Date: Fri, 6 May 2016 11:20:18 +0100
From: Gymnopedies <storiesbygymnopedies@gmail.com>
Subject: My Cousin Vanya - Chapter 1

Copyright of this story is retained by the author and it should not be
reposted to any newsgroup or website without permission. Any form of
commercial use is strictly prohibited without the express permission of the
author. The author can be contacted at storiesbygymnopedies@gmail.com

The usual disclaimers apply: don't read if you are prohibited by location,
are under legal age, or if you are likely to be offended by explicit
descriptions of gay sex. The story is pure fiction and is not based on any
actual events.


NOTE: This story will be posted in a total of 9 parts.



My Cousin Vanya: Chapter 1 by Gymnopedies


I was not happy. But then show me a teenager that would be happy when he
suddenly discovers that he is going to have to share his bedroom and his
personal space with a complete stranger for a week. I'd complained and
argued and made a fuss, all the usual things. But, of course, it didn't do
me any good. Vanya was coming to stay, and my bedroom was apparently the
only place that he could go, so that was the end of the matter. So, having
exhausted my other options, I started to sulk. Mum complained that I was
being childish, but I'm not sure what point she was trying to make: I'm
fifteen years old and so still legally a child, as my parents are all too
fond of reminding me, so they could hardly complain if I started to behave
like one. However, there was a bit of a problem with this approach: I'm not
particularly good at sulking. To be a good sulker you need real commitment,
and I get bored far too easily to keep it up for any length of time. In the
end I decided that it really wasn't worth the effort and so I cut it right
back to the occasional pout when I thought anyone was watching.

As if depriving me of my privacy wasn't bad enough, my dad then delivered a
further slap in the face by asking me to help move my bedroom around to
make room for our visitor. This was so unfair; it was the equivalent of
forcing a condemned man to help build his own scaffold. My bedroom isn't
very big to start with, and we now had to find a way of squeezing another
single bed in there. It turned out that the only way that we could manage
it was by pushing the new bed right up alongside mine. That meant that I
would be practically sharing a bed with this kid! This was going to be fun
– NOT! I hadn't even met the boy yet and already he was becoming a real
pain in the arse.

"He'd better keep away from my stuff," I said, as I helped dad move a set
of drawers a couple of feet along the wall, out of the way of the
bed. "Especially my computer. If he touches that, he's dead."

"Robert, I hope you're not going to be like this when he gets here," said
my dad, frowning. "Just remember that he is family."

Family? Yeah, sure, in the widest sense of the word. I suppose, strictly
speaking, he's my step-cousin, if such a thing exists. About ten years ago
my Uncle Ricky, my dad's brother, went over to live in Eastern Europe. It
was something to do with his job. Uncle Ricky works for some organisation
connected with the United Nations and he'd been put in charge of a
redevelopment project out there. He hadn't been out there long before he
fell for one of the local women and married her, becoming step-dad to her
four-year-old son. Every so often either my dad goes out there on a visit,
or Uncle Ricky comes over here. But other than that, our families have
never got together, so I've never met this woman or her kid. Apart from the
fact that he's called Vanya and he's fourteen, I know almost nothing about
him.

In fact, it's actually been less than a week since I was told that Vanya
was coming to stay. Dad have been over visiting Uncle Ricky and they'd
decided between them that it was time our families got to know each other a
little better. Since Vanya had a break from school, and I was off school at
the same time, they saw this as a perfect opportunity for him to come over
and spend a week with us – of course, it had never occurred to them to
ask me how I felt about it. Why should they? I was only going to be the one
left entertaining the brat. Also, dad hadn't said anything yet, but I'd a
bad feeling that at some stage they'd expect me to go stay with Uncle Ricky
and his family. Well they could forget that one!

Dad insisted that I go with him to the airport to meet this boy. Since I'd
already arranged to meet up with my friend Owen, this change of plan didn't
go down too well. However, Dad refused to budge. So off we both went to
spend a happy couple of hours at Manchester Airport.

As we sat in the arrivals hall watching the screen and waiting for Vanya's
flight to touch down, something occurred to me. "Does he even speak
English?" I asked.

"Of course he speaks English," Dad replied. "He's been living with your
Uncle Ricky for ten years. If anything, he speaks better English than you
do."

"OK." I decided not to pursue that one; Dad is always moaning about the way
I talk. "Hey, look, his flight has arrived."

Dad looked up at the screen. "They've touched down early. That's good. I
might even be home in time for my darts match."

Isn't that just typical? When we got home I'd be expected to hang around
and entertain this foreign dork while Dad goes out and plays darts. We got
to our feet and made our way over to the barriers ready to greet out
`guest' as he emerged from the customs hall.

It was about another twenty minutes before the people from Vanya's flight
started to emerge. I wondered what the boy would look like, since I'd never
even seen a picture of him. I had an image of him in my head as being small
and dark, with a heavy forehead and deep-set eyes, a bit like a
Neanderthal. I don't know where the image came from; I suppose I'd created
such an uncomplimentary picture because I'd already made up my mind that I
wasn't going to like the boy.

A large, fat, harassed-looking woman with a florid, sweat-covered face came
through pushing a trolley piled high with suitcases. There were two
polythene carrier bags balanced precariously on top. She was clearly
struggling to control the heavily-laden trolley and she appeared to be
coming directly towards me. At the last moment, she tried to pull the
trolley around to avoid a collision and, of course, one of the bags slid
off. She made a frantic grab for it and missed. The bag hit the floor right
at my feet. There was the sound of breaking glass, the bag split, and
suddenly my shoes and lower legs were soaked in something smelling strongly
of alcohol. Vodka! There was a momentary stunned silence, then the woman
screamed something unintelligible and her hands flew to her mouth. Then she
pulled out a large handkerchief from somewhere, bent down, and started
rubbing at my trousers, all the time muttering something that I could only
assume was an apology. This was too embarrassing to be true. I tried to
back away, but there were people standing behind me. I was trapped. I tried
pushing the woman away, telling her that it didn't matter, but she
obviously didn't understand a word I was saying and continued to rub
vigorously at my trousers, muttering and wailing in her own language. I was
totally mortified. Everyone around us was laughing.

Then, out of nowhere, a boy appeared. He was about my age, perhaps a little
younger. I decided that he must be with the woman, because he crouched next
to her and, to my great relief, pulled her hands away from my trousers, at
the same time speaking to her in her own language. Together they both got
to their feet, both talking loudly.

The boy turned to me. "She say she is very sorry," he said, in a young,
lightly accented, but clear voice.

"Well, tell her not to worry. It doesn't matter," I replied,
flustered. "And tell her to leave my trousers alone," I added, once more
attempting to back away as she showed signs of dropping to her knees again.

The boy laughed and passed on my message, or I assumed that he did, since I
couldn't understand what he said. The woman looked unhappy, cast a
lingering look at my damp legs and an even more lingering look at the large
pool of vodka on the floor, then returned to her trolley and resumed her
erratic journey.

"Thanks," I said to the boy. He hadn't followed her, so he must not have
been with her after all.  "I thought she was going to pull my trousers
off."

The boy laughed again. "Then maybe I should not have stopped her," he
said. "That would have been nice to see." He looked pointedly at my groin
and legs.

I just stared at him, shocked and unable to think of anything to say. Boys
didn't say things like that to each other. In a sort of desperation, I
looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Dad. He'd been
standing a short distance away, further along the barrier, and was making
his way towards me. "Thanks again for the help," I said. "I'd better go
over to my dad. We're waiting for somebody."

The boy turned in the direction that I had been looking and then, to my
complete amazement, he rushed up to my dad and threw his arms around
him. "Uncle Frank! It is good to see you."

"It's good to see you too," Dad replied, giving me a wink. "Robert, this is
your cousin, Vanya."

"You are Robert?" The boy, Vanya, looked at me, his eyes sparkling. Before
I knew what was happening, his arms were around me, hugging me hard. "I
have so long wanted to meet you," he said, planting a big, wet kiss on my
cheek. Then, as I tried to fend him off, he kissed me on the other cheek as
well.

Just imagine being kissed by a strange boy, or any boy at all come to that,
in a crowded airport terminal. I wanted to curl up and die. If any of my
friends ever found out about this I'd never hear the end of it. I was sure
that everyone in the place would be staring at me. But as I glanced around,
wiping my cheek with my sleeve, it seemed that hardly anyone had even
noticed. Except, that is, for Dad, who was trying to hide a laugh behind
his hand. "I hope he doesn't expect me to kiss him back," I muttered.

"Well, it would be a nice gesture," Dad grinned.

"Forget that," I scowled. I managed to disentangle myself from the boy and
held out my hand. "Pleased to meet you," I said, formally. At that moment I
wasn't entirely sure whether I was pleased or not.

Vanya looked momentarily disappointed, then shrugged, took my hand, and
shook it enthusiastically. "Yes, I am pleased to meet you also," he said,
grinning broadly.

Disappointingly, the Vanya standing in front of me bore not the slightest
resemblance to the Vanya that I had created in my head. In fact, the two
could hardly have been more different. Everything about the real-life Vanya
was bright and open. He was perhaps a couple of inches shorter than me,
with slightly untidy blond hair that was a little longer than I would
personally have been comfortable with, though it looked right on him. Much
as I hated to admit it, he was a good-looking kid, with sparkling blue eyes
and a warm smile that looked almost like a permanent feature. Most
frustratingly of all, he was instantly likeable. Damn, this was annoying. I
really wanted to dislike this kid, but he wasn't giving me very much to
work with. Still, it was early days and I wasn't about to admit defeat just
yet. There must be something about this boy that I could dislike.

Vanya didn't have a lot of luggage, not when compared to the fat woman,
anyway. He had just a backpack and one large bag – though the large bag
was pretty heavy; I know because I was the one who ended up carrying
it. Dad had suggested that I use a trolley, but I'd immediately dismissed
the idea. Vanya, who was smaller than me, had been carrying both the bag
and the backpack without the aid of a trolley, and I wasn't going to let my
cousin think that I was some sort of wimp. We made it back to the car and
it was with some relief that I dumped the bag into the boot. I stood back,
rubbing my arm.

"I am sorry. I should have helped to carry bag," said Vanya,
apologetically.

"No problem. It wasn't really that heavy," I lied.

Vanya smiled and gave my arm a solicitous rub. "Thank you for carrying it
for me," he said.

The short journey home passed without incident. I sat in the front
passenger seat. Vanya sat in the back, apparently dozing. I couldn't fault
him for that; travelling always made me tired. When we arrived home,
though, he came instantly awake. "We are here?"

"Yes, we're home," said Dad, holding the car door open for the boy to climb
out.

"It is nice house," Vanya said, gazing around. "And you have garden. It is
very nice garden."

I shrugged. "It's OK," I said. Our garden isn't anything special. "Don't
you have a garden?"

"No. We live in apartment. We are on floor number five. It is nice
apartment, but no garden." Vanya looked sad for a moment, but then his
smile returned. "But we have park nearby."

"That's good," I said, making an effort to be polite.

"It is good," Vanya shrugged, "but to have garden would be nicer." He
turned towards the house as the front door opened and Mum appeared, my
sister Lauren right at her heels.

"Aunt Alison!" Vanya rushed up to Mum and threw his arms around her,
kissing her cheeks.

"Hello Vanya," Mum laughed, returning the boy's kisses and then holding him
back at arm's length and looking him up and down. "You've certainly grown
since I last saw you."

"I was only eleven then. I have fourteen years now," the boy said,
proudly. He turned his attention to my thirteen-year-old sister. "You are
Lauren, yes?" He delivered the mandatory hug and kisses, which caused
Lauren to giggle shyly. "You are very pretty."

"Thank you," Lauren blushed.

I fought the urge to gag. I suppose my sister's OK in the looks department,
but there was no need to go overboard. Besides, if the wide-eyed expression
on Lauren's face was anything to go by, she'd already developed a serious
crush on our new guest, and unnecessary compliments were likely to make
things a lot worse. I sighed, softly. It was going to be a long week.

"Come on inside, Vanya," said Mum, putting a maternal arm around the boy's
shoulders. "Robert will bring your bags in for you. I hope you're hungry;
there's a beef casserole almost ready. Robert can take you up and show you
your room and you can use the bathroom if you need it, then we can eat."
She led Vanya into the house.

I shook my head. What am I, the bellboy? This had better not be the way
things were going to be all week.

Dad gave a chuckle and slapped my shoulder. "Come on. I'll give you a
hand."

"I can manage," I said, sourly. I hoisted the backpack onto my shoulder,
picked up the bag, and tottered into the house.

Vanya insisted on carrying his own bag upstairs, which was very big of him,
so I only had to carry the backpack. I led the way into the bedroom and
dumped the backpack on the bed. "There's not much room," I said.

"It will be good," said Vanya, brightly. Then he gave a grin as he looked
at the beds. "Ah, we will be sleeping together. We will keep each other
warm, no?"

"What...? No!" I said hurriedly and emphatically. "There are two separate
beds; they both have their own bedclothes, so we won't be sleeping
together. We've had to push them together to get them in, that's all."

Vanya giggled. "I was making joke," he said.

"Oh." I felt a bit silly.

"Here it is not so cold," said Vanya. "In Ukraine it is much colder,
sometimes. When I stay with my friend Anton, we sleep in same bed, close
together, to keep warm." He held out his hands, palms pressed together to
indicate just how close he was talking about." He giggled again. "It is
lots of fun."

"Erm, yeah," I said, not sure what else to say. I'm sure what he meant was
perfectly innocent, but the image that it created in my head left me
feeling distinctly uncomfortable. "Maybe we should go down and see if
dinner is ready."

"Yes. That would be good. I am quite hungry."

Conversation during dinner was focussed almost entirely on Vanya. It was
interesting hearing about life in the Ukraine, and I even asked a few
questions myself. In spite of all of my reservations, I was definitely
starting to warm to the boy. Vanya possessed a natural warmth and openness
and it was almost impossible to dislike him.

Unlike myself and my mum and dad, who were taking an active part in the
conversation with our guest, Lauren sat in comparative silence. Her eyes
rarely left Vanya's face and I was left in no doubt at all that she had
completely fallen for the good-looking teen. During a lull in the
conversation, she pounced. "Vanya, do you have a girlfriend?"

Oh, subtle, Lauren. Really subtle. I pressed my lips together to stop
myself from groaning. Dad rolled his eyes and Mum gave a soft cough and
raised her hand to her mouth to hide a smile.

Vanya, however, appeared completely unflustered by the question. "I have
lots of friends. Both boys and girls," he said. "But perhaps more boys than
girls. Sometimes girls are..." he paused as though searching for the right
word. "...annoying?"

"You got that one right," I muttered.

"This boy has a good head on his shoulders." Dad laughed. Now it was Mum's
turn to roll her eyes.

 Lauren frowned. She was not going to be so easily deflected. "No, not
friends like that. I meant a special girlfriend. You know."

Vanya looked momentarily puzzled. Then he smiled. "Oh you mean..." and he
puckered his lips and made exaggerated kissing sounds. He started to
giggle. "No I have not that sort of girlfriend. I do not want girlfriend
like that."

"Oh, OK." Lauren looked crushed.

"Eat your casserole, Lauren, it's getting cold," said Mum, obviously still
trying to hide her amusement.

I exchanged a smile with Vanya and gave him a nod of approval. My respect
for the boy had just gone up a notch.

After dinner was cleared away, we moved into the lounge. Vanya announced
that he had gifts for everyone and disappeared upstairs to get them. Dad
said that he would give Vanya a hand and followed the boy from the room. I
briefly wondered why Dad would think that Vanya needed any help to bring
down a few gifts, but quickly turned my attention to thinking about what
the gifts might be – like everyone else, I love getting presents.

Vanya returned after a couple of minutes carrying four gift-wrapped
parcels. Three were quite small, one was a little bigger, but flat. He
certainly hadn't required any help with those; it looked as though Dad had
had a wasted journey. Vanya sat on the sofa, picked up one of the small
boxes, and read the label. "This one is for Aunt Alison," he said, handing
the box to Mum.

We all watched as Mum tore open the wrapping paper. She gave a smile of
delight as she revealed some perfume. "It's lovely. Thank you, Vanya," she
said, leaning close to give the boy a kiss on the cheek.

"It was from my parents, it is not from me," Vanya said, a slight blush on
his face.

"Thank you all the same," said Mum.

Dad's gift was next and he got a watch, which he appeared extremely pleased
with, and Lauren was absolutely delighted with the gold earrings that she
received – so delighted that she appeared to have forgiven Vanya for
knocking her back during dinner. That just left me. Vanya held out the flat
parcel in both hands. "This is for you, Robert. I hope you like."

I accepted the parcel. It was around ten inches long, a little less wide,
and perhaps a couple of inches deep. What could it be? A book? All eyes on
me, I pulled away the wrapping paper. Then I froze in shock. I felt my
mouth fall open. An iPad. I'd got an iPad. Was this for real?

"You like?" Vanya asked.

It took me a moment to find my voice. "Erm, yeah. Oh God! Yeah! I like!" I
laughed. "Thank you so much!" I almost followed Mum's example and kissed
Vanya, right there in front of everyone. What a totally amazing gift. I'd
been wanting one of these for so long. But how had Vanya, or rather, Uncle
Ricky, known? And why would he spend so much money on me? And then
everything suddenly clicked into place. My parents. They'd told Uncle
Ricky. Maybe they'd even paid for it. I was being bought off. Mum and Dad
had known I'd object to sharing my bedroom, and this was intended to
placate me. And it had worked. I was well and truly placated. Hell, I would
even have let Lauren share my bedroom for a week if I got an iPad out
it. Well, maybe not; even I have my limits. But I was suddenly happy for
Vanya to stay as long as he liked.

The look on Lauren's face was priceless. She was no doubt wondering how I
ended up with a present like this, while she'd only got earrings. Well, too
bad little sister, because this one's all mine. I got to my feet. "I still
can't believe this. You, erm, wanna come upstairs?" I asked Vanya. "We can
get this unpacked and up and running."

"Hold it right there," said Mum. "Before you go anywhere, the dishes from
dinner need to be washed and put away."

"Aww, Mum..."

Mum merely raised an eyebrow and I knew better than to argue further. "And
when you do go upstairs, don't be spending so much time on your new toy
that you forget you have a guest."

"I won't," I promised.

Vanya insisted on helping with the dishes; I was coming to like him more
and more all the time. Then we headed upstairs to my bedroom. I immediately
sat down on one of the beds and started opening up the box containing the
iPad. However, Vanya put a hand on my arm.

"Robert. Before you open box, first I have other gift for you."

"Another gift? Something else?" I looked at the boy in surprise.

"Yes. This one," he pointed to the iPad, "is from my parents as thank you
because you allow me to share your room and you take care of me. This gift
is from me." He held out a small, paper-wrapped package. His expression was
uncharacteristically serious.

I accepted the package and tore away the paper. Inside was a short length
of braided leather.

"It is bracelet," said Vanya. "I make..." he paused, his brow furrowed in
concentration. "I MADE it myself. You wear it to show we are good
friends. You will wear it, yes?" His expression was one of almost desperate
hope.

"Erm, yeah, I guess," I said. I wasn't altogether keen on the idea. I knew
guys from school who wore bracelets: string, leather, plastic, beads, all
sorts of stuff. I wasn't into that kind of thing, but how could I say no
without hurting Vanya's feelings? "Yeah, of course I'll wear it."

Vanya gave a happy exclamation that sounded something like "Chudovy!" He
took the bracelet from me, wrapped it around my wrist and fastened it. "Now
we are the best of friends," he said, delightedly.

I held out my hand, looking at my wrist. The bracelet looked strange there,
and it felt strange, but I decided I could put up with it for a week if it
made Vanya happy. At least there was no school, so I wouldn't have to worry
so much about people seeing me wearing it. "I like it," I said. "Thank
you."

Vanya's expression was one of almost pure happiness.

For the next couple of hours we played with my new iPad. It turned out that
Vanya had an iPad of his own back home – to the envy of all of his
friends – so he was able to help me get up and running. Together we
explored some of the pre-installed apps, downloaded a few new ones, and
even played a few games. I did start to feel a bit guilty that I was
perhaps neglecting my guest, but Vanya assured me that he was quite happy,
and he certainly appeared so, sitting beside me on the bed. However, as
time wore on I noticed that he was hiding the occasional yawn. "You OK?" I
asked. "Are you getting bored?" With some reluctance, I turned off the
iPad. "Maybe we should do something else."

"No, I am fine," said Vanya. "Just a little tired." He gave another
yawn. "I am sorry," he grinned. "Today has been long. May I get shower?"

"Yeah, of course you can." I'd shown Vanya the bathroom earlier. I showed
him the cupboard where the clean towels were kept and left him to it, going
downstairs to get a drink.

Mum was sitting at the kitchen table writing on a pad; probably a letter to
one of her friends. Almost everyone else in the world sent texts and
emails, but Mum stubbornly refused to enter the computer age, insisting
that hand-written letters were more personal. She looked up as I
entered. "How's it going?" she asked.

"Fine. I've got it set up and I've downloaded some apps. It's great."

"No, not your new gadget," she said with an exasperated shake of her
head. "I meant how are you and Vanya getting along?"

"Oh, yeah," I grinned. "He's fine as well. He's getting a shower. I guess
he's not so bad. We're getting along really well. He gave me a bracelet." I
held out my hand so that Mum could inspect the strip of black leather. "He
made it himself. Apparently it means that we're best friends."

"He's a real sweetheart." Mum smiled fondly. Then her expression turned
more serious. "I want you to promise me that you'll take proper care of him
while he's staying with us. Things here are probably quite a lot different
to how they are in the Ukraine."

"Not that different," I said. "The Ukraine is not exactly a primitive
country. They have computers and everything. He even has his own iPad."

Mum sighed. "I wasn't referring to computers, Robert. It may come as a
surprise to you but there are other things in life besides electronic
gadgets. I was talking about differences in culture and the way we do
things." I looked at her blankly and she sighed again. "Just look after
him, alright?"

"Yeah, of course I will." Why do mothers always have to make a big deal
about little things? I got myself a drink of water and left her to her
antiquated letter-writing.

Back upstairs, I passed the closed bathroom door and entered the
bedroom. There was an untidy heap of discarded clothing on the nearest
bed. I pushed it aside, sat down and once more picked up my iPad – might
as well make full use of the time while waiting for Vanya to finish his
shower. Mum was sort of right: he was a sweetheart. That wasn't a word that
I would normally use for anyone, but it seemed to fit Vanya. There as a
sort of innocence about him. In some ways he was more like an
eager-to-please puppy than a fourteen-year-old boy. I just hoped that he
was house-trained; I didn't want any little puddles on my bedroom floor. I
briefly grinned at my own humour and then got down to the serious business
of checking out song previews in the iTunes store.

I'd selected a few tracks that I liked and I was considering how I might
get dad to use his credit card to put some credits on my account, when the
bedroom door opened and Vanya came in. My eyes widened in shock. My cousin
was naked. He did have a towel with him, but it was slung casually over one
shoulder, leaving most of his body, including his privates, on view for the
entire world to see. Had he really just come from the bathroom like that
without even wrapping the towel around his waist? If Mum or Lauren had
happened to be on the landing they would have got a right eyeful. "I feel
better now," he grinned.

"Good," I said, trying not to stare at his body.

Still drying himself, Vanya came to stand by me so that he could see what I
was doing on the iPad. "Ah, you are looking at music. You get some?"

"Not yet. I need to talk nicely to dad first."

"I am sure he will give you credits. He is very generous."

"You obviously don't know my dad very well," I smiled.

Vanya laughed and began to vigorously towel his hair. This meant that I had
a totally naked fourteen-year-old standing right next to me. I tried to
concentrate on the iPad screen, but that proved impossible – having a
boy's dick flapping around just inches from your face can be a little
distracting. So I gave in and had a look. Hey, it's no big deal; it doesn't
make me gay or anything. All guys do it, we just don't make a big thing out
of it – quick glances in the showers to see how we compare – it's
fine as long as you don't stare and, more importantly, you don't get caught
looking. Unfortunately, comparing myself to Vanya, I soon realised that I
wasn't coming out of it too well. For a start he was far better-looking
than me, even with his clothes on. But then his blond hair and blue eyes
gave him a head start in that department. My own hair is a sort of
non-descript brown - I'd sometimes wished that I'd had the guts to try a
more adventurous style, or even some blond highlights, like some of the
guys at school, but I never did because I was always scared of what people
might think. Anyway, it wasn't just the hair and eyes that made Vanya
better-looking than me: he also had a body to die for. Everything about him
appeared to be in perfect proportion. He was slim and lightly muscled, his
chest nicely defined and his stomach tight. His skin appeared totally
smooth and unblemished. This was in total contrast to my own skinny, gangly
frame with its quota of moles and pimples. The only place I scored more
highly than Vanya was in the dick department: Vanya's dick appeared a
decent size – not that I'm an authority or anything – but mine was
definitely bigger. Also, my balls were bigger and I had more pubes; I had
quite a thick, dark bush, whilst Vanya's pubes consisted of just a smallish
dark-blond patch at the base of his dick and a few stray hairs on his
balls. Though I quickly reminded myself that I was a year older than he was
– another year and he'd probably have a bigger dick than me as well!

"You think I am looking OK?"

My eyes shot up to meet Vanya's and I felt my face immediately begin to
burn. I'd just committed the ultimate sin: I'd been caught staring at
another boy's cock. "Sorry," I muttered.

Vanya appeared unperturbed. "Why are you sorry?" he laughed. "I am happy
you look."

I wasn't at all sure what he meant by that. Did he mean that he didn't mind
me looking, or was he saying that he was actually glad that I was looking?
Either way, it did nothing to relieve the embarrassment that I was feeling
after getting caught.

"Robert?" It was Lauren's voice. I looked over to see my sister appear in
the bedroom doorway – Vanya had left the door open when he'd returned
from his shower. She immediately froze, her eyes widening. And no
wonder. From where she was standing she had a perfect view of Vanya's naked
back and arse. I jumped to my feet, dropping the iPad onto the
bed. "Lauren! Get out!"

Under the circumstances, calling out had probably not been the best
idea. Vanya turned to see why I was shouting and Lauren's eyes immediately
widened even further. She now had a totally unobstructed full-frontal view
of her naked cousin. Her hand flew to her mouth and she gave a soft gasp
and then a giggle. Her eyes were locked on Vanya's dick. I knew that I
should do something, that I should get Lauren out of there, but in my panic
I froze. My mouth was moving, but nothing was coming out.

Vanya, however, continued to act as though nothing out of the ordinary were
happening. "Lauren, you have come to look at Robert's iPad?" he asked, with
a smile. He was clearly not in the least bit worried that he was standing
there stark naked in front of my thirteen-year-old sister. "Come and
see. Perhaps we can all play game together. I get dried first though." He
put the towel over his shoulders and began to pull it vigorously from side
to side to dry his back. The movement caused his dick to flap around,
giving my sister even more of a show.

I think I could say, without a shadow of doubt, that at that moment the
very last thing on Lauren's mind was playing a game on my iPad. She was far
too busy ogling Vanya's body, especially the parts below the waist. I
finally managed to make myself move. I pushed past Vanya, almost knocking
him over onto the bed, grabbed my sister's shoulders, turned her around,
and bundled her out of the room, before firmly closing the door.

"Oh my God," I said to Vanya, leaning against the door in case Lauren tried
to come back in. "Why didn't you close the door when you came in. Oh shit!"
Vanya might not appear in any way embarrassed by what had happened, but I
was embarrassed enough for the both of us.

"What is problem, Robert?" Vanya looked genuinely puzzled.

"The problem is that my sister just saw you naked. She saw your dick and
everything. Doesn't that bother you?"

"But... Lauren is family," Vanya said, as though that made everything
alright. "I not understand." He was starting to look a little uncertain,
but that uncertainty clearly had much more to do with me being upset than
with Lauren's presence.

I took a slow, deep breath in an effort to calm myself. It helped a
little. "Yes, Lauren is family, but we don't go around naked in front of
each other. It's not right."

"So you never see each other without clothes? Not even in sauna?"

"No, we don't see each other without clothes. We've never been to a
sauna. And even if we had, we wouldn't have been naked together."

Vanya shook his head. "You are strange," he said. "In Ukraine being without
clothes with family is OK. I go to sauna sometimes with parents. Sometimes
I go with friends, though we are only naked in sauna with boy-friends. Not
with girl-friends if they are not family." He gave a mischievous
giggle. "Though sometimes we go swimming without clothes in river with
girl-friends and boy-friends together. Girls sometimes keep covered, but
boys always swim naked."

I just stood and looked at him, struggling with the idea sitting in a sauna
with Mum, Dad and Lauren, all of us naked. The image made my toes
curl. Were people in the Ukraine really so causal when it came to nudity?
Maybe it was just Vanya's family. Maybe they were naturists or
something. Shit! If that was the case Dad should have warned me. "I guess
we're just different," I said. "Here we don't usually get naked with other
people. Not unless it's with your girlfriend for... you know..." I lowered
my voice. "...sex and stuff." I tried to sound experienced, but I felt
myself blushing again. I was sure that made my lack of experience was
pretty obvious.

Vanya looked thoughtful. "That is only time? You never are naked with
friends for swimming?"

"No. We don't go swimming naked. The only time guys get naked with other
guys is in the showers at school."

"Ah, you shower naked with other boys." Vanya gave a grin. "That is not so
bad." Finished with drying himself, he dropped the towel to the floor,
casually ran a hand over his dick and balls, then pulled open one of his
bags and rooted around until he found a pair of white briefs. He put these
on. "Maybe I unpack my bag. You have place for my things?"

"Erm, yeah. You can use this drawer." I pulled open a drawer that I'd
emptied especially for him. "Anything that needs hanging up can go in my
wardrobe."

 "Thank you, Robert," he smiled. "I unpack now. It not take long. Then we
play more games before we go to bed? Maybe this time you beat me."

"Yeah, if you like."

Still clad in just his tight white briefs, Vanya put his clothes away and
then sat down on the bed next to me. We found a game to play and took turns
with the iPad. Infuriatingly, he beat me every single time.

We'd been playing for a while when a knock came at my bedroom door. The
door opened and Mum put her head around. "Can you two drag yourselves away
from that gadget long enough to come down for some supper?"

I glanced at my watch. We'd been playing for longer than I thought: it was
almost 10.00 p.m. "Yeah, we'll be down in a minute. Thanks, Mum."

Vanya appeared set to go down in just the briefs, so I quickly suggested
that he put something else on. He looked at me quizzically, shrugged, and
then went to his drawer and took out an open-sided vest, pulling it over
his head. I suppressed a sigh. Oh well, it was better than nothing. We
followed Mum down the stairs.

In the kitchen were enough sandwiches to feed our entire street. It was
only a few hours since we'd all fought our way through large platefuls of
beef casserole, so it was unlikely that all of these sandwiches were going
to get eaten – this was going to be an aluminium foil job and we were
going to be eating these up for the next few days. Mum was always the same
when it came to food: she always prepared enough for an army. I put a
couple of sandwiches onto a small plate and took them through to the
lounge, leaving Vanya in the kitchen chatting to Mum. Of course, Lauren
chose to stay in the kitchen so that she could stare at Vanya in his tight
briefs and skimpy vest.

Dad was in the lounge watching TV. He looked up as I entered. "How are
things going with our guest?"

"OK, I suppose," I said, taking a seat.

"You don't sound very sure."

I glanced towards the kitchen, then leaned forward in my chair and lowered
my voice so that I wouldn't be overheard. "Dad, are Uncle Ricky's
family... you know... nudists?"

Dad's eyebrows rose in surprise and he gave a chuckle. "Not so far as I
know. Why on Earth do you ask that?"

I shot another glance towards the kitchen. "We were up in my room and Vanya
was getting dried after his shower and Lauren walked in; Vanya had left the
bedroom door open. Lauren saw everything, but Vanya didn't seem to care. He
just stood there with nothing on, talking to her as though it were
normal. He said it was OK because she's family. He also said that he
sometimes goes to the sauna with his mum and Uncle Ricky and all of them
are... you know..." I lowered my voice even further. "They're all naked."

Dad chuckled again. "Well, that certainly explains why Lauren's been
walking around with a glazed expression and a smile on her face since she
came downstairs." He shook his head. "No your Uncle Ricky and his family
are not naturists. But they do have a much freer attitude than we do when
it comes to nudity, especially within the family. Growing up in that
environment, Vanya obviously hasn't developed the same inhibitions that we
have. You're going to have to try to accept that that is how he is. If you
can do that, I don't think there will be a problem."

I gave a snort. "It's not a problem for me, but Lauren can't take her eyes
off him. She's already got a huge crush on him and now that she's seen him
with nothing on she's going to be even worse."

"Hmm, yes, maybe it would be a good idea if your mum had a chat with her."
Dad gave a frown.

"It wouldn't hurt if you had a chat with Vanya as well," I suggested. "OK,
I understand that he doesn't worry about people seeing him with nothing on,
but you could just tell him to cover himself up a bit more when people are
around. I mean, he's standing in the kitchen now in just his underwear and
Mum is chatting to him as though that's normal."

"For him that is normal," said Dad, looking at me as though I were dense.

"It's normal for him, but not for us," I insisted, sticking to my
guns. "I'm sure you'd all have plenty to say if I came down wearing nothing
but a pair of tight undies."

"Yeah, we'd probably die laughing." Lauren had come in from the
kitchen. "Who'd want to look at you in your undies, all pale and bony?" She
wrinkled her nose as she looked at me. "You're not exactly good-looking,
even with your clothes on. You're just jealous because Vanya is far
better-looking than you."

"You ought to know," I spat. "You've been drooling over him from the moment
he arrived. And I'm not jealous of anyone."

"I haven't been drooling."

"Yes you have."

"OK, maybe I have. A bit. But at least he's worth drooling over. Not like
you. No girl in her right mind would look at you twice. No wonder you can't
get a girlfriend."

"That's enough, both of you!" Dad's voice was soft, but his tone indicated
that he meant business. "Vanya is a guest in this house and I won't have
him embarrassed by the two of you squabbling. For goodness sake try to
remember that you're teenagers and not a couple of five-year-olds."

Both Lauren and I fell silent. We sat glaring at each other. I was smarting
because, as usual, Lauren's digs were right on the money: I wasn't
especially good-looking, and it was unlikely that any girl would give me so
much as a second glance – they certainly hadn't up to now. I knew deep
down that the real reason that I objected to Vanya wandering around in his
underwear was that he could carry it off and I couldn't.

Vanya and Mum appeared moments later. I don't know how much of our little
fight Vanya had heard, but there was no way he could have missed the icy
atmosphere. However, he was wearing his usual warm smile. "Aunt Alison says
we are going on a trip," he said brightly. "The day after tomorrow we are
going to see castles. That is exciting, Robert, yes?"

"Yes," I said, forcing a smile and trying not to sound sullen. At this
present moment I didn't find the prospect of wandering around castles
particularly thrilling. "Have you finished your sandwiches?" My own
sandwiches sat untouched on their plate – I didn't feel hungry.

"Yes, I have finished," said Vanya. "Thank you for supper, Aunt Alison. It
was very nice."

"You're welcome," said Mum.

"I go to bed now. I am very tired," said Vanya. He put his arms around Mum
and gave her a hug. "Goodnight, Aunt Alison."

"Goodnight, Vanya. Sleep well." Mum hugged him back.

Vanya then hugged Dad and wished him a goodnight before doing the same with
Lauren. It was all very formal. I wondered whether saying goodnight was
always such an occasion for Vanya's family.

"Aren't you going to hug Robert?" Lauren asked him, snidely.

Vanya gave a mischievous grin. "I no need to hug Robert; we are sleeping in
bed together."

"Not in the same bed! I told you: the beds are pushed together to make
room." I said, blushing as everyone laughed.

"I know. I make joke like before," Vanya giggled. "You are very red,
Robert. Come. Let us go to bed."

Oh yes, a really good joke. Extremely funny. And now I'd fallen for it
twice. Fuming silently, I accompanied my comedian cousin up to my bedroom.

In the bedroom, I grabbed the T-shirt and boxers that I wore for bed and,
without a word to Vanya, I headed for the bathroom. Once safely behind the
bolted door I undressed, used the toilet, and then pulled on my
nightclothes. I brushed my teeth, gathered up the clothing that I had been
wearing and went back to the bedroom. "Bathroom's free," I said, curtly.

Vanya had been sitting on the bed waiting for me. He looked concerned,
almost upset. "You are angry with me, Robert?" He got to his feet, taking a
step towards me. "I am sorry I make joke and cause you to have red face."

"Forget it," I said, coldly. I was being more than a little unfair taking
my feelings out on Vanya, but I was still hurting after my spat with
Lauren, and having him embarrass me in front my entire family had done
nothing to help.

"Please, Robert, do not be angry with me," Vanya pleaded. "We are best of
friends, yes?" He glanced at the bracelet that was still on my wrist; I
hadn't given it a thought when I'd undressed.

I sighed. "Yes, I guess," I said.

Vanya immediately brightened. "Thank you, Robert," he said. "I try not to
make more jokes you do not like." He briefly touched my arm as he walked
past me on his way to the bathroom.

I stood motionless for a moment, holding onto the feeling of Vanya's light,
momentary touch; it had been warm, almost affectionate. Damn. I wanted to
stay angry with him, but how could I? After all, my being hurt wasn't
really his fault. Not directly. It wasn't Vanya's fault that he was
better-looking than me; that he had a nicer personality than I did; that
all my family had instantly taken him to their hearts while I was just a
joke. It wasn't his fault that my sister was a vicious bitch with an
unerring eye for the truth. She had been so right. I could deny it to her
but I couldn't deny it to myself; I was jealous as all hell of Vanya! I
turned on my bedside lamp, turned off the main light, and climbed into bed.

Vanya reappeared a couple of minutes later. He was wearing his usual smile,
but there was also hint of concern on his face. He pulled off his vest and
dropped it to the floor before climbing into his own bed. He lay on his
side looking at me. I just looked back. After a moment he put out his hand,
taking hold of mine. His expression had become serious. "Robert, I think
Lauren was not right. She should not have said things that she did. You are
good-looking boy. One day, if you want, you will find special girl. You are
nice person. You have to believe, that is all." There was total sincerity
in his voice.

"Yeah," I replied. It was all I could manage. Suddenly I felt as though I
wanted to cry. Shit! What was happening to me? I was turning into a wuss!

Vanya squeezed my hand and then released it. He smiled tightly. "Goodnight,
Robert. Sleep well. Tomorrow will be good day. We will have good time."

"Yeah, goodnight." I rolled over and turned off the light.


**********

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