Andante con Brio

CLXXXVI

"You sounded great!"
Anna was bounding up to them the second they were putting their violins away. From some people Eddy might have found that annoying, but Anna was nice, real nice. She was a bit like Lily, actually, chatty and kind. 
"Really? I feel like I did quite a lot of fucking up with the high notes." he told her honestly. 
"I thought you were great. You can really tell how much you've developed in the last couple of years."
"Oh wow, thanks!"
She smiled at the four of them, then pointed at the door.
"So, you guys wanna go out to lunch with a group of us older kids? We've found this really lovely place that does a great buffet."
He looked at Brett quickly, but really, did he need to? He was already game, he could tell from the little glimmer in his eyes, from the slight smile on his lips. 
"Sure, let me just check with Todd and Ian." he said. 

"She's a much nicer girl now that she has a boyfriend." Brett said, in an uncharactaristically forward, slightly amused way. They were following a group of about six kids through Taipei, and it was so cute to hear that from him that he giggled softly. Oh, he remembered well how jealous Brett had gotten, back on the field in Perth, but how he had tried to hide it, how he had been kind the whole time. Would he himself have been able to be quite so kind?
"You know what? I couldn't agree more." he said. He rubbed the back of his hand subtly against Brett's. 
You're mine, Bretty. I'm yours. No one will ever get in between that. 
He made a conscious decision, as he stepped into the restaurant the kids had walked into, to make sure he showed him that all week. 

"So, what's it like, the con?" 
Anna had taken the seat next to him at the long table, with her boyfriend on her other side. "By the way, this is Trevor."
"Hi, Trevor." Eddy said as he took the hand Trevor dangled in front of Anna. He shook it firmly.
"Hi, good to meet you."
Wait, what was that slight shadow, that passed over Trevor's face? But he had no chance to think about it, really, because Anna was already firing the next question at him. 
"What are the theory lessons like?"
Before he knew it he had launched into an explanation of his favourite place in the world, with Brett adding his insights calmly from beside him.
"The practice room system is terrible though." he told her honestly, when he was done telling her about orchestra, about theory, about solfege. "Seriously, a while ago we were practising outside on the street. But that's really the only downside I can think of, you two are going to love it there. Are you finding a room, or something?"
"Yeah, I think we get lodging or something for the first year, coming from far away."
"We have a roof terrace, Anna." Todd piped up from across the table. He was digging into an unfeasable amount of fried rice, although he was navigating his chopsticks like a pro, by now. 
"Ah! You hold barbecues on it?" she asked him. 
"We haven't yet, but that's a good point, we should."

He laughed, he smiled, and when he felt Brett's foot, under the table against his, he was even happier. Quietly he put his chopsticks on the table and his hand went underneath, where no one could see. Brett's hand was already there, waiting, warm in his, for just a second. He shot him a smile, one that hopefully told him how much he loved him. 
Brett smiled back, sweetly, gently. Eddy squeezed his hand once more and then he innocently picked up his chopsticks again.