The Talk

by Nelson



"Vic?"

"Hmmmm?" Vic mumbled from his reclined position on the couch, legs stretched out full-length and a throw pillow cradling his head.

Wedging his way onto the edge of the sofa next to Vic, Ben chunked his lover in the ribs with the tip of his forefinger. Vic cracked an eye open at the interruption of his catnap and he saw his partner come into focus. "Hi," he said as the fog lifted and he entwined his fingers with Ben's. "How was the library?"

"Fine." Ben ran the pad of his thumb over the rough edge of Vic's thumbnail.

Vic tugged at the hand in his, feeling his way blindly with his eyes back in a closed position. He pooched his lips toward Ben and returned a smiling kiss when he felt Ben's lips connect with his own. "Good day?" he asked.

"It was okay."

Vic peeked at him one-eyed again and said, "What's up?"

"Um…Do you feel like talking?" Vic's other eye fluttered open with the question and he viewed Ben speculatively. A talking Ben demanded Vic's full attention.

"What's the matter?" Vic asked, fully awake and rising up on his elbows to see Ben.

Maggie danced around Ben's feet and when insistent scratching on his calf didn't work, resorted to jumping up on the sofa beside him to get the attention she deserved. Ben dug his fingers into her fur, scratching her in that sweet spot behind her ears that made her close her eyes in canine bliss.

"Nothing's the matter," Ben said with what sounded to Vic like a manufactured casual tone. "I just want to talk about something."

Vic swung his legs over the edge of the sofa behind Ben, pirouetting himself into a sitting position. "You never want to talk," Vic pointed out.

"That's not true," Ben disagreed in self-defense. He moved Maggie to his lap and scooted back against the sofa just as Vic threw his arm up to catch him around the shoulders.

"Okay, if you say so," he teased. "What do you want to talk about?"

Ben shrugged and gave Maggie his full attention. "It's… it's about…" He sighed and leaned his head back onto Vic's arm. "I don't know."

"Well, I certainly don't know. What is it? Don't leave me hanging in suspense."

Maggie decided she needed to see Vic and she walked across the uneven terrain that was Ben's lap over to Vic, stepping squarely in Ben's crotch along the way. "Hey!" he gasped, helping her over to Vic's lap with one hand while protecting himself with the other. Maggie looked at him questioningly, then curled up in Vic's lap when it looked like Ben was going to live despite his outburst. "You gotta watch the jewels, girl," Ben warned with another pet to her head.

Vic laughed and took over the duty of ear scratching while waiting for Ben to gather his thoughts. A frown creased Ben's forehead, but he still hadn't spit out the topic of discussion. Vic prompted, "What's on your mind?"

Ben swallowed, wiped his palms down the fronts of his jeans, and took a deep breath. "It's… it's about," he stammered with another swipe along his thighs, "about… crap, it's about discipline." He shrank back from Vic, watching him carefully as though metering his reaction.

Vic searched Ben's eyes, struggling to make no sudden assumptions or judgments, yet… found himself extremely curious. "Okay," Vic answered slowly, intrigued. "What about it?"

"I think we need to change it up a bit… like…"

"Like…?"

"Like…less CP," Ben said.

Vic's eyes narrowed and they drilled Ben for answers. "That's not a problem for me, Benji. You know how to keep from getting spanked, don't you?" Vic responded frankly.

Ben slapped his own leg and said with a frustrated huff, "That's *not* what I mean. I mean… less as in… none."

Nodding understanding, Vic asked, "Any particular reason you might be bringing this up now?" His right eyebrow traveled up his forehead in cadence with the upturned end of the sentence.

Ben examined his fingernails rather than look at Vic. He said, "This is hard enough to talk about without you accusing me of stuff, you know."

"I'm not accusing, I'm just asking," Vic said. "So… Is there a reason?"

"I just think it's time. That's all." Ben picked a dog hair off his jeans and absently rubbed his fingers against each other and it floated weightlessly to the floor.

"I don't understand what brought on this conversation. What's going on?"

"Nothing. I just… I don't like it," Ben said.

Vic crooked his arm around Ben's shoulders and pulled Ben to him, kissing the side of his head firmly. With his lips right by Ben's ear, he said with a chuckle, "That's the point."

Ben's face flushed scarlet and he pushed Vic away. "Really, Vic. I think we should talk about it."

"You're serious," Vic said in wonder. "Nothing's driving this? Nothing in particular?"

"I'd just like to try it… without, without…you know."

"No spanking," Vic blurted, eliciting an immediate grimace from his partner. "You only want to change that aspect of our relationship?"

"Well… for starters. We'll see how that goes?"

Vic shifted on the sofa to look at Ben and took his hand. "Benji, I'm not sure about this." He shook his head. "I don't know… I don't want to rush into a decision like this. I'd like to think about it. Okay?"

Ben swallowed and said, "Well… how long?"

"How long have *you* been thinking about this? Since the last time you got in trouble?"

"No!" Ben said with another flush. "I've just been kicking it around."

"How long?"

"Not sure," Ben offered without commitment.

"You must have some idea," Vic said. "A month? A week?" Ben pulled Maggie off Vic's lap without answering and Vic continued, "A day? A few hours? Thirty seconds?"

"Stop it, Vic."

Sensing a catalyst for this current conversation, Vic opened the door for Ben to tell all. "Confession is good for the soul, Benji."

Ben muttered so quietly, Vic almost missed it, "Not for the behind, though."

Vic stared at Ben for a few long seconds, then tapped Ben's knee and said, "Benjamin. Look at me." He waited for Ben to lift his chin and a frown crossed his face as he made eye contact. The expression was all the confirmation Vic needed. "I want to know what's going on. Right now."

Ben opened his mouth to answer but the ringing phone interrupted any semblance of an explanation he was planning to offer. "Phone," he said with a half-smile and an expression of relief.

"Don't go away," Vic said, stretching to reach the phone. "You might be saved by the bell, but it's temporary. We aren't finished with this conversation." Ben laid his head back on the sofa and stared at the ceiling while Vic answered the phone, cutting off the fourth ring in mid-bleep. "Hello? Hi, Zach. Yes, he's here. We're sort of in the middle of something…" He paused thoughtfully and watched Ben as he spoke. "Okay, but keep it short, please."

Ben leaned up and looked at Vic, eyes wide with surprise as he was handed the phone in the middle of their unfinished conversation. Vic said, "Make it quick. He said it's important."

Ben held the phone to his ear and said, "Hey, Zach." Ben's eyes darted over to Vic and then down at the dog. "Yeah…really?" Ben stopped and cleared his throat. "What did you say?" he asked casually. Ben went silent as he listened and with another quick look at Vic, he said, "I'm not sure. Can I call you back?"

"What was that about?" Vic asked as Ben hung up the phone.

"It's… private?" Ben raised his eyebrows and leaned away from Vic.

"Private for Zach or private for you?" Ben's right shoulder lifted in reply causing Vic's eyebrow to do the same. "Private conversations *and* major changes to our relationship? Why is it I feel there's something I should know here?" The silence was deafening, broken by an equally loud, exasperated sigh from Vic. "Benjamin, you have three seconds to spill."

Nothing.

"One."

Ben frowned, unresponsive, eyes fixed on the daisy arrangement on the center of the coffee table.

"Two."

Ben looked cautiously at Vic, and Vic paused counting for about a beat and a half in hopes that Ben was ready to talk. Wrong.

"Thr-"

"Okay!"

"-ee," Vic finished. Vic cut his eyes sideways at Ben and said, "That was extremely close, Benjamin." His brows rose in a mixture of equal parts rapt attention and warning.

"Sorry, I'll tell you."

Vic eyed his partner speculatively, but aside from stopping the countdown, Ben wasn't giving up the goods. It must be horrible if it was bad enough for Ben to try to change one of the basic tenets of their relationship, Vic thought. Patience running low, and anticipation high, he said, "I'm waiting, Ben."

With a nervous check of Vic's face, Ben cleared his throat and said quietly, "I lost my phone."

"Lost your…" Vic paused in shock. "LOST your phone?!"

"I KNEW you were going to be mad!"

"*That* is not what I'm mad about."

"Then…why?" Ben asked.

"In a minute," Vic said, with a halting palm raised to Ben. "How did it happen?"

"It's really not an issue now, because we found it. That's why Zach called."

"The lost phone is not my main concern right now. I just want the details of why a missing phone could push you to try to change our relationship." Ben swallowed hard as though a golf ball was stuck in his throat but didn't say a word. "Benjamin, I'm not counting again," Vic warned.

Ben quickly began to talk. "Zach and I were at the library, and I just… I guess I forgot and left it on the table. It was gone by the time I realized it and we called the library."

"And you thought I would spank you over it," Vic stated the facts of the matter, point by pointed point. "You accidentally left your phone at the library and you thought that was enough for a spanking. That's why you wanted to change our relationship."

Ben shifted a bit on the sofa as though trying to get comfortable. "*I* didn't know what you'd do. I'm not a mind reader."

Vic sighed. "Even if that's what I thought needed to happen, that's no reason for you to make me think you were unhappy with how our relationship works."

"Yes, it was," Ben said. "I didn't want to get in trouble."

"When you're in it is not the time to negotiate changes."

"Seemed like the right time to me," Ben mumbled quietly.

"Ben," Vic said disbelieving. "Did you *really* think you were going to be spanked for accidentally losing your phone?"

"I don't *know*. I guess so." He exhaled heavily. "I wasn't thinking straight, all right?! I was upset over losing my phone, I guess."

Vic took Ben's hand, stilling the nervous fingers drumming a beat on his thigh. "I can live with you losing the phone, Benjamin. I'm not happy about it but it's just a thing. What really disappoints me is you trying to manipulate us, our relationship, to get out of trouble. Trouble you weren't even in."

"I'm sorry," Ben said, unable to meet Vic's eye. "I just didn't want to be punished tonight."

"You know me well enough to know I wouldn't have spanked you over the phone."

"I do?"

"Are you serious, Ben?" Vic asked in surprise. "It was an oversight."

"I was afraid you'd say I was being irresponsible or something."

"Have you ever lost your phone before?"

"No."

"Have we ever had a problem with you keeping up with your phone at all?" Vic asked. "Ever?"

"N…no," Ben stammered, curious at the line of questioning.

"Did you leave it at the library on purpose?"

"No!"

"Then why would you think I'd spank you over a mistake like that?"

Light dawned and Ben said, "I don't know. I just… I thought you might, I guess. I didn't want to take the chance I was wrong. And Zach got me all worked up, too." He grumbled under his breath, "I'm going to kill him one day."

Vic shook his head and checked the ceiling. "When are you going to stop listening to him?"

"*Right* now! I swear!" Ben said emphatically. "Except, he did have one good idea."

"What's that?"

"He's the one who said I should suspend the account since the phone was gone. The woman who has my phone called him. She wouldn't have if I hadn't closed the account, I'll bet."

"Good. Glad to hear it," Vic said, not the least bit concerned with the phone. His concern was much different. "Now, about this proposed change of yours with our relationship…"

Ben shifted on the sofa and answered, "Oh. That."

"Yeah, that. I don't expect perfection from you Ben. I never have," Vic said. "But I do expect honesty. Not conniving. That, I won't have and you know it."

"I wasn't conniving! I was just… trying to… just in case…"

"Well, you managed to work yourself into exactly what you were trying to avoid," Vic said.

"Wait a minute, Vic!" Ben said as Vic pushed him to his feet, Maggie jumping down with the motion. "The phone isn't lost anymore so it really doesn't matter!"

"This isn't about the phone and you know it." Vic reached behind the sofa and twisted the wand on the window blinds, shutting out the light and view inside the den.

"But…! Vic!"

Vic looked up at him expectantly and tapped the buckle of Ben's belt. "Drop 'em."

"Okay, thanks for your help," Vic said before he hung up the phone. "Okay, the police said for us to call the woman back and set up a meeting with her to buy the phone like she asked."

"I don't want to meet her, I just want my phone back," Ben said through a stuffy nose.

"We don't have much choice. They suggested Zach go with you," Vic said. He picked up the discarded jeans from the floor and folded them neatly before placing them on the coffee table.

"Nelson will never go for that," Ben said.

"We can talk to him about it. The cops will be there so he might be okay with it." Ben's shoes lay in a pile where he had kicked them off and Vic placed them upright and side by side out of the walkway in front of the sofa. "They think she's likely harmless anyway, and all this could be on the up and up. If so, then she's a victim like us."

"But stupid," Ben interjected. "Why would anyone buy a phone off the street for $50 when you can get them for free all day long with a new service agreement?"

That was the part that didn't add up to Vic. With no service agreement, the woman had to know someone would be paying the bill and that someone wasn't her. She had waited to call Zach after the phone was shut down, not just as a "customer service" out of concern that it might be stolen and not just "found" like the seller claimed. Why didn't it occur to her before the service was suspended that the owner might want the phone back? It just smacked of something fishy.

"I know. That's a big clue that she's not so innocent. Her story just doesn't make sense. How did she know to check for a number before the phone was cut off? Does the phonebook even work after that?"

"I don't know. Zach just said she told him she had seen his number a lot. She didn't say when." Ben rolled from his side to lay stretched out, facedown on the sofa, cupping the throw pillow under his head. "I don't know whether to feel sorry for her or be mad at her." Reaching a hand back, he rubbed carefully at the cotton seat of his boxers and added, "If she stole it, I know exactly how I'll feel. Pissed off. Royally."

Vic didn't comment, but he noticed the rueful rub. "I'm going back and forth, too, but I'm leaning toward thinking she's involved and not so innocent," Vic said as he headed to the kitchen. He wasn't gone long, and he returned with a tall glass of Dr. Pepper that he placed on a coaster in front of Ben. "Here you go."

Ben roused and sat up, wincing slightly as he did so. "Thanks," he said, taking a long drink of the soda.

"Are you ready to call her back?" Vic asked as he hitched his pants and sat beside Ben.

"Not really, but," Ben nodded, "let's do it."

"This is just like a movie or something," Zach said.

"I wish it was a movie," Ben said, nervously tapping the steering wheel. He cracked the window to let in some air to cool him off from the sun pounding through the car window. "Makes me nervous."

"Quit sweating."

"It's the sun!"

Zach cut a glance at Ben who was intently looking out the window. "Sure it is."

"I think that's her. That's the car."

Zach looked across the parking lot and saw a navy blue Grand Am pull in with a heavyset woman behind the wheel. "Good luck, buddy."

Ben took a deep breath and exited his car. He checked over his shoulder to be sure the unmarked police car was still parked where it was supposed to be before he got too close to the Pontiac. The nearer he got to the car, the more he wondered if this had been a good idea. It was Vic's decision to call the cops and it seemed like a good idea at the time.

"Just in case," he had said.

Yeah, just in case. "How about just in case I need a little stress in my life," he muttered to himself. "We should have just bought another damn phone."

As he got closer, he noticed the woman behind the glass of the driver's side window looked harmless enough. Hell, he knew he could outrun her if he needed to. It didn't look like running was a habit of hers. He started to feel guilty about assuming the worst of the poor woman. She looked… downright innocent. "Hi," he said as the window went down.

"Hi," she said. "I'm sorry I have to do this, I just can't be out the $50. You understand."

"Yeah, I do." He didn't necessarily like being out $50 either. "I'm glad you called my friend so I could get my phone back. Fifty dollars is cheaper than a new one."

She smiled warmly. "Glad to help."

But not glad enough to hand over the phone before she had the cash in her hot little fat hands, Ben thought. "Thanks a lot," he said, pocketing the phone after a quick check to be sure it was his. He passed the police on his way back to his car and he gave them a quick nod.

The police were still talking to the woman wedged behind the wheel of the Grand Am as Ben pulled away.

"That sorry, thieving, bit -"

"Ben," Vic warned calmly. "Watch it."

"Well, she is!" he said. He scrubbed vigorously at the outside skin of another potato then tossed it onto the paper towel in front of Vic. "I can't believe that cow stole my phone then suckered us into paying for it!"

Vic picked up the abused vegetable and started peeling it. "She's been busted and we have the phone back. It worked out."

Ben shut off the water and turned to Vic, hands dripping and hovering over the potato bag. "I don't believe you're so calm about this."

Vic pulled a potato out of the bag and placed it in Ben's waiting hand then turned the water back on, pointing him toward the tap. "No sense in getting worked up about it. We did the right thing, even if she didn't."

Ben turned his attention to the potato and drifted off in thoughtful silence. An elbow to his side drew him back to the present. "You're killing that potato. We already have one casualty," Vic said, taking the second potato from Ben. "I think it's clean."

"I wonder if she'll go to jail?"

"She actually might. It's not like she hasn't had fair warning."

"I can't believe she's done it before. And been caught. There are better ways to make money," Ben said.

"Not to mention 'legal' ways."

Finished with the potato cleaning, Ben leaned a hip against the counter as he worked a towel over his wet hands. "I really don't want to go to court, Vic. It feels weird."

"I know," Vic said with a wink. "You'll be fine."

"Can't you come, too?"

"I'll try to, but if I can't, I know you'll be fine."

Ben tossed the towel over the dish drainer and said, "I guess."

"I know you will be," Vic said, leaning over to drop a kiss on Ben's cheek. "Turn the burner on medium, would you?"

Ben twisted the dial on the stove, heating up the burner under the pan Vic had put on the stove. "What a mess for a stupid mistake."

"Just a mistake, Benji. There's nothing stupid about it or you. Far from it."

"Yeah, well," Ben said, pulling out a chair at the kitchen table, "stupid or not, I'll bet you money I never lose my phone again."

Vic grinned over his shoulder at his lover and said, "Sucker's bet."

"Part of me hopes she gets in big trouble. She got *me* in big trouble."

Vic dumped the slices of potatoes into the hot pan of grease and turned to Ben with his brows raised high. "*Who* got you in big trouble?"

"She did," Ben said with a pout.

"Who?" Vic said stealthily rounding on his partner.

"She did!" Ben persisted, his pout changing to a poorly hidden grin that grew with Vic's approach.

Leaning over directly in front of Ben and tipping his face up with a gentle grip of his chin, Vic asked again, "*Who* got you in trouble?" Ben's only reply was his Cheshire grin. "Benjamin David…"

"Okay, *I* got me in trouble," he conceded, "but *she* started it."

Vic said with a smile of his own, "As long as I finished it."

"It's finished," Ben said confidently, and Vic gave him a quick peck, satisfied with the answer.



~~The End - Well, they said it was finished!