7. GRIFFIN

We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon out on the deck by the pool. It was nice to sit outside on a lounger, shirtless, catching rays. Russell, in all of his bed Daddy skills had applied sun lotion to my skin and made sure I was rotating to tan my back as well as my front.

I loved Ryan and Thom, but I was glad they had something else to do without us. I could see Russell getting a little overwhelmed by it all, and he had every right to as well. He didn't sign up for that. The only thing he did sign up for was to room with someone, there weren't strings attached, but it was nice that we had a common ground that enjoyed being hoed and plowed.

"What do you think people do on these things?" I asked, laying on my front, unable to see out.

"On those? Probably just sunbathe."

"No, on cruises," I said, turning to face him beside me. "Like, what are people doing all day? Just sitting around?"

"People watching, maybe," he said. "It's a weird concept to me. I'm always working."

"Same. It feels strange not being given instructions on things to do. Like, I'm usually told to be at some location at some specific time, and it's my whole day. Then I either go home and binge TV or go out and network with a lot of alcohol."

Griffin reached out to me, stroking a hand down my cheek. "And to think we hadn't already met before, because that sounds exactly how I spend my days and nights. People in business always want to schmooze in bars."

"We might have met," I said, my brow furrowed in thought as my eyes caressed his face, like I was carving it out in my mind. "But never under the right circumstances."

"Right. The right circumstances were being forced together, sharing a bed, and having all our secrets thrown out at each other, hoping one of them sticks and we bond. And—I guess that happened," he said.

"Good job as well," I admitted. "Otherwise, I'd have been third wheeling with those two, and then I'd need a vacation from my vacation."

"I'd actually support that," he said. "Ryan is a bit full on, but I think his heart is in the right place."

"Yeah. He's been telling me about these cruises for years, and we've been friends for so long. I'm actually excited to see what he's got for you for the party tonight." I couldn't remember if he'd mentioned it before, because I hadn't even been able to remember their couple's costume until they'd said it.

"If all fails, I put on a shirt, collar up, a little red pen near my mouth and go as a vampire," he said.

"One year, for Halloween, my mom had these white trash bags. She tore holes in the bottoms and at the sides. She painted my face white, and I went as a ghost. I got so much candy, like, my mom scheduled me in for a check-up at the dentist the following week."

"That—is much worse than my Halloween experience," he said. "I mean, not worse."

"Oh, no, it was awful. I was bullied for it. My mom's forgetful, so she didn't even remember it was Halloween until the neighbor came over and asked if we wanted a spare pumpkin to carve," I said, trying to hold back my laughter. "What was your worst then?"

"My worst was being forced to go with my younger sister. We wore one of those XL t-shirts together, and we were supposed to be conjoined twins. Anyway, my sister put up a fit about splitting the candy, and she got all the good ones while I was stuck with raisins and fruit. And a little candy."

"You were being a good big brother," I said.

"I should've been a little more selfish," he added. "But it turned out ok because she's a pre-K teacher now."

"I could never. All those kids. Teaching all those kids that can't pay attention for longer than a minute. It sounds like a strange method of torture."

We laughed about it for a moment. I turned around on the lounger, making sure to sun my front.

"So, what age do you like regressing to?" he asked. "I have experience, but it's different for everyone."

"No specific age, I just like being back to that time of playful wonder. Where everything is magic and nothing matters. It's a safe space and sometimes, depending on who I'm playing with, a hot one." I rarely spoke about it with anyone. I didn't advertise it, and that's possibly why I'd been single for so long. It didn't matter to me, as long as I was able to go back to that space safely and relax.

"I was just checking," he said. "You wanna go check out that pizza place again for lunch?"

"Yes," I almost screamed. "Then I'll need to get a work out in before tonight."

"Sounds like a plan."

I was never on any regimented diet plan or exercise schedule, but it didn't mean I could eat whatever I wanted and never step foot in a gym. It would've been nice, but it wasn't reality.

The evening came around fast, which was strange for such a relaxing day. It almost sprung itself on us to the point where we were rushing around to get dressed. Thom and Ryan came to the cabin with a plastic bag and inside it, Russell's costume. They were both already dressed. Ryan as Peter Pan, all green and spandex, while Thom as Hook, hat, hook, and large poofy shoulder pads. They had to win.

My costume was simple. I was a bear, a teddy bear. It was a near match to Snug Bug, my actual teddy bear, but I wasn't taking him out with me. If I lost him, I might as well just throw myself overboard. He would stay behind, being all snug in bed, hence the name.

Ryan and Thom waited in our cabin, cramping it further as Russell occupied the bathroom, making strange noises as he changed into the outfit. They giggled away, knowing what was about to come out, and they made me wait to see.

"What if he wins best dressed?" I asked them.

"Then we split it," Ryan said.

"No, I don't—"

"Shh," Ryan placed a finger at Thom's mouth.

Out of the bathroom, Russell was dressed in a tight skeleton costume. It looked familiar, like Ryan had worn it one Halloween.

"Was it cleaned first?" I asked.

"Yes, obviously. It was dry cleaned to be precise," he said.

"Why was it—"

"You don't need to know," I said before he could ask it.

The answer to that question was sticky, very sticky, and then dry and stained because apparently cum did that.

There were a number of events happening onboard the ship tonight. The costume party was just one, and while many people were going to it, others were in solid colors as they attended the rainbow party in another function room. I had no preference because I was a brown teddy bear and could've easily passed for brown in the rainbow, at least, the progressive rainbow flag.

It was like Halloween in the middle of summer. There was one thing I knew about queer people, and that was how much we all loved dressing up. I wonder if part of it stemmed from wearing masks and trying to pass as straight throughout our teen years and early adulthood. I knew that was at least true for me. Although nobody ever said anything, modeling as a man meant playing it straight and selling that fantasy.

My eyes grew wide at all the costumes, taking in every single reference I spotted. There was a Marilyn Monroe walking around with a hand fan trying to recreate the subway steam ventscene, others were dragged up as Britney, it seemed a popular choice, and there were a lot of iconic outfits and hair styles to choose from.

But my people were there in their onesies, some of them with their teddies, and others with pacifiers and Sippee cups. I wished I was as prepared as they were, but I tried not to think of my shortcomings, I was still a little, it didn't matter if I didn't have all the cutesy accessories.

Ryan and Thom went off to mingle and get themselves seen by whoever was judging this. They were adamant about scoring something from this event, even if they didn't win, they wanted a mention at least.

Russell's skintight skeleton costume was giving him problems. He kept adjusting himself in it, not like anything was notifiable as it was black on white, and the black was almost invisible in the dimly lit events room. The most light in the room came from the glittery colors reflected on the disco ball.

"I should've got myself a dance belt," he chuckled.

"I once modeled underwear, and someone once said to flatten a slice of bread, put it over the dick and when it's in the underwear, it doesn't show the outline of it," I said.

He chuckled, leaning in and giving my cheek a pinch. "That's adorable, but that's not what I'm worried about," he said. "The bottom of this is going right between my legs getting my balls."

I offered him a pout for his troubles, then held my hand out. "I can support them for you if you want."

"Well, I wouldn't say no to that offer, but we should enjoy the event, and try spot my friend," he said.

I hadn't met his friend, the one who'd gone out of their way yesterday to get us those toys, the very same toys that now had no business going back. As Daddy took me around the room, we drank fruity cocktails and talked about all the different costumes. Some of them were incredible, like they'd planned well in advance. The only part of the itinerary I looked at were the days we docked. Tomorrow we were in Cadiz with an excursion to Seville, and the following day we were in Lisbon. All in, we weren't travelling far, but that didn't matter because the location was the cruise, which I found a little strange sometimes because it almost felt like a departures lounge at an airport.

"Griffin. I want you to meet Mick, uh—or Carcin O'Gen," Daddy said, pulling my attention from staring at the small congregation of littles who'd gathered in their onesies and cuddled their teddies.

Carcin O'Gen was tall, seven foot in heels, and her hair was huge and white-blonde. "Nice to meet you, Griffin, was it?"

"Yes. Hi." I craned to look at her.

"Any guesses who I came as?" she asked. "And who the heck put you in that thing, Russ? If you were stuck for costumes, you should've come to me. You know I've got plenty of cheap wigs and stuff."

"Uh—I—" I stuttered, truly in awe over her appearance.

"I like it," he said. "Nobody else is a skeleton."

"For good reason. It's not Halloween, babe. Anyway." She gestured long pink nails at her hair, followed by a long swipe down the front of the pink shirt and gingham skirt. "Come on," she said. "I'm a singer and I have my own—"

"Dolly Parton," I said, snapping my fingers.

Daddy chuckled. "If you drew the beauty mark on right, he might've got it faster."

In all honesty, I'd been far too distracted by the appearance. I'd seen drag queens, I lived in New York City, of course, I saw drag queens, but I'd never found myself within touching distance of one, and Carcin O'Gen was absolutely gorgeous.

"Or maybe these younger gays need to learn about Dolly, Cher, Madonna, Celine, etc.," she said, popping her tongue with a sharp click.

"I do know those," I said. "I was just admiring you."

"Oh."

"Calm down," Daddy said. "Griffin isn't stupid. And you're not much older than him."

"How old are you?" I asked.

"You never ask a woman her age," she said.

I could do sass, and for a second it was a thought, and then it came out. "When you see one, let me know."

Carcin laughed, snapping her fingers up and down. "Ok, read me," she said. "I'm twenty-nine, but I've got an old soul. Forgive me for thinking you were another dumb twink."

Glancing at Daddy, I wondered what she'd meant by that. "Another?"

"Oh, sweetheart, not him," she said. "Russ has been single for years. In fact, I should be commending you for getting him up and out here. He threatened to spend the entire trip reading."

He nodded. "And I also agreed to go to your show," he said. "Which I can totally not do."

"You're invited too," she said to me. "And I love this cute get up you've got on. It's low effort, but comfort is key for these things. You have no idea how many pairs of pantyhose and tucking tape it takes me to get like this. It's a full production, and it hurts."

I believed her as well. I just couldn't stop staring. There had to have been some type of magic involved, or the slush mango rum drink I had was impairing my vision.

"So, what is your event?"

"It's called Drag Up Your Life, and there's me, Nicky Knacks, and Rushing Doll. All three of us are going to pick someone and we're going to put them in drag, but it has to be their first time. I've already pre-picked Russ."

"I wouldn't mind doing it," I said.

"Everyone wants to take part," she said.

"You can take my spot, happily," Daddy said, placing a hand around my waist.

"No, no," I said. "I'm not going to miss out on seeing you look like this. I don't think you could get much taller though."

Carcin snapped her fingers again. "Trust me, he can. I've got a pair of chunky heels in just the right size for you."

Just as Carcin turned, Ryan and Thom were there, both staring up at her. I didn't know if the drag night was part of their schedule, but after seeing the drag queen glamazon in front of us, it was going to be.

Drag was playing pretend, and I loved that. There was freedom in their pretend. A strange warm comfort to being out around people who didn't scowl or look you up and down with strange expressions. Everyone on this cruise and in this room was accepting, and I really wanted to find more people like me. But that might have to wait until the actual little event onboard. I didn't want to leave Daddy's comfort zone to scope out the other littles already playing.

Daddy kissed my cheek and cuddled me. "She's only sassy in drag, out of it, she looks like a plumber," he chuckled. "You want another drink? I think these are deadly, but amazing."

"Don't let her hear you say that," I giggled before slurping at the melting ice in my glass. "Yes please, one more."