Page 33 of Marked By Shadows
And didn’t that put the skid on my racing thoughts. A reminder that Alex had been taken too. Perhaps not in the same way or even to the same place. Had he changed from the experience? I wasn’t sure yet. Hadn’t known him long enough before or after. But we had a lot of small things in common, and one really big one. We were both more than a little crazy.
“So, the garment bag? What’s in it?” Alex asked. “It’s like a pirate chest of unknown booty I desire to unlock.”
“It’s only a handful of things I’ve been working on. Wanted Freya’s opinion on a few. Sizing, embellishment, etc. Nothing sexy, only fun stuff.”
“For you?” Alex wanted to know.
“For you,” I amended. “Mostly.” After seeing some fan art of gender bending of many of the Disney characters, I decided to try my hand in designing a few. Everything I tried came back to Alex. How I could see him in leggings that looked like a mermaid tail, or a fitted uniform to echo Mulan’s masculine side. TheFrozenbend was easy and one of the first I’d completed, having enough fan art online to draw inspiration from.
The idea of making some of Disney’s main characters, sexy, modern, and sort of male appealed in an odd way. Something I had never done before. I had started on sets of characters, though not all turned out usable. Which was why I’d planned to continue this trip even after Alex’s disappearance. I needed the feedback. Something to occupy my mind other than anxious overthinking.
Maybe every cosplayer didn’t start by growing up wanting to be a Disney Princess, but I had. However, envisioning myself in costume was still a struggle. Though for Alex? I had endless ideas.
“Have you ever wanted to be a Disney Princess?” I asked him.
“I lovedMulan. Best part was when the guys all dress up like geishas or whatever and climb the poles to storm the bad guy. I think I’m into the newer movies.Brave, Moana, Frozen, Shrek…”
“Shrekis not a princess movie.”
“He rescues Fiona from a dragon. A kiss saves them. How is it not a princess movie?”
I blinked at him, trying to sort my thoughts, though thankfully they’d stopped running away in a million directions. “Because there is farting and bad jokes?” I offered.
“Bah,” Alex waved his hand. “Technicalities. I think the fact that her parents are still alive, is the most unDisney-like part of it. What is with Disney and dead parents anyway?” He did have a point. Though there were a handful of Disney movies with living parents likeMulan, Brave, andMoana, they were more modern movies.
“What if I run and get the bag?” Alex surveyed the room. “I sort of feel like I’m on a set for a movie. It’s kind of exciting. Can I dress up?” He put his hands on his hips and stood in a wide stance like warriors of old. “Feel like I could be on the cover of a romance novel.”
I squinted at him. After tromping around in the woods and seeing Byrony’s ghost along with whatever else had happened, and there he was shrugging it off like it didn’t bother him. Only that wasn’t true either. The tension in his shoulders made his back straighter, and he had to work to unclench his fists. He needed to unwind too. If he thought a little cosplay could help, I’d find a way to dress him up.
“Okay,” I agreed. “None of it is finished, but okay.”
Alex darted for the door.
“Wait,” I called to him not wanting him to go running into the darkness alone. He paused. I walked him to the door and stood in the doorway. “Let me watch you get there and back. Bring your hair stuff too, so I can fix it.”
“You’re obsessed with my hair,” he accused.
“I am,” I agreed. “Touching it, smelling it, tugging on it when we have sex. Totally obsessed.”
His grin was huge. “Hair stuff too.” He leaned forward, kissed the tip of my nose, then darted across the lawn. Some inner terror in my gut clenched, almost expecting the darkness to open up and swallow him whole right there in front of me. But nothing happened. He let himself into our cabin, rummaging around for a few minutes before reappearing and making his way back across the lawn with the garment bag draped in his arms. He grinned like a little boy with a secret.
“What did you do?” I asked as we both headed inside.
He ignored my question and hung the bag up on a rack near the door. “I can’t wait to see what you made.”
Heat rushed up to fill my face. “None of it’s finished,” I reminded him.
“Finished in what sense?” He asked. “As in completed or as in perfected? You have a way of hating on projects you don’t feel turned out perfectly and calling them unfinished.”
I sighed. He knew me too well already. “There are some things that didn’t work out the way I wanted. I had hoped Freya would have some ideas for fixes. Other things are mostly done, they just need a bit of sizing.”
“Mhmm.” Alex unzipped the bag and began pulling out hangers, placing them on the empty rack to spread them out. “Micah?”
“Yeah?” I asked, absently cataloging the pieces I’d brought.
“Why is this all in my size?”
“Because I was using you as inspiration.”