Blue What?

Co-written by: Jo and LJ
Characters: Cameron and Kyler with their Tops

Special thanks to Teri for beta’ing and for letting us borrow her guys.




“Okay, watch this,” Kyler instructed as he vigorously shook the 35mm film canister in his hand. He had already put a couple of what he called ‘secret’ ingredients in the small plastic container. He carefully set it cover down, on the flat surface of the bar.

Kyler stood back a bit while Cameron leaned in a little closer to see the small bubbles escaping from around the sides. Suddenly, the canister flew into the air with a loud ‘pop’, causing Cameron to jump back in surprise and Kyler to laugh uproariously.

Unfortunately, Kipper chose that very moment to walk out of the office and into the line of fire. The flying canister hit his forehead. He stooped to pick it up off the floor and glared at his nephew.

Even suspecting he was in a bit of hot water didn’t curtail Kyler’s laughter. In fact, he laughed even harder. That is, until a heavy hand landed on the seat of his jeans.

“I thought I broke you of that habit when you were in high school,” Kipper scolded, applying two more hard swats to Kyler’s backside. The older man confiscated the canister and huffed back to his office, forgetting what he had come out for in the first place.

Cameron eyes widened and he looked at Kyler uncomfortably. “You okay?” He knew Kipper had brought up his nephew, but had never seen him swat Kyler before. “Those weren’t love taps.”

“No, they weren’t,” Kyler admitted with a shrug and rubbed at the sting on his rear end. “But it’s consistent. I’ve been pulling crazy experiment-type stuff since Junior High. It’s fun, even if I do get swatted.” He smirked at his friend’s discomfort. “It’s no big deal when Uncle Kipper takes a swipe at me. It’s not like he’d tan my hide like he did when I was younger.” Kyler at least hoped such was the case, because he sure wasn’t about to confess that there might be a chance of him finding himself over his uncle’s knee should the situation warrant it.

Cameron smirked back. “No, he’ll leave that to Hugh or Patrick,” he teased. “That thing with the canister was cool. It’s a pity Kipper took it with him. It would have been perfect to use as an April Fools joke. Even if we got another one, Kipper would know it was you and by extension, me. We would need to figure out something that wouldn’t be directly traceable back to us. It would be good if it was funny as well so of we did get found out our partners would laugh so hard they’d let us off the hook.” Cameron knew any prank he pulled was likely to end with him in trouble, but something like April Fools was too good a chance to miss.

“So we got bored,” Kyler comment philosophically. He had finished the payroll for the lounge earlier than usual and was keeping his friend company before heading home for supper. “It’s a typical Monday afternoon and the place is practically empty; we needed to do something to pass the time until the after-work clientele arrived. My mom always said that idle hands are the devil’s play things. But no fear, I have lots of those film canisters at home in what I call my ‘Mad Scientist’ kit.”

Cam laughed. “Mad scientist kit? What’s in it? Are you making a Frankenstein monster in the basement?”

“Nope; it’s just a box of ordinary, everyday household items that I use to make neat stuff; all of it harmless but entertaining. Well, entertaining to some that is. I’ve had it since I was a kid and keep adding to it so I can make the things I find on-line. There is a really great site with videos on how to put together things like stink bombs and these canister rockets. I’m all for pulling off an April Fools prank, but who do you want to play it on?”

“As many people as we can,” Cameron promptly replied. “I reckon Kipper for sure; but not Chad, Hugh or Patrick,” he hurriedly amended. “You got any ideas? Just remember, if we can at all help it, we don’t want to be caught; at least not immediately.”

“If you want me to be in on the caper, then we leave my family out of it; including my Uncle Kipper.” Kyler was pretty adamant about this. “And if you really want to avoid detection, then we’re going to have to limit the numbers. I think you should just pick a handful of people who have been getting on your nerves lately. How about those guys you were complaining about last week? You know; the ones who wait until a minute or two before closing and then order more drinks. You’re always later leaving when they do that and it pisses you off. There’s only six or seven of them, right?”

“Yeah, and they do it every time they come in. You do have an idea, don’t you? And a sneaky one at that,” Cameron smirked at his friend. “A plus point is they’re not likely to talk to Chad. He’d been almost as fed up with them as I’ve been and he’s made his displeasure known.”

“How freaked out do you think they’d get if they started peeing blue?” Kyler grinned conspiratorially. “I know how to make it happen.”

“Blue what?” Cameron sputtered. “That sounds really neat. They’ll be freaked all right, and it’s not something they’re likely to talk about. As long as it doesn’t hurt them and the effect wears off, it’s perfect.”

“A couple of my classmates and I pulled this prank once at an all-night kegger. Of course, that took place before I got together with Hugh and Patrick. No one got hurt. In fact, we all had a good laugh over it and it eventually wore off.”

“How did you pull it off?” Cameron was all ears.

“Blake and Dawson were both science majors and got their hands on some Methylene Blue powder. We mixed a stain solution and put a few drops in each of the other guys’ drinks to mask both the colour and the taste. Within a couple of hours, the Methylene Blue gets removed by the kidneys, which caused the urine to turn blue. The hoax is nontoxic if only small amounts of the stain are used. None of those particular party goers suffered any side effects.”

“Can we get hold of that stuff? Methy…whatever it is? I can easily spike the drinks.” Cameron firmly clamped down on the slight uneasiness he had over spiking drinks.

“Yeah, if you’re sure this is what you want to do. I bet Blake still has some. April Fools is in three days, so we don’t have a lot of time. Of course, if you’d rather we did something else, just let me know. I’m good either way.”

Cameron thought about it for a minute and then smiled at his friend. “I want to do this. It’ll be so much fun. Besides, I really can’t see how Chad would find out about it.”

“Okay, I’ll drop by on Thursday with the solution. Meanwhile, I better get home before Hugh sends a search party out.” Kyler grinned unrepentantly and swallowed down the last of his beer. A couple of minutes later, he was out the door.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

True to his word, Kyler showed up as promised. He took a small bottle out of his pocket and showed it to Cameron. Unscrewing the top, he explained how it was to be administered. “Remember, only a few drops in each drink; about a quarter of this small eyedropper. Make sure the drinks are dark in colour or the solution might be noticeable.” He replaced the cap on the vial and slyly handed it over to his friend. “It’s up to you whether you do it or not. I’ve done my bit. I can’t come back here this evening because it would draw attention as I am rarely at the lounge during the week except to work in the office. And that is never at night. Bear in mind that it might take a few days for word of the results to filter back to us.”

Cameron pocketed the bottle and smiled at his friend. “I’m a bartender. I always hear the gossip first. As soon as I hear anything, I'll fill you in.”

“Ya think, huh? You didn’t know about Kipper and Gaetane, or about my mom dating,” Kyler reminded him with a laugh. “But then I didn’t know about it either and they’re my family. Good luck with tonight. I’ll touch base with you tomorrow. Right now, I’m out of here.”

As his shift dragged on, Cameron felt his misgivings re-emerge. He experienced mixed feelings of relief and disappointment when the half-dozen young men, who were normally a thorn in his side, failed to put in an appearance.

Twenty minutes to close, and guess who showed up? Cameron pursed his lips and glared as they made their way to the pool table in the far corner. He fumed as they placed their order for drinks with the waitress. It didn’t help his mood at all when he noticed several customers leaving early. He set the requested beers on Suzie’s tray and tried not to let the rowdiness get to him.

Five minutes before closing and the only people remaining in the pool hall were the bartender, the server, and six loud-mouthed customers demanding one last drink.

“Here’s the list, Cameron. They want hard stuff this time,” Suzie muttered tiredly. She put folded arms down on the bar and lowered her head onto them while she waited for the orders to be filled. “I was looking forward to our shift ending, but now I guess we’ll be leaving late.”

“You go ahead, Suzie. I’ll take care of this. Chad is in the office and he’ll help me close the place.” Seeing signs of a refusal, Cameron added, “I’ll leave any tips in your jar; promise.”

“Yeah, right! Since when has that gang ever left anything extra? I sometimes feel we’re lucky they don’t try to skip out on their bill.” Suzie resignedly admitted her fatigue and accepted her co-worker’s proposal. “Thanks, Cam. I’m going to take you up on your offer.”
　
Any qualms Cameron had where this prank was concerned quickly vanished at the mention of the lack of tips. Cameron might be impetuous to a fault, but he had a heart of gold. The waitresses worked hard and he resented it when their service was not appreciated.

He found it easy to spike the drinks, but had to work hard to hide his amusement when he delivered the doctored glasses of alcohol. The deed was done and now the waiting began. Cameron wished he could be a fly on the wall when these guys took a leak in the morning.

A few minutes later, Chad came out of the office and ordered the six reprobates to drink up and get out. One look at the big man’s face and any arguments the six men were going to make, flew out the window

“I think it is just about time we were out of here, Mugs,” Chad announced as he locked up for the night. “What do you think?” He took Cameron into his arms and gently kissed his slightly parted lips.

Cameron returned the kiss with passion. He was hyped on adrenaline and Chad’s kisses were never boring. “Take me home, lover,” he breathed as they surfaced for air.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Patrick walked into the ER at the start of his shift Friday morning and was somewhat taken back by the commotion. Several young men seemed to be in a panic over something and the triage nurse appeared a little frazzled.

Dr. Dean did not know any of the men. He later learned they only came to town during the busiest time at the mine and then moved on.

Over the next hour, he attended to each patient and performed a simple test on each specimen of their urine. They all had similar stories to tell of their activities on the previous evening. Having decided against going to Kelowna to visit a few night clubs, they had hung around town. Four had spent a couple of hours at the Legion while the other two went out for a bite to eat. They’d all met up at the pool hall. Once they had been kicked out of the lounge, they’d headed over to a fellow-miner’s house. For just a second, Patrick wondered how half a dozen uninvited, possibly inebriated guests had gone over.

He was able to set their minds at ease when the test results came back. No, they had not caught some bizarre illness and no, they were not going to die. He explained that although it was not a common occurrence, it had happened to others. He told them it was a reaction to something they had all ingested, suggested they drink a lot of clear fluids and that their urine would return to normal in a day or two. Patrick and the rest of the staff on duty glanced at each other and rolled their eyes when the young men finally left the clinic.

The good doctor was writing up his notes, when all of a sudden the bits and pieces of information started to come together. He frowned as he compared the files. He knew from the test results what had caused the blue urine, but who would have had access to Methylene Blue plus the opportunity to have slipped it to all six of them at the same time?

As he thought about it, a building sense of unease crept into his gut. It was unlikely for the average person to keep the powder in their home should the urge to hoax unwanted company get the better of them. That left the lounge as the only establishment the six men had been at together. But who there could get their hands on the stuff?

“Oh great!” he groaned when a latent memory suddenly surfaced. He gathered up the papers on his desk and took them out to the receptionist for filing. “I need to take advantage of the lull we’re having at the moment and pay someone a visit. You can reach me on my cell.”

Ten minutes later, Dr. Dean pulled up behind the pool hall.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kyler neatly put the last posted sheet in the filing cabinet. He glanced up when the office door opened and his eyes lit up at the sight of one of his partner.

“Patrick, what brings you by? Having a slow day?” It never struck Kyler that he was about to find himself in over his head.

“Not exactly,” Patrick replied sardonically. “I’ve had a rather busy morning. Tell me, Kyler, you do know what Methylene Blue is and one of its’ uses, right?”

“Yeah, I know.” Kyler had taken a moment to respond. He wondered how Patrick could have found out so quickly.

“Do you happen to have any?”

“Ah…not on me,” Kyler skirted the issue.

Deciding to put a stop to any further beating around the bush, Patrick got right to the point. “I had six men in my clinic this morning. All believing their demise was imminent due to the colour of their urine. It was blue. I want to know what, if any, role you had to play in this.”

Patrick’s demeanour was far from intimidating and it gave Kyler reason to hope his Top would see the humour in their little prank.

“We just wanted to play an April Fools joke. It was all in fun,” Kyler explained as disarmingly as he could, keeping his hands behind his back so Patrick wouldn’t see his crossed fingers.

“By ‘we’, I take it you mean yourself and Cameron,” Patrick stated the obvious. He sighed deeply at Kyler’s nod of affirmation and ran his fingers through his hair while giving the matter further thought. “Are you just about finished here?” He moved his hand to indicate the paperwork on the desk.

“I just have to tidy up some. Why?” Kyler asked somewhat apprehensively.

“What else do you have planned for today, and can it wait? Tell me the truth, Ky. You’re a lousy liar,” Patrick reminded him.

“I was going to do the books for DQ, but that can be put on hold,” Kyler truthfully admitted, wishing once again he was able to lie and get away with it.

“Then finish up here while I make a phone call.”

Patrick left the office and closed the door. He pulled out his cell phone, punched in a number and paced the short hallway as he waited for someone to answer.

“Hello. Chad? Patrick Dean here and I am calling from the lounge. We have a bit of a problem involving drinks being spiked at your bar last night and it looks like Cameron may have had a hand in it.”

“I’ll pick up my partner and be there shortly,” Chad calmly responded to the unspoken question. He hung up and turned to Kipper as he hit the speed dial for his home. “I have something to take care of in town. Should any of the supervisors come looking for me, can you let them know I will be available for emergencies only.” Chad was confident that Kipper would hold down the fort in his absence.

His call was answered by a sleepy-sounding Brat. “You just getting up, Cameron?” Chad inquired as he walked out of the trailer that housed the mine’s office. “You’ve had breakfast? Good. Get dressed; I’ll be picking you up in ten minutes.”

Cameron was confused. He was aware it was a busy time at the mine and his partner usually didn’t take time off during the day. He shrugged his shoulders. Maybe Chad had decided to surprise him with a fun day. He took a quick shower to wake himself up thoroughly; then slipped into jeans and a tight t-shirt. He reached the front door just as Chad arrived home.

From where he’d pulled into the driveway, Chad watched his partner lock up and run over to the truck. He knew the happy grin of expectation lighting up Cameron’s face would quickly disappear as soon as they got to their destination and the young man put two and two together.

When Cameron opened his mouth to speak, Chad held up his hand to forestall any questions or comments. He backed onto the street and drove directly to the lounge. Chad merely raised an eyebrow as he took in the look of surprise and listened to his partner sputtering out something about it ‘being too soon to know’.

When they entered the office, Chad had to bite back a grin when Cameron’s eyes grew even bigger at the sight of Dr. Dean and Kyler. The older men shook hands and then Chad turned back to Cameron. “Do you have any idea as to why we’re here, Mugs?”

Cameron looked at Kyler, hoping for a clue. He had a very good idea, but was trying to figure out how Chad had found out so quickly. He quickly decided he needed to lighten the atmosphere. He smiled at Dr Dean. “Has there been an outbreak of people freaking out because their piss is blue?” he inquired sweetly. He then glanced rather nervously at his Top. “I’m making a wild guess that’s why I’m here.” He wasn’t about to admit to any involvement until he knew exactly how Chad would viewed the prank. Cameron was hoping his partner would see the funny side, not the illegal part. Both men knew spiking drinks was against the law.

“Give it up, Cam,” Kyler earnestly suggested. “Patrick has bits and pieces of info from all six guys and the common denominator is the lounge. Besides, I already ‘fessed up.”

Chad shook his head. “This can lead to a lot of legal problems. We could even lose our liquor or business licence.”

“Legal problems?” Kyler almost choked. “It’s unlawful to have Methylene Blue? Can we be arrested? Hell, we only wanted to pull a hoax on those guys.” His eyes slowly moved around to each of the other men in the room, silently praying he had misunderstood.

“It’s legally prohibited,” Chad confirmed Kyler’s worse fears. “You may not have been aware of that fact, but having taken a bartending course, Cameron definitely knew about it.” He turned to glare at his Brat.

Cameron just nodded; his face white.

“The six men you targeted believe they got a hold of a bottle of tainted wine. The only time this bar was mentioned was when they listed some of the places they patronized last night.” Patrick trusted this information might set Chad’s mind at ease.

Chad paced for several minutes, giving the situation a lot of thought, while Patrick patiently waited to see what he’d come up with.

Hoping Chad was too distracted to notice, Kyler slid closer to Cameron and whispered, “I’m pretty sure we’re in some shit here. I just don’t know how deep it is.”

Cameron was watching Chad anxiously. “All I know is that I’m in up to my neck and sinking fast,” he whispered back. “But I can’t read Patrick, so you might be okay.”

“Yeah, Patrick is more laid back and can often see the humour in things. It’s a different scenario when Hugh gets involved,” Kyler muttered. Seeing that Chad had stopped pacing, Kyler moved over to stand next to his own Top.

“All right, this is how I think we should handle this mess. We will keep it between us unless your victims go to the police or seek legal advice. But don’t think for a moment you’re off the hook; either of you.” Chad’s cold eyes pinned both Brats to the spots where they stood with knees shaking. “The next time those gentlemen visit our establishment we will hold an impromptu ‘Customers Appreciation Night’. As unexpected winners, all six will have free pool for the entire evening and be given three complimentary drinks each. They will also receive coupons for four more such evenings. I give it a rough estimated cost of five hundred dollars, of which you, Cameron, will cough up half to be taken out of your wages and you, Kyler, will pay the balance by what ever means you choose. Is this all right with you, Patrick?”

“Seems more than reasonable to me, and I am sure Hugh will agree.” If Patrick picked up the pleading in Kyler’s eyes, he didn’t acknowledge it. There was no doubt the young man would prefer their older partner not to know anything about this particular fiasco.

“I’ll give you a cheque for my share right away, Chad. I’m sorry for the trouble I caused by coming up with the idea in the first place and for supplying the chemial.” Kyler’s quietly spoken apology was sincere and he was relieved when it was accepted. Chad had been a friend for many years and Kyler certainly didn’t want to lose the older man’s respect nor their friendship over this lapse in judgement. It briefly crossed his mind to wonder what his Uncle Kipper was going to make of all this.

“You may as well take your partner home now, Patrick. I really do appreciate your help by coming to me first instead of going to the authorities. I hope we can salvage the situation and not get the bar implicated in any way.” Chad offered his hand to the other Top. He couldn’t help but hug Kyler when he saw the forlorn expression on the young man’s face. Their lives were interwoven, and Chad for one didn’t want that to change.

Patrick nodded to Chad. “I hope so too, Chad. Our only consolation,” he bent a stern glare at the two miscreants, “is that the affected men won’t suffer any real harm or have any long-term side effects. It is our only consolation.” He turned to Kyler and Cameron as he repeated the last phrase.

“Yes, you make a very good point there,” Chad answered as he took in the expressions on the younger men’s faces. It was clearly hitting home to them just how serious this whole matter was, as well as how much worse it could have been and may yet become.

Patrick and Kyler soon took their leave, and Cameron was left to face a rather angry Top on his own.

“Does this mean I get to keep my job?” Cameron asked in a trembling voice. “I know what I did was wrong. I knew it even as I was doing it. But I was just mad. It didn’t even occur to me that I’d put the lounge in jeopardy. I’m really sorry. It was a stupid thing to do.”

“Yes, you keep your job. So do many others unless our damage control comes back to bite us.” Chad saw the shame and remorse showing clearly in the young man’s demeanour and he softened his own stance. Leaning against the desk and holding out his arms, he calmly invited, “Come here, Mugs.”

Cameron leaned into the embrace, feeling safe for the first time since being picked up. “How much trouble am I in?” he mumbled into Chad’s shoulder.

“Well on a scale of one to ten, I’d have to say eleven.” Chad soothingly rubbed his large hand up and down Cameron’s back for several moments. Then he gently pushed his partner away enough for them to look at each other. “However, we’re going to go home now. Clarissa has arrived to open up for the day and I’m sure you prefer some privacy before we continue this discussion.”

The two left the lounge hand in hand.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kyler walked into the pool hall and looked around. Not a huge crowd, but then it was only seven o’clock. It would start filling up soon; it always did, or so he’d been told by his mom. He didn’t often come here on a Friday evening, but he had some free time on his hands, what with his partners being occupied elsewhere.

He didn’t see Chad, but Cameron was working behind the bar. Kyler strolled over and plunked himself down on the stool furthest from the hallway leading to the office.

Cameron’s eyes narrowed. He walked stiffly over to his friend. “Why the hell are you sitting so comfortably? The spanking Chad gave me still hurts like hell and it’s been hours.” Cameron was a bit put out. Normally the soreness from a spanking slowly receded over time, but this one was still making itself felt every time he moved.

Kyler blinked as understanding dawned. “I…umm…I didn’t get spanked. When we left here this morning, Patrick took me back to the clinic with him because he was still on duty. We just talked. Well, sort of. It was more a case of Patrick scolding while I listened.” Kyler tried for nonchalance as he shrugged his shoulders. It was never his decision to make. His Tops always decided if and when a punishment was called for.

Cameron cocked his head to one side and grinned wryly. “Chad and I talked…while I was over his knee.” This last was said rather pointedly.

“Sorry about that, man. Guess my partner just chose to handle the matter differently. Not that I got off scot-free.”

“You mean the money?” Cameron grimaced. “Cause that sucks; especially when those guys are not only major pains in the ass, they don’t even know their drinks were spiked. Over the next several weeks, I’m getting two hundred and fifty dollars taken out of my wages. I can think of better ways to spend my cash.”

“True, the money part’s a bummer. But I’d forgotten about it until you mentioned it just now.”

“So what did your partner do?” Cameron was curious. “You obviously can’t be grounded since you’re here.”

Kyler accepted the cold beer placed on the bar in front of him. “First, let me tell you how Patrick came to the conclusion that I was involved. The man’s memory is way too good. Back when the three of us were getting to know each other, we once spent an evening exchanging stories of our university days. I totally forgot having told them about that kegger party, but Patrick remembered.” Kyler shook his head and then gulped down a good portion of his drink.

Swallowing, he wiped his mouth on a napkin. “I’m pretty sure he found some of the situation a bit comical, even though he didn’t come right out and say so. One really mean thing Patrick did was insist on telling Hugh, no matter how much I pleaded with him not to.”

“I don’t think Chad saw anything humorous in my actions. Hugh the one who mainly disciplines you, isn’t he?” Cameron asked. He was still a bit hazy how his friend’s relationship worked. He had met Kyler’s partners and liked them both.

“Actually, they both do. But Hugh’s not as laid back as Patrick and for some reason I don’t understand, I hate disappointing him most. Anyway, Patrick was right. We’re a threesome and for our relationship to work, we all have to be kept in the loop.” Kyler took another long drink of his beer.

“I had to do research on Methylene Blue under Patrick’s watchful eye in his office at the clinic, and tomorrow I have to write up an essay on the dangers of playing around with stuff I know little about. I learned two major things in regards to that stunt we pulled. One was that it’s illegal and the other is that like with any drug, people can have allergic reactions to it.” The thought that he could have been responsible for making anyone really ill, was a wake-up call and fairly alarming for Kyler. It was never his intent to ever harm someone. He pensively picked at the label on the front of the bottle in his hand. “The latter is the main reason Patrick had for giving me the writing assignment. Hugh’s contribution to the whole episode, aside from a couple of hard swats, was a promise that if I am ever involved in something like this again, there’ll be a lot more swats where the others came from and sitting comfortably will become a long lost art. They also threatened to dispose of my ‘Mad Scientist’ kit, but I don’t think they meant that part.” Kyler’s nervous laughter clearly indicated how uncertain he was about the threat being carried out.

“Yeah, well I think sitting is not something I’ll be doing comfortably for a while.” Cameron’s handsome face contorted slightly. “I guess when we pull something like this again; we should do some investigating of the subject before hand.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. Too bad we didn’t think of it before we got ourselves into so much trouble. I just hope there’s no additional fall out where the lounge is concerned, and even more so for Chad and Uncle Kipper as the owners.” Kyler shook his head remorsefully. “Shit, who knew a crazy prank, one I’ve pulled before I might add, could mushroom like it did?”

Cam just grinned. “Doesn’t it always around us?” he joked. “Maybe one day we’ll learn the word subtle and apply it to our jokes.”

“Oh well, ‘live and learn’ my mom always says. Guess we paid our dues one way or another,” Kyler commented somewhat philosophically before downing the rest of his drink and placing the empty bottle on the bar. “I was kinda at loose ends and wanted to see how you’d fared out. Sorry about Chad coming down so hard on you.”

Kyler shifted uncomfortably. He felt a little awkward having been in the same position his friend was now. “Ah, Hugh has his swim team at a practice tonight and won’t be home for a while. Patrick had a house-call to make, but said he wouldn’t be long.” He glanced around the large room as he offered up this information. He was looking for an excuse to leave. “It’s starting to get busy and you got work to do. Chad will be out here breathing fire if he sees us just hanging about. Besides, I wanna get home and spend some quality time with Patrick. I sorta owe him.” Kyler smiled for the first time that evening as he slid off the bar stool.

“Yeah, after the fireworks were over, Chad and I hung out together. I half thought he’d go back to work, but when I suggested something about it, he said he wasn’t going to leave me alone after punishing me.”

“Oh, oh, here comes Chad,” Kyler announced, spying the big man heading their way. “I am so out of here, man. Be seeing ya, Cam.” With a grin and a cheeky wave at both his friends, Kyler hastily walked out the heavy wooden doors.

“Yeah, be seeing you around,” Cam called out in farewell just as his partner strolled behind the bar and stopped next to him.

Chad chuckled and wrapped a beefy arm around Cameron’s shoulders. “I trust you two weren’t planning any more pranks, right Mugs?”

“Not a chance! We’ve had enough blue piss to last us a life time.”

The End