(Wait, I just had an idea that might be a lot less weird for the kiddos. I was sort of thinking the logistics of it through and I was like, "Yeah no, this is too creepy and will never work. Plus if the kids are robots, they'll never grow, and like what happens if Graham gets caught and they get taken away, it might be a little weird to have two robot children in a foster care system. So they are now cyborgs, so they can actually function and grow and stuff, but are still part robot, so uhm, yeah. I just used way too many brain cells for that solution))
Graham fished out his credit card as he rattled off his order, he knew that the boys would want something from the restaurant when he got back home so he had added their favorites to his order as well. I don't think Evan will mind if I keep those in his fridge. "Yeah that's not a problem, I have more than enough space in my trunk for it." He moved to sit down, "So we won't be here for too much longer, maybe ten more minutes?"
((sounds great!))
"Yeah give or take." He nodded as he leaned his head on the cold window, and then thudded his head against the window. He then pulled out his notebook and thudded it again,then made a quick note, and took a breath. "The thing about being a writer is that you are never not working on your book."
((And yes even the powering off thing works too!!! I have achieved happiness!))
"Oh that sounds sort of fun but also really upsetting, I mean I understand the feeling - sort of I don't really write so well? I just ignore my mental health and basic needs to finish up some tiny robot or something then once I'm done I'm just like, "Wait why do I feel so tired or something. But I do hope that your books coming along well, I can't wait to read it."
"I'll make sure to get it to you signed by the author. And actually it's great constantly writing. You get really in touch with your characters and get super involved,and can even change your whole word view. I'm about halfway done currently. This is my first murder mystery and it sure is a journey. I just have to figure out how to wrap it up in a nice little bow. Or make it into a series. Still tossing around both ideas."
"Mm, okay then, I'd appreciate that by the way." He said with a grin, "But uhm, really? Have you done murder themed books before or something?" Graham said leaning back against his seat, this was a rather interesting subject to him, murder and writing all pooled into one conversation. How nice.
"Kinda sorta? I've always liked playing with darker themes, especially since I have so many resources in close grasp. All I need is to send a quick text for answers that are usually pretty crucial to the story line. Like I wrote a cult book and gave up on it because it was too cheesy and not original enough for my tastes, but my sister Clara is a satanist so I learned plenty about different religious customs out of the two that I'm most experienced with which is christianity and paganism. Plus, I like to make my books,even the fantasy ones, have a bit of reality to it. It's not all sunshine and rainbows, even in the book world,but I make sure they are interesting and creative reads. Once I finish this I have another novel I'm gonna try to finish as well, and that for sure is gonna be a series."
"Oh uhm wow that's interesting." He was still listening, but he had pulled out of his phone so he could check upon them. Thankfully the fix on Carter had worked well since the boy was still asleep. "Well, that's good, the world needs a slap in the face or something, I mean, it's good to have sunshine and rainbows, but there needs to be some real issues in it or something, I guess, I'm not an author so what do I know?"
"Sorry. When I'm exhausted I tend to get ranty." Suddenly their orders appeared on the counter. Evan got and grabbed one of the bags with a smile and a thank you. He smiled at Graham. "C'mon Graham cracker,let's head back to my place before the food gets cold." He already had grabbed his satchel and tea thermos before getting up.
Graham rolled his eyes and grabbed the other bag, thanking the woman behind the counter before rushing out behind the man. He rushed over to his car and place both of the bags of food onto the backseat which for once had none of the boy's toys, backpacks, homework, or leftover lunches on it. He waited for Evan to unlock his bike before he lifted it and placed it into the trunk of his car. "Okay, we ready to go?"
(Also, I love the nickname))
Evan nodded and sat up front after putting his own food in the back. "Yeah." He then pulled out his phone and talked into google maps, letting it direct them back to his own apartment. It then began to rain and Evan smiled big and wide. "Yessss a rainy night. They're the best." He was like a puppy almost as he pressed his face to the window and watched it fall.
Graham just chuckled a little bit, "They are. I love just staying up all night and listening to the rain and thunder." He cut himself off before he mentioned the boys getting scared and him having to comfort them as well, That'll come later… Or even the fact that it was easier to get rid of your traces on a rainy night. "You're too cute." He said glancing over his shoulder at the man, "Way too cute."
"Oh hush I am not that cute but thank you,handsome." He took a deep breath in and out, watching it fog up the glass. He drew a smiley face and relaxed back into the passenger seat. "Working on building anything cool? My sister Hyla is really into mechanics and robotics and stuff so I know enough to vaguely understand robot talk."
"Sure, of course." He said rolling his eyes a little bit, "Erm, no? Not really, today I really just made repairs on a few previous work, and that was it. I mean, I've been considering on creating an A100 just for fun, or maybe just attempting an A1000, but I don't know, they take a lot of time, soooooo."
"Yeah but you do have a lot of time on your hands." He said with a shrug. "Any other hobbies besides robotics?" He asked as he looked at Graham.
"Uhm, no not really?" Well, uhm yes? But uhm how? You know what, let's just say it. "Well, uhm I spend a lot of time with my sons, so that's nice. They keep me busy." At least I'm not mentioning murder.
"Oh you have kids? That's awesome! I love kids." He smiled. "I'm the eldest male of 15 so I kind of just was always the dad of the family. I actually have a twin sister."
He breathed a sigh of relief smiling, "That's good, you'd probably really like them, oh by the way, there's two of them, Drew and Carter. Drew's eight and Carter's six. I love them so much." He said with a happy sigh, "Also, I didn't know you had fifteen siblings, dang that's a lot.
"Well really I only have one, my sister Evelyn but Crystal,our adoptive mom, just kept taking on more and more and suddenly before I knew it we had moved houses 4 times and I had to learn names REALLY fast." He gave a chuckle. "But I love all of them. Especially my twin. She was all I had for a long time."
"But still, that's a lot, I was pretty happy growing up as an only child, I got all the attention and stuff, and it was kind of fun. But with the boys, it's different. They never really fight or anything and they're pretty well behaved so that just makes everything easier I guess."
"I guess. Eventually we all just practically raised ourselves and mom just made sure we were fed and didn't die. She's actually a retired therapist and psychiatrist so. Lotsa mental health stuff." He then took a risk. A really big one. His eyes couldn't stop glancing down at Graham's hand and Evelyn has told him that he needed to take more chances since he had complained about his life dragging down on him. That's why he got the dreaded dating app anyways. So. He took a breath,and at the same time he turned away again to stare out the window he plopped his hand on top of Graham's,which currently was resting on the shifter of his car.
"That's nice of her, both of my parent's worked in the medical field, so that's pretty cool that your mom was too." He said, not commenting about Evan touching him. In his opinion there was nothing to about it, he really didn't mind and in fact, he thought that it was a sweet gesture. But he wasn't going today anything about it, bt that didn't stop his cheeks from turning a dark shade of red.
He nodded. "Yeah and my sisters a singer. I am mainly an actor but love writing on the side." He didn't mention it either,his ears beginning to burn as he just tried to keep his cool. Still his voice cracked on the word Sisters and his leg began to jiggle a bit out of anxiousness.
"Wow, you really have a talented family." He said with a grin. He looked over at the man, studying him a little bit, He doesn't seem too comfortable right now, it might just be the whole hand thing. "Hey, uhm, Evan you can let me know if I'm making you nervous or something, I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable."
"Yeah. Lotsa different people in our family. And, I'm taking advice from my sister right here." He squeezed Graham's hand softly,getting more comfortable with it. "My life had begun to drag down so she told me to take some more risks, but good positive ones like getting the dating app and holding your h-hand." He gulped and took a deep breath,trying to calm himself down. "I'm not rushing anything am I? I don't want to press myself on you."
Graham chuckled a little bit at the last question, "If you were rushing this I would let you know, but if both you and I feel comfortable with it, it's fine then. Well, at least that's my philosophy on that, but uhm, I mean, if you don't feel comfortable with it, then that's okay with me." As he pulled into the parking garage of the man's apartment, he turned to look over at Evan, "But that was really sweet of your sister to do something like that for you."
"Me and Evelyn have always been super close. She gets under my nerves but it's all out of a place of fun and love." He shrugged as his hand slithered away to get out of the car, and then he headed into the back and grabbed his food, and waited for Graham to grab his. "And with our past? I'm really glad I have her by my side."
"That's sweet." He said as he grabbed his food out of the back then struggled to lock his car. After a moment or two he got the key fob to work and he followed Evan to the elevators. "So uhm, what do you want to do when we get to your apartment? Do you want to just eat and have me leave, or uhm, just hang out or something?"
"I'd like you to hang out. I've got Netflix so I'm sure we could find something to watch. American Horror Story or something. Maybe even you could spend the night if you want. I'm not stopping you. Always extra room in my bed. Of course I don't want to rush things but I'd hate to spend such a beautiful night alone." He stepped into the old creaky low maintenance elevator and headed up to his apartment. He kicked off his shoes in the door. It was a small little one bedroom apartment,but some things of interest was the cat tree and bed,where Mozzart lay, and the keyboard and classical music sheets and books stacked next to it. He then headed into the small kitchen and grabbed some plates and cups. "What do you want to drink? I've got coca cola, pepsi,rootbeer, milk,tea,hot cocoa and water."
"As much as I'd love to agree and spend the night, my kid's sitter would be furious with me." Okay, so that's sort of a lie, but well, I wouldn't feel good with doing that so soon, and well, I guess that a decent excuse rather than just saying, 'Not yet' or something, then everything is awkward. And also, I don't know how the kids would react to being powered off for such a long time period "This is a really nice place you have here, I really like it! And, uhm water is just fine, thank you."
