***
Darren's mind was still in knots over breakfast. Buttering a scone and listening to the chatter around him allowed his mind to drift between thoughts, fears, ideas, and ultimately try to sort out everything he'd been thinking and feeling over the past few days.
Beside him, Giovanni and Tam were discussing how and when to set up the barbecue for tonight's dinner. It was going to be a glorious day, according to the weatherman, so they were going to have a cook out, with Grayson and Mack cooking all the non-barbecue related items in the kitchen sometime that afternoon.
To his left, Casen was talking Cormag's ear off about some sort of museum event and a matching display he wanted to set up. “It will be ground-breaking for the museum,” he insisted, with passion. “We have openly gay members of staff, both married, and I'm pretty sure that new intern guy is gay. It would be a statement to the community of Briarwood and the surrounding villages. We could even do a piece on the historic legalisation of gay marriage, all the triumphs the LGBT community have made over time. Stonewall, Compton's Cafeteria, Harvey Milk and Kathy Kozachenko,” he urged, full of excitement.
Cormag nodded along, jotting in a notebook while taking occasional bites of toast. “We'd have to include the not so good stuff, too. We have to be completely unbiased. So we have to cover the AIDS crisis, the discrimination, Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell,” he warned.
Darren could only smile when Casen practically bounced in his seat, still grinning like a loon.
“Yes, but there are victories there, as well. Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell is over. We fought and won that war,” Casen agreed, completely ignoring his glass of orange juice and the fry up Tam had set in front of him nearly five minutes ago. “And the AIDS crisis led to more open education of health and wellbeing for gay men and women. And we're very possibly on the brink of allowing gay men to donate blood. It's a time of change, Cormag. We need to celebrate that.”
The older man merely smiled and sat back in his seat, twirling his pen thoughtfully. “Yeah, I guess you're right. It's kind of nice to see you so excited about this,” he admitted, though Darren already knew that Casen was in love with his job at the museum. “Okay. We'll pitch it to the boss when we get back. I'm pretty sure Camilo will go for it, but I want you to put some stuff together when we get back; a presentation with your ideas, including where the display would go, how we'll advertise it and what topics you want to promote more than others,” he said, reverting back to his 'boss' voice, since he was still Casen's immediate line manager.
“Done. I already have so many ideas,” he promised, turning away to get back to his breakfast. He dug into the beans for two massive bites, then stopped long enough to chew and swallow, before turning Darren's way. “Will you help me with the poster ideas? You're so good at that artsy stuff and we could brainstorm this afternoon, while the manly men are busy with their cooking,” he suggested, rolling his eyes at the 'manly men' who had been talking shop all through breakfast.
Darren nodded his agreement, trying not to laugh at how his boyfriend and Casen's husband were the 'manly men' insisting they could handle everything themselves. Or how Casen's own twin was in that bunch, too. “Sure thing. I brought a sketch pad, just for doodling, so we can use that. And when we get back, I can render it all on the computer for a more precise picture, then play about with colour and effects,” he offered, since he was getting good at that.
Giovanni had bought him a program just last Christmas, that let him manipulate photos and, along with their subscription to a stock photo website, Darren was able to make all of their book covers himself, with the author's input. Even with the cost of the subscriptions and the software, he hadn't expected that one little thing to save them so much money, but it really had. Now they could funnel that back into promotions and blog tours.
“That would be amazing!” Casen gushed, like an excited kid planning a big party extravaganza. “I need all the help I can get. My head is buzzing with ideas and I might not have time to get them all down on paper if I do it myself,” he admitted, as though time was of the essence and waiting any longer would be a total disaster. “I know what Camilo is like; he'll try to get a quick meeting arranged, to catch me off guard and save himself the hassle. But not this time.” Casen brandished his fork at Cormag. “You have my back and with Darren's talents on the pictures, this is going to be a kickass presentation. Camilo willnotfob me off,” he argued, as though that was actually going to happen.
Cormag laughed at the same time Darren started; it seemed Casen had found something to be passionate about and wasn't going to let anyone get in his way. And, considering what his plan was, Darren was all for it. Full steam ahead and tally ho.
