Don't Go There

It was well after midnight when Brian and Justin entered the loft. They both looked tired. It would not usually have been a time to light the fake fireplace. But maybe things were not so usual right then.

"Can we light the fireplace for a while, Bri?" Justin decided to ask.

"If you want to," Brian replied with seemingly little interest, but he quickly plopped himself onto the floor in his usual position, and was waiting there when Justin joined him. It was a few minutes before anything was said.

"Is something the matter, Brian?" Justin broke the silence. "Can we talk about it?"

"Nothing's wrong," Brian said. "Why would you ask that?"

"Bri," Justin reasoned. "It's been a long time since we've been to Babylon. It seemed like a good idea when Emm and Ted suggested it - for old times sake. Even Mikey and Ben decided to come. And you seemed to be having a really good time too. Then you went over to the bar and when you came back, everything was different. I'm guessing something happened at the bar. You weren't the same at all. I know you, Brian. You can't fool me. Something's the matter. Talk to me. I can help."

"You're not short on confidence, are you, Baby?" Brian broke into a slight smile. "And there are a lot of things you can do - like making sure we went to Babylon on a night Oswaldo was out of town - but you can't keep me from getting old."

"You didn't age all that much in the five minutes you were at the bar, Sweetheart," Justin reasoned, ignoring what might have been an accusation. "You were fine when you left the table. What the hell happened at the bar?"

"It wasn't at the bar, Baby," Brian told him. "It was on my way back. I may be getting old but my hearing is as good as ever. There was this twink with a couple of other twinks. You know what he said. He said 'So that's Brian. He's so old - and skinny. I don't know what anybody would see in him'…. And what the hell are you smiling about, Twink? You're smiling. You made me tell you this and now you're smiling."

"I'm not smiling because that ignorant twink said what he said, Bri," Justin contained himself. "Bet that ignorant twink wasn't blond either. Bet he was red-haired. Blond twinks are way too smart to say such a dumb thing as that - and wrong too."

"Geez," Brian was surprised. "He was red-headed, but one of the other twinks with him was blond and he didn't call him on it. You never told me to beware of red-headed twinks. How come?"

"I just didn't single out red-haired twinks, Bri," Justin pointed out. "I did tell you to beware of any other guys besides me. I am kind of possessive, you know. Even blond twinks better stay away from you - and you from them."

"Yeah, I guess I better," Brian agreed. "You're pretty tough - and you knew that the ignorant twink had red hair. That's amazing."

"Not so amazing, Honey," Justin conceded. "His name is Roderick. He's from the Institute - music - and he knows about you and me. He's just jealous of me, Bri. It's me he was insulting, not you. I'm sure of that. He wants what we have so bad and he can't seem to pull it off. He's not all that bad of a guy really - but he can't find the right guy for him - and it's driving him crazy. I saw him giving us the eye when we came in."

"Well then maybe I feel a little bit sorry for him," Brian seemed to reconsider. "I want what we have too. But I also wonder why you were smiling when I told you what he said. You did smile like maybe you agreed with him."

"That was not why I smiled, Honey," Justin laughed. "But, with your permission, I won't tell you why I smiled. OK?"

"Nope." Brian told him. "We have no secrets. I want to know why you were smiling when I told you what Ratfink said about me - and you are going to tell me too."

"Do I have to?" Justin pleaded semi-seriously.

"Yep," Brian insisted. "My mind is made up and I want the whole unvarnished truth too."

"Darn it, Bri," Justin surrendered. "What Roderick said - it's just about the same thing that Daphne said about you when she first saw you - that first time I ever was in Babylon. Remember that night."

"Yeah, I remember," Brian admitted. "You spent the whole night trying to make me jealous."

"Correction," Justin came back. "I did make you jealous - the first time I tried. And you brought me back to the loft too - a second round for old 'once is enough' Brian Kinney."

"Quit trying to change the subject, Twink," Brian grinned. "You're telling me Daphne thought I looked old. I don't mind the 'skinny' part. And I always thought Daphne liked me too."

"Cut it out, Brian," Justin ordered. "You know Daphne loved you at first sight. She was just afraid I maybe couldn't get you and she was trying to make me feel better."

"I guess you're lucky that Daphne wasn't my type," Brian seemed to be feeling a lot better.

"I was pretty sure she wasn't," Justin told him. "Just like I knew I was. You didn't know it - but I did."

"Maybe I knew it," Brian replied. "Maybe I was just playing 'hard to get.' Guess you never figured that out."

"Yeah, I did," Justin said. "It took me a long time to figure out that you were just playing 'hard to get' but I did figure it out. You don't play 'hard to get' any more though, do you?"

"Nope," Brian admitted, bringing about a lengthy pause in the discussion - which neither of them was unhappy about.

"OK," Brian returned to the subject. "Since you explained about Daphne, I guess I shouldn't be mad at her - and maybe I shouldn't be mad at Rattler either. Maybe you should fix him up with Rodney - or maybe Hix."

"You know what, Bri?" Justin smiled. "It might be better for Roderick if you just stayed mad at him. We can hope he finds the right guy soon - without any help from us. OK?"

"Whatever you say, Sweetheart," Brian told him. "You always know best about stuff like that."

"Yeah, I do," Justin humbly agreed. "And maybe we should just stay away from Babylon too. What do you think?"

"It's up to you, Baby," Brian responded. "I wouldn't want to go to Babylon all that much - but every once in a while might be OK - whatever you think."

"We'll see then," Justin cuddled himself closer to the guy he loved. "And if we do go again, I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you have a really great time."

"Well," Brian considered. "Maybe if you didn't participate so vigorously in the karaoke…."

"I hate you, Brian Kinney," Justin whispered into Brian's ear.

But he didn't act like it - not in the least - and for Brian Kinney, actions spoke a lot louder than words.

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