Author's note: Thank you to Liter Knight for her careful editing.
Chapter 2
Abby sighed as she scrubbed down the cake pans with single minded determination. It was a while after closing and she was finishing up the cleaning. They had her on the evening shift in the bakery for now, covering the last few hours until close and cleanup. She was working to build enough credit to get into the pre-dawn shift, where she could actually help bake the bread, but she had to put in more hours. She enjoyed baking but she hated cleaning. Her mother always woke her up as the sun rose every Sunday and made her clean the house top to bottom, and if she let her irritation show she'd get screamed at or a cuff on the ear. Now that she was on her own for the first time she had discovered she was a fairly messy person. Will was fairly messy himself but she took it to another level. He was already giving her looks about how she left her clothes and food wrappers on the floor of his, of their, apartment. He had started making a dresser for her, which was incredibly sweet, but she was tempted to keep leaving her clothes strewn about his place, just to annoy him. She smiled to herself, imagining his sigh, his put upon look.
"What are you smiling about?" asked Will.
She looked up and he was there. With his plain face and well worn coat and the smile he always had when he saw her.
"Just looking forward to you picking me up," she said.
"Awww."
Will walked up to her and gave her a peck on the cheek.
"You need a little more time?"
"Ummm..." Abby looked down. She had a few more pans to go and then a quick wipedown of the counters. They still had a fine dusting flour.
"I can help," said Will.
"Oh you don't have to. It's my job."
"It's fine. Sooner you're done, the sooner we can get out of here."
Abby felt a surge of affection towards him. He was always willing to help, never complaining.
Between the two of them, the rest of the cleaning finished quickly. Once everything was cleaned up and put away, they met at the front of the bakery, in front of the long wooden counters with the glass panels. During the day they were filled with all sorts of pastries. Aunt Maddie was a true artist when it came to breads and cakes, but right now the displays were empty, which always made Abby a little sad.
"Did you still want to go to the Dorian?" asked Will.
"Honestly, I'm a little too tired to go out. I sweat through my clothes one time too many today," said Abby.
"Ah, makes sense."
"I don't want to just head home though."
"Gotcha... did you... just want to go to the park? Feed the ducks?"
"Feed the ducks?"
"Yeeess?" said Will, looking a little uncertain.
Abby started to laugh, the idea of a terrifying vampire sitting in a park feeding ducks struck her as absurd.
"What? It's very relaxing."
"You know what? Sure. That actually sounds perfect. Let's feed some ducks."
They grabbed a couple of leftover loaves and made their way through the streets. The streets were surprisingly busy this late at night, lit by the blue or yellow glow of mage lamps. Many of the lamp posts looked new. It was another sign of how the city had changed to accommodate its new masters. There weren't that many vampires in the city, but it had already begun to conform to their needs.
She and Will strolled down the broad cobblestoned avenue of the merchant district of Tamlin. Abby had been completely overwhelmed by the city when she had first arrived. but she had gotten used to it surprisingly quickly. Now she never wanted to leave. She found the bustle and energy of the city was intoxicating. And the city was a riot of people of different backgrounds and origins. Not only did her darker skin pass without comment, it wasn't even that unusual. Will had brought her to another of the Savon who owned a clothing shop and she had a few nice new dresses that were in the more colorful, tasteful styles preferred by the city folk. For the first time in her life she felt like she fit right in.
"Anything interesting happening at work?
"Not so much. Dora is reading a new romance novel and is going on about it whether we want to listen or not. And Rachel adopted another cat."
"Another one? How many is she up to?"
"I don't think she even knows. At least eight."
"I mean it is easier for vampires to keep cats because they can bond them, but she's going to run out of blood feeding them at some point."
"Does it take that much?"
"Not really, I'm mostly joking. But still."
"She says they're a lot better than people."
"Well, that's certainly true."
The merchant's district gave way to one of the several parks that dotted the city. It was clean and well maintained, a testament to the wealth and prosperity of the merchants who used it. There were manicured, rolling hills and strategically placed trees for reading under, nit that they needed the shade right now.
"What about you? Anything interesting happen tonight?"
"Not tonight, but I went to a party meeting after you went to bed and that was as exciting as it usually is," said Will, his voice wry.
"A party meeting? For the... the dawn party."
"Uh huh."
