orangetoughguy | log post II

[He said Oriental. Man Dimick you are one old man. Well in his defense you can't control whether you're born before or after the civil rights movement and cultural revolution and all that. Whatever. The point is this lady picked out the flowers but there's no doubt in his mind Larry walked in with the intention of getting flowers. Who picks up something like that on a whim? On a whim means signaling Jose to hurry up and give you that rose bouquet before the light turns green on La Brea.]

Nobody's ever got me flowers, Larry. Real nice ones too.

[Well duh Newendyke, you're a guy and yeah while Lawrence Dimick is not quite the only guy you've fucked, Lawrence Dimick is the only guy you've pretty much dated to the point of going steady. Oh yeah and moving in together too. And also waking up in the same bed. Uh huh. PS. Freddy may not know the difference between a bunch of carnations and a bunch of lavenders, but he knows triple digit quality when he sees it.]

[The old man's not beyond learning. He's got time yet. Somethings don't change though from politically correct terminology to the drive to be the best kind of a man. It's what the kid deserves. This wasn't no whim though. And the Asian lady wasn't on a corner at all.]

Sorry it took so long then.

[Larry licks his lips looking into Freddy's face to find clues if he's not gonna say immediately it was a bad or good call. Still not sorry though. If it bombs it's a lesson learned. At least he'd have got the man flowers. This close though Freddy is free to see the old man's side stepping with caution.]

I told her I wanted roses. No red ones. These are supposed to mean a few things.

[Which makes it sound like they're not just plants that are going to wither. That's absolutely different from the connection they have. To think it all started fucked up then transformed to fucking around.]

[Maybe that's the biggest difference between them. Larry may be rooted in an older institution but he's got experience and he's got a clue. He knows when it might be better to stay old fashioned or change with the times. By comparison Freddy may be rooted in a post-revolutionary generation but he still flounders around trying to find his way, especially in this context. He's got the emotional maturity of a teenager. It's not his fault he took this long to really be honest with himself.]

What do they mean?

[He hasn't let go yet. These caramel greens are warm but leaning towards a cooler shade for all the right reasons. The kid is touched. Orange is undone. Freddy Newendyke is in fucking love. It's a morbid comparison to draw but the realness of it all hits him like a felon shooting up cops in their own cruiser.]

[A paw of Dimick's own comes up to smooth back about nine or so months worth of long honey colored hair from the kid's forehead. The man doesn't have to be bleeding and ask for him to hold him. That impulse is already in him not yet.]

Orange and yellow roses mean desire and passion. Not quite red because that means romance though these sure got their own way about it anyway I think.

[His breath is warm on the kid's face. There's a lot of crazy shit he'd do for this man. Stand up to his own best friend of years, shoot down cops, take up a steady job at a casino and live with him... Two Guns of years past would have never come so far so willingly. Then again, it's all been stepping this way. How long can a man be a rolling stone?]

The other one's are orchids. I never seen ones like that. Especially orange ones.

[He's gotta get that trimmed and having hair to pull is no longer a valid excuse. Larry was able to pull it almost nine months ago so really, he's gotta get that trimmed. The paw in it can stay though, feels real real nice.]

You kinda know too much about flowers.

[You homo. Except look who's talking. It's a joke though, really, that's what that comment was, because it's the first thing an emotionally stunted Newendyke resorts to. Green eyes focus down to the old man's mouth then a little lower. It's all a fucking lot.] Thanks, Larry.

The lady filled me in.

[The old bear can chuckle about that. See, there were quite a few arrangement ideas he nixed before wanting to take this one home. Lots of eternal passion, romantic love, promises, flowers don't gotta be a fucking bridal bouquet. Does that make him an even bigger homo he was picky?]

I liked how it looked. [And had figured that he would too. Don't mind him for sighing in relief. Larry tucks his cigarette behind his ear. Shuffling closer even while held at the collar he lets his hand slide back to touch Freddy's back.]

Your welcome. [Baby. Cowboy. Tough guy. Freddy.]

Well it looks great.

[If the old man asked that aloud the kid here might be inclined to say "Yes." aloud but again...look who's talking. He's the guy so easily falling into a natural hold with a paw to his back. This man got him fucking flowers.]

Larry... [Are you gonna ruin the moment, Newendyke? Well if he keeps it in Dimick's just gonna see he's having an inner conflict anyway. Larry's good at that.]

[They look great sitting there at the night stand. The sheets are rumpled from whenever they spent the night there last. All of the kid's action figures were carefully put back close to where they were after the glass cubed vase was positioned.]

I wanted to do it. Think of it as a thank you.

[Already he's trying to figure it out and make it better. Save another mix up. Please don't be mad. It wasn't meant for that at all.]

[The action figures positioned around the vase only make the vase and its roses and orchids fit in even more, like the more classical beauty simply belongs there. It's got Freddy convinced anyway.]

You don't have to thank me, man...but I like'em so I'll keep'em.

[Have a little smile, old man. Another paw goes up to take him by the collar, fingertips running up and down. Just say it, Newendyke. If you can't even say it to Lawrence Dimick then who can you tell?] Larry I think I'm guh--

[OH GOD HE CAN'T EVEN SAY THE WORD.]

[The savage beast of doubt is soothed with Freddy's hands.]

Good.

[Brown eyes pay rapt attention to what he's trying to say. Already Larry knows what he wants to say. And that it's true. Except the truth is shit until you accept it. Here, he'll save Freddy the embarrassment and show him. Lips first and tongue following.]

[But...but...he needs to say it aloud and to someone so he can better accept it himself and sure making out with another guy is kind of a clincher it's still not letting him say the goddamn fucking words and...aw fuck it.

The thought blows right out the window like a once-thought missing toucan. He curls his fingers into tight fists with that shirt in them as he kisses back. Lips first, tongue second, teeth somewhere along the way.]

[Contact like this is what makes him want to buy the man flowers. This is passion worth desiring from across the bar to across the room in blood or health.

Hot damn is the old man in too deep.

Freddy is who and what he is. He's free to say what he is anytime. Today. Tomorrow. Whenever it strikes him.Larry will listen and appreciate what a big step it fucking is.]

I had to do that.

[Does he mean the flowers or helping the kid regain a little more confidence.]

[Whether he means the flowers or not, Freddy Newendyke fucking appreciates it. Yeah the flowers too, he's going to be looking up the best way to keep them fresh for as long as reasonably possible. Not that that's a metaphor for anything.]

Shut up and do it again.

[And for direct emphasis he presses right up against the old man, groin to groin. So maybe it is a metaphor, but he doesn't have to tell Larry that for him to get it either, does he?]

[It's after dinner and maybe even after dark now but this only works to Freddy Newendyke's advantage. Having had much time to work on his own, the newest piece of furniture to grace their home is now fully assembled and fully in place. Oh sure it took a couple tries because see it looked nice here but you can view the TV better from there but the sun hits here most but the toucan is closest there. Huh.

The most important part is that it's there, sitting across from the TV and under the Rodeo Queen's gaze. Freddy's upstairs doing something or other (working on a kit) with Sam perched on the back of a chair picking at a fruit. Off to one side is a vase filled with fresh water containing roses and orchids that look as fresh as the day he got them. This is domestic bliss.]

[What's the line that should be said when the other man gets home? Can they pull a honey, I'm home greeting? Why the fuck not is a better question. The old man's home.]

'llo?

[Clink. He drops his keys to the counter top int he kitchen. While shrugging off his coat he notes that there's something different in the living room. What is this. Freddy might be keen enough to hear the sound of dress shoes as he approaches examining from all sides. The wheels are turning. No body in it. That's a fucking treat.]

Edited 2011-05-13 07:40 (UTC)

[Upstairs Freddy reaches out to hold the bill of the toucan shut briefly. Sounds like someone's home. He's one lucky son of a bitch that Sam lets him do this. After he releases the bird he sets all his tools down to sneak out and watch Larry make his discovery from upstairs. Hah the bear's examining it. Perfect. There's no card that goes with the chair only because he's not too sure how Larry might react knowing Freddy knows it's his birthday. Better gauge it from here on out first.

Nevertheless, it is his birthday, the kid knows it, and they're back to having a whole sixteen year old between them.]

Hey, hey!

[The kid tries to hush over the toucan. Too bad, buddy, the bird takes a dive from the upstairs to the downstairs. E-e-e-e-ee-e-e. Sam lands near Larry to give him a toucan's welcome.]

[This chair that he's looking at belongs in some designer magazine of some kind. Quiet elegance. Dare he sit down? A few more moments and he's too wrapped up in looking over this new findings to realize he's being watched.

Wait. Wait. Oh there's the bird. It dives and zooms in his peripheral. Sam can't be traveling alone. Larry waits looking expectantly up to the top of the stairs. Years are on his face wrinkling as they do at his mouth and eyes ]

[Thanks a lot for spoiling his sneaky approach, toucan. Okay, Newendyke, the gig's up. Freddy just leans over the topmost rail then raises his hands in a casual shrug.]

Hi.

[Caught redhanded. The grin on Larry's face can't be anything else but "You son of a bitch you shouldn't have."]

The fuck is this.

[As though he has to ask. The old man looks from the chair back to the kid to the chair again.]

Get the fuck down here.

[Profanity only means that he's enchanted beyond words. Though he would very much like Freddy to come on down.

In the mean time, he's going to give this a go. It's an unusual gift but one that he is enjoying greatly. This isn't any typical chair. The stitching alone tells a story.]

What's it fuckin' look like?

[As though he has to explain. Come on a chair is a chair is a chair, some just come with more perks than others. This one in particular isn't the La-Z Boy of old though, not the kind his daddy or his daddy's daddy woulda had. This one's modern and what's the word the sales associate used...oh yeah, chic.

Anyway at the sound of his command Freddy goes on skipping down. Sam hops up to perch on the back of the chair and look down at Larry.]

That's not yours, buddy, buzz off.

Looks like you dropped about five or six hundred [US dollars] on this. [Back in '92 at least.]

How'd you haul it in?

[He's looking at that beak that's menacing him from above then to the mouthy kid.]

Not mine?

[Smile still stands the fact that it's here is fucking amazing. And he's not getting up yet. Deal with it, Newendyke.]

[It's not just one beak menacing him from above, now it's a brightly colored beak and a lightly freckled one looking down upon Lawrence Dimick.]

Super powers. [And as if you didn't know, Mr. White.] I'm talkin' to the bird. Come on, Sam, Larry wants to enjoy his new toy.

[E-e-ee-e-ee-e. The toucan hops up onto Freddy to be carted away into his cage. Notice there's something new here too, a curtain rig that drapes over the cage so that Sam gets an open view of one side instead of the whole apartment. Shrouded away from most of the light inside the bird's free to enjoy the night sky while nibbling some fruit or he can tuck away and sleep in his nest. Toucan's choice.]

[How dopey is it that Larry already feels that anything in this apartment ends up to be a "yours, mine and ours" deal? Brown eyes watch one beaky creature escort the other away from his throne. Say. How about that curtain.]

I gotta say, I shouldn't be surprised by what you can do but I am, Mr. Super Hero.

[Which one is up to Freddy because as far as Larry is concerned (and what he knows) the kid is Spiderman, Iron Man, Green Lantern and Super Man all rolled into one.]

Feels nice.

[Larry looks over one arm then the other to find what makes it recline.]

[Freddy doesn't say it aloud but he's thinking it; I can spend big bucks too, high roller. And the chair's a good quality deal, worth every penny he spent (as far as he knows...) What he hopes is that the chair meets Larry's standard for taste, quality, design, and price point, because let's face it, Lawrence Dimick knows better about these things. The lever to make the chair recline is tucked against one side, subtle but not invisible, just like the functions under each arm. There's a cooler to one side and the massage and heat controller on the other. They don't call this kind of chair a woman's worst nightmare for nothing. Fortunately Freddy Newendyke is no woman. He comes back to cross his arms over the back and look down on the other man again.]

I wouldn't getcha a chair that feels bad.

[Says Captain America, Flash, and Nite Owl all rolled into one. But what about the birthday business? He thinks about bidding the old man a good one, would he appreciate knowing what Freddy does purely because he was a rat?]

[A brief recline to get a feel for it. Oh yeah. He lets out a little noise at the back of his throat. Shoes aren't off yet but now he's wishing they were. Back to sitting upright he looks over at this sneaky super hero roommate.]

Did you give it a try?

[To test drive it.]

C'mon over.

[A paw pats his knee.]

log post II

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