Chapter 11

Writer's Note: This one is going to be split apart as well, and ends on a rather interesting note, I must admit. We learn something interesting about Conner. Hope you enjoy.

It really is a beautiful bar, how it is in my head. When Conner reached it he saw all of the whorls and loops from the tree it came from. When he set his hands on it, it seemed to sigh in welcome under him, warming his hands and heart.

‘quite a scene you made there. Third or fourth?’ the barkeep asked. Conner was confused by the statement.

‘what do you mean by that?’

‘is this the third girl this week or the fifth?’ he asked, clarifying.

‘why would you ask a question like that’

‘because I know your type, Conner. You play with them and then throw them back when you have used them to your hearts content. I know your culture, I know you. You do not value relationships or sex at all but throw it around like candy or credits. So is she the third or the fifth?’ he asked, wiping down the rest of the bar with a soft cloth, avoiding his arm. Conner shook his head.

‘I do not do that, sir. She is in fact the only woman I have ever asked to go with me to anything, ever. When I do end up with someone, when I love them as much as the old stories talk about, I will create a union with them and we will be together forever, if she can handle it. I will not bail on her and I will not allow it to just deteriorate. Call me old fashioned, but that is what I will be like. Josh calls me weak for it, but he calls me a lot of things,’ Conner answered, looking him straight in his good eye. Conner knew it made him look weak to most people but after a time he learned how to no longer care for what the hell other people thought of him, except for Josh and Jude. The bartender considered him carefully.

‘fine, I’ll accept that answer, and I think you are actually telling the truth. I just wonder if you really like women at all. You seem awfully attached to that Joshua kid. If I did not think that there was some truth in what you just said about your potential future woman then I might think you are a homosexual,’ he said lightly, returning to rubbing down the bar top. Conner did not know what to say, because he sensed that this was not a man to lie to, not if he wanted the truth in the future. This was his payment but he had never said these thoughts out loud to anybody. That, though, might be because he never really had anybody he could tell. His parents were always out of that loop, any loop for that matter, and Josh or Jude were not an option either. If he did then it would mean him not having a home or any of the extras that came with living with Josh and Jude. He could live with out them, and had for many, many years. He had lived with less than most of his class as well. But he had gotten used to his current way of life and did not want to leave it over a stupid little secret. Over a huge, stupid little secret. However, he was in a situation where he could finally trust somebody and figured that is was more beneficial to actually tell him what he was. He leaned in, finally ready to tell somebody about it.

‘barkeep,’ one of the other males in his class, Don, walked up and tapped on the counter, ‘give me two beers, whatever you have that tastes good, and two cosmos for the ladies. Conner, nice to see you away from the prince. How are you doing?’

‘I am doing okay, Don. And you?’ Conner asked him. He was a little huskier than most, but Conner knew that he spent many hours in the gym. Sometimes there was just no slimming down a body and he could tell that the male could lift the equivalent of five of them. During a fire in one of the buildings, when they had been trapped in a room he had actually managed to pry open a sealed door with his bare hands. He had thick brown hair and brown eyes, and he was an ass. He did not like Conner, and he hated Josh. He was constantly trying to push him under a moving vehicle, in the figurative sense.

‘just wonderful. It is going to be a good night, I can just tell. Leah is probably going to help me fulfill a dream of a long time and she has been hesitant but I think I finally got her to give in. We might be having a three way tonight, if I can play my cards right. Would you like to watch, or maybe even join in, Conner? It is going to be a time of a lifetime. I can not wait until tonight,’ he said with a smirk. Don knew that Conner really was not interested in something like that but he always made a point to ask, to push his buttons. Conner did not care that other people did not feel the same way he did about relations and relationships but it was when they decided to try to get him to join, that was when he really started to feel they over stepped their bounds. Don just overstepped his.

‘that is nice news for you, don, but I am not interested. I thank you for the invitation, though,’ Conner declined as gracefully as possible. The bartender finished don’s drinks and held them out to him, waiting for the male to notice that they were up. He did after a second of considering Conner and took them from the bartender. He smiled slightly and leaned in just a bit so what he said next was private.

‘well, if it will make you come along I will take any deposit you might like to give. This account takes deposits and pays out, if you get what I mean. Whatever you want. It is not as big of a deal as the previous generation has made of it, and I would be willing to show you the ways,’ he paused and looked Conner up and down as he was leaning on the counter. For the first time in a long time Conner blushed, almost as bright as Cassandra had a little while ago.

‘I’ll think it over, I promise. I think the girls are looking for you though,’ Conner answered, gesturing to the females Leah and Emily. They were waving to him, trying to get his attention again as their drinks were getting a little warm and don was not there cracking jokes. He was a funny man, he was, and good to be around. Conner might actually consider his offer seriously.

‘well, I will let you know when we leave,’ don answered and gave Conner a hearty wink. Conner nodded to him and don walked back over to his group to entertain them and get them ready for a fun time that night. Conner turned back to the barkeep and put his head in his hands.

‘oh dear god, if there is any, why did I just say that? I need something to,’ Conner said, and then heard a glass tap onto the surface in front of him, ‘drink. What did you give me?’

‘a rum and dark soda. Trust me it is good. And I think it suits you,’ he answered. Conner picked up the glass and tipped some of the drink into his mouth. He held it there for just a second and then swallowed, savoring the cold.

‘this is good. How did you ever think to put these two together? I have just been dealing with straight liquors for years, not much liking them but needing to make a good appearance in front of Jude’s people but never really liking it,’ Conner babbled.

‘I have just always tried to mix and match everything, even the stuff that does not seem like it would go at first. The rum just has a nice tang to it that comes through the sweetness of the dark soda. This has always been a big hit,’ he answered, ‘so, are you going to take him up on is offer?’

‘I do not know. I guess this kind of divulges my secret to you, does it not?’ Conner asked, and he nodded, ‘well, I have always wondered about this. I refuse to go to the houses for this, because that could ruin both mine and Josh’s. Who is to say that we were not doing this kind of thing all along, out of the public’s eyes, and even out of Jude’s? So I have never even made this a part of my thinking, always pushing it back and denying it. I believe Josh has guessed at it a little, but he does not seem to care. Not like how Jude would. The problem is, their grants and donations would all fall off and every one would turn against them the moment the public found out they were keeping a little gay boy in the house. Then there would be tribunals and all of this research would be discredited for the public and his name changed in all the textbooks. I would have nowhere to go, except for living as an employee of one of the sex houses for males who like males. The weird thing is, I do not only like males, I like women as well. As don said, both deposits and payments can be made, and not just to other males.’