The streets were crowded, and the sidewalks were bustling with people no doubt finishing up last minute shopping, and Ozzie grabbed the first parking space he could.
“Okay!” Ozzie turned the car off. “We’ve got a few options here. There are two secondhand stores. One specializes in fancy vintage crap. There’s a costume shop, and then just your basic clothing store. Kinda like Target kinda stuff. If you know what a Target is. Anyway. Where do you want to start?”
Tuesday glued himself to the window. “Oh, fancy vintage crap. That is so up my alley. Let’s go there!”
“Fancy vintage it is.” Ozzie nodded and slid out of the car, the door squeaking as he closed it. “Come on, this way.”
Tuesday eagerly hopped up to follow him, and he stuck right to Ozzie’s side and grabbed his hand.
Ozzie smiled as their fingers laced together. He’d been a little worried about Tuesday making a scene or whipping his pink tentacles around, but this was surprisingly tame.
And yeah, holding hands made his heart race a little faster.
Hadn’t been expecting that.
When they reached the window withTime After Timepainted in gold, Ozzie stepped up to open the door. He waved for Tuesday to go in first. “This is it.”
Tuesday eagerly darted inside and he gasped, his eyes wide as he stared at the colorful, eclectic selection of clothing.
There were crazy patterns, fuzzy fabrics, and sequins everywhere.
“Holy shit!” Tuesday actually squeaked in delight, and he raced forward to the nearest rack to paw through the clothing. “This place is awesome. Look at this! Wow, look atthis! What even is this? I love it!”
As much as Ozzie despised shopping, it was hard not to get caught up in how excited Tuesday was. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad with company. He grabbed a basket and hurried to keep up with Tuesday’s insanely long legs. “I’ve never seen so many eye-assaulting colors in one place.”
“Right? Isn’t it amazing?” Tuesday immediately pulled a loud floral shirt from the rack followed by a hot-pink tube top, a black leather vest, and a turquoise sequined blazer with huge shoulder pads. “I need these. All of these. Please and thank you.”
Ozzie offered out the basket for Tuesday to drop his items in, chuckling to himself. Everything Tuesday grabbed was as wild as Ozzie had imagined, and he had no doubt that Tuesday could still make it look good.
“Oh!” Tuesday waved a bedazzled nightmare covered in little reindeer. “What about this one?”
“Hey, that would be perfect for my company party.” Ozzie laughed. “We’d be quite a pair with the stuff Derrick is letting me borrow.”
“Let’s do it!” Tuesday cheered and continued searching for more colorful clothing. He was so excited that an extra arm popped out of his stomach to help shift through the hangers.
Ozzie grimaced and crowded closer, not wanting anyone else to spy the extra limb. “We should get you a warm jacket too. Most of these clothes don’t look very good for the snow.”
“Oh. Right.” Tuesday grinned, turning to kiss Ozzie. “Mmm, that’s so thoughtful of you, baby. Wanna make sure I’m all cozy and warm?”
Ozzie blushed lightly at the kiss, certainly not used to public displays. His heart pounded, and his stomach fluttered in the most pleasant way. “I don’t want you freezing.” He grinned playfully against Tuesday’s soft lips. “I can think of a few ways to keep you warm.”
“Oh really?” Tuesday forgot all about the clothing, and one of his tentacles slithered out to curl around Ozzie’s waist. “You know, I’m actually starting to feel a little chilly right now.”
“I didn’t really, uh—” Ozzie’s face flushed hotter, and he gulped. “I’m not sure I can warm you up here in the store, you know?” He glanced around to make sure they weren’t attracting too much attention. “We’re supposed to be shopping for clothes, not taking clothes off.”
“Oh. Well. Later then!” Tuesday smooched him one more time and then dove back into the clothing with a little giggle.
“Later,” Ozzie agreed with a grin. “Yeah.”
Knowing there was going to be a later filled Ozzie’s chest with a new warmth, and despite his reservations about how the shopping would go, he had a great time. Tuesday ransacked every inch of the store for only the tackiest apparel from neon green boots to glittery ballet slippers and anything fuzzy.
Despite his earlier reservations, Ozzie had a great time. After checking out, Ozzie steered them to a small coffee shop for a caffeine fix. Tuesday kept his arms limited to two, but he did hold Ozzie’s hand and pepper his hair with kisses while they waited to order. Tuesday was effortlessly charismatic and chatted up the cashier, so Ozzie didn’t even have to talk to them. He’d done the same thing back at the thrift store, and it was nice having a barrier for peopling.
What would have drained Ozzie only seemed to invigorate Tuesday, and he appeared to be having a great time chatting with complete strangers.
Even while he was listening to the cashier tell them about her three poodles and their latest haircuts, Tuesday kept his hand on Ozzie at all times.
It was nice.
