Page 27 of Close Quarters

“Jesus,” I said, picking up the detailed, fluffy cat carving in front of him. There was also a cow, admittedly with bigger, doeier eyes than a real cow, which only made it cuter in my eyes. A half-formed one was still sitting in front of him, and if I were to guess, it was a person. “You, uh, really have this down.”

Leon chuckled. “I’ve been here for a couple of years now. I picked it up a while back, and it has something to do with my hands.”

“In your free time?” Reno asked doubtfully.

Leon smiled. “Even as a Tier Three…admittedly, that was back when my mentor kept an eye on me. Don’t worry, we’re not handing knives out to just anyone to carry around.”

Reno grunted, but I liked to think I’d been around him enough to recognize the surprise on his face before it was buried under his regular sour expression. Clearly, he was surprised and probably annoyed that Leon had immediately caught on to what had been bothering Reno about the idea.

Not that I blamed him, even if everyone here was handpicked based on a lot of factors, that didn’t change the fact that most of us had violent histories. I had to look at the group of guys to realize most of them had been here longer than me, which meant Reno was the newest arrival.

I wonder if they had denied certain people entry, but there were other mentors here, Dane sitting at a table and another whose name I couldn’t remember. They had one block in their hands, barely touched, which probably meant they’d been paying more attention to everyone else.

“Come, sit. I’ll give you the basics and let you loose,” Leon said, gesturing to two nearby chairs.

“I’m good,” Reno grunted, holding up his book. “I’m just here because I have to be. I’ll read.”

Leon smiled as he nodded. “By all means. But Elliot, if you’re going to be doing this, you’re definitely getting some pointers. The last time I let you use a sharp object, you sliced your hand open.”

“Of course he did,” Reno muttered as he walked off, shaking his head.

“I’ve learned my lesson,” I called after him. “Cut away from the body!”

Reno said nothing, just shook his head before finding a corner that wasn’t full of people. I expected him to yank a chair over, but to my surprise, he found a clear space and sat down, legs crossed.

“I’ve never seen him do that before,” Dom noted, cocking his head. “Normally he just stands as far from people as he can without being obvious and glares at everyone.”

Despite agreeing with the comment, I couldn’t help but feel a flash of annoyance as I sat beside Leon. “Probably because he has to be here. Otherwise, he’d be in the cabin. Just let him do his thing.”

“It wasn’t like I was planning on going over and trying to make best buddies with him,” Dom told me with a frown before turning to someone in the chair next to me. “Hey, move it.”

“And people say I have no social graces,” I said with a sigh as the guy got up without question. It always amused me how terrifying people found Dom. Sure, he was big, had a booming voice, and generally looked like he was just waiting for an excuse to break someone in half, so I could see why. On the other hand, I’d been around him for months, and I knew damn well he wasn’t going to hurt anyone without a really good reason.

“Because you don’t,” Dom said with what counted as affection from him. “I’m incredibly charming and loveable, and people do what I want because they like me.”

“Or they’re terrified you’re going to cave their face in if they don’t do what you want them to,” I pointed out, glancing at Leon. Only to stop and raise a brow. “What is that look for?”

Leon’s face, which had been curious and almost…soft, shifted immediately as he reached over and grabbed a block of wood from the box nearby. A small knife followed it. “Nothing. Now, here, let me show you what you need to do.”

I quickly realized the guys around me were also paying attention, and I did my best to focus. That was a lot easier said than done because I’d always been a hands-on learner, but at least this way, I could pair his lecture with actually trying to whittle. I had no idea what the point of whittling was since the other workshops had included cooking, knitting, and sewing, all handy skills, as they’d pointed out. Maybe this one was just for fun?

It took almost twenty minutes, but I finally felt like I had a handle on what he was trying to tell me. Well, I understood what he was saying and had somewhat grasped it in practice. The problem was, ‘move with purpose’ and ‘keep the image of what you’re trying to do in your head at all times’ wasn’t exactly the most compelling advice, in my opinion. Still, Leon had done his best and the only thing I could do at this point was to keep trying and see what I managed to figure out.

And then my opinion of Leon took a hit when he rummaged in a bag and slapped down a box of bandages on the table before me. I glared at his retreating back. “Drama queen!”

Beside me, Dom chuckled as he worked at…a pig? “He knows what you’re like. Remember when you almost took your leg off with that pitchfork?”

“My leg got stuck between the tines. There was no need for all the drama,” I muttered. I was leaving out the part where internally I’d been screaming, wondering if I’d skewered my leg, but I couldn’t feel it from the shock or something.

“And then when you got stuck on the fence.”

“I learned not to wear my shirts so loose!”

“Thrown off a horse.”

“Even Max said that wasn’t my fault.”

“I’m just saying accidents and injuries follow you around. Like that dirt cloud around that Peanuts character.”

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