| Have You Got the Pluck?
By Minerva The birds had gone off to the �Ladies� together, as birds were known to do, leaving Bodie and Doyle alone at their table. The pub was dark and smoky and noisy, just as all pubs should be on a Saturday night. The beer was warm and the birds were hot and Doyle decided it was going to be a good night. Except Bodie had an odd look in his eyes as he stared down into the amber liquid in his glass looking for all the world as if it held the secrets of the universe. It probably would after another pint or two and hopefully that might chase away this strange mood that had been following Bodie since they�d left Doyle�s flat earlier. �You know,� Bodie began, gaze still on his beer, �I�ve been thinking.� �That�s a dangerous thing coming from you, mate. Don�t do yourself a mischief,� Doyle replied falling into the game of good natured teasing that they played with one another. Bodie in a thoughtful mood often mean trouble especially since Doyle was still chiding himself for his lapse of judgement earlier in giving Bodie the Raffles book to read. �I�ve been thinking about what we were talking about earlier?� Bodie continued, voice thoughtful. �You mean the foursome?� Doyle checked over his shoulder but there was no sign of the girls. �Yeah, I reckon they might be up for it.� Please let it be about the foursome, Doyle prayed silently. �You want to ask them or shall I?� �No, not that,� Bodie shook his head, �Before, back at the flat, when we were talking about those two pooftas.� �What?� Doyle asked, looking around again for the girls, �Who?� If he could stall Bodie for long enough maybe the girls would return and they wouldn�t have to have this conversation. �Raffles and Bunny � and you said�� �Oh Christ Bodie, you�re not still going on about that are you? Look, I�m sorry if you took it the wrong way. It was a joke, that�s all. I wasn�t serious.� At least that was what Doyle had been telling himself all evening. He should never have given Bodie the damned book to read, never have brought up the idea that they were like Raffles and Bunny, and never have thought that he and Bodie one day might�.Doyle stopped that line of thinking before it went too far. He looked back to find Bodie�s blue eyes on him. �Wasn�t serious? Weren�t you?� Bodie asked watching him intently. �Because, you know, I�ve been thinking and you might be right. We are like them.� Doyle sighed and reached for his beer, wishing he�d bought another round before this conversation had started. �And what makes you say that?� �Well, the gym for one thing. We go to the gym together, we work out together and then end up in the sauna together, don�t we.� �Yeah, so what?� �It�s just like them going to the Turkish baths, isn�t it! It�s the same thing. They sit in there together, half naked, hot and sweaty, just like us in the sauna,� Bodie declared. �I guess so.� Doyle shifted uncomfortably in his chair, the thought of Bodie in sauna making him hard as it always did. He took a hurried drink of his beer. �And if I was a betting man, I�d lay money on the fact that it had the same effect on them as it does on us.� Bodie held up a hand to stop Doyle�s protest. �And before you say anything about it just being a natural response, it�s bloody well not! I�ve been in lots of saunas, with lots of blokes and never got turned on the way I do when I�m sitting with you.� �Will you keep your voice down,� Doyle looked around but no one was showing any interest in their conversation. Where the hell were those girls? �Look, it�s like this,� Doyle began, hoping he could explain it all away. �What do we end up talking about in there? Birds�and what we�ve been doing with and to birds�.so of course it�s going to have that effect on us.� Bodie was shaking his head, looking down into his beer again. �Pluck.� �Yeah, fuck,� Doyle muttered back. �No, pluck�..Raffles and Bunny are always talking about pluck; whether you�ve got it or not. It means �guts� Doyle.� �I know what it means, Bodie.� �Well I reckon neither of us has enough of it.� Doyle ran a hand through his curls. What was keeping those bloody birds? �I know I�m going to regret asking this, but why do you think we haven�t got enough pluck? We spend our days chasing criminals, getting shot at and beat up. If that�s not having pluck then I don�t know what more we need to do?� Bodie looked up, his blue eyes clear and steady. �We need to be honest with each other, Ray.� Doyle could only blink. �No more�sublimating,� Bodie continued, taking great care with the pronunciation. It was always dangerous when Bodie started using big words. Oh he might like to act the dumb brute most of the time but Bodie was no bunny. Or should that be Bunny? No, despite what Doyle had said earlier, Bodie was more like Raffles � able to pick the lock and break his way into Doyle�s heart to steal his well hidden secrets without raising a sweat. �What are we sublimating, Bodie?� Doyle asked, afraid to hear Bodie�s answer but worried that he already knew it. �What we feel for each other. We talk about birds, chase them, pick them up and fuck them but what we really want to do is just be with each other.� ��Be with�? Is that �euphemism�, Bodie?� Doyle gave a harsh little laugh �A euphemism for fuck each other?� Perhaps shock tactics might snap Bodie out of this notion he�d developed. Confront him with the idea in technicolour and see if he was still as keen to carry on with it. It was Doyle�s last effort to seize the upper hand in this game that had become so completely out of control, �Is that what this is all about? You want to get into my trousers?� But Bodie wasn�t put off. �It�s more than that,� he said softly, smiling. �And you know it. Much more,� he paused, waiting for a reply. When none came he pressed further, �Am I right, Ray? Have you got enough pluck to find out?� Doyle took one last desperate look around the pub hoping the girls would return or a familiar face might appear and call them over for a drink or even that terrorists might choose that very moment to storm the bar, machine guns roaring and take everyone hostage. Nothing happened. He turned back to Bodie, who was waiting with hopeful blue eyes. �Yeah, I�ve got enough pluck. Have you?� Bodie beamed a smile. �Oh too right I have. Come one�let�s go.� He swallowed down the last of his beer and pushed his chair back. �But what about the birds?� Doyle asked. It would be rude to just run out and leave them. �We don�t need them anymore,� Bodie said grabbing his partner�s hand. �We have each other.� The End. Feb 2009 � Read on for Postscript Postscript - �You know Ray, there�s just one more thing.� Ray Doyle groaned, opened one eye and glared at the face on the pillow beside him. �What is it now, Bodie?� �Well, it�s about what you said before.� �Before?� Doyle made a mental assessment of their conversation or lack there of for the last forty five minutes. It had consisted mostly of ohhhs and ahhhhs and gasped out directions like harder and faster and finally Bodie calling out to the Almighty in a voice so loud it must have woken the neighbours. �Before?� Doyle blinked and asked again. �Yeah, what you said about Cowley?� �Cowley? Errr, did I say mention Cowley just now? � Bloody hell, surely he hadn�t called Cowley�s name in the heat of passion? �Not this before, you git, the other before, when we were talking about Raffles and Bunny and that friend of their�s George Crowley, the exquisite one. Remember?� �Bodie, I can barely remember my own name at the moment.� �No staying power, that�s your trouble Doyle,� Bodie sounded smug. �No stamina! I�m just about ready for round two.� �Then what the hell are we talking about Cowley for?� �Because I want to know what you meant when you said that Cowley was gay?� �I never said Cowley was gay!� �You insinuated it. You did that thing with your eyebrows, looking all smug, like you knew some dirty little secret. And then you said your lips were sealed.� Doyle was beginning to wish that Bodie�s lips were sealed. Was there any way he could possibly keep his partner quiet so he could close his eyes and enjoy the afterglow. With Bodie it was more like after burn. Doyle rolled onto his side to face his partner. �There�s nothing in it, Bodie. I was just trying to get a rise out of you.� �Yeah, well you got that, mate,� Bodie smirked. Doyle smirked back. �Reckon I can get another one?� Bodie smiled, but it quickly turned into a frown. He bit his lip and stared at the ceiling, thoughtful. �I don�t know�it�s just that�well, are you sure there�s nothing I should know about Cowley?� Doyle resisted the urge to smother his partner with a pillow. �Nothing Bodie. I made it up.� �That�s a relief then,� Bodie let out a huge breath, �I was really starting to worry.� �Were you jealous?� Doyle asked, grinning. �Jealous that I had something going on with Cowley?� �Not jealous,� Bodie said, grinning back. �But I was really worried about how I�d tell Murphy. It would break his heart if he thought the Cow was cheating on him!� Doyle narrowed his eyes, �You�re making this up, aren�t you?� �Am I?� Bodie asked, lashes fluttering. �You�ll never know, mate, because my lips are sealed.� It was a challenge, one that Doyle rose to in his usual fashion, with spit and fire and a good dose of stubbornness and in no time at all Bodie�s mouth was wide open. This time, however, Doyle had found how to keep him quiet as well. The End�..Yes, this really is the end this time. April 2009 |