..oOOo..


7:30am Saturday
   
*EEP EEP EEP*

John Byers groaned loudly at the insistent beeping of the alarm
clock driving into his brain.  He pulled one of his long, bare arms
out from under the warm confines of his pillow to stretch up and
slam his fist against the frustrating machine, taking three tries
before it stopped.

The loud beeping didn't wake up his bedmate, but the movement
did.  Ringo Langly moaned softly against the bare skin under his
face, his head resting in the curve of Byers' back and his arm
draped across the older man's thighs possessively.

Byers felt a shiver pass through his body at the light brush of
long, silky hair across his naked back, the lightly stubbled 
cheek scratching at his flesh.  With a resigned sigh, he raised
his head and tilted it to look at the other man over his
shoulder.  "Ree," he mumbled, his voice hoarse with sleep.
"Time to get up."

Langly responded with another series of incomprehensible
mumbles and curled his body closer to his lover.  "Don't wanna."

"Sorry, babe.  Print day, you know the rules,"  Byers sighed,
not wanting to get out of bed any more than his young lover.
He reached a hand down to rub Langly's back gently before
sliding his body out from under him.  The sleepy blonde let
his head drop to the bed with a dull thump and he burrowed
back under the warm bedding.

"It can wait..."  Langly's voice barely escaped the thick layer
of blankets he had pressed against his face.

Byers sniffed, rubbing his palm against his eye in an effort
to clear his vision as he stood.  "You said that last time and
we came close to missing the delivery deadline."

"It's our paper, John...why do we have to jump through all
the stupid legal hoops?"  Langly complained, his light hazel
eyes peeking out from beneath the covers.

"We just do,"  Byers stated with an air of finality.  He reached
down to grab Langly's arm and physically tug him out of the
comfortable bed.  

Langly groaned loudly at the treatment but crawled to his knees
and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.  "God, it's freezing
out here,"  he whined as he reached for a pair of discarded
sweatpants on the floor and tugged them onto his legs, standing
to pull them up over his hips.

"Yeah,"  Byers sighed, shuffling toward the closet to assemble 
his suit for the day.  "Tell ya what.  I'll let you have first shower,
and if we make the deadline without too much whining-from either
of you," he emphasized the last part, noting how Langly rolled his
eyes at the implication,  "I'll take you to that bookstore you wanted
to go to."

Langly visibly perked up, a little smile curving his thin lips.  "Really?"

The older man couldn't help but laugh gently at the innocent 
expression.  "Yup.  Now, get some clothes and get to it," he smiled,
reaching up to pat his partner's cheek lightly.  

The younger man turned his head to kiss the inside of Byers' wrist
and returned the smile.  "Okay."


..oOOo..


5:15pm

Langly breathed in slowly as he took in the musty smell and aura of
ancient Eastern religion that instantly captured the senses of 
anyone who entered the bookstore.  The walls, floors and ceiling 
were covered with dark, antique tapestries and rugs obviously 
imported from many different places around Asia.  Dusty smoke 
from old incense burning in a few places added a thickness to the 
air and made the small shop seem even darker.

"Man, John--look at this place!"  Langly whispered with reverent awe,
his eyes seeking to map every inch and corner of the store, which
appeared devoid of life to the unseeing onlooker.  The two men
glanced around, their eyes finally landing on a small Chinese woman
at the same time as she moved quietly out from behind the short
counter.

"Welcome," she gave them a shy smile, her voice soft and lightly
accented.  "May I help you find something in particular?"

"Oh, um..."  Langly glanced around quickly then looked back at her
with a smile.  "Not yet, thank you.  We're just looking."

With a tiny nod of approval, she ducked quickly back behind the
counter.

Byers followed and watched as the younger man slowly made his
way between the thin wood shelves, the books surprisingly well-
cared for and most of them written in one of hundreds of Asian
dialects.  

The older man was pulled from his curious wanderings when Langly
tugged at his jacket sleeve and gave him a cheeky grin, jerking his
head to indicate a certain section.  Byers followed, and gave his
lover a playful smack on the arm out of shy embarrassment.  

"Ree, would you stop thinking with...*that*?"  Byers hissed at him
through clenched teeth, his face turning a faint pink as he saw
the familiar translations of "Kama Sutra", among other things,
on the books resting on the shelf.  

"Actually, I was thinking more about this,"  Langly playfully 
reached over to pinch Byers' bottom, making the older man jump
and scurry out of reach.  

Byers bit back a yelp and tried to glare at his younger friend,
but his smirk took the edge of his anger.  He backed out of the
isle, keeping his eye on the other man.

Suddenly Byers stumbled and turned around quickly at the sound
of a tiny squeak.  He looked down to see a small Chinese boy 
looking up at him with a shy smile.

"Ooh, sorry,"  Byers apologized instantly, kneeling down to look
at the young man at eye level.  

The boy looked at him curiously, his head tilting to one side.  All
hint of his previous shyness gone, he reached a hand up to touch
the crouching man's beard curiously.  Langly, watching from a
distance, crossed his arms over his chest and waited for Byers'
reaction.

Byers laughed softly, his hand coming up to take the tiny one into
his own.  "Curious little guy, aren't you?"  he said gently, still
holding the boy's hand.  Langly smiled too, albeit sadly.  He felt
something tug at his throat and he swallowed hard.  Seeing his
lover with this little boy, holding his hand and talking to him
gently, made the younger man realize that he will never get the
chance to see Byers, or himself for that matter, be a father.

He was drawn from his reverie by the approach of the woman
they had seen before, apparently the store keeper.  She reached
down to take the boy's other hand and smiled apologetically to
Byers, who stood up and released the tiny hand finally.  "Sorry,"
she said softly, her hand moving to cup the boy's head protectively,
indicating to the older man that he was in fact her son.  "He does
not speak much English yet."

"Oh, it's okay.  I wasn't watching where I was going and almost
ran right over him,"  Byers gave her an embarrassed grin.  

Langly finally saved his lover from further explanation by stepping
up behind him and waving a small book in the air.  "Come on, before
you do any more damage, Johnny."  He took Byers' hand in his own
and led him to the counter after the woman.

As Langly paid for his book, Byers let his eyes wander again.  A
small movement brought his attention back to the front as he saw
another Chinese woman, one who looked older than most of the
objects adorning the shop.  She was watching them with a careful,
piercing gaze that made Byers shudder involuntarily, shifting his
weight to his other foot.

"Ready to go?"  Langly asked him, swinging around to face Byers
again and holding up the small purchase bag.  He followed the older
man's gaze and spotted the old woman approaching them.

"Um, hello...?"  the younger man greeted her cautiously, but she
seemed not to notice this.  Instead, she stopped right in front of
him.  Without a word, she placed her thin, painfully curled hand
onto his stomach and uttered a short phrase in a language neither
men could understand.

"Jai Jai Shiva 
 Shanker, Kaanta
 lage na Kankar."

Langly gasped, unsure what to do and he gave his lover a confused
look.  Byers reached out to take his hand, gently pulling him away
even as the younger woman came to pull away the older woman.
"I'm sorry, sir...my mother, she misunderstands,"  the younger 
woman said, obviously flustered and embarrassed by the actions
of the other woman.

"No, no--it's okay.  Um...what did she say?"  Langly asked, watching
as the old woman pursed her lips and squinted at him.

The younger woman shook her head, waving a dismissive hand.  "Oh--
it's nothing;  religious nonsense.  Please, don't worry about it," she
told him, her voice almost pleading for him to forget the strange
encounter.

Langly nodded, still perplexed.  He felt a slight tug and looked back
to see Byers silently urging him to get out of there.  The younger
man turned back to the two women, giving them a polite smile.  "Well,
um, thank you," he said, holding up the bag briefly then turned to 
follow Byers out the door.


..oOOo..