When Justin returned from Street Smartz he was wired and exhilarated and couldn’t quite sit still. Brian was sitting on the couch, sipping a beer and reading, and Justin climbed into his lap, pressed his body close and nipped at Brian’s lip, pushing his tongue into the older man’s mouth. He didn’t give himself time to think, while his mouth devoured Brian’s, strayed from Brian’s lips down his neck and to his exposed chest -- Justin had undone his shirt in record time -- Justin’s hands had slipped lower, had unzipped Brian’s pants and slipped inside, grasping him firmly. Brian grunted and dropped his head back against the couch while Justin stroked him, licked and assaulted one nipple before moving onto the next. He wasn’t quite aware he was doing it, but he was pressing his hips against any part of Brian he could come into contact with, rubbing as he brought the other man to climax, and when Brian finally came, Justin ground down into his lap and followed him over the edge before he bent and licked Brian clean. “Have a good day, dear?” Brian drawled. Justin grinned and hopped off Brian’s lap. “We finished our self-defence unit. We had the test today. You should have seen it. Kevin wore all this padding, and the final part of the test, he said do whatever we had to do, but the goal was to just get passed him. And I kicked him, really hard; he got pushed like, ten feet, and then fell onto his back. He couldn’t get-up either, the suit was so big it was like watching a beetle flat on its back,” Justin said as he grabbed his bag and brought it into the bedroom. He unloaded his gym clothes into the hamper and then went in for a shower. When he exited the bathroom he noticed the soft suede pad that lay by the bed. Goose, who had followed him to the bedroom, pawed at it then whimpered. “Guess he got fed-up with waking-up to doggy-breath. Sorry,” Justin said, sitting on the bed and scratching the dog. “I’ll still sneak you up here,” Justin whispered when he saw Brian climbing the stairs. “I heard that,” Brian said, glaring. Justin grinned and flopped back on the bed. He hadn’t put on his nightclothes yet, but he was so tired. He lay in the damp towel until Brian blocked the light by standing over him. “You’re making the sheets wet. Go change.” “Okay,” Justin said. He pulled the blankets over himself, and when Brian’s glare escalated but just before he opened his mouth, Justin tossed to the towel out in the general direction of the hamper. Brian tried very hard to remain casual. “You’re such a slob,” he said, and put the towel in the hamper. He crawled into bed, likewise naked, and lay still. Since Justin had moved into the loft, there wasn’t a night that passed when Justin didn’t press their bodies close, or snuggle into Brian’s arms. Brian had even taken to dragging Justin closer if the blond didn’t initially move. But now they were both naked, and Brian wasn’t sure how Justin would react. A moment passed. Then another. Justin shifted, wiggling until his back was pressed to Brian’s chest, he lifted his head-up and snatched Brian’s arm, dragging it over him like a blanket, and then settled back onto the pillow. They stayed quiet. Brian thought maybe this called for some kind of comment, maybe he should do something? The bed shifted again. Justin’s body tensed a little as if he were bracing for something, and Brian frowned. He lifted his head and realized Goose had settled into the space Justin had left on the bed. “I bought him a suede, designer doggie-bed,” Brian muttered. “He’s feeling left out, all alone on the floor,” Justin said, Brian could hear the smile in the blond’s voice. “Twat,” Brian said. “Twat lover,” Justin shot back after a beat. Brian snorted and Justin snickered. Whatever lingering tension there had been was diffused, and they settled in to sleep, Goose in Justin’s spot on the bed. ............................ “Forgetting something?” Justin called from his spot at the table. He was holding a mug of coffee and reading the paper and didn’t even look-up when Brian strode down the steps. “I better fucking not be forgetting something,” Brian snarked. He dropped his suitcase on the floor and patted his pockets, pulled out his wallet then returned it to the pocket. Justin looked up from the paper and lifted his eyebrows. Brian smirked and crossed to the table, he pushed Justin’s head back and kissed him deeply, then snagged an apple from the bowl Justin kept stocked on the counter and picked up his suitcase again. “Call me if your plane crashes,” Justin said, trying to be light. “If the plane goes down, you’ll be the first to know.” “If I’m the first to know, then your pilot’s a fucking idiot,” Justin muttered. “It’s not going to crash, I’ll be in New York for three days at most, don’t burn the loft down, and if Goose pees on anything ...” “He’s house trained!” Justin commented. Goose barked an indignant bark and returned to the bone he had been previously gnawing. Brian patted the dog’s head and left the loft. Justin didn’t work on Sundays, so he took Mother Goose out for a long walk and then lost himself in painting for the rest of the day, having only stopped for lunch when Goose had started barking ceaselessly. He’d grabbed an apple, let Goose outside, and then returned to his painting. At eight, however he was interrupted by Emmett, thee man had brought movies over and suggested a pizza party. “Oh my god!” Emmett cried. “Is that your dog?” “Yeah, Mother Goose,” Justin introduced. Emmett fussed over the dog and laughed when Goose made himself comfortable on the couch. Justin had told Emmett about Goose, of course. The Saturday following Goose’s introduction into the household Emmett had joined Justin out at Liberty, and Justin had described how he’d found the dog to Michael and Emmett and they’d spent the day talking while Justin painted the mural. Emmett ended-up spending the night on the couch, and they walked over to the Nook the next day for Justin’s morning shift. Mondays were one of the days Justin had arranged to leave work early and head-out to Liberty. Sometimes Brian would drive him, but most days he would make a huge fuss about scratches and car accidents and irresponsible people and then loan Justin the Jeep. He’d yet to relinquish the keys with at the very least a glare. “Make me look more buff,” Michael said. Justin was painting one of the smaller scenes and while he’d rinsed his brush Michael had moved in to get a better look. “Yeah?” Justin asked, smiling a little. “More buff? I can put your phone number in, maybe a little painting with ‘for a good time call’” Michael started tickling him and Justin squawked and batted him away. “You’re not a superhero, Michael!” Justin said. “Fine,” Michael sulked. Justin shook his head and moved back to the painting. “How are things?” “I’ve been trying to spend more time painting, but it’s hard, you know?” Michael nodded his head vaguely. “Have you had sex yet?” “Why do you always ask me that?” Justin asked. “Because if you have, I expect you to tell me in detail,” Michael said with a shrug. “Why, so you can drool over Brian? I don’t think so,” Justin said. They talked and joked around, and when they stopped for lunch, Justin doodled a sketch of Michael. He was super-buff wearing a super hero’s suit with his arms held up showing off his biceps. Beneath the sketch Justin had written: For a good time, call. Michael had laughed, and they’d made jokes about being ‘faster than a speeding bullet’ for the rest of the day. ......................... One Tuesday there was a snowstorm. Merrik had called and told Justin that he wasn’t opening the store that he wasn’t well and didn’t think they’d do much business because of all the snow and the fact that the snowploughs hadn’t gotten to their neighbourhood yet. Justin sat with Mother Goose and read his book, but kept glancing outside and feeling worried. Before noon, Justin gave-up. He grabbed the keys to the Jeep, herding Mother Goose into the car and drove to the Nook. He brought soup to Merrik, and then checked the alley, which had been what had been bothering him all morning. Grimm was hunkered down in an old cardboard box. He yipped pathetically when he saw Justin, and didn’t quite know how to respond when Justin tried to coax him out into the snow. Finally, though, Grimm stepped out on shaky legs, and followed Justin hesitantly to the Jeep. Mother Goose didn’t quite know what to make of the other dog, but they weren’t growling at each other. It was slow going, but Justin drove to the veterinary clinic that he used for Goose, and took Grimm in to be checked over. Besides the malnourishment, Grimm wasn’t too bad. Surprisingly, he didn’t even have any fleas. Justin thought that might be because of the flea medicine he’d been adding to the dog’s food each time he visited the Nook, but made no comment. He had had dark visions of picking-up fleas from the stray dog and bringing them back to the loft and the conniption Brian would have. With Grimm relatively healthy, and Goose seeming more mother-hennish than ever and not at all territorial, Justin took both dogs back to the loft. He fed them and then corralled Grimm into the shower where he washed the dog vigorously. It was a very good thing Brian was out of town, because Grimm did not enjoy the shower and had broken loose from Justin several times, leaving streaks of water on the floor, and soapy footprints. Still, Justin managed to clean the dog up and dry him off. Then he cleaned the loft before he himself went for a shower. Bathing Grimm had left him soaking wet and smelling of damp dog fur. By the time Brian phoned on Tuesday night, Justin was half-asleep. He’d tried to stay-up, tried to ask Brian about what was going on, but Brian had told him to go to sleep after the third time Justin had zoned-out. ...................... Brian hung-up the phone, smirking and shaking his head. He wondered what Justin had done all day that had exhausted him, considering the snow had pretty much restricted the blond’s movement. It wasn’t so very late, and Brian was restless. He’d finished prepping his pitch on Sunday, and made the presentation on Monday. Tuesday had been spent entertaining the client, which was, to Brian, the most tedious aspect of his job. He changed quickly and hailed a cab. Brian wasn’t fussy where he ended-up, clubs were a dime a dozen and in truth they were all the same. The lights were bright, the music loud and the men tall, dark and half-naked. Brian drank JB and watched the lights illuminate the flailing, thrusting bodies. He wasn’t much for dancing, but he took a hit of E and forgot that he couldn’t quite dance well. The body was hard and warm and Brian smirked. Never fails, he thought. The man ran his hands under Brian’s shirt and kissed his chest. “Come on,” the man invited, smiling slyly and tugging Brian in the direction of what Brian assumed was this club’s backroom. Brian went a few steps, and then tugged his arm back. “Fuck off,” he said. He didn’t stay at the club long. In Pittsburgh he hadn’t noticed so much, there were other things to do, or more exactly there was always one of his friends at Woody’s or at Babylon. Since Brian didn’t dance, and wasn’t tricking, clubs really didn’t have much of a purpose if he was alone. ....................... Brian stepped out of the cab and grabbed his bags from the trunk, setting the bag on his shoulder and heading into his building. When he pulled open the door to the loft, he almost called out, but stopped himself. Instead, he dropped his things by the front door and greeted Goose, who was very eager to meet him. “Where’s Justin?” Brian asked the dog, but was answered a moment later by the sound of sniffling. “Justin?” Brian asked following the sound and finding both Justin and Emmett crying, sitting with their backs against the sofa and sharing a blanket. “Brian?” Justin asked, wiping his face and looking pathetic. “What happened?” Brian asked. “He’s dead!” Justin said. “Who?” Brian asked, feeling oddly cold. “Angel,” Emmett explained. “I knew it was going to happen!” Justin said. “Why the fuck did you bring that stupid film here?” “What the fuck are you watching?” Brian asked. “I brought the movie ‘Rent’ over,” Emmett explained. “It’s a really good movie,” Justin said, sniffling. Brian rolled his eyes and pulled Justin off the floor. “Don’t I get a welcome back?” “Hi,” Justin said. Brian tickled Justin’s sides. “Welcome back!” Justin said with more enthusiasm. “That’s better,” Brian said. “Christ, have you left the loft at all?” “Yes,” Justin said indignantly. “Excuse me, you’re the one who refused to let me drive-out and pick you up at the airport.” “The road conditions are for shit. Even the cab driver was having issues,” Brian said. “I’ve been keeping a close eye on Sunshine,” Emmett said. “Have you moved in?” Brian asked, noticing the lime green bag by the couch. “He slept over last night,” Justin said with a grin. Brian nodded and brought his bags into the bedroom. “Christ, Justin, there’s dog hair all over the bed.” “Uh,” Justin said. “On my side,” Brian pointed out. “I was about to change the sheets,” Justin said, jogging up the steps and pulling fresh bedding from the closet. Before he could pull the old bedding off, Brian wrapped an arm around Justin’s waist and pulled them together for a kiss. “I missed you.” “Hm,” Brian said, smiling. He kissed Justin again, and then smacked his ass. “I’m not sleeping in those sheets.” “You know there’s just going to be more hair on the sheets tomorrow.” “There wouldn’t be if you kept your dog off the bed,” Brian said. “So now he’s my dog,” Justin said, speaking in a falsetto. “Whenever he does something wrong he’s mine.” Brian rolled his eyes and smacked him again, and Justin laughed. “You two are adorable,” Emmett said. “Fuck off,” Justin and Brian said simultaneously. ...................... Brian returned to the loft the next day to Justin making dinner. “La vie Boheme!” Justin said, an entire chorus accompanying him. He was shimmying his hips and stirring something in a pot, Goose was barking along to the CD. “Do I want to know?” Brian asked. “Hi!” Justin said. “I bought the soundtrack from ‘Rent’ because I couldn’t get that song out of my head.” “How did that work for you?” Brian asked. “I haven’t been able to stop singing along to it,” Justin said with a grin. “I’m making pasta! Bisexuals, tri-sexuals, homo-sapiens, carcinogens!” Justin sang. Brian stuck his tongue in his mouth tried to mask the level of his amusement. He kissed the bouncing blond head as he passed it and went for a shower. Brian left the door open and could hear Justin singing. “To so-odomy! It’s between Go-od and me!” and he couldn’t help snickering. “Emmett’s a bad influence,” Brian said as he towelled his hair dry. “Why?” “You spend three days with him and when I come back you’re singing show tunes. If I leave again he’ll have you in drag,” Brian said. “I could look pretty hot in drag,” Justin purred. “But that’s not my thing. Anyway, the music is catchy,” Justin said. “It’s better than Moby,” Brian said. “Secretly, you love Moby,” Justin said, waving he stir spoon at Brian. “I’m onto you.” ---------------------------- End Chapter Thirteen: