Justin rings up his order. When he turns to take his money, he catches Brian eyeing his hand, which is now bare.
“Getting your rings resized before the wedding?” Brian asks, glib.
Justin ignores him.
Switching gear, Brian notes, “It’s pretty dead in here for lunch hour.”
“There’s a contest today at the grub shack around the corner,” Justin tells him. “Free vouchers if you can eat the monster meatball sub in an hour.”
Brian snorts. “Well, you know how fags love to show off how much they can fit in their mouths.” He leans against the counter and smirks. “Maybe you should go,” he teases.
Despite himself, Justin presses his eyes shut and breathes an embarrassed groan. It turns into a laugh.
When he opens his eyes, Brian is smiling, his eyes glittering in amusement.
“I wouldn’t want to steal the title away from an underdog,” Justin jokes.
“How very considerate of you.”
Kiki taps on Justin’s shoulder, letting him know that the fresh pot of coffee is ready. He pours some into a to-go cup for Brian. When he puts it down on his side of the counter, he slides a few sugar packets along with it, for when Brian gets into his car and stops pretending he drinks his coffee black.
Brian shoves the packets into his pocket. “Well,” he says, just when Justin thinks that he’s made it through this conversation unscathed, “you better check in with that jeweler.” He picks up his coffee and raps his knuckles on the counter. “They get so busy this time of year,” he adds, the words accompanied by a shrug and a mocking giggle.
With that, he strides out the door.
Justin keeps looking in his direction, even after the door swings shut and Brian has passed out of view of the window. He frowns.
He doesn’t notice right away when Kiki comes up behind him.
“Ignore him,” her voice chimes. “My ex was the same way when I got with my hubby. Always making fun of him and our relationship at every opportunity. It’s just jealousy.”
“Jealousy?” Justin scoffs. “Brian just likes being right.”
And he was right.
He’d been dismissive of Ethan from the very beginning, belittling his romantic gestures, refusing to call him the right name, being the voice Ethan was all too ready to listen to that whispered that he should choose a recording contract over Justin. It was like he’d set up a neon sign over Ethan’s head announcing that he was temporary and full of shit.
Then he got to sit back and watch while Justin spent months convincing himself otherwise.
Meanwhile, it had taken Brian less than twenty-four hours to notice the second it fell apart.
It’s as inconvenient as it was inevitable.
Brian notices everything. He’s a lot more strategic about what he lets on.
Justin detests that he’s locked himself into this charade with Brian for the foreseeable future, where they both know Ethan was a dead-end, but are pretending nothing’s happened.
He knows that Brian won’t come right out and say it until Justin has made it common knowledge, but that won’t stop him from poking and prodding the sore subject the whole time.
“Then I assume…” Kiki muses hesitantly, “that he’s right that it didn’t work out?”
Justin sighs, deflating.
“Please don’t tell Debbie,” he pleads.
“Honey,” Kiki starts. “I went forty years of my life convincing everyone, their poodle, and myself that I was a man named ‘Kenny’.” She raises her eyebrows, letting the ridiculousness of that idea ring out. It makes Justin smile. She pats his shoulder. “I can keep a secret.”
UFHDJDJDHD okay i am TERRIBLE at finishing projects and they tend to Languish, so here is my Current List to entice myself to finish
Harrowhark figurine (left to do: look over the cloak, maybe add a wash, glue together. its SO CLOSE)
griddlehark plushies (left to do: fix harrow's hair, make harrow's outfit, attach harrow's head and eyes. poor lil gideon has been single for like a year now 😭)
TUG stageplay project (left to do: edit pictures, reshoot 2-3 scenes, figure out how to post images on ao3/etc formatting)
bookbinding project 1 (finish typesetting. figure out how to print in quarto. decide on title page font. make book)
bookbinding project 2 & 3 (i mean idk i have to kinda do everything for these. but putting em on the list bc i've in my brain conceptually started them)
update TLT merch banner w my new stuff bc i've been to TWO cons since i've touched it
"the purge comes later" canon au where igraine survives arthur's birth and merlin grows up as a noble in camelot, but the purge still happens around s2 of the canon timeline
"arthur returns and everyone comes back" modern au with a once upon a time angle, where merlin accidentally casts a spell when arthur returns that gives everyone from camelot false memories and makes them forget their past lives, but they slowly start figuring out what's happening and have to save the world
