5. Abi

IN WHICH A COVERT MECHANISM IS PLACED, SUPPER IS STARTED AND THEN PROMPTLY DERAILED

Early the next day, Sirin and Sigfinn arrived carrying supplies. Sirin set them down, beaming and practically vibrating with excitement.

"So, we've got everything we need. Abi, if you could shift, you can place the bobbers from the air once Sig and I have them all rigged up. I was thinking Senka could keep watch, if that works?" Sirin said without any preamble.

"Considering that it is my primary job function, I think I can handle that," Senka said with a cheeky smile that made Abi giddy when it was directed at her.

After a quick shift to her owl, Abi scouted the chamber and did an aerial assessment of the Lady's position. Their Goddess floated in her lake, serene in her slumber. Her long, deep black hair floated around her, bits of glowing lunula lighting up as they neared her. She could be floating in the night sky, if the stars shone a green-blue instead of white. Abi had heard that the Lady appeared differently to different people, every description of her she'd heard varied. Her dress stayed the same, always a pale minty green1 The water near her seemed calm, the currents which brought the lunula close to her were under the surface.

She flew back to the group, letting out a cheerful chirp, telling them all was well. A few hops brought her to Sirin's side. The scientist held out a string and bobber for Abi to grasp in her talon. "We've got five, one for each limb, and then another for you to position near the top of her head. Place these on the far side first and bring the string to Sig, over there," she instructed, pointing across the lake where Sigfinn was setting something up.

Abi puffed her feathers a bit and took off, flying over the Lady's far hand and flapping hard to hover just above the water. She gently dropped the bobber as close to the Lady as she dared, heart swooping with being so close to her. She fled back toward Sigfinn before she could embarrass herself and do something silly.

Ten minutes later, she'd placed each of the bobbers, which were painted black to blend into the surface of the water. If she squinted at where she knew them to be placed, she could just make them out. They should be camouflaged well enough, she figured.

When she returned to shore, Senka held their arm up for her to land on and scratched her neck when she did so. Abi let out a happy little coo while Sirin and Sigfinn finished their adjustments. They'd positioned the small devices, covered to appear like stone, slightly elevated on both sides of the lake.

Abi preened when Senka stroked her head, smoothing her feathers. Abi nuzzled her head into Senka's hand, trilling to let them know she was enjoying the attention. When Sirin said she could shift back, she surprised herself by making a disappointed whinny. She swooped back to her clothing, the familiar stretch of her shift calming the spike of anxiety she felt at letting out the sound. She'd gotten good over the years at shifting her limbs back into her clothing and was glad of it, in front of so many people. She'd never shared the casual comfort many shifters had with nudity; the thought of being naked in front of Senka, with her newly surfaced feelings, was mortifying.

Sirin and Sigfinn said their goodbyes quickly, imploring Senka and Abi to let them know if the mechanisms were triggered.

At the end of their shift, Abi took a moment to change out of her guard uniform and fuss with her hair. It felt momentous, and she wanted to be dressed for cooking, if not for some sort of date. She wore a loose-fitting dress, one she'd always joked with her mother was a daytime nightgown. The fabric of the purple dress was light and flowing, swishing the light purple around her ankles and making her feel attractive and ethereal.

For her shift, she'd worn her hair in two braids; utilitarian and out of the way, in case of an emergency. In the change room, she hastily picked out her braids, putting the top half of her hair back and letting the rest loose. She didn't wear any makeup to work, but a few moments of concentration, dipping into her lunula reserves, let her grow her hair and increase the density of her eyelashes. To finish, she deepened the color of her lips and cheeks. She hadn't bothered doing so in the past, instead, when she'd wanted to dress up, she relied on cosmetics. The prospect of leaving them that way permanently was tempting, though.

Senka was waiting for her outside. "You look lovely! I suppose I'm a bit underdressed!" they said, gesturing to their body.

Abi giggled to avoid a blush. "Considering you don't ever wear clothes; I think you are eternally underdressed!"

"I'm always perfectly dressed, for any occasion. Now, shall we?" Senka asked, offering her their arm. They tugged Abi behind them, towing her along through twists and turns, venturing deeper into the mountain than she'd ever been before.

"Most people are still asleep," Senka whispered, leading her through hushed hallways.

Even this early in the morning, Abi was surprised that they didn't see anyone at all. Out in the valley, she often saw early risers on her walk home. Her mother and other bakers would be up and working, and fishermen would be out, prepping their tack for the day. Around the village, she'd spot houses that were waking up by the trails of smoke that drifted out of their chimneys.

Instead, these hallways were silent and entirely empty. In fact, they didn't see another soul the entire walk. Abi noticed at periodic intervals, there were curtained-off sections, leading away from the hallway, secluded from the lunula lanterns that lined the corridors. Eventually, Senka stopped at one such curtain, and lifted it to the side, ducking in, and pulling Abi behind them. Inside, it was completely dark.

Abi laughed nervously, but Senka kept her hand clasped tight in theirs, and their wisps reached out to caress her hair, her face, her arm, soothing her worries.

"We keep our entryways dark, so we can travel straight home, or to someone's front door instead of having to go the long way," they whispered to her, the tickle of their breath giving Abi goosebumps.2

"That makes sense, I just didn't expect it," she whispered back, her tense shoulders relaxing as the door swung open.

Senka's home felt cozy and just like Senka in the best way. They entered the main living area, and the walls were plastered a deep burgundy color. In one corner, deep teal couches and side chairs surrounded a small, round stove. Extra blankets and throw pillows lay across the furniture, immediately inviting her to snuggle in. While the space was originally lit with lunula lamps, the sound of a striking match was followed by a warmer light as Senka lit the gas lamps.

Through an archway at the back of the room, Abi could see a dining table and a kitchen, and a hallway led off to her left.

"Erm, shoes off or on?" she asked, noting that much of the stone floor was covered in thick carpets. Senka, who'd been moving further in, stopped and spun to face her, their face scrunched in thought.

"You know, I've never considered it. I don't wear them, so I suppose I don't have a visitor shoe policy. What do you do at home?" they said after some thought.

"I usually take them off at the door. I have a pair of slippers I wear around if it is chilly, or just socks."

"Just socks? Those little feet prisons? You choose to wear them? The few times I have needed to wear a glamour, I hated wearing them. My feet, or the bits of me that became my feet, felt so squished in them," they shuddered, as if the horror of stockinged feet was visceral to them.

Abi giggled at them. "Yes, I wear little feet prisons on purpose. I get cold easily," she said, kicking off her shoes and wiggling her toes. "My feet are perfectly happy in them."

Senka cocked an eyebrow, as if to say, "if you say so ..." and led the way further inside.

"This is the parlor, then the kitchen is through here. It's somewhat small, since they don't anticipate us cooking much, but it exists," they said with a shrug.

While the kitchen was small, Senka had a solid wooden table and sage green cabinets topped with butcher block counters. Their cooking stove, again small, was well-maintained and shining.

"It's beautiful," Abi said, admiring it. "Just lovely. What is on the menu for supper then? What are we making?"

"Well, I have a steak marinating, and then I was going to try to make pasta with a lemon parmesan sauce and broccolini, if that sounds good?" they asked uncertainly, shoulders hunched and wisps swaying slower than normal.

"Good? That sounds amazing! Delicious, though I don't know that I have ever made pasta before ... but I suppose I'm here for my palate, not my knowledge of cooking, aren't I? I might just learn a new recipe!" Abi said, rolling up her sleeves.

Senka loosened up and got out an ancient-looking cookbook. It was well-loved, easily lying flat on the table when Senka opened it to the correct page. Abi quickly washed her hands at the sink while Senka fetched ingredients from their ice box and pantry. By the time Abi had returned to the table, Senka had amassed a little cache of ingredients and had a large bowl in front of them.

"Ach so, the first step is to pour the flour onto the table in a mound and then make a well in the middle for the eggs," they said, scooping the flour out in measured cups. They motioned with their hand and Abi followed to create the well in the middle.

"Next we need five eggs," they said, pulling a bowl over and offering one to Abi to crack. Abi loved how their tendrils dragged along her fingers when she took the egg, almost like they were as reluctant for the touch to stop as she was.

After cracking the eggs into the mound of ingredients, Senka incorporated the flour until they had a thick dough. Abi suppressed a smile as Senka kept glancing over at her, trying to see if they were doing it right. Abi was fairly certain that judging by the dishes they made, Senka was a much more accomplished chef.

"And now we knead," they said, forming the dough into a ball and re-flouring the table. "This is where I would normally put a little lunula in the flour here to incorporate as I knead."

Grabbing a handful of a deep green powder, they sprinkled it across the floured surface and rolled the ball to Abi. While she'd never made pasta before, kneading was not only familiar to her but nostalgic. The second she began the familiar movements, Abi submerged into memories of nights spent with her mother, kneading loaves for the next day's bread. Her nerves melted away, pushed into the pasta with each roll of the dough. As she rolled, the lunula slowly incorporated, giving the pasta a light green tinge. Next to her, Senka nodded and watched her hands with intense focus.

"You really do know what you are doing," they observed. They reached out their hands, stretching them across Abi's body and hovered over hers. "Would you mind if I sink into your hands to learn the movements?"

Nodding, Abi slowed so that Senka could sink into her. Their hands pressed insistently on hers, melding into her faster and more completely than they'd done before. It was as if her body was learning them, learning to let Senka in, accepting their intrusion as natural.

Fingers tingling gently as Senka stretched theirs out into hers, Abi began kneading. She slowed, so they could follow easily. Senka's shoulder pressed into hers, though she could tell reaching across her was awkward for them. In her chest, her heart thumped insistently, Senka's closeness quickening her pulse. There was something so breathtakingly perfect about the way they filled her hands, responded to her touch, followed and extended her movements.

They kneaded together, the rolling cadence lulling Abi's racing heart, though her stomach retained its giddy queasiness.

"There we are," Senka whispered next to her. "Your pulse has settled. I didn't know that was a side effect for humans, but it seems your body isn't rebelling quite so hard now."

"What?" Abi asked, the feeling of blood draining from her face, a cold wash over her. "How did you—you can feel that?"

"Of course," they said, chuckling. "I'm literally inside you, anything you can feel, I can. Oh dear, there it goes again."

Exactly as they said, Abi's pulse resumed its frantic pumping, the knowledge that they could feel it compounding her nervousness.

"Abi, now your face is turning red. I'm pulling out, this must be uncomfortable for you," they said, arms retracting out of Abi's, dragging through her arms, leaving a yawning chasm of mundanity in their wake.

"No," Abi said, quickly moving her far hand to rest on her other, trying to hold them inside her. Senka was unable to anticipate Abi's instinctual movement to stop and their arm was ejected from hers with a force that took her breath away.

"No, I'm just a bit nervous," she said. "Maybe you just need to put your other arm around me, that can't be comfortable."

Her suggestion had nothing to do with the fact that being enveloped by Senka seemed exquisitely decadent. If she enjoyed it as a side effect of their comfort, it was all the better, right?

Swinging their arm around Abi's body, Senka caged Abi between their arms, the tingle of their tendrils tickling her along the length of her body. If she had any hope of convincing them she wasn't uncomfortable, it fled quickly. Her face heated and she shivered, feeling their breath as it ruffled the hairs on the back of her neck.

Senka let their arms slip back inside Abi and they resumed their kneading, this time leading Abi's hands through the familiar pattern. They were a quick study, replicating the routine Abi had learned as a young girl exactly. Abi could feel the flex of their fingers in her own as they shifted to the next step, their body rocking forward moments before Abi.

"Are you all right?" Senka whispered, their low voice sliding along Abi's spine like molten caramel. "You're shivering and your pulse is so fast."

"I'm fine," Abi gasped, surprised at how affected she was. "I'm wonderful, really."

"Do I make you nervous, Abi?" they whispered, a tendril of shadow brushing Abi's hair away from the side of her face. "You're all red again."

Abi shook her head, unsure if she could trust her voice. Something was happening between them, something charged and frenetic. Abi had been attracted to people before, but it seemed to take her longer to warm up to people than her friends. It hadn't been until that day, the day of the Snackcident, that she'd realized that her feelings for Senka had grown.

Now, she was nervous about ruining what they had. If she said something and they didn't feel the same, she'd ruin this amazing friendship they'd started.

Senka hummed in her ear, doubt evident in their tone. "Hmmm, I'm not sure I believe you ..." They pulled away from Abi, floating back to her side.

"That needs to rest for a bit ... and I think you and I might need to talk."

1.Her appearance can shift over time. Berne reports that as a boy, she looked similar to his mother, but shifted to have darker hair once he met people outside of Sanctuary. To many people from Sanctuary, she has white hair, though as with Abi, she doesn't always.

2.One can imagine that these hallways are rarely used. They are only kept as a courtesy to non shades. There are several areas accessible only to shades, though from Senka's telling, they tend to be their child-care facilities and religious locations.