[HANSON STORIES]

The Draedean Threat

{Year- 3090}
{Place- Denabux}
{Habitation- Hanson family home}

Chapter 15 - Motor Skills


Zac ran his hands under the air blown faucet, listening to Isaac moan on and on about how irresponsible Taylor was being and that he was bringing that trait with him to expose to the rest of the kids. Zac nodded every other time his older brother looked at him and turned so he was facing the water fixture and felt the cool liquid run over his dark hands. He chuckled to himself as part of his tan was washed away by the cleansing waters.
"You're not even listening are you?"
Zac pulled his attention away from his hands when he heard the asking tone his sibling used, "Say again?"
Isaac wasn't sure whether he was upset at Zac for not listening or to be amused at how much of an airhead he was, "I said, 'I think we should tell mom and dad, don't you?' and you just sat there and watched the water turn brown."
Zac pulled a couple of wet fingers up to his lip and began playing with it, "I dunno man…Tay said he doesn't want mom and dad to know until he gets here. So it's a surprise and all."
Isaac gave him a patronizing look, "Zac…get a brain."
"Got one."
"Learn to use it then. Have you noticed how mom is almost always around the corner when we get a com-call? Or that she's talking about Taylor more then she normally does AND that she's cleaning his room up even though (you're) the one sleeping in it?"
Zac wiped his hands on his dirty pants, ruining the whole purpose of coming to the bathroom in the first place. He looked troubled, to say the least.
"So? Maybe she's just…maybe she thinks I'm working too hard and that I need help around my room or something."
"Again, learn to use your brain before you attempt to speak. I work harder then you do nimrod."
Zac held his arms up horizontally as he walked out of the room so his hands hit the door frame as he moved out and so that Isaac had to walk as slowly as he did. He continued down the hall in the same manner, moving from side to side as his older brother tried to get by. Finally, Isaac grew weary of his games.
"What are you doing?" He burst.
"Learning to use my motor-skills." He answered matter of fact voice.
Isaac stopped dead in his tracks before he started laughing so hard that he soon needed to lean against the wall for support lest he fall over. Zac sort of stood to the side, tilting his head in question, and edged himself close enough to Isaac to poke him experimentally.
He got no response, "You cracked huh? Finally…you just lost it. Your brain is gone…"
Isaac slowed down his laughing so it was more of a strained chuckle.
"Wait, wait, no. See…you can't lose something you never had Ikey-poo."
Isaac looked up at the shit-eating grin Zac was wearing and jumped to his feet to give Zac the best pounding he was capable of giving.
Diana looked to the ceiling in aggravation. Her two eldest children were going to shake the house to the ground tumbling down the stairs like that.
"Ow! Shit!" Zac tripped over his own foot and tumbled down the last three steps before he came to an awkward stop at the bottom with Isaac sauntering right up on top of him, walking over his body as if it wasn't even there. He hopped off of his little brother's form and reached down slowly and popped him upside the head in a rather amusing manner before turning around and seating himself at the kitchen table to begin dining. Zac took a deep breath, trying to keep the laughter from coming out and the smile on his face from growing any larger.
"Zachary, you've got to be the most graceful creature in the galaxy." Diana said as she bit into a piece of greenery.
"My motor-skills need fine tuning." He answered.
Isaac nearly spit his food out as he began to laugh all over again.
Diana looked at her two sons, trying to decide whether or not they were insane and whether or not she had something to do with it.
"Boys…" Walker warned, "This is the table…not a playground. Settle down and eat."
Isaac gave Zac a grin and slowly consumed all of his meal. Meanwhile, Zac stirred his hydroponically grown carrots across his plate into his gravy and rice. He pulled his fork to his mouth but then set it back down on his plate again, "When are we gonna start raising animals? I miss meat mom…" He shoved his food in his mouth and chewed slowly.
Diana looked at Walker and her eyebrow rose in amusement, "We were thinking about getting some in a month or so Zachary. Cattle and a few pigs possibly. Our permit was passed." She looked pleased with herself, her golden hair swaying as she leaned forward to take a drink.
"Awesome."
Walker finished his last bite of synthetic "meat" and wiped his mouth off with a napkin, "You children should all be pleased to know that we won't be doing any farm work tomorrow."
The table become abuzz with exclamations of joy and surprise from the younger members of the family. The three oldest knew that something that valuable was never given away without wanting something in return.
Walker had a mean smile tugging at his lips, "You didn't let me finish kids. We'll be cleaning this house from top to bottom."
The entire room was encompassed with silence. All of the brood stared at their parents with glares and puppy eyes in hopes of getting let off the hook.
"Not gonna work guys. Zac and Ike get to do their own sort of work tomorrow though, so don't think you can pawn your work off on the younger kids you two…because you can't."
Isaac looked up from his plate, "What're we doing?"
"We need you to go to town and get some supplies. It's cheaper then getting it delivered and you two know how to haggle the prices down."
"Why can't you do it?" Zac whined, just for the sake of doing so.
"Because we tried that last time and you and Ike made the kids do all of the work." Diana scolded.
"Who's smarter, the worker or the one making somebody else do the work?" Isaac asked of his little brother.
"I'd say….the one making someone else work for 'em."
Isaac smiled triumphantly at his father, "See? Don't you want smart kids?"
"Eat and then go clean your rooms. You won't be here tomorrow to do so." Diana demanded.
"Well, if that's how it's gotta be…" Zac said in a mocking tone.

~:Twenty Minutes Later:~


"Is this your or mine?" Isaac held up a dirty shirt.
"Uh…yours?"
"Works for me."
Steadily the boys both worked in the same bedroom so they could talk, shuffling clothes and other belongings to new spots around the room so it looked cleaner then it really was.
Zac picked up a small movie-chip case, pressing the side to open it up. Seeing nothing inside he looked at the title and spoke to Isaac, "Do you see a loose movie anywhere?"
"Yeah, there was one in the viewer…" His voice came out muffled from beneath the bed.
As Zac moved across the fairly clean floor a soft tap came at their door. Both boys looked up.
"Mom said you guys got ten minutes until you go to bed cause you gotta get up early tomorrow." Avery told them, chewing on a lock of hair.
"Tell mom thank you and that we love her to DEATH." Isaac said.
The young girl sighed, already bored with playing messenger, too tired to humor her brother with a laugh.
The two young men double-timed their work efforts, shoving unfolded clothes into already-full drawers, stacking movie-chips up just a few cases too high, storing their view screens in the wrong spot. Very little was being exchanged between the brothers.

Isaac was pondering how wise his decision of not telling his parents about how Taylor was. He had been having the same thoughts day in and day out ever since their smuggler brother had told them he wanted to come home. He had put up a front for Zac, knowing his confused sibling needed something steady and sure in his life for he was searching himself as Taylor had once done. Isaac was afraid he was going to lose his only other best friend to the ways of the universe. He almost wanted Taylor to have to stay on the run so Zac wouldn't be able to be influenced in any way, shape, or form, or to be corrupted in Taylor's short stay. Isaac wasn't stupid. He had seen the faraway look in Zachary's eyes, the same glazed over look Taylor had once had as his wildest adventures were being lived before his very eyes. Isaac was unsure how he or his family would deal with Zac leaving, if he decided to do so, and what sort of reaction Taylor would have. He sighed and shook his head. He would have to wait and see.

Zac's thoughts were based exactly on what Isaac had feared. He had been practicing the same lines over and over in his head, wondering how much persuasion on his part to get those words to work.
"You know you need somebody out there with you. Why not me? We could be such an awesome team man, you know we would. You watch my back I'll watch yours. I have SO much more sense then you…I could tell you which jobs to take so we wouldn't get in spots where we'd have to deal with assholes like Sankt. It's foolproof."
Zac knew it would take much more then this to ever convince Taylor of letting him join up with his smuggling business. The danger was so alluring, a force that Zac was having a hard time pulling away from, a gravity of sorts. He knew his family would be disappointed in him and maybe even treat him as they treated Taylor. Never talking about him unless they had to, never mentioning him to relatives or friends, taking his old pictures into storage. It wasn't an appealing thought. But the notion of being on a starship, piloting a great leviathan across the outer reaches of the galaxy, fighting lagamorphs, finding new girls everyday. It was positively enchanting and there was nothing more that Zac could have wanted at that very moment.

Isaac watched his little brother as he worked, Zac's movements becoming more sluggish as his thoughts grew deeper and deeper. Finally he stopped moving all together and just stood at one side of the room holding a pair of boxers in his hand as his eyes dulled over.
Isaac's previous thoughts came rushing back at him, "Zac…Zac, are you gonna stay here when Tay leaves?"
Zachary blinked, his eyes coming back into focus, "What?"
"Are you gonna go with Tay or stay here?"
Zac tugged at the fabric in his hands in nervousness until he realized just what he was playing with and flung the boxers away, "I'm staying…why would I wanna go with him?"
Isaac rubbed the back of his head with his hand, bringing it down the back of his neck, "I honestly have no idea. But I'm not stupid. You shouldn't be stupid either…it'd kill mom and dad to lose another kid." He puffed air out of his cheeks and sat on the edge of the bed.
Zac pulled his pony tail holder out, letting his hair spill around his shoulders as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, "Don't worry Ike, I don't think Tay would let me go anyway. It's just fun to think about."
Isaac held his brother's gaze, measuring up the truth or lie that he just heard and shook his head, "I'm trusting you here…don't pull a Tay and screw up."
"I'm not that stupid, I may not have a brain, but I'm smarter then you think."
Isaac grinned, "So how're those motor skills coming along there Zac?"


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