Notes: This chapter is all about Dave and Bro talking and talking and talking... I'm sorry that I love to write dialogue so much and that I overdo it sometimes...

Chapter 4: A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words, Or Better, Bucks

Dave fell asleep on his bed that afternoon until his brother came barging in; calling his name loudly and with a grin plastered on his face.

"C'mon now, wake up! I have great news!" Bro announced, standing next to Dave's bed as the boy sat up straight, rubbing his eyes and reaching for his shades.

"Hm… What is it?" He asked, looking up at his brother. It was quite rare to see him so overly excited about something, and usually when that happened it was over something weird or unusual, so Dave couldn't help but be a bit cagey about those "great news".

"Guess who filled the site's inbox to the fucking brim?" Bro kept smiling, placing a hand on top of Dave's head and ruffling his hair.

"Wait, are you serious? It's been only…" Dave checked the clock next to his bed. "Three hours tops."

"Would I joke about something like that? Here, let me show you." Before Dave could even register what happened, he was already being carried out of his bedroom over Bro's shoulder, and it took him a few seconds to actually say anything about it.

"I can use my own fucking legs!" Dave protested loudly, hitting his brother's back with his fists.

"Don't be an idiot." Bro said, paying no mind to the punches landing on his back. "You are now the crown jewel of Plushrumps, you deserve to be carried."

Literally feeling his cheeks and ears burn after Bro's statement, Dave didn't know if he should be infuriated, embarrassed or somewhat flattered by those words. And thinking about it, he had been feeling like that far too often for the past week. He would really appreciate it if his mind could finally decide on a feeling and stick to it.

Bro only put Dave down when they were at his computer, setting the boy down on the chair in front of it.

"So? What did I tell you?" Bro tapped the top of the monitor with his fingers, and Dave's eyes instantly fell on it.

By merely giving the screen a quick glance, Dave could already tell what his brother meant by 'filling the inbox to the brim'. There was a total amount of two hundred un-read messages on the screen and God only knew how many had already been read. And just by looking at the subject lines Dave could already tell what kind of content those messages held.

"This… this isn't happening…" Dave was baffled. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Oh, you bet it's happening lil' man." Bro's smirk turned into a softer smile, as he passed an arm around Dave's neck and ruffled his hair again. "People love you and there's no denying it."

"It still feels weird…" Dave said in a murmur, as Bro moved away from him.

"I know it isn't the most natural thing in the world, but you really should be happy about this. After all, you are going to make the both of us filthy rich if things continue at this pace." Bro leaned against the computer's desk, arms crossing.

"I guess I can't complain…" Dave's eyes scanned the messages on the screen again, his mind growing curious to know what was written on them.

"Did you ever see the pictures I put up?" Bro asked, moving from the desk to go sit on the couch, taking his younger brother away from his thoughts.

"Not really..." Dave was still highly uncomfortable with those, but if they had such an effect on the ones who visited his brother's site, they had to have something special about them.

"They are quite good. Not 100% great, but that's understandable. It's not like you are a professional model." Bro also knew he was no professional photographer either, at least when it came to taking photos of other people. He could take the most outstanding photographs of his puppets, but people were a completely different story. But he obviously wouldn't admit it openly.

More than that, he never could admit Dave had better photography skills than him.

Dave glanced back and saw his brother wasn't looking at him. That was probably an attempt to make him feel more at ease and check the images he mentioned. Still...

"I'll see them in my room." He said, getting up from the chair and walking to the door, kind of expecting his brother to say anything, but nothing came from him.

Already in his bedroom, Dave flopped on his chair before turning on the computer, his eyes falling on the memory card his brother gave him. He could always simply connect the card to the computer and see the pictures from there, but he honestly didn't want to see all of them. Dave imagined that just seeing whatever Bro put up on the site would be enough to make him feel even more conflicted.

When the computer finished booting up, he hesitantly opened up his browser and began typing the url to his brother's site, as he still refused to use the auto-fill function. He knew typing every letter would only buy him a few seconds before pressing 'Enter', but it was better than nothing.

Resting his fingers over the keyboard for a while, Dave took a deep breath before finally allowing the browser to load the site, his eyes closing like the very first time.

Slowly opening one of his eyes proved to be quite an useless action, because he couldn't help his eyes going wide as he stared at the screen. Even if he had an idea of what he was going to see, it was still quite unbelievable.

There were those big, bright letters again, that he once more didn't bother reading, as his eyes focused on the two images right under it.

The photo on the right was more or less normal, as it seemed more like some random photo of him in shorts sitting around the couch surrounded by smuppets than anything. It didn't even look like he was making any sort of effort in posing for it. Wasn't for his lack of shades, he honestly wouldn't be able to tell that picture from some other common one taken on a hot summer day, with the puppets added for ~hilarious~ ironic purposes.

The image on the left on the other hand was seriously bugging him.

He was sitting pretty much on the same spot of the couch, but he was leaning back a bit, seeming a little bit more relaxed than in the first one – or as relaxed as he could be in such a situation – while clutching to one of those colorful puppets, with eyes half-lidded, in a way it made him look somewhat sleepy, which was probably not what was needed for the site, but his brother used the photo anyway.

The same uncomfortable feeling of vulnerability Dave got from the very first photo Bro put up came back at full force, and he had to look away for a while, biting his bottom lip while trying to sort out that weird feeling.

Dave was always attempting to act and seem way older than he actually was, hoping to emulate his brother's actions. So much, he sometimes forgot he was still only a kid, and as one it wouldn't be too hard for him to look helpless, unless he tried real hard to suppress that side of him.

And to have the entire world seeing the exact side he wanted to hide, was a really uncomfortable feeling.

Still, vulnerable or not, the fact people were enjoying how he looked couldn't be changed, and that made Dave feel relieved, in a way. If anything, it kind of showed him putting up a "weaker" look wasn't all that bad.

He was still fed up by that image though, so he decided on closing the browser, no sure if he should be going back to Bro's room to talk to him. Was he expecting him to return and make some manner of report about his impressions on those pictures? Did he even want to discuss the subject even more with his brother?

Those questions were left unanswered though, because Bro popped up at the door, still all smiles.

"What you think of going out to eat so we can celebrate? And I don't mean eating shitty tacos from a drive-through. I mean real food." Bro said, leaning on the door frame.

"Hmm… Sure, why the fuck not." Dave shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. "Where are we going?"

"You decide. After all you are the reason why we are going to celebrate in the first place." Bro moved from the door, going to the bathroom.

Leaning back on his chair, Dave started thinking about where they could go. He thought it was nice that his brother was in such a great mood. It was pretty clear on Bro's face he was enjoying sharing that part of his life with him, and Dave couldn't really complain about having a closer bond to his brother. That was always welcome, especially due to how much he admired him.

Even if said bonding was over something so unusual.

Dave was suddenly reminded of this new restaurant which opened not too far from their apartment, where they sold, based on what he heard from others, the biggest, juiciest and most delicious burgers in the entire town. He was thinking about going there but then forgot about it for a while. That seemed like a good opportunity to try it out.

He heard the bathroom door opening and soon enough Bro was at his door again.

"So, did you decide on something?" He asked, leaning on the door frame again.

"Yes. It's a new place a few blocks away from here. Apparently they have impossibly delicious burgers there." Dave was finally able to crack a quite genuine smile. The first one on the entire week. The prospect of stuffing his face with food and taking his mind away from whatever was bothering was more than good.

By seeing his younger brother smile at him, Bro felt a lot more relaxed. He wasn't really showing, but he was growing worried by how conflicted and quiet Dave looked throughout the week and that smile was a sign he was starting to feel at least a little bit more at ease.

"Well, greasy burgers it is. You sure you don't want to go some other place with real food?" Bro chuckled as he watched Dave's face contort in a fake expression of disgust.

"Bro, does it really look like I care about real food?" Dave went back to smiling and Bro nodded at him.

In no time, they were already out the building, walking down the street. The restaurant was just fifteen minutes away from their apartment, and Bro didn't feel like driving. Their walk was somewhat silent, except for a few brief exchanges between the both of them.

When they arrived, the place was packed with costumers, as it would be expected on a late Saturday afternoon. Still, they were able to get a seat for two near one of the large glass windows.

As they tried to decide on what to order, which wasn't the hardest task in the world considering the menu wasn't exactly long, some casual conversation began between them, as they discussed the things on the menu while making fun of some of the people that were sitting on the other tables.

"I would be able to concentrate better on what I'm going to order if there wasn't a guy's ass-crack showing right in front of me…" Bro said and Dave quickly glanced back to see some bald man sitting not too far from them, whose pants were far from an "acceptable" height.

"You think we should tell him?" Dave smirked, before turning his attention back to the menu.

"Nah… the asshole probably knows it. He probably left his house thinking 'Hey, I'm going to ruin someone's day today by showing them my hairy ass'." Bro rolled his eyes, putting down the menu. "I lie though. I already decided on what I want. What about you?"

"Yeah, I'm done too." Dave leaned back on his chair, looking at his brother over the menu and watched him scan the place for a waitress.

Some girl named Sally was the one who took their order, with Bro ordering a soda and some cheeseburger with bacon, while Dave chose a large chocolate milkshake and some double burger with egg and salad. When the young woman left, Bro turned his attention to his younger brother.

"You sure you'll be able to eat all that?" He asked, watching the boy pout.

"Of course you idiot! I'm famished! If you didn't realize, I haven't eaten since I woke up." Dave crossed his arms, looking at his older brother's face from over his shades.

"Relax. I know you haven't eaten. I didn't eat anything either. Just pulling your leg lil' man." Bro couldn't help but be amused by how Dave tried so very hard to look serious sometimes, even at moments where he didn't even need to. Although, he was starting to think he should remind Dave he was a kid and he should act like one more often.

A brief moment of silence went by between them, until Dave finally spoke.

"Bro, I don't understand." He said as he looked out the window.

"What?" Bro leaned closer, his facial expression turning stern too, as he read the seriousness on Dave's voice.

"This whole thing, with the site. How are people so… accepting of it? I mean, I'm not an idiot, I know this whole thing is illegal. And they do too." Dave's voice was quiet, but loud enough to for his brother to hear him over the ruckus of the restaurant. "What kind of people are they anyway?"

"Losers; that's who they are." Bro didn't hesitate on his answer, and Dave turned to look at him.

Dave didn't say anything and simply waited to see if his brother had anything else to add to that. And he had.

"Those people, they are fucking helpless. I've been dealing with them for a while, and I know them quite well by now." Bro's face was still serious, his eyes focused on Dave. "They are really seedy I tell you. You just shake an ass in front of them, and it doesn't matter who it belongs too, they fall for it like the weaklings they are."

"So… it could be anyone in those pictures, and the effect would be the same?" Dave would never admit it, but he felt a bit pained by those words. A part of him truly believed he was something special.

"Actually, not really. The girl I used as a model before, she got messages, but it was like, five, seven per day, at the most." Bro went back to smiling again. "Now you… you were unbelievable. Like, I honestly didn't expect any of that to happen, not even in a million years. I was pretty sure the police would be knocking at our door an hour later." Bro always took the right precautions on his computer and on the site to prevent others from being able to track him down, but he would be lying if he said he didn't feel a bit worried when he made the first post.

They stopped talking for a moment, when the waitress came with their food. She smiled at them and wished them a good meal, and then walked to another table. Dave picked up his burger and watched as his brother talked some more.

"Apparently, the people who visit the site are not only pervs, but they also like to have a bit of an 'edge' to what they are seeing. I mean, fuck, they are willing to pay to watch puppets fuck. They can't be right in the head." Bro said, as he took a sip from his soda. Dave almost felt like pointing out that Bro wasn't really much different from them, since he was willing to make said videos, but decided not to.

"And I'm the 'edge' they are looking for then?" Dave said after swallowing a piece of his burger.

"Obviously. I wouldn't be too bummed about it though." Bro chuckled.

"Hm? Why?" Dave said, mouth half-full of hamburger.

"Well, you are like some sort of 'internet idol'. You should be proud. I don't think many thirteen year olds ever achieved the sex symbol status." Bro said, and began eating his cheeseburger, with Dave looking at him with, not quite sure if his brother was being serious.

Just in case.

"You are kidding right?" He asked, eyes narrowing.

"Hm? Kidding?"

"Yeah, about me being some sort of fucked up idol." Dave frowned before taking a sip from his milkshake.

"I'm being serious. People wouldn't be piling up messages in the inbox if it wasn't true." Bro gave Dave the best reassuring smile he could.

"It's still fucking weird…" Dave murmured, taking another bite from his burger.

"Stop whining. We are going to get a butt load of money and people are head over heels about you. What's there to complain, exactly?" Bro let out an exasperated sigh, his smile fading for a bit. He honestly couldn't understand what was so bad about being a sort of internet celebrity.

"Oh, I'm sorry I'm worried about the fact we are breaking a whole bunch of laws!" Dave said between his teeth, before taking an angry bite from his lunch.

"Would you stop fretting about it? I have all my bases covered." Bro grinned, and went back to eating.

"Fine, fine…" Dave mumbled to himself, knowing his brother wouldn't change his mind so easily. That was something Dave learned to accept with the years.

They kept eating and drinking in silence, until another casual conversation sprouted between them, and they started talking again, the other subject being dropped entirely. Although, in the back of Dave's mind, Bro's words were still echoing inside of it. That whole talk about 'internet idol' made him feel a strange feeling of self-satisfaction.

He could get used to that feeling, if he could overcome his feelings of insecurity that is.