valarltd | Work In Progress Wednesday

I have failed at keeping up with news links. So let's try something I'm actually doing. A page from a work currently in progress. Comments tend to encourage work on that piece. Just ask

princesslanie.

Chain-male is the second in our contemporary kink trilogy.

Chad slid into the desk on the back row and opened his text book. He was just sitting in on the World History class and didn't want to make a nuisance of himself. He rubbed a sticky spot on his fingers left from spending the afternoon repairing books. The liquid plastic rolled up into a little ball, without taking his skin with it.

He watched the students come in. Most of them were traditional students, the kind he saw every day asking for books on Thoreau and chemistry, psychology and Augustine. There was a couple of older people, taking advantage of the free tuition to those over seventy, and a young man with round glasses, a neatly trimmed goatee and a short pony-tail.

Chad watched him. He was probably taking night classes to get the degree he couldn't afford right after high school. Chad watched his hands, calloused and cut up, take out the text, a notebook and pen. He wondered what the guy did for a living. It didn't look like he was a cashier or telemarketer or some kind office worker. A nasty mental voice wondered if the guy had the brainpower for college. Chad shushed it.

Dr. Rea came in and passed out the syllabus and started the “What to expect from this course” lecture. The cute guy's pen took very steady notes. Clearly he had some notion of how to study and learn. Chad didn't bother with notes. He was just here to listen.

Chad found he wasn't doing much listening. He was watching the cute pony-tail guy, studying him. He catalogued the man's features like he would one of his books. Pony-tail chewed his pen. He wore a blue polo shirt with jeans, both so new Chris could almost see the sizing in them. He must have thought class was worth dressing up for. A bracelet of heavy copper links weighed down one slim wrist. A nasty cut along the heel of his right hand escaped both edges of the bandage.

Chad stifled a sigh. He was doing the same thing he always did when he took a class. He was picking out a guy, crushing on him and would probably never even speak to him the whole semester.

Pony-tail guy gathered his books and left with the rest of the class at the end. Chad headed back to the library to finish his split shift. He watched the guy head for the parking lot. Maybe he'd find out the guy's name next week.

“Until then I'll call you Byron. Maybe I can be your Shelley,” Chad whispered as he shut the library door and settled down at the reference desk.