"Oh, not again," Colin groaned as Ryan burst through
the front door,
carrying yet *another* shoe box, as well as the groceries that he
had
been actually sent out to purchase.
"What's wrong?" Ryan asked innocently, wandering into
the kitchen to
offload the excess baggage. "Did I forget something?"
Colin followed along behind his lover, slowly counting to ten
before he
thought it safe to answer. After all, it wasn't *really* Ryan's
fault that
he could be a little dim at times.
"No, you didn't forget anything," he said finally,
pawing through the
grocery bags until he found the latest edition of "Dinosaur
Weekly"
magazine. "Hey, look!" he exclaimed, momentarily
distracted from his
irritation. "You get a free Tyrannosaurus Rex tattoo!"
"I saw," Ryan nodded. "You'll have to put it on
somewhere secret and
let me find it later tonight."
Colin frowned. Why was it that Ryan always managed to come out
with
enticing suggestions like that just when he was trying to be
annoyed with
his boyfriend?
// Be strong, Colin, // he told himself. // You can do this. //
"Ryan," he began, carefully avoiding the younger man's
eyes. "It's about
your addiction."
Ryan frowned, and quickly hid his new packet of Clive Anderson
trading
cards behind a cauliflower. "Addiction?" he asked
innocently.
"I know you too well to not notice that something's been
going on."
A quick glance at Ryan revealed that his eyes were flicking
nervously
around the room -- looking everywhere but at his lover. Obviously
the
man was in denial. Colin was going to have to be blunt.
Striking a concerned pose against the refrigerator, he braced
himself
for a confrontation. "Ryan, you have to stop buying
shoes," he stated,
quietly but firmly. When there was no immediate outcry from Ryan,
he went on. "Look, you know I appreciate the benefits of
footwear
as much as the next man, but there is such a thing as having
*too* many
pairs of shoes and I'm afraid that you have all of the symptoms
of such
an affliction."
Ryan frowned. "I don't have *that* many pairs," he
protested.
"No?" Colin scoffed. "You don't call two hundred
and thirty four pairs
'many'?"
"Well..." Ryan was a little thrown by the last
revelation. // When in
doubt, change the subject, // his mind assisted. // Good
idea, // he
replied internally.
"But I thought that you *liked* my shoes," he protested
eventually,
making sure that Colin was looking in his direction so that his
pout
would have its full effect.
Colin was immediately at Ryan's side, arms wrapped tightly around
his
boyfriend's long torso. "Oh of course I like your shoes,
Ryan, you know
I do," he murmured. "I just think that you should cut
back a little on your
shoe purchases. You can't leave the house without buying another
pair
of runners, or some dress shoes -- and don't forget about the
time you
came home with that pair of authentic Sumerian frog-catching
wobble-boots.
It's an addiction!"
"Oh, I know," Ryan replied in his best 'Days of Our
Lives' tone of voice.
"I'm trying my hardest to stop, really I am. I decided to go
cold turkey
about a week ago, but I didn't want to say anything until I was
sure that I
could stay on the wagon."
Colin gently rubbed his lover's back. "Hey," he
murmured. "Don't be
ashamed just because you had one little slip up."
Ryan pulled away in surprise. "Slip up?!? What do you
mean?"
Colin pointed sadly to the shoe box sitting right in the middle
of the
kitchen table.
Ryan's eyes widened in cognition. "Oh!" he exclaimed.
"So that's what
this is all about!"
Colin nodded, feeling a little bad for uncovering his lover's
secret.
"But they're not for me!" Ryan corrected. "They're
a present for you!"
He grinned broadly at the sight of the guilty look that was
beginning to
collect on Colin's face.
"But..." Colin paused, collecting his thoughts.
"But you've never brought
me *shoes* before!"
"That's because I've had no cause to do so."
"And you do now?"
Ryan just nodded his response before untangling himself from
Colin's
arms and retrieving the cardboard box from the table. "Go
on," he smiled,
handing it over. "Open it. See what you think."
Discarding the lid of the shoe box, Colin found himself staring
down at
a bright red and yellow spotted pair of scuffs -- complete with
six-inch
platform soles. "Uh.. they're...lovely?" he ventured,
deciding that a small
white lie wouldn't do *too* much harm.
"Put them on!" Ryan prompted.
Defeated, Colin slipped the shoes onto his feet, immediately
finding
himself six inches taller. Suddenly everything began to slowly
make sense...
"You always complain about getting a crick in your neck when
you kiss
me," Ryan explained. "I thought that these might
help..."
"I'm sorry that I doubted you," Colin apologised, after
giving his new
found height a test run.
"That's okay," Ryan shrugged. "Besides, shoe
collecting is *so* five
minutes ago." Momentarily slipping out of Colin's arms, Ryan
quickly
retrieved his Clive Cards from their hiding place and thrust them
deep
into his pocket where Colin would never find them...
{fin}
© Augustus, 31-08-2000