Blue

Buff Man Club

Leo's Perspective
I decide to trust him. I need actual friends. A guy I haven't met yet strolls into the room and bro-hugs Paolo. He's crazy tall with lean muscle and grey eyes. He turns to me. "Hello. I'm Thomas."

Paolo brings us both to the corner of the gym. "It's not really a club, it's just me and Thomas gossiping. Max sometimes joins, but he never has anything dumb to gossip about, so he doesn't often join us."

"Fuck the Lavenders and their real problems." Thomas shakes his head.

Paolo continues. "Everything that is said in the gym never makes it outside of the gym. Thats the rule. Okay?"

I nod. "What do you guys typically talk about?"

Thomas answers. "Dumb shit, mostly. Genuine relationship stuff. What to wear, how to act cool when your partner makes fun of you, the delicate balance between masculine and feminine, dom advice. I need to go first. It's consuming my every waking moment."

That catches our attention. "Go on." Paolo says with a smile.

"Jack is 5 years younger than me. Malcom is 7 years younger than me. And Eric? 10 years. Everyone talks about how awesome age gaps are and shit, but I'm convinced it is just suffering."

"How?" I ask.

"The lingo. I don't get it. They come up with new words, and terms, and phrases. And I'm just expected to know what they mean?!"

Paolo and I laugh. Paolo puts a hand in his shoulder. "I got you. Vienna is the same way but Sam has been explaining things to me. What specifically are they saying?"

"It's Malcom and Eric, mostly. It started out with them calling me a 'girlboss,' but then Eric called himself a 'girl's girl.' And so I asked him what was going on, because clearly he was dysphoric, but then he laughed at me. Every other time he calls himself a girl, and definitely if someone else does, he spirals. He's a trans man, for God's sake. But he keeps calling himself a girl's girl, and so does Malcom. I'm so lost."

That didn't make any sense to me either, but Paolo was nodding along. "I got this," Paolo states, "a 'girl's girl' doesn't have to be a girl. I have also recently learned it does even have to be a person. A dog we met on the street was a girl's girl, according to Vienna. It basically means a person who really supports women."

"I support women!"

"No, I'm talking about a different level of support. Blind support. Supporting the villain in a movie because she's a woman. War crimes? Girl's girls don't care, as long as she identifies as a woman. Vienna sums it up by saying 'I support women's rights and also women's wrongs.'"

"...Okay. That does, in fact, sound like Eric. But what about the 'girlboss' thing?"

"You ever seen Legally Blonde?" Paolo asks.

"I fucking love that movie." Thomas rumbles.

"Elle Woods is a girlboss. They're saying you give off Elle Woods energy."

Thomas nods seriously. "Interesting."

I smile. They turn to me. "What's up with you?" Paolo asks.

I sigh. "Casper's more experienced than me."

They nod. Thomas asks, "How much more?"

I quickly realize these guys aren't gonna make fun of me, so I tell the truth. "I have none."

"None at all?" Paolo clarifies.

"I mean, I kissed a girl once. That's around the time I figured out I was gay. But then I just kind of kept that to myself and became preoccupied with other things. Casper is the first guy I've ever kissed. And I certainly haven't done anything more."

"Have you talked to him about it?" Paolo asks kindly.

"I kind of ran away to here." I admit.

Thomas asks, "Are you planning on topping or bottoming?"

"Don't know. I think I'd like both, if I'm honest."

"Is Casper also vers?" He asks.

"Yeah, I have the feeling he is. I think even beyond that. He's a switch. Dom, sub, top, bottom. The man can do it all."

Thomas thinks for a bit. "Okay. This is everyone's least favorite course of action. The worst final result. You're gonna have to talk it out. It's the only way. Gossiping won't help you."

"Dammit." I mumble.

Paolo chimes in. "I agree. Especially if you want to include kink. If Casper can dom, I bet he can have a good conversation about boundaries and turn-ons. He might even like that you're inexperienced."

"True!" Thomas agrees. "Jack's inexperienced and it makes him so sensitive to pleasure. It's awesome. When he experiences things for the first time, it feels like I do to."

"Oh, okay." I nod my head. "So now I have to go back and have a conversation about it?"

They nod. Paolo puts a supportive hand on my shoulder and Thomas pushes me slightly. "Go have fun."

I make my way back up the stairs, which proved to be harder than I thought, and to the room. I open the door and see Casper reading. He sees me and puts the bookmark in between the pages. He looks me up and down. "You didn't work out."

"No. I made some friends instead."

He smiled widely. "Friends?! That's great!"

I made a face. "Why are you so surprised?"

We laugh. I look at him. "I think we should have a conversation. About... sex."

"Yeah, of course."

He fully sits up and I sit on the bed. "Oh, shit. I didn't ask them what I'm actually supposed to be talking about."

Casper laughs. "Don't worry, I got you. Can you tell me why we stopped earlier?"

"I was nervous. I know kissing, I know sex happens eventually, but I don't really know how to bridge that gap."

He nods. "That's fair because it really depends. For cis men, foreplay is usually seen as less important or just whatever you do to get yourself and your partner rock hard. I actually really like foreplay. And a lot of foreplay for me involves kink. But I also don't want to just throw all that at you."

I nodded. "What are you... into?"