Con Brio: Todd and Ian's story

8

He has to stop himself from grinning as he sees the boys approaching their table. Eddy is looking radiant, this morning, and so is Brett, but there is something very telltale about Brett's gait. Nothing anyone else would ever notice, of course, but Todd has a more than practised eye, so he knows instantly why he's walking like that.
Well, good for them. He smiles to himself and waves at his friends. 
"Well, you two look like you had a great night's sleep." he says dryly as they get to their table. 
"Fuck off." Brett retorts good-naturedly. "I'm going to grab some coffee, Eddy, you want some?" 
"Yeah, sure."

He watches after them as they walk off to the buffet and start loading plates with Asian stuff. He himself has stayed with some buttered toast and scrambled egg, but Ian is trying some of the rice balls. 
"Are they good?" he asks, and Ian nods with his mouth full. 
Now, Ian is always quiet, but today Todd doesn't think he's said five words since he zipped up his viola case. Is he okay? He eyes him worriedly, but Ian isn't looking at him, but at the rice balls. 
"So, what time do we have to be there?" he asks Eddy as he sits down with a huge plate of food and sips his coffee.
"Eleven, I think. I'm really curious about the orchestra."
"Oh yeah, didn't the concert master have a thing for you?"
The second he says it he wishes he hadn't, because he sees Eddy's face fall. Oh, Eddy, sweet, innocent Eddy, who never sees when girls, or guys for that matter, are interested. Which happens plenty, because let's face it, he's plenty cute. In a fraternal sort of way. 
"Oh, shut up. I don't know if she's even still there." Eddy says as his cheeks get red. 
"It does seem to be Eddy getting all of the attention." Ian teases suddenly, and Eddy gets redder. He doesn't respond though, he just sighs and digs into his food. And Todd lets it be. 

It's gorgeous, the music school where the rehearsals are held. Big, wooden doors, everything carved and ornate. He tries to soak it all up, tries to remember where he is. 
"I wonder if the orchestra is here yet." he says as he steps over the threshold. "And Mr. Davids."
As if on cue, John steps out from a side chamber into the large, marble hall.
"Ah, guys! I'm so glad you made it on time. Come, and see the hall we've been rehearsing in. Did you have a good flight?"
"John, hi! Thanks again for having us. It's been great so far!" Eddy says. He takes John's hand and shakes it enthusiastically.
"Good! The orchestra is already setting up. You can just sit and listen in for a while, and then at twelve o'clock we'll do the first run through of your piece."
Todd nods at John and follows the group through the building into a hall, where an orchestra is tuning. He sits down next to Ian and watches in silence. 
John is very competent, clearly. He knows exactly what he wants, and gets it, all the while being friendly as anything. Just how you need to be, to be a conductor. He's real cute, too. Yeah, sure, he's like twenty years older, but if he were single, he wouldn't mind giving that one a try, just for the night. Todd lets his eyes wander freely over John's pert backside with a slight smile, and then scans the orchestra. A lot of the faces are still the same as in Perth, he thinks. 

Todd wouldn't mind conducting an orchestra like this one, one day. Would he be any good at it though? He has no idea.