Love, Centre Ring

Part 4


Troy groaned. “You have got to be kidding,” he muttered, looking at the roster hardly able to believe what he was seeing. He tipped his head back, closing his eyes for a moment and thought, Why me? There was no answer, so taking a deep breath, he turned and with heavy steps headed toward his allotted job.

“Troy!” Reagan called out. “Good to see you. How are you feeling today?”

“Fine,” Troy tried to muster up a smile.

“Since you said you were okay with coming back, I asked the Master to appoint you here on a regular basis. No point in having any of the others who don’t want to do the work come when I have someone finally willing.”

“Yeah, guess so,” Troy said. It was his own fault. He hadn’t truly been paying attention at that time but he could hardly tell Reagan that and beg off.

“Aaron just began Jubal’s bath; why don’t you go give him a hand?”

“Right.”

Troy left the tent and headed to the back of their allotment. He saw Aaron walking Jubal over to a shady area, hobbling the mammoth beast under the trees. Troy’s steps slowed as he saw Aaron’s warm smile. Such an expression made him look so different, so animated. He watched as Aaron rested a hand on Jubal’s trunk, the way the beast wrapped that trunk around Aaron’s waist, simply encircling him gently. The picture they both presented was beautiful – a picture of serenity and peace. They were in a world of their own, just the two of them. Troy thought Aaron looked truly beautiful at that moment.

He caught himself at that thought and blinked a couple of times in shock. Did he truly just think of a guy as beautiful? What the hell was the matter with him! The image of Aaron at work yesterday rose in his mind again and immediately he felt a corresponding hardness grow in his groin.

You’ve got to be kidding, he thought in shock. He looked at Aaron, watching him tie back his long hair and felt his heartbeat begin to increase. He dropped to a squat, resting elbows on knees, head in hands. This was so insane, it was beyond insanity. Had he truly fallen for a guy?! He’d been happily screwing a girl just a few days ago!

He flicked a quick glance to where Aaron was brushing Jubal down with a long-handled stiff brush. The beast leant into the pressure, a dreamy expression on his face, large body swaying with pleasure. Aaron laughed, head thrown back, joy radiating from his features. Troy felt his heart leap at the sight and he immediately thought of how he wanted to reach out and touch that happy face, how he wanted to see that expression turned his way.

He hid his face again in his hands with a groan. This was bad. This was really bad. It wasn’t that he had anything against gays; there were always some amongst the performers, both male and female. Most performers had a very broad acceptance of such things – after all, how could you discriminate against gays by saying it’s unnatural when you have a girl who can twist herself so much she looks like a pretzel or a guy who thinks swallowing swords for breakfast was a good time? Normal didn’t really apply in the circus vocabulary. Troy had no prejudices on that front; he just never considered that he might find himself faced with such a thing!

He looked up again to see Aaron beginning to wash Jubal – large hose spraying out a steady stream of water, drenching the elephant, turning pale dusty grey skin to a dark gleaming cobalt sheen. Jubal was obviously enjoying it, reaching out with his trunk to grab at the spray of water and directing it back onto Aaron. Soon Aaron’s wet white tee shirt was plastered tightly against his body, gripping the contours, jutting nipples easily seen through the thin material.

Troy felt his erection spring to life again and he hid his face once more. This is ridiculous, he thought. Stop it. The guy doesn’t even like people so he’s not going to even look at you! He glared between his fingers down at his crotch. Just go away. This is a lost cause. You are being a complete idiot.

“Are you an idiot or something?” a voice suddenly said, echoing his thoughts and startling him so much he let out a yelp and toppled backwards onto his rear. He looked up to see a soaking wet Aaron gazing down at him, his face once more completely expressionless as it usually was.

Aaron raised one eyebrow. “For an acrobat you’re pretty clumsy,” he commented.

Troy ran a hand through his hair and tried to smile. “Well, I’m not performing at the moment,” he said. “Think of this as my downtime.”

“Huh,” was all Aaron said, turning away. “Well, I suppose you’re here to help so try to do something useful.”

Troy stood and dusted himself down. “Why don’t I give you a hand washing that big pet of yours?”

Aaron looked over his shoulder and Troy caught a brief look of surprise before it was masked swiftly. “Jubal doesn’t like people much, as I’m sure you know. Still, if you think you can handle it by all means,” Aaron replied although he didn’t sound like he believed Troy truly meant it.

“I don’t mind. It’s not like he’s ever actually hurt anyone,” Troy said following, refusing to be put off.

It was true enough what he’d said. People didn’t stay away from Aaron and Jubal because of fear; the animal had never hurt anyone but they got tired of dodging missiles launched in their direction, as well as the bumping and pushing, clear evidence the elephant didn’t want them near. Aaron’s standoffish behavior made people respond in much the same way, so the two had remained isolated from the rest of the circus ‘family’.

Troy guessed he couldn’t really blame either of them. Both of them had come to the circus with plenty of emotional baggage and issues. With Reagan’s care and attention, Aaron had at least lost the starved appearance of his childhood and put flesh and muscle on from good food and hard work. However, his inability to associate with anyone other than Reagan and the Master didn’t diminish until the arrival of the elephant, Jubal.

Jubal had been as much of a disruption to their ‘family’ as the arrival of Aaron. The Master had bought the young elephant, with visible signs of mistreatment, from another circus. The beast had been close to turning rogue, completely unmanageable and a danger to himself and others around him. He caused quite a scene upon his arrival, not to mention some damage as well, which forced him to be securely chained at that time for fear he would rampage, much to Reagan and the Master’s distress.

There had not been any initial discussion about Aaron becoming Jubal’s trainer. That had developed as circumstances arose. Aaron had always refused to sleep in a trailer, having an obvious dislike of enclosed places, instead preferring to huddle outside in the tents and enclosures. Back then, one of his many sleeping places happened to be close to where Jubal had been secured upon his arrival. When Reagan first realized where his young charge was sleeping, he had been so concerned he’d gone out to bring Aaron to a safer place. However, when he had found Aaron, he noted that although Jubal reacted to his presence with fear and anger, the beast seemed completely unconcerned by Aaron’s slumbering form.

That was the beginning of their relationship. A bond was forged between the stray child and wounded beast, each mistrusting others, but learning to trust each other. It was Aaron’s devotion to Jubal that helped the animal become manageable and able to tolerate the presence of others, eventually being able to perform calmly in the ring before an audience.

However, although Jubal now accepted other people’s presence, he also clearly made it known that Aaron was the only human he respected. The beast became expert at shooting projectiles with his trunk, aimed unerringly at the back or knees. It was never anything truly harmful, generally something unpleasant like overripe bananas squeezed from their skins or such. Streams of dirty water sprayed or a scattering of dung-coated straw were two of his other favorite tools. Jubal’s other way of keeping Aaron to himself was simply to insert his own presence between Aaron and whoever else was there. Having his huge mass sidle between the conversationalists, forcing one party to step away to avoid potentially being crushed immediately refocused Aaron’s attention on Jubal.

Of course, it wasn’t all Jubal’s fault. Aaron was just as liable to signal Jubal to bodily pick him up and place him on his back, effectively ceasing any further conversation. By remaining almost constantly by Jubal ensured Aaron limited any unnecessary contact with other people also. The two really did make a matching pair of misfits.

Troy picked up a second long brush and reached out as Aaron returned to spraying Jubal’s broad back. He scrubbed hard, knowing he would not do the beast any harm. After thoroughly wetting Jubal down again, Aaron too picked up a brush, this time a smaller one and concentrated on the lower, more delicate regions.

“You’re going to get pretty dirty doing this,” Aaron said, not looking up from where he scrubbed Jubal’s knee.

“Not a problem,” Troy grunted, arms straining. His feet squelched in the mud forming around their feet. He wished now he had removed his shoes first. He continued his scrubbing. “Do you do this every day?” he asked.

“Not every day,” Aaron said as he crouched under Jubal’s belly, reaching up to scrub at it. The beast let out a happy whoosh of air, which sounded distinctly like a sigh of pleasure, and when Troy took a quick look he could see Jubal’s eyes closed and trunk swaying.

“Looks like he enjoys that,” Troy commented, moving his efforts towards the tail end of the elephant.

The smile on Aaron’s face was warm. “He always does,” he chuckled reaching up to slap at the belly. “He’s just a big baby really.”

“You know,” Troy said, scrubbing hard. “You should smile more often. People wouldn’t think you were so scary then.”

“I don’t care what people think,” was Aaron’s sharp response.

“No?” Troy paused and looked down to where Aaron still crouched, though all he could see now was his back. “Don’t you want to make friends? You might like them if you bothered to get to know them.”

“What’s the point?” Aaron said, crawling away and standing on the other side of Jubal out of Troy’s sight. “Everyone leaves anyway.”

Troy paused, thinking about what Aaron had said. Could it be that perhaps Aaron might want to have friends but his deep distrust and a fear of abandonment prevented him from daring to open up? Could that be the cause of his aloof behavior?

A shower of spray rained down from overhead. “Hey!” he called out, looking up. “Watch it.” He peered around Jubal’s rear.

“Told you it wouldn’t be a clean job,” Aaron said calmly, holding the hose and continuing to rinse the elephant down.

Troy rolled his eyes and returned to scrubbing and they passed the rest of the time in silence.

“There! That’s done it!” Troy said with relief. That was a lot of animal to scrub. It was a pity they didn’t have a big lake they could just send Jubal in for a dunk and save all the elbow grease.

He turned to Aaron with a grin. “Who said it was dirty work, huh?” He held his arms up. “I came out okay. Just a little damp around the edges.”

“You probably weren’t working hard enough then,” was Aaron’s answer.

“Hey! I was working as hard as you and you know it,” Troy retorted, gathering up the brushes as Aaron wound up the hose. “Just admit that I did a good job.”

Aaron stood up, pushed his wet hair back and a reluctant smile curled his lips for a moment. Troy felt his heart skip again at the sight. That might have been the first he’d ever seen from Aaron not directed at Jubal. It was a fragile and delicate expression and made him want to see it all the more.

He took a step forward when something pushed him hard in the middle of his back. The unexpectedness of it made him lose balance immediately and with his arms burdened by brooms and feet mired in the churned mud, he was unable to do anything except let out an undignified squawk before falling face first into the sodden ground.

Troy raised his head, spitting against the grittiness coating his face, reaching up and trying to clear the muck from his eyes as he heard squelching of footsteps.

“Are you okay?” Aaron asked, squatting down before him.

“Yeah, just great,” Troy said, turning to glare at Jubal. The elephant looked back at him nonchalantly, the offending trunk swinging slowly from side to side.

Aaron reached out a hand that Troy grasped firmly. “Told you you’d get dirty.”

Troy raised a brow and then with a twist of his wrist pulled Aaron off-balance so he too toppled into the muck.

“Why...!” Aaron spluttered, lifting his head to glare at Troy, who calmly picked up a handful of mud and slapped it casually down on the top of Aaron’s head, rubbing it into the long hair.

“You’re completely right,” Troy said calmly. “It is a dirty job. For everyone.”

“Why you...” Aaron grabbed a handful of mud and slung it back at Troy who dodged, only to be hit by a second projectile. He returned in kind and soon the two were wrestling in earnest, though Troy could feel the rumble of subdued laughter in Aaron’s chest.

Troy was suddenly aware of the way Aaron’s lean muddy body rubbed against his, slick bare arms sliding around him, hot breath brushing his neck and face, knees occasionally pressing into groin as legs entwined, firm buttocks forced back against his stomach. The wash of emotions flooding through him literally stopped his breath and he faltered, losing momentum in the struggle as his thoughts wandered.

Aaron could have dealt the ‘coup de grace’ then, but he was abruptly lifted bodily from Troy’s grip, Jubal’s trunk wrapped tightly around his waist. Troy watched in amusement as the elephant gently deposited Aaron in the large watering trough nearby, supporting him as he gained his footing. Carefully, the elephant squirted Aaron down, trunk lightly brushing muddied hair from his face. Aaron spluttered and coughed and complained, but Jubal continued until almost all the mud was gone. Only a good shower would clean the rest away and Troy fought hard against imagining Aaron in a shower, swirling steam revealing and concealing naked portions of his body.

“Got to say he’s one fastidious beast,” Troy said from where he still sat in the mud, trying to banish the enticing visions from his thoughts.

Aaron glared at him, pushing mud-caked dripping hair from his eyes and placing new streaks of dirt across his face. “You could do with a cleaning too, you know.”

Troy shrugged as he stood. “I’ll settle for a nice hot shower instead of your current choice,” he replied with a grin.

Suddenly a full stream of water forcefully struck his chest, splashing up into his eyes and knocking him backwards so he fell once more, this time directly onto his back.

“Jubal!” he heard Aaron’s admonishing cry, although he was sure there was a hint of laughter as well. He gazed at the blue sky above and let out a sigh before raising himself onto his elbows.

“You okay?” Aaron asked, clambering out of the barrel, supported by Jubal’s trunk.

“Yeah,” Troy waved any concern aside. He eyed Jubal, who just looked back at him even as the elephant’s trunk gently patted Aaron’s shoulder. So that’s how it was, eh? Then he grinned and gave Jubal ‘the finger’ before clambering to his feet again.

He laughed aloud, grinning at Aaron. “Guess I’ve got some competition.” He chuckled as he turned to walk away.

“Competition?” Aaron called out. “What do you mean ‘competition’?”

Troy turned and walked backwards knowing he was probably grinning like an idiot. “Competition for your affections!” he called out. “May the best man – or beast – win!” He gave his best theatrical bow and then turned away.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Aaron called after him, but he didn’t bother replying, just gave a cheery wave as he left.

He pushed his hands into his sodden jeans. He hadn’t intended to say such a thing to Aaron, certainly not so suddenly, but for some reason he felt better for having done so. The smile remained on his face, excitement pulsing through him, his steps light as he headed for his trailer. He wasn’t about to be beaten!