Ch 60 Revisit to Bob’s Part II
Skye was stunned. He looked up to see a guy about 5’10 with startlingly blond hair and light blue eyes. He was considerably stockier than Matt, with a square jaw and a slightly mocking mien. Skye realized he hadn’t asked Matt what sport he did, but now he saw that these guys were both wrestlers like him, only smaller and lighter, and that—uncannily—this had to be the Mason that Matt had just referred to. It seemed like some kind of cosmic joke that he would arrive at that precise moment.
“Fuck you, Mason. I’m here doing my own thing. This isn’t about you.”
“Yeah, it’s just that I can’t believe you’re still wearing those.”
“Well, you sure seem interested in my underwear, pal. Fuck off.”
Matt shucked down his briefs and stood naked and defiant with the boxer brief in his hand. Skye would never have been this bold in high school, but he did notice that Matt had reason not to be shy. His cock and balls were more than respectable, and Skye imagined for a moment that there had been mean-spirited joking in the locker room but that Matt, though on the slight side, at least had the equipment not to feel ashamed.
“Aw, take it easy, man. I’m just here trying on stuff.” He turned and seemed to notice Skye for the first time. “Sorry, man. You probably didn’t expect this.”
Skye didn’t answer. He fixed his gaze on Mason and took a step toward Matt, who had pulled on the boxer brief and was readjusting his nuts. Skye asked, “How do they feel?”
Mason was surprised. “You’re with him?”
Matt said, “Yeah. Got a problem?”
Mason looked at Skye’s build and backed down a little, saying nothing but looking from one to the other.
Matt looked at his teammate and said, “It ain’t like that, asshole. Skye works in a department store and I just wanted some advice. Frankly, if you really wanna know, I’m here because I’m sick of the crap you give me about how I dress, so I thought I’d make a change. Happy?”
Skye had imagined Matt being slightly bullied in the locker room, given his previous stories, so he was surprised at the vituperativeness of his comments. Mason just looked down, perhaps finally aware of how hurtful he’d been.
Matt turned to Skye: “These feel pretty good, and I don’t mind the thigh coverage.”
“You’ve got slender legs but they’re muscled so the thigh coverage should be ok. Pouch good?”
“Yup.” Matt grinned as he cupped his balls and then admired himself in the mirror.
Mason had opened up his package of boxers and when Matt glanced up, he saw to his astonishment, a package of tie tea whites partially hidden among the boxer briefs that Mason had chosen.
“Well, well, well, Mr. Hypocrite. What do I see? Those wouldn’t be tie tea whites, would they?”
Mason’s pale skin blushed furiously. He stammered, “I must have picked those up by mistake…”
Matt just looked at him. “Look, dude, you give me all this crap and yet here you are with the same briefs you make fun of. What the fuck, man?”
Mason couldn’t reply.
“Okay, I see… well now that I’ve got some boxer briefs and you might be wearing tie tea whites, maybe you could shut the fuck up about it in the locker room.”
Mason said nothing. Matt continued, “So-o-o.. does this mean you change into tie tea whites at home in the evening?”
Mason gulped, “Usually.”
“So then why do you harass me in the locker room about my underwear?”
“I dunno. Sorry. I’ll stop, ok? Just don’t tell anyone.”
Matt regarded him. Saying nothing more, he slid off his boxer briefs and repackaged them, standing naked. At that point a middle aged man came in with a shirt and some underwear of his own, looked at the naked student, said nothing, and went into one of the two private changing stalls.
Skye felt like Matt had the upper hand, but he also knew the importance of saving face, so he stepped in with, “Listen, dude. I don’t know you but I can tell you that in college, guys wear all different kinds of underwear, and nobody makes fun of anyone else’s choice. That’s a stupid high school thing to do. Guys in my dorm and on the team wear boxer briefs but they also wear just plain briefs, and often boxers for hanging around the dorm, but some don’t even do that.”
“What do you mean?” asked Mason.
“Well, it’ll sound funny but my roommate is a total nudist. Guy never wears clothes in the dorm.”
“Really?!” exclaimed both students simultaneously. Their unintended timing made them laugh slightly.
“Yup,” said Skye. “Took me a while to get used to walking in and having my roommate with no clothes, but it’s no big deal now. So anyway, Mason, I think you’d better live and let live.” Without actually realizing it, Skye had moved a little closer to Matt, a movement that seemed to convey protection for the slimmer guy.
Mason looked chastised and seem to have the epiphany that mocking someone else didn’t actually make him look cool in the eyes of his friends.
“All right,” he said. “Matt, sorry, man. I shouldn’t have been such an asshole. To make it up, I”ll try these tighties on right now, ok?”
Matt kind of smirked. “Well, ok. Let’s see how you feel.”
Mason took off his sneakers and removed his shirt and shorts. He was wearing slightly stretched gray boxerbriefs which he removed unceremoniously. Like his teammate, he stood naked while he opened the briefs package. Skye noted that Mason, too, had a decent cock and balls, and he seemed very much at ease. He pulled on the white Jockey-style shorts and readjusted his sac. “There,” he said to Matt. “Happy now?”
“Yep!”exclaimed Matt. “See? I don’t make fun of you.”
“Ok ok. I said sorry.” Mason gave a little grin that made Skye think that within a year or so, he’d have that winning smile that Kirk had perfected.
Skye turned to Matt: “You wanna try on those trunks?”
“Sure,” responded Matt. He removed his briefs, opened the trunks package and slipped them out. He stepped into them and pulled them up, again readjusting his sac. “These feel a little like briefs but cover my legs. This pouch is amazing. Like a jock but smoother.”
“Yeah,” said Skye. “That’s what I’ve heard. I’ve never had a pair myself.”
He looked over at Mason who was transfixed, staring at Matt. It was clear he had never seen, much less tried on, a pair of trunks. “Wow,” he said, “are those as comfortable as they look?”
“Sure are, man. You should try on a pair. Or maybe, to save time, just try these.” In one swift movement, he pulled off the trunks and tossed them to Mason, who, again one movement, caught the trunks, waistbanded his boxer briefs, and pulled on the trunks. “Thanks, man. Oh fuck. These feel awesome.” He cupped his balls to test the material and then said through gritted teeth: “Oh, fuck, not now.” Next moment the other two guys realized what Mason was going through, and in an effort not to embarrass him, they turned away. Matt grabbed his white briefs, pulled them on, and donned the rest of his clothes.
“Uh, dude,” he said over his shoulder, “I’m gonna need those trunks.”
“Now?” asked the red-faced former bully.
“Yup. No big deal man. We’ve all done that. Just give ‘em to me now. I gotta check out and Skye has better things to do, I’ll bet.”
Trying awkwardly to achieve the impossible task of removing the trunks without revealing his growing erection, Mason realized he had no choice, so he yanked them off and tossed them to Matt, who carefully put them back in their recloseable bag. Mason quickly grabbed his original boxer briefs and pulled them on along with the rest of his clothes. “Uh, thanks… and you won’t…?”
“Hey,” said Matt, “what happens at Bob’s, stays at Bob’s.” And, for the first time feeling power over Mason, he smirked and left the changing room, followed by Skye.
At the counter, Skye noticed the same slender cashier who had checked him out (“In both senses,” Skye thought to himself) the week before with Kirk, and an idea dawned on him.
“Gimme your stuff, including that shirt,” he muttered to Matt. “Quick.”
Matt was puzzled but he handed over the clothes.
“Watch this,” Skye murmured. “Hey buddy” he said to the cashier. Hearing this, Matt was surprised at the emotion it elicited in him: jealousy. What was happening?
The clerk didn’t look up at first, taking the clothes and muttering a perfunctory “Did you find everything okay?”
As he had the week before, Skye leaned in and said, “Yup. Especially this underwear.” For the first time, the clerk looked up and Skye was gratified to see him take a big gulp as his eyes rested on the strong jawline and steely eyes atop the muscular build of the Native American. “Oh…” he stumbled… “good…” He started to stack the underwear and then stopped for a moment, “And, er, is this the right size for you… sir?” Skye had, of course, never been called “Sir” by anyone and he found it rather gratifying.
“Yup. I like ‘em tight.”
“Oh, well,… if you like that… and you made your choice carefully. Ok.”
Skye looked at him and the clerk stared back into his eyes, seeing there the entire interchange from last week, and he understood what Skye was conveying. The clerk muttered, “You know there’s a sale on these today. Buy one shirt, and get four free packages of men’s underwear.”
The clerk looked nervously around to see if any of his colleagues had heard this outrageous offer, but they were busy and it was fairly noisy.
“Perfect,” said Skye, and flashed his best approximation of Kirk’s smile. “So just the shirt, then.”
“Yessir,” said the clerk, dry-mouthed. “That’ll be $8.99.” Matt, having observed all this but still unsure as to what had happened, stepped forward and tossed a $10 bill on the counter. The clerk put his shirtband and the underwear packages in a bag with the receipt and handed Matt the change. He looked at Skye: “Thank you, sir. Please come again.” They held each other’s gaze for just a moment too long, Skye because he was enjoying the dominance he so seldom experienced, and the clerk because he was transfixed by Skye’s looks.
“Thank you,” both students said simultaneously. They looked back to see Mason a couple of customers behind them in line, and Skye was gratified to know that once he explained what had occurred at the counter, Matt would also feel like he’d vanquished his tormentor. The two of them walked to the bus.
On the bus back to campus, Matt explained to Skye about the situation in his high school, where a group of 18-year-old seniors took an extra year before graduating. During this year, they attended some classes, worked at various jobs, and helped maintain the school. The theory was that certain boys (always boys) needed another year to mature before going off to college. On the whole, the program was a success, and Matt felt like he’d be much readier for the university after this extra year. “Besides,” he finished, “it’ll give me a chance to grow some more and gain some muscle, and maybe height.” Skye felt a certain fondness for this guy, even a certain amount of envy. He wished he himself had attended a school that looked out for the students this way. Increasingly, he became grateful for the wrestling skills that had helped him move on from a poor educational system.
The subject changed when Matt asked, “How did you get all those clothes to cost only 9 bucks?”
Slightly, though only slightly self-conscious, Skye told him of the previous Saturday’s events, explaining how surprised he was when the clerk offered him free packages of underwear. “Took me a second to realize what he was doing. I think… well, to be honest, I think he just thought I was a hot dude and he was… well,… flirting, I guess. I was glad to save the money, so I didn’t really think about it till later. And then when I saw your stuff, I thought I’d play a little game. Kinda funny, huh? But I have to admit, I don’t think I’d do it again. I don’t want to get that guy in trouble.”
“Seems like he didn’t mind. I mean, after all, he started it.”
“Yeah, but I guess twice is enough. And speaking of enough, you have enough alternatives to tidy white tease to last you through the year, right? And remember: you didn’t even try on the pouch briefs. You’re gonna have to do that and come back to the store and let me know!” Skye smiled, but, perspicacious as he was, he didn’t really register how good his remarks made Matt feel. With the victory over Mason and the recognition of a college guy, Matt felt like he had wings.
The two disembarked at the University store. Matt turned to Skye: “Thanks again, man. That was helpful, and I can’t believe Mason turned up right then! I guess he’ll keep quiet from now on. And thanks for all the free underwear! I guess you could use that trick a buncha times maybe at Bob’s.”
Skye smiled slightly and said quietly, “We’ll see, but like I said, probably not. Hey, come back and visit us here, huh?”
“You bet, man! See ya soon,” and Matt winged away, whistling.
The episode he had just experienced made Skye wonder about the nature of things: coincidence, chance, skill. He wondered if there even was a way to really understand those aspects of life.
He returned to the dorm room. Charlie was not around, nor was anyone else, so Skye decided he’d head to the weight room, work out, and check on his missing clothes.
He put the athletic clothes that Philip had lent him in his large paper bag, realizing that he might actually be able to afford an inexpensive gym bag now that he had a little money. He changed into an old collared shirt, switched to his wager-won briefs, and pulled on his old shorts. He left the dorm and walked briskly to the weight room. He was so distracted he didn’t realize he hadn’t brought any clean clothes for after his shower. “Idiot!” He muttered, but it was too late to return.
Once there, the first thing he did was check in with the desk. The student working there greeted him, apparently remembering him clearly.
“Hey, man,” said Skye, “did anyone turn in my clothes that disappeared last week?”
“Hi, Skye. I remember you. No. No one turned in anything, and I did a second sweep of the locker room and Lost and Found. I dunno, buddy, I guess they’re just gone. Some kind of asshole, huh? Takin’ a guy’s gear like that. I’ll let you know if I find it, ok?”
“Thanks. What’s your name?”
“Ben.”
“Ok, thanks, Ben. See ya around.”
Skye headed to the locker room with his paper bag, a little angry that he couldn’t trust guys here in the locker room. Though over the last few weeks he was experiencing locker room culture for the first time, he had quickly learned that for a lot of guys, the locker room was the sanctum sanctorum, where a higher standard of behavior was expected, at least in terms of honesty. Horsing around behavior was, obviously, unacceptable in normal social situations, but that only added to the mystique of the all-male environment. Social rules were suspended to a degree, but that did not extend to theft.
Skye entered and without really thinking about it, headed to the same aisle as he had the previous week. In a surprising coincidence, he saw Phillip, standing in his jockstrap at the same locker as the week prior. He looked up and smiled. “Hey, Skye! You’re back. I guess the weight room has its draws, especially on a weekend, huh?”
Skye smiled slightly and said, “Yeah, I had some time. Hey, I brought back the clothes you lent me. I figured I could have left them at the desk if I didn’t see you. I don’t have any other workout clothes, so I had to use this shirt”—he held up a collared inexpensive tennis-style shirt— “and these raggedy old shorts.”
Philip protested. “Dude! You don’t have to do that. Why not just use the stuff I lent you? You can return ‘em when you’re ready. I don’t really need them.”
Skye hesitated. He hadn’t expected to even see Philip, much less to have the offer renewed. “Well,” he said finally, “if that’s really ok. Actually, some of the stuff that was taken wasn’t exactly in the best shape, especially my trusty but worn-down tidy white tease.” He grinned. “And you know what? I have a job at the university store so I can maybe go buy some new ones by next week. Could I return them to you then?”
“Sure thing, man.” Philip smiled slowly. “Happy to help.”
“OK, thanks,” said Skye, opening his locker.
There in the locker, neatly folded, were all his clothes, the briefs on top.
Skye stared. Philip didn’t notice at first but then he sensed something. “What’s up?” he asked.
“What the fuck?” answered Skye. “Look at this!”
Philip leaned over and exclaimed, “Holy shit. Is that your stuff?”
“Yeah!”
“So it was here the whole time maybe?”
“But Ben at the desk said he’d done a whole sweep. How could he have missed them? Besides, look at how neatly they’re stacked and folded. That’s totally fuckin’ weird.”
“Really is, man. And right next to my locker. Didn’t we look there last week?”
“I thought we did. So they were here the whole time, next to your locker…”
“Unbelievable,” said Philip, and returned nonchalantly to finish dressing.
Skye stood, staring at his clothes in the locker and looked once or twice at Philip’s open locker door. Philip had suddenly become reserved. He finished dressing and said, “So I guess you won’t need my loaner clothes after all. Unless you’ve changed your mind about wearing them, you can just toss ‘em in my locker.
Skye looked at him strangely and said in a soft voice. “Yeah, I think I’ll put on my own gear. Thanks.”
“Ok, man. Just put my stuff in my locker. See ya on the floor.”
Philip left the locker room quickly. Skye took longer to dress than usual. He sat on the bench for a few minutes staring at the adjacent lockers. He slowly took out Philip’s clothes and folded them a little sloppily, clothing care not being a priority, and put them in Philip’s locker on top of his regular, sharply folded clothes. Naked, he stood in front of his own locker, shaking his head and thinking. He finally pulled on his old briefs and the rest of his clothes and headed out.
Philip was friendly but distant on the floor and within 45 minutes he apparently decided he’d done enough and headed back to the locker room. Skye was about 15 minutes behind him due to the clothing delay, so when he returned to his locker, Philip was toweling off from the shower. Some ineffable feeling was in the air. Skye ventured: “No sauna today?”
“Nope,” said Philip.
“Yeah, me neither. Just a shower, I guess.”
Philip said nothing as he finished toweling off and pulled on his boxerbriefs but then offered: “Thanks for the clothes back.”
“You bet. Thanks again.”
“Sure.”Philip finished dressing and put his gear in a bag and turned. “See you next Saturday?”
“Yeah. Maybe. See ya.”
Without another word, Philip walked down the aisle and left.
Skye sat, pondering. He then stripped, took his towel and headed to the showers. He remembered the sauna last week, but felt like he was unlikely to see similar activities today, and in the showers apart from an older guy, perhaps an administrator, with a semi-erection that he was washing rather too vigorously, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary in the showers.
He finished showering, toweled himself off, returned, pulled on his own “stolen” clothes, happy, in a way, to have them back. They appeared to be un washed from the previous week, and Skye still didn’t know what to make of the whole situation.
Back at the dorm, Charlie was in his usual spot and usual state of undress.
“Hey, dude…Hey! Are those the clothes that were taken?”
“Yeah,” said Skye quietly. “Yeah, they are.”
“So somebody turned ‘em in?”
“Not exactly. They were in the locker I used last week, right next to Philip’s.”
“That’s weird.”
“Yeah.”
Skye said nothing more but changed into a shirt and jeans, boxer briefs underneath. He put his returned clothes in a stack on the end of his bed.