Chapter 33 - Contrasts.

It had been a very long night despite the elegance of the Strand Palace’s air raid shelter.

Brian had escorted his guests into the dining room just after eight, where they’d been treated to another wonderful meal of sumptuous goodies that were difficult if not impossible to find elsewhere in wartime London. By eleven o’clock, they'd finished eating and we’re just heading towards the lounge with the intention of listening to the band for a bit, when the first air raid sirens began to go off. Right on time. The hotel staff barely blinked an eye at the noise and merely redirected all their guests down to the basement instead, with the band following soon after. And, since there were no refugee girls and their infant sons in attendance this time around, Brian and his cohorts didn’t have to give up their sleeping compartment when they were ready to retire after the entertainers called it quits for the evening. But even so, they hadn’t got much rest, not with the ongoing cacophony of bombs dropping and nearby explosions rocking the building all through the night. And even with the relative certainty of Brian’s historical foreknowledge that The Palace was a safe place of shelter, there were several times that he was afraid the building wouldn’t withstand the seemingly endless attacks. When the All Clear finally sounded at around five in the morning, they all felt too exhausted to do anything more than trudge up the stairs to Brian’s room, where the three of them collapsed together on the comfortably large bed in a big heap.

Which was where Justin found them when he finally made it back to Covent Garden just before ten o’clock.

This time, he wasn’t quite as surprised by the scene he walked in on as he had been before. Not that he was happy to see Lucky wrapped around his boyfriend like that, though. Well, that was easily remedied.

With a mischievous smile, Justin launched himself into the middle of the pile of sleeping forms, wriggling around until he managed to find a comfortable spot dead center on Brian’s sturdy, broad chest. Even in his sleep, It didn’t take long for Brian’s strong arms to wrap themselves around him. Justin loved that instantaneous feeling of security he always got whenever he was in Brian’s embrace. He also loved the sleepy warm scent of a slumbering Brian. But, even more than those, he loved an alert, attentive Brian. And with that in mind, Justin happily set about kissing his boyfriend awake, not giving a fig that they weren’t alone.

“Mmmmm. Not that I mind the pleasant wake up call, Lucky,” Brian muttered sleepily. “But you know that Justin’s gonna kick your ass if he catches us, right?”

Of course the joke was ruined by the tendrils of a smile curling up the corners of Brian’s beautiful mouth.

“Darn right I’ll kick his behind . . . and yours too, Mr. Prankster, if I ever catch you doing something like that,” Justin huffed playfully, but at the same time meaning every dang word. “Good thing I’m onto you and your dipsy-doodle sense of humor, huh? Otherwise I’d have been miffed at finding you all here in such a compromising position.”

Justin felt Brian’s chest rumbling beneath him as the older man laughed at the sudden show of possessiveness.

It was then that Lucky decided to speak up, causing both men to jump at the sound of his voice. “As good looking as yer are, ‘Andsome, yer jus’ not my type.”

Brian laughed sleepily, his eyes still firmly closed. “Well, at least you know handsome when you see it,” he joked and Justin felt hands begin to wander down his body, giving his ass a quick squeeze.

“I happen to think you’re handsome too, you know,” Justin insisted. “Not to mention huggable and kissable and nibbleable and . . .”

Justin sort of lost track of all the things Brian was at that point since he’d been demonstrating Brian’s attributes as he went, and after the hugging and kissing he got lost in all the nibbling. Brian seemed to be doing a lot of nibbling on his part as well. And those hands had begun doing even more interesting things than just squeezing his bottom. There was also a bit of interest developing down below their waists that seemed promising, if the hardening bulge pressing against him where Justin’s thigh was resting in the vee of Brian’s crotch, was any indication

“Do you two want us ta leave,” Daphne’s voice interrupted their morning cuddles, “or can we stick around and watch?”

“Personally, I wanna stay an’ watch,” Lucky’s voice chimed in. “I’m hoping to pick up a few pointers for later.”

“I’m thinkin’ I need ter find me a boyfriend ‘fore I learn them kinda pointers,” Daphne replied with a giggle.

“Time for your friends to leave, Justin,” Brian suggested.

“Spoil sports,” Daphne giggled as she scooted off the bed and stretched.

“Oh, and Lucky,” Justin watched as Brian poked the man still lounging next to them. “Make sure you’re back here this evening by five thirty, that way they can get you fitted for your uniform.”

Justin lifted his head off of Brian’s chest, a confused look on his face as he looked back and forth between the two men.

“What’s going on?” Justin asked. “Did I miss something?”

Lucky sat up quickly. “I’m wonderin’ the same fing, Sunshine.”

“I know you’re looking for work,” Brian started to explain. “So when I was speaking to the manager last night, I mentioned that I knew they could probably do with some extra hands and that I also knew just the right person for the job.” Justin almost laughed at the look of smug self-satisfaction Brian displayed as he revealed his machinations. “He was thrilled with the idea; said they were having a hell of a time with staffing, what with all the men heading off to the war, and practically begged me to send you round. So, if you want it, you’ve got yourself a job, starting tonight.”

Lucky looked stunned as he took in what Brian was actually saying. “I don’t know what to say, ‘Andsome . . . I . . . I’m very grateful.”

“You don’t even know what you’ll be doing,” Brian laughed softly.

“If it pays, I don’t really care,” Lucky told them earnestly. “Anything to get me own room so’s I’m not having to share with my sister and her kids forever.”

Justin nodded, that made sense. Lucky was a proud man; he knew it must have been hard for him to have to move in with his sister and her family. And a good job would go a long way towards restoring his self-respect.

“They have you working on the maintenance crew to begin with,” Brian explained. “I thought that would suit you best since that’s basically what you were doing in the Army.”

“That’s . . . that’s perfect. Thank yer, ‘Andsome,” Lucky replied, all smiles now. “I don’t know what else to say. I didn’t think I’d ever find somefin’ decent after what ‘appened . . .”

“At’s so nice a ya, ‘andsome,” Daphne gushed from the other side of the bed. “Yousa gooden.”

Brian nodded vaguely and looked away. Justin could see how difficult Brian found it to accept the praise. It was just another of the reasons why he adored this man. But, to help him out, Justin quickly moved the conversation on as much as he could.

“Careful on your way home, guys,” Justin warned them, watching as Daphne and Lucky started to pull their clothing straight and gather their things together in preparation for leaving. “The streets are a mess after last night. On my way here I had to skirt around at least three fires that were still burning. St. Martins Lane is particularly bad, so stay away from there.”

“It was a bad ‘un last night, then?” Daphne asked.

“Yeah. Really bad,” Justin confirmed. “We were flying all night and, even though we downed lots of Gerries, it seemed like there were always five more to take the place of every one I managed to take out. Word is they managed to bomb both Westminster and the House of Commons; not sure how bad it is though. Just be careful.”

“Sounds like it was hairy,” Lucky chimed in. “You get any confirmed kills?”

“One for sure,” Justin bragged. “But I’m not sure the brass are gonna applaud me for it or not . . . See, I was in this hairy dog fight with one Messerschmidt - we kept up a back and forth for a good long time, with him trying to outflank me so he could get back on course and make it to the city limits to drop his payload, but I just kept on blocking him, you know,” Justin detailed the fight to Lucky’s evident fascination. “I was doing pretty good too, till he pulled this ridiculous barrel roll and squeaked right by me. All I could do was follow him until I caught up again, but by then he’d managed to drop his load. Which got my dander up, so I let go right then and there and shot the heck out of him. Only thing is, when he went down, he was still over the city and . . . Well, the plane landed smack dab on top of a row of warehouses and, you know, the higher ups kinda frown on that.”

Brian had paled while listening to Justin’s story, but Justin was glad he hadn’t said anything. Lucky and Dahpne, however, were laughing at the image Justin had painted, congratulating him and commiserating at the ending. They seemed to understand so much better than his time-travelling boyfriend. He supposed you would’ve had to live in wartime London for as long as they all had to really get the megillah of the thing.

“Anyways, that, along with the fact that I kinda wrecked another plane last night, means that I’m probably not going to be in the CO’s good graces for a while. It’s a shame too; I really liked that old Hurricane I was flying,” Justin explained to a chorus of sympathy.

“Well, I’d better git along back to the pub already,” Daphne interrupted the banter, pulling on her coat. “Wiv all the goins on, there’s bound ta be a lot ‘o thirsty folk out there waitin’ on me. You boys ‘ave fun now. Ta!”

“I’m off too,” Lucky said, following in Daph’s footsteps as she traipsed through the open door. “Thanks again for helping me with that job, ‘Andsome. I won’t ferget it.”

“Ah, alone at last,” Brian sighed as the door closed behind the departing pair. “Now, where were we?”

Justin chuckled and played along as Brian started kissing him again. Brian was really getting into the thing too, rolling them both over in the process till he was lying on top of Justin. Justin loved the feeling of Brian’s weight blanketing him, pressing him down into the mattress. Brian was never too heavy; it simply felt like his weight held them together better. Justin could stay like that all day, if only the world would have let them.

Unfortunately, the world wasn’t going to be agreeable that morning.

Just when things were getting really good, Brian’s lightbox thingy - which had been sitting on the top of the dresser along with his wallet and the other contents of the man’s pockets - started making an odd chiming noise. Brian’s head shot up, abruptly abandoning Justin’s lips, and turning to look in the direction from which the sounds were emanating. A split second later, the pleasant blanket of Brian’s weight on top of him was gone and Justin was left alone on the bed.

“Damn it! I didn’t know it was that late,” Brian cursed after looking at the glowing front of the lightbox. “I have a fucking meeting with Britcom in a hour and I can’t miss it or my ass will be grass. Sorry, Blue Eyes but I’ll have to take a rain check for that morning fuck I was planning on giving you.”

Justin didn’t mean to groan aloud, but he really was disappointed. Half the night - whenever he wasn’t busy flying for his life, at least - he’d been thinking about Brian and longing to get back to the man’s bed. And now here he was, and right when it was getting seriously interesting, it was already over. He just couldn’t catch a break.

Brian must have been feeling the same way, though, since he paused in his frantic rush to gather his clothing together and looked over at where Justin was still sprawled out on the bed. “Come with me,” he ordered.

“I thought you said you had to work,” Justin questioned.

“I do but . . .” Brian paused, seeming to rethink his words before continuing. “I still want you there. With me . . .” Brian seemed surprised by his own words, enough so that it took a visible effort for him to continue. “Please, Blue Eyes. I don’t want to leave you here, so far away.” The man seemed to gather his confidence together. “My meeting shouldn’t take too long - provided that the client isn’t being a total ass again - and you can always nap while I’m working. Then, when I’m done, I can show you around my world a little more.” When Justin started to speak up, intending to object, Brian rushed on, already trying to head off his protests. “Come on, Justin. It’ll be fun. We can check out the hotel’s swimming pool and I’ll treat you to a trip to the spa. They do couples massages . . .”

Justin had no idea what all of that meant. Swimming sounded okay, but it was only early May and he thought it would likely be too cold out, so he wasn’t sure why Brian would want to do that. When he heard ‘spa’ all he could think of was the time a couple of the guys had taken a trip out to the old Roman ruins of Bath; he didn’t think that was what Brian was offering, though. And he’d had a massage a few times when he was in Hospital - like the time he’d injured his shoulder - but the nurse pawing at his torn muscles had kinda hurt, so he wasn’t really interested in doing that again, even if he and Brian did it together as a ‘couple’. However, all that being said, with the way Brian was looking at him right then, all pleading puppy dog eyes and sorta sad, Justin knew he couldn’t possibly tell his boyfriend no.

With a waggle of his head and a reluctant shrug, Justin conceded. “Okay, Brian. I’ll go with you. I really do need to get some sleep after last night and I might as well sleep there as anywhere else, I suppose. But I’m flying again tonight so I can’t stay too long.”

“Not a problem,” Brian replied, seemingly content with the compromise Justin offered. “You come with me for the day and then I’ll follow you back here tonight. We’ll get the best of both worlds.”

“You know I’m totally clobbered by you, right?” Justin confessed, looking at the gorgeous man who could be so dang sweet when he wanted to be.

“As long as that’s a good thing, I’m all in favor of it,” Brian replied quizzically. “Now, get a move on, Blue Eyes. We’ve got to hurry. Cynthia’s probably going to have my balls as it is for being this late.”

That agreed, they both pulled on their clothes and were rushing out the door in under five minutes. However their usual path to Duckett’s Passage took a lot longer to negotiate than normal. Justin hadn’t been kidding about the destruction the city had suffered the night before. Everywhere they went they saw evidence of the extensive bombing attack. Whole blocks seemed to have been reduced to rubble. The air was filled with smoke and a fine sifting of ash was falling all around them, coating the men’s clothing with soot. The smell of the still smoldering fires, as well as the dusty odor of smashed plaster, clogged their noses before they’d got very far, making it difficult to breathe. Needless to say the various detours they had to make to get around the devastation slowed them down considerably.

After all that, the disconcerting trip through the time portal seemed like a piece of cake. Even Justin was barely fazed by that strange occurrence now that he’d made a few trips back and forth. Brian had briefly worried that maybe all the wreckage might have affected the portal, but they were lucky that the area around Duckett’s Passage seemed relatively unscathed and the time rift itself was unchanged. The difference between the dreary havoc of post-raid London and this bright, clean, modern version of the city was remarkable, though. Justin could hardly believe it was the same place - and that wasn’t just because of the changes to the buildings or the modern technology. The very mood of the city itself was improved in Brian’s time.

They hoofed it from Duckett’s Passage to the Palace and managed that part of the trip in no time. Even so, they were cutting it close as they jogged together up the front steps of the hotel. As soon as they set foot in Brian’s office, they were greeted by a smirking Cynthia.

“It looks like you boys have seen better days,” she laughed at the exhausted expressions on the boys’ faces as she handed Brian some papers.

“You could say that,” Justin yawned loudly, the long night starting to finally catch up with him.

“Is everything ready to go next door?” Brian asked, ignoring the questioning look Justin saw the assistant shoot at her boss.

Cynthia nodded. “Of course. Everything is set up and Melton will be here just after eleven. Here’s the copy you wanted revised.” Cynthia handed him a file folder. “And here are the revised print ad layouts along with the contact sheets with the product photos - which you’ll need to weed through to pick out the final shots.” More folders were handed to Brian. “Also, while you were . . . incommunicado . . . the past couple days, you got about a thousand phone messages and enough mail to to founder a Pony Express horse.” She added a stack of small oblong pieces of paper to Brian’s pile and then pointed to a huge stack of letters and such sitting on the nearby desk. “And, last thing, Gardner is on the warpath and pissed that he wasn’t able to get ahold of you yesterday, so that should probably be the first call you return.”

Brian didn’t seem to be at all fazed by the pile of work he’d been handed. Justin admired the man as he flipped through papers, barking out orders to his assistant, and deftly handling all manner of what sounded like complicated business dealings. Justin privately thought his boyfriend was incredibly dishy the way he was taking charge of things like that. He’d never seen this side of Brian before but he had to admit he liked it.

Justin left the two of them discussing the last minute changes needed for the upcoming meeting and made his way over to the large sofa in the corner of the room. The pilot sighed happily as his body relaxed into the soft cushions and all the tension from the previous evening seemed to leave his body.

“Is it okay if I take my nap here?” Justin asked sleepily, his eyes already closing as he wriggled around making himself comfortable.

Justin could feel Brian covering him with his coat and the familiar smell of his man was warm and comforting as he drifted off to sleep not more than ten seconds later.

He didn’t know how long he’d been asleep, but when Justin woke up, Brian was sitting quietly at his desk across the room, rifling through the stacks of paperwork, deep in thought.

“Mmmm,” Justin stretched, laughing quietly to himself at the little squeak that escaped.

“Good sleep?” Brian asked, as his eyes remained on the papers in front of him.

“Yeah.”

Justin yawned as he sat up, looking around himself at the hotel office space Brian had taken over. It was filled with more of those strange gadgets that he still didn’t understand but that Brian seemed perfectly comfortable with. Justin wasn’t sure he’d ever understand them all.

Right then, however, judging by the sighs and muted grumblings, Brian didn’t appear to be very happy with whatever it was he was looking at on the large lightbox device he was staring at. Justin swiveled off the edge of the couch, stood, stretched again, and then sleepily ambled over to where Brian was sitting. Brian was so engrossed in his work he didn’t even look up. Justin sidled around the furniture till he could look over Brian’s shoulder, as surprised as ever at the images on the big lightbox screen. It was so amazing to him - these miniature movies right there on the small screen, not to mention the way Brian could manipulate and change them. While he watched, Brian moved this little oblong white gizmo in a circle on the desktop, and up on the screen a small white arrow zoomed around; Justin couldn’t see how Brian’s actions made it happen since the oblong thing wasn’t even connected to the lightbox with a wire or anything. It was enough to make you believe in magic almost.

Then, when Brian pressed on the oblong thing with his index finger, one section of the picture on the screen changed colors - turning from one shade of blue to another. Wow! That was so . . . strange, but interesting too. Justin was fascinated and curious. It didn’t look that difficult to do. He wondered if he could learn to use the lightbox/oblong things himself? He’d always considered himself pretty good with mechanical things - he’d easily picked up how to work the new RDF radar they’d installed in his plane a few months back; well enough in fact that the rest of his Squadron often came to him with questions if their gear wasn’t working properly. So perhaps he could figure out this stuff eventually as well?

Without asking permission, Justin insinuated himself between Brian’s chair and the desk, then seated himself comfortably in the big guy’s lap. Brian was distracted from his work long enough to smirk sideways at him, but Justin wasn’t going to let him get away with that. Brian really needed to get over himself sometimes. He tilted Brian’s chin upward with one finger, kissed the man soundly and then looked back at the lightbox.

“So, what’s up with this,” he asked, pointing to the image Brian was already refocused on.

“This is garbage, Blue Eyes,” Brian snarled as he moved the oblong gizmo around again, pressing on the thing furiously, each movement of his finger eliciting a clicking sound along with some change or other to the image on the screen. “I have no idea why we pay the idiots in the art dept as much as we do when they can’t seem to get anything right . . . not that I’m doing much better, but at least I don’t try and pass myself off as a fucking artist.” He made another ‘click’ and the backgound of the picture turned a different blue. “I’ve been staring at these boards for hours and I still can’t seem to get them to look right. It’s driving me fucking nuts.”

Justin looked at the images again. He didn’t really understand what the thing was that Brian was trying to showcase, but even so, he could see several things about the picture he’d change if it were up to him. Figuring ‘what the heck’, Justin pointed to one of the elements of the image that seemed to be incorrectly sized compared to all the rest, which threw the perspective off, and explained to Brian what the issue was. With another series of clicks, Brian did something to make that part bigger. Then Justin pointed out another small flaw, which Brian clicked at and fixed. Next he suggested changing the color of the lettering at the top to orange instead of blue - a suggestion that caused Brian’s eyebrow to raise questioningly, but when he tried it, they could both immediately see it was much better. Even so, the thing still wasn’t quite perfect and they both knew it.

Frustrated because he didn’t know how to work the lightbox even though he instinctively KNEW what it was that would fix Brian’s problem, Justin grabbed a piece of paper out of another gadget, took up a pencil that was waiting in a little cup thingy nearby and set to work to draw what it was he saw in his head. Brian waited, watching over Justin’s shoulder as he drew. It didn’t take Justin long; he’d always been pretty good at rendering an image like this, even if he’d never had much call to do it for any reason other than just to amuse himself. In not more than five minutes, he had redrawn the entire image Brian had been struggling with, complete with all the corrections to perspective and sizing that were needed to make it work right. When he was done, Brian pulled the finished work out of Justin’s fingers, looking it over with a huge grin on his face.

“Fuck, Blue Eyes,” Brian exclaimed, shaking his head at the drawing. “You sure you’re committed to being a pilot? With talent like this, I’d hire you to work in my art department in a fucking heartbeat.”

Justin smiled at his silly boyfriend. “Thank you for the compliment, Brian, but drawing’s just a hobby. You can’t make any money at it. I don’t plan to waste my life as a starving artist living in some drafty garrett. That’s why I chose to get into aviation. I want a more secure future than being a simple artist.”

“Whatever you say, Justin,” Brian smirked at him mischievously. “And I know it’s not in the realm of riches, but the Graphic Designers at VanGuard start at $50,000 a year, so I’d hardly call that starving artist territory.”

At first Justin thought he was joking, but that gloating smile Brian was aiming at him was too sure. “Fifty . . . fifty THOUSAND dollars? A year? That’s . . . that’s . . . Applesauce, Brian! That’s crazy. Nobody makes that much money! Well, no regular people - maybe millionaires and the like, but . . . Fifty thousand dollars a year for someone who just draws pictures? Are you pulling my leg?”

“Nope. Not pulling your leg. And that’s just the starting salary. With talent like yours, you’d be making a lot more before too long, I suspect,” Brian confirmed.  

“Jeepers. That’s a lot of money. It sure beats the 12s 6p a day I get as an officer in the RAF! And I send as much of that as I can spare home to my mother, to boot. Applesauce, Brian. That’s a heck of a lot of money . . .”

“Commercial pilots make more, of course,” Brian continued, apparently trying to give Justin a heart attack. “They probably make somewhere around a hundred thou a year, but the hours suck and what good is all that money if you’re never home to spend it?”

“A hundred . . . hundred thousand . . . DOLLARS? . . . a year? No WAY!” Justin jumped up from his perch on Brian’s lap so he could pace around the room, unable to sit still while his mind struggled to comprehend that vast sum.

“Of course it’s dollars, you twat. What do you think - they pay you in M&Ms?” Brian teased. “Although, knowing your chocolate addiction, you’d probably like that, wouldn’t you?”

“What does someone do with that much money?” Justin asked, legitimately unable to comprehend salaries like that.

“Oh trust me, Blue Eyes. There are plenty of things you can do with that amount of money. Houses, cars, clothing - I could spend $100k in no time. Plus, things just generally cost a lot more these days than they did back in 1941.”

Justin thought Brian had a screw loose or something, but he wasn’t going to argue the point. Brian was likely just exaggerating to try and tease him. No way could you spend that much money - not easily at least. That was just inconceivable.

The busy businessman was already moving on from his talk about ridiculous sums of money, though. Brian had got up from his seat at the desk, come around to where Justin was still pacing, and dragged him back to take the empty seat. Justin was forced to sit down in front of the lightbox and Brian quickly explained how to work the oblong thing - which Brian said was a ‘mouse’, although Justin didn’t think it looked at all like a rodent - and when to make it click to move things around on the screen. Then he directed Justin to do to the image exactly what he’d done in the drawing.

Justin felt strangely empowered watching something he’d created come alive on the lightbox screen in front of him. It was also a lot of fun to click and move things around and play with colors so effortlessly. When Brian commented that Justin seemed to pick up how to use the ‘program’ - whatever that meant - incredibly fast, Justin felt inordinately proud of himself. It was probably silly to get such a thrill out of hearing Brian’s praise, but it really did mean a lot to him. Nobody had ever said much to encourage his artistic side before, so to have someone compliment him on something that he also found so enjoyable, meant a lot.

With the both of them working on it, it didn’t take all that long to fix the picture the way it needed to be. Brian even went so far as to do something with Justin’s original drawing - something he called ‘scanning’ - that made the drawing magically appear on the lightbox screen, and then he did something else that sort of superimposed the image they’d been working on over the plain black and white drawing, making a collage of sorts. It worked so well, the two different but similar images complimenting each other and enhancing each other, that Brian declared it ‘perfect’.

“I can’t believe that it took you less than an hour to fix that damn board that my art department and I have been struggling with for a fucking week, Blue Eyes. You are a miracle worker,” Brian declared when everything was ‘saved’ - which Brian said meant it could be found again on the lightbox later even after it was turned off. “I think this calls for a bit of a celebration. How about that trip to the spa I promised you before?”

Before Justin could even ask Brian to explain what, exactly, that meant or how they were going to get to a spa and back before Justin had to be back in 1941 for work that evening, Brian had picked up another of the little gadgets that seemed to be everywhere, pushed some buttons on the front of it and then started talking into the device. It sounded like Brian was making an appointment for them with someone. As soon as that was done, Brian picked up his pocket lightbox, tapped at the miniature screen and said something into it. A minute later Miss Cynthia appeared at the door, and Brian told her all about how Justin had fixed their pictures for them. Justin blanked out a little at all the incomprehensible words and terms Brian used, but got the gist of what was being said, which was basically that Cynthia was to finish things up and send the final product off to the client for his okay. And with that, Brian seemed to be done for the day, telling Cynthia that he and Justin would be going to this spa thing and not to bother him unless it was a ‘balls on fire state of emergency’.

“Let’s hope that’s not necessary,” Cynthia replied. “We wouldn’t want anything happening to your balls, let alone having them catch on fire. Right, Boss?” Both Brian and his assistant snickered at that, making Justin blush just to hear a lady talk about things like that. “But I think Melton will love this version, so I doubt there will be any need to interrupt your afternoon fun. After all the work you’ve put in, you deserve some spa time. You too, Justin,” Cynthia said turning to address him directly. “I bet you’re just dying to get out of that costume, am I right?”

“Costume?” Justin asked, not sure what she was talking about, and looking to Brian for help.

“Huh?” Brian seemed as lost as Justin was for a second, before he appeared to catch on. “Oh, you mean the uniform? Yeah, uh . . . Justin was doing a little promotional spot for his Squadron. They’re showcasing the history of the squad by dressing them in vintage uniforms.”

“That should definitely up your recruiting. You boys in uniform have always looked hot to me.” Cynthia seemed to accept Brian’s story without much convincing. “Although, if I know Brian, he’s probably just as ready to see you out of uniform.” Again the two of them laughed while Justin blushed even more furiously.  

Justin was grateful when Brian finally shooed him out of the room and away from Cynthia. He was sure she was a competent Assistant, because Brian wouldn’t put up with anyone who wasn’t, but Justin really didn’t know how she got away with being so forward. Apparently, he had a lot to learn about women in the future.

Without another word, Brian ushered him out of the office and down the hall to the elevators. When they got to the lobby, though, Justin was surprised that they weren’t heading back out to the street. Instead, Brian led him down a hallway to the back of the building, past the restaurant and some larger rooms that Justin thought hadn’t been there back in 1941. At the end of the hallway, Brian turned in through a set of elegantly etched glass doors with the words, ‘The Palace Spa’ on them. Brian stopped just inside the room in front of a large desk.

The first thing Justin noticed when they passed through the doors was how amazing this spa place smelled. He couldn’t stop himself from closing his eyes and taking a nice deep breath. It smelled like a pine forest growing on a clifftop above the sea; fresh and clean and salty. There was definitely something very relaxing about this place. And Brian made it even better when he reached for Justin’s hand and entwined their fingers together. Applesauce, would he ever get used to that? Would he ever get used to being this openly affectionate with another man . . . not just any man . . . his man . . . his boyfriend? Sometimes just thinking that gave Justin goosebumps.

“Good Afternoon, Mr. Kinney,” the receptionist behind the desk at the hotel’s luxurious day spa greeted them warmly. “We have the two of you booked in for a couple’s massage, which includes our world famous facial, is that correct, sir?”

Brian nodded. “That’s us.”

“Katy and Elizabeth will be with you shortly,” she smiled widely at the two of them, her eyes zeroing in fondly on their interlaced hands.

Justin was still feeling a little self-conscious being so open about holding hands with another man, and was therefore even more shocked by how the woman didn’t just accept it, but actually seemed delighted by their blatant display of affection. He didn’t have too long to marvel at that fact, though, since she was already giving them directions on where to go and what to do next. He watched as Brian accepted the fluffiest looking robes from the smiling lady. He really wanted to ask why they’d need robes, but he decided he needed to ask a more pressing question first.

“What did she mean by a ‘couple’s massage?’” Justin whispered nervously into Brian’s ear.

Before Brian could explain, they were joined by two ladies who introduced themselves as their therapists for the afternoon. Therapists? Justin really didn’t know what to make of all this, and from the way Brian had been going on and on in the elevator about how wonderful this whole spa experience would be, he was already starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

“Nice to see you again, Brian. If you gentlemen would like to follow us,” the smaller of the two ladies said to them as she walked into a room to their right. “Alright, so depending how comfortable you are, you can either leave your briefs on or strip off completely. Then lay down on your stomachs using one of the towels to cover yourselves up. We’ll be back in just a minute to get started.”

Justin started to slowly undress, still not completely sure what they were doing there. This sounded a lot more elaborate than the few times that nurse had massaged his sore shoulder. And she’d never asked him to take all his clothing off, either. Really, he didn’t understand why they’d have to take off more than just their shirts, but since Brian had appeared to be comfortable with whatever the woman was saying, he didn’t think it was his place to complain. Of course, it was obvious they’d both be keeping their briefs on, right? It wasn’t appropriate for them to be getting naked in the presence of ladies, especially those they weren’t familiar with - or was this another one of those things he’d never understand about the modern world?

He watched as Brian threw his shirt onto the chair next to him and started working the buttons on his jeans, pulling them down slowly, giving Justin a nice little show as he stripped. It was only when he turned around so that they were no longer facing each other that Brian hooked his fingers in the top of his boxers, bent over, and pulled them down, exposing his butt to a very shocked Blue Eyes. Justin was still standing there, mouth hanging open, when his boyfriend turned around and faced him, bare as an egg, and completely unashamed of that fact.

Brian smirked at the look of surprise on Justin’s face. “Aren’t you a little overdressed?” he asked, walking over to the blond and forcefully helping him finish undressing.

The shirt came off, no problem, but Justin grabbed Brian’s hand when it strayed down towards his belt.

“Why do I need to take my pants off?” Justin asked worriedly as Brian knelt on the floor in front of him and pulled both slacks and briefs down past his ankles. “That lady said she was coming back in here, Brian. We can’t be,” he lowered his voice to just above a whisper, “naked,” then raised it again, “around strange women. It’s just not appropriate.”

“Don’t be silly, Blue Eyes. I don't want to get that massage lotion shit all over my shorts; they’re Tommy Johns and they cost me $125. Besides, massages, like everything else in this world, are more fun when you’re naked,” Brian smiled as he leaned forward and brushed his warm lips against Justin’s soft penis, making it twitch happily.

“Brian!” Justin moaned quietly as he felt his body start to react to the delicious man in front of him, even while his mind struggled to figure out why Brian was wearing some other man’s underwear - who was this Tommy guy anyway and why had Brian given him money for his old shorts?

Standing back up, Brian rubbed his hands down Justin’s arms and kissed him quickly on the lips. “Trust me, you'll love it, Blue Eyes.”

Justin wasn’t sure about all that, but he did trust Brian, so he supposed he could give this naked massaging thing a try; after all, nobody had ever actually died from embarrassment before, had they?

Strutting around in the buff, Brian walked over to the cloth draped table on the side of the room, where an open bottle of champagne was waiting in a silver ice bucket. Justin watched as Brian poured two glasses of the bubbly stuff and brought one over to him. Justin accepted the flute, taking a small sip of the delicious sparkling wine, while Brian went back to the sideboard and then returned with a handful of grapes, one of which he pressed against Justin’s lips.

“Open up.”

Justin obediently opened up and sucked the grape into his mouth . . . almost choking to death a moment later when the women knocked on the door announcing their return . . . with him still standing there in the middle of the room wearing nothing but a smile. Justin scrambled over to where the two beds were set up side by side and quickly slid under the covers on the nearest one. Brian, meanwhile, slowly strutted around to the far side of the empty bed, not at all bothered by the entrance of the two ladies. Justin was embarrassed enough for the both of them, though; he quickly squirmed down under the sheet even further, trying to pull it up over his chest and wishing it would hide the bulging in his nether regions a little better.

“So, Brian, how did your back feel after that last massage?” the short one asked, as she nonchalantly held up the sheet on Brian’s bed.

“Fabulous. I love that deep tissue technique you use. You have magic hands, Katy,” Brian answered as he twisted till he was lying comfortably on his stomach. “Flip over, Blue Eyes. Elizabeth will start on your back.”

Before Justin could move though, he was shocked all over again to see ‘Katy’ pulling the sheet down off Brian’s back so it was barely covering his naked tushie. The woman then filled her palm with some lotion stuff squirted out of a bottle contained in a little holster on the mesh belt she was wearing. Then, without so much as a ‘by your leave’, the little hussy put her hands on Brian’s bare back, running them all the way down the beautiful long muscles that Justin loved to feel under his own hands, and didn’t stop until she was kneading at his boyfriend’s butt. And instead of protesting this outrageous treatment, Brian actually let out a happy little groaning noise - the kind of noise that Justin thought only he should be allowed to hear. What the heck did this woman think she was doing to his man? And why on earth was Brian allowing her to do such things?

Just as he was about to speak up and complain, though, the other woman had the audacity to pull his own sheet off, slap him on his naked thigh and order him to turn over. When he hesitated, the big woman with the too-strong hands began to manhandle him around on her own. And when the big brute of a woman started to paw at his own backside, Justin totally forgot what he was going to say to his boyfriend anyway.