Dex cleared their throat again. “Uh, yeah.” They nodded at the old woman. “I appreciate it, Ms. Amelia.”
Ms. Amelia nodded back, and looked at Mosscap. “I should get home,” she said. “The cats will be cranky without their breakfast. But you are welcome in my house anytime.” She pointed at the cart. “You want me to leave this for you?”
“No, thank you,” Mosscap said. “Hopefully, I won’t be needing it once I leave.”
As Ms. Amelia and Mosscap exchanged parting pleasantries, Dex heard movement inside the building. They left the door open and walked back into Leroy’s home, where the man of the house had put a kettle on the stove and a pair of pants on himself.
“Hey,” Dex said with a sly smile.
Leroy returned the look as he set two mugs on the short counter that served as an eating space. “Hey,” he said.
Dex jabbed a thumb in the direction of the front door. “Mosscap’s here. It kinda sounds like it’s made a decision. About the replacement, I mean.”
“Oh,” Leroy said. He opened his fridge. “Well, that’s great.”
“Do you want me to have it wait in the shop while you get about your morning?”
“No, no, it’s welcome back here,” Leroy said. He lifted up a bowl of speckled duck eggs and a bundle of mixed greens tied with twine. “I assume it doesn’t need breakfast?”
Dex chuckled. “No, it doesn’t.”
Leroy’s smile tugged itself a little higher up one cheek. “And what about you?”
“I would love breakfast,” Dex said.
Leroy nodded happily and got to work.
The sound of the front door closing echoed through the shop, followed by uneven clanking steps as Mosscap limped its way into the room. “Good morning, Leroy!” Mosscap said. “Congratulations on—”
Dex interrupted it as fast as possible. “Mosscap apparently spent the night at Ms. Amelia’s,” they said.
“Oh, yes, it was wonderful,” Mosscap said. It took a seat on one of the stools at the counter. “I got to play with her cats, and she showed me her art studio, and she has a beautiful collection of paper books. They’re so much easier to read when they don’t fall apart.”
Leroy cocked his head at this as he cracked an egg into a bowl; Dex supplied an explanation as they sat on the other stool. “There were paper books at the hermitage we visited out in the Antlers,” they said. “We salvaged some to bring to City University, but most were … well, falling apart.”
“I see,” Leroy said, cracking another egg. He gestured at the bowl. “I hope it was safe to assume you like omelets.”
Dex smiled brightly. “I love omelets,” they said, and it was true.
Leroy gave them just a hint of a wink and continued to cook.
“Is this customary?” Mosscap whispered to Dex as Leroy fetched some herbs from the pots on his windowsill. “In some of the books I read last night, people made each other breakfast after having sex, but not universally.”
Dex threw Mosscap a look and lowered their voice as far as it would go. “What kind of books does Ms. Amelia collect?”
“Oh, entirely pornography,” Mosscap said. “It was very educational.”
Dex noticed Leroy doing an admirable job of making no expression whatsoever. “Breakfast isn’t customary,” Dex whispered. “But it’s … it’s very nice when it happens.”
“I can see how it would be,” Mosscap said approvingly. It paused. “Oh, dear, should I leave? Am I intruding?”
“I think it’s okay,” Dex said. Leroy had made eye contact with them by this point, and he seemed to be taking the third wheel in good-humored stride. Dex made a mental note to return to Kat’s Landing before all too long. “So,” Dex said, raising their voice to a normal volume. “Have you thought about what you’d like to do here?”
“Yes, I have,” Mosscap said. “Though I’m wondering if it’s possible.”
“Shoot,” Leroy said.
Mosscap folded its hands on the counter. “Could you melt down the part of me that broke, and use that to print a replacement?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s easy,” Leroy said. “Recycling oil plastic takes a little longer, because I’ll need to process it safely, but if you don’t mind the wait, then yeah, absolutely.”
“Wonderful,” Mosscap said, sounding relieved. “Then that is what I would like to do.”