Too Much Hot Air

The fireplace was blazing away and the guys were settling themselves in front of it. Justin had a coy smile on his face. Brian did not.

"Let me get this straight," Brian began immediately. "You entered this contest…."

"No, I didn't, Brian," Justin interrupted. "It wasn't a contest at all. I was listening to FM 66.6 Evil Music and they offered this prize and the thirteenth caller won it. So I called and I was the thirteenth caller. Thirteen's my lucky number, in case you didn't know."

"It would be, Baby. So you called on your cell phone while you were driving? That's a real 'no-no,' Baby," Brian complained.

"Nope," Justin denied the accusation. "I had just parked over at the Institute and I was walking into the Fine Arts Center…."

"And I thought I told you that 66.6 was not a good station to listen to," Brian regrouped. "In addition to playing really lousy stuff, those disc jockeys never shut up."

"Nope again," Justin countered. "You never said a thing. You just make this real funny face when I'm listening. You're really cute when you make that face, Honey. And, by way of keeping you up with modern times, there are no disc jockeys any more. They're radio personalities now."

"New label. Same hot air. But changing the subject is not an option here," Brian had to smile. "And anyways I'm always cute – just like you. But now you expect me to get up Saturday morning at 4 AM to drive to Latrobe – like maybe 40 miles."

"Well it's an hour drive and we can't be late. Hot air balloons have to take off at dawn, Brian," Justin tried to explain.

"And if the wind isn't just right or something like that, they can't go up at all so we could drive all the way out there and nothing happens…." Brian summarized.

"Yeah," Justin admitted. "That could be it but then we could go back the next Saturday. Like a rain check, Brian. The balloon rides are out there for the whole month."

"So we could get up at 4 AM again the next Saturday and head east again, eh?" Brian said. "And hope."

"Gee whiz, Brian," Justin told him. "You can be a real grouch sometimes. You just don't seem to have the spirit of adventure at all any more."

"And if you're about to attribute that defect to my advancing age," Brian had to smile. "I just want to warn you that you could be traded in for an older model."

"I don't think so," Justin came back confidently. "Youthful exuberance is a fleeting grace. Doesn't come in older models. You won't be doing any trading in. I think you're very satisfied with what you've got."

"Okay, Baby," Brian wondered. "What's so great about going a couple of thousand feet up in the air in a balloon?"

"You can like see forever," Justin informed him, "And the guys I know who have been up say it's really very still and quiet up there."

"Those guys have never been up in a balloon with you, Baby," Brian was laughing now. "Things are not usually quiet when my little JT is around. That's what I'd say."

"That's mean, Kinney," Justin complained. "I can too be quiet if I want to – and you know that too. It's just that there's always so much to tell you and you don't let me just tell it….Like now for example…."

"What if a big wind comes up and blows you away, Twink," Brian questioned. "Where the hell will you end up?"

"Around the world in eighty days," Justin laughed. "Would you miss me if I was gone for eighty days circumnavigating the planet in my beautiful balloon?"

"And stopping at every McDonald's you sighted," Brian laughed, "Bet you can see four or five McDonals's at one time from that high up. You'll have trouble picking out which one to head for."

"And I bet you'd really miss me too, Kinney," Justin maintained his position. "Say you would. Say it."

"The only way I could miss you would be if you went up and I didn't go with you, Baby," Brian reasoned. "If I was up there with you, I probably wouldn't miss you at all."

"But we'd have to do without the fireplace for the whole eighty days, Bri," Justin countered. "We might be divorced before the trip was over."

"Not unless we got married before we started out on our odyssey," Brian pointed out with a grin. "But maybe I shouldn't go up with you though. Who would be your second choice – provided of course, that I decided to let you go up in the first place?"

"Let me, eh?" Justin was amused. "Well Malcolm already said he'd love to go," Justin told him. "And I bet Jason would too – and Hix loves balloons….But…."

"OK, Baby," Brian acquiesced before Justin had finished. "You can take somebody else up with you if you want to. Brian Kinney will stay right here in the loft and sleep till nine o'clock."

"Brian Kinney will like hell stay here and sleep until nine o'clock in the morning," Justin took control. "Brian Kinney will be on his way to Latrobe about 4:00 and he will be having a good time too."

"Bossy little twink," Brian grouched good-naturedly. "I knew I never had a chance. There's no way on earth that you'd go up in that balloon without me there to protect you. You wouldn't trust any of those other guys to make sure you were safe. I knew it all along. So I guess it will be just you and me in outer space next Saturday morning."

"Actually maybe not," Justin told him. "I never said I wanted you to up in the balloon with me. I just told you I won the ride and you assumed….I've been trying to tell you…."

"So you really don't want me to go with you, Baby?" Brian sounded just a little disappointed.

Justin rubbed his hair against Brian's cheek, "Gee whiz, Brian Kinney," Justin.went on. "There's no way I'd go up in that balloon without you – if I was going up, that is. It's just that I've given the free rides away."

"Given them away?" Brian seemed puzzled. "So why the hell are we even going to Latrobe then?"

"Think a minute, Brian," Justin asked him. "We know somebody who has often said she'd like to ride in a hot air balloon sometime. That was why I called in the first place. I never wanted to go up and get blown around the world. I thought maybe you'd figure it out."

"Yeah," Brian recalled without precision. "There is somebody….But I can't remember who it is…." Then the light bulb seemed to click on. "Oh my God," Brian cried. "My mother. She's always said she'd like to go up in a balloon. Good old Joanie is going to get her wish?"

"Yep," Justin confirmed. "I think she'd have liked it if you'd go with her too but, as well as you guys are getting along these days, I didn't want to risk having you two go up together and come down separately. Clare is going with her instead."

"And you think that's better than her and me, Sweetheart?" Brian laughed. "I don't think so."

"Nobody's asking you to think," Justin laughed back at him. "And you are not going to hire a fighter plane to shoot down the balloon either. I'll be watching you the whole time."

"Bet you will," Brian gibed. "Bet you're always watching me, Baby. Like how you know what I look like when you're listening to FM 66.6. You think I don't notice that kind of stuff?"

"My, what a big head you have, Mr. Kinney," Justin snuggled closer to Brian. "A big swollen head. Not that I'm saying you're wrong though. I just…."

"So you're saying that my head's maybe like a hot air balloon then?" Brian interrupted with a big grin. "You think I'm full of hot air."

"Not saying anything at all," Justin told him. "Nothing at all. I can be pretty quiet when I want to."

Brian decided to settle for that.


 

Return to Fireside Chats