In the end, they stayed down there for an hour or more. Matthew liked the genital stuff, but the place gave him the creeps.

He found himself shivering time and time again.

These were real machines, and real implements. There were bloodstains, hundreds of years old, soaked into the wood, and these spikes, which seemed to be everywhere, had pierced countless people’s flesh. As they were leaving, Matthew had chanced to look up at the ceiling. In the flickering glow of the flames he could just make out how it was covered in the same dark corrugated foam as Lukas’ music room. It was soundproof, though he didn’t suppose they’d ever be able to come down here again. And it wouldn’t be a good place to do it. It was too creepy.

Though as they were pushing the door closed, he wished they could go back in and take a few of the things with them. The testicle crusher, and the crocodile shears, mainly. They could use them in Lukas’ music room if Lukas was going to scream.

Now that he had seen the crocodile shears, Matthew supposed he could get Lukas to agree to let him do that, to let him close it on his cock, after Matthew had done his balls. It wouldn’t really fuck it up that much, even if Lukas didn’t want it cut off. When he had got over having his nuts crushed, Lukas would probably say, okay, he wanted that done. He had said he liked being dickless. He had said he kind of liked it when they were mucking around.

And it would feel sweet. Closing that crocodile’s mouth on Lukas’ little cock. Maybe even when it was hard. That would fill up the crocodile’s mouth. And it would be funny, seeing as how it was made to look so much like a crocodile, like Lukas’ little cock was getting bitten.

Matthew wouldn’t be able to rip his cock off though, or cut it off, he didn’t suppose. Lukas would die of blood loss. And it wasn’t like he could go to a hospital. All of the shit they were going to do, they would have to keep to themselves. Though if Matthew did use the crocodile shears on Lukas’ penis, then afterwards, he could close his cock in the penis brand that he had seen, which closed on a penis like it was a sausage, searing it. That would heal the wounds. Lukas would look pretty funny in the surf then, with his cock like a sizzled little sausage. And Matthew could get some antibiotics from his father, or from Christian, if he had to. He couldn’t just cauterize a wound if he cut Lukas’ cock off. Lukas wouldn’t be able to piss.

The first thing, though, was to do Lukas’ nuts. He wanted those done the most.

That night, Matthew lay in bed, with his hands behind his head, and thought for an hour or more, trying to think of a way that he could help Lukas out by doing his nuts as soon as possible. Why not tomorrow? Matthew wasn’t doing anything. Though he would have to put Lukas in a situation where it could happen.

Lukas wasn’t going to ask him. Matthew knew that now.

When they had come out of the chamber together and closed the brick wall behind them, Lukas had said,

‘What do you want to do now?’

They were still in the basement. Matthew knew that he wanted to go back in and get some of the stuff, but Lukas wouldn’t say it. He expected Matthew to say it, to say to Lukas that they could go back in and get the testicle crusher, at least. Then they would have had something to do.

Lukas would have been excited about it, if he had said it.

As it was, Matthew would probably not only have to put Lukas in a position where it could happen, but convince him that it was okay to do it. And he would even tell him, if he had to, that he wanted to do it, or go on and ask Lukas if he could.

The first thing to do, though, was to get Lukas into a position where it could happen. Lukas wouldn’t have anything to thank Matthew for if he couldn’t at least do that for him.

In the morning, Matthew woke late. He went downstairs to have breakfast, but took his tablets first, so that he could go and get Lukas ready straight afterwards.

‘Are you spending all day in bed today, or are you going out?’ his mother said.

Matthew was eating Coco Pops.

He chewed, feeling the cold milk and the chocolaty crunchiness between his teeth, and swallowed, before he could answer.

‘I’m staying home.’

‘I suppose you’ll be in your room all day then?’

‘I can’t help it Mum.’ He lowered his voice to whisper. ‘They make me sleep.’

‘Your father’s gone out, if that’s what your worried about.’

It was Saturday, so his father was home, or should have been.

Matthew nodded.

‘I hope you’re getting off these things.’

‘I’m down to half a tablet.’

After he had rinsed his plate and put it in the dishwasher, Matthew ran upstairs and shook four tablets out of the bottle. He put them in an envelope and ran back downstairs again. Making sure that his mother didn’t see him, he went out to the front gate, and put the envelope in the letter box. That way, Lukas wouldn’t have to come in. He went back up to his room and took another tablet for himself, a third one, and supposed he could take a couple more later seeing as he was going to get to do Lukas’ nut today. He wanted to enjoy it.

When he got to Lukas’ place, after he had put on the glasses and turned on the strobe, Lukas was telling himself all kinds of stupid shit. He was daydreaming all about yesterday, and remembering how Matthew had been touching his arse and grabbing his balls in the surf. And he was telling himself that Matthew must like him, that Matthew must have done all this shit on purpose, that he liked touching him, and had come over him in the change room, when Lukas touched his cock, because he was gay, or a bit gay, like Lukas.

Matthew told him that this wasn’t true, but Lukas was thinking they could become lovers, remembering how Matthew had held him in the museum, put his hand around him and held him close to him.

And this was his best memory of the day!

All he wanted, all he dreamed about, was having Matthew put his arms around him, though he wanted Matthew to fuck him too. Matthew supposed that he could do this, if Lukas let him crush his balls. And he told Lukas this.

Lukas didn’t really believe him. He was so used to Matthew being in his mind that he accepted Matthew’s thoughts as his own. As another opinion. Unless he made a determined effort, Matthew couldn’t really get Lukas to believe anything, though after he had been with him for fifteen or twenty minutes, Lukas took his clothes off and lay on his stomach on his bed, putting his hand behind him, between his legs, like Matthew had done, and grabbing his balls hard. And he was imagining that Matthew had done it so hard, yesterday, that he had crushed his nuts when he was on the board. And he was telling himself that Matthew liked this, that it had turned Matthew on. And then he came.

When Lukas was dressed, Matthew called him a cab, and took him to the Ace Hardware in Grange, because he knew the store, and knew where the padlocks were. He figured it was a long way from Lukas’, but it wasn’t like Lukas couldn’t afford the fare, considering what Matthew was going to do for him today, finally settling the whole business of having his nuts crushed like he wanted. After today, Lukas wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. It would be done. The first thing, anyway, though they would probably move on after this and do all of Lukas’ gear.

Matthew was looking at the padlocks, trying to make sure he got some smaller ones than Lukas had used the last time, when a voice said,

‘Lukas!’

It was his father. Matthew’s father.

Matthew freaked. This was the second time this had happened. He dropped the padlocks. His father was standing right beside him.

‘I didn’t mean to scare you. How are you?’

Matthew released Lukas, and Lukas recognised Mr Mason, though it took him a moment to realise he was in a hardware store.

‘Are you okay?’

Lukas nodded. ‘Is Matthew here?’ he said.

‘At home, in bed. Or he was when I left.’

Lukas said nothing.

‘How’s your father?’

‘He’s well, thanks. He’s in Melbourne.’

Matthew’s father nodded. ‘Well, I have to go,’ he said. ‘I’m in a rush.’

Lukas watched him walk away, and when he had gone, Matthew bent down and picked up the padlocks from the floor. He bought five of them, wanting to make sure that he got one so small that it would only just fit. Lukas wouldn’t want there to be a mistake again. He wouldn’t want his nuts getting out of it without getting crushed, and if Matthew got one too big, that might possibly happen.

While he was waiting for a cab, Matthew ripped open all of the packaging, and turned the keys in all of the locks, so that they were open. He stopped off at the post office, posted the keys to himself, and then gave the driver his own address.

The tablets were in the letter box, just where he had left them, and he didn’t suppose anyone saw him (saw Lukas) though he didn’t look up at the house, and tried to keep ducked down behind the hedge.

When he got back into the cab, he gave Lukas’ address, and was walking through the front door when McCady appeared, magically, it seemed, from nowhere.

‘You’re in and out today, Crumpet.’

Matthew released Lukas instantly. He wasn’t going to tussle with her today.

Lukas closed the door, though he wasn’t sure whether he’d just come in, or was going out. He hadn’t heard her.

‘And where have you been?’ she said.

‘I was at the hardware store.’

She nodded, stared at him for a moment and walked away. Lukas went upstairs. When he was in his sitting room, he looked at what he had had in his hand, looked in the bag, and saw all the padlocks. His first thought was that he wanted to put them all in the bin, or take them somewhere, far away from the house.

Matthew supposed he had to make this as easy for Lukas as possible. He put the padlocks, and the envelope with the tablets in it into the cavity under the drawers in Lukas’ kitchen, though he took two of the tablets out first, and gave them to Lukas.

He would come back later, tonight, and help Lukas out then.

The only thing he needed to do now, was to convince Lukas that he couldn’t pull himself, and couldn’t come before his nuts were crushed.

It was almost impossible to convince Lukas of anything, though as Matthew had found, yesterday, with the towel, if he kept drumming away at one idea, if he kept on and on about it, and really hammered it into his head, Lukas would eventually accept it.

He worked at it for more than an hour, for almost two hours, telling Lukas that he couldn’t pull himself, and couldn’t come, until his nuts were crushed. Every now and then Lukas thought this was a stupid thing to be thinking. He would recoil, pull away, and wonder what he was doing, what he was thinking about, though in the end, more than an hour and a half later, he was nodding, and muttering it to himself like a mantra, ‘I can’t pull myself, and I can’t come, till my nuts are crushed. I can’t pull myself, and I can’t come, till my nuts are crushed. I can’t pull myself, and I can’t come, till my nuts are crushed.’

Matthew figured, after he had kept Lukas in this state for fifteen or twenty minutes, that Lukas would believe it, though when Matthew released him again, Lukas seemed to have forgotten all about it.

He had an erection already, thanks to the tablets, and Matthew stayed with him for another fifteen or twenty minutes to make sure Lukas wasn’t going to do anything stupid, like pull himself or crush his nuts on his own.

He wasn’t. He was watching television, annoyed about his erection, though every time he started to think he could do something about it, he stopped.

When Matthew left him, he had both wrists thrust into his groin.