Enjoying Life Together

Mature Adults

After the big issue, which required the use of the loft to produce, Michael and Justin had returned to the back room of the comic book store for their work on Rage. Justin no longer helped with the selling in the store but Mike was able to hire help easily enough. The big triple issue had been an outstanding success, increased the circulation by 50%, and introduced the comic book to a wider audience. Justin and Mikey had been thrilled at its success. They had been working on the next issue but their attention had been re-focused on the big one. The publisher's representative had just been in to see them and had inadvertently leaked to them the fact that the idea for the multiple-issue had originated with a guy named Brian Kinney, who was doing some gratis publicity for them.

"I'm in love with a rat," Justin opined, "He pretended he was put out by the whole thing and all the while it was his idea."

"Well," Mikey offered skeptically, "I don't think you ought to break up with him over that."

"Not a chance," Justin replied, "But I can't let him get away with it either or he'll be doing all kinds of nice things for me without letting me know. We're mature adults, Mikey, and we had a right to know."

"But if they're good things?" Mike wondered.

"You're missing the point entirely, Mikey," Justin explained, "He's denying me the chance to thank him, and thanking him for things is the high point of my life. Like I said, we're not children and that's how he's treating us. I feel like putting chewing gum in his shoe."

"I don't think so," Mikey warned, "That might not get you the results you want. By the way, isn't there anything you have done for Brian that you haven't told him about?"

"What do you mean?" Justin asked.

"I know about Kip Thomas," Mikey admitted.

"How could you?" Justin asked in a concerned voice, "Please tell me Brian doesn't know."

"I sure didn't tell him," Mikey reassured him," You certainly weren't hurting him. I was afraid it would spook him and screw things up for you. All of us were worried about Brian with the sex and the drugs and the boozing. We were really thinking he would kill himself accidentally or maybe even on purpose, and there wasn't anything any of us could do. We didn't think you had much chance but we were afraid you might be his last chance to pull himself together. And somehow you did it. But you and Kip were not the only people in the alley that night. At that time though, not many people knew you were mixed up with Brian so I don't think he knows. It might be a good thing for you to tell him though. It ought to be OK. He might get a little sore but you've pretty well got him now. Maybe Brian would want to thank you. You really saved him there just like he saved you on prom night."

"It's more likely he'd want to kill me for what I did for him. We weren't really together then so it's not really the same thing as this," Justin said, "Let me decide if and when to tell him that."

"It's your call, Boy Wonder; You make it," Mike told him.

"Thanks, Mike," Justin said, "But I've still got to call him on this. We're mature adults and we should have been told."

"OK," Mikey said, "But when he comes in here later with those moony eyes looking at you, I don't think you're going to want to call him on anything."

"We'll just see about that," Justin insisted. So they went on working on the next issue of Rage with an occasional grumble from Justin about being a "mature adult" with a "right to know."

Brian and Ben were scheduled to pick them up later in the afternoon and they were going to eat together at Woody's. The four of them were a very compatible group and they didn't get together as much as any of them would have wished, so when they did, it was an occasion. Mikey hoped there would be no friction between Brian and Justin to mar the evening's gathering. He knew though that while Justin was pretty good at handling Brian, that Brian was also pretty good at handling Justin. He smiled as he considered the change Justin had worked in Brian though. The kid had literally saved Brian's life, and made him a happy man. Mike was really happy for them both, and glad to have them in his life.

Mike needn't have worried about what he was worried about. At the appointed time, Ben and Brian arrived together. Brian walked over to Mikey and embraced him in greeting: then he turned his moony eyes at Justin. Justin ran over and jumped up into Brian's arms, which was a favorite trick of his.

He kissed Brian and then announced, "I'm mad at you."

Ben laughed. He didn't know Justin all that well, especially in relation to Brian, and he said to Brian, "I'd hate to see what he does when he's not mad at you."

"I'm not going to tell you why," Justin went on with a big smile on his face.

"Well, I am," Mike announced, "We know that you thought up the idea of the big issue of Rage, and we think you should have told us instead of acting like a martyr."

"Yeah," Justin echoed the sentiment, "We're mature adults…"

"Would it be all right, Mr. Mature Adult, if I put you down and let you stand on you own two feet? You're a lot for an old guy to hold," Brian asked.

"Don't try playing for sympathy either," Justin accused Brian.

"Yeah, we're mad," Mikey put in his bit, sensing that there was something absurd about the whole situation.

"Well, I'm not going to defend myself for taking the idea directly to the publishers so that you two wouldn't foul it up for me," Brian said, "And my dear little Justin, here, and I admit he's the love of my life, he manufactures arguments so that we can make up and he manufactures things that I do for him so that he can thank me. He has no gripe. He got to thank me for using the loft, instead of thanking me for the idea, so he wasn't deprived of thanking me at all."

Justin was muttering, "I knew he knew about the making up but I didn't know he knew about the thanks."

But Brian went on. Looking at Michael, Brian continued: "And you have no gripe with me either. Talk to Ben. He knew all about it too. When I got the idea, I had Ben check it out with some of the Carnegie-Mellon students. They liked the idea so it went to the publishers."

"Tattle-Tale," Ben said.

"You knew," Mikey said to Ben, and then he asked Justin, "Can I borrow that pack of chewing gum?" If this situation were in an opera, a great quartet could have been written with all four of them singing out their opinions. Different words and different melodies. They all ended up laughing. It was very like a comic opera.

And it was a great opening for a great evening. Ted and Emmett happened to be at Woody's and they joined the foursome for dinner. Ted and Emmett were sympathetic with both the deceivers and the deceived, wisely taking no sides. Everybody had a good time. Ted had some trouble relating the Brian Kinney in the booth with him now with the Brian Kinney he had known so well for almost seven years, but he liked what he saw.

On the way home, Mike asked Ben, "Why didn't you tell me about Brian and the big issue?"

"It was his idea and that's the way he wanted it done. It's all Brian's fault that you had this great big success and increased your income a tidy sum. He should have known better," Ben answered.

"Oh, forget it" Mike responded. "It's hard for a mature adult to talk to you sometimes."

"How would you know?" Ben laughed.

Heading in the other direction, Justin was saying to Brian, "I've decided to forgive you for not telling me."

"Thanks," Brian responded.

"Is that all the thanks I get?" Justin questioned.

"Yep," Brian said.

"Brian," Justin went on.

"Yeah," Brian answered.

"If I did something for you and didn't tell you, would you be mad at me?" Justin asked.

"Probably not, but it would depend on what it was that you did, I guess. I wouldn't like it if you put yourself in danger or something like that," Brian replied, "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Justin said.

"Brian," Justin continued.

"Yeah," Brian replied.

"I've decided that I do want to argue about you not telling me." Justin changed his mind.

"If that's what you want, Sunshine, that's what I want too." Brian replied.

"Then can we make up later?" Justin wanted to know.

"What else would two mature adults do?" Brian asked.

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