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At the breakfast table, Sean looked over at Elijah, did a double take then exclaimed, “You have a pierced ear!”
“Surprise!”
“Well I’m not surprised I missed it.”
“It’s been so long since I’ve had anything in it I was sure the hole would have closed up by now. I’m actually surprised it’s still open.”
“Why weren’t you wearing the earring when you first showed up here?”
“I was traveling in disguise, or trying to. Plus I wasn’t sure how you’d react,” Elijah explained. “I didn’t know you were gay then.”
“Of course. The right is the gay ear, isn’t it?”
Elijah nodded. “It was when that meant something. I don’t know who started it but when gay men started piercing their ears, it was always the right ear, and when straight men did it, they made sure people knew they weren’t gay by choosing the opposite ear. I’m not sure it matters anymore. A lot of men have piercings in both ears now, but I like the single ear look.”
“I like it on you. It suits you. So you decided to get the piercing?”
“Actually Pedar wanted me to do it, but I was all for it, so I didn’t say no.”
“And that’s a garnet stone, isn’t it?” Sean asked. “Your birthstone?”
Elijah nodded. “Pedar wanted me to get the piercing because he thought it would look sexy.”
“Well he was right about that.”
“I thought so, too, so when he more or less insisted, I didn’t say no.”
“Do you have any other piercings?”
“You mean like a Prince Albert?” Elijah teased.
Sean paled. “Please tell me you don’t have one of those.”
“No, just my ear.”
“Although I can see you with a nipple ring…” Sean suggested, sounding so serious Elijah wasn’t sure if he was joking.
“Do you think I should have left the earring behind with all the other things Pedar gave me?” Elijah wondered, “It is pretty personal.”
Sean considered. “Well, since he didn’t force it on you and you enjoyed wearing it, I think it’s only fair you got to keep it, especially since it’s your birthstone and all.”
“So you don’t mind if I start wearing it again?”
“Not at all. I told you. It makes you look smokin’ hot.”
“I don’t suppose you have any piercings I don’t know about.”
“Afraid not.”
“Hey, it’s never too late.”
“I think it is for me. Believe it or not, Daniel had both a pierced ear and a tattoo. His puritanitcal family was scandalized, but he didn’t care.”
“What was his tattoo?” Elijah asked.
“He was a great Tolkien fan, and he loved The Fellowship from The Lord of the Rings, so he had the Elvish word for nine tattooed on his shoulder.” Sean sighed. “Who’d have thought that between the two of us, I’d turn out to be the straight-laced one.”
“Well I love you just the way you are, natural and undecorated.”
Elijah wore the earring every day, and every once in a while caught Sean looking at him as if he was a stranger. They’d never played those kind of games, and he had to admit it gave him a little sexual thrill that Sean was looking at him with new interest through new eyes.
A month later on January 28th, Elijah’s birthday, Sean surprised him by putting a small box on the table between the breakfast dishes. “Happy Birthday, Elijah.”
“Oh Sean, I told you not to buy me anything for my birthday. There’s nothing I want or need.”
“Birthdays aren’t about need. Besides, this is for both of us. Open it.”
Intrigued, Elijah opened the small square box, his eyes wide. Inside was a 5mm gold stud earring in the shape of a heart. “Oh Sean, this is wonderful.”
“I think I lost my heart to you the day we met,” Sean explained. “Now I’m asking you to wear it. Will you?”
Elijah was already taking out the birthstone and replacing it with the heart. “I’d be proud to.”
“But only if you like it,” Sean amended.
“I love it,” Elijah told him. “It’s so beautiful. I’m never going to take it off.”
Sean thought he was exaggerating, but Elijah never took the earring out, and every time Sean saw him wearing it, he remembered their first meeting, and losing his heart to a beautiful, blue-eyed boy.