…He went on farther, and in the great hall he saw the whole of the court lying asleep, and up by the throne lay the king and queen. He continued to go further and all was so quiet that a breath could be heard. At last he came to the tower and opened the door to the little room where briar-rose was sleeping. There she lay, so beautiful that he could not turn his eyes away. He stooped down and gave her a kiss, but as soon as he kissed her, briar-rose opened her eyes and awoke looking at him quite sweetly… Justin sat in front of his book for a long time, looking at the image. There was Sleeping Beauty in a huge bed with a lot of pillows and the beautiful prince bending down to kiss her. On the mouth. Justin touched his finger to the point where their lips met and then gently touched his own. They were soft and warm. Like Prian’s mouth. “Sleep Prian.” Justin crawled off his mattress and plodded over to the window. “Of course. Later.” The courtyard of the prince’s castle was empty and no lights could be seen in the windows. Prian maybe had driven to Harrisburg with the black car-vehicle? “Beep-Beep.” Justin looked from left to right and couldn't see the fast car anywhere. “Of course to Harrisburg.” “Hey Justin.” On Wednesdays Blake had the late shift and made his rounds to ward 4 shortly after 6:00 pm. “I wasn't here for a while. Do you want to say hello to me?” He put the tray with the supper on the table together with the medication for his patient and walked over to the window to tousle the boys’ hair. Justin continued to look out but smiled slightly while he pressed his nose against the pane. “Plake.” “Yep. Did you have a good time with the other nurses?” Blake had already studied the documents and knew that it wasn’t so. He had read of the incident this afternoon and had seen the notation about the minor hand injury with ambiguous cause. “What happened to your hand?” The male nurse gently rubbed over the back of Justin's hand. Justin looked amazed at the reddened skin. “Of course. Not white anymore.” He really would’ve preferred to have a little more of the... “... yogurt without fruits.” “You’ll get yogurt on Friday for breakfast. Remember? It is on the schedule.” Blake pointed again to the hand. “Why does your hand hurt?” The boy rocked back and forth as he remembered the evil cloth from the prince. “Of course bites, bites.” “What has bitten you?” “Of course the cloth. All wet.” Justin didn't like the cloth at all. Blake frowned. “Hmm. Do you want to eat now? There's mortadella and sliced tomatoes on your bread.” “Yeah.” The boy plodded to the sink. He liked to wash his hands with much... “... foam soap.” ””””””””””””” Short after 8:00 pm, Blake picked his patient up at the community television room. “How was the good night greeting?” Justin never answered this question, but nevertheless Blake asked him regularly. Back in the room the male nurse lifted the blanket and watched as the boy walked one last time to the window to look outside with longing. “You want your book under the pillow?” Justin answered without taking his gaze from the prince's castle. “Yes.” Blake put the fairy tale book under the pillow, filled the red plastic cup on the nightstand and tapped invitingly on the mattress. “Jump in frog. It’s bedtime.” Justin padded to his bed, took off his slippers and crawled under the blanket. “That necklace is pretty.” Blake smiled as he pointed to the noodles around Justin's neck and the boy smiled back proudly. “Of course the treasure jewelry.” “Have you done handicrafts at Miss Peterson's?” Justin made an angry face and turned his head away. Of course Miss Eterson could never make prince treasure! “Justin, you have to take it off for the night, okay?” “No.” “Yes. You can’t breathe properly with the necklace around your neck.” Justin was stubborn and didn't want to look at Plake, but he breathed three times in and out, testing. “You can put it with your book under the pillow, okay? Then nobody can take it.” Justin thought about it for a moment and let Plake take the jewelry without resistance. Quickly he put a hand with it under his pillow. Blake smiled and covered Justin's small body with the blanket. “Mm. Your pajama smells good.” Justin beamed blissfully and sniffed at his sleeve. Yes, everything smelled of Prian and the wonderful prince's castle. “Sleep well frog.” The male nurse stroked through Justin's hair, turned off the light and left the room. Not more than 10 minutes later, the patient in 411 slept soundly with the smell of his prince in his nose and his fingers securely on his noodle necklace. ””””””””””””””” Until evening hit, Brian's mood was down to a frosty point zero. Everyone at the office was simply incompetent, the guy at the drugstore clearly had a deficient in intelligence, and Emmett had ruined his favorite Lacoste Shirt by boiling the laundry. Mister Kinney had wanted to ram his beloved jeep into a concrete wall before the end of the night if it weren’t for the 32 messages from Mikey on his answering machine begging, 'Don’t you want to change your mind and please, please, please come with us?’ So he got dressed after a long shower in his hottest club fashion, forgone the use of a comb to achieve the ultimate freshly fucked look, and shortly after 10:00 pm sat behind the wheel of his car on his way to Pittsburgh's number one gay club for an extensively round of frustration and degradation in the backroom. And even though it was quite early, the dance floor was well attended and the climatic conditions quite to his liking - muggy, hot and smoky with a sweet scent of illegal herbs from all over the beautiful world. Target oriented, he shoved himself through the dancing masses in the direction of the bar, ordered a glass of something that contained a high percentage from the Irish motherland and relaxed against the bar to look out for his first prey. Preferably small, blond and surrounded by a touch of innocence. He instantly took another big gulp while refusing to think of any possible motivations for such a specific type. “Brian!” A bright smiling Michael came running in his direction and happily hugged his friend with a wet kiss on the lips. “I thought you couldn’t make it!” “Change of plans.” Brian grumbled against the rim of his glass and quickly drank what little was left in it as a petite blond twink with a belly shirt danced in his irritated line of sight. “Hey Brian.” Ben stood close behind his partner. “The next round is on me. You want the same again?” “Double.” Coughed Brian. He averted his gaze as his prey twinkie sent a big sunny smile across the room and wondered why in the hell had he thought of his last pasta plate at his favorite Italian restaurant. “Brian.” Mikey worriedly clapped his friend on the back. “What's wrong? Are you sick or something?” “Bad night.” Assured Mister Kinney quickly and excused himself for a short visit to the men’s room and a subsequent excursion to the backroom to release a little pressure. ””””””””””” The prince climbed back on his horse and sadly looked at the princess. “I can't kiss you my beautiful Justin. You can't even cross the street alone.” And he pulled at the red reins, clicked his tongue and rode away without looking back. He left the poor princess all alone on the side of the black road as she called for him, crying as all the butterflies on her necklace flew away. Justin whimpered in his sleep and moved under his blanket in unease until he opened his eyes in confusion sometime later. He blinked with fear and looked around the dark room as he lay in bed with the soft pillow and red cup that stood on the nightstand. He wasn't on the street. Nevertheless, the prince had rode away with his white horse and all the butterflies had left the cord, flying up high to the clouds. Justin felt so sad. His tummy really hurt because of it. Clumsily, he wiped with the back of his hand over his damp eyes and sat up. “Plake.” Of course Plake didn't come. He never came when it was dark. But Justin really wished this time the door would open so that Plake could perform real magic with the alarm clock and it wouldn’t be night any more. He really wanted to... “... stop sleeping.” He sniffled and wiped his eyes again. Then grabbed under the pillow to feel for his book. It was still there. He took it out with the thin wool string with knotted noodles. Justin looked at the necklace for a moment and a little awkwardly, put it around his neck. “Of course. Six are missing.” Had they flown away? No. They had died and now were in Prian's jacket. “Of course six new ones at Thanksgiving.” He scratched his forehead. “Many yams.” He moved a little on his mattress, stretched his legs under the blanket and placed the fairy tale book on his lap. It was heavy and smelled good when it was opened. Justin turned a few pages and stroked over a few flattened folds and bends. “Certainly not Plake.” On page sixteen was a huge tower and the beautiful prince who looked up to it. Justin smiled and stroked gently with one finger over Prian's brown hair. Even in the book it was soft. He turned a few more pages. Past the cat with the big boots and the bad giant. He turned many and stopped when he looked at the picture of Sleeping Beauty. The longer he looked at it, the more his tummy pinched. He even got mad and laid his hand over the painting where the prince awakens Sleeping Beauty with a kiss. Slowly he took his fingers away again and looked at it after all. It just was so beautiful and he really wished he could be Sleeping Beauty. Then the prince would kiss him, too. But it couldn't happen. Prian had explained it to him. “No.” He said in an exact copy of Brian's voice and climbed clumsily off of his bed. “Of course. You can't cross the street ...” With plodding steps we walked over to the window. “.... street alone. Prian says.” He pressed his nose against the cold pane and breathed with his open mouth against the glass while looking down. It was dark and all the lights in the castle were off. “Of course. Sleep Prian.” He thought of the big pillows in the prince’s bed and then of the white cat fur carpet directly in front of it. He sighed a little and touched the moist window pane with his tongue. The castle was so beautiful and big. He really wanted to see Prian and go there for... “... a visit.” He moved his nose from the pane, rubbed it because now it was all cold, before he turned around to leave the room with small steps. “Exactly. Cross the street alone. Of course a kiss.” The light in the corridor was bright and he blinked a few times, until his eyes worked again properly. Then he padded to the nurses room and stopped in front of it. “Plake.” Of course he had to tell Plake before he went for a walk. “Plake.” Justin stood there in front of the pane for a while and rocked while turning his blond strands around his finger, but Plake didn't come. “Of course. Sleeps, sleeps.” So the boy plodded along to the exit, through the glass door, down the cold stairs and with lot of effort through the big entrance door. It was cold outside and he looked up, crinkled his nose and sniffed. It smelled like moon but he couldn't see one. “Of course. Certainly fell into the lake.” With his gaze to the side, he walked further, through the gateway and the heavy iron gate, to the sidewalk where the stones had small slits. He saw the black street and looked straight ahead. “Have to look if...” Then his gaze went from left to right. “... a car is coming.” Hmm. He couldn't see one. “Beep-Beep” Carefully he made one step on the asphalt, whimpered and took his leg back quickly. Of course he wasn't allowed... “... to cross the fucking... fucking street alone. Prian says.” He remained on the sidewalk, looked blankly up to the dark sky and slightly rocked back and forth. “Of course never. Never without permission. Prian says.” ”””””””””””” Brian got into his Jeep, slammed the door shut and drove out of the parking lot behind Babylon with squealing wheels. He’d treated himself to three blond twinks with innocent blue eyes. After that, and just out of pure defiantness, he’d done a bald afro-American with a spider tattoo on his broad chest and was sure that the moaned 'Prian' from twinkie number 3 was only imagined. God damn it! The whole fucking day was a complete disaster! Dumb spectacles bitch in the office, a mega bad blow job for lunch and a sadistic hospital staff with preferences for perverted bondage games! Damnfuckingshit! And one absolutely adorable brat in the fucking tower! …In the fucking institution! It absolutely sucked big time and if he thought about it now, he definitely should’ve consumed two or five more bottles of whiskey while Professor Bruckner had shown such an amount of generosity earlier. Slightly frustrated he switched gears, took a sharp turn to the left, drove a little faster and – “Fuck!” He slammed on the brakes as he spotted a small, barefoot, rocking figure with a noodle necklace and an innocent gaze standing five meters in front of his gateway. A wave of uninvited concern went through Brian's chest almost immediately, shortly followed by pure rage at the incapable supervisory staff at St. James. Swearing, he parked in front of his gate, grabbed his keys, got out and jogged over to the opposite side of the street. “Justin damn it! What are you doing here again?!” Justin murmured quietly and bent his head to the side while swirling a blond hair around his middle finger. “Certainly angry. Crossed the street alone. Of course no kiss.” “Justin.” Brian grabbed him by the arm. “Go back to your room. You can't stand here all alone in the middle of the street.” “Yeah.” The boy changed his view, but didn't move at all. “Certainly cross the street. Of course without permission.” Brian ran a hand through his hair, looked around the empty street and watched the boy in blue pajamas with a mixture of frustration and pride. “You wanted to cross the street?” “Yeah.” Justin turned his gaze further away from the beautiful prince. He certainly was very angry. “Yeah? Why haven't you?” Justin began to count the peas which he’d eaten last Friday with his fried bird. “Five... fifteen.” “Justin.” Brian stretched out his hand to gently put it on Justin's warm neck. “You haven't crossed the street because I’ve told you you’re not allowed without permission. Right?” The boy stopped twisting his hair. He liked Prian's hand on his neck. It was so soft and big and strong. “Right?” Brian stepped closer and tried to look the blond in the eyes. Justin looked uninvolved past the prince. “Yeah. Only if... if Prian says.” Brian smiled casually, but stopped immediately as he realized it. Instead he stroked with two fingers over the soft deepening at Justin's neck and played with the thin necklace string. “Good boy.” “Yeah.” Justin rocked a little, but nestled into Prian’s touch. “Justin.” This time the older one didn’t fight the smile. “Yeah. Justin is a good boy. Never cross the street without permission.” “Yeah. Very angry.” Brian sighed and closed his eyes. “Yeah. Very angry.” He took his fingers away from Justin's neck as he opened his eyes again. “Come on. Go back inside. It’s cold and you're tired.” Justin didn't say anything and Brian grabbed him by the arm and guided him a few steps to the huge iron gate of the institution. As he saw the doors, the boy went stiff and began to wail. Defiant and furious. “Justin. Come on, I’ll bring you back to your room.” “No.” With surprising strength Justin broke free and plodded back to the sidewalk. But not one step further. Brian sighed deeply and rubbed both hands over his face. He was tired, had way too much alcohol in his system and wasn't really in the mood for another power struggle of this kind. “Justin. You have to go back to your room.” “No.” Justin rocked back and forth and tucked a long blond strand behind his ear. “Yes you have to.” Brian walked over to the kid and wanted to grab his shoulder, but the boy jerked and stepped a little further away. “No.” For a moment Mister Kinney played with the thought to go over to the other side of the street to his luxurious mansion, in his huge, warm bed, and back to his uncomplicated life. Free of all kinds of responsibilities for other people. But he didn't, despite the fact that he really couldn't think of one good reason why not. …Maybe because he had a luxurious mansion, with a huge bed, in an uncomplicated life and really could understand why Justin wasn't in the mood to get back to his sterile hospital room, with all the medication and the sad life that was reality for him. “Hey.” He walked two steps closer to the boy, but didn't dare to touch him. “Justin, look at me.” It took a while until Justin raised his head to look at Brian. As he did, his eyes weren't blank and unfocused, but frustrated and enraged and so misunderstood. “No.” “You don't want to go back to your room?” “No.” “Where do you want to go then? It’s the middle of the night Justin.” Justin couldn't hold the visual contact to Prian's face any longer and so he looked over to the other side of the street. To the beautiful huge prince castle. Brian also looked over to his house and then back to Justin. “You can't go with me. It’s night.” Justin's tummy tightened and his heart pounded loudly. He could hear it in his head. He wouldn’t go back to the tower and he was angry that Plake hadn’t come to do the magic with his alarm clock. He was angry that it wasn’t Christmas yet. He was angry that he couldn't cross the street over to Prian's castle, where he could get toast, cat fur and butterflies in boxes. He was angry that he wasn't Sleeping Beauty and that the prince would never kiss him. Brian looked at the boy for a long time and got a strange feeling in his stomach as he noticed clear anger in the blue eyes. Anger and a thin film of wetness which grew more and more, until one drop ran over a pale cheek and silently fell onto the dark blue pajamas. He didn't know what to say but started anyway. “Justin you simply can’t-” “Dream of Prian!” Justin looked directly at the prince as he said it and his voice sounded defiant and almost begging, like Gus sounded when he wanted to assure that he definitely had not thrown the French paper weight on the floor. Brian stared at him perplexed because at this moment Justin didn't look like an innocent boy with his fairy tale book under the pillow. Instead, he looked like a young man who knew exactly what he wanted but unfortunately nobody seemed to understand his language. Which wasn't the whole truth because Brian understood him perfectly. “What was the dream about?” Justin held his gaze to Prian, but didn't say one word. “You dreamed of me? Was it a good dream?” Justin looked away. “Were you in the dream, too? Were we together?” The boy rocked gently back and forth and sniffed. “Leave me all alone.” “Leave you alone? Why?” The boy seemed to think about it for a moment. His gaze was blank and he curled his middle finger in blond hair, before saying something. “Of course. No kiss.” Brian wasn't shocked to hear that. He couldn't think of anything else since he left the boys’ room hours ago, and even a whole backroom full of blond tricks couldn’t kill this little burning need. Nevertheless, it was an urge that had to remain unfulfilled. “No.” He stepped closer to the boy, bent a little to create the same height and touched his large hand to Justin’s cheek. “Not on the mouth.” Justin looked in the prince’s brown eyes and nestled his face in the large palm. He was so close to Prian that he could smell his warm skin. Quickly, he closed his eyes tightly, exactly like Sleeping Beauty did, so that Prian had to kiss him awake too. A small smile crept over Brian's lips as the boy squeezed his eyes together. With a gentle thumb he stroked over Justin's high cheekbone. The kid was hot. Way too hot. So much so, that his decision wasn't really hard to make. He bent down for a gentle kiss on Justin's forehead. Then one at Justin's left temple and a little lower on Justin's cheek. He put his arm around the boys waist, pulled him closer and pressed his nose in Justin's neck to inhale deeply. God, the boy was so soft and warm and smelled so wonderful. He took another deep breath, kissed behind Justin’s earlobe and then just stopped thinking as he took the small face in a secure hold and closed his eyes for a kiss on these perfectly curved raspberry lips. He felt the boy grow stiff for a moment and heard his little whimpering. Out of shock or just gratitude. He didn't know and didn't care as he felt Justin's shy hand on the front of his shirt. Five small fingers searching for a hold and trying to come closer somehow. Brian simply stood there, mouth to mouth with the boy, so close. So close that he could feel the beating of Justin’s heart against his chest. Justin thought his tummy would explode. Everything tickled and twinkled. He could feel all the butterflies deep within his belly, and they fluttered and wanted to fly high up to the dark sky. He wanted it too. His feet were all jittery and he put them on top of each other for a moment and then firmly on the ground again because suddenly they were soft like the pillow in his bed. Prian smelled so good and his lips were like gentle winds on his skin. First on his forehead, then on his face and then it tickled somewhere behind his ear. Justin whimpered and started to feel dizzy, as the prince held his head tight with both hands and really kissed him. On the mouth, like a prince certainly did to Snow White and Sleeping Beauty but never with Rapunzel. It felt weird and he whimpered again. He noticed that he had to breathe hard and that his heart beat louder and louder, but he stopped breathing completely because he was so exited and didn't want the prince to ever stop. With one hand he grabbed for Prian's beautiful t-shirt, held on to it and then made a noise like a baby cat, as he stuck out his tongue a little. Brian almost lost his secure foothold, as he heard the boy mewl like a starving kitten and at the same time felt a shy tongue against his lips. Wet, warm and so fucking sweet that he had to twist his arm like a vise around Justin's small waist, nearly pushing him off the feet. He heard himself moan and knew he had no chance to fight against the hardness in his pants. He threaded his fingers into blond hair and tilted his head, before carefully meeting the little innocent tongue on his lips with his own. Justing pulled back with shock for a moment, but than huffed a shuddering breath against Prian's cheek, stepped whimpering on his tiptoes and sighed quietly as he could feel the warm tip of the prince’s tongue somewhere in his mouth. It wasn't a real kiss. Not a kiss like Brian would give normally. It was nothing than cautious touching and shy fumbling, surprised wincing and whimpering in pure amazement, but maybe it was just the mixture of all this that brought Brian to the edge of madness. He had to fight really hard not to loose his control and showing the boy all the things that lie far behind the borders of fairyland. With a deep inhale near the boys skin and a long kiss on closed lips he pulled back, rubbed his thumbs over Justin's high cheekbones and held his eyes closed just a little longer before he even dared to trust himself again. He smiled to some extent at what he saw the second he opened them. Tousled blond hair, a numb gaze out of blue eyes, blushed cheeks and a nervous hand on dark blue pajama pants. “Do you have to use the bathroom?” Did he? Justin looked down at himself and pressed the hardness between his legs through the thin flannel material. He looked up to Prian in confusion and shook his head. Brian smiled and stroked the soft blond hair. “That doesn't happen when you kiss this Alice, hmm?” The boy looked again at his trousers. “No.” Brian laughed quietly and pulled Justin's chin up with two fingers. “We’ve kissed.” “Yeah.” Justin rocked gently back and forth. “Kiss Prian.” “Yeah. Was it good?” Justin touched the prince’s mouth with three clumsy fingertips while looking at the dark sky. “Yeah.” Brian kissed the fingers and then pulled them away. “It was a good night kiss. That means that you have to go to bed now.” “Yeah. Of course in the castle.” “No. Of course in your room.” “Certainly my toothbrush. Justin Taylor.” Brian shook his head. The kid wasn't stupid and definitely stubborn. “I’ll watch over it until you visit me the next time. But not today. Today you go to your room.” Justin looked at the ground, ignored the prince and counted the slits in the stones while he gently rocked back and forth. “Seven... seven, eight, nine.” Brian skeptically raised his left eyebrow. “You think this is clever, don't you?” “Yeah. Clever Justin.” “Hmm. Think again.” The older man took Justin's hand and walked with him through the large gate, to the entrance of the building. Justin didn't want to and tried to free himself out of Brian's grip. Brain held him securely and went further. “You don't like that?” He squeezed Justin's hand to illustrate. “Holding hands?” “Yeah.” Justin held his hand still. “With Prian.” Brian stroked with his thumb over Justin's knuckles. “With Brian. Until we’re up there. Then you go to bed, all right?” “All right. Up in the tower.” Brian pushed the heavy door open and guided the boy quietly inside. “How many stairs until the top?” “Of course... five times. Five times eight... forty eight.” Justin padded with bare feet behind Prian, up the stairs. He really liked how it felt to hold hands with the prince. “Certainly two hundred... two hundred forty.” “Two hundred forty stairs until we’re up there?” “Yeah. Of course two hundred forty.” “Hmm.” Brian used his tired brain for short multiplication and squeezed Justin's hand in reward. “Good boy.” “Yeah. Justin.” “Hmm. How old are you anyway?” The boy counted the stairs on the forth step sector. “Two.. thirty two.” “Justin.” Brian gently tugged at Justin's hand. “Yeah.” “How old are you? How many years?” “Justin Taylor. Certainly eighteen.” “Certainly eighteen?” Brian skeptically looked over his shoulder. “Are you sure?” “Yeah. Certainly eighteen.” “Hh.” Brian ignored the small voice in his head that lectured him about youth security. “That is young.” “Yeah. Certainly not a child. Not in Harrisburg anymore.” “You moved to Pittsburgh because you weren't a child anymore?” “Yeah. Justin now is eighteen years... years old.” Brian pulled the boy up the last stair and looked cautious through the glass door into the station. It was bright, but no one was to be seen. He moved Justin in to the dark corner beside the door and spoke quietly. “You go to bed now, okay?” “Yeah. With Prian.” “No.” Brian grinned. “My bed is-” “Of course in the castle.” Brian blinked at the boy with irritation. “No, in my house and I hate it when other people finish my sentences, understood? “Yeah.” Justin looked up at the badly plastered ceiling. “Good. Now go in there and look out of your window. You can wave me goodbye.” “Yeah. Prian wave.” “No. Pr- Brian never waves. Justin can wave.” Mister Kinney tried to rescue his male honor and gave the boy a quick peck on the forehead. “Now, go to your room or you won't see me when I'm standing on the street.” “Yeah.” Brian held the ward door open for Justin, looked after him for a moment and than rushed down through the dark staircase to position himself in the gateway. ””””””””””””””””””” Justin padded with small steps along the bright corridor, pushed the handle of his door and walked eight and a half steps to his small window. He stood close to it, laid his hands on the pane and pushed his nose against the cold glass. “Ha!” He laughed happily because the beautiful prince really stood on the street. Just like that, under a streetlamp without a horse or a silver sword, but with pretty clothes and a smile only for Justin. Justin smiled back, waved and pushed the tip of his nose a little closer to the pane as Prian kissed his palm and blew until the wonderful prince's kiss flew all the way up to the tower and through the small slid by the window. Justin felt so happy but couldn’t fight the sadness as Prian turned around and walked away, over the street and into his castle. “Sleep Prian.” He spoke against the fogged windowpane and touched the moist glass with his tongue before he plodded to bed with bare feet and crawled clumsily under the blanket. With butterfly noodles around his neck and the prince's taste on his lips. “Dream of Prian.” ””””””””””””