Getting the Buzz Back

The fireplace was lit and the guys were idly watching the flames flickering back and forth. There was one major difference from the usual situation though. Justin was not sitting on the floor. He was already sitting on Brian’s lap with Brian’s arms firmly locked around him. And that had all been Brian’s idea too.

“OK, Brian,” Justin was wondering. “What’s going on? I’m not scared or anything. I don’t have any reason to be scared – or do I? Have you done something crazy? I bet you’ve done something crazy.”

“I’m not usually the one around here who does crazy things, Baby,” Brian opined. “Maybe I’m just trying to show you that you don’t have to be scared – or pretend to be scared - to …”

“I get it now, Bri,” Justin laughed. “I know what’s going on all right. You’re wondering if I’m gonna want to see all the other Green Hornet stuff - just as an excuse for being scared - so I can …”

“Could be,” Brian admitted. “Especially when Jason pulled the same trick on Brandon last night while we were watching that awful but not-very-scary GH serial. Took him till Chapter 6 to get scared though …”

“Jason is a slow learner sometimes, Bri,” Justin was still laughing. “But once he learns something he …”

“Well the slow learner has a fast teacher, Sweetheart,” Brian allowed, “so I guess Brandon will have to watch out …”

“No more than you have to watch out, Kinney,” Justin teased.

“Which is just what I was saying, Honey – exactly what I was saying,” Brian teased back – bringing about a delay in the conversation – to which neither of them seemed to have any apparent objection.

“There was no point in asking last night, JT,” Brian reopened the discussion some time later. “But now that you’ve had time to evaluate the situation, what have you and Jason - and whoever else - decided about watching more Green Hornet stuff from Netflix?”

“Like you even have to ask that, Mr. Kinney,” Justin came back at him. “You told me already you weren’t a big Green Hornet fan – and you always get exactly what you want around here – so I don’t think you were really worrying about having to watch any more …”

“I guess what I really wanted to know, Baby,” Brian replied in kind – but with a grin nevertheless, “was if you had already devised some plot to circumvent any Green Hornet ban - real or imagined - from me?”

“I guess I could be offended at that, Brian,” Justin supposed, “if I didn’t know you were kidding – but actually Jason did like the GH – and him and Mikey are going to order some of the later stuff – like the second serial from the 40’s – but they’re gonna show them either at Mikey’s or at Jason’s. I told them that I didn’t want you to get stuck seeing them if you didn’t want to …”

“But you confidently expect that I’m gonna want to, Sweetheart,” Brian laughed. “Unless I miss my guess.”

“Someday, Brian Kinney,” Justin laughed back at him, “you’re gonna have to explain to me what I could have done in this situation that you wouldn’t have found some way to blame me for …”

Justin’s challenge must have stymied Brian because the big guy instigated another pause in the conversation at this point – probably just to change the subject – and Justin apparently decided not to pursue the advantage and just go with the flow.

“You know what, Baby,” Brian again resumed the subject at hand eventually, “I got three phone calls this morning which kept me from getting much work done at all. The first one was from Mikey. He wanted to thank you for giving him those Green Hornet tapes after we had watched them – and I thought you had just rented them too till you did that …”

“Gee whiz, Brian,” Justin wondered. “He didn’t need to call you. He called me too - to thank me again … one call would have been enough.”

“He called me to be sarcastic, Honey,” Brian smiled at him. “He said you probably only gave those tapes to him for safekeeping because you figured I’d destroy them as soon as everybody left …”

“And would you have?” Justin laughed back at him.

“Maybe, Sweetheart,” Brian conjectured, “if I knew you had bought them and didn’t have to send them right back to the rental company. That would have been a good idea. But those tapes may not be as safe as you think either. My second call was from Ben – he wanted to thank you too - in his own way – and also see if I had any idea how to avoid any future showings …”

“Oh oh,” Justin interrupted. “Bet he didn’t know then that Mikey has already scheduled another showing for next week – over at his place. Ted and Blake weren’t here last night – and Malcolm and Hunter wanted to see it again – and maybe Jason and Brandon – and some other guys too. Todd from over at Babylon is a big Green Hornet fan … Malcolm is checking into the copyright stuff too, Bri. He’s thinking of maybe getting Hix to write a Green Hornet play for him to produce and direct at the Community Theater. Fun – huh. Maybe you could play the …”

“I don’t think so. Baby,” Brian laughed. “But if I did, then Mikey would have to play a corpse – cause anybody else – other than Mikey that is - playing the Green Hornet would have to do it over Mikey’s dead body. But I’ll tell you this right now, Sweetheart. If Mikey ever plays the Green Hornet over at the Community, I’ll be glad to go – I actually wouldn’t miss it for the world – so you can save yourself a little plotting over that one …”

“Darn it, Kinney,” Justin objected. “All I do is try to do something nice and that makes me a conniver … so I guess I’m used to your paranoidity by now … I’m almost afraid to ask about the third call though …”

“Brandon,” Brian revealed. “I guess Jason was telling him on the way home how much he liked the Green Hornet – and Brandon was trying to figure out how to …”

“All he’d have to do is tell Jason, Bri,” Justin interrupted. “If Brandon didn’t like the GH, Jason wouldn’t like him either. Things are just the same over there as they are over here …”

“I believe the latter part of that statement, Sweetheart,” Brian told him. “But maybe not the former part quite as much.”

“So did you have any advice for Brandon about what to do, Bri?” Justin grinned. “I guess you wouldn’t tell me if you did …professional secrets and all.”

“I told him to let the little airhead like what he wanted, Baby,” Brian confided. “Actually I figured you wouldn’t be doing any more Green Hornet stuff over here – so I told him if there was any more GH showings anywhere else, that him and me and Ben could get together over here that night and play cards or something – or just hang out – or whatever. So if you wanted to go see some more GH – I’d like – have something to keep me busy while you’re gone – and so would they …”

“But what if I decided I’d rather stay here?” Justin wanted to know. “With you guys?”

“Well you’d be welcome to stay, Baby,” Brian assured him. “You know that – but you don’t really like cards – and I think you do like the Green Hornet - so …”

“And what if Brandon and Ben scared me?” Justin went on, completely ignoring Brian’s reasoned response.

“Hey, Baby,” Brian laughed. “What I’m trying to tell you right now – tonight - is that you don’t really need to be scared – or play scared – or …”

So there was yet another pause in this important and uncompleted discussion – even longer than the previous ones – but the subject did recur a bit later.

“You know, JT,” Brian surmised. “I think you like the Green Hornet. I don’t know if you’d want to see a repeat of last night’s fiasco – but if they show any new stuff, I think you should go …”

“And you know what too, BK,” Justin replied. “I bet life would be a lot easier if we agreed on everything. I bet that would be better …”

“I’m not so sure, Honey,” Brian told him. “You know what they always say – opposites attract.”

It took Justin a few moments to answer but then he decided: “Well, OK, Brian – maybe we should leave things just like they are. You know what else ‘they’ say – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Brian just squeezed the kid in reply. Brian didn’t think anything was broke – nothing at all. And he didn’t think anything needed to be fixed either.

And Justin – who is no airhead at all - got that unspoken message – loud and clear.
 

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