S.P.A.R.K.L.E And S.H.I.N.E

Chapter 11-04

Chapter 11-04

From there, he'd moved onto printing tee-shirts, and he had been looking into expanding even further, but his motivation had hit a brick wall; he had several orders he really needed to catch up on.

"They'd love that," Angel said. "He was smitten by the romper you made for him."

Lucien and Sly had been among his test subjects, and the perks had been they'd been smothered with free merch as he played at getting his printers set up and the designs right.

"Should hook him up with Darius," Raven said. "He's doing something similar, isn't he? They could be business partners."

Angel slowed. Stopped. Turned to face his brother. His head tilted, and his eyes flickered as he processed what was being said. "Come to think of it, that ain't a half bad idea."

"Who is Darius?" He looked between the two of them, but Angel had started walking again, and Raven only offered him a chirpy grin, falling into step beside him and slinging his arm around his shoulder.

"He's a friend of ours," Raven answered when it became clear that Angel wouldn't.

"Of yours," Angel corrected. "I barely know him."

"Of mine," Raven corrected. "But Angel's met him multiple times. He doesn't sell his things like you're trying to do, but he's got a 3D printer and he's been using it to make his own s**t. He made his baby girl a custom made pacifier with it, a load of other cool stuff. He makes things like clips and jewellery too. I could hook you two up. It could work out cheaper for you to buy certain things from him, and you could swap ideas or whatever."

That wasn't a bad idea at all, and after letting his head flood with the possibilities of what he could do with a little more variety in his trade, he had Raven send him the number over.

"Oh! Toys!" Angel had led them to the children's aisle. Rows upon rows of selection lined the shelf. There were two little boys at the end of the row fighting over an Iron Man action figure, their voices rising until their mother snatched it off the both of them. One of them fell into a sulk. The other fell into a fit of hysterics.

"Yup. Choose a stuffie. Choose a toy, then we'll grab you hair crap."

"Why do you need a stuffie?" Raven cut in. "I bought you one a few weeks back. If he touched it, I swear I'll — "

"I promised him I'd buy him one," Angel cut in, scowling at his brother. It was a lie, but the guy was stone-cold convincing, and Raven's anger deflated like a released balloon. "So hurry up."

It was through the look that was passed to him that Ronan knew that Angel knew exactly what had happened to poor Teddy. It had him flushing and scuttling away so he didn't have to stand between them. There was no lie, except on Angel's part, but he felt guilty by association, and like he was being sneaky by hiding the truth from his friend.

Not that getting away from him was that easy. Raven came to stand beside him. Looked over the selection with him before nodding his head to a giant doggy that was squished into a netted basket.

"What about him? He looks like he needs a good home."

The puppo was adorable. Soft, chocolate fur and lighter patches highlighting his ears and forming a ring around his eyes. Gentle eyes that seemed to call to him. A woven smile that was capable of chasing all bad dreams away.

But he was forced to shake his head. He was too big and there was no way he would have been able to hide it from Adam.

"What about that one?" He pointed at the shelf above. There were small animals, more bean bag material than anything else, but they were cute as buttons. "Oh! Raven, they have a birdie! I want one, and then it can remind me of you."

Raven reached up and plucked the bird from the tray. It overlapped his palm, but it was small enough and subtle enough that he could hide it easier than he had Teddy, and he could even carry it around in his pocket if he needed to. The bird itself wasn't the cutest out of the Noah's ark selection, but his fingers curled around the purple-fleshed creation and a smile followed. It wasn't a raven, but it didn't matter. He was calling it that, and there was nothing his namesake could do about it.

Sparing a glance at Angel, who had taken a stroll down the shelves and was browsing the magazine section, he took the moment to enjoy the small second of solitude it left them. He loved Angel, but Raven had always been his breath of fresh air.

"What's on your mind, squiggles?" Raven asked, frowning.

He hated that. Hated the way the name always made him feel. But at the same time, he adored it more than anything else.

"Can I tell you something?"

Straightening, grin slipping and becoming the personification of seriousness, he nodded. "Anything, Ronan. You know that."

"And you promise you won't get mad or do react badly?"

Mouth tightening, eyes narrowing, Raven swallowed hard. "Babes, you're starting to worry me."

"Do you promise?"

"No. No, I do not, because if you tell me something I don't want to hear, I can't promise that. If he hurt you, Ro, I will — "

"He didn't." Taking his hand, Ronan squeezed it. And the small touch was all it needed for the dark-haired male to relax. His fingers curled around his, and the tiniest smile followed.

"Sorry. I just assumed the worst, was all."

Side-eyeing Angel, who was looking at them but making no move to close the distance that had logged up between them, he shook his head. "No, nothing like that. I just . . . Angel didn't promise me a stuffie."

The soft drawl of music that emanated from the store's speakers suddenly seemed so loud. In the pause between Raven processing and answering, a thousand different thoughts and emotions bashed at him.

"He took your Teddy, didn't he?" His face darkened, and there was a strained edge in his tone, but he remained calm, his voice just as even as it had been before."

"Yeah." He blinked hard. Dropped his gaze so he didn't have to meet those dark, smouldering pits. The birdie in his hand, he was already proving himself to be a good companion; he squeezed it and felt somewhat better. "You're not going to say anything to him, are you?"

"Would it cause more trouble for you if I did?"

Then it was his turn to take his sweet time answering. Raven knew a lot more than he gave credit for because he knew without a shred of doubt that Angel relayed a lot of the information he shared with him with his twin. But he also knew that Angel wouldn't tell him things that were sensitive, so it was hard to estimate just how much Raven did know.

Eventually, he nodded. A few weeks back, when Raven had picked him up and taken him for ice cream, he'd confessed quite a bit to him. Seemed stupid trying to deny it.

"Fine." Jaw clenching, he nodded. "But he ain't winning this thing. Just you watch, Ro. Just you watch."

"What does that mean?" Alarm spiked his tone, and maybe rang an octave too loud because Angel made towards them.

"It means for your sake, I'll let it go. I won't confront him, if that's what you're worried about, but if he wants to play games . . .." He threw out a dark chuckle. "f**k him, Ro. You don't need him. I've got you. Always have. Always will."

He had no words for that. No idea how he was even supposed to reply, so he didn't bother. Simply squeezed Raven's hand tighter and forced another smile. "So, about those hair dyes?"