MASTERY
Title: Mastery
Written By: xie_xie_xie
Timeline: post-513
Author's Notes: That would be telling.



Justin threw himself on the sofa, a piece of paper held high in the air. “I did it.” He gave the paper a little wave. “I have my MFA.”

Brian typed a few words on his laptop keyboard, shut it off, and stood up. “Finally.”

Justin waved the paper again, looking at Brian upside down. “You’re talking to a man with a Masters degree.”

Brian walked over and looked down at him. “I have a Masters degree. Ben has a Masters degree.” He frowned again. “I hate to bring it up, but Theodore has a Masters degree.”

Justin heaved himself into a sitting position and put the paper on the coffee table. “Yours and Ted’s don’t count. They’re MBAs.” He said it as if the very term offended him.

Brian snorted. “Oh, but Ben’s does because...”

“It’s in the arts.” He grinned at Brian. “Take me out to celebrate.”

Brian let Justin pull himself up with hand, then tugged him close. “We could stay in and celebrate.” He nuzzled into Justin’s hair.

Justin sighed, and tipped his head back. Brian was licking his throat when Justin said, “I want to go out.”

Brian shook his head. “You youngsters, you always want to go out on a school night.”

“It’s not a school night, I just got my...”

Brian rolled his eyes. “MFA. I know. I know.”

___________________________________

Brian pulled his car into a space about a block from Babylon, and they got out and started walking towards the club.

Brian draped his arm over Justin's shoulder. "It's not too late for a quiet evening at home."

Justin jabbed his elbow into Brian's side, but didn't say anything, just pulled Brian by his hand up the stairs.

When he walked in the door, the club sounded strange. The music was too loud, or too clear, like the club was...

Empty. Well, not empty. There were candle-lit tables massed around the edges of the dance floor, waiters positioned around the perimeter of the room, big silver buckets full of champagne bottles, and 30 or so of their closest friends and family members screaming "Congratulations!" under a glittering sign with the same word and his name on it.

Brian's hand was firm on Justin's back, which was a good thing, because Justin would probably have stood there all night. After he was hugged by his mom, Deb, Daphne and Emmett, Justin looked at Brian. "How... what... when... how..."

Brian sighed. "I realize you're a visual person, Justin, but you used to be reasonably articulate. Spit it out."

Justin put his hands flat on Brian's chest. "What the fuck possessed you to do this, and when did you do it?"

Emmett had walked up, and he was smiling. "It was easy, honey. He's had the whole thing on stand-by for a week now."

Brian glared at him, but Emmett just beamed at Justin. "Isn't it romantic"?

"Congratulations, Justin." It was Ben, a glass of champagne in his hand.

Justin flashed him a bright smile. "Thanks, I..."

Brian cut him off. "I'm going to take my lowly MBA off to the bar, while you and the Professor discuss the wonders of the arts and letters." He smiled at them both, and veered off towards the nearest bartender.

He sipped a Chivas, and watched Justin being embraced by everyone he got within two feet of. He was on his second Chivas when Debbie and Carl started slow dancing near the stage, Melanie and Lindsay sucking face not far away from them. Normally the sight of all this heterosexual and lesbian physical affection would have caused him to grab the nearest hot guy and fuck him, just to drive the images from his retinas. Maybe, he thought, he was coming down with some horrible...

"I still can't believe you did this." It was Justin, his face flushed, a bottle of champagne in his hand.

The Chivas burned his throat as Brian tossed it back and set the glass on the bar. "How's the champagne?"

Justin grinned and handed him the bottle. "Incredible, as usual. Don't tell me how much it cost, though. I don't want to know."

Brian took a swallow of the champagne, which cost enough that even Justin might have been surprised. It wasn't a particularly good chaser for the Chivas, so he cleansed his palate by kissing Justin for a few minutes. When they finally pulled apart, he bumped his forehead against Justin's. "Wanna dance?"

They found a corner of their own. Justin's hands were on Brian's shoulders, Brian's on Justin's hips. They danced for a few minutes, and when the DJ slid into a different song, Justin laughed. "So, will you have to call me 'Master' now?"

"Dream on." Brian pulled him closer. "No one ever calls me 'Master,' and I've had an MBA since you were in..." he stopped, suddenly aware that the completion of that sentence wasn't really something he was interested in. "Well, not college."

Justin shook his head, his hair brushing against Brian's face. "As if you don't mentally imagine every guy in the back room calling you 'Master' when you walk in."

Brian smirked. "I don't care what they call me, as long as they drop to their knees."

Justin laughed, and let Brian pull their hips even closer. "Well, it took me long enough, I know..."

"And cost me enough..."

"And cost you enough." He kissed him. "But thank you. For making me finish it..." Brian started to say something, but Justin ignored him. "For making me finish it, and for this." He pulled one hand off Brian's shoulder, and waved at the room. "It's really great. I love it."

Brian's lips folded in for a second, and he shrugged. "It was nothing." He hesitated and cleared his throat. "Nothing more than you deserve."

Justin's eyes were soft. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He cleared his throat again. He must be getting some kind of respiratory infection, he thought. "And I'm proud of you." The music changed again, and Brian let a few inches of space open up between them. "The back room's open, you know."

Justin laughed. "Right. We go back there and the next thing you know, my mother is crying, Debbie is shouting performance tips, and Carl's having a heart attack." He stopped dancing, and grabbed Brian's hand. "Let's go have champagne with my mom, say goodnight to everyone, then go home and fuck our brains out."

Brian smiled at him approvingly. "Now, that's the kind of clear thinking I invested all that money in your education to develop."

"Well," Justin said, tugging him over towards where Jennifer was deep in conversation with Daphne, Michael and Ben. "You know what I always say..."

"What's that?" Brian asked, letting himself be tugged.

"I learned from the master."

Brian didn't explain to Jennifer and Daphne why he was laughing. He just opened another bottle of champagne.