Sometime after Graduation...
It came in the mail on a Tuesday. Colin usually kept track of what day of the week it was by what route he and Björn took for their morning jog; they'd gone by the duck park that morning, so it had to be either Tuesday or Thursday...but he hadn't been around the gated community for patrols yet, so that meant it could only have been one day: Tuesday.
Colin and Björn had settled into a routine together with an ease that was almost surprising unless one knew the depth of affection between the two. Unfortunately, life has a way of tearing people apart for the sake of 'growth', in the name of "growing up". Though neither had plans to attend Destiny City University (or any other college, for that matter) there still stood the fact that he was a dancer of some repute and did in-fact get "gigs" from time to time - be they chorus parts in a movie, background dancing to a music video or commercial work.
There weren't too many dancers of Colin's caliber floating around Destiny City...as a matter of fact, the only other one he even knew (by name and face) was Paris LeFay, the ballerina. And she had taken a year off to do...well, he had no idea, honestly. The fact that Colin didn't study ballet as his primary discipline meant that while they'd perhaps danced together from time to time, he really didn't know Paris personally at all.
What he did know is that a few important schools of dance had started sniffing around, sending him letters, packets, e-mails and even phone calls. They offered to take his dancing to a whole other level, to refine the raw talent and make it something more...it was heady stuff, but Colin was Colin and that meant he measured every offer against his responsibilities as Sailor Aegir, and against the time going to one of these places would take. He considered that he would have to leave Björn and every single time, up to that very morning, Björn - and his duties - won out.
Colin's hands tightened as he read, denting the small sheaf of pages clutched between them.
Here was an offer that almost made him forget to breathe! The Royal Academy of Dance was offering him a year's tuition, with the possibility of further aid dependent only upon his performance! He'd have to take a test to see where he'd be placed initially, but--!! As a serious dancer, this was the sort of letter he'd always dreamed of getting, and he couldn't quite keep himself from doing a victory jump. "YES!" He whooped and crowed like any super-happy guy, getting the news of a life-time, might have...until the logical side of his brain caught up.
What about Björn? What about 'Sailor Aegir'? Did he really think that he could leave for a year - a year where he might no be able to contact his lover for a long time - and still keep the guy on a chain? NO matter how much he might love Björn, or how much he might care for Colin...a year was just too much time. Especially with how crazy and weird their lives tended to be. For Chrissakes, Björn had General Obsidian talking to him! The Negaverse officer had probably taken one look at Björn's muscles and thought "Now here's a good potential soldier for the Earth's Army!" and could he fault Obsidian? Could he have faulted Björn for wanting to bear arms to protect their home?
Just because it hadn't happened yet didn't mean it wouldn't some day. And then what? Colin was almost certain - okay fairly certain - that the Negaverse was in the right...but that didn't mean that he was ready to walk up to that scary red-headed ******** and go "take me to your Leader, I wanna sign up. Oh, btw, I'm Sailor Aegir." And he certainly didn't want to drag Björn with him.
Even just considering their relationship...a year was a long time to be apart. He couldn't tie Björn to him for all that time. It wasn't right, it wasn't...goddamn it, it just wasn't fair! The happiness that had flooded his soul while reading the letter from the RAD seeped slowly from his body, replaced by something gowned in greys and sadness. This was the biggest chance he'd ever gotten - movies where he put on a ********' newsboy costume or whatever and danced with a bunch of other twits didn't even come close. Gyrating to music for a commercial? Nothing. Going would give him the sort of polish he'd always lacked - raw talent, skill and heart he had in spades...but polish?
Looking back down at the papers in his hands, Colin knew that even if it meant giving up Björn...he had to do it. Who knew, maybe he'd come back and the big guy would be waiting for him at the airport? Maybe he'd even still care. Going would be one of the hardest decisions that Colin ever made...but he wasn't going to make it wholly alone. He decided it would be fair to talk to Björn about it; though he was pretty sure his lover would be firmly behind him going, no matter how unhappy it made him. That was the kind of guy Björn Guilderson was.
Without even bothering to stuff the papers back into their envelope, Colin headed off to talk to Björn...
Word Count: 1,013
