“What the fuck is that?” Brian shouted as he instinctually leapt back and ducked his head when a small unidentified flying object appeared to swoop toward him.

“Hmm?” Justin murmured lackadaisically. Justin was dozing on a soft cushiony chaise strategically placed in the shade on their balcony. A tall cool tropical drink with a bright umbrella sticking out of it was within arm’s length on a nearby table. He cracked open one eye to see what his partner was complaining about.

“Oh that? It’s just a bat. I think it’s a baby,” Justin said.

Brian arched both eyebrows in surprise then scowled. “Thank you, Mr. NatGeo. Do you mind telling me why you failed to mention that we have a bat on our balcony?”

Justin sat up, reached for his drink and took a good long pull on the straw. Brian’s scowl deepened. The boys were on a well deserved vacation. They had leased a small villa with an ocean view in Acapulco. Justin was determined that nothing, including Brian’s queenie moments, was going to interfere with his vacation good mood.

“First of all, it’s only OUR balcony for a month since you plunked down an undisclosed amount of money,” Justin said with an annoyed sneer. Brian knew how much the young artist needed to get away from the pressures of producing painting after painting for a long block of shows. The money meant nothing; Justin’s health and well-being meant more.

“Second, the bat was here first,” Justin said with another slurp of his drink. He put the fancy cocktail on the table then laid back on his chaise.

Duly chastised, Brian threw Justin an incredulous look before fetching a cocktail of his own.

A while later Brian ventured a suggestion.

“Do you think we should call the management company? What if it attacks in the middle of the night?”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s only a fruit bat. It’ll only attack a fruit,” Justin explained as he rolled over then cracked up with laughter as he pulled out his phone.