Notes: On this chapter: Bro swings between being an understanding brother and a general asshole. And Dave's still going WHY.
Also, credit for this chapter's title goes to my friend 0dalesque!
Chapter 3: Chest High In Impudent Ass
To say the conversation that took place between Dave and Bro after they returned to their apartment was an unusual one would be an understatement. But Bro couldn't exactly disguise his enthusiasm about the whole thing.
It was thrilling for him to be discussing such a subject with his younger brother. Not only they were talking about something he was interested in, Dave was going to be an important part of it, and in a kind of twisted way, that made Bro proud.
On the other hand, Dave was both highly interested and intimidated by the plan his brother was developing. But he also thought maybe this experience would be a good way for him to learn more about Bro's mind and how it actually worked. Of course that was a strange way to try to get inside his brother's head, but it was certainly better than waiting for Bro to drop occasional cryptic hints at him.
Bro went on explaining how his whole business worked, which was something Dave never really bothered learning much about. Basically, the whole thing worked as some sort of 'pay per view' online channel; with a wide variety of puppet porn videos to be chosen from. He even casually asked Dave if he wanted to see any, and the younger Strider just politely declined - as politely as upbringing in their household allowed him to that is.
"Well, your loss." It was Bro's reply.
Aside from the videos, there was also a whole market going on which revolved around selling smuppets of all colors, styles and sizes to those eager enough to pay for them. And Dave was actually surprised by the amount of people who were actually willing to shell out money for those, and more surprised to find out people would go the extra mile to add a few more dollars to have then customized.
And of course Bro would be more than happy to supply his costumers with those, even if that meant more work for him. More work only meant a fatter bank account by the end of the month, and who wouldn't like such a thing?
Finally, they came to Dave's role on the entire thing. The plan was simple, or at least Bro made it seem like an easy enough task. All Dave would have to do was take a few slightly edgy photos with the puppets, Bro would put them up, and that would attract the attention of the masses.
"Bro, are you sure this is such a fail proof scheme? Maybe that one picture was just a stroke of luck." Dave couldn't understand how something so wrong could work so well.
"I wouldn't call over 200 messages a 'stroke of luck'." Bro laid down on the couch as Dave watched him from the chair he was sitting on. "Besides, let's not forget who had been running the site for the past years. I know a smash hit when I see one."
Dave fidget on his seat, not sure of what to say or do. Sure he kind of agreed on going on with his brother's scheme, but the more he thought about it, the more reluctant he felt towards it.
"We aren't going to rush anything though, if that's what's bugging you." Bro said when he heard the squeaking from the chair. "If we really go on with it, we're doing it over the weekend."
The weekend in question was three days away, but that didn't really give Dave the relief he was looking for. In fact, having some sort of set date only served to keep him even more on the edge of his seat.
"And I'm not going to force you into doing anything. There's nothing set in stone here and there's nothing, like, a blood pact between us or something. If you want out, you just have to say it." Bro shifted on the couch, lying on his side.
At the same time Dave was impressed – and even a bit envious - by how unconcerned his brother could be in a situation like that, he couldn't help but wonder how many screws were loose inside Bro's head for him to treat such a bizarre scenario with such normality. Dave didn't even know if that was just him and his ironic ways at work or if his brother was just plain weird.
It was so hard to tell when the irony stopped and the legit weirdness began.
All things considered, Dave's curiosity was picked, there was no denying it. That was a whole new "world", and he couldn't say it didn't appeal to him. It actually did. In a wicked way, yeah, but it did nevertheless.
"If it makes you feel any better." Bro suddenly said, snapping Dave from his inner thoughts. "I'm not going to mention this throughout the rest of the week."
"Hm… I guess it would make it better." Dave wasn't even sure if that was going to help or make things worse, but it was worth the try. Not having a constant reminder would be nice.
True to his word, Bro didn't mention anything about the upcoming weekend, and Dave was glad he was actually able to not think too much about it. Sure he still caught himself pondering about the situation and thinking if it was the right thing to do; but not discussing it with his brother and going back to their normal lives for those three days was a huge relief.
When Saturday rolled in – with Dave being a bit disrupted in his sleep the night before, but not as much as the night after that fateful first photograph – the younger Strider woke up late in the morning, almost around noon, to find the house empty. He was actually expecting his brother to be around to hear his final word about their deal, but apparently he was wrong.
Maybe he didn't want to pressure him into coming to a decision right after waking up? If that was the case, even if Dave doubted it, he mentally thanked his brother for not being in his face first thing in the morning.
Bro only returned an hour later, with a bag from some random clothing store and didn't mention anything about was supposed to take place that day as he passed by Dave playing a video game, sitting on the couch. He had decided to leave the decision up to the boy. When he felt like talking, then they would talk.
It didn't take long for Dave to bring up the subject, stopping his game and turning off the console in the process, and Bro was silently happy about that, because he would be lying if he didn't say he was anxious to hear his younger brother's definite reply.
"So, I thought about this whole thing and… I guess I… I guess I want to go for it." Dave fumbled with his thumbs, eyes gazing at his own lap. He still wasn't 100% sure about that, but he could at least say his mind was leaning more towards 'yes' than 'no'.
"Can't say I'm not happy to hear that. And I guess the sooner we start, the better, don't you think?" Bro gave Dave a half-smile, placing the bag he had brought with him besides Dave. "By the way, I bought these for you to wear in the pictures we are taking."
"You bought stuff for me to wear without even knowing if I was going to agree with it?" Dave narrowed his eyes, shooting a glare at his brother. Talk about counting his chickens before they hatch...
"If you said no I could use those for something else." Bro simply shrugged, completely unaffected by Dave's angry stare. " 'Cmon now, go to the bathroom and chance so we can get this show on the road."
Dave mumbled some complaint under his breath as he picked up the shopping bag and slowly walked out of the room, not even bothering to check the bag's contents. He supposed those were just some frilly boy's clothes his brother had acquired to make this whole thing even more embarrassing. That wouldn't be a first.
Bro sat around the room, fiddling with his camera as he waited for Dave's return, and when he did, only in his underwear and shades, and with the bag's contents on his hand, Bro would have laughed at the exasperated look on his brother's face, if his self-control wasn't set pretty high.
"Are you really expecting me to wear this?" Dave's voice rose as he spoke, as he threw the clothes he had in hand right at Bro's face, who didn't really make an effort to dodge them.
"Why? You don't like the color?" Bro asked casually, picking up the articles that were thrown at him.
"I don't… Bro! The fuck's wrong with you? You gave me girl's clothes to wear and you are asking me about colors?" Dave was almost foaming from his mouth, his fists tightly clenched.
And sure enough, the only two articles of clothing on Bro's hands were a pair of lacy, pink panties and a light blue plaited skirt.
"Alright, fine. I was aiming for something more 'out there', but if you want to be boring then just put on a pair of shorts or something." Bro rolled his eyes behind his shades, putting the clothes on his computer desk.
"Something different... Hmph…" Dave said in a whisper before stepping out of the room, not really believing his brother was already making him regret that decision. Not even ten minutes had passed and he was already almost giving up. It was demeaning enough to be taking those photos, he didn't need help from shameful clothes.
When Dave was out of the room, Bro allowed himself a chuckle, as he expected such a reaction from his brother, but it was way more priceless to actually see it than imagining how it would go down. Those were one of the best thirty dollars he ever spent.
It didn't take long for Dave to be back, with a pair of black shorts on and with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"Is it more of your liking Your Majesty?" Bro teased, getting up from his seat with a smile.
"Shut up. Let's just… let's get over this, OK?" Dave leaned against the computer desk, letting out a huff of air.
"You know the shades have to go right?" Bro asked, placing a few smuppets on the couch.
"Wait, you joking right?" Dave's face changed from angry to skeptical. As far as he was concerned, there was a policy inside their household which was pretty specific about the use of shades, and it followed a simple rule: they weren't supposed to be removed, unless it was necessary, like during showers or while sleeping. No exceptions.
And now Bro was straight out telling to diss the shades like they were nothing, and Dave could barely believe what he was hearing.
"You heard me. If people can get a clear look of your face like they did in that first picture, I'm sure the appeal will be higher." Bro explained as he kept placing the puppets on the sofa, shifting them in place as he tried to figure out the best positions for them.
Dave was pretty certain his brother was going out on a limb there and taking conclusions based on a single photograph, but he didn't feel in the mood to discuss the subject with him, so he just whipped off his shades and placed them on the table.
It felt really strange to not wear them for no reason whatsoever, especially in his brother's presence. Sometimes he would take off his shades while alone in his room, but that was a whole different thing. Every so often he just got bored with watching everything through dark-tinted lens and wanted to see everything clear and in full color. It was a nice breath of fresh air to see the world as it was meant to be seen.
But while he stood there in shorts, watching his brother mess around with those puppets, he felt the urge to just fetch them again and put them back on his face to at least make that whole ordeal a little bit less unnatural. If he went through with it though, his brother was sure to scold him, in a way.
"Alright, all set." Bro said, stepping back from the couch, admiring his "work" on decorating it with colorful smuppets of varying sizes. "Take a seat over there, yes?" He pointed an empty spot on the couch, and Dave was less than willing to comply, even if he had to. But, he was the one who gave permission for that to happen, so it was partially his fault for being in that situation.
Seating himself, with his arms still crossed, Dave tapped his bare foot against the carpeted floor, watching his brother fiddle with the camera for a while, before looking at him.
"OK, first thing, you really need to drop that pose and the pissed-off look on your face." Bro looked at the younger Strider through half-lidded eyes. Couldn't he show a little bit more enthusiasm?
Dave almost felt like shooting something around the lines of 'I would like to see you try' at his brother, but all things considered, Bro would most probably be acting normally if he ever found himself in the same position, so he refrained from saying anything on the matter.
"What do I even have to do?" Dave asked, uncrossing his arms as he sat there, not even sure of what he should do with his hands, his gaze falling on his lap.
"A good start would be to look at the fucking camera." Bro already had the small device already pointed at Dave, framing him in the center and a good portion of the couch.
Lifting his head a bit, Dave did as he was told, eyes now staring at the camera's lens. There was no going back now, and he knew it very well. His brother would never let him live down the fact he chickened out at a time like this.
"OK, you also need to stop looking like a deer caught in the headlights, Jesus." Bro lowered the camera, a silent sigh escaping his lips. "Relax your shoulders a little, OK?"
Not having the camera pointed at him helped Dave feel a little bit more at ease, but he was pretty sure as soon as Bro put it back in place, he would tense up again.
"Will it help if I close my eyes?" Bro asked, getting the camera to frame the same area from before.
"… Actually yes." Dave said, and he almost didn't have to think before talking. To be fair, not having someone looking directly at him would be nice.
"OK, so, here." Bro used one of his hands to slide his shades a bit till they were at the end of his nose, giving his younger brother just a partial view of his eyes, but enough so he could tell they were closed or not. "My eyes are closed. Is this any better?"
"Hm, yes." Dave leaned back on the couch a bit, feeling a little bit more at ease.
"Alright, I'm going to trust you aren't looking like a scared mouse anymore, so just do as I say." Bro held the camera firmly in place, and Dave nodded in response, before remembering his brother couldn't even see him doing that.
What followed was Bro directing Dave to do all sorts of poses, to put his leg here, put his hands there, lean back, lean forward, tilt his head up, then down, look to the side, part his lips a bit, partially close his eyes, hold one, two, three smuppets, press them against his chest…
That went on for almost an entire hour, with Bro keeping his eyes closed all the time, just limiting himself to move the camera back and forth. He had no idea if Dave was doing whatever he was telling him to right, but for some odd reason he trusted his younger brother was doing a good job with the instructions that were given to him.
On the other hand, Dave felt a bit strange by doing those things, but he was trying real hard to follow Bro's commands the best way he could, even if he felt everything he was doing lacked certain softness. He was more than aware of the fact he was still acting pretty stiff, even though he wasn't being constantly watched by his brother as he did those. Bro was still going to see those photos eventually, and that was enough to get him quite nervous.
"And, we are done." Bro lowered the camera and opened his eyes again, the first thing to fill them being the image of Dave sitting on the couch, looking a bit perplexed, but still somewhat calm, as he hugged three smuppets against his torso. "Well, that definitely isn't something you see every day."
"Asshole." Dave murmured, which was followed by a grunt as he discarded the puppets somewhere on the couch.
"Good job surviving this whole thing though. I thought you would definitely flip at some point." Bro pushed his shades back so then they were covering his eyes again. "Now it's time to see the final result. Do you want to check those with me?"
Bro kind of wanted to leave the job of sorting those pics to Dave alone, hoping that would make him feel a bit more at ease, by knowing he would be the one looking through those pictures instead of someone else, but he doubted Dave would have the skills necessary to judge which were the best.
Yes, he knew very well Dave was into photography and he was able to take great photos and discern good pictures from crappy ones, but those weren't some images of imposing buildings or eye-catching shopping windows or anything like that. This was a whole different department.
All the while, a part of Dave wanted to simply decline that invitation, because he certainly would feel uncomfortable by looking at those with his brother, but at the same time it was weird leaving him alone to evaluate those.
"If you don't want to be around as I sort these, here's something to make you feel more comfortable: I promise I'm not going to touch myself while looking at them." Bro grinned in mockery and Dave threw the first puppet he could reach right as his face.
"Oh God, Bro, this was really disgusting and uncalled for!" Dave's cheeks turned red instantly, as he sunk on the couch, arms once again crossed in front of his chest. "I'm not going to look, but I'm going to stay here."
"OK, whatever makes you feel better." Bro walked to his computer, sitting at it and turned it on, plugging in the camera as soon as it finished booting up.
A silence remained between the both of them for the longest time, with only the sound of clicking and typing cutting through it.
At some point, Dave darted a glance to the computer screen from where he was sitting, but it was hard to see whatever was going on with his brother's head and most of his shoulders blocking his view.
"So?" Dave finally decided to speak, when he realized that trying to sneak a peek was useless.
"So what?" Bro said, eyes never leaving the screen.
"Are they any good?" Dave went back to looking straight ahead, eyes aimed at the television's direction.
"It's not 'grade A' material, but they are pretty damn decent, not gonna lie."
"Oh…" Dave wasn't sure how to react to that reply, so he just limited himself to stay put and don't say anything else.
Bro kept sorting the photos in silence and Dave didn't dare say anything anymore. This went on for almost twenty minutes, until the incessant clicking and typing came to a stop, and Bro got up from his seat, dropping a small memory card on Dave's lap.
"What's that for?" The younger Strider inquired, his gaze shifting from the card to his brother's face.
"The ones I picked are there, if you want to take a look at them on your computer." Bro gave Dave a sort of reassuring smile, trying to get the boy to look less uncomfortable.
"Maybe… later." Dave said, stuffing the small memory card inside the back pocket of his shorts. "I'm going to put on some real clothes now." He got up from the couch, walking to the room's door, passing by the table to retrieve his shades and put them back on.
"I'm going to post two or three of those pictures in a few. I'll tell you about the outcome later." Bro went back to sitting on his chair and Dave just quickly nodded at him, exiting the room.
Reaching his bedroom, Dave closed the door behind him, back pressed against it just like he did a couple of days ago. His emotions were all mixed up again, but at least this time he didn't feel enraged.
He pulled the small memory card from his pocket and looked at it, not even sure if he wanted to look at what was inside it. He was embarrassed enough just imagining what those photographs looked like.
Carelessly tossing the card somewhere on his desk, Dave went to pick up some clothes from his small, crumpled closet, changing into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but not bothering to put on shoes. That already felt a whole lot better.
Dave let himself fall on his bed, as he let out a sigh.
Well, it's done now…
With his eyes fixed on the ceiling he wasn't sure how things were going to unfold from that point on. The only thing he was certain of was that the confusion inside his mind wasn't going to diminish anytime soon.