* * *
“Hi,
honey, it’s me. I’m sorry I keep missing
you…give me a call when you get the
chance, OK?
Talk to you soon, bye.”
Colin
put down the phone, looking rather dejected.
Ryan gazed at him sympathetically.
“She’s
still not picking up?” he asked.
Colin
shook his head. It had become pretty
obvious that Deb was ducking his phone
calls. He’d
been trying to get hold of her for the past few days, but so far she hadn’t
called back.
And whenever he dialed her cell phone number he got one of those ‘this
cellular customer is not available at this time’
messages. She’d turned her phone off.
“I’m
sorry, Col. I guess she just needs some
more time,” said Ryan, coming to sit next to
him on the bed.
“She’ll be calling you back soon; I know it.”
Colin
just shrugged, saying nothing. Ryan put
his arms around his shoulders and
squeezed.
He knew that Colin was thinking of his son as well as his wife…it
bothered
Ryan
that she hadn’t even had the courtesy to call her husband back when he was
going
through such a difficult time. At least Pat and the kids had been in touch
with him, and
had asked how Colin was doing. He (obviously) hadn’t gone into the details;
he’d assured
them that there was absolutely no danger in having
Colin staying with him, but because of
the troubles he’d had adjusting to his new
condition, they might want to consider an
extended vacation…maybe until school started
again for the kids. Pat had seemed a
little
doubtful (or possibly suspicious) at that, but
said she would consider it. She seemed
in no
great hurry to return home. Maybe she was seeing someone where she was.
“I
guess so,” Colin finally murmured, resting his chin in his hands. “I’m worried about
Friday.”
Ryan
wasn’t really prepared for the abrupt change in topic, but he was well aware
that
the upcoming production meeting had been on Colin’s
mind. Colin knew about the
conversations he’d had with Dan and
Drew -- none of the particulars, but he’d guessed
what they were about. Ryan had done his best to assuage his
fears…and had told Colin
that there was no way in hell that he’d be kicked
off the show, which was something
Colin
had been concerned about since he’d changed.
Drew was surprisingly supportive,
as was Greg.
Brad’s
apprehension; Ryan hoped he would be over it by the next time he was scheduled
to appear.
It wasn’t like Colin was going to leap on him and bite him. That was *Ryan’s*
newest favorite thing, and he wasn’t about to share it
with anyone. He’d realized the
other night -- after one of their frenzied
feeding/lovemaking episodes -- that he was
nearly as possessive of Colin as Colin was of
him. There were times that he almost wished
that Deb wouldn’t take him back…almost. It would hurt Colin too much if she didn’t.
“Don’t
worry,” Ryan assured him. “The meeting’s
going to go fine. Trust me.”
* * *
Because
of his duties as producer, Ryan always arrived at the studio early for
production
meetings.
This time was no different; and this time, of course, Colin was right
there with
him.
Colin
seemed a little agitated since they’d reached the lot. Ryan assumed that it was just
nerves; well, soon they would put an end to any doubts
he might have had about
performing with the others. He’d encouraged Colin to eat prior to the
afternoon meeting,
but he didn’t want to. Butterflies in the stomach, he’d said. And maybe it was better that
Colin
hadn’t taken any blood from him that day…the collar of his
shirt just barely
covered the highest of the bite marks. If only it was winter -- if he was wearing
long
sleeves, Colin could draw from anywhere on his
lower arms without giving away what
they were doing.
He wasn’t ashamed of their relationship, but he didn’t want to spring it
on the others this early. They were still getting used to the idea of
Colin needing the
blood in the first place -- he didn’t want to freak
them out even more by letting them
know that Colin was drawing it from him. He had the feeling they could handle the
sexual part of the relationship if it wasn’t so linked
to the feeding.
As
they walked through the halls at ABC towards the conference rooms, Ryan noticed
that Colin’s eyes were darting from side to side
curiously, as if searching for something
he couldn’t quite locate. “What’s the matter?” he asked.
“I
don’t know…” He paused, sniffing the
air. “I thought I smelled
something…” He
sniffed again, and his eyes widened. “Someone else like
me.”
“Really?”
he asked, lowering his voice and looking around too. “Where?” There were a
number of people who’d passed by them; no-one was
obviously different from what
passed for a normal human.
“I’m
not sure,” he replied. “I—”
At
that instant, one of the intern managers rounded the corner. She was young, attractive,
and wearing a low-cut blouse. Rumor had it that she was looking for a way
to get on the
fast track to the higher levels of management. Given her appearance, she’d already
chosen which way she planned to use.
At
the sight of the two men, she broke into a wide (and in Ryan’s opinion, fake)
smile.
“Hello,”
she said, taking a few steps forward.
Colin’s
eyebrows went up as he made a nearly imperceptible gesture towards the
woman.
It
was her.
“And
what brings you here on a day you’re not filming?” she asked, taking another
step
closer to Ryan.
From this close, he could see that her professionally whitened and
capped teeth were otherwise normal…no fangs, not like
Colin had. A carrier who hadn’t
yet succumb to the disease.
Ryan
saw Colin’s eyes narrow dangerously. He
took a step forward, placing himself
squarely between the woman and Ryan. “We’re going to a meeting. An important
production meeting.”
“Oh,
isn’t that interesting?” she said. “Are
you going there right now, or can you stay
and chat? I
have a couple of ideas for the some of our shows…” She put a hand out,
touching Ryan on the arm.
Ryan
had never seen Colin move that fast.
Almost instantly he was there, his hand
locked around the woman’s wrist. “Back off,” he said. It was almost a snarl.
“What
the hell’s wrong with you, you—” She gasped as she saw his bared
teeth. She
let go of Ryan and stumbled backwards, but Colin
was still holding her fast. “Oh my God,
oh my God,” she whispered, her expression one of
sheer terror.
“
like this, not between two people -- it was more
like watching a hyena staring down its
prey before it attacked. He was shocked at the almost animalistic
quality of Colin’s
actions…his eyes were wild, almost like they were
when he and Ryan were together…
“Please
let me go,” she said fearfully . “Please, Mr. Stiles, make him let me go…”
At
that, Colin released her, glaring angrily.
“He’s not yours. You won’t touch
him again,”
he ordered.
“You can find someone else when it’s your time. But not him. He’s mine.”
The
woman nodded frantically, then hurried off down the
hallway. Colin made a low
growling sound as she did, watching as she passed
from their line of sight. Only after
that did Colin seem to calm down. The look on his face had gone from fury, to
satisfaction, and finally
to…disbelief?
He
sagged against the wall, shaking. “My
God, Ryan,” he said in horror. “What
have I
done?”
* * *
“Colin. *Colin*,” Ryan said, taking him by the
shoulders. “Colin, listen to me. It’s OK.
What
she did -- it was wrong. She shouldn’t
have done that.”
“She
didn’t know,” he whispered, not really listening. “She didn’t know she’s going to
get it, so she didn’t know not to come so
close.” He stared up at Ryan, shaking
his head.
“She
doesn’t know what I know…”
“You’re
right. She *doesn’t* know what you know
-- she didn’t know all the things
they taught you, like not to approach someone else
with the disease if there’s someone
with them, because you don’t know if they’re the
other person’s donor or not. Maintain
a respectful distance until you’re sure. Don’t invade someone else’s territory or
touch
what’s theirs unless you have permission. She didn’t have permission, Colin. From
either of us.”
Colin
still stood there, his face white. “What
if something like that happens onstage?”
“It
won’t. Neither of us will
be doing any games with audience
members. You won’t
have to worry about that.”
“I
have to go apologize…”
“No,
you don’t. What she did was
inappropriate. Look, if she was a man
and I was a
woman, what she did would have been considered sexual
harassment.” He looked
around; nobody else had been there to see the
incident, and no-one was in the hallway
now. “It’s
all right. The staff here was informed
about your medical condition, and they
were all briefed on the proper etiquette…she should
have known not to behave like that
around you, just in case.”
Colin
looked at him as if he was finally starting to hear what he was saying. “Maybe
she’s starting to feel it. The decreased impulse control,
and the aggression.”
“Assertiveness. Can you tell when it’s going to happen with
her? When she’s going to
actually come down with the disease?”
“No,”
he replied. His breathing had returned
to normal, and he appeared to have regained
his composure.
“All I can tell is that she’s carrying it. Not when it’s going to come out.”
Ryan
pulled Colin closer to him, wrapping him in a bear hug. “All right, then. Meeting
time. Boring
things like scheduling, and which games we’ll be doing, and which guests
to invite.
Nothing out of the ordinary, and nothing like
what that woman just did. You
can send her some flowers or a fruit basket or
something if you want to apologize to her.
Everything’s
going to be fine.”
Colin
shut his eyes. He really wanted to
believe that.
* * *
Colin
was still shaken by what he’d done in the hall, even as the production meeting
started.
He couldn’t get the abject fear in the woman’s eyes out of his
mind. How had
he been capable of such a thing? All the woman had done was touch Ryan’s arm
and
he’d gone ballistic.
This was the first real time his territoriality had been triggered, and it
scared him.
He’d been afraid of what he might do around Ryan even before they’d begun
their affair, just because of their longtime
friendship. What else might he do if the
wrong
person came too close, or got too friendly with
Ryan? Maybe he was a monster after
all.
No,
no, no. Ryan *and* the CDC people had all said that
reacting that way was to be
expected.
It was like a new instinct he had, to protect what was his. It didn’t make him
any less human.
It didn’t.
He
straightened, trying to focus on what was going on in the meeting. It had just started.
Drew,
as the host of the show, was presiding; aside from them, there was also
Greg, Jeff, Chip, Kathy, and Brad. He’d noticed that Brad kept stealing glimpses
of him,
his eyes quickly moving to stare at nothing when
Colin looked back. He’d had the
feeling that at least one of his co-workers
would be doing that; maybe it would be best to
get everything out in the open early, like Drew and
Ryan had suggested. Well, maybe
not *everything*, of course. He’d never been too keen on letting the
details of his
personal life out. There were some things he’d rather keep
private.
“OK,
guys,” said Drew easily. “Let’s get
started.”
There
were murmurs of assent from around the table, and Greg helped himself to the
coffee.
“Anybody else want any?”
“I’ll
take one,” said Ryan.
“Me
too,” Colin added. At the multiple sets
of raised eyebrows, he chuckled. “Yes, I
can
still drink coffee.”
“And
pretty much anything else, except tequila.
He still can’t drink that,” said Ryan,
giving him a friendly punch on the arm. This elicited laughter from everyone; none of
them could forget the time in Vegas when the
Canadian had drunk way too much of the
stuff, and had spent the night passed out in the
hotel room of an older couple from
embarrassed that he’d shown up in the wrong room)
that he’d paid their entire hotel bill.
“Which
brings us to something I’m sure everyone is wondering about,” said Drew,
glancing over at Colin to make sure it was all
right. He gave a brief nod. “Colin, how
are you doing?”
“As
well as can be expected, I suppose,” he replied offhandedly.
“Colin,
I want you to know that you’re among friends here,” said Drew. “We don’t
want you to feel uncomfortable, or self-conscious,
or anything like that. We know
you’re probably feeling like a bug under a microscope
right now.”
“That’s
OK. I know everyone’s probably very
curious,” he replied.
“I
know I am,” said Brad, not sounding very happy.
Ryan
glared across the table at Brad, then turned back to
Colin. “You don’t have to
answer anything you don’t want to.”
“No,
I think it would be easiest if we just got everything out in the open right
now, so we
can get it over with. I really hope that none of you are concerned
about working with me;
I’m
still pretty harmless.” He smiled, but
didn’t show his teeth. “And you don’t
have to
worry about me getting hungry…I’ve found a very
obliging butcher, who also happens to
have the disease, so I’ll always have a big supply
of what I need.” It wasn’t a lie; he
just
didn’t say that the majority of his meals were coming
from Ryan.
“Hey,
at least the animal rights activists are loving
this…technically, you don’t have to
kill anything to eat,” grinned Greg. “So,
Everyone
laughed but Brad. “I’d say he’s already
got his cow,” he said coldly, looking at
Ryan.
“What
do you mean by that, Brad?” Ryan asked, his voice dropping just a bit.
“Nothing.
But I noticed that your shirt’s buttoned all the way up. It’s a nice, warm
day…why have you got your collar closed?” he
asked. “Is there something you don’t
want us to see?”
“Dammit,
Brad,” Ryan hissed. “Since when were you
such a fashion plate, to be
worried about what other people wear?”
“Other
people I don’t care about -- just you.
You’ve got someone staying with you
who needs blood to live, someone who wasn’t feeling
very happy until he came back to
your house.
Now everything’s just hunky-dory.
You sure he’s getting his meals from
the butcher shop?”
Ryan’s
eyes flashed angrily. “Brad,” he said, his voice a low growl.
“Ryan,
you don’t have to—” Colin began, but the other man was too angry to hold his
tongue. Colin
leaned back, resigned. He’d known this
would come out eventually, he
just hadn’t expected it to be today.
“You
really wanna see, Brad? Do you?” Ryan
challenged.
“Yes,
I do.”
“All
right then.” And he began undoing his
collar. All eyes in the room turned to
him;
except Colin, who was looking down at the table. As he undid the lowest button, he
pulled down the fabric, exposing his skin. The marks on his neck were clearly visible
and were unmistakably bite wounds. “Satisfied?” he asked, as if daring him or
the others
to comment.
“*Dude*…”
said Greg, peering at him intently. He
didn’t seem repulsed; merely
interested.
Drew and the others couldn’t help but look too -- they’d never seen
anyone
who’d been bitten.
Brad,
even though he’d been the one to confront Ryan, seemed stunned that his
suspicions were actually true. “I can’t believe it,” he said. “Ryan, what’s the matter with
you? Is he
making you do this?”
“Of
course not,” he retorted. “It was my
idea.”
He
stared at Ryan in utter disbelief.
“You’re actually letting him drink your blood? For
God’s sake, why?”
Ryan
looked at Colin, seated beside him, and smiled warmly. “Because he’s my oldest
and my best friend, and I love him,” he said
simply.
Colin
felt himself almost blushing…he hadn’t been able to manage a decent one since
he’d changed.
Something about the thinness of his blood now. It didn’t matter; he was
gazing at Ryan so fondly that his feelings were
obvious to anyone who was looking. And
everyone was.
“Well
I think it’s great,” said Greg, looking in confusion at Brad. “What’s your problem,
man?”
“Don’t
you know what goes on with them, when they drink?”
“Is
that any of your business?” Greg asked.
“You’re
actually saying you’re OK with this?
Knowing how they get when they take
blood, and knowing that he’s doing it to Ryan?”
“I
think it’s up to Ryan to decide if it’s OK or not,” said Drew. “I thought you were over
this.”
“How
*do* they get when they take blood?” asked
watching the whole interchange with the
others.
Brad
opened his mouth to speak, but Colin beat him to it. “We get like animals. Isn’t
that what you were going to say, Brad?” he asked
bitterly. “That we’re like mindless
animals when we feed? That we’re uncontrollable, and we can’t be
trusted not to hurt
someone, even the people closest to us?”
Brad
frowned. “That’s not what I meant…”
Ryan
looked like he wanted to leap over the table and crack Brad in the jaw. “Then what
*did*
you mean?” he demanded.
“That
you’re letting your feelings for Colin cloud your judgment -- you’re using this
as a
way to get him into your bed, and you could end up
dead because of it.” His last words
came out just above a whisper, his fear
obvious. He was afraid that Ryan would
be
killed, like what almost happened to those people in
Ryan’s
mouth fell open, but no words came out.
It was Colin who spoke next.
“It’s not
like that, Brad,” he said softly, the anger draining
away. “We’re not doing this because
of anything that wasn’t there before. Maybe it took this to bring us here, but we
would
have ended up together eventually, I think. And I would never hurt Ryan, not for
anything.
He means everything to me. He did
even before this.”
Ryan’s
eyes were shining, and he looked at Colin as if he was the only person in the
room. “Really? Even before this?” he asked.
Colin
nodded, a smile spreading over his face.
“Even before.”
Ryan
took him in his arms and hugged him fiercely, then kissed him. Colin felt like he
was melting.
He returned the kiss, his hands coming up to stroke Ryan’s back.
After
a few moments, Drew cleared his throat noisily.
To tell the truth, he’d always
figured that Ryan and Colin would end up
together; he just hadn’t expected it to happen
in such a bizarre way. “OK, now that everything’s cleared up -- and
if the saccharine
twins here could come down to Earth -- we can get back to business and get this
meeting
over with so we can all be home at a decent hour
tonight. Is that all right with
everyone?”
Drew asked, a hint of
sarcasm in his voice. Ryan and Colin
hastily broke apart and sat
down; Brad, thoroughly chastened, also returned to
his chair.
Greg
just took another swig of his coffee and shook his head. “Man, only in
* * *
The
rest of the meeting went by uneventfully.
It seemed that Brad’s concern for Ryan
had been the source of all his misgivings; he, as
well as Drew, had known for some time
how Ryan felt about Colin, and he’d been worried
that Colin might somehow be able to
coerce him (or force him) into supplying his
meals. Ryan had assured them that it
hadn’t
been that way at all -- that Colin had initially
been reluctant, until he’d persuaded him
that it was really what he wanted. They’d also talked about Colin’s condition
itself.
There
was the speculation that sporadic outbreaks of the disease had led to the many
vampire legends from around the world. The need for blood, the aversion to strong
light,
the fact that they were damned hard to kill -- but
not immortal, as the legends had it.
Colin
would age just like any other person, even though his body could take a lot
more
physical damage than a normal human. The ringleader of the lab break-in had been
shot
twice and it hadn’t even phased him; they supposed
that the traditional ways to kill
vampires (by beheading, fire, or the old standby
of a stake through the heart) would
probably work.
Greg pointed out, however, that these methods would pretty much kill
anyone. This
led to a discussion of things *not* to do, things that might trigger a
negative reaction from Colin…they all doubted
that anyone there would be making a
move on Ryan anytime soon! Kathy looked a little disappointed that Colin
had chosen
Ryan and not her. Neither man mentioned that he could have any number
of donors
(and that he would be equally possessive of all of them)…it
might give her ideas. There
were plenty of curious people out there who might
want to know what a vampire’s bite
felt like. By
the way Greg was looking at him, he was one of them.
In
addition to this discussion, the group also talked about the upcoming taping
sessions.
They
all agreed that the best thing to do would be to issue a short press release
about
Colin’s condition. It would be better for the public to find out
this way, rather than for it
to look like they were hiding something. Because the first time Colin opened his mouth
onstage, everyone would know anyway. Jeff had come up with a good idea, though,
about something that might help Colin while he was
onstage. Knowing that the bright
overhead lights would hurt the other man’s eyes,
he’d suggested having some dark
contact lenses made that would block out some of
the light. Colin was used to contacts;
he’d worn regular ones while performing for years,
although he hadn’t needed them or
his glasses since coming down with the disease (his
vision was now 20/20). He thanked
Jeff for the brilliant idea. He wished he’d thought of it himself.
Now
it was evening and they were back home, in bed. Colin’s spirits were much higher
now -- it was clear to Ryan that he was
experiencing that exhilarated, ‘invincible’ feeling
that his kind felt when they were very happy. They’d made love soon after they’d gotten
home…Ryan had learned that when Colin was hungry, it
was best to let him take the
lead. There
was always time for slow lovemaking later, when Colin had drank his fill
and he could concentrate on his lover more
fully. Ryan loved the feeling of his
partner’s
body next to his, and loved it whenever Colin’s teeth
(or any other parts) were inside him.
His
own parts inside of Colin also made for a very pleasurable experience. Positionally,
they’d been through pretty much every permutation
except for one -- because of his teeth,
there was no way that Colin could take Ryan’s
erection into his mouth the same way
Ryan
could do to his. Ryan didn’t care. He more than made up for it with what did
with
his lips and tongue…like he was doing now. He sighed blissfully. He loved not always
having to be one to make the first move. This relationship was unlike any Ryan had
ever
been in, and it was definitely the most
satisfying. He planned to tell Pat
fairly soon…it
would let both of them get on with their lives. No more pretending that they each really
wanted to be with the other. He was with the one he’d wanted to be with
for years, but
had always been too afraid to approach
directly…although he’d dropped enough hints
during that time to make it obvious to Drew, Brad, and
probably their entire television
audience.
That ignorant woman at the studio should have known it too, if she was
as big
a fan as she’d insinuated. What she had done still riled him. Hopefully nothing like that
would ever happen again, although Colin had said that
if a normal person had done the
same thing, he wouldn’t have gotten nearly as
angry. The possessiveness went off the
scale if the ‘trespasser’ was another vamp.
Colin
was busily teasing him with his mouth, his own hands caressing Colin’s
shoulders,
when something suddenly dawned on him.
“Colin,”
he gasped, trying to concentrate on something other than the physical
sensations
assailing him.
“Colin, I know what the territoriality’s
for. I know why you have it, and
why it’s worse against someone else with the
disease.”
Colin
stopped what he was doing and looked up.
“What are you talking about?” he
asked. “It’s
an instinct, a goddamned terrible instinct -- what could it possibly be *for*?”
Ryan
grinned excitedly and leaned forward.
“Colin, it’s not what you think it is.
It’s not
because you can’t control yourself, or because
you’re some kind of monster. It’s to
protect the *donors*.”
“What
do you mean?” he asked, not understanding..
“Just
listen to me, OK? Way back when, when the
disease first evolved, it was at a time
when the world was a lot more dangerous than it is
now. Different tribes invading each
other, people killing each other for nothing…”
“Have
you watched the news lately? That sounds
exactly like today,” Colin replied
dourly.
“Yes,
but today you usually don’t have the local warlords wiping out their
neighboring
tribes like it’s a perfectly normal thing to do. Most people don’t live under the constant
threat of violence, like it was when the disease first
appeared.”
“I’m
still not following you,” he confessed.
“Colin,
what’s the worst thing that could happen to a vampire? One with a longtime
donor?”
He
blinked. “Losing the donor,” he replied,
not even having to think about it. “To
lose
your partner, someone you love—”
“Someone you *obviously* love. If other people in our situation are anything
like *us*,
it’s pretty clear to everyone around them how they
feel about each other. It would have
been the same for people hundreds or even thousands
of years ago. Now imagine if they
had enemies, especially ones with the disease -- or
imagine someone with the disease
who was starving.
They could easily kill the other person’s partner, a normal human,
because they’re so much stronger than we
are. That’s why the territoriality is so
strong
against other vamps. You instinctively know how easily we can be
hurt, especially by
others of your kind, and you want to protect us.”
Colin
looked at him in wonder. He’d never
thought about it that way, that the part of
himself that he was afraid of might actually
have something good in it. It made a
sort
of sense, if it was true.
“I don’t know if you’re right, Ryan…but it’s
definitely something to think about,” he
said. He smiled,
and reached out to touch Ryan’s cheek.
“Colin,
have I told you lately how much I love you?” he asked, placing his hand over
Colin’s.
“Not for the past few hours, no.”
“Then
let me show you.”
Colin
shivered, willingly offering himself up to his friend’s ministrations. It was at times
like this that neither of them thought about Colin’s
condition, or any of the troubles that it
brought with it.
For now, there was only the experience.
And the love.
“*Mine*,”
Ryan pronounced, as if to lay a claim on Colin as strong as Colin’s was on
him.
His
lover smiled again, a sweet, almost shy smile.
“I think I was always yours.”
* * *
Colin
paced back and forth nervously as he and the others waited backstage for their
signal to go on.
Drew was out there warming up the crowd -- Colin had been concerned
for a while that there might not *be* a crowd
tonight, since it was their first new taping
session.
The first one since they’d announced to the world what Colin was.
“Relax,”
said Ryan, coming up behind him and rubbing his shoulders. Normally Ryan’s
scent alone was enough to make his tension level
drop, but tonight was different.
Tonight
was the night that he would find out if he would be accepted, or if his career
was over.
Colin
leaned back into the comforting touch.
Over the past few weeks, he’d come to
realize how much he loved being with Ryan, and
how thankful he was that the other man
had insisted on staying in his life. The others had been great too…Wayne and Greg,
who
were on with them tonight; Drew, who’d been
supportive from the beginning; even Brad,
who’d finally overcome his concerns and was looking
forward to his next time on the
show. But
these were his friends, people he’d known for years. What about the people
on the outside?
There was still a lot of prejudice out there -- his kind wasn’t exactly
welcomed with open arms. *Anywhere.* The press release
had been issued a few weeks
ago; by tonight, everyone in the audience would
have already heard what happened to
him. Not
that they were going to hide it; they just didn’t know if it would be mentioned
in passing or if it would be spoken about
freely. They’d agreed that they would
play it by
ear tonight, basing their actions on how the
audience responded. He hoped they would
respond well.
He didn’t know what he would do if he had to give all this up.
“If
this doesn’t work out tonight,” said Colin carefully. “I want you to know—”
“Never
mind that,” Ryan interrupted, nudging him forward as he heard their cue. “We’re
on.”
And
with that, they bounded out on stage.
“Good
evening everybody and welcome to Whose Line Is It Anyway -- on tonight’s
show…”
“The
eyes have it…Greg Proops.”
“Check
out that ass…Wayne Brady.”
“He
gives necking a whole new meaning…Colin Mochrie.”
“And…did
you see the size of those feet? Ryan Stiles.”
The
audience applauded as each name was read, but their enthusiasm seemed to
increase
when Colin’s name was announced. The decibel level had definitely gone up, and
there
were a few whoops and whistles mixed in.
“I’m
Drew Carey, your host -- let’s come on down and have some fun!”
Drew
did his customary walk down the stairs to his desk The crowd seemed very upbeat.
“Welcome
to Whose Line Is It Anyway, the show where everything’s made up and the
points don’t matter.
That’s right, the points are like a jockey’s uniform to Ryan -- they
just don’t matter.”
There
was laughter from the crowd. Drew seemed
to sense their good mood; somehow
he was always able to tell what an audience
wanted, and how far he could go with them.
“Before
we start tonight, I’d like to welcome back Colin Mochrie. Colin was feeling a bit
under the weather, as I’m sure you’ve all heard…”
There
was some excitement at that statement, but everyone still seemed pretty
positive.
Drew
flashed a look to Colin, who nodded briefly.
He decided to go for it. All or
nothing, Colin thought, mentally crossing his
fingers.
“But
he’s feeling much better now, since he’s started that new diet. Hey
this thing cured your astigmatism and your
lower-back pain. Do you think it’ll
bring your
hair back too?”
Although
his heart was racing, Colin tried to act as normal as possible. He shook his
head good-naturedly, as he usually did when the bald
jokes started. “Not according to
the doctors,” he said, trying to sound as sad as he
could. “That’s a genetic thing, not a
disease.”
The crowd “Awwwwed”. Drew chuckled and waved one of his cards at
Colin. “But see?
He
*did* ask them about it.”
“It
was my only hope,” he said, giving the crowd his best puppy-dog look. They ate it up
and “awwwed” again. Colin was astounded. Did they really not care?
“And
by the way, folks, there’s no need to worry about any of tonight’s performers
--
they all ate before the show, and none of them are
hungry. Yet.”
Colin
made a face at Drew, then smiled sweetly, showing his
teeth. The crowd
responded by whistling and cheering wildly; from
all appearances, they loved it.
Colin
was dumbfounded, and leaned over towards his lover. “Ryan…?” he whispered
in confusion.
Ryan grinned, then nudged him again,
encouraging him to turn his eyes to
the audience so he could see how they really felt
about him.
At
first Colin thought there must be something wrong with his new contacts -- he
just
couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He didn’t think anyone would do anything more
than tolerate him…what else could he expect, the way
he was now? But somehow
they were doing more than that. They were acting like everything was OK. He didn’t
want to get his hopes up too much, just in case, but
his relief must have shown on his
face. Ryan reached
over and gave him a friendly pat on the arm, and he finally, *finally*
started to relax.
bite Drew, after the show?”
“Jeez,
do you want him to get cholesterol poisoning?” Ryan replied, shaking his
head.
“Hey,
it’s not *that* high,” Drew shot back, laughing.
“Sure
it’s not,” said Ryan, nodding in an exaggerated fashion.
Drew
straightened up and exhaled, as if to imply that he was mortally offended.
“Hmmph,” he said. “Now, on to our first game, Party Quirks. Greg here is the host of
a party, and all the others are guests at the
party…”
* * *
“I
can’t believe it. I just can’t believe
it. They didn’t care at all.” Colin was beaming; he
looked like he was on top of the world. It had been hours since the taping ended and
he
was still on Cloud 9.
“Judging
by that warm reception, the only thing you’ll have to be afraid of is me trying
to
crack you up onstage,” Ryan chuckled. Even though he’d steadfastly reassured Colin
whenever he’d been depressed or uneasy, he was
still very, very grateful that things had
worked out as well as they did. “I told you that everything was going to be
all right,
You
should’ve believed me.”
“But
I didn’t think that -- I don’t know -- I didn’t think things would be the same
as they
were before.”
“Well,
not exactly the same,” Ryan pointed out.
“Before, you never got a standing
ovation just for showing up.” He paused thoughtfully. “Come to think of it, I’ve never
gotten a standing ovation, just for showing up or
otherwise. You should be proud of
yourself.
Everyone still loves you.”
“Especially
you?” he teased, poking Ryan with his elbow.
“Especially
me,” Ryan said with a grin. “God, I
don’t know what the future’s going to be
like with the two of us together, but if it’s
anything like tonight…I don’t think we have
anything to worry about.”
“I
hope so,” Colin said, settling down alongside his lover. He sighed contentedly. It had
been a long day, and he was more than ready for a
good night’s sleep. He was just about
to put an arm around Ryan when his cell phone
rang.
“Better
get that,” said Ryan. “It might be your
agent, with yet another TV show.”
Laughing,
Colin picked up his phone. “Hello?” he
said.
There
was a pause. During that short span of
time, the look on Colin’s face had gone
from easy humor to surprise, then to
trepidation. He put his hand over the
receiver.
“It’s
Luke,” he whispered.
Ryan’s
eyebrows shot up. Neither Colin’s wife
nor his son had made any attempt to
contact him in over a month. They didn’t even know what -- if anything --
Luke had
been told about his father. “What’s he saying?” Ryan mouthed to him.
Colin
listened for a few moments; and Ryan watched as his expression, which had been
so worried only moments before, now shifted to one
of immense relief. He almost
looked
like he was going to cry, but not because he was unhappy. Far from it.
Ryan
prodded him again. “What’s he saying?”
Colin
smiled at him, his eyes bright, and covered the receiver once more. “It’s OK.
He
wants to talk.”
Ryan
linked his hand with Colin’s and snuggled closer, offering all the support he
could
without saying a word. He hoped this would go well. He didn’t know what the future
would bring, but he would be there at Colin’s side
through it all. That was the only thing
that mattered.
They were together; and together, there was nothing they couldn’t face.