CHAPTER TWO

The gang was greeted at the door by two very shiny men dressed only in leather hot pants. Alex had a similar outfit of his own. It was something that Trey picked out for him just weeks before. Ricky had a mesh tank and Noah felt instantly out of place in his long sleeved, asymmetrical sweater. Luckily, Chance stayed close to him. With Chance in a button down and tie, Noah didn't feel so overdressed.

"Where's Eddie?" Noah asked casually to distract himself from his surroundings.

"We couldn't find a sitter," Chance explained dismissively, but Noah knew that really meant Eddie couldn't care less.

Of course, Noah couldn't dwell on that for long. Suddenly, a waiver was pushed in front of his face and he tripped over the technical writing.

"It's not too late to turn back," Chance informed when he saw Noah struggling to understand the legal jargon.

Refusing to admit defeat so soon, Noah grabbed a pen and immediately signed it. Who cares what it said? "I'm fine!" he insisted and then paid the entrance fee.

Noah was soon pushed inside, but he instantly stopped short at the scene. The first thing he saw was a man spread across what looked like a pommel horse. He was wearing some sort of latex bodice that stretched across his well molded muscles. Another man whipped his back right down to his calves. After several repetitions of that, a group of naked men charged in to massage oil into his red flesh. The way the oil glistened made his skin look that much rawer. Even though they all composed themselves with nothing short of complete self-confidence, Noah still found himself blushing painfully.

"Is this what happens in the book?" Chance whispered quietly into Noah's ear.

"The book gets pretty hardcore," Noah promised. "But reading about it is nothing like seeing it."

A loud zap distracted his attention from Chance and Noah immediately turned around to see a group of men assaulted by a violet wand.

"It's electroplay," Chance explained on cue. "It stimulates the nerves of the body through low current electricity. It may look harsh, but it actually has a range of stimulations to make one tingly."

The electrical sizzle soon disappeared into the industrial goth music that blurred throughout the club. Noah licked his lips uneasily. "And here I thought Ricky would have been the expert on this."

"Oh, I'm sure he is," Chance sighed.

Noah continued to look around the dungeon. He was surrounded by all sorts of strangers. Some were completely naked. Others were fully dressed. Most people chose to stand back and watch, but there were still many who openly participated. Not being able to escape these insistent and terribly public sexual acts, Noah immediately realized that it violated all his personal philosophies concerning intimacy.

He suddenly found himself watching the man he originally saw on the pommel horse. His play partner was now helping him to stand. For a moment it looked sweet, but then the guy eventually attached some sort of bar to the other man's ankles and he was soon bent back over. Noah sighed.

"Do you think they even know each other?" Noah asked regretfully.

Chance followed Noah's eyes and examined the pair. "Most definitely. In fact, I'd say they're celebrating their anniversary."

Noah's eyes widened hopefully. "Really? How can you be so sure?"

Chance smiled at Noah's unabashed innocence. He knew his friend well and remembered the speech he made at brunch about longing to write a script filled with affection and emotion. Noah truly was doomed to forever be a hopeless romantic. He didn't belong in a dungeon where it could be a cold and detached place for a pair of new eyes. So, Chance would do his best to shine some light on the aspects Noah needed to see, even if he had to lie a little.

"I saw them smiling at each other while he was whipping him," Chance answered. "Just a silent, little exchange between the two of them. It's something only those in a committed relationship can spot. Don't you ever smile or roll your eyes at Wade when you think no one is looking?"

Noah grinned. "All the time."

"Exactly."

Chance felt better knowing that Noah wasn't as uncomfortable as he was when he first stepped in. Now that the younger man was feeling a little more at ease, Chance decided it was time to initiate a conversation.

"When you told us this morning you were adapting that book into a script," Chance started slowly, "I immediately took it upon myself to read the first few chapters."

Noah looked up at Chance's revelation and eagerly anticipated what he had to say.

Chanced cleared his throat, but continued to look at the display across the room. Overall, he seemed disinterested by the scene as if he saw it all before. "I ended up reading the entire thing in one sitting," he confessed. "The characters of Garrison and Colby had no interest in breaking down the public/private barrier imposed by society. What they did was exploitive, but also secretive and personal. They spent the entire book hiding this secret life. Hell, they even spent half the book hiding this forbidden urge from themselves!"

Finally, Chance met Noah's eyes and Noah looked remarkably young. He knew his friend well enough to know that no book could ever influence his relationship and make him happy. After all, Chance had tried the same path himself and failed. If Noah ever truly wanted some insight, it would have to be something that he and Wade discovered together.

"To surmise, you won't find what you're looking for here," Chance clarified.

Noah frowned. Even though he knew Chance was a remarkably kind man, something about that last sentence bordered on condescension in his mind. His eyes fell to his feet and he examined his boot on the red, tiled floor. There was a used condom only a couple of inches away, so he took a step back.

Finally, he looked up and said, "It's all I have to work with."

Chance smiled weakly. Since Wade was disapproving of any and all forms of research on the subject, Chance knew Noah thought he had no other choice. It was a mistake he would have to make on his own.

"Fine," Chance replied sadly. "You go and see what you need to see."

Noah inhaled a sharply. There was a dangerous spark in his eyes now. "Okay. I will!" he threatened.

When Noah realized that Chance had nothing left to say, he took his first solitary steps into the club. The air was a little thicker. X rated movies played on the HD monitors, but who in their right mind would watch a video when there was a live sex show right in front of them? The light was unflattering and the scent was too thick with citrus disinfectant. The wide open play space let Noah see everything, which unfortunately meant he saw Ricky hunting down his first young prey of the night and oiling him up underneath the harsh lights.

"Ew," Noah squeaked. He's seen Ricky take strangers home before, but at Pain Etc, he didn't have to bother going home. He probably wouldn't even bother going to the back room.

Noah turned to his left and saw Alex and Trey grabbing a handful of bamboo skewers and heading off to a private room. Noah didn't even want to know what they intended to do with them, but a violent flash across the monitor screens told him exactly where Trey and Alex got the idea from.

"Ew!"

Noah instantly realized that he was surrounded by scenes that he didn't care to witness. He certainly didn't want to see his friends play out the fantasies he begged Wade to do. And since his friends all scattered, he didn't know how to look for the intimacy between the strangers that encircled him. He felt as detached to the dungeon as he did to the book. Chance was horribly right. The emotions he felt here were not going to help his writing. He was almost afraid to turn around and see what new scene would greet him.

"Don't worry," Chance comforted as he slung an arm around Noah's shoulders. "You still have me."

Noah sucked in a relaxing breath and smiled warmly at his former professor for a moment. "Thanks, Chance."

Alex, Trey, and Ricky may have been long gone, but Noah still had one friend he could count on.

Chance looked around the dungeon once more. The only refreshments allowed were ice water and lemonade. "How about we get a coffee?"

Noah wavered, but he ultimately accepted that his pain threshold was too low and his privacy needs were too high to possibly stay in a place like this. That was something Chance remarkably knew all along.

"I could really use that coffee right now," Noah finally agreed.

Chance squeezed Noah's shoulders tighter and led him out of the club.

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Noah clung tightly to his sweater and Chance warmed his hands in his pockets. The streets were cold at night and the two friends hurriedly ordered their coffee through shivering breaths.

Once they sat down, Chance allowed themselves a couple of moments to warm up with their drinks.

"People transmit sexual signals across a wide range of frequencies," Chance finally said once he could no longer see his breath in the air. "You cannot possibly understand them all, let alone experience them. The best thing you can do is understand the characters of Colby and Garrison. I can't say how realistic they are, but the author did try his best to describe their dynamic. They're not real people, so you cannot compare them to you and Wade. You simply won't have the same results."

"I guess they're a little out of my comfort zone anyways," Noah mumbled as he squirmed in his seat. Clearly, that didn't need to be said. It was dreadfully obvious after the way he eagerly fled the club.

"Look at it this way," Chance ordered kindly, "You only wanted these emotions to further the believability of your script. With or without it, your relationship still remains the same. Now… isn't your commitment to Wade much more important than some job at Paramount?"

Noah looked down shamefully. He couldn't believe he actually tried to drag Wade into his troubles. "You're right." Noah eventually looked up and smiled. "You're absolutely right. I was stupid. It's just that… Wade got me that job at Paramount, so I always feel like I'm failing him whenever I don't succeed. But that's stupid, right? That's crazy?"

Chance grinned approvingly. "Absolutely."

"I mean, I should be in charge of my own sex life. I can write the thing without experimenting with Wade. Right?"

"Perhaps." Chance studied Noah for a moment. "The real question is: can you finish it before the deadline?"

Noah choked on his coffee, but then he laughed when he saw Chance smiling back at him. "That's an entirely different problem!"

"It is not!" Chance joined in on the laughter. "You allowed yourself to get distracted. Sometimes I think you invent these ridiculous problems just as a way to procrastinate."

"I…"

Chance raised a knowing eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I don't!"

Chance frowned mockingly and stood away from the table. "Let's get you home so you can work on that script. Alright?"

Noah rolled his eyes, but he immediately followed Chance. "But it's too late to write anything now!"

Chance pushed Noah out the door. "You don't have to write anything tonight. I can tell you could use a good 8 hours sleep. Or more! That's a form of procrastination that might actually benefit you."

"Sleep. Yes!" Noah agreed and continued to laugh as his friend walked him home.