Bear Magic
Author: Elsa Rose Bryant

Brian pulled out an old wooden army lock box from the back of his storage locker. He’d had it for as long as he can remember. It was painted black from a day long ago when he’d decided to ‘redecorate’ his room. 

He hadn’t been planning on digging out these long forgotten memories, but something Justin had said earlier had made him think of what lay hidden in the dusty black box securely locked with an old school combination lock. 

“Brian, what’re you doing?” Justin asked. He was carrying a frosty glass of eggnog for Brian and one for himself. By the nog mustache he wore, he’d already been imbibing. 

“Something you said earlier reminded me about an old friend.” Brian took the glass of eggnog, but not before licking off Justin’s mustache and then kissing his clean lips with intensity that made them both gasp. 

“Will I get to meet this old friend?” Justin asked. 

“As soon as I open the box.” Brian bent down to turn the tumblers on his old lock. The lock was worn and rusted in places. He’d used it all through high school and when he moved out of his family home, the lock went on the box. 

Justin got down on his knees, this was interesting. He’d seen this box often over the years, but had never had the nerve to ask what was in it. 

“Stop breathing down my neck.” Brian said with a grin. “I don’t have anything wild and crazy in here. Just a few personal things I’ve saved for one reason or another.”  

Justin watched as Brian opened the box. He moved aside a folded up blue plaid shirt that looked a lot like the one Justin had been wearing the first night they met. Justin said nothing, but his eyes blinked back a rush of emotion. Under the blue plaid, nestled in the folds of a faded quilt, was a twelve inch brown bear, one ear had been replaced with mismatched fur. His smile was misshapen and a foot was worn thing and badly stitched holding in his stuffing. He was wearing a baby sweater that looked familiar to Justin. He was sure Gus had worn one like it when he was a baby. “Hey is that….” Justin began, but stopped when Brian pulled out the bear and glared an embarrassed glare at his partner. 

“Justin, meet Bear.” Brian held out the bear to Justin. “Bear is the reason I managed to survive my childhood. He looked closely at the well-loved toy, you know, I just realized that my mother must have cared about me once. She was the one who replaced his ear when it was accidentally burned off, thanks to dear old dad tossing him into the fireplace. She stitched him up countless times. Bear took a lot of punishment that was meant for me. He looked at the badly stitched foot. “I did this repair. I must have been high, the stitches suck.” 
“And the sweater?” Justin couldn’t resist asking. “It looks like one Gus used to wear when he was a baby.” 

“Bear was cold.” Brian explained. He smiled. “I found the sweater down the back of the sofa one day after Gus left. It was in my hand when I opened the box to put some pictures in. I saw Bear and thought why not, Gus wouldn’t miss it and Bear looked like he could use it.”

“At the risk of your wrath.” Justin giggled. “But that is soooooo a side of you that I thought was merely a part of my vivid imagination.” He leaned over and kissed Brian and then kissed the bear. “I’m rather liking it.” 

“Never under estimate the power of bear love.” Brian grinned. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Justin sat on the floor, his back to the wall of the closet. “My bear, Gus is still with me. He got me through a lot of things. He used to listen for hours while I talked to him about my various schoolboy crushes. And then there was this big bad bear I fell in love with. Gus Bear had to keep me from wanting to strangle him or throwing myself off one of the higher bridges. He kept me sane. He still keeps me sane. It’s Bear Magic, surely you’ve heard of it.” Justin blushed when he realized he’d told Brian his deepest secret. 

“I remember Gus Bear. But I’ve never heard of Bear Magic.” Brian smiled. “You named my son after him. So where is he, this famous magic bear, I’ve never seen him?” 

“In my backpack. He’s always been in my backpack.” Justin ducked his head in embarrassment. “He isn’t very big. I’ve had him since I was born. My grandmother gave him to me.”

“You know my first gift to Gus was Leather Bear, he calls him LB.” Brian sat back beside Justin. “Linds tells me that when Gus leaves for school each day, he makes sure LB is sitting in the window.”

“I thought your first present to your son was sweet.” Justin admitted. “I was hoping someone would give Gus a bear.” He looked up at Brian. “Do you think lesbians like bears as much as us queers?”

“Strange question.” Brian laughed. “I suppose they do.”

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

“So he finally took you out of the box?” Gus the Bear said to his new friend. 

“Yes, he used to visit me now and again, but since he found Justin, he didn’t come to my box very often.”

“Justin told me that your Brian is like a teddy bear.”

“That’s quite a compliment. I don’t like to brag, but I’m sure the bear magic I worked when he was a child, had something to do with it.” 

“They look rather lovely together don’t they?” The two bears leaned their heads together to see their boys at a better angle.

“Yes, Brian used to hold me that way, of course that was a long time ago.” Bear sighed. “We’ve done a good job.”

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

“Can’t we put them somewhere else?” Brian asked. “I’m sure they talk about us.” 

“You smoke too much dope.” Justin wiggled in Brian’s arms enjoying the feeling of being held tight. 

December 20, 2006