ICE
"Hey."
"Hey," Justin replied distractedly.
"Whatja doooin'?"
"Um, trying to get this just right."
Brian watched Justin who had his easel next to the windows in his studio at Britin. He was staring at the small fountain outside and then back at his canvas. He dabbed some paint on his brush from the palette he held in his left hand. He made a couple of flicks of the paint onto the canvas. He stood back and looked from the canvas to the fountain and the fountain to the canvas over and over again. He kept repeating that movement, ignoring the fact that Brian was standing nearby waiting.
"Justin, it's after four p.m. Time to stop," Brian said finally.
"Hm," was the only reply as Justin kept looking back and forth between the easel and the fountain.
"Earth to Justin, time to stop!" Brian repeated louder than the first time.
"I just can't get this right."
"Do it tomorrow," Brian said.
"I need to do this now," Justin stated.
"You're losing the light," Brian said hoping to appeal to Justin's artistic sensibility. It would be dark soon with the short winter days.
Justin did not rely. He merely mixed some more paint and applied it to the canvas.
Brian sighed in frustration. Justin had been at this since just after breakfast. Granted, breakfast had been at ten o'clock, but Justin had not stopped for lunch or anything else. Brian wondered if Justin had even stopped for a toilet break. He doubted it.
He knew something had to be done. He walked over to Justin and leaned down whispering into Justin's ear, "I have a surprise for you."
That caught Justin's attention. "Surprise?" he asked turning his head for the first time.
"Yep."
"What is it?"
"You have to come with me to find out."
"I do?"
Brian nodded, taking Justin's hand and lifting the palette from his fingers. He then took the other hand and had to practically pry the paintbrush from his grip. The fingers seemed to be knotted into that one position.
"Come over here," Brian said as he dropped the brush in the solvent container and headed for the small couch on one side of the room.
Justin followed obediently. Brian sat down and pulled Justin down beside him. He took the hand that had held the paintbrush and began massaging, rubbing along the muscles and tendons in the fingers and palm. Justin sighed in relief, allowing Brian to continue what he was doing without any protest.
"You know you shouldn't paint for hours at a time. There are consequences," Brian warned.
"I know, but I almost had it."
"Had what?"
"Ice."
"Ice?"
"Ice is very hard to paint," Justin said his voice soft as the seized muscles in his hand started to relax.
"You don't say."
"It is!" Justin said giving Brian a look. "Ice is kind of clear, but not really. It reflects the sky and whatever is nearby. It's so cold out right now that the ice has a brilliant sheen. That's what I was trying to capture."
"But you didn't quite get it right?" Brian already knew the answer but he wanted to keep Justin talking while he worked on his hand. He could feel it improving with each manipulation.
"No, I think I needed more blue," Justin said thoughtfully. "A cold blue that..."
"You mean like your eyes when you are laughing."
"Huh? My eyes ... when I'm laughing?" Justin's brow had a deep furrow as he tried to figure out what Brian meant.
"That's what I said."
"What do you mean ...exactly?"
Brian heaved a sigh. He shouldn't have said anything. Justin always liked to analyze things in fact he analyzed them to death on many occasions. He never seemed to take words at face value. Brian decided he might as well explain. He was almost done with the knots in Justin's hand, and a few minutes of talking would probably give him the time he needed to finish.
"Well," he began. "Your eyes have many shades of blue depending on what's going on with you. Normally they're a clear, light blue."
"Yeah?"
"Yes, but when you really laugh and enjoy something there is this additional level to them that must be kind of like the ice you were trying to paint. They have this icy quality that is hard to explain."
"Shouldn't my eyes be warm, not icy, if I'm happy and laughing?"
"I'm not talking about your emotions. I'm talking about the color of your eyes," Brian stated. He was almost done with his hand massage.
"Oh."
Brian hoped that was the end of it, but no such luck.
"So what other colors do my eyes have?" Justin asked, a little smile playing around the corners of his mouth. He was feeling much better.
Brian shook his head. He knew he had opened a can of worms. "Well," he said, "when you're really aroused, your eyes are such a deep blue that someone could almost dive into them."
"Someone?" Justin asked coyly.
"Yes, someone."
"Like you?"
"Maybe. How is your hand feeling?" Brian asked hoping to change the subject.
Justin smiled. "You are the only one who knows what to do when my hand gets like that."
"If you would take regular breaks, it wouldn't get like that and you wouldn't need me."
"I always need you," Justin said placing his arms on Brian's shoulders and locking his hands behind Brian's head. He pulled his lover close and kissed him thoroughly.
"Wanna try for that really deep blue I was telling you about?" Brian asked when the kiss ended. Justin laughed out loud. "There's that ice blue I was telling you about," Brian added staring into Justin's eyes.
"I love you?" Justin said.
"Me too," Brian admitted.
Justin's stomach gave an almighty rumble at that moment.
"Besides painting for too long, you haven't eaten since breakfast," Brian scolded gently. "Lucky you have me here to look after you."
"Very lucky," Justin smiled.
"Stay there and continue rubbing your hand," Brian ordered. "I'm going to get you some food."
"Thanks," Justin said happily as he started manipulating his fingers and rubbing his palm. His hand would be all right now that Brian had taken care of it.
Then another thought struck him. He walked over to the big mirror on one wall of the studio. It was there to reflect more natural light into the room. He looked at his eyes in the mirror, really looked. He could see the clear blue that Brian had described. He laughed a little bit, and studied his eyes. He didn't see much of a change. He thought about Brian rubbing his hand so diligently and revealing that he had noticed all the shades of color in his eyes. His smile grew wider the more he thought about that, and all the other things Brian did for him. He wasn't laughing, but he was so happy. He looked at his eyes in the mirror. He could see them lighten slightly in color, and there it was the ice color he was looking for. He knew he could reproduce that on canvas, and he didn't need the fountain outside to do it. All he had to do was think about Brian and he could call up that color.
"Here's a sandwich," Brian said as he came back into the room.
Justin grabbed the sandwich and devoured a good portion of it while Brian watched. Finally Justin looked up.
"There's that ice blue again," Brian observed. "You must be happy."
"This is the best sandwich I've ever had."
Brian shook his head. "You are such a con artist."
"Am I?" Justin asked as he continued to demolish the delicious sandwich." Brian smiled and nodded. "When I finish this," Justin said with his mouth full, "I think we should definitely try for that very deep blue you mentioned before."
"Count on it," Brian said.
And Justin knew he could always count on Brian Kinney.
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