Rock-A-Bye My Baby

Brian was looking forward to a quiet, peaceful night in front of the fake fireplace with his favorite blond twink. They did have some quiet, peaceful nights there - and some that were not so quiet or peaceful. When Justin sidled in next to him, Brian began to worry. But not for very long.

"Hey, Brian," Justin began. "You know that three-day meeting you're going to in Denver? The one I can't go to?"

"Yeah, Baby," Brian replied. "And it would be crazy for you to come along. I'm going to be working like twenty-hour days. That's why I said you can't come. You know how I hate to tell you that you can't do something you want to do. But you wouldn't want me to hurry through the meetings because I knew you were there waiting for me and I wanted to get back to you."

"Of course not," Justin agreed. "You know how much I like to be wherever you are though. But you know what else, Bri, I don't have to sit around here all by myself either. Abelard is going to be in town all that week and he and Malcolm are driving down to Luray caverns and they want me to go with them. We'll be leaving after you leave for Denver and we should be back here just about the same time you get back. Neat, huh? I'll be a real spelunker. That's a cave explorer, you know. Spelunca means 'cave' in Latin."

"Thanks for the classical education, Sweetheart," Brian smiled at him, "You're a real font of knowledge. In fact, you're a 'real' lot of things but I never thought of you as a spelunker. You know though - you do look a little spelunky. Still I don't know if I want you wandering around some old dark cave. What if you get lost in there and never come out? Who the hell will do the cooking around here? I'm not sure I like the idea."

"Brian, Honey," Justin assured him, "I will not get lost. I'll want to get back to you way more than you'll want me to get back."

"Cut that out, Baby. I'm not playing 'Can you top this?' with you," Brian held his ground. "I don't want to tell you not to do something you want to do so I won't - but you are to stay on the guided tour in those crazy caves. You are not to go off exploring by yourself - or just with Malcolm and Abelard either. You are going to be one safe spelunker - and that's an order."

"Oh," Justin grinned at him. "It's OK for me to go if I can't have any fun. Thanks a lot Kinney. I guess, because of you, I'll never get to be a great spelunker."

"Well, you'll just have to be great at some other things then, won't you?" Brian grinned back at him. "You know, Sunshine, you are already great at a lot of things. You don't need to be a great spelunker. And you also don't need to get your picture on the front page of the Post-Gazette: 'Pittsburgher Lost in Cave.'"

"Gee whiz, Brian," Justin protested, "That couldn't happen. Abelard is like an expert spelunker. It will be perfectly safe."

"Well, I'm not real happy about it - but you are an adult and a reasonably competent human being," Brian conceded, "But you also happen to mean a lot to me and I don't want you doing anything crazy."

"And when have I ever done anything crazy?" Justin wanted to know.

"No comment," Brian responded with a smile. "No comment at all."

The lack of any comment resulted in a period of silence in the loft. But pleasant as it was, it didn't last.

And it was Brian who resumed the discussion. "You know what, Baby," He recalled. "I never knew Abelard was a spelunker, but I did know he was an expert rock climber."

"Yeah, he is," Justin confirmed. "Actually, there are a couple of rock climbing sites down around Luray. We were thinking of maybe stopping at one of them if we had time."

"Wait a minute, Kiddo," Brian stopped him abruptly. "You didn't say anything about rock climbing."

"Well, we're not going rock climbing." Justin offered an explanation. "We're going spelunking - but if there's some extra time…."

"Justin Taylor," Brian replied. "You are entirely too valuable to me to be breaking your neck climbing some dumb rock. What the hell is the point of climbing rocks anyhow? All you do is get to the top of a rock - if you don't fall and fracture your skull trying."

"Gee whiz, Brian," Justin said. "It's an adventure. Don't you have any spirit of adventure?"

"Guess not," Brian admitted. "At least where you're concerned. I want you safe. I want you around for a long time. I've told you that before."

"Are you telling me I can't go rock climbing, Brian?" Justin asked for clarification. "I thought you hated to tell me not to do stuff I want to do."

"Sometimes, Baby," Brian had to laugh in spite of himself, "A guy just has to bite the bullet and do what he hates to do - no matter how much he hates it."

"So you're actually forbidding me to go rock climbing then?" Justin seemed surprised. "All I'd be doing is climbing a silly old rock. I thought you might be a little worried but I didn't think you'd go ballistic."

"OK, Twink," Brian gave up - or maybe he didn't, "I'm not going to tell you not to go rock climbing if you want to do it. But if you do, and if you survive, remember exactly where you did your climbing. After I get back from Denver, I'll be going down there. Any rock you climb, I'm going to climb it too."

"Brian Kinney, that's hateful," Justin complained. "You know I don't want you climbing any rocks."

"How come, JT?" Brian asked with a subtle smile. "I guess you think I'm too old or too clumsy to climb a silly old rock Poor Brian, too old and too clumsy."

"Cut it out, Brian," Justin protested. "You know it's just that I love you and I don't want you to take stupid chances…. Shit….OK, Kinney. You win, dammit. I won't climb any rocks. I'm in love with a spoilsport - a real spoilsport - probably the biggest spoilsport in the whole entire world. I guess I better get used to it. If we stop at a rock climbing spot, I'll just have to tell the guys Brian won't let me climb."

"But that wouldn't be exactly true, Baby," Brian pointed out. "You can blame me if you want to though. I don't care - but technically, I did not order you not to go rock climbing. Actually the decision is yours."

"Gee whiz, Brian," Justin told him. "Maybe I won't even go with them. I don't even know if I want to be a spelunker at all. The only reason I considered going was because I was going to be so lonely without you."

"OK, Twink," Brian did give up. "You can come to Denver - but I'm really gonna be busy at the meeting."

"You won't even know I'm there," Justin said, beaming a smile at him.

"Yeah, I will," Brian disagreed. "I always know when you're there. We'll stay over a few days in Denver after the meeting though. Maybe we can find a cave out there and do a little spelunking ourselves."

"Nah," Justin declined. "We don't need to do any spelunking, Honey. You know - I think I'm losing my interest in spelunking altogether. There's a lot of other things I'd rather do than spelunking - especially when I'm with you."

"OK," Brian was laughing now. "We'll do whatever you want to do - just like we always do…. Can I ask you one question though, Baby? Was this whole thing about spelunking just a great big put-on to get me to let you come to Denver?"

"How could you ever think such a thing, Brian Kinney," Justin seemed shocked. "My feelings are definitely hurt that you could even ask that question."

"Well I'm going to ask you another question anyhow, Twink," Brian was still laughing. "What's the Latin word for 'pain in the ass?'"

Brian's barb bounced right off the kid as he cuddled himself in closer to the big guy. Let Brian have his fun. Justin was happy. He was going to Denver.

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