Katrina didn’t sleep well the following day. She tossed and turned, even woke up a few times as rush hour traffic loudly annous presence. In the end, she rose before her arm went off, while the st traces of sunlight were still lingering outside. Careful to avoid the tiny sunbeams that mao slip through her bckout curtains, she walked to the kit and grabbed another pouch of blood. The rush of energy helped to alleviate her exhaustion somewhat, and when she colpsed onto her living room couch, she sighed heavily. In front of her, sitting delicately on the floor uitar, was a cherry blossom petal.

  Alicia.

  She couldn’t stop thinking about st night. She hadn’t been prepared to meet anyone, and had only felt fortable expl that neighborhood because she thought it was abandoned. Going downtown had stressed her out, and she hated that she’d been so short with the Dryad.

  It didn’t help that she hadn’t had a real versation in ages. She did her best to stay cordial with Dennis, but staying friendly with him was, in part, a survival tactic. Plus, the magically reinforced gss that separated them made it easier to trol herself. Other than the ic, she occasionally had very short versations with her boss, but they were always about work, and she never lingered for lohan she o.

  In any other situation, she would have weled being perceived as rude and standoffish. It was better for people to avoid her, for their own safety. Once she’d figured out that it was safe to be around Alicia, however, she had felt awful. Rather than a necessary safety tactic, her behavior now felt pointlessly callous.

  I have to apologize to her, it’s the right thing to do.

  She checked her phone and firmed that the sun had just finished setting. If she were going to make arip out to the suburbs, it would be best to do so as early as possible. Ba her bedroom, she threw together a halfway respectable outfit, then moved to the bathroom to make sure she didn’t look like a slob.

  , Katrina ran to her kit, rummaging through some ets before pulling out a small bag. It had been desigo look like any other semi-fashionable purse, but it was actually meant to hold a single pouch of blood, as well as a few personal effects. She’d inally bought it whehought the blood she was temporary, and had hoped that it would give her a way t blood with if she ever started delving. She closed the blood pouch she’d been nursing and tucked it ihe purse, then did the same with her phone and her keys.

  Last, she packed up her guitar, knowing it would be the best way to show her apology was genuine. Once she was ready, she strapped her guitar case to her bad jumped out of her window. Log it behind her, she began the flight back to Alicia’s neighborhood.

  As she flew, the wind whipping around her, she hoped that Alicia wasn’t an early bird. The Dryad had certainly seemed eager to talk st night, but she didn’t want her stant interruptions to be a nuisance.

  What am I hoping for? Is this just an apology?

  Katrina watched the city slowly transition to suburbs as she flew, unsure how to answer her owion. What would happen after she apologized? Obviously she didn’t want to keep the Dryad up, robbing her of sleep, but she also couldn’t deny that Alicia had seemed unusually excited by her presence. Katrina had initially assumed this was because of her stats; one of the many ges the System had implemented was that Charisma now dictated many aspects of one’s physical appearance. Her high Charisma seant that her curves were more pronounced, her breasts were fuller, and her skin was fwless.

  I shouldn’t assume anything. She could be straight, or ace! She could just as easily be excited to have a visitor, I’ll bet her neighborhood doesn’t see a lot of traffic. I’ll just say what I o say, and if en to get to know each reat.

  After a fair amount of flying, Katrina finally saw the massive cherry blossom in the distance. She caught herself smiling, remembering how peaceful it had been st night. If things went well, she definitely wouldn’t mind ing here more often. Once she was closer, underh the opy, flower petals began nding on her. She smirked, grabbing a rger one and tug it behind her ear.

  She didn’t see Alicia anywhere, and decided to nd a few doze away from the tree. Last time, the Dryad had emerged from the trunk itself, so maybe she slept ihe tree? With no way to know, she figured she may as well recreate what had happe night.

  Once her guitar was ready, she flew to the perch she’d picked st night, and began pying a soft melody. She could feel tension in her fingers as she pyed, nervous about what might happen. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes, and did her best to lose herself in the music.

  —

  It was a strange sensation, waking to live musiot only had music been rgely absent from Alicia’s life, but the soft guitar melody eg through her branches was quite different than the music she’d previously enjoyed as a Human. She could also feel the vibrations of the guitar, they reverberated through her tree and grew dangerously close to tig her. Thankfully, she held her posure, and floated through her trunk until she found the source of the music.

  She almost couldn’t believe it, but Katrina had returned.

  The Vampire was sitting on the same branch she’d chosen st night, though her posture had ged. She now held a guitar in her p, and her fingers expertly danced across the strings as she pyed a peaceful melody. Her eyes were closed, though her head was moving in time with the music.

  Alicia stayed perfectly still, her arms folded in front of her on the edge of the trunk, her head resting on them. She listened raptly, pletely in awe of the musi in front of her. She’d heard that Bards were skilled, but seeing one in person was simply breathtaking.

  In time, the music slowed, and with one final chord, the song ended. Katrina froze, letting the final notes echh the tree, before finally opening her eyes. Alicia felt her flinch slightly, though she was definitely less surprised than st night. The girls looked at each other for a moment, and this time it was the Vampire that broke the silence.

  “Alicia! It’s, um, good to see you again!” she said nervously.

  “You came back,” Alicia whispered, “I wasn’t sure you would.”

  “Right, well, about that.” Katrina cleared her throat. “Yesterday was… well, let’s just say it was a rough day. I don’t do well around people and… actually, that doesn’t matter. I’m here because I want to apologize for how I acted st night.”

  “Apologize? For what?”

  Katrina seemed surprised by the question. “You seemed rather eager to have a versation, and I kept shutting you down. Plus, the instant I saw a ce to leave, I took it, which was also pretty rude.”

  “I didn’t think you were rude at all! I enjoyed our versation!” Alicia protested.

  The Vampire paused, then chuckled quietly. “I don’t think I did much versing, holy, but I appreciate the se. Still, I’m sorry for how I acted, Alicia, and I wao make it up to you.” She gestured at her guitar, then quietly started pying another song while the versation tinued.

  “Apology accepted, Katrina the Vampire! I think it’s a really sweet gesture.” Alicia caught herself blushing and hid her cheeks behind her hands slightly. “So… I ask why yesterday was rough? I’ll gdly talk about something else if not!”

  “No, that’s a fair question. I’m a Vampire, obviously, and I o refill my blood rations. I have a local ic that I normally go to, but because of the she, they were out. I had to take the train dohich is always really busy.” Katrina paused, her guitar filling the silence briefly. “I… have a really hard time around people.”

  “Wait, you need human blood? I thought animal blood worked as a substitute?”

  “For many of us, it . But… how to describe this… do you drink coffee?”

  “I don’t actually eat or drink anymore, but I used to! Being a pnt saved me a lot of money on groceries.” Alicia said. She saw Katrina ugh slightly, and warmth filled her cheeks again.

  “Holy? That kinda happeo me too, I don’t o buy food anymore. Anyways, when you were human, would the caffeine wake you up?”

  “Oh yeah. I had to be really careful not to drink too much, or iernoon. If I fot, I the whole night.”

  “See, I had the opposite. Caffeine never affected me one way or the other. I could down three shots of espressht before bed, and nothing would happen. Animal blood kinda works the same way; for most people, it serves as ae substitute, but for me it doesn’t really do anything. Plus, holy? It makes me gag.”

  “I’m really sorry to hear that, it sounds awful.” Alicia reached out, pg a hand on the Vampire’s ao fort her. Katrina flinched slightly, but softened after a moment.

  her girl talked for a few minutes, letting the sounds of the guitar fill the air. A cool, night breeze rustled the branches, shaking loose another flurry of flower petals. Eventually, Katrina spoke up. “Do you ever miss eating?”

  “Y’know, I haven’t thought about it in a while, but I really do. There used to be this restaurant, about 15 minutes north of here, and they made the absolute best chipotle mayo. I’d put it on fries, hamburgers, chi, it was amazing.” Alicia paused for a moment, s through memories she hadn’t thought about in ages. “They never reopened after the ge, sadly. Once everything had settled doces reopened, I tried to find a new burger pce.”

  “I thought you said you could?” Katrina asked.

  “At the time, I thought maybe I could if I wao. That maybe it wasn’t necessary, but I could still treat myself. Anyways, this burger joint charged me like, a hundred dolrs for delivery, and I was so excited.”

  “How’d it go?”

  “Oh, it was the worst. I think turning into a pnt messed with my taste buds; it was like I was chewing on clumpy, wet paint. I haven’t tried any food sihen, and I’m pretty sure my body just isn’t designed for it anymore.”

  “A pain I uand all too well,” Katrina said. She paused her music for a moment, reag into a purse hanging by her hips. She pulled out one of her blood pouches, just like Alicia had seen st night. “How about a toast?”

  Alicia ughed, moving slightly further out of her tree, and closer to the Vampire. “Well, I have nothing to toast with, but sure!”

  “In memoriam of hamburgers, and chipotle mayo!” Katrina held her pouch aloft, and Alicia tapped her fingers against it. After the toast, Katrina took another small sip before tug the pouto her purse again. The Dryad found herself ughing at the absurdity of their toast, and soon enough guitar music filled the air again.

  “So, what do you do for work?” Alicia asked, settling bato a fortable position. “Are you a musi?”

  “Gosh, that would be nice, wouldn’t it? No, I’m a little more… isoted.” Katrina looked at Alicia, then sighed in resignation. “I’m… god, this is so embarrassing… I wash windows.”

  “Why is that embarrassing?”

  “I just wish I could do literally anything else. I’m a Bard, and a Vampire! I have mastery over the skies, domain over mankind’s most elusive dream, and what do I do with it? I hover outside skyscrapers and off bird droppings.”

  “Why not quit? You’re an amazing musi, I bet you could find all sorts of work!”

  “It’s not that simple, Alicia. With this blood she, I ’t… I ’t be around people.”

  “Is it really that bad? I mean, you seem to be doing alright now.”

  “Well that’s… it’s different with you. When I’m around other people, I hear their heartbeats, I smell their blood just beh their skin, and my instincts try to take over. They tell me I should take what I want, and it takes all my strength to say no.”

  The pieces finally clicked, and Alicia realized what Katrina was saying. “But I don’t have blood! I’m a pnt!”

  The Vampire nodded. “That’s why I felt so bad about st night. I’m so used to keeping my distance from everyorying to keep them safe, that I did the same with you. At first, I thought you had a weird Race or Css ability, something that hid your smell from me. I wao get home because I didn’t trust myself, and when I realized what was happening… I just felt awful.”

  “Hey, don’t beat yourself up! Everyone’s had a rough time sihe ge, you’re just doing your best!

  “I appreciate you saying that, but I still feel bad.” Katrina sighed, leaning her head against the branch behind her. “You’re a nice person, Alicia.”

  “So are you! You’re putting in all this effort to keep people safe, and that’s really cool!” Alicia let her voice grow a little louder, and she thought back to all the frustrating people she entered at work. “Trust me, I see so many people trying to circumvent the system. They cut ers, they igatus requirements, all to save a quick buck.”

  Katrina looked back at Alicia, an inquisitive look on her face. “Is that through work? What do you do?”

  “I work for the Office of Racial Cooperation. I ’t do iions, siraveling is pretty hard for me, but I make a lot of calls. I help businesses uand all the new Race ws, expin what ges o be made, and direct them to resources that help.”

  “You work for ORC? That’s really impressive!”

  “Trust me, it’s exhausting. I’m so tired of hearing people pin about sex work being legal now.”

  “Hey,” Katrina said, leaning forward. She stopped pying and pced a hand on Alicia’s arm. “You’re putting in a lot of effort to keep people safe, I’d say that’s pretty cool.”

  The Dryad found herself blushing again. She hadn’t expected her own words to be used against her, but she also couldn’t stop fog on the warm hand holding her arm. “Well I… that’s… I mean, sure, I guess…”

  Katrina squeezed gently, then leaned bad started pying again.

  How does she make everything look so natural? Gosh, I could stay here forever, just talking and listening to her py.

  After Alicia mao pull herself together, she spoke up again. “Have you ever thought about Delving? I hear Bards are great at it!”

  The Vampire smirked, looking off into the distance again. “I dream about Delving every day. I follow every scrap of news, I look at everyone paring their builds, I cheer every major Level Up from the big Guilds. Uhis she ends, however, it’s just too risky. I visited the main Chip once, and while I was there a Guild returned from a run. They were badly hurt, and the smell of their blood almost overwhelmed me. I mao escape, but I realized I could never live that life. What happens if we’re dozens of levels down and I lose trol?”

  “But… if you had a way to try, you’d want to?” Alicia’s thoughts wandered back to the basement she’d blockaded yesterday.

  “Well, yeah, that sounds amazing.”

  The Dryad swallowed nervously before speaking again. “Y’know I… kinda have a Dungeon.”

  The music stopped uedly, Katrina’s surprised hands actally pying the acoustic equivalent of a record scratch. “You what?”