Chapter 5 #2
Newt took the dish of enchiladas from the oven and put it on the hob. “Linda said to let it stand for five minutes. Come and sit down. Let’s try and learn yes and no.” Newt peeled the labels off his body. “Yes,” Newt said. “Yes. Yes.”
“Ju… Ju…” How could it be so difficult?
“Look at my mouth and my teeth. Keep your mouth wider. Yes. Yes.”
“Yu…” River gave up. He still wanted a miracle cure.
“Don’t stop trying. That was the right start, but widen your mouth after as if you’re going to grin.”
“Yeh…Yeh.”
“Nearly.”
River glowered.
“Let’s try something more important. My name. Newt. Newt.”
“Nu…”
Newt beamed at him. “Once more. Tongue behind your upper teeth. Then almost spit out the T. Newt.”
“Nuuute. Newt.” River’s heart lurched. “Newt. Newt. Newt.” He smiled. Oh God. I did it.
“Hey! That’s me. Well done.”
“Fuck off, Newt, Newt, Newt.”
“Not now we’re making progress!”
The enchiladas were delicious. River couldn’t help but notice how quickly Newt ate, as though he worried the food was going to get taken away from him. At least this was a meal River could eat with a fork in his left hand.
“I like this,” Newt said. “Linda left a few recipes so I can try and recreate some of your favourites.”
River wished he could talk to him. And that shocked him. He’d spent all this time and energy trying to push Newt away and now that wasn’t what he wanted.
When River had eaten as much as he could, he put his cutlery neatly on the plate.
“I’ll tidy up later. What we’re going to do is time critical. We need jackets and shoes. Do you have a hat and gloves?”
River nodded. He led Newt to the boot room and was glad when Newt didn’t offer to help him, even though he struggled. Newt picked up several blankets and led him outside to the loungers on the deck. They stayed out all year, but Newt must have put the cushions on them earlier.
“Lie down. I need to go back in and switch off the lights.”
When River lay down and looked up, he understood why they were out there. The sky was inky black, no light-pollution, and the stars were bright. He swallowed hard. When Newt came back, he arranged two blankets over River, then lay on the lounger next to him with a blanket for himself.
“Isn’t it amazing?” The awe in Newt’s voice, brought a lump to River’s throat.
It was amazing. He couldn’t remember when he’d last looked up into a night sky and marvelled at the stars.
“I was going to do this on my own. I wasn’t sure I’d manage to persuade you, but I’m glad you’re with me.
I don’t know the names of many of the constellations, but I looked up some of them.
We’re out here for more than the stars, though.
Keep looking to the left. We’re going to see something incredible in a few minutes. ”
A shooting star? Plane?
“No, not that plane, though I guess planes are pretty incredible machines. I’ve never been on one.”
What? River glanced at him.
“Keep looking up. Ah, that’s it. There.” He pointed. “Look! Can you see?”
A bright light moved at speed across the sky.
“Not a UFO but the International Space Station.”
Wow.
“Seven astronauts up there. 250 miles above us. Travelling at around 17,500 miles per hour. Isn’t that crazy?
They circle the world in ninety minutes so they see the sun rise and set sixteen times a day.
I looked all that up. Apparently, it needs to go at that speed so it balances the pull of Earth’s gravity and doesn’t fall out of the sky. ”
It seemed scary that was all that was keeping it up there.
“I was never interested in physics at school but I found myself wanting to read more and more about the ISS. I mean, do the astronauts feel the speed they’re going?
The answer, sorry if you already know, is that they don’t because they’re travelling at the same speed as the space station.
It’s like being in a car or a train. I should have thought of that.
Would you go up into space if you got the chance? ”
Newt looked at him and River shook his head.
“Me neither. I’m not that brave. I’d like to see Earth from up there but I wouldn’t like the journey, and I definitely wouldn’t want to stay up there. I’ll shut up now so we can just drink it all in.”
They lay side by side, not touching, just looking up at the stars and River felt the kind of peace come over him that he’d not felt for a long time. It didn’t make his personal problems seem smaller but it did encourage him to think about something other than himself for a while.
Finally, the bright moving dot passed out of sight.
“I don’t know if you know anything about the stars.
I knew a bit before tonight. Now I know a bit more.
” He chuckled. “Google is addictive. We can only see around 9,000 stars without a telescope, yet there are a trillion stars in the Milky Way alone. The brightest star in the night sky is Sirius. Over eight light years away so we’re seeing it as it was over eight years in the past. Blows my mind.
It’s twice the mass of our sun and twenty-five times brighter. Have you died of boredom yet?”
River wished he could tell him this was the most interested he’d been in anything for months.
They lay there a little longer and just as River was beginning to feel cold, Newt pushed off his blanket and stood up.
“We better go in before we start to freeze.”
He took off River’s blankets and folded them neatly.
“I’ll bring the cushions. You go back inside.”
River picked up two cushions.
“Great! Thank you.”
River struggled with them but he wanted to prove he wasn’t helpless. Just wordless.
He went up to bed after Newt came back into the kitchen.
River didn’t feel tired, but being with Newt reminded him too much of what he’d lost. He didn’t want to practise speaking.
For the first time in a long while, he wanted to practise something else.
He hadn’t managed to maintain his erection earlier, but he wanted to try again.
River liked wanking. Had liked it. Considered himself somewhat of an expert in it.
But since his fall, he’d not managed to make himself come.
Or even get fully hard really. He’d suspected it had everything to do with his traumatic brain injury.
Depression and anxiety weren’t the right mindset for bringing himself off.
His libido was scarily low. Even if he had managed to get his dick to show some interest, it never lasted long, and it scared him from trying again because the disappointment was crushing.
But now Newt was here, River felt different.
He shouldn’t have. He was supposed to act straight.
He had a girlfriend—who he’d never touched.
Well, they’d kissed, held hands, cuddled in public but that was all.
River knew what he was. Knew what he wanted.
Maybe thinking about Newt while he lay in bed would make the difference.
He showered, got between the sheets naked, as usual, took lube with him, not usual, and thought about Newt’s face as he’d managed to say his name.
How bright his smile had been. He’d looked as thrilled as River had felt.
He pushed back the covers, then wrapped his fingers around his cock, gasping in shock as he felt it swell. Slightly. But still…
In the good old days, he’d have been able to think about what he was in the mood for. Fast and frantic? Slow and tortured? On his knees? On his back? Standing up? One hand? Two? None? Finger in his arse? Finger out? Cock ring? Dildo? Did he want to take hours or minutes? Maybe seconds?
All that had gone. Getting hard and staying hard long enough to come would be a massive achievement. He managed to get a fair amount of lube onto his fingers, then used his left hand to stroke the root of his cock with his thumb and two fingers, and with the other hand, massaged his balls.
Those green eyes.
His cock warmed in his hand, thickened and pulsed.
Fuck. River’s breath caught in his throat. He started to worry about going soft again and groaned. That was the way to go soft.
Newt’s smile. The curve of his lips. The dimples in his cheeks.
River worked his way from the base of his cock until he reached the swollen head.
Pre-cum oozed from the slit and a sigh slipped from his lips.
That was a first for a long while. With the flat of his hand, he rolled his palm over the crest, and as he spread the silky liquid, he squeezed his balls a little harder.
Newt’s hand on him…
He dragged his hand up his cock, easing back on his grip as he reached the head and then tightening his hold around the less sensitive base. The muscles of his belly clamped down and his balls throbbed in his hand.
Shit! Shit! River wanted this so much, too much.
He couldn’t risk holding back, teasing his body into a delayed explosion.
Instead, he pumped harder, Newt’s face in his head.
His cock slipped in his fingers, the length of him slick with lube and precome.
Veins bulged under his palm. Harder, tighter, faster.
Muscles contracted at his feet, the sensation moving to his calves, tormenting the back of his knees before shifting to his thighs and then his arse. Please!
His stomach clenched and he felt the burn in his balls as they exploded.
He gave a long shudder as his hips bucked, then pressed his lips together to muffle his cry.
His body jerked as if he’d been hit by a stun gun, long ropy threads of cum spurting over his belly and chest, one white fleck flying as far as his mouth, while he tugged at his cock to milk himself dry. Oh my God!
For one horrible moment, he found himself waiting for Newt to rush in to check he was okay, but the door stayed closed.
Mouth slack, limbs trembling, River gave a quiet groan. So good. But I’m so fucked.