The Question (M/M)

[cj2125]

The street was mostly empty, only a single person walked down the sidewalk, his dark clothes made him blend in with the dark night only to reappear under a streetlight. James liked that street, calm, quiet yet not too far from the more crowded avenues of the city, one of those small, picturesque, residential streets filled with rows of townhouses.

This has been a quite eventful week for the 28-year-old lawyer, his face had appeared all over the social publications of the city, but who could blame them? When the only son and heir of the closest thing the country had to an aristocracy got engaged to the heiress of a powerful political dynasty, it was bound to make the news

James Hutchinson III was an excellent catch. 6 feet tall, slender yet well built, with an impeccably combed blonde hair he inherited from his mother and bright green eyes he inherited from his father. He had graduated his class at law school with top grades and was now working for one of the most prestigious law firms of the country. Given his credentials, it was surprising he wasn’t an arrogant jerk, on the contrary, he was always polite, a little quiet and shy for the camera, maybe a little awkward in social events but in general, well-mannered and charismatic

James was an excellent catch indeed, but unfortunately, not only for the ladies as he was well aware and was about to be reminded of. Just as he was about to cross in front of Welbourne Alley when he found himself blinded by pair of headlights. He heard a car accelerating towards him, had he not jumped aside at that exact second he would have been run over.

James hit the floor, dazed and disoriented; behind him the car came to an abrupt stop and the door opened. Before James could turn back to face whoever nearly killed him, a knee was pressed against his back, between his shoulder blades and a hand grabbed his blond hair and pulled it backwards, forcing him to raise his head. He opened his mouth to scream only for some kind of cloth to be pressed over his nose, he immediately recognized the strong odor emanating from it

No, no, no, no! He thought as he was forced to smell the rag, he hated chloroform! He would rather have a gun aimed at his head than being forced to smell the crap. Despite usually being a well-mannered person who rarely allowed himself to curse, right now James was cursing worse than a sailor at his assailant, yet that didn’t compel him to remove the rag from his nose. Slowly, James felt himself losing his strength, his movements became slower and clumsier and every sight and sound around him started spinning and blending until everything went dark. James Hutchinson fell unconscious

___________________________________

James woke up feeling like someone was playing drums on his head, that’s why he hated chloroform so much, it always felt like a hangover except without any fun memory from before! He raised his head feeling his throat dry and looked around him, blinking and waiting for his eyes to get used to the dim light. There was some kind of cloth stuffed in his mouth and his own red tie had been tied over it to keep it in place. He was sitting on a heavy wooden chair, his hands were pulled behind his back and tied together at his wrists and attached to the bottom of the backseat, his elbows were pulled uncomfortably tight together and ropes were wrapped around his upper, lower chest and waist leaving him little space to wiggle; as he looked down he realized his clothes were missing, except for the grey boxer-briefs he wore; and his legs were spread, each ankle was tied to the front legs, his knees were tied to the sides of the seat and more rope was wrapped around his thighs, pressing his butt against the seat.

James let out a sigh and hanged his head down, it was clear he wasn’t going anywhere tied like that, although his lack of clothes confirmed his suspicions about who his captor was; that or his kidnappers wanted something more than just a ransom. He really didn’t know which option was worse.

Still, he might as well try to escape. The blonde guy looked around inspecting his surroundings. It was clear he was in some kind of large warehouse, with a rather unclean concrete floor and crates piled against the walls, there were high windows from where the light from the streets could filter in but he doubted he would be able to reach them, even if he wasn’t stuck to the chair. In the distance he could see the silhouette of a car, probably the same that almost ran him over. Most of the hall was plunged in darkness except from a single light bulb hanging above him, illuminating a circle around him that held, apart from himself, a single empty chair facing him and a wooden table with a blue gym bag on top.

James nervously squirmed, arching his back and trying to flex his arms and legs. The ropes tensed and tightened and the chair creaked underneath him but he remained stuck “Fhgg mn lnfm” he grunted and tried to swing his waist sideways, making the chair shift slightly but not enough to call it progress.

Suddenly he heard footsteps coming from behind him “Hllnm?” he asked trying to turn his head but his new companion walked past him through the opposite side so when he turned his head to face forwards, his captor was already standing in front of him. He was a slim and tall individual, wearing a pair of black converses with a few star-shaped stickers stuck to it, a pair of skinny ripped jeans, a grey t-shirt with a black hoodie over it, the hood pulled over his head leaving only a couple of disheveled black locks of hair on sight and his sleeves pulled up his forearms revealing his pale arms with a black smiley-face tattoo on his left arm. His face was covered by a white owl mask letting James see only a pair of grey eyes looking back at him with a glimpse of mischief. James’ eyes scanned his captor’s appearance before settling on the large metal bucket he was carrying with his left hand

Oh no! “Whhnt! Dhn't nhh dhrm! Nh!” he begged shaking his head but his captor swung the bucket towards him drenching him in cold water. For the second time that night, James found himself loudly using every bad word on the English language and a few in other languages, all the while coughing and spitting the cold water.

His captor, completely unfazed, leaned forwards and in a single motion pulled the necktie down his neck, James wasted no time spitting the sock out “Uhhgg! What the heck Oliver?” he said followed by another coughing fit “are you trying to drown me?”

His captor looked baffled for a moment before pulling off his mask revealing a youthful face “How did you know it was me?”

“The tattoo gave it away” James rolled his eyes “And those are the shoes you’ve been wearing since you were sixteen; and that’s your Adventure Time t-shirt” Ollie opened his hoodie to reveal the cartoon logo imprinted all over the shirt “and that’s the Court of Owls mask you stole-”

“Found!”

“You STOLE from that guy’s face on a Halloween party! Not to mention you are the only person who kidnaps me in a semi-regular basis!” James concluded and hanged his head down. Moments like this made him wish he had demanded to be transferred dorms when he saw the first red flag all those years ago

“How else would I hang out with you?”

“Normal people uses a thing called phone”

“Would you have accepted if I had called you?”

“Of course not!” James grunted and shook his head, trying to wipe some wet hair from his forehead

“That’s my point” Ollie grinned playfully pinching James’ cheek, the bound man looked as if he was going to bite Ollie’s hand off “besides, whenever we hang out together we have a blast! Remember the trip to Mexico?”

“DON’T MENTION MEXICO! We were kidnapped by a freaking cartel and almost executed!”

“We were fine!” said Ollie dismissively

“I GOT SHOT!”

“The bullet merely grazed you” Ollie waved his hand “and let’s face it, that scar is the reason Claudia started talking to you” James looked at the tiny scar on his right forearm where the bullet had effectively grazed him, it was true that the reason he met his future wife was because she approached to ask about said wound. With no other argument to throw back at Ollie, James had to resort to his usual escape method: blushing and changing the subject

“Why did you brought me here now? I don’t have time for another trip!”

“Of course you don’t have time!” Ollie sighed and opened the gym bag, pulling out a newspaper “I brought you here so you could explain this!” he exclaimed, dramatically shoving the paper on James’ face. He squinted his eyes and read the headline

“Uh… if you wanted an explanation about the political relations between India and Pakistan…”

“What?” Ollie turned the paper over to read the article himself “That’s not what I meant! Hold on a second!”

James rolled his eyes while Ollie kept browsing to the newspaper “It was here… no, I swear I saw it… wait a moment… AHA! Here! How do you explain THIS!” he said shoving a picture of James and Claudia at his face

“Oh... yeah, we are engaged” James spoke more subdued than before, looking away from the paper “we didn’t want to make such a fuss but our parents insisted on announcing it”

“Dude! Congratulations!” Ollie beamed at him and threw his arms around James, completely oblivious to the fact that his friend was tied, wet, naked and looking rather uncomfortable; James merely weakly tried to remind Ollie that he hated hugs “But seriously, what the hell? I had to find out through the news! You could have given your best friend a call!” he added pulling away from James

“First of all, we aren’t best friends!”

“You keep telling yourself that” Ollie rolled his eyes looking at James like he would look a stubborn child

“And second, why would it concern you?”

“Really? Why would it concern me? Are we really going to do this?” he asked raising an eyebrow. James straightened his back against the chair and looked at Ollie cautiously

“Doing what?”

“James, James, James” Ollie chook his head while he pulled out a screwdriver from the bag “you are smart! Certainly you must have figured out by this point what it is that I want to hear” Ollie smiled and pulled out a syringe, followed by a rubber chicken

“Ollie… let’s not get carried away” James gulped looking at the tools, nervously shifting on his seat “you are going to be invited to the wedding if that’s what bothers you-”

“I know that” Ollie smiled and pulled a pair of pliers “but you know I want something else…”

“I don’t!” James exclaimed, by this point getting really worried “O-Oliver, you aren’t going to use that on me right?” he asked struggling more frantically on the chair

“Of course not! These are just for show!” Ollie laughed “besides, you are such a wimp that you wouldn’t make it past any of them!”

“Excuse me?” James exclaimed looking offended “I’m not a wimp! I got shot remember? I can deal with… AAAHHHHHHH! WHAT THE-AHHHHH OUCH! OUCH! STOP! PLEASE STOP! AHHHHHHH!” he screamed in agony, shook his head and let his body convulse in pain at the torture his friend was inflicting on him. Ollie rolled his eyes and stopped pinching his left nipple

“You are already crying!”

“I’m... not!” James trembled although he could feel a couple tears running down his cheeks. In his defense that really hurt!

“Of course you aren’t sweetheart” Ollie smiled condescendingly and walked behind James “But I’ve got other ways of making you talk” he grinned placing his hands on James’ shoulders and lightly squeezing them; James body tensed, he cleared his throat and nervously wiggled his arms, trying to reach any knot without success
“W-what are you going to do?” he asked trying and failing not to look nervous

“What I always do” Ollie spoke in a low voice as his hands slowly made their way down James’ bare chest, running across his wet skin until they came to rest on his stomach, his fingers threateningly playing with the waistband of his boxers. James turned pale, his eyes open wide and his struggles grew in strength and desperation

“Oliver! Please don’t! You know I can’t take it! Oliver… I’ll scream! The police will come! Please don’t do this! I’m begging you! Please don’t AHHHH HAHAHAHA! STOP! HAHAHA! NOOOOO! PLEASE! HAHAHAHA!”

James screamed at the top of his lungs as Ollie’s fingers run over his skin mercilessly tickling him. The prisoner begged, cried, laughed and struggled but his torturer was relentless; his hands moved across James’ skin while he could only jerk his body against the ropes and beg for an end to his torment

“Ready to talk?”

“P-please! Stop!” James yelled trying to hold back his tears

“What was that? The though lawyer begging like a wimp? Of course, you were always one!” Ollie rolled his eyes

“Now, what was your weak point? Oh right! Your feet!” James’ eyes opened wide, he planted his feet on the concrete floor and shook his head desperately

“Please no! Please no! Alright you win!” He cried and hanged his head down defeated “Oliver-”

“Ollie!”

James let out a sigh and forced a grin in his face as if the mere thought of saying this pained him greatly “Ollie, would you be my best man for the wedding?”

“Nah, I think I’ll be busy that day” Ollie grinned noticing James’ shocked expression “Just kidding! Of course I’ll be you big doofus!” he chuckled and threw his arms around James. The bound man was taken by surprise and for a moment allowed himself to relax and even, although he’ll deny it vehemently, smiled a little bit before recovering his usual restrained and careful self

“Now that we cleared that up, could you please untie me, I can’t feel my hands and would like to… DON’T YOU MPHHHH!” he yelled as Ollie pressed a strip of silver tape over his lips and quickly wrapped it 3…5 times around his head

“Sorry, were you saying something?” he asked pulling out his phone

“Gmt mm hht bmfhrm Hm rmfgnnd nhhr Hmnvnthtnhn!” James grunted glaring at Ollie

“Yep, sure, I agree” he spoke absentmindedly, flicking through his phone “here! Let’s take a selfie! That way we’ll always remember this magical moment!” he abruptly put his arm over James’ shoulder and pulled him closer, broadly smiling for the camera “wonderful!” he smiled admiring the end result while at the same time ignoring the angry glares James was giving him, instead he put his phone away and headed back to his gym back “It’s been wonderful hanging out with you James, I’ve always felt we don’t hang out that often since we finished college and I’m really glad you asked me to be your best man, but everything must come to an end, I’m sure Claudia must be missing you by this point so better get you back!” he turned around to face James, revealing a small bottle and a white rag on his hands.

James’ looked at the bottle with a renewed repulsion and shook his head but his muffled pleas fell on deaf ears, Ollie walked behind him and pressed the soaked rag over his nose. James put up a token struggle but he was already worn down from the ordeal and soon the drug took effect, reducing his strengths until everything went black

James really hated chloroform

_________________________________

“Rise and shine sweetheart!” he opened his eyes with the burning lights of day falling upon him from his window, a twisting stomach and a pounding head, he rolled over the bed trying to cover his head with a pillow but someone yanked it away from him

“Please give it back” he mumbled weakly and open an eye to see a young woman sitting by his side “oh... what time is it?”

“Two in the evening” she replied calmly

“TWO? SHOOT I’M SO LATE!” James attempted to get up but Claudia pushed him back on the bed

“Relax, I called them to say you were sick, you need to rest after last night”

“Last... night?” James asked cautiously, there was no way she knew what transpired last night!

“Yeah, don’t tell me you have forgotten? I wouldn’t be surprised; you were so wasted when Ollie brought you back! He told me you tried to swim in a fountain!” she rolled her eyes sounding amused by his adventure “now wait here while I bring you some coffee, that should make you feel better” she added gently pulling the covers over her fiancé’s naked body

“Thanks honey, you are the best” James smiled and the couple locked lips for a few seconds before Claudia headed for the door, stopping on the doorway

“By the way, did you asked Ollie?”

“Yeah” James nodded and ran his hand through his hair, trying to ignore the pain “He agreed to be my best man”

“I knew he would, if you ever leave me for someone we all know it would be him” she teased and headed to the kitchen. James rolled his eyes and sank his head in his pillow, reminding himself to make Ollie promise to never use chloroform on him ever again.

While Claudia brew the coffee, James pulled his right arm from under the covers and extended it towards the nightstand, grabbing his phone and pulling it closer. There was a single message from Ollie. He reluctantly opened it to see the selfie he had taken earlier. Oliver beaming at the camera and next to him James, looking utterly annoyed yet, despite what his eyes might say, under the layers of tape that covered his mouth, one could see the outline of a genuine smile, the same he was spotting right now, a short, rare, genuine smile that quickly vanished when he saw the new text Ollie just sent him:

“You awake dude? Cool! Thanks for last night! Was awesome! And thanks for asking me to be your BM, I promise you won’t regret it! In fact, I’m already planning your stag! I don’t want to spoil it but it’s going to be even more epic than Mexico!”

It was at that moment that James realized he might have just made a terrible, terrible mistake

The End

[MaxRoper]

A well written and enjoyable tale. However as the saying goes, with friends like Ollie...

[cj2125]

[mention]MaxRoper[/mention] I'm sure James' life would be far more boring without him

Glad you enjoyed the story!

[Exelsia]

You know what? Ollie x James forever. Seriously their friendship is cute as heck. Ollie is a bit aggressively weird but I really wouldn't mind having someone like that around. Now I wonder what shenanigans Ollie have for his buddy's wedding.

[cj2125]

Thanks [mention]Exelsia[/mention]! I like the pair too! Who knows? Maybe someday I'll write what Ollie has planned for James

[bondagefreak]

[mention]cj2125[/mention] I'm sorry the forum is so quiet, man. The year is off to a slow start for us M/M authors, but I'm sure that over the coming weeks others will discover this little gem you've produced.


Well now, it's looks like you've got your work cut out for you.
I'm just about ready to learn more about this stag party Ollie has planned for his poor friend. Hehe
Sounds like it'll be a blast. Wish I was part of it.

Ollie sounds like he would probably be real fun to have around.


The one thing that stood out for me here, was the sharp dialogue and your ability to make the scenario and characters come to life. Felt almost like a movie playing in my head while I was reading this.
Very enjoyable.

[mention]mikeybound[/mention] might enjoy the repeat KO element in this one.
Be sure to tag him or send him a PM if you produce a sequel where Ollie fails to heed his BF's dislike for chloroform



Hopefully, some of our silent readers and lurkers will voice their appreciation for this tale, and other tales that have been produced recently. Seems like it's always the same small bunch of us who are reviewing...

[LK3869]

Almost commented without noticing it's the second story with James and Ollie After Ollie's wild Valentines day and this one, you'll defintly have to think of something for Jame's wedding.
It's not like me to care for safety details, but isn't chloro full of stuff you shouldn't breathe in ? Kids, don't do this at home...(Or not too often )
Thanks for that little touch of 'South-of-the-border" perils too, funny how a few words can send you trippin'...

[cj2125]

Thanks [mention]bondagefreak[/mention], I agree that the stag party will certainly be something to behold... if I ever get myself to write it

[mention]LK3869[/mention] you are right, those are the same characters, they've grown on me

And yeah, chloro can be dangerous and it usualy isn't that effective (kids, don't try it at home!) but honestly there's no way to realistically knock someone unconscious long enough to tie them up, but for story sake let's imagine that it's the perfect weapon in this universe! Way better than simply hitting someone on the head

[jamieti684]

This was a lovely story

[TiedNW]

Nice story!