by Barry Lowe
It was such heinous behavior trolls didn't even have a word for it although Einarr had met others who indulged in the practice through loneliness or boredom or drunkenness. He, on the other hand, had sought it out, accepting it as part of his nature. He wondered what the red-haired boy would do if he were to... but no, he couldn't think like that. He ran his hand through the salt-caked hair the color of fire, feeling the young man relax under his touch. He longed to wrap his arms around the vulnerable body, to keep it safe. But most of all, he wanted the feel of another warm body next to him. He had been denied it for too long. But he knew his advances would be unwelcome. Of course Gus said he was beautiful—it was the delirium speaking. He would have a very different reaction in the morning when he took a good look at his rescuer.
Einarr wasn't sure he could stand to see the look of pity on his face. He had to think. He had to get off the ship. There were a number of problems with that. He wasn't about to plunge into the icy depths of the Atlantic again; for a start he didn't know which way to swim. He could lower a life boat but again he didn't have his bearings and he most certainly did not want to be caught out in the open when the sun came out. He would be petrified, literally. His only recourse was to find a hiding place in the bowels of the ship, stay there until the vessel found port and then creep ashore. He just hoped that port would not be too far from his home.
Gus's gentle snore interrupted his thoughts as he caressed the boy one last time, leaning in to sniff him, to store his scent to add color to his future fantasies. With the recollection of his smell would come the vision of his face, and his pale body which excited him so. As if in confirmation, his prick began to swell again. He pulled the blanket up over the sleeping Gus and swept a recalcitrant strand of hairs from his eyes before going to the door of the cabin and letting himself out quietly. He knew Gus would be all right now. He had tried. And failed. It was a noble failure for it had taught him how precious his life was. He would not do it again.
In the passageway, Einarr had no idea which direction to take, standing indecisively until the sound of a cabin door opening spurred him in the opposite direction. He did not want to be seen and it would be very difficult to miss a giant naked troll walking about your passageway. But in fleeing one passenger, he rounded a corner and ran into another. A drunken young man was attempting to open his cabin door and having no success when Einarr almost fell over him. The young man was speechless, believing the troll to be his drunken fantasy. He reached out to touch what he believed was an apparition caused by a too plentiful consumption of booze. When his fingers touched flesh he didn't hesitate to move lower and wrap his hand around the magnificent cock that dangled half hard from below the washboard stomach. He was scared if he let go the stranger might disappear.
The feel of a warm hand around his privates, stroking him, transfixed Einarr. He was hard in no time and impatient to continue this very private encounter out of the public thoroughfare. But the drunken man was distracted, attempting to unlock the door of his cabin, Einarr grabbed the keys and expertly had the door open in no time at all. They almost fell into the cabin where the drunk sank to his knees and had Einarr's ample cock in his mouth before he could protest. As the stranger sucked expertly at his shaft and his balls, Einarr wondered why he had been intending to protest. He loved the feeling of a human mouth wrapped around his cock. He wondered why anything so pleasurable was so forbidden.
Then he remembered it was usually him who did the sucking, usually him down on his knees. When trolls came visiting, it was always Einarr who was on the receiving end. There was never any reciprocation but now a human male was pleasuring him with his mouth. He began to wonder if he was still asleep in his bed inside the mountain and this was all a very erotic dream that would result in him waking up all sticky so he had to wash himself with a cold flannel before he could get back to sleep.
Holding the back of the man's head he began to push his prick farther into his throat but he gagged and Einarr released him to let him set his own pace. The feeling was exquisite, no wonder trolls had taken to popping in unannounced at Einarr's for a bit of fun. He'd gotten a reputation for his skills. He wondered whether he was as good as the man on his knees sucking his balls dry. Perhaps he would get the chance to ask if they later traded positions.
It wasn't to be. When Einarr could hold off no longer, he shot great streams of sperm which the young man gulped down hungrily. When he'd sucked every drop out and even licked up the residue from the head of Einarr's prick, he rose unsteadily to his feet and flopped face down on his bunk. There would be no reciprocation tonight.
It would be good if he could find the galley for he realized he hadn't eaten in the past one hundred and fifty years except for that snack of fermented goat's head he got up for when he was feeling peckish about sixty years back. He stumbled along the quiet passageway, trying a few doors but they were always locked.
The law of averages was working in his favor because, eventually, he found a doorway that opened. There were no shrieks of surprise, no men sleeping in the bunks, no one to stop him from falling into the soft warm embrace of an empty bed, hunger forgotten, as he welcomed the embrace of sound sleep.
He awoke next morning with the arrival of Gus and the over familiar doctor, who had his hand rather provocatively placed on Gus's butt cheek. “Hello,” Gus said warmly. “I wondered where you'd wandered off to. I guess my snoring kept you awake and you found your way to our cabin.”
Something in Gus's eyes pleaded that Einarr support the story.
“No, not your snoring. I was hungry and I went looking for something to eat and got lost. I couldn't find my way back so I came here.” His stomach grumbled as if to confirm his story.
Gus, who had initially panicked when Einarr began his rambling story, looked visibly more relaxed by the time he finished it. “I'll order us some breakfast and then we better start rehearsals for tonight's show.”
“I'm looking forward to it tremendously. Angus promises it will be something special.” The doctor couldn't seem to get the smile off his face at the thought.
Einarr wished he knew what they were talking about.
Taking his leave, the doctor warned them to seek him out immediately if they became dizzy, disoriented or had a severe headache, in case they had concussion. It was still a possibility. When they were alone, Gus went straight to the small desk against one wall of the cabin. He turned to Einarr.
“Where is it?”
Einarr took the pages of notepaper from under his pillow. “You have really neat writing.”
Gus was flabbergasted. “You read it?”
“If you don't want people to read your suicide notes then you should hide them out of sight.”
Gus sank into the chair, putting his face in his hands.
“That Rob character must be some piece of work,” Einarr said.
“Oh, believe me, he is.” Gus was expecting ridicule, contempt, anything but concern.
“You followed him on to the cruise even though he told you it was all over?”
“Not exactly. The cruise was booked out so I had to find another way to get on board. I knew they were looking for entertainers and this being a gay cruise...”
Einarr looked puzzled. “Gay? That means the men on this ship...” he almost couldn't bring himself to say it the idea was so potent, “...like sex with other men?”
“Oh my god! You're straight!” Gus blurted out.
Trolls weren't considered the most intelligent of the universe's creatures, what with being asleep for hundreds of years at a time, meaning they were at a severe disadvantage when they awoke, language, history and the cost of a good podiatrist to curb those unruly toe and finger nails that kept growing in the interim, being totally foreign to them. The powers that be therefore decreed that they got a little extra cranial lobe with the ability to absorb a new culture with its attendant language skills as well as a workable knowledge of what had occurred in the intervening period while they were aslee
p. However, like a lot of things these days, it was a rushed job and was put to work before it had been adequately tested. Sometimes there were whole gaps in memory and recognition.
Einarr had to repeat the question it was so beyond his limited comprehension. “Everyone on this ship is gay?”
“I can't speak for the crew but the passengers, yes, they're either gay or bi.”
Einarr rubbed his hands with glee. “Smorgasbord.”
Gus didn't know whether to laugh or cry. One second he believed the man he was losing his heart to was straight. That was a disappointment he could live with it. A second later, he discovered he was gay, or at least bi, but his heart sank because he was also a slut.
Einarr had an idea. Hesitantly, he asked the question which was supremely important to him. “You, too?”
“Of course, me, too. What did you think Robert and I were doing? Playing Monopoly?” He would have to rethink his attraction to Einarr, the guy seemed to have a tentative link to reality. Perhaps it had something to do with English being his second language. Or with that body he was simply a Neanderthal. “Sorry. Yes, I'm gay.”
Einarr needed to rethink his priorities. There was really no need to rush to get off the ship. Especially now that he'd discovered so many like-minded men. Humans, he had to remind himself. And I'm a troll. Still, in the dark, he might find companionship. Or if they were drunk enough like the man last night. He could not hold out hope for someone as near perfect as Gus, but he could dream.
“What is this performance everyone keeps talking about?”
“Oh my god, I'd totally forgotten about it. You should have left me to drown.”
Einarr wanted for all the world to put his arm around the young man to comfort him but he could not stand the thought of Gus's look of revulsion, no matter how platonic the gesture, although Einarr couldn't guarantee it would be all that platonic. If his cock hardened it would reveal his ulterior motive. Best to leave it alone.
“What is this act everyone is so keen on?” Einarr repeated, wishing he had clothes to cover his naked body, although the manner in which Gus gazed at it when he thought Einarr was not looking, warmed his blood.
Gus went to the locker and extracted a giant cardboard cut-out. “Take a seat and let me explain. Try not to judge me too harshly. I was desperate. Okay?”
Einarr nodded. He would never judge him harshly.
Gus took a deep breath. “Robert and I were having problems in our relationship. He was restless and, I guess, a bit bored. I suppose I'm not the easiest person to put up with.”
I bet I could put up with you, Einarr thought.
“Things came to a head when Robert wanted to go on a boat cruise. I wanted to go to England to see the sights. Well, Robert jumped at that impasse and suggested we take separate holidays. I was a bit suspicious because he looked so pleased with himself, like he'd found a solution to an insurmountable problem. Instead of talking it through, I went off in a huff. A few days later, after I calmed down, I apologized and told him I'd go on the cruise with him after all. He just shrugged and said, ‘Too late, it's all booked out.’ And it was. What he hadn't told me was that he was going on a gay cruise and he was sharing a cabin with Chuck, one of the guys he worked with and one of the most promiscuous men I've met. I often suspected he and Robert were...doing it.”
“So, if it was booked out how did you get on board?”
“I toyed with the idea of stowing away but didn't like my chances. When I discovered the company promoting the holiday was looking for entertainers who would get free passage plus wages, I thought that was my opportunity. I sent them a photograph I found on the net telling them I was a hot stripper who dressed like a Viking and that I loved gay audiences and was willing to put on a show so sizzling it would be talked about for years to come.”
Einarr laughed. “And you got picked?”
“I never expected they would fall for it, even though I'd made up a few fake gigs and counterfeit reviews of his performance, usually from places it would be difficult to check up on. But it was the pic I'd sent, after I got through with Photoshopping it, that got their interest. So much so that they wanted to make me the centerpiece of the entertainment. All they'd got was a few pianists and singers whose repertoire consisted entirely of Sondheim show tunes, or acrobats, or magic shows. Mine was the best of the lot. Naturally enough they wanted to meet the stripper. Look at me. Do I look like a hot stripper to you?”
Hot? Definitely! Einarr was having trouble controlling his prick and covered it with the sheet from the bed.
Gus didn't wait for an answer. The question was rhetorical. “I went along to the interview as the stripper's manager, telling them he had been called back to Iceland for a death in the family. I took along a few more pictures, supposedly of my Viking, and they bought it. They must have been desperate. In due course, the tickets and the itinerary arrived and I boarded the ship as the Viking Stripper.”
Einarr still didn't grasp the problem. He would pay any day to watch Gus take his clothes off.
Reluctantly, Gus turned around the cardboard cut-out to which he'd been clinging. Einarr gasped. He could see the problem immediately. The stripper looked nothing at all like Gus.
“Yeah,” Einarr winced. “He's one ugly fucker. Who would want to watch someone who looked like that?”
Gus was startled. “What?” He looked at his cardboard poster boy again. “Ugly? This guy is fuckin’ gorgeous. He could almost be you.”
Whoa, Einarr thought. Way to insult a person. Comparing me to that fugly oaf, although he did have to admit they did share a basic look. The body was very similar, although Einarr liked to think his was in better shape. The face was basically hidden by a Viking helmet but enough showed that, yeah, he had to admit a few striking similarities.
Gus's eyes shone suddenly. “Stand up. Come on, stand up! Now. Quickly,” Gus yanked him off the bed, ignoring his semi-hard cock. “Turn around, that's it. Let me see the back of you. Nice. Very nice. Now back to the front. Let me see you dance.”
“Dance? Who with?”
“On your own. Quickly.”
Einarr had never danced, on his own or with a partner. Gus was impatient and began to jiggle about to get him to copy the action. He imitated it but from the grimace on Gus's face, he was not succeeding.
Gus stared open-mouthed. “You said you were gay. But you can't dance.”
Einarr was about to retort that he didn't know you had to sit an exam to prove you were gay, when the door burst open and two rather cute men tumbled in. One went straight to Gus and hugged him theatrically. “Oh, my poor love, I heard the news. I hope you've recovered. That anyone would try to end their life because of me. How tragic. How absolutely flattering.”
Robert! Einarr didn't have to be told. So that meant the man ogling him and licking his lips had to be the slut from Robert's office.
He didn't know what made him say it, but Einarr stepped forward and removed Robert's arm from Gus's shoulder. “Don't flatter yourself, mate. The rumor going around the ship is totally untrue.” He stood between Gus and his former boyfriend. “We spread that to avoid having to tell them the truth which was infinitely more embarrassing.” Gus looked at him as if he regretted losing the intimacy of Robert's arm.
Robert looked the giant up and down, noticing his nudity and doing a double take about the level of his engorged penis. He sniffed like he didn't believe him. “Okay, so what's the real story then?”
Einarr had created a fiction in his mind as soon as he'd summed up the situation. He placed a protective arm around Gus who flinched initially at the touch but, finding it to his liking, moved against the giant's body. “I hope Gus will forgive me for telling tales but he and I were rather frisky last night and I wanted to do him against the ship's railing. I'm so tall he had to stand on one of the upper rails so I could shove my cock in.” Einarr stroked his meat as if to emphasize the point, then turned to Gus. “Didn't I, love?”
Gus was too staggered t
o speak, nodding his head in agreement.
“I guess I got carried away. I'm a big fucker—”
“Hmm, you certainly are,” Chuck said admiringly. Einarr could sense he desperately wanted to reach out and caress one of his most salient bignesses.
“I can get a little rough. What can I say? I fucked him, pushed too hard and poor Gus pitched over the side. I had to go in and rescue the little bugger. So, if you hear that rumor about suicide you might like to set the record straight, you know, among friends.”
Einarr gazed down at Gus's mouth, open in sheer amazement at what he'd just heard, when the giant leaned down and covered his lips with his own. Gus melted into the kiss, allowing Einarr's tongue access before they parried back and forth between open inviting mouths. Gus felt his cock swell to match the hardness of Einarr's cock that was pressed against his body. Chuck gasped.
Robert was jealous. Everyone could hear it in his voice, even himself although he'd tried to keep it out. “Well, now that you're here, I guess you can come and stay with me in my cabin. We can make room, can't we Chuck?”
“Or I could swap and move in here,” Chuck said hopefully.
Einarr could tell that Gus was seriously contemplating the offer. He had to squelch that but fast!
“That's very generous of you, Robert, but you see Gus is my manager and we have lots to rehearse for my act, I'm the Viking Stripper, so it's paramount that we share the same cabin.” Robert's mouth opened like a goldfish, but Einarr carried on. “Besides, why would I let my boyfriend share a room with anyone else without my say so.”
“Boyfriend?” Gus thought the word, but Robert said it out loud. “Since when?”
Einarr turned to Gus. “What's it been, love? A couple of months? Three or four? I met Gus at a gay strip club and we hit it off real good. But he was faithful to you and wouldn't hear of sleeping with me. Then you started neglecting him and spending more time with Chuck here, oh yes, Robert, no point denying it, he knew even though you covered your tracks well enough, so when I asked him one more time he said ‘yes'. When you proposed going away on a cruise with Chuck, good choice of a cruise partner by the way, you two should have the best time with all the booze, party drugs and easy sex, Gus knew it was all over and moved his belongings in with me.”