Dance Me To The End Of Love (Rumble #5)
Apr 16, 2023 14:55:01 GMT -5
Mongo the Destroyer, Venom š·, and 4 more like this
Post by bloodiedfox on Apr 16, 2023 14:55:01 GMT -5
Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin.
Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in.
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove.
Dance me to the end of love...
Dance me to the end of love...
A night some time in 2016. Two young men walk down suburban street in a comfortable silence, snatching occasional sidelong glances at each other and smiling. They stop outside a block of flats.
Well, this is me. Iād invite you up butā¦
Itās cool. Bit awkward bringing strange men home when youāre crashing on your friendās sofa.
Yeah. I mean, I totally would otherwise. I had fun tonight.
Me too. You wanna do this again next week?
Sure. I train Monday through Wednesday and my next Nandoās shift is Friday, so Thursday?
Thursday works.
Cool.
A momentās hesitation, then the taller of the two leans down and kisses the other. Itās over in moments. They look at each other, giddy and nervous. They kiss again. Longer, more passionate.
I should go in before horniness overrules the awkwardness.
Probably for the best.
A few seconds of silence, then a third kiss which remains unbroken as they stumble backwards to the entrance door and the shorter man blindly taps in the entry code.
Oh, let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone.
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon.
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of.
Dance me to the end of love...
Dance me to the end of love...
Now. They stand in the hotel room doorway.
Brendan?
Peter, we need to talkā¦
A momentās hesitation, then Peter or Fox (whichever is his preference for you to use) steps aside and Brendan enters the room.
To what do I owe this rare honour?
Oh for fuckās sake, seriously?
Yes seriously. Are we going to pretend that the last time we actually talked it wasnāt me trying to explain something while you walked away refusing to listen?
I guess the little detail of that āsomethingā being you having just gotten me disqualified in an X*Crown championship match just isnāt worth mentioning?
Zoran was going to pull a knife and pry your kneecap off like a fucking bottle lid! I wanted you to still have function in both of your legs! I was trying to explain that and you just wouldnāt listen!
Brendan pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a deep breath, forcing himself not to raise his volume to match his husbandās.
Whether or not that was the case, can you acknowledge that I was understandably upset and was not in a fit state of mind to have a conversation right then and there?
Fox sighs.
Yes, okay, I can acknowledge that.
And then you just vanished.
I did not vanish! You were upset so I was giving you space!
What part of giving me space entails beating the fuck out of my tag partner with the help of Lord Dominicusā brother who fell in the bleach and then fighting Marty Donovan in a parking lot after calling his girlfriend a cunt?
Jack was the one who showed up picking a fight with me, and Ollie is a cunt!
Youāve never even fucking met Ollie! You were randomly pissy at Donovan and were trying to goad him, so you just decided to throw misogynistic slurs at his girlfriend! I thought you were better than that!
Did you? Because you were sure as hell acting like I intentionally cost you the X*Crown out of jealousy. I didnāt change my number, Brendan, you could have called me any time. But you didnāt. As far as I could tell you were much happier with Jack in Japan than anywhere near me.
Brendan slaps him.
Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on.
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long.
We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above.
Dance me to the end of love...
Dance me to the end of love...
So when do we leave?
Early 2019, George and the Dragon in Reading. Peter looks across the restaurant table at Brendan in confusion.
āWeā?
Well yeah. I was born in New York while mum was on a gallery visit, so I have a US passport and indefinite leave to remain.
Now it was Brendanās turn to look confused, and a little scared.
Doā¦ do you not want me to come?
Of course I want you to come! I justā¦ I mean, you have your life here. I didnāt want to assume youād just drop it all to move to America with me just because I got a contract.
Hon, I play guitar in a shitty little band thatās going nowhere. Iām sure thereās an equally shitty little band going equally nowhere looking for a guitarist in America.
But what about your mum?
Mumās in and out of the US all the time! She can visit, and they have this amazing new marvel you might have heard of called the internet.
Alright smartarse.
Peter couldnāt help but smile, especially as Brendan reached across the table and took hold of his hands.
Youāre the one whoās going to be leaving behind their family and friends to follow their dream. If I can support that, especially when it costs me so little, then I will.
ā¦Is Jack gonna be okay? He isnāt going to, you know, murder someone if left unsupervised?
Brendan winced slightly.
Sorry, that was unfair.
A bit, but then heās been a shit to you for no reason so I can hardly blame you. Heāll be fine.
Dance me to the children who are asking to be born.
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn.
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn.
Dance me to the end of love...
Fox looks at Brendan in shock. Brendan looks almost as stunned. For a long moment neither says anything.
Peter, Iām sorā¦
Shut up. I guess Dylan was on to something after all.
The horror at his reaction leaves Brendanās face, replaced by anger.
Come the fuck on! You know as well as I do Jackās asexual, and even if he wasnāt you know damn well Iād follow the ground rules we laid out for the marriage being open!
Great, so you prefer your pet psychopath to me even without sex being involved.
Heās not my pet, heās my partner, and right now heās behaving a damn sight less psychotically than you.
Oh here we go! Zoran blows smoke up your arse about you being āthe future of the XHFā in some tabloid hospital bed exclusive and now Iām the bad guy for beating him in a match?
That wasnāt a match, Peter, it was a fucking mugging! You could have ended it at any time but you kept toying with him!
He deserved it!
No-one deserves that!
He fucking tried to kill me!!! Youāre my husband and you donāt even fucking care about that?!
Of course I fucking care about that, but what he did doesnāt excuse what youāre doing!
And what am I doing, Brendan? Not playing by imaginary rules that no-one else ever bothered to follow? Refusing to respect those who donāt respect me?
Brendan looks down into Peterās eyes, tears welling up.
Youāre breaking my heart.
Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin.
Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in...
The summer of 2019. They stand in an empty apartment familiar to viewers of the AWF.
Itās small, but itās got potential.
Yep. Best of all, itās ours.
Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove...
Fox looks up into Brendanās eyes.
You broke mine first.
Dance me to the end of love...
Early 2020. Brendan looks at Peter with trepidation. It disappears as he hugs him.
Iām so proud of you. Youāre going to kill it in JROK.
Dance me to the end of love...
You left me. You said you had my back against the world, but the instant you felt I cost you something you just gave up on me.
Thatās not true!
Fox doesnāt reply. He takes Brendanās hand and places something in it. Brendan looks down to see a wedding ring resting in his palm.
Just go, Brendan. Weāre done.
Brendan looks at him, searching desperately for some sign of the man he loved in that face. But there is none. He doesnāt speak. Thereās nothing to say. He turns and walks away. Fox watches him leave, watches the door close behind him. He stands there in silence for a minute.
Then he begins to scream.
Dance me to the end of love...