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vamphile ([info]vamphile) wrote in [info]qaf_drabbles,
@ 2007-12-13 01:26:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:author: vamphile, challenge #42: author's choice, epic series: hustler!j/whore in a hoody

Challenge #42: Author's Choice
Title: Hustler!Justin XV(Whore in a Hoody)
Author: Vamphile
Condom(s): 11 To Justin 5 to Brian

|Hustler!Justin | II | III | IV| V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X | XI | XII | XIII | XIV |





Hustler Justin XV
Whore In A Hoody








He looks almost happy. I fax the lease off and sit down on the other side of the sofa.

“When can I move in?”

I think about lying. For the cost of two new suits and a pair of shoes, I can keep him off the street and in the loft for a week, but that’s a temporary fix. “Day after tomorrow.”

He nods. “You’re staying here 'til then.”

“I am?”

I nod. “Don’t worry, I’ll pay you.”

“But…you don’t want me.”

“I think I proved last night that I do.”

“But …”

“You’re taking the night off. To heal.”


~~~150~~~
I want to tell him that he doesn’t have to pay me for tonight, or tomorrow, but Isaac’s voice is reminding me that you don’t turn down a soft heart with a big wallet. I nod. “Okay, but…”

He shakes his head and pushes at my foot with his own. “No buts.” What he’s asking of me should be easier than what other clients ask. It isn’t though. With them it’s all farce and pain, so I turn myself off. I check out. He’s asking me to be present. I try to think of a way to get through this.


~~~151~~~
He’s silent and I want to know what he’s thinking. I don’t ask. I tell myself it’s because I hate when people ask me. The truth is, I’m afraid he’ll say something that seems completely innocuous to once again remind me how fucked up he is. In the end I turn on the TV and take a small comfort in the fact that he isn’t flinching away from my foot which is touching his calf and he isn’t trying to buy his place in the loft, or in my bed with his body. It’s a small victory. I’ll take it.


~~~152~~~
It’s almost four and I’m starting to get really tired again. I guess I close my eyes. When I open them he’s holding a hand out to me. “Huh?”

“Bed, c’mon.”

I assumed I’d be sleeping on the sofa… he already said he’s not going to fuck me. I think about saying something but he’ll just look at me like I’m an alien. He always does when I misunderstand him. Anything I say at this point will upset him. I take his hand. I’m not sure what he’s doing, when I was little my mom called it “tucking me in.”


~~~153~~~
I’m fucking exhausted. This is not how I planned to spend my last week of sick leave, but I guess it’s better than what I’ve been doing. I pull the sheet and duvet over us and he turns to face me. I can see him bite back a wince and I make a mental note to check those injuries again tomorrow. He’s staring at me but he doesn’t say anything, then he closes his eyes and I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. His breathing is soft and even. He’s asleep. I close my eyes too.


~~~154~~~
Isaac’s back, and I am safe. He smiles like he used to, before he disappeared. He’s running his fingers through my hair, talking about cutting it to make me look younger. Tracing a couple of marks on my torso and then pulling me back to the practice room. I don’t want to go. I’m sore and it’s too hot in here. I try to tell him, but when he turns to look at me it’s not him. The fat sweaty guy pushes me into the practice room. I land on all fours. I look up and Brian’s staring at me.


~~~155~~~
His head is buried in my shoulder and I hear a strangled sound. He’s asleep. “Justin, Justin… wake up.” I shake his shoulder and he winces and opens his eyes. “Ouch. Sorry.” He moves to the other side of the bed.

“You okay?”

“Huh? Yeah, I’m just not used to sleeping next to someone I guess”

I’m not buying it. “Who’s Isaac?”

He freezes.

“Justin.”

“He’s just an old trick”

“One who hurt you?”

“Isaac would never hurt me.”

“I thought all men wanted to hurt you.”

“Isaac didn’t. Doesn’t matter. He’s gone.” He pretends to go back to sleep.


~~~156~~~
I miss Isaac. I lie there, my eyes wide but I’m not really seeing. I wish I knew where he was and why he left. Brian’s arm reaches out, his fingers caress my forearm, one of the only spots left that isn’t sore. He’s the specific kind of guy that Isaac always warned me about. They mean well, they seem nice and in the end, they’ll annihilate you. At least the ones I deal with are up front about it. Their goal is to hurt, and when they’re done they leave. Brian's the type to leave scars that won’t heal.


~~~157~~~
He finally falls back asleep, but it takes him almost an hour. I know I’m done sleeping for the night but that’s okay, I’ve done enough sleeping in the past six months for a lifetime. And I’ve got nightmares of my own. I sit up and smoke, watching him sleep. He looks really fucking young when he’s like that. His voice telling me how far that gets him, how well he’s paid to look like this rings in my ears and I want to lock the door, keep the world out. I wonder if Lindsay would consider home schooling Gus.


~~~158~~~
By the time I wake up he’s drinking coffee and smoking while reading the paper. He motions to the row of mugs. I pour myself a cup. “So, I guess you have to go to work today.”

He shakes his head. “We both have the day off.”

“I’m not…”

“I’m giving you a day off, with pay. We’ll go see your new place, drop off the lease, get the keys.”

I smile. I can’t help it.

When I finish my coffee he hands me a bagel. It’s stale so I put it in the toaster but it’s not plugged in.


~~~159~~~
It takes me a little while to remove the bandages. We shower together and he tries to “repay my kindness.” I turn him down. He pouts in what I’m sure is a practiced maneuver. I wash his back, being careful not to hurt the healing red lines that stripe his thighs and ass as well. After I put fresh bandages on he swears he feels fine but I see him wince. I lend him a shirt. He puts on his hoody and I hand him one of my jackets. I don’t care if it’s too big. It’s fucking cold out.



~~~160~~~
He watches every move I make. He washed my sneakers. He’s almost as much of a control freak as Isaac was. I need to stop thinking about Isaac. I need to figure out why this guy won’t even let me blow him in the shower. Then I remember that after tomorrow, I don’t have to think about it again. The building is as nice as I remember. The guy at the front desk hands him the keys and we take the elevator to the ninth floor.

He hands me the keys and lets me open the door. I almost cry.


~~~161~~~
He’s happy. It’s the first time I’ve really seen that. The apartment isn’t large, but it’s got a comfortable set up, a living room and kitchen between two bedrooms each with their own full bath. He starts talking about the light and how he’s going to set up the room with the southern exposure to be his haven. He’s essentially renting a room in his own place. His excitement dims as we cross the living area and he pushes open the door to the second bedroom. He’s all business as he talks about sturdy bed-frames and an armoire for toys.


~~~162~~~
I turn to get Brian’s thoughts on where I can find the stuff I need but he’s not here. I find him in the living room watching the painters tape off a window. “We can go. I’ve got the measurements.”

He nods silently. He doesn’t say anything in the elevator or the lobby. When we’re in the jeep he turns to me. “Can’t you do something else?”

“Why?”

“Because maybe then you’ll live past nineteen.”

“Brian, give me one financial option at 17 with no high school diploma that’ll pay that rent, or any rent.”

He grinds his teeth loudly.


~~~163~~~
He’s got a point, but that’s not the point… I want to shake him but that’s not even a new feeling.

“Couldn’t you just take safe clients? Ones who won’t hurt you?”

“They all hurt you. Mine just admit it.”

“That’s not true.”

“And you know this how?”

“I didn’t want to hurt you.”

He’s silent but I have a feeling that he’s holding back, not out of responses. “So tell me about Isaac. He’s the one who trained you?”

“Yeah.”

“The one who’d find clients who wanted you pre-beaten.”

He tries to open the door. I’m going forty-five. WTF?


~~~164~~~
He stops the car. I try to jump out but he’s leaning over me and holding the door shut.

“Brian…”

“You’re insane.”

“It got you to stop the car, didn’t it?”

He stares at me. “Why does talking about him make you want to run?”

“Because it’s none of your business.”

He leans back and waits. I don’t open the door.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. It’s none of my business.”

“Thank you. None of this is really any of your concern.”

“No, it probably shouldn’t be.”

“But it is.”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

He shrugs and I believe he really doesn’t know.

Cont...


(Post a new comment)


[info]gmta_nz
2007-12-13 06:51 am UTC (link)
Ok, I just realized that Brian has just been sick. Cancer? This would explain a lot, including his relative openness and the very fact that he approached Justin in the first place. Anyway, I really like (because it makes more sense) the fact that he's got demons of his own and that he's clearly not at the same mental/emotional stage as 101 canon!Brian.

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]vamphile
2007-12-13 06:54 am UTC (link)
yeah, i've hinted at it before. Justin recognized that he'd had a testicle replaced (but never said anything out loud) and Michael thought Brian had been in a relationship because he'd taken a two week vacation and then been saying he was working all the time for the last six months.

It makes more sense to me too, that for brian to be this open AND to pick up a low rent hustler... even if it IS Justin there woudl have to be a preceding factor... I just moved the cancer arc back, or forward, or whatever.

so Brian's recovered, but he's been sick... which explains a LOT... don't you think?

i've been hinting at it, but you'd kind of have to be reading really carefully AND in my head to get it.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]gmta_nz
2007-12-13 08:34 am UTC (link)
so Brian's recovered, but he's been sick... which explains a LOT... don't you think?

Absolutely. In fact, it was the only doubt I had as far as in IC characterization was concerned, because I know that also canon!Brian has always been protective, etc., but here we had a level of openness and emotional involvement that we saw only later in QaF. And therefore it had to be explained, even in an AU context.

As soon as it clicked, I thought back to the "hints" you'd given, especially the Michael-Brian conversation, which suddenly made much more sense. I like that the hints are very subtle and then become gradually (or suddenly, in my case!) more transparent.

This format is suiting your style very well, for some reason.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]vamphile
2007-12-13 06:41 pm UTC (link)
i think the format is suiting my style because it makes me keep some control over the story... i have a tendency to let these things get even MORE out of control.

And yes, i guess you had to be watching for the hints to really get them, but the michael conversation does make more sense, and i think Debbie knows more than michael does, based on what she said at the diner. and it explains why Brian might be a little different than the "always be young, always be beautiful, don't believe in love..." season one brian.

I mean what if he hadn't had Justin and he did that all alone, with no one to to tell him to eat the fucking chicken soup?



(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]vl_redreign
2007-12-13 07:01 am UTC (link)
He tries to open the door. I’m going forty-five. WTF?

Okay, we're talking serious dain bramage. For real. Justin is scaring the shit out of me. He's so brainwashed that he truly believes that what he's doing is okay. *shudders* And that he can't see how wrong it is is even scarier.

Brian may be the type to leave emotional scars, but damn, okay? At least you can lick your wounds and go on. What Justin's doing leaves tangible, visible scars, and he'll be lucky if he's conscious to lick them.

Ummm...yeah. Still loving this, Vamp.

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]vamphile
2007-12-13 07:05 am UTC (link)
I do think Justin was just trying to get Brian to stop the car... and it worked, but yeah, he's not taking his own physical safety into account. i'm glad you're still with me. hang in there. i don't know how but somehow, i'm going to fix all this.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]rosy5000
2007-12-13 07:11 am UTC (link)
Justin is making me want to smack my head against a wall. :( Are we going to learn more about his past and why he became a hustler?

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]vamphile
2007-12-13 07:14 am UTC (link)
yeah, we're getting it in bits and pieces. (little tiny bits and pieces) i didn't really have a plan when i started... i still don't. i know a lot of stuff, i'm just not sure how much i'm going to tell.

suffice to say that Isaac may not have been the savior Justin says he was.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]lit_writergirl
2007-12-13 11:15 am UTC (link)
I am still enjoying every word of this. I'm glad we're finding out more about the past, but I'm even more interested in what is going on in the present. The way you're writing their current states of mind is really intriguing.

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]vamphile
2007-12-13 06:42 pm UTC (link)
thank you. they're both kind of fucked in the head right now in very different ways. But Justin's problem is kind of the immediate one at the moment.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]_alicesprings
2007-12-13 11:25 am UTC (link)
:(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

Justin is totally fucked.

Nice work with the cancer.

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]vamphile
2007-12-13 06:42 pm UTC (link)
thank you. wow... that's a lot of frowns. bear with me m'dear... i'll make it better (as soon as i figure out how)

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]minuet9
2007-12-13 11:30 am UTC (link)
Isaac wasn't a saviour? Nooooo really? *heavy sarcasm inserted* ;)
Still loving this. i'm thinking Justin was kind of suffering a stolkholm syndrome type of thing. Isaac 'trained' him too much but he never objected and felt he needed him.

Loving (and in some tiny way hating) this story ;)

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]vamphile
2007-12-13 06:44 pm UTC (link)
yeah, that's always kind of what i had in mind for Justin. he's seventeen, and he was with isaac for a while... and yeah, He wasn't exactly justin's White Knight.

i don't blame you for, in some ways, hating this story... in some ways you're supposed to.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]secretsolitaire
2007-12-13 01:11 pm UTC (link)
Brian's the type to leave scars that won’t heal.

It sounds like Isaac is that type as well. :-(

I had picked up on your cancer hints, but it's nice to get some more details on that.

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]vamphile
2007-12-13 06:45 pm UTC (link)
yeah, i think isaac did a pretty serious head fuck on Justin.. and those are the types of scars that won't heal.

glad the cancer details worked for you. it explains why Brian hasn't tossed Justin to the curb yet... i think.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]testdog65
2007-12-13 01:24 pm UTC (link)
I really don't like Isaac. He's managed to twist Justin's thinking to such an extreme that it's going to be hard for him to trust anyone again. And the fact that Justin misses him just makes it 10 times worse.

Brian's anger and frustration at the whole situation are palpable, especially in the apartment while Justin's making plans for his second bedroom. And the fact that, at 17, Justin doesn't have any other options is just so totally fucked up.

At this point, I have no idea how this will get fixed. I just hope it does before Justin is hurt so badly that he can't recover. :(

~Ellen

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]vamphile
2007-12-13 06:48 pm UTC (link)
I'm hoping justin isn't already hurt so badly he can't recover.

yeah, um... you're kinda not supposed to like Isaac. Justin misses him, because the devil you know... and all that. although he doesn't think of Isaac as a devil.

Yeah, Brian just could not be there while justin is discussing the logistics of setting up the second bedroom, as if it's the most natural thing in the world.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]chrisyeap
2007-12-13 04:06 pm UTC (link)
OMG! I just caught up!! I'll have to read it again to understand why Brian is getting involved. I haven't absorbed it enough yet. Get back to you after!

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]vamphile
2007-12-13 06:48 pm UTC (link)
enjoy your reread. let me know what you think when you get a chance.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]singlewoman
2007-12-13 06:31 pm UTC (link)
The more I read about Isaac the less I like him. He is the one who has left invisible scars on Justin, not Brian. And WTF trying to jump out of a car at 45 MPH? Justin would be dead, which again points to how little he values himself.

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]vamphile
2007-12-13 06:50 pm UTC (link)
at that point i think Justin simply wanted Brian to stop the car... and he did... because when someones trying to get out of a moving car, your first instinct is to stop the car, the same way you THINK you could jump out but when you see the road flying by you're like...um.... maybe not.

but no, he doesn't value his safety, and isaac left huge invisible scars, but Justin doesn't see them that way.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]britin_forever
2007-12-13 06:55 pm UTC (link)
Wow I can't seem to let this story go...got to study for finals but I constantly find my self drawn to the computer to see if there are updates. I am in awe of your ability to crawl inside Brian and Justin’s minds and write such true feelings/thoughts.
Finally I am seeing some progress, at least Justin will be off the street and Brian knows where he lives, not the ideal situation but its progress none the less!!
Excellent writing, thanks for sharing!!

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]vamphile
2007-12-13 06:59 pm UTC (link)
thanks for reading...and well, i can crawl into their heads but until i give more background, an argument about being anywhere near and actual IC Justin can be made.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]zaipixie
2007-12-13 07:53 pm UTC (link)
I'm still haning on your every word. This has me on the edge of my seat, waiting for updates.

I'm gonna go upload me some more Justin icons...

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]vamphile
2007-12-13 08:32 pm UTC (link)
You can never have enough justin icons, and i'm writing more now.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]zaipixie
2007-12-13 08:36 pm UTC (link)
Thank you!

I have now a whole bunch of new distraught!Justin icons to use, so I'm hoping for a long run of this.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]noteverything
2007-12-13 09:38 pm UTC (link)
Brian's the type to leave scars that won’t heal.

Love this line.

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]vamphile
2007-12-14 06:06 am UTC (link)
Thank you. Yeah... but i think Isaac scarred him more.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]herefordroad
2007-12-14 06:18 am UTC (link)
it feels like this is the core of justin's feelings even though i don't understand it all yet:

"With them it’s all farce and pain, so I turn myself off. I check out. He’s asking me to be present. I try to think of a way to get through this."


justin's reluctance to talk about isaac is curious...i keep thinking brian will get through the wall.

jeannie

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]vamphile
2007-12-14 06:33 am UTC (link)
he gets through it a little in the next one, which is already up.

and yes, that sentence really is the crux of Justin's issue, he knows how to shut himself off and not feel anything. He doesn't know how to be honest and present in what he is feeling. that's a recipe for disaster, i promise you.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]girloftheburbs
2008-01-02 04:34 am UTC (link)
Well fcuk. I'm still loving this, but Justin is driving me a little batty; he is so damaged. Can Brian give Justin a job as a copy boy at his workplace? Anything to keep him safe and away from hustling. *sigh* What a life. I did pick up on the Cancer!Brian arc; You handled that very skillfully/subtly.

(Reply to this)



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