Page 3 of Magic and Mayhem

“It’s nice to meet you, Kenzie.” He didn’t offer his hand for me to shake but that might’ve been because he couldn’t stop wiggling. “I’m just here to introduce myself and to see if you might’ve come across an armored truck full of gold bars.”

Yep, it didn’t get any more logical no matter how many times I said it.

Weirdest fucking job ever.

And just like every other alien, Kenzie didn’t seem to think it was strange at all. He took it very seriously and frowned, bouncing his head back and forth like thinking took wiggles too. “No, I haven’t seen that. I’ve got the cutest antique toy ambulance, though. Do you want to see it?”

How did I get myself into these situations?

Enter the alien’s lair or be rude to the cute little offering to show me his toys?

Fuck.

I was going to end up eaten by an alien just because I was a nice moron. “I’d love to see it. Thank you.”

My stupid decision got a beaming smile from the bouncy alien. “That’s wonderful.”

When he actually reached for me, it was just to grab my hand and tug me to come with him. “It’s new and I can’t wait to show you. I’ve got to figure out how to fix one of the wheels, though.”

His random chatter about broken wheels made more sense than the paint part of his rambling had earlier, and by the time we reached a gingerbread-looking garage, I’d figured out that the paint he was upset about was for the ambulance and was no longer being made to the original specifications.

Old toys needed old paint.

Got it.

“Can you get it specially made?” I had no idea what would be helpful, but it was the first thing that came to mind. “I dated a guy a few years ago who was an artist and he made his own paint. Could something like that work?”

None of the aliens seemed to care that I was gay, so I’d given up expecting anything but complete acceptance from them, and Kenzie the alien little was no surprise. He completely skipped over theI’m gaypart of the conversation and beamed at me. “Oh, that’s a very good idea.”

Bouncing as he walked me through the open garage door, his eyes and his personality got even sparklier as he thought about the paint. “I have a list of ingredients for it somewhere. Maybe it’s in a notebook? I wonder if someone around here could do it. They’re very smart.”

They?

The same kind of aliens or different kinds?

Different species would explain a few things.

“I’m sure you could.” Trying to be helpful would probably just end up making me look stupid, but I couldn’t resist trying to make him smile again. “What about the guy on the other side of town with the interesting plants? Didn’t someone say he liked making…things like that?”

What I’d actually overheard at the grocery store was that plant guy was a prick most of the time but he could whip up a potion to fix anything, but I didn’t think volunteering that information would be necessary.

“Oh.” Kenzie’s eyes got even wider and he skipped again before somehow tripping over his own feet and nearly face-planting before I caught him. “Oh, thank you.”

While he looked around in confusion like he couldn’t understand how he’d tripped, Kenzie’s mind just kept going. “That would be a challenge, but he might be able to fix the toxicity issue too.”

Probably.

Alien technology should be impressive even if they couldn’t use it for everyday shit without everyone else figuring it out.

His eyes were back to doing the happy twinkly thing as he looked at me like I’d hung the moon just for him. “You’re so smart.”

For a human?

For a cop?

For a Daddy?

I had no idea how to take it, so I smiled and nodded. “Thank you.”

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