Timestopper Ch. 16: Big and Little

[Author's Note: It snuck up on me, but this is the longest chapter yet. It also has far more sexual tension than action, but I promise I'll be making up for that in the next chapter. I enjoy these characters so much, and had so much fun writing the dialogue, I may've overindulged myself as we approach the conclusion (still aiming for 20 chapters but it may be a couple more). Regardless, I hope you enjoy. And as always, sincerely, thank you for reading.]

The next Saturday at noon the pledge class met back at the frat house. They hadn't had too many activities the previous week besides their daily workouts, and they'd been disappointed they hadn't been allowed to drink the night before for the usual Friday party. They were blindfolded and piled into an old school bus, then drove for about a half an hour, got kicked out of the bus in the middle of some woods, and were told to hike back to the house. All they got was a compass and told to go South.

The hike was actually pretty pleasant--the pledges had been getting close and even sober they had a good time dicking around and rough housing through the early Fall forest. Sean was an Eagle Scout and took the lead, and even if they weren't sure they were headed the right direction he made them think they were. Zach took up the rear, helping some of the more out of shape theater kids from falling behind. When they took a break to cool off in a pool along a creek Zach paused time and was able to scout out the highway nearby, ultimately bringing the pledge class back to the house in record time around mid afternoon.

The pledges showered quickly and changed into the clean clothes they'd left at the house that morning. Afterwards they went down to the common room and Dion passed out slips of paper, "Alright guys, time to vote for your pledge president. This is mostly to decide who you want to stick with organizing the pledge project, but more than that vote for whoever you think is a good leader, who you would be able to rely on if you needed a favor or somebody to talk to, ok?"

Zach didn't hesitate to vote for Sean, who he thought had done a great job leading the hike that morning, and it didn't take long for everybody else to vote either. Dion collected the slips and then told them to line up outside while he counted them with Jack.

When the pledges went outside they were surprised to find the rest of the frat already out there. Dion and Jack came out shortly behind them.

Jack spoke loudly to the pledge class as well as the rest of the frat, "The turds have voted for the shiniest turd, and the shiniest turd is......it wasn't even close, D's butt boy Zach."

Zach blushed as not only his pledge brothers but a good number of frat brothers clapped and cheered for him, the guys nearby slapping his back and congratulating him. Dion punched Jack's arm hard then smiled and winked at Zach.

"Now, the main event. When D calls your name step forward and you'll get assigned your big," Jack said. There was some excited murmuring from the pledge class.

Dion raised a hand to quiet them down, "I just got a few words to say before we start, because this is a pretty big deal. We're all brothers here, but your big brother is special. A big and little are a family within a family; you'll spend more time with them than any other brother this semester; you'll have your own traditions and activities; your big will be your best friend and number one advocate; and the respect you have for your big is meant to be the foundation of your respect for this brotherhood as a whole. So let's get started, and bigs when I say your name just stand by your little till we're done. First off Austin," Austin stepped forward looking nervous, "Your big is Rob." Rob walked over to Austin's side and clapped his shoulder as he stood behind him.

"Billy, your big is Matt," Dion continued and slowly worked his way down the list. As the list continued in alphabetical order Zach consigned himself to being last, wondering who he'd get assigned. He hoped it would be Dion, figuring he'd jump at the chance to spend even more time together. But that hope was soon quashed when Dion called out Sean's name and said, "You're mine, bro."

Instead, when it was down to just Zach Dion called out, "And finally, Zach, your big is Chris."

Chris walked over to Zach and gave him a quick pat on the back before standing next to him.

"So," Dion said to the crowd, "No party tonight. Rest of the day is for bigs and littles to get to know each other. You may hang out with some smaller groups later or it may just be you and your big; you may spend the night at the house or go camping or fuck off to the city the rest of the weekend, that's up to your big. Just have fun and stay safe, alright gentlemen?"

"And another thing," Jack said, "D talked about respecting your big. He put it nicely, as far as you bitches are concerned your big is an extension of my fucking godhood. Do what they say when they say it or there'll be hell to pay, understood?"

"Yes, pledge master!" The pledges shouted.

As the guys dispersed Chris turned to Zach with a smile, "We're gonna have some fun times, bud," he said as he clasped Zach's hand and pulled him into a bro hug.

"Can't wait," Zach said smiling back. Even if he'd been disappointed Dion wasn't his big Zach was excited to get to know Chris--not only cause he was Dion's best friend, but he'd had a fucking blast playing music with him the weekend before, and Chris just generally seemed like a cool guy. He was cute too, in a kinda nerdy skater dude way--his hair was nearly as long as Zach's but where Zach's was light and wavy Chris' was a mop of messy hair set over thick, expressive eyebrows; his face was long and he had a strong jawline, even with the scruffy facial hair that couldn't quite count as a beard; and he had a nice body too, not as nice as Dion's or Zach's, but he was fit enough and just shy of 6'.

"Come on," Chris said slapping Zach's arm and heading off, "We're goin for a drive."

As they were leaving the yard they passed Sean and Dion standing close together already caught up in conversation. Chris called out, "We still good for 8?" as he kept walking past them.

"Yeah we'll see you then," Dion said absentmindedly, till he caught sight of Zach and snagged his hand before Zach could follow Chris past them. Dion pulled Zach in and kissed him. Then he grinned and keeping his face close whispered, "Love you."

Zach blushed and grinned back, "Love you more," and they started kissing again. They'd been insufferably cute together since the threesome.

"Come on lovebird," Chris said sarcastically as he grabbed Zach by the arm and pulled him away, "Plenty of time for that later, now it's bro bonding time."

"Chrissy's right," Dion laughed as he put an arm around Sean, "Gotta keep our priorities in order, we'll see you guys in a bit."

"And I'll try not to steal your man," Sean said giving Zach a wink.

"You better not, I know where you live," Zach said with a grin, loving the sight of Dion and Sean arm in arm smiling at him.

Zach followed Chris out to his old beat up Jetta in the parking lot behind the house. Chris started the car and cranked the a/c and radio. Zach hopped in and they set off, vibing to weird but pleasant electronic music.

When they were out of town and driving along a beautiful country road through the woods and hills and farmland that surrounded it Chris took out a pack of cigs, passed Zach a spliff and said, "Spark us up." Zach obliged, and the scenery became even more beautiful and the wind in the open windows even cooler as they got high and cruised. Conversation was a bit strained to start, but once they started talking about music it came easily.

They drove to an even smaller town than their college town, hardly even a town, more a couple dozen houses and a convenience store that probably were there just for the old inn and tavern they parked at. Chris gave Zach some eye drops before they went inside and got a small booth in the back of the restaurant.

When the waitress came over Chris politely waved away the menus and said, "2 rib eyes, rare, please. Guinness for me, coke for him.

"I'm more of a medium rare guy myself," Chris said to Zach as the waitress walked away with their order, "But some grand big really liked it rare so that's how we're having it."

"Ever under the regime of our barbarous ancestors," Zach giggled highly, and then even more when Chris looked at him like he was crazy. "Sorry," Zach said pulling himself together, "I have too much time on my hands and I read too much. Just some Jefferson quote that came to mind."

Chris laughed at that and talked about his philosophy minor till the waitress came back with their drinks. Once she was out of sight Chris motioned to Zach's coke and said, "Chug half that real quick."

Zach was confused but did as he was told. Then Chris took the drink and quickly surveilled the room before he pulled a flask out of his pocket and poured it in Zach's coke.

Chris pushed the drink back to Zach and raised his beer, "Cheers, lil bro."

"Cheers, big bro," Zach said clinking his glass and feeling a little silly, at least until he started coughing from the cheap whiskey. When he pulled himself together he said, "So tell me about Argentina, man, that must've been awesome."

If you've ever talked with a college student who has recently studied abroad you'd know it's their favorite topic in the world, and Chris was excited to share. He'd spent a few months at a university in Buenos Aires, but the last 3 months he'd been living in a suburb and guest teaching music at a high school. He raved about the food and the music and the girls.

Zach furrowed his brow as he tried to remember the words, "Y hablas español con fluidez?" Then Zach lightly slapped the table, "No, for Argentina it'd be castellano, sí?"

Chris smiled with surprise, "Sí, y tú?"

"Un poco," Zach said, holding his thumb and forefinger close together, "I had a Mexican friend growing up, picked up a good bit." Zach had actually had a Mexican friend growing up, but he only spoke Spanish with his parents and never would've spoken it with Zach. Zach had done all of Mike's intro to Spanish reading in watch world though. And then Spanish 2 and 3. Then a random assortment of 20th century Latin American literature, plus one abortive attempt at Don Quixote. He'd been practicing pronunciation by watching Mexican soap operas.

"That's awesome," Chris said, then he continued in Spanish, "Would you want to practice? I honestly miss it already."

"Por qué no," Zach smiled, and the rest of the evening they talked in a mix of English and Spanish, Zach occasionally asking Chris to talk a little slower or explain a phrase to him, while Zach quickly got drunk from his whiskey coke on an empty stomach.

Their steaks came soon, though, and Zach devoured his, starving after the hike. Then Chris ordered them each a slice of peanut butter pie and coffee, which Chris added the last of the whiskey to.

They walked out of the tavern stuffed and stood besides Chris' car as they had a smoke.

"I'm a little surprised you haven't asked for any Dion stories," Chris said a little mischievously, "I've got some good ones."

"Ooo, let's hear 'em," Zach said, slightly swaying on his feet so he leaned against the Jetta.

"Let's see...there was the time our freshman year, we were doing My Fair Lady for the spring musical. We had a rager after the first performance, and D sang along to screamo music so hard he literally couldn't speak the next day and had to get subbed out for the next show."

"Great, something to be terrified of, thanks," Zach nervously laughed.

"If you had to listen to the Rain in Spain 100 times then I may tell you to be careful about letting out a primeval scream. I think you'll be alright in Grover's Corner," Chris said, "And speaking of, I can't wait to see your Stage Manager. I swear, I couldn't hear your name in the house without somebody butting in 'holy shit he's so good.' Dion literally texted me about it like 10 minutes after your audition. Honestly, I'm a little worried it's been so hyped I can't help but be disappointed."

Zach blushed, "Me too. It's been a lot of fun though. Davidson is a great director, and the crew are a riot. And like people have said there's usually some drama, but it's been really chill."

"Oh give it time," Chris laughed, "We're still early in the semester. My money's on it's already brewing.

"But next D story," Chris said clapping then rubbing his hands together, "Another freshman one. D and I had Logic together at 8 am Mondays. Fucking sucked, everybody was always grumpy and hungover. One morning Dion comes into class 5 minutes late and bout half his face was covered in shaving cream. The Professor stopped in the middle of a lecture to hand him a tissue box."

"Was he drunk?" Zach asked.

"Nah," Chris grinned taking a drag on his smoke, "He was distracted. Him and Kat had just started dating and she texted him in the middle of a shave. He just totally forgot about anything else."

Zach laughed, "He can get on a one track mind."

"He can't help it. It's kinda endearing though," Chris said, "But I'm sure I don't need to tell you that."

"Nope," Zach smiled and blushed again.

"Alright, last one, bit of a personal story so let's keep it between bros alright?" Chris said.

"Goes without saying," Zach said.

"Good," Chris said, "So, last fall semester D and I were roommates at the frat house right. I get out of class early one day, I go back to the room and catch D butt naked sniffing one of my dirty socks and jacking off on our futon."

"No way," Zach laughed, "What did you do?"

"I called him a pervert," Chris said, "Then I sat next to him, kicked off my shoes, and put my foot in his face till he finished while I looked at my phone. Sometimes gotta help a brother out."

"Puta madre," Zach muttered putting a hand to his head, "That's hot as fuck."

Chris cackled at that, "Figures you'd think so. I guess it didn't take too long for you to get a foot massage, huh?"

"Nope," Zach laughed. "Did you guys ever mess around otherwise?"

"We've jacked off together a couple times. Had a threesome with him and Kat but we were focused on her. Guys don't really do anything for me, like if I'm drunk or horny enough I can be up for some fun, but usually I let you gay boys keep to yourself and have more girls for me. And of course D doesn't really mess around with brothers--well, didn't anyway," Chris said with a sly grin as he took another drag.

"Yeah, he told me bout that," Zach said quietly, a little unsure how to respond.

Chris gave Zach a funny look as he crushed his cigarette butt under foot, then he said, "I'm curious how it'll work out with you guys. I think I know Dion as well as anybody, hell maybe even better than anybody. But I never thought he'd leave Kat."

"Well, he hasn't," Zach said reflexively.

"He would've. He told me so last weekend," Chris said as he lit another cigarette and smiled, "Nearly breaking up the mom

and dad of the theater department and you tell me there hasn't been any drama."

Zach grinned despite himself, "Nothing too bad, yet. It seems to be working out."

Chris smoked his cigarette for a bit, as if he were thinking about how to phrase what he wanted to say. Eventually he said, "Look Zach, I love Dion. He's closer than a brother. But I also know he can occasionally be a dick--half the time he doesn't even realize it, and usually he's so charming nobody else realizes it either. But it's still being a dick. And I'm a little worried this poly thing may've been a dick move. Now don't get me wrong, mazel tov and all that, I hope it works out for the best. Just, if you ever want to talk about relationship stuff I'm here for it, and it'll just be between us. I know the big and little thing is kinda absurd, and we've barely gotten to know each other really, but I fucking loved my big and I really do take the mentorship part seriously. If D were dating my little sister I'd be telling her the same shit."

Zach considered that for a good while before he responded, "I appreciate the offer. I'll probably take you up on it sometime. But right now--" Zach smiled drunkenly, "Right now I'm just so fucking excited. Dion is...he's incredible. He's the coolest guy I've ever known and he's sweet and fucking sexy and I can talk with him for hours. And seeing him with Kat--I'm not a jealous person, Chris. Like, maybe I used to be, but ever since I got--" he almost said the watch but caught himself, "got to college I feel like, I don't know, we got nothing but time, and there's enough time to care about more than one person. The way he looks at her, man, I could never ask him to stop. I don't think I'd even want it."

Chris smiled a little sadly, "That time goes quicker than you think."

----

On their drive back to campus Zach could tell Chris was making a concerted effort to get back to a lighthearted mood, and Zach was eager to go along. They blasted the music and sang along together as the sun started to set.

As they approached the town Chris turned down the music and said, "You pledges finished the hike like crazy quickly, so we've got some time before we gotta meet up with D and Sean."

"What're we doing with them?" Zach asked.

"Ice cream at Mama's. Another tradition."

"Bleh," Zach said, "I'm so stuffed."

"We got a couple hours yet. And we'll smoke some more. But in the meantime, I got a keyboard in my room and I've barely had a chance to play around with the mixing gear I got last Christmas, how bout we get stoned and make some music?"

"Fuck yeah, dude."

----

Zach and Chris had such a good time smoking and listening to and making music they ended up getting to Mama's Ice Cream Shack about 15 minutes late. But they still beat Dion and Sean. Zach and Chris had just got their milkshakes and were talking about what they'd do differently with one of the pieces they'd been working on when Dion plopped down next to Zach in their booth.

"Fancy seeing you guys here," Dion said, but when Zach grinned at him Dion couldn't hold back as he leaned over to lightly kiss Zach's neck and dimples and then his lips.

"Get a room," Chris said sarcastically as he flicked the paper from his straw at them.

Dion put an arm around Zach as he turned to his friend, "I plan on it. In the meantime you should just enjoy the show, like can you imagine what we'd make on onlyfans?"

"Nothing from me," Chris laughed.

"As if you wouldn't support your little bro," Dion said as he ruffled up Zach's hair. Then he kept ruffling, "You know, I do this for

another couple hours and your hair may be half as mangey as your big's."

Zach pushed Dion away laughing, but then quickly went back under his arm.

Chris leaned over the table to Zach and pointed at Dion, "Te lo dije, es un pendejo."

"Es mi pendejo," Zach said resting his head on Dion's shoulder.

Dion looked down at Zach shocked, "Wait, do you speak Spanish? I thought you were taking French?"

"I am," Zach said, "but I speak a little Spanish. Chris has been helping me practice, I haven't spoken it for awhile."

"Could've fooled me," Chris said.

Dion couldn't stop looking amazed at Zach, "What the hell can't you do?"

Zach blushed as he took a sip from his milkshake, "Well, I suck at fishing."

Dion paused for a couple seconds before he burst into laughter and covered his eyes with a hand, "Ugh, you two are just gonna talk shit about me to my face and I'll have no fucking clue what you're saying."

"Sí, cabrón," Chris said, winking at Zach.

"Wait, where's Sean?" Zach asked Dion.

"Waiting on our sundaes, should be here any sec. Sorry we're late, ended up going on a bit of an adventure," Dion said. "You guys have a good time?"