I'm Sorry I Asked

Some guests had just left the loft a few minutes earlier. Brian had immediately turned on the fake fireplace and Justin had positioned himself next to Brian on the floor facing the flickering flames. Actually, nothing was said for a while. Then Brian asked a question.

"Can I maybe ask what the hell was, or maybe is, going on, Sweetheart?" Brian opened a discussion.

"What do you mean, Bri?" Justin innocently asked him back. "Do you mean about having Malcolm and Hunter to dinner here tonight? I just thought it would be nice to have some company and I had this new recipe I wanted to try out and it was something I knew Malcolm liked so…."

"It's OK if you don't want to tell me, Baby," Brian interrupted him. "It really is. I'm not even sure I want to know. I wasn't even sure I wanted to ask the question in the first place. Sometimes it's better if I…."

"Cut it out, Brian," Justin interrupted him back. "You don't need to be pretending that I might do stuff and you're not interested – or maybe that you wouldn't like to argue about it – or unfairly criticize me about it either. I know you better than that."

"Nope, I don't need to know, Baby," Brian held his ground. "I'm sure you're doing them some kind of a favor that they don't even know they need done – or worse yet, you're doing me some favor that I don't know I need done – so it might not even be a good idea for me to know. I might not appreciate your good intentions and I don't want to be unappreciative. Not at all. You know me, Baby."

"Oh yeah, I know you all right, Kinney. Yeah I do. Like you appreciate all the neat things I do for you to keep you happy," Justin mocked jokingly. "Like you don't call me manipulative when I try to do nice things for people. And like you don't want to know if I had something in mind when I invited Hunter and Malcolm to come over tonight. Yep, I know you all right."

"I guess I know you too, Kiddo. And so I know you're going to tell me all about it right now – even if I don't want to know," Brian presumed. "So that I can call you manipulative and pick on you and you can feel sorry for yourself. I hope you appreciate all the things I go out of my way to do just to make you happy."

"And you do make me happy, Brian," Justin cooed, snuggling himself up to the big guy. "I guess I'm just about the happiest guy in the world – and I guess that's all because of you."

That admission should have put the discussion on extended hiatus. Any other evening it would have – but, for some reason, not on this particular night.

"So you're trying to change the subject, are you?" Brian replied with seeming surprise. "You don't really want to tell me what intricate plot you're hatching? That could be really scary."

"You want me to tell you, Bri?" Justin replied. "If you do, I'll tell you."

"I won't know whether I want to know or not till I do know, Baby," Brian reasoned. "And then it will be too late for me to decide if I want to know or not. But go ahead. It's always interesting to hear what's going on in your ever so slightly twisted mind."

"Gee whiz, Brian Kinney," Justin protested. "Now you're picking on me before you even know why you're doin' it. That is exactly what you're doing."

"Sorry, Baby," Brian apologized. "Tell me what you're going to tell me so I'll have a reason for picking on you. I think you like it better when I pick on you if I have a reason."

"Not really, Bri," Justin smiled at him. "It's all pretty much the same to me. But maybe I just thought we ought to get together with those guys."

"Because?" Brian wanted to know.

"Well," Justin went on. "I was talking to them yesterday and they were talking about going steady – like maybe it was getting boring for them. They were wondering if two guys can be together like forever and still not get like – bored."

"Don't they see how well Ben and Mikey get along?" Brian thought out loud – and then he laughed. "OK, I got it. Ben and Mikey are boring and Hunter and Malcolm were wondering if they were going to end up like Mikey and Ben. That's kinda funny though because those guys are about as happy being boring as two people could be."

"But people are different, Bri…" Justin began.

"OK, Twink," Brian was laughing pretty hard by this time. "You wanted to show them how two exciting and edgy guys – guys like us - could be together forever and still stay exciting and edgy – and not one bit boring either? You wanted them to see us for an example of happy unboring domesticity?"

"So just what's so funny about that, Kinney?" Justin wanted to know. "Are you saying we're as boring as Mikey and Ben? Is that what you're saying?"

"Well maybe not as domestic and settled as Mikey and Ben, Baby," Brian was still seeing the humor. "But exciting and edgy might be an overstatement nevertheless."

"You know what, Brian Kinney?" Justin came back at him. "I think I'm sorry I even asked the question at all. You think we're old and boring. You do. That's what you're saying."

"Sunshine," Brian squeezed Justin slightly. "What I'm saying is that people can be boring without being bored. I kinda like the idea of us being boring, but I never said I was bored. I'm not bored and I never will be. It's the same with Mikey and Ben. They may be boring too but I bet they're not bored. You should tell Malcolm and Hunter that it's all right to be boring. If they're not bored with each other, they'll be fine."

"Gee whiz, Brian," Justin seemed astounded. "You're right. I think it was good for Hunter and Malcolm to see us together like they did – but it would have helped a lot if you had just told them that. I wish you would have."

"Well if somebody had told me what the real agenda was, JT," Brian pontificated. "Maybe I would have. But probably I wouldn't have anyway. You'd probably have picked on me for meddling."

"I don't think so, Honey," Justin smiled at him. "People who love each other don't pick on each other."

"Ya think?" Brian smiled back at him while tightening his grip on his beloved twink. "If that's what you think, then you're a big fake, Taylor, complaining about me picking on you. If that's what you think, you can't really believe I pick on you."

"Well do you mind if I'm a little bit of a big fake, Bri?" Justin asked as he responded to Brian hug.

"Guess not," Brian told him. "And you know what else, Baby. You're not the least bit boring either – and I'm not bored at all."

Justin's head fell onto Brian's shoulder and the quiet period, previously delayed, finally fell on the loft. Justin was thinking that if Hunter and Malcolm could only see the two of them right then, that would have solved their problem completely – but then there were limits to what lengths even Justin would go in his efforts to solve other people's problems.

After a prolonged interruption in the discussion, Brian, perhaps foolishly, decided to take advantage of what he thought was his advantage. "I guess now that you know what a good meddler I can be," he wondered aloud, "you'll let me know what the problem is in advance so I can…?"

"Well," Justin hesitated only slightly. "Actually I'd like to invite Ted and Blake here to dinner next Monday. Their problem is…."

"Shut up, Twink," Brian responded with a grin, while also trying other measures to keep Justin quiet. "I'm sorry I asked the question."
 

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