A twink in the background chuckles. He’s sitting on top of a pink table, posing like a lady might pose on top of a piano, crooning out hits of yesteryear. I wish there was music right now. I’m already holding Aussie in my arms, it would only take the sway of a hip, and we’d be dancing.
I’d love to take my boy out dancing sometime. Show him a real good time. Buy him a nice steak dinner. Court my stepson. I don’t think he got his fair share of romance when he was with Tatum. They were barely grown and out there on their own in the little apartment I could barely bring myself to visit. Tatum may have had him, but he’s always been mine. He’ll always be mine. And I can give him something Tatum never could. I can treat my gentle boy like a gentleman.
“You’ve got the prettiest fuckin’ voice I’ve ever heard.”
He blinks back his tears, but there are still streams and rivers flowing down his cheeks. He sniffles as he kisses my cheek. “You’re completely blinded by love, and I love you for it.”
“See?” Sukki says. “I’m the twink whisperer.” She holds her hand to her chest and turns to face the inmates. “I’m an emotional healer. It’s what I do.”
The twink says, “Unless someone’s talking during your drag performance, in which case you crack their skulls wide open with a microphone.”
“Allegedly.”
He shakes his head. “Provenly. You were convicted by a group of your peers.”
“A sham of a trial, drenched in homophobia, right from the start,” she says in a sing-song, her painted-on smile never cracking.
“I was on the jury. You were guilty as sin, and we all knew it.”
“Oh, trust me,” she says, her voice taking this tone that sends a shiver down my spine. “I haven’t forgotten.” Her attention turns back to Aussie, and gone is the threatening tone accenting each word. “Darling, I thought you were doing a lovely job up there.”
Aussie sniffles. “Please don’t patronize me, Miss Sukki Cox. I know you mean well, but it doesn’t mean a whole lot when all of them are staring at us like we’re godawful.”
I kiss his cheek. His forehead. Wherever I can, that’s where my lips land, because I have to get that hurt out of him. I’ve got to light up the darkness swelling in his heart before it can spread.
Sukki sighs, but it isn’t an unkind one. “Alright, I’ll be real with you. Were your vocal stylings lacking? Yes. Was it lowkey iconic? One-hundred percent. We’re gay, Austin. We live for a tragic pop band. The less talent, the better. I’m telling you; you sparkled with the worst of them. Each of you.” She turns and eyes Deirdre up and down. “Particularly you,my potential new bestie.”
Deirdre does a hair flip. “Every kingdom needs a queen.”
Aussie dries his eyes and places his hand on his heart, nodding. “God save the queen.”
Sukki Cox chuckles. “The thing is, we’re all a bit starstruck. We didn’t know you would be here today, Austin. Not until your banner arrived and Papa Warden put it up.”
Aussie blinks at her. “What do you mean?”
She stands and motions for us to follow her behind a large pink pillar at the edge of the room. It’s about half the width of the common room, and there’s a long curtain providing privacy. Is she taking us to the can? Austin’s already had one public restroom horror story today, and I’ll be damned if I greenlight the sequel.
When she pulls the curtain back, I almost drop Aussie. There are fifty-or-so chairs all facing a projector. Photos of Austin line the wall. Images I know by heart, ever since subscribing to his OnlyFans. Screengrabs of the man I love stroking himself while he talks to an oblivious me on the phone. There’s even a picture of me they took from my self-suck video. In it, I’ve got my cock a few inches from my mouth, and my tongue is sticking out, licking a bead of pre-cum. Fuck me, Friday, I’ve never felt so sexy in my life. The look in my eyes is one of pure bliss. And the way my tongue touched the pre-cum softly like I’m scared I’ll scare it away... Fuck.
“Papa Warden saw how sexually frustrated we’ve been, with sex being strictly forbidden here, so he came up with a brilliant plan. He let us vote on one OnlyFans account we could follow.” She takes a step back and does a slow twirl, dramatically presenting us with the makeshift theater. “This is the Room of Release, and you’ve been the source of that release for the last six months.”
“Is that like the Room of Requirement?” Jamie asks.
“Fuck J.K. Rowling,” the inmates shout, as does Austin.
Sukki smiles at us. “Yes. Fuck her every single day, in every possible way, but she’s not our focus now, boys.” She licks her lips. “We’ve busted so many loads to your pretty face, Austin.”
Austin’s cock swells against my side, and I can’t lie, I’m right there with him, the fabric of my jeans getting a little too tight for comfort.
“Wait. Are you The Dream Queens?” Aussie whispers, looking both shocked and aroused.
She nods. “I’m really sorry we couldn’t subscribe individually. You deserve all the subscriptions, sweet boy, but our assets are frozen. Papa Warden pays for it out of his own pocket.” She leans in and presses a kiss to the top of Aussie’s forehead. “You’ve been through so much, and you’ve given so much to us. Joy. Arousal. Orgasms aplenty. You’ve made our stay in Pretty Boy Prison a little bit better.”
A small crowd has formed behind us, with twenty-or-so men filling the space. The thirty-something guy from earlier approaches, looking nervous.
“It’s so good to finally meet you both.” He points at a canvas on an easel which holds a calendar they’ve designed—bathed in glue and glitter, by the looks of it—and smiles with pride. Each day has been ticked off with a magenta marker, and on today’s date, there’s a big pink heart drawn around a picture of Austin’s face that’s been taped on top. “We’ve been counting down the days for twelve days straight.” He grabs Aussie’s hand, and I have to resist the urge to rip his arm out of its socket. “You can stay forever. We don’t mind.”
Austin’s jaw falls open.