The Spirit of Christmas

 

The flames from the fake fireplace were sending shadows around the loft, shadows all the more strange as they glanced off the holiday decorations already installed throughout the loft.

The guys were sitting very close together on the floor and Justin already had his head on Brian's shoulder.

"I know you're mad at me, Brian," Justin began. "I'm sorry, but you know how I am. I guess I can't help myself. I'm just me. I really try…."

"I am not mad at you," Brian told him," Not at all. I'm glad you are you. You are just who I want you to be. Otherwise you might be Hix or Rodney or somebody just as bad. Nope, I want you to be you and I am not mad at you."

"Well if you aren't mad at me," Justin persisted, "At least you think I'm crazy – and that's just as bad maybe."

"OK, Sunshine," Brian smiled. "You win. I am not about to deny that you're crazy. At least not to you, I'm not. But I really don't see any way you could be you without being crazy."

"At least I should have asked you before I told Mrs. Allen, I'd get her Christmas decorations up for her," Justin seemed determined to blame himself for something. "You know they always have the neatest decorations in the building – after ours of course – and they do all that just for the one day their grandkids come in from Cleveland. Well since Mr. Allen had the heart surgery this fall, he can't do much and when Mrs. Allen fell on the ice and hurt her ankle – what was I supposed to do…. But I should have asked you before I volunteered. Jason's gonna help me – and so are Malcolm and Hunter – and, now don't get mad at me if you really aren't already mad – Hix and Rodney are coming too. I promised you it would all get done tomorrow afternoon and maybe early in the evening, so I need all the help I could get. You won't be affected, I promise."

"Sounds like you got it all planned pretty much," Brian surmised. "You think you can get it all done in that little time with that crew?"

"Yeah," Justin replied. "We'll really have to work at it but we'll do it. Maybe I can scrounge up a couple more people. I already tried but everybody is so busy this time of year."

"Except the always available, never too busy, Justin Taylor, I guess. Want me to help?" Brian asked.

"Naw," Justin answered. "It would just make me feel more guilty and then we'd lose Hix when you conked him in the eye and Rodney would probably have to take him home. We'll manage."

"OK," Brian acquiesced. "If I'm not needed…."

"Ah cut it out, Bri," Justin pleaded. "I'm already feeling dumb and guilty."

Brian squeezed the kid a little closer and the conversation lapsed at this point for just a little while.

"You really aren't mad at me, Brian?" Justin wondered as they resumed the topic. "I know you get mad at me when I get myself involved in too much stuff and I know we're really busy …:"

"Will you quit it, Baby," Brian demanded. "I said I'm not mad at you and I'm not. Could be I'm kind of proud of you. Could be even that I love you. So sometimes maybe I think you bite off more than you can chew, but I should know from Gino's that you never do. You always seem very well able to chew whatever you bite off."

"OK, Kinney, go ahead and insult me if you want to," Justin seemed relieved. "But I do need to eat. I'm a growing boy. But I still think you were mad at me at least for a while when I told you about the Allen's. You kind of up and left and said you needed to get some stuff at the office – and you never do that and you never said anything when you came back either…."

"But I was going to, Baby," Brian pointed out. "I was definitely going to – and I am going to – in just a little while."

And Brian was true to his word. In just a little while, he did tell Justin, but in the meantime he also tried some other ways to console the kid.

"OK, Baby," Brian began. "I needed to go back to the office because there was some stuff I needed to do. You know I got National Decorators as a client. They do all kind of stuff and Christmas decorating is a specialty of theirs. Well they mostly do store windows and commercial stuff and that's mostly all done now. I called Rich over there and he got me four volunteers who will be over here about 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon. They know that you and Mrs. Allen are the bosses though. They won't try to take over or anything. They're just helping out in the spirit of Christmas. They just wanted to do something nice for somebody and they're glad for this chance."

"Gee whiz, Bri," Justin was genuinely surprised. "Our job will be a piece of cake with that much help – and those guys are really experts. We'll be glad to have their suggestions. Maybe the Allens will want their ideas."

"OK for the Allens but you are not to bring them up here, though," Brian warned him. "I want the loft the way it is."

"But maybe then the Allen's decorations will be better than ours this year – with all the professional help," Justin conjectured. "I know how you always like to be the best."

"Ours will be the best," Brian told him. "I want my decorations to be all Justin Taylor. That will make them the best as far as I'm concerned. So you will not bring those pros up here. That's an order."

"Got it, BK," Justin made a mock salute. "We'll make do with what we have here – the two of us."

"It's worked so far, hasn't it?" Brian asked him.

"Perfectly," Justin agreed, cuddling up even closer. "Even if I am crazy. … You better watch out though, Bri, if you spend too much time with a crazy, you might get crazy too – like calling National was maybe a little crazy, but I guess it was just the spirit of Christmas…."

Brian cut him off at the point and there was not much said in the loft for a while. It seemed like they were having a hard time getting this conversation settled.

"So you think I might be getting a little crazy too, eh?" Brian grinned a little while later.

"Well you know I don't call it crazy exactly, Bri," Justin replied. "It's just the spirit of Christmas at work. It's not crazy having the spirit of Christmas. And I think you do have the spirit of Christmas, Bri – and that's not crazy."

"But I think I'm entitled to be a little crazy if it suits me," Brian decided. "If Justin Taylor can be a little bit crazy most of the time, why can't Brian Kinney?"

"You can, Brian Kinney," Justin told him. "You can be just as crazy as you feel like being. It's OK with me. I think I owe you one. You really saved me on this Allen project. I think I might have bit off more than I could have chewed this once. So really, if there's anything you want…."

"Anything?" Brian grinned at him suggestively.

"Yeah," Justin confirmed, "Anything at all."

"Well I think I'd like to be invited to help out at the Allen's tomorrow," Brian said. "If that can be arranged. I'll stay out of the way and try not to mess up too much stuff."

"And what about Hix and Rodney?" Justin had a big grin on his face.

"It is my intention to be nice to those kooks too," Brian avowed. "After all, it is Christmas and they're trying to help, I guess. But I can't promise. I don't know how strong my Christmas spirit is. I do promise I'll try."

"2 o'clock, Unit 208," Justin told him as he threw both of his arms around Brian. "And we'll expect you to be on time too. It'll be so much more fun with you there."

"I'll be there," Brian whispered. "That's where I want to be tomorrow - but here's where I want to be tonight."

Brian was pretty sure that he had acquired the true spirit of Christmas. Justin thought that Christmas had already arrived.

 

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