Boyfriends

 

Justin thought he had a problem. He was considering what to do about it as the two denizens of the loft were settling into their accustomed places in front of the fake fireplace.

"OK, Fireplace," Justin thought to himself. "Do your stuff. Justin Taylor needs some help."

He looked over at Brian as Brian wrapped his arm around him. Justin wasn't sure what to do, but he knew he had to say something. Brian was certainly not about to bring up the subject that they had discussed the previous evening and which Justin had hoped was settled. ‘What the hell,’ Justin decided and he proceeded to open the conversation.

"It's still bothering you, isn't it?" he asked Brian.

"What's still bothering me?" Brian asked him back.

"Hey, Bri," Justin pleaded. "You know what I'm talking about – the same thing we were talking about last night. I thought it was settled then and that everything was OK."

"It was," Brian replied.

"It was not," Justin came back. "If it was settled, how come you were talking about it to Michael today?"

"Damn, Mikey," Brian said. "He knew that discussion was just between the two of us. And he took your side too – against me – the best friend he has in the world – and then he told you about it – Damn Mikey."

"You ought to know Mikey wouldn't do that, Brian," Justin remonstrated. "And he didn't either. He didn't know, and you didn't know, that Hunter and Malcolm had come in the back door of the comic book store to do some unpacking for Mikey. They didn't realize what a secret it was supposed to be and they thought it was funny and they told me. Well maybe it wasn't funny but it wasn't anything all that serious either."

"So it's OK that Brian Kinney is Justin Taylor's boyfriend, I suppose?" Brian questioned.

Justin had to smile just a little bit. "It's OK with me that Brian Kinney is Justin Taylor's boyfriend," he responded. "It's better than OK with me. And I thought it was all right with Brian Kinney too."

"Cut it out, Twink," Brian insisted. "You know exactly what I mean."

"I know what you're saying, Bri," Justin told him. "But I don't know what you mean – and I don't know why you're so upset."

"Yeah," Brian gritted his teeth. "I am your boyfriend, OK, but I'm a lot of other things too. It just bothered me that Lindsay introduced me to that Herb guy as Justin's boyfriend. Yeah, I am, but that's not all I am. I'm Brian Kinney, the CEO of Kinnetics. I'm Brian Kinney, the super stud of Babylon…."

"Retired," Justin interjected.

"Cut it out, Twink" Brian ordered. "Just let me be. I'll get over it. I'm not mad at you."

"No, you're not," Justin acknowledged. "But you are upset at Linz, Bri, and it wasn't all that bad. Now just think about it. You stopped by the art gallery where Linz is helping out. Herb Johnson was there. Herb Johnson just happens to be the art critic at the Post-Gazette. I know him pretty well and he likes my work. He has suggested my name to a lot of collectors around here. He thinks I'm a budding genius. And he's made a lot of sales for me over the last few years. I'm going to paint something for him some day soon – as a 'thank you' gift."

"Sounds like this Herb character wants to be Justin Taylor's boyfriend," Brian complained, maybe not too seriously.

"Could be," Justin responded in kind. "But I'm happy with you, most of the time at least, and I'm not sure Herb wants to leave his wife and eight kids to be with me."

"Bet if you just turned on the charm," Brian began to cajole. "You can be pretty fetching when you have a mind to."

"Brian Kinney, you are so lucky that I love you," Justin reminded him. "I might just really get mad at you every once in a while. Herb knows all about you. I always tell him you are the reason I do so well with my art stuff. If I didn't have you, I don't think my work would be worth a hill of beans. Herb has always said he'd like to meet you and Lindsay knew that. So when you came into the gallery, she just naturally introduced you as Justin Taylor's boyfriend."

"Yeah, well what would you think," Brian wanted to know, "If I told Cynthia to introduce you to everybody as Brian's boyfriend, when you're paying one of your so-called 'visits' to Kinnetics?"

"I think I'd like it, Bri," Justin mused. "Yeah, I would. It might keep the predators away from you – and if you tried to hit on them after I left…."

"Cut it out, JT," Brian commanded. "Remember, you're supposed to be trying to get me into a good humor. You expect that kind of comment to help."

"Yeah, I do," Justin replied. "And I think it's working too. You are in a kind of a better humor. I'm beginning to think you are listening to reason."

"Well, maybe I am," Brian admitted, "But when you paint that 'thank you' gift for John Herbson, I want you to sign it 'Brian Kinney's boyfriend’."

"Can I sign it 'Justin Taylor, Brian Kinney's boyfriend'?" Justin asked.

"Good idea, Twink," Brian thought. "That way there won't be any question in anybody's mind about who is who."

"It's a deal, Bri," Justin agreed happily. "Now is this whole thing finally settled? I thought it was settled last night. I hope we won't have to do it again tomorrow."

"Yeah," Brian told him. "I guess you're proud of yourself."

"Maybe a little," Justin confided. "Keeping you happy is not easy, you know – but I know how to do it pretty well, if I must say so myself."

"Actually, you did a pretty good job last night too," Brian informed him. "Maybe I was just a little teed off but you explained it last night. I did see some humor in it actually. So I was telling Mikey about it. Do you have any idea how noisy Hunter and Malcolm are when they unpack in the back room? Mikey and me know they always eavesdrop and then tell you whatever we're talking about so…."

"Brian Kinney," Justin exclaimed. "You are a complete monster. A hateful ogre. My boyfriend is a terrible person."

"But he's still your boyfriend, I guess?" Brian wanted to know.

"Yeah, he is," Justin replied. "And he's always gonna be too, for ever and ever. He won't ever get away.”

"Maybe he could if he wanted to," Brian supposed. "But maybe he doesn't want to. Maybe he likes things the way they are. You're not mad are you – not with your excellent sense of humor."

"No I'm not mad, Bri," Justin told him, running his hand through Brian's hair "But I am reconsidering how to sign Herb What's-His-Name's 'thank you' gift…. Brian, is this how boyfriends act?"

"Some boyfriends," Brian replied.

That seemed to satisfy Justin.
 

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