"You didn't go up even though he invited you?" Marshall was staring at Geb over the white, marble kitchen counter . "What's wrong with you?"
"What are you getting so upset about?" Geb was sitting on the high stool at the round end that served as breakfast corner, on the opposite side of the same counter. He took a sip of his morning coffee. The only reason Marshall was here at nine o'clock in the morning, annoying him, was that Geb's grandfather had scheduled Marshall's training at ten; since Marshall would rather skip on it, Geb had to drive him himself to make sure that Marshall will really go. But the plan was for Geb to pick up Marshall at his place and then drop him off at his grandfather's Dojo, not for Marshall to appear at his door an hour before their rendezvous, with a paper bag of bagels in his hand, saying , "I brought breakfast." Geb sighed. It was his own fault for not taking into consideration the fact that Marshall knew he and Robin had gone out yesterday, or how strong Marshall's curiosity was -- and to what lengths Marshall was prepared to go to satisfy it. Since Marshall had no job, just a lot of projects that brought him more enjoyment than profit, he lived from the rents he got from the four-apartment building his grandparents left him andthere was rarely a time when he woke before ten. So for Marshall to wake up four hours earlier than he was supposed to was a miracle and something one would never expect to happen.
"You turned down sex. With Robin. Did you forget how much you wanted him?" Marshall narrowed his eyes Geb. "Or," he said, his face lightening, "have you changed your mind?"
"I didn't change my mind. I still want him." Geb put down his mug, he leaned his right elbow on the counter and rested his chin on the palm. "I just don't want it to be a one-night thing." He sighed. "And I want him to trust me, to be my friend, too."
"You want to have relationship with him?"
"I don't know. Probably."
"No, you can't. You're supposed to sleep with him and get him out of your system. You are supposed to end up together with me."
"Marshall?"
Marshall turned his back to Geb.
"Oh, Marshall." Geb stood up, went to Marshall and wrapped his arms around him. "Is it that bad?"
Marshall turned in Geb's embrace; he wove his arms around Geb's middle and buried his head against Geb's chest, wetting Geb's blue turtleneck. "You are going to start dating him and forget all about me."
"You mean a lot to me, you know that." Geb started to stroke Marshall's back. "You are one of my closest friends and losing you would be like losing a limb. And even if I start dating somebody, our friendship won't change. Well, except the sex part."
"You mean that?"
"Of course I mean it. You can be annoying as hell and sometimes I need a little break from you, but without you there would be a big hole in my life."
"That's the nicest thing you ever said to me." Marshall rubbed his cheek against Geb's chest.
"But you should know..." Geb took hold of Marshall's shoulders and pushed him back so that he could see Marshall's face. "If I ever think that you would be better off without me, I won't hesitate to erase you out of my life."
Marshall tilted his head, his blue eyes big and glistening in the light from the kitchen window. "I don't know if this is a good or bad thing." With the edge of his beige, Russian-collared tunic, he wiped the wetness from his face. He stepped back and when Geb ran his fingers consolingly through his hair, he said, "I'm ok. I mean, I will be. My mind never really believed that we would be together, but my heart just never gave up hoping, you know. And then to hear you -- you who in all the years that I've known you, never even wanted to go out on date-- say that you are willing to have a relationship with somebody, it just took me by surprise, and it feels like I'm going to lose my best friend, that's all."
"Are you sure?" Geb hooked his arm around Marshall's shoulder. He pulled him into a quick squeeze and pressed a kiss on the top of Marshall's head before he let him go.
"Yeah, I'm sure. As long as you stay my friend, I'm all right." Marshall lifted himself up and sat on the counter. "And you know what the funny thing is? I would like to hate Robin for taking you away from me, but he seems like such a good guy that I can't. I'm just envious." He looked at Geb, who leaned on the counter beside him.
"You do know that you never had me."
"An unimportant detail." Marshall waved his hand.
"Indeed." Geb smiled. He knew that Marshall wasn't ok, even though he pretend to be, but Marshall joking was a good sign. A very good sign. He pressed a soft kiss on Marshall's temple.
"Don't patronize me."
"Old habit." Geb reached out for his mug.
Marshall hummed and reached into the paper bag he brought with him. He pulled out the bagels and gave one to Geb and took one for himself. "Now tell me, what do you intend to do about Robin?"
"Are you sure you want to hear it?" Geb asked. When Marshall nodded, saying that he actually needed to hear it, to finish off completely that stupid hope he harboured, Geb told him everything he found out from that chatterbox Linda, and how he thought that because of Robin's past, going slow would be the best action.
"You know," Marshall said, putting his hand on Geb's shoulder, "the thing that happened to Robin, something like that might have happened to me, if you hadn't been around."
"Yeah." Geb said, remembering how he and Marshall had met. It had been Geb's first day in college, and on his way home, using public transportation for the first time , he had come across two skinheads who were about to make a bloody mess of a stinking faggot - their words. Of course Geb couldn't let them do that, especially when he knew martial arts (courtesy of his mother and his grandfather) and especially when that stinking faggot was a fragile-looking, blue-eyed, blonde angel in a very tight shirt and hot-pants. He also remembered how after the 'rescue mission,' Marshall had clung to him, and how charmed by the blonde he had been.
Geb smiled at the memory, ruffled Marshall's hair, then finished his coffee and the bagel. He put the empty mug into the sink and, after Marshall had eaten his 'breakfast' and hopped off the counter, he cleaned the crumbs off the counter and they were off.
When they arrived at Geb's grandfather's, Geb also took the opportunity for a workout and went through the stretching routine together with his grandfather and Marshall. He was also thinking of being Marshall's exercise partner, but most of Marshall's effort was focused on naughty groping, not on technique, and Grandfather was losing his mind, calling them "damn lazy, whining princess " and "good-for-nothing grandson" and yelling, "you are not in one of yours nightclubs, so goddamn it, behave", so Geb decided to leave them alone. On his way out, he snickered at his grandfather's words to Marshall as he took on the role of Marshall's partner: "Now, let's see you try to grope me."
Geb went home, took a shower, and even managed to work on Helen's plans before it was time to pick up Marshall. They had lunch together with his grandfather, and after lunch he dropped Marshall in the city centre and went into his office, where he worked until six. And then he spent ten minutes deciding if he should go home or stop by Michael's bar and say hello to Robin, and maybe even invite Robin somewhere. Of course, the second option won. The only problem was that even after he went through bar's door and occupied his regular seat behind the counter, Geb still didn't know where he could take Robin. He never dated and he didn't have the slightest idea where to go on a date. Besides, he didn't want to ask Robin directly to go out on a date with him; he wanted to have a date under the pretence of hanging out. Less pressure.
Geb looked around and when there was no sign of Robin, only Michael, who was coming toward him with a tray full of dirty and empty glasses in his hand, he frowned. Yesterday Robin had told him that he had the evening shift.
"Hey." Michael put the tray by the sink and took a clean glass. From a square hole full of bottles, he pulled up a bottle of light yellow liquid with Schweppes written on it. He poured the liquid into a glass.
"Hey." Geb watched as Michael pushed the glass before him. "What are you doing serving? And where is Robin?"
"Toby couldn't make it today." Michel turned his back on -squatting under the counter, he opened the doors of the dish washer beside the sink and started to move the dirty glasses from the tray into the washer. " And Robin is out back, don't worry, he'll be back soon."
"I see." Geb assumed that Toby was the brunette that almost always worked in tandem with Robin. He wrapped his fingers around the frosted glass. "Hey, Michael."
"Yeah." Michael finished with clearing the glasses and he faced Geb.
"Where do people go for a date?"
"To movies, dinners or clubbing. Why?" Michael smiled. "Are you thinking of asking somebody out on a date?"
"No. I mean, yes. I don't really know." Geb ran his fingers through his hair. "Date is such a big word. I would rather say hang out."
"Ok, hang out. So, who do you want to hang out with? Robin?"
"Yeah. Do you have any idea where we could hang out?"
"Hmmm. When?"
"What?"
"When do plan to have this hang out?"
Geb thought about it; today was Thursday and on Friday he had promised Helen he would drop by her temporary apartment to bring her the plans to go through, and have dinner with her, so… "Saturday."
"On Saturday? Robin is working on Saturday evening. But you know what, Saturday morning Gabriel and I are going to Hanworth Park. Gabriel wants to fly with a kite. Why don't you two go with us and maybe you can fly with a kite, too and then we could go have lunch."
"I don't know."
"Let's ask Robin, then." Michael went toward the door at the end of the counter, opened it and yelled: "Robin."
Geb rolled his eyes.
"Yeah?" The sound of Robin's voice was very weak.
"Come here, please."
"Yeah, coming."
Michael closed the door and went back to Geb. Just seconds later Robin came through the door. Robin's eyes found them, and a shy smile appeared on his face. "What do you need?" He went toward them.
"What are you doing Saturday forenoon?" Michael asked.
"Nothing." Robin leaned his backside on the edge of the sink.
"Would you like to go to fly with a kite in Hanworth Park with us?"
"Who's us?"
"Gabriel, Geb and me."
"Oh," Robin's eyes focused on Geb. "You fly with a kite?"
"No. Never tried." Geb's fingers played with the edge of the glass.
"So, Robin, would you like to go?" Michael asked.
"Sure."
"It's a date then," Michael said.
"Date?" Robin asked. "I thought Geb didn't date."
"I thought that, too." Michael chuckled.
"I don't. It's a hanging out." Geb narrowed his eyes at Michael.