Dabble 11: Take A Chance

“Come on Zenith!” Zenny whined as he followed his four-tailed brother into the library. The tall emerald-eyed phox ignored the pleas of his younger brother, searching for a new book to read in his library. Zenny followed closely, playfully swatting at his brother's tails and having his hands go through them without contact since Zenith had a constant ward that prevented him from being touched. “If me and you don't go on missions together, you're always in this library. Go outside; walk around in the city; talk to people. I know you're not an introvert!”

“No and no,” Zenith said, addressing the first request to go outside and the second to confirm he wasn't an introvert. “I have no reason or anything to gain from talking to people.”

Zenny marfed and disappeared, reappearing on top of the bookshelf where he watched Zenith's hand glide through the book covers. “You're seeing this from the perspective of either business or networking down the road again, aren't you?” He grinned at Zenith's silent reply confirming it. “Why don't you talk to people just to make friends? No associates, no acquaintances, no networkers, no people you can call favors on, and vice versa, just friends. People you can talk to and share a laugh for once,” he disappeared and reappeared behind Zenith, sitting on a chair with another clone of himself taking notes. “People you can share all the problems going through your head and give advice.”

“I don’t need therapy,” Zenith said, walking towards his chair. The Zenny’s looked at each other and face palmed as they made the wrong imagery. The clone vanished and so did Zenny's chair, turning into an orb for him to sit on as he flew next to Zenith.

“Someone to sing songs with?” he said, holding a flute and guitar in his hands. “People to hang out with downtown?” he put on shades and made a cool pose. “Share a deep, dark, personal, embarrassing secret-”

“That's enough,” Zenith stated in a calm monotone, walking down the stairs, and sitting down in a highly furbished green tall chair with imported fabricate comfort. “I do not plan nor have any desire to be around people. If I did, I have the rest of the family to do so.”

“That's the thing!” Zenny said, hopping off his orb and sitting down on the table in front of Zenith. “Unless it's with me or rarely with any of us, you don't do anything else. I don't want you to be cramped in here. I want you to trust again; I want you to be more active and have fun.”

“I'm content where I am. I appreciate the concern but that is not in my interest,” the gray phox replied.
Zenny’s ears flicked, and his face turned red like a thermometer, heating up in anger. Zenith heard a teapot whistling but ignored it. Zenny grabbed the book he was reading and pulled it down, staring at his brother with pleading, red beady eyes. His ears fell flat, and his nose twitched. Zenith made no move, no gesture, no facial movement, and stared at his younger brother with apathetic, half-opened eyes to show that it had little effect on him.

“I'll ask Zen to ask you,” Zenny said as a last resort.

An invisible glass snapped and cracked in one of Zenith's dimensions. His ear flicked but he gave no other physical response to that comeback. He sighed, exhaling deeply, and gave in as Zenny found a weakness in him. “One day and only once,” he gave as his final answer in defeat.