Beethoven Dialectical Journal

To the Pi Taus credit, it was an exceedingly well-edited video. With each frame carefully spliced for maximum effect, the end result told an erotic tale of uninhibited passion, the reenactment a far cry from the horror of the actual event. The first movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata projecting softly through the speakers, the powerfully dark piano concerto having a profound effect on both men, capturing their imaginations in an auditory meditation of the soul. As the visual story played out on Tom’s 25” television, Booker sat forward in his seat, his clenched fists resting stiffly on his knees. When Tom’s face filled the screen, there was no sound except the melodic whisper of one of the finest pieces of music ever composed. With his head arched back and his bow-shaped lips forming a perfect O, the young officer’s expression bore no signs of fear. Instead,

“I know it’s a lie, Dennis, but it doesn’t have to be. We could have this, for real I mean, if you still want to.”

“If I still want to?” Booker parroted, his surprise raising the pitch of his voice. “Jesus, Tom, of course I do! I just thought you felt differently about me because I behaved like such an asshole and—”

“Whoa,” Tom admonished quietly. “Let’s not keep laying blame. I love you, more than I’ve loved anyone I think, and I want you to show me how I can prove it to you.”

Booker’s brows knitted together in puzzlement. “Show you how you can prove it to me? Tommy, I don’t understand. How can I—”

The hot flush coloring Tom’s cheeks deepened, and ducking his head, he peered coyly through his dark lashes. “You know, I want you to show me.”

When the meaning behind Tom’s evasive words finally became clear, an expression of wonderment animated Booker’s features, a gleam of preternatural light brightening his eyes with an ethereal glow. “Do you mean you want to have