Sportsmanship

The guys had experienced a long hard day and they were very glad to be sitting on the floor together watching their fireplace. Eighteen holes of golf and a couple of sets of tennis had left both of these warriors kind of drained. They were very tired - but also very happy, as they always were when they were together.

Justin raised his head from where it was resting on Brian's shoulder. "Brian," he asked, "Do you love me?"

Brian looked at him quizzically. "Oh, so now we're playing Jeopardy, are we?" he replied. "Well then the question is 'What is the title of a song from Fiddler on the Roof?' … Wait a minute. Don't tell me, Baby. You don't need to go any further. Crazy Malcolm is going to put on Fiddler and he wants me for Tevya. Right? And you're gonna make me do it? Or at least try your hardest? And you always know you'll get what you want."

"Cut it out, Bri," Justin ordered. "You're just trying to change the subject and it's not going to work. Malcolm is not putting on Fiddler and you couldn't play Tevya anyhow. You're way too young. And I can't make you do anything you don't want to do either, but you can get me all riled up and you do, and you're not getting away with it."

"I can see that I'm not," Brian soothed, "But there are certain rules we have, set up by you I might add, that it seemed to me like you were about to break. I know you wouldn't want to break your own rules so I was just trying to help."

"Brian Kinney,' Justin tried to clarify matters. "I know the rules. It is not allowed to discuss who won, but it is not against the rules to discuss the games themselves. And why do you think that's what I was going to do anyhow? All I asked was if you loved me."

"But I know you're setting something up," Brian told him. "You even said I was too young to play Tevya. That's the first time you ever said I was too young for anything. I'm sorry if I'm a little bit suspicious. Yeah, I love you and you know it, and you knew it before you asked the question. So go ahead, Baby. Drop the anvil."

"Well," Justin went ahead a bit slowly, "There were two things today that I was wondering about. Remember when I sliced the ball so bad into the rough on seven, today?"

"Yeah," Brian smiled.

"Brian, you're smiling now," Justin accused him. "That's what I wanted to ask about. I hit that slice, and you were smiling when I looked over at you. If you love somebody, you always want the best for them. Were you glad I sliced that ball? And you did the same thing later when I fell over the net on the tennis court. Except that you were almost laughing then. It was worse even than the slice."

"Not worse, Honey," Brian smiled even more widely. "Just funnier. Funny is funny. I think it might have even been funnier because I love you so much. But we're in competition out there, Baby. That's just a man thing - and we are men, you know. I want you always to play the best you can and that's what I root for. I just want to play better than you do and win. But I love you just as much no matter who wins. That's sportsmanship."

"OK," Justin got the point. "I can see what you're saying and I guess that's OK. It's all a matter of sportsmanship and competition and stuff. I got it. But that's just for athletics, isn't it Bri? We would never do anything like that here. We're not in competition here."

"Never," Brian agreed completely. "We are definitely not in competition here."

"You know, Honey, I'm still glad we decided not to enter the club tournaments." Justin returned to athletics. "That might be too tough, trying to beat you out for the club championships. That's a good rule we made."

"It is a good rule," Brian agreed. "It would be really hard for me to try to beat you out for the club championships too. And I don't think we made that rule just because we both know that neither of us could beat Chuck either in tennis or golf. That was certainly not why we made the rule."

"Very true, Mr. Kinney," Justin agreed. "We certainly didn't. Chuck wasn't the only reason we made that rule. Ted stinks at tennis but he is good enough to beat us in golf if he has a really lucky day, and I know how you'd feel to have Ted beat you at anything. I think that would test your sportsmanship more than just a little."

"It probably would, Kiddo," Brian admitted. "I guess we're not perfect, at least I'm not. By the way, Baby, not to make any accusations, but I have really good peripheral vision. I saw you pump your fist when I missed that easy putt on fifteen."

"That was only because I felt so bad for you, Bri. I was hoping so much that you'd make that putt. I felt really bad for you," Justin smiled, resting his head back on Brian's shoulder and thereby closing the issue.

There was a prolonged period of silence in the loft before Brian pulled Justin up onto his lap.

"I do love you," he told the kid. "I have a lot of faults and you have maybe just a few very tiny faults but I love you just like you are. You're the best thing that ever happened in my life." Then he took a second look at the kid. "I think you're crying," he added.

"Allergies," Justin explained. "Must be your shaving lotion."

"I don't have any shaving lotion on," Brian informed him.

"Must be your lack of shaving lotion," Justin maintained, and then changing the subject told the big guy, "But, Brian, you're the best thing that ever happened in my life too. That was the luckiest night of my life when I saw you outside of Babylon."

"Actually," Brian tried to be more precise. "I saw you first. I was over in the dark and you were under the lamppost so I saw you first."

"I think I really saw you first when you came out the door of Babylon, Honey," Justin remembered, "Before you slipped into the darkness. That's when I decided you were the only guy in the world for me."

"OK," Brian gave up. "In the true spirit of sportsmanship, I'll let you go on thinking that you saw me first."

"Thanks, Bri. You're a real sport," Justin responded with a trace of irony. He nuzzled up to Brian who was glad to reciprocate.

Conversation died hard in front of the fireplace. There were pauses of various lengths but eventually one of the guys got to thinking, and the talking resumed.

"So you really think I'd be too young to play Tevya?" Brian asked the kid.

"Oh yeah," Justin allowed, "And Don Quixote too. I told Malcolm if he put those on, I wouldn't get you to play either role."

"You wouldn't 'get' me to play either role?" Brian came back at him. "Did I hear you right: 'You wouldn't get me to play either role?'"

"Maybe you're older than I thought and your hearing is failing, Sweetheart," Justin responded. "What I said was that I would bet you wouldn't want to play either role."

"That's a good bet, Baby," Brian told him, "Since I have told you a thousand times that I don't want to play any role. But I'm glad you think I'm too young for something. Every once in a while I worry about our age difference."

"Forget that, Bri," Justin. "I have decided that we're the same age. Our lives both started when I saw you first, coming out of Babylon. So that makes us the same age - even if I do sometimes kid you about being older. I love you, Brian. That's why I kid you." Then he looked up at Brian. "Are you crying, Brian?" he asked. "Are those really tears in your eyes?"

"Your allergies must be contagious," Brian reasoned.

"Allergies are not contagious, Bri," Justin maintained.

"Well you are so special, Baby, that you just might have special allergies and they might be contagious," Brian argued. "And anyhow, even if I was crying, I made you cry earlier tonight."

"Well maybe so, Bri," Justin argued back, "But it's harder to make you cry than it is me so …."

"Shut up, Twink," Brian interrupted, "And stay shut up. That is an absolute order.'

"Yes Sir," Justin complied. He was smiling when he said it. So was Brian.

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