***Hey y'all. It's been a while, last few months have been hard. Anyway...
This is the last chapter of Carlin and D'Metrius's story. At some point I may write another chapter of them later in life, but for now, consider this series completed.
I hope you enjoyed this series. Thanks so much for reading.
Without further ado...
-Penny***
Jimmy sighed and leaned back in the deluxe massage chair. D'Metrius could hear the motor parts inside moving, a soothing 'whom-whom-whom' sound in the background. "Shit, Metri, but this is the shit. All the dude-bros don't know what they're missing." He lifted one foot from the basin of steamy hot water. Water dripped back into the basin as he examined his toes. "I'm going for baby blue today. What'd you pick?"
"Hmm?" D'Metrius hummed. "Sorry, spaced out for a minute."
"Lover, that's the whole point. What color for your toes? Are you doing your nails?"
"Can't," he said, pursing his lips to the side. "My boss would have kittens."
Jimmy rolled his eyes and lowered his foot back into the water. "Yeah, I know. Samesies, for that matter. Having painted nails, unless they're gel, is a big no-no in health care."
"You could get gel, then, if you wanted?" he asked.
Jimmy shrugged. "Yeah, I guess, but they make my fingers feel hella weird, and ruin your real fingernails when they come off. So, ah, yeah, no thank you."
D'Metrius smiled. "I was thinking about hot pink, but do you think that's too loud?"
Jimmy looked into D'Metrius's tub. "Maybe, but it's winter so who the fuck cares. You want hot pink, you get hot pink, lover."
"Nah, actually not feeling it now. What about something darker, like cranberry or something?"
"Oh, that might be nice," Jimmy agreed, then leaned his head back as the massage chair hit a good spot. "Hmm, that's nice." Without looking he reached over and picked up his glass of wine and sipped it. The pale yellow liquid swirled in the glass as he put it back on the small shelf next to his fancy chair.
"This place is so posh," D'Metrius noted. "I don't feel like I belong here."
"Relax, lover," Jimmy encouraged, looking across their huge massage chairs at him. "You're a Queen, you belong anywhere you go. Treat yo'self, yeah?"
"Yeah," he agreed, still feeling less than adequate. He leaned back and closed his eyes as his feet soaked in the almost, but not quite too hot water. The massage chair freaked him out, he didn't like how artificial it felt, and the new anxiety medication he was on advised him not to drink alcohol, so Jimmy was more than happy to accept his complimentary serving, too. "Sure."
"You had your therapy appointment this morning?" Jimmy asked after a short silence between them.
He nodded. "Yeah, I guess."
"You guess?" Jimmy snorted. "How'd it go?"
He shrugged. "I dunno how it's supposed to go. It's weird, right? Like, talking to someone about being gay, about, you know, all the stuff with Alex. Doing drag. About my mom, and my sisters. My dad. And, she's a lady, like, I dunno. It's hard, I guess. To open up, and to talk about all the stuff. All the little things it makes me remember."
"How many times have you gone? Do you like your therapist?"
D'Metrius nodded, sucking on his lower lip. "Today was the eighth one, I go twice a week. I didn't wanna like her, right? Like, I didn't think a lady would understand me, but she knows shit, Jimmy. Like, she sees right through me, knows how I feel and... I dunno." He sighed, slipping deeper into his chair.
"Isn't that her job?" D'Metrius shrugged and Jimmy chuckled. He was glad at least Jimmy could find humor in it all. "Is she gay?"
"I don't think so. Maybe? I dunno, I didn't actually think to ask. We don't talk much about her." Jimmy looked over at him, amused. "Yeah," he admitted. "I guess we're not there to talk about her."
Jimmy sat up and D'Metrius realized the chair's massage noises were silent. A few seconds later their pedicurists came around the corner, big, fake customer service smiles on their faces. He and Jimmy shared pleasantries with the women until they settled into their work of making their feet absolutely fabulous, speaking some type of Chinese between themselves.
"You think it's going well, though?" Jimmy asked after another sip of his wine. "The therapy?"
The woman working on his feet was rubbing minty smelling scrub up and down his calves and feet. It was ticklish, and tingly, and he fought the urge to jerk his foot away. "I guess. Been taking anxiety medication for about three weeks now, but I don't exactly feel different. She said it'd take a while before it started working, that it was part of my long term strategy. Gives me terrible dry mouth, though. I've started carrying mints around with me everywhere."
Jimmy leaned closer. "I heard they can make you unable to, ah, perform," he whispered, sort of, but not quite modestly nodding down at his junk while also watching their pedicurists.
The ladies paid them no attention. His lady put his feet back into the water and the combination of the heat and tingling had him rolling his eyes back in pleasure. "No problems there so far, not that there's been much performing."
"I thought you were dating that guy from your building now," Jimmy said, frowning.
"I am. I mean, sorta. Like, um. I'm doing the therapy thing twice a week, and work, and he's a coach and... We keep missing each other. My work schedule's up in the air since I'm doing the therapy now, and he's been so busy with coaching and teaching that, like..."
"Are you telling me your relationship is totally chaste? Cause that isn't the Metri I know."
"A little. I mean, not, but kinda yeah."
Jimmy snorted. "That's not an answer."
He sucked in a deep breath of air, gauged the interest level of his pedicurist, then blew out slowly. "We do stuff. But, we haven't gone all the way."
"Why not? You've been dating for, like, a month now or something."
He nodded, fiddling with the hem of his shirt, unsure where to look. "It'll be a month next Tuesday. We, ah, do stuff, but he never, um. He's really good at redirecting, and he's really good with his," he leaned closer to Jimmy, face on fire, "mouth."
Jimmy snorted a laugh. "Of course he is. You just need to turn on the charm, I think."
"He gets me all messed up. I mean, in a good way, but then we're done and I'm feeling high as shit, but also I somehow missed the opportunity again." He couldn't help but smile as he thought about laying in Carlin's arms after they'd both come, as he remembered the heat of his skin and the strength of his embrace.
"Are you in love with him? You're in love with him, aren't you? Cause I never thought I'd see the day where Metri finally fell in love..." Jimmy was watching him in a way that made him super uncomfortable and he looked away, his face feeling hotter, if that as even possible.
