The end of the week couldn’t have come soon enough for Dorian who, while visibly excited, still seemed a tad dour. Reina had commented on his excitement, saying that she wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen anyone so excited, but Dorian brushed it off by saying that he was planning on nothing but gaming the entire weekend. This was almost always followed by a question on how whatever it was was bothering him, but he never gave her an answer. He knew that she was just trying to be nice, but he didn’t want to weigh her into his own issues. Adelaide had found him around the middle of the week and had a good laugh about what had happened, showing that there was nothing bad between them over it, though he was certain her friends might’ve had less positive thoughts. Dorian, however, felt comfortable enough to know that it was most likely their problem that they had with him.
Reina didn’t really talk about what she had going on on Friday, but Dorian mainly just used the excuse of prying to get the attention off of himself. He didn’t mean to pry, being a rather private person in and of himself, and he guessed Reina was kinda the same. That’s not to say he wasn’t curious, but he had more things to concern himself with than her private life. The part he needed would be at his house later that afternoon so he could just wait until he got home, but he wanted to get it done now and maybe spend the rest of the afternoon fixing his sewing machine and maybe getting to work on his next cosplay.
Poking his head out of the room he’d been camping in for the past few minutes, Dorian looked up and down the hall to make sure no one saw him before slinking out. As much as he hated to admit it, and never to her face…Dorian couldn’t help but noticed he was stalking down the hall like some horror villain. At least now it was more of a blessing than a curse as his feet barely made any sound as he slipped quietly into the home economics classroom. He hadn’t been in here since Reina had given the tour and had no reason to take the class since most of what would be taught, he already knew but today it would serve his purpose.
“Honestly can’t believe I didn’t immediately think of this,” he chuckled. “How could I have been so stupid? Just a little more and then….”
“Dorian?” Dorian jumped so hard that he fell off of his stool, landing flat on his back with a loud thud and the overcoat in his hand. A grateful sigh escaped him as he realized he had just finished and there wasn’t a massive tear that destroyed all of his hard work. His relief was soon met with the feeling of a lump starting to swell on the back of his head. Rubbing the back of his head and pushing himself up onto his elbows, Dorian looked up at the owner of the all too familiar voice. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same,” he groaned, getting to his feet. “Whatever happened to whatever you were doin’ this afternoon, eh?” Her cheeks puffed out a bit as she looked defiantly for a way to answer before closing her eyes, letting out a long breath and holding her hands in front of her.
“Alright, alright,” she said. “Let’s just…take a step back here.” She opened her eyes and pointed at the still running sewing machine. “You can use a sewing machine. Dorian nodded before reaching over and hitting the power button. “Capably?”
“Yeah,” he replied, slightly hanging his head.
“And that….” She pointed at the overcoat in his hand. “That’s a cosplay…isn’t it?” He didn’t say anything but gave a meek nod. Dorian readied himself for her to call him a creep or weirdo of whatever but was met with only silence. He slowly looked at her to see what she was thinking only to be met with a look of almost wonder.
“Don’t you think this’s weird?” he asked, waving his hand in front of her eyes. “You don’t think I’m a creepy perv or weirdo?” Her awed expression turned to questioning.
“Why would I?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest. “Even though I admit that this is the last thing I’d expect from you, the amount of detail I can see in that coat tells me all I need to know.” The tension between them seemed to lessen a bit as she continued. “Listen, I’ll do whatever you want in return for what I’m about to ask…well…pretty much anything, anyway. But….” She took a deep breath. “Can you make my cosplay?” An even more awkward silence fell between them, Reina looking hopeful and Dorian just flat-out confused.
“’Scuse me?” he asked. “Did I hear that right? You want….”
“You to make my first cosplay, yes,” she finished. The pleading look in her eyes reminded Dorian a little too much of the two kittens back at his house when he had food. Thoughts ran through his head at a breakneck pace as he tried to work things out. She’d found out about this little hobby of his, so that would hang over his head if he couldn’t keep her quiet about it. He could see a basic guidebook to clothes making in general that she’d pulled out of her bag which he recognized as the one his mom and given both him and Liz when they started. Given how long it took him to learn how to make more complicated stuff, he had no idea how long it would take her. “If you don’t want to…it’s fine. I just thought….”
“No,” he interrupted, stopping his thoughtful pacing with his back to her. “What exactly do you want me to do? Not who you want to cosplay, but what am I going to be doing because, after this,” he held up the coat ,”I’m not sure if I’ll be able to afford enough fabric for a full costume.” He went back to pacing a bit.
“You’re serious?”
“Of course I am….” Dorian wished that he had been paying a bit more attention to Reina before he agreed to this as she rushed over and tackled him with a hug. Normally priding himself on his balance, Dorian flailed his arms in an effort to steady himself before falling to the ground yet again, but this time with Reina on top of him.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she repeated, laughing a little. After a while, she slowly released him from her grip, and both suddenly noticed how close they were. “Oh…uh…might wanna let you up, huh?” Brushing past the incredibly awkward situation that just played out, they both got to their feet and dusted off their uniforms. “But you don’t have to worry, I’ll pay for my own supplies….”
“Good thing there’s a shop nearby,” Dorian offered. “Good stuff for a pretty reasonable price…and the part for my sewing machine came in today, so I should be able to fix it and get to work.” As she made to leave, Dorian grabbed her wrist and turned to her to face him. “But this stays between us…yeah?” She looked at him for a moment before a soft smile made its way across her lips.
“Of course, Dorian.”
ns 15.158.61.20da2
