C is for Colorful
Brian opened the closet door and stared at the collection of black shirts - some silk, some mixtures of fabric, some slinky and slithery, some more crisp and defined. He selected one and tried it on.
Looking at himself in the full length mirror, he felt compelled to say, "I'd fuck you." A smile played at the corners of his mouth.
He undid the buttons and hung the shirt back on the hanger. He selected another one and tried it on. It was quickly rejected and returned to the closet. He tried on one more, also rejecting that one.
He slid his hand over the first shirt he had tried on. He loved the feel of the soft silk. He knew it clung to his body just the way he liked. Yes, this should be what he wore to Babylon.
Suddenly a thought struck him. His hand dropped back by his side and he walked over to the dresser. He opened the lower drawer and pulled out a bag from Torso. He hesitated for a moment before opening the bag and pulling out a neatly folded shirt. He could tell by the crisp folds that Emmett had probably been responsible for the sale and placing the shirt in the bag. Emmett did have his talents.
Brian shook out the shirt, dropping the empty bag on the bed. Pieces of paper slid to the floor from inside the shirt. Brian checked for tags, but they had all been removed. The careful folding meant the garment was basically unwrinkled. He undid the buttons and slipped the shirt onto his body.
It wasn't as soft as the silk shirt that he had been going to wear, but it wasn't bad. He did up the buttons and slid his hands down his chest feeling the texture of the cloth. He could wear it, he decided. He glanced in the mirror examining how he looked with a critical eye.
"I'd fuck you," he said once again.
Just then Brian heard the loft door slide back.
A voice called, "You home?"
"Hey," Brian replied stepping out from behind the glass panels that blocked the bedroom from prying eyes, not that there were many prying eyes in the loft, especially not these days.
"Hey," Justin replied as he looked up. Then there was silence as the young man stared and his mouth fell slightly open. His face lit up slowly and he smiled softly, gradually allowing the smile to become one of his sunshine best. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"Deciding what to wear to Babylon tonight," Brian replied.
"And you chose ... that?"
Brian nodded.
"But I thought ... you didn't like it. You didn't even try it on when I gave it to you for your birthday a few weeks ago."
"Yeah, I probably should have tried it on to be sure it fit, but you can see that it does." Brian did a silly twirl to show off the shirt, eliciting a laugh from Justin.
"And ... and you're okay with the color?" Justin asked still not believing what he was seeing.
"Not something I would have chosen for myself," Brian admitted. "But I'm getting used to it."
"Really?"
"Really," Brian affirmed. "I'm going to wear it tonight."
"You ... you look great in it," Justin said.
"I look great in everything, but that goes without saying," Brian replied sticking his tongue in his cheek.
Justin chuckled at the colossal ego of the man. "I thought the amethyst color would look great on you," Justin told him.
"Guess you were right."
"And it's close enough to black to..."
"Not be too obvious that I'm wearing purple," Brian finished for him.
"Yeah."
"So, do you need a shower before we go?" Brian asked, his eyes sweeping up and down Justin's body.
"Yeah," Justin agreed. Then a thought struck him. "Care to join me?" he asked giving another sunshine smile to his partner.
"I think that could be arranged," Brian said unbuttoning the shirt.
"Meet you in the shower," Justin called as he headed into the bathroom stripping off clothes as he went.
Brian removed the shirt and found an empty hanger in his closet. He carefully hung up the shirt. As he did so, he realized that the pop of purple lit up the other clothes in his closet, just as Justin had lit up his life. Where did that thought come from? He shook his head trying to make it go away. But he knew it was true, Justin had brought color to his otherwise black and white life. Someday he might be able to tell the young man that.
"Hey, you coming?" Justin called as Brian heard the shower start.
"I always come," Brian said sliding his jeans down his long legs. He strode toward the shower, naked and ready to go.
Sometimes life was good.
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