Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:46:26 -0800 (PST)
From: T. Chase McPhee <survivalgame@yahoo.com>
Subject: Adventures In Nature 06

The story below is a work of fiction, set in the
format of reality. Any resemblances to real people,
alive or in the hereafter, is entirely coincidental in
nature. It is not meant to accurately reflect upon
persons, in towns, cities, countries, nor governmental
areas, which the story is staged. If a sexual scene
involving male-to-male relationships offends you, then
you should not read this story. Additionally, if you
are under 18 years of age, in most state and
countries, you are not allowed to read this story, by
law. Check with your local laws regarding such. %
Sexual safety matters. Remember guys, this is fiction.
In real life, use protection.

%

"Adventures In Nature" 06
wriTten by T. Chase McPhee

%

"I can't believe Denis snapped. He seemed to be doing
so good after this business with Harry Morse was out
of his life," Darryl says to Julian, as they sit at
the kitchen table, having a beer.

With sweaty palms, rolling around the cold beer bottle
between two hands, Julian veers off course, saying,
"Darryl, I'm returning my house key to you."

"What was that?" He asks, with his mind intent on
Denis' welfare.

"I think we should end what we've got going here
and..."

"What brought this on?"

"I feel it may be a little unethical for me to be here
while you are supposedly `dating' Denis."

"Putting it that way, it sounds like you think I'm
promoting something shady, Julian?" Darryl replies.

"Call it whatever you'd like, but I think it relates
to how you are starting out, with intentions of
building a serious  relationship, Darryl. Now come
on... ."

"I hadn't realized... I..." Darryl gets to thinking.

Julian cuts in, "Well the other thing I wanted to
bring up is... well, truth of the matter, I've decided
to settle down.. find a man for myself."

"What's wrong with what we have now? The sex is good,
right?" Darryl asks, in all honesty.

"Sure, but there's other parts that are lacking."

Darryl persists, "It's you who always went on and on
about how good we have it. What gives?"

"Darryl... it's obvious you're not getting it. Our
friendship goes back a ways, but I want more than the
sexual part of a relationship. More than what it seems
you are offering Denis."

"I see. Since when did this come about?" Darryl asks,
as he downs his beer, getting up for two more.

"What I've seen other gay couples have. I thought
maybe it's time I've had the same," Julian tells him.
"Plus, I'm not getting any younger here and maybe I'm
tiring of only the sexual aspect of a relationship...
like we have... I want more than..."

Thinking it over, Darryl says, "Well, it's your
decision, Julian. I can't make up your mind for you,
but will you do one little thing for me?"

"Sure, if I can."

"Can you just stay til Denis is released from the
hospital? It gets awfully lonely here without anyone
else around."

What Julian is really deciphering is Darryl's plea. As
he sees it, Darryl's cock will be lying dormant, with
only his hand to firm it up, instead of a tight ass.
Still, call it for `old times sake', Julian agrees to
hold on to his house key for now.

%

Late Monday afternoon, both dads at the Barr-Bridges
household made it a point to be home by the time
Jeremy let out of school.

"There ya go!" Matty says, opening the garage door to
Chad, putting on the finishing touches.

"Wow! For me? Thanks dads!" Jeremy says, holding his
new bike by the handlebars, his feet planted on the
driveway, his crotch riding the middle bar.

"I didn't know you had it in ya, Preppy," Matty says.

"It's building a bike... not the Taj Mahal!" Chad
says, giggling.

Taking his handkerchief out, Matty wets it with his
spit and rubs it against the grease spot on the left
side of Chad's blond pec.

"I hope you're not coming down with anything," Chad
says, looking down at the spit-soaked rag, wiping off
the spot of grease.

"Don't let anybody ever accuse you of being romantic!"

Then Chad turns to Jeremy, who still stands there with
the bike, looking over the shiny blue metal.
"Well, are you going to take it for a spin?"

"I'd like to, but I don't know how," the ten year old
replies.

"Don't know how? Never learned how to ride a bike, is
it?" Matty questions.

Low-keyed, Jeremy tells them, divulging a previously
unknown fact, "Nope. I didn't have one. My dad had
enough money for his booze. When my mom was alive, she
always told dad I needed things that kids need,
growing up, but dad said there was never money to buy
me stuff."

It put a damper on the dads, as well, to hear of
Jeremy's down-on-his-luck story. However, as quick as
the atmosphere turned bleak, it turned around, Jeremy
cheerfully telling, "But I betcha the guys will help
me learn. That's why I want to be in the bike club!"

"I think it's a good idea, too," Chad smiles, Matty
following.

"It's not tough to learn how to ride a bike. I bet
you'll be riding all over the neighborhood in no
time," Matty cheers him on.

"Cool! Will you show me, dads?"

"I didn't think I'd need to put these on, but..." Chad
bends over and picks up the set of training wheels.

Holding the bike in place, Jeremy looks down as his
dad goes about bolting them to the frame. Both dads
liked what they were hearing, as Jeremy talked about
his first experiences with the bike, incorporating his
dads in the talk. Sure, Jeremy could have learned to
ride from the pack of squirts, but it would be more
memorable, in years to come, if his dads had a hand in
it.

%

"Sorry I couldn't get here earlier, Steve. What's the
prognosis?" Barry asks, upon meeting Steve, coming out
of the hospital psychiatry office.

Steve's silence became the prelude to the grim task of
filling Barry in.

"Come on Steve. Let me have it," Barry coaxed, meaning
to share the burden.

"If it wasn't for Tony Gagliardi, we may have had to
retain Owen Bergne's services once again."

Barry looks at Steve, shocked, saying, "What are you
taking about Steve?"

"Seems Denis burst out in a fit of rage, during his
tutoring with Julian."

"Rage?"

"Yeah. Seems a diagreement ensued, involving Denis and
Darryl," Steve explained, hitting the tip of the
iceberg of the longer story.

"Wait. You lost me. What does Darryl have to do with
Denis and Julian?" Barry asks.

>From what he understood, Steve explained as best he
could, laying out the facts regarding Julian Bergne's
past and present relationship with Darryl, then Denis'
interpetation which didn't give much room for Julian
to explain things before he flew off the handle.

"So what you're telling me, if Tony hadn't intervened,
Denis could have....."

Barry left the inevitable off the end of his
supposition, Steve catching his drift, "Right."

"And what about Julian? He pressing charges?" Barry
questioned.

"Not that I've heard. As I understand it, Julian
blames himself, figuring he shouldn't have said things
which provoked Denis."

"Y'know Steve, I don't like the sound of all this. You
head on home. I'm going to go have a talk with Darryl
Tudyk and get to the bottom of all this."

"I'd like to be there to get to the bottom of all
this, but I better head on home to the rest of the
troops," Steve recommends.

"I hear ya," Barry says, patting Steve's shoulder, as
he gives him a quick hug and departing kiss.

After dropping Steve off at the end of their driveway,
Barry continued on his way, his mind preoccupied with
both, what his partner had divulged, plus trying to
reformulate his thoughts, upon when he would present
them to Darryl. "Oh shit!" he called out to himself,
when after turning out of Bridges Lane, onto the
countrified part of van Dusen Blvd., sirens appeared
behind him. Looking in his side mirror, a long arm
stuck out of the patrol car window, vigoriously
pointing towards the side of the road. He made a sigh
of relief, seeing Riley Sanchez exit the drivers side
of the vehicle. Opening his door, he got out, just in
time to meet the tall, Hispanic police officer, and
friend.

"New van, huh?" Riley confronted him with, right off,
running a hand over the shiny coat of pearl blue
paint.

Anxious to proceed to his destination, Barry quickly
dispersed the information, "Right. The van the kids
and I were in, during the accident, was totaled, so we
thought we should start out fresh. I guess you pulled
me over so you can get a better look?"

"Actually, I didn't know it was you, until you stepped
out of the SUV."

"Oh?" Barry questioned, with incriminating thoughts on
his mind to why he was curbed.

"Stop sign, back there," Riley points over his
shoulder, from whence they came, "at Bridges Lane. You
failed to come to a complete halt."

Expecting to be treated like `everyday Joe', Barry
watched Riley's hands. But instead of taking out the
long pad, from which he served up a ticket, he
followed Riley around, as he checked out the van,
answering questions like `how many miles per gallon?',
etc. Very anxious to proceed with his trip, before
losing his will or train of thought, Barry directs to
his immediate thought, "Um, I hate to rush you and
all, being that you're in the line of duty, Riley, but
if you don't mind, I'll just take my ticket and be on
my way?"

Squatting, inspecting one of the shiny hubcaps, Riley
looks up, at Barry, stating, "Nice wheels, but get
real," standing, slapping his palms toether, dusting
them off, he tells, "I'm not issuing you a ticket. I
can imagine, with school, home and two of your boys in
the hospital..."

"One. Mark came home on Friday," Barry informs him.

"Well, okay, but still, I betcha you have tons of
things on your mind," Riley says, taking the passenger
side windshield wiper in his hand.

"Actually, I was on my way to..."

"I know, probably to visit with your boy, at the
hospital," Riley intercedes, trying to read his
friend's thoughts.

"Not really, but I have to deal with a problem,
regarding him," Barry truthfully spat out, careful not
to mention names, well-knowing Darryl Tudyk to be
Riley's partner.

Always with a nose for sticking into other people's
business, especially friends, when inferred it could
mean helping them out with a problem, Riley lets the
wiper bounce back onto the windshield as he
intercedes, "Problem, eh? So what's up?"

"Um, nothing much. Really, I think I can handle it,"
Barry says, praying Riley drops the subject. To help
throw him off course, he adds, "And by the way, thanks
for giving me a warning, instead of a ticket."

Riley watches, as Barry rounds the front of the van,
as if rudely ending their conversation. Thinking it
totally out of character for his friend to do this, he
asks, "You know, it's up to the police officer to say
something like, `you can go'?" He hangs at the
driver's side window, his forearm on the ledge of the
open portal.

"Oh, I thought you were through with me, but I really
need to get going."

"Pop the door on the other side. I want to get a look
at the interiors," Riley says, with more expectations
on his mind. Right away, he swings open the passenger
door and parks his ass in the seat.

Barry looks to his right, wishing it wasn't the case,
on edge with his eagerness to deal with Darryl. "Nice
and comfy, huh?"

"Not bad," Riley states, sinking back into the cushy
seat, reclining, placing his hands behind his head,
relaxing. "So, is this problem you're having with
Denis, related to my partner?"

Thinking the old `mindreader trick', Barry is thrown
back, turning as best he can to stare at Riley, as he
asks, "You're partner?"

"Darryl? Darryl Tudyk?" Reilly jars Barry's memory.

"I know Darryl's your partner, but...."

"And I'm sure you, being a parent that keeps tabs on
all of your children are well aware of the impending
relationship brewing between your eighteen year old
and my partner? Denis has mentioned it to you, hasn't
he?" Riley asked, cagily, hiking up in the seat,
upright.

"Um, he has said...." Barry started to say.

Getting cut off, Riley frankly admits, "Well then why
don't we cut the crap and get everything out in the
open, shall we? You know Darryl has another guy living
with him?"

"What did you say?"

Not repeating himself, Riley sat there, watching
Barry's temperature rise, sweat start to break out on
his brow, seeing him jack the handle on his door,
leave the van, walk around the front and stroll to
where the shoulder met the wooded area. Exiting the
vehicle, he approached his friend, sensing the
disturbed nature, as Barry rubbed the back of his neck
with his hand.

Silence prevailed, as Riley let Barry lead into their
conversation, with, "That's where I was headed. On my
way over to your partner's house, to confront him. But
I had no idea he had another man living with him.
Wait... that wouldn't be Julian Bergne, would it?"

"One in the same. I heard about the fracas he and
Denis got into at the hospital. Even though no formal
charges were filed, an incident report needed to be
written up," Riley tells.

"Oh, so you know all about Denis almost dropping a
chair on Julian's head, if not for his teammate
stopping him?" Barry asks, looking for Riley's
recognition of the incident.

"I know I shouldn't have been doing it, but when the
officer filing the report, mentioned Denis' name, I
`felt obligated' to steal a look at it," Riley
confessed.

"I know your intentions would be to the good," Barry
replies. "The thing is, what do I tell Denis, now?"

"Why should you have to be the bearer of bad news?"
Riley asks, placing his hand on Barry's shoulder.

"I don't know what to do now, Riley. To Denis, this
seems like a budding relationship between he and
Darryl. He's already stressed out to the max. I'm
afraid this will send him over the edge," Barry speaks
with conviction, his usually worry-free attitude
caving in.

"You trust me, don't you?"

"Of course I do, Riley."

"Then I want you to do something." Riley waits til he
has Barry's attention.

"What?" He asks, looking to Riley.

"We're going to get back in our cars. I'm going to
head east on van Dusen, but you're going to head
west..."

"No, you don't understand. I need to go talk with
Darryl.... get this straightened out," Barry pleads,
as he hears the directive to make a u-turn and head
towards home.

"Oh believe me... it's going to get straightened out,
but you're going to go home, kick your shoes off and
relax, leaving it up to me to handle," Riley Sanchez
said calmly, his hand patting Barry's back, in trying
to calm his nerves.

"You?" Barry strongly questions his motive.

"Listen, Steve and I go way back, nearly growing up
together, but a few years apart in age. He's almost
like kin to me. When you decided to shack up with him,
I adopted you and your family into the same closeknit
family. Kin helps kin. So, I want you to trust me on
this... you do trust me, don't you?"

Having no reason to doubt him, Barry responded, "I
guess." Riley was hoping for more, so waited for a
definitive response. "Um, sure I trust you, Riley,"
came the undisputed truth.

"Good," Riley said, dropping his hand down Barry's
back, turning to head towards his patrol car.

"Wait! What should I tell Steve?" Barry summoned from
Riley's back.

He shouted out, "Don't do anything until you hear from
me. I'll give you a call later on tonight."

Standing by the front of the van, Barry watched as
Riley whisked away down van Dusen Blvd., doubting
whether he should head home or proceed to add backup,
at Darryl's house. Keeping his cool, he opened the
door to the van and jumped inside, made the u-turn,
heading in the opposite direction, trusting Riley
would find some sensible solution to this kaos.

%

After hearing the knock on the door, Kirk opened it.

Seeing Kev on the bed, John asks, "Mind if I come in?"

"John!" Kev shouts, astonished, hopping to his feet,
from sacking out on his bed.

"Yeah," John said low-keyed. "I wondered if we could
talk?"

"Um, sure," Kev replied, looking at his roommate, hand
still attached to the doorknob. "Let me grab a shirt
and some sneakers."

"I don't want to disturb you, if you're working on
something important," John says, spying the loose
papers and pencil on the bed.

"Oh that. No. I was just proofreading a paper for
Psych class. It'll be there when I get back," Kev
reports, more elated than the last few days, after
laying eyes on John. Feeding his arms into his shirt,
he lets it hang open, as he stuffs his bare feet into
a pair of sneakers. "Later," he says to Kirk, Kirk
responding in the same to both. As Kev holds the door
to the stairwell, he says, "It's really good to see
you."

"You see me everyday at Barr's & Bridges," John
retorts.

"Well yeah... I mean, it's good to see you `here',"
Kev utters.

"Yeah, well," John starts into the reason, as they
reach the bottom of the stairwell, "a lot has
transpired since I reamed you out."

"Oh?" Kev provokes, as they enter the open campus.
Some guy, venturing to check him out, makes him
realize he hadn't buttoned up.

John offers, "After work today, I decided to bury the
hatchet."

Thinking, the only guy they both know who had a beef
with John, Kev asks, "With Tom?"

"Right. I figured I was acting immature. If I'm going
to be working there, I should start treating him with
a little more respect."

His comment made Kev smile, as he said, "And he was
okay with that?"

"He stopped what he was doing and invited me to sit
down in his office. He whips out a sixpack of Dr.
Pepper and offers me one. After talking for awhile, we
started to `get along' better," John comfortably
relayed.

"So, what did you talk about?" Kev asks, with some
downsides of his past on his mind.

"First I apologized for acting like a jerk." Smiling,
John reports, "Tom told me he was sorry for acting
like a `bigger jerk'!"

An outburst of laughter ensued, Kev saying, "That's my
bro alright!" Calming their humor, Kev asks, "So, what
did you two chat about?"

Pausing, John's demeanor became of a serious nature,
him replying, "We talked mainly about you."

"Oh," is all Kev said, followed by a period of
silence, as the two walked a few feet. Then he
inquires, "So, I suppose he told you all about my
`delinquent daze', huh?"

To make sure he was being on the level with Kev, John
spewed out, "Tom told me about your parents.... um,
passing on. He told me how you did drugs, drank,
practiced reckless sex, were headed straight to hell,
til he picked you up out of the gutter."

In front of a bench, Kev dropped the whole weight of
his body down on it, making the wood squeek, as he
exhaled deeply, saying, "So he virtually told you all
about how I managed to fuck up my life?"

"I suppose," John said, placing a hand on Kev's thigh,
as he sat.

"Yup," Kev went on to expose himself, "I managed to
screw up royally."

With the weight of depression on Kev's mind, John
tread carefully onwards, "You're not the only one who
screwed up."

"Huh?" Kev says, his head perking up, looking into
John's eyes.

"Last night," Is all John said.

"What about it?" Kev asked, knowing John wanted to be
led on.

"Actually, it kind of got started in school. I..."

"Something bad happen?" Kev asked, sliding his arm
down from over the bench, to John's shoulders.

"Depends on how you look at it. I kind of got feeling
sorry for myself. You know those two guys you met the
other day on campus?"

"The blond and brown-haired guys?" Kev summed up.

"Yeah. Connor and Jim," John named them.

"What about them?"

"I've heard rumors from guys that they get it on with
other guys," John sketched in the details.

"Huh?" Kev asks, not sure of what John's saying.

"In other words, they have had threeways."

"Oh," Kev said in a low tone, commenting, "not saying
that I'm any better," regarding his past.

"I know," John says, not really wanting to revive any
dead skeletons.

"Um, anything Tom `didn't' tell you?"

"Do you want to hear about me?" John asks, overriding
the past.

"Yeah. Sure. Go ahead. So, what happened?" Kev asks,
anxiously.

"I usually sit with a bunch of guys, for lunch, but
there happened to be an away game, so it was only the
three of us... Connor, Jim and me. Of course they
wanted to know all about you. After explaining our
`disagreement', not going into detail, other than
saying we had split... well, by the end of story, I
was feeling pretty down," John explained, abruptly
ending his tale of woe.

"That's it?" Kev quizzes him.

"Not exactly. I'm also in Connor's last period Spanish
class. He asked me if I wanted to hang with him and
Jim after school."

"But you had to be at work," Kev says, almost like a
reminder.

"Right, which I told him. He said if I wanted to, come
by after work and hang out with them, if I felt like
it. Spend the night, if I wanted."

"You spent the night?" Kev asks, almost in
astonishment.

"Yeah, well, after work I wasn't feeling any different
than before. I called my folks from the store and said
I was staying with you, then drove over to their
place."

"Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! What a bad boy," Kev reprimanded him,
a ounce of humor thrown in.

Seriously, John rendered, "No kidding. I've never lied
to my mom before. You don't know how guilty it's
making me feel."

Kev, sitting to John's left, worked his arm around
John's right shoulder, in a response of comfort.
"Truthfully? Yes," Kev said with straightforwardness.
"So many times I lied to Tom, feeling guilty, til it
became such a habit, it seemed like the natural thing
to do."

"I'll probably never tell them the truth."

"Don't worry about it, John. You'll get over it," Kev
advised.

"I suppose," John said, shying away from the subject,
figuring Kev the authority, here.

"So, you spent the night? You... you got it on with
them?" Kev rushed ahead of John.

"Almost... well, not really.. I mean..."

Being an artist, it wasn't tough for Kev to picture in
his mind, the likeness of a blond and brown-haired
guy, touching the outskirts of John's bod, as he lay
between them in the bed, nor changing positions, the
three tied up in a human knot.

%

Copyright 2007 T. Chase McPhee
This story may not be sold, nor made part of any
collection, without prior consent from the author.