Anyway, his grandma was getting even better at pretending she didn’t see or hear anything, and, after some experimentation, Trevor had found a decent gag for Sky. G.G. was so helpful in those sorts of matters.
G.G. put his bookmark into his book and closed it, then got up to shake out his limbs, which woke Ellie, who did a big stretch before ambling over to them.
“Big stretch,” G.G. told her approvingly at the exact moment Trevor thought the same thing, and then glanced over to Trevor. He gave a start when he saw he was being smiled at and ducked down quickly to give Ellie some attention.
“You really want to do this?” Sky worried, aware of Trevor’s intention to do something slightly different on his walk today.
Trevor was anxious but said, “Yeah,” anyway. “I need to start small with the event planning. My grandma might want me to help her with these things, but I have zero experience other than making party dip.”
Sky snorted. G.G. said offhandedly, “He keeps mentioning this dip, but he’s never made it.”
Trevor rolled his eyes. “It’s so much cream cheese.”
“And artichoke?” Sky hummed. “I think it had artichoke. What… does artichoke even look like in the wild?” G.G. made a pained sound which Sky must have heard. “I’ll look it up, G.G. Don’t worry. …Didn’t realize adults needed to know about artichoke—oh, that’s weird-looking. Not at all what I expected. This is like finding out rutabagas are real and not a cartoon vegetable.”
G.G. shook his head.
As if sensing that, Sky said snippily, “Where was I supposed to learn that? I know what a radish is. They go on tacos. Will that do?”
To someone who didn’t know Sky, it might have sounded angry, not insecure and worried G.G. really did think less of him.
“I will make the dip this weekend for everyone,” Trevor promised to make them shut up about it, although it might be too warm of a day on Saturday for people to want a cheese-heavy baked dip.
“You have the menu planned? Of course, you do. But what if they don’t come? What if they see you, me, and G.G., are afflicted by a moral panic, and leave?”
Trevor looked over, met G.G.’s concerned stare, then nodded to let G.G. know he was aware of the problem.
“Sky,” Trevor said, as he’d said already a few times, “it’s a small, outdoor snack fest. Safe enough for everyone to have fun. Of course, they’ll show up, but if they don’t, it’s still not a big deal. Also… the thing we already talked about.”
G.G. exhaled heavily.
Trevor wasn’t sorry for bringing it up. He understood why G.G. would hesitate over being called endearments or touched in any sort of intimate, almost-a-boyfriend way in front of others, but he didn’t have to like it. The outside world at large would probably not be accepting, and the distance helped G.G. protect himself, or think he was protecting himself, but Trevor was still going to call G.G.babyandpoodleandGigia dozen times tonight to make up for only calling himhis friendduring the party on Saturday.
Sky hummed to himself… and to most of the garden, since Trevor’s phone was still on speaker. “Did he want to take it off? Does he miss it?”
Trevor glanced back to the window, checking for their audience before turning to a blinking, blushing, vaguely stunned Gigi baby. G.G. always seemed so surprised in these moments. It might have been Sky’s way of expressing things.
Trevor considered G.G.’s bare throat, which had not been bare the night before or that morning, as the pictures and video they’d sent Sky showed. The collar Sky was referring to was, for the moment, only for playtime, so G.G. wasn’t wearing it. Anyway, Trevor’s grandmother was sharp enough to see a band of leather around G.G.’s throat and suspect something of what it meant, and the idea of that was too much for G.G. to handle.
“I’m going to be alone with her for a week,” he’d said, looking absolutely haunted. Strangers and Sky were okay, but not Trevor’s grandma.
Trevor could understand that. Especially for G.G., who, despite his silences and accidentally fierce expressions, desperately needed her to like him.
Sky would hate being that exposed and love every second it had him writhing. He might want Trevor to order him to wear it more. Trevor would get capital L Looks from his grandma eventually unless they decided on something more discreet.
Something more permanent.
Which Trevor wasn’t thinking about, because it was far too early.
Well, he wasn’t sketching anything in the notebooks at least.
Yet.
He had other things he should be focused on anyway. Like this weekend, not just because of the party. This weekend, they would all be together again and he’d get to see both of them collared and compliant.
He closed his eyes, swallowed, then finally answered Sky. “He misses it. He keeps touching his throat as he reads.”
G.G. quickly lowered his hand when Trevor opened his eyes.
