Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:16:59 +0200 From: John Hollingway <john@foreign-embassy.net> Subject: Oooh, Vienna - Chapter 5 (M/b Oral) Oooh, Vienna by John Hollingway <john@foreign-embassy.net> This story is pure fiction. Although some persons in this story are images of people in the real life, I do not express their opinions in anyway. Anything in this story is made up in my head. This story contains graphic descriptions of sex between males, especially between a man and an underage boy. If this kind of story is illegal where you are living, go read something else. If you are offended by such material, why are you even here? Go read something which suits your state of mind better! If you are under 18 you shouldn't probably read this stuff either, as morale dictates us, but that couldn't hold me off at your age either. Just be careful about what you read and do, some people on the internet are not as nice as they appear at first. This story is copyrighted by the author, all rights reserved. The story may be copied and printed for personal use, but may not be published without the written consent of the author besides on the original publishing sites (cornercafe.us and nifty.org). Part 5 - See and wonder The next morning I woke up very, very early. It was around 6:00 when I opened my eyes for the first time, but that was no surprise. I had fallen asleep really early the night before, while watching the DVD, and John had just carried me over to bed once he had gone there as well, without actually waking me completely. It was a nice thing for him to do, but today I just paid the price for it by being awake at this hour. Carefully, I worked myself out from under John's arm that had quite successfully hugged me around the middle. With a bit of careful nudging and moving of his arm he turned around, and now was facing away from me without having woken up. I did my morning routine then, feeding the cats (yes, they certainly knew by then that they would get food from me and wouldn't leave me alone until I had put some food into their cup), going to the toilet, and drinking half a glass of water to calm down the thirst. Once I had finished that, I stood a bit undecidedly in the middle of the living room, not quite knowing what to do then. The cats were still busy with their food and would be more in a mood for sleeping than being petted after they had finished (I had observed that over the last days), I didn't feel like powering on the X-Box, I was still a bit too sleepy for some game action. Then I remembered that I had spotted the book I had started reading on the bed stand - John must have moved it there while tidying up - and as my feet were getting cold, I decided that going back into bed was the best I could do right now. Enjoying the warmth of the bed, and maybe of John as well, would be nice, and reading could keep me busy for quite some time. Once my mind is busy, I don't mind lying still for a bit. So I went back to the bedroom, and as the sun was already coming up at that time, there was enough light in the bedroom to read without turning the light on. Strange, I just realized it - when I was in Frankfurt, it was still quite dark at this time, even during this time of year. Only in the time around mid-June the sun would be dawning before 6am, and here it was already bright enough to read, in the middle of April. Weird, which way your thoughts can turn when you are still a bit sleepy. I shrugged the thoughts off, and got under the sheets, turning on my side away from John, my favorite sleeping position. As soon as I had assumed this position, John turned around and hugged me again, spooning me from behind. It was as if he was sensing that I was here again and ready to be cuddled. I didn't mind in the least, it was warm and comforting, and I opened my book. This must have been the most comfortable position I have read in, over the last years. Cuddled up to someone I liked and loved, knowing that no harm would come to me and just generally feeling content with me and my life in general. The library I went into in Frankfurt had always been a more welcoming place than being on the streets, especially in winter. But it was never really comfortable, reading there. They had nice tables and chairs where you could read, and everything was clean, but this was SO much better. Totally relaxing, I soon fell into the world I was reading about, and everything around me was forgotten for the time being. Everything, except for John, who occasionally stirred a bit and re-adjusted his body to a slightly different position. But that was a distraction from reading that I really didn't mind. When I felt, and heard as well, my stomach rumble, I looked at the alarm clock on the bed stand and realized that it was already past 8am, definitely time to get up now. I was just hungry. Working my way once more out from under John, I put on my tracksuit and gave John a light kiss on the mouth in the hope that he would wake up finally. I mean, it was already late! But he didn't even stir for a bit, so I decided to take my chances in preparing breakfast. He definitely wasn't a morning person, but food and especially coffee seemed to get him in a better mood. I didn't mind fixing the breakfast at all. John always made dinner and things like that, so it was only fair that I fixed the breakfast. Especially as he probably would still be too groggy for preparing a real breakfast, and might even consider that a mug of coffee (YUCK!) would be enough for breakfast. And I couldn't take THAT chance. But coffee had to be there, nevertheless, so I carefully remembered what John had shown me yesterday about brewing coffee, how to do it right, and I tried to do it like he did. While the coffee ran through, I brought the plates and cutlery to the table, and fetched all the things which obviously belonged to a real breakfast, at least according to John, and laid them out on the table. But either John had to prepare the rolls, or we would just have to get along with toast, as I had absolutely no clue where he fetched them from yesterday, and how to prepare them. Just when I was finished, I heard that the coffee was finished, and prepared a mug the way John liked it, with a lot of milk and sugar. Then I went back into the bedroom, and now I had to decide how to wake John up. If I did it the way I had yesterday, the coffee would be cold until we were finished, so we would have to leave that for later. But just stroking his hair... I mean, the possibilities were limitless. So I finally decided on the "direct body approach", cuddled up to him and gave him a passionate kiss with full tongue engagement. At first he seemed quite unwilling to return it, but once he had awakened even slightly, he pulled me into a tight hug, returning the kiss as passionately. When I needed to breath, I pulled myself (unwillingly) away from him, and he lay there, also gasping for air. Once he had regained his composure, he stated, "Kiddo, what have you done to me?" I just grinned at him, and he then pulled himself slightly up, took a look at the alarm clock, and let himself fall back in his cushion, "You are really trying to make me into a morning person, aren't you?" "C'mon, it isn't that early, it is already 8:20! But I brought you a mug of coffee, I thought that that would make you more...human," and I grinned sheepishly at him, remembering the comment from our first morning together. "Oh, cool, coffee..." and he longingly reached for the mug, taking a careful sip. He obviously hadn't forgotten his earlier experiences with Kyle-coffee. "Wow, this one is really good. I'm proud of you!" he praised me, and all I could do was stand there looking silly, grinning at him. I mean, it was only coffee... "But no breakfast today in bed? You are slacking off!" He just couldn't resist to tease me. I pouted, turning around to the bedroom door, "If you want breakfast, you have to get yourself moving and come to the living room!" When I opened the door, I could just let out a "FUUUUUUUCK!" when I saw two bolts of cat fur speeding off the table, both obviously something in their mouth. As John had said, they knew perfectly well that they weren't allowed on the table... I went to the table to check the damage the two terrors had done to our breakfast, and as it seemed, they obviously had eaten more than half of the cold cuts I had laid out on the table. A couple of seconds later John emerged as well from the bedroom, still only dressed in his underwear, "Kyle, what happened, honey? Did you hurt yourself?" "No.....Ben and Chloe.....they raided the breakfast table and have eaten quite a bit of it," I sighed, still not believing my utter stupidity. But John only laughed, "Ah, no worries, it takes some time to get used to living together with cats. You can't imagine how often they have stolen something from me! They actually managed to snatch away half a piece of tenderloin once from me when I wasn't paying attention. You just learn it the hard way that you can't leave any meat unattended with cats in the house. They will go everywhere, just to get the things you don't want them to have." I still looked sourly and meant, "But now the breakfast I have prepared is ruined!" He just ruffled my hair and gave me a quick peck on the lips, "Nothing is ruined, we still have all the other stuff left. Luckily, they haven't developed the taste for cheese or jam... yet!" I had to laugh at that, and he just continued, "I will get myself dressed, and then we will have a nice, meat-free breakfast!" and he winked at me. He went back into the bedroom, and I looked around to see where the two terrors where hiding. I was fully prepared to give them the full scolding they deserved, but they must have been aware that they did something naughty and were nowhere to be seen. I sighed and shook my head once more, that wasn't a lesson I would forget very soon. Shortly after that, John emerged from the bedroom again, now clothed in his tracksuit and carrying his coffee mug. When he had put down the mug on the table and was about to sit down, I interrupted him, "Um, I didn't know where you fetched the rolls from yesterday, so I left that open. Could you show me where you got them?" He stopped in mid-motion, obviously thinking. "I don't think we have more of those, I actually forget to put them on the shopping list. I think we will have to have toast this morning." "Okay, I'll just get it, and the toaster!" With this I rushed again to the kitchen, not wanting him to have to fetch it. I wanted to have prepared this breakfast just for him all by myself, sort of as a thank-you for all the things he did for me over the last days, all the comforting he did, and all the stress he went through, just for me. When I returned to the living room, he sat there, waiting patiently for me to return. I connected the toaster to one of the power outlets and put the bread on the table, then sat down myself. While the first bread was in the toaster, I inquired how yesterday's evening ended, as I could just remember vaguely that John carried me to the bed room, but not much more. John said, "Once I noticed that you had fallen asleep, I waited for another 15 minutes or so in case you woke up. Once it was clear that you were knocked out for good, I stopped the movie and just cuddled to you. Then..." I interrupted him at that, "Why did you stop the movie? Did you just watch it because I wanted to watch it?" "No...well, yes...I don't know. From both a bit I think." At that I just looked puzzled at him, waiting for him to continue. "I like that movie, and I liked watching it yesterday, especially while cuddling with you. But once you were asleep, I thought that you would maybe be interested in how the movie ended, and I didn't feel like watching it again, so shortly afterwards. So I just stopped it, that way we can both continue it when we feel like it. So I just cuddled to you, but after 15 minutes, you turned around into an absolutely uncuddleable position. And as it became clear that you wouldn't change that position soon, I tucked the blanket around you and went to the computer. I had missed talking to some friends online, and had to look at my mails as well, so it was time well spent. I actually forgot how late it was until well after midnight, and there was just no point in waking you up then, so I just carried you over to the bed room. And there you were a lot more cuddly, I can assure you." He winked at me once more. "Darn, a long cuddle, and I slept through it. Well, I guess we will just have to repeat it soon", I smiled at him. He smiled at me as well, obviously not disturbed very much by that idea. Just then, the first bread was ready, and we were busy preparing them. Once the two of us were happily munching, John steered to a different topic of conversation: "So, any ideas what you want to do today?" I thought over that question for a bit, and recalled what we had done so far. I definitely didn't need to have another visit with a doctor, but I remembered the bus drive, and recalled that I noticed how different Vienna was from Frankfurt: "What would you think of a nice walk around the city? I really would like to see more of Vienna, all the things we have done up to now were more of a necessity than anything else, and I still don't know what kind of city I will be living in from now on." "I think that is a great idea, kiddo. Though I really have to work for some time today. When I read my mail last night, I noticed some urgent things I really have to do today. I only scanned over my mail the last couple of days, and missed that. But I think we can go for a walk through the city after breakfast. I'm always better at working in the afternoon," he said. "Kewl! But wouldn't it be boring for you? I guess you must have seen it a million times already!" I was a bit concerned that I would bore John out of his mind. John chuckled at that, "You know, most of the time, I don't see more of the city than the places I need to go. The only time I just go looking is when visitors are here, and that isn't that often the case. So I would love to show you around the town. And it is different for sure when you do all those things with someone you love." With those words, he started to smile as when he just had discovered the ultimate truth, and his smile was just short of lighting up the whole room. I just couldn't help myself, I started to grin at him as well. It just felt SO good, I really felt accepted. He continued then, "So, how would you like it if I showed you the inner district? That is where the heart of the city is, a lot of old buildings, St. Stephen Cathedral, the parliament, things like that. That will cover what a basic tourist will see of Vienna as well." I remembered something then, from our drive through Vienna the first night, "What about that palace we saw the other night? I can't remember the name right now, but it looked cool!" John smiled at me, and looked a bit thoughtful, "Schoenbrunn Palace, I guess you mean." I nodded to this, I recalled that he had said that the first night. "Well, I don't think there is enough time today for that, and I really think that the inner district is a bit more interesting, for the sights." John said then. "If you really want to see Schoenbrunn, you need to devote more time to the trip, as you definitely need to do a tour of the imperial suites there. And that just takes a lot of time. But we can do that another day for sure. I expect we have enough days around here where we could do something together." And he smiled again so warmly at me, my chest nearly burst from all the love I could feel coming from him. "And I can work then in the afternoon, I hope you'll be able to entertain yourself for two hours or so, I guess that is the time it will take me to finish the work. And then dinner, and we can continue the movie, or whatever you like." I looked at him mischievously, "Oh, I might have something on my mind for the evening. Remember, you owe me some cuddles from last night, and there are a couple of things I'd like to... explore." John's eyes grew wide, and I think his ears got a bit pink when he tried to imagine what might be on my mind. And I think he got it right to the point what I was thinking, judging from the redness of his ears. I was not really certain how to say the next thing, so I gathered my thoughts for a second, and said, "But I think there is one other thing you need to address soon." He glanced at me curiously, not having the slightest idea what I was talking about. I continued, "You know, the thing with Marcus? I really think you, or we, should talk to him about what he said. Otherwise, it will boil in you, and that can't be good." He seemed a bit surprised by that statement, but then obviously considered my statement and responded slowly, "Yes, I think you are right. I kinda pushed it back in my mind, because it really was bothering me yesterday. I didn't feel ready to deal with it after the initial surge of emotions, but we really do need to work that out, and on the other hand, I am really puzzled as to why he would say something like that. It really isn't his style, and he should know me well enough to know that I would most certainly let you stay, regardless of whatever we do in the privacy of our bedroom, even if it was nothing," he said solemnly. "Yes, I know that, you have told me at least a dozen times, now," I said with an impish grin, "but there has to be a reason, I guess, otherwise he wouldn't have said it..." I trailed off. "Still... it IS kinda strange. Well, I guess we just will have to find out. So, if we both want to talk to him about that, we will need to meet him. I can call him and just ask him to come over, so we can confront him and he can apologize to you for what he said!" John said, getting more agitated with every word he said. "Hey hey, cuddle-bear, please, calm down. It won't do any good if you are getting angry again. He might, after all, have a good reason for all of this!" "I certainly don't see any," John grumbled quietly. "Let's hear his side of the story, at least. But don't you think a somewhat more relaxed environment would be better? So we can talk sincerely, but relaxed? How about if you invite him over for dinner tonight? I can help you preparing it, if you want!" He pondered that idea for a moment: "Hm, I don't know. It seems too nice to him...after THAT." "Oh, c'mon, don't be that much of a grumbler. I know it is morning and all, but you had your coffee, so PLEASE regain your human side!" I grinned at the last words. He laughed at that, "Okay, okay, I know when I'm beaten. Alright, I will invite him over for dinner, if you want me to." Suddenly he got a puzzled expression, and furrowed his brows in concentration: "What did you call me? Cuddle-bear??" the question marks clearly visible in his face. I grinned sheepishly at him, "Well, you seem to be a bit like a big, hairy monster, and always willing to cuddle me, so I think cuddle-bear fits you very well." He seemed to be taken aback by this for a second, but then got that EVIL glistening in his eyes: "So, so, I'm a monster..." and suddenly his hand shot forward and grabbed me at the arm, while at the same moment getting up, dragging me up a bit as well. And suddenly, his other hand was that evil tickling machine again, tickling my ribs. I squealed and squirmed, shrieking with laughter, and trying to get away from him, but his other hand was firmly around my wrist, making any attempt to escape futile. I laughed so hard at the continuous tickling that tears started running down my face, and I simply collapsed on the ground, not having anything left in my legs to support me. When that happened, John simply sat on my hip, and now had both hands free for tickling, which he used relentlessly. I couldn't do much more than simply laugh, and squirm, but finally I managed to gasp out, "I....I give up! Please!" at which he stopped in an instant. He then sat there on my hip, smiling at me, and lowered his face to kiss me. When we had finished the kiss, he just moved his face away a couple of centimeters, caressed my cheek, and said, "Kiddo, it is so much better seeing tears from laughter on your face than the other kind," and gave me another peck on the lips. Then he got up, and extended his hand towards me. When I grabbed it he pulled me up and I tumbled a bit against him. He caught me, and embraced and hugged me. I snuggled him for a moment, just enjoying the comfort. He kissed the top of my head, and buried his head in my hair, mumbling, "I still can't believe that I found you..." At that I just hugged him very tight, never wanting to let go of him, unable to say anything. As with every tender moment, this seemed to pass too quickly. John whispered in my ear, "Let's clean this up, we have quite a bit on our plate today." I pried myself away from John, my big cuddle-bear, and saw him just smiling at me. And that just made me smile as well. We cleaned up the breakfast table quickly after that, but then John wanted me to go first in the shower alone, which I flatly refused. I had really enjoyed showering together with him very much, I wanted to repeat that experience. So I told him in no uncertain terms that I expected him to accompany me into the shower. First he seemed to refuse, telling me that we had to do too much that day for spending so much time in the shower. I couldn't believe it! That was the moment I asked him: "What is more important to you? Working or spending time with me?" Okay, that was unfair, I admit it, but it worked. I went to the bathroom first, and stripped out of my clothes. While waiting for John to appear, I critically eyed myself once more. The haircut had done a lot for my appearance, but I still looked just...well, I didn't know. Just unhealthy, I guess. When John appeared in the door behind me, I asked him, "Do you think I'm too skinny?" He inspected me up and down, and I could feel a blush developing in my cheeks, which started to spread around. I was used to being naked in front of John by now, but being eyed that way was still a bit embarrassing. John replied then, "Yes, you really should have at least 5 kilograms more, better 10, I think." "So you will find me more attractive if I'm not skinny anymore?" I inquired. He closed the gap between us with a large step, and embraced me lightly, "Sweetheart, that hasn't anything to do with how attractive I find you. I will love you anyway you look, you are MY Kyle. But it would be a lot healthier for you if you had some more weight. This way, if you will ever get ill, your body won't have any reserves to fight against an illness, and it might get a lot more serious a lot easier. And this underweight, you don't have any reserves." I had laid my head on his chest while he talked to me, but now he put a finger under my chin and lifted my head, making eye contact with me. "I just want to see you healthy and happy, that is the most important thing right now. Stop thinking about how I would like you best, I love you, and nothing is gonna change that fact." I had to blink a few times to not have tears starting once more, my eyes felt suspiciously watery again. I stood on my tip toes and gave him a kiss, rounding it off with a halfhearted smile. It was important to me that he liked me, and I thought about those things. I guess I just couldn't help it. John stripped now as well, and it was time to get in the shower. Once the water was warm enough, both of us stepped under the stream. John took me at the shoulders, turning me around so that I was facing away from him, he started caressing and slightly massaging my shoulders, running his hands up and down the sides of my back in between. I closed my eyes, and just enjoyed the feeling of being caressed. It had the probably desired effect that I really started relaxing. Well, at least most of my body parts were relaxed, only one part started to stand at attention. After some time, John moved his hands a bit lower and cupped both my cheeks in his hands, slightly kneading them. I leaned forward a bit and put my feet further apart, guessing that John wanted to play with my butt hole some more. But he just stood there, caressed my cheek, and then gave me a kiss in the neck. I cleared my throat, and asked him, "Do you want to do that finger stuff again? It didn't feel as bad as I feared yesterday..." "Honey, I really think it would be too painful for you trying that without proper lubrication. But if you want me to, I can do something about that..." and he moved a bit closer to me, hugging me from behind and wrapped his hand around my dick. I had to moan instantly, the constant caressing and thinking about John maybe putting a finger in my butt had made me hard as a rock. I knew it wouldn't take long to get me to the edge, so I just nodded, thinking that some of John's hand-magic would be nice. John had a mind of his own, though. He moved a bit away, and turned me around once more. He then dropped to his knees, pulled back my foreskin and then put my dick in his mouth. I still wasn't used to that warm, wet, all-around feeling, and a moan twice as loud as earlier escaped my mouth, and I was unable to do anything about it. Not that I wanted to, the feelings in my body were just incredible. He bobbed his head up and down on my shaft, occasionally swirling his tongue around. I have no clue how long it took to bring me over the edge, but it wasn't very long until I moaned constantly, and finally crying out as the orgasm started to bring total bliss to me. When I regained my senses, I was breathing heavily, and noticed that I had to steady myself on John's shoulders. I must have done that without recognizing it, so I leaned down a bit, and John smiled his knowing smile up to me. Once I had regained my composure, I stood straight again, and John got up as well, hugging me tightly. I could feel between us that he was half-hard as well, so the action hadn't gone completely past him. Unsure about what to do, as he just hugged me tightly there without moving any further, I whispered in his ear, "Do you want me to suck you as well?" He replied in an equally low whisper, "Thanks for the offer, but I think I would like to preserve my stamina for tonight, as you have already implied that you would spend some nice time together, and I really would like that better than a quick " get the rocks off "in the shower." I could feel my heartbeat rise at the things that the tone in his voice hinted, and just nodded my approval of his plan. After that, the shower progressed slowly from just physical contact into cleaning up, and finally, both of us were shining again like being brand-new, just off the production line (I read that expression once in a book, and found it really funny, and I think it described the situation here perfectly). John was busy drying me off and occasionally nuzzling my neck or just hugging me in between, and I just enjoyed the feeling of being cared for. It made me feel like I was a kid again a lot littler than now, when my mum cared for me like that as well, and did those little things to make me feel good. Although, I didn't really appreciate those things back then, I didn't enjoy showering and getting dried up as much as I did now. Only when you have lost something, can you see the real value of it when you regain it. Once we were both clothed and nearly ready to go, I asked him, "Have you called Marcus already?" He sagged a bit, as if all his energy had left him, and replied, "I thought about that during the shower, and I don't think I can talk calmly with him at the moment. If I call him, I will just get angry..." "Okay, no problem, I will call him then," and I pulled out my brand new mobile phone, ready to make its first call. "Just give me the number." He seemed trying to argue first with me, then with himself, and I just shot him a determined look, basically telling him with just that look, that all resistance would be futile. We would have this talk with Marcus, and I didn't care how much discussion it would take. Marcus really seemed to be a friend for John, and I wouldn't let this ruin it for him. After another determined look, John finally caved in and dictated Marcus' number to me, while I punched it into the tiny number pad of the phone. Before I hit the "Go" button, I mentally recalled what I wanted to say to Marcus. The other end rang for 3 times until it was answered, "Yes?" "Marcus? This is Kyle. I hope I'm not disturbing you." "Oh, hi Kyle, great to hear from you. No, you are not disturbing me. What's up?" "I want to invite you over for dinner with John and me tonight. We have some issues we would like to talk to you about." "Oh, problems between you and John?" "Well, not really, maybe a bit, but it is also some stuff that involves you. So could you come around tonight?" There was a moment of silence on the mobile, Marcus was obviously digesting what I had said, "Um, well, yeah, sure. Stuff involving me? How do you mean that?" "I don't like discussing that over the phone. Would 7 o'clock be okay with you?" Marcus was still a bit confused, "Yes, 7 would be fine......" "Okay, great, we'll see ya tonight then!", and I pressed the "Off" button on the mobile. John waited patiently next to me, trying to follow what had I talked about with Marcus. "So, I guess he will come. Did he say anything? Did he apologize to you?" "He was more confused than anything else, I don't think that he has the feeling of having done anything wrong." "He certainly has, and I will tell him so tonight!" I sighed inwardly. When John was upset about something, he really got agitated about it every time he talked about it. I just decided to ignore it, and hope that the anger would calm down as fast as it had risen. I started putting on my shoes, while Ben eyed me curiously. As soon as I started tying my shoe laces, Ben instantly jumped up and tried to play with the laces, chasing them as they went around while I tied them. I chuckled, and started petting him, but Ben's eyes were still fixed on the strings. But nevertheless, as reliable as always, he started purring as soon as I started to stroke him. Out of an impulse, I reached out and took Ben in my arms and stood up with him securely held in my arms. Being on his back, he eyed me suspiciously. John smiled at me, and stroked Ben's belly a couple of times while saying, "They really seem to like you. It took me months until I could pick up Ben and hold him for some time, without him demanding his immediate release." Ben started to squirm a bit, so I decided to set him down again, and John and I went to the door. While descending the stairs, he said casually to me, "I'm really glad you get along so well with the two of them. They normally are very easy to get along with, but you never know..." I responded, "Oh, it is really great spending time with the two of them. At least someone is awake when I get up early and you decide to sleep in as usual, and they are great company - if they aren't raiding the breakfast table," I added, remembering the incident from earlier the morning. John chuckled at that, and replied, "I really love the two, and I love having them around. Although they can be a pain in the butt, and are able to seriously stress me out, it is definitely better than coming home to an empty flat. But having them is a bit like having little kids: You can't leave anything unattended, you can't reason with them, and they don't understand if something doesn't go their way." I pouted, "So, I'm basically like the cats?" teasing him gently. He responded in a hurry, trying to calm me, "No no, I mean kids a lot littler than you. Having you around is even better than having the terrors!" I tried to keep my most sincere face, "But, basically, I'm no different to you than the cats?" He stopped dead in his walk, turning around to face me, "Kyle, sweetheart, NEVER say such a thing..." That was the moment I couldn't control myself anymore, and busted out, laughing, "GOTCHA!" while continuing to laugh. "That was the revenge for tickling me earlier!" John looked puzzled for a second, and then grinned as well, "You seriously had me worried there for a moment!" Still snickering, I put my hand in his, as I had done before, and we continued toward the bus station. Going to the same bus as yesterday when going to the doctor, John steered me to the bus stop for going into the opposite direction. It really seemed confusing, trying to remember all those things, if I would ever manage to do so? I seriously didn't want to get lost here. But then I remembered my new cell phone, and I took it out while we were waiting for the bus to arrive. "Who are you going to call, honey?" John inquired. "No one! I just realized that I would be totally lost in Vienna without you, and I wanted to check how I could call you. You said your number was already stored in there, so I wanted to figure out how to call you." John showed me how to use the cell phone, and guided me through the address book towards trying to call him, and showed me how to add an address book entry as well (Marcus' one in this case). It didn't seem too complicated, he explained quite thoroughly, what to press and why. It seemed a lot easier than when I had observed other people doing something on their mobiles, hammering the keys and always being in a hurry. Maybe it was the same with computers? I decided that I would give it a try if John showed me what to do. If it wouldn't be something for me, I just would stay away from it. But trying it seemed to be worth it. The bus arrived, we got in, John got a ticket for me and we sat down in the last row of the bus. I asked him why he didn't buy a ticket for himself, and he explained that he got an annual ticket for the whole network of trains and buses in Vienna. Regarding as much as we had used the public transport already, it seemed like a smart thing to do. And you really saw a lot of different people of all kinds in the bus, from all kinds of social standings. As the part of the town we went through was pretty boring, mostly small shops and restaurants, I gazed at the people around me and tried to guess what they might do. There was a business man in a suit sitting in the row directly in front of us, rapidly talking into his cell phone. He obviously tried to set up some kind of meeting, and talked to at least five different people while he was in the bus. At the next stop, a bunch of giggling teenage girls entered the bus, most of them from a southern-European heritage, all of them dressed very provocatively with short skirts, despite the changing weather. They put their heads together and whispered to each other, eying a teenage boy who looked a bit older than them, sitting a couple of rows to the front. They obviously tried to get him to notice them, but he was spaced out, having some earphones in his ears and staring out of the window. There was a mother with a little kid, maybe three years old, who tried to reach up and press the button signaling for a stop, but he was a bit too short to reach it. The mother didn't pay attention to him, and it looked to me as if the kid was a burden to her. And then, the bus turned around a corner, and suddenly I was transported back into a long gone time. The Vienna I had seen up to now went away, and was replaced by something a lot older. A huge, magnificent building came into view, at least 300 years old. Behind it, the twin clock towers of a church appeared, and you could see a glimpse of the roof, just hovering a bit over the tops of the other houses, and glistening in gold and green in the sunlight. Of course, it couldn't be mistaken that we were still in the 21st century, with all the cars and trains going there, but you could easily imagine, through the buildings, that the streets were filled with horse carriages instead of cars, the women wore large dresses and huge hats, and instead of jeans and t-shirts, the men wore suits with stiff collars. It just felt a bit like that. John pointed to the huge building in front of us, and told me, "That is the Vienna Opera House. It is one of the best known operas world-wide, and a lot of famous composers and singers have already performed things in there." Then he pointed to the two large clock towers just barely visible over the roof tops, and said, "And that is St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna's landmark. We will see that closer later on, when we walk a bit through the inner city. Now, we will change to one of the tram trains here," pointing to train stop directly on the opposite side of the pavement. We left the bus then, and just waited there for the tram train to arrive. While waiting, John explained to me that the train was circling around the inner district, and that there were two different lines which circled the inner city in different directions. Line 1 clockwise, and Line 2 counterclockwise. When our train arrived, we entered it and John steered me to one of the seats, letting me sit directly at the window so I had a good view of the outside. At first, nothing much interesting, except for the Opera building was visible, just a hotel building of a famous chain which I had also seen in Frankfurt. But then a real palace came into view, with a huge square in front of it with a large monument of a rider on it. John said, "This is the Hofburg, the normal palace of the Austrian kings. Nowadays, the Austrian president has his office in there. But he isn't at home at the moment, if he was, the flag would fly over the top of the palace," and he pointed to a flag pole on the top of the building. My view was still fixed on the huge building, when John pointed to something on the other side of the tram train. There two buildings stood directly opposite of each other, separated by a monument of a forbidding-looking woman sitting on a throne. "Those are the art historic and nature historic museums." "And who is that woman between the buildings?" I asked. John got an apologetic grin on his face, and admitted, "Darn, you caught me. I hoped you didn't ask.....I actually don't know, but I think it is one of the former Austrian queens." "So you are not Mr. Know-It-All?" I gently teased him. "Never said so, never will. I just never had the determination to look up who was displayed on that monument." The train continued, and another big, old building came into view, looking a bit like a church or something. "That is the Vienna Town Hall. During advent, they have an advent's calendar in the colored windows in the first level, and light up every day a new window. That is quite nice to see. But Christmas season is very nice in Vienna anyways, a lot of things to see." After that, a lot of buildings came quickly into view, a theater, the main university, even some super-old barracks, and churches - lots of churches. I don't know what any people would want with so many churches, but here they had built them, nevertheless. John suddenly stood up, and I looked a bit confused at him, "This wasn't a whole loop around the inner district, we definitely aren't where we started." He smiled at me, "Brilliantly investigated, Watson! But the rest of the turn around the district is just plain boring. So let's just leave the tram here and we can walk through the city for a bit, as we had planned to anyway." That left me even more confused, "Watson? Why Watson?" but I got up from my seat nevertheless. He laughed and tousled my hair, "Never heard of Sherlock Holmes, one of the greatest detectives in literature, and his companion, Dr. Watson?" That lighted the issue a bit, of course I had heard about Sherlock Holmes, but I had never read any of the stories about him, or heard of Dr. Watson. I didn't have more time to investigate the issue, as the tram door opened and we had to leave the train there. A lot of people were bustling around, and at first, I was a bit afraid I would lose John in the masses of people there, but he must have seen some of my uncomfortable glances, and he quickly offered me his hand to take. I smiled thankfully at him, and his presence gave me assurance. Holding hands didn't make going through all those people easier, though, and I really asked myself what all those people were doing there on a Saturday morning. It couldn't be all tourists, although I saw a group of Chinese or Japanese people following a guide, who had stretched out her hand with an umbrella in it, so all the people could follow her easily. After we had left the square where we left the tram, things quieted down a bit, but just a bit. There were still quite a lot of people on the streets around us, but it was easier to navigate. The square had been a little more modern than the buildings I had seen until then from Vienna, but going into the narrow streets, the feeling of being in an old, or "classic", city, returned in full measure. The buildings were old, but kept in a lot better shape than in the streets where we had gone through earlier with the bus, and there were a lot of "tourist-like" shops, selling postcards, special Austrian sweets or other bibelots. After maybe 10 minutes going through the streets, with me just looking around and soaking up as much as I could of the feeling of the city, we came across an ice cream parlor. I looked at it with longing, the last time I had ice cream must have been years ago, and I loved ice cream. I must have slowed down a bit, as suddenly John came to a halt and turned around to me. He opened his mouth, probably to ask what the problem was, when he just followed my gaze, and a smile played around his eyes and mouth. He asked, "Do you want some ice cream?" I definitely, really wanted some, but couldn't get myself to say the words. I felt like I was taking advantage of John's generosity, and heard myself say, without really believing it myself, "No, not really. I mean, we just had breakfast, and it is still not that warm..." and then trailing off. John's expression got a bit more serious when he said, "I didn't ask if you were hungry, or if you were hot, I asked if you want ice cream. I definitely wouldn't mind some myself." Saying that he wanted some himself, I brought myself to nod shyly at him, and without further waiting he dragged me to the shop. After a glance at the ice cream menu, he simply ordered: "One cone with two scoops for me, and one Special Mega Surprise Cone for the young man next to me, please." While the ice-cream man went to work, I could just goggle at John. Without any second thoughts, he had just ordered the biggest ice cream cone they had on the menu. I barely even registered that the ice-cream man asked John something, I couldn't take my eyes of the HUGE cone he had in his hands, busy filling up with all sorts of ice cream. As he finally handed it to me, I had to use both hands to keep it steady while he reached over the counter. As I said, it was huge, had a heap of whipped cream on top, some brittle and a plastic spoon in it, as there was no chance of licking it. John paid the ice-cream man, took his own, in comparison, meager, cone, and motioned me to sit down on a bench on the pavement. I just had to ask him, "Why did you get just a small one for yourself, and this huge one for me?" He had a twinkle in his eyes when he said, "Because I have to look after my weight a bit, and shouldn't eat that much sweets. You, on the other hand, can use all the ice cream you can get. And besides, just the look on your face when I ordered that was worth it," and he grinned at me. I could only whisper, "But I don't deserve it, I'm just a beggar from the streets, and you have already done so much for me..." John got very serious when he replied, "Don't let me hear that again. Just because life hasn't treated you fair up to now doesn't mean that you don't deserve it. On the contrary, life owes you something, and I'm just here to make sure you get what you deserve. And it makes me happy to treat you to something you obviously didn't have for a long time. So, don't let it melt, and dig in!" Obediently, I turned my eyes towards the huge cone, and the desire for the ice cream just washed away every strand of doubt which might have been here. And after I tasted the first spoonful of the ice cream, there was no holding back. After I had tackled the initial head of cream and got through to the first ice cream, I just enjoyed the feeling of the cold, creamy ice melting on my tongue. I think, I spaced out like John often did, but not from thinking, I think I just blissed out from the incredible taste of the ice cream. After I came back to Earth, I risked a glance towards John, to see if he had noticed that I must have forgotten the world around me. And sure, he looked down at me with a huge grin on his face. He must have looked at me the whole time, and I felt myself blushing badly, and I tried to defend myself, "It just tasted sooooo good, I really didn't mean to..." On the streets, blissing out like that could mean a lost meal, or worse, but John didn't seem to care. He laughed, put his right arm around my shoulder and pulled me towards him, and then kissing the top of my head, "Kiddo, there is no need to be apologetic. It was just so great to see your reaction, I wouldn't have missed it for the world," and he smiled some more. I couldn't help myself, but just smiled back at him, and decided that I really needed to decimate the ice cream some more. But before I could stuff some more ice cream into myself, John asked me, "Do you think you could handle walking some with the ice cream in your hand? I really would like to walk to St. Stephen's Square, it is just a hundred meters down that road. The view is a lot nicer than here, and the benches should be in the sun this time of the day." I considered that, and nodded then, "I think I will manage." "Okay, let's go then," and John got up from the bench. After I got up, I looked around to see if I had dropped something or left something behind, something years on the street will teach you, to do. But it looked like I had forgotten nothing, and followed John then. It was difficult to eat out of that HUGE cone while walking, but I tried nevertheless. There was no way that I would wait until we were seated again. But when we came to the plaza which obviously had to be St. Stephen Square, the ice cream was forgotten for a minute nevertheless. I mean, there was a huge, empty space in the middle of the central city, and on the center of it that giant, super-old church stand, with two towers hovering over my head that I had to crane my neck to see the top of them. The place was not really empty, though, far from it. When I had thought that the place where we left the train had been bad, this had to be even worse. People everywhere, and I mean everywhere, taking pictures, looking at the church, talking, a long row of those Fiakers, and in between there, a lot of street performers. They made music, danced, or just stood still so the people, and especially the little children, thought that they were statues. I had to laugh really loud when a little girl cautiously touched one of the "statues" at the leg, and he suddenly bent down towards her and shooed her away. She screamed in mock terror, and ran back to her mother, hiding behind her. John saw that as well, and we both laughed on our way to the benches on the square. By some miracle, a spot directly opposite of the main entrance of the cathedral was free. It was a bit cramped, but I snuggled into John and leaned at his chest, so both of us were quite comfortable, I think. After I watched the bustling square for a couple of minutes, while savoring the ice cream, I noticed some strange guys strewn all over the square. They wore something like old-looking uniforms, and all of them had white wigs on their heads. They looked somehow familiar, but I couldn't place them. I asked John about them, and he answered me, "Oh, those guys try to look like Mozart. They are a real tourist trap here, offering everything from a guided tour through the city, overpriced opera tickets or hints for a restaurant, which will of course lead the people to an overpriced restaurant run by a friend of theirs. They are not really bad, just trying to take advantage of the tourists, and playing with the image of Vienna as " Mozart's City "." I nodded, and remembered why they looked familiar. I had read a book about famous classical artists not long ago, and I remembered a picture there which looked like those men tried to look. When I came to the bottom third of the cone, I had to surrender. There was no way that there would fit more ice cream into me, and had to look to John and say in a small voice, "I'm really, really sorry, but I don't think that I'll be able to finish the ice cream. I really tried, but I just.....it just won't fit. Please don't be angry, I know you wanted to do me a favor." John looked down at me with a strange mix of amusement and sternness, "Do you remember what Domenic said yesterday?" I tried to guess what John could mean, but Domenic had said so much, and I wasn't sure to what John was referring to. So I had to shake my head, fearing that I had made a gross mistake. "He said that you shouldn't over stuff yourself, and if your body says that it is full, you should listen to it. And I never will be angry if you decide that you just can't eat anymore. If you are full, you are full, and you really don't need to finish all of a plate, or cone. Nothing further from the truth, I'm happy that you are able to voice your opinion." And he added in a low whisper, just barely audible to me, "And I really, really would like to drive that point home with a long kiss, but I think that will have to wait until later, " and grinned impishly at me. At that, my heart felt like it wanted to burst, out of joy. I realized once more how much John loved me, and that feeling was even better than the melting ice cream on my tongue. Thinking about it for a moment, I became aware what emotional ups and downs I had since we left the train. I had been afraid, longing, joyful, loving and everything in between. I knew that John would rarely be angry with me, and probably not about something simple as an ice cream cone. My head knew that, but that didn't stop my subconscious saying to me that I had to be afraid to tell an adult something he probably wouldn't be happy to hear. I just had to tell myself over and over again, that I could trust John, that he just wanted the best for me. Just about then, John extended his hand towards me, and said, "If you don't mind, I'll finish it. It is just too good to let it be wasted." I was really confused by that for a second, but quickly remembered the ice cream. Thinking about John had driven the thought about the not-finished cone temporarily out of my mind. Handing it over to him without a word, I snuggled a bit deeper into him and continued watching the people around us while he finished the ice cream. It was really amazing to see how big the variety of people on the square was. There were a lot of Asian people there, mostly in big groups like the one we had seen earlier on the other place, with a guide and taking a lot of pictures. But there were also a lot of other people around, and the bandwidth of languages you could hear there while just listening a bit to the people around you was quite astonishing. German in all kinds of accents, English of course, a couple of different eastern European languages, and something I thought sounded either like Italian or French, but I couldn't tell for sure. Just then, John had finished the ice cream and looked first expectantly up to the clock tower, and then to me. "I really would like to show you the view over the roofs of Vienna, the view you have from the top of the tower is really spectacular. But I honestly have my doubts that you will manage getting to the top of it." I was a bit unsure if he was just teasing me, so I asked curiously, "Why? Isn't there an elevator to the top?" At that, he laughed, and responded, "No, kiddo, definitely not. You know, when they constructed the tower, the elevators were still a bit basic, and so they just went without one." And he winked at me, so I knew he was just teasing me. Continuing, he said, "The tower is a 140 metres high, and there are 343 steps to the top of it. And I know how exhausting it is, going up, and also going down. If you have started, you'll have to finish it. And I don't know if you will be able to do it. But there will always be other times when we can do it," he added quickly. Pondering what John said for a moment, I asked him, "You say it is exhausting even for you?" When he nodded, I decided that it probably was a bit much for me, "I really don't know either if I'll be able to do it. I still remember how I cowered in the bushes for maybe half an hour after I ran away from the police, I was so out of breath, and could barely move afterwards. But let's do it another day, it looks like it would be great!" John smiled at me, and said, "I really hoped that you would say it, as I really think that it would be too much for you, but if you wanted to do it, we would have done it anyway. But what would you think about taking a look in the nave?" Arching my brows, I asked, "The navel? Which navel?" John laughed, and tousled my hair, "The nave, not navel, without an L! It's what the main building of the church is called the correct way. So how about peeking inside?" I looked a bit annoyed at him, "Don't confuse me with those big, complicated words!" He laughed once more, "But it wasn't a big word, it just had 4 letters in it! But see, now you learned a new word as well!" I had to smile at that, but wanted to shift the subject away from it, "Okay, sounds interesting, let's do it." When we entered the "nave", I could just gawk with my mouth hanging open at the lush interior. I don't think that I have ever seen that much gold in one place in my entire life! There were drawings all over on the walls, the big stone pillars looked like they were made out of fragile strands of stone, and I had to touch one to be sure that it was solid and would hold up the roof. Looking up, I discovered that the roof had to be at least fifty meters above us. And I wasn't sure if there were more people outside on the square or inside the building, but still, the atmosphere was quiet, so without even noticing, I whispered as well, when talking to John, "Wow, this is really amazing. I've never seen anything like it..." and my voice trailed off, silenced by the sheer impressiveness of the building. We wandered around a bit, and I tried to take it all in, virtually inhaling the ancient scent of the building. We came across something which looked remotely like a coffin, only it was decorated by a lot of gold and jewelry. I stopped in front of it, asking John in awe, "Is that a coffin?" "More like a casket, I think," he answered. "I mean, is there really someone dead lying in there?" I couldn't believe it. "Probably, I think it is a catholic thing to put their dead on display for everyone. I really think there is someone dead in there." I had to stay for a moment there, and just keep looking at the casket. I don't know why I was so fascinated, but it really seemed weird to put out a dead person for everyone to see. We circled a bit around in the church, looking at all the old stuff they had on display there, but as Mum wasn't really religious, I couldn't really remember having been in a church before, so a lot of the things there didn't really make sense to me. But it was awesome to look at, anyways. When we left the church, the sun from earlier couldn't be seen anymore, there were now clouds in the sky and it started to get overcast. John shot a critical look at the sky and said, "Hm, it looks like it might rain soon. I think we should head back in the general direction of the bus home, so if it really starts raining, we will be able to go there quickly." "Sounds good to me, I really don't wanna get that wet again", I agreed. Although I wore my new waterproof jacket, being out in the rain was never nice. We walked at a leisurely pace from the big square, and into a street packed with shops. I went a bit closer to the displays to see what was offered here, and saw a lot of jewelry and really expensive clothes. John offered an explanation without me asking for it, though, "I think this is the most expensive street to shop on in the whole of Austria. Most of the things you can buy here are designer things, and way out of my league as well. I seldom go here anyway, and if I go, I just do so for taking in the atmosphere. I don't think I have ever bought anything here." "Yep, looks way too expensive. I mean, there was a suit in that one display which costs more than 4000 EUR! Who is going to spend that much on a stupid suit?", I wondered. "Oh, it seems there are enough that these stores can survive", John laughed, "but I haven't met any of them." After 10 minutes of walking, we came to another big square, which looked vaguely familiar. I eyed it curiously, and asked John a bit unsure, "We have been here before, haven't we?" He smiled at me, "Yep, this is the opera again, just from the backside. Over there is the bus and tram station where we switched from the bus to the tram", and he pointed to somewhere directly in front of us. I squinted my eyes, and once he had pointed out, I could recognize it as well. I turned around, and there were the two clock towers and the roof from earlier. A smile played around my mouth, now I had been in there as well. We went down through an underground passage instead of crossing the street to get to the bus stop. I had to laugh out loud when we came across the toilet where classical music was playing from, and there was a sign above the entrance which stated "The opera toilet - The only toilet in town with opera music!" John chuckled as well, saying, "It never ceases to amaze me to what lengths people will go to to turn a profit." I looked around a bit, and saw some shady people standing in a corner, with their back towards us. Their posture looked familiar, and I asked John with a bit of horror welling up in me, "Are those druggies over there?" He looked over to them, and gave me a sad look, "Probably, the Karlsplatz passage is one of the major drug points of the city." Grabbing his hand a bit firmer, I urged him in a low voice, "C'mon, let's get to the bus, I really don't want to have to do anything with druggies anymore." John looked down at me, sudden realization creeping on his face, "Oh, I'm so sorry, honey, I didn't realize what this might remind you of. Yes, let's get to the bus." I breathed out in relief when the escalator took us up to the daylight again, but by now, a light sprinkle of rain had started. John said, "Oh, it looks like we made it back to the bus just in time. Let's go home then!" Home! I could hear that word all day. It meant so much to me. I wondered if John realized what it meant to me, having a home once again after a long period without a place I really considered home. Afterword Author's Notes Well, first of all, I really have to apologize how long it took me to get this chapter done. I started this as soon as I finished chapter 4, but it just wasn't coming together. Then, a serious case of writer's block hit me, and some drastic changes in my real life - the whole works. I really hope the next chapter won't take as long as this one, but I'm at a point where I don't do any promises about chapter releases anymore - they never come out at the pace I want them to. On the other hand, I'm really pleased how the relationship between Kyle and John develops, it is nice seeing a growing trust between the two of them. The sightseeing was something I tried to sneak in to show something more about Vienna - it really is a beautiful city, or at least it can be - if the weather conditions are okay and you know where to look. All the places I described in this chapter are pretty much real, even down to the ice cream parlor. Unluckily, they have discontinued the service of the tram lines 1 and 2 around the inner ring of the city. It was always great taking visitors on that tour, you could see so much in that pretty short trip. But they existed until the middle of 2008. And the inner district is really the place to go if you are visiting Vienna, it basically breathes history there. It is one of the few cities I know with such a strong suit of old houses which weren't destroyed in the war - unlike most of German cities. Anyway, I think I should hand over the "microphone" to my editors, I think they have something to say about this chapter as well. And, as always, I really can't thank Darryl enough for all the time he invests in helping me developing this story. It is not only editoring, but I can also bounce ideas off him, trying to come up with something that works if I'm stuck at some point, and he always has encouraging words about my writing. Thanks, Darryl! Not to forget Str8mayb, he stepped up to the plate as well, and did a lot about readability for this chapter. Thanks to you, too! And I'm going to iterate it again as well: Please let me know what you think about this chapter! It really helps getting feedback, and I'm always in a better mood for writing after some nice feedback - so the new chapter will come out a lot faster. But, I fear this chapter is nothing but a short, quiet interlude before the real trouble starts. Yes, you can imagine me here with evil glistening in my eyes. Yours, John Editor's Notes This was a very enlightening chapter. We learned quite a lot about Vienna, didn't we. I know there are a lot more things to see in that beautiful old town, but it would be impossible to see it all in one day. I know that in his head, Kyle realizes that John loves him, but there is still a lot of baggage that Kyle will need to unload, before he can completely accept the fact that he truly has a home and family. That tiny spark of fear of rejection is still there, and it will take some time before all the horrible memories fade from his mind. I learned a new word: The word is bibelots. It is a word that really is fun to say. I had never seen it before. I am not going to tell you what it means, because if I have to look it up, there is no reason that you can't do it too. Seriously, I think you will be able to figure it out from the context, but if you can't figure it out and you can't find it when you look it up, I will let you know in the next chapter. I wonder what will happen when Marcus shows up. I hope they can get it all straightened out, because we wouldn't want to have John and Marcus having bad feelings toward each other. I guess we will just have to wait for the next chapter before we find that out. Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher Associate Editor's Notes: Thank you for a very nice chapter. John and Kyle are really building their relationship now. Kyle is learning that he can trust John and next he needs to learn to trust and value himself. I have to agree with Darryl, bibelots is a wonderful new word. I had to look it up too. Now I have to work it into one of my stories (before Darryl sneaks it in, Jeez©.). Something that many Americans don't really experience is the history in the old world cities. I happen to live near Jamestown and we just recently celebrated the 400th anniversary of the settlement. In Europe there are thousand years or more history in the cities. It is nice to see some of that in this story. Str8mayb