Page 22 of Caged
He eased up from his computer chair and made his way to the kitchen. Danny had been asleep or at least quiet in his room for nearly three hours. He'd wanted to check on him, but feared waking him. He needed the sleep. It was going to take time getting used to having someone here with him, and he needed to get over the protective feeling of needing to take care of Danny. He really wanted him to feel as if he was free to do what he wanted without someone watching over him all of the time.
Pulling out what he would need to make spaghetti for dinner, he mentally made a list of groceries they would need when they finally hit the store. He had no idea what Danny liked, but did Danny even know what he liked. From the sounds of it, he hadn't eaten well over the years. God, how had he survived for so long like that? The guy had amazing strength.
He almost had dinner done when Danny walked into the kitchen looking sleepy.
"Hey, did you nap?"
"I slept really good. I didn't think I could, but I hit the pillow and was out. That bed is so comfortable."
"Good, I'm glad. I had no clue what I was buying when I got it, so I'm glad it works. Want a drink?"
"Water is good." Danny took a seat at the counter. "That smells good."
"My famous Spaghetti." Marshall handed him a bottle of water. "You can let me know if it's famously good or bad once you try it."
"I'm still full from lunch." Danny pat his belly.
"Got to love that fast food." Marshall laughed. "This will hold for later if you're not hungry now." He slid a notebook and paper toward Danny. "I thought you might want to make a list of things you need or want to buy later tonight. I'm not sure what you like."
"I don't know. Most things I think I like are because of memories of them when I was little. There was a cereal with a frog on the box. I loved those."
"I think that's Sugar Smacks. I think it's still around. We'll walk the aisles and see what we can find. Is there anything you don't like?"
Danny didn't even hesitate. "Oatmeal."
"Then we don't get that." He dumped the pasta into the water to boil. "Your stomach will probably take time to adapt to different foods, but we'll figure out what you like and don't. Think about clothes too. While I did get you sweats, you could use some jeans or slacks for when we have to go meet with the police."
"I don't need much." Danny played with the cap of his water bottle. "I'd like to maybe get a job so I can buy my own things."
"In time, I think that's a great idea, but take it slow. Get used to being free for a while. Don't rush into trying to make up for twelve years. You have time. I'm in no hurry for you to work. You're welcome here as long as you want." Marshall opened his own bottle of water and took a long drink.
"When I do look for a job, how do I know what I'm good at?"
"You first figure out what you enjoy doing. I love computers so it made sense for me to work with them. My friend Rani is a doctor. You might like cooking, construction, computers, automotive repair, hell, you can go to school and do anything you want. You're only nineteen. You'd just be starting college if you hadn't been kidnapped. You're not that far behind. Figure out what you like, then go from there." Marshall smiled. "The great thing about the internet is you can do a lot of learning on there. They offer all kinds of classes. We'll look around and see what interests you."
"What else did I miss besides school? What do boys do from seven to nineteen that I didn't get to do?"
Marshall's heart tightened at the fact the question even had to be asked. "Well, at seven I was playing baseball and soccer with friends. Trying out stupid things like flying off a roof. Mostly, at that age I was riding my bike with friends, feeling as if we had the best life ever. Then about twelve things started to change. I was more focused on video games, hanging out in the park by my house with friends, and slowly I started to think about sex. By fourteen all I was thinking about was sex and I was masturbating several times a day."
"When did you start dating girls?" Danny asked.
Marshall grinned. "I've never dated girls. I knew pretty young that I like the guys more. I did go out with Jenny Vega once to an eighth-grade school dance, but we just danced and talked really. I kissed her once but that just confirmed that I like kissing boys much better than I liked kissing girls. At that point, I'd already done some stuff with Jeff Spencer one day while we were hanging out in his bedroom."
"Really? You were that young?" Danny's eyes were wide.
"At fourteen, I was just learning to like sexual stuff. Jeff and I talked about how good it felt to beat off, but we wondered if it felt better if someone else did it for you, so we tried. I jacked him off while he did me. We even kissed a little then."
"Well, did it?"
"Did it what?"
"Feel better when someone else did it?"
"Oh yeah." Marshall nodded. "Much better."
"I never did any of those things. I seldom got hard back then, and when I did, it scared me. I couldn't control it and I was always afraid Larry would see it. He used to make me get him hard and I hated doing that. I think I hated it when I'd get hard because it made me feel like him."
Marshall shook his head. "You are nothing like him. You never could be. Getting hard is natural, and it should be pleasurable. I don't blame you for seeing it as a bad thing back then, but I hope you don't feel that way now. Someday, you might want a relationship with someone special."
