Fancy Meeting You Here

The fireplace was lit and the guys were assembled in their usual places. They were both gazing idly at the darting flames but nothing at all was being said. Brian might have been waiting for something to be said – but he wasn't about to wait all night.

"OK, Baby," he finally broke the silence. "I think you have something to tell me – or I think you have something you should tell me – or maybe you have something that you better tell me."

"I don't think so, Bri," Justin responded innocently. "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about."

"I think you know, all right," Brian stuck to his guns. "Kenny told me you stopped by Kinnetics to see me this afternoon while I was in that long meeting – and you didn't wait. You wouldn't stop by Kinnetics if you didn't have something to tell me – and since you didn't tell me then you still must have something to tell me. That was you, wasn't it? Kenny has good eyes. I don't think he got somebody else mixed up with you. He wasn't mistaken, was he?"

"Well, maybe yes and no, Honey," Justin told him. "He was right about me being there, all right. But he was wrong about why I was there. I was there to see Cynthia. She didn't tell you?"

"Nah," Brian replied. "She was gone before the meeting was over so she didn't get a chance. Maybe she wouldn't have anyhow. You two planning to pull something on me again?"

"Brian Kinney," Justin said patiently. "Cynthia and me would never ever try to pull anything on you. You ought to know that. And if we were gonna pull something on you, do you think we'd meet at Kinnetics to discuss it? I don't think you think we're that stupid."

"No you wouldn't," Brian admitted. "But you might pretend you were stopping by to see me so you could set up some later meeting in some obscure little bistro – where you could hatch your plot in absolute privacy. Maybe that's why Cynthia was gone when I got out of the meeting. And that would also explain why you planned to keep your little visit to Kinnetics a secret from me."

"Gee whiz, Brian," Justin marveled. "I'm not a devious person at all, but if I was devious, I bet I'd like to have a paranoid like you to help me do my plotting. You would be a big help."

"You do all right on your own, Twink," Brian laughed at him, "And if I am paranoid, I have some real good reasons. OK, are you going to tell me why you stopped at Kinnetics to see Cynthia if it wasn't some nefarious plot that you guys were gonna pull on me – for my own good, of course?"

"You know, Sweetheart," Justin laughed back, "Everything is not always about you – not that I don't really wish everything were always about you. Anyhow, you know Cynthia's favorite cousin, Donald, is getting married in a couple of months?"

"Yeah, I know," Brian answered. "And I also know we're going to the wedding. That's already decided so you don't have to finagle that. And I told you to pick out whatever gift for them you wanted, and I would like it really well. So it's not about any of that."

"Well maybe you could say it is, kinda," Justin disagreed slightly. "It was actually about Cynthia's gift for them."

"Cynthia needs a gay guy to help her pick out a gift for a straight couple," Brian wondered. "Queer Eye for the Straight Couple, eh? Well, I'm a gay guy so why didn't she ask me to help? No taste, I guess?"

"Not at all, Brian," Justin smiled at him, "Gee whiz! We all are in awe of your taste. You and Mikey have ideas that would never occur to us ordinary mortals. Awesome."

"OK, Twink," Brian smiled back. "There's more to this story and I intend to hear it – if it takes all night."

"And it will be my pleasure to tell you the rest of the story, Sweetheart," Justin said, "In all it's detail too. Did you know that Donald met Anna Marie at PNC Park – actually outside PNC Park? She was waiting for her old boy-friend to show up for the Pirates' game, and Donald was scalping tickets. Well her boy-friend never showed and Don got stuck with a few tickets he couldn't sell so…."

"Geez," Brian reacted. "Now that really is romantic – and interesting too – and also a neat reason for you to be meeting with Cynthia behind my back. That explains just about everything."

"Sounds like sarcasm to me, Kinney," Justin retorted. "I am trying to explain everything and I will – if I get the chance – which I may not – but I'll still try anyway. And Don and Anna Marie do think their first meeting was romantic. A lot of couples think their first meeting was romantic. Well, Cynthia wants me to paint a picture of the corner where they met. It's gonna be her wedding gift to them. I stopped by Kinnetics today to get a photograph of the place from Cynthia."

"You're gonna paint this picture from a photograph?" Brian seemed doubtful.

"Of course I'm not going to paint my picture from a photograph, Mr. Kinney," Justin was aghast. "I should be upset that such a thought would even occur to you. I am not a hack. I am going to go over there and make my own sketches. I need the picture to make sure I get the exact right corner. It would not do at all for Cynthia to give them a painting, however superb, of the wrong corner – and there are lots of corners around PNC Park."

"Yeah there are," Brian admitted. "And that story is so weird that it has to be true, Baby. It's really Cynthia and you at your very best. What are we getting them? We can't top the picture."

"And we don't want to either, Bri," Justin assured him. "We don't know them well enough. They're registered at Macy's. I'll get them something they want and think they need – unless you volunteer to do that."

"Are you gonna put Donald and Anna Marie in the picture, JT?" Brian had a thought, ignoring Justin's suggestion. "That might be neat."

"Nope," Justin told him. "But actually we did think about that – and then decided not to. Just the corner. They can imagine the rest."

For no particular reason, the conversation died out at this point. Maybe the guys were doing some imagining of their own. They weren't done with the subject though.

"Hey, Brian," Justin asked a bit later. "You thought our first meeting was romantic, didn't you?"

"I guess so," Brian recalled. "Maybe not right then but I figured out how romantic it was later – when you told me, maybe."

"Sometimes you are really hateful, Brian Kinney," Justin complained, negating the complaint by running his hand through Brian's hair. "You knew right away how romantic it was – just like I did."

"Maybe then, Sweetheart," Brian wondered, "You might want to explain why we have no superb painting of that lamppost hanging here in the loft."

"Well maybe I did think about it," Justin grinned at him, "But I didn't want to put up with the aggravation I'd get from you – and you know you'd have a field day too, Kinney. But maybe we'll get one. Just maybe we will. So there."

"I guess you'll be heading over to Babylon tomorrow to make sketches?" Brian surmised with a wide smile.

"Don't need sketches, Bri," Justin replied. "I don't need any sketches at all. I know every detail by heart."

"Me too," Brian told him. "Every detail."

"No you don't, you big liar," Justin laughed at him, "But I think you're pretty smart to say that anyhow. You are really smart, Bri."

Silence again fell upon the loft as the guys cuddled close together. Justin's head rested on Brian's shoulder. It seemed like the discussion might be over till Brian asked….

"You know what, Kiddo? You wouldn't be charging Cynthia for this painting. That I know. You know what I do think though. I think it's a payback for all her spying on me for you. That's what I think."

"Like I said before, Bri," Justin nuzzled at Brian's chest. "You are really smart. Really smart."

Then Justin pretended to be asleep – and Brian pretended to believe he was.


 

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