I Bet One of Then Was Gay

 

It had been a long time since the previous old-movie night in the loft, but Brian had noticed a favorite movie listed for TCM and had decided that he and the kid ought to watch it. It had just ended and the fireplace was lit - and the guys were already in place on the floor of the loft enjoying the view of the darting flames. Justin had very much enjoyed the movie - but there was no gift horse that Justin could not look in the mouth.

“I bet I know why you wanted to watch that on TV and not rent the DVD this time, Brian,” Justin began.

“Just saving a little money, that’s all,” Brian interrupted him. “We’re paying for the cable so we may as well use it. You gonna tell me how cheap I am?”

“Nope,” Justin had to smile. “You actually should be a little more careful with money than you are, Honey. You didn’t rent the DVD because you figured I’d want to watch it twice if you did, and now we can’t. That’s why.”

“I take it then that you enjoyed the picture, Baby,” Brian deduced. “I first saw it when I was in college and it’s been a favorite of mine ever since. I like all the dancing and the songs are pretty good too – and those seven guys aren’t bad either. Didn’t you ever see it before?”

“No, I never did,” Justin replied, “And I really loved it too. You sure know a lot of old movies, Kinney. Maybe you’re older than you say you are. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I bet it was neat to live back then.”

“Back when?” Brian grinned at him. “Back in 1954 when the picture was made – or back in the old west where the Pontipee brothers went out and kidnapped all them gals. Or, you know, the story goes back to the old Greeks way back in ancient times. So you’ve got a choice.”

“I’m not sure,” Justin grinned back at him. “And, just to set the record straight, Sweetheart, it was actually the Romans who kidnapped the Sabine women according to good old Doc Wagner from St. James – not the Greeks. But I don’t think I want to go back that far. The 1950s would be far enough. They just don’t make movies like that any more. Maybe it would be fun to live back when they made those movies. I guess I’m a little bit old-fashioned.”

“Well that picture is over 50 years old,” Brian conjectured. “If you lived back then, you’d be way too old for me now. I wonder what cute young blond twink would be here with me tonight – just the two of us - gazing at this neat fireplace?”

“Forget it, BK,” Justin told him emphatically. “I wouldn’t be way back there without you. You’d be there too. So we’d both be old guys, right here together watching the fire. And if I wasn’t the cute young twink next to you right now, there wouldn’t be any fireplace at all. You would have thrown it out. You didn’t want it. It was me who insisted we keep it, I hope you remember that.”

“Wonder if I’d even need this old fireplace at all if you weren’t the cute young twink sitting next to me,” Brian suggested. “Probably wouldn’t. Bet all blond twinks aren’t as tough to live with as you are.”

“You’ll never know, Bri,” Justin ran his hand through Brian’s hair. “Never. And I bet you’re glad too. You were lucky you found me. Takes a strong personality to handle you. I bet you’d have kidnapped me if you had to – like the Pontipee brothers had to do in the movie.”

“I guess that’s a possibility all right, Baby,” Brian countered, “But actually there may be times when I would like to pay the Pontipee brothers to kidnap you and your strong personality. Even now every once in a while….”

“Don’t go there, Brian Kinney,” Justin warned him. “If you do, maybe I’ll tell you which of the brothers I wouldn’t mind being kidnapped by. Not that they all weren’t hot - but there was one especially – still I don’t suppose I better tell you which one. I don’t want you to be jealous.”

”Good idea,” Brian agreed with a smile. “You know how jealous I can get – of all those movie stars who are plotting to kidnap you.”

There was a pause in the proceedings at this point where Brian just might have convinced Justin that he didn’t really want to be kidnapped by any of the Pontipee brothers – or anybody else either. It was an extended time before the discussion resumed.

“You know what, Brian,” Justin decided. “There were like seven of those brothers. I bet at least one of them had to be gay. Maybe they all were. Look how well they danced. Straight guys can’t dance like that.”

“I bet some can, Sweetheart,” Brian disagreed. “And, you know what else too, some gay guys are pretty clumsy dancers – if you can believe that.”

“I’ve danced with you lots of times, Kinney,” Justin teased. “So I guess it’s not too hard for me to believe that at all.”

“Thanks, Baby,” Brian did not seem to be insulted. “I don’t think I’m all that bad – but if you want to try out some of the tough dances from Seven Brides, you’ll probably have to get a real expert like Mikey to do them with you. Those routines are too tough for me.”

“I don’t think Mikey would be a very good substitute, Bri,” Justin laughed. “I’ve danced with Mikey too. Actually, those dances are too tough even for me. Maybe Malcolm could…. You know, I wonder if Malcolm has ever seen that movie.”

“Maybe we should have invited Malcolm over to watch it with us, Kiddo,” Brian suggested. “Maybe we should make these old movie nights like a party and invite some of the guys.”

“You’d rather watch those old movies with a crowd instead of just with me?” Justin wondered in a tone of voice which told Brian something he needed to know.

“”Unless you’d rather it was just us two,” he wisely replied. “That way you can ask questions and we can talk about the movie while it’s playing and not bother anybody else.”

“Exactly what I was thinking, Mr. Kinney,” Justin confirmed with tongue firmly in cheek. “Yeah, that was exactly what I meant.”

There was another pause in the discussion then – and maybe they discovered yet another reason why they both considered the decision not to have company for old movie nights to be a wise choice.

“You know what, Bri?” Justin eventually returned to an earlier point in the conversation. “Some of those Pontipees just had to be gay. So what were they doing kidnapping all females? There could have been another good-looking guy or two in the picture.”

“You’re probably right, Baby,” Brian agreed. “But it would have been a pretty different kind of film if some of the brothers had wanted to kidnap a guy – so maybe it was good that the gay brothers stayed in the closet.”

“Maybe,” Justin considered that argument, “But I bet if they made that picture now they’d have one of the brothers be gay – or maybe more than one.”

“Could be,” Brian thought. “Gay is kind of ‘in’ these days – but it wasn’t back then. There would have been a lot of complaints and boycotts and stuff like that.”

“Well some people just like to complain,” Justin philosophized. “And they can always find something to complain about too. Everybody isn’t like us, Bri.”

“Not at all, Baby,” Brian smiled at that observation. “And maybe that’s a good thing. It makes us special.”

“Yeah, it does,” Justin agreed, cozying himself up closer to Brian. “It really does…. Hey, Brian, if you were a Pontipee brother, would you kidnap some girl instead of me?”

“Nope,” Brian assured him. “It’s you I’d kidnap - and those crazy people who like to complain would just have to complain. The hell with them.”

“Well then,” Justin decided, “I guess I don’t ever want to be kidnapped at all – even by that special Pontipee brother I was talking about before. I like it here better – right where I am.”

“Sounds good to me, Baby,” Brian told him, running his fingers through the kid’s hair. “I like it here too – right where I am. I guess I kidnapped the right guy in the first place.”

 

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