InsaneJournal

Who: Justin Taylor and Billy Kaplan
When: Backdated: Mid January
Where: Art Gallery
What: Lunch dates takes a bit of a scary turn
Rating/Warnings: Mostly Family Friendly with a bit of vandalism/injury at the end.
Status: Complete

For the last week or so, Justin had been working on a few new pieces for the art show he’d been invited to be a part of and with the show about a week away, Justin had decided to bring some of the pieces he was gonna put in the show down to his friend’s gallery so that they wouldn’t begin to clutter up his and Billy’s apartment. Normally he kept art things in the spare room that he used as a studio, but it was also beginning to get cluttered since it wasn’t quite as big as their bedroom.

Before he’d left, he’d asked Billy if he’d want to come down and meet him so they could grab lunch together, so Justin was currently waiting, standing in the section of the gallery that was going to be his for the show and trying to visualize where he was going to hang each piece. He had a basic idea, but he was gonna ask Billy his opinion on his ideas when he showed up.

Billy was putting all thoughts of his dreams out of his mind to help Justin focus on the art show, he knew it was important to his boyfriend and he wanted to support him. No matter what was going on in his head. He knew Justin had been working hard and he was excited for him.

Entering the gallery where they were to meet he called out, “Justin? You in here?”

Hearing Billy’s voice, Justin turned towards him, smiling as he moved to meet him, giving him a quick kiss as he reached him, “Hey. You didn’t run into any trouble getting over here, did you?” Over the last two weeks or so there had been a significant rise in crime and while he knew that Billy had super powers and could likely hurt someone else worse than they could hurt him, he needed to be sure that he had had an easy time getting there.

Billy returned the kiss with a smile, “Nope, surprisingly little trouble” he replied, though he really wasn’t worried. He and Kate had run into a little trouble a few nights ago when seeing a movie and they’d kicked total ass. He was kind of itching to get out there and do it again. “How are things going?” he asked, “You have a layout in mind?”

“Good. Whatever is going on out there is getting kind of crazy.” Justin said, glancing through the glass windows at the front of the gallery before turning back towards the spot he had for the show, “Yeah, I think so.” He led Billy over to the spot and reached for his sketchpad where he’d drawn a basic idea of where he was going to place things. “I was thinking of actually moving this one over here instead.” He said, pointing to one square which had the name of the painting then to another, “What do you think?”

“Don’t worry, you have me to protect you” Billy told him with a smile slipping his arm through Justin’s before he was led over to look at the space and Justin’s plans for it. “I think you should. The color and style would flow much better and maybe even swap these round” he suggested pointing to a couple more. He knew Justin’s paintings well and since they’d been together had a better understanding of art as a whole.

"So, am I Lois Lane now?" Justin asked, smirking. He didn't mind having his own personal superhero one bit. As Billy made the suggestion, Justin glanced up at the blank wall then back at the layout sketch and nodded, "That's a good idea. That'll look good." He reached for the pencil behind his ear and made a few notes to the layout. "You have a good eye for art, Ya know?" He knew that some of that was cause of Justin, but he felt like Billy had had a good eye for art before.

“You can be my damsel if you like” he teased a little before watching Justin. “Not really and it’s all thanks to you if I am. I mean I liked art at school, even did my own drawings but it was never a passion like it is for you” he said, smiling at the way he tucked the pencil behind his ear. “So can I steal you away for lunch now?” he asked fluttering his lashes with a silly grin.

Justin laughed and closed the sketchpad, “Yeah, I think we can get going.” He headed towards where his bag was leaning against the wall, “Oh hey, have you ever been skiing or snowboarding before?” He asked, picking up the bag and slinging it over his shoulder then slid his sketchpad inside as he continued to talk, “I was talking to my mom a little while ago and her, my dad and Molly are going to Bear Mountain the weekend before my birthday and she was wondering if we wanted to go up too.” Justin’s birthday was on a Monday this year so if they were going to do any celebrating it’d have to be on the weekend anyway.

Billy waited while Justin grabbed his bag and thought about what he said, “Sure we can do that. I’ve never done either though so I warn you now I will probably be terrible and end up a little grumpy if I keep falling over and getting a cold ass” he grinned. He felt a little bad as he realised he hadn’t even thought about what to do for Justin’s birthday yet this year.

“Well, you don’t have to ski. I’m not great at skiing either. I’m better at snowboarding. Probably cause of the surfing.” Justin said, making a mental note to call his mother the next day to let her know that they were in for a weekend at the resort. “There’s also snowtubing, which is a lot of fun and I’ve got extra snow pants that’ll probably fit you and goggles and stuff, so you won’t need to buy anything.” The snowstorms they’d had in December guaranteed that Billy would at least have a jacket, gloves and boots of his own, so they didn’t need to go out and buy anything.

“I don’t mind giving it a go, I’ll try it all. I just might embarrass you a bit that’s all. You might have to pretend you don’t know me” he teased a little. Yeah, Billy was fairly well kitted out and with the extras from Justin would be snug when he fell over.

“You won’t embarrass me. I still fall on my ass plenty.” Justin smiled and laced his fingers with Billy’s as they started towards the front of the gallery, “I’ll let my mom know to expect us to join them. It’ll be a lot of fun. And if snowboarding doesn’t work out, we can always spend time in the lodge, by the fire.” Justin was so preoccupied now with what they were talking about that he didn’t notice when someone stopped just outside the gallery and threw a rock at the front window. It wasn’t until the window shattered, glass spraying in at them, that Justin realized what was going on.

“Now that sounds like the best way to spend a holiday” Billy smiled as they walked, he too not noticing the rock until the last moment. His protective barrier not quite managing to shield them from it all. “Shit” he said beginning to move forward to chase the guy down but stopping when he saw blood on Justin, “Babe? Are you okay?”

Luckily the rock itself had missed them both, but a few of the shards of glass that had made it past before Billy put up his barrier had cut the side of Justin’s face as he’d turned in an attempt to shield himself. “I’m okay.” He winced slightly as he touched the side of his face, fingers coming away sticky with blood. It was nothing like when he’d woken up after the bashing dream, but he could definitely feel small pieces of glass embedded in his skin. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine” Billy said, turning Justin’s head to the side so he could see the cut. “Let me look after you alright?” he said, as he hovered his hand over his boyfriends face and whispered the healing spell.

Justin’s eyes closed as he felt the magic that had healed him the last time. Opening them, he watched Billy, the look of concentration on his face as he whispered the spell. “I guess this is one of those times it pays to have my very own superhero.” He smiled at Billy and leaned forward to press their lips together once the spell was finished.

Billy smiled into the kiss, “I guess it is” he said when they parted. “Now, how are you feeling? Do you need to see a doctor do you think?” he asked, still worried.

“I’m okay,” Justin brought his hand up to the side of his face, fingertips touching the now unblemished skin, “Thanks to you. I should call the police though. And Matt.” Matt was Justin’s friend who owned the space and had allowed Justin to borrow keys so he could figure out his arrangement for the show. “After that we can go to lunch.”

“Of course” Billy nodded wrapping his arm around Justin, “Let’s call from the office, I don’t want you standing too close to the window just in case they come back” he said worriedly.

Justin nodded, “Good idea.” As they headed back towards the office, Justin wrapped one arm around Billy, keeping wanting to keep him close while he brought his cell phone up to his ear with the other as he called the police. Whatever was causing this current crimewave, he couldn’t help but wonder if it was just one more Orange County thing, but either way, he was glad that Billy had been there when this had happened, not just to heal him, but so that Justin knew that he was safe. Billy might have been a superhero, but Justin was still determined to keep him safe if and when he could.

Billy was far less concerned for his own safety, after going out with Kate that time and saving a girl from an attack he’d been having the urge to do it again. To use his powers to help people. But right now Justin was his priority and he kept his arm around him protectively while his boyfriend made the call.

Once Justin’s friend and the police arrived and the police asked both him and Billy about what had happened, they were finally free to go. “Ready for lunch now?” By this point all Justin wanted to do was have lunch and go home with his boyfriend, “Maybe we can get something to go and bring it home. Eat it in bed.” He smirked at Billy.

“Definitely ready” Billy nodded, taking Justin’s hand and squeezing it, “Eating in bed sounds perfect too. I do love that brain of yours, it has the best ideas” he said, leaning in to kiss him.