Queer A-Z Folk Y is for Do it Yourself

Title: Queer A-Z Folk – Y is for (Do it) Yourself
Author: kiddoditto
Beta: predec2
Summary: part of the “Queer as Folk ABC”
Timeline: after the fifth season
Word Count: 797
Disclaimer: I don’t have any rights to the TV show “Queer as Folk” or its characters. I am also not making any money with this story.
Authors Note: A big thank you goes to predec2 for beta reading and Rory for the beautiful banner and to Snuggles for giving me the inspiration for this story (even if she properly already has forgotten this ;-))


Queer A-Z Folk – Y is for (Do it) Yourself


Brian looked skeptically at all the different pieces lying in front of him. What on earth had come over Justin when he had suggested buying a chest for Gus’s toys at IKEA?

The little twat had been so convincing and had given so many reasons for doing it that Brian had finally agreed just to get it over and done with as quickly as possible. And now was he ever regretting it!

Brian held two pieces next to each other. It looked like a perfect fit, and he only had to put them together with the special IKEA tool – or so the instructions had said. He initially had decided that Justin was right; building a children’s toy chest wasn’t as hard as it looked, and he was going to derive a sense of satisfaction out of building a piece for Gus’s room by himself, even if it was just something premade by IKEA.

********

Twenty minutes later he was ready to throw the whole thing out the window. It didn’t matter which direction he turned it; nothing looked right or even had the same length.

He heard the front door open. “Justin, get your ass upstairs,” he hollered down the steps.

The blond artist winced. His partner sounded really pissed. Had he finally discovered that the movers had made a little mistake with one of Brian’s boxes of clothes, and it was now missing?

Justin had expected that the ad man would realize it immediately when they had put the clothes in the walk-in closet two days ago, but until now, that hadn’t been the case.

The blond hurried to put the groceries away and went upstairs. He found his partner in Gus’s future room and had to hide his smile when he saw what he was doing, or more accurately, trying to do.

Brian grumbled at the thing lying in front of him. “This sucks, but not in a positive, life-affirming way! I’ll never take your advice about shopping for furniture again.”

“Hey, I said we could do this together.” Justin got down on his knees and looked at the pieces.

“Like you know how to build a do-it-yourself toy chest.”

“No, not really. But I once saw Daphne putting one together, so this can’t be that difficult.”

Brian raised his eyebrows. “Ever seen a gay man shopping and actually buying at IKEA?”

Justin scratched his head. “Not sure. But now that you mentioned it… no.”

Brian nodded. “And there’s a good reason for that. IKEA is for straights or lesbians.”

Justin tried to separate two pieces that his partner had put together by the sweat of his brow. “But I think we can manage this. After all, didn’t you put Gus’s swing set together?”

Brian pursed his lips. “Not exactly; I said I gave the Munchers a hand.”

“See, so you know how to work tools,” said the blond artist, nodding as he tried to separate the pieces.

Brian smiled. This was something he just couldn’t let go. “Oh, there are a lot of tools that I can work like a pro. I could even give you a demonstration right now, but I’m no expert with a screwdriver.”

"Oh, I wouldn't say that."

"Yeah, maybe. But not THIS type of screwdriver." He turned serious again. “Giving them a hand means that Lindsay and I failed miserably, and Mel had to do it on her own.”

“Oh!” Justin smiled. “That is something I can picture clearly in my head.”

***

After getting everything separated, they took a closer look at the manual together.

Justin pointed at two planks of wood. “Is this piece A or piece B?”

Brian shrugged his shoulders. “How should I know? It looks exactly the same to me. You’re the one with the 1500 on his SATs, so you can decide.”

Justin bit his bottom lip. “I think this is piece A.”

“If you say so, dear.”


*******

Half an hour later, both of them were ready to concede defeat. Brian kicked it slightly with the tip of his right foot. “Piece of shit.”

Justin groaned exhaustedly. “There’s still a way to save it."

“And that would be?”

“Call Daphne or Emmett for help?” After all, if Emmett was able to change a flat tire, maybe he could also manage a do-it-yourself toy chest.

Brian raised an eyebrow. “Or we could save ourselves the humiliation and buy a pre-assembled toy chest from a high-end store.” The way he said it made it clear that was what he wanted to do.

Justin got up from his place on the floor. “Grab your keys, we're going shopping.”



THE END


Written May 7th, 2009