Crackship Friday

I've been thinking about these 3 after seeing TWELVE. Thomas McDonnell had this really small part, but it was Phillip Ettinger that got to me as Hunter. I wished the film had just been about his situation. Naturally, when I watched him I kept thinking of Logan Huffman. If only the 3 could be in a movie together...

Izzy awoke choking for breath. He hadn't thought of his older brother Noah for awhile now. It was weird having a dream about him. A sad dream at that. His brother just wasn't him self. Noah was sad and way past being mad about his situation. Noah's girlfriend was pregnant and she'd left him. But it was just a dream.

There was the fact that Noah thought he was THE MAN when it came to chicks. Always had. Always would. His brother never had...just a girlfriend.

Of course, Izzy found Naoh quite over-rated. In fact, it was a bit disgusting, his brother being such a Casanova. The guy was known for juggling three girlfriends at once. Izzy was thankful that none of that had rubbed off on him. He was doing well enough, keeping up with his college classes and getting ready to spend his summer building houses for the poor on the bad side of town.

He knew what his brother Noah would say if he found out about Izzy's summer. "Loser." Maybe that was why he hadn't called Noah right away, to see how he was. Instead, he mentioned it to Chet three days later while they were playing Final Fantasy.

Chet was relaxing in his gray wife beater after his latest wrestling match, which he won. Izzy found that Chet really savored alone time, even if he was the best in his weight, and he could seriously be spending time with any girl he wanted. But here Chet was focused on a video game. Izzy was beginning to think maybe Chet was smarter than he looked with that Ray Liotta smile of his.

"Have you heard from Noah?" He asked.

"Why would Noah call me, seriously?" Chet gave him a slug in the arm as if Izzy were his favorite brother.

"Ow." Izzy thought he might be turning to blubber now after a friendly punch from his little brother who was weeks away from graduating high school.

"I dunno. I just thought you two-"

"We're tight? Hell no." Chet squinted hard. He put the game on pause. "You know we're close. Noah can't stand it." Chet chuckled.

"What?" Izzy didn't get it. He was the middle brother. He and Noah had had their share of being a brotherly duo before Chet showed up. They were superheros in their day. Crime fighters, perhaps. Izzy remembered when Noah was five and he was barely four when they'd decided they'd be cops one day. Real crime fighters. Of course, it was a forgotten thought now. He wondered if Noah remembered..

Then Izzy thought of Chet. He'd always been there to protect his little brother, who was bigger than he was now. Truly, they'd had a different sort of brotherhood. One, where they were just quiet together, yet they understood each other. Neither would judge their personal taste in clothes or movies. They'd eat cold pizza for breakfast. Perhaps not the best buddies who would ever go out together, but to have this moment now. Playing video games.

Chet's shoulder edged Izzy's shoulder tight. Just how could you really include an older brother in something like this? Not that Izzy would tell either of them how much he loved them. He just couldn't. They might think..

"Are you being gay with me?" Chet gave him that smart mouth of his. Before Izzy knew it, Chet had him in a choke hold.

"What is with you?" Izzy was not fond of wrestling. He was never very good, even in P.E. "Watch it, I can't get banged up, before I start work."

"What is it with you being a carpenter? You majored in Drama for god-sakes?" Chet finally let go and pushed Izzy off of him.

"Well, half the time being an actor, you're building props." Izzy stared at his brother then.

"Didn't you do some roofing?" Chet looked at him as if that had nothing to do with acting.

"Yeah, the summer after I graduated." Izzy slightly smiled. It was an experience, all right. Not exactly a day at the circus. And he had to admit he was still afraid of heights. Maybe even more now.

"I couldn't do that." Chet smiled.

"What are you going to do this summer?" Izzy wondered what his plans were.

"I hadn't really thought about it." Chet decided to get back to the game then.

"You know what we should do-" Izzy was thinking it through. "The three of us, you, me and Noah, go to Greece." Izzy could imagine it now. True crisp blue ocean waves and startling white mazes of stairways to mysteries just waiting to be known.

"Oh really? Why?"  Chet cracked up.

"Because that's where our grandfather's from." Izzy winced as if Chet should know. They still had cousins in a village there. It would at least be free board.

"I'd rather got to Worlds of Fun." Chet smirked.

"Yeah, what was I thinking? Why would we want to go back to some place like Greece." Izzy rolled his eyes. His brother would be happy with the nearby water park.

"Do you know how expensive a trip, like that, would be?" Chet shook his head. "Its Worlds of Fun, or nothing."

"OK, you might have to talk Noah into it." Izzy shrugged.

"Me?" Chet cracked up again. "You do it. I never talk to him." Chet was serious about the game then. No way was he going to let Izzy win.

Finally after Chet made it to the next level, he was ready for a rest. He found a soda to drink in the fridge.

"So what was this dream about?" Chet winced. "The one that's been bothering you about Noah?"

"Its-its..OK, I dreamed he was going to be a Dad, but his girlfriend left him." Izzy leaned back on the couch to relax, of course, his brother pushed his feet off the couch before he could get comfortable.

"Would it be so bad if he were Dad?" Chet was laughing now.

"No, no, it would be great." Izzy slightly smiled.

"You'd make the best Dad." Chet told him. "Noah, so...I dunno, restless..I guess." Chet shrugged as he sipped his drink.

"Well, I don't see me being a Dad anytime soon." Izzy sighed. Mia, who he'd dated off and on for the last two years moved home to take care of her sick father. "What about you?"

"Do I even look like the family type? Do I?" Chet gave him an open grin, shaking his head, no. They both laughed. It was a comfort to Izzy that Chet wasn't thinking of starting a family anytime soon.

"I just wish Noah would call, you know." Izzy finally sighed.

"I guess we'll have to surprise him." Chet crinkled the can tight with his fist and tossed in the trash behind him at the computer desk where his Dad's old Mac computer rested.

Izzy hadn't thought of the two of them going to see Noah.