MARK SUEVER
RICHARD LUCERO
INSTINCT COUPLES QUIZ

Richard and Mark may be going on 23 years, but the coming together of these two Phoenix foxes was anything but conventional. A fresh-out-of-high-school Mark had just dropped off a friend (Steve Rivard) at a naughty video store (Modern World in Tempe) when Richard saw him and proceeded to follow him!

(Note: Instinct does not recommend following guys, no matter how hot.) This love game ended well, with the two traveling, flipping houses and enjoying the desert life ever since.

INSTINCT: Okay, let’s go with the obvious: Richard, what the hell were you thinking when you decided to follow Mark?

RICHARD: It was a moment of you see something and you like it, so you go for it. I was only 21. I didn’t know what to do if he actually stopped. So I pulled over, and then suddenly he walked up to my car and said, “Hey.”

INSTINCT: And what was going through your head, Marky?

MARK: The had already happened to me six months earlier. Weird, I know. But a guy followed me from a club (Hot Bods disco) one night (to Denny’s/Jenny’s) and we ended up hooking up, so that was a good night. [Laughs] So this time I thought, “Okay, I’m experienced at this now.” It hasn’t happened since [Laughs] (Someone told me yesterday that all things happen for a reason, I think the Hot Bods stalker had to happen to make our destiny happen.)

INSTINCT: And you both insist that you didn’t sleep together that night, but how long did that take to happen?

RICHARD: The very next date.

MARK: I don’t remember exactly how long, maybe a week

INSTINCT: What initially attracted you to him?

RICHARD: He’s got the most endearing look and personality.

MARK: It looked like he had a positive future. He looked like a good catch. And I was really impressed with his red four-door Sentra, for some reason. (It beat my ’78 Chevette hands down)

INSTINCT: Oh, sexy sedans! While on the topic of cars, your first date was at the drive-in (Scottsdale 6). Remember what you saw (aside from each other’s underwear)?

RICHARD: Goldie Hawn in Wildcats.

MARK: Ugh, I think it was called Wildcats. It was so stupid, but it didn’t really matter. And it was raining, which actually made the whole thing better, a bad movie and it was raining. So we just made out in the car.
INSTINCT: Well, sounds like there wasn’t too much movie watching going on. Do you remember what he got you for your first anniversary?

RICHARD: He would have just gotten out of school, and I always tried to play down the gifts so he wouldn’t feel awkward, but I don’t remember what I got him.

MARK: Uh-oh [Laughs] I remember that he got me a bunch of stuffed animals and just went overboard with gifts, but I can’t remember if that was for the anniversary or when we got back together. And I don’t remember what I got him. (Later it came to me… I golden pearl faced watch, no numbers on it with black band. Had to put it on lay-a-way at JCPenny.)

INSTINCT: You two did take a brief break early on. What did you miss most about him?

RICHARD: He’s just very comfortable to be around. There was just this calming, comfortable feeling I had around him, and I never experienced that with anybody else. When we did have a break, that’s all I could think of.

MARK: Well, I moved to Palm Springs and just missed his companionship. I lost my best friend. (I moved to PS with a high school friend Denise Gooch)

INSTINCT: Aww, you’re making us feel positive emotions. Now back to the good stuff: What would he say is the sexiest thing about you?

RICHARD: My receding hairlinne

MARK: My boyishness

INSTINCT: We’d generally make a snarky daddy comment now, but you two are only a few years apart in age. Damn, point for you guys beating us to it. What’s his worst at-home-habit?

RICHARD: He loses everything. He leaves things everywhere. The last place I look for his shoes is in the closet.

MARK: Leaving all the kitchen cabinet doors open. Eating cereal at 2 in the morning and leaving a trail of cereal to the bedroom.

INSTINCT: Years before Manhunt and such, Mark actually ran an online (2SF BBS) dating site. So, describe your man by coming up with an online screen name for him.

RICHARD: BoyInAMansBody
MARK: HotMasculineBottom

THE VERDICT: Well, those last two responses pretty much say it all, don’t they? Our job is done here.

Courtesy of Instinct Magazine and Jeff Katz

Richard and I are going to be featured in the next issue of Instinct Magazine’s Couples Quiz! During two separate phone calls, they interview both of us to see how well we know each other. The editor, Jeff Katz had been trying to contact me all week to ask my questions.

I had been avoiding the call, fearing I’d say something stupid and then fail the quiz for all of Instinct’s subscribers to see. After 20 something odd years together, you’d think I would know what to say. I’m not sure how my comments about Richard’s preferences in bed are going to play. Hmmm, maybe I should warn him before print date?

This has to be our biggest “fame” event to date. I’m thinking, if you add up all of the times I’ve had my “15 Minutes of Fame”, subtract a few minutes here and there for the less worthy events, I should have around 138 minutes of fame! I’m including the brief quote in the Tucson newspaper about gay marriage, the time the ACLU included my site in one of their cases, pictures of me printed in local gay magazines and the like.

I’ll be sure to provide links to the section once its published. Stay tuned!