turps

You're welcome, bb.

Ray's gardening firm keeps expanding and he's always willing to take on anyone in desperate need. It burns him sometimes, he has a truck stolen and sometimes people take advantage, but those people are in the tiny minority. Most of his staff realise what a fantastic guy he is, and respond by working hard and learning how to actually do basic gardening. ( He has actual trained staff for a lot of the jobs, but Ray always says anyone can learn to cut grass ). Some of them stay on, but a lot move on to other things, which is fine by Ray. He's seen what can happen if you hold out a hand, and if he can help others by doing so, that's awesome.

Once he gets his new job Brian vows to never touch a lawnmower again. Or a plant, and even screws up his face at flowers. Not that he doesn't like them, he just doesn't want to work with them. Which is why it says so much when one time Ray gets sick. Nothing serious, just a bad cold on top of being exhausted due to working so hard and he's already down on staff and he's got jobs that need to be covered that day. Brian scowls, tells him to get the fuck back into bed and that he'll go help Frank with the fucking god damned lawns. And he does, coming back many hours later, filthy and covered in grass cuttings.

It takes years but eventually Frank and Mikey move out and get their own place. The first night away Gerard and Mikey call each others thirty six times, multiple clusters of phone calls that surround the blocks of time Mikey and Frank christen each room in their apartment by having sex in them. Both Bob and Frank are patient and say nothing about the calls, knowing the Ways have to do this their own way and in their own time.