TLR Chapter 95

"Ry! Ry, honey, I'm headed out," Coral said, poking his head around the doorway from the bedroom to the living room where Ryan was sitting playing a video game.  "It could be a couple of hours, so I'll need you to vacuum and dust while I'm gone.  It shouldn't take long and then you can get back to your games, ok?"

  

Ryan looked up for a moment and sighed. "I'll do it when I'm finished with this game since you're gonna be gone so long."

Coral also sighed. He knew that Ryan could get lost in his games for hours and that if he didn't do the chores now they might never get done.  "I'd ask how long this level will take but I know there's no set answer, Hon, so put that on pause, get the vacuuming and dusting done now.  Get it out of the way and then go back to your game. Understand?"

  

Ryan pouted, but having been in this situation before and knowing the consequences said, "'Kay Coral." He put the game on pause and went to the closet and got out the vacuum and the dust rags and set to work. Castiel tried to pounce on the dust rag as it went across things and Ryan laughed at the kitten's antics.

  

Coral gave Ryan a kiss and patted Castiel before he left.  "Thanks, Hon. I'll call you when I'm headed home.  I'll stop and pick up take out on the way back.  What do you think you'd like?" he asked with a grin.

"Fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy and cole slaw and a Coke."

"Mmmm, sounds great. Ok, sweetheart," Coral replied, kissing Ryan once again. "Love you, Angel." 

  

Ryan snuggled into the hug, returned the kiss and said, "Love you too Coral."

  

"Alright love, get dusting." Coral smiled.  He forced himself to leave and walk to the resident parking lot to his truck. He really didn't want to go, but if he didn't get moving he'd never get his tires changed and rotated.  He laughed to himself as he got into his truck and looked at the dashboard clock. If he timed it right he'd be the first one there and perhaps his tires would be done sooner. He really wanted to get back to Ryan as quickly as possible.

  

<<<<>>>> 

Once Coral had left Ryan decided to put the stereo on. It went real loud and Castiel frightened, scampered out of the room. Fiddling with it he got it to a more normal volume. He went to find his kitten and cuddled and stroked him and then put him in his carrier while he ran the vacuum. He knew the kitten didn't like the noise. 

When he was through and was just going to do the polishing, he took his kitten out so he could play and began to spray the wax on everything. When he was through with the usual buff and shine, he went over to the stereo. He noticed there was dust and gunk on it and its components. He decided to surprise Coral and clean it thoroughly. He laughed as it sure looked old enough to be in some kind of music museum. He began to unplug things and took wires off the back of the radio part and pulled the pieces down off the shelves. 

Castiel began to play with the wires and things so Ryan put out a number of toys to entertain the kitten and keep him away from anything he might get hurt with.

<<<<>>>> 

Coral drove the half hour to Masonville and as he hoped, he was the first in line.  He turned off his engine and waited for the garage to open, then pulled out his book to read to pass the time.   

<<<<>>>> 

Ryan had cleaned each component as he took them apart and then polished the shelves underneath them. He bit his lip as he saw the profusion of wires, plugs and such. He wasn't sure he'd get everything together again the way Coral had them.

  

Castiel pawed at the wires and Ryan shooed him away. He pushed buttons and plugged in an ancient looking set of headphones to see if he could hear anything. He found 8 track tapes and tried to put one in a machine that looked like it would take it and there was a humming, but nothing else. He frowned, pulled out the tape and poked his fingers inside to see if he could figure out why it didn't work.

  

<<<<>>>> 

Mark, part of the Sunday crew at Franks Garage, arrived at 10 AM and was surprised to see three cars already waiting in line. He knew Coral and his truck on sight and grinned.  He could set his clock by Coral who always came in exactly on the day he was supposed to for oil changes, tire rotations and tune ups. 

  

"Heya, Cor!" he greeted the man.  "Let's get your truck ready and I'll get you in and out of here in record time."

"Thanks Mark. I appreciate that."

  

Mark grinned as his men put the paper mats into Coral's truck and drove it into the garage.  It only took about forty-five minutes to get everything done, and soon Coral was on his way back home.  He could feel the difference in the ride of the truck as he drove.

<<<<>>>> 

Ryan shrugged and put the eight-track component on the shelf, thinking he'd figure out how it hooked back up once he cleaned each of the items. The next he recognized as a carousel CD player. He pushed the buttons after plugging it in and saw the chambers moved around inside. He would hook that up too once he cleaned everything else. 

He moved on to a rubber topped, flat, round black thing. He spun it around with his finger and saw the stick with the sharp needle like thing move back and forth, but for some reason it wouldn't go on its own. He tried to figure out how to take the flat round thing off to see how it worked.

Ryan found something that looked like a large, black DVD still on the fat thing that spun around and put it on and with his finger spun it around. When the needle fell on to the disc, music began to sound and Ryan fascinated, laughed as it warbled and sounded funny the faster or slower he spun it.

<<<<>>>> 

Coral was more than halfway home when he remembered he was supposed to stop for fried chicken. He turned around and went back to the restaurant, ordering dinner rolls and a couple of other sides to go along with what Ryan had asked for.  Satisfied that he and Ryan would be eating well for the rest of the day, he headed back, pulling off the road long enough to call Ryan to tell him he was on his way.

<<<<>>>> 

Ryan was on the floor surrounded by wires and cat toys. He heard his cell phone ring, but he had left it on one of the side tables and couldn't reach it and didn't want to trip over the wires. He figured if it was important whoever it was would call back or leave a message and he'd check on it later.

Coral frowned when Ryan didn't answer the phone but thought that perhaps his boy was still vacuuming and couldn't hear it.  At least he hoped so. He put his foot down on the gas pedal, just pushing the speed limit, and pulled into the resident parking lot minutes later.  He gathered up all the bags and headed home, whistling happily that his errands were done for the day and looking forward to spending time with Ryan.

<<<<>>>> 

Castiel was tugging at one of the cords on the floor and Ryan shooed him away. "Go play with your toys Cas."  He continued to play with the turntable and record, hearing it make low warbly musical sounds, but because it wasn't hooked up couldn't really hear it well. It was interesting.

<<<<>>>> 

Coral reached the bungalow and put some of the heavier bags down so that he could open the door. He didn't hear the vacuum running so he figured that Ryan had either done the chores he'd been asked to do, or was working on the polishing now.

Castiel, hearing sounds at the door ran to it.

"Ry! I'm home!" Coral called as he put the food on the kitchen table and bent to give the kitten a stroke and a pat. He went into the living room to find his boy and his eyes and mouth opened wide when he saw the mess on the floor.

Ryan turned to look at the door and then remembered that Coral had told him he'd call when he was on his way. It must have been him who had called. He tried to disentangle himself from the myriad of wires and cords that surrounded him.  

"Hi Cor," he said, smiling at the older man.

"Ry... what the... what... on earth... happened to my stereo system!" Coral said in a near whisper. He felt as though he'd been punched in the gut when he saw all the components of his admittedly old stereo all over the floor. 

"It was dirty, so I took it apart to clean it," he said innocently. "You told me to dust."

Ry pointed to the thick, flat, rubber topped black round thing. "That thing is really cool. What is it? How does it work? The flat thing on it makes sounds when I spin it with that thing on it, but I couldn't hear it real well."

"I said to dust, not take my stereo system all apart, Hon!" the older man said, getting his voice back. "My record!?  You used your finger to spin the record?  Ry!" Coral said, running over to the stereo to take the record off of the turn table. He went to the window to look at it, turning it this way and that in the light to look for scratches.

Ryan looked at Coral quizzically, "Record?"  Ryan pouted. "You always tell me you hate dust and grime...I thought I'd surprise you and clean it good."

"Ry... Honey..." Coral said, straining to keep his temper. "You dust it, you don't take it apart and... and... oh, my Lord, I don't know if I'll ever be able to get it put together again!" he exclaimed.

He knelt down beside the scattered components and touched some of them in an almost reverential manner.

Ryan bit his lip and Castiel played with one of the wires. "You told me to clean...I was only doin' what I was told," he defended himself.

Coral looked up at Ryan angrily though he managed to keep his tone relatively even.  "Never, in any of my requests, have I ever asked you to take my stereo system apart to clean it. Have you ever seen me do this?" he asked, spreading his hands to encompass the mess. "I vacuum it. I've never taken it apart. Ryan... this is..." he stopped himself before he could say anything hurtful.  "Just... go into the other room for now, please. And don't take anything else apart. Just sit on the bed or something."

Ryan pouted, crossed is arms and glared at Coral. " 'Sides some of this old junk don't work anymore anyway, leastways that I can tell."

"None of it works now, does it?" Coral asked, beginning to lose his temper. "My father gave me this stereo. He used it when he was in college and he gave it to me when I went. Now... well look at it!"

Ryan said, "It's in its pieces. You should get somethin' newer anyway. It don't even play the radio right," he argued.

"The only thing that was wrong with this was that some of the wires were a little loose. I was going to work on it when I got home today. Now... now I have to figure out how to put it back together! Or pay God knows what to have someone hook it back together... if anyone is still around who knows how to do it with a stereo system this old," he glared up at Ryan who still stood with his arms crossed. "Go into the bedroom, Ry. I've never struck someone in anger and I don't want you to be the first one.  Just... go."

Ryan grabbed up Castiel who protested and stomped out of the living room. "Call your father...he probably knows how it goes together since he was the original owner of this dinosaur!" He went out of the bungalow slamming the door and headed, tears streaming down his face now toward Mutt's.

Coral, not realizing that the slamming door didn't belong to the bedroom as he'd thought, continued to try to figure out what went where.  

<<<<>>>> 

When the solid knocking came at the door, Mutt jumped. He hadn't been expecting any company.  "Hold on! Hold on! Stop banging, I'll be right there!" he called. 

He was surprised to see a very upset Ryan clutching Castiel, who didn't look the least bit happy at being held so tightly. 

"Ry! What's the matter? Is Coral ok?  What's wrong?" he asked as he led his friend into the living room, seating him on the couch.

Ryan still clutching tightly to his kitten sobbed. "He wanted to hit me!"

Mutt's eyes opened wide in shock.  "He hit you?! Do you want me to call Jeff? He's out right now but Ry, if Coral hit you, he's gonna want to know!  Where are, you hurt?" he asked, searching for any sign of obvious bruising.

The younger man continued to cry. "He told me to go!"

Mutt sat down beside his friend and shook his head in disbelief.  "He hit you and then threw you out? Ry, that doesn't sound like the Coral I know..."

Ryan shook his head. "Didn't hit me...wanted to...yeah...get Jeff!"

"What... wait... he wanted to hit you? But he didn't, right?" Mutt said, trying to get the story right before he raised an alarm. "But then he kicked you out of the house?"

Ryan nodded.  Still crying he said, "He told me to go."

Mutt ran to the bathroom and got Ryan a box of tissues, then sat down beside him and picked up the phone to call Jeff. He worried his lower lip as he waited for Jeff to answer.

When his husband finally did answer the phone, Mutt asked, "How long til you get back, Jeff?"

Hearing the tone of his husband's voice Jeff was immediately on the alert.  "What's wrong hon? Are you alright? I'm in the checkout line, I can be home in twenty minutes."

"It's not a medical emergency, but there's been a... situation. We need your advice."

"We?"

"Ryan and me."

"Ryan's there? What happened!?" Jeff demanded.

"Just come home quick, ok?" Mutt pleaded.

  

Ryan was blowing his nose and tears continued to stream down his face.

"I'm heading home now. Hang tight," Jeff said, hastily paying for the groceries. He ran to his truck, threw the groceries into the back unmindful of the eggs and got back to the bungalow as fast as he could. When he arrived, he ignored protocol and drove straight to the bungalow he and Mutt shared. Leaving the groceries in the bed of the truck he ran inside only to find a sobbing Ryan and a very worried looking Mutt.

Ryan looked up as Jeff came into the bungalow.  His eyes were red rimmed and still leaked tears. His nose was red from blowing it.  Ryan stuttered out, "He's real mad and I only d-did what he tole me to and that was to clean the l-livin' room."

Jeff ran to Ryan and gently put his arms around the young man.  "What happened, Ry?  Talk to me."

Mutt said, "They had a fight."

"A fight?" Jeff asked, shaking his head slightly as if to clear it.  "What kind of fight?" He turned toward Ryan, looking for any signs of a physical altercation. Finding none, he said, "Calm down, Ry. Take some deep breaths and tell me what happened."

Ryan tried to take some breaths and once he got his crying under control amid sniffles and a few hitched breaths he told Jeff about taking apart the stereo system to clean it because it was dirty and how furious Coral had been and that he wanted to hit him and had told him to leave.  Ryan bit his lip. "I don't think he wants me to come back anytime soon, if at all."

"Ry, honey, I'm going to call Coral, alright? I want you to stay here with Mutt... Mutt, get him something cool to drink, please?"  He turned back to Ryan and calmly said, "We're going to get this all straightened out, Ry, ok? Just sit tight."

Mutt patted his friend's shoulder, ran into the kitchen for a can of Coke and came back, opening it before handing it to Ryan.  "He wants you back, Ry. He loves you. I don't know what happened, but Jeff will get to the bottom of things. I promise."

Ryan sighed. "I guess," he said dis-spiritedly.

Jeff went into the bedroom and closed the door. He dialed Coral and Ryan’s house number and after a few moments Coral answered.  "Ry!?" he asked frantically.

"Cor, it's Jeff. Ryan is with us."

"I'll be right there!" Coral said, relieved.

"No, wait, please Cor. Ry is very upset. He told us you wanted to hit him? And that you threw him out?" Jeff said quietly, trying not to sound accusing. He knew Coral better than that.

"Hit... I didn't throw him out," Coral replied in disbelief. "I told him I didn't want to strike him out of anger but that I felt I might, I'm ashamed to admit, but I told him to go to our bedroom. I never threw him out. When I calmed down and went into the bedroom and didn't find him... I thought he'd left me," Coral said sadly.  "It nearly killed me."

<<<<>>>> 

Ryan said to Mutt, "I just don't know. I never seen him that mad at me before."

"Well, Jeff is in there talking to Coral now.  So, tell me again, now that you're calmer. What exactly happened? You said he got mad at you for cleaning?" Mutt asked, not comprehending. "Did you accidentally break something?" he asked then shook his head, "No, he wouldn't get that upset about an accident... unless... did you break his guitar somehow?" Mutt asked quietly.

Ryan's green eyes widened at the question. "No! I just took apart his dinosaur of a stereo system to clean it. It had this real cool turning thing and it had what he called a record on it, but I couldn't hear anythin' when I turned it and some of the other thingys didn't even seem to work either." He went on, "It had all these wires and stuff too."

Mutt closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You took his dad's old stereo system apart... to clean it... did he ask you to do that specifically?"

Ryan shook his head. "No, but I know how he hates things to be dusty and dirty so I thought I'd surprise him and clean it all up for him."

Mutt scratched his head while he decided on what he wanted to say. He took a breath and let it out slowly to give himself more time. "Ry, I can see that your intentions were good.  I'd like to know the whole story... what happened when he saw the stereo... exactly what he said. And what happened afterward." 

Before Ryan could answer, Jeff walked back into the room and put the phone back down on the stand. "Coral's on his way," he announced.

Ryan cringed at the news. " 'Kay," he said to Jeff. Then, looking at Mutt he said, "He was stunned, then said somethin' about not knowin' how to get it back together. He told me it was his father's and he had it in college and stuff and then kept gettin' madder and madder, told me to go to the bedroom and sit on the bed and not to take anythin' apart. I got mad then and told him the thing was old and he should get somethin' newer and that most of the pieces didn't seem to work anyway. Then he tole me he wanted to hit me and to just leave so I did."

Jeff sat down beside Ryan and put an arm around him.  "Coral admitted that he'd said he was tempted to hit you, and he was very sorry he said that. He said the only reason he'd gotten as upset as he had was because instead of apologizing or trying to see what you'd done that had upset him, he sensed a bit of attitude instead. And he said he'd told you to go to the bedroom. When he told you to go, he meant into the bedroom, not out of the bungalow.  When he went into the bedroom to talk to you and couldn't find you... Ry, he was scared out of his wits."

Mutt sighed in relief. He didn't want to think that Coral would ever have just thrown Ryan out like that, but he had to admit, to himself if no one else, that he was surprised that Coral would have said something like that to anyone, especially Ryan.

Ryan looked at Jeff. "Oh...but I wanted to do somethin' nice and he got mad."

"Ryan," Jeff began, "it's obvious that your intentions were good. Even Coral admitted that to me. However, that stereo means a lot to him. Not as much as you do, I can tell you that for certain," he assured the young man, "but... just imagine if Coral had asked someone to take care of you and they'd hurt you instead."

Ryan shivered. "He'da killed 'em."

Jeff suppressed a smile. "He's not going to kill you. He's not going to hurt you. After your disappearing act, he might give you a swat or two, I wouldn't blame him. He was just grateful to know that you hadn't left him for good." 

Ryan shook his head. "He told me to go so I did as he told me Jeff.” The young man sighed. "I’d never leave him like that. I can be so stupid sometimes. I deserve some swats for that."

Jeff put an arm around Ryan and gave him a hug.  Seconds later there was a loud knocking at the door. Jeff had only managed to say the word, "Come..." before Coral came in. His eyes settled on Ryan and he ran over to his lover.  

"Ry!" he said, "I was so afraid when I couldn't find you! Please don't ever run away like that again!" he continued, kneeling in front of his boy and taking Ryan's hands in his own.

Ryan looked at Coral his face still tear streaked and his eyes red. "I didn't run away, you told me to just go...I thought you wanted me to leave so I grabbed up Cas and came here."

"I meant for you to go to the bedroom. I'd told you only seconds before that that's where I wanted you to go. It was my fault for not being more specific. I'm sorry, Ry. Can you forgive me?"

Ryan handed his kitten shyly to Mutt and then moved forward and hugged Coral tight. "Yeah, can you forgive me for being so stupid?" he asked.

"Honey, you're not stupid, you're just so literal... I forget that sometimes. Come home with me, Hon, we'll work this out."

Ryan snuggled into the familiar warmth of Coral and nodded. "'Kay...maybe Mutt can figure out how to get things back together," he said quietly.

Ry looked hopefully at Mutt. "Do you think you can?"

Jeff smiled proudly. "Our computer is built from parts of old computers that Mutt salvaged and put together to build this one," he said, pointing to the lap top on the desk.

"Yeah, I'm sure I can," Mutt said, blushing. "What year was the stereo manufactured, and what brand is it? I can do a little digging and I'm sure I can put it together for you. Do you want me to work on it tomorrow? You can bring it here and I'll work on it after I clock out for the day."

Ryan bit his lip. "It’s got all kinda wires and stuff connectin' things together. I think you gotta do it at our house."

At Jeff's nod, Mutt looked at Coral for his input.

Coral gave Mutt the information he needed.

"Of course, it would be easier to put it together at our place," he said, keeping his arm around Ryan. He grinned sheepishly. "It is kind of a dinosaur, after all, and it's pretty heavy to be carting around."

Ryan nodded. "That would be good. and it’s got all kind of weird pieces to it. I have no idea what some of 'em are s'posed to do."

Mutt grinned back. "I'll be there tomorrow. How's seven o' clock? It'll give you time to have dinner before I show up."

"Why don't you and Jeff join us for dinner?"  Coral invited.

Mutt looked at Jeff who nodded again.  "We'd love that," Jeff replied.

"Then it's decided," Coral said with a smile.  "Come on, Hon, let's get home. We have things to talk about."

Ryan bit his lip at Coral's words, but held out his arms for Cas and said quietly, "All right."

Mutt planted a little kiss on top of the kitten's head before handing him back to Ryan. "I'm glad everything worked out," he smiled.

Ryan smiled at Mutt giving Cas a kiss and then looked up at Coral. "We're ready to go, Cor."

Coral smiled down at his boy and put his arm around him again as they got up from the couch.  He kissed Ryan much as Mutt had just kissed Castiel and hugged him a little tighter. "Thanks for everything guys. And Jeff, thanks... for talking to me."

Ryan was smiling now and walked with Coral. "Thanks Mutt for bein' here for me and you too Jeff," he told the men.

"Any time, my friends." Jeff grinned.

"You're welcome, any time, Ryan. We'll see you tomorrow then guys. Thanks," Mutt said as he and Jeff walked their friends to the door. They waved them off and then closed the door when Coral and Ryan were finally out of sight. 

Jeff sighed in relief. "I'm glad it's not as bad as Ryan had made it out to be."

"Me too. I can understand why there was so much upset on both sides. I'm just glad it's resolved. I really didn't want to believe that Coral would throw Ryan out like that."

 <<<<>>>> 

 Ryan walked with Coral back to their place.

"Ry, I'm so sorry I got mad at you like that. When I calmed down I realized that I'd threatened you and I was immediately sorry. I should never have said that to you. Please don't ever run out of the house like that again, ok? No matter what I say, you know I'll never actually hurt you. I'd never raise a hand in anger to you. You were right. It is a dinosaur, and it's only a thing. If it's a choice between you and a stereo, you know you'll always come first." 

Ryan listened and then nodded. "'Kay Coral, I'll try to remember...but when you told me you wanted to hit me and then to just go...it was all I could think of at the time. I'm sorry for gettin' mad at you back, but I was tryin' to do somethin' good and surprise you. Everything on the stereo system was gunky and grimy and I know you don't like that. From now on...no more surprises," he told Coral. He bit his lip. "From now on I'll do just the usual cleanin' and nothin' extra."

Coral pulled Ryan into a hug and said, “Ry, I didn’t mean I wanted to actually hit you, I meant I wanted to spank you, but I didn’t want to do that in anger,” he explained.

Ryan snuggled into the hug and said softly, “I didn’t know…but now that I do I won’t run from you again.”

Coral smiled. "Good. As far as the cleaning is concerned, you can do anything that you see needs to be done, whether I asked you to do it or not. Just... don't take anything else apart again," he said, images of Ryan sitting amidst all of the stereo components came to his mind and he had to laugh, imagining his boy 'cleaning' the microwave or the TV in such a fashion.

Ryan nodded. "I was goin' to tackle the TV system once I had gotten the stereo cleaned. You know, the TV, VCR, DVD player, the cable system..."

Coral looked hard at Ryan, trying to figure out if the young man was pulling his leg or not.  "You wouldn't..." he began.

Ryan shook his head. "Not after you got mad about the stereo, but I was goin' to when I was done with the stereo. I have the game system hooked up to the TV too."

"Which if I understand right, Mutt and Adam hooked up for you. It's good that we have friends who can do these things for us. In the future, why don't we just let them keep doing it, eh?" Coral said, raising his eyebrows so that Ryan would know it wasn't a request.

" 'Kay Coral." He gave him an impish grin. "It was fun though takin' all those weird thingys apart."

Coral put Castiel on the floor, gave his lover four playful whacks and then pulled him into a hug.  The thought that he'd lost Ryan had put things in perspective for him, and he couldn't be upset about his newly dubbed stereosaurus. He drew Ryan into a long, passionate kiss. He could feel himself becoming aroused.

Ryan pouted at the swats, but when he felt himself being pulled into his lover's strong arms and felt his arousal returned the kiss more passionately and was eager for him.

Forgetting lunch, forgetting the stereo, Coral led Ryan into their bedroom where they made love and then slept until just past dinner time.  Coral woke up with a grin and a chuckle as he looked down at his sleeping partner.  He gently kissed the full pink lips, grateful for the millionth time today that he had this boy for his own.

<<<<>>>> 

The next day Jeff and Mutt showed up for dinner. When they were through, he had Coral show him the stereo unit with all its components still unhooked the wires hanging down the shelves looking like something from a bad horror movie. When he saw what Ryan and Coral had been talking about he shook his head and grinned. 

“This isn’t as bad as it looks Coral. All that needs to happen is for all the components to be hooked back up to the main stereo unit. I have to admit it looks older than me and somethin’ that belongs in a museum, but it shouldn’t take very long to put back together.”

Jeff looked at his boy proudly and the three men watched as Mutt looking sort of like a little monkey began to attach and plug in wire after wire until there were no more hanging and then pushed the button to turn on the main unit. The radio sounded clear and as he tested each of the other parts grinned. The 8-track played and Ryan’s green eyes went wide as he heard music coming out of the system. “Well I’ll be…so that’s how that thing works!” 

Mutt put in a cassette and the unit played as it should, placed a CD in the carousel player and grinned as it spun and then found the disc and began to play, then stepped back and grinning said, “You get to do the vinyl Coral.”

The man took one of the records out of its sleeve reverently and placed it on the turntable and started it and out came the Beatles, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” loud and clear.

Ryan’s green eyes glowed with happiness that Mutt had put everything back together the way it should be and that it all worked again.

Coral put an arm around the smaller man and said, “I always said you were a genius. Mutt.”

Jeff chuckled as his husband blushed at the praise.

Coral said, “Thank you Mutt. I couldn’t have done that myself in a million years.”

Mutt said, “You’re welcome. It wasn’t that difficult and I was happy to do it.”

Coral grabbed Ryan's hand and began dancing to the music, leading him in simple steps that his young lover quickly caught on to.  They laughed when Coral played The Twist, and showed them how to do the dance. 

Jeff riffled through Coral's 45s and laughed delightedly. He chose to play the Monster Mash and he and Mutt danced while Ryan looked on, amazed and amused. He realized that his face was beginning to hurt from smiling and laughing so much.

Out of curiosity, Ryan chose a record titled Flying Purple People Eater. Ryan didn't know what was funnier, the music or the dancing and he and the others joined in the laughter and fun until Jeff bent back to far during Limbo Rock and fell onto his backside, laughing fit to burst.

The group spent the rest of the evening dancing and playing vintage music on the Stereosaurus until Ryan had to, unwillingly, leave for his shift.  Mutt and Jeff said their goodbyes and thanked the couple for a fun time.

"I don't wanna go," Ry complained as he got dressed for work. "I want to stay here and dance some more.'

"Now that the old fossil is up and running again, we can dance any time we want." Coral smiled, wrapping Ryan in his arms and pulling him close.

"Sooo, I guess taking the stereo apart was a good thing?" Ry asked shyly. "I mean, if I hadn't done it, we wouldn't have had such a good time today..."

Coral pulled Ryan closer, kissing him deeply before holding him out at arm’s length.  Looking into his lover's eyes, he said, “I guess it turned out to be a good thing in the long run, my angel, but if you ever take my stereo or any electronic device in this house apart again, you'll be doing a different dance.  Got me?"

Ryan wrinkled his nose and scowled at the threat.  "But..."

A quick swat to his backside cut the thought off. "Hey!"

"Come on, sweetheart," Coral grinned, "I'll walk you to work."

Ryan made a face but then gave his lover a rueful grin.  "Can we dance on the way there?"

"As you wish." Coral smiled.