A Miserable Pile of Secrets

Arthur's mother was a wild but gentle woman named Brenda. He called her Mama. She lifted weights and ran on a treadmill when she had the time, but she was still a gently plump woman. She had glossy French manicures, cute summer dresses, curly blonde hair, and the ability to weld. Her husband, Arthur's father, was Dustin, also known as Daddy. He was very practical, steel arms and a slight beer belly. His hair and goatee were black with only a hint of gray despite his age. The hair was kept short, but Arthur could still remember when he used to have hair down half of his back.

Dustin and Brenda Glass lived in an old but well kept mobile home out in a very rural neighborhood. A small building was perhaps a foot or so away from one end of the house. It used to be a beauty salon that Brenda had independently worked in, but after she got bored of her business Dustin converted it to a garage and storage shed. It was a fine place to keep his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He had to make a wooden ramp to wheel the bad boy out and in but that was no problem.

In the front yard there was a hand-made wooden shelter for the two main vehicles. Dustin's currently favored old pickup truck and Brenda's bright red car. Two other trucks were in the backyard, close to where the pet dog was kept in his comfortable cage. He was some kind of weird mutt but everyone was certain there was some German Shepherd in him.

First, much to Arthur's confusion, they got in the limousine while some housekeepers piled the luggage in. "Why are we taking the limo?!" he'd asked. "You don't want my parents to know you're rich, right?"

"I want to make sure we're a good distance from the house before we change cars," Vince said as if that made complete sense. "I've asked someone to drive the truck for us."

"That's just stupid. Why would you do that?"

Vince shrugged. "We always leave the house in a limousine. It's good luck."

"Good luck?!" Arthur folded his arms and sighed. "God damn it. It's like when my mom says you're not supposed to wash clothes on New Year's."

Vince turned on the stereo to play some classical music at a low volume. "I think one of the reasons I'm so rich is because I obsess over the smaller details."

"You're just proof that even stupid people can be successful."

Vince smiled, put he pointed at Arthur with pistol shaped hands and said, "Ouch, that's verbal abuse." He had a ring on his left hand. It matched the one Arthur wore. Turns out he'd gotten two engagement rings. "You need to be nicer to your fiancé."

"Okay. I'm sorry. That was mean." Arthur leaned in close and put his hand on Vince's arm. "If you want to do your own little rituals, that's okay. You're the breadwinner. You're the boss." He decided he wasn't even going to bitch about the thick curtains on the windows.

"That's better." Vince hugged him with one arm and put some kisses in his hair.

Some time later, the limousine stopped, and Vince opened the door. When Arthur was outside, he saw that they were on a road with thick forests on each side. Vince's black truck was waiting on them. They put all their luggage in the back seat and went off for the true journey to Arthur's parents' house.

At the old mobile home, Arthur knocked on the door.

And his cute little Mama nearly knocked him into Vince. That's how much force was behind her hug. "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!! I'm so glad to see youuuuuuuuuuuu!!" Then kisses. Gunshot kisses. All. Over. Arthur's face. Vince chuckled behind him, but he didn't say anything. When Mama finally gave Arthur room to breathe, her red lipstick a smudged mess, she grinned and called out for Daddy. "Dustin!! He's here!!" But then, horror of all horrors, her happiness shrunk away as she looked at his face, her fingers on his cheeks. "What happened to your nose?! Don't tell me that mean-ass hit you!"

"It's a long story," Arthur said.

Daddy's footsteps thudded in the building as he too came into view. He was wearing his reading glasses. "You messed his face up, Mama." He sometimes called his wife Mama but with a different inflection and tone than Arthur usually did. He waved at the men and said, "Come on in. We got plenty of food."

Vince began the process of getting their luggage in the house with Daddy's help. In the living area, Arthur wiped his face clean while Mama did much the same, but she reapplied her lipstick. When everything was settled, Vince sat down on a sofa while Daddy took one of the rocking armchairs. Mama eventually took her own armchair while Arthur quietly took a seat beside Vince.

And it began.

"What in the world happened to you?!" Mama, pouting a little.

"You should've come home." Daddy, a trembling, reddening face that looked like it was close to erupting.

"When you said you'd left him, we thought you'd just come home." Mama, putting her heavily ringed fingers together.

One of Arthur's hands rose a bit as he tried to give his excuse. "I ... I'm really sorry. I was scared. I didn't want you guys to become a target."

Daddy sighed, but his face looked maybe a bit less red. "Was this guy on any drugs?"

"I don't know exactly what he was always taking," Arthur admitted, "but I'm pretty sure it was mostly illegal." He put his elbows on his thighs and leaned in. "I think it's okay now. He's in jail."

Vince chose that moment to put his words in. One of his arms was on the back of the couch, right behind Arthur. "Well, he was probably sent to a hospital first, then jail."

"Oh yeah?" Arthur just then remembered something like that. He looked up at Vince's grim profile. "Didn't you shoot him or something?"

Both of Arthur's parents perked up at that. They looked like pets who were paying close attention to a can of food being opened.

Vince turned to Arthur and nodded. "I put a bullet in both legs, then I put my foot so far up his ass I don't think he'll be able to use the bathroom anymore."

Daddy's loud voice rang out and he clapped his hands. "Hell yeah!!"

Blank and almost uncaring, Arthur said, "I don't really remember what happened, not much anyway. Jake beat me really bad. I actually have some memory loss."

That might not have been the best thing to say because Mama hopped out of her seat and hugged him, wailing things like, "Where is he?! What jail's he in?! I'll kill him!!"

Daddy actually laughed in one of his withered fists. "They're not going to let you in the jail cell, Mama."

But things soon cooled down and Mama fed them all with heated leftovers. Arthur thought he liked Daddy's cooking better, but he'd never say that out loud. Mama sat down with the men with a bowl of beans and some steamed vegetables. She was on a self-enforced diet. She grinned at Vince and pointed at his left hand. "I see you two got matching rings. So what's going on there, huh?" One statement from Vince later, and Mama was hugging Arthur again, rocking his body back and forth. "My baby's getting married!! My baby's getting married!!" The force knocked some food off of Arthur's fork. His eyes were timid; he didn't know what to do except nod.

"Well," Daddy said with his old-fashioned, gruff tone, "just don't make out in front of me and I'll be fine." And that was good enough for Arthur, really. When he came out to his parents, they were scared to death that he'd start painting his nails, talk like a Valley girl, and prance around while wearing BDSM stuff at the less dignified examples of a pride parade. None of that happened, of course.

"What do we tell Grandma Harriet?" Arthur asked when Mama finally let him go.

"Oh no!" Mama said with a worried tone. "She'll be horrified!"

But Arthur was happy, amazingly happy. He didn't think he'd be this happy, but here the emotion was.

***

Daddy had a gun safe, and Vince was happy to admire the contents when Daddy opened it up to show him. Later, Vince joined him on a little bit of fishing in a nearby pond. They didn't keep the fish. They always threw them back into the water. Arthur stayed behind and gossiped with Mama while showing her funny things on the Internet. She commented that he "lost some weight" and "your arms feel harder" and she certainly cooed over how "nice his clothes are."

When it was nighttime, Vince had to pull out a bed from inside the couch. Arthur's old bedroom was small, and the bed itself couldn't fit two people. They agreed that Arthur would sleep in his old room while Vince stayed in the living room, wearing the most modest, old fashioned pajamas possible. Arthur thought it was funny to see a god damn billionaire relaxing out on a pull-out couch in a cheap old mobile home. The main reason why it was so funny was because Vince wasn't complaining. He seemed perfectly happy. Arthur sat beside him for a while so they could play games together.

Eventually, Vince said he had to go to the bathroom. So, he got a medium-sized leather bag from one of his suitcases.

"What's in there?" Arthur asked.

"Just some books," Vince replied.

Arthur gave an understanding nod. He liked to have all reading the material possible when having a "bathroom adventure."

***

Rich people are human too, as Vince had once said, and humans had to take a shit every once in a while. While casually sitting on the very clean toilet in the small bathroom, Vince looked through his bag. There were books and magazines inside, but there was also a tablet with ear buds. Of course, he casually looked at his new favorite program on there. It was difficult to keep himself from laughing.

After he was done with his business, toilet flushed, hands washed and dried, he made damn sure the tablet was turned off and hid it in his bag. He closed the bag and took it with him back into the living room. Arthur was showing his mother what Stardew Valley was while the father was looking at a firearms catalog. It was best to keep these people happy, really was. So, Vince planned on making sure he was available if they ever needed anything. Nothing so extravagant that his big secret would be revealed, but enough to keep them comfortable.

And these were very nice people. He could tell after only ten minutes of hanging around them.

***

The whole weekend was impossibly pleasant.

On the way back to Vince's house, after they'd made the weird shift to the limousine, Arthur said to Vince, "That was a nice weekend with family, wasn't it?"

Vince nodded. "Yep. Your parents are cool." He took a soda from the little fridge. None of them were diet. Vince had once said that diet sodas were twice as unhealthy as regular soda.

Arthur sighed and said, "You were very nice to them."

A long sip of bubbly sugar water, and then Vince asked, "Was I supposed to be mean?"

"Quit being silly. I'm being honest here." Arthur turned the stereo down. He looked at his knees as his cheeks flushed. "I didn't think Daddy would like you, but I think he does."

"Probably because I'm not some campy bitch." Arthur looked at him with widened eyes. Vince took another gulp of soda. Then he put an ankle up over the other leg's knee and leaned back. "Don't get me wrong, I don't care what people do, but something tells me that's the type that would make your Dad cringe."

"Oh, okay." Arthur weaved his fingers together and stretched his arms out, cracking his joints. "Daddy was impressed when you offered to pay for everything at Giorgio's."

"Pizza there was shit, though." Vince put his foot down and kicked his shoes away. "That cat your Mom found under the house, it was really cute, wasn't it?" Near the end of the visit, a stray black cat had been discovered. Arthur had thought it was adorable, but he knew his parents wouldn't keep it. They pretty much hated cats, not enough to physically abuse them, but enough to shoo them away and call animal control. The house was once infested with fleas because of stray cats.

"Hmmm ... yeah. It was cute. I really like cats, but I've never had one before."

Vince's shoulders moved up and he asked, "You want a cat? I can get you a cat."

Mouth ajar, Arthur stared at him for a minute. He nearly bit himself when he shut his jaw. "Well, I'd like to do some research on pet cats and get all the equipment before we pick a cat out."

"Do you have any favorite breeds?"

"Don't go to a breeder," Arthur said as he took out his phone to look up some photos. "Animal shelters are best, and I don't care about the breed as long as it's low maintenance."

Some more time passed between them, and Arthur looked back on how cute Vince had been, sleeping on a cheap bed that had been unfolded from a couch. Then he had a thought. He looked up from his phone and said, "Hey, I just realized something."

"Hm? What?"

"I've never been inside your bedroom."

Vince laughed at that. "Oh, you're right aren't you? I'll show it to you when we get home."

***

Vince's bedroom was definitely something Arthur hadn't seen before, massive, larger than some people's houses. The color scheme included white, black, dark blue, red, purple, and bits of gold.

In order to get to the bed, one had to walk up a huge, round platform with curved stairs. On the top of the platform, there was an equally round canopy curtain hanging from the ceiling, black and opaque. A simple tug of a cord would open the curtain and reveal a very large round bed.

There was an amazingly huge en suite bathroom with a square tub that looked like it belonged in a bathhouse and a full wall's worth of an aquarium. The most amazing feature, however, was the view, both in the bedroom and in the bathroom. Each of those rooms had a great window that showed off a waterfall that was just far off enough to keep the danger of falling rocks and other debris away. Arthur spent some time enjoying the pretty view, especially since he was seeing something outside the house for the first time. He couldn't see any roads, though, only nature.

There was a good deal of lovely electronic stuff, a long desk with several PCs and a wheeled desk chair, a television that took up half of a wall with a few arm chairs, several cell phones, laptops, and some tablets. Some of the last few things had been taken apart, and a delicate tool case was carelessly left open on the floor with some of its contents scattered. Arthur liked to imagine Vince, big and scary Vince, sitting in a lotus position on that floor and exploring the ins and outs of each device like a curious child.

And of course, there was a gun safe, tucked behind a secret wall that Vince flicked away.

They spent some time together in the bathtub, soaking like it was a hot tub. Arthur liked to stare at the pretty fish in the aquarium. They reminded him of a time when he was a teenager. His parents had taken him to a public aquarium and they went into a shark tunnel. The sharks hadn't frightened him, but the stingrays did. When their skin was so wrinkled that it was nearly annoying, the men dried off and made out for a while. Then a few handjobs were enjoyed.

Later, they hid in the dark space on the bed and cuddled in the nude. Arthur ran his hands all over his fiancé, over his ribs and around his nipples, down his hips and into the space between his buttocks, then back up to his shoulders and great arms.

"Oh damn," Vince murmured in his ear, "you drive me right to the ground."

Something had to be done about that, right?

They took opposing yet complimentary positions, their heads and hands at each other's thighs and crotches. They held each other's testicles with care, bringing out the lowest moans. Then they both pressed their lips on each other's cocks, putting more life into each other. God, was Arthur happy to be in decent shape and have a partner in even better shape!

Hot musk, sweat rising, jerking hips, sliding tongues, thick aromas, scratchy body hair.

Arthur had difficulty concentrating at some points, but he was always able to put himself back into a useful state. It wasn't his fault that Vince was so much better at this. Well, okay maybe it was? Arthur had plenty of practice in his life.

Vince paused to put a few kisses around the edge of his cock's head. Then he lightly massaged the little hole with the pad of his finger.

A long sound pushed through Arthur's throat, but he managed well.

Vince really knew how to make him feel like his body was something worthy of his time.

Of course Arthur came first, spurting in Vince's mouth and whimpering on his dick.

Vince seemed happy to come a few seconds afterward.

***

His fur was short and white. His body was a little on the smaller side but he was certainly an adult. He had an interesting version of heterochromia. Each eye had its colors divided in half, blue and green. Olive green towards the center of the face, pale blue towards the outside. As for his nose, it was deformed. He was born without a nasal bridge, but Arthur loved his cute pink nose regardless. He sneezed a little bit more often than normal cats, and there were minor breathing issues, but he was otherwise fine.

Arthur struggled with what to name him for a long time, but he eventually chose Benny. Benny was fairly peaceful cat. He never seemed eager to start a fight, but he was very happy during vet visits. He didn't care about injections or even uncomfortable temperature checks. He was grateful for attention in general, the sweet, cuddly baby that he was.

Although ... Benny wasn't always willing to let Vince pet him. He didn't scratch nor bite, but he certainly preferred running away and watching him from a distance. Vince didn't mind since he was such a gentle thing.

In a corner of Arthur's bedroom, a complex cat tree was set up for the cat to play or rest on. There was also a beautiful pet bed with a small canopy roof. "He's yours, and that means he gets the best," Vince had said. A small pet door had been installed in one of the bedroom's doors, and in the nearest kitchen's doors, so the cat could quickly go to its food and water bowls. There was a spare water bowl near his fancy bed, in case he got thirsty, but his assigned eating space was in that kitchen. The food bowl was attached to an automatic feeder. A third pet door was in Arthur's bathroom door, and in that room a litter box was tucked away. It didn't look like a litter box. It looked like a round spaceship, and it was another automatic thing. A spare litter box, a normal tray, was in storage in case the glorified cat toilet stopped working.

And certainly, Benny had a plethora of toys and things to scratch. Star chasers with scratching material in the center. Multiple scratching posts. A few mats. Peek and play setups. A maze and puzzle feeder with treats. Batting practice toys hung from certain spots on the walls or even on the cat tree. Spongy balls. Toy wands. A collapsible cardboard thing for resting on or scratching. Cloth toys designed to look like sushi and filled with catnip. And chewing toys.

Benny was a spoiled little boy.

He was also a curious little boy.

He liked to wander the halls and quietly look at everything. He never seemed to bother anyone. He simply watched, and he always found his way back to Arthur's room with ease.

But out of all his little personality traits, the funniest one was his apparent kleptomania. Any random thing he could fit into his mouth and looked interesting would end up in his bed or cat tree. Arthur once found an unopened condom on the top of said cat tree and that made him wonder about the poor cat's mental health for a moment. Normally, the stolen items wouldn't be valuable, but on the rare occasion that one seemed important enough Arthur would try to find the owner.

One morning, little Benny got the attention of one of the cleaners, a young woman with long brown hair that was normally kept in a high bun. Arthur had been sitting in the kitchen that Benny's food bowls were in, watching a video on a brand new tablet Vince had bought him. Benny was curled up on the bar counter, and at some points, Arthur petted his soft head or tapped his nose with a fingertip. The maid had been sweeping the floor when she paused and said with an excited voice, "Oh, that's a pretty little kitty! Can I pet him?"