The House Call
Justin leaned across the couch and picked up the intercom line on the third ring. "Hello?"
"Get on your crutches and open the door, bitch!"
He laughed. "I don't need to move at all. This place is wired to the max. Let your own damn self in." Then he hit "9" on the phone and dropped it back into the cradle.
When Marshall finally wandered into the right room, Justin just looked at him and grinned. "Did you fly all the way from Detroit to abuse me?"
"No, I flew all the way from Detroit to bring you soup."
"Chicken noodle."
"Yeah, of course."
"I think that only works on the flu."
Marshall scoffed. "Chicken noodle works on everything. Trust me." He sat down gingerly on the couch, careful not to knock over Justin's crutches, and set to unpacking the bag full of food.
Justin sniffed. "Is it hot?"
"Uh huh. I just picked it up from Jerry's Deli."
"Jerry's Deli? Oh my God, I love you!"
Marshall quirked an eyebrow at him, bemused. "What the fuck did you just say?"
"Well, not love you in the romantic 'I love you and want to have your babies' sense, but love you in the "Oh my God, you went to Jerry's Deli for me!' sense."
"Hmm, ok then. Are they that good?"
"Their soup is. Not so sure about the rest."
"Oh? So you don't want the cheesecake then? Fine, I'll eat it."
"Wait! No. Yes, cheesecake. I want it! As a matter of fact, I want that first."
When Justin tried to reach for the bag, Marshall plucked it off the coffee table and moved it over to his other side. "No! Soup first, then sex, then cheesecake."
"Umm, did you miss the part of the show where I broke my foot? Because I think sex is right out. I'm in pain." Justin picked up a crutch and waved it, almost cracking Marshall in the face with it. "And I can't walk."
Marshall snorted. "Pain? Didn't you get any of the good dope?"
Justin dropped his head back on the couch and sighed. "Yeah, they gave me Vicodin or some shit. But it only dulls the roar."
"That's some good shit though. How many are you taking?"
Justin sat up and rifled about in the debris on the table, found the bottle and picked it up. "one tablet every six hours."
Marshall looked at him and then dropped his head down and just laughed and laughed. He snorted a couple of times too and Justin didn't think it was very pretty. When he finally stopped, he grabbed the bottle from Justin's hand. "You're so na•ve. Reading the label! What a fucking goof." Uncapping the bottle, he shook four pills into his hand and handed them to Justin. "Here, take these. You won't feel nothing."
"Yeah, that's because I'll be out cold. And God knows what you'd do to me then"
"Fuck it. Just take 'em! You'll feel better."
He shook his head. "Nope. Not taking them."
Marshall shook the pills in his palm. "I won't do nothing."
"Liar."
"C'mon. Look at you. You look like a basketcase. I promise, you fall asleep, I'll stick a blanket around you and watch tv."
"Yeah, like I'm going to fall for that one."
"Don't be such a fucking Girl Scout."
"I'm not the one who likes to dress up in girls' clothes."
"That was just the once."
Justin just looked at him. "Hmm, what about that time we --"
"Ok, it was twice. Now fuck off and take the pills. And shut the fuck up about that last time."
Justin shook his head. "Man, I'm still trying to repress that time you dressed up like a priest."
"Okay, that was fucking low, Justin. You know what? Don't take the pills. I'll take 'em. Then I'm gonna sit here and eat your soup, jerk myself off, and then eat the cheesecake. And you won't get any of it. No soup, no dick, no cheesecake."
Justin looked at him in mock horror. "You wouldn't really eat all the cheesecake, would ya?"
Marshall snapped, "Fuck you, you little bitch!"
Justin just cracked up then. He threw his head back and laughed, then looked at Marshall. "Man, you are so easy to rile. It's almost not even fun anymore. No wait, it still is."
Marshall sat back crankily, but he couldn't keep a smirk off his face. He knew when he was busted. "Go to hell."
"Only if you come with me."
"You know it."
Justin leaned in, brushed his fingers through Marshall's hair so it stood up all spiky. He thought it was cute. "Give me my soup before it gets cold."
Marshall opened the container of soup and handed it over to Justin with a plastic spoon. "Do you want the bagel crackers?"
"Yeah." Marshall tossed them into his lap and then turned on the couch and folded his legs up beneath him, facing Justin. "You're not going to eat all my cheesecake?"
Marshall smiled. "No."
Justin grinned and wagged an eyebrow at him suggestively. "You going to jerk off for me?"
Marshall's smile widened until it lit up his eyes. "No."
Justin tried to pout at him between slurps from the spoon, but he didn't figure he was too successful at it. Marshall could have done it though. He was the master of the pout. "You're not fun at all."
Marshall shucked his shoes off and leaned back on the arm of the couch, stretching a leg out, until it was resting in Justin's lap, careful not to jar the injured foot. His eyes glinted when he purred at Justin, "Sure I am."
Justin thought about it and nodded. "I'm glad you're here."
Marshall poked him in the chest with his foot. "You're just glad I brought cheesecake."
Justin grinned at him. "Well...yeah."