The life of a hardworking college student was definitely not as exciting as Cody expected it to be. He considered this, watching the small party of screaming children across the store. They were either trying to beat up his coworker Chad, or trying to perform some ritual dance; he wasn't sure which, but he doubted they were actually there to make stuffed animals. He let out a heavy sigh and turned back to the computer at the checkout desk, looking for something to occupy his time. They were definitely understaffed, and Cody could see why.
The horde of children continued their brigade through the store, jittering up to the cash register one at a time to complete the party. It was at this time that Chad decided to take his break, looking scattered and thoroughly exhausted. Cody gazed at the kids nervously, trying to keep them under control and check out all of the items at the same time. Around the third monster child checking out, Cody noticed a pair of customers coming into the store. A tall, dark haired man with a dangerous sort of gaze and a little red haired girl, about 11 or so. He figured they were father and daughter, although they seemed very different.
"Welcome to Build-A-Bear! I'll be with you in a moment!" He called out. The man ignored him, squinting at the children, and the little girl smiled brightly, yelling out a tiny "okay!". Cody shuffled around, herding the children to the entrance of the store where their own chaperone was waiting. He righted himself, taking a deep breath, and greeted the new customers.
"Hello! How can I help you two today?" Cody said enthusiastically. The man continued ignoring him, picking up an unfilled bear from a bin and sniffing it. The girl, however, responded immediately, chattering away.
"I'm here to get a teddy bear! My old one got ruined, I'm not sure what happened but it was spilling everywhere when i got home and my dad said that a customer got angry during teddy's adventures and we couldn't fix him and i'm gonna get a new one." She shifted her eyes over to the man, a few feet away with his back turned, poking at a limp bear carcass. She motioned for Cody to lean down to her level, and he did. She spoke softly in his ear. "This is Nico's first time here, so he's not sure what any of this is yet. Also, he can't hear you, so you have to make sure he can see you when you talk." She pointed to her mouth, emphasizing the point. He noted that it was interesting that she called her dad by his first name. Maybe it was a pet name or something.
"Oh!" Cody said, nodding. "I see. Well then, let's get you a teddy bear!" She beamed up at him again, then walked over to the man-Nico- and tugged on his hand. He grabbed onto the small touch and held out the flattened bear to her, his brow furrowed. She told him that it wasn't full yet, and that you had to fill it up with love and stuffing. She was signing the whole time, and Cody was impressed by how smart she seemed to be. Nico slung the bear over his forearm, staring at it. He signed one signal at the girl and she started laughing. She called out to Cody.
"He said 'gross'." Cody smiled amusedly at Nico, who still had a vague look of concern written in his browline. It was about then that Cody realized how strikingly handsome this man was. He had short, messy black hair that was pushed back on one side, showing off his strong brow and intense eyes. He had a sharp, squared jawline, a sharp nose, and full, pouting lips. He was also totally built, and Cody had trouble trying not to look him up and down as slowly as he could. Nico, he thought, was a walking definition of the phrase "if looks could kill". Nico stared at him, expressionless, and Cody kept shifting his eyes, trying not to look directly at Nico. He thought to himself that Nico's wife was really lucky. He shocked himself out of his brief moment of admiration when he heard the girl say that she found one.
"Hmm. This one is perfect." She picked up a bear skin, holding it triumphantly upwards. Nico grunted, signing something at her. She translated to Cody, petting the bear in her hands. "He wants to know what the next step is." Cody nodded nervously, smiling and explaining.
"Next, you can add sound if you want to, with one of these boxes. You can record your own voice too, if you want." He pointed to the little noise buttons machine, showing them the little plastic devices. Nico squinted at the machine, bear fisted in one hand and the other shoved in his pants pocket. The girl tipped her head to the side, pursing her lips and holding the bear she picked out. They both paused a moment and looked at each other, and she shook her head softly.
"Nah, we'll pass on that one. Next!" She bounced on her heels excitedly, hair flopping up and down. Cody nodded curtly.
"Alright, then follow me!" Cody walked them over to one of the stuffing machines, plopping himself down in the chair, a bit self conscious under Nico's dark stare. He smiled nervously, trying to be polite. "Here's where we build your bear. If you hand me one I can get started," he said, holding out a hand. The girl gently handed over the empty bear, and Cody put it on the filler to begin stuffing it. He noted that Nico still had a bear skin in his hands, but he was hesitant to ask about it. "Now, you have to make sure that your bear has a heart, so if you grab one of these," he nodded to the little bin full of fabric hearts on the side of the cart. "Then you can warm it up with your hands, or give it kisses, or write your name on it. You can give him more than one heart if you want to." The girl picked up two of the red hearts immediately, handing one to Nico. He didn't seem very sure about it, but she explained that it needed to be full of love. Cody continued pumping stuffing into the bear as they took care of the hearts, kissing them. She handed over the hearts, one written with clumsy cursive-Nina-and the other written with small, choppy print-Nicolas. He slipped the hearts in one at a time, closing up the stitching. "How's this?" He asked, handing the bear over to Nina.
"He's perfect! What's next?" Her eyes lit up, examining the bear from various angles, hugging it and checking it's ears and legs and tail. Before Cody could respond, Nico wordlessly held out the bear skin he had been holding. Cody looked up in surprise at the man, wondering if he was serious. Nico had looked away, hand buried in the hearts bin, the slightest blush sitting on his cheeks. Maybe it was for his wife, Cody thought. Either way, he had to do his job, so he began filling the bear while Nico worked away at the hearts. Nico held one between his hands, so that when he set it in Cody's hands it felt hot to the touch. He noticed a small C written on one side of the heart, and wondered what his wife's name must be. Carol? Christine, maybe? He wasn't sure, but he realized that he felt himself getting a little jealous. He pulled at the stitching thread and tied it closed, handing it to Nico.
"Is this okay?" He asked, beaming. Nico stared at it, squeezing it in the middle. He looked back at Cody, the smallest hint of pink in his cheeks. He nodded, looking off to the corner of the store. Nina giggled quietly, facing away from Nico. Cody thought to himself that this guy was really cute, however threatening he might have appeared. "Perfect! And to answer your question, Nina, the next steps are to fluff your bear at the washtubs, pick out clothes if you choose to, and finally register them over at our computers." He pointed to each area of the store as he spoke, guiding her eyes. Cody could feel Nico's eyes fixed to his face as he spoke, and he assumed it was to understand what he was saying, but it still made him feel clammy and nervous. "Once you've done all of that, you can come to the register for your birth certificates, and I'll check you out." He turned back to the pair, smiling. "Sound good?"
"Sounds great!" Nina exclaimed, grabbing Nico by the hand. "Come on Nico!" She dragged him over to the washbins and they got to work blowdrying the stuffed animals. Cody tried to be nonchalant about watching them peruse about the back out the store, Nico doing everything with a quiet determination. Whether it was to appease Nina or of his own volition, Nico was fully committed to every part of the process, gazing down his nose at the different bear-sized tee shirts and rainbow colored hair bows. Nico would occasionally glance up at Cody, to which Cody responded by whipping his eyes away, pretending to be focusing on anything that wasn't Nico.
They had their own kind of conversations, he saw, with Nico signing at Nina and she speaking and signing back. Sometimes all it took was a look from Nico, and Nina would let out an 'ugh' and put a shirt back. The more Cody observed, the more adorable the whole situation seemed. He let his thoughts wander to the little sign language he knew. He ran through the alphabet in his mind, and a thank you, and an I love you. He wondered if knowing sign language made a person bilingual. He snapped out of his thoughts when Nina and Nico came over to the counter.
"All done, then?" He asked. Nina placed her bear on the counter, covered in bows and wearing a small white dress, similar to her own. Nico followed suit, setting his bear, clothed in all black, with one ribbon around its ear. He blushed a little bit, eyes focused on the store entrance. Nina beamed widely and responded.
"Yup! Can we get our birth certificates now please?" Nina asked politely, pulling out a small plastic wallet. Cody was surprised that she was paying, with her dad right there. He nodded, wondering if it was rude to ask.
"Absolutely," he said. He looked over at Nico, checking to see if he was paying attention. "I don't mean to be rude," he spoke softly. "But shouldn't your dad be paying for all of this?" He asked, nodding at Nico as he handed over the birth certificates. She followed his gaze, her brow furrowed. She looked back at Cody, pointing a thumb at Nico.
"Oh! Nico's not my dad, he's just my babysitter." She smiled, handing over a $100 bill. "Also, my dad is paying for this, just..." she tapped her chin, pondering. "Not directly." She smiled sweetly again, and Cody wasn't sure how to respond. He was embarrassed for assuming that Nico was her father, but also floored that this ten year old girl just handed her a hundred bucks cash. He counted out the cash, handing back the correct change. Just about then, a large, hairy, white-maned man showed up at the entrance of the store, and Nico fixed his eyes on him. The man was even more visibly muscular than Nico, wearing a button up shirt that could have stood to be a size bigger, but it seemed to work for him. The man had a cigar poised casually in his hand, but Cody wasn't stupid enough to tell him not to smoke inside. Maybe that was C? Cody thought. He felt a pang of jealousy and hopelessness immediately- he was no competition to that.
"Oi, Nic, I gotta get going soon, I've got a job in about an hour." The man eyed Cody, looking him up and down, and smiled so brightly that it shocked him. Nico furrowed his brow, thinking. He signed something at the white-haired man, to which both he and Nina responded in near unison. "Are you sure?" They said. Nico rolled his eyes, nodding, and gave Nina a little push. She giggled and grabbed her bear off the counter, running to the man in the entryway. "We'll be waiting outside, then, Nic." The man smirked and gave Cody a final wink, making him even more confused as to what was happening. He turned his gaze back to the dark haired man in front of him, who was now staring intently at Cody, the slightest blush to his cheeks.
"Mr. Nico, was it? How can I help you?" Cody asked, nearly shaking from nervousness and thoroughly confused. Nico responded with his hands, pointing at Cody, then faking a phone with his hand with a 'hang ten' signal, lifting it to his ear. Cody furrowed his brow, trying to understand. "My... phone?" He asked, still not getting it. Nico let out a small noise of frustration, something close to a growl. It made Cody's heart skip a bit, but he still felt bad for not quite getting it. Nico just stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out how to communicate the point, when understanding dawned on Cody. "My phone number?" He said. Nico nodded quickly, blush brightening. He continued to stare at Cody. Cody was taken aback, but not opposed to the idea in the slightest. "U-uh, yeah, s-sure."
He searched under the counter for a slip of paper, grabbing a pen off the counter. He couldn't find any paper, and he saw back on top of the counter that Nico was holding out his hand, looking at Cody like he was the dumbest kid on the planet. Cody flicked his gaze down to Nico's hand and back up again, stuttering out a quiet "may I?" Nico nodded, and Cody reached for his hand. It was hot to the touch and solid in Cody's hand, and surprisingly nearly as clammy as his own. He felt the blush on his face grow hot as he wrote out his name and number on the side of Nico's hand. Nico lifted it back towards his face when Cody was done, reading it carefully. Cody could have sworn he saw the corners of his mouth twitch upwards, but they were back before he could be sure.
Nico looked back up at Cody, signing a thank you, and grabbing onto his bear. Cody raised his eyebrows, still blushing, and stuttered out a quick 'no problem' in response. Nico continued to stare at him, gnawing on his bottom lip. Cody scratched the back of his head, unsure what to say, feeling Nico's gaze bore into him. Looking at him was like looking at the sun- too bright, but so satisfying in a way that was nearly painful. Nico finally let out a small, airy chuckle, and Cody looked at him. He started to turn away, and Cody heard him speak for the first time.
"Cute," he said in a deep, gravelly voice. Cody didn't know he could blush as much as he was, and in fact he was pretty sure his whole face might actually light on fire at any moment. His voice was incredible, and Cody thought how ironic it was that he couldn't even hear it. Nico continued walking away, calling out just loudly enough for Cody to hear. "Bye, Cody." Cody watched him leave, teddy bear in hand, and thought to himself that this definitely wasn't real.
He sat in shock after that, waiting for Chad to get back from his lunch so that Cody could take his. When Chad saw him, he laughed, looking him up and down.
"What's wrong, Cody? You look like a little frazzled." Cody furrowed his brow and tried to collect himself. He was probably right, if he looked anything like he felt. "Why don't you take your lunch, kid?" Chad asked, clapping him on the back. Cody jumped and nodded his head, walking towards the back of the store.
"That's probably a good idea," he said. He walked halfheartedly to the lunchroom, not really feeling his legs. He sat down and tried to take a breather, when he felt his phone go off. He stiffened immediately, whipping it out of his pocket. It was a message from an unknown number, and it simply read: The C stood for Cody, by the way.
Cody blushed, burying his face in the crook of his arm on the lunch table. He supposed that life was about to get interesting. He smiled quietly to himself. Maybe this wasn't such a bad thing.