Watch my Back? [Christian/Harry]

Christian said goodnight to Marcus and Lucius and closed the office door. He'd already started downsizing and his jacket was slung over his shoulder, tie gone, sleeves rolled up and he was unbuttoning his collar as he walked, almost bumping into Harry as he came around the corner, his mind occupied with thoughts of the upcoming dinner and Callan's possible arrival. "Oh sorry." he apologized before looking. "Oh, Harry. Hi! Had a good day?"
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Johnny and Christian. Family Affairs

[A few hours after Johnny and Harry have lunch and a few minutes after Harry and Christian talk.]

Johnny was kicking back on the sofa, idly scritching Obie with one hand but mostly staring at the ceiling. His talk with Harry at lunch had bothered him. He'd thought of telling Liam about it, but somehow he'd never found the right place in their afternoon talk to bring it up. It just... it sounded like the wrong problem.

Harry'd said Johnny was "self-deprecating" but that wasn't really it. It wasn't so much that Johnny was surprised that someone liked him, it was that someone who liked him -- which meant a regular person, not some asshole like Carstairs or Jake or whoever -- didn't like Harry. It meant something was wrong with the world and it was nagging off in the corner of Johnny's brain, irritating and demanding to be solved. If Gwyn hadn't liked either of them, if she'd been as nasty to him as she'd apparently been to Harry, then he'd be able to just write her off as a nut job or something and that'd be that. But why would she be normal and nice to him and so awful to Harry?

Of all the reasons Harry'd given, the only ones that had sounded even vaguely understandable had to do with him swearing. Some people didn't like to hear that kind of language so that could have something to do with it. But to be yelling and nasty and object to his being with Orlando just because he cusses? And he'd said she didn't like him even before she'd met him, which made no sense whatsoever. Because really, what was there about Harry to seriously dislike? To hate, even?

All right, he wasn't perfect. He did swear, and he drank, although Johnny wouldn't call him a drunk or anything. And he could get his mind wrapped around something, some idea, and refuse to let go. Usually he was right but sometimes not and that could be frustrating. But it didn't seem like something a person would hate him for. And it wasn't the sort of thing that really came up until you'd known him a while, so it couldn't explain why Gwyn had started out against him. It just.... It sounded stupid when he thought it, put the actual words in a row, but everyone should really like Harry because he was just a really great guy when you added everything up, and it didn't make any sense that someone Johnny'd really liked, a lot, could possibly hate someone Johnny loved so much.

He rolled over and looked down into Obie's odd colored eyes. "I don't get it," he said. "I just don't."

"What don't you get? And don't say dinner, 'cause I'm starving and it was your turn to cook!" Christian walked into the living room from the hall and grinned at his lover as he passed, bending over the back of the sofa to steal a kiss before straightening up and tossing his jacket onto a chair. He walked around to stand in front of the fire and warm his hands.

Johnny flipped over, almost levitating off the sofa for a moment at the sound of Christian's voice, his face heating with embarrassment. "Umm, sorry, I didn't hear you come in. I mean, I was just talking to the dog, you know?" He climbed to his feet and went to stand behind his lover, wrapping his arms around his waist and leaning his head into the crook of his shoulder from behind. "And I keep telling you I can't cook. I called down for a pizza, though, so we can get you fed and watered pretty soon."

"Pizza sounds great." Christian returned the embrace and kissed Johnny's hair. "I'm not up for fussing around tonight. What was the discussion with Obie about?"

Johnny shrugged. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to Christian about why his sister seemed to hate everyone but him, especially since the feeling seemed mutual if Harry was anything to go by. "Just something I was talking to Harry about today. I stopped into the pub to get some wings for lunch and saw him there so we ate together and talked for a while."

"Yeah, I know. I saw Harry a little while ago; he said you'd had a wee chat about Gwyn and whatnot." Dropping his arms, he went over to the couch and sat, patting the seat beside him in invitation. "Harry tell you she can't stand him?" he asked when Johnny was back in the circle of his arms.

"Umm, yeah." Johnny leaned into Christian's warmth but couldn't quite meet his eyes.

Tipping Johnny's face up, Christian looked into his eyes. "Speak!" he teased a little, then said more softly. "C'mon, you can tell me."

"I just... I don't get it. I mean, it sounds like she's two different people? We actually joked about that, like maybe you were triplets or something, you know?" Johnny shrugged. "But how could she not like Harry? And Caeline -- does she really not like Caeline? I don't know Anna all that well but she seemed perfectly nice that day we talked to her for a few minutes. Why would she like-- I mean, how could she be so nice last night but be nasty to Harry and Caeline?"

Christian scratched between his eyebrows with a finger. This was going to be difficult to explain. "Okay," he said, "to understand that, you have to understand Gwyn. You're mostly right, she's two different people. She's that nice lady who came for dinner, my twin sister and someone I love very much. That's what she's like with me. And with you, too, it seems. The other Gwyn is the one who was raised by nannies and flattered by courtiers and taught all this... guff about how you're supposed to be and behave, etc. She bought into all that, she believes in it completely and that's her... right, I guess. I don't agree, but lots of other people she associates with do." He shrugged. "I tried talking to her yesterday, telling her that I thought she should give folk a chance, you know? And to some extent, she did. I mean, I was real surprised how she was last night. But apparently, she wasn't that way with Harry. Nothing to be done about it now. Gwyn's Gwyn, that's just how she is."

"So she's really... formal then? So Harry was right about she really didn't like him swearing? But he said she didn't like him even before she met him, so that can't really be it. I mean, why would she object to Harry even before meeting him? He's from a good family and all, he's rich, he's a wonderful guy and he loves Orlando like crazy, he'd kill to protect him. I'd think if she was going to like someone it'd be Harry and I'd be the one she'd be nasty to, you know? I mean, I didn't swear at her, okay, but... is it really just that? It doesn't make any sense."

Christian sighed but there was nothing he could do but try and explain. He smiled first though and kissed his lover. "People form opinions of others without ever meeting them all the time, love," he told him. "And yeah, Harry's cool, but Gwyn has different standards and he just doesn't meet them. Plus he's not the sort of person to just take what she dishes out lying down." He looked down at Johnny. "She doesn't approve of you either," he said gently. "Or Caeline, or probably even Jared, but it's not her decision and I told her that. She is, though it pains me to say it, a snob. And Harry gets her back up. You don't." He shrugged again. "I can't explain any better than that."

"Oh." Johnny thought about that. It was weird, but for some reason knowing that Gwyn didn't really like him either, that she'd just been pretending, made it easier to understand. "That's... I guess that makes sense. Sort of. I really liked her, though."

Slapping a hand to his face, Christian gave Johnny a light shake round the shoulders. "I said she didn't approve of you, numbnuts, not that she didn't like you! Gwyn's quite capable of both!" A knock at the door had him rising to collect their pizza, which he deposited on the coffee table, warning an interested-looking Obie that it was off limits.

Johnny waited until the delivery guy was gone and the pizza was cooling before he said, "See, now I'm back to not getting it. How could you like someone you don't approve of? I mean, the whole point of disapproving of a person is that you think there's something wrong with them, something pretty major."

"You ever disapproved of something someone has done while still liking them as a person?" Christian bit down into a slice of pizza, waving a hand across his mouth in a futile attempt to cool it down.

"Well, yeah. But then I disapprove of what they did, not of the whole person. That's why I said it had to be something pretty major to get you to disapprove of the person." Johnny started to pick up a piece, but it was still too hot. He watched Christian flailing away at his with a grin.

"Uh-uh." Christian finally managed to swallow the bite. "Disapprove of what they are, what they represent, not them personally. Want a drink?" Christian got up and padded into the kitchen in search of soda or anything else cold.

"So she disapproves of Harry because he swore at her? And... he said he taught Caeline how to swear, too, so that was just really bad timing, yeah? And me, well, that's obvious." He shrugged. "And sure -- apple juice?" He thought about it while Christian vanished into the kitchen. When he came back with a pair of glasses, Johnny said, "I guess after knowing people like Carstairs and Madam Bella and even Leticia, I have a hard time imagining not liking someone, or even disapproving of a person, because they cuss. It just seems really minor, you know?"

Christian handed Johnny his juice, put his own down safely and then calmly and deliberately banged his forehead on the coffee table a couple of times. "I'm not getting through to you, am I?" He grinned sideways at his lover. Plopping back down onto the couch, he rubbed his forehead and eyed the pizza, willing it to cool down. "It's not the swearing, it's everything about Harry that she doesn't like. Why she's prepared to ignore your myriad faults--" he poked Johnny's armpit and grinned again, "--and not Harry's is one of the silent miracles of the female mind. Something about Harry pisses her off. Pissed-off Gwyn is best avoided. Harry knows this. Harry avoids. End of story."

Johnny grinned. "Ummm, okay. I guess." He sipped his juice thoughtfully. "I've been trying to figure out why she was nice to me, but made a special trip this morning to tear one last strip off of Harry. But what you're saying is that it's nothing a normal mind, or at least a male mind, can figure out so I should just not wonder about it anymore."

"Cool. Good. She likes you, she doesn't like Harry." Christian retrieved his slice of pizza and took another tentative bite. This time it was fine. He put his feet up on the other end of the coffee table. "So?" he said, "what other of the world's problems can we solve?"

Johnny laughed and picked up his own piece. Perfect. Munching happily, he swallowed and asked, "I dunno, you're the one in charge of our chunk of the world this week. What's in your in-box?"

"Well." Christian chewed and swallowed. "There's the P.P. inventory? We could discuss the price of silver cleaner or I could tell you how many linen napkins we have at present. Oh, no! I know!" He held up a finger. "We can talk about the proposal to change the national bank opening times by fifteen minutes!" He fell back into his former, slumped and comfy position. "Can't wait for dad to get back. This job sucks big ass!"

Johnny laughed. "So your da left the kingdom because he was about to die of boredom, is what you're saying?"

"Nah. He delegates. I'm the anal-retentive." Christian picked off a piece of pepperoni and fed it to Obie. "But he'll be back and soon, I hope. Soon as he manages to pry... oh, yeah." He cut himself off, not sure if he should be saying it. Oh, the hell with it, he thought. "As soon as he manages to pry Will loose from the dragon," he finished.

Johnny's eyes lit up. "He went to get Will! He did! That's great! He's coming home, right? I mean, I know Will's Dnaran but if his mother runs the family and she's the one messing him over then he should be here with us, so your da's bringing him back, yeah?"

"Yeah. Least, I hope so. Like I said, his mother's not easy. But then, neither is dad when he's determined. Don't think I'd like to be Ellen." He slipped Obie another piece only to be caught by a recently woken Shannon demanding her share.

"Brilliant!" Johnny bounced on the sofa. "That's so cool. I've really missed Will, and I've been worried about him, too." Suddenly he laughed and said, "You know, too bad Will wasn't here for Adrian's visit; I think they'd have gotten along really well."

Christian didn't laugh or smile, his face somber as he looked at Johnny. "I'm not sure Will's gonna be, well, himself for a while," he said, remembering the last time Will had gone home alone on leave from the army. "He might be a bit... quiet. Cut him some slack, okay?" Leaning in, he kissed his lover's forehead.

Johnny's smile died. "That bad?" His thoughts turned without direction to six familiar faces, six wounded spirits whose damage showed to greater or lesser degrees on the outside. With a deliberate decision he added his own face in there along with theirs. Adrian, whose bouncy sexual aggression was a defensive shield around a wounded core. Charlie, still quiet and submissive, trying so hard to please everyone around him. Johnny recognized that he himself was more like Charlie than like Adrian, despite being closer friends with the latter, and still so confused sometimes despite all his recent experiences with normal people and the real world. And the range slid all the way down to quiet Sara, and Ben the way he'd been before, pathologically dependent and nearly catatonic with hysteria when his prop was removed. If Will fit into that range somewhere, then.... Then we'll take care of him, Johnny thought, his jaw clenching with stubborn determination. Whatever she broke, we can fix, and he'll be himself again.

Hearing Johnny's thought processes made Christian want to cry and he carefully put down the slice he'd been eating -- it tasted like ashes in his mouth -- and pulled Johnny into his arms. "Don't count on it," he said softly and in gentle tones. "This is an entire lifetime of--" It was hard to say it when referring to his best friend, but after a pause, he did. "--Abuse. The way he's been treated all his life has formed who he is. He'll bounce back, Will always does, it's his way of coping, just... get on with it, yeah? But I don't know that he'll ever be better."

Johnny bit his lip, realizing that he'd "leaked" to Christian. "I'm sorry," he said, cuddling close. "But I didn't mean, like, perfect or anything. If anyone is. I just... like he was before, you know? If she's always hated him, always done whatever it is she does to him, then who he is now is a product of all that. All the joking and kidding around is probably as much defensive as Adrian's tackling everyone into bed. If that's how he copes then we can help him... find that place again. If he's different when he comes back, if she's hurt him, then we take care of him and help him find his balance."

"Yeah," Christian agreed with a heavy sigh. "We do." He sat silently for a little while just stroking Johnny's hair. Looking down at his lover, he said with a quiet smile, "The best thing for Will that could possibly happen, has. So he'll be fine."

"What's that?"

Christian smiled. "Dad," he said. "My dad loves him."