A random short piece that's been floating around in my head for a while. This story is set several years after Birthday Wishes and Te Quiero.

Turk belongs to Nami (VietNami on FictionPress)

Warning: Male/male romance. Don't like? Please avoid.

"Mr. Rosauro!"

"Mr. Rosauro!"

"Come on, Mr. Rosauro!"

"Kieraaaan!"

That was Sabrina; she had always loved teasing him. With her mischievous attitude, effortlessly rakish elegance, and flair for the dramatic, she was constantly reminding him of D'ante. She was one of the first students who had taken him up on his offer to call him by his first name.

"Alright, guys, I'm coming," he called, laughing, to the group of students sitting under the tree on the front lawn of the art gallery. He grabbed his messenger bag, extricating his lunch as he went, and was soon settled happily on the ground amongst them. He liked these kids; of all the students in the class he was the teaching assistant for, they were the most comfortable with him, and they were the most like his friends.

"So, Kieran," Amy began, "You said that you were going to tell us about that ring tattoo," she said, pointing at the ring finger of his left hand as she sipped on her juice box.

Kieran's hands remained folded in his lap; he smiled wryly. "No, I did not. You said I was going to tell you about my ring tattoo."

"Well, either way, it's been said now," Ryan countered reasonably, "So you'd better just tell us."

"I don't have to tell you anything," Kieran said, biting back a grin.

Immediately there was a chorus of protestations around the circle. Sabrina chucked a granola bar wrapper at him; Ryan threw up his hands in exasperation; Amy pouted and clasped her fingers together, pleading. Jonathan and Mike, two friends of Ryan's, immediately began cajoling loudly.

Laughing, Kieran held up his hands, calming them to a silence. "Alright, alright!" he said, giving in. "I'll tell you! What do you want to know?"

Instantly they began clamouring again, throwing rapid-fire questions at him one after the other, before he'd even had time to answer the first one.

"Who is she? What's her name?"

"What does she do?"

"How long have you been together?"

"Does she have a ring, too?"

"Do you have any kids?"

"What makes you think it's a girl?" said an even, amused baritone voice, its owner dropping to the grass behind Kieran and sliding his arms around his waist. Kieran half-turned in his seat, a surprised and delighted smile on his face.

"Turk!"

"Hey, Kier," Turk replied. "Figured I'd take my lunch break to drop in on your field trip," he said, smiling at him, then tossing an amused glance around the circle of suddenly silent students.

Returning his smile slightly mischievously, Kieran took the opportunity created by the newfound quiet to answer their questions. "Everyone, this is Turk. He's a prosecuting attorney. We've been together for seven years, since third year university. Yes, he has a ring; they were his idea. We don't have any kids yet, but we're thinking of adopting. Any more questions?"

The stunned silence persisted for another moment, then was broken by Sabrina falling forwards, laughing hysterically. Half a beat later, Amy and the boys cracked up as well. She was shaking her head and giggling; they were cackling loudly.

Ryan smacked Jonathan on the shoulder. "Pay up. I won."

Kieran raised an eyebrow; Jonathan grumbled and dug a five dollar bill out of his pocket. "What did you win?" Kieran asked, watching him hand it over.

"Our bet. I told him you were gay."

Kieran's palm met his forehead as Turk started laughing uproariously behind him. "I'm not gay!" he protested.

"You've got a funny way of showing it," observed Mike.

"You trying to tell us you're straight?" Sabrina asked. "How's that working out for you?"

"Didn't D'ante say something just like that right after we started dating?" Turk said idly.

"Who's D'ante?" asked Sabrina.

"Yeah, I think she did," Kieran replied. "She's my best friend. You're a lot like her. The day Turk and I started dating, she'd been joking around and asking me if I had a boyfriend, and I told her I was straight. The next time I saw her, she called me "straight guy" and asked how the boyfriend thing was working out."

Amy giggled. "I don't blame her."

Kieran sighed, shaking his head. "I think she knew all along."

"That you were gay?" asked Ryan.

"Or not gay, whatever," added Amy.

"Yeah, you wanna explain how that works?" put in Jonathan.

"It's really not that hard to grasp," came Turk's voice, smoothly cutting into the conversation. The students quieted instantly, still a bit in awe of this big, unexpected intrusion into their midst. "When you really get down to it, do you love a person for their body, or their personality? I guess you could say that we're both bisexual, but I don't much like the label."

There was a short pause, then Mike nodded. "I guess that's pretty reasonable."

"Never really thought about it that way," mused Ryan.

The circle was silent for another moment as the students allowed this idea to turn over in their minds. Kieran sighed, relaxing back against Turk; Turk nuzzled contentedly into his hair, pulling him closer and threading their fingers together.

At last, Amy spoke up shyly. "Could we see your rings?"

Smiling, Kieran raised the entwined fingers of their left hands, where two black Celtic knot designs were clearly marked out for all the world to see.