Routine

Justin let himself in the small apartment he shared with Izzy, in the early afternoon.

He was surprised to find her awake, curled on the couch with a sketchpad in her lap.

"Hey, Iz! I brought pizza!"

When she didn't answer, Justin wondered if she was mad at him. He hoped they weren't fighting because he had decided to get back together with Brian.

Justin walked closer, and snorted. Izzy had earbuds in her ears, her head bobbing to whatever she was listening to, while her hand flew over the paper.

Justin snapped his fingers in front of her, making her shriek and throw her sketchpad in the air. Then her eyes narrowed at him, while her hands pressed against her chest. It made Justin double over in laughing.

"What the fuck are you doing, sneaking up on me?"

"I thought you were ignoring me, then noticed the earbuds."

"And decided to kill me?"

He mimicked her shrieking, before laughing some more. "You're so funny."

She huffed. "What's that smell?" She sniffed the air, tilting her head. "Pizza!" In one athletic movement, she was over the back of the couch and into the kitchen.

Over the box of pizza, Justin attempted to tell his roommate how happy he was, but he'd forgotten Izzy wasn't Daphne. She didn't seem keen to hear about Justin's glorious night.

She held up a hand. "Don't get me wrong. I'm happy for you, but I don't have to hear about it."

Justin tried not to take it as a stab. He was used to talk about his beautiful night with Daphne, and she always asked more questions, wanting details. "Okay, if you won't hear about my night, tell me about yours."

"I woke up at four am with a new idea. I want to try clay."

"What?"

"To sculpture in clay."

"Modeling clay," Justin said, surprised. "It sounds interesting."

"And messy. I like messy." Izzy grinned. "I need you to help me browse for the things I might need."

Justin shrugged. "There are various substances you can use: ceramic, oil-based, paper, polymer. What? I do know about this too. I took a class in college, because I needed it for my end of the year score."

"So which one is the most common?" Izzy asked.

"Ceramic. I bet we can find stores in the city to buy everything you might need."

"Great! I've already drawn a few ideas. I'm going to need your IT skills and make a website. I will sell them online and be crazy rich." She beamed.

Justin snorted, choking on his bite of pizza. "Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself? Let's take it one at a time. I will help, sure, but first let's look for stores, see what they sell, buy a few samples of each type of clay. You can test them and see which one you like using."

"Awesome! Now?"

"Izzy, I barely slept last night," he said softly, feeling his cheeks heating up. "I'd like a nap, then I have to do grocery shopping for Brian. I start at seven at Raging Bull, and hopefully will get to see Brian...awake when I get to him."

She pouted, pushing her plate away. "I thought you were staying home."

"I told you I would try to spend time with both of you. Come on, you must have been in love once. It feels like the first time all over again." He grinned so big, his cheeks hurt.

Izzy raised a brow. "No, I have never been in love."

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, taking her hand. "It's the most incredible feeling in the world."

"Your mood is contagious." She giggled, hugging him tightly. "Let me know when you have time for me. I will do my research in the meanwhile."

oOo

Before his shift at the bar, Justin couldn't stay away from Brian anymore.

He'd packed a small bag and done the groceries. Everything was back at Brian's place. For a short moment, Justin thought the cat had befriended him when he rushed to him after Justin got in the condo. While he bent to stroke his head, the kitten turned around, heading to the sofa. He'd thought it was his favorite human, but it turned out to be the mean one who had stepped on his paw.

Justin arrived at Kinnetik around the usual end of shift, though by the looks of how everyone was running around with files in their hands, they weren't anywhere near done for the day.

Justin told the lady at the front desk that he was there to see Brian. He was surprised when she let him in, before he finished talking. Brian must have told her about him, or she remembered about him knowing someone in the company.

Whatever the case, Justin was glad to be in. He didn't have to look around for Brian's office. It was the only shut door without a living soul within a foot. Despite the closed door and deserted area, everyone could clearly hear the yells from inside.

"You Brian's secretary?" Justin asked a short, blonde girl.

She nodded, positively terrified.

"How long has it been going on?"

"Since the meeting ended, hours ago," she explained in a small voice. "Wait!" She stopped him from heading to the door. "Do you have an appointment?"

Justin laughed. "I'm your savior," he joked.

She didn't look pleased. "You can't simply go in there, sir. Mr. Kinney is...well, he's in a discussion with his business partner."

"Oh, I don't need an appointment. I am his partner—his boyfriend." He beamed, leaving her stunned behind him as he opened the door.

"BLACK! For the last fucking time! The devices featured will be black," Brian shouted at the top of his lungs.

"I was thinking it's best to show people they come in ALL colors," Evan snapped back.

"NO! They can find it on their own!"

"What if they are new, potential clients? They want the device in green."

"They will research it on the fucking website!"

"Hi?" Justin said from near the shut door.

Both fuming men turned to him.

Evan groaned loudly, turning his eyes to the ceiling.

Brian relaxed minutely, crossing the room and taking Justin into his arms. He kissed him softly, stroking his hair.

"You should invest in soundproofing your office," Justin joked, linking his fingers with Brian's.

"He should learn to fucking listen to a good suggestion," Evan muttered.

Brian's fingers curled tighter around Justin's without realizing. "I'm already sick of this argument."

"We haven't done shit today, because you decided to throw a hissy fit about the color we should feature the devices in the ad," Evan said pointedly. "Our art teams are on stand-by because you refuse to think outside the box."

"That's not fucking true! I'm telling you what people will buy! How many phones or music players have you seen another color than black or white? And between these two, there are more black. Black wins."

"Actually, if you want to get into that topic again, for the fifteenth time today, I've seen more and more colored devices at people on the streets!"

Justin pried Brian's fingers from his, flexing them. He was losing feeling in his fingers at the way Brian squeezed them. "If you want my opinion—"

"We don't!" Evan snapped.

"Don't shout at him! I'd appreciate it if you stayed out of this conversation, though," Brian told Justin.

"This isn't a conversation. You're shouting at each other like two cave-men getting territorial over a piece of meat." Justin glared at both of them. "Look, my humble opinion is to feature a phone black or white, whatever color it comes out of the factory...and then show people colorful cases."

"Apple is going to release phones of all colors. Why the fuck would we show people cases? Stay the fuck out of this. You have no idea." Evan gathered a folder of ruffled flies. "I'm going to talk to my men."

"The hell you are!" Brian yelled, running after Evan when he stormed out of the office.

Everyone stopped what they were doing, slinking away from the war zone in the middle of the hallway.

"We present the black one— Don't fucking interrupt," Brian spat in Evan's face when he opened his mouth. "And at the end of the ad, we show the device comes in all colors without the need of a colored case!"

Evan considered the new idea. "Much better."

"You never knew how to praise my good ideas. Why the fuck did I expect you to say it's an excellent idea?" Brian shook his head.

Evan scowled, before plastering a fake smile on his face. "What an excellent idea, Kinney! Be in the Meeting Room 2 in five minutes. Everyone," he shouted, looking at their teams. "After me."

Brian huffed loudly, running a hand through his hair. Then he remembered about Justin and turned to find him in his office, where he'd left him.

"Do you two always get along so well?" Justin asked carefully.

"Since the first day I worked with him...a century ago," Brian attempted to joke. "I'm sorry to cut your visit short, but I have to go in there. Round Five is coming."

"Only five?" Justin chuckled. "Anyway, I only dropped by because…" He looked away, blushing.

"I missed you too," he said softly. "I'll see you home later?"

"I finish my shift around one."

"I hope to be home by then." Brian winked, kissing his cheek.

"Get your skinny ass in here, Kinney!"

"God, give me a good reason not to throw him out the window," Brian muttered.

"I can open the window," Justin offered with a smile.

Laughing, Brian went into the meeting room, while Justin left, heading to Raging Bull.

oOo

For the following weeks, Justin made a habit to visit Brian before his shift at the bar. Most of the time, he found him in some heated argument with Evan. They were nose to nose, spit flying on the other's face, steam coming out their ears.

On a few rare occasions, Justin found Brian alone and calm. They made the most of the hour Justin reserved for visiting his boyfriend.

Sometimes, Brian dropped by the bar after he finished work; other times he waited for Justin in his condo, greeting him naked and playful.

In between work and Brian, Justin found time to work on his commissions and even look over Michael's ideas for Rage. He had settled in a nice routine that suited his schedule just fine.

The only downside was that he still hadn't made friends with his kitten. Brian was his favorite person, and he made sure to have Brian's full attention whenever Justin was around. Brian found it amusing, especially when they forgot to close the bedroom door the whole way, and they ended up with the purring machine between them. Justin was tempted to name the cat Cockblocker.