Silas loved his father and the fact that his father loved his work. However, Silas didn't love plumbing as much as Charlie loved plumbing. So when the text from Kota came, stating the situation was non-emergency, Silas only had to stretch the truth a little to be excused from the lesson on the different type of pipe fittings needed to install a tankless water heater. He would much rather be spending time with his Academy family, even if it wasn't for Academy business as he may have led Charlie to believe.
There wasn't much detail in the text from Kota. There never was. Talking face-to-face was always the preferred method of communication. Silas was patient and learned to never walk in with any preconceived notions. Things tended to get weird with his brothers, even if the Academy itself wasn't involved.
He just never expected things to get this weird.
Silas looked down at a man who was clearly older than him, who was trying to stand on his tip toes to reach up and sniff his cheek.
"I thought you were taller," the blonde man named Max said.
Silas leaned over to look at his brothers and Sang sitting at a picnic table from over Max's shoulder. Kota, Gabriel, and his Aggele Mou were trying to stifle giggles behind their hands.
"Tell it to me again," Silas said as he put his large hand over Max's face and held his head back at arm's length. "I think I lost some meaning in translation."
Kota shook his head back and forth with pity and some sympathy mixed in. "It's crazy. I know, but it's true. You understand it correctly."
With his other hand, Silas pointed at the mop of orange hair poking out from between his fingers. "You're saying this," then pointed at Kota, "is your dog."
Kota, Gabriel, and Sang's heads all bobbed up and down in unison.
He repeated the statement in Greek for his own benefit. The three of them nodded again, despite not knowing his mother tongue.
Silas muttered a few curses in Greek before releasing Max, lest the flailing arms manage to reach and smack his face.
As soon as Max was free, he sneezed. It was a whole-body affair and nearly toppled him over onto the green grass of the public park. That in itself wasn't weird; how he tried to rub his nose with his knee afterward was the weird part.
Nothing in particular was the singular piece of evidence to fully convince the Greek. Everything added up together did. First, Gabriel and Silas chased after Max as he bounded across the tennis courts and right into the middle of a match between two middle aged women. Impressively, Max caught the felted green ball in midair…with his teeth. Kota had to apologize profusely and use the excuse of Max being off his medication before giving the women the tube of the tennis balls they had just purchased at the store.
Then there was the dog chasing. Dog walkers and joggers bonding with their canine companions found themselves being pursued by the full grown man shouting, "Hey!" repeatedly and at the top of his lungs. The moment Max caught up to the confused people and now-excited dogs, he would drop to his hands and knees and shove his nose under the doggie's tail. The pets returned the favor and sniffed at the butt of his jeans. The first time, Gabriel snapped a picture with his phone of the Piscean arrangement of dog vs man. The third time, however, the teens were tired of the antic.
Silas focused Max's attention with trying to teach him how to pitch baseball style with the stolen tennis ball for a game of catch. The best laid plans go to waste, for Max was more interested in chasing after the ball Silas threw among the trees of the park. Every time, he ran back panting with the ball somehow shoved into his mouth.
"Shit," Gabriel said while observing. "I can't fit a tennis ball in my mouth." He opened his lips and exposed his teeth as much as he could and tried to shove his fist in. Sang watched curiously. Gabriel gagged, then took out his hand. "Fuck. How does Max do that? Does his jaw unhinge?"
Kota shrugged.
After a while, Max tired himself out. He passed out with his head on top of a picnic table for a nap. The poor man had had a rather exciting day. The group of teens took the opportunity to fully bring Silas up to date with all of the events involving Max since early that morning, from when Kota discovered Max in his room, to recounting the search for sweets at Nathan's house, the mailman incident, the obscure x-rays, and the shopping adventure.
"Kota knows Max more than anyone," Silas said after absorbing the recap, "but he usually doesn't growl at the mailman or delivery person. Max is smart. He'll bark to let Kota know someone is there, but not get mean."
Kota nodded in agreement, "Not unless I command it."
They all glanced at the man in question, currently snoring lightly and whimpering every few moments as he dreamed.
"Then why the fuck did he attack?" Gabriel asked.
Kota pushed his glasses further up his nose as his eyes danced back and forth with thoughts going through his mind. "Now that you mention it, he isn't the usual mailman." He looked to Sang. "You've seen our usual mailman, right?"
She nodded and pushed her lip against her teeth. Sang agreed the federal worker driving along Sunnyvale Court was not the same person she was accustomed to seeing deliver the mail.
"I've never really talked to him," Kota admitted, "but I wonder what happened to our normal mailman."
Silas knocked a knuckle on to the table. "Mail people and UPS drivers switch routes all the time. Your normal guy could be at home sick."
"Or on vacation," Kota added, agreeing. "We won't get anywhere speculating, though." He looked over at his pet again, whose legs were twitching like Max was dreaming of chasing a squirrel. "We can ask him when he wakes up why he behaved differently."
"So, what's the gameplan?" Silas asked.
Kota sighed. "For now, just play it by ear. He can't stay at my house while he's like this. For now, he can stay with Nathan and Sang. I want to talk to Mr. Blackbourne about more permanent arrangements."
Sang couldn't help it. She reached out and pet the top of Max's head as he slept, and the dream jitters instantly calmed. "Do you think this is permanent?" she asked to her friends.
"I have no clue," Kota answered.
Silas threw his thoughts across the table to Kota and Gabriel. Things would get very interesting for their team if Max was to remain a human. That meant two people of ghost status were under their care; two aces in the hole. The Academy was going to love them. The Academy would offer their team the world to utilize both Sang and Max for the greater agenda. However, Max already had unshakeable loyalty to Kota. The Academy couldn't steal Max, no matter how many treats they dangled in front of his nose.
They couldn't discuss this in front of Sang, but with a couple nods, a tight smile, and a few sets of slightly narrowed eyes, Silas knew the three of them were on the same page.
Max's nap was short, taking only half an hour before he jolted awake. Not knowing where he was, he fell backwards off the picnic bench and onto his back on the grass. The sudden flurry of flailing movement took all four teens by surprise.
Max recovered quickly by standing up and shaking his body. A wave of shivers started from his head and traveled down his body until the energy funneled out of his read in a gyrating twerk.
Gabriel doubled over laughing at the sight. Silas failed at hiding his chuckles behind a fist. Sang giggled freely, and Kota lowered his head to wave it back and forth slowly.
After a round of Frisbee, then having to explain to a bike-mounted policeman why Max was shouting, "Hey!" incessantly up a tree toward an innocent squirrel, the teens, as a group, decided it was time to leave the park and settle for dinner. Max asked to mark his territory at the base of the tree with the squirrel as they left. Kota instantly declined the request.
For dinner, they first tried to stop for a sit down at a BBQ restaurant. They had to leave when Max's sensitive nose picked up the strong spices and pepper in the air, making him suffer strings of sneezes with barely a chance to catch his breath in between, before anyone could order their drinks. Denny's was more successful. Max got a steak, much to his delight. He snubbed his nose at the vegetable sides, but reluctantly ate half of the portions at Kota's insistence. Everyone knew if North had been present, he would have made the man eat it all.
After the meal, Silas and Gabriel bade their farewells and went off to either home or Academy work already lined up for them. Kota drove Max and Sang to Nathan's house and helped bring in all the bags from shopping earlier in the day.
Max was crestfallen as Kota headed back to his car after instructing him to stay at Nathan's. "But, Kota…" he whined, "I want Mom. I want Jessica. I miss them. I love them."
Regret was in Kota's eyes as he looked to Sang and Max on the front porch of Nathan's brick house. "I know, Max. I'm sorry, but they can't see you right now. Not until we figure something out, okay, buddy?"
Max whimpered and looked at his new tennis shoes, submitting to the teen's decision. Sang watched from the doorway with hands full of plastic Walmart bags, heart breaking as she witnessed the exchange.
Kota rubbed the back of his neck and blew out a breath before coming back up the stairs onto the porch to give Max a squeezing hug. Max wrapped his arms around Kota in kind, along with rubbing his neck all over his master's shoulder affectionately.
"I'm not far, Max," Kota said, "and I'll be back first thing in the morning. We'll find a way for you to see Mom and Jessica soon, okay?"
Max nodded against the side of Kota's head, brown hair mingling with the reddish blonde.
"You'll be a good boy, right?"
He nodded again.
"I know you will. Listen to Sang and Nathan. Have them call me if anything goes wrong."
"I love you, Kota."
It was quiet, but Sang barely made out Kota whispering, "I love you too, Max."
