Page 2

Jay

J ay bounced on his toes, looking in delight at the white powder covering the streets in front of him. It had snowed again last night, and the fresh blankets of it made everything look so lovely in the afternoon light. So pretty, so glittery and magical.

Even if the brightness did hurt his eyes a bit.

Oh well. A little discomfort never hurt anybody. Or…Jay bit at his lip, pondering. He supposed it did hurt by definition. But maybe what he meant was it didn’t harm? What was the difference between the two again?

He made a note to himself to look it up later.

What would be really nice right now would be to dive right in on the snow-covered lawn, maybe even make a snow angel. He’d never made one of those before. He smiled to himself at the thought but ultimately stayed standing upright. He didn’t want to get messy before work. That wouldn’t do.

You’re too pure, Johann. Filth has no place around you.

“Off to work, Jay?”

Jay turned from where he was standing at the end of the drive to look back at the little duplex building behind him.

Mr. Sumner was standing at his front door, dressed in a robe, with a steaming mug in his hand.

He’d told Jay once that since he was retired, he was allowed to wear robes well into the late afternoon. Jay thought that was lovely for him.

Jay waved at his landlord. “Yes, sir. I’m the closer today.”

He made sure to always call Mr. Sumner “sir.” It was polite to address elders that way, even though Jay had been living in the upper apartment for over six months now and even though Mr. Sumner was technically younger than Jay by close to two centuries.

It was more about how it seemed than how it actually was .

Soren was always telling Jay to be mindful of appearances when trying to blend in with human society.

Which was why Jay was so pleased he’d remembered to wear his winter coat today. The cold may not have bothered him, but snow outside was a pretty good indicator it would have bothered him were he human.

See? Jay was great at blending in.

Mr. Sumner raised his coffee cup in salute. “Have a good day, then. Make sure those customers treat you right.”

“Will do, Mr. Sumner.”

Not that Jay had to worry about that. His customers were the nicest people in the world. And even when sometimes they weren’t, it never lasted long. His coworker Alicia said that was because Jay had a way with people. Which was, in Jay’s opinion, a super nice thing to say.

He’d told her so, and she’d patted him on the head, which had also been nice.

The walk to the café took nine and a half minutes, and by the time the bell chimed above Jay’s head at Death by Coffee’s door—Jay loved that little bell, its little dinging welcome—he had a bit of a headache from all the brightness of the sun reflecting off the snow.

It was his fault for not wearing sunglasses, but he liked being able to see everything around him clearly, without dark lenses in the way.

He apologized mentally to the vampire part of himself—the little bit of his being that didn’t like the bright light—for irritating its senses. I’m sorry, little beastie.

Alicia was at the counter, her red hair up in a high ponytail, with pretty blue eyeshadow on her eyelids.

She always looked so nice. She would be lovely to paint sometime.

But maybe sitting for a painting was a weird thing to ask of a modern-day coworker?

Jay would have to think it over, maybe ask Soren the proper etiquette.

Alicia tilted her head and eyed Jay critically as he approached the counter. “Oh, Jay, honey. You really need to let me take you shopping.”

People were always calling Jay “honey” and “sweetie” like that.

Jay supposed it had something to do with his looks: he was petite, his facial features were maybe kind of doll-like, and he knew people thought of him as cute.

He supposed that made them want to call him pet names.

He didn’t mind it though—in truth, it warmed his chest when people called him nice things.

It made him feel wanted, even if all it really meant was that he was nonthreatening.

“Soren always says that too,” he told Alicia, hanging up his coat—which was bright orange and padded and hung all the way down past his knees—on the peg by the counter and glancing down at his outfit, one he’d picked out at the thrift store the other week. “I like my clothes though.”

And he did. His fleece pants were the prettiest baby blue, so cozy, and his T-shirt was so fun; how could anyone not like it? Lime-green tie-dye? Amazing!

“His clothes are fine,” Colin called out in a monotone from the office. “Leave him alone.”

Jay smiled in the direction of the office, even though Colin couldn’t see him. His manager was always so nice to him, never mean or overly stern like the managers on Jay’s TV shows. He was always patient and kept his voice calm and level, even when Jay made mistakes.

Although, to be fair, Jay didn’t make very many mistakes anymore. He was a fast learner and good at following directions, especially if they were clear and concise like the ones Colin gave him. A good worker bee, one might say.

My Johann. You were born to serve.

Jay made his way around the counter as Alicia huffed at Colin’s words. “I’m just saying…he’s such a cute little thing.”

See ? Jay was cute! Alicia shot him a wink when he grinned at her. “With the right outfit, we could have the girls all over you.”

At Jay’s wrinkled nose, Alicia raised an eyebrow. “Or…boys?” she corrected hesitantly.

“Alicia!” Colin stood in the doorway of his office now, glaring out at them.

Ooh, he’d changed his hair from its former purple to blue, and switched out his sparkling eyebrow jewelry to match.

Would Jay look good with a piercing or two?

Or would his accelerated healing just…push it out of his skin? He should ask Soren.

Colin pointed an accusatory finger at Alicia. “Stop trying to surreptitiously find out Jay’s sexuality. It’s against the company rule book.”

“Please.” Alicia rolled her eyes, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder. “Like you’ve read the company rulebook.”

“It’s against common decency, then.”

Alicia turned to Jay, her voice full of exaggerated sweetness. “Does it make you uncomfortable, honey?”

Jay had to take a moment to focus on an answer.

He’d gotten distracted feeling out the word surreptitiously under his breath—it was so rarely used in everyday conversation that it was nice to taste it out loud.

“I don’t mind. I didn’t realize you wanted to know.

I like guys. I just don’t have a lot of experience with them. ”

That felt safe to say out loud here. Alicia didn’t know his real age, so she didn’t know just how unusual the lack of experience on Jay’s part was. And Colin wouldn’t judge him for it, for reasons of his own.

Alicia gave a little shout of triumph, which was nice for her but also a little confusing for Jay. He hadn’t had any idea she even wanted to know what kind of person he was attracted to—he would have told her, if she’d asked him outright.

But that was all okay. Because Jay was hit just then, not for the first time, by how nice it all was: to have human coworkers and engage in human conversation.

Everything was soft and easy, and no one tried to bite or tear or snarl at anyone else.

They argued sometimes—Alicia and Colin, at least—but they always did it… gently.

“Just get to work,” Colin grumbled, turning back into his office.

“Right on it, Colin,” Jay chirped, tugging on his apron and taking a moment to breathe in all the yummy, swirling scents of the café.

He’d liked the place since the very first time he’d set foot in it. Jay had never held a job before—that was definitely not allowed back at the den—but he’d seen the help wanted sign and realized working there would give him a reason to come back again and again without being a bother to anyone.

It had felt like fate.

He liked making the drinks—he liked how each one had very specific, easy-to-follow instructions. He liked making his customers happy, liked watching the humans sip their coffees, the little smiles they got on their faces when they were treating themselves to something nice.

He liked it all.

As he and Alicia switched out the register so Jay could start manning it, Alicia cleared her throat. “Um, Jay, honey? Can I ask you a favor?”

“Of course!” Jay loved a chance to do a favor for a friend.

“I’m trying to take a pottery class at the community college, but the only available one is in the mornings. Would you be willing to switch shifts for a while? You’d have to open the café, come in at five a.m. I get it if that’s too early for you.”

“Oh, I don’t mind early. I don’t sleep very late anyway.” Or much at all, but he didn’t want to worry her by saying so. She wouldn’t understand her body had different needs than his was all.

She gave him a relieved smile, tightening her ponytail. “Okay, awesome. I’ll train you to start. I already talked it over with Colin.”

“No pressure, Jay!” Colin called from the office. “You can tell her no.”

But Jay didn’t want to tell her no. A chance to do a friend a favor? To see new customers and learn new ways to make the café run smoothly? Jay was all for it.

He hummed happily, closing the register drawer. “I’ll switch with you, Alicia.”

Alicia hugged him then, her body warm and soft against Jay’s. It felt nice. He missed being touched this way. His friends here were all bonded mates, and none of them seemed to want to provoke jealousy in their partners, so Jay wasn’t getting a lot of cuddles these days.

Vee hadn’t always been the warmest person in the world, but sometimes she would hug him, if he really, really needed it.

But Jay wasn’t going to let sad thoughts bring him down. Because he was getting a hug. And a new job to do. And there was still sparkly snow on the ground outside.