Chapter 10- Gordy
MY CURSOR SCROLLS up and down on the video game screen.
Speakeasy jotted down details for a movie to meet up with him in a matter of days.
While not the best way to socialize, I should be able to get in a few words while the lights are dim.
He seems to have bought the white lie that I have a skin condition.
It’s not technically a lie―my condition is just reptilian.
Seb hollers that dinner is ready, so I shut off my game and head to the kitchen.
My date and my fate are both sealed this weekend.
For all I know, we might not click in real life, and we’re back to being online buddies only.
I do love the comfort zone. So we’re both gay; it doesn’t mean he’s gonna be attracted to me.
He’s only going to see my silhouette for crying out loud.
But what if he wants to hold hands? Or kiss…?
When I make it to the table, Seb is waiting for me.
He’s putting out empty plates, and I’m still not used to the whole “conjuring meals” business.
My folks only did it on rare occasions when the moon was full and the rest of their coven was around.
Now Kai conjures for us every night. My ancestor should be coming home soon.
“Feel the sparks?” Seb asks.
“What?!” I yelp in my seat.
His brow furrows, and he continues, “Sparks of magic.”
“Oh.” I relax and recall that no one knows Speakeasy exists. “None.”
“That’s very strange. You and Loxley were on fire last week. Literally.” Seb snickers and leans on the table.
Grimacing, I squeeze my tail with my fingers. “It was…the full moon, I think.”
“But in daylight?” Seb asks.
I shrug as Kai arrives. “Hello, my love.” He strides in and immediately kisses Seb, hard. My gaze darts away as they all but make out. Even if Kai weren’t my distant relative, living with perpetual honeymoon mages isn’t my idea of a vacation.
“How was the Union?” Seb asks.
“There is always another crisis with the agents of SPELL,” Kai replies with a smile. “You haven’t conjured food yet?”
“I was trying to get the Ruby Turtle over here to do it.”
They smile at me, and, despite not wanting to mess around with spellcasting, I raise my hands and focus on magic. Try as I might, no energy comes out. When Loxley’s pretty face surfaces in my memory, the slightest spark leaves my fingers.
I frown, but Seb chuckles. “Hey, that’s a start!”
It only worked because I focused on the one guy I’m trying to avoid. What is it about Loxley that makes wild magic manifest from the turtle within me?
Kai smiles and waves his hands. In moments, Cantonese cuisine appears, crispy noodles topped with seafood. “You will get there,” Kai says in his calm, British accent. “You have a great destiny, after all.”
We proceed to dig in. “You two have a great destiny. I’m still a mediocre mage.”
“You are not!” Seb argues. “You just need to practice. How about this Saturday, we meet up with the rest of Boysen House?”
The mere thought of Loxley, with his adorable wavy hair, makes my tail wag. I force it down and remember that I have a sort of blind date. Like all antisocial folks, I need to prepare myself all morning for a nighttime obligation. “I…can’t this weekend.”
“Why not? I thought you didn’t have a job yet?” Seb asks with a mouth full of noodles.
“I’m busy. Uh, how are culinary school applications?”
“Ugh, don’t get me started,” Seb says. I very much want him to get started; anything to distract them from me.
My little plan works, and the rest of supper is occupied with Seb talking about his culinary school prospects.
The entire time, Kai gazes at him with fondness, occasionally replying and brushing his hand.
I want what they have so badly. But Kai can hold his human form indefinitely. What hope is there for me?
While Kai is showering, I help Seb with the dishes. He must notice how nervous I am because he studies me with concern. “Um, Gordy, is everything alright?”
I try to muster up my courage. I’ve never had to talk about crushes before, but Seb is the closest thing I have to a peer or friend. “I…have a question for you. A personal question.”
“Okay.” He shucks off his rubber gloves. “Shoot.”
“How did you…?” I put down the plate I was drying and stare out the kitchen window into the darkness. “How did you, like…get Kai to want to…” I clear my throat and lower my voice. “Date you?”
The expression on Seb’s face changes at least three different times in as many seconds. “Ah.”
“Yeah,” I reply with a frown.
“Well, I didn’t do much. Your great-great-great uncle courted me!
Haha!” He laughs and leans on the sink. “He felt I was his fated mate, but he didn’t tell me until he was absolutely sure.
It would have frightened me off if he said something so early.
We spent a lot of time together before he made a move. ”
Seb stares at the ceiling with fondness in his eyes. “At that point, I grew to care for him, support him, and he supported me. Falling in love with him was as easy as falling asleep.”
Envy blooms in my chest, but I’m mostly happy for my ancestor and his boyfriend, his fated mate. “But what about his lion form? Weren’t you scared?”
Seb shoots me a mischievous grin. “It made my pulse go up, but not from fear, if you know what I mean.”
He laughs and taps my arm, while I frown. “I know you have trouble holding your human form. The right person for you will accept all of you. Have you tried dating someone in the magic community?”
The only mage I’m remotely intrigued by is the guy who pissed me off the day we met. The words almost leave my lips, but I nod and step back. “It’s…all theoretical.”
“If you’re going out, do you want me and Kai to come and glamour you?”
“No! No chaperones, please!” I grunt in annoyance as Seb chuckles.
“I just want to help!”
“I’m not dating anyone, I swear!” I holler as I stride quickly to my room.
Another half-truth. Seb knows I’m meeting up with someone, and that I want to date him.
It would be easier to date someone who knows the real me, like Loxley.
But we don’t have the connection I have with Speakeasy, a connection I need to see through.
That night, I wake in my massive bed with a problem.
All this talk of relationships, boys, and potential intimacy has rendered me a frustrated turtle.
Gazing down, I see the flesh flap underneath my shell, my groin area.
I always sleep nude in my turtle form, and in the moonlight, I catch my problem―my hard problem.
My erection makes an appearance from under my groin flesh. When was the last time I got off?
A sigh leaves my lips. My date is in less than three days, and it’s not like I’m ready to be intimate with Speakeasy. Even if he likes me and my turtle form, I’m not about to jump in the sheets with my online buddy. That can be date two.
“Speakeasy…” I murmur. Taking my cock in hand, I harden even more. Jolts of pleasure go up and down my spine. I wonder what SE looks like? Does he have brown wavy hair? Is he short and skinnier? Does he have glasses?
Is he as sexy as Loxley Boysen? “Mm,” I rumble.
I stroke and stroke, my manhood reaching all the way up to my chest line. I’m a freak in every way. Why not add a massive, foot-long dick too?
My annoyance with my massive appendage isn’t important right now; all I care about is getting off. Images of Loxley Boysen unbuttoning his shirt fill my mind. Faster and faster I jerk. I imagine his smooth skin and abs. I see myself crawling over him in bed. Oh yes, that’s good.
That perfect pleasure peaks in my gut. The head of my reptilian dick flares and…
“Fuh…” I rasp. For several glorious moments, I coat my plastron chest with my spend.
There’s no guilt for the fact that I totally just jerked off to Loxley lying on his back for me. Who cares that I yelled at him the day we met? When a dude masturbates, there are no loyalties in the thicket of his fantasies.
Then I look down at my waning dick. The head is flared, like a mini umbrella. My member is a massive, green, misshapen freak of nature. What gay dude would want someone who looks like me? I sigh and allow the post-orgasm glow to take me to sleep. That’s a problem for another day.
I’m so fucking nervous right now. I confirmed with SE twice via Hot Water console messenger on my phone about the movie and time.
Taking the bus here, I was able to cover my face with a medical mask and scarf to blend in with the crowd.
No one cares that it’s late spring and I’m bundled up like I’m about to rob a store.
And SE agreed to meet me in the back of this theater. My foot won’t stop tapping, and my gloved hand twitches on the armrest. There’s an elderly couple in the second row, and no one else. The lights are dimming, the previews are starting, and I’m still alone. Why isn’t he here? Has he stood me up?
At that moment, I spot a petite, male figure walking up the stairs.
It’s dark, so I can’t see his face. All I notice is his hands shoved into his hoodie.
I’d judge him for almost hiding his skinny body, but that would make me a hypocrite.
Sure, I’m hiding a turtle shell, but I can’t hold him to a standard that I’m not willing to follow.
When he looks up at me, his body relaxes with recognition. Could it be him? He bounds up the stairs to the back row, and my heart stops. I can’t see his face, but every instinct is telling me it’s SE. And based on his silhouette, he’s sexy as hell.
My online buddy, my gay gamer friend, lives near me, and we’re about to watch a movie together. I might weep with joy.
“Hey. I’m Speakeasy,” he whispers quickly as he sits down. I still can’t make him out under his hood, and I lean back in my chair.
“I’m Coldblooded. Nice to finally meet you,” I whisper. We shake hands, and if he’s uncomfortable with my gloves, he says nothing.
“I’m…happy to be here,” he murmurs.
“Me too.” He can’t see it, but I’m smiling. My tail is wagging so hard I’m about to be launched out of my seat. Settle down, inner turtle.
We spend an awkward minute watching whatever previews are on the screen. I can’t concentrate―I’m at the movies with a boy I care for the first time ever. My skin prickles with hyperawareness of his body so close to mine. I could hold his hand if I wanted to…
SE shows his phone, and I gaze at our chats. He’s typed a new message, and I squint my eyes to read it. The message reads, “I need to tell you something important about me.”
Is he a serial killer or something? I’m so nervous that I’m jumping to conclusions.
“Okay,” I whisper.
“I want to keep talking out loud, but I have a condition,” he types.
I nod and look at his darkened face, desperate to let him continue. I still can’t make out his face, so I lean in. Why does he smell familiar?
“I have dysarthria, so it’s hard for me to get words out verbally,” he types.
Wait, where have I heard that term before?
“Loxley?” I say out loud.
When he pulls down his hood, my whole world flips upside down. The shock of discovery sends a chill up my spine, and I stop breathing. I thought I was on a date with SE, but I’m here with Loxley Boysen.