I deliberately didn't state Hunter's age here because it's over two years before we meet him in S3, and he only turns sixteen at the end of that season. l’d say he’s well shy of fourteen at this point. His mother seems to have pushed him to hustle with the 'You like young dick? For fifty, you can suck it. For one hundred, I'll let you fuck me' routine when Hunter was twelve. (In 4.01, in the courtroom, Mel brings up Hunter's statement about how Rita "coerced him from the age of twelve into acts of prostitution.")

For purposes of this story, I assumed that happened when he was close to thirteen and that Rita didn't watch him in action but just dropped him off on Liberty Avenue to earn money if he wanted a roof over his head. I have Hunter getting away with blow jobs and hand jobs up to this point. If he earned enough money, Rita wouldn't care how he did it.

Hunter’s so cocky and self-assured in canon - it had become a built-in defense mechanism - that what his preference might be never really gets addressed. The way he comes on to Brian, which is pretty funny, makes it seem that he must prefer men. Until Callie, but even then it’s not clear whether he likes women or men or possibly both.

Brian’s lucky no one else was in the hallway when he exited Telson’s hotel room… as far as we know :D He may have had to brazen it out and hope the display of his ‘charms’ kept him out of trouble.

If the guests complain (it can’t smell good in their hotel room!), let’s hope housekeeping doesn’t accept the blame. After an investigation, either fired or suspended without pay, Johnny the bellhop ends up on Liberty Avenue, hawking, “Brian Kinney’s fresh sperm. C’mon, what’ll you give me for it? Three hundred. No, five hundred from the lady in the camel coat. Do I hear six hundred?”

Obviously, that sperm’s not going to be fresh anymore, but the buyers don’t have the sense to beware. Who do we think snatched it up? For how much?

Does Brian hear about it? How does he react? Dun dun dun...

Thanks for commenting, Cathy :) Hugs back atcha,

~ Karynn

Thanks for giving this a try and leaving a comment, Cathy.

~ Karynn

I totally get it, Marie-france. I'd have trepidation about reading this story if I hadn't written it. I'm so glad you don't regret the read!

We don't see a lot of Ryder in canon, but what we do see is underwhelming, to say the least. I strongly suspect that Telson might have put a bug in Ryder's ear in an effort to 'get even' with Brian. He could have easily made it sound like Brian didn't 'deliver' like he should have. Who knows what Ryder might have already thought of Brian - he might have harbored anti-gay sentiments. When the Kip Thomas incident happened (Brian really should have known better), that might have been the last straw. Ryder could have sold to Gardner and undermined Brian while making the sale.

Thank you, I had fun weaving Justin into Brian's thoughts. The bellboy didn't stand a chance, even before his strange, somewhat creepy behavior. The blond boy had already started to hook Brian; an attachment was forming without Brian being aware of it. After all, he'd already defended Justin to Michael as being "kinda sweet" (and putting Michael's nose out of joint :D). After Telson and the bellboy, Brian needed the comfort that only his son could provide. And Gus gave him good advice, right? ;) He'll soon collect the other boy he met the night Gus was born :)

As I just wrote in my reply to Bec, Marvin's claims that he loves his family are suspect. First he dismisses his daughter's injury and then he pretty much does the same with his son when he rationalizes that Thomas could never be in the same situation as Hunter. He supposedly loves his family, but does he know them?

Rita is godawful. She's even worse than Telson. Who sends their child out to hustle if they want to keep a roof over their head?

Thanks for commenting, Marie-france! I always like reading your thoughts. Hunter's POV will be up later this week. Brynn and I are working on the next chapter of Tricky Business, but it will be a while before it's ready. We'll do our best to get a teaser up soon-ish.

~ Karynn

Thank you! :)

~ Karynn

Thank you for commenting, Cathy. It's good to get some feedback :) Hearing that the story "punched you in the gut" lets me know I've written a powerful story.

I pushed Marvin Telson a little further than what we see onscreen in canon, although I think it slots into his character - and canon - neatly. As far as whether Marvin or Hunter is HIV positive, I purposely left it ambiguous. It could be either or neither. Hunter is positive when we meet him in S3, but this is a couple years earlier, so who knows? It he is positive and Marvin gets infected, it serves the sleazoid right. If he's not infected by Hunter, then it's going to be someone else...

If/when you recover enough, I'd love to hear more of your thoughts. Would you like to read Hunter's POV? Brian's scenes will be identical, but there's quite a bit of new material for Hunter, including a bit of backstory.

Hugs back atcha,

~ Karynn