The ride to my place was strangely quiet.  Brian hadn't objected at all when he'd been hustled into his jeep and seemed to be almost catatonic.   He kept muttering over and over "My loft, my fucking loft.  It's gone.  Fuck."

"Come on, Bri.  Let's get you upstairs,"   I coaxed as we pulled up to my apartment building.  I shut the engine off, got out and walked around to the other side to open the passenger door, still hearing Brian’s stunned words.

"It's gone.  All gone.  Poof."  Brian’s eyes had a glazed look in them as I took him by the arm and gently pulled him out of the jeep “I can’t believe it.”   

"I know, Baby,"  I console him as I unlock my apartment door.  I settled Brian on the sofa and got him a pillow and blanket.

"I've lost everything.  Justin, Gus ... my loft."  Brian tries to explain while I do my best to  undress him.

Just when Brian finally fell asleep the phone rang and I hurried to answer it before it could wake him. 

I moved to the kitchen and brought the phone to my ear.  "Hello?"

"Em?"

I let out a sigh of relief,   "Oh, Teddy, it's you."

"You want to tell me what's going on?  Why didn't you want Brian to go with Mikey?"

"Teddy,  can you imagine if he had?  I really don't think Brian can handle the smothering Michael, or for that matter Deb, would put him though.  You know as well as I do that something is not right with Brian.  He was acting strangely."

"I know, but he swore he didn't take anything."

"I believe him.  However, that doesn't mean someone else didn't slip him something."  My mind went back to Michael's strange behavior in Babylon.   I didn't want to think that Michael would have slipped Brian something.  "Michael should never have insisted that Brian go to Babylon."

"If he hadn't Brian might have been in the loft when it went up,"  Ted reminded me.  "Em, I just wanted to see if everything was okay?  And to let Brian know that I'll be in touch with his insurance company in the morning.  Also, you might want to consider finding a new place to stash him.  Ben and I talked Mikey out of disturbing him for tonight, but..."

"Yeah, I know.  Honey, if we thought Justin was a stalker it's nothing compared to Michael Novotny when he thinks Brian needs his 'best friend'."

Ted's laughter sounded over the line.  "You're right.  I told him you'd meet him at the diner for breakfast and fill him in.  I won't be able to since I'll need to get the insurance crap started."

"Must I?"  I couldn't help but pout, but Ted had already hung up.  I checked up on Brian, then went to my room.

QAF

Brian Kinney was having the strangest dream.  He was in Babylon with his best friend.  Mikey was acting a little strange, which wasn't saying much since Mikey always acted a little strange.  Mikey was easily influenced.  Case in point was when he was with Doctor Dave and again when he got committed to Zen Ben. 

He was also manipulative, a trait he inherited from his mother.  Hence Brian being in Babylon and drinking a beer he didn't want or need.  Mikey kept pushing him to get laid.  It wasn't that he was opposed to the idea, it was just that he tired easily and wasn't in the mood. 

Just to keep the peace, he took the guy Mikey had found him and entered the backroom.  Pushing back the chains that covered the entrance he spotted Todd, a Babylon mainstay, leaning against the wall in his usual stance. 

"How's it going?"

"Fine."

It was going to be finer when Brian pushed the guy over to Todd, let him take care of things.   At that point his cell phone rang.   He made a grab for it, his mind still wrapped up in his dream, and he fell off the surface he'd been lying on.

“Ow! Fuck!” he groused as he sat up, fortunately, he'd managed to grip the phone before he fell and answered it.  "Kinney."

"Brian, where are you?  You have a meeting in ..."  He recognized the voice as belonging to Cynthia.  "...forty-five minutes." 

"Gah,"  His mouth was dry.  "I'll be there," he croaked.  He broke the connection and brought the phone to his chest.  Looking up at the ceiling, one he didn't recognize, Brian wandered where the fuck he was.

"Brian, are you okay?"  A worried voice asked.

Turning his head to see who was talking, Brian found his vision blocked by an unfamiliar coffee table, he used it to pull himself up and allowed the blanket covering him to slide to the floor.   There standing in a doorway was Emmett Honeycutt, dressed in sleeping pants and a tee shirt.  That meant that this must be Emmett's apartment.  "I'm fine.  What the fuck am I doing here?"

Emmett looked him up and down appreciatively.  "Ummm hummm, you definitely are.  As for why you're here..."

It all came back to him.  "Fuck.  My loft.  It's gone."

"I'm afraid so..."  Emmett sashayed over to him and handed him a cup of coffee.  "...it was either here or go home with Mikey."

A pained expression crossed Brian's face as he sank back onto the couch.  "Thanks, Emmett.  I don't think I could have taken it staying at chez Novotny-Bruckner's. "  Then he dropped his head into his hands.  "Fuck.  I have a meeting to attend and nothing to wear."

"Au contraire,"   Emmett said and sashayed into his bedroom coming out after a few moments with a suit of clothing, dark green with a dark green shirt and mustard tie. 

Brian's jaw dropped.  "Honeycutt,  you own an Armani suit?"

"Of course.  You're not the only one who can dress well."

"It's ... green."

"Beggars can't be choosers.  I'll let you have the bathroom seeing as you have a meeting."  Emmett hurried out the room, Brian unclothed was more than he could handle.  He adjusted himself as he headed back to his kitchen, thoughts of Deb in the morning doing the trick in bringing his hard-on under control.

Emmett's apartment wasn't very big, but it was all his.  His apartment was in an old building and had a lot of character, best of all it had a doorman.  Faster than you would have thought possible Brian was back in the kitchen,  adjusting a tie that wasn't mustard yellow.  Emmett didn't recognize it at first.  He thought it might have been one that Ted had given him for his birthday several years ago.  Trust Brian to find the one tie that wouldn't hurt his sensibilities. 

"Thanks, Em.  How's it look?"

Emmett circled Brian with a critical eye.  The pants might be a little tight in the crotch, Brian's junk being bigger, but the jacket covered it well.  The sleeves were a tad long, otherwise it looked as if the suit were made for him.  The color, which Em had picked to enhance his hair, brought out the green in Brian's eyes.  "Not bad.  Now you'll have the pleasure of buying more."

Brian glanced at Emmett.  "Speaking of buying more, could you pick me up a few things?"  he asked, picking up his wallet.

Emmett sighed, as if all put out, when in effect he was secretly pleased that Brian trusted him enough to shop for him.  He held out his hand for the credit card Brian passed to him.  "Any specific limit I should keep to?"

"Naw, the insurance company's payout should cover it."  Then Brian Kinney actually kissed him, true it was on the side of his forehead, but...."

Emmett was experiencing warm feelings for Brian until he went to bathe and found that Brian had taken his last clean pair of underwear.