BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 6

The Wards

   "Where did you hear that name?" Brian asked, stricken. You could have knocked him over with a feather.

   "Oh, I'll tell you another time...but soon," said Justin smugly. "So, who is he? Is he...down there?" he gestured, meaning the courtyard.

   "No. Just somebody I used to know in the Pitts. I haven't thought about him in ages."

   "Really? So you don't think about him when you get served your meals?"

   "Well....sometimes...I guess. I don't really think about it, his face just sort of...pops in my head from time to...Hey! How did you know that!?"

   "Yes. The time has come. I'll do better than tell you. I'll show you," said Justin, again using Brian's words.

   As he got up from the table and moved past him, Brian grabbed his arm by the bicep and was surprised and a little turned on that he felt a toned, hard bump there, like a swimmer's or a gymnast's. "Be careful, little boy! Push me too far and you'll find out my sanity's only so-so!"

   Justin grabbed Brian by his own bicep and yanked him forward easily with a strength that surprised, turned on and worried Brian all at once. He kissed him hard, hot and quick. Brian was left breathless, hard as a rock and wanting more.

   "Well, let me know in advance whether you'd like to kiss me or kill me!" he rasped throatily. Then he pulled easily out of Brian's grip.

   He went over and retrieved the mirror.

   "Emmett! Emmett! Can I talk to you for a minute! Emmett! I need you!"

   His reflection vanished and Emmett's gap-toothed smile appeared.

   "Well, hello, sweetie! How are you doing? Did everything go all right with your dinner? Would you like some dessert? I could whip something up!"

   "Not just yet! I wanted someone to meet you first."

   "Someone to meet me?? But who? There's nobody here in the castle except you and the-M - M - M -M - Ma - Ma - Ma - MASTER!!! How ARRRRRRE you!!? I trust everything's well!? Well, you heard me offer the little master dessert! Maybe you - you - you'd like something too!? A torte perhaps! Or...." the terrified mirror man began to ramble.

   Well, of course you can guess what happened. Justin had turned the mirror around so that Brian could see Emmett and now the magic creature was freaking out. He was very confused as to why this should be until he looked up and saw Brian. His eyes widened.

   Brian was standing up and drawn up to his full, huge height. His chair was overturned. His chest was heaving and his face had gone from snow white to rose red. He foamed a little at the mouth. He made strangled noises. His hands were curved into strangling claws.

   "Great heavens Brian! What's wrong!?" Are you choking!? Are you OK?? It's OK, Brian don't worry, I know the Heiml..."

   And then he stopped in confusion for Brian was taking the biggest breath he had ever seen and was most definitely not choking!

      "SHUT...UUUUUUUUUUPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Brian screamed louder than Justin thought was possible, right in his face. His blond hair blew back a little in the force of the scream."WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!!!!!?? WHAT ARE YOU DOING TALKING TO HIMMM!!!?"

   "What are you talking about!?" yelled Justin right back.

   "THIS!!" Brian indicated and snatched the mirror. "HIM!! WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO HIM!!!?? AND WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO HIIIMMM!!?" he screamed at Emmett, "WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN TELLING HIM!!!? HOW MUCH HAVE YOU TOLD HIM!!!!?"

   "Ma - Ma - Master, stop! Nothing! I told him nothing! I told him to ask you! I TOLD HIM TO ASK YOU!" Emmett yelled.

   Brian seemed to be able to process this and paused a minute and calmed down a peg. Just a peg though.

   "YOU!!" he yelled at Justin in a softer but still extremely loud voice, "YOU TOOK THIS! YOU TOOK IT JUST SO YOU COULD WORK MAGIC! YOU TOOK IT SO YOU COULD COMMUNICATE WITH THESE BEINGS!! TRYING TO FIND A WAY OUT ARE YOU!!? TRYING TO ESCAPE!!!?

   "Of  course not! I didn't..."

      "WELL IT WON'T WORK!!! YOU'RE MINE!!!! YOU'RE HERE FOREVER!!"

   "AS YOUR CENTERPIECE!! DON'T REMIND ME!" Justin yelled back.

   This seemed to deflate Brian a bit more. "HOW DID YOU MANAGE THIS! AND WHY!? WHY THEN...ARE YOU TALKING TO HIM!!?"

   "I didn't manage anything! He contacted me! Now will you stop queening out so we can discuss this rationally!?" Justin yelled.

   But Brian was not yet ready for that. He looked furiously at the man in the mirror. "WHY!? IS THIS TRUE!? WHY WOULD YOU TALK TO HIM!! YOU'VE NEVER ONCE SAID ANYTHING! YOU HAVEN'T CONTACTED ME OR SAID HELLO ONCE!!! AND WHY ARE YOU TAKING HIS FACE??"

   "The little master can answer that! As for why I contacted him I was merely saying you're welcome. The little master had the good graces to say thank-you for what was given to him and does not consider us as mere slaves!"

   "WHHHHAAAAATTTTT!!!!!!????" Brian screamed.

   Emmett drew himself up and puffed out his skinny chest as much as possible. Since he was inside a 12" frame, this really wasn't very much of a difference and Justin had to bite back a giggle.

   "You know what!?" he declared, "I don't quite care for your tone! I'm leaving! And if I hear five minutes of quiet....polite conversation, (or good old fashioned necking) I might consider coming back to serve dessert! And don't you be taking out any of your anger at me on the little master! If you harm one hair on that blond little head, I won't serve you so much as a cupcake for the rest of my...while I'm here!"

   "You have to serve me something!!!" growled the Beast low in his throat.

   "Is that so?? Well, then dry bread and vinegar and river water, coming up! Don't test me, Mr. Man!"

   "The river's polluted!" Brian pointed out.

   "Ex--actly!" Emmett shot back, pointedly and then vanished.

   There was a bit of a silence except for Brian's heaving as he struggled to keep his temper.

   "You know, this is rather what I was talking about earlier," Justin said a trifle cheekily as he sashayed his bubble butt over to the leather couch and sat down. He was done with dinner and he knew the...things...would clean it up anyway so he just left everything. He put his hands behind his head and waited. The fire was lovely.

   "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!!!??" Brian yelled. He wasn't ready to stop being angry yet.

   "When Mr. Big, Bad Beast wants something...answers, lunch, a freaking piece of pie, it's demanded...expected...and now...THIS!! Oh, but when someone asks you a question, It's...oh not tonight, another day...but soon. That's not fair Brian!"

   "And you know, I don't care for your tone either," Justin continued, "You really should think about changing it if you are going to remain in MY APARTMENTS, isn't that what they're called?"

   There were a few HUGE....LOOOOOONG, DEEEP, breaths as the Beast powered all the way down. "Yes Justin, that's true," he said submissively, "Don't send me away."

   Justin glanced over with a puzzled frown. The Beast was standing there like a guilty schoolboy, twisting the handle of the mirror in his hands nervously. This didn't match up with what had just happened at all.

   Then he decided he was more angry than curious and he barked out, "I don't want to send you away. I want you to calm down, and sit down and talk to me rationally! Oh...and give me my mirror!"

   Brian guiltily went over to the table, righted the chair, retrieved his gloves and came over to Justin and gave him the mirror. Justin put it face down on the coffee table and directed Brian to one of the chairs. Brian sat down.

   "Now!" Justin said definitively, "Who is Emmett, who is that thing and just what the HELL is going on around here?"

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   "I don't really know where to begin," said Brian, after a long silence.

   "Try at the beginning," said Justin, "It's a very good place to start."

   "So I've heard," Brian said wryly. I have seen the Sound of Music, you know. I am a fag after all."

   After that queen out just now," Justin observed, "Of that I have no doubt."

   Brian looked uncomfortable, "Oh Justin, can't you let that go? That was SO five minutes ago!"

   "That's because it WAS five minutes ago!" Justin yelled. "Now stop stalling and spill!"

   Brian sighed. "Well, you remember, I told you that when I arrived that the mansion was awash in magic. Well, it was. Doors opened by themselves. Lights showed me where to go. Dinner appeared. It was cleared away. Much of what you have seen. But it was even more than that. It was like the walls were shimmering and sometimes undulating. I'd hear whispering but never understand anything specific. It was almost like the house was haunted but I wasn't afraid. It was like...the very house was alive!" Brian suddenly realized.

   He closed his eyes and began to remember. It seemed like ages ago. "For days, I wandered though the house, letting the house and the magic take care of me. Then one night, I had a dream. A very vivid dream. It was my fairy guardian. He was dressed in the white clubbing outfit I'd seen him in and behind him were these four, black, hulking shadows. But they weren't shadows. But they weren't alive either. I mean not the way we are. I mean...Well, I just didn't know! I couldn't figure it out. I stared at them for a while but nobody said anything. And then I woke up in a cold sweat."

   "The next night I had the dream again. The shadows behind him loomed even higher and scarier. They were even more forbidding. I could tell they were angry. I turned to run. I ran through a black forest most of the night but the shadows were always there, one step behind me. Finally, I was dead tired and I fell. The closest one caught me. He grabbed me in a cold, clawed hand and ate me. I was consumed by darkness and cold. I fell into forever. Again I woke in a cold sweat."

   Justin was riveted.

   "The next night I had the dream again. The shadows behind my guardian were blacker than the black background they were against. That was the only way I could see them. But they were in 3D now, hulking and huge. They had muscles on them that would make Arnold Swartzenegger jealous. They had teeth that shone in the darkness that were as long as butcher knives and twice as sharp. Foam was dripping off them. Again I could feel they were furious and that they hated me."

   "I looked at everyone carefully and was silent for a while. I wasn't sure what was expected of me, if he would talk to me or even if he could. But I knew the dream would end again and I would have no answers. Running wouldn't help. So I asked my guardian, "Can you speak to me? Have you forgiven me? Are you here to comfort me at all?"

   "He answered, "I can. I have not. I am not."

   "What do you want then? What are those things behind you?" I asked.

   He smiled at me. "Ahh, Brian, now you are asking the right questions. I have come to introduce you to these beings. They are the ones who have been taking care of you for the last few days. I have assigned them to take care of you in your seclusion for the next year. One...to clean and carry..." he pointed to each one as he spoke. The first shadow took off and flew off with a whoosh, gone in a blink. "One...to fetch and take away...One...to cook and serve food...and one...to show you the way..." Whoosh! Whoosh!! Whoosh!! Right over my head! Oh God! I still remember! It was like watching an enormous whale pass directly over you extra fast."

   "These are your Wards, Brian. They are angry with you because as I have said, they have been looking after you, but you have not been looking after them!"

   "What must I do?"

   "That, you and your guests must discover for yourself. Kindness, for one, would not hurt."

   "Kindness?"

   "Yes. They are prisoners, just as you are now, Brian. Seek to make their work a little less of a grind."

   "I don't understand! What are they?"

   "They are guardians, like myself, who for whatever reason have disgraced themselves and fallen from grace of the Power."

   "Power? What power?"

   "I do not know exactly. It governs us, the magical creatures. We simply call it the Power and submit to it. Imagine if I were to ask you, "What is God?"

   "Oh...I think I see," I told him and anyway it was clear that's all he could tell me."

   "They have disgraced themselves and been made prisoners. They have been given to me and I have given them to you. If they can serve you for your year, then they will have earned the right to become guardians again. And be warned, Brian. Once their year is up, whether you have broken your own curse or not, they will be free. You will be alone and have to fend for yourself after that, so do your best."

   "Well, Justin, I have to admit, I begged. I felt like I was in the darkness of Hell and my soul was almost as sick. So yeah, I begged him."

   "Oh please! Can't you just call this off!? Can't you please just forgive me, change me back? Please!! I'm sorry! I'm sorry a thousand times. Please!"

   "The guardian launched himself at me and hugged me and I still can feel his strong arms around me. It would be a long time before I felt and kind of genuine contact like that again. As he did, I could feel I was my old self again. I was human!"

   "This form will only last while I am with you," the guardian said, "And no, Brian, I cannot. I, too, must be submissive to the Power. If it were up to me, I would forgive you now this instant, have you click your heels and restore you to your life. But the Power that governs us all, desires this path for you, Brian, for you to become something more than you are, and so this is what I must do to you and watch as you suffer it. So try not to suffer and take care of your Wards and they will take care of you. Goodbye, my child."

   "He let me go and drifted away. I begged him to stay but he only said "Goodbye..." again and drifted further away and vanished and I was left alone in a void."

   "And then something grabbed me by the ankle! It pulled me down, down, down, into that horrible cold forever feeling again and nothing would stop it! And then I was jerked awake and I could hardly breathe! I was back! And I was back to normal again. Well, if you can call this normal, anyway. After that, the house sort of normalized. The walls were normal and the house seemed as if it settled down. But the Wards stayed to protect and serve me. And I was glad." He opened his eyes again, his story finished. His eyes widened as he saw Justin's crossed arms and narrowed eyes looking back at him in undisguised hatred.

   "You disgust me," he said.

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   Brian's eyes widened in surprise and shock. This is not what he expected at all. He had just opened himself up in a way he had never done before and Justin was shutting him down first thing.

   "What the hell, Justin!? You know what, I don't care. Screw you!" His defences went back up and he hid behind his wall of anger to mask the pain. "You know what? Fuck you! I answered your questions! Don't blame me if you don't like the answers. Fuck you! I'm leaving!" He stood up and grabbed his gloves.

   "No, Fuck YOU, Brian! Sit the HELL down!" Justin yelled back with authority.

   He was astonished when Brian did exactly that, almost as if...as if it were against his will. He looked down at the ground in defiance though and kept the fires of anger stoked, to keep the tears of disappointment at bay in front of the twink.

   "You knew!" Justin whispered in horror. "You knew they were sentient! You've known this whole time and you treated them like nothing! Like slaves! And you didn't tell me and I've been doing the same thing! My God! It makes me sick!"

   "I'm telling you now," Brian said sulkily.

   "So how does this work? Are they chained or imprisoned somewhere? Does it hurt when you use them, drain their power. Do they get tired? Do you give them any rest or respite? Do you even care? And when's the last time you said thank-you for anything?"

   "Hey! It's not like that, any of it! And I've said thank you..." Brian paused.

   "Yeeeeeessss???" Justin drawled.

   "I - I can't remember," Brian admitted, "But I must have....sometime...sometime..." But for the life of him, he couldn't remember.

   "Shit!" he said finally, knowing he was well and truly fucked, and not in a positive, life-affirming way.

   "I thought not," Justin said in this snotty, judgemental way.

   "Oh shut UP! Like you've never made a mistake in your life!" snarled Brian.

   Justin considered and then acquiesced, "Touche," he said and then settled his spine into the sinfully soft sofa.

   "Besides," Brian continued, "It's not anything like what you have in your head. They're not prisoners, not the way you mean, anyway. They can't leave the property but they're anywhere and everywhere they want to be otherwise. They don't have bodies, not the way we think of them anyway. They can assume a form, kind of like how my guardian did but that isn't really them. In their natural state they are just spirit, a breath of cold air...or...something. They don't sleep. They don't eat. They don't get tired. They just sort of reach into your mind to see what your deepest needs or desires are and  then...make ‘em happen."

   "You mean they read our thoughts!?" Justin cried fearfully, "All of them?"

   "No, not like that! It's sort of like...oh, the way we'd look through a window to the next room or outside. A quick observation to see what you need or yearn for. What's the matter Justin?" he leered, "Keeping some thoughts bottled up? Some dirty thoughts?"

   Damn him! How could he go from insane rage to sulky little boy to horny bastard at the drop of a hat? And pull it off!! How?? How??

   "Nothing you need to worry about!" Justin retorted. "I just don't like the idea of having my thoughts read over like a catalogue or a stolen diary! That's all!"

   "I see," Brian said smugly.

   Justin sighed. "I can tell by your tone that you don't get it at all! So let's just drop it. OK so these "Wards" are not being abused. Good! But you remember what your guardian said. There were ways to make their bondage less of a grind! And you did nothing!"

   "I didn't know what to do! I didn't know there was a way to communicate with them! They're invisible and silent! Whatever they do is instantaneous! I can't pay them! I only saw them once and it was by accident! What was I supposed to do!"

   "Your guardian gave you the answer there too! But you were too selfish to see it! Kindness, Brian! Thankfulness! Maybe not acting like a totally spoiled, selfish Prince and doing a few things on your own, once in a while! Make your own bed! Cook a meal for yourself! Close a damn door by yourself! As you said, they're spiritual. You have to think what you can do for them spiritually!"

   In the enclosed room, there was a WHOOSH!!!...and a gust of wind blew through the length of Justin's Apartments. Justin was filled with euphoria. A sense of peace, happiness, thankfulness and joy that was not their own moved through their souls. Both men gasped at the feeling. It was fantastic, transcendent. There was a clinking and a clanking over by the sink and when they looked over the pots and cooking utensils were all cleaned and scrubbed and stacked, ready to be put away. The jambalaya was covered and tidy and ready to be stored.

   "Oh Brian, did you feel that? It was like they...or one of them, moved right through my soul! I think they're trying to tell us something."

   "Yes. I think they're trying to tell us that you're right," Brian said regretfully, "And that I'm an asshole!"

   "Well, there's only one thing for that, Brian! Stop being an asshole and start treating them right. It's never too late to change!"

   "We'll see," Brian aid doubtfully. And Justin smiled because he could see that Brian was not being belligerent, but simply doubted himself. And that, over time, could be overcome.

   "Hey!" Brian said suddenly, brightening. "You wanna see ‘em?"

TBC