Even with how he's so anxious that he's shaking, Gary melts a little bit when he looks at him. Mapplethorpe always says it like he's bragging. His title as Gary's boyfriend is something he loves to flaunt, and he swoons every time. Only because his mom is there does he not audibly let out a dreamy sigh.
There's no way even she doesn't notice, at least a little bit. Not when she rarely sees him as happy as Mapplethorpe makes him feel constantly. "Mhm, that’s true, you are good with 'em." She says this with actual earnestness, even if there is an unspoken sentiment of 'I should have known', reaching over and pinching his cheek. Which she never did when he was a kid, just since he’s gotten older. She loves these subtle ways of humbling people. Him.
It's so far so good, but it's expected and overwhelming, and Gary clings onto him like he might blow away. His anchor and/or life raft out at sea, depending on the metaphor.
"Yeah, well..." he says with the smallest of sniffles, his voice muffled. "Guess you know where I got it from now, cause it ain't Jenny." Jenny is the other half of his yin and yang, or whatever. But Gary's definitely still his mothers child. Even if she wasn't very motherly.
Though he pulls away Gary still holds onto his hand and pulls him along into the kitchen area of the really open floor plan of his apartment, which has him feeling a little exposed. No corners to hide around. But he keeps Mapplethorpe pressed up against his side. "Thank you, baby," he says quietly when he can hear her coming. When it comes to her his reservations for being, well, gay are far more about his (and now Mapplethorpe's) privacy, rather than what she thinks. He already knew what she would think, and he seems to be right.
Gary picks out his good mug for her, desperate for her praise or approval on a subconscious, bone deep level. "You got anythin' a little stronger to throw in there?" she asks once she's standing at his other side. Gary's eyes go wide like a deer in headlights when he gives her something like a glare, which makes her laugh. She and Jenny have the same laugh, Gary's is like his Meemaw's. "I'm just kiddin'!"
Gary pouts down at their cups he's still making. "Well I ain't laughin'."
"He's always been so sensitive. Worryin' about what's goin' on with everyone," she says, looking past him and over at Mapplethorpe. Not the way Gary would describe himself, nor his anxiety, but she's on the right track. "But, I mean, I'm probably preachin' to the choir right now, right? Always seein' if you're okay. Bet that distance drives y'all crazy."
Gary groans loudly, dramatically, and drops his head onto Mapplethorpe's shoulder. "Don't remind me, he just fuckin' got here."
"Melbourne," she replies. Oh how the two of them love an abprupt change of topic. "What was goin' on? How'd y'all meet? All that shit."