Orion unveils the second option. Smoother, a clean red skull with hollow eyes and pointed teeth. Too normal for this, maybe. But at least it's an option.
The third one makes me stop.
Half a skull. Realistic, and just the right side—the side Rex's mask covers. This one isn't resin, it's some kind of silicone. It would look like the right side of Rex's face is all white bone and shadow while the other half is just him.
"Orion made that one," Jamie says proudly.
"It came from a mold," Orion says, running a hand through his hair, suddenly awkward. "Not as difficult to create as the other masks. It took all of three hours. The unmasking mechanism you built is far more impressive.”
"It took you longer than that, and the mechanism was your idea," I hear Jamie hissing to Orion as I glance at Rex.
So does Orion. Just a flicker, there and gone, before he refocuses on the masks like he's stressed out about something himself. Maybe this is uncomfortable for him, too, since he has scars of his own showing above the golden skull mask covering his lower face.
Rex, on the other hand, hasn't moved. The blanket is slipping off one shoulder and he hasn't fixed it. The tea is going cold in his hands.
I set down my mug.
"Okay." I keep my voice brisk. "He needs to try them on. Which means he needs the room."
Jamie blinks. "Oh—right. Yes. Of course."
"Come on." I jerk my head toward the kitchen alcove. "Show me what Cheeto's eating this week. Is he really boycotting farmed salmon again?"
The chain stretches between me and Rex as I move, just long enough to reach the counter if I don't go farther than the alcove entrance. Rex doesn't look at me. His hand rests on the workbench next to the masks.
"He is!" Jamie's face brightens as I steer him toward the counter. "But it's worse now because Orion found this high-end fish market that does deliveries and Cheeto figured out the sound of the truck, so every Monday at 6 AM, he sits by the window and?—"
I let Jamie chatter. Behind us, Orion murmurs something to Rex that I don't try to hear.
I keep my back turned.
Jamie glances at me and my deliberate focus on the kitchen counter. His eyes warm up. "There are biscuits in the blue tin," he says, like that's what matters right now. "Orion made them. Lemon and saffron. Family recipe."
"Thanks."
I open the tin and pull out a biscuit, which is… kind of a weird shape, but I don't think anything of it until I catch Jamie's nervous grin growing decidedly wider and more nervous, hiseyes flicking between me and the biscuit in my hands like he just realized he'd forgotten something's wrong with it.
I glance at it.
It's… dick-shaped?
But I take a bite and it's good. From the workshop, I hear Orion's low voice followed by an even lower growl from Rex.Subwooferlow.
"Oh boy!" Jamie says without missing a beat.
Rex is at my side before Jamie can even take a breath after speaking. "We're leaving," he says in an even flatter tone than usual.
"Jamie, can I have a few minutes alone with him?"
Jamie's bouncing stalls mid-bounce. His warm brown eyes flick between me and Orion, who's standing where Rex left him, still holding the new mask and watching us with unmistakable sympathy in those soft green eyes.
Rex is already turning toward the spiral staircase like he's about to bolt down it and straight into his car.
"Of course." Jamie squeezes my arm once. "Take the back room. Past the beaded curtain, second door on the left. It's quiet."
"Thanks."
Rex is three steps down the staircase before the chain snaps taut.