Who's A Monogam?

Brian and Justin were seated in a booth at the diner, having breakfast. They were waiting for Michael so that he and Justin could clear up a few details about Rage.

"Geez, Brian," Justin said as he looked over Brian's shoulder toward the door. It was not Michael who entered but somebody whom Justin had never seen before but who caught his attention nonetheless. "Wait till you see this beautiful guy who just came in. He looks like a Greek god."

"Still looking, are you?" Brian wondered.

"Cut it out, Bri," Justin told him. "I've got eyes so I'm still looking. I'm not looking for anybody, except Michael and he doesn't count, but I can't help seeing what walks in front of me. Take a look yourself. You'll see what I mean. Maybe you even know him but I never saw him before. I would have remembered."

Brian glanced over nonchalantly. "Yeah, he's good looking all right," Brian admitted. "Must be new in town. I never saw him before either."

"Bet in the old days he wouldn't be new in town very long," Justin cajoled.

"You mean back in the days when Brian Kinney was young and free," Brian smiled at him. "I guess not, but those days are gone forever." It might have been that Brian's statement brought bit of a frown to Justin's face.

Michael arrived just then and to the surprise of our guys, he exchanged a few words with the handsome stranger before sliding himself into the booth next to Brian. "See that hottie over there?" he asked Brian, "Name's Chuck. He's new in town. I met him here yesterday. Bet he wouldn't be new in town very long in the old days, eh, Brian?"

"Shut up Mikey," Brian warned him, "There is a twink present. He never even noticed that guy because he only has eyes for me and that's the way it should be. So don't call his attention to anybody else."

"You guys are really something special," Mikey told them, "You never even noticed Chuck. Much as I love Ben, I noticed Chuck right away when I saw him yesterday. You guys are the perfect monogamists."

At this point, Chuck got up and moved over to the table where our three guys were seated, and slipped himself into the booth next to Justin. "I'm Chuck," he told them what they already knew, "How about introducing me to these guys, Mike," he requested. "I'm new in town and I'd like to get to know some of the natives."

Michael obliged and the four of them exchanged small talk for a while and ate together. Mikey, Justin, and even Debbie who was serving their table, all noticed that Chuck's eyes seemed to stay focused on Brian. Brian did not act like he noticed. Mikey gave Justin a warning glance.

On the way out, Debbie grabbed Justin's arm and told him, "Watch out for that Chuck guy. He's something else and he could be trouble." That was not what Justin wanted to hear.

Justin was not usually the jealous type, at least he didn't think of himself as the jealous type, but he spent some of that day thinking about what had happened. It was an anxious day for Justin. It was a busy day too. Busy enough that Justin and Brian had planned to eat dinner separately and get home late.

Justin was surprised when he entered the loft to find Brian already seated on the floor and the flames of the fireplace already flitting to and fro in the otherwise darkened space. Justin plopped himself onto the floor next to Brian and Brian circled him with his arm. Nothing was said though for quite a while. That did not mean, however, that there was nothing to be said.

"Bri," Justin began, "About this morning…"

"Yeah," Brian interrupted, "I was glad you and Mikey got that Rage business taken care of so quickly. Some times it takes you guys forever."

"Come on, Honey," Justin pleaded, "You know I'm talking about Chuck. I'm sorry I made such a fuss about him when he came in. You know you're the only guy in the world I really care about.'

"That's what you've said," Brian agreed.

"Damn it, Bri," Justin insisted, "You know I love you and I always will. There could never be anybody else for me and you know that too. I know you know it. I am completely monogamous."

"Like Mikey said, Baby," Brian reminded him, "We're the perfect monogamists."

"But I always was," Justin reminded him back, "And you weren't. Bri, I don't want you to feel trapped. If you ever feel the need to …."

"Go back to tricking?" Brian wondered, "Do you really think that I …."

"No," Justin compounded the interruptions, "But I want so bad for you to be happy. And you seemed pretty happy when I met you, and you weren't monogamous then."

Brian squeezed the kid. "Sometimes I think you know everything about me, Baby," he told him, "And sometimes I think you don't know anything about me. So let me clue you in. I was never happy before I met you and I was always monogamous too. It's just that, until I met you, I never met the monogam that I wanted to be a monogamist with."

"I'm a monogam?" Justin exclaimed, breaking into a laugh. "There is no such word, Mr. Kinney."

Brian ran his hand through the twink's hair. "There aren't any words to describe you, Kiddo," Brian told him, "So I have to make them up."

"Well I guess that makes you a monogam too," Justin concluded, "And we're just two monogams who found each other."

"Guess so," Brian agreed.

"Bri," Justin went on, "I don't know if you noticed it or not but Chuck was coming on to you this morning."

"I may be a monogam, Baby," Brian smiled at him, "But I'm not stupid. Yeah, I knew he was checking me out. He didn't know we were together."

"Well I hope he finds out real soon," Justin said, "I don't like the idea of him chasing you around no matter how monogamous you are."

"He knows, Kiddo," Brian told him, "I'm not sure how he got his information but he called me this afternoon and we talked for a while."

"He called you this afternoon," Justin moaned. "I knew he was after you. Are you going to tell me what the call was about?"

"Do I keep secrets from you?" Brian answered, "He wanted to meet me after work. You don't need to ask. I told him about you and I told him I wasn't interested."

"And?" Justin asked.

"And he said he thought you were a pretty nice guy and that we made a nice couple," Brian informed him.

"So we're rid of Chuck," Justin sounded relieved.

"Well, maybe not," Brian responded, "He did ask if we could all get together sometime soon. He's still new in town and doesn't know many people and he needs friends."

"And?" Justin repeated.

"And I told him that would be up to you," Brian answered, "That if you were comfortable with him, it would be OK with me. So it's up to you, Baby. Is Chuck a new friend of ours or not? He seemed OK to me and I don't think he will be a problem now that he knows how things are. But it's still up to you. Think it over."

Justin did think it over for a while before he told Brian that Chuck might be an interesting addition to their crowd. Brian seemed pleased.

"I'm glad you decided that way, Kiddo," He told Justin, "And mostly because it means that you trust me, not that I ever doubted."

"I always trusted you Brian," Justin told him as he twined his arms around Brian's neck, "You know I always trusted you. Even before you told me you're a monogam."

And Brian was a very happy monogam indeed.

Return to Fireside Chats