Author's Note: this story was written for the gay shoe fetishist.
***
Kevin opened the door and couldn't help but smile. The landlord had indeed called Liberty Electricians, who had dispatched Dwight, just as he had hoped.
"Hey, there!" Dwight's voice boomed in his standard jovial greeting. "Great to see you. What do we have this time?"
Kevin rolled his eyes as if in irritation with the aging carriage house, trying to contain his excitement that Dwight was actually here. "Ugh--an entire circuit of outlets in the back bedroom went out. Lamps, alarm clock...nothing works."
Dwight grinned and widened his eyes. "Uh-oh. No alarm clock? That's no good. Let's see what we can find. Kevin backed up and held the door wider as Dwight stepped inside. Kevin watched as his red plastic shoe covers crackled on the battered softwoods.
"Oh, you don't need those," Kevin said, waving off the booties.
Dwight looked down as his feet, lifting one of his covered boots tentatively. He looked up at Kevin with his usual good-natured smile. "Ah, it's fine. Standard procedure. We don't want to mess up anyone's home by tracking anything in." He started to glance down at notes on his clipboard. "Panel is in the downstairs coat closet, right?"
"Really," Kevin continued. "I insist. It makes me feel like my house is a biohazard site or something. Here--let me get those for you." His pulse quickened as he squatted next to Dwight's pressed black Dickies and hooked his index finger around the stretchy elastic band that bunched around his boot. "Here, lift your foot," Kevin commanded.
"Uh, okay..." Dwight complied with traces of confusion in his voice. "If you really want..." He lifted his left foot and Kevin whisked the crunchy red cover off, being sure to enjoy the feel of Dwight's boot as his fingertips brushed against them. Dwight was wearing the most stunning pair of Dewalt boots. Black with Kevlar covers that stretched over the toe box. Kevin sighed almost audibly and tried not to spend too much time taking in the black and yellow laces that switchbacked their way up under Dwight's pant leg.
"Other one," Kevin prompted. This time, Kevin was deliberately little clumsier in removing the cover, wanting to disturb the hems of the Dickies enough so that he could catch a glimpse of Dwight's socks. He caught his wrist on the fabric as he removed the bootie, and saw soft black ribbing stretching down Dwight's ankle behind the thickly padded boot collar. "Got it," he said triumphantly, standing and handing the two shapeless red covers to Dwight. He hoped his half hard cock wasn't visible in his baggy joggers.
Dwight briefly adjusted his cap in a slight nervous tick, then forced another winning smile as he took the covers from Kevin. "Great--thanks." He jammed them in the pocket of his coat. "So...the panel?"
"Right!" Kevin exclaimed, as if suddenly remembering the actual purpose of Dwight's visit. "Yep. It's in the closet." Kevin bounded over to the closet, feeling on the rush of just having interacted with Dwight's feet.
Dwight was gorgeous. He had sun bleached blond hair that was close cropped, and a very close shaven beard. His eyes were deep brown and round, like two constantly surprised pools of liquid chocolate. Even though he was shorter than Kevin, he was a well-proportioned, solidly built guy. Kevin had spent plenty of time fantasizing over him since the last time he had visited the run down little carriage house to replace some ancient light switches in the bathroom that were no longer making faithful connections.
Kevin shoved the coats on the rod to the side and held them back as Dwight grabbed a mini flashlight from one of his pants pockets and poked around in the panel. With Dwight's back turned and having the advantage of being in close quarters, Kevin had plenty of time to let his both his eyes and his mind wander over him. What was it like for Dwight to get ready in the morning? Did his wife press his work trousers for him? Was there a whole drawer of socks specially set aside for these boots? Did his cap hang by the back door? Or did he keep it on the seat of his truck?
"Everything looks fine in here. Let's take a look upstairs. Can you lead the way?" Dwight closed the panel door and turned, Kevin standing so close that the visor of his hat nearly brushed his hair.
"Sure thing. This way." Kevin lead him up the tiny, steep staircase that cut up the side of the carriage house. He could hear Dwight's boots creaking and clomping on the wood risers behind him. "Watch your head up here. These ceilings are low," Kevin advised, turning to watch Dwight finish the ascent.
Kevin's carriage house rental had two tiny bedrooms tucked under the eaves. You had to walk through the first--which he had converted into a home office--to get to the second. Dwight bent his head as they shuffled into the passage between two closets that connected the rooms. Dwight was in Kevin's bedroom! This in itself was a fantasy breathed into reality.
Dwight tipped his hat back on his head. "So this is the room where the outlets are giving you trouble?" he said, crouching next to the bed and inserting a tester into a wall socket. Kevin observed Dwight's fitted uniform jacket raise up above his belt and shirt as he bent to examine the receptacle. It was a black woven nylon belt, which Kevin found sexy for some reason. Dwight scuttled to the next outlet in the room, his boots creasing as he squatted again. "That one's dead, too," he murmured to himself as he got to his feet, the heavy soles of the Dewalts squeaking faintly on the floorboards. He faced Kevin. "I can't imagine there is more than on circuit feeding these receptacles up here. Not based on what the panel downstairs looked like. Have you had any problems in the other room?" Dwight indicated the office through which they had just passed.
Kevin shook his head. "No. And every outlet in there has something plugged into it. My computer, the modem...and it all is still working."
Dwight scratched his stubbly beard in thought, the sound of his fingernails raking across the coarse hairs making audible scrapes in the room. "So there's a break in the connection somewhere between the rooms." He glanced down in the corner at the small panel that gained access to the crawlspace behind one of the closets. "Can we get in there?" he asked, already crossing over to the little door.
"I think so..." Kevin offered as Dwight pushed the panel askew and pulled it from its frame. He knelt down and pointed his light into the dusty black void. Kevin could see his socks clearly now. They looked new. Thick and soft with deep furrows between the cabling, and that sheen of the yarn that only appears before they are damaged by laundry detergent.
"Bingo," Dwight said softly as he peered into the space. Dust motes swirled in the blue beam of the light. He turned back to Kevin. "Can you go down to the panel and try to find the upstairs breaker? I'll tell you when you've got it."
Kevin squeezed back down the stairs and into the coat closet. Only one breaker even had the word "bedroom" scrawled next to it, so he clunked it over.
"That's it!" came Dwight's muffled voice. When Kevin reentered his room, Dwight was squeezed halfway into the filthy crawlspace, his hat on the floor next to him. The toes of his boots were bent against the floor, his heels raised to the ceiling.
"You okay in there?" Kevin called into space in the access hole along Dwight's body.
"Yeah--" came the reply, damped by the insulation and dust in the confined space. "I just need a third hand is all," he chuckled.
"I can try to hold the light," Kevin offered, eager for a chance to be close to Dwight's body. Dwight twisted around and looked back over his shoulder.