Page 23 of Marked By Shadows

Skylar indicating that Alex would find a hobby on this trip, that was well worth the overpriced ticket I had paid to get him in. Having him along was a bonus of course. He was pleasant company, easy to joke and make light of himself first. And his childlike awe over new things was adorable. Though it made me a little sad to realize he’d enlisted so young, and spent a sizable part of his life in the military rather than experiencing the normal sorts of things most people did. He had never been on some stateside base working a desk job. He’d been overseas and in training almost non-stop. Which was why he sometimes had a hard time processing normal events.

“Alex is an amazing cook,” I said. “He makes these peanut butter cookies that are super rich and tasty.”

“I do like to cook, but I’m no chef,” Alex agreed. “I’d like to learn how to quilt like Micah does. Or something with fabric. He takes scraps and poof it’s suddenly a blanket, or a bag, or a pillow case. Magic.”

“Once you get started it’s hard to stop,” Julie said.

Nicole nodded. “Even when you mess up those first few times. As long as you keep going, the magic happens.”

“I want to learn magic,” Alex said with a childlike wonder.

“Tomorrow is supposed to be a craft day,” I told him. “We can find some things you like and I’ll show you a few simple designs.”

“I don’t even know how to use a sewing machine.”

“That’s okay. If you can take apart guns and put them back together, I think you can figure out a sewing machine.” I thought of something that Lukas had told me. “Didn’t you fix a coffee pot with spare gun parts?”

“It’s not like I put bullets in it or something. Just some screws and a few barrel fittings. The water was so hard it kept clogging. At least with the barrel fittings I could take them out and scrub them clean. The cheap plastic ones that come in most coffee pots don’t ever come clean.”

Everyone looked at Alex.

“What?” he asked.

“You used gun parts to fix a coffee maker?” Chad confirmed.

“Hardcore coffee drinker, right there,” Jonah said.

“Guilty,” Alex admitted. “I don’t function without coffee in the morning.”

“Oh, I’m sure youfunctionjust fine,” Jonah teased him, flirting a little.

Heat turned Alex’s cheeks pink again. “I don’t actually. But that’s okay. Micah doesn’t mind.” He was referring to the fact that he didn’t wake up with wood like a lot of guys did. I think he worried that I thought he didn’t find me attractive enough. But I knew that wasn’t the case. It took very little effort on my part to ever ‘turn him on.’ “Fuck,” he cursed. “I keep saying stuff I shouldn’t.”

I squeezed his thigh. “You’re fine.” It didn’t matter that the folks not in our group had moved to the other side of the bus and a few were giving us disapproving eyes. Everyone in the cosplay group knew I had worked in adult videos, and my cosplay had never been PG rated.

“Heisfine,” Jonah agreed. “You going to cosplay with him?” He asked me. “I could see him in some tight leather Witcher pants, or even the Assassin Creed outfit.”

“Fake leather maybe,” I allowed. Leather, and actual animal products in general were difficult to work with, breaking needles, and needing special treatment. “I think we will… cross that bridge when we come to it,” I said, recalling the common saying.

I had some new ideas for costumes for Alex. Since he loved dressing up so much, my plan was to make him some things he could wear doing our tours, or even in the shop, and for fun, but had yet to run any of it by him. I needed to ask Freya for some help drafting the ideas first. From my head to paper didn’t always translate the same. Freya, however, could take my verbal description, and sketch it, with notes, to something I could then turn into the guide for a pattern. I had yet to achieve her brilliance. So far the things I’d made weren’t suitable for everyday wear, and I couldn’t see us traveling around to cosplay conventions all the time.

We arrived at the next shop and listened to the instructions.

“Everyone will have an hour for the shop and an hour for lunch,” the guide sitting up front beside the bus driver stated. “This area of town is filled with restaurants. You can either eat first and then shop, or shop and then eat. The store does ask that you not bring food inside.”

Everyone murmured in agreement and we made our way off the bus. This shop was a bit more artsy. Some big name lines, of course, lots of modern colors, including the section of scales mentioned before, some handmade prints, and a lot of precuts. In fact, the stacks of precuts of all shapes, sizes, and colors instantly set my wallet on fire.

“Wow, you’re super glowy,” Alex remarked.

“Precuts are a quilters paradise,” I told him.

“Was that English?”

I waved away his silliness. “Go find stuff. Ignore me while I spend all my money.”

He dug in his pocket for a minute, then pulled out the stack of coupons, flipping through them and then handing one to me. I’d forgotten I’d passed him the mess. The coupon he gave me was for twenty-five percent off any order over one hundred dollars. I gaped at him.

“What?” He asked. “Go delight in your square things. I’m going to check on the machines.” He wandered away to the far right side of the store which was set up with a dozen machines, including a few long arms.