Guys and Trolls Read Free Page B

sleeping in the bunks, no one to stop him from falling into the soft warm embrace of an empty bed, hunger forgotten, as he welcomed the embrace of sound sleep.
    He awoke next morning with the arrival of Gus and the over familiar doctor, who had his hand rather provocatively placed on Gus's butt cheek. “Hello,” Gus said warmly. “I wondered where you'd wandered off to. I guess my snoring kept you awake and you found your way to our cabin.”
    Something in Gus's eyes pleaded that Einarr support the story.
    “No, not your snoring. I was hungry and I went looking for something to eat and got lost. I couldn't find my way back so I came here.” His stomach grumbled as if to confirm his story.
    Gus, who had initially panicked when Einarr began his rambling story, looked visibly more relaxed by the time he finished it. “I'll order us some breakfast and then we better start rehearsals for tonight's show.”
    “I'm looking forward to it tremendously. Angus promises it will be something special.” The doctor couldn't seem to get the smile off his face at the thought.
    Einarr wished he knew what they were talking about.
    Taking his leave, the doctor warned them to seek him out immediately if they became dizzy, disoriented or had a severe headache, in case they had concussion. It was still a possibility. When they were alone, Gus went straight to the small desk against one wall of the cabin. He turned to Einarr.
    “Where is it?”
    Einarr took the pages of notepaper from under his pillow. “You have really neat writing.”
    Gus was flabbergasted. “You read it?”
    “If you don't want people to read your suicide notes then you should hide them out of sight.”
    Gus sank into the chair, putting his face in his hands.
    “That Rob character must be some piece of work,” Einarr said.
    “Oh, believe me, he is.” Gus was expecting ridicule, contempt, anything but concern.
    “You followed him on to the cruise even though he told you it was all over?”
    “Not exactly. The cruise was booked out so I had to find another way to get on board. I knew they were looking for entertainers and this being a gay cruise...”
    Einarr looked puzzled. “Gay? That means the men on this ship...” he almost couldn't bring himself to say it the idea was so potent, “...like sex with other men?”
    “Oh my god! You're straight!” Gus blurted out.
    Trolls weren't considered the most intelligent of the universe's creatures, what with being asleep for hundreds of years at a time, meaning they were at a severe disadvantage when they awoke, language, history and the cost of a good podiatrist to curb those unruly toe and finger nails that kept growing in the interim, being totally foreign to them. The powers that be therefore decreed that they got a little extra cranial lobe with the ability to absorb a new culture with its attendant language skills as well as a workable knowledge of what had occurred in the intervening period while they were asleep. However, like a lot of things these days, it was a rushed job and was put to work before it had been adequately tested. Sometimes there were whole gaps in memory and recognition.
    Einarr had to repeat the question it was so beyond his limited comprehension. “Everyone on this ship is gay?”
    “I can't speak for the crew but the passengers, yes, they're either gay or bi.”
    Einarr rubbed his hands with glee. “Smorgasbord.”
    Gus didn't know whether to laugh or cry. One second he believed the man he was losing his heart to was straight. That was a disappointment he could live with it. A second later, he discovered he was gay, or at least bi, but his heart sank because he was also a slut.
    Einarr had an idea. Hesitantly, he asked the question which was supremely important to him. “You, too?”
    “Of course, me, too. What did you think Robert and I were doing? Playing Monopoly?” He would have to rethink his attraction to Einarr, the guy seemed to have a tentative link to reality. Perhaps it