《THE COUNT》

jason and justin

Jason walked in the corridor of the Marya’s house.
He searched for the room Justin was in.
There were many rooms that Justin always liked to be in.
He knew that Justin hated being in his own room,
that room was already crossed off.

Jason looked in each room,
glancing for any shadow of a young man.
Jason had not seen Justin yet,
he had yet to see how much he had matured.
It had been too long.
They had known each other for so long.
In fact, Jason was the one who introduced Justin to Andrey.

Marya had asked if she could help,
Jason refused politely.
It couldn’t be hard to find Justin.
They used to play hide and seek when Justin was a child.
He knew the favorite places he loved to hide.

Jason passed the drawing room,
there he smiled.
Justin was standing in the middle of the drawing room.
His face with a pale, yet a steady face.
Jason knew he would be in there,
but he was not hiding carefully this time.
He was hidden in plain sight.

Justin grew flustered,
when Jason appeared in the doorway.
He had extended his hands to greet him,
but thought again and pulled back his hands to himself.
Justin’s status had changed.

Jason hurried to him.
He thought he would have given him his hand.
But instead, Justin stopped.
He breathed heavily.
He didn’t know yet how to act around someone who knew him as he was.
Jason knew the extent of his “fall”.

It felt as if there was no one to offer sympathy to his standing,
in the midst of rubble…
As he is overcome with the world collapsing around him.
Justin’s thin arms were hanging lifelessly.

It was the same pose,
the pose he used to stand in as a young boy.
He did that went he to the middle of a ballroom to sing.
The Count had a beautiful that everyone loved very much.
His voice was beautiful and everyone could agree.

Though Justin stood in the same pose.
The look on his face was quite different,
very different.
It was no longer happiness or shyness.
Jason saw the different emotions through Justin.
He was angry,
embarrassed,
despair,
heartbreak,
confused,
and defiance.

Jason perceived that he was made of much more.
Much more than he ever thought he was.
Justin was reaching out for help.
The poor boy had made a terrible mistake,
he didn’t know how to fix it.

Justin looked up at Jason,
the same thing he used to as a young boy.
“Jayce Pierce Mallette.” He spoke, cupping his left on Jason’s cheek.
Jason could not believe he had called him by his real name.
Mallette was his mother’s maiden name,
he kept it since his father wouldn’t allow him name of Jason.
It wasn’t until his father died that Jason Mallette became Jason McCann.

Jason touched Justin’s hand and smiled.
No one had called Jayce in many years.
He was almost embarrassed of his real name.
“Jason.” He spoke,
letting Justin know what to call him.
Justin smiled, they were never like this before.
Jason had indicated the more personal level of contact he wished to have with him.

Justin brought down his hand from Jason’s cheek.
“Prince Bolkonsky was your friend—
I mean—
He is your friend.” Justin corrected himself.
He had made it seem like Andrey had died.
“He once told me that I should turn to you.”
Justin had started to refer for Andrey as another person of society.

Jason sniffed as he looked at Justin,
but he didn’t speak of anything.
He had reproached him and tried to despise him.
Jason liked Justin and his family.
Justin was unfaithful, like his wife.
He could not hate her,
hate was not in his nature….
despite his attempts to hate.

Now, standing in front of Justin.
He felt such pity for him.
There was no room in his for reproach.
Justin brought newness of life to everyone.
Selena brought out the worst in Jason,
by goading and humalitating him.
It made him feel things that were not in his nature.
Suddenly, just being in front of Justin…
all the anger and sense of being lost is pushed aside,
in the presence of the weeping boy.