Tybalt brushed his hair until it shone like silk and pulled it back into a pony tail. He assumed it would stay that way since Skids wasn't coming over until later on. He frowned a little at the pain in his neck and right shoulder from painting for hours on end. With Skids busy at school and not around to distract him very much, he had more time to work and it took his mind off Skids' absence.

Unfortunately, getting dressed up reminded him of an annoying scene he and Skids had a few weeks ago. Tybalt refused to call it a painful, that would give it too much stature. Mikhael had invited him to go hear Shostakovich's Fifth symphony, which was not for the faint of heart and only for die-hard lovers of modern classical music. Apollo had been invited, too, but he was more of a Brahms man and so declined.

Tybalt hadn't really thought anymore about it and was simply looking forward to hearing the piece again. The last time he'd heard it had been with Mik in college and now that that memory had no power to hurt him anymore, he was interested in what Mik thought of the piece now. There was a joke that a newlywed couple heard the Bach Mass in B Minor, the husband hadn't liked it. On their twentieth anniversary, they heard it again and as they were leaving, the husband said to the wife that the Mass was a masterpiece. And she said, oh, Bach must have changed it.

Okay, it was a dumb joke, but the kind of subtle one Tybalt usually got when Mik did not. So, Tybalt was thinking about this as it got later and later and he was beginning to think they'd have to sprint to their seats. 'Finally!' he said. The knock had startled him, he'd not heard the car, but when he opened the door it was Skids, sobbing, who flung himself on his knees and wrapped his arms around Tybalt's hips. 'Skids? What the hell…'

'Don't leave me for Mik!' Skids wailed into Tybalt's solar plexus.

'I'm not!'

'Yes, you are!'

'Skids, can we at least close the door? And… Oh great, now the phone's ringing.' Since Skids seemed to have no intention of letting go, Tybalt had no alternative but to stand in the open door and listen to the message from Mik, who was canceling his side of the plans for the evening. Mik had the grace to apologize and said he'd explain later. 'Well, there went that,' Tybalt murmured, stroking Skids' hair. 'Where's your hat, precious?' He got a groan for an answer but at least the shaking had stopped.

'Something happen, Tybalt?' Apollo asked, standing in the open door.

'I'm still trying to find out,' Tybalt said coolly. 'Mind closing the door?'

Apollo closed the door. 'I thought you'd be gone by now,' he said, looking at his watch.

'Yes, me, too. Mik changed his plans at the last minute. Didn't even offer me the tickets.'

'The prick.'

'I'll have to listen to my Shostakovich CD instead of hearing a live version with a really first class orchestra...' Skids groaned and Tybalt patted his head. 'You look a little distracted Apollo, everything okay?'

'Yes, well, I thought you weren't going to be home and I have a date coming over...' Apollo looked at his watch. '...in about fifteen minutes.'

'Alright, Skids, enough already, we're leaving.' Tybalt hauled Skids to his feet and dragged him out to the car.

'Where're we going?' Skids asked sheepishly. He'd gotten what he wanted, but he wasn't sure it was going to make him happy.

'My studio,' Tybalt said grimly. 'For a chat.'

They rode the short distance in silence. 'Okay, Skids, what the hell is going on?' Tybalt asked when they were settled in his office, he at his desk and Skids on the bed.

'Come over here.' Skids patted the bed next to him.

'After you tell me why I'm missing...'

'I just... didn't want you to go with Mik,' Skids said, looking away.

'Why not? I thought everyone was delighted that Mik and I'd made peace with...'

'We are, I am, I mean, happy about that,' Skids said quickly. 'It's just... you usually aren't alone with him.'

'In a concert hall full of hundreds of people?'

'You know, Tybalt,' Skids said, looking him in the eye. 'There's always someone else around when you and Mik are together, like me or Apollo or Harley or even Cy.'

'Skids, Mik and I are done being lovers and enemies,' Tybalt said slowly. 'We might remain cautious friends, but not if you're jealous. I mean, even Harley... Or, wait, did Harley...?'

'He told me,' Skids said simply. 'I knew you were going to the concert but I didn't know...'

'You didn't know you should be upset about it until Harley told you you were,' Tybalt snarled and uncoiled from his chair to pace off some of the sudden rage that washed over him.

'It's not like that, Tybalt,' Skids said. 'I'm afraid of losing you.'

Tybalt might have taken some pleasure in Harley's discomfort if only it didn't involve breaking Skids' heart. 'You won't.'

'I might,' Skids continued. 'I'm not sophisticated or rich...'

Or decadent or jaded, Tybalt thought.

'Or know a bunch about art and classical music, but I love you very much and that scares me.'

'It does? Why?'

'Because I'd die if I lost you,' Skids said simply.

'No one dies of love, Skids,' Tybalt said, sitting down next to him on the bed and leaning into his arms. 'They just want to very badly.' He was still while Skids kissed him and pulled the fastener out of his hair. 'There's only you, Skids. I've either gone mad, or come back to life or become possessed or fallen in love...'

'With me?'

'Yessss, my precious idiot, in love with you and how strange that seems to say out loud.' Tybalt sat up and made eye contact. 'If it makes you feel any better, I never said that to Mik, even when it was true.'

Skids kissed him for a long time. 'Tybalt?' he asked, when he came up for air.

'Hm?'

'Why do you have a bed in your studio?'

'Wouldn't it be nice,' Tybalt ran the tip of his tongue along Skids' lower lip, 'if you trusted me just a little bit more?' he asked.

'Okay, I trust you completely.'

'Good.'

'But why do you have a bed in your studio?'

'The bed is from the last time I had to live here,' Tybalt straightened in Skids arms and looked at his watch. He wanted to go home but didn't want to barge in on Apollo, who was a fast worker, but probably needed another hour or so to get settled for the night. 'I might end up living here again if I don't sell some work soon.'

'Wouldn't it be better to save the money you pay in rent here and use it for your house rent?' Skids suggested, drawing him back into his arms.

'Precious, I own this building.'

'You do?'

'Yes. I bought it with the money my mother left me, if you must know.' Tybalt stood up and crossed to his battered desk. He opened drawers until he found an ancient hairbrush, which would have to do until he could get the one he kept in the car.

'I didn't mean to pry, Tybalt.'

'You're not, Skids, I'm just restless.' Tybalt had decided that he didn't want to make love to Skids on the bed in the studio since it had been the scene of far too many heartless seductions (but there was no reason for Skids to know that right now). However, he hadn't decided what he did want to do until he could safely assume Apollo and his date were set for the night and he could take Skids back to his place. 'Let's go do something, somewhere quiet.'

'We could go to my dorm. So I could, um, get my hat. I left in a big hurry, you know.'

'Ah ha! Now you're trying to lure me to your room.'

They ended up on a couch in a dimly lit cybercafe. Tybalt was drinking surprisingly good coffee, made by the heavily pierced and tattooed, emaciated kid behind the counter and Skids was drinking a soda. The main light sources were from the computer screens and the half open kitchen door. A low ambient music CD could just barely be heard over the clicking keys. No one looked away from their screens, the urchin never looked up from his comic book and so no one noticed them whispering and snuggling in their dark corner. Well, almost no one.

'Ah, the happy optimist.'

Tybalt felt Skids tense next to him and looked up at the speaker, a blond with a dark streak in his hair. There was a dark handsome kid with him. If it were still the old days, Tybalt didn't think he'd kick either one of them out of bed, but if he had to triage, he'd keep the dark one, who didn't have a natural sneer plastered across his face.

'Where's your hat, happy optimist?' the blond snarled again. He and his companion took seats opposite the lovers.

'Friend of yours, Skids?' Tybalt asked softly over his coffee cup.

'Actually, this is my sworn enemy,' Skids said quietly.

'Oh? And however did you get a sworn enemy, Skids?' Tybalt listened patiently to the story of Harley's defiled guitar. 'So, Harley dragged you along to enact revenge on Fox, was it?' Tybalt asked Skids while looking at Fox and Collin. All three nodded. 'And then what happened?'

'That little blond attacked me with a baseball bat,' Fox cut in before Skids could answer.

'Well, you are taller, but I do understand the feeling. I myself have been the victim of Harley's violent impulses.' He turned and looked deeply into Skids' eyes, 'You did know about that, didn't you?' After Skids nodded, Tybalt turned back to Fox, and asked, 'And then what?'

'I kissed him,' Fox said darky.

'So did I!' Tybalt told him.

'And he beat the shit out of me.'

'Really? He only broke my nose and let me go. Hm, I guess I was lucky,' Tybalt said. 'But what does this have to do with Skids?'

'He was there,' Fox patiently explained.

'Did he help Harley beat you up?'

'...no, um, neither did the other guy...'

'Cyanide?' Tybalt asked Skids, who nodded. 'I'd approve of a vendetta against Cyanide, he once assaulted my washing machine and I was forced to defend its honor. I still don't see what...'

'While Harley was beating up Fox,' Collin sighed. 'Your boy here was annoying me with his positive thinking karmic philosophy.'

'Huh.' Tybalt picked up his coffee spoon and tapped it on the cup. 'I can almost understand that enough to sympathize with your psychosis, Collin, however,' quicker than Collin could react, Tybalt grabbed his shirt and pulled him forward until they were nose to nose, 'I'm madly in love with Skids so if you ever lay a hand on him I'll take great pleasure in scooping your eyeballs out with a spoon,' he tapped such a spoon on Collin's nose, 'and making Fox eat them.' Tybalt let that sink in. 'So all I am saying is give peace a chance and apologize to Skids for being the obvious and irredeemable asshole you are and then get the fuck away from us.'

'Okay,' Collin said with remarkable cool under the circumstances. 'The optimist must have something going for him if you're with him.'

'Talk fast, kid, my spoon hand is starting to twitch.' Tybalt released him.

Collin told Skids he was sorry and that he'd reconsidered his mission to make Skids' life a living hell; he had too many units that term and didn't have time to do it properly. 'How was that?' he asked Tybalt.

'It will do.' Tybalt yawned and looked at his watch. 'Now blow,' he said and they did. 'Ready to come home, precious?' he asked Skids sweetly.

Skids nodded but didn't move. 'Would you really do that to Collin?'

'Blind him? No. Scare him, yes, damage him, no,' Tybalt said thoughtfully. 'Of course it would depend on what he did to you, which I think now will be nothing.'

'He was only annoying me,' Skids said on the way to the car.

'Me, too, but I have less patience for that sort of thing than you do, precious.'

'Thank you for defending me.' Skids leaned over the emergency brake and kissed Tybalt's cheek.

'It was my pleasure.' Tybalt started the car and wished Harley had more sense than to be jealous of him with Mik and thereby ruin his evening and be less violent and put Skids in danger and thereby ruin his relaxed mood. However, he decided to spare Skids these ideas; Skids probably wouldn't appreciate them and there was no point in annoying him. Tybalt very much wanted to get laid and get some sleep and since the rest of his evening hadn't gone so well, he decided not to push his luck. 'Ah, here we are,' he said as they parked in front of his dark house. He assumed Apollo was safely in bed, probably not alone either, but rattled the key in the door and waited a few seconds longer than usual before he went in, just in case they were still in the living room for some reason. Once inside, they went directly to Tybalt's bedroom. Oh, what a night, Tybalt thought, leaning wearily against the door.

Skids came over and kissed him and Tybalt thought that was nice. When Skids unfastened Tybalt's belt and started to go down on his knees, Tybalt stopped him. 'I'm having weird déjà vu, Skids,' he said, pulling his lover back up to standing. 'It's too much like when you arrived tonight. Some other time, okay? Go get in bed.'

Skids shrugged; earlier in the evening was already ancient history for him. While he took out his contacts, Tybalt undressed and got in the shower. In practical a self interested sort of way, Tybalt was a good host: he kept a set of contact supplies for Skids mainly because Skids had had to leave one night to take out his contacts and that had annoyed Tybalt very much. Skids joined him in the shower but they were both too tired to start anything there and were soon curled up together in Tybalt's large and comfortable bed.

'This is much nicer than the bed in your studio,' Skids sighed.

Tybalt lifted his lips from Skids' chest and said, 'Aren't you glad we waited?'

'Mm hm. Oh, wait, where was I?' he asked, gliding down Tybalt's body until he was between his legs. 'Now I remember.'

Tybalt lay back and let Skids have his way with him. He'd been active enough that evening, it was time to let Skids lead for awhile. Besides, he liked an assertive Skids, he was cute when he topped. He was even cuter when he opened the bedside table drawer and got out the lube and condoms and used both of them.

'Are you asleep?'

'No, just very relaxed.'

Skids positioned himself between Tybalt's legs. 'Would you rather sleep?'

Tybalt clamped his legs around Skids and hauled him forward. 'No. Is this awake enough for you? Oh!'

Skids was a little tired himself, so he didn't linger. He made sure Tybalt came and then came himself. He didn't collapse into Tybalt's arms because he didn't think he could stay awake if he did. Instead he got up and went into the bathroom. He brought back a damp towel and ran it over certain parts of Tybalt, tossed it back into the bathroom and curled up in his lover's arms. 'I'm so tired, Tybalt,' he yawned.

'It's been a long night, precious,' Tybalt stroked his neck. 'Go to sleep.'

In the morning Tybalt made him pancakes and sent him off to school, just like any other morning. But Tybalt knew they both knew they'd crossed some kind of threshold the night before when they'd admitted they loved each other. That he, Tybalt, had admitted to Skids that he loved him, when he knew how dangerous love could be. For Skids it was a new and exciting adventure into the unknown and he was setting off with a light heart. Tybalt could only warily follow and try to watch both their backs.

So, now, several weeks later, as Tybalt dressed to go out, he was remembering how differently the evening had gone last time he'd put on that suit and brushed his hair until it shone like silk. This had been peaceful and productive time for him. Neither he nor Skids discussed the change in their relationship, but it was there nonetheless.

Apollo looked over his paper at Tybalt in a very chic black suit and asked him what he was all dressed up for.

"Art opening. Want to come? I'm sure they'll have enough cheap white wine and cheese for everyone." Tybalt pulled down his cuffs and put on his coat with the fox collar.

"No, thanks. Is Skids going with you?"

"No. But he is coming over later."

"I haven't seen him around much lately, why is that?"

"He's a college student, Apollo. Papers, projects, madness, despair. Remember?"

"Vividly. See you later."

The opening was boring, but Tybalt schoomzed with the best of them. He needed to sell some work and soon or he'd have to get a job. Since the advent of Skids, Tybalt no longer had the time or inclination to vamp his potential buyers. Consequently, his sales were way down and even Maria Therese was making ominous noises. Well, not really, all she said was that the interest in his work was now at the normal level of an artist at this point in his career. But she admitted she'd been selling his sex appeal more than his talent. This had annoyed Tybalt very much and so she suggested that he get out and be seen a little more. 'You've been living like a hermit,' she had said. 'Go out and let people know you're still alive.'

So this was what he was doing. Tybalt was getting back in the habit of chatting with rich bores who were glad to see him. He turned down a few dinner invitations but did promise to call (someday) and escaped by ten.

At home, Skids opened the door for him and wrapped him in a bear hug. "Oh, I like this coat!" he said, and proceeded to drape Tybalt's hair over the fox collar and rub his face in both textures.

"You'll like it better when I take it off," Tybalt said, glancing over Skid's head at Apollo laughing behind his book. "When did you get here?" he asked, tossing his keys and gloves on the coffee table.

"A little while ago." Skids quit mauling Tybalt and helped him off with his coat. He even hung it in the hall closet.

"How'd it go?" Apollo asked quietly.

"Oh, fine, I was so bored I nearly cut my ear off. Why did I become a painter again?" Tybalt shrugged off his suit coat and draped it over a chair back. He sat next to Apollo and loosened his tie.

"Something to do with passion, destiny and it was the hardest thing you could think of to do."

"Oh, now I remember." Tybalt toed off his shoes and leaned forward so Skids could sit behind him. He leaned back into his lover's arms and stared at the television. "What is this?"

"MTV with the sound down," Skids said, pulling the fastener out of Tybalt's hair and kissing his neck. "I try to guess what the song is and I didn't want to disturb Apollo's reading."

"How considerate of you, precious." Tybalt rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the pain in them. "Mmmm," he sighed when Skids began to massage the sore muscles. He closed his eyes and relaxed under Skids' gentle fingers.

Apollo shook him awake. "If you two are going to sleep, I suggest you do it in your bedroom."

"I fell asleep? How gauche."

"Mm hm, and then Skids fell a asleep," Apollo said dryly. "I thought I'd better wake you before you got to REM sleep so I wouldn't have to listen to you both dreaming."

Tybalt woke Skids enough to get him into his bedroom and well on the way into bed. He went back into the living room, picked up his shoes and suit jacket and said good-night to Apollo. In the back of his mind he had suspected that Skids' nap would be just enough rest for him to want to play for a while and when he heard the shower going, had that suspicion confirmed. So Tybalt twisted his hair up with a pencil and joined Skids in the shower. He needed to wash the art world off himself and it was always nice to have Skids wash his back.

He walked into Skids' arms and kissed him for a long time. As much as he enjoyed fooling around in the shower, Tybalt had more definite plans and didn't let Skids linger under the spray. Still damp, he pulled Skids into bed and went down on him, bringing him to the edge of frenzy, from the inside and out, and then... stopped.

"Don't... stop..." Skids could barely gasp out that out.

Tybalt leaned moodily down and ran his tongue along the inside of Skids' right thigh. "I thought we should slow down a little," he purred and then pinned Skids' hands when he lunged for his own erection. "Tsk tsk tsk, Skids, do let me have a little fun, won't you, precious?" Gliding up his body, Tybalt buried his tongue in Skids' mouth to cut off his protests. Skids sighed and wrapped his legs around Tybalt's waist.

Not that they didn't like missionary position, but last time they were in it, Tybalt's hair in Skids' face had been annoying for both of them. And Tybalt hated being annoyed when he was... "Roll over, precious," he said after a quick debate with himself. Ever the considerate lover, he slipped a pillow under Skids' hips and reached for the lube and condom. Telling himself Skids was in a hurry, Tybalt was quick in his need and soon had Skids writhing beneath him with each thrust. He reached under Skids and had barely touched him before Skids came, surprising Tybalt into his own climax. 'Hm,' he thought, 'I might have wanted that to last longer. Oh well, there's always the morning.' He made a mental note to wake up early and got out of bed.

Skids rolled onto his back and smiled up at him in sleepy bliss. Tybalt bent down and kissed him, deftly stripping the case off the pillow while he was at it. Tidy to the core, Tybalt went into the bathroom and dropped the pillow case into the hamper. He would have tossed a towel to Skids, but Skids was sound asleep. A little restless, Tybalt brushed his hair and got a glass of water. Sitting on the edge of the bed, watching Skids sleeping like an angel, he eventually felt relaxed enough to curl around his love and sleep.

And he did wake up early the next morning.

***end***

Note on BmB ending:

"His relationship with Tybalt didn't pan out..."
Sandra Delele LJ, January 7, 2004, http://www.livejournal.com/users/sandradelete/1592391.html?#cutid1

Sandra can write what she wants, but in my book, Tybalt and Skids (Gio) live happily ever after. Amy Throck*-Smythe, January 7, 2004

Contact Amy T-S or back to the Index

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