Bros and Flamingos

[flamingodenny]

Who: Denny, Barney, Alan Shore.
What: Alan's ill-timed arrival.
When: Afternoon.
Where: The Balcony.
Rating: F for Flamingos
Status: Incomplete

Comments

[flamingoalan]

Fingers on elbow, Alan led Denny through to the relative privacy of the space behind the potted plant. He drew the sliding door closed and stood staring at his friend for a moment, hands at his hips.

"Who is that man?" he asked indignantly. "And what is he doing on balcony?

[flamingodenny]

Looking him in the eyes, Denny desperately tried to recover the situation. "That's just Barney! He's my bro. I invited him over to come meet you! But then... you took a while to get here, and we just got to talking..."

He grabbed Alan by the shoulders. "Alan, he means nothing to me, I swear!"

[flamingoalan]

For a long moment, Alan said nothing. He had probably overreacted, and now Denny was upset. He didn't want Denny to be upset; things...happened when Denny was upset, which was precisely what they had been trying to avoid by coming to Canada in the first place.

But Alan was upset, too. The balcony was special, whatever balcony it was, and he had been looking forward to being reunited with his balcony time the entire trip from Boston, and possibly for all the months his friend had been gone and he had been forced to stay. To see another man in his place had been...a shock. A confirmation of the sense of loss he had experienced and feared with Denny gone.

He sighed, slumping minutely and letting down his ruffled feathers. "I'm sure he's a nice...bro," he said as calmly as he could. "But I've just arrived, and I'd like to have some time alone with my best friend. I'm sure he'll understand."

He would stipulate, later, that he didn't want this Barney back on his balcony in the future, either.

[flamingodenny]

Denny Crane had an overwhelming amount of positive traits, but he knew that good timing was not usually one of them. He had been hoping Alan and Barney would get along, but it was obvious now where his priorities needed to lie.

"Alan," he said, taking his hands off Alan's shoulders again. "If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's 'bros before hos.' Now, Barney is my bro, but you're..." He wrinkled his brow. "...I don't actually know where I was going with that. The point is, I'm sorry, and if you give me a minute, I'll get him out of here and we can have a drink and talk about your flight.

He lumbered back to the chairs, where Barney was sitting and sipping brandy. "Barney, Alan and I are going to need the balcony to discuss some... very important.. official business. We'll get together another time, yeah?"

[flamingoalan]

It was cowardly, but Alan remained behind the potted plant until the interloper had gone. Finally, he joined Denny out on the balcony.

He looked out onto the gray water for a long moment before speaking. "It is a nice place," he said.