A Friend in Need
A Friend in Need
Bill/Byron - PG
Byron needs some comforting and Bill knows what to do.
"This is what you brought me to see?"
They've come to a stop in a field that's little more than an unused stretch of grass along the side of the road. It's strikingly dark and empty after the press of the city, but after forty minutes of driving with Bill keeping mum about their destination it's a little anticlimatic. Byron catches a glimpse of himself in the car's side mirror as he scans the surroundings; still puffed and blotchy, eyes swollen and shot through with red. He sniffs and climbs out of the car, doing his best to keep his face turned away from Bill.
Bill is looking around with a serene smile on his face, as if he was coming back some familiar and treasured place. "You needed some cheering up." His smile brightens and he climbs up to the hood of the Chrysler. He pats the spot next to him. "And looking up at the stars has always been something to cheer a person up."
They lie there with the metal warm against their backs, finding shapes in the sky and making up stories to go along.
"Aw Byron, you oughta see the ways the stars shine back in Kansas," Bill says. "Out in a field with nothing but flat land and the whole sky for miles. Nothing like it. I had a buddy who knew all the constellations and the stars' proper names and all, and he would spend hours pointing them all out to me." He laughs, his chest shaking. "I was always too much of a blockhead to remember 'em."
They're quiet for a stretch, not for the first time that night, Bill with his hands behind his head and Byron twisting the hem of his shirt in his fingers.
"I guess you know why I was upset, huh," Byron says suddenly. "Cause I told my folks about me. You know, liking men." He heaves out a sigh, and when he speaks it sounds like it's an effort to keep his voice steady. "They weren't happy about it."
"That was real brave of you, to tell them."
Byron looks over and Bill is looking right back, face half in shadows and serious as the grave. "So you don't mind? Don't mind hanging out with a fairy like me?"
Bill's face breaks into a grin. "Shucks, Byron." He slides over until their feet bump and turns to smile up at the stars. "I don't mind at all."
Bill/Byron - PG
Byron needs some comforting and Bill knows what to do.
"This is what you brought me to see?"
They've come to a stop in a field that's little more than an unused stretch of grass along the side of the road. It's strikingly dark and empty after the press of the city, but after forty minutes of driving with Bill keeping mum about their destination it's a little anticlimatic. Byron catches a glimpse of himself in the car's side mirror as he scans the surroundings; still puffed and blotchy, eyes swollen and shot through with red. He sniffs and climbs out of the car, doing his best to keep his face turned away from Bill.
Bill is looking around with a serene smile on his face, as if he was coming back some familiar and treasured place. "You needed some cheering up." His smile brightens and he climbs up to the hood of the Chrysler. He pats the spot next to him. "And looking up at the stars has always been something to cheer a person up."
They lie there with the metal warm against their backs, finding shapes in the sky and making up stories to go along.
"Aw Byron, you oughta see the ways the stars shine back in Kansas," Bill says. "Out in a field with nothing but flat land and the whole sky for miles. Nothing like it. I had a buddy who knew all the constellations and the stars' proper names and all, and he would spend hours pointing them all out to me." He laughs, his chest shaking. "I was always too much of a blockhead to remember 'em."
They're quiet for a stretch, not for the first time that night, Bill with his hands behind his head and Byron twisting the hem of his shirt in his fingers.
"I guess you know why I was upset, huh," Byron says suddenly. "Cause I told my folks about me. You know, liking men." He heaves out a sigh, and when he speaks it sounds like it's an effort to keep his voice steady. "They weren't happy about it."
"That was real brave of you, to tell them."
Byron looks over and Bill is looking right back, face half in shadows and serious as the grave. "So you don't mind? Don't mind hanging out with a fairy like me?"
Bill's face breaks into a grin. "Shucks, Byron." He slides over until their feet bump and turns to smile up at the stars. "I don't mind at all."