Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2023 22:55:53 +0000 From: Benjamin Pellew Subject: A Gay in a Manger Caspar rolled over onto his side. The straw sticking through the lining of his cloak was stopping him from getting comfortable and nodding off. Balthazar's snoring to his left did not help matters either. And the smell! The three of them had agreed that all portents said they had to follow the star, and he had gone along with the Melchior's idea of bringing gifts to the boy, after all he had plenty of Frankincense, but no one has ever mentioned anything about having to sleep in a smelly old stable surrounded by animals, shepherds, and a baby that just would not stop screaming. Maybe he was the son of God, maybe he wasn't, but Caspar was very close to smothering the screaming little shit if he didn't shut up soon. Giving up on sleep for now, and deciding some fresh air might calm him down a bit, Caspar rose from his straw bed in the hay loft, descended the ladder, and left the barn, creeping past the new parents, the mother -- Mary, was it? -- giving him a warning look not to wake the child who had finally decided to sleep, though with the lowing cattle all around Caspar suspected he wouldn't stay asleep long. Outside, the air was cooler than the barn, and Caspar only then realised just how stuffy it was in there. Breathing deeply, he looked up at the star-spangled sky, all the usual stars eclipsed by the new star that dominated the heavens like a night-time sun. Looking again upon the herald of Christ, Caspar's doubts, which had assailed him in the stable, evaporated. He looked around the small courtyard, one side of which was made up of the stone inn wall, to which this stable belonged. In the centre was a well and next to the well stood a young man in his early twenties. He was shirtless and facing away from Casper. He seemed to be splashing water onto his face from a bucket he had pulled up from a well. Caspar watched, transfixed, as the light of the moon and the star shone down on this man, seeming to turn his ordinary flesh into something extraordinary. Caspar felt a stirring in his loins, a stirring he had felt on only a few previous occasions, when watching young men bathe, and which he had always supressed and fought. But this time, beneath the light of the star, Caspar found that he could not look away and that his instinct for suppression had fashioned. Surely nothing that happened in the light of the star could be truly sinful. And Caspar could not believe that the view of this man's back muscles, working as he scrubbed his face, could ever elicit an emotion that could condemn a man. Instead of supressing, Caspar reached into his robe and took his cock in his hand. He stroked once, twice, and started to walk towards the man, who was now washing each of his arms and singing softly to himself. Caspar went unnoticed by the man until he was right behind him, at which point he spun round, surprise clear in his eyes. The man looked at Caspar, confusion and fear present, and then seemed to recognise him. The man went to his knee and said, `my king. Forgive me. I did not see you there'. Caspar looked at him, kneeling before him, black hair hanging wet over his eyes, water dripping from his eyelashes, nose, and chin. Lips parted slightly. Olive skin seeming to shine like silver in the heavenly light. His body was lean and firm, with toned muscles betraying the physical nature of his work. Caspar thought he might be one of the shepherds who had come down the hills. Perhaps he had been in the stable earlier when he and his companions had arrived. That would explain how he knew his rank. Caspar decided to take the risk he had never taken before, in this strange land where he was unknown and his word as a king would always be taken over that of a shepherd. `My King,' the shepherd started, `can I help you?' Caspar was jolted from his examination of the young man, realising that he had been very obviously studying him, and that his cock had been in his hand the entire time. Caspar flashed his eyes back to the shepherd and saw a change in the man. His eyes no longer seemed apprehensive; they looked hungry. He was not shrinking back from a feared lord, but leaning forward, almost eagerly. `My cousin and I sometimes get lonely on the hills when we watch the sheep. It is good to have someone to help you relax... Would you like me to show you how we relax?' There was definite hunger in his voice now. Caspar was too afraid to speak, afraid he might break the moment, the spell, the miracle. He nodded, gulping as he did so. The shepherd grinned and moved his hands beneath the folds of Caspar's robes, eager fingers hunting out Caspar's now solid cock. He threw back the robe so that Caspar's cock, set in a bush of fiery red, was out in the night air. The shepherd grinned up at Caspar, who grinned back, helpless in the moment to maintain any regal dignity, and then his cock was swallowed into the shepherd's mouth. Caspar almost sank to his knees as he felt the warm, wet tongue flick over his engorged head, as his whole shaft was taken into the eager mouth. Caspar placed his hands on the lad's shoulders, as much to steady himself as any other reason and felt his whole body fire with desire and pleasure, the like of which he had never known. Of course he had looked after himself often enough, but never had he been with another. No woman had ever interested him and he had never had the courage to approach a man before. Caspar didn't need to be an expert himself to know that the youth before him was. His head was bobbing up and down on Caspar's cock and little drops of water were flying from his hair. Caspar knew that he couldn't last much longer and that he wished this could last forever. He came in the shepherd's mouth, his orgasm taking him by surprise even though he knew it was coming. So intense was his orgasm, more than he had ever felt before, that he did sink to his knees this time, his cock popping out of the shepherd's mouth. Most of his load had been spunked into the shepherd's mouth, but as his cock fell from between the youth's lips, a last rope was shot out and splattered across his cheek. Caspar was kneeling in front of his shepherd. They were eye to eye and Caspar felt drained and happy and regretful that he had wasted so much time not doing this. He rested his forehead against the shepherd and asked him his name. The shepherd replied that his name was Gabriel. Gabriel cupped Caspar's face in his hand and kissed his lips. Caspar could taste his own cum on Gabriel's lips and tongue as he kissed back. Caspar ran his hand over Gabriel's stomach and chest, marvelling at the muscles that rippled under his soft skin. `Thank you Gabriel', Caspar breathed, breaking the kiss. `Thank you. All my life I have been too afraid to do this with a man and now you have shown me what a fool I've been. I will not waste this gift that humans have been given to enjoy each other in this way'. Gabriel smiled back, wiping the cum off his cheek with one long finger, and licking that finger to taste the last of Caspar's cum. `Take me with you when you go. I am tired of watching sheep in a field and wearing homespun. Take me with me and I can show you the depths of pleasure one man can bring to another. Take me with you as a witness to the birth of our Lord and a new age that has dawned this night, for both the world and for you. What is done beneath the light of the star is blessed. He blesses us. Take me with you'. Caspar had to think for only a second. `Of course. We leave tomorrow. Our camels will be assembled in this courtyard at first light. Be here then with anything you wish to bring and you will come with me'. Caspar kissed the palm of Gabriel's hand and rose to his feet, pulling Gabriel up with him. `Take this to remember me tonight, so that you sleep with me tonight and I will see you tomorrow'. Gabriel handed Caspar a long, white feather, gathered his shirt into his arms and left the courtyard. Caspar stood there for a moment longer, dazed by what had happened, and then clutched the feather close to his heart and returned to the stable. The baby was still asleep, Balthazar was still snoring. Caspar climbed back into the hayloft, lay down, and fell asleep almost at once. He dreamt of Gabriel, of his mouth, his face, his wet hair in the light. He saw him undressed, fully undressed, saw his cock, hard and long and thick. He saw his arse, tight, plump, a light down of hair. Caspar awoke the next day, his cock hard and leaking, ready to begin the first day of the rest of his life.