Charades

The fireplace was lit. Brian was in his usual position staring at the flickering flames. The twink was not. The last time Brian had checked his watch, the time was 10:45 and he decided not to check again. The time was going too slowly. So Brian did not know the exact time that the loft door slid open and Justin entered.

"I'm sorry, Brian," The kid told him, "I thought I'd be home about 9:00, when you said you would be getting home, but I just didn't keep track of the time."

"Me neither," Brian told him, "Geez, it's after eleven," he continued, checking his watch, "You must have been having fun."

"Yeah," Justin replied, "I told you I might stop over at Daphne's while you were out wining and dining that client, and that's what I did. Did you get the account?"

"I think so," Brian answered, "And it's a pretty big one too. Just a few more details to hammer out in the morning. Maybe I better get to bed so I will be fresh."

Justin plopped himself down on the floor next to Brian. "You're mad at me, aren't you?" Justin suggested, "It's just that there were a lot of people at Daphne's. It was kind of a party. The time went so fast."

"And you never thought of me?" Brian wondered.

"I'm always thinking of you, Honey," Justin insisted, "It was the time I was not thinking about."

"Lots of hot guys?" Brian surmised.

"How would I know?" Justin came back, "There's only one guy in the whole world that seems hot to me and he wasn't there. There was one nerd that tried to hit on me but Daphne called him off real quick. Now are you mad at me or not?"

"What went on at the party?" Brian avoided the question.

"No smart remarks, Kinney," Justin smiled and insinuated himself closer to Brian, "We ended up playing charades."

"It's pretty hard not to make a smart remark about that, Baby," Brian was forced to smile back, "But isn't charades a little retro, even for you and your crowd."

"It's making a comeback," Justin explained, "Things have a way of going away and coming back. I'll bet charades will be very popular again before long. I should have at least called you, Bri, to let you know where I was."

"According to the 'Rules' you don't have to be home till three," Brian told him.

"But we don't have any 'Rules' any more so I can't get away with that," Justin replied, "And neither can you."

"Eleven o'clock used to be the beginning of the evening for me," Brian mused, "And now it seems late. I don't know whether that's your influence or the influence of old age. They both seem to affect me the same way."

"OK," Justin told him, "So you are mad at me. Why didn't you call Daphne's and see if I was there?"

"I guess you would have liked the partiers to know the old ball and chain was checking on you?" Brian said, "I know you're able to take care of yourself - most of the time at least."

"I would have been flattered that you cared enough to check on me, but I guess it wouldn't have looked all that good," Justin allowed, "But I'm also flattered that you had enough confidence in me not to call."

"Well, I figured you weren't running around with Ethan, Baby, because he called here tonight," Brian responded.

"Why didn't he call me on my cell phone?" Justin wondered, "I didn't have it turned off."

"Probably because he wanted to talk to me," Brian informed him, "He wants us to come to the symphony on Friday night. He's going to fill in for the first chair in his section and he has a short solo."

"Why did he want to talk to you and not me?" Justin questioned.

"Maybe because he knows I'm the real classical music aficionado around here," Brian suggested, "Or maybe because he thought you might need to be out playing charades Friday night while I would probably be sitting at home with nothing at all to do."

"All right, Sweetheart," Justin concluded, "So it's established that you are mad at me, but so far, I am not mad at you. So far, that is. Did you tell Ethan we'd come?"

"I told him I would be there and that I hoped that you would be able to make it too," Brian informed him.

"Brian Kinney," Justin gritted his teeth, "If you're smart, you'll put your arm around me right now."

Brian was smart.

They sat there for quite a while before, as usual, Justin broke the silence.

"I guess I'll have to sleep on the couch tonight," He smiled at Brian.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Brian retorted.

"Hey, Brian," Justin smiled more broadly, "I never did. I just stayed on the couch till you were asleep and then I crawled into bed with you."

"Hey, Justin," Brian returned the broad smile, "Would you like to see how well I can fake being asleep?"

"You are impossible, Brian Kinney." Justin concluded.

"I try my best," Brian informed him.

"Remind me to call Ethan and tell him I'll be there on Friday too," Justin requested.

"Actually, that won't be necessary," Brian admitted, "We are taking Tom and Ethan to dinner at Gino's before the performance."

"You are such a big fake, Brian," Justin accused him, "You're putting on this whole 'hurt' business and I'll bet you didn't even notice I wasn't here."

"I noticed," Brian countered.

"That's one of the most romantic things you've ever said to me," Justin gushed.

So they sat another while before Justin said "Maybe you ought to get to bed, Brian. We don't want you falling asleep on the client tomorrow morning."

"You're probably right," Brian agreed, "But let's just sit here a few more minutes."

He got no argument from Justin who finally said to him, "Bri, you weren't mad at me at all, were you?"

"I don't recall ever saying that I was," Brian grinned.

"You know, Brian," Justin conceded, "When charades makes its comeback, you are going to be an awesome player. You are the best I've ever seen."

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