It was only 2 days later that Ben was staring around the living room: his living room. It had all happened so fast. He’d gotten up the day after Tyler had told him about the house and kept the appointment with the realtor that Tyler had made. The house had been empty for a bit because the rental price the owner wanted was a fair bit above market value. She drove the two of them out to the house and made a point of showing Ben all around though Ben really didn’t care since Tyler had already made up his mind. The agent was thrilled when he told her he’d take it. She was less thrilled when he said he wanted to do it on a month-to-month contract rather than a full year’s lease. However, Ben said he’d be willing to pay additional for the convenience of the month-to-month contract so she phoned the owner to run it by him. They were both astonished when Ben agreed to the 50% monthly price increase but the agent happily drove back into town and waited while Ben stopped at the bank to secure a cashier’s check for the first month’s rent plus a hefty deposit. The paperwork was quickly signed back at her office and then the keys were in Ben’s hands.
He’d accomplished all that before lunch where he met Tyler. He handed over one of the keys to him without complaint. Tyler made a point of reminding him about his Amazon wishlist and went so far as to have Ben just give him his credit card info so he could order other things online. Ben figured he could always cancel the card later so he went along with it. They both had to focus on school for the rest of the day but agreed to meet up the next afternoon for lunch before heading out to the house. Tyler told Ben to have his belongings packed by then. Since Ben hadn’t brought much more than his clothes and laptop to college that wasn’t a problem.
After lunch the next day, Tyler drove them out to the house. It was only five minutes by car but if Ben was going to continue to walk to class he’d have to leave 20 minutes earlier each day. Ben admitted that Tyler had picked a nice home. It was an older, brick ranch that set back from the road. It was relatively private and the large backyard was adjacent to a woodland area. There were only two bedrooms but the master bedroom had its own bath. The kitchen was cozy with a nice island for prepping food. The central living room was spacious and connected the kitchen, entry hall, guest bath and bedrooms. A pair of French doors opened to a small covered patio that led into the backyard.
But what had surprised Ben the most was when a large truck had arrived filled with furniture. It turned out that Tyler knew one of the employees who worked at a local furniture rental place and he’d convinced him to just let Tyler fill out all the paperwork for the rental and that Ben would sign the bill. And so Ben watched in amazement as four guys hauled item after item off the truck. Tyler had picked out a large couch along with a couple of recliners for the living room, a coffee table, end tables, lamps, a computer desk and office chair, a large bookcase, a king-sized bed for the master bedroom with matching nightstand and chest of drawers, and a twin bed for the guest room. There was also a washer and dryer and a small solid wood table and four chairs. Featured prominently in the living room was a very large flat panel TV atop a stand which held a sound bar and had room for other devices.
Ben had to admit it as almost a magical transformation.
“What do you think?” Tyler asked with a grin after the deliverymen left.
“I can’t believe you did all this,” Ben said honestly.
“It’s really easy to do stuff when you have money,” Tyler said. “You’re the one who paid for it all.”
“It’s just so much,” Ben said. “I was perfectly fine in the dorm.”
Tyler dropped into one of the large comfortable recliners. “Trust me. This is better. Go get your suitcase and bring in the duffle bag that has my clothes.”
“You live at the frat house. Why are you bringing clothes here?” Ben asked suspiciously.
Tyler shrugged. “Well I figure I’ll be here a lot and I also thought it would be convenient to have a place to bring a girl back to rather than my room at the house.”
“Oh, so that’s why you got two beds,” Ben said.
“Unless you want to sleep on the floor,” Tyler joked.
“Ha, no thanks,” Ben replied. “Though you didn’t have to get me a king-sized bed.”
Tyler laughed. “Uh no. The big bed is for me Benji.”
Ben stared at Tyler. “What? Really? You’re telling me where I can sleep in my own place?”
“Not at all,” Tyler said. “I’m just telling you where I’m going to sleep. You can sleep wherever you like.” Ben had had it with Tyler’s presumptive attitude.
“That’s kind of bullshit Tyler!” he said in a loud voice as he jabbed an accusing finger in Tyler’s direction. Tyler locked eyes with Ben. “Okay I’m thinking that’s one,” he said evenly.
“One what?!” Ben demanded.
“Two,” Tyler said in the same calm tone.
“Two what?!” Ben demanded again.
“Three,” Tyler said.
“Christ! What are you on about?!” Ben shouted.
“Four,” Tyler said.
Ben glared at him. When Tyler didn’t explain Ben exploded again. “Fine! Sleep wherever you want! I don’t care!”
“Five,” Tyler said.
“What are you fucking counting?!” Ben yelled.
“Footslaps,” Tyler answered. “And that’s six.”
Ben balked. “Okay fine. I’m sorry.”
“Seven,” Tyler continued.
“Wait!” Ben shouted, “Stop counting! I said I was sorry!”
“Eight,” Tyler said.
“Tyler please!” Ben yelped frantically. “Stop! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
“Nine,” Tyler said as he looked at Ben expressionlessly. “Oh fuck please!” Ben pleaded, “What do you want me to do?” “Ten,” Tyler said in a bored tone.
“You want me to kneel?,” Ben asked as he dropped to his knees before Tyler. “Here! I’m on my knees! Please stop Tyler!”
“Eleven,” Tyler continued.
“Tyler please stop,” Ben whined. “What do you want? Do you want me to kiss your feet?” Ben quickly unlaced Tyler’s sneakers and tugged them off but before he could finish Tyler continued counting.
“Twelve,”
“Wait!” Ben begged, “I’m trying!” He peeled off Tyler’s socks and immediately began kissing Tyler’s feet. “About time,” Tyler said calmly.
“I’m sorry,” Ben said pitifully as he continued to kiss Tyler’s feet. “I didn’t know what you wanted.” “That’s not my problem,” Tyler said. “You shouldn’t have yelled at me in the first place.” “I’m sorry,” Ben repeated.
“Okay then let’s do this,” Tyler said as he stood up.
“Oh god Tyler no,” Ben moaned, “You’re not really going to go through with this are you?”
Tyler folded his arms and looked down at Ben. “Thirteen” “No!” Ben wailed, “I’m sorry!” He kissed Tyler’s feet again.
“You don’t sound sorry,” Tyler groused, “you sound like you’re complaining.” “I’m not!” Ben said, “Just let me lick your feet instead. Please?”
“Fourteen,” Tyler said with a sigh.
“Dammit!” Ben yelled, “I said I’m sorry! I’m kissing your feet!”
“We’re not using our inside voice are we Ben?” Tyler asked in a mocking tone. “Fifteen.”
Ben forced himself to lower his voice. “Please Tyler,” he asked calmly, “Isn’t there something else I can do?”
“Nope and sixteen,” Tyler said with a grin. Ben just sat there in silence.
After a moment Tyler asked, “Done complaining?” Ben just nodded.
“Okay then kneel over there,” he said indicating an open area of the room. Silently Ben complied. Tyler stood across from him about 4 feet away. He looked at Ben and scratched his jaw as if thinking.
“I just never did this before,” he said in reply to Ben’s questioning gaze. “What do you mean?” Ben asked nervously.
Tyler shrugged. “This isn’t something you do in a fight. An opponent wouldn’t stand still long enough to get their face slapped back and forth. At least not more than once. Sixteen times is just ridiculous. It’s just something I can do on a practice dummy only I’ve never tried to do it that many times before.”
“Tyler maybe this isn’t a good idea,” Ben said timidly. Tyler waved his hand dismissively. “Nah, it’s cool. I got this.” “Yeah but what if…” Ben protested.
“Don’t make me add more,” Tyler warned. He moved into action before Ben could say anything else. His right foot smacked into Ben’s left cheek and then the sole of his foot quickly slapped his face back the other way. The first 4 went smoothly but then Ben pulled his head back as Tyler foot came back and instead of connecting cleanly with Ben’s cheek it hit more towards the front of his face and across his nose. As Ben’s head continued backwards, Tyler foot missed it completely on the return slap.
“Damn!” Tyler said at the same time Ben shouted “Shit!” Ben’s hands covered his face. “You hit my nose!” he yelled. “You moved!” Tyler shot back.
Ben pulled his hands away. Tyler could see his nose was red from the impact and it was bleeding. “Damn,” Ben said wiping at the blood.
“Go in the bathroom and throw some cold water in your face,” Tyler suggested. Ben glared at him but did just that. Tyler followed him.
“It’s still bleeding,” Ben complained.
“Not much,” Tyler said. “Just stuff some toilet paper in your nostril and it will be fine.”
Ben huffed but he didn’t know what else to do so he did what Tyler said and that stopped the slow trickle.
They went back into the living room.
“Alright let’s try again,” Tyler said pointing at the spot where Ben had knelt before. Ben looked at him wide-eyed. “You’re kidding right? You just about broke my nose!”
“Why would I be kidding?” Tyler asked. “Nothing’s changed. You still pissed me off and now you’ve got some foot slaps coming.”
“I’m not your practice dummy!” Ben roared. “You could seriously hurt me.”
Tyler looked at him for a moment. Then he said, “Your about this tall right Ben?” as he held a hand in the air.
“Yeah about,” Ben said slowly.
“That’s what I thought,” Tyler said calmly before stepping back and suddenly launching a flurry of kicks at that same spot in the air. Ben had never seen Tyler in action before. Not really. Tyler wasn’t some Bruce Lee wanna be. Even without knowing the first thing about any martial art Ben could tell that each kick Tyler threw was fired out with focused power and strength and each blow struck the invisible target that was right where Ben’s face would be. The demonstration only last about 30 seconds but Ben got the message.
Tyler turned to Ben. “You’re right. I could seriously hurt you. Trust me. You don’t want that do you?” “No Tyler,” Ben said meekly.
“I didn’t think so,” Tyler said confidently. “You’d much rather I just settled for slapping your face with my foot wouldn’t you?”
Faced with the unhealthy alternative, Ben sadly said, “Yes.”
“Alright then let’s try this again,” Tyler said once more pointing at the spot where Ben had knelt. Ben got to his knees and sadly looked up at Tyler.
“Okay so the count was sixteen what is it now?” Tyler said mostly to himself but Ben thought it was a question.
“Like twelve,” Ben said regretting that the whole ordeal wasn’t over already.
Tyler laughed. “No, it’s higher not lower.”
“It started at sixteen,” Ben objected, “and you already kicked me like four or five times.”
“First off,” Tyler said, “those are kicks. Those are slaps. What I showed you before are kicks. If I actually kicked you in the face you’d be fucking unconscious.”
Ben gulped.
“And second, I’m not counting the ones from before because you moved. So it was sixteen but you moved and fucked it up and then you yelled at me some more and then you argued so we’re just going to say twenty.”
Ben’s face fell. “Twenty?” he asked.
“Yes, twenty,” Tyler said with a cocky grin. “In fact I’m thinking I need extra practice today so let’s say twenty with my right foot and twenty with my left.”
The color drained from Ben’s face.
“You don’t have a problem with that do you Benji?” Tyler asked as he cracked his knuckles to remind Ben of the penalties of arguing.
“No Tyler,” Ben said in a small voice.
“Don’t move your head,” Tyler advised him before his foot came up and slapped against his cheek. Ben did his best to hold his head up straight but of course as Tyler’s foot repeatedly struck his face it whipped left and right. It may have only been ten times back and forth for twenty total slaps and Tyler was quick but it seemed a long eight seconds to Ben. His head was buzzing when Tyler stopped.
“How ya doin?” Tyler asked. “Ummm okay,” Ben said woozily.
“Ready for the left foot?” Tyler asked as if Ben had a choice. “I guess,” Ben answered.
Tyler’s left foot sailed into Ben’s face. The pace was a little slower this time and his foot seemed to strike a lot harder. And then it stopped and Ben was left with just the ringing in his ears.
“Okay I guess you can come over and thank me now,” Tyler said as he walked over to the chair. Ben got groggily to his feet. “Thank you? For what?”
“You know, like at the hotel when you thanked me for smacking you in the face with my foot. I think that you should do that after each foot slap.”
“Tyler I think I just need to lie down,” Ben said.
“You can lie down afterwards,” Tyler said. “Now come on.” “Tyler can’t I just…” Ben started.
“Kneel back down,” Tyler said as he hopped up from the chair. “Huh? Why?” Ben asked.
“You just earned twenty-five more,” Tyler said simply.
“Fuck! I’m sorry!” Ben said, “What is it I’m supposed to say? Thank you for smacking me?” “It’s too late,” Tyler said, “Get on your knees.”
“But Tyler…” Ben said. “Thirty,” Tyler said calmly.
“Shit!” Ben said as he dropped to his knees. “Alright! Thirty! But just one foot please!!”
“Forty and both,” Tyler said. “And don’t make me say fifty because I’m not sure I can actually balance that long.”
Ben clamped his mouth shut.
“Okay you understand that when I’m done you’re going to kiss my feet and thank me right?” Ben nodded, “Yes, I’ll do whatever you want. Just tell me.”
“See if you’d have just done that before I wouldn’t have to put my foot in your face again would I?” Tyler asked rhetorically.
“You don’t have to,” Ben said automatically. “Well fuck there’s fifty,” Tyler said.
“Fuck I’m sorry!” Ben said realizing what he’d done. “Just forget I said that.” “Come on Ben, do I ever do that?” Tyler smirked.
“No,” Ben admitted.
“Okay well let’s see how much you enjoy another round with my feet,” Tyler joked. Once again his foot came up and began slapping Ben’s face back and forth. This time there was no mistaking the fact that Tyler put a lot more force behind each one. Ben’s face ached from the very first blow. It seemed to go on forever. Back and forth. Over and over. Tyler foot cracked against his face slapping it to and fro.
“Holy shit!” Tyler said when he finished. “I’m better than I thought.” He’d actually been able to balance on one leg and whip his other back and forth as he punished Ben’s face with his foot. And it was so different from kicking a practice dummy. Feeling Ben’s face give way to his foot was much better. And he couldn’t believe the control he had. He’d had to keep from laughing at the site of Ben’s head being swatted back and forth by his foot. He’d never felt so in control of someone before.
Ben groaned and held his head.
“I’ll bet that fucking hurt,” Tyler said. He wasn’t really kicking Ben of course but this time he had actually put a little muscle into it instead of just the mass of his foot. He figured it was time Ben learned what Tyler was actually capable of.
“God yes,” Ben said. “Did you have to kick me so hard?”
“Slaps Benny. Slaps,” Tyler corrected. “Real kicks would have busted your head. My foot could’ve hit you a lot harder. I’ve got a lot of muscle. Now stop stalling. My left foot is getting impatient.”
Ben put his hands down and gritted his teeth. Tyler smiled and then doled out the same punishment using his left foot. He had a little more trouble but he still managed to slap Ben’s face fifty times in a row just like he promised. Tyler would have been mad at himself if he hadn’t been able to. He put a little too much strength into the last slap and it actually knocked Ben off balance.
“Fuck! I’m sorry Tyler!” Ben apologized.
Tyler laughed. “Relax Benji. I was done anyways. That was actually my fault. Kind of overdid that last one.”
“Yeah it really hurt,” Ben confessed as he rubbed his face. Tyler took a closer look and then laughed loudly.
“What’s so funny?” Ben asked.
“Quick look in the bathroom mirror,” Tyler ordered.
Thinking perhaps he had been cut, Ben jumped up and went to look. All he saw though was a red mark. Tyler stood behind him.
“Don’t you see it?” Tyler asked tracing the mark on his face. “You can see the outline of my toes.” Ben saw he was right. The bright red mark on his face clearly showed the stamp of Tyler’s foot.
“It’s like my signature,” Tyler joked. “Very funny,” Ben said.
“Come on,” Tyler said walking back into the living room. “You’ve got some groveling to do.”
Ben sighed but followed Tyler who made himself comfortable in an easy chair. Ben knelt on the floor in front of him.
“Just tell me what to do and say,” Ben said.
“Just like before,” Tyler said. “Thank me for smacking you in the face with my foot. Oh and kiss my feet of course.”
“Sure,” Ben agreed. “Any specific number of times or duration?”
“Uhhh I don’t know,” Tyler said. “Let’s say the rule is one minute for each foot slap.”
“Okay,” Ben agreed.
“So then what’s that work out to?” Tyler asked.
Ben did the arithmetic. “One hundred and forty minutes,” he announced.
“Really?” Tyler asked in amazement. “Holy shit I slapped your face one hundred and forty times? Damn!”
“Yes,” Ben said rubbing his face again. “I remember.”
“Crap that’s like over two hours,” Tyler complained.
“Tyler I will gladly grovel at your feet for the whole time and I’m asking this as nicely as possible so please don’t be mad in any way. Is there something else I could do instead that would be quicker?” Ben asked as humbly as he could.
“Ummm I don’t know,” Tyler hesitated. “The thanking part kind of goes along with the foot slaps you know. That was the idea. What did you have in mind?”
“I don’t know,” Ben said honestly. “Whatever you want.”
“Interesting,” Tyler said as he sat back in the chair and pondered for a few moments before responding.
“Okay, it’s up to you,” Tyler said. “You can do the whole 140 minutes of kissing my feet or you can exchange some of that time.”
“Exchange it for what?” Ben asked cautiously.
“Either a game of mercy or arm wrestling,” Tyler said with a grin. Ben shuddered. He didn’t have pleasant memories of either experience. “For how long?” Ben asked.
“You can exchange 1 hour of groveling for 10 minutes of arm wrestling. You can exchange 2 hours of groveling for 5 minutes of mercy.” Tyler explained. “Basically you’re trading pain for time. Your choice.”
“Those are my only choices?” Ben asked.
Tyler shrugged, “You can just grovel at my feet for the next couple of hours.” “So if we arm wrestle how does that work?” Ben asked.
“Yeah calling it arm wrestling it kind of a joke ‘cause it’s more like me pounding your hand down the whole time,” Tyler grinned.
“And if we play mercy?” Ben asked.
“Then you squirm on your knees and beg for 5 minutes,” Tyler said.
Ben recalled the blinding pain from when they’d played mercy before but he also remembered Tyler savagely slamming his hand down over and over till his knuckles were bloody. He’d have to endure that for 20 minutes to be equivalent to 5 minutes of playing mercy. Brutal as it was, mercy seemed like the better option. Five minutes of hell and then it would be over. He could go take a nap.
“Okay, I choose mercy then,” Ben said.
“Really?” Tyler said in surprise. He hadn’t expected Ben to pick anything. He figured both choices sucked so bad that Ben would just gratefully spend the next couple of hours groveling at Tyler’s feet.
Ben nodded and Tyler stood up. They moved to where there was room and then they locked hands. “Can’t believe you picked this,” Tyler said.
“Why?” Ben asked nervously.
“Well because of this,” Tyler said as he suddenly crushed Ben’s hands. “AHHHHHHHHGGGHHH!!!!” Ben howled as his knees buckled.
“Five minutes is a really long time to be in agony dude,” Tyler said calmly as he continued to mash Ben’s hands.
“FUCKFUCKFUCKJESUSFUCKOHFUCKINGGODPLEASEFUCKSTOPSTOPFUCK!!!!!” Ben screamed. “Yeah it’s been like 10 seconds and you’re pretty miserable already,” Tyler informed him.
“TYLERPLEASESTOPIGIVEPLEASESTOPPLEASESTOP!!!!” Ben begged. Tyler’s only response was to twist harder. Ben thrashed in pain.
“You still keep forgetting how the game is played Benji,” Tyler joked as he squeezed.
“MERCY! OHGODPLEASEMERCY!” Ben shouted.
“Well you got the idea,” Tyler admitted. “Only you’ve got like four and a half minutes to go so it doesn’t matter.”
“TYLER! PLEASE!” Ben gasped, “I WANT TO STOP! I GROVEL INSTEAD! JUST LET GO!”
Tyler bent Ben’s hands back even further. “It’s a little late for regrets Ben,” Tyler said.
“FUCK! SONOFABITCHGODDAMMITLETMEGO!!!” Ben screamed and tried to yank away from Tyler. “Nope, that’s not happening,” Tyler said grasping even harded.
“FUCKYOU!” Ben shouted.
“Hey now, no getting personal just because you’re in a bad mood,” Tyler scolded.
“FUCKOFFTYLER!” Ben yelled.
“Okay, well now you’re ticking me off,” Tyler snapped as he cruelly twisted Ben’s hands even tighter. “AHHHGHGGG!!!” Ben shrieked.
“See what happens when you’re not nice to me?” Tyler said. “Now I want to hear you tell me how awesome I am.”
“OW!OW!OW!” Ben cried as he writhed in pain.
“Say it,” Tyler ordered as he put more pressure on Ben.
“FUCK! FUCK! OKAY! YOU’RE AWESOME! NOW STOP!” Ben begged.
“Not good enough,” Tyler decreed forcing Ben down even further, “Try kissing my feet while you tell me how awesome I am.”
“FUCKFUCKSHITFUCKPLEASE!!” Ben wailed before his face was virtually shoved down on top of Tyler’s foot and he began kissing it.
“I’m not hearing anything,” Tyler said as he continued to crush Ben’s hands.
“YOU’REAWESOMETYLER! YOU ARE FUCKING AWESOME!!!” Ben shouted as he furiously kissed Tyler’s feet.
“That’s better,” Tyler said happily. “Now start licking and tell me how much you love my feet.”
Ben didn’t even hesitate. He would do anything Tyler said if there was even the slightest chance it would make the pain stop. He licked the tops of Tyler’s feet.
“I LOVE YOUR FEET!” Ben yelled. “I LOVE YOUR FEET!”
“You love it when I shove my feet in your face don’t you Benji?” Tyler prompted. “YES TYLER! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! YOU ARE FUCKING AWESOME!” Ben shouted. “You want me to stop now?” Tyler asked.
“YES PLEASE! TYLER PLEASE! STOP! YOU’RE FUCKING KILLING ME!” Ben pleaded. “Sorry Ben there’s still a minute left,” Tyler said with an evil chuckle.
“TYLER PLEASE!” Ben begged, “FUCK! STOP! I’ll DO WHATEVER YOU FUCKING WANT!” “You already do whatever I want,” Tyler pointed out.
“JESUS FUCK!” Ben screamed. “I’LL LICK YOUR FEET! I’LL SUCK YOUR DICK! I’ll BE YOUR SLAVE! I’ll GIVE YOU MONEY! WHATEVER YOU WANT! JUST STOP!!!”
“Tell me I’m a fucking god,” Tyler said with a cocky smile Ben couldn’t see.
“YES! YES! YOU ARE A FUCKING GOD!” Ben shouted even as he continued to lick Tyler’s feet. “And you’ll beg to worship me?” Tyler prodded.
“YES! I SWEAR! I GROVEL BEFORE YOU! JUST PLEASE LET ME UP!” Ben begged. “And what if I want to put my foot in your face?” Tyler asked impishly.
“DO IT! WHENEVER YOU WANT! YOU CAN DO IT RIGHT NOW IF YOU JUST LET GO!!!” Ben offered. “That almost sounds like you’re begging for me feet,” Tyler said as he gave another crushing squeeze.
“YES FUCK!!! FUCK!!! YES! I’M BEGGING! PLEASE TYLER! PLEASE PUT YOUR FOOT IN MY FACE! YOU’RE FUCKING AWESOME! YOU’RE A FUCKING GOD! I LOVE YOUR FEET! FUCK! STOP! YOU’RE KILLING ME! PLEASE JUST LET ME GROVEL!!!!” Ben sobbed.
“And that’s five minutes,” Tyler said calmly as he let go of Ben’s hands
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