Volunteers

Brian had an enigmatic smile on his face as the guys settled themselves in front of their fake fireplace.  Justin wondered what that was all about since he had a somewhat tricky agenda for the evening.  Brian opened the conversation.

"You know what, Taylor," he addressed the kid, "I'm not going to get mad at you tonight whatever you do."

"Well you're scaring me right now, Kinney," Justin replied.  "That announcement scares me.  What the heck brought that on.  I didn't do anything."

"I guess, then, if you didn't do anything," Brian surmised, "You are about to do something.  And I've decided not to get mad at you no matter what you did or what you do."

"Gee whiz, Brian," Justin told him with just a trace of enthusiasm,  "I wish I had known that sooner.  There are a lot of things I could think of doing if you weren't going to get mad at me for doing them.  Why didn't you warn me about this a day or so ago?  Not that I ever want to make you mad though.  You know that."

"But I think you must have something to tell me now that might ordinarily irritate me," Brian told him.  "Something that a lot of other people already know and that you haven't chosen to tell me till tonight".

 

"And I guess you know what it is then?" Justin told him back, "And I also guess it was Ted who told you.  I do have something to ask you – not tell you.  And I just found out about it today so I have not been keeping any secrets.  And I heard about it from Ted who was afraid to ask you himself and I told him I would.  I wonder why he told you himself then."

"He didn't," Brian said.  "He just said I should go easy on the kid tonight.  He said it wasn't your fault.  I'm guessing you've been meddling around Kinnetics again since Ted's involved.  Right?"

"Nope," Justin told him.  "I would never meddle around at Kinnetics without your specific request, or at least your permission."

"I bet," Brian responded laconically.  "But now I am kind of curious.  What could be this thing you haven't done that might make me mad?  I still promise not to get mad."

"Don't promise, Bri," Justin answered.  "I want you to get mad if you need to.  It's just something that you might want to do.  You can say "No' if you don't want to do it.'

"But you want me to say 'Yes'?" Brian presumed.  "I think it's time for you to tell me what it is you want me to do that might make me mad."

"OK," Justin decided.  "I guess you know that Brandon was badly injured in a motorcycle accident yesterday morning."

"The only Brandon we know is that creep from Babylon," Brian seemed puzzled.  "Not that Brandon?"

"Yeah - that Brandon, Brian," Justin confirmed.  "He's in West Penn Hospital.  He's going to be OK, they think, but he's gonna have a long recovery period, physical rehab and all that, and his insurance won't cover all the expenses."

"I'll donate $100," Brian volunteered, "Which is a lot more than I feel like contributing, but you want me to, so I will.  And I will not get mad either.  But that Brandon is one of the biggest creeps I've ever met."

"That's a nice gesture, Bri," Justin replied, "And it shows what a great guy you are too, but that's not exactly what I wanted to ask you."

"OK," Brian smiled at him, "And I'm still going to try not to get mad but I'm not so sure now.  But I am still going to try."

"There's gonna be a big benefit event for him at Babylon, Bri," Justin blurted out, "And we have been asked to be on the planning committee.  They asked me too but you're the one they really want.  They asked Ted to ask you but he was afraid.  You will draw a huge crowd down there.  They really need you."

"Why the hell would you want me to do something like that for Brandon, Baby?" Brian couldn't understand.  "He's not exactly a friend of ours.  In fact he's one of my unfavorite people in the whole world."

"OK, Brian," Justin confessed.  "There is something I haven't told you about Brandon.  I've known it for a while and I didn’t tell you - so you can get mad if you want to.  I wasn't keeping it a secret from you exactly, but I was waiting for the right time to tell you.  I don't know if this is the right time but I guess I gotta tell you.  Brandon has changed."

"Creeps like Brandon don't change," Brian stated with some confidence.  "They never change.  Bad guys don't turn into good guys."

"Sometimes they do," Justin told him.  "A couple of months ago, Brandon met this kid, Jason, at Babylon.  Brandon fell in love, Bri, and he and Jason are living together and Brandon is no longer the big stud at Babylon.  He has kind of retired.  I've met Jason and he's real nice, Bri – a good influence on Bramdon.  I haven't seen Jason since the accident but I think I know what he must be going through.  It has to be awful."

"And how old is Jason?" Brian wondered with a kind of a smile breaking out on his face.

"Eighteen, I think," Justin told him.  "Or maybe even seventeen."

"Blond and cute?" Brian continued.

"Yeah," Justin confirmed.  "How did you know?"

"My college history teacher – Dr. Savell - we used to call him Crazy Leon.  That was his first name – Leon, not Crazy Leon, that is.  His favorite saying was 'History always repeats itself.'"  Brian remembered.  "Maybe Crazy Leon wasn't so crazy after all."

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Justin acted puzzled.

"Yes you do, Twink," Brian was laughing, "Yes you do."

Justin didn't answer and the conversation faded out for a while and the guys just stared vacantly at the flitting flames.

"Will you think about serving on the committee, Brian?" Justin broke the silence to ask.  "They do need you."

"Nah, Baby," Brian answered.  "I don't need to think about it.  I'll be glad to serve and I think we can up our own contribution a little bit too."

"You are the greatest guy in the world, Mr. Kinney," Justin reached over and kissed him, "And I am the luckiest guy in the world cause I've got the greatest guy in the world."

"And, of course, you deserve nothing less?" Brian laughed.  "Right?"

"Probably so," Justin laughed back at him.

"You know what, Baby," Brian told the kid, "Why don't you call Jason?  We ought to take him out to dinner or something.  He needs to know he has friends at a time like this.  If we can help him out, we should."

"Gee whiz, Brian," Justin exclaimed, "Every time I think I know how great you are, you do something else.  It's really neat that you're thinking of Jason." 

"Actually," Brian answered, squeezing Justin just slightly, "I'm not thinking of Jason.  I'm thinking of you."

"I love you, Brian," Justin displayed a tear in the corner of his eye, and the conversation paused for a while.

It was Brian who resumed the chat after a little while.  "And you know something else, Sweetheart," Brian told the kid.  "I think I ought to get to know Brandon a little better too.  I'll bet you Brandon is smart.  We might have some similar problems that we can help each other with."

Justin brushed his head against Brian's cheek,  "Shit," he smiled at the guy he loved more than anything else in the world.

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