Jay's Fantastical Sleepover Extravaganza

Stanley leaving provided the exact opportunity Benji wanted. But first, he picked up the knick-knack that fell off the dresser. It was some kind of prism split into four chambers filled with green liquid, clear liquid, and glitter. "What's this?"

"I don't know what it's called, but you flip it over and it's kinda like a lava lamp, kinda like a snow globe. There's quite a few around me room." Jay pointed to various ones on his headboard and music shelf. "Most are from me sista. She knows 'ow much I fancy them."

He tipped it over, and it functioned exactly like Jay said. "Huh."

"This one's quite mesmerizing, I find." Jay's hands followed Gumbo as she slinked around his shoulders and arms. "Though Kamala says I 'ave magpie-like tendencies when it comes to sparkly objects, ahaha~"

"No, I can see myself havin' one o' these on my work desk." Benji tipped it over again.

"Really?" A bright, gap-toothed smile crossed Jay's face. He circled him like a giddy shark. "Forgive the excitement, but it's an honor to finally meet you in the flesh. The man, the myth, the legend, Benji the Bold!"

Benji ran a hand over his hair. He felt his cheeks turn red. "Aww, does Stan really call me that?"

"Oh no, that's me own nickname. But it's clear 'e cares about you very much. Your confidence, your adventurous spirit, your ability to find 'ope in even the bleakest situations and carve your path with your own two 'ands, you're a real man's man!" Jay held his sunglasses for dear life while Gumbo tried to knock them off. "You'd be a treasured friend in anyone's 'eart."

Benji started to feel sorry for Kenji. This guy could turn a stone face into a heat lamp. "Ah geez, you're gonna make me blush!" He had to get a hold on this conversation before Jay flattered him into the ground. "Besides, you know how humble Stan can be, he probably downplays how much he's steered me on the right track."

"'E doesn't 'ave to tell me. I experience it firsthand." Jay set Gumbo back in her tank. Benji noticed a small card above it that read 'Gumbo's Place' in cursive. "Though 'e does make note of times where 'e's saved your skin, just a little."

That got a laugh out of Benji. Stanley's humility only went so far.

"I was just talking wiv some of the lads about Stanley's virtues, 'is kindness, 'is level head, 'is patience for even the most pitiful creatures." Jay listed all the things Benji missed every day. "Rehearsals aren't always roses, but I look forward to them knowing 'e's there. Meeting 'im 'as changed me for the better."

"Yeah, he has that effect..."

"I can't thank 'im enough." Jay clasped his hands together. "To be honest, I was 'oping the two of us would get a moment alone. There's somefing I'd like to say."

Benji adjusted his glasses, intrigued. "I was thinkin' the same."

"If I may," Jay's hands nervously brushed over each other, "I'd like to say me piece first."

"Floor's yours."

"It's clear to me that you and Stanley balance each other very well. You've been by each other's side nearly all your lives." He lifted his head. "To come between you is somefing I regret deeply. Words aren't enough, but I offer my sincerest apologies."

It took a lot to get Benji misty-eyed. This was a lot. Honestly, he held some resentment, though he was never sure if it was for Jay or himself for urging Stanley to take this job. Either way, he never expected a kid like him to understand what he came between. Not until now.

He managed to gulp down the lump in his throat. "Thanks... Thanks a lot."

"Did you 'ave somefing to say?" Jay's soft voice didn't make it easier.

"Yeah, uh, listen," Benji wiped his eyes, "you seem like the kinda guy who keeps a lot of secrets."

"I'm up to me ears in 'em."

His eyes fell on the safe. "I can see that. You got enough people pryin' into your business as it is, so I get it. But you of all people should know how tiring it is keeping things locked up."

"Do I ever, haha! Haaa..."

"All I ask," Benji took off his glasses, "is if there's someone in your life who you think is keeping something from you, and you know what it is, let 'em know they can confide in you. Or just tell 'em that you know."

Jay's lips pressed into a thin line and stayed that way for a moment. "I can do that." He nodded. "Yeah, I can do that."

Benji put his glasses back on, breathing a sigh of relief knowing that this charade might end soon. He tipped the trinket in his hand over again. "One other thing I've always been curious about."

"Yes?" Jay looked away from adjusting Gumbo's tank.

"How'd your folks find Stanley, anyway? It must've been difficult to track him down."

"Oh, I assure you it was, but," he pushed up his glasses, "that was all my doing, actually."

"What??" Benji nearly dropped the trinket. "How'd'ja manage?"

"I've an interest in older movies." Jay busied himself with the tank again. "And a perk of being famous is that I stumble across people who know people who know people. So I asked around, just as a curious young lad at first. People always mentioned the two of you together."

"Heh, of course they did."

"Eventually, I was pointed to 'Awaii, but wiv no reason to go there, I was flat stuck. Though as luck would 'ave it, we ended up doing a special performance there." He chuckled to himself. "Oh, I drove me family bonkers wiv that search. I managed to bug me management into giving me a little extra time to look, under the condition that it provided results of course."

"Results huh? I'm guessin' they wanted you to find him?" That seemed like a tall order to Benji.

"And for 'im to agree to work with us." Jay's fingers tapped together. "I was combing through phone books, census records, and I think I managed to find one of your old addresses, but curiously, no one knew where you went."

"Wow, you really dug around, huh?" Benji's laugh hopefully covered up his shock.

"Time is money, haha! And just as I was starting to run out of time, I 'eard of a boat that took people to a place called–that island where you live."

"Jiyukoku."

"Right! I looked into it, and in a last-ditch effort, sent me letter wiv the nice boater 'oping 'e could get it over to Stanley." Jay shook his hands together. "Oh, you wouldn't believe 'ow 'appy I was upon getting his response!"

"I feel like I can..." Maybe Benji didn't have the right to judge, running the business that he did, but something about that situation didn't sit right. He could discuss that with Stanley some other time. "Speakin' of Jiyukoku, you should swing by sometime. A buncha people would be willing to pay for a concert."

"Oh, I'd love to, but I'd rather not outshine your lads, heheh." declined Jay.

"How thoughtful. Well, maybe you can just come to hang out!"

"'Ang out? I'd 'ave to run that by me management team, and I can't imagine them saying yes. Time is money, and all that."

"Judging by this mansion, you've got loads of money." Benji held his arms out. "A week or two off in Jiyukoku shouldn't set you back much. The fresh air'll recharge you for your next projects, and we've got a ban on paparazzi!"

Jay turned to him. "A ban?"

"Yeah, there was an incident around the time Kenji was still performing. Had 'em banned ever since. The public is also pressured to give celebs a safe distance."

"That all sounds quite nice, but me management still won't let me."

"If push comes to shove, you can always ditch 'em. Run off and make your own vacation days." Benji pitched the idea in a joking way. "Last I checked, it's not a crime. And if they're making a fraction as much as you do, they're more than well off!"

"Oho, what a silly idea, Benji!" Jay clapped. "Besides, It's the other way around."

"What's the other way around?"

"I make a fraction of what they do. They section off a bit for me to use every so often. It's still a lot."

Benji squinted. "Like an allowance?? What are they, your parents?"

The sheepish grin on Jay's face answered the question exactly as he feared. "Eheh, it's a bit embarrassing at this age to go around saying 'Mummy and Daddy paid for me 'ouse,' 'Mummy and Daddy paid for me plane,' etcetera."

Technically, that's the same arrangement the boys had with Benji, but that's because most of the money went into food, utilities, and The Bakery's upkeep. Even still, he was in the middle of drafting new contracts to give the older boys the choice to pay for that stuff. He couldn't wrap his head around the money Jay's parents must've been raking in.

"Though it's not in me contract, I'm told not to mention details like this on the chance that it reaches the ears of some greedy manager who'll take advantage of me." Jay touched his pointer fingers together. "But you're not one of those right?"

"I wouldn't hear the end of it from Stanley."

"Good. Running away's a funny idea, though, haha~"

Just as the conversation came to a pause, the hallway door opened again.

Stanley came back in. "Looks like fried rice is on the menu."

"Oh goodie!" Jay did a dainty little golf clap. "'Ow long do you think it'll take? I still need to clean me bafroom."

"You should have time."

"Jolly good, jolly good." He started to leave, catching himself on the doorway. "If you need me, just call from the 'allway."

Benji wandered back out into the hallway in order to get another look at it.

"Oh, there's me umbrella!" Jay reemerged with the umbrella. "Must've forgotten to bring it back after me shower. I 'ate to be a bovver, but could you put this by me bed for me please?"

Benji took it. "Why would you need an umbrella in a shower? You know the water's supposed to hit you, right?"

"Ahahaha! Of course, of course. I 'ave a special one for this part of the 'ouse in case of a rainy day."

Stanley shared Benji's confusion. "It's not gonna rain in here."

"If an intruder comes, it will rain... pain, haha!" Jay laughed triumphantly. "'Opefully, Kenji won't need it tonight, but if 'e feels inclined, there's a book 'e can read for tips on 'ow to use it."

"Wouldn't a baseball bat be easier?" Benji re-entered the room while Stanley entered the hall. He placed the umbrella by the music shelf. On the bed's headboard, a few books caught his attention: Pythons, Milk Snakes, and Boas, Oh My!, The Big Book O' Bri'ish Slang, and Rain of Pain: A Beginner's Guide to Umbrella Combat.

"A baseball bat could be used against me. An umbrella? Not so easily!"

Stanley leaned against the hallway wall, cool as a cucumber. "Say, Jay, what's with this other locked door? Is it a closet?"

"Oh no, nothing like that. In fact, it leads to nowhere at all."

"Nowhere at all? Then why is it locked?"

Instead of tuning into that conversation, Benji's ears tuned into another.

"There's a door behind this door." Nicky's voice came from behind the wall.

"You say that like that's a normal thing to have in your house!" Maxy's followed. "Hey, you're not normal. You have an idea of why this exists, or what?"

Nicky took a moment to respond. "We're in the door's room and we're invading its space. We should leave."

"C'mon, can't we knock first? Maybe someone's in there!" Maxy knocked. "Anyone there??"

"Huh?" Stanley stumbled out of his pose.

"No!" Benji shouted back. "No one's here!"

"Oh, okay, sorry to bother you." Nicky replied. "Let's go, Maxy."

"Was someone at the back door?" Jay's voice shook.

"Yeah, don't worry, I shooed them away." Benji peeked out to see that Jay traded his green gloves for disposable cleaning gloves. There was something funny about seeing someone so dressed up carrying a toilet brush.

"Agh, dagnabbit, why didn't I think to lock the second door?" Jay retreated back into the bathroom. "'Opefully I remember to take care of that when I show Kenji around. Maybe I should put a cardboard cutout of meself in there to throw someone off. Anywho, who was it? Maxy and Nicky?"

"Yeah, sounded like 'em." answered Stanley.

"I'll 'ave to thank them for discovering that flaw. Better them than an intruder. Besides, they're fun lads."

"Say, I've been meaning to ask, how do you feel about tonight? This is a lot of people to be havin' in your house at once when you normally don't deal with guests."

"I'm honestly glad there's so many of you." The sink turned on, and Jay's voice picked up. "You can keep each other entertained. I'm still nervous. When am I not, ahaha? But I'm more afraid of me own self than anyone else."

"Why's that?" asked Benji.

"As I mentioned before, I 'ave a tendency to get caught up in things." The sink turned off. "I try to keep people from finding out 'ow much. The only way I've managed so far is by keeping a distance, 'oling meself up in secluded rooms, going 'ome early from parties, and the like."

Stanley's eyebrows raised. "Oh wow, Jay, I didn't know it was like that."

"Yeah. Me bruvva and sista 'ave always been able to be more social. I feel left behind." Jay scrubbed something. "But that's why tonight is a blessing! I don't 'ave much choice, haha! The only problem is, I may need to come back 'ere a few times, and if left to me own devices, I worry I may never leave. So if I'm gone for more than five, ten minutes, will you give a knock?"

"Sure thing."

"I'll make it extra loud for ya!" Benji promised.

"Heheh, thank you!" Jay scampered across the hallway as soon as the rumbling from the laundry room stopped. "I'm so glad I've enlisted your 'elp."

Anything to give this kid a chance to grab the reins of his own life.

For the next few minutes, Jay stayed fairly quiet as he went back to cleaning. Fine with Benji! That just left him more attention he could spend on his husband. He and Stanley chattered among themselves, and with the two of them together, even the stuffy hall and strange room at the end of it could feel like home. Almost.

Benji begrudgingly acknowledged that it might take Jay some time and the right moment to make good on his promise. Stanley made no moves to ask him any questions. Each moment the couple had to hide their love wore at Benji like sandpaper. Still, he understood this was a delicate matter to the others. He understood, even though the obvious answer at this point was just to say something already!

Stanley knocked on the wall beside the bathroom. "Jay? You close to finishin' that bathroom?"

After a few confused grunts, and the yanking around of curtains, Jay stumbled out of the bathroom. "Actually, it might be a good time for you to 'ave a proper gander at it, heheh."

He courteously backed into the laundry room, allowing Benji and Stanley to take a look.

"Nice lookin' bathroom." Stanley stepped in first. "I can't see anything that needs more cleaning. I'd say you did good."

"Yeah, it looks good to me!" Benji offered his opinion, even though he had less standards. He'd never seen a mirror with a curtain before.

"Excellent!" Jay slipped off his cleaning gloves. "There's one last thing I want to do in me own room, and then we can be on our way."

"You might wanna fix up your hair in the meantime." advised Stanley. "Your bangs are a little messy."

"O-Oh. Yes. I will fix me 'air in the mirror." Jay took a deep breath and marched into the bathroom while the other two backed out. His bare fingers meticulously swept strands of hair into place, with the concentration of a bomb defuser.

"I couldn't help but notice that bottle on the sink." Benji pointed it out.

"Yeah, I didn't know you used cologne." Stanley piped in.

"Oh, that!" Jay snapped out of a daze, his hand hovering near a strand sticking out in the back. He slapped it away and started washing his hands. "That's what I used for Kenji's letter. You're aware of that, aren't you Benji? It's coffee scented."

Benji and Stanley stared at each other with bug eyes. A perfumed letter? Jay laid it on thicker than a phonebook. What Benji would've given to see Kenji's reaction to that.

"I thought I smelled coffee when I went to check on Kenji..." Stanley tapped Benji on the shoulder as if he weren't already trying his hardest to keep it together.

Jay dried off his hands and put his gloves back on. "I can't believe 'e's in me 'ouse, hahahaha!" He shut the mirror curtain. "I'm pretty sure 'e figured out that I sent 'im everyfing, but oh, 'e's just as thoughtful as you said, even after I made a fool out of meself! I'll always appreciate that."

The sheer joy in how he talked about Kenji spread to Benji's heart, and from the looks of it, Stanley might've been even happier. Benji started to understand why he found this kid so endearing.

Jay hummed a little tune as he danced past the other two and back into his room with the cologne. "Benji, before I forget," a spritz came from the room before they entered, "me apologies for not 'aving your gift today."

"Gift?" Benji's ears perked up.

Even Stanley was surprised. "You had a gift for Benji?"

"Can you tell me what it is?"

"Ohoho, maybe in the morning. Speaking of which, me and Kenji are to have tea and coffee together then~ I can't wait!" Jay practically sang. "If some terrible accident were to befall me afterwards, I'd still die a 'appy man. Any road, do you think 'e'd appreciate if I sprayed a little of this around the room?"

Stanley leaned on the doorway. "I thought you just sprayed some."

"Oh, um, yes."

"One's good enough, don't overdo it."

"You're probably right." Jay closed the perfume bottle. "Wiv that out of the way, we can return to the rest of the world. Thanks for all your 'elp."

"Nothin' like a job well done." Benji brushed off his hands.

Stanley elbowed him. "We barely did anything."

"We did enough for him!"

"Yes, yes, very true." Jay chirped.

"One question though."

"Yes?"

"Is there any reason why you decided to make this a two-man job?" he asked. "Not that I'm complainin', but why not just invite Stan back here?"

"Oh, Benji." Jay smiled, clasping his hands together. "And come between you lovebirds even more? I wouldn't dream of it!"

Stanley stood stunned for a few moments. "Wha? Jay? You knew...?"

"I thought I already proved he knew! What?" Benji nudged him. "You don't believe your own husband?"

"'Usband! Oh, congratulations!" Jay squeaked. "So it is true about Jiyu...?"

"...koku."

"Right." He adjusted his glasses. "It was me bruvva who figured it out. Like I told you, I drove me family nuts wiv me investigation. Me siblings knew every clue. Once I realized that you two were likely together, Rooshie made an offhand comment that you might be partners. 'E grew even more certain after doing 'is own digging into Jiyukoku."

Stanley raised an eyebrow. "From what you've told me about Rushad, I'm surprised he did any digging at all."

"I'm sure 'e 'ad 'is own reasons. 'Eck if 'e'll tell anyone. For what it's worth, I don't think 'e'll tell, 'e just wanted to warn me that there was a slim chance you'd accept the offer. Anywho, I wasn't ready to 'ear that, but as you told more stories about the two of you, I realized what you 'ave, and 'ow beautiful it is." Jay took Stanley's hands. "I'm so 'appy for you."

"Aww, Jay, I'm..." Stanley gripped them. "You don't know how happy it makes me to hear you say that. Really, I'm touched."

Jay turned to Benji. "You really lucked out."

Benji chuckled. "Don't I know it!"

"You both might be wondering why it took me so long to say anyfing." Jay tilted his head down.

"Yeah."

"To be honest, I don't know anymore, heh. Well, part of it's the rumors. There's so much work done to keep them at bay, I'm afraid to talk about anyfing related to it at all." He smiled at Stanley. "But I trust you, and I care about you. I should've–"

Stanley placed a hand on his shoulder. "Jay. It's okay. Shoulda, coulda, woulda, that's all in the past now. All that matters is that we know that we're here for each other." He shook it. "No matter what."

Jay nodded silently, smiling a little. He closed both hands around his cologne bottle. "I should put this back, and then we can 'ead out if you're ready."

"Okay."

He turned to Benji. "Thanks for giving me the push I needed."

"Ahh, don't mention it." Benji waved away the compliment.

The husbands let Jay pass by, smelling more like coffee than the room he left behind. Benji watched him go only to turn back to Stanley staring him down.

"What exactly did you do?"

He held his hands up. "I didn't tell him any specifics! Just a little nudge. Real subtle."

"Why you always gotta be up to somethin'? Can't leave you alone for five seconds." Stanley bent down and gave Benji a kiss and a gentle smile. "Thanks, Benj'."

"What can I say? I've always been a mover and a shaker."

"And a trouble-maker, but exactly what I needed right now." Stanley took his hands. "And forever."

"You too, Stan. You too."