Bunny Hop

It was the day after Easter. The atmosphere in the loft was cool. Justin was not speaking to Brian. Oh, he still loved him and he still thought Brian was the greatest guy in the world, but there were some things….

Justin had risen first and was puttering around the kitchen preparing breakfast for one, when Brian ambled in. "Speaking this morning?" he asked. "To some people," came the response.

"Well it's cold in here," Brian countered, "I think I'll light the fireplace to warm things up." "You leave my fireplace out of this," Justin objected, "This is between you and me."

"It's not your fireplace," Brian responded, "It was given to me, though I'll admit you kind of took it over. I think you've used it a time or two to calm me down when I was mad at you, and it always seemed to work. You don't have any reason to be mad at me anyhow. What happened to you yesterday was exactly what happened to me on Christmas."

"That was an accident at Christmas," Justin claimed, "But what you did yesterday was planned months in advance." Now Justin wanted to smile but that was not how he and Brian conducted their arguments. "Was that really an accident?" Brian wanted to know.

Justin had to smile at that but he turned his face away so that Brian could not see it. "It probably was not an accident," Justin answered, "But I wasn't responsible for it. I think Daphne thought you would be a better Santa Claus than I would, and brought the big suit on purpose, but I was not part of any of that at all. I wouldn't betray the guy I love - like some people would."

Now it was Brian's turn to smile but he didn't let Justin see it. He proceeded to turn on the fake flames in the electric fireplace. "Would you mind throwing a couple of eggs in the skillet for me?" he called to Justin. The silence that followed was broken by the cracking of a couple of eggs. Brian smiled again.

All of this rigmarole was the result of their visit to Childrens' Hospital the previous day. The plan had been that Brian was going to play the Easter Bunny for the sick kids because the bunny suit that Daphne's sorority owned was too big for Justin but a good fit for Brian. Knowing this long in advance, Brian had ordered a new bunny suit, much more elaborate than the one on hand, and he had ordered an exact fit for Justin. It was that suit Daphne brought when she came to pick them up, and so it was Justin who successfully played the Easter Bunny. It wasn't that he didn't have fun on that job. It was just the principle of the thing.

The breakfast passed in the continued silence. When they were finished eating, Brian sat down on the floor in front of the couch facing the fake flames, and waited for Justin to cuddle up beside him. He did not have to wait long. Brian put his arm around the blond twink. "Are you going to talk to me, Babe?" he asked the kid, "It's kind of nice not having to listen to you jabbering in my ear all the time, but it's no way to conduct a relationship. I happen to like you a lot, you know"

"Well I guess, if that's the way you feel about it, I'll talk to you. But I don't know if I can ever trust you again," Justin groused. "It was just a little surprise. That's what it was. You like surprises," Brian defended himself.

"Well, there are surprises and there are surprises," Justin allowed, "I would have been glad to play the Easter Bunny if you were afraid to. You didn't need such an elaborate scheme. My best friend betrayed me, that's what happened."

"I did not betray you," Brian objected. "I don't mean you, Silly, I mean Daphne, " Justin replied with a smile. Brian bent over and kissed Justin. " I won the battle yesterday and you are not going to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat," Brian crowed. "Well I'm still going to try?" Justin responded.

"Cut it out," Brian told Justin, "You had a great time and I know it, you know it, and I know you know it." "OK, I'll admit I had a great time. I love being with those kids, even if one of them did tell me he liked Santa Claus better," Justin responded.

"That's OK," Brian patted him on the head, "You were just adorable with those big floppy ears and that fluffy tail. But that Santa is a real pro, and you'll get better with practice. Someday you'll be as good as I am." "Now that's a goal I'm not sure I want to pursue," Justin laughed as he reached over to kiss the guy he loved.

The battle was certainly over but neither one of them wanted to get up and proceed with the day's activities, most of which would not be together.

"Brian?" Justin asked. "Oy," Brian thought as Justin went on, "It was a nice idea for us to have the Easter Bunny visit Gus after the hospital. Gus was really excited about it, but did you know Mel and Linz were having a picnic for forty people? Why weren't we invited?" "We were invited," Brian murmured. "I didn't know," Justin insisted. "I didn't tell you," Brian admitted. "Did they all know about what was going on then?" Justin wanted to know. "Yeah," Brian said, "They all knew. That's why Emmett had his camera and Ted had his camcorder. Your performance was recorded for posterity. Are you going to be mad again?"

"No, Sweetheart," Justin responded, "I'm not going to get mad again, but somehow, someday, I'm going to get even. Count on it. And I'm sure you won't be mad at me then, will you?"

"That Easter Bunny suit cost a fortune. So we got to use it for two events. Maybe you'll even want to wear it to Babylon some night." Brian replied. "Maybe," Justin laughed, "But don't hold your breath."

Justin pushed closer to Brian. "I was never really mad at you at all," Justin told Brian. "I knew that," Brian answered.

"How did you know that?" Justin wanted to know. "I figured if you were really mad you would have slept on the couch, but you didn't. And you were not so unfriendly last night as I recall, so I guessed you weren't all that mad," Brian replied.

"I could have still been mad," Justin laughed at him, "But why should I suffer because you're a rat?"

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