'Gay's The Word', the sign reads above Vik's head, his eyebrow raising as he takes it in.
Despite the name, the place looks entirely professional. White lettering on a blue background. It's not particularly interesting, and doesn't stand out at all, unless you take the opportunity to read the name. Vik figures that's the whole point of it.
"It's great, isn't it?" Tobi asks, a smile lighting up his face, "I mean, it's the only specifically gay bookshop in the entire country, and also the LGSM headquarters, as Harry likes to say. Really, we're just a group of friends who meet up here, and sometimes make plans. You much of a reader?"
"A bit, yeah. There's not much to get my hands on where I'm from, though. People will judge you for 'trying to look smart', instead of being useful and doing practical work."
"I get you, my family's kind of similar. 'For fuck's sake Tobi, get your head out of the clouds and do something, you're not a fairy.'" He laughs, slightly bitterly. "Well, they were definitely wrong on that one."
Vik smiles back, strained, lightly touching Tobi's elbow as a reserved sign of support. It's clearly a touchy subject for Tobi, so he doesn't want to push it, seeing as they've known each other less than a day.
Harry's up ahead, holding the door open for the two of them, the bell constantly ringing overhead as he swings it back and forth.
"Harry, you attention-seeking brat. Either get Tobi to hurry up or close the door, you're doing my fucking head in." A voice calls from inside.
Harry rolls his eyes, "sorry mum, Tobi's taking ages to get his new boytoy inside."
"TOBI'S FOUND SOMEONE? MAN, I'VE GOT TO MEET THIS KID." A loud, boisterous voice shouts from out of the upstairs window, and a round face peers, grinning down at them. He's got a wide smile, and blue eyes, and he seems like a nice guy. He turns back around, clearly listening out to somebody, before replying, a guilty expression on his face as he pulls the window to a close. "Sorry Josh."
After that explosive welcome, Vik is ushered inside by Tobi, who whispers in Vik's ear. "They're an odd bunch, but they mean well and love and support each other. You'll get used to them." The door swings shut behind them, the bell ringing once again to alert of their presence.
Behind the countless rows of books, a tall man with dark blond hair sits at a till, holding a book in his hands. He looks up expectantly at Vik, his eyes widening at Tobi's hand pressed against his back.
"Tobi? Who's this, then?"
"This is Vik. He came and joined us at the march today. Just fell into step beside us, and said he can help with the cause. He's from... where was it, Vik?"
"Sheffield. I was intrigued by why you'd want to help miners, being raised in that kind of society myself, but Tobi and Harry explained it, and I think I might be able to help."
The man smiles, and stands from his seat, reaching out to hug Vik across the desk, "you don't need to explain yourself to me, hun. I'm Simon, Joshy and I own the shop. We let the kids use the place to plan, and sometimes help out if we can." It's a bit awkward, considering the till in between, but Vik's lack of height and Simon's excess of it balances out.
"Si, you're about 7 or 8 months older than me, you can't call me a kid."
Dramatically, Simon throws a hand to his chest, pretending to wipe tears from his eyes. "How can you talk to me like that? I clothed you, fed you, raised you... and this is how you repay me?"
"As much as I love the performance, sweetheart, we don't want to scare the newbie. Vik, was it?" A bearded man leans against the bannister of the wooden stairs, that disappear up into the next floor of the shop. Simon laughs, swanning over to wrap his arms around the man's shoulders, nuzzling his nose into the side of the man's head. He rolls his eyes at Simon's need for touch, reaching out a hand in Vik's direction, to shake. "Hello, I'm Josh."
Vik clasps the man's hand in his own, and is surprised to be greeted by a relatively firm grip. It's clear Josh didn't do it intentionally, but he's defying so many of the gay stereotypes Vik's been taught, had drummed into him to avoid over the years.
When they've moved away again, Josh's arm comes to rest around Simon's waist, casually, the taller man smiling smugly as he does so. It's as if it's the most natural thing in the world, and judging by the lack of reaction from Harry or Tobi, it is. "Simon's not usually this clingy, but he gets like this whenever there's a new guy. Or new gay, should I say."
"The fuck are you talking about, Josh? He's always like this with you." The loud blue-eyed boy from earlier stands at the bottom of the stairs behind the two. "I'm Ethan, by the way."
"Um, it's nice to meet you?" Vik's response is unsure, there's been a lot of people to meet in such a short space of time. He's not used to being accepted by such a large group of people, and such a diverse one at that. "I'm sorry, the number of people is a bit overwhelming."
Josh laughs, "you haven't even met the most overwhelming of our little family yet, there's still two more to come."
Suddenly, the bell above the door rings again, as two more people fall into the building. One of them is a fairly tall black man, and the other a smaller brunette white woman, with a guitar case sling over her shoulder.
"Weird to see everyone here, are we late?" The girl asks, tilting her head askew.
"No, no. Tobi found a newbie." Harry informs her, from his place atop a book stand, swinging his legs with his arms folded.
"Oh?" She turns to face the main cluster of her friends, seeking out the new face, walking towards him and embracing him in a hug. Vik figures it'll take a while to get used to the outward affection. "Welcome to the fruit basket."
"For fuck's sake, Sarah. You can't call it that."
"Why not? You're all gay men, so you're fruits, and basket means the bulge of your cock through your trousers. You're all blokes, so why not?... Oh shit. Is he so? I'm so sorry if you're not."
"No, I am, don't worry. I'm Vik."
"Sarah."
"Also Sarah, we're not all fruits," Simon points out, "remember JJ's straight."
"Alright, but he doesn't count."
"Fuck you too, Sarah." The tall black man, apparently called JJ replies. Now Vik assumes he's met everyone, he feels like he can relax a little bit. No one else is going to jump out of nowhere at him.
"So, Sarah. Did you manage to make any money busking today?"
"£5." She slaps down a few pound coins on the table, and high-5s Ethan, dumping her guitar case beside the stairs.
"Anyway, why've we got a newbie? Tobi met you out cottaging?" Simon's hand reaches out to slap her lightly upside the head, Tobi looking at him gratefully.
"Nah, he was at the march. Figures he can help us out, find us a community to twin with. He's from a miner's background."
"Well, I'm not technically, I've just grown up around a lot of them, so I sort of know how to deal with them. I'd also know how to pen a letter and stuff to them, try and get us on a better side with them?"
Sarah turns away from him, and Vik's temporarily worried, before she announces. "I like this one. He can stay, he's cute."
"Don't worry, she's a lesbian." Tobi's voice comes quietly into his ear, "I could tell you weren't comfortable with that."
"Alright, are you lot going to head upstairs to plan? I've got some books to unload out the back, and Simon's on the till."
"If that's some weird euphemism, I don't want to know."
"Piss off, Ethan. Let us know what you come up with. See you later, terrier." Josh says the last part looking directly at Vik. There's slight confusion on everyone's face. "What, he's from Yorkshire, and he's new. He needs a nickname. Terrier."
"Well, he does seem like a bitch."
"Harry!" At least 4 synchronised voices call out at him, as he hops down from his seat.
"Alright, alright. I'm not totally fine with him, I've got to see what he can do. If he's all bark and no bite, if we're going by Josh's shitty nickname."
"I like it!"
"Of course you do, Simon."
Author's Notes
Fruit, basket and bitch are all parts of Polari/gay slang, which could have been used in the 80s. Sarah totally strikes me as the sort of person to be reading up on slang and trying to talk in it, or make jokes of it.
Cottaging is when you either go to a public toilet looking for gay sex, or actually have said sex in a public loo lmao.
I had a great time writing this chapter tbh, it's nice to have more people to write with, and I'm letting you guys speculate on who's saying some of the lines because it feels a bit more fun, to be honest.
This book feels like it'll be a fun one, although I know it's not really as in depth as Caring for Carers was, but hey, we're only on the second chapter (and I've actually got a plan for this, wow).
You got a cheeky bit of minizerk in this as well, they'll be a prominent feature for a lot of it, to be honest, as established mum and dad.
💙😊💙