"And you together... that...?!" the owner of the apartment they were applying for asked Tomáš and Jakub. How do they live now?
One can't help but notice the not-so-healthy looking tree on the loggia. Who takes care of the plants in this apartment?
Tomas.
Jakub: I take care of them. Tomas thinks it's a useless job.
Tomas: It is! But once he's enjoying it, I've resigned myself to the fact that we have some pots everywhere, fertilizer, and we deal with watering when we go on vacation. We have several plants in the bedroom that have never flowered, but they're there...
James.
Thomas: And that's exactly why they seem useless to me. (laughs)
You've lived together for eight years. All the time here in this apartment?
Tomas: No, no. We started living together in college. That's actually where we met - in college.
Jakub: I have family in Moravia and Tomáš's parents are from the Domažlice area. Neither of us are from the richest backgrounds, so college was an obvious choice when we were studying. And that's where we found each other. It was actually funny, because at first I wondered what kind of weirdo he was. I'm definitely not gonna be friends with that guy!
Thomas: And that you're not friends! (laughs)
Jakub: True...
When did you two start dating?
Jakub: We haven't agreed on that yet. I think the first date should count, but Tomas has it differently.
Tomas: It wasn't a date, we just went out for coffee...
But we're celebrating our anniversary on that day! It was actually in the spring of my freshman year. Neither of us are really the types for loud events and we couldn't sleep very well in the dorm. There were walls like paper. So we drank a lot of coffee back then.
Is that why you moved? When did you move?
Jakub: At the end of the school year, we thought we couldn't handle another one. So over the summer we were looking for a place to rent for the next year.
That's when you moved here?
Jakub: No, we didn't. We only found a 1-bedroom apartment then.
Thomas: It was a studio apartment!
Jakub: And how do you know? The kitchen had a different floor, it was separate!
Tomas: A different floor doesn't make a separate kitchen! It was a studio apartment and it was very small, but it was better than a dorm. It was quiet. It was a bit cold, though, because the entrance was on the ground floor, but the window on the other side was already like minus one. The house was up the hill.
Did you tell your families you were dating then? Or how did it go then?
Thomas: It was more complicated... About Kuba, my parents knew that he was probably into boys. They kind of pretended they didn't see it, and even though it was clear they weren't thrilled when he brought me home, they handled it. Ours took longer.
James: Actually, it's still taking them a while, but it's good...
Thomas: (to James) They like you...
James: (to Thomas) Yeah.
Tomas: My folks just have it set up so that they still kind of believe that maybe one day it'll turn out differently.
What do you mean?
James: Well, just say it! That he'll just find some girl and everything will be all right!
Thomas: Something like that. But they don't say it like that.
Jakub: I think it's ugly.
So to this day, is there still a problem in terms of communication?
James: I don't think it's communication. It's just that Tomas' parents are way behind in these things. And they don't let anything be explained properly. They're just right. They think it's just still a teenage thing with us. But we're turning 30. They should accept it.
Thomas: They don't mean that badly. They just want grandchildren. And my dad works as a trucker. He's got most of his friends like that, so when I was a kid, I used to hear a lot about fags this and fags that. He doesn't say it so much now, but...
But he still thinks that.
So you're not going to have kids?
I'd like to have kids. But I'm afraid of bullying.
Like your kid being bullied? Or you?
Jacob: Well, the kid. I don't know that he'll get laughed at at school for having two dads. I'm not comfortable with the idea. So I don't want kids, even though I like them.
Thomas: We have a cat. I think that's enough.
I can see that he really has everything. There's a lot of equipment and toys for him...
Tomas: Yeah. So what else is there to spend money on? We make ourselves happy like this.
You're afraid people you don't even know yet will be mean to a kid you don't even have yet. Where does that come from?
Jacob: I don't think we're paranoid. That happened to us when we were just looking for a bigger apartment, for example. We were originally going to live somewhere else. But it didn't work out.
Was there any discrimination?
Jakub: We were on a tour and the woman who showed us the apartment asked us if we were dating. If she had just asked, maybe it would have been okay, but she asked in a weird way. She looked at us, pointed her finger at both of us and stammered something like, "And you two are together like... that...?"
Thomas: I'm more of a hothead. I'm just offended by that. What business is it of hers anyway?! I'm sure you would have answered politely and left.
James: I wouldn't...
Thomas: Oh, yeah, you always let yourself go and then you get mad at home.
It's true I don't like arguments. That's why I'm glad we found this apartment. We've been here for four years now, and we'll be here as long as we can. It's nice, it's in a good place and the owner is very nice.
