7. Chapter 7
Chapter seven
Dane
R etrieving the boxes from Caroline’s storage unit wasn’t a super-involved process. They got all the carnival glass out and driven back in just over an hour, and most of that had been drive time. The SUV was exceptionally cramped, with everyone except the driver carrying at least one box on their laps, but they managed it without any issues. Probably would have better with one of the panel vans .
Visiting the storage unit had also given Evander a chance to see the furniture and stuff that Caroline had in storage, and he grilled her on it during the whole drive back. Which left Aras and Dane sitting in awkward silence next to each other.
For most of it.
“He’s not going to shut up,” Aras whispered. “Want to tell me about your mechs?”
Not really . He wasn’t necessarily embarrassed of it. In fact, he only got weird owning his hobby when he tried to talk to a dating prospect.
Which apparently, his brain had decided Aras very much counted as a prospect. Even if they realistically had no chance. So it was hard to broach the subject, even when asked directly. But it was ruder to totally ignore the question. “Lots of obscure weeb stuff, you know? But you might have seen Stellar Angel Mitsuki?”
Aras raised his eyebrows. “You nailed it. I have. You got the…what’s the one that the love interest guy pilots? Pisces?”
“I have the Pisces.” Dane flicked his gaze aside. “I have all the mechs from the Court of Constellations.” And all the others from the show—the popularity of the show meant they had lots of high quality model kits available. “But I think you’re thinking of the Aquarius. The one with the huge cannon on its back?”
“ Yes . That one. That one was cool as hell. And the pilot’s cute. For a cartoon boy.”
Dane chuckled. “Agreed.”
“So do you build them? Paint them and all that? Or just collect?”
“I build them. Not as much as I’d like. Hopefully when we’re done filming, I’ll be able to get back to it. Got a stack of at least a dozen back home.” Plus I keep ordering more whenever I get bored .
“Sweet.”
The rest of the ride was…well, not quiet, since Ev and Caroline talked about design stuff the entire time, but he and Aras weren’t chatting anymore. They got back to the house, to see Ozzy and a couple other contractors already covered in soil as they kneeled in the front yard, digging away at the little flower bed.
They hauled the boxes inside to see that someone had set up a whole bunch of folding tables. Mason gestured to them, then headed out, along with Bunny and a couple of the crew to haul things in faster.
When Aras and Caroline got inside, he sighed and looked at her. “Want to start unpacking?”
“Yeah. It’s been….a while.” A soft smile pulled up the corners of her mouth. “I’ll try not to be too annoying talking about everything, but I haven’t seen most of these pieces in a few years.”
Aras shook his head as he pulled a folding chair over and set it in front of one of the boxes. “Gush. Anyone says anything, I’ll knock their heads. Figuratively.”
She chuckled, then she pulled open the flaps of the box and reached in. Dane was pretty sure he’d never seen carnival glass in his life, so he stopped and watched, even as the cameras and some more of the lighting grips bustled in to make sure they were capturing the moment.
She pulled out a bundle wrapped in newspaper. As she unfurled it, Aras’s eyes were fixed down on the glass, and Dane watched along with him, splitting his focus between the glass and Aras’s face to gauge his expressions.
The first hint of actual glass peeked out. A deep purple. Or a yellow. As Caroline moved it around to finish unwrapping what was apparently a plate, about eight inches across, the color moved across it, flashing from purple so deep it was nearly black to blues and greens and golds. It was pretty, absolutely, and the raised grid pattern on the face of the plate gave even more surfaces for the colors to change.
Aras leaned down, then looked at Caroline with one eyebrow cocked. “Grapevine lattice. Nice. Original?”
She nodded. “Don’t think they ever did a reproduction of the pattern.” She sighed as she ran her fingers over the pattern. Then she handed it to Aras. “Take a look. It’s not my favorite piece, but it’s still really beautiful.”
“Well yeah.” Aras took the plate gingerly and held it up to the nearest light, not seemingly concerned at all that he was probably screwing with the shot. When the strong light hit it, the colors brightened to jewel tones. The purple turned from a near black to a brilliant amethyst, and while the other colors dimmed a bit, they still shifted over the surface as he moved it. Then he set it down. “That’s some crazy iridescence.”
“Grab a box if you’re not busy.” Caroline nodded down, even as the others kept on hauling in boxes of glass from the SUV. “I’ll get to see them either way, and we need to get them all out.”
Aras set the plate down on the nearest table, then looked around. “I really should get to work.”
“This is work.” Mason set another box down in the pile, then put his hands on his hips. “Don’t invent work for yourself. You already cleared the electrical for this place, and until you and Ev figure out what to do with the light fixtures, I don’t think you have anything else.” Mason patted him on the shoulder. “No one else here knows anything about carnival glass. You may as well be the one to handle it.”
Aras’s jaw tightened and Dane saw the annoyance building inside of him. He still didn’t understand what exactly triggered Aras—a lot of the time, it seemed to be everything—but he’d spent a shameful amount of time watching Aras, so he knew when it was building to an eruption.
Dane stepped up and touched Aras’s other shoulder, not really knowing what he was doing. “Until they pull me away, I wouldn’t mind learning about this carnival glass stuff. After I bent your ear talking about my weird model making.”
And Aras’s jaw actually loosened. He nodded, then went over and grabbed two chairs. Before he sat down, he looked over at Kyle. “You need Dane here for anything?”
“Not now. As long as he’s helping with the job.” He looked across the way at Dane. “Stay on the level.”
Dane didn’t know what that was about, or why Kyle thought he specifically needed that warning. But he didn’t need to address that. He could just leave it to fester for the moment.