. "Okay. I'm going to tell you what's going on, but, yeah, keep it to yourself, please."

"Of course." Kent leaned forward, and Nate began.

∞

"Okay, another seven pages are done, Kali!" Tad smiled down at the cat on his lap. "And that's after finishing the little job from The Alibi." Tad had been busy all morning and the beginning of the afternoon. He had wrapped up a quick request for a poster from The Alibi, a local dive bar in Arcata. Then he started on his own project of his art conversion to the format Lulu needed for publishing.

He felt pretty good. He was now at twenty-two pages completed and formatted. He sighed in satisfaction, and he stroked his fur-baby, curled comfortably on his warm legs. Then he blinked. He was suddenly exhausted, and though he’d had two cups of coffee early in the day, and got plenty of sleep, he still felt the need for a nap.

He picked up Kali. "Come on, baby. Let's lay down." He stood, then walked to the bedroom. Tad wanted to pack a bit before Christopher came over to help him box up things, but he desperately needed a nap.

Tad lay down, his kitty by his side. Before he could even kick off his shoes, he was asleep.

"Tad?" Christopher gently shook him awake, and Tad blinked as he tried to banish the feeling of disorientation that usually comes right as someone wakes. Chris looked worriedly at him. "Hey, you doing all right?"

Tad smiled up at him. "Yeah, I'm fine, Bear." He blinked, still a little groggy, and sat up. Tad glanced at the darkening window. "Holy crap. What time is it?"

"It's after six." Christopher rubbed the back of Tad's neck. "Are you sure you're okay? What time did you lay down?"

He had slept for a solid four hours. Though he thought that might stress Chris. "Uh, five. Yeah, I lay down at five. So, just an hour." Tad kept the worry from his face, and he smiled. "Yeah! I must have needed the rest. Sorry, I meant to pack a bit before you got here." He frowned. "Uh, and to make dinner for us." He sighed. "Sorry."

"It's all right." Christopher stood. "I'm going to see how Nate is doing with his packing. If he's further along than we are, I'm gonna ask him to come by and help us." He looked down at Tad on the bed, and he seemed thoughtful. "You know, I'll just ask him to come, and to bring some take out."

"Oh, okay." Tad swung his legs over the side of the bed. "If he's in the middle of something, I'll just make us something fast." He stood and hugged Christopher to his chest. "Sorry again. I'm just lazy today."

Christopher smirked. "You're a lot of things, but you're not lazy. It's fine, Tad." He pushed back and ran a callused hand over the dark-eyed man's forehead, and he smoothed Tad's hair.

Christopher felt so warm, safe, and like such a shelter against the unsettling way Tad's thoughts had turned. He was well aware that sleepiness was one of the things on the list, and he pulled Chris back against his chest. 'Do I have any others? Does my head hurt? Have I noticed any vision problems? Breathing trouble?' Tad squeezed him as he thought.

Chris gently rubbed his back. "You sure you're okay?" Tad heard him swallow and the barely disguised dread in his voice. "You can tell me if you're not. I want to be here for you."

Tad pushed back so he could look into Chris's hazel eyes. "You are here for me. And I'm fine." Tad forced calm, and the appearance of a smile. He patted Chris's arm. "Go on and text Nate. See where he is, and if he can pick up food and come help us without too much trouble. I'll get started on some boxes."

Tad left Chris, and he walked to the living room. He pulled a broken-down box from the spot behind the couch where they had stored them. Tad got busy, and he mechanically went through the motions of putting the containers together that they would use for their move.

Though that did nothing to distract him from his thoughts and fears as they bloomed in his mind.

∞

It was early Wednesday, and Christopher enjoyed the moments of quiet before most of the other folks arrived at the dealership. He got the coffee started in the office, and he checked off some maintenance on some of the equipment used for the work they had to do throughout the day.

His mug in hand, he walked outside the office to see Stanley heading toward the office. Chris smiled, and he nodded at Stanley as he took a sip from his coffee. "Hey, Stanley."

"Good morning, Chris."

Stanley smiled a strange knowing smirk, and Christopher narrowed his eyes at his coworker. "Okay, why do you look like the cat that just swallowed the canary?"

Stanley giggled. "Well, I saw a few drawings of you. Turns out, one of your boyfriends works with Kent, and he sent your other boyfriend's artwork to him to check out."

Christopher knew precisely which drawings Stanley spoke of, and he groaned. "Damn it. I don't have a problem with strangers seeing them, but it's weird when people I know do. They can talk to me about them!"

Stanley laughed. "They're all well done. You can't see your parts."

"Tad calls that 'artistic positioning'." Chris joined Stanley in a chuckle.

"It's all amazingly done." Stanley nodded. "I hope Tad is proud of his work. And, I'd like to buy a copy of his book when it's done."

Christopher's smile broadened. "That's great. Yeah, I know he's working on formatting it all, or something." He waved a hand and frowned. "I know just enough about computers to get by. Tad and Nate both are wizards on them."

"Well, I'm not bad myself. I've done some CAD stuff, back when I considered getting into drafting," Stanley said.

"CAD? The computer drawing stuff?" Christopher's tone showed he was interested.

"Yes. I've designed I don't know how many houses in that program." Stanley laughed at himself.

Chris looked thoughtfully at Stanley. "Well, could you design furniture with it?"

"Oh yeah," Stanley said. "If I have the measurements or drawings, I can do furniture. I can even do all the parts individually, then you can put them together in the program like a puzzle. That way you can look at each part alone if you want, or at the thing as a whole."

Chris nodded affably, and the two men waved as a coworker drove onto the lot. "It sounds pretty cool. I might ask for your help with some of my furniture plans later." Stanley smiled and gave Christopher an easy nod of his head. Then Chris remembered the favor he had meant to ask. "Hey, before we really get going, I wondered if you could help us move this Saturday?" he smiled. "You can say no. Moving sucks."

Stanley grinned. "Are you all moving in together? All three of you?"

"Oh, uh, yeah." Christopher rubbed the back of his head, and he looked a little embarrassed. "Yeah, things are going well, and we decided to pull the trigger."

"Hey, that's great, man. I'm happy for you." Stanley's face turned thoughtful. "As for helping, it depends on when. I'm meeting Kent later Saturday. But I'm free early in the day. Up until five-thirty or so."

"Cool. Yeah, that'd be awesome. It should only take a few hours, and we just need help with the heavy stuff. I'll send Tad's address to your phone. We're planning to start there, from three to five PM. I think Tad is planning to feed us all too."

Stanley nodded. "Yeah, that will work. I can help you guys move, so long as you don't cut into my Kent time."

Christopher grinned. "Cool, man. I appreciate it." Chris patted Stanley companionably. "All right. You ready to get to work?"

Stanley nodded, and he and Christopher were soon busy with the demands of the shop.

∞

"So, I guess the date with Sheila didn't go so great?" Shane tapped a finger on the table as he watched Markus take a drink of his beer. "She told me it was 'fine', but I know what that means when a woman says it." It was early in the evening. They were at a local bar named Rumors. It was a regular haunt for them, and Shane nodded at a pair of guys he knew who walked by, then he turned back to Markus. "You going to try again with her?"

Markus shook his head. "Nah." He stared down at the glossy wood top of the bar. He sighed. "Thanks for trying, but it's not gonna happen, man."

Shane frowned. "That's pretty dramatic." He put a hand on Markus's shoulder. "Just because it didn't work with Sheila doesn't mean you won't find another woman."

Markus wet his lips, and he slowly shook his head. "No. You're wrong." Markus looked at Shane. "What you and Heather have? I'll never have that. With anyone." He turned forward again, idly gripping the glass of his lukewarm pint.

"Oh, come on, dude," Shane groaned at what he considered an over-the-top announcement from his friend. "Why would you say that?"

Markus took a long moment, then he stood. He took out a few bills and lay them on the bar. "It's not important. I'm headed home." Markus put his hands in his jacket pockets, turned, and walked away.

∞

Night had come, and Kent lay in bed with Stanley against his chest. "So, let me see if I understand." Kent's arm was warm and comfortable around Stanley's shoulders, holding him there. "You want me to be 'Sir', and you want to be 'boy'?" Kent frowned as he thought. "Even though you're older?"

"It's not about age," Stanley patiently explained, and he listened to Kent's heartbeat as he lay with his head on the larger fellow's chest. "It's about the parts we play in the relationship." Stanley sighed as he tried to figure out the best way to get the idea across. "There are varying degrees, too. We can just do this stuff in the bedroom, or it can be all the time. It can be, uh, well, it could be our regular way we interact with one another."

Kent idly rubbed his hand up and down Stanley's arm. "Huh." He frowned. "I don't know how that'd work out if I introduced you to my dad as my 'boy'."

Stanley laughed. "Yeah. We'd have to decide beforehand on how we present to others. I mean, privately it's easy. Out in public is one thing, with friends is another, and with family yet another."

Kent continued to gently stroke the skin of Stanley's arm. They had already had sex, and for Stanley, things just continued to grow between them. "Well, what do you want, Stanley?" Kent asked.

He had already thought long and hard about his answer. "When we get to the right point, if we get to the place where we're ready to commit, totally commit, then I want to be your 'boy' as often as I can be. I want to be that for you as much as you're comfortable and proud to say it."

Kent squeezed him. "Okay." Stanley heard him take a deep breath. "And, the collar thing you talked about, that's a part of it too? You'd wear the collar, and I'd have the key for it. And it's a symbol of our relationship. Sort of like a ring?"

"Yes. You've got it. That's when we really have to start following our agreement we set for the 'Sir' and 'boy' rules. It doesn't have to be a 'collar' in form. I'd prefer a nice, handsome chain, with a discrete padlock." Stanley smiled. "I have never been collared. I've never gotten there with anyone. But, I want it, someday." He nervously swallowed, and he looked at Kent's face. "If this is too weird, or too much to ask of you, then I get it." He wet his lips. "But I'd like to know if it's even in the realm of possibility for you to consider all of this."

Kent looked down at him, and he gently stroked Stanley's hair. "I just have a problem treating you like you're," Kent flinched as he struggled to come up with the right words, "like you're less than me." His jaw clenched as Stanley watched. "I'd be so pissed if someone else did that to you, so I feel like a hypocrite doing it myself."

"I'd have a problem with that too, and that's not how I see it, or how it feels to me. Just like you need us to be monogamous, and I agree to that because it's something you need, by taking the role of the Dom you're giving me exactly what I need." Stanley smiled, and he blinked slowly as Kent continued to pet him. "As long as that happens, then I'm yours. You don't have to wonder if I respect, or need you. Because, if that ever changed, I'd use the safeword, and we'd either fix it, or I'd walk away."

Kent stared at him as he struggled to understand. "So, you're really the one with the power."

"We both have power." Stanley finally gave up trying to keep his eyes open, and he enjoyed the chill bumps Kent's hand raised as it moved over his hair and face. "Mine is to stop anything I don't like. Yours is to do whatever you want, within reason."

"And you decide that definition." Kent's voice grew surer.

"Yes, as it relates to whatever is happening to me." Stanley sighed, utterly content and close to dropping to sleep. He forced himself to stay awake to finish his point. "The Dom's job is to keep his sub safe, happy, and satisfied. The sub's is to do whatever the Dom wants, within reason - the definition of which changes as we grow comfortable with each other. And the sub will do things for his Dom without being asked. Simply because he wants to please his Dom."

Kent quietly considered. Then his hand slid to a stop and lay against Stanley's throat. "So, if we get to the collar stage, then I will commit to letting you be my 'boy' as much as possible. And I'll be your 'Sir' as much as possible. That includes you wearing the collar, and me carrying the key." Kent patted Stanley. "I'm not saying we're there yet."

"Oh, we're not. It takes a lot of trust for both of us, and we still have a way before we get there," Stanley said, and he also felt a great relief. "But thank you for telling me how far you're willing to go."

"If I'm going to ask this of you, then I'm not going to do it half-way, Stanley." Kent kissed Stanley's head.

Stanley didn't answer him. Instead, he smiled, and he fell to sleep - safe, protected, and valued.

∞

Thursday came and went. It was a day filled with a lot of boxes, effort, and driving back and forth between Tad's and Christopher's places, and Nate's apartment building. Nate had it relatively easy. He just packed his things, and he carried them upstairs to their new residence. As a result, his portion was done quickly, and he could assist his boyfriends with their items.

At the tail end of Thursday, on their last run to the new place, Christopher had leaned over with a conspiratorial air about him. "Hey. Let's keep our eyes on Tad." Chris glanced over at Tad as he put some boxes in the kitchen. "I'm not sure what's up, but he's stressed. He's holding something back."

Nate filed it away, and they both paid a lot of attention to their dark-haired lover. Yet Friday dawned with the three men all in Tad's bed, and when the alarm chimed, he was the first man up on his feet. "Okay! We're almost there, guys. A few more runs for boxes, and we'll be done with it!" Then Tad made a face as he stood naked by the bed. "Well, except for the big furniture."

Nate and Christopher seemed to have worried for nothing. Tad was okay, everything was normal, and they breathed a shared sigh of relief.

They got on with their day of moving. Additionally, Tad stole a few moments here and there to work on his art too. He managed to complete five more formatted pages, and that added to the nine he had done the day before. Nate admired his drive. Every moment Tad had free, he had his tablet in hand, and he feverishly worked at getting his precious archive of art to a publishable state.

Nate could sense Tad's need to complete his project. So even during times when he and Christopher could have used Tad's help, if he was working on the tablet they had looked at one another, shared a nod, and left him to it.

Friday ended with a lot of work accomplished. Now they only had the heavy furniture left to move. Nate was happy that Kent had agreed to come help them. He was built like a linebacker - broad, and thick. He wasn't as obviously muscular as Christopher, but Kent was naturally a strong, powerful guy. Some of the furniture they'd need to move was very heavy, and though Christopher could probably handle one side of an item by himself, he might end up hurting himself. Additionally, one of Christopher's coworkers was coming too. They'd have plenty of hands to get stuff up those three flights of stairs.

They were all exhausted by Friday night. Unlike every other night they slept together, the evening ended for them without sex. Each man snuggled up to the others, and they slept deeply.

The next day, early Saturday morning, Nate woke to Tad's erection poking his ass. Tad was still asleep, but his body was on its own program. Nate grinned, and he opened the nightstand drawer - one of the few small pieces of furniture still left in the apartment.

Soon his warm, lubed hand stroked the penis of a slowly awakening Tad. He clicked the lube shut, and he started to put it back on the nightstand.

"Give that to me," Christopher growled from his spot behind Tad. He grinned at Nate as the redhead complied.

"What's going on here?" Tad smiled. He lay there as Christopher applied lube to his butt, and he felt Nate press himself back onto his cock.

"What does it feel like?" Nate replied, and he exhaled as Tad entered him.

Tad made a similar noise as Christopher's large member worked its way inside him. "It feels like I'm getting it from both ends." Tad breathed heavily, while Christopher slowly pushed himself inside. All the while Chris kissed gently along Tad's neck.

Nate bottomed out, and he made a contented noise. "I'm just gonna stay right here. You do the moving, Tad."

There was no verbal reply, but Tad slowly began to shift his pelvis back and forth. All of the men groaned.

"Oh, shit. Oh, fuck." Tad's voice was monotone, and his mouth hung open. After about a minute he stopped moving. "Whoa. I'm going to get off so fast this way. It's intense."

Christopher and Nate both smiled. "Go ahead. I can get off quick too. It feels really nice." Chris kissed the side of Tad's face. "I like making you feel good."

"Me too." Nate felt so complete with the two of them. He began to stroke himself just so he could be ready when Tad was. "You can come whenever you want, Tad."

"I want it to last longer." Tad began to move again, and he panted. "But there's no way. God." He clamped his arm around Nate, and his hips picked up speed. "It's gonna happen."

Chris added some movement of his own, and Tad groaned loudly as Christopher's long, thick cock hammered into his prostate right as Tad orgasmed into Nate's body.

The feeling of skin on skin, the stimulation of Tad's penis, and Christopher's sounds as he came were all too much. Nate allowed his own moment to arrive. A spurt of semen shot onto the sheets, and Tad's hand rested just above Nate's groin as Nate gasped and oozed come down his fingers.

They lay and allowed their breathing to normalize. Finally, Tad softened enough so that he slipped out of Nate on his own.

"Mmmm. Fuck, I love this." Nate turned, and he grinned at Tad.

Those dark eyes looked back at Nate, and he let them wander over Nate's face. While Chris stroked Tad's hair, Tad smiled. "Me too." Then he turned his head a little so that he could see Christopher. "I love you and Bear, both of you. I love this time with you. I want all the time I can get with you."

Nate began to reply, but Tad's face fell and a tear rolled down his face. Tad closed his eyes, and he lay flat on his back as the tears continued to stream.

Nate and Christopher draped arms across him, and they lay there. Tad was so strong, almost always. For him to break down was rare, and so they both simply allowed him to get it out.

"I'm sorry." Tad squeezed his eyes shut as if he tried to stop the flow of his tears. "I shouldn't do this. I'm sorry."

Nate instantly had his response. "You're allowed to be weak with us." He used the same words that Tad had spoken to him concerning Christopher and appearing strong. "That's why we're here."

Tad didn't respond. Instead, he allowed the two men he loved the most to comfort and cherish him.