Chapter Twenty-Nine – Strange Conversations
Lingering in Matty's bed felt deliciously luxurious, even by his standards. John hadn't returned from his library stint, and the poor fellow probably even planned to sleep there, only to avoid the biggest imagined enemy in his life to date. That meant he could stay just a little bit longer, only his mind was already working in overdrive and he needed to start organizing himself.
S.H.I.T. wanted to go crazy with imposing new morality standards on the student population of Sunny Hill, under Connor's villainous leadership. That guy really had some serious issues, but Rusty didn't intend to unpack any of it. It was probably something years of therapy wouldn't be able to solve but, again, not his problem.
What bothered him, above all was how Connor and his posse – one a lot larger than he had employed in his service during junior years – kept on designing new and elaborate strategies to annoy the hell out of him. At first, he had decided not to give that A-hole a piece of his mind, but now it was on. Slicky must have gone into hiding already because of that T-head, which meant that his chances of meeting him again were growing slim.
Not that Matty wasn't keeping him plenty occupied. He felt tender all over and in a good way as he took a look at the crown of Matty's head resting against his chest. His baby dude was soundly asleep and Rusty didn't have the heart to wake him only because he wanted an encore.
Back to scheming. Also, going after his crown was getting real, according to the freakish experiences he had lived through today. He wouldn't give a damn… only that it wasn't some newcomer ready to take his place through charisma, wits, and other stuff that would make a dude – or a dudette – cool enough to force his early abdication, but an organization with a churlish attitude, and an even worse acronym. That he couldn't just let pass.
Hmm, that, indeed, required finesse on his part. He definitely didn't intend to look like a sore loser, and going head on with Connor, when his power was growing, would place him in a position that might not be easy to sustain.
No, he would just show everyone that he could charm his way back onto the throne without breaking a sweat. And, when everyone wondered who had been brave enough to challenge and replace Rusty as the king, he would tear off his mask and laugh his ass off.
Now, that was starting to give him ideas. That morning, he had felt on top of the world, ready for any challenge, and with a newfound love for music filling his lungs. He knew exactly what he had to do to throw his glove at himself, pick it up, and emerge victorious.
His excitement must have manifested itself a bit too energetically because Matty stirred. Rusty brushed one hand over his bed partner's face. "Hey," he whispered, "are you in the mood for a sleepy blowjob?"
"Okay," Matty mumbled and rolled on his belly to land between Rusty's legs.
That was his baby dude, always up for any request, but Rusty had something else in mind. "No, no, no," he said, and pushed Matty back so that he could be the one to slide down the other's body.
"You want to suck me off?" Matty asked, his voice still drowsy with sleep.
"That's my intention. You can go back to sleep if you want," Rusty said cheerfully while dragging Matty's pants down to have easy access to all the goods.
"Go back to sleep? Quite the tall order," Matty said but his head was tilting to one side and the cute smile on his face said that he didn't mind that sleepy blowjob at all.
Rusty placed one hand right under Matty's ball sac and began kissing it slowly, taking one ball and then the other in his mouth.
"Rusty," Matty whispered and inhaled audibly. "Why are you so good at this?"
"Are you trying to say that you suspect me of having done this with other dudes?"
"No, it was a rhetorical question. In other words, you're killing me."
"Play sleepy and let me take care of you."
No other words were needed, and Matty assumed the position right away. Rusty let one of his hands brush against the taut lower abs while he got back to his ball sucking technique, which he intended to perfect while using Matty as the only subject for his training.
It took him a while to let go of the balls, which had gotten satisfactorily heavy after being lavished with so much attention and finally focus on the more important part of Matty's anatomy. He licked his way round and round, sensing every tremble in the slender body under his fingers, until he reached the head. Once there, there was no point in dallying.
So, he wrapped his lips around the engorged head and began licking it. Matty's breathing grew ragged as Rusty continued his torturous descent on the full length. This time, he decided to go less deep but concentrate on using his tongue more. It appeared that his loyal subject was reacting well to all that tongue work.
He let go of it from time to time, only to swallow the precum Matty was freely giving. That kind of thing was definitely addictive. He could lick and lick at it like it was a lollipop. No wonder so many girls liked giving head. Also there had to be a bunch of guys who liked it, too, and now, he was on the same side of the fence as they were.
"Damn, Matty, eating your dick is definitely it," he commented as he took the hard candy in his mouth again.
"Do you think you could finish your meal?" Matty asked in a hoarse whisper. "You're driving me totally crazy."
Rusty smiled, with Matty's cock still in his mouth. He even laughed, and the reverb of the sounds he made moved through Matty, or so it seemed, because the body he was holding hostage shivered more. Good, that meant it was high time for the last act. He increased the rhythm to which his lips moved and helped himself with one hand. Matty's hands rested on his head and pushed him down one time, hard. That appeared to be his cue to swallow, because what was happening barely registered with him and he felt his mouth getting filled.
He smacked his lips and gave Matty's cock one last playful lick before moving away, but he barely had the time to do so. He fell on his back, pushed forcefully with just one hand, and Matty was all over him, going straight for the Mighty Thor.
There was no time left even to make a sound, because Matty already had his mouth full and, when he looked up with his pretty eyes still droopy from sleep, he looked scrumptiously hungry for the cock he was gobbling down that very moment.
Rusty laughed and caressed Matty's smooth hair, running his fingers through the silky strands, and pushing them away from his forehead. "A little peckish, are we?" he teased.
Matty nodded without letting go of his candy and proceeded to swallow him down as far as he could go. Now that was what Rusty called a fast learner. Matty was good at it, just as he was good at many other things, and now he appeared perfectly capable of giving the Mighty Thor a run for his money. What he enjoyed the most, however, was how his cock, not so negligible in size, could disappear in Matty's mouth like some sort of magic trick. Those sweet lips he knew so well stretched around, and he could tell when he was hitting the back of Matty's throat. That was his cue that he needed to control the crazy moves the Mighty Thor wanted to make by twitching too hard, but Matty helped him by pressing down on his thighs and controlling the depth to which he was going as well as the angle.
Now, all Rusty could see was Matty's head moving to the rhythm, no hands involved. Fuck, that was mind blowing. He grunted as he tried to keep it in for a little while longer, but Matty was getting too good at this, and it seemed that he seriously wanted to put Rusty to shame through his performance.
"Oh, fuck, yeah," he whispered, "get yourself some of that, Matty."
He knew that his bed partner had no qualms about swallowing it, and that was fine by him. Totally fine, he thought, as he tensed and began shooting into the generous mouth, seemingly forever.
He dropped back, breathing hard, and then felt Matty's mouth on his, making him taste himself. Yeah, they were good at that. Sharing was the name of the game, after all. He took Matty's head in his hands and kissed him, making their tongues brush against each other repeatedly, until they were both out of breath.
He then held Matty only inches away so that they could look at each other. "I am so having that key made for you."
"Because you need me to dress like a fourteenth century traveler with not even two coins to rub together?" Matty asked and snickered.
Rusty kissed him loudly. "I'm happy to see that you have an excellent memory. But it's mainly because you're rooming with annoyance personified and my goal in life is to save you from that."
"I see. All right, then. I can hardly wait. I can't promise that I will spend every night over, though. It would look like I'm running away from a problem."
"One in two nights, then?"
"One in three," Matty replied promptly. "I still have to study, and I'm afraid that the only studying I'll do while sharing such close quarters with you is going to be studying your body through and through."
"Studying my body should be a discipline in the curriculum."
"No way. I don't intend to share you with anyone."
Matty stared at him for a moment after that as if he had just said something wrong. He was even about to add something, so Rusty decided to interrupt him. "Good. We have a deal, then. And if this creep you call your roommate ever gives you trouble, let me know. I'll rush right over here."
"Don't tell me you plan on giving him a good beating," Matty said and snickered.
"No, but I will stare menacingly." To prove his point, Rusty stared at Matty cross-eyed.
"Stop it!" Matty pulled at one of his ears. "You might end up stuck like that."
"Will you love me less if I'm cross-eyed?"
"Never, but let's not risk your wellbeing. After all, that's the other reason you're giving me that key, right?"
"Right. Okay, Matty, I'll leave you to study while I'm seeing about my plans."
"Your plans?"
"My plans not to study," Rusty explained right away. He didn't intend to make anyone privy to his incipient strategy to take down Connor's revolution for now.
"I see. See you around, then?"
"Once every three nights, that means that you'll sleep over at least once before Saturday." Rusty counted on his fingers.
"Is something important happening on Saturday?"
"I might have something to do off campus," Rusty said hurriedly. He kissed Matty's head briefly when he noticed the little questioning look in his eyes. What he planned to do required secrecy and master planning. Therefore, he would keep his mouth shut about it for the moment.
***
Had he imagined Rusty's evasiveness on the topic of his plans for that Saturday? Matty rubbed his face a few times and shook his head. Clearly, he needed to remind himself that Rusty didn't belong to him in such a way that required him to tell him all of his plans all of the time.
And there had been that little slip-up with the word 'love' getting thrown about casually. Of course, Rusty would be the kind to use it exactly in the most casual way possible, making it impossible for anyone to dish it out at him without considering it some kind of joke.
That was a matter that troubled Matty to some degree, too. He had crushed on Rusty for as long as he had been a college student. And he was definitely in love with him, in that way that his parents would tell him could easily be mistaken for infatuation.
He rebelled against the idea immediately. He had thought about it before, and all he was feeling inside pointed to his loving Rusty with all his heart. Beyond the playfulness, dressing up as a cat boy, fooling around, using their bodies to show how much they liked each other, there was something stronger than everything else.
That feeling he was experiencing no longer appeared as fluid and blithe as he had imagined it over the years. No, it was now reaching the solidified essence of a piece of amber pressed by millennia and harder rocks.
He shook his head. Maybe Rusty would laugh at him, hearing his thoughts, which was why he would hold back until much later. He hadn't been joking when he told Zoey that he would only tell Rusty what he felt for him on the last day of college. That gave him enough room to run afterward. Also, he expected to have zero regrets if he did it that way. No losses, that was the bottom line he was aiming for.
Now, if he thought about it, it was a great thing that Rusty had plans that Saturday. Since Slicky Coolplums had lived in the shadows lately, and by that, he simply meant that the chosen resting place in between performances for that feline alter ego of his was Zoey's closet, it was high time for him to make an appearance. Sure, Rusty wouldn't get the chance to see him, but it all was working out just as it should. Later, he'd learn that Slicky Coolplums had been up and about, and while he might regret missing him, he'd be content to know that his favorite cat boy – that was how Matty described himself in his own head – hadn't run and hidden from the likes of Connor and his shitty team of followers.
Yes, that would work out great, he decided and grabbed his phone. "Zoey, do you think I could use that thing you keep for me this Saturday?"
"Of course. My roommate has a new crush and she'll be out partying. Ready for one of those kinky transformations? I can barely wait seeing it happen under my very eyes."
"Oh, gosh, Zoey. There's nothing kinky about my transformation."
"Really? You're as good as naked and you have a tail. If it helps, that image is enough to give me a little lady boner."
"I'll ignore that because you're like a sister to me."
"Right."
"Wait, I didn't ask if you have any plans. Will you put on that glitter and go chasing that unnamed guy?"
"I can do both. I'm a free agent," Zoey said right away.
"And you still don't want to tell me who he is. I see, I'm that much of a friend to you."
"Stop busting my balls, man," Zoey complained. "It's really complicated."
"I see. You have balls but you don't know how to use them."
"They are little lady balls," Zoey added and then laughed.
Matty followed along with her, because there was nothing better to do. "Okay, then, it's settled. This Saturday, you go glitter, I go--"
The door opening behind him made him stop.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Zoey said. "What about that weird creature in your room? Is it still nesting there?"
"Yes," Matty confirmed.
John stopped in the middle of the room for a moment, gave him a reproachful look and then dropped onto his bed, one hand resting on his chest, looking like a dying hero in a painting from the Romantic era.
"I'll get back to you with details. Bye for now, love you to death," he told Zoey and turned all his attention on his troublesome roommate. "Hey, man, you good?"
John turned his eyes languidly toward him. "No. I cannot study."
"I won't be around here much, and you know I'm as silent as a cat, I mean, mouse."
"Silence is not the issue."
Matty waited. He was starting to regret showing any interest in John's wellbeing, but for him, being nice was an instinct, not a habit. "What is?" he asked with a soft sigh.
John straightened up. "Don't you ever feel like all this is too much?" He stared at Matty with avid eyes.
"Studying? I think so. I mean, that's the aim of college. To push you and make you prove yourself." Matty wasn't completely sure he was saying whatever John was expecting to hear.
"No, I mean all the other things."
"Like what?" Matty thought again that maybe having this conversation with John wasn't that good an idea.
"People are wasting their lives away," John said slowly. "Like that student you're having over."
"Do you mean Rusty?"
"Yes, him." John pursed his lips as if he had just tasted a lemon. "He doesn't care about anything. Doesn't it scare you?"
"Scare me? Let me check. Hmm, nope," Matty said with determination and stared John in the eye to challenge him to say otherwise.
It looked like the oblivious fool had no skill in observing his conversational partners, because he continued. "How can it not? What's beyond college for him? Does he ever even think about it?"
"What's in it for you what Rusty thinks or doesn't think about? It's his future."
John shook his head and pursed his lips more. "How can you not care?"
Now that was a question that took Matty by surprise. He cared about Rusty, of course, but it wasn't his business to lecture him on what to do with his life. "I do, but it's not my place to make decisions for him or even bother him with what I think is right or not. It's called respect, John. Have you heard about it?"
"I call it indifference."
Matty sighed without hiding it this time. "Let's agree to disagree. And you still haven't answered my question. What do you care what Rusty does?"
"I care about everyone."
Oh, damn, that Connor was channeling through John as they spoke, right there. Was that what people who pretended they were possessed in the Middle Ages felt like? "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but that's highly impractical. There's only so much caring someone can do."
"And are you doing your part, Matty? In regards to… your friend? He is your friend, I suppose. He's a womanizer so he can't be… is he?" John craned his neck and looked at Matty with troubled eyes.
"Is he what?" Matty snapped. "I'm tutoring him, John. You see, I care. I do my part. What Rusty does with what he learns, that's his business."
"I worried for a moment that he might lead you on the path to… to…" John seemed to have lost his words.
"Please don't say 'sin' or 'temptation'. They're so overused."
"I didn't mean it that way. But I'm glad that he cannot. You're not a girl."
"Thank heavens," Matty joked. "He cannot get me pregnant."
"Exactly," John said, missing the whole point. "Matty, don't you want to do more for him, though?"
"Like what? Telling him what to do, as if I knew any better?"
John gave him a disconcerted look. "But you do know better."
"For myself."
That didn't seem to have the desired effect of making John drop the conversation altogether. On the contrary, the guy only appeared to be more and more irritated and in the mood to insist even more. "If you care about him as a human being, you'd do better than that."
"Oh, great." Why was he even talking to his roommate? He was a looney who ripped apart Nightwing costumes. Rusty was right that he was soft. "Tell me, John, is this what Connor has been teaching you?"
"Yes," John replied and puffed out his chest. "Can you say, hand on heart, that you don't believe that we should do more for others?"
Matty groaned and closed his eyes for a moment. Nonetheless, if he could say something clever enough to pierce through that cloud of indoctrination, maybe he could be the one to save John from wasting his last year in college playing the cultist. Not that he was supposed to care, but, at this point, he felt like his intellect was being challenged.
"Yes, we could all do more for others. But are we going to force old ladies to cross the street now?"
"Yes!"
"Oh, slap me with a ruler and call me baby," Matty muttered under his breath. "My guy, are you even listening to me? You can't force other people to do better for themselves. That's just wrong. And do we even know what's better for them?"
"I disagree," John said and crossed his arms. "Just because something seems fun, it doesn't mean that it's right. And that's what happens with liquor and having sex and all."
"Why did you come to college?" Matty asked.
"To study."
"Of course, that goes without saying, but do I really have to spell it out for you? We're young. Yes, we should learn how to be responsible for ourselves, but we should also be allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. Nobody says that we should go around getting high, drinking ourselves out of our minds and getting pregnant or getting others pregnant or worse. Fun can be had responsibly."
"That is not what your friend is doing." The word 'friend' sounded like some kind of venereal disease coming from John's mouth.
Matty felt his irritation growing. "I assure you my friend," and he said the word like it was a precious stone, "is very responsible."
"He got a girl pregnant!"
"He got no one pregnant!"
"How do you know?"
"Because that cat boy is… a boy!" Matty exclaimed, running out of options.
John stared at him curiously. "No, he's not. It's a cat girl. I mean," he added, a bit flustered, "someone who dresses as a cat. And is female!"
"And how do you know? Did you touch her or something? Fess up, John. Something tells me this holier than thou attitude is too large a coat for you."
"I didn't touch her, but Connor knows."
"And how exactly does he know?"
John stopped his tirade and stared at Matty, as if he didn't know what to add to that. Eventually, his lips moved again. "Connor doesn't lie."
"Connor took that from some speculations Xpress ran and, well, he ran away with it. When Xpress was wondering why Rusty was buying toys, he was actually shopping for a birthday present for his brother. And I know, because I was there. Also, if Rusty ever got someone pregnant, I'd be the first to learn about it." That was a stretch, and there were clearly things Rusty preferred to keep to himself, but he was trying to make a point.
John finally seemed to relent a bit. "So, it's not true? About the cat girl?"
"No, it's not."
"And do you know for sure that it is a cat boy?"
"Rusty knows for sure and told me," Matty said quickly.
"But he likes girls."
"And cat boys. Deal with it," Matty added, even faster this time.
John pulled at one of his ears hard and squinted. Ah, well, try to figure out Rusty Parker now if you can, Matty thought and shook his head.
"Still, Connor wants us to unmask the cat… boy," John said. "It's wrong to pretend to be an animal. It's not healthy."
"No one actually pretends to be an animal. It's that fun part I'm trying to tell you about, and you just don't get it," Matty insisted. "It's like a play on a stage. Do you think actors go around thinking they're Superman or a mobster or an alien all the time? Read my lips, dude. It's fun. Don't overthink it."
John seemed vaguely convinced. "Still," he began again.
Matty was already fed up. "You know, for someone who talks a lot about doing the right thing, you really haven't done anything about the costume you ruined. A costume I rented and had to pay back in full."
That finally got through the little monster. John looked down and linked his hands together. "I don't have that kind of money."
Matty threw his hands up. "A simple apology would have been nice."
"I'm so--"
"Don't waste your breath. Unless you mean it and you take back all that other crap you said."
John seemed to consider. "I shouldn't have done that. I got carried away."
"Well, at least you admit it was wrong to destroy someone's property."
Matty waited but nothing else came out of his roommate's mouth. John looked like he had just been given a difficult problem to solve, and his mind couldn't compute. It was very possible that he had been talking to a wall all this time, but at least, he had gotten a few things off his chest. Such as the fact that Rusty wasn't some irresponsible douche that went around getting girls pregnant because he had the sexual education of a chimpanzee. How much of that John had understood was something he had absolutely no control over.
And he intended to do nothing else about it.
***
Rusty didn't ask Maddox to drive him this time. No, the time for getting others to push him toward what he wanted had to come to an end sooner or later. All this crisis with Connor was refreshing if he thought about it, and it also gave him something he had felt lacking lately from his repertoire. That thing was called motivation, and now all that remained was to explain what his convoluted brain wanted.
She was the one to open the door, just like before. Her face lit up when she saw him. "Rusty Parker. I know a stranger when I see one."
"Mrs. May, I'm ready," he said with conviction.
She smiled at him from behind her cat glasses. "Count me in, then. Let's see what you have to tell me this time. And sing, of course."
***
She listened to him closely and nodded a few times, which was encouraging. When he finished, she touched the frames of her glasses briefly, took them off, and looked at him. "I've sent people out the door for less. No, let me finish before you explain to me how all your ships are sinking and you start making me feel sorry for you."
How did she know all that? Probably it was something that made good teachers great. Rusty decided to keep his mouth shut.
"However, because I'm beyond impressed with your talent, I believe that you have the right to put your plans in motion, no matter how treacherous they might be."
"What's treacherous about wanting an audience? Isn't that something everyone who's a performer does?"
"Yes, but it shows your age, because I'm not sure you will understand what I'm about to tell you."
"I'm listening."
"Your love for music comes from the heart, and the audience you truly want is not what you're seeking right now. I can see those little wheels turning in your brain, and I'm glad that you trust me with your plans, but what you're about to do comes from a place of cold calculation."
"Ouch. That's the first time anyone has told me I'm cold," Rusty said and looked down for a moment.
"I understand your frustration and, although I have yet to get to know you well, you're the type of person who'd rather pull a prank than go to war with someone. How am I doing so far? Am I reading you right?"
"Yeah, totally," Rusty agreed.
"You will fool everyone. That's your intention."
"Yeah, pretty much."
"If you pull it off, I'll be the first to commend you. It will be clever and entertaining, at the same time. But think of your ideal audience, Rusty. Who do you truly want to impress? What kind of person are they?"
Rusty opened his mouth to say something, but then decided otherwise. That man would never be satisfied. However, Mrs. May was waiting, so he cleared his throat and shifted in his chair. "I haven't given it much thought, I guess."
She shook her head. "You don't want to tell me, and that's fine. You'll be able to do so eventually. Now, since you're that willing to learn and become great, how about we start?"
There was nothing he wanted more. And he was dying to sing again.
TBC