Pairing: Brian/Justin AU PG-13 – NC-17 Angst, Drama, Romance; Warning: Autistic!Justin Disclaimer: I don't own Brian and Justin! Queer as Folk and all the characters are the property of Cowlip, Showtime, etc. Parts of the Storypic made by: Tadzio This storie is originally in german. A/N: For my beloved niece…a very special person ____________________________________________________ The new home was big, grey and high like a tower. Justin curled a strand of his fair hair around his finger to assess the present length while looking concerned to the upper windows. It would take longer than expected until the strands would reach down the whole tower. He sighed. Probably until Christmas. A small smile moved over his slim face at this thought. He liked Christmas. There always were such fun things to eat. Pudding with glittering money treasure in the middle, fried bird without a head or feathers and with mashed chestnuts in its belly. Hmm, he wondered what feathers would taste like and took a couple of strands of hair into his mouth. Briefly he tested the taste with his tongue, chewed twice and giggled as he recognized his shampoo. The blue one. Nurse Emma had given it to him for his hair. Sometimes he really was stupid; of course he didn’t have any feathers. Otherwise he could fly like a bird and wouldn’t have long hair that allowed him to flee out of the tower. Hmm, he sighed again and hugged his book tightly to his chest, while nervously looking up. The tower really was pretty high. "Mister Taylor. You coming?" A woman with a grey cardigan and the letters ANNE on a small name tag touched Justin’s arm softly. “We don’t want to let Dr. Marcus wait, do we? She’s really looking forward to meet you." Justin did not like the fingers on his jacket. It was so pretty and light blue. Now there were ugly finger spots. He didn’t like the letters on the nametag either. Big P´s were nice. The word Pudding began with that one. “Mister Taylor?" The boy rocked slightly back and forth, while looking up to the sky and mumbling unintelligible to himself. “P. P. Pppp." She put a hand on his back and rubbed up and down gently to get his attention. “Will you come with me? I’ll show you your new room. I’m sure you´ll like it." She pointed to the upper windows. “See? It’s the most beautiful room in the house. Up on the 5th floor." Justin giggled. He didn’t like the man with the cardigan. He had a thick chest and was a bit stupid. Of course his room was at the top of the tower. Where else would the princess live? “““““““““ The prince had a white jacket with red stripes and buttons made of gold. His hair was so beautiful and brown. He also had a flat chest and long legs with black boots. The prince held the princess tightly while dancing on the shiny parquet floor. It almost looked as if they would fly, although Justin couldn’t recognize feathers anywhere. Perhaps it was magic? “Naa." Justin grinned about his own stupidity and shook his head. Of course only the witch could do magic. The witch and the good fairy. Hmm. His face darkened thoughtfully. There also was a bad fairy who had grey hair, a thick chest and could turn people into mice. Justin shuddered. He wouldn’t prefer to be a mouse because then all he could eat was bacon. They only had bacon on Tuesdays for breakfast, with eggs and tomatoes. He touched his belly. Then surely the whole rest of the week he would have terrible... “… hunger." "Mister Taylor?" Dr. Melanie Marcus folded her hands on the desk. “Please Mister Taylor, close your book." Justin looked up from the coloured picture book pages. He didn’t like the man with the DR MARCUS tag. He talked too loudly and always wanted his book to decide. “Mister Taylor. Please, close your book now. You can read again later." Could he? Justin wasn’t sure whether the man was right or not. He looked at the coloured pages critically before he reluctantly closed the book and began bobbing up and down restlessly in the chair. It was dark in the ballroom now. The prince hopefully didn’t step on the princess´ shoes. “Mister Taylor,” Dr. Marcus seemed content and opened a yellow file on her desk, “I have studied your documents and must say…" Justin looked at him in anger. It was really unfair that one was allowed to read yellow books but not the one with the prince. “I’m very satisfied with the course of your therapeutical development. I think we will keep the dose of your medication for the moment. Dr. Bruckner will meet you later. He is your new therapist here at St. James.” She looked at her patient and inquired. “Do you have any questions?" Justin was sure the dance wasn’t over yet, and the prince certainly would become very furious if he had to stop dancing only because it was too dark. He really would prefer to... “…open the book.” Dr. Marcus stared at the young man for a moment with a rigid look, then breathed deeply. Finally, she pushed the button on her little intercom system on the desk. “Blake. Please take Mister Taylor to his room." “““““““““ The man with the BLAKE tag had fair hair and smiled friendly. His chest was flat and his hands small. He even carried Justin’s bag and didn’t talk too much. That was good. Justin didn’t like too many words. “Good book?" Blake slowly walked next to the patient and stopped, waiting patiently if the young man stopped to have a look at something. Justin smiled. He liked his book. “Fairytales are cool." Blake unlocked a gateway door, let Justin through and locked again behind him. “I always thought the one with the frog was pretty cool." Justin smiled more broadly. Page 24 – 29, The Frog Prince. He liked the… “…shiny gold ball." "Yes! Awesome thing." Blake laughed. “I wouldn’t mind having one of those myself." Justin beamed, hugged his book tightly and got a nice warm feeling in his belly. “Hey you know what? I’m quite jealous. Your room is bigger than my apartment." Blake entered a room on the right side at the end of the corridor and Justin stopped. He was confused. His door should be on the left. He was sure about that. Justin Taylor’s door always was green and on the left, but Blake carried his bag to a room on the right and the door he went through was white. Hmm. Justin carefully stuck his head through the doorframe and looked around sceptically. It smelled of white, like white and syringe water. He wasn’t sure he would like that at all. “It’s ok.” Blake put the bag down and smiled at his patient. The young man whimpered quietly and beat his head rhythmically against the doorframe. Not really hard but clearly disturbed. “I am always nervous too if I have to move to a new place." Justin looked at the male nurse and felt his eyes moisten. "…not green." "Yes, the walls are quite monotonous." Blake held the boy carefully but securely by his arm and led him into the room. “Perhaps we can put a green picture on the wall." “…green." Justin looked around anxious. White cupboards, white walls, white bed, and everything smelled of syringe water. Certainly needles would lie under the pillow and in all the drawers. He rubbed his arm at where it bent because he was sure it was aching. Blake took Justin’s tense fingers and smiled at him friendly. “Hey, isn’t the frog green? The one with the gold ball?" Justin stopped scratching his arm. Page 25. The frog was rather green - as grass and broccoli. "There is a creative therapy with Miss Peterson tomorrow. She certainly has the right pens around to paint a frog." Justin saw right past Blake at one blank spot on the wall, but he smiled slightly. He knew how to paint, with pens and slippery finger paint and a lot of... “…paper." “Yes." Blake laughed. “I was in the drawing room only yesterday. They have piles of paper there." Justin bobbed up and down a bit. His fingers tickled. He wanted to paint the frog and the fountain and the ball and the tower. Hmm. He contracted his eyebrows thoughtfully. No, the tower was not with the frog. The tower was with the princess. The princess was waiting for the prince there and always sat at the... “…window." "Yes, the view is wonderful, see?" Blake led his patient to the only window in the room. Justin inspected it sceptically. It was a little narrow but not barred like the one at the last tower. The male nurse opened it and fresh air streamed in. It smelled good. Like rain and sun and red flowers. Justin smiled and touched his cheek when he felt the gentle breeze. Blake also breathed in deeply and then stuck his head outside. “Wow! If I would live in this room I would sit right here the whole day." Justin had to snicker. Now that was really stupid. The man with the BLAKE tag wasn’t a princess. Of course he couldn’t sit by the window. Blake turned around as he heard the boys’ laughter and grinned. “Yes, yes, I know. I’m probably the laziest person the world has ever seen. I’m the foul apple nurse of St. James." The boy still grinned, but absently saw past Blake as he spoke. “At the 2nd February." “Hmm? What?" “We had foul grapes.” Justin bobbed up and down a bit. “February the second twothousand…twothousandandthree.” Blake smiled. “Uh, I’m sure they tasted really bad, am I right?" Justin nodded. “Yes, but you know what I mean is…" the male nurse thought it over, searching for a suitable example. “Ahm, I am lazy just like the two elks in Brother Bear." Elks? Justin bobbed up and down a little more. He wasn’t sure what elks were. Perhaps they looked just like bananas. Eww. He shuddered. He didn’t like rotten bananas at all. "Hmm," Blake saw Justin's facial expression. “You probably don’t know those two. Ok, what’s with this dwarf. The one who’s always lazy and wants to sleep all the time. You know? He lives at Snow Whites house." Justin griped his book a little higher in front of his chest and tipped his head to the side. “Sleepy." Blake snapped his fingers. “Yeah this one. You see? I am exactly like Sleepy. If I could I would sleep the whole day." The boy wrinkled his forehead and looked over to the white bed. He didn’t know whether it was permitted or not for the man with the BLAKE tag, but perhaps he could "…use Justin’s bed for a while." Because Justin himself wouldn’t need it right know anyway. Justin should only sleep in the evening at 8:05 pm and after the good night greeting on channel 4. Surely not earlier. “Oh no!" Blake laughed and closed the window again. “Believe me if I’d crawl into your bed right know the next time I’d wake up would be sometime next April." “Hh!" Justin was shocked. Next April? Surely this was longer than 8:05pm. “It´s ok." Blake got closer and smiled friendly. “I have a bed of my own at my apartment. I’ll bring a photo tomorrow and then you can see it." Justin bobbed up and down and hummed the melody that always came with the good night greeting on channel 4. He preferred to be in bed after the good night greeting. He certainly would be very tired by then. “Hey,” the male nurse stuck his hand out. "How about we introduce ourselves? I am not really called Sleepy. Actually my name is Blake." He pointed at his nameplate in addition. Justin immediately took the hint and tried to concentrate and recognize the name Plake in the single BLAKE letters. Blake repeated slowly, “Blake." The boy absently lowered his look and smiled. He liked the great P. P like Pudding and… "...Plake." Blake, once again said clearly. “Blake." “Plake." “You don’t like the B so much, ah?" Blake grinned, shook his head and took his ignored hand and led it to Justin's fingers. He grasped them very loosely and without any pressure. "And Dr. Marcus said your name is Justin." “Justin Taylor seven five Barton Avenue one seven zero three three Harrisburg Pennsyl-” Justin turned a hair strand around his finger and rocked back and forth softly. "Pennsylvania USA." Blake squeezed the pale fingers gently now. “Great. See? Now we know each other. Blake and Justin." Justin rocked a little more, smiling. “Plake and Justin." “Plake and Justin? Friends Plake and Justin?" “Plake and Justin." Justin moved his little finger against Plakes hand. He liked Plake. Blake grinned and pushed the dainty fingers once again briefly before letting go. “Ok, Justin. I’ll leave you alone now so you can unpack your bag and everything. Would you like to move your things into the drawers?" Justin looked over to the white drawers and wanted to paint them green. “Oh and…” The male nurse fetched a piece of paper from his pocket and wrote a couple of words on it. “See, this is your new address. You have moved. It’s not Harrisburg anymore.” Justin took the piece of paper and stared at it. His rocking got stronger. “Harrisburg. Justin Taylor seven five Barton Avenue one seven zero three three Harrisburg Pennsylvania USA.” Blake remained completely calm. “You live here now. I’ve written it down for you, see? Justin Taylor, 3 Fuller Street, 15219 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania USA.” Justin wound the hair around his finger a tiny bit firmer. It was for certain that Justin Taylor lived in Harrisburg. On the other hand, they drove really far away in the car and now he was in a different tower. Perhaps he had really… “…moved?" Blake smiled. “Moved. Justin has moved and lives here now. In beautiful Pittsburgh.” He knocked Justin lightly on the shoulder. “See you later, yes? I’ll bring your dinner at 6 pm.” Justin heard Plake close the door and stood still for a moment. Then he looked to the left. A chair with a grey cushion was in the corner between the cupboard and the window. He went over and sat down slowly and very carefully before lightly bouncing up and down on the cushion. He checked whether the chair was just as comfortable as his chair in Harrisburg or not. He was not convinced, but perhaps one could … “…read” in here? Hmm. He put the book on his lap, looked at it for a while and opened it. Yes, it worked. Carefully and only with his fingertips he turned the pages over. Page 14, page 15, page 16. He smiled. The prince with the white jacket and the tower with the princess were on page 16. He looked at it some time, then turned to page 17 and to his favourite drawing. The one where the prince climbed quite courageously on the princess´ fair and long hair up the tower and- Suddenly he stiffened with fright. His heartbeat sped up and his throat got so tight that he could hardly breathe. He had moved! Justin Taylor was not in Harrisburg anymore. Justin Taylor lived in a new tower now. Oh no! How should the prince ever be able to find him now? “““““““““ __________________________________________________ thanks to our wonderful beta Sam