บท 15: Chapter 14 - Jessica's Dilemma

The month and a half following Julia's unexpected passing went by in relative peace – relative because every so often Waylon would pop up with conspiracy theories that annoyed Charlie enough to catch and release the man.

Ikaris was satisfied that Waylon was discounting his own credibility since it would become much easier to dismiss anything the drunkard would observe in the future.

As for the Eternal, he was back working for minimum wage at the theatre, not daring to touch whatever Julia had left for him – at least, not yet.

Every time Ikaris had the urge to go and claim the files, materials, and whatever else was there, he could feel countless eyes tracking his movements. It was already hard enough to calm his seeping Cosmic Energy so he wanted to avoid any situation that may place him in direct conflict with someone else.

Hence, The Eternal spent a lot of his time in meditation, conquering his mental faculties to be able to channel his Cosmic Energy much better, but as his insanely shitty luck would have it, there had been whispers about the Military moving to sites where he had previously been, specifically where Ikaris first crash-landed a couple of dozen miles before Mason County.

It was a slight cause for concern.

Of course, this information was secured from one of Goose2's many sources.

Ikaris was under no false impression that Goose2 had been keeping an eye out for him – though she probably secretly was – but she also had a thriving career as an influencer that she didn't want to abandon because the bad men in suits were coming.

And if all of the pressure wasn't enough, Ikaris had also noticed a few scant Military Men in Forks now and again, though they wore civilian clothing and tried not to be too obvious.

It was not enough personnel to raise any brows, and over the past couple of weeks, they had disappeared almost entirely, likely because they were unable to find anything of interest other than the strangely collapsed Factory on the Outskirts.

Even then, Ikaris was sure he destroyed the place so thoroughly that no evidence could be gleaned about what happened, and he was doubly sure that no instrument currently possessed by humanity could accurately detect Cosmic Energy.

Maybe if it was the 22nd century.

And also… sure, if it was a large amount of Cosmic Energy, humans would probably be able to detect a ping or two, but other than when he first arrived, Ikaris hadn't expended a vast amount of Cosmic Energy.

Ikaris was pretty confident in his deduction so he carried on as he always would – theatre job, hanging with Charlie, helping Goose2 with snapshots, occasionally going out to eat, and learning a bit about finances and how to manage his accounts.

The Eternal was living an ordinary life through and through, and somewhere along the lines, the memories in his mind had begun to calm, and as long as he didn't brush them actively, Mahd Wy'ry was kept at bay.

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A WEEK LATER

FORK'S THEATER

Charlie and Ikaris sat, watching The Wizard of Oz for what was bound to be the fifth time in a week. They still laughed at the exact moments, cringed at other moments, and became saddened at the end, but each time, they would notice something they didn't before.

Actually, Ikaris would notice something new and point it out to Charlie, and they would start the entire movie over to see if The Chief of Police could see it too. It had become a fun way for the duo to interact.

When the movie ended for the second time that day, Charlie checked his watch and saw that he had a couple more minutes to kill, and of course, Ikaris was in no hurry to work if the Police Chief was around.

As much as The Eternal trusted Charlie, he knew that all the more meant he couldn't mess up around the Police Chief – his best and only friend.

"So…" Charlie shifted a bit uncomfortably in his seat – something he did when he was unsure how Ikaris would react to a suggestion. "I was thinking we could take up hunting on the weekends and all. A deer would feed the both of us for a week and a half, you know? That's a lot of saved expenses right there."

Ikaris was not very interested at first, but when he heard 'saved expenses', his eyes started to shine. The money Julia left still required some hoops to jump through, and the money Goose2 was making was constantly being spent on expensive stuff.

The Eternal and his Feline companion were still living hand-to-mouth; though, every so often when the cat was distracted, Ikaris would snatch a couple of her wine glasses and sell them in the market for a pretty penny that would keep them fed when Charlie had to work.

That plan worked pretty well, but Ikaris knew all the truly valuable stuff was kept in Goose2's stomach, and he didn't have a way to retrieve those. Still, to keep the boat afloat on Ikaris's current funds was impossible so he was more than interested in other forms of funding.

"You're saying we can catch animals, and sell them for money?" Ikaris rubbed his hands together in excitement, wondering why he hadn't thought about it before. "Why haven't we been doing that all this time?"

"Of course, we'd have to skin them, cure the meat and everything else properly so we can eat them ourselves. Or, alternatively, we sell it to a butcher and forego all the bother ourselves," Charlie rubbed his beard in thought. "We'd have to get you registered first, and then think about equipment training and all. There are quite a few bears and mountain lions out there."

"No problem!" Ikaris interrupted Charlie's thoughts. "I already know how to hunt, skin, cured meat, and everything in between. I have been trained in handling weapons, and I know how to make traps."

"That's unusual." Charlie's actions became awkward. "I know we agreed I'd never ask you about your parents but just to be safe – they weren't serial killers, were they?"

Ikaris's mind flashed to a giant red figure – Arishem – and how the Celestial obliterated thousands of planets with the wave of a hand, and honestly, The Eternal was at a loss since a mere serial killer could not encompass all that Arishem was.

"Definitely not serial killers," Ikaris responded and Charlie tried not to notice his lack of confidence when stating so.

The Police Chief had already decided to secretly investigate Ikaris's origins just to be safe – all that was left to find out more was the completion of the new system being installed at the Police Station.

"In other news…" Charlie stood and pulled Ikaris out of his seat, standing The Eternal straight with shoulders squared. "I knew I wasn't imagining it – you're having your growth spurt, Ikaris."

"Growth spurt?"

"Yeah, you've grown what? Like, 2 inches I would say," Charlie furrowed his brows. "That's a lot for two months, but I guess you're an early bloomer."

"Or a late re-bloomer," Ikaris added.

CHE – CHE – CHE – CHE – CHE

Charlie didn't even have to turn around to know that the weird laughing sounds were coming from the cat behind him. The Police Chief had learned to ignore things that couldn't be explained, and Goose2 had become one of those things – directly behind Madonna's agelessness.

Ikaris sighed and tilted his head forward as Goose2 leapt from the ground to Charlie's head, then from Charlie's head to The Eternal's shoulder, wrapping her tail around his neck in the lazy manner she usually would.

"You're so big now. Nobody is gonna mistake you for a scarf any longer," Ikaris groaned, and a tail smacked the side of his face.

Cora advised The Eternal never to talk about a woman's weight, but Goose2 had yet to become a woman and Ikaris was trying to advance his parenting skills, less the cat take him for a joke through and through… which she seemed to do anyway.

"I was just about to say, we need to have the girl talk but if you can please a cat, you can handle a woman," Charlie commented, earning a purr from Goose2 that attested to his aged wisdom.

'You're probably a couple of thousand years too late.' The Eternal commented inside his mind.

"Anyways, I'll see you at the diner for lunch?"

"Are you paying?"

"Yeah."

"Then we wouldn't miss it for the world," Ikaris added.

MEOW

Charlie smiled wryly and departed before Goose2 could convince him to pre-order some diamond sprinkles or something.

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A few minutes after Charlie left…

"I still don't get how you guys can watch the same movie every day," Jessica slumped into the chair next to Ikaris. "I swear I might get into trouble if I keep playing it for you for free."

Ikaris raised a brow. "No trouble as long as no one finds out, right?"

"You think I could play anything on the projector without someone knowing about it?" Jessica scoffed at first, but when Ikaris seemed confused, she realized he really didn't know. "Wait… are you saying you thought the boss doesn't know about everything you do here?"

"What do you mean?" Ikaris's eyes jumped in their sockets. "You mean you've had the boss's permission to play the movie every day?"

"Permission? No, but he does know," Jessica admitted with a sheepish smile. "Let me ask you something – how much do you get paid?"

"About a hundred every week."

"I get $250."

"How can you get more than me?" Ikaris's eyes narrowed, and Goose2's eyes popped open, basically ready to kill Jessica and take everything she had on her person.

"Because you're paying for rent," Jessica rolled her eyes as if it was obvious. "Or do you think nobody would know that you're staying inside the janitor's closet?"

HISS – MEOW (Translation: We need to kill her, she knows too much!)

Goose2's solution was immediate and impulsive, but Ikaris managed to grab the cat's tail, trapping the feline on his shoulder. Still, it would be a temporary solution if the cat got serious so The Eternal required an explanation.

"How do you know that?"

"Everyone in town knows," Jessica twirled her hair and seemed a bit more confident since this was the longest conversation she had ever had with Ikaris. "If you want to know how much everyone knows then I can help you keep an eye out…"

MEOW – MEOW (Translation: We need her – take the deal and copulate, she smells like it's mating time.)

"What do you know about mating?" Ikaris whispered to the companion on his shoulder, shooting a disappointed glance at the feline.

Goose2's tail curled into something that seemed sheepish – Ikaris got no reply from the cat who had somehow suddenly taken a vow of silence.

"What would it cost me?" Ikaris met Jessica's eyes, witnessing the flash of excitement that rippled in their depths. "I don't have any money to pay you so… please direct all financial interests to your local bank, or to Goose2's generosity."

"No, no, no!" Jessica started to wave her hands frantically. "I don't want any money, but I do want something in exchange."

"Speak."

"I just want to invite you to a party later. Maybe you can come to have dinner with me and a couple of my friends tomorrow—"

"SOLD – MEOW!" Goose2 and Ikaris were simultaneously convinced to attend wherever Jessica demanded of them simply because, with pay of two hundred and fifty dollars a week, she could afford to feed them decently.

"So, tomorrow?"

"Ye—" Jessica scratched her head. "Yeah, Yeah. Yeah, definitely," she started to stammer while nodding her head as if something was wrong. "I mean, definitely. So excited to have you here – there… you will be there. Uhm, tomorrow at 7, then we can go to the party after?"

"Sounds like a plan, but we might get there an hour late since she likes to be extra-pretty for things like these."

"Who?" Jessica looked around for a bit.

Ikaris rubbed the thick fur of the cat on his shoulder. "Her," He replied.

"Oh… her!"

Jessica wore a nervous smile and genuinely considered reconsidering her invitation, but it took weeks of subtle hints to get Ikaris to notice her presence, and it took days after that to get him to speak more than five words to her, and on top of all that, it took hours of pictures to bribe the cat into a neutral stance.

"Sure!"

Jessica ultimately decided that Ikaris's handsomeness and sexy accent were worth the risk of him being a psychotic cat-talking person.