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Benny's House
Chapter 21 – Aftermath
by Matt
The party was in full swing. Josh had settled in well with the rest of the residents. Dale had taken a bit of a back seat, allowing Josh to mingle alone mostly. Dale liked all of the house's residents, but being there was going to be Josh's thing, so he didn't want to get too involved. He couldn't really envision any reason for him to spend much time there outside of picking up/dropping off Josh.
Josh appreciated Dale even more now. The recent separation and reconciliation had reminded him how much he loved the man, but this, bringing him back under Benny's control to sate his submissive desires, it was an incredible gesture. For now though, his focus was on everyone else in the room.
At first it had been a little awkward, embarrassing even , to be walking around naked in front of everyone. He knew they had all had a good look at his body throughout the day, and most of them were naked too, but it still felt strange. He had also found himself getting aroused every now and then looking at some of the naked men around him. Once he realised that nobody was bothered, though, it became much less of a concern.
"So were you really Benny's babysitter when he was a kid?" Philip asked curiously.
Josh nodded and grinned. "Yeah, from when he was about seven," he replied.
"What was he like?" Philip probed. Charlie and Taro who were stood either side of him looked just as curious.
Josh shrugged. "He was... normal. Really just your average kid. Fun, excitable, energetic."
Philip looked a little disappointed. "So he wasn't, like, always in charge?" he asked.
Josh shook his head. "Nah, he was a bit bossy, which I suppose kinda makes sense now, but..." He stopped to gesture to everything around them, "There was no sign of this sort of thing."
"At least not until... you know what!" Charlie said with a wicked grin.
"Oh!" Josh said, his eyes widening slightly. "He's told you all about... that stuff then?"
"Huh? No. Wait, what stuff?" Philip asked, looking back and forth between Josh and Charlie.
Charlie chuckled at his best friend's response. "No, they don't know anything. But Benny did tell me a few bits of it."
Josh frowned. "Why just you?" he asked.
Taro rolled his eyes. "They used to date!"
Charlie suddenly blushed a little at the mention of his former relationship.
"Used to?" Josh asked curiously.
Taro nodded. "Yeah, Benny broke up with him when he found out that he," he pointed to Charlie, "was in love with him," he pointed to Philip.
"You cheated on Benny?" Josh asked, his tone suddenly a little accusatory.
"I did NOT cheat on him!" Charlie said defensively. "I... almost cheated on him!"
"Oh!" Josh said, raising his eyebrows. "That's... very different then. So you two are together?" he asked Charlie and Philip.
They suddenly looked at each other, blushing and stuttering.
Taro laughed aloud. "Yeah, you'll probably find it's best not to ask."
Josh chuckled too. "Sounds like you guys really have some fun here. Do you ever..." he stopped mid-sentence and stared over at the doorway. "Benny?" he called out.
Everyone looked round as they heard Josh call out and saw the Master standing there. He was ghostly pale, his hands shaking. Silence filled the room as every conversation ended, someone hit pause on the music.
"Benny, are you okay?" Josh called out when the boy failed to answer.
"It's...it's my Dad," he stuttered, his voice barely more than a whisper. "My... my Dad's... dead!" As he stood there, his trembling jaw finally gave way to a sob, a torrent of tears following.
Everyone stared. Over their time in the house, everyone had seen Benny angry, they'd seen him happy, they'd seen him remorseful, but never this. Suddenly he wasn't the strict Master, the patriarch of the house, the voice of authority. Now he was nothing more than a scared, upset sixteen-year-old boy. It shook most of them a little to see him that way.
Zane was the first to move. He dashed over to the boy and put his arms around him. Benny held tightly. He was crying so heavily that he couldn't even see who it was who was holding him and quite frankly, it didn't matter to him. Gradually more and more of his Boys moved to him, arms and bodies wrapping around the sobbing teen.
Josh remained frozen on the spot, watching Benny get comforted by his Boys. He wanted to go and join them, but he couldn't will his legs to move. Suddenly he felt fingers linking in between his. A look to the side revealed it was Dale.
"You okay?" Dale whispered.
Josh shook his head. "Mr Harrison's dead!" he whispered back, struggling to believe it. Josh had never been particularly close to Benny's Dad, but he had gotten to know him fairly well over the years. For him to suddenly just be gone was quite a shock. What hurt the most was thinking about what Benny was probably feeling in that moment.
Dale just stood holding Josh's hand, squeezing it gently.
It was several minutes before Benny stopped crying enough for his Boys to start considering letting go. One by one they peeled away from him. As much as they wanted to be there for their Master, to make sure he was okay, Roger began ushering them out. Eventually the only ones left in the room were Josh and Dale, Roger, Malik, Alex Benny and, still holding onto him tightly, Zane.
Alex tapped Roger on the shoulder and quietly whispered to him, "I... I know he... he needs us right now but... I think I need to go. I don't think I can handle this."
"It's okay, I understand," Roger whispered back with a gentle nod. He gestured for Malik to go with Alex and the two Generals left.
Roger eventually walked over to Benny and Zane. He tapped his lover on the shoulder and said calmly, "Zane, could you..."
"No!" Zane snapped. "I'm staying!" he insisted. He smiled gently as he felt Benny's grip tighten on him.
Roger knew better than to try and argue with Zane, so he conceded and instead lead the two teens towards one of the sofas. Benny sat down, Zane sitting closely beside him, holding his Master's hand.
As Josh and Dale gathered closer too, Roger squatted down in front of his Master and asked cautiously, "Benny, what happened?"
Benny sniffed a few times then wiped his cheeks. He looked at the four men around him, his eyes darting from one to the next. "I had a lot of missed calls from my Mum, she'd been trying to call me all day. She... she left some voicemails. At first she was just asking me to call her, but then she said Dad had been in an accident. Then... then she said he didn't have long left and then she... she just... she..." He was on the verge of bursting into tears again.
Josh reached out and rubbed the boy's back. "Have you... spoken to her?" he asked delicately.
Benny stared, any sign of tears suddenly disappearing. "And what exactly would I say? Oh hey Mum, sorry I left you on your own while Dad was dying, I was busy playing with my sex slaves!" he snapped furiously.
"I... erm... I'm..." Josh stuttered, pulling his hand back. "I'm sorry," he finally managed.
"Sorry? This is YOUR fault!" Benny yelled. He let go of Zane's hand and stood up, turning to face Josh.
"Benny, you don't..." Dale started, but paused as Benny's furious gaze turned on him.
"And you! Bringing HIM here was YOUR idea. I missed my Dad's last few hours because I was busy giving YOUR boyfriend the things you're not man enough to do yourself!" Benny snarled angrily, jabbing a finger in the air at Dale.
Dale felt a slight flare of anger, but quickly suppressed it. He knew Benny was just upset and lashing out at anyone he could. As much as the words hurt, he tried not to let them bother him. He looked to his boyfriend and said, "We should go!"
Josh nodded his agreement, looking quite scared as he and Dale headed for the door.
"Good. Fuck off and don't come back!" Benny yelled after them, then burst into tears and dropped onto the sofa again.
Zane leaned in to put hug the boy again, but Benny lashed out, smacking Zane's arms away. "Leave me alone!" he yelled.
"Benny, we just..." Roger started.
"Both of you. Just... leave me alone," Benny insisted. "Go on, get out!"
Roger and Zane exchanged concerned looks, but both stood up and headed out of the lounge, closing the door behind them.
Finally alone, Benny hugged a cushion close to his chest, curled up on his side and sobbed.
He had no idea how long he had laid there on his own and he probably would have stayed longer if his phone hadn't started ringing. He sat bolt upright, looked at his phone and saw 'Mum' displayed on the screen. He stared at it for a few moments before taking a deep breath and touching the 'answer' button.
"Mum," he said in a squeak as he raised his phone to his ear.
"Benny, you're there," Mrs Harrison spoke back. She sounded terrible, which just served to make Benny feel even worse. "Did you... hear my voicemails?"
"Please tell me it's a joke, or something to get me to talk to you. Please just.... he can't be..." Benny words caught in his throat.
"Where were you?" she asked, her voice heavy with disappointment.
"I was... I didn't.... I didn't have my phone with me," he half-lied. He knew that if he had picked up that first call, things would have been different.
"He didn't even get to say goodbye to you!" she said coldly.
Benny sniffed back his tears. "Mum, please..." he whimpered.
"You just left. You just... got up and went away..." she said weakly.
"Your Dad loved you so much. Have you got any idea how much you hurt him by disappearing like that? He was so out of it at the end, he barely knew what was happening, but he still kept asking for you," she explained.
"Mum don't," Benny pleaded.
"Have you got any idea what it was like having to tell him that you hadn't come, that he wouldn't get to see his Son one more time?" she asked, beginning to sound angry.
Benny couldn't reply, there were simply no words, only more tears.
"Wherever you are, whatever you're doing... I hope it's worth it!" she said, then hung up.
Benny dropped the phone and curled up again, crying into the cushion, rocking gently back and forth. He lost all sense of time as his mind swirled with the things his Mum had said. It could have been minutes or it could have been hours, but eventually he fell asleep.
When he awoke, he looked at his phone and saw that it was nearly half past two. He ached all over from the position he had fallen asleep in, so he stood up and stretched before heading to the door. As he opened it and stepped out, he tripped over something and fell heavily to the floor.
"What the fuck..." he growled as he looked round, the moonlight shining through the large front windows providing just enough illumination to see. It was Zane, curled up on the floor in front of the door.
"I'm sorry," Zane said quickly, sounding a little drowsy. Presumably he too had fallen asleep.
"For fuck's sake Zane, are you trying to kill me?" Benny snapped, his voice echoing loudly around the atrium.
"I.. I just... I wanted to be close by, in case... you needed me," he said quietly., shrinking back into the doorway.
"Just... go to bed!" Benny yelled, then stormed off towards the stairs. As he reached the top, he heard footsteps behind him and looked back to see Zane half way up the staircase behind him. "I'm not in the mood for your games. Just leave... me... alone!"
Benny continued around the landing towards his door, walked inside and slammed it behind him. As he approached his bed, he heard the door open again. He turned and marched towards the Boy following him, grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall.
"Just for once in your fucking life wil you do as I fucking tell you and GO AWAY!" Benny yelled.
Zane whimpered slightly at the furious yell, but shook his head. "No Sir!"
Benny was breathing heavily as he stared at the Boy. His hand loosened slightly, but he continued to hold Zane against the wall. "If you don't leave this room right now, then... I'll throw you out of the house!"
"I don't care," Zane replied, attempting to shrug casually, but it was hard to do in the position he was in. "You shouldn't be alone, so I'm here to stay. If that means you throw me out in the morning, then I can live with that, but tonight you're not getting rid of me!"
Benny wanted to be mad at the Boy, he wanted to be mad at everyone, but he just couldn't force himself to feel it. Instead, he just nodded and turned back to his bed. He threw back the covers, climbed on and curled up, squeezing his eyes closed, willing the entire evening to just be some kind of terrible dream.
Moments later, Zane got on the other side of the bed and curled up too, facing his Master. He pulled the covers over them both, tucking them in around Benny's neck. He leaned forward and kissed the younger teen gently on the forehead, then draped an arm across his body. He lay there watching Benny but eventually fell asleep.
Sunday 10th May 2015
The next morning, Zane awoke, laying flat on his back. As he drearily opened his eyes, he peered to the side and saw Benny still laying in the same position, eyes open.
"Hey," he croaked as he rolled onto his side.
Benny smiled, but it quickly faded.
"Did you sleep?" Zane asked, reaching up to stroke his Master's cheek.
Benny just shook his head.
"I wanted to stay awake and look after you," Zane said, pouting a little.
Benny smiled again as he raised a hand casually played with the Boy's collar. "It's okay," he said with a weak smile, "It helped just having you here."
Zane beamed with pride at the comment. There had been several times the night before when he had worried he might just be upsetting Benny more, but hearing that he had helped had cast all those worries aside.
The two of them lay in silence for several minutes before Benny spoke again. "I don't know what to do," he said with a slight shake of his head.
"Well I'm guessing you're going to see your Mum," Zane said, shrugging.
Tears immediately formed in Benny's eyes as he remembered everything his Mum had said to him the previous night. "She hates me for not being there. She doesn't want to see me."
"Yes she does!" Zane said bluntly.
"How do you... know?" Benny asked, frowning his confusion.
Zane smiled sweetly. "Cos she's your Mum. Even if she's mad, even if she shouts at you, your her little boy and she will always want to see you."
Benny looked unsure. "You really think so?" he asked nervously.
Zane nodded, still smiling.
Benny leaned forward, kissed Zane's cheek then pulled him into a tight hug. "Thank you," he whispered quietly.
A quick shower and change of clothes later and Benny was leaving the house. Zane stood at the front door watching him walk down the driveway.
"Hey, where's he going?" a voice called from behind the Boy.
Zane immediately recognised the voice with needing to turn, it was Roger. "He's going to see his Mum," Zane replied without turning.
"On his own? Should someone go with him? I could give him a ride!" Roger said, standing behind Zane and staring out the door.
"Nah. I offered but he said he wanted to go on his own," Zane said, leaning against the doorframe. He felt Roger's body pressing against his back, the large man's arms reaching around his stomach from behind. He leaned back into the man, appreciating the closeness.
"Were you with him all night?" Roger asked, his eyes still fixed on Benny as he got further from the house.
"Yeah," Zane replied. He turned in Roger's arms, looking up into his eyes. "Sorry, I know last night I was meant to be with you!"
Roger smiled and kissed his lover delicately. "Don't apologise. You did the right thing. Besides, you could always make it up to me now!"
Zane grinned and kissed his boyfriend again, letting his hands slide down the man's sides. "What have you got in mind?"
Roger shot another glance outside. When he realised Benny was now out of sight, he pulled Zane back a little and closed the door. Before the Boy knew what was happening, Roger had picked him up and thrown him over his shoulder, then turned and headed for the stairs.
Zane chuckled quietly as Roger carried him up, around the landing and through the door into the room he and Alex shared.
Alex was still in bed, but awake, laying there looking at his phone. He turned to look at the two lovers as they barged in and raised his eyebrows as he smirked. "I'm guessing you'd like some privacy!" he said, sitting up.
Roger looked across and nodded, but as Zane got thrown onto the bed he called out, "Nah, stay and watch if you like."
"Really?" Alex and Roger both asked at the same time.
"Sure," Zane said with a playful grin. Whilst the thought of having a spectator did actually turn the Boy on somewhat, it wasn't the only reason he made the suggestion. After his Master and his boyfriend, Alex was his favourite person in the entire house. It still amused him now and then to think about the rocky start he and Alex had gotten off with, or all the subsequent arguments that had followed. Those things aside, Alex was his best friend and after the unpleasantness of the previous night, being able to keep him close seemed quite appealing.
Roger looked from Zane to Alex then shrugged and said, "Whatever. Stay if you like!"
Alex shrugged in response and lay back down, looking at his phone again.
Roger climbed onto the bed, pushing Zane down onto his back as they kissed, one hand reaching up to caress the Boy's hair while the other braced himself to avoid his entire weight crushing the smaller teen.
Zane's eyes were closed as he enjoyed the feeling of Roger on top of him, their lips wrestling. He mewed quietly into Roger's mouth, then opened one eye and peered across at Alex. He found the other teen was staring back at him, but he averted his eyes when he realised he had been caught.
Roger eventually pulled away from the kiss, but only to let his lips gently peck their way down Zane's stubbled jawline and onto his neck. "Mmm yeah," he moaned, partly out of pure enjoyment, but also to tease Alex a little further.
Zane loved his private (or in this case, semi-private) moments with Roger. It was like he became a different man. Gone was the gruff, sullen, serious second-in-command and in his place was a caring, passionate and seductive lover. The dominance was most definitely still there, but there were definite moments of Roger's softer side that Zane got to enjoy.
Alex lay there, desperately willing himself not to look. He briefly found himself wishing he had taken up his own suggestion of giving them some privacy, but it soon passed as he felt his cock swelling from the show. He wondered whether Zane's invitation to let him stay had been planned to intentionally tease, but as he heard the Boy moaning seductively, his suspicion was quickly confirmed.
As he continued to observe as stealthily as he could, one of Alex's hands slipped under the covers and grabbed his swollen cock. He watched as Roger's mouth made its way down Zane's chest, down his stomach, past his now-rigid cock to start lapping at the Boy's balls. He let his own hand slide down, playing with his own balls as Roger worked on Zane's. He inadvertently let out a slight moan of his own, then bit his lip in annoyance.
Zane smirked as he heard his friend. As he glanced across the room, he couldn't help noticing the hand working away under the covers. It was actually Alex's attempts to be discreet that were making it even more obvious what he was doing. As Alex's eyes guiltily met his, he grinned and nodded.
Alex understood the gesture. While part of him was opposed to following the suggestion of a sub, he couldn't help himself. He threw back the covers, swung his legs round on the bed and sat up with his back against the wall. His hand remained inside his boxers, but only for a few seconds before he raised his hips up off the bed and slid them off, kicking them to the floor.
Roger glanced up from his position and saw what Zane was staring at. He smirked and shook his head. It had been fairly obvious that Zane had wanted to put on a show, so if that was what he desired, then that was what Roger would do. He suddenly stood up and pulled off his shirt, trousers and underwear, leaving himself as naked as the other two who were both staring on in anticipation.
"On your knees!" Roger growled.
Zane shuddered with excitement at the tone and quickly flipped over, pushing himself up onto all fours.
Roger opened a drawer and retrieved some lube, applying a generous amount to two fingers. He reached down and started sliding them in and out of Zane's hole, lubing him up in anticipation of what was to follow. Once he had applied enough and loosened the Boy a little, he squeezed out some more of the cool gel and started slicking up his own cock. Seconds later, the head of his dick was pushing against the slippery hole.
"Mmmm, fuck yeah," Zane moaned happily, again exaggerating his enjoyment for Alex's pleasure.
Roger kept pushing, allowing more and more of his stiffness to penetrate the Boy's rear. As he felt his hips pressing against Zane's arse, he smirked at another over-the-top moan from his lover.
Roger looked across at Alex who was stroking his cock as he watched. "Why don't you come and shut him up!" he invited the other General.
"Yes!" Zane said excitedly, without meaning to, feeling himself blush a little.
Alex nodded and smiled, jumping off of his bed and quickly pacing across the room. He knelt on Roger's bed as Zane's obligingly opened his mouth ready to receive Alex's tool.
Zane moaned again, but this time it was completely genuine as he felt himself impaled on both ends. Alex had grabbed his head and started fucking his mouth rather than waiting for the Boy to start sucking, while Roger had begun sliding back and forth, bring almost the entire length of his cock out before thrusting back in hard. The Boy found himself being bounced back and forth in response to the thrusts from the other two men.
They kept going for a few minutes, Roger's hand reaching down to stroke Zane's still-solid cock before he asked Alex, "Swap ends?"
"Sure!" Alex said happily, pulling out of Zane's mouth.
Rather than moving, the two Generals lifted Zane and span him round, throwing him back down fairly roughly. Alex's boner, slick with Zane's saliva, easily slid into the Boy's well-lubed hole as Roger pushed his way into the Boy's eager cavity. They were quickly back in the same rhythm as before, making Zane bounce forwards and back onto the two solid dicks.
Alex was first to cum, grunting heavily as he filled Zane with his spunk, collapsing onto the Boy's back as the pleasurable shudders rippled through him, pulling out.
Zane could tell his lover was close too and expected the taste of cum to follow within moments. Instead, Roger pulled out, lifted the Boy again and threw him down onto his back. Raising the Boy's legs into the air, he pushed his cock back inside the cum-filled hole and thrust a few times before he started grunting with pleasure.
The feeling a second shot of warm wetness inside him, along with being able to look up at his lover's pleasured face was almost enough to push Zane over the edge. In the end though, it was Alex who gave him that final nudge, reaching across and stroking the Boy's erection for a few seconds. Zane's stomach was soon covered in his seed as he gasped happily, Roger's softening cock still inside him.
Roger finally pulled out and collapsed back onto the bed. Zane happily shuffled up beside him, pulling one the large man's arms around him.
Alex stared awkwardly for just a moment, suddenly feeling like he was intruding in something he had no right to be involved with.
Zane's could immediately see his friend's awkwardness and kindly held out an arm, gesturing for him to join them as they lay enjoying their post-orgasmic high.
Alex moved towards them ever-so-slightly then stopped himself, blushed and jumped off the bed. He grabbed his underwear and a t-shirt then ran to the door, calling out, "I'll leave you to it then."
Zane sighed as he watched Alex leave. He would have liked his friend to stay. Over the past couple of months, Alex had visibly changed, going from cold and aloof to pleasant and approachable. Physical intimacy was still an issue though. Zane had often wanted to hug his friend, maybe just touch him casually, even just lean on him when they were sitting together, but it continued to make him skittish.
"He'll get there," Roger said, sensing his boyfriend's frustration. "Just be patient. He's doing great, you don't want to push him."
"Yeah, I know," Zane said, nuzzling his cheek against Roger's chest. It was actually quite nice to hear Roger say something nice about Alex. He had often been the new General's biggest opponent in the house, but even he couldn't deny the progress Alex had made in dealing with his issues.
Sunday came and went, the mood on the house slightly downcast in sympathy of what Benny was going through. They all knew the Master had left the house that morning to go and see his Mum. Since then, though, none of them had heard from him. Both Roger and Alex had attempted to call the distressed teen, but it went straight to voicemail.
The first news came late in the evening when Josh called the house. With his family being relatively close to Benny's, he had been able to get some news. It seemed that Benny's father had been involved in a head-on collision the previous morning. Upon being rescued from the mangled wreckage of his car, surgeons had worked on him for hours before sadly reaching the conclusion that he was beyond help.
From what Josh had been able to gather from what his parents told him, despite her initial outburst on the phone to Benny, Mrs Harrison had been delighted when Benny turned up, the two quickly reconciling. To the best of his knowledge, Josh confirmed that Benny was still at his parents house with his Mother and, by the sounds of it, appeared to be intending to stay there for some time.
While the residents of the house wished they could help the boy more, they respected that he needed space and privacy to be with his family and so decided not to pursue him any further until they heard from him.
Saturday 16th May 2015
It felt strange for Benny to be back in his old bed. His parents had moved into that house before he was born, so it was the only home he had ever known until he left to move into his own house. He was amazed to find that the room had been left exactly the way he had left it, albeit a little cleaner and tidier, no doubt thanks to his Mum. It had only been four months since he left and it would have actually been a little upsetting if his parents had gotten rid of his things so quickly, but it still seemed strange to have everything just the same.
As he lay in bed, his mind lingered on his Dad. That seemed to be the only thing he had been able to think about all week, aside from his Mother's grief. In the first few days, his Mum had been inconsolable which had been unpleasant to behold, but the boy quickly realised it was preferable to what followed. His Mum had calmed down substantially, to the point where she almost seemed back to normal. The problem was, without an upset mother to comfort, Benny had found himself with a lot more time to be overwhelmed by his own feelings.
A lot of people had spoken to him about what he was going through, some had talked to him about the five stages of grief, attempting to help him through it or prepare him for what was to come. He had thought about those five stages a lot, trying to figure out where he was on the scale. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. He played the five words over and over in his mind, but none of them seemed to fit. Another word plagued him in their place – guilt!
Barely a second had passed since he got that voicemail from his Mum when Benny didn't feel completely gripped by guilt. He thought about the possibility that if he hadn't moved out, his Dad would probably have been doing something with him last Saturday morning instead of being out driving and then the accident never would have happened. Failing that, maybe if he had at least contacted his parents since leaving, it may have altered things. Then came the thoughts of his Mum trying to contact him last week, upset and alone in the hospital. If only he had picked up that call, he could have been with her. Then would come the thoughts of his Dad's final few moments, wanting to see his Son but ultimately being disappointed.
It made Benny want to scream, it made him want to cry, it made him want to lash out at the world but nothing happened. Being back in his old room made it harder. Every time he thought about letting go, about letting his feelings out he found himself thinking about the last time he had truly let go – that day with Josh in the very room he was now laying.
He felt like he was going to go insane, desperate to face his own feelings but too scared to do so at the same time. He climbed out of bed and walked over to his desk. He had turned his phone off and put it there on his first night in the house and hadn't touched it since. He knew what he was likely to find when he turned it on – supportive messages, concern, love, all from the people he cared about. It should have been comforting to him, but instead it simply made his angry. Unable to process his own feelings of guilt, his mind had instead started turning to blame. It was his Boys that had drawn him away from his family home, it was the House that had kept him too distracted and busy to contact his parents, it was the day with Josh that had prevented him from being there for his father's dying moments.
He picked up the phone, turned it on and waited while it started. Immediately the messages started appearing. There was nothing he didn't expect. Messages asking if he was okay and where he had gone from last weekend followed by a dozen more, at least one from each of the residents of the house, wishing him all their love. A couple had messaged more than once. Zane had messaged every single day. At first it made Benny smile before the anger wormed its way back into his thoughts.
Benny lay back down on the bed, his breath quickening as the fury built. His mind twisted the messages, slowly turning them from wishes of love and concern into selfish demands for his time. In a matter of mere moments, he had managed to convince himself that all they wanted was for the Master to come back, for someone to be in charge and give them the orders they craved. He hated them all, their selfish dependence upon him, their needy cries for attention, their obliviousness to his feelings.
He started a reply, selecting every resident of the house as a recipient. His hands were shaking he was so angry. Several times he wrote messages before deleting them. It was like a small part of his mind was still holding him back saying anything too bad. Gradually he calmed enough to write something devoid of vitriol, but that summed up his feelings quite succinctly. [I'M NOT COMING BACK!]
Roger was laying in bed, an arm curled around Zane who was cuddled up to his side, breathing quietly in his sleep. It had been decided that all usual activities in the house would be suspended until Benny returned. It had actually been quite a nice break for him, allowing him to spend a lot more time with his young lover.
He felt a little guilty about enjoying the week, knowing that it was only possible through the tragedy Benny had endured. He was beginning to worry about not hearing from the boy. Ever since they met almost two and a half years ago, this was the longest they had ever gone without seeing each other. He had decided that if he didn't hear from Benny by Sunday, he would go and see him.
As his phone vibrated, he quickly reached out to the side, trying not to disturb the sleeping teen beside him or rouse the other General sleeping across the room in his own bed. He needn't have bothered being quiet though as he immediately heard both Zane and Alex's phones beeping their message tones. He looked round briefly as the two teens stirred, wondering whether it was coincidence before looking at the message.
[I'M NOT COMING BACK!] The message from Benny read. He must have read it a dozen times, not quite sure he could believe it. He would have continued to stare at it longer if he hadn't been disturbed.
"He's not coming back?" Zane asked quietly from beside him.
"What does he mean? Like, ever?" Alex called out, realising that the others had received the same message.
"Fuck, who did he send this to?" Roger asked. If it had just gone to to the Generals, it may have been containable, but the inclusion of Zane suggested Benny had sent it to everyone. Roger jumped out of bed. "Alex, get dressed!"
"What? Why?" Alex asked, a little confused.
"I think he sent this to everyone. If he did, this could get messy," Roger explained, quickly pulling on some clothes.
The three of them emerged from the bedroom just as Malik stepped out of the door to his room. "Did you guys..." he started.
"Yeah, we got it," Roger interrupted him. "I think everyone did!"
"Everyone?" Malik asked, suddenly looking as worried as Roger.
The second-in-command nodded solemnly before heading for the stairs, quickly followed by Alex, Zane and Malik. By the time they reached the ground floor of atrium, they could hear footsteps and raised voices coming from the cellar stairs.
Quentin, Robert, Charlie and Taro all emerged from the stairway. Robert and Quentin had been part way through a chastity punishment when Benny left the house. With all activities suspended, they had been released, albeit with the vague threat that it could be resumed at any time.
"He's not coming back?" Charlie asked the Generals gathered before him.
"No, he's not," Alex said without thinking.
"Shut up," Roger snarled at the younger General, then turned to face the Boys. "We don't really know anything yet."
"We know he's not coming back!" Robert insisted. "He pretty much already told us!" He waved his phone in the air, the message from Benny visible on it.
"He's just upset," Roger started.
"That's it, he's gone, it's over!" Quentin said flatly.
The rest of the Boys followed up the stairs, the entire residency of the house now gathered in the large open area. What was immediately noticeable was that some of the Boys were either partially or fully dressed, something that even without the usual activities taking place, Roger had ordered not to happen.
"So should we leave?" David asked from the back of the group.
"Well why stay?" Robert asked loudly. "What good's a house of subs without a dom?"
"Hey, we're standing right here?" Malik called back.
"You're not doms, you're just... more senior subs!" Robert argued back.
"Wanna test that theory?" Malik growled back, his usual calm demeanour quickly replaced by one of pure aggression.
"Any time you like, little boy!" Robert snapped. The large, tattooed thirty-six-year-old stepped closer to the twenty-two-year-old General menacingly.
Malik's fists clenched, ready for a fight as everyone backed away.
"Back down, both of you!" Roger said, stepping in between them.
Robert simply pushed the large man away, continuing to advance on Malik. The two lunged at each other, fists flying. Half of the gathered crowd backed away in fear while others dashed forward to separate them. Zane held tightly onto Roger, as much for his own safety as to keep Roger out of it.
The attempts to pull the fight apart resulted in several smaller scuffles between some of the Boys as loud yells and screams echoed around the large atrium.
"EVERYBODY STOP!" Alex yelled. He had taken a couple of steps up the stairs so he could look down and see everyone. His tone, more than his words, was enough to make everyone stop dead in their tracks, disengaging from their various confrontations to look up at him. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" he asked furiously. "WHETHER HE'S HERE OR NOT, THIS IS STILL BENNY'S HOUSE AND THERE ARE RULES!"
The gathered Boys and Generals all looked thoroughly sheepish in response to Alex's yells.
Alex took a deep breath and lowered his voice, realising that he could now easily be heard at normal level. "Okay, the message is a little worrying, but Benny's going through a tough time. He probably doesn't mean what he says but we won't know until we talk to him. The chances are, he'll be back eventually and I think he'd very much like to find the place still standing!" he explained. "So this behaviour is completely unacceptable. No punishments will be given for this on account of how high tensions are running, but any further misbehaviour will be handled VERY firmly!"
A quite murmur spread through the crowd as they took in his words.
"Now," he said, looking at the Boys who had put on clothes, "I believe you are still required to be naked at all times when within the house, so get your clothes off, get back to your Dorms and wait there for further instructions!"
There was a brief moment when it looked like nobody would move, but then the Boys quickly started heading back to the basement door, pulling off clothes as they walked. As Alex looked round, he saw Zane still clinging to Roger's arm.
"All of you!" Alex said firmly, looking at his friend.
Zane looked reluctant to let go and follow the others, but quickly kissed Roger on the cheek before following the others.
Once the Boys were all back downstairs, the three Generals exchanged glances before Alex shook his head. "You two really could have handled that better!"
Roger and Malik both looked ashamed. "Sorry," they both muttered in turn.
"It's okay, but we need to get on top of this," Alex said, stepping down to join them. "Roger, I think you need to go and see Benny. Talk to him, find out what's going on."
"I can't make him come back," Roger said, already knowing how hard Benny's mind could be to change.
Alex nodded. "I know, but you can at least talk to him."
Once Roger left the house, time seemed to slow to a crawl. They were all eager to find out how it had gone, for Roger to come back and give his report, but they knew he could be quite some time.
Despite Roger's decision the previous weekend to suspend all activities, Alex decided to overrule him and put the Boys to work. He split them into two groups, giving Zane, Charlie, Taro and Philip to Malik for the day while keeping Robert, Quentin and David for himself.
Although he had announced that no punishments would be given for the events of that morning, Alex couldn't help wanting to target Robert. It seemed like a good opportunity to test out a new toy he had been putting together. Alex had been quickly gaining a reputation for his creativity with the equipment in the playrooms. The torture he had put Charlie through using the vibrators and shock pads had been the talk of the house while his torment of Josh the previous weekend had many of the Boys totally captivated.
The latest toy, however, was a work of evil genius. He had acquired an old exercise bike, using it as the base for his invention. The saddle had been removed and replaced with a bigger seat made up of a large ring. The pedals had then been hooked up to a large rod topped with a dildo and a fleshlight. The rider would take a seat on bike and be secured in place to ensure he couldn't stand, while the dildo would be positioned against his hole and his cock inside the fleshlight. The pedalling motion would then drive the dildo up and down while the fleshlight slid back and forward, essentially fucking and jerking off the rider simultaneously.
After getting Quentin and David set up with their own tortures, Alex had Robert climb onto the new device. 'I need a name for this thing,' Alex thought to himself as he strapped Robert in place then positioned the lubricated dildo arm and fleshlight. Next his feet were shackled to the pedals and his hands to the handlebars.
Robert seemed unimpressed. "It's no big deal. If it gets too bad, I can just slow down or stop!" he said with a nonchalant shrug.
Alex laughed wickedly. "Oh please, do you think this is my first time?" he asked incredulously. He reached into a box next to him and pulled out several pads which he started sticking all over Robert's body, each of them trailing a thin cable down to a little black box.
"Oh come on," Robert complained, realising what the pads were probably for.
"Still think it's no big deal?" Alex asked teasingly. He stood back and began explaining the device to Robert, speaking loudly enough for the other two occupants of the room to overhear, mainly because he wanted to show off his new toy. "You will start cycling when I give the command and you cycle twenty miles. At the average cycling speed, that should take you somewhere around two hours, but feel free to go faster.... if you can handle it! However, if your speed drops to 5 miles per hour, the pads and saddle will activate and... it'll hurt! The slower you go, the higher the pain. And if you stop completely... well, let's just say you probably don't want to stop completely!"
Alex glanced at the display screen which he had deliberately positioned behind the rider. It would show the current speed as well as the distance cycled, but that knowledge would not get passed on to Robert.
Quentin and David, despite their own ongoing tortures, couldn't help staring across at their fellow sub in anticipation of what was doubtlessly going to be a very tough ride.
"And begin!" Alex called out.
Robert pushed down on a pedal and grunted as dildo pushed inside him and his cock was engulfed by the silicone toy. He began pedalling faster and, in turn, the dildo and fleshlight began moving faster too. As his speed increased and he quickly passed the 5 mph barrier, the little black box beeped, now active.
Alex stood watching his device at work, pleased with how smoothly it was going. Robert seemed to be getting faster and faster, presumably hoping to finish the 20 miles quite quickly. Unfortunately for the restrained Boy, he soon found that going too fast was simply unbearable for his hole which was getting rapidly pounded. The fast moving fleshlight was actually immensely pleasurable, but that simply meant he would cum quickly, at which point the pleasure would turn to pain.
Robert had no trouble staying above the 5 mph barrier, but Alex had not expected that to be a problem for the rider so early. That was likely to come later, after orgasming. The mixture of post-orgasmic limb weakness and the painful torture of the fleshlight against a sensitive cock would inevitably drive down the speed.
As the young General stood watching his diabolical machine at work, his mind began to wander. Inevitably, his thoughts led back to Benny. 'What if he really doesn't come back?' he thought to himself. He found himself quite surprised to feel so saddened by the thought. When he had come to the house originally, he had seen Benny as some annoying kid who had found himself in an amazingly fortunate position entirely by chance. He hadn't respected him. He hadn't even liked him that much, but the boy had shown so much love and support that Alex now found himself struggling to imagine life without him.
While Alex felt he had Victor to thank for most of his progress in dealing with his anger issues, he couldn't help thinking about how helpful Benny had been himself. Not only had he identified the issues, found a therapist and made time for Alex to see him, but the Master had always been there both before and after each session, always keen to offer any support he could. Usually Alex didn't want to talk about his session with Victor, so instead the two teens had just hung out and chatted for a while
Alex was shaken from his fond thoughts of Benny by the sudden grunting of Robert. The moment Alex had been waiting for had arrived, the first victim of his new toy was having his first orgasm on it.
Robert did his best to keep pedalling, but with his muscles spasming through a fairly intense ejaculation and his cock growing increasingly sensitive to the still-moving fleshlight, he began to slow. The little black box beside the bike suddenly started beeping. Alex had chosen a pattern for the shocks that the device would inflict. Rather than just shooting the man's entire body with a sudden burst of pain all over, it worked its way up as a wave, shocking his feet first, then calves, thighs, buttocks hips, abs, chest, back, shoulders and then working its way down his arms to his hands. The entire wave only took a couple of seconds and then worked back down in reverse order.
"FUCK!" Robert screamed out in shock. Still shuddering and feeling ripples of delight from his orgasm, he suddenly found himself disoriented by the wave of pain. The way it moved up and down felt truly bizarre, like he was being squashed from one end of his own body to the other. He would later go on to describe it as feeling like laying on the floor and having something heavy rolling up and down his body.
"And that's only the lowest setting! Slow down much more and it'll get much worse!" Alex taunted.
"SHIT!" Robert screamed out again as the wave worked its way up and down. He desperately willed his feet to keep moving, only just pedalling fast enough to keep the pain at the lowest setting. He had to endure it for almost five minutes before he could find the strength to pedal any faster. Immediately, his cock felt like it was on fire as the fleshlight sped up. His hole was once again receiving a fairly good pounding too, his prostate, still sensitive from orgasm number one, sent shots of pleasured pain through his insides every time the dildo slid past it.
"Oh god, oh fuck, oh please.... please.... let me stop," the man begged, even sooner than Alex had anticipated.
The wicked General looked at his watch, then back to Robert and said, "I'm sorry, you've only been fifteen minutes. You've still got another hour and three quarters to go!"
Robert looked ready to quit, but refused staunchly to give Alex the satisfaction of victory despite his obvious growing discomfort. He managed to keep his legs moving, maintaining just enough speed to avoid getting shocked again, whilst not over-stimulating his sensitive parts.
Alex turned his attention to his other two Boys for a few minutes, ensuring they were both suffering, but not harmfully so.
Quentin was currently being subjected to the milking machine, the speed set tantalisingly low to build him towards an eventual, powerful orgasm. He actually seemed to be finding it quite relaxing as he lay there, strapped to the table, letting the device do its work. He knew Alex was likely to make it substantially less pleasant eventually, but for now he was just enjoying himself. Every now and then, he would glance across as Robert on the newest creation from the twisted General, dreading the day he ended up on it.
Across the room, David was strapped over a bench, his ankles and wrists tied to the feet of it, his rear raised in the air. He was being subjected to the fucking machine, a large dildo sliding in and out of his hole. A heavy, vibrating cock rind had also been attached around the base of his genitals. It buzzed away quietly as the thirty-four-year-old moaned with torturous pleasure. The fucking machine had been deliberately angled to thrust against the young man's prostate. That, along with the gentle buzz of the ring was keeping him painfully close to an orgasm he suspected Alex may never allow him to achieve. He too twisted his head round to observe Robert occasionally, although a small part of him secretly wanted to try the new toy out.
Robert's endurance was impressive. He had managed to keep going another half hour before he was finally pushed over the edge of another toe-curling orgasm. He screamed out with pained delight as he filled the fleshlight with another load, noticing immediately how his own cum only acted as further lubricant on his already sensitive dick.
His legs almost froze entirely. It was only through sheer force of will that he managed to keep them going at all, but it was barely more than a crawl, meaning he found himself subjected to a higher level of pain from earlier. Once again it had been sent to work in waves up and down the victim's body.
"FUCK, FUCK, NO, STOP IT, FUCK, PLEASE, NO MORE!" Robert screamed out. He had finally reached his limit, the mixture of shocks and sensitivity too much to take. He shook violently from side to side.
Alex immediately figured out that the man was attempting to tip the bike, presumably to force Alex to stop the torture. He reached out and grabbed it just in time, gripping the handlebars from the front of the device and staring the pained man in the face. He made a mental note to get the device bolted to the floor before he used it again but for now simply stared at his victim.
The young General's cock had already been hard. It usually was when he was inflicting punishment on the Boys, but seeing the normally unshakeable man pushed to his limit had it throbbing wildly. "No way, still more than an hour to go!" Alex said with a wicked grin.
"PARROT!" Robert called out the house safe word.
Alex found himself hesitating. He heard his cousin's voice in his head. 'Come on, show me the real Alex,' he had taunted. He found himself thinking back to his early teens, when he had subjected Zack to various teasing and torture. They had their own safe word in place, but sometimes he would choose to ignore it. No matter how much Zack screamed, Alex would just keep going until he was satisfied. Zack hated it at the time, but once it was over, the younger boy virtually worshipped him for it, revelling in his savage brutality.
"PARROT!" Robert called out again in terrified pain.
Alex was shaken from his thoughts, immediately moving to the little black box and flicking the power switch off.
Robert whimpered as the pain ended and he finally allowed his legs to stop moving. He was breathing heavily, his eyes closed tightly while his head dropped in front of him.
Alex paused again for a moment, questioning why he had hesitated in releasing Robert, both cursing his own thoughts and desperately willing the hardest erection of his life to subside. Without a word, he released Robert from the restraints and pulled the various pads off of him. The man remained sitting there for several minutes before finding the strength to stand.
Meanwhile, Alex went about releasing his other two captives. Neither of them had managed to cum yet, but he was barely paying any attention to that, he just wanted to be alone. Once all three were free, he ushered them out of the room before making his way upstairs to the Generals' Lounge where he flopped onto a sofa and curled up.
Robert approached the house nervously. Back before Benny had moved out, Roger had escorted the boy back to his parents' house several times but had never gone inside. As he reached the door, he paused for a moment to compose himself and then knocked.
The door opened and Benny's mother appeared. "Hello?" she enquired, looking slightly intimidated at the sight of the large man.
"Mrs Harrison? I'm a friend of Benny's. Is he here?" Roger asked politely.
Mrs Harrison nodded. "He is, but I doubt he'll come and see you. He doesn't seem to want to leave his room today," she explained. Roger almost took that as a refusal, but then the woman stepped aside and added, "Feel free to go up. It might do him good to speak to someone."
Roger stepped inside cautiously, smiling politely as he passed his Master's mother. As he placed his foot on the bottom stair, he stopped and looked back as Mrs Harrison shut the door. "I'm... really sorry for your loss."
Mrs Harrison smiled back and just said a quiet, "Thank you," before heading back into the lounge.
Roger made his way up the stairs and quickly realised that he had no idea which room was Benny's. Thankfully, most of the doors were wide open allowing him to see that they were not the right ones. One was slightly ajar and revealed the beginnings of the tiled floor for the bathroom. That left just one, closed, door. Roger quietly knocked on it and waited.
"I told you, I'm staying in here today," Benny's voice called moodily through the door.
"Benny... it's me!" Roger called back nervously.
There was a sudden sound of rapid movement in the room then the door swung open. Benny scowled at the man standing in front of him. He was still angry at the house and everyone in it, so to suddenly be confronted with the person he most associated with it did nothing to improve his mood. The anger, while remaining, gradually found itself being replaced with something else as he stared into Roger's eyes.
Benny welled up, sniffed a couple of times, then burst into tears. Roger leaned down, wrapped his arms around the boy, then stood back up straight, lifting the boy off the floor. Benny's arms and legs wrapped around the large man as he sobbed onto his shoulder. They remained like that for a few minutes before Roger stepped into Benny's room and kicked the door shut behind him.
He sat down on the bed, leaving Benny now essentially sat on his lap, his legs still curled around the man's waist as he held on tightly. It was getting on for half an hour before Benny had finally stopped crying and composed himself enough to loosen his grip.
"Benny, I'm so sorry," Roger whispered in the boy's ear, a hand raising up to gently stroke through his soft, blonde hair.
Benny just sniffed and sat back, nodding gently at the man. They remained in silence again for a further couple of minutes before Benny climbed off. He considered sitting at Roger's side, but instead opted to pull his desk chair across the room and sit facing him.
"How are you doing?" Roger asked, knowing it was really a stupid question.
Benny's sadness had melted away with the tears and his contempt for Roger and the house was rapidly returning. "Fine," he said coldly.
Roger frowned. The boy's tone and expression made it painfully clear that he was far from it. "You... said you're not coming back!"
Benny folded his arms as he sat back in the chair. "Yeah, I know!" he replied bluntly.
"You... don't mean it, do you?" Roger asked warily.
Benny shrugged. "Why would I wanna come back?"
Roger knew he had to tread carefully. He had never seen Benny like this before. He had seen the boy angry, happy, scared, depressed, but this was something else. Something about the way he stared back actually made Roger believe he truly didn't want to come back. "It's your home!" he said, unsure what else to say.
"No. THIS is my home!" Benny said back firmly.
Roger sighed.
"The place you're talking about, that's the place that kept me away from my real home. It's the place that made me lose my Dad!" Benny said, his voice beginning to raise slightly.
"You don't... really think that, do you?" Roger asked, shocked at the allegation.
Benny nodded. "Of course I do. It's undeniable. It's because of that place that I didn't get to see my parents and it's because of that place that my Mum had to... watch him die, without me to support her! IT'S THAT PLACE THAT MADE ME MIIS MY DAD'S FINAL MOMENTS!" By the end , he was outright yelling, his fists clenched as stood from the chair.
Roger waited a few moments for the boy to calm back down a little. He knew it was probably easier to just leave. Benny was clearly still very upset, but he couldn't bring himself to just walk out.
"Benny, I'm... I'm really sorry for what I'm about to say. I mean... I love you. Seriously, I love you so much, so I hope you know that I'm not saying this to hurt you, but it's not the house's fault... it's yours!"
"WHAT?!" Benny snarled furiously. He lunged at Roger, but the larger man grabbed his raised hands by the wrists and easily held him back.
"You could have come to see them at any time, there was nothing stopping you, but you chose not to. You kept putting it off and putting it off and putting it off until it was too late. Blame the house as much as you like, but that was your call," Roger said back, struggling against the boy.
Benny looked angrier than Roger had ever seen him, but there was a pain behind his eyes along with a slow realisation that the older man was probably right.
Benny finally stopped struggling, Roger releasing his wrists as the boy dropped them to his sides. He flopped back down onto the chair, shaking his head as he stared down at the ground. "I should have been here!" he muttered quietly.
"Maybe," Roger said with a casual shrug. "Maybe if you were, your Dad would still be alive."
Benny stared at his friend, horrified.
Roger continued. "But maybe if you'd been here, your Mum might have been in the car too and died. Or maybe you would have, too. Or maybe you'd all be okay. Who knows? That's the point! You can't beat yourself up over eternal 'what ifs', otherwise you'll literally go insane. I get that you feel bad, I can't pretend to know exactly how you feel, but you can't let it take over your life."
"It feels like it already has," Benny replied weakly.
Roger nodded. "Yeah, it probably does, but... don't let what you've lost ruin what you've still got. It's pretty clear that right now your feelings about the house are... confused, but I know you love that place and I know every guy there loves you too. I'm no saying come back with me today because it's pretty obvious you're not ready for that, just.... don't make any decisions just yet that you might regret in the long run, okay? Promise me you'll think about."
Benny attempted a weak smile and nodded, "I promise... I'll think about it."
"Good boy," Roger said cheekily, mocking Benny's favourite words of praise he gave to obedient subs.
Benny actually giggled slightly.
"And in the meantime, we'll keep things running for you!" Roger promised.
"Thank you," Benny said quietly, blushing a little.
Roger stood up and looked down at the boy. "So... should I go and leave you in peace?"
Benny shook his head. "No. Could you... stay with me a while?"
"Of course... Sir!" Roger replied sweetly.
The mood in the house had continued to be quite low. The attempts to keep the Boys entertained had worked for a while, but once it all stopped, everyone's minds went straight back onto their absent Master. Everyone was gathered in the Main Lounge, except for Alex who was still continuing his solitude upstairs in the Generals' Lounge.
A couple of them were staring blankly at the TV, a couple were chatting quietly on one of the sofas while Zane had pulled a chair up to the window and was staring out at the gravel driveway, waiting for his lover to reappear. He had his arms crossed on the window sill, his chin resting on them as he stared out.
When Roger's car finally appeared, Zane jumped up and called out, "He's back!"
There was a sudden flurry of movement. The TV was switched off and everyone gathered around the sofas, staring at the door in anticipation of Roger's entry. The only conversation going on was the quiet arguments some of them were having over whether Roger would be alone, or accompanied by the missing Master.
Roger finally walked in and paused as he saw every eye fixed on him. He knew they would all be anxious for his return, but it still managed to catch him a little by surprise. "Hey... everyone," he said cautiously.
The senior General suddenly found himself assaulted with a barrage of questions. It took a little while to calm everyone down, but once he did, he quietly explained to them all what was going on, as best he could.
"So he... will be back?" Robert asked with a confused frown.
Roger shrugged slightly as he nodded. "Yeah, at least... I'm pretty sure he will."
"Doesn't sound like it'll be any time soon though," David said sadly.
Roger looked round at the group and saw Zane sitting quietly, playing with his collar. He had noticed that his lover always seemed to play with it when he was thinking about Benny, something that had happened a lot over the last week. He shot the teen a quick wink and a smile, getting a shy grin in response.
"So what do we do in the meantime?" Quentin asked thoughtfully, looking round the group. "I mean, do we carry on like we did when he was here, or do we just keep things on hold?"
There was a sudden burst of chatter from the group as everyone noisily voiced their opinions to whoever was closest to them. Roger let them continue for a while, then gestured once again for quiet.
"Personally, I think that we should try and keep things running as normally as possible. That way, when Benny comes back, he can just jump straight back in without having to get us all used to the old routines again," Taro said firmly. The young man rarely spoke in group environments, mostly preferring to converse with people one-on-one, so hearing him now address the whole group had a fairly substantial impact.
There were nods of agreement, everyone seeming to think it was the best approach.
"So does that mean... you're in charge?" Charlie asked, looking to Roger.
Silence fell as every eye once again turned to the most senior General. He had considered the possibility of this conversation. He had even discussed it with Benny, albeit very briefly. He shook his head. "No," he said bluntly, much to everyone's surprise. "I think the house works best when I'm second-in-command. We kinda figured that out when Benny made me leave."
There were murmurs of agreement from the gathering.
"So that would mean..." Charlie said, turning to face the other General in the room, Malik.
"Whoa, no way, don't look at me," Malik immediately said defensively as others also started turning to look at him. "I love domming you guys, but I'm not the man in charge. I don't want that kind of responsibility."
"Then... Alex?" Charlie said cautiously, the final General seeming to be the only remaining option.
Charlie's question spurred much louder conversation. There were clearly a lot of arguments against him, everyone suddenly thinking only of Alex's early days in the house rather than the much calmer, more well-rounded young man he had become since. The voices grew louder and louder, the argument taking the group back and forth on the possibility of putting Alex in charge.
"That's enough!" Roger finally called out. He knew it was best to let them have these discussions and air their concerns sooner rather than later, but it had gone on long enough. The large twenty-year-old General had his own thoughts on the matter, but he also had someone else's opinion to convey. "Benny thinks he can do it!"
The comment stunned the group into silence.
"But he also doesn't want to make anyone here do anything they're not comfortable with. That's why we're going to do this by a vote. It has to be unanimous. So, who wants to give Alex a chance?" Roger asked.
A couple of the Boys, along with Malik, immediately raised their hands. Gradually the rest began raising their hands. Eventually, the only hand not raised was Zane's. He knew Alex better than anyone and to say he was cautious was an understatement. With everyone staring at him, hands raised, he eventually sighed and raised his hand.
"Okay, it's unanimous," Roger said. He could sense Zane's concerns as they mostly mirrored his own, but it had been decided.
"What's unanimous?" Alex asked, appearing at the doorway, finally venturing out from his solitude.
"Putting you in charge!" Charlie called out. "Looks like we're all yours, boss!"
Alex looked horrified at the comment. For a brief moment he had thought Charlie was joking, but the expressions of everyone looking at him soon told him otherwise. He raised his hands as he shook his head, "No, that's... no, you can't do that. I'm... I can't," he objected nervously.
"Benny thinks you can," Roger called out, staring Alex in the eye from across the room.
Alex took a deep breath. "He... does?"
Roger nodded. "He's proud of you, with the progress you've made," he explained.
"We all are," Quentin called out, smiling. "You're not the same guy as you were when you get here!"
"Yeah, he was a dick!" David called out playfully, getting a laugh from everyone, even Alex.
"You can do this!" Zane said firmly. He too was unaccustomed to speaking out in a group setting, so his words seemed even more poignant. He smiled at his best friend, getting a grin back.
Alex felt a little overwhelmed. "I don't know what to say... I... I guess I'm in charge then!"
The crowd burst into loud applause and cheers in celebration of Alex's acceptance.