Chapter 34

To my surprise, and Koa’s, what I said randomly in the dining hall actually happened. It seems that a lot of people saw Kennedy's bodysuit and they wanted someone to add designs to their clothes as well. Just like that, my little sewing operation became a booming business.

Good news since it looks like I’m not leaving here anytime soon. I talked to a guy the other day that said Nobles without a family backing them get stuck at this base from anywhere between half a year, to three. Three years!

Since I’m already with Onda most of the time, I hired him as my assistant. The system we have going is that he takes the orders and makes the deliveries, while I do all the sewing and repairs. At least it’s keeping us bust.

I stand up to stretch after finishing half the order for the day. The more I've done the faster I'm getting. Especially when it comes to clothes that are made out of infinite cloth. My joints crack as I lower down into a low lunge.

Sage walks in, sees me, and just keeps on. After what happened at the beach, our little operation has now been moved into the medical tent.

“Hi. Thanks again for letting us use the medical tent.”

He replies dryly, “as long as you stay out of my way, I don’t care.”

Sage has a baby face and features that on first appearance, makes it seem like he would have a meeker personality. But he’s blunt, has no nonsense take on life, and he scares me.

“Hey Em, I delivered all the orders for the day.” Onda walks in with a bag full of clothes and drops them in front of me. “Oh, hey Sage. I left some food at your desk earlier. If there’s something else you want me to get you at the store, just let me know.

“I will. Thanks.” Sage grabs whatever he needed to he leaves the tent.

Every time I see Sage, I think that the bags under his eyes can’t possibly get any darker. But then they do.

“Thanks Onda.” I move the clothes I have piled on the chair next to me and pat the seat.

“Why are stuck here doing this?” Koa mumbles under his breath from the corner of the tent.

“I didn't force you to help me, and I am paying you.”

Unlike his brother, Coa is diligently folding the clothes that I have already repaired and putting them to the side. I should pay him a bonus at the end of the month, Onda too.

As Onda sits down, I can’t help but stare at the bruise on his left eye. It's been there for a couple of days now. Since the altercation we had with his tentmates. I knew it would be bad for him when he went back to his tent, it just hurts seeing the ramifications up close.

Onda passes me a bundle of clothes that don't have a name slip attached to them. “Umm, Em. Could you also work on these?”

“Are they yours?”

“No.”

I pull my eyes away from the clothes to find a guilty expression on his face. These are his roommates, aren’t they? Those cowards couldn't even come here and drop off the clothes themselves.

“I'm not fixing those. If they want my help, they can come here and ask themselves.”

Onda’s face falls making my heart twinge with guilt. I know that by refusing to do this, it'll cause problems for Onda like last time. So, I roll my eyes and say, “fine, but they're on the bottom of the list.”

His eyes light up as he adds them to the pile. “I'll pay you.”

“You don't have to pay me. If I didn't ask Kennedy for money, I'm not going to ask you.”

Onda’s offers me a smile as thanks before he turns to Koa and asks if he wants help. If anything, I would rather Onda take this chance to take a nap. In the past few days, his movements and speech have been getting sluggish, suggesting he’s not sleeping.

I was going to save this for later, but—

“Hey Onda. Can you go in my bag and grab the bodysuit?”

“Sure.” Onda retrieves the clothing, but when he tries to hand it to me, I push it towards his chest.

“I finished sewing that last night. It's yours.”

Onda looks from me to the clothing at a loss.

I splurged, but this time, I don’t feel guilty. The last time that Sarah came to the camp, I asked her if I could get some infinite fabric. She was ready for me. Sarah bought out an entire pile. I could probably make ten bodysuits with all the fabric she talked me into buying.

“Em, is this—”

“I based it off of the design that Kennedy had, but I left a bit more room in the leg part for you. Try it on and let me know how it fits. If you want adjusts, it’s now or never.”

Onda’s eyes fill with unshed tears. He clutches the clothing close to his chest and it makes my heart swells knowing that this made his day a little better. Just as Onda and I are enjoying this touching moment, Coa ends it with three words.

“What about us?”

I rub the bridge in my nose before turning to look at him. He's holding out his hand with no shame. His brother at least is shaking his head.

“I'm still working on yours.” I clarify before turning back to the shirt my hand.

“In that case I want to design on it like you did for Kennedy.”

I have no words to explain the feelings I have as Coa tells me what he wants on the bodysuit I'm giving him. I turn to his brother but he’s long since checked out of the conversation.

I'm about to tell Coa that he's going to get what I give him when I hear Onda's laughter ring out through the tent. It's honest, and clear, and something tells me that he hasn't laughed like this in a long time.

Relenting since he made Onda laugh, I tell Coa to write down in detail what he wants. I offer the same deal to his brother and Onda. Koa walks over to the order form Coa’s using and waits for his turns. Onda though turns me down saying that his bodysuit is perfect as is.

With everybody a lot happier after learning about their bodysuits and making their demands, we all work side by side until dinner. By the time we come back, Sage is curled up on the cot fast asleep.

Not wanting to disrupt him, we gather our things, we vacate the tent. Yawning, I stretch out my neck that gotten insanely tight from crouching down over clothes all day.

Onda walks up to me and hands me a freshly baked piece of bread that he must have got from the store. “You looked like you needed a pick me up.”

“Aww. You didn't have to, but I will not say no to bread.”

Coa holds out his hand waiting for his bread.

“If you want bread go buy it yourself. Just because somebody gets something for someone else doesn't mean they have to get something for you too,” his brother scolds.

“It's not fair. Just because Onda has a crush on her doesn't mean he can just ignore us. We were here first.”

Koa Grabs his brother by the collar of his shirt and drags him away. To the bitter end, Coa doesn't know what he did wrong. In fact, he looks like he's been wronged.

“I…I’m going to go.” Onda stammers out as a blush works its way down his neck and to the tip of his ears.

“Thanks for the bread. See you tomorrow,” I call out.

He nods his head but doesn't look at me. As I watched him half walk half run-away I can’t help but smile.

After spending all this time with Onda and the twins, I hate to admit it, but I’m getting attached. Running my fingers through my hair, I try to think of the best method to help Onda and the twins. It’ll probably involve getting them out of that tent and away from those guys. Maybe if I pay enough, I can get them stationed in a different squadron than Jay and the others.

‘What did I tell you about getting attached to those three?’

And there she goes. I know what the voice wants to say. It warned me the first day I met Onda in the dining hall that I should stay away from him. That I shouldn’t per her words, get attached.

I'm not attached. I’m just going to help them and then we'll part ways.

The voice doesn't respond, but her silence feels intentional. Like she doesn't believe me. But it's fine, I’ll do what I can and that way, I can leave this place with a clear conscious.