2038

"Can I help?" says Kenny, appearing like a magic elf in the doorway. "Do you remember where we keep the mugs?" "Yes, right here over the sink."  Then, approaching me he says in a conspiratorial whisper, "We have to do something about Ethan" "What can we do about him?" "The thing is, he is totally bat shit." "bat shit how?" "Isn't it obvious?" "Just as I was going into the kitchen, he was Tron again, all gold and emerald resplendent." "He is also that, but there is a key difference between him and you and me." "Which is?" say I, adding to the coffee filtre generous scoops of dark Costa Rican. "He is the real goods.  Yes, he is more than seventeen hundred years old, a resurrected Christian martyr and for this reason he is unable to cope here.  He does not know the difference between the realities.  We have to do something about him before something really weird and dreadful happens." "Like running around naked?" "Or Worse.  Look", he says, placing the mugs on a tray with the lacquered design of a Japanese crane,  "If he gets caught again he could be put away on extended leave for a long long time, and then they'll totally destroy that beautiful person on medications.  We have to protect him from himself." "while we are having coffee we will talk about it." "But he will be present." "Nothing about him without him." "You really mean that." "I really mean that." "The years have turned you into a hardass." "in spades,baby, in spades." "Oh you do know how to set a girl's heart aflutter."  and now we are both laughing.