The rest of the dinner went quietly and fairly well. Clemens asked a few questions out of curiosity about things that Molly and I did when we weren’t working. Which was probably a good thing, considering the bombshell of how Clemens had gotten his present job. I was still somewhat frustrated with myself that I had managed to miss something that big.
“There really isn’t that much that we do, do,” Molly spoke, “we spend much of our free time keeping our freezer stocked with meat. Or going to Kalispell to make sure that we can get the proper medication and shampoos and soaps that we need.”
“You go all the way for that?” Clemens wondered.
“The local vet doesn’t provide pharmaceutical service… outside of major vaccinations, and he seems to be the only one willing to treat Molly and I,” I told him, “at least one local doctor that humans see only treated Megan Jenkins after receiving the blood transfusion from Molly because the girl was brought in as an emergency and the parent and her boyfriend… both uniformed officers… were also present. He treated her, but he made it clear that he didn’t want to.”
Clemens only sighed and shook his head, “I wissssssssssssssh people would not make ssssssssssssssssuch racccccccccccissssssssssssssst decccccccccccccccisssssssssssssssssions.”
“So do we all,” Patten nodded, “From what I’ve studied… my only conclusion is that comes from a resistance to change and anything new. Humanity evolved as the only sentient and sapient life form… but the Animatrix Serum is now allowing people to become animals without losing the man hallmarks of humanity. It represents great change, and people tend to resist that sort of change. Especially when the changes involve the retention of each individual animal’s instincts in addition to various things that made them human… so when people deal with you two, George and Molly, or with you Clemens, they recognize either the apex predator of southern Asia and a top level reptilian predator of sub-Saharan Africa… which allows fear to reinforce any racism that individual may have.”
“So, if we all became poodles there’d be no problem?” I wondered.
“They might still have the problem, but fear aspect wouldn’t be added to it as easily,” Patten clarified.
“We’ve turned that around though,” Molly commented, “Mostly. R.A.M. largely disappeared when Beauregard was arrested. The members that engaged in criminal activities were largely holdouts.”
“And didn’t always go after their real target… but that’s takings back into the work arena,” I commented.
“Quite right,” Clemens nodded, “Do you have any hobbiessssssssssss?”
“Outside of what can be done in the fall… not really,” Molly answered, “we’ll read from time to time but not much else, really.”
“Some of that is our own physical limitations,” I added, “Our fingers are simply too big for hobbies that require a human’s dexterity. Now… maybe companies will begin making things to fit every sapient species, but that’ll take time.”
Clemens nodded and we continued eating. It was interesting to watch in a way the different methods of chewing that was displayed at the table. Patten obviously chewed his food the way any human would. Because of our interlocking teeth, and particularly the long canines our upper and lower jaws, Molly and I couldn’t really chew. We largely used our tongues to move the largest chunks of meat into position where our molars could slice the pieces into smaller chunks of meat.
Clemens, meanwhile, couldn’t even do that. Since he had the forked tongue of a snake, literally, he couldn’t move meat around in his mouth, and even if he could… I doubted his teeth would allow him to do that. Now pythons were non-venomous, but his teeth were still only sets of curved “fangs”. The only difference was that his teeth weren’t connected to venom glands.
So, like Molly and I, he couldn’t chew. Clemens made up for that with rather vigorous work with a fork and knife. He used the knife to cut his servings into very small pieces and then largely swallowed them. It was like it was an outside the mouth method of chewing.
I found it all rather fascinating. Molly and I had not been to keen on people taking the Animatrix Serum, but I was strangely fascinated by how every “new” Animal-Person adapted to the changes that the serum would bring on them.
And we managed to keep the topics light for the rest of the evening. Molly told them about the pool that she and Tabby had brought and how it would be of great benefit when the height of the summer brought some really hot days, and how we were looking forward to the fall hunting season. Clemens seemed to understand that.
“The dinner was very nice,” Molly said to Patten, “you’ve really gone out of your way for us.”
“It was no big issue,” Patten dismissed it, “And I’d have to do a lot of this anyway to feed Clemens while he’s visiting.”
“All the same,” Molly replied as I nodded beside her, “it was a good meal.”
“Thank you,” Patten gave a soft smile.
“Although, Molly and I should get going,” I commented, glancing at a nearby grandfather clock, “we have a long walk back to our cabin… is there anything we can do to help you with the dishes before we go?”
Patten then stood up slowly, “of course. You can take your plates and follow me.”
We collected our plates and the glasses of water that we had been offered and slowly followed him.
“You can just place them in the sink there,” Patten spoke gesturing to it, “then Molly, could you help Clemens with retrieving the serving dishes?”
“Sure,” Molly nodded and turned to follow Clemens back to the dinning room to retrieve the things that couldn’t be carried on that first trip.
That left Patten and I alone for the moment.
“You’ve been fairly calm…” Patten spoke after a moment, as if he wasn’t entirely sure what to say.
“Outside of what Clemens said his coworkers tried to do to him, and what they did to do it… there wasn’t all that much that really upset me,” I admitted, “though his story was a whopper… I don’t understand how people could even consider doing that… to unleash venomous snakes on a bunch of kids? All because they didn’t like his decision…? It’s the sort of behavior that really pushes my buttons considering how wrong it is.”
“I’m sure,” Patten replied, “and you held your temper well in this instance.”
Patten began to lead me back toward where his office was. I followed him as I figured I might as well finish the conversation, and knowing that Molly would probably be able to hear our voices.
“I know,” I slowly nodded, “and generally, I try very hard to control my temper. Not always with success.”
“If you want to be well liked by those who don’t already know yours and Molly’s past, like the Choirs, were already against Beauregard as many of the “old guard” ranchers were, or in the case of the Hindu family that has moved here… you’ll have to forgive me but I can’t pronounce their surname… which seem to respect tigers almost religiously,” Patten spoke, “you’ll need to get your temper completely under control, and that is an honest fact. As I told you, your temper is probably your biggest single vice.”
“I know,” I nodded.
“And you’ll have to forgive me, but from a point of advice, I would suggest some thing you can do to blow off steam that doesn’t attract attention,” Patten advised, “You can even come talk to me in the evenings…”
“Talk?” I asked, sounding puzzled.
“Think of it as counseling,” Patten spoke, “I’m sure Molly does some of this when you two are talking about things… as it is clear that the two of you are very much in love. Nothing wrong with that… but love can commonly make us ignore the flaws in the other. And believe me, we all have flaws. You can talk to me with the assurance that I will give you an honest answer.”
“You’d do that, even though you don’t like me?” I asked.
“Yes,” Patten admitted, “If I had time for it the other day when we talked, I would have made the offer then, but I had things I had to do to try and fix Hireman’s betrayal of trust and give Mrs. Choir a chance in the election.”
“Why?” I wondered, “You’d gain nothing from this…”
“I’d gain more then you realize,” Patten answered, “and for the same reason I do many things. To protect the students of Columbia Falls... And I mean REALLY protect them. Not the nonsense that Hireman is using.”
I nodded.
“You and Molly love each other very much,” Patten continued, “I can see that as plain as the nose on my face. Molly is a good teacher and I am proud to have her in our district. But because she loves you, any wrong that could befall you could affect her, and in ways that aren’t good for her or for her students… particularly if its something that induces depression.”
“Molly would never attack anyone,” I answered.
“I didn’t say that,” Patten said, “but its her cheer that helps make her a good teacher. Now, you’ve seen her in a depressed mood. Do you think she could teach well in that mood?”
“No,” I admitted with a sigh.
“And that’s why I’m making my offer,” Patten answered, “You come talk to me whenever someone really ticks you off and I will help you deal with it. It will be the best thing for everyone.”
“I see,” I spoke, “I’ll think about it.”
“That’s all that I ask,” Patten nodded, “all that I ask. Thank you.”
And with that, we made our way out to rejoin Molly and Clemens who were making small talk, largely about the pool as we rejoined them.
“Everything issssssssssssssss put away and isssssssssssssss sssssssssssssssoaking, cousssssssssssssssin,” Clemens spoke.
“Thank you,” Patten smiled, “you didn’t have to do that, but thank you.”
“I’m your cousssssssssssssssin, not sssssssssssssssssssome moocher,” Clemens retorted.
Patten nodded and moved to stand by his cousin while Molly moved to stand beside me.
“It was good of you invite us,” Molly spoke, “and it was wonderful to learn more about your cousin.”
“It was no problem,” Patten answered, “No problem at all.”
“It wassssssssssss good to talk with both of you too,” Clemens added.
Molly and I nodded.
“Hopefully the rest of your visit goes well,” I spoke.
“It will,” Clemens answered, “my cousssssssssssssssin and I alwaysssssssssssssss have a good time.”
We nodded again and slowly made our way out. It was a decent end to good evening.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Molly and I walked a short way before she broke the silence.
“So, how did your talk go?” Molly asked.
“You heard?”
“A little,” Molly answered, “it’s why I was talking with Clemens to give you two some privacy. Once we started talking, your conversation was more background noise.”
I slowly nodded, remembering hearing Molly and Clemens speaking to each other in the background, but I was still focused on what Patten was saying. And Molly and Molly and Clemens were talking softly enough that I really couldn’t identify what they were saying to each other.
“He was essentially offering his services as a sort of anger management councilor,” I explained.
“It doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Molly commented.
I nodded silently.
“I mean we both know you have a temper,” Molly continued.
I nodded again.
“And it’s not like we have much we can do for anger relief,” Molly continued, “we could hunt and take our anger out on the deer… but outside of the hunting season, that would be poaching… and clawing the trees wouldn’t be good for the tree…”
It was at this time that Molly noticed I was nodding with her.
“You agree?”
“I suppose it couldn’t hurt, really,” I spoke, “It was a surprise to me that he asked. I mostly wanted to run it by you first.”
“Oh,” Molly nodded, “well, I think it’s a good idea. Maybe Patten can actually help you bring out and show the people here the wonderful male I married for the wonderful thing he is… the male I will love forever.”
Molly then slowly nuzzled me. I smiled and nuzzled her back.
“You can let him know that I’ve accepted the offer?” I asked her.
“Of course, George,” Molly smiled and we walked along back toward our cabin.