Hares and Bears

 

Easter was still a few days in the future when the guys settled themselves down in front of the fake fireplace to exchange some ideas about the holiday. Nothing was said for a while as they sat staring at flickering flames darting back and forth. They could have sat there all night contentedly but that is not what happened.

“Well Easter isn’t here yet and it’s already over,” Brian supposed, to inaugurate the subject of the evening’s discussion.

“Easter is not over, Brian,” Justin replied. “You decided that we should have a party for Gus and his friends here like we do at Christmas – and you can’t do everything on just one day – so we had our party a little early – that’s all. Linz and Mel are having their Easter egg hunt Sunday. We’ll be there and we have to go to Childrens’ Hospital too and ….”

“I guess you’re right,” Brian continued unconvincingly.

“Brian, Honey,” Justin wondered. “You’re not disappointed because you aren’t the Easter Bunny any more, are you? We decided last year that it would be better if Malcolm took over and I thought that worked out real well - and I thought you did too.”

“Yeah, I did,” Brian agreed. “And I still do. And I know Gus and his gang can’t eat all that Easter candy on one day and that things have to be spaced out some…. I’m not complaining. And I thought the party here went real well. You did a good job of planning it …”

”But?” Justin broke in. “You’re getting ready to blame me for something, aren’t you? What didn’t you like?”

“Nope,” Brian demurred. “I’m not about to blame you for anything. Everything went great. Maybe I was gonna ask you though - who ever thought up the Hare-Bears? They were new to me.”

“You didn’t like the Hare-Bears, Bri?” Justin smiled at him. “Don’t you remember we figured the Easter Bunny needed some help last year – like Santa has his elves – so me and Malcolm researched a little bit and we found out about the Hare-Bears. They help the Easter Bunny out – like the elves help Santa Claus.”

“I don’t think Easter Bunnies would have bears for helpers, Baby,” Brian concluded. “Bears eat bunnies.”

“I think I learned somewhere that bears are herbivores, Bri,” Justin pointed out. “So they probably wouldn’t eat the hares, but Hare-Bears are not real bears at all. They look like bears except they have long ears like rabbits and they are like - pastel colors. Real bears are brown or black or white….”

“That’s a point,” Brian had to agree. “Those Hare-Bears were chartreuse and lilac and apricot and fuchsia. But I still don’t think I ever heard about Hare-Bears before. They help the Easter Bunny? Where did you do your research, Baby? You don’t do acid or any of that stuff. Seems to me you might have just invented them – or maybe Malcolm did? He’s nuts too.”

“No we did not, Mr. Kinney,” Justin objected. “Not at all. Mikey told us about the Hare-Bears. He knew all about them from way back when he was a kid.”

“He did not,” Brian laughed. “If he knew about them, I would have known about them too – and Hare-Bears are not something you forget either – and I do not remember any Hare-Bears.”

“But you only met Michael in junior-high or sometime like that, Brian,” Justin reasoned. “So maybe the Hare-Bears had quit coming by then. I bet that’s what happened.”

“Yeah, Kiddo,” Brian agreed. “That must be what happened. Mikey wasn’t having hallucinations when I met him – and he never mentioned the Hare-Bears either.”

“He probably figured you’d make fun of him. And I bet you would have too – like you’re doing now. But didn’t you like the Hare-Bears at all, Bri?” Justin wanted to know. “They brought you some of that imported Swiss chocolate – which is the only candy you’ll really eat – so that there isn’t like - any left for me.”

“Three skimpy pieces,” Brian complained. “That’s what they gave me. Three pieces. And you think there should have been some left for you when I only got three pieces?”

“Cut it out, Brian Kinney,” Justin demanded. “You’re so vain you wouldn’t have eaten any more than three pieces anyhow and you know it. You’re so weight conscious…”

“Bet there were more than three pieces when that candy got here from Switzerland,” Brian presumed. “Bet you had a few pieces yourself before the party. Bet you had more than three too.”

“Well maybe I just wanted to make sure that they were up to your high standards,” Justin defended himself. “So maybe I did try one or two before the party just to make sure they were OK. I wouldn’t want you to be disappointed. I’m always thinking of you.”

“Did the Hare-Bears have any of them too?” Brian smiled at him.

“Well the nephews, Johnny and Peter, might have tried one or two,” Justin conceded. “But I don’t think the other two friends of theirs did. And we were all just making sure they were good enough for you. We didn’t pass them around to all the kids. They were especially for you.”

“So there may just be a few pieces around here yet?” Brian conjectured. “Unless you ate them all between then and now – for my own good of course.”

“You sure have to accuse me of something all the time, Kinney,” Justin told him. “Like I’m always trying to pull something.”

“Yeah, I guess I am, Baby” Brian conceded. “So if you wanted to pull a couple more of those morsels out of a hat, I might eat them now – since they’re specially for me – and I don’t want them to spoil.”

“And let you know where they are?” Justin acted surprised. “If there were any around, that is?”

“Well I’m going to close my eyes and count to twenty-five slowly,” Brian told him, “And when I open my eyes, I would like to have three more pieces of my special Swiss candy – before you eat all of it. One – two- three….”

By the count of twenty-two, Justin was back in place - snuggled up to Brian and, miraculously, six pieces of the remarkable Swiss candy accompanied him.

“Six?” Brian remarked at the quantity. “I only asked for three, Kiddo.”

“You thought I would let you eat alone, Sweetheart?” Justin told him. “I like for us to do things together whenever we can. Don’t you?”

“So then I get some of this candy every time you eat any of it?” Brian asked him.

“Didn’t I say ‘whenever we can,’ Brian,” Justin remonstrated. “I’m sure I said ‘whenever we can.’ It just doesn’t always work out though. But whenever we can….”

The discussion stalled at this point to allow the guys some time for silent reflection – and to give them a chance to do some other things they liked to do together – whenever they could.

“Are the Hare-Bears coming to the Easter Egg hunt on Sunday?” Brian eventually wondered out loud – after a relatively long delay. “I’m sure Mikey would like to get reacquainted.”

“Yep,” Justin affirmed. “They are. And they’ll be helping at the hospital too. The kids will like them even if you don’t.”

“Oh I like them well enough, Baby. They’re OK. And that new Easter Bunny will need a lot of help too – not like the former Easter Bunny who could handle the whole job himself. I wonder if the Hare-Bears’ll have any of this candy left by then?” Brian wondered further.

”Maybe they will,” Justin supposed. “If you don’t have it all eaten before that.”

“Well what else is there to do besides eat candy, Kiddo?” Brian wondered. “Can you think of anything?”

“Why don’t you close your eyes and count slowly to twenty-five and see if we can think of something?” Justin suggested, sliding even closer to Brian.

“OK,” Brian agreed to try that course of action “One….” he began with closed eyes. But he didn’t actually make it to ‘two.’

 

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