Dex’s overinflated confidence in some matters never ceased to amaze Hammer.
“Oh? I thought I’d have to roll you back to the car after that amount of wings,” Hammer said but followed him toward the entertainment center, which also boasted video games, bowling, and trampolines. No laser tag.
Dex’s eyes lit up. “You are pretty fucking good at a fireman carry.”
Hammer smirked to himself. He had carried Dex to bed like that a few times.
Because yes, after that insane fuck fest at the sex party, he didn’t have the heart to kick Dex out of his bed. Surprisingly, when sleeping, Dex was no bedbug. Quiet, barely moving, he didn’t snore, didn’t flap his arms about, and didn’t hog the comforter. You never knew with people, and unless someone was staying over at his after a hook-up, Hammer always tried to have the bed to himself.
Being around people came with a constant level of low-level stress, which increased steeply if he didn’t get to reload the batteries each night. The presence of a guest not only posed a chance of them uncovering something they shouldn’t, but also that they would bug him over the tiniest things like where the coffee was, or whether they could borrow something of Hammer’s. One time, a girl had even asked if he had a guest toothbrush, and people being gross at his home was yet another can of worms Hammer did not want to deal with. Just because he liked squeezing people’s brains out of their skulls didn’t mean he wanted hair in his drain.
But Dex was not only not a bother but even brought him coffee to bed, so they could start the day in peace and comfort. And then he gave Hammer selfless morning head, like it was nothing. What a cool guy. Agreeing to throw axes with him was the least Hammer could do.
The building was vast, but as they walked in, a sign informed them that the place had adark zone, with bowling and a bar, and alight zone, where the trampolines and axe-throwing was, so they went that way and entered a bright space with very high ceilings.
A checkerboard of trampolines, some of which were occupied by a group of laughing teens, took up most of the interior, but as they stood still to look around, Dex noticed a large wooden axe attached to the wall along with an arrow. They were on the right track.
Pop music echoed in the background, but it was of poor quality, as if someone were listening to it on their phone at full volume. The chatter and laughter of the kids playing on the trampolines remained the main noise, but as Hammer and Dex walked along the tall fence of mesh surrounding the main play area, a different set of voices became dominant.
They stepped into a more atmospheric area with a lower ceiling and light that had a warmer quality and didn’t evoke memories from Hammer’s many hospital visits. Reminiscent of a small shooting range, with twin wooden targets hung on one of the walls, the space was divided into two lanes with a low wooden partition. The scent of tobacco and leather Hammer picked up was too strong to be natural, and his suspicions were confirmed when he noticed a candle close by.
A few people were gathered farther down, and judging by how the two men and women interacted with each other, it was safe to guess they were on a double date. Which made Hammer once again wonder if Dex had brought him here because itwasa date kind of activity. Hammer could rarely tell with women, but with a man, there was an additional layer of confusion, because he didn’t know much about the gay dating scene other than the fact that Dex seemed to have tried to hook up with every man within a hundred mile radius.
A man with a dense, carefully shaped beard stepped from behind a small counter. “Hi, you up for some axe throwing?” he asked, and Hammer shrugged, briefly glancing at the wooden name tag attached to his clothing.
“We are here.”
‘Steve’ stalled for half a second before breaking into a wide grin. “Good, good! Have you done this before?”
Dex nodded. “Oh yeah! I’ve done this many times.” He glanced at Hammer. “I practice at the junkyard.”
Was this an I-want-to-show-off-in-front-of-my-girlfriend kind of date? That would have made Hammer the girlfriend. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, and wished he could stop overthinking something as simple as hanging out with a fun guy he fucked, but there he was.
“He can show me,” he said in the end, pointing his thumb at Dex.
In the busy lane, female laughter erupted following what sounded like a particularly good hit. Hammer might not have the experience with this specific thing, but he knew his way around throwing knives, so maybe it wouldn’t be too difficult of a transition.
Hammer’s mind switched off when Steve gave them a long lecture about safety measures. He tried very hard to make everything sound cool, but Hammer was positive that every single joke the guy made had been regurgitated since the beginning of this attraction’s existence, as there was far too much fluency to the whole speech for it to sound natural.
But he followed the social contract and pretended to listen as the man pretended he cared about their safety and good time.
As soon as they were offered an axe each, Dex grinned at him, bouncing with excitement as he led the way to their lane. “As far as rules are concerned, it’s basically like darts.” He pointed to the round target with numbers and a big red bullseye. “But it’s all about how you throw the axe, how you gauge the distance and how many times it spins.” Dex stood very close to Hammer, presenting him the right stance, but all Hammer could think of was that this was a rom-com moment, and any second, Dex would stand behind him and show him how to grip the axe as an excuse to touch in public.
But did Hammer dislike it as a concept, or was he weirded out by the possibility of being put in a role he didn’t usually occupy? Any other time, it had been him pretending to steal touches by helping women out as both of them played respective roles in a convoluted game of chase where one side acted as though they didn’t want to be caught while another pretended that they didn’t know it was just play.
In this reversed reality, was he expected to act as if he didn’t understand Dex’s intentions, even though they were already fucking?
“Show me?” he mumbled, deciding to play along as the two of them settled in a lane adjacent to the one occupied by the two loud couples.
“Sure!” Dex got so excited he took off his jacket and put it on a chair at the back of the interior.
The T-shirt he had underneath was on the small side and featured Cora’s three big cats as cartoon characters. Before meeting him, Hammer would have sneered at the childishness of such an outfit, but now that he’d gotten to know Dex, it was starting to sink in that they were both not in the market of pleasing strangers and just expressed that in different ways. And to look as outrageous as Dex and not give a fuck took balls. Dex got a few curious glances from the side and hadn’t even noticed, all of his attention on showing Hammer the ropes.
Hammer indulged him and didn’t make a peep as Dex touched his back to“correct his form”.
Hammer could go with it, see where it headed, and maybe get a blowjob in the car later.
His thoughts stalled when that last thing jarred with the game he believed they were playing. In the current scenario, wouldn’t the person meant to get on their knees to worship the guy for his expertise behim?