Great Gifts

It was the day after Christmas. The time was mid-afternoon but Brian had the fake fire aglow in the loft. They had some social engagements scheduled for the evening and Brian wanted to have his blond twink to himself for a while. But the blond twink was still puttering around in the bedroom. "Hurry up, Sunshine. I'm lonely," Brian called, "If you're not out here in one minute, I'm coming in there after you."

"Then we might not make it back to the fireplace at all," Justin laughed, as he bounced into the room "And we wouldn't want that, now, would we?"

Brian turned to respond to that wisecrack with one of his own. What he said though was "Augkkk" or something that sounded like that. "What the hell are you wearing?" he asked Justin when his command of the English language returned.

"You know what it is, Brian. It's the shirt that Emmett gave me for Christmas," Justin replied, "It is so special that I'm only going to wear it for you. Nobody else will ever see it. Isn't that romantic?"

"What do you call that color?" Brian choked out. "It's fuchsia, Brian," Justin told him, "But it's the green stars on it that make it so special. It's warm and comfortable. Don't you like it?"

"I feel like coming over there and tearing it off you," Brian replied, getting to his feet from his comfortable position on the floor. "It seems to me you want to tear my clothes off whatever I wear," Justin smiled at him coyly, "Don't you like any of my clothes?"

"Probably not," Brian admitted, "But you're putting me on, Baby. You are not going to get away with it. You're not to old to spank, you know?" "Yeah," Justin responded, "Well just try it."

"I remember you saying that once before, and if Melanie and Linz hadn't walked in and saved you…," Brian reminded him, "I'll put the dead bolt on the door this time and there won't be anyone or anything to save you."

Justin started to laugh. "I was as mad as you were about Melanie and Lindsey walking in," he said, "But it would be really funny this time." "Funny?" Brian wondered. "Yeah, Honey. Actually hilarious, I think," Justin sputtered as he laughed all the harder.

Justin clapped his hands and the loft was bathed in light. He clapped again and the light was gone. "Remember our present from Ted. Clap on, clap off," Justin laughed, "I have it connected to the main lighting system. I wanted to surprise you."

"Life with you is always a surprise," Brian kissed his precious kid, "But I love it and I love you. Now can we sit down and cuddle a bit?" "I thought you'd never ask," Justin replied. "I thought I'd never get the chance to ask." Brian grumped.

They sat there in silence for a while. They liked to do that. Just being together was enough for them.

"Did you water the Chia Pet Debbie gave us?" Brian asked eventually. "I forgot," Justin told him, "You were hurrying me to get out here and I forgot so it's not all my fault." "Nothing ever is," Brian stated, "But if it doesn't get watered, the stuff won't grow on it. You did say you would take care of the watering."

"I think I must be giddy today but I do think it's funny that the great Brian Kinney is worried about the Chia Pet," Justin remarked. "What makes you so giddy, I wonder?" Brian said, "It must be your callow youth." "It's love," Justin said. "Then you can be as giddy as you want to," Brian responded, feeling a little giddy himself.

There followed another period of silence. Brian had a sort of agenda though so it was he who broke the spell again.

"You know, Baby. I loved all the things you got me for Christmas, and I have learned a lot about gift buying but maybe next year it would be better if you helped Ted, Emmett and Mikey." Brian suggested, "I think I'm ready to go out on my own, not that I wouldn't be delighted to have you go with me."

"You didn't enjoy going shopping with me." Justin accused him. "That's not it at all, Sweetheart," Brian defended himself, "I'm just thinking of how much help you could be to the other guys." Justin just stared at Brian, who decided, really against his better judgment, to expand upon his statement, "I just loved our first two shopping trips but I was a little tired for the fifth and sixth ones."

The addition was not an improvement. "That just goes to show that you don't know the difference between shopping and buying," Justin explained, "You would go out and buy things on the first trip. You have good taste and a feel for what different people would like so you could get away with that, but shopping is an art. It takes time and you can't do it in just one quick trip. Want me to go into detail again?" "Oh sure," Brian told him, "But maybe we should wait until just before next Christmas so it will be fresh in my mind."

Justin just looked at him suspiciously so Brian made another addition, "I really treasure your advice, Baby. You know I never take any pills now that are not prescribed by a physician or recommended by a reliable pharmacist." That worked. Justin laughed at him and then leaned over and kissed him. "You're making me giddy," he told Brian.

After another period of silence, Brian spoke again. Persistence worked for Justin so Brian was willing to try it himself. "I bought all my gifts for you myself, Sunshine, and you said they were all great. I'm sorry Emmett saw that shirt before I did," he told Justin, "Or I could have had the pleasure of getting you that too."

"All your presents were great Brian," Justin answered, "You are really a great guy. I know I'm the luckiest kid in the world."

"I'll bet I know which one you like best," Brian challenged. "Which one do you think?" Justin asked, crossing his fingers, "I'm not so sure I know myself which one I like best. They were all so nice."

"The remote control for the fireplace, of course," Brian replied, "No more walking over there and flicking the switch. Just a push of your finger from over here and it's on, and you can control the flames too from way over here."

"Well it works well since Melanie fixed the connections and it does what it's supposed to do," Justin said, "But it was more fun yesterday with your connections. It wouldn't turn the fireplace on but from here it turned on the television and from over there it turned on the burglar alarm siren. That sure scared Mikey."

"It is not my fault that the damn directions were written by somebody who didn't know English," Brian insisted. "Of course it's not you fault," Justin laughed, "It never is." "You know that Melanie speaks Japanese," Brian defended himself," "The Japanese directions probably made sense." "Except that she never looked at the directions," Justin countered. "You're lucky I love you," Brian said with a combination smile and scowl. "I know," Justin responded, "We are in complete agreement on that."

Brian decided that cuddling in silence was the best thing they could do but there was one more issue that had to be discussed.

"I hate that shirt, Baby," Brian said, "Can I tear it off of you right now so we can get rid of it? That's all it's good for. And you're right. You don't need it. You're so young and beautiful that anybody would want to tear any shirt off of you."

"What a nice thing for you to say Brian," Justin countered, "But it's a gift from Emmett and I want to keep it. I may not get much use out of it but I do want to keep it for its sentimental value."

"That may be the best thing then," Brian teased him, "You won't always be young and beautiful. Maybe you'll need it some day to inspire somebody to tear off your shirt."

"That is so true, Brian," Justin teased him back. "I'll show you where I keep it. You may need to borrow it long before I need to wear it again."

Then Justin embraced Brian. "You know I'm kidding, I hope," Justin said, "I will always want you, and I'll be here as long as you want me." "You probably mean 'As long as I need you,'" Brian answered. Justin began to laugh. "No, Brian," he came back, "I meant it just the way I said it. I don't mean to be laughing so much though. I'm sorry I'm so giddy."

"I'm not," Brian told him.

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