“Because neither of you would stop badgering me if I didn’t pick something.”
“You didn’t pick anything,” Rus said. “You can’t just say you’re a superhero and not show up in a costume.”
“Personally, I think it’s an affront when you could be rocking sexy spandex,” Kaiden added. “You realize this is like one of my last free nights for the foreseeable future?”
“Huh?” Rus turned his attention to Kaiden.
“I landed a retail gig. It’s only part-time, but it’s over the holidays, so I might as well just blow my brains out now.”
“Damn, and you’re still working at the gallery?”
“Uh-huh, full-time. Hence why a hammer to the head would probably make the next two months easier.”
Dylan folded his arms and pouted. “You could skip the whole sixty hours a week of work and—”
“Sixty-five to seventy, if I’m unfortunate enough to be that lucky,” Kaiden interrupted. “But I need it if I’m going to save up to get away from my family.”
“And when they find out you’re working a second job?” Dylan asked. “What’s to stop them from magically increasing your rent?”
“They wouldn’t do that,” Rus stated, genuinely stunned by the prospect. “Would they?”
“They won’t have time because I’ll be out of there soon enough.”
“Because you have a plan to move out,” Dylan said with a surprisingly surly expression.
“The very secret plan you won’t tell us anything about?”
“Why are you ganging up on me?” Kaiden turned his attention to Rus, who wanted to pry a bit more for answers. “We should be ganging up on him for no costume.”
Kaiden gestured to Dylan, who sighed. Rus rocked his head back and forth, conceding to challenge Kaiden and return to hassling Dylan.
“You two are the worst.” Dylan dragged himself over to Rus’ desk. He grabbed a marker and a sheet of printer paper, scribbling on it. After he’d finished, he took a piece of tape and stuck the page to his chest.
“Not all heroes wear capes,” Dylan read off his little message. “Or spandex, I guess.”
Rus wanted to smile at that, at the added extra effort to placate him and Kaiden.
“Come on, we have a party to get to,” Kaiden declared.
It didn’t take long for them to get downtown, but it took nearly forever to find a parking spot. They settled for an expensive parking garage on the fifth floor of a building with a broken elevator.
Thankfully, Slayer’s Brush was close, and the event itself wasn’t nearly as stuffy as Rus anticipated. Most of the guests wore their fanciest outfits and tossed on a simple masquerade mask to make it a costume, but others seemed to enjoy the holiday as much as Rus.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Kaiden’s boss to rope him into a checklist of tasks. He abandoned Rus and Dylan to handle a few administrative things.
“I can’t believe the hoops he goes through when he’s not getting paid,” Rus said, swiping a champagne glass and almost snagging a second before he recalled that Dylan didn’t drink.
“Alison’s always been good to him,” Dylan said. “Plus, Kaiden loves this artsy stuff.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He still drew a bit when I first met him,” Dylan continued.
“What happened?”
“I think he’s just gotten a bit busy with life.”
After an hour or so of circling the event, Rus went out for a smoke. He took his time, savoring each deep inhale as he let his gaze drift to everyone who wandered downtown.
