What A Mess!

Written By: LJ


Dusty and Skyy stood side by side surveying the mess before them.

“Man, are we ever in deep shit!” Dusty declared resignedly.

Skyy, the smaller and younger of the two men, could only nod his head in silent agreement.

“We have just enough time to clean this up before Dennis gets home, but we’ve got to get ourselves cleaned up first.” Dusty began to steer his partner-in-crime towards the short flight of stairs leading to the main floor of their home. “You better put that water gun away ‘cause you aren’t allowed to have it in the house, remember?”

Skyy headed out to the back deck before returning to follow Dusty upstairs to the master bedroom.

Dennis sighed contentedly as he pulled into the driveway. It had been an exceptionally long day at the university and he was looking forward to spending some quality time curled up with his partners. He exited his vehicle and felt a small surge of energy returning to him. It was so good to be home, especially since both his partners were obviously here as well, judging from the lights streaming through the windows.

Dennis walked into the house and not seeing either Dusty or Skyy in the kitchen, he meandered down to the family room. He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight that greeted him. He was unable to fathom a reason for the room being in the condition it was and hoped his Brats would provide an explanation. But neither Dusty nor Skyy was anywhere to be found.

Dennis raised his voice and called, “Dusty! Skyy!” He didn’t receive an answer and being tired of wearing his suit, he decided to change before going on the prowl for his partners. Dennis headed for his bedroom, continuing to call out for them as he climbed the stairs.

“I’m in here,” Dusty answered hesitantly and immediately thought about the mess in the family room. When Dennis entered the master bedroom, Dusty went over to offer him a welcoming hug and a kiss.

Dennis returned the loving embrace before inquiring, “Where is Skyy?”

“He’s having a shower. How was your day?” Dusty responded while trying to think of a way to justify the mess downstairs.

“Long! I was about to ask you the same thing about yours and I was hoping for an explanation as to how our family room got turned upside down while I was at the university today.”

“Oh, you went down there already?” Dusty hedged. “Why are you home so early? We didn’t expect you for another hour or so?”

“Don’t change the subject!” Dennis ordered sternly. “I’d like to hear why that room got the way it is. Right now, please!”

Dusty realized Dennis wasn’t going to let go of the issue without a detailed description of his Brats’ recent activities. “Maybe we should wait for Skyy to join us,” he suggested hopefully.

“That’s probably a good idea as I’m quite sure he’s involved. Am I right?” Dennis asked as he started to change out of his suit.

“Yes,” Dusty mumbled while nodding his head.

Just then Skyy came into the room and seeing Dennis, ran into his arms. Dennis hugged the young man and realizing Skyy was still more than a little damp, propelled him back into the bathroom and told his pint-sized partner to dry off properly. “Hurry up and get dressed, Sport. You two have some explaining to do.” Dennis gave Skyy a light swat to get him moving and then finished changing into a pair of jeans and T-shirt.

Several minutes later, Dennis cleared off the top of the coffee table in the family room and sat down to face his partners. “All right, boys, would you please tell me what happened here?” When both Dusty and Skyy opened their mouths to answer, Dennis held up his hand. “One at a time, please.”

Both young men nervously squirmed about on the sofa while trying to out-stare each other. Dusty decided as the oldest, he should speak first. “I came home from work early to find Skyy already here, watching TV.”

“Go on,” Dennis encouraged.

“We wanted a snack, so we made popcorn and got a couple of Cokes out of the fridge,” Dusty continued.

“You apparently brought it all down here, right?” Dennis stated, taking in the disarray surrounding them. Two nodding heads confirmed his well-founded suspicions. “What happened next?”

“Dusty didn’t like what I was watching and he grabbed the remote to change the station.” Skyy thought this was a good time for him to get in his two-cent worth. “I had it first. He didn’t have to snatch it from me.”

“Yeah, well even you thought the show you were watching sucked. You started channel surfing, remember?” Dusty pointed out. “Anyway, you were the one who got the water gun and started squirting me.”

“First off, that was during the commercials. Besides, you didn’t have to chase me with the pillow. It was you whacking me with it that caused it to rip open and the stuffing to spill out all over the place.”

“You knocked over the cans of pop,” Dusty’s voice was getting louder.

“You threw popcorn at me,” Skyy shouted.

“Quiet!” Dennis only spoke loud enough to be heard over his Brats. “Skyylar, did you bring that super-soaker of yours into the house?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Yes,” Skyy answered in a small voice. Things were looking worse with each passing minute.

“What is the rule regarding that water gun, young man?” Dennis inquired. “The one we’ve had since Dusty gave it to you for your birthday?”

“I’m not supposed to bring it into the house,” Skyy murmured as his violet-blue eyes filled up with tears.

Dennis reached over, took hold of Skyy’s arm and settled the young man across his lap before pulling down Skyy’s sweatpants and boxers. After applying a dozen sharp smacks to the bared bottom over his knee, Dennis rearranged Skyy’s clothing and lifted him up to offer comfort. “Where is the water gun now, Sport?” he gently inquired.

“I-I put it back in the t-toy box,” Skyy hitched through his tears.

“Thank you!” Dennis knew Skyy was referring to the large box on the back deck where they kept all the outside sports equipment. Wiping the younger man’s face and dropping a kiss on the golden curls nestled against his shoulder, Dennis reassured his youngest Brat. “Okay, honey, you’re all right.”

When he was sure Skyy was calm enough, Dennis sat him back on the sofa beside Dusty, who immediately wrapped an arm around the smaller man’s shoulders in silent support.

“I can only assume once the water gun was brought into play, it didn’t take much for all hell to break loose,” Dennis commented while sternly eyeing his mischievous Brats. Getting to his feet and standing in the middle of the disaster area, he ordered them to get the room cleaned and put in pristine condition before supper.

Skyy looked up at him after surveying the messy room and asked, “Will you help us? It’s going to take forever.”

“Did I help you make the mess?” Dennis asked in response.

Skyy shook his head. “No, but it would take a lot less time if we worked at it together.”

“I’m sure it didn’t take long to get it this way and I’m sorry it will take far longer to set it straight. My suggestion would be for you to get busy.”

Skyy’s shoulders slumped as he turned to the task at hand. While Dusty pulled out the shop-vac and started cleaning up wet feathers and popcorn, Skyy filled a small bucket with warm soapy water and began washing the sticky soda from the furniture and floor. Both young men then worked together returning various items to their proper places and wiping water spots off the walls. Sometime later, they appeared in the office where Dennis was working at the computer.

“We’re finally finished!” The duel announcement was accompanied with deep sighs.

Dennis looked up from the screen, stood and held out his arms to engulf his two repentant partners. “I bet you’ll make sure not to let that happen again,” he stated, tightening his arms around their shoulders and softly kissing each of them.

“It won’t!” both young men promised, returning the kisses.

“Just to make sure, the family room is off limits for the next week. You will be spending your evenings in here with me, writing lines.”

“That’s not fair!” two voices whined in unison.

“Would spankings be fairer?” Dennis smiled knowingly at the vigorously shaking heads. “I didn’t think so.” He gently hugged them once again and suggested, “Let’s go prepare supper together. I’m starving!”

The End