"Brooding is your new pass time I see." Maximus's voice greeted him. Slender stood at the road, looking at Echo's apartment.
"I am not in the mood for this." He spat at his brother. Maximus remained unfazed despite the fact that at the moment Slender was considering a murder and it didn't matter whom he killed. He much preferred to kill that artist. Echo was his. That human was trespassing.
"You're getting carried away." Maximus warned.
"Your desire to kill is starting to catch the attention of the High Council. They are growing weary of your actions. Its either Echo or Dawn. You can't hang around Echo for the next five years." Maximus warned. The small figure of the fledgling came out of the stairwell towards the dark blue truck, her laughter carrying over the wind. That human male must be doing something she finds funny. Slender sneered, baring teeth.
"He hasn't committed a serious sin in his life. You don't put a hand on him. Don't make me remind you what happened to the last Punisher that killed someone that was undeserving." Maximus scolded. Slender almost ignored his warning. The human male came into view, he appeared to be carrying a box. Slender half hoped he'd hurt himself.
"What are you going to do? Seriously consider your actions. Are you going to force her to be your partner? Are you going to leave her alone? You can't keep doing this. You have to say goodbye to Echo if you want her happy. If you keep around Echo things are eventually going to go array." Maximus said. The older brother was seriously fearing his brother's sanity and safety. The Operator had to get away from the fledgling and soon. Maximus had considered having the High Council keep him in their plane until his… problem worked itself out. This was not good for him. The human male put the box in the bed of his truck and the ex-intended of his brother's got into the cab. The male followed and the truck roared to life and zoomed out of the parking lot. The two Slenderbeings watched the blue automobile drive away.
"She's happy with him." Maximus said.
"Dawn isn't right…" His brother said curtly, bringing his new intended into the conversation unexpectedly. Maximus looked at him.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"She's not right. Just what I said. Nothing seems to be right. Forcing Echo to be my mate is wrong. Taking Dawn is wrong…" Slender replied. Maximus would never understand his brother. He adored him, but understanding the Operator will be something that will never come to him.
"You don't have to have a mate. We're at that point in population where not everyone has to reproduce." Maximus said, he tried to do what was right for his brother and the human. Having grown soft for a reason unknown to him. There was a chance that the Operator could find bliss in the life of a confirmed bachelor. There was nothing wrong with that.
"At this point I am not sure of anything anymore. I want her happiness but I grow increasingly selfish as the days go on. It's her I want. It becomes more challenging to keep myself from smashing that human's skull into bits and taking Echo for myself as time goes on." The Operator commented. Maximus's worries were truly confirmed and if his brother stayed any longer among the humans… A tragedy would more than likely befall Echo. Maximus's stomach churned at the thought of his once kind and gentle brother that sacrificed his own happiness for Echo's to suddenly turn into the monster that the humans had come to believe him to be. Something drastic had to be done and if the Operator had to be chained down in their plane of existence to insure the safety of two innocent humans then so be it. Maximus would not allow his brother to destroy his life because he could not properly let go of his original intended. He hadn't done much for his brother, but Maximus had to do this.
"Come home, brother. It is our sister's birthday tomorrow. She wished for her older brother to be there to celebrate." Maximus said. The Operator sighed and nodded. Their sister did always favor him greatly.
My gaze went to the rear view mirror aimed at the back. I could barely see the box of donations in the bed but I was sure it was fine. Throughout the year I usually stocked up on canned goods and food usually consumed during the holidays and with Thanksgiving coming up it was time to donate it all. Jake had volunteered to take me to a food drive.
"So… Echo." Jake said. I looked at him.
"What's up, Jake the Giraffe." I asked. He smirked. I had taken to calling him that or just Giraffe, because it was just too good to pass up.
"The holidays are coming up soon, you know. I remember you told me that you don't have family to go see." Jake replied. He was working his way up to something and I had a decent idea of what it was accept I was thoroughly convinced it was too good to be true.
"My mom's been bugging me about bringing a girlfriend with me this year to the family get together." Jake said, he had grown uncomfortable and his cheeks had gone red.
"What you want me to go with you as a fake girlfriend?" I asked him jokingly.
"Well… yeah… but not as a fake girlfriend." Jake replied and my stomach dropped to my feet. I was kind of shocked into silence. My throat was tight and I was all to baffled. I saw it coming… but… wow, I'm such a dork.
"That came out right, didn't it?" Jake asked upon my silence.
"Oh, yeah. At least I think it did."
"I mean I know I'm a little older than you, but I was hoping you didn't mind. I'm not that much older than you but-" He started to ramble and I thought it was cute.
"Jake, calm down, it's cool. Yeah, I'll go." I told him. He grinned like an idiot.
"Great. She might want to meet you before I drag you to the mountains for two weeks." He said.
"A week?" I asked.
"My family is really spread out. Thanksgiving and Christmas the Stryker clan goes up to this friggin' huge cabin in the mountains like three hours away and we stay for a couple of weeks to catch up on everything. Christmas isn't as long it's just five days." Jake said, starting to sound nervous again.
"Oh, okay. Sounds fun. I've always liked the mountains." I told him. He smiled again.
"But yeah… you're cool with meeting my mom so early on?" Jake asked.
"That's fine. If we're going to be in a mountain cabin for two weeks I should meet her now and get over the whole 'Hi, I'm dating your son.' thing beforehand." I answered.
"You sure I'm not moving too fast?" Jake said. I laughed.
"Sure. Well for other people, maybe. But I'm familiar with someone moving too fast. You're good." I told him. Slen's intentions were to get to me to have his kids. That was real fast so what Jake was doing was fine. I didn't mind at all.
"I'm not kidding, if you aren't comfortable."
"Jake, chill. Wow you're the nervous type." I said jokingly. He smiled sheepishly and turned into the food drive. We got out of the truck and I watched him get the box out. Wait… we were dating now… I wanted to laugh. Great! I had a giraffe of a boyfriend! That thought made me giggle to myself and Jake gave me a look.
"What are you laughing at?" He asked, grabbing the donation box and started to head over to the donation station while I closed the truck bed.
"I have a giraffe of a boyfriend." I told him. Jake grinned like a dork and set the box on the table.
"I have a pixie of a girlfriend so I think we're even." He said. I laughed.
"Good point, Giraffe." I told him. He shook his head in good nature and we went back to the truck.
"It is funny though. I'm just below average height and you're… dude exactly how tall are you?" I asked, finally having decent grounds to ask him how tall he was. Jake laughed.
"Six Seven." He told me.
"Geez, what did you do when you were little, eat Miracle Grow?" I asked. Jake laughed again, turning the truck back on.
"I've been wondering too. Neither one of my parents are average height, my brother is six foot." Jake said. I smiled.
"We should grab some lunch." He said out of the blue. I nodded.
"I might have some money on me, I'm not sure." I said, checking my pockets. I usually kept twenties in every pair of pants I owned in case of emergency. I found it in my back pocket.
"Awesome. Where do you want to go?" I asked him, transferring the twenty to my front pocket.
"I was gonna pay for you." Jake said with a smile.
"Naw, dude. I'm not letting a guy on an artist's salary and trust fund pay for my lunch." I told him.
"Oh, I didn't tell you?" He asked. I tilted my head.
"No. What?" I asked.
"A collector stopped by last week. He bought three of my sculptors. A thousand dollars each. Then he told me he was going to tell his friend's about my work." He said.
"Wow! That's great Jake! I'm impressed, which ones?" I asked.
"Two of the ones I had on display in my living room. The one one the entertainment center and the other one was in my room." Jake told me.
"How many people did he say he was going to tell?" I asked.
"He didn't specify." Jake replied.
"That's great though! I'm proud of you." I said. "But I'm still not letting you pay for my lunch. Three thousand dollars doesn't go far if you go willy nilly with it."
Sorry everybody! Guess what didn't work! That stupid recovery disk I blew thirty freaking dollars on! Hooray! So yeah…. I'm saving up for a new computer and using the public computer I have access to. I'm really sorry guys! You all deserve better than this. But I hope you liked the chapter.