Chapter 8
chapter
eight
“Stop staring at me.”
Tobias stared even harder. Alexander was infinitely more interesting than the suburban neighborhood they were walking through.
Alexander ignored him, straightening his shirt for the tenth time since they got off the bus.
The fabric was already straight, but that didn’t seem to matter.
Every time Tobias reminded Alexander he was going to a coworker’s house for what she presumed to be a ‘casual hang,’ he got visibly stressed out.
Then Alexander would bring the conversation back to hunting, and he would calm down again. Rinse and repeat.
It was fascinating. Deeply sad, but also fascinating. A little glimpse into Alexander’s weird inner world, where hunting monsters was infinitely easier than going to a coworker’s house to hang out.
“It’s just Donna,” Tobias assured him as they turned into her driveway. “She’ll carry the conversation the whole time, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I’m not worried about anything,” Alexander said, too fast. He squinted at the house, which looked far too boring to be owned by one Donna Masters. She struck Tobias as the kind of woman who would have a weird-ass house that made your eyes hurt.
“I wish knife-spinning was socially acceptable,” Alexander continued.
Tobias laughed, startled. “You could start that trend, man! Own your knife hobby.”
“It’s hardly a hobby—”
Before he could continue, Donna tore around the side of the house wearing rubber gloves, an apron, and giant sunglasses that were doubling as safety goggles.
“Al Keener and Hot Hoodie Guy,” she yelled.
Tobias glanced at Alexander, then realized of course he hadn’t applied to a job with his real name.
Donna bounded over to clap them both in the arm with alarming enthusiasm. “Let me show you the bullets! They’re cooling, they should be ready soon.”
Alexander frowned. “You made them already? I said I’d give you the silver. I have it right here.”
“Yeah, well, I got excited. But gimme!” She held out her hands, jumping up and down on the spot with such energy her giant earrings jiggled. Today’s pair was a bronze cat and a dog straining to kiss each other through her face.
Alexander produced a silver bar from his pocket. Donna took it, her eyebrows shooting up her forehead.
“I just used old jewelry,” she said with a chuckle. She waved for them to follow her around the corner to the garage. “You’re really serious about this! I thought it was a joke, except you don’t joke.”
“I joke,” Alexander insisted, stepping around a garden gnome who was bending over to display a thong. “Are you sure that jewelry is pure silver?”
“I’m sure.” Donna twisted to grin at them. “No werewolves are getting away from you boys. Or are silver bullets vampires?”
“It’s werewolves,” both boys said at once.
Donna led them into a cramped garage. There was a rusty motorcycle in the corner that made Tobias nostalgic for his dad’s lessons on long summer afternoons, and a chipped workbench in the corner with a series of tools that Tobias didn’t recognize except for a clamp and a soldering iron. A soldering iron’s zany twin, anyhow.
“They’re over here,” Donna gushed, throwing her sunglasses across the table with such enthusiasm they almost hit the mold. It was still smoking gently, with four silver bullets nestled deep in the red material.
Tobias’s scalp tingled with anticipation. Four would be more than enough. Alexander had a sniper rifle, and after tonight they would have a rooftop with access to Muzzle’s balcony at The Alpha Club.
“Aren’t they beautiful?” Donna whispered.
She gave them both another bracing clap, looking interested when neither boy rocked with the motion.
“Wow, you two are really solid. I’m used to smacking malnourished college students at work.
Anyway, these guys will be ready in a bit.
Come in, I’ll make you guys something to drink. ”
The inside of Donna’s house was more what Tobias had expected: bright colors and hanging beads instead of doorways, a giant glowing fishtank with no fish, ‘just for the aesthetic.’ A homemade gaming setup in the living room and vintage pinup girls decorating the kitchen walls.
“I’ve never seen you without the uniform,” Donna said as she bustled around the bright kitchen, pulling a bottle of pink lemonade out of the refrigerator. “You dress pretty much like I thought.”
Alexander straightened his shirt again. “Thanks,” he said dryly.
Tobias snorted. Alexander gave him that guarded look he got sometimes when he thought Tobias was making fun of him, and Tobias looked back as warmly as he could, trying to show he knew it was a joke.
Alexander did joke, he was just…particular about it.
A lot of inside jokes he didn’t expect anyone else to get.
“Your house is interesting,” Alexander said as Donna slid glasses of pink lemonade in front of them filled to the brim with star-shaped ice. “Very…lived in.”
“Thanks,” Donna chirped. She fiddled with her earrings again and shot them a bright grin. There was a strange edge to it. Almost like she was nervous.
Tobias blinked, taking stock of her manic energy. He’d just assumed she was excited to have Alexander over. Now it felt like she was overcompensating for the nerves.
“He means that in a good way,” Tobias assured her. “His place is super bare, but once he finds someplace he knows he’s gonna live in for a good long while, he’s gonna fill it up.”
Alexander gave him a curious look. Like he’d never considered that before. It made Tobias wonder how personal they were allowed to get back at his family home. Something told him individualism wasn’t exactly encouraged.
“Same with me,” Tobias continued. “I don’t see the point in putting this shit up if I know I’m gonna have to move it in a year when the landlord sells the building to developers. You know?”
“Totally,” Donna said, hopping onto a stool next to them at the kitchen island. “I only set all this up because it’s my aunt’s place, I know she’ll never sell it, and I’m not about to move. How’s the lemonade?”
“Great,” Tobias said. He nudged Alexander under the table, who took a sip.
“This is really good,” Alexander said, surprised. “I’ve never had pink lemonade before.”
“Happy to pop your cherry.” Donna snickered, leaning over the kitchen island to shove him, thankfully in his uninjured shoulder. “The lemonade at work is nothing compared to this. I make it myself.”
“You make a lot of things,” Alexander said admiringly. He looked around the kitchen, which was festooned with odd spoons and cutting boards and those cheeky pinup girls instead of wallpaper. “I assumed you didn’t get very far with your hobbies. You’re always talking about a new one at work.”
“Yeah, and you zone out as fast as you can.” Donna grinned as Alexander tried to defend himself. “It’s okay. Not everybody’s interested in the mugs I made when I briefly got into pottery.”
She waved at a shelf full of mugs with sagging boobs.
“Classy,” Tobias said approvingly. “I want one.”
“Those are my beloved rejects. I’m keeping them until I die.” Donna tapped rapidly against her glass, and Tobias caught another thread of anxiety radiating from her. It was fun watching them side by side: her getting louder, Alexander getting stiller and quieter.
“You’re full of surprises, Al,” Donna announced suddenly. “First you start dating Hot Hoodie Guy and now I find out you cosplay? And authentically, of course. What character is it again?”
“Thistle Izu,” they answered as one. It was an anime character that Tobias had loved in high school, and also the first thing that came to mind when they were brainstorming characters who used silver bullets.
“It just seemed like a fun idea,” Alexander said, like they had planned. “And you said you had a metalsmithing setup in the garage. Thank you again for doing this. I really appreciate it.”
The last bit actually sounded genuine. Alexander had sounded puzzled when she agreed over the phone, like he’d been expecting her to laugh in his face. Which she had, but it was a laugh of delight.
“I have more hobbies,” Donna blurted. “I just got into tarot. Want to see what your future holds?”
“Sure,” Tobias said. “Alex loves tarot. Don’t you, babe?”
Alexander stared at Donna with a single-minded intensity that suggested his mind was elsewhere, such as stabbing Tobias in the shoulder again.
“I’ve always wanted to try it,” Alexander said finally.
Donna beamed. “Great! Let me grab my deck. What kind of pack do you want? Traditional or sexy monsters?”
“Sexy monsters,” Tobias blurted as Alexander started to protest. “Sexy monsters all the way. We love sexy monsters.”
Donna jumped off her stool and ran for the hallway.
Alexander turned to him. “You’re a jackass.”
Tobias winked. “Careful. I might just kiss you again.”
“Don’t you dare.”
Tobias grinned. It was hard not to be happy with Alexander so close, their knees bumping between their stools.
Alexander’s scent was thick and intoxicating, stronger than the potpourri smell drifting in from the living room.
Stronger than the faint smell of scabbing blood underneath Alexander’s shoulder bandage.
Stronger than anything Tobias had ever known.
“I don’t know,” he murmured, leaning closer. “I think you liked it.”
“Oh yeah?” Alexander watched him warily, but didn’t lean back. “Why is that?”
He was sweating nervously. Tobias’s mouth watered with the urge to lick his salty neck.
“Your scent,” he said, swallowing hard. “You smelled like you enjoyed it.”
Alexander frowned, that adorable little crease forming between his brows. “That isn’t…you’re not…I smelled…?”
Footsteps down the hall. Tobias leaned back just in time for Donna to burst back into the kitchen, brandishing a pack of cards that had a painting of Bela Lugosi opening his Dracula cape to expose a garter-clad thigh.
“Wow,” Tobias said gleefully. “Those look great.”