Another 3-day weekend was upon me. It was Thursday late afternoon, everyone was showering after PT and then heading off to their plans. Restaurants, bars, movies, the beach, etc. However, my usual plans for such a weekend were falling through. Dan was out of town for a few weeks and Aaron had gotten sick. There were some serious scares with the swine flu at the time, so anyone that got the flu in training was quarantined in their own hospital room. I texted Aaron to cheer him up but I wasn't allowed to visit him since we weren't family. (He would be fine, it was just the precaution many training units took).
So I hopped on Craigslist and Adult Friend Finder. I didn't find anything that interested me or that I could trust. I was about to be content that I would just play video games all weekend or maybe hit up the gay bar for a hookup, when I read a forum post on Digg about a new gay hookup app called Grindr. It had only been out for a few months. But I figured I'd give it a try. Now it was clear that this app was relatively new because there were not a lot of people in close range to me. Nowadays, if you popped open Grindr anywhere near a base, you'll easily get 200 guys within a mile. However, at this time, I only saw about 20 within a mile. I browsed through, getting used to the features. I decided this place was relatively safe through the idea of "mutually assured destruction" between military gays. And a straight person downloading this app to out people would also violate Don't Ask, Don't Tell. So... I uploaded the standard bathroom/Myspace selfie shirtless with an arm up over my the back of my head, exposing an armpit. The textbook gay selfie. I added my specs and pretty much checked all the boxes for what I was into.
Then I went back to browsing. There were some interesting guys that I'd be down to fuck. But nothing really made me desire them deeply yet. I decided to refresh the screen, and all of a sudden a skinny torso popped up within the <1000 feet marker. That meant he was either in my building or one of the adjacent ones. No face though. Listed as 19, twink, looking for Right Now and Friends, 5'8", and 135 lbs. A short and skinny twink. So, I got bold and sent him a message.
* Me: Hi there!
* *a few seconds went buy, I paced the room staring at the screen*
* *all of a sudden, that Grindr scaling notification blooped up*
* Him: Hi. Kinda crazy to share your face in your profile.
* Me: Oh, really? This is so new that I figured it's safe. You met anyone on here yet? You're the first one I've actually talked to on here.
* Him: You got a point. I've met a few, but it's mostly guys that were already at the club. I've stayed away from other air force guys.
* Me: Well, I'm glad you lowered your standards to talk to me ;)
* Him: Haha. It was more caution. You're the only military guy on here to show his face on his profile, so that was encouraging to me. You're cute by the way.
* Me (blushing irl): Aww, thanks. Well I messaged you because I love what I see so far. Are you at Foster Hall like I am?
* *Nothing for a few minutes. I started getting anxious that I pushed too soon. But then, a notification popped.*
* Him: Yes.
* *He sent a picture of his face. I recognized him! I had never spoken to the guy, but I'd seen him in formation before and after classes. I'd seen him at lunches. I always thought he was cute. Blonde hair, kept real short on the sides and still short but a little longer up top. The typical haircut in the military. Blue eyes, smooth white skin with a very light tan. I had crushed on him a bit when seeing him, but that was it. Pretty awesome luck that he was gay and cruising!*
* Me: Hey, I recognize you! Always thought you were cute and sometimes couldn't stop staring. :D
* Him: lol. I thought you looked familiar but wasn't sure. Pictures look a bit different than a real life perspective. So... you've been crushing on me huh?
We spoke at length on chat about various things. How basic was, what we thought of each other, who we were out too, who we've fucked since we got out here, if we ever fooled around in basic. He had admitted that he sucked a few guys off regularly at basic, and it was quid quo pro. They didn't suck him off in return, but they did take over tasks and duties, such as guard duty at night for him. That was great news for me, this guy puts out! But then, we started being more direct.
