Unlikely Meetings

Chapter 15 - Coming Clean

Days passed in silence between the three as tensions between Eli and Max were still high. They had talked about what happened but the unhappy ending between the father and daughter had soured their moods back to before the confrontation. They talked sure but not on the level they were previously and this hadn't gone unnoticed by their third wheel. Snowfall came heavier than it had in previous years in early October and almost trapped the small group inside the small home. While the two men worked outside to ensure that didn't happen Ian broached the subject.

"I don't think I've ever seen you two be so cold to one another. What's going on man?" Max sighed as he leaned against the handle of his snow shovel. It only took him a moment before he started shoveling again.

"Yeah, you saw the disagreement but you didn't see the outcome. The 'too long; didn't read' is that we broke up a family. Damn deer are so stubborn when they want to be. I had no bet on either side of the table but it sure as hell doesn't feel great that you split up a father and daughter. Seriously, how do you not have the idea to just...leave when someone threatens your family? Especially when the cops won't do anything in response to those threats."

Ian nodded as he continued to throw snow off of the gravel driveway before looking back to the small home. "I wonder why Eli is staying. Seems to me she has reason enough to skip town and head somewhere warmer. Let us handle the heavy lifting."

With a grunt, another heavy shovel full of powder was tossed to the side. The work continued as Max thought about Eli. Her reason to stay even after she saw what he was willing to do in defense of his home and those he cared for. It confused him, she was a civilian in the clearest sense of the word and it simply didn't make sense for him. Sure he trained her a bit but she wasn't conditioned like he was and didn't make the choices he did. Lose a part of herself like he did. "I don't know. I'll talk to her about it and will probably get an answer I won't like but...that's the risk we take for love right?"

"Did you tell her that?"

"Tell her what?" The shoveling between them stopped as Max asked his question. Unsure of what his furry friend was talking about.

Rolling his eyes he just spat out the full question. "Did you tell her that you love her? I assume that you did, seeing how you're talking about it." Max stayed quiet as he shoveled more snow and gave his answer. "Look man I'm not here to judge but don't you think that's a little fast? I mean, you know how attached anthros can get, right?"

Max rolled his eyes and dropped the scarf that was covering his week-old beard at this point. "If I didn't know the risk I wouldn't say it. You don't reach my age and stay a virgin if you enjoy anthro women like I do. Like how could you know how 'whimsical' human women can be if you didn't go through that yourself."

Ian blinked a few times, confused. "Wait, were you in a relationship with another girl before Eli? Like...an anthro girl?"

"A boa to be exact. She was a sweet southern girl in my last duty station but sadly I had to cut things off when she constricted a bit too hard and crushed all my ribs. That and we just...didn't see eye to eye." Max sighed as he leaned against a tree to reminisce. "She didn't like the military or the fact that I was in it and I didn't like her choice of...let's just call it 'world outlook'." He closed his eyes for a moment as he thought about what Ian was implying. "Should I tell her about it?"

Ian shrugged as he continued to shovel the heavy powder further into the treeline. Some were still stained by the scars of their recent conflict, scorch marks, missing chunks of wood, and small splatters of dried blood. "That's up to you, do you think there's any chance that they'd ever meet each other? Eli and this other snake?"