"A blue man-eating octopus," Brian mumbled under his breath as he pulled his pants on. If he didn’t know Justin was babysitting Molly while Jennifer was out of town, he would’ve sworn the kid was high.

There was no traffic at such an early hour so Brian arrived at Jennifer’s condo in just a few minutes. He leaned on the buzzer until Justin opened the door. "Alright I’m here. Show me this blue man-eating octopus."

"Jesus, Brian. I just about had a heart attack!" Justin exclaimed. He stepped aside to let the older man in. "And keep it down, you’ll wake Molly up."

Brian resigned himself to being there for a while until Justin calmed down from his nightmare so he let the younger man take his coat and lead him to the living room.

The blonde gestured for Brian to sit down on the sofa as he paced anxiously. "Uh, Bri, you know how you sometimes have dreams that seem so real you--"

"Think a blue man-eating octopus is attacking you, but it’s not?" the other man finished for him. "Yeah, I can see how that would happen," he agreed sarcastically. Seeing Justin frown, he regretted his tone. He pulled the teen to him and kissed his temple. "Baby, what’s going on? Did something happened after I dropped you off?"

Justin snuggled up to the man, unsure how to make him understand. "Sometimes your subconscious can play tricks on you. It makes you think about things you don’t want to think about when your defenses are down."

Brian rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Dr. Freud. Next time, would you tell your subconscious to play its little games at a more reasonable hour? It’s three in the morning."

"I know."

"And some of us have to work in a few hours."

"I know."

Brian was losing his patience again. "So in the interest of getting back to bed sometime soon, let’s just cut to the chase. What was percolating in your subconscious that you had to call me at-"

"That’s what I’m trying to explain," the blonde huffed, losing patience himself.

"Then just tell me!"

"I didn’t call you!"

Brian’s blinked at him and then his eyes narrowed. "So it must’ve been my other boyfriend screaming about a blue man-eating octopus attacking him."

Justin just shook his head and sighed. "Brian, you’re jealous."

"Excuse me?" the older man growled.

"You’re jealous."

"I don’t do jealous," Brian reminded him.

"Maybe not consciously, but your subconscious is a big green-eyed monster," the teen smirked. "Remember when we stopped at the diner before you dropped me off? You went to the bathroom and when you came back Mark was sitting with me."

"You mean that PIFA prick who wants to sculpt you? He had eight fucking hands all over you! He wa--" Brian stopped as he suddenly realized what Justin was getting at.

"Uh-huh," Justin crowed. "And you took great pleasure in telling him his sweater made him look like he’d been dunked in Tidy Bowl. I thought you liked blue," the teen added.

"I like it on you."

"And off me."

"Uh-hmm…" The older man nuzzled his neck. "When are you coming home?"

"Are you worried about having another nightmare?" Justin teased.

"Twat," Brian grumbled, holding the boy closer.

"I love you too."