The General and the Horse-Lord by Sarah Black Page A

kid.”
    John shook his head, never taking his eyes off Kim, who looked as delighted as a boy locked overnight in a candy store. “No, he’s almost always asleep when I go for a run. Afraid I would make him join me, I always thought. I would say this is an anomaly.”
    Kim looked around the room, gave an exaggerated start when he spied the bottle of tequila. “Well, well, look at that! So I guess you two are gay, after all. I was starting to have my doubts.”
    John set the cup on the bedside table. “Out.”
    “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I just wanted to ask you if you would come along as backup.”
    “Backup to what?”
    Gabriel drained the coffee cup, set it down. “What do you want to do?”
    “I want to go back to my favorite bar. It’s not a pickup joint or anything. It’s a dance bar, you know? It’s where I go to see my friends. I hate not wanting to go out and be with my friends because I don’t want to run into him! It’s pissing me off! It makes me feel weak and stupid, and I want to stop feeling that way.”
    All the fun was gone from his eyes now.
    “So you want us to go with? To a gay bar?”
    “Uncle John, I was just going to ask you. I mean, I understand the Horse-Lord has other commitments and I don’t want to get anybody in trouble. But, Uncle John, you still look like you could kick some serious ass, and I was hoping for a little….”
    “For a little muscle. I get it. Sure, I’ll come. Want me to wear camo? Strap on a weapon?”
    Kim studied him like he wasn’t sure if he was joking or not. “No, too butch. The boys would be all over you, and I don’t think I could take that. A tie might be nice, you know, the professorial look. Sort of a Matrix-ninja killer in a black suit.”
    “Whatever that means. I’ll come with you if you want, Kim.”
    “I’ll come too.” Gabriel was yawning behind his hand. “You haven’t thought this out, Kim. So what if the guy’s there and what if he starts hassling you? Laughing at you?” Kim’s face was furious now. “You need your two big uncles to drag him into the alley and pound the shit out of him? Or we can do it in the middle of the dance floor. You want to have everybody see him with his face on the ground.” The room was dead silent. “You’ve been thinking about it, right? How he made sure everyone looking at you pictured his mark on you. How everyone would know he did it to you. You want to do the same thing to him?”
    “No, I don’t! I don’t want anyone to do to him what he did to me. You don’t understand me at all, Horse-Lord.” Kim was still furious, and John thought he heard a hint of tears in his voice.
    “So explain.”
    “I just want to go hang out with my friends.”
    “With bodyguards. Okay, I’m cool with that.”
    “No! Not with bodyguards! I just want… I want you to help me make a quick exit if I start to lose it, okay? Don’t let me embarrass myself in front of the guys.”
    “Then what you need is a date.”
    Kim covered his face with his hands and vented a tiny scream. “Please, God, give me a break from these two. You two are like so hopelessly last century.”
    John was grinning. “Okay, yeah, that would work. You take Gabriel out dancing, and I’ll lean against the bar acting all pissed off and sullen, and whatever happens to the dickhead? Well, it’s dark in gay bars, right? You bring me in, then how I deal with him is no longer your concern, Kim.”
    “Yes, it is my concern, and I don’t want to be responsible….”
    John held up a hand to stop him. “You don’t have any kids, so don’t tell me how I need to follow your Greenpeace PETA pacifist butt into a gay bar to not take care of an asshole who only understands one thing.” He held up a clenched fist. “Now how about you fetch us some more of that coffee?”
    Gabriel held out his empty cup without a word, and they watched Kim flounce out the door. “At least you didn’t tell him he was a soft-shell crab in the middle of