The Sword of Damocles
Part 2

Like the sword of Damocles, Mysterious Marilyn's prophesy had dangled over Brian's head. Today it dropped with a vengeance. There was a long silence while Brian tried to decide whether to strangle David, or choke himself. Yes, the doc may have orchestrated the opportunity, but ultimately Brian had only himself to blame. No one forced him to go with Blondie, and the decision to bareback a total stranger would now go down in Brian Kinney history as the mother of all fuckups. The old Brian would have never taken such a risk. There was always a stash of pre-lubed condoms in his pocket for such occasions. The new Brian had no need for condoms. Seedy hookups, with nameless tricks seemed so passé for the man who was married to, and nightly bedded two of the most desirable men on the planet.............

"Brian, I can help you." David interrupted Brian's thoughts.

"You've done enough already," Brian said.

"I can run an RPR for you. It's a simple blood test that detects antibodies present in the blood of people who have syphilis. If you want me to, I can send the specimen to my lab under an assumed name. If it comes back negative, then you won't have to tell Justin, or Tony anything," David suggested.

David's offer sounded tempting, and for a moment Brian found himself considering it. "What happens if the test is positive?" he asked.

"Syphilis is easily treated with antibiotics, usually penicillin," David said.

"I already know that! I need to know how long it will be before I can have sex again," Brian said.

"A follow-up test will be done to determine if you're still infected," David said.

"You haven't answered my question. How long?" Brian insisted.

"A massive dose of penicillin, and you should be fine in a few days." David danced around the answer.

"What's a few days?" Brian snapped.

"I...I can't give you an exact time," David stammered. "There are variables. It depends on the stage of the disease. You won't know if you're cured until you're retested. I'm telling you, Brian. My idea is the best way. Come to my office. Let me run the test. If it comes back negative, then you're home free."

Home free. That was easy for David to say. He wasn't going to have to explain to Justin why they were suddenly using condoms again. Of course there was always the possibility that David was lying. Maybe Blondie wasn't infected at all. However, considering recent events, Brian's instincts told him that he was in the deepest shit that he'd ever been in. Maybe it was time to come clean to Justin.

"What are you going to do, Brian? Whatever you decide, you need to do it quickly," David warned.
 

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Three months, two weeks, and four days. Tony kept his promise, and continued to call Justin every night with another excuse to remain away. The deception however was starting to wear thin. He could hear it in Justin's voice. Instead of his princess weaning himself away, Justin was becoming more and more anguished. Perhaps the most merciful thing to do now would be to cut all ties with him. Tony didn't need to give a reason. Men run out on relationships everyday, without any justification. It would give Brian the opportunity to step up, and finally become the man that Justin needed him to be. Indeed, the two of them could hate him together, and everyone could move on with their lives.............

"When are you going home?" A familiar voice interrupted Tony's thoughts.

Tony turned to Mary, his longtime housekeeper. "I am home," he said.

"This isn't your home anymore. This is your house in Chicago. Your home is in Pittsburgh," Mary reminded him.

"Mary, please. I'm not in the mood to fight with you. I don't feel well," Tony whined. "I've got a splitting headache, my throat is sore, and I'm aching all over. I think I have the flu."

"Here, drink this." Mary set a cup next to Tony's laptop.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's an herbal tea, with honey and lemon, and a shot of whiskey." Mary took a seat on the chair across from her boss's desk.

"I don't like tea," Tony said.

"Drink it anyway. It will soothe your throat," she said.

"Tony took a sip of the brew, and frowned.

"Yum." Mary smiled. "So, which one of you cheated?"

Mary's abrupt question caught Tony off guard. "What?"

"Was it Brian? Was it Justin, or was it you?" she continued.

"Who said anything about cheating?" Tony dodged the question.

"You can't fool me, Tony. How long have we been together? I've never known you to stay away from your home this long," Mary reminded him. "I was with you when you bought this place. I watched you customize Westchester brick by brick, room by room, from the security gates, all the way back to the rose gardens. I've only seen you pour that kind of love into one other place, Camelot. I knew then that you were leaving, because only a man in love could build a home like that. But now you're back here, alone. It had to have been one powerful hurt to make you leave Camelot, the kind of deep, soul wound that could only come from one thing. So, now are you going to tell me which one of you broke your vows, or shall I guess? Brian."

For the millionth time Tony tried to make sense of what went wrong. "I knew that Brian would be a handful, but somehow I thought.......Maybe if I had spent more time with him. I was so preoccupied with building Camelot, and trying to run The Plaza, making the rounds..."

"You can't blame yourself for the actions of others, Tony," Mary stopped him. "What about Justin?"

"He loves us both. I couldn't ask him to choose between us," Tony said.

"So you acted like wise King Solomon. Rather than split your princess in half, you gave the whole baby to the other man." Mary blinked back the tears welling in her eyes. "I don't think anyone has ever loved me like that. Finish your tea. I'll go make you some soup," she said.

Mary exited the study, and closed the door behind her. As ordered, Tony was about to force down another swallow of her foul concoction when a new e-mail popped up on his laptop. It was from Gus. He had decided to become a chef when he grows up, and wanted to know if he could work at The Plaza. Tony took a sip of his tea, and smiled.

 

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They say that all is fair in love and war. Sometimes even the worst enemies can become allies for a common good. In this case, the common good was the health of Justin and Tony. Brian took David up on his offer. The blood specimen was collected, and David sent it to his lab to be evaluated, stat. Within 24hrs Brian would know if he was positive, or negative for syphilis. Until then it was advisable that Brian abstained from sex. That was easier said than done. Justin's appetite for cock was as ferocious as ever, especially now with Tony unavailable to share the load. Brian was expected to deliver. And so it was with great trepidation that the bravest member of the royal trio agreed to meet Justin at The Warehouse.

"Hi!" Justin slid the door of his studio open.

"Hey." Brian stepped inside, and looked around. The first thing that drew his attention was the unfinished painting of Camelot's picture window.

"Do you like it? It's not finished yet. I still have a couple of things to add to it," Justin said.

"It's fabulous as is. It looks finished to me," Brian said. "Is this what you wanted me to come over and see?"

"No. I wanted you to take a look at these." Justin grabbed Brian's hand, and lead him over to a draped collection at the far end of the studio.

Brian pretended not to notice the tell-tale rash on Justin hands. A possible indicator of secondary stage syphilis.

"Daphne is the only other person who has seen these. I want to know what you think of them." Justin snatched the drop cloth off the first painting, then the second, and finally the last two.

It wasn't often that Brian Kinney was at a loss for words, however, this was one of those times. The images of himself and Tony were nothing less than breathtaking. Like Daphne, Brian stood in awe.

"I thought you would like them." Justin smiled.

"You thought right." Brian couldn't take his eyes off of the canvases.

"Now you know what I see when I'm watching the two of you," Justin purred.

Brian was quite familiar with that purr. Any other time it would be music to his ears, but tonight he needed to remain in control. "They're beautiful, baby. Where are we going to hang them?" he asked.

Justin moved in close to Brian's backside. "We don't need to worry about that now. I want to hear about your day," he said.

Brian could feel Justin's cock pressing against his ass. "I had a long day. I'm really tired," he said.

Justin snaked his arms around Brian's waist, and undid the buckle on his belt. "I've got the perfect after-work cocktail for you," he purred.

Damn it! There was that purr again, and now Justin was reaching inside his pants. The nude paintings of him and Tony fucking weren't helping either. Brian needed to implement a plan of action, because apparently his cock hadn't gotten the message that there was to be no fucking tonight. It stood to reason that Brian's chances were 50/50. Maybe his test would turn out to be negative. At any rate, what harm could one blowjob do? Brian watched as Justin released his cock, and started his descent downward. He was just about to swallow his prize when Brian pulled him back to a standing position.

"What's wrong?" Justin looked up at him.

Brian took a deep breath. The jig was up. He just couldn't lie anymore. Whatever Marilyn predicted, let it happen. Anything had to be better than this new burden he was now forced to carry. "Justin."

"It's Tony, isn't it? Something's happened to Tony?" Justin immediately began to panic.

Brian looked into the deepest blue eyes he'd ever seen. In the back of his mind he could hear Tony's voice whispering in his ear, ("You take care of my princess."). "No, baby. Nothing's wrong," Brian lied, and reached inside his jacket pocket.

Justin watched as his husband pulled out a small, square box. "Condoms?"

"They're not just any old condoms. They're chocolate condoms, with matching packets of flavored lube. I thought they might be fun," Brian smiled.

Justin thought for a moment. "Ok, let's give them a try," he grinned.
 

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