The Odd Couple

THE ODD COUPLE by Andrej Koymasky (C) 2005 written on September 28th 1993 translated by the author English text kindly revised by Dave

USUAL DISCLAIMER

"THE ODD COUPLE" is a gay story, with some parts containing graphic scenes of sex between males. So, if in your land, religion, family, opinion and so on this is not good for you, it will be better not to read this story. But if you really want, or because YOU don't care, or because you think you really want to read it, please be my welcomed guest.

CHAPTER 6 - Scared...

As he entered the Taboo, Stefano saw Maurizio sitting alone in one corner, a pitcher of beer and a plate of French fries in front of him. Stefano went over to the boy.

"What are you doing here?"

"I eat 'n' drink like everybody else. This is a public place, right?" answered the boy, smiling slightly.

"Yes, but this is... it's a gay bar, Maurizio! It isn't a place for... for people like you." Stefano stammered.

"Th' sign outside doesn't say thet. 'Sides, th' fries 'r' good." the boy said smiling coyly.

"Don't you worry that they will bother you, here? You are too beautiful a boy..."

"They tried. I just said no. No problem." Maurizio looked smug.

"Well, enjoy yourself, then." Stefano said dryly and went to the bar to chat with Pigg".

He could feel Maurizio watching him, but was curiously aware that he wasn't bothered by it.

"Hey, Steu... who is that hunk that won't take his eyes off of you - the one you talked with as you came in? Will you introduce him to me?" Pigg" asked, grinning.

"He is obsessed with me..."

"For god's sake! Are you playing the prima donna now? Girl, you aren't becoming a lesbian, by any chance?" "

Stefano smiled at his friend's campy affectation. "No, don't worry. The fact is that the boy isn't gay. He is straight from his head to his toes."

"Bullocks, you silly girl! If he's after you, he's just pretending to be straight. Moreover don't you know that all of us foolish girls dream of doing it with a straight hunk like that?"

"He is a simple, naive boy. He just wants to enjoy himself, not to make love... To him a mouth is just a mouth..."

"Oh, darling! If the rumor spreads here, that boy will find so many mouths in here, ready not only to give him a blow job, but a full-time blow job!" his friend laughed.

"Hello!" said a voice to Stefano's right.

Stefano turned while Pigg" answered the greeting. It was a boy around twenty- five, quite nice, with two earrings in his left ear, longish peroxided hair, eyes of a strange blue-violet, slightly blistered, and an Ascot scarf at his neck. Their eyes met and the boy said, "Hello. You are new here, right? My name's Gino..."

Stefano returned the boy's smile and said, "Not new, just recycled. Anyway, I'm Stefano."

"It's a real pleasure to meet you..." the boy answered looking at him from head to toe - rapidly, but showing his appreciation.

Gino was slightly effeminate, but not so much that it really bothered Stefano. The man thought that if he pretended to court him, perhaps Maurizio would understand and leave.

"Gino... short for Luigi?"

"Nooo... for Dionigi."

"Dionigi? Like Saint Dionysius the Mystic?"

"Oh, good lord, no! Like Dionysius the tyrant of Syracuse. I'm not a saint, I'm just a woman." the boy said with mock seriousness.

Stefano looked for an instant between the boy's legs where his tight trousers showed a generous swelling. Pointing at that with a wink, he said, "A woman? If so, what's that?"

With a seraphic smile Gino said, "Oh, it is my child... looking for a daddy... someone like you."

Stefano smiled but said nothing. Gino put his hand on Stefano's, on the counter, and said, "All joking aside, you know I like you a whole fucking lot? Unfortunately I'm engaged, but... tonight my man is away. He went to his parents' thirtieth wedding anniversary. So I'm off duty. "

"Isn't your boyfriend jealous?"

"Not only jealous! He is worse than us Sicilians!"

"Do you live with him?"

"No, we are still family girls. Do you live alone?"

Stefano was near answering yes. But had decided that he was not interested in having that boy in his bed. He never liked to interfere with a couple. It would be enough just to make Maurizio believe he was courting Gino. So he didn't answer.

"May I offer you a drink?" the boy asked him.

"Shouldn't I be the one to offer?"

"Oh, come on! I would like you to offer me... something else." the boy said with a wink and asked, "What would you like to drink?"

"A port, thanks."

"Ah, wonderful! I love it, too! Pigg", two ports, please."

"Ready, beautiful!" the man answered and served them.

"Let's drink to our meeting!" the boy proposed.

They touched glasses and sipped the wine. The boy didn't take his eyes from Stefano's, looking at him with a slight smile, veiled with mischief. Then Gino said:

"If you live alone... later we could go over to your place..."

Stefano put his hand on the boy's shoulder and said, "Don't you think you're moving a little too fast? After all..."

Suddenly a hand landed heavily on Stefano's shoulder. He stopped speaking and turned, afraid that it was Maurizio. Instead, he found himself face to face with a man of around thirty, looking at him with a mean expression.

"Take your hand off my boyfriend!"

Meanwhile Gino, with wide eyes, exclaimed: "Mario! You got free!"

Stefano took his hand from Gino's shoulder and said, " Really, we were just talking..."

"Yeah? I wasn't born yesterday! I could see how you were looking at him! Don't play smart with me or I'll..."

The man stopped speaking as his hand literally flew off Stefano's shoulder. Maurizio, who had come over near them, grabbed the man by his jacket collar and pulled the man toward him. "Ye'll threaten no one - do ye understand?"

"Fuck you, asshole! He was flirting with my boyfriend!"

"No, it was thet little bitch of a faggot who was trying t' hook my friend. I saw it all."

"No, Mario, I swear..." Gino cried.

Mario said, "Mind your own fucking business, mister muscle!"

"Sure, man. It's right what I'm doin. Now you two get outa here, or I'll send ye out - on stretchers." Maurizio said in a low, but sharp voice. His eyes shone, menacing as daggers.

The pub grew silent as everybody turned to watch the scene. Pigg" smiled bemusedly. Stefano stared, speechless.

Mario blared, "But it is mine to..."

"I said get outa here." Maurizio hissed taking half a step towards the other man and lifting him up in the air by his jacket lapels. "Get outta my face, dickhead!"

"But we were just discussing... calmly..." Mario protested, crestfallen, as he looked longingly down at the floor.

"I'm speakin calmly, too. Don't make me loose m' temper!" Maurizio said evenly, without moving.

"Let's go, Mario..." Gino peeped, pulling the man's coattail.

"Let me go..." Mario said, a hint of worry in his voice.

"Yeah, sure. And take yer sweetie's advice. Leave." Maurizio said and put him down.

Mario and Gino scurried out as everyone watched.

Pigg" smiled and said to Stefano, "Hey Steu, I didn't know ye had a body guard!" then to the boy, "What's yer name, kid?"

"Maurizio..."

"Very good, Maurizio, tonight ye c'n order all you want fer free, it's on th' house. You were great, kid!"

Maurizio shook his head slightly and went back to his table.

Pigg" then asked in a low voice what there really was between him and Maurizio. Stefano repeated what he had already said, without getting into details. Then, feeling tired, he said goodbye and was going to go away when Maurizio was immediately at his side.

"I'll come out with ya."

"No, Maurizio. Why don't you go with your friend, tonight? Isn't he waiting for you?"

"Who, Renato? No, I told him tonight thet I was busy. I'll come out with ye."

"No, please. I need to be alone for a while. Can't you understand that?"

Maurizio looked him in the eye and said, "Yes, I cn understand it. Sometimes I need t' be alone too. Okay. I'll finish m' beer then go back home. G'night, Stefano. Sleep well."

"I will. I'll take one of my pills."

"Pills? What pills? Dope?" the boy asked looking at him frowning.

"Sleeping pills, just sleeping pills."

"They're garbage, all the same!"

"But it helps me not to think. Just one gets me to dreamland."

"At times t' dream is even worse than t' think."

"Good night, Maurizio. And remember that this afternoon you still used one of the two times you had to come to see me..." Stefano said waving goodbye and going out.

Maurizio went to his table, drained his mug and went to the counter, his wallet in hand.

"It's on th' house, I told ye..." Pigg" said to him, smiling.

Just then angry voices could be heard from the street. Maurizio sprang out to see two figures disappearing into the shadows and Stefano kneeling on the pavement. He ran over and helped him up.

"Those two bastards, right?" he asked, furious.

Stefano nodded yes and leaned on the boy's arm.

"What did they do t' ye?"

"Nothing... just a punch to my midsection."

"Fucking bastard pigs... If I catch 'em... Does it hurt?"

"A little. I can't get my breath."

"You're white as a sheet. I'll take ye home."

"No..."

"I said I'll take ye home. My old jalopy is just around th' corner. If ye lean on me, cn ye walk?"

"Yes, but... I'll hire a taxi..."

" M' jalopy is free. Let's go."

He took Stefano to his old Fiat 500 and helped him in. Then he went around, got in behind the steering wheel, and started the car. Stefano smiled to himself as he saw how the boy seemed too big for the car. Then he grimaced in pain. Even as he drove, Maurizio watched the man. "Does it hurt?"

"Rather. It was a kidney punch..."

"Rotten faggots! Er .. I'm sorry, gays!"

Stefano sneered, "In this case faggot seems more suitable."

"I oughta beat th' shit outa them!"

They pulled up to Stefano's house. The man started to open his door.

"Thank you, Maurizio. Good night."

"No, I'll come upstairs with ye."

"No, Maurizio, you need to go. I can go upstairs by myself."

"It's four floors. I'll come up with ye," the boy said as he locked his car and came around near the man.

"Please... I don't need that."

"Mebbe not then. But now ye need me. Look - ye're tremblin. Lean on me 'n' we'll go up."

Stefano surrendered. As they reached his floor, he unlocked and opened the door. Maurizio steered him inside then closed the door behind him.

"Thank you Maurizio. But now you must go."

"No, tonight I'll stay with ye."

"I don't want you here with me, can't you understand that?"

"You need me, so I'll stay with ye," the boy answered, quietly but resolutely. He took off his jacket.

"Listen, Maurizio, I can take one of my pills and sleep - by myself." Stefano insisted, just as resolute as the boy.

"Instead o' that shit, why don't ye try something different?"

"And what might that be?" Stefano asked looking suspiciously at the boy as he recalled their recent sexual exploits.

"No, not that!" the boy said hurriedly. "Come here, t' th' bed." he said then, seeing the man's hesitation, added, "No, look, I'm not stupid. I understood thet ye don't want sex, tonight. Cm'ere; cm'on!" he said, leading the man by the hand to the bed.

"Maurizio, I don't..."

" Cm'ere," the boy said. His tone was patient but insistent. "Look, Stefano, I'm not even takin off m' clothes," he said, pulling off his shoes, climbing onto the bed, and sitting with his legs spread wide. "Take off yer shoes and cm'ere," he said, patting the mattress between his legs. He pulled Stefano to him, chest to chest, then lay back, resting Stefano's head on his shoulder and leaning his cheek against it. With his arms and legs he clasped the man's body lightly.

Then with his hand he caressed the nape of Stefano's neck and whispered to him low and gentle, "Ye see, Mum w'd do this when Pa was sick so he c'd relax. She'd caress 'im this way and he'd fall asleep - no nightmares..." Maurizio pressed his fingers up and down along Stefano's spine slowly, in a gesture halfway between a caress and a massage.

Stefano closed his eyes and inhaled the musky perfume of this male body that wrapped around him.

"D'ye like this? D'ye feel okay stayin this way?" the boy asked, continuing to caress his back.

"Yes..."

"D'ye feel a little better?"

"Yes..."

"Better than with those stupid pills?"

"Oh, yes..." Stefano answered and looked up at the boy. He kissed Maurizio lightly on the cheek.

Maurizio lowered his head to place an awkward kiss on the man's forehead.

"Why are you doing this for me, Maurizio?" the man asked, pensive. "Why?"

"Ye need it, right?" the boy answered simply. "Wouldn't ye do it fer me if I needed it?"

"Yes..."

"So?"

"That's all there is to it?" Stefano asked, still pensive.

"Well, perhaps ye're, uh... special, and..." Maurizio said pulling the man's head again to his shoulder, so that he could speak without Stefano looking at him. He resumed the massage along Stefano's spine.

The man tried to wait, but he was eager for Maurizio to continue. So after a while, he prompted, "Special, and...?"

"Well... I gave Mum th' flowers 'n' th' cakes ye sent and she just about shit her panties in surprise. Then she started t' cry and looked at me like she was seein me for th' first time..." Maurizio spoke so softly that Stefano tried to look up at him to see his expression. However, Maurizio held the man's head to his shoulder - gentle but resolute. He continued, "Then I realized thet Mum don't need just m' money, but also a flower, a cake, some kindness... 'n' you taught me thet without sayin a single word. So I told her thet I had met a very special man, who was sendin her those things..."

"You shouldn't have said that..."

"Why? I never lie. So, she wanted t' make those biscuits fer ye and told me t' bring 'em t' ye. I told her thet ye're alone, and t'day's Sunday..."

Maurizio moved his pelvis slightly, so as to get settled better. He stretched his legs a little and his clasp became lighter. Stefano embraced him instinctively to stay as close to the boy as possible.

Maurizio asked him, "Are ye happy I came again?"

Stefano, couldn't answer him right away. Confused thoughts whirled in his mind. For sure it was quite pleasant to stay that way with this young man, all strength and gentleness, naive, simple, spontaneous. However, Stefano's maturity and wisdom also told him that if he didn't control himself, he could create a situation that would be more painful than difficult.

"Are ye happy?" Maurizio asked again, in his soft voice.

"Yes," finally Stefano answered, "but also scared."

"Scared?"

"I'm scared you will hurt me."

"I'll never hurt you! Not I!"

"You wouldn't do it on purpose, but how can you avoid hurting me? You are what you are. I am what I am."

"I dunno... ye're so complicated," Maurizio said with candor, "but I'll be very careful not t' hurt ye."

Maurizio caressed Stefano's back in silence for a while. Then he whispered, "Would ye like t' unbutton my shirt?" He loosened his arms. The man opened the boy's shirt and laid his cheek against his bare skin. Then Maurizio whispered again, "If ye want... ye cn kiss me, Stefano... like th' other night..."

Stefano turned his face to the boy's chest. His lips found a nipple, already hard. "He says I'm special," he thought, "but he always knows how to make me do what he wants, how to make me desire to give him what he needs... Stefano, Stefano... didn't you decide that you didn't want sex with this boy any more? What's happening to you, now?"

"It will be better for you to undress, Maurizio... naked"... he said, wriggling from the boy's embrace and surrendering to his own desire.

The boy was out of his clothes in a flash. Stefano pulled off just his trousers and shirt, to free his movement. Maurizio pulled back the blankets and stretched out on the sheets.

"You take off everything too, come on!" he said to the man.

"Why?" Stefano asked, surprised.

"I like t' feel m' hands on your back while I take care o' ye. A beautiful back is just thet - a beautiful back - not man 'r woman."

Stefano smiled to himself at that awkward half-compliment. He took off his undershirt but kept on his briefs. He kneeled beside that splendid young man's powerful body, pulled the boy to him and kissed him on the mouth with all the passion and abandon of the last time. But this time, Carlo's ghost was no longer between them.

This was Maurizio - the big, beautiful boy who waited for Stefano to bring him to ecstasy and oh, how he longed to bring that young man to ecstasy. He brought the boy up to that point slowly, savoring the male body, sinking the young erection deep into his throat, breathing through his nose pressed into Maurizio's pubic hair, inhaling the good, clean, natural perfume of the boy's virility. He dedicated himself wholly to the boy, stopping only briefly to massage his own turgid genitals still confined in his briefs. At times he abandoned the boy's glorious manhood to lick other erogenous places on his wonderful body - to kiss him, to see the ecstatic expression with which his splendid bed companion savored his attentions - to see and feel the boy's excitation rise towards his explosion.

Finally, the two bodies achieved their peak of ecstasy simultaneously and unloaded in a counterpoint of little whimpers and moans.

Stefano could not yet leave that marvelous body still shuddering from the pleasure it had just received. He pulled off his briefs, all soaked in his sperm, and wiped up with his undershirt, throwing all on the beside rug. Then he lay next to the boy. They embraced lying side by side, their legs tightly intertwined.

Stefano thought about this strange situation he had gotten into, despite his determination not to let himself get involved. He thought again about the past three days and to all that had happened from the moment he left the warm, tight, safe, dark prison of his pain. He thought about the safe job he had left, about the friends in Bologna he had abandoned, about the loneliness he had cultivated - all to find himself. And now, to have to start all over again from the beginning like a boy just coming of age... in the arms of a boy that he didn't want, but that he yet worshipped...

Maurizio's calm and regular breathing told him that the boy was already sleeping the sleep of the innocents. The boy snuggled up against him, sighing deeply as he seemed to sink into yet deeper sleep.

Luciano, Maurizio... Two people not suitable for him; not right, and yet... here he was again, with Maurizio! Better him than Luciano! Well, anyway, he had caught himself, thus giving himself a chance to think.

Stefano looked at the splendid naked body of this boy who relaxed against him - so vulnerable, so strong, so confident, and yet so impossible. This boy so virile, so perfect for his man's body and yet so childlike, so incredibly inadequate for what Stefano needed as a mature man.

He was sure that Maurizio was sincere when he offered to embrace the man and proclaimed no sex for tonight. But then the boy's desire had awakened and with the same innocence and sweet sincerity had moved him again to sex.

And, Stefano recalled when the boy had affirmed - half amazed and half pleased - that never in his life had any girl been able to give him the quantity and quality of pleasure he had received from Stefano. If only Maurizio could show him just a little love! But he knew that this didn't even occur to Maurizio. It wasn't egotism, he was sure. Instead it was the utter incapacity to be aware of and to feel another person's needs.

Stefano felt magnetically attracted to Maurizio, sure. But he also clearly understood that a relationship with the boy could lead him only to frustration, failure, and pain.

In a certain way, Renato had taught Maurizio - and before Renato, Maurizio's father - to simply satisfy his own needs without ever considering whether the other (regardless of gender) might also have needs. Maurizio was not wicked, not at all. The boy gave him attention, protection, and tenderness. But he was unable to see, to feel, to establish a connection between those good points and his sexual drive.

Stefano lightly kissed the boy's slightly parted lips and savored the sweetness of his breath. Maurizio aroused his tenderness - he was like an animal, instinctive, not a man - a delicious, likable, primitive animal - twice as dangerous to the man. He had to free himself from the boy, but how? It was a lot easier to free oneself from a civilized, refined, egotist - an intelligent animal like Luciano. Yes, Luciano was way less dangerous to him than Maurizio. But this boy was way more fascinating - the fascination, perhaps, of danger?

Stefano sighed and Maurizio instinctively snuggled up even more closely to him.

The man bent to kiss him on the throat, touched the tip of his tongue to the gentle bend of the Adam's apple, and felt his slightly salty taste. Maurizio interrupted his deep and regular breath and pushed himself more against the man's body, lightly shivering and murmuring indistinct words.

"Sleep, my boy..." Stefano whispered caressing the boy's back and nape of his neck, "sleep quietly, now..."

Maurizio sighed, swallowed, and again relaxed in his sleep. Stefano continued to ruminate. How could he fit in with this boy who fucked underage girls? The man was slightly disturbed by this image. Was there any place for him in this boy's life? Was there any place for this boy in Stefano's new life? Would Maurizio alternate his sex nights between those tasteless sixteen-year-olds and his skilled middle-aged faggot who was so "special?" Or, could Stefano, used to monogamy, alternate his own sex nights between gay boys taking care of his needs, and this splendid, naive, strong, straight boy? Stefano couldn't answer. Not now, at least - not with Maurizio in his bed, naked, in his arms.

The next morning Stefano awoke feeling fresh and relaxed. He looked at his watch - seven 'o clock. Maurizio had to go to work. He woke the boy gently, admiring the beautiful curves of the small, firm buttocks. The boy was sleeping on his tummy.

The boy opened his eyes and smiled at him. "Did ye sleep well?" he asked Stefano, rubbing his eyes.

"Yes, very well. And you?"

"Like a rock."

"It's seven o'clock. You have to get ready for work."

"Yeah... unfortunately," the boy said. He sat up on the bed and stretched voluptuously, like a cat.

Stefano kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"I have enough time t' shower. Can I?"

"Sure, and meanwhile I'll fix you some breakfast with whatever I have in the fridge. Today I have to buy some groceries."

Maurizio got up from the bed. Stefano admired his lean grace, the beautiful dangling member, the small and firm ass. The bruises on his trunk and thigh were now an intense purple, but there was no swelling. By the way he was moving, it seemed that they weren't even hurting any more. Nor did Stefano hurt where he had taken the kidney punch.

The man got up from the bed, put on a bathrobe, and went to the kitchen.

He had just finished preparing breakfast when Maurizio came in, completely naked, vigorously brushing his body with a towel.

The boy smiled. "Shit, Stefano, if I didn' have t' go t' work, I'd be ready t' spend th' whole morning in bed with ye."

Stefano nodded to him, "But I'd rather not, Maurizio. Even last night, it would have been better not to..."

"I know. But then... I got turned on, and... ye wanted it too, no?" the boy said, almost apologizing and smiling in embarrassment.

"You're very beautiful, Maurizio, monumentally desirable. But I risk falling in love with you... falling on my knees in front of you to worship your body. "

Maurizio smiled brightly at him. "If ye want, ye cn worship me. I might like thet idea!"

"Yes. But I am forty-eight, more than twice your age. I'm tired. I have no more strength to fight. I'm afraid that if I fall in love with you, I'll become a burden to you as well as myself. It's better for me to accept being alone. It has been very good, with you, in a way - very, very good. But now it will be better for me to look for another boy, then another, without staying with anybody, until at last I'd get out of everybody's way and leave this world..."

"But... when are ye goin t' stop hurting yourself, Stef?"

"Hurting myself...?" Stefano asked astounded at the unexpected question.

"Yeah. What always scares ye?"

"Scares...? Yes, yes it's true. I'm scared to hurt as I did when Carlo left me. I'm scared to look for another Carlo, knowing full well that I will never find him. I'm scared to be alone even if my bed is never empty..."

"Ye mean thet if I were t' take up with ye, ye're afraid thet one day I'd leave ye and ye'd be all alone again - empty-handed?" the boy asked, frowning.

"That, too, possibly..."

Then Maurizio smiled at him serenely. "But that's practically impossible. You give me head so skillfully and give me such wonderful and strong pleasure, I'm not such a fool as to leave someone like you." Suddenly, the boy blushed all over.

Then, putting the towel over his shoulders, he said, "Ye're th' most special man I ever met. Yet you talk about me and you like two people shaking hands 'n' sayin goodbye!" He pointed towards the bedroom. " I'm not saying just for thet... there's more... so much more... It's just not right what ye say."

"All right, Maurizio. Let's talk seriously about us. For you it's good as it is, right?"

The boy nodded yes, earnestly.

"But what about me? You are beautiful, so very beautiful. For more than a year I didn't have sex any more. And you were... available."

"I accepted ye th' first time because I was turned on by thet wonderful massage! And ye... made yerself available. I said t' myself, why not? A mouth is a mouth. Then I discovered thet yes, yer mouth is special, but all of ye is special - in more ways, not just for sex. I mean, yeah, th' sex I have with ye is fantastic, special, but... I feel good when I'm with ye, like now. Sex is only a part. Don't ye feel good with me? Tell me th' truth! I'm telling ye th' truth."

"Well, in part I feel okay. But in part... I'm afraid you're not my ideal. Rather, I'm sure of it. I think your body is wonderful, but... but this is not enough for me."

Maurizio looked at him without understanding. "D' ye mean... ye want a threesome, two or three males together? But ye said thet with your man... ye said thet, ye never cheated. Can't I be... yer man?"

"No, Maurizio, you can't. But now eat your breakfast, it's getting late."

Maurizio shook his head in confusion, but sat and ate. Then he stood up and got dressed. Stefano accompanied him to the door. Before leaving, Maurizio turned and looked into his eyes.

"Can I... cm'over here again, Stefano?"

"Not counting tonight, you have used one of the two times in one year. So, you still can visit once more in the next twelve months - that was the agreement."

"Right. Once more in the next twelve months, was the agreement," the boy repeated, but without mocking. "Okay, Stefano. Good bye," he said seriously, turning and going down the stairs, two steps at a time.

The man was astounded at the boy's sudden capitulation.

CONTINUES IN CHAPTER 7

In my home page I've put some more of my stories. If someone wants to read them, the URL is http://andrejkoymasky.com If you want to send me feed-back, or desire to help revising my English translations, so that I can put on-line more of my stories in English please e-mail at andrej@andrejkoymasky.com