Edgy

Same old scene. Brian and Justin sitting in front of their fake fireplace with the flickering flames casting weird shadows over the loft. Justin was resting his head on Brian's shoulder and Brian had his arm wrapped around Justin. Same old scene.

"What did you and Gus do this afternoon?" Brian asked the kid.

"Sometime I'm going to do something that you don't know about, Bri," Justin replied with a big grin, "But it's gonna be damn hard. How did you know Gus and I were together this afternoon?"

"Maybe I'm psychic," Brian proposed, "Or maybe Linz told me. I forget which."

"I guess it could be either," Justin opined, "But if you were psychic, wouldn't you also know what we did?"

"Maybe I do know what you did," Brian opined back, "Maybe I'm just asking you to see what you'll tell me."

"Well it was nothing bad, Bri," Justin laughed, "I took Gus over to see Uncle Mikey and Uncle Ben. Cousin Hunter wasn't there."

"And did you and Gus have a good time out at the cozy cottage with the white picket fence in Gay Heights with all those hetero-homos?" Brian wanted to know. "I hope none of their crap rubbed off on Gus - or you either for that matter."

"They're not all that bad," Justin declared. "Mikey and Ben are just like regular people. I'll admit those neighbors of theirs are a bit much though."

"And were they there?" Brian asked. "Just like they usually are, which is the reason I don't like to go out to visit Uncle Mikey and Uncle Ben. I'll bet they were."

"Actually they did stop by. They dropped off a casserole," Justin smiled. "Nobody ever drops off a casserole here."

"We can make our own casseroles,' Brian stated confidently. "We don't need anybody dropping off any casseroles here. We can make our own."

"Oh we can, can we?" Justin was laughing at this point, "Well why haven't 'we' ever done that then? Now I have made lots of casseroles but the first 'we' casserole is yet to come, I think."

"We're a couple, Twink," Brian groused, "And whatever either of us does, it's both of us doing it."

"If you weren't Brian Kinney," Justin retorted, "That would be romantic. But, alas, you are Brian Kinney."

"And it's still romantic," Brian insisted, squeezing the kid a little closer.

"I know," Justin told him, and the conversation died out for a while at this point.

It was Justin who put an end to the quiet period. "Are we edgy?" he asked Brian.

"Edgy?" Brian echoed. "What kind of a question is that?"

"Well one of the visiting neighbors out at Mikey's called me the less edgy of the edgy twosome," Justin recalled. "It made me wonder if we are edgy. I bet edgy people know they're edgy and I don't know that. So are we edgy?"

"Oh yeah, we're edgy all right," Brian told him. "We sit around here all the time and we spend half our time right here on the floor looking at the fireplace. What could be edgier than that?"

"Aren't you satisfied with what we do?" Justin asked with what might have been real concern in his voice.

"Actually I'm not," Brian replied. "I wish we could spend more time here and more time in front of the fireplace. I kind of like sitting here with you."

"Now that is really romantic, Bri," Justin admitted. "That is romantic even coming from Brian Kinney. Can edgy people be romantic, Bri?"

"I guess so," Brian said. "Aren't we the living proof of that?"

"I think you're putting me on, Kinney," Justin complained just slightly.

"Not about the romantic stuff," Brian assured him. That seemed to satisfy Justin - temporarily.

"You used to be edgy, Brian," Justin broke the silence long before Brian wanted it to end. "But I don't think I was ever edgy."

"Oh Baby, you were the edgiest," Brian assured him with a tolerant smile. "Do you think I could have fallen for a guy who wasn't edgy?"

"You are putting me on, Brian," Justin concluded. "But you know what, I kind of like it. You're saying some neat things even if you don't mean them."

"And you know damn well that I do mean them," Brian came back at him. Justin smiled and Brian continued, "You know we are invited out to Mike's next Sunday?"

"Yeah," Justin knew, "But you didn't want to go. In fact, I think you refused to go."

"Well I think we should go," Brian changed his mind, "And show those neighbors the edgy couple in action."

"Uh Uh, Brian," Justin declared. "I've seen you with those neighbors before. If we go, you have to behave yourself. Mikey and Ben get embarrassed and we aren't going out there for that. I even get a little embarrassed, Bri. I guess I'm really not that edgy after all."

"You're edgy enough for me, Baby," Brian told him.

"Gee whiz, Bri," Justin figured. "I'm not sure where this conversation is going, but I like it. I guess getting there may be all the fun."

Brian didn't respond verbally but the guys knew they had come to an understanding.

"Hey, Brian," Justin suggested eventually, "Let's go out tomorrow night and do something really edgy. Whattaya say? You pick something and we'll do it."

"Nah," Brian responded. "You pick what we do. You probably need more practice in being edgy than I do so you pick what we do."

Justin thought a while before making the momentous decision. "OK, Brian," he declared. "Let's go out to dinner tomorrow night at Woodie's. And maybe even have wine with our meal? How's that for edgy?"

"Geez, Baby," Brian sounded surprised. "That sounds really edgy. You're a lot more edgy than you thought. I guess those neighbors from Gay Heights were right after all. After our edgy dinner at Woodie's though, can we come back here and sit in front of our fireplace?"

"And talk about how edgy we are?" Justin added.

"Sounds good to me," Brian agreed.

"You know, Bri," Justin concluded, "I know you're putting me on."

"And you're not mad?" Brian wanted to know.

"I love it," Justin told him.

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