Chillin and Chattin

As our hug parts both of us were feeling a lot better. My vivacious little sister was back in all of her freckled glory. I pinch her nose and she titters. As she giggles that exuberant girlish giggle of hers, as I feel my spirit lift, I realize that this right here is what was holding me back from being with Trixie. I was still treating her like a child and she was only too happy to take any bit of attention I gave her in any way I expressed it. She would always be my baby sis but if things were going to change I had to start treating her like the woman that she was.

“So, how can I help?” I ask.

She looks back down at her test. “Well, I’m gonna ask Mr. Robson if I can take the test again. I’m sure he’ll let me, he’s a real nice guy.”

“Mr. Robson? Nice? Really? Huh, for me he was a ball breaking bastard.”

She laughs. “Well I have no balls to break. Ha ha! I’m pretty sure he’ll let me, especially since they don’t like to fail kids.” She hands me the paper. “What I need you to do is study with me. Keep me on task, ya know? Help me get some of this stuff to stick in my jelly brain.”

“I love your jelly brain.” I smile. “Alright, let’s do it.”

“Now?”

“If that’s cool with you.”

“But…you wanted to spend time with Vespera.”

“Why not both?” I say. “Go grab your books and computer and meet me upstairs. We can have that snack Ciara left for us.”

She grins and nods then hurries off back toward her room. As I watch her go I wonder again why she was in her human guise, when at home she almost always stayed in her natural form. I slip into my room to grab Trixie’s gift before making my way upstairs, I wanted to be ready for any eventuality. As I feel the weight of it in my hand and admire the rich magenta hue I can’t help but think of the months that Trix had given up to give me this. Invaluable time we might have spent together to make more memories. I always treasured her gift to me but precious didn’t even begin to describe my feelings toward it now. In a very real way it was a slice of her and I would always hold it dear, I loved it as I loved her. I bring it to my chest and hold it a time as I fight back tears, my emotions were still pretty tumultuous since the angel incident, before placing it in the crudely made wooden box Trixie had made for it and making my way up to the attic.

I tuck the box away near the little picnic Ciara had made for us on the floor. A small square tablecloth had been laid with a ham and egg on rye, a pickle, and a bottle of a Belgian blonde ale with a glass on one side and a bottle of grape juice with a straw on the other.

With Bron and Lucian’s help I had moved most of the storage up here into the East wing attic and it had really opened up the room. And the addition of the plants had transformed the space from creaky dusty attic to a pretty pleasant place to be. I had chosen the specifically to be ones that were good in this low light environment but there was still a pretty nice variety among them. They definitely raised the level of the room.

As I look around I realize that with just a bit of effort, maybe some furniture and better lighting, that this large open attic with its slanted roof and thick wooden beams would make a great atmosphere for a living room. Just a cool place to chill. I could even imagine a little kitchenette over in the far end near the one circular shuttered window. This was technically Ves’ room so I’d have to talk to her about it first, but the more I thought about it the more liked the idea of us having a bit of space of our own. Of course all of that was going to take money.

I open and pour my beer and sit down along my side of the picnic, legs out in front of me and arms supporting me from behind, as I peer over at the large black shape of my twin. As much as I wanted it my alone time with her was going to have to wait.

“I can’t wait for you to wake up.” I say to her. “I can’t wait for you to get to know everybody. You’re going to love them. Especially Trixie.”

“You got that right.” I hear Trix’s voice come up from the stairwell followed by the sound of the door closing behind her. She makes her way up with her school work gathered in her arms. I hurry over to help out, taking her laptop and books I bring them back to put them beside the picnic blanket. Trixie walks over to Vespera and places her hand on the still black mass. “Was she talking to you in that way you told me about?”

“Nah. She’s still sleeping.” I say. “It’s going to be awhile yet I think.”

“Well I love ya Vespy.” She kisses her. “We all do.” She comes back to sit cross-legged in front of her juice, I settle back in my spot and take a sip of beer. “Have you told Grace about her yet?”

“No. I haven’t told Grace about anything. I need to show her, if I just told her she’d probably think I’d gone nuts. It’s been so crazy since my birthday too, I’ve barely given her a thought.” I sigh. “Also, we don’t talk like we used to. Her being so busy in school and exploring the big city of Boston with her new friends. I kind of feel like I’m being left behind.”

“Oh stop.” Trix waves my worries away. “Grace would never do that.” She opens her juice and places the straw in. “She’s just busy.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” We clink our drinks and each take a sip. “I noticed Dad’s gun had a marking on it, Minamoto Technology. Grace’s parent’s company.”

“Did it? That’s weird.” Trixie’s face scrunches up. “I hate guns. Especially Daddy’s gun.” I could understand that, both of us having stared down it’s barrel.

“They can be fun. You should let Bron take you out shooting sometime. He’s got all sorts.”

“No thanks, yuck!” She sticks her tongue out.

I chuckle. There is a moment as I look at her that our eyes meet, she blushes and smiles bright and my love for her glows warm in my heart. I still couldn’t believe she was middle aged for her kind, her human appearance was that of a woman coming into her own. But she wasn’t human. As much as loved this face I wanted to see the real her.

“Trix, why are you looking like that right now?” I ask. “You never have your disguise on around home.”

“Oh, uh, I’m just in the mood.” She evades.

I give her a look. “Trix…no lies now.”

She gives me a guilty grin. “Sorry.” She pulls her phone from a pocket and places to the side. With what seems to be an unspoken act of will her human appearance fades. She remains in exactly the same shape, clothes and all, just of purple gel and bright red eyes. I smile and nod approvingly. Immediately though I notice something, an ugly dark violet spot down near her feet, she was clearly trying to conceal that part from me but her see through body made it impossible.

“What’s that? The grape juice?” I ask as I lean in to look closer.

“It’s nothing.” She shrugs. “Hey, so about this history…”

“It’s not nothing.” I look at her concerned. “Trix, the truth.”

“He he he. Yeah. The truth.” She reaches over and takes my hand, her warm jelly flesh feeling as great as ever in my palm. “You didn’t do it on purpose, you didn’t know, don’t get mad at yourself. Okay?”

“I didn’t do it?” All at once the light goes on. When Trix had turned into Vespera I had slapped her tentacle away, quite hard too. That nasty dark splotch was a bruise! A bruise that I put there! She warned me that slimes were delicate, she wasn’t kidding. If there was a hole I could crawl into now to die of regret I would slither in without hesitation. “Oh Trix! Oh my God! I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay.” She kisses my hand. “You didn’t know. It doesn’t hurt that bad.”

“It’s not okay! It is not okay at all.” Tears well up in my eyes as I continue staring at ugly mark I’d left. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’d never hurt you Trix.”

“I know.” She says as she takes my other hand. “Hey, don’t cry Jake. You’ll make me cry! You didn’t know. I bruise so easily. It’s totally okay. Really. It’ll heal quick. You’ll see. There’s no real damage done.”

I take three long deep breaths and pull myself back together. “I feel so bad.”

“Don’t.” She smiles. “Now you know. Even among the supernatural folks they think that we slimes are indestructible because of all the crazy stuff we can do, if only that were true. Ha! But we’re just wimpy puddles. I wish I was tough, like Ves. She didn’t even notice a bullet hitting her! Man, she is something else huh?”

“You’re something else too Trix.” I say. “You’re something else too.”