Andante con Brio

CLXXI

He had already really been looking forward to this, but he had to admit it was an extra thrill to say hello to John through the intercom and walk into the building and up the stairs, knowing what they had just done. It was suddenly their little secret, something that only he and Brett shared. He glanced at Brett, as they stood in front of the apartment and rang the bell, and saw his feelings reflected back in his wide, floating eyes. He smiled slightly just as the door opened, then quickly turned to John.
"Hi! It's so great to be here, John. How have you been?"
"Very well. Come in, guys. This apartment belongs to a friend of mine, who is overseas. We were allowed to use it for the week."
They followed John into an airy, loft-like space, where Mark got up from a banquette by a rugged wooden table with a wide smile. 
"Hey!" he said as he quickly hugged Eddy, then Brett, as if he had known them for years. "Come in, sit down. How have you been? John says you played very well yesterday."
Eddy's eyes shot to John, but he was already walking back into the open kitchen. 
"I remember I made pasta last time and promised Chinese food the next time." he said over the wooden kitchen island, clearly leaving that topic alone. "So I figured I would stay on fairly safe ground and attempt fried rice for your discerning palats."
Brett grinned and took the chair opposite from Mark's place on the banquette. Eddy guessed it wasn't a coincidence that he was leaving the one opposite John for him. And he would have taken his hand and squeezed it in thanks, but... wait. 
The same comfortable feeling he had had in Perth that night washed over him as he realised he simply could, here. They were out, here. He sat down and happily took Brett's hand for a moment, running his thumb over the soft skin. 
"Thanks." Brett said to Mark in his calm, pleasant tone. "We're very happy to be through."
"What are you going to play in the final, have you decided?" 
Brett opened his mouth to reply, and Eddy decided to leave him to it. He got up and wandered into the kitchen. He had to say it smelled good, anyway, this Asian cuisine by the European guy. 
"Can I help with anything?" he asked politely. 
"Oh, you can put out the bowls, if you like?" John said. "And you can both drink wine this time around, right? You want to open some? If you prefer beer or soda there's some in the fridge."
"Wine's great." Eddy said as he picked up the bowls and walked back to the table to put them down. To his great joy there were chopsticks too, in a cup next to the stack of bowls. He would have hated to try and navigate rice with a fork, the pasta last time had been tough enough. He walked back and eyed the wine bottle sideways. Sure, he had opened wine bottles before, but never the dainty way. Was he about to make a fool of himself in polite company? 
John looked his way and seemed to grin as he picked up a bottle of soy sauce and squirted some into the wok. 
"So, how have you been, Eddy? How's life?"
"It's good, real good." he said as he manned up, took off the bit of aluminium from the top of the wine bottle and put the corkscrew on top of the cork. "I love it at the con, and we're sharing a house with Todd and Ian, which is great."
A flash of last night flew through his head, Ian, sick, miserable. But he shook himself out of it straight away. Now was not a time for worrying. 
"Ah, the quartet complete. How fitting." John smiled. "I hope Ian came away with a good feeling too after round two. Don't tell him this because I'm not supposed to say, but I voted for him. I remember the four of you a couple of years ago, back in our hometown. You already had good ensemble skills then. I'm sure you'll all go places."
Eddy blinked quickly. I mean, obviously he couldn't tell him how Ian had been. But...
"He'll be okay." he said. "And thanks, John. I mean... we all came away from that with such a good experience. It really helped shape us."
John looked over at the table, where Mark and Brett were now deep in discussion about music versus other art.
"Good. And can I ask, how are you doing with your mum? Does she know about you and Brett by now?"