Page 41 of Pure Silence

“God, please let my angel know that he doesn’t have to worry about that.”

“And why?”

“God, let my angel know it’s because I have Your blessing. I won’t ever get caught as long as I listen.” Day kissed Goldie’s cheek, humming as he pulled away to put on the new clothing.

“A blessing?”

Day nodded.

“Ablessingis gonna keep you safe from the cops?”

Day nodded again.

“Day, you might be crazy.”

Day just smiled.

Purrcy yowled.

* * *

The walk to the store was quiet. Day had put his headphones on, and Goldie quickly gathered that they were designed to cancel out noise. He wasn’t sure how much they blocked out, but if he needed to get Day’s attention, he had to wave at him where he could see it.

The sidewalk was slushy, the air was chilled, and there was a light sprinkling of snow showering down on them now.

Goldie hated it.

He wanted to walk faster, but Day was there clinging to his arm and urging him to slow down so he could keep up. Perhaps it wasn’t so bad to walk with a beautiful man at his side, but damn, it was fuckingcold.

There was a discount clothing store on the other side of the street from where they were now, and it looked very warm. Goldie tapped Day’s shoulder to get his attention. He pointed at the store.

Day frowned, and he shook his head. He pointed ahead in the direction of the grocery store.

“Come on,” Goldie insisted with a grin. He paused and glanced at Day’s headphones. “Can you even hear me?”

Day pointed to Goldie’s lips.

“Okay. You can read lips. Good.” Goldie nodded. “So, we’ll just grab a few things, okay? Just enough to hold you over for the next couple of days.”

Day made a face.

“Come on,” Goldie urged. “We’ll be in and out.”

Day dragged his feet the whole way, but he let Goldie lead him through the crosswalk and to the clothing store.

Once they were safely inside the blissful stuffy warmth, Day froze to the floor. He looked around the store like a deer in headlights, and he tucked his hands to his chest as if he was afraid to touch anything.

The store was hardly glamorous, stocked with clothing sold at discounted rates for missing buttons or other small defects. Goldie had been here once or twice before, but they rarely carried anything in his massive size so he didn’t return.

His earlier fear about going out in public with Day seemed silly now. He didn’t know if he’d expected Day to suddenly go on a killing spree while screaming about his holy mission, but the only thing that was an immediate concern was getting Day to move out of the way so people could enter and exit the store.

“What kind of stuff do you like?” Goldie asked once he’d successfully herded Day into the men’s section. He made sure Day was looking at him when he spoke, and he smiled reassuringly. “Hey, it’s okay. Just tell me what you like.”

Day shrugged helplessly. He looked miserable.

“How about I point at something and you just tell me yes or no?”

Day nodded, hugging himself tight.