Con Brio: Todd and Ian's story

1) Todd

"Fuck."
He mumbles it to himself as he punches his phone, to make it shut up.
"Oh, fuck."
He shakes his head as he sits up and swings his leg over the edge of his bed. His double bed, and why, actually? It's not like he wants anyone else in it anymore.
Apart from Ian. Whom he definitely can't have. Todd slaps his forehead with his flat hand and shakes his head.
Come on, you dickhead. Get your game face on.
He could cry, as he gets up. A whole week in Taiwan, sharing a room with Ian. How will he even live through that? God, he longs for the old days, the easy days, when he could just go out and fuck some random guy, take the edge off. When feelings didn't come into play. Why the fuck have they now?
He scrunches his eyes together as he passes the shaving mirror on the wardrobe.
Arsehole.
That's what he is, right? He scowls at his reflection. Pathetic arsehole, falling in love with your best friend. And then blubbering about it to your other friend, so he can worry about it too. Yeah, he hasn't missed Eddy's sympathetic glances, that would really mean something if they didn't make him feel like such an absolute wanker. He takes a deep breath and shoots into his clothes. Plane leaves in four hours, and he needs to make sure Eddy's not sleeping through the alarm.

"So, you gonna ask for a paganini with brie again, Todd?" Brett asks him, as he leads his friends through the departure hall. And it's a dare, he can hear it in Brett's favourite, deadpan tone. Eddy starts grinning straight away, of course.
"Please, Todd. You'll make my day." he says.
And look, he guesses it's his own fault, right? He's the one who made the joke in the first place, back in Perth. He shakes his head and legs it towards the panini stand.
They want jokes? They can have jokes.
A blonde girl with her hair in pigtails stands behind the counter and looks him up and down, a careful professional smile plastered on her face.
"Hi! Can I have a paganini with brie, please?" he asks her as if it's nothing.
"A what?" she asks, clearly awake now. And instantly her eyes appraise him, he can feel them running down his body as she speaks. "A fucking Paganini, mate? Maybe you should break out your violin and try that?"
"I... I don't play the violin." he says innocently, and that's it, he hears the gang start cracking up beside him. And the girl doesn't mind, clearly, her eyes glitter and he starts wondering if he's going to find a number, in with his panini in a minute.
"Looks like they do." she quips for his benefit, pointing to the violin case on Brett's back. "Any of you want to try caprice twenty four for me then?"
"No, thanks, not today." Brett manages. "You play?"
"Yeah, but I can't play Paganini or anything."

"You guys going somewhere exciting with all of those instrument cases?" she asks after a moment. Her eyes are fixed on him, only just this side of comfortable, and she holds up a bread roll to him. "Did you actually want a panini, or were you just having me on?"
"Yes, please, to the panini." Todd smiles, even though he knows it'll only egg her on. But look, what's he supposed to do?
"Would I dare to have anyone on?" he asks her in his most charming tone. "And we're going to Taiwan. We're playing Dvorak American quartet."
She slices the panini quickly and picks up a round of brie.
"Oh, that's the one with the viola solo, right?"
"Yup, that's the one." Ian says. "I'll finally know what it feels like to play a solo."
Stupidly Todd's heart skips a beat at the sound of Ian's voice. Oh, his voice. It's smooth, like butter, sonorous, like the instrument he plays. Todd looks sideways at him, smiles at his quip and tries not to ogle.
He stands in silence as the others order their paninis, pays and leads them to where he knows they'll be able to sit.

"You got away with that one nicely, Todd." Brett says as he sits down first on a plastic bench by the window. "She could have called security on you."
Todd plops down on the bench opposite and opens the napkin. Yep. There it is, a note, with a scribbled phone number and a name. Susan, she's called. Oh well. Sorry, Susan. Not this time. He pushes the note under the napkin so his friends never see it and grins at Brett.
"Of course not. Why else have I cultivated all this charm, hey?" he jokes.

Eddy is looking so happy. His dark almond eyes are glittering as he looks away, over to the tarmac where the planes take off. Todd notices how they sit, the backs of their hands touching like usual. So obvious, and yet somehow people still seem to believe they're not an item. He allows their chatter to wash over him and tunes out as he tries not to be too aware of his love, sitting down next to him and opening his own panini.