Tom and Kevin
If you chat online at all, you have encountered someone just like him.
He lives out of town, and while he’s not really your type—the pics just don’t do it for you--he is persistently friendly. It’s like the internet was invented for guys like him. Whenever you log in, he finds you, and because you are a nice guy, you exchange pleasantries, ask him how his weekend is going, that sort of thing. Not, likely, someone you’d seek out, but perfectly harmless—and besides, he lives a thousand miles away. So even if he isn’t harmless, he’s far away.
So one day when Tom logged into Bear411, he wasn’t surprised to see a message from Kevin. What did surprise Tom was that Kevin was planning to be in Omaha the next week. A good job brought Tom to Omaha a few years ago, and Tom found it to be quite livable—more than he’d figured it would be. Corn-fed men, a few bars downtown, even a gay bowling tournament in the middle of winter. Besides, both Chicago and Denver were close enough, and even Kansas City was good for getting out of town when Tom needed a break.
Kevin explained that he was driving cross country, from his home in Kentucky to California. Kevin had lost his job a few months ago, but a friend with a growing design business needed Kevin to pick up a large installation from a client outside of Sacramento. There were any number of routes that would take a driver from Lexington to Sacramento, and Kevin would be in Omaha over the weekend.
Anyway, Kevin asked Tom if Tom’d planned to be in town that weekend, and maybe they could get together for coffee or a beer. Tom wasn’t dreading it, but he wasn’t looking forward to it either—brief chat online is one thing, but meeting someone in person is more involved. All the same, Tom wrote back to Kevin that coffee on Sunday would be fine—after all, even if Kevin is a creep in person, it will be just coffee in a public place no less.
In another city, Tom would be what a lot of guys would call a catch. . .about 6′ tall, blue eyes, nice build. If left to his own devices, Tom would be quite hairy, but between a fairly uptight job—Tom was a consultant for Con-Agra—and his upbringing—he kept his chest hair tightly clipped, and his face clean shaven. If you tied him down for three days, though, the beginnings of a lumberjack’s beard would start to sprout—and after a week, Tom’s inner bear might just come out of hibernation.
Tom gave Kevin directions to a coffee place in the Old Market, a part of Omaha’s downtown where old warehouses have been renovated into lofts, and restaurants, and clubs. The Daily Grind had better coffee than Starbucks, and better still, it had a courtyard in the back. On a nice day, the sun warmed the brick walls back there perfectly, and since this was April, Omaha might just be treated to a nice day.
Kevin was about 50, and while he apologized to Tom in his note that his photos were somewhat out of date, the pictures weren’t all that flattering to begin with. This irritated Tom somewhat—if people bother to post photos online, he figured that they could take a few up-to-date ones. Anyway, Kevin told Tom to look out for a guy about 5′10″, red plaid shirt, stocky, brown eyes, and a pair of Carhartt jeans on. Tom chuckled a bit at the note—on an April day in Omaha, that description could have fit any number of men. Since Tom’s photos were dead on, Kevin might have to pick Tom out of the crowd.
So on this cool, crisp, sunny day in April, Tom started his afternoon with a pleasant surprise. They’d agreed to meet at 1 pm, and when Tom walked into the Daily Grind, he did a double take at the 5′10′ red plaid-clad, Carhartt wearing man standing at the coffee counter. Yes, Kevin’s photos were out of date, but it would appear that Tom’s coffee date was a lot better looking in person than his pics would have indicated. The scraggly goatee in the photos was replaced by a full beard, mostly brown, but with enough red and gray in it to indicate it was all natural. Kevin wasn’t thin, either, but he did appear to be solid. He reached out his hand to Tom, and it was a firm handshake—it went with a deep voice and warm brown eyes, nearly the color of the coffee Kevin had just ordered.
“I’ll get us a table out back”, Kevin said, “so when you get your coffee, join me back there. I hope it’s not too cool for you outside. Besides, I’m a smoker, so sitting out there will allow me to light up”.
Tom got his coffee, and his joy as having the gods of internet dating smile upon him with this far-more-handsome-man-than-his-profile-pictures’ arrival, turned to frustration when Kevin told Tom he smoked. An ex-smoker with the zeal of a convert, Tom hated smoking, and even outside, really didn’t relish spending an hour or so over coffee and cigarettes. He grumbled as he waited for his latte, but in the end rationalized that he’d only be spending a short time with the guy, and besides they were outside anyway.
Tom met up with Kevin in the back corner of the courtyard—Omaha’s weather had just turned, so the coffee house’s staff had just set up the tables and chairs there. Still, while the day was sunny, it was also quite cool, so these two had the courtyard to themselves.
Given that they’d only made small talk online, Tom found Kevin surprisingly easy to talk with. . .before too much longer, Kevin had discovered that Tom lived alone here in Omaha, and had taken Monday off to get some errands done. It wasn’t even the subject of their conversation that Tom enjoyed so; rather Kevin had a very winning manner to him, one that had Tom nearly instantly comfortable once the two sat down in the back of that otherwise empty courtyard. What a shame, Tom thought, that they’d only chatted online beforehand—Tom found Kevin’s voice very soothing to listen to, and Kevin’s deep brown eyes put Tom immediately at ease. As they continued to speak, it was almost as if Tom were taking a nice warm bath—the sun shone on his neck just so, and Kevin was charming, delightful company.
As their conversation continues, Kevin asked Tom if he minded if Kevin smoked. By now, Tom was enjoying himself far too much to be anything but gracious, however much he hated cigarettes. So Tom was mildly surprised with Kevin pulled out a pipe, the kind with a bit of a curve to it—a bit Sherlock Holmes, Tom thought. This wouldn’t be so bad, Tom concluded. “I quit smoking Marlboros a few years ago, and took this up instead,” Kevin explained. He filled the bowl with a dark tobacco, and lightly tamped it just so. Touching his Zippo to the top of the bowl, Kevin sent forth the first clouds of smoke. “I find this so relaxing,” as he fixed his gaze on Tom.
Tom, like so many men will do under such circumstances, found his attention drawn to the flame and the subsequent clouds of smoke. The smell of the pipe smoke was quite pleasant, actually, and it was impossible for Tom not to be distracted into following the wisps of smoke skyward. Besides, despite Tom’s rather uptight nature, this bearded plaid-clad pipe smoker was a bit of a fantasy for Tom—and that pipe looked mighty handsome in Kevin’s bearded jaw.
“I find this so relaxing, Tom, just the smoke curling upward, higher and higher” Kevin nearly whispered, as he began to caress Tom’s wrist where a few stray hairs peaked out. “So relaxing, so relaxing, don’t you agree, Tom? In fact, sometimes others find it relaxing as well, just to watch the smoke rising, to feel the warmth of the sunshine, to concentrate on my voice, listen to my voice, and watch the smoke. Take a deep breath, Tom, breathe in the smoke as it begins to surround you. Let yourself relax, Tom, and breathe deeply.”
With that, Kevin took his free hand and placed it on the softest part of Tom’s neck—Tom leaned right into it. “That’s right, Tom, lean back and just listen to my voice. Breath slowly and deeply, deeply and slowly now. You are getting so sleepy, so relaxed”. Tom’s eyes began to flutter, and with no one else in the courtyard, Kevin got up and stood over Tom and continued his induction. “Tom, look deep into my eyes now, yes, deep, so deep. Watch the smoke from my pipe rise, and clear your mind of everything but my voice. Breathe slowly, and with every breath, you will find the smell of my pipe more and more irresistible, so irresistible, an aroma you will only associate with me.” With that, Kevin exhaled a jet of smoke that wafted over Tom, and Tom sucked it in, the effects both relaxing and arousing to Tom as Kevin’s smooth patter continued.
“Look deep, deeper into my eyes, Tom, and feel any resistance waning. Your eyelids are so heavy and you are so tired. Relax and let go. My words are becoming your thoughts, and my voice is the advice of a long, trusted friend. My pipe intrigues you, and you can’t take your eyes off it. You are fascinated by pipes, and want to smoke one yourself. You are so relaxed right now, and you crave this feeling. So warm, so relaxed, so safe, so comfortable. You are feeling safe and comfortable now, Tom, so safe and comfortable listening to me and looking deep, deep into my eyes and hearing my voice. Smoking a pipe will relax you, will give you this warm, safe, comfortable feeling you are experiencing right now.”
With that, Kevin cradled Tom’s neck and massaged it slowly. His voice was so soft, so deep, and so convincing, “I’m going to lean over and kiss you, and when I do, you will be deep in trance, so relaxed, so wanting to please me.” Tom felt the brush of Kevin’s manly beard against his face, and pipe smoke filled his mouth as Kevin leaned in to control Tom.
After the kiss, Tom slumped limp in the chair, deep in Kevin’s well crafted trance. “Listen to my words, Tom. Whenever I light my pipe and say the word “Briar”, you will return to this deep relaxation, this comfortable trance. Now, I am going to count to three, and at three, you will awake refreshed, and have no memory of this trance. You will invite me back to your apartment, and ask me to stay with you tonight because I am an old friend who you trust.”
At the count of three, Tom roused, alert if not a bit confused. “Coffee usually keeps people up”, Kevin joked, “but the combination of the sun out here and my boring company would appear to have had the opposite effect.
Tom then invited his old friend Kevin back to his apartment—after all, Tom had taken off work just for the occasion. As they walked back to Tom’s home, Kevin’s pipe nearly made Tom’s mouth water. “You know, Kevin, it’s been years since I’ve smoked, but damn, that pipe looks good on you. Great beard too.” With that, it seemed that there would be briars and beards in Tom’s future for some time to come. . .