Ivan vs Ivan

By Tarian P.S.

Gay Fiction / Mature – Bear Romance / Industrial Blue-collar Theme / Adult Content

Out here in the North Sea, love usually passes a man by like a ship in the night. So it’s a nice surprise when the captain of the ship hired to transport Ivan’s ocean platform rig into port for the winter might actually offer some unexpected non-business type amenities as well.
Ivan Voloshyn owns and operates the Marianna Shoal, a deep sea oil rig. It’s hard work and long days out in harsh weather. And he loves it that way. Because that’s what he knows. Seabeds— rigs— oil— and bad weather. He’s also about to find out the Norse Gods have a sense of humor. For who should it be to come riding in on the Sea Dock Heavy Lift ship? Another Ivan.

Captain Ivan Blažević knows who he is and what he wants; problem is, he also knows he can’t have it. Just because the rest of the world is coming out of the closet doesn’t mean every gay man can or should. Out here on the seas, the weather can change in an instant. He needs to trust his crew to do their job, and their hostility towards gays would get in the way of that if he was ever found out.
Ivan-the rig-owner’s very presence threatens Blažević’s closet doors, nevertheless it’s hard to turn that away, because he wants him to keep doing so.

Out here, the North Sea can change a man’s life— but hatred can take it away.

THE TEDDY BEAR COLLECTION
Their Plane from Nowhere
Big Spoon & Teddy Bear
Ivan vs. Ivan
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

• Language: English
• Publisher: TPS Publishing
• Release date: Oct 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311854360

Tarian P.S.

We Came- We Saw- and then we took you on an adventure.Both Proud Indy Authors: Tarian like his twin, Talon, love to torment their editor with a nefarious world of foreign-language, slang, local dialect, stretched/outside-of-the-box definitions, and have even been known to throw in some new word creations of their own at times. This, of course, is all thrown in there with the dyslexia soup stock they both suffer from that makes editing for them a joy {joy: n. see mental illness}.However, the final product comes out as richly detailed as we believe all stories should be created: holographic worlds of love, pain, frustration, and challenges beyond the every day. We believe a good story should take you on an emotional ride, pluck your heart strings, and zing you about until you're dizzy and screaming at the antagonist, while cheering for the protagonist before returning you to your cozy reading spot. And we've created these adventures within a mix of genres, so you can find the one right for you: Gay & Het Romances, Suspense, Paranormal and Sci-fi Erotic Romances, War-time Romance Fictions, along with Talon's favorite Space Sci-Fi Frontiers, and Tarian's favorite works of Post-Apocalyptic Dark Fantasies and Historical Fantasies. All for readers to submerse themselves into and escape from their day when they need or desire, and to whet your appetite for more.

Book preview

DEDICATION

A HUGE, HUGE THANK YOU and Super Squishy Bear Hug to all our readers out there!!! Without you, we’d just be a lonely book on the shelf.

Special Thanks goes to:

Ethan & Effie

for keeping me Dyslexic-Disaster-Zone free.

And to my Beta Readers:

Jay Cam, Terry Kaiser, and Ethan LJubankovic.

Your input is always a huge help.

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TRADEMARK ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Following Trademark &/or copyrighted name brand products have been either mentioned or used fictitiously in this story.

Music:

Wicked Ways – Chris Daughtry

Misc:

Toyota Hilux 6x6 pickup trucks

t’Seepard

Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur

Ikazia Ziekenhuis Hospital

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Gay Fiction / Mature Men Romance / Industrial Blue-collar Theme / Suspense / Oilrigs & Ships / Coming out of the Closet / Fast Burn / Heat Level 4 / Battling Homophobia/ Adult Content

Out here in the North Sea, love usually passes a man by like a ship in the night. So it’s a nice surprise when the captain of the ship hired to transport Ivan’s ocean platform rig into port for the winter might actually offer some unexpected non-business type amenities as well.

Ivan Voloshyn owns and operates the Marianna Shoal, a deep sea oil rig. It’s hard work and long days out in harsh weather. And he loves it that way. Because that’s what he knows. Seabeds— rigs— oil— and bad weather. He’s also about to find out the Norse Gods have a sense of humor. For who should it be to come riding in on the Sea Dock Heavy Lift ship? Another Ivan.

Captain Ivan Blažević knows who he is and what he wants; problem is, he also knows he can’t have it. Just because the rest of the world is coming out of the closet doesn’t mean every gay man can or should. Out here on the seas, the weather can change in an instant. He needs to trust his crew to do their job, and their hostility towards gays would get in the way of that if he was ever found out.

Ivan-the rig-owner’s very presence threatens Blažević’s closet doors, nevertheless it’s hard to turn that away, because he wants him to keep doing so.

Out here, the North Sea can change a man’s life— but hatred can take it away.

TABLE OF CONTENT

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

LEXICON

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

EPILOGUE

RECIPE BONUS

WHAT’S NEXT

ABOUT THE TWINS

SO MUCH MORE TO READ!

LEXICON

How tall are the Ivans? ~ 1.96 meters = 195.58 centimeters = 6ft 5in

How long is the Sea Dock? ~ 279 meters = 915 feet

How wide is the Sea Dock? ~ 62.5 meters = 205 feet

How deep was the Sea Dock after submersion? ~ 15 meters = 50 feet

How high were the waves? ~ 6 meters = 20 feet

How deep was the Viking Banks? ~ 88 meters = 288.714 feet

How deep was the trench? ~ 297 meters = 974.409 feet

ASATRU: is a religion and the term that Icelanders use for the followers of the old religious traditions. It means faith and belief in the Aesir deities, personified and worshipped by the pre-Christian people of Northern Europe and Scandinavia. Asatru has been practiced as a local Nordic and Germanic religion for centuries. It is simply the worship and following of the Celtic Pagan Gods of the northern countries along with its rites, runes, and practices.

Höðr – Norse God of winter

Skaði – Norse Goddess of winter

Rán – Norse Goddess of the Sea

Ægir – Norse God of the Sea

GOÐI: or Gothi (plural goðar) is the Old Norse term for a priest and chieftain. Gyðja signifies a priestess.

BEACH: is the common slang used among offshore drillers for land side.

MUDDER: is redneck slang for a number of things, one of being a crush of words for mother fucker, but also used in small pockets of the world for industrial &/or outdoorsy type men. (Ex: mud truckers or lumber jacks)

PYLSUR: hot dogs made from 100% Icelandic lamb.

ROUGHNECK: is a slang term specifically meant for those who worked on the drill floor of a drilling rig, handling specialized drilling equipment for drilling and pressure controls. In practice, these workers range from unskilled to highly skilled, depending subjectively on the individual worker's aptitude and experience.

ROUSTABOUT: is typically the entry level position when starting offshore and can be compared with a deck cadet on a ship. The Roustabout reports directly to the Assistant Crane Operator and is responsible for carrying out work in connection with loading/unloading operations, general maintenance and cleaning jobs, and assistance to the drill floor crew. By contrast to the roughnecks, a roustabout would perform general labor, such as loading and unloading cargo from crane baskets and assisting welders, mechanics, electricians, and other skilled workers. The word roughneck was in use in the U.S. oil drilling industry even earlier and had a similar meaning.

SALTIES: is a slang word used to refer to Offshore workers.

SALTY DOG: is a slang to refer to an experienced sailor.

SKYR: an Icelandic treat that is a type of whipped cheese made from skim milk. Often mistaken for yogurt.

SLÁTUR: blood pudding or also called blood sausage.

TOOLPUSHER: The highest blue-collar position at the drilling location, responsible for every crew. A toolpusher may stay on location for a few days or weeks at a time during operations, whereas individual drilling crews work only 8 or 12-hour shifts or tours (pronounced as towers). The toolpushers are responsible for the drill crews and, on some rigs, the marine and maintenance crews as well. On drillships and offshore oil rigs, toolpushers are department heads in charge of the drilling department and reporting to the Master or Offshore Installation Manager (OIM), depending on the company. Other department heads include the Chief Mate and Chief Engineer.

MARIANNA SHOAL, SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE DRILL PLATFORM ~ NORTH SEA

Ivan Voloshyn stood on the second story catwalk, watching as the new arrivals off-loaded from the helicopter below. Hoping his expected rigger was getting off it.

Three times a week— every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday— the choppers came for shift changes. An average crew of seventy men came and went. The meat of his crew were the Roughnecks, the ones who kept the drilling pipe in constant flow either into the seabed or back out. Its continuous operation made it a noisy world for all with the cacophony of the clang of large steel pipes being returned to the stacks. Or the shouts from the toolpushers to any one of the employed roustabouts either overhead or underneath to get to a task or out of the way. The hum of inner machinery that made everything work safely, and the echoing slaps created on the platform by the North Sea splashing up against her— such was the incessant music here. Plus a few actual tunes floated on the strong breeze as well with the usual two or more radios going, in various locations of the rig, and never on the same channel.

In a word, rig life could be summed up as constant, so the moment to just stop and lean his arms on the rail was a precious one. Made possible by a network of people who did their jobs.

The toolpushers were the team leaders and foremen of the crew-hands called roustabouts. The roustabouts were always the newer crew, the entry level; men and even a few gals looking to get in the oil industry. They had it the worst— it was brutal in the way they were overworked. A necessary conditioning to ensure they could handle the demanding life out here before getting set into higher, skill-level positions of permanency.

Alongside them there were the engineers, maintenance workers, and electricians. They kept the rig in top shape and functioning profitably and safely. At the end of the day, they were all just salties. There were also the salties most folks just didn’t think about being on a rig: the cooks, the scientists, the inspectors, and even a fully capable surgeon and an RN. But not one janitor. Cleaning up was everyone’s job.

Life on an oil rig was demanding work— three days on and three days off for some, two weeks on and one week off for others. While they were here, the activity was non-stop. The rig never slept. It ran 24/7, but the pay was good, so they came— they did their jobs— and few complained about it.

Ivan rarely had the time to stand around and watch the shift change, but he was expecting a Master Rigger, hired to help with their relocation. The last message Ivan got from the rigger was he’d arrived in port and was trying to catch the next chopper coming out.

Down below on the landing pad, which extended out beyond the platform’s multi-tiered perimeters, eighteen salties hopped off.

Ivan could only pull out a few faces he recognized. But in all his more than fifty years, the majority of which he’d spent out in this temperamental sea realm of an equally brooding God, Ivan had learned with accuracy how to tell the difference between men who were seasoned from those who were new. The newbies always tended to pause at the bottom of the steps from the pad, glancing around for someone to point them the way. Keeping track of and knowing the who’s who of every man on a team was left to the toolpushers Ivan had hired personally to be in charge of the crews and operations. They called the shore the beach and that was where the fates of the roustabouts were scheduled. Who worked and who got replaced was often determined by the union. One might think Ivan a fool to leave any decisions on his crew to someone else, but the salties still had to be cleared by him before they could even get on the roster at all. Who was here today and who would be here tomorrow were tedious details better left to someone else. The union was good at making sure he always had thirty-two roustabouts who, when added to the rest, made up a rig’s community of seventy men.

Five new recruits this week? Ivan scratched at his beard, not recalling approving that many new faces, and the union didn’t usually schedule them all on one shift change.

No. Lamar flipped pages on his clipboard. We should have only gotten three.

Find their paperwork then. No papers, put them back on the chopper after it refuels and send them on their way. He shook his head because this wasn’t typical. But sure as shit, today, five new men stepped off the chopper landing pad. None of them his rigger that he could tell. He was about to step away and get back to his work when one of the men below in particular caught his attention, prompting him to stay a tad longer and enjoy the view. The sight of the large body as he joined the other four standing by was creating some non-business-like ideas to stir up just by the looks of