Page 64 of Abdominal Snowman

“I wanna watch,” she stated innocently.

Soren didn’t quite conceal his suggestive expression, but then she wiggled the figure from her fingertips. “Watch you work, that is. I can’t imagine how you get all these little facets so perfect.”

Sage dropped her challenging gaze and turned the wood over in her hands, marveling at the detail and precision Soren had used to hew the emerging shape.

“Sure.” Soren plunked down onto the wheeled stool, drawing himself into the table. He flicked the spotlight on to illuminate his workspace and, with a side glance that said, don’t you dare, he yanked the headlamp into place over his messy locks. After organizing a few small metal tools, he held out his hand and waggled his fingers for the figure. She peered over his shoulder with an eager grin, her curiosity overshadowing the flirtatiousness.

“Just pretend I’m not here,” she suggested helpfully.

Soren nodded and pulled a tool from beside him, a small metal spoon with a beautifully carved handle.

“What’s that one do?” she asked.

“This is a spoon gauge. I use this one on my body figurines to scoop out the divots.” His tongue poked from between his teeth as he made such a scoop, forming hips and a soft stomach between his fingers.

“I understand the forest creatures,” she told him, voice quiet. “But why these figures?”

Soren didn’t answer immediately and worked in silence. Holding her patience close, she let her mind wander.

This type of work wasn’t usually her style. It was diligent, time consuming. She might wait a while for the lighting to be right or for her subject to appear, but Gabi was the one who loved the small intricacies of knitting and crocheting and crafting. Sage preferred to work on a larger scale, in and out. Printed, framed, mounted. Quick and done.

Sage wondered what else she still had to learn about Soren. He was even more closed off than she had first assumed, only feeding her bits of himself piece by piece. But Sage’s curiosity was ravenous.

“It’s hard to describe why. I guess it’s because I admire their forms? It’s sexy, and who doesn’t like looking at sexy things? Afterward, sometimes I sit here and think, wow, I made something like that. All alone up here in my cabin. It’s… different.”

“What, being an abominable snow monster wasn’t enough?” she teased.

Soren scoffed at her and flicked a wood shaving at her arm. “Like Jane said, I’ve gotta pass the time somehow.”

The puzzle pieces clicked. “Oh! The figurines were in the box! No wonder you were being so secretive about it.”

“Yeah. I would have looked weird if you opened it to see all the naked carvings. Then I would have had to explain and it just seemed…”

“Embarrassing?” she guessed.

He nodded and turned the wood in the light, studying it from all sides.

She wanted to ask what was different today than yesterday… but she knew. Sage wouldn’t forget what Soren had done for a long time, but she would give him the chance to make it up to her.

And sharing more about himself was a good start.

“Will you tell me more about your parents?”

Oof. Real smooth with that one. Going right for the gullet there. Nice.

She saw his shoulders tighten, could practically hear the refusal on his lips. But he turned toward her, wooden figure momentarily forgotten as he sighed. He studied her for a long moment, and she made herself extremely busy with a junk box she’d found.

Dear god, when had she even wandered off?

But maybe this could work in her favor. Hell, maybe it would be easier for him to talk if she wasn’t staring over his shoulder.

The chair squeaked as he faced the table again, and he began with, “I grew up here and haven’t ever left. My parents, however, moved here before I was born, when the town wasn’t even really a town yet. They are from the East Asian mountain ranges, what are now the Himalayas. The clans… there was always infighting between members, most never made it out alive.” For a moment, he didn’t speak, and the only sound over the heaters was the scrape of the tool against Soren’s carving.

“When they found this place, they never wanted to leave. It was everything they wanted. Privacy, peace. No fighting or bullshit politics. They could raise their family and begin again, this time safer. And it was safe, for a while.”

A pit formed in Sage’s belly as she heard the pain in his voice. This was hard for him, and that made it all the more meaningful that he was sharing it with her.

“The man who stopped us as we were leaving the market, Tobin.”