Chapter 14
Bright and early the next morning, he stood in the common house, listening as Abigail tried to explain away why she was unable to go, frowning. "Get off the apron, woman, you're coming."
Amy ever so helpfully untied it and danced away, giggling.
"I'm gonna kick your ass in training later, Red."
"Looking forward to it, sweetheart." Amy blew her a kiss, laughing and bumped her hip against Abigail's. "Now get outta here before Stephanie unleashes her pregnancy temper on you."
"I-It's not pretty either, homie girl."
Groaning, Abigail knew she was outnumbered and reluctantly followed Taker out of the common house, wearing an orange tank top and blue jeans since they would be on his bike. She thought her excuse of not wanting to leave Stephanie to do the majority of the cooking and cleaning would've gotten her off the hook. Nope. Not one bit. Taker did not like hearing the word and something told her very vaguely did he not get what he wanted. She'd braided her hair to hang over her shoulder again, hating to leave it down because it was so damn long.
"Alright Mr. Disguise, where are you taking me at 6 AM?" She broke the silence once they were outside of the gates, the sun already rising over the horizon.
"It's a surprise."
He wasn't disguised right now, figuring since it was just the two of them, out in the open, they'd be fine. With everyone a bit paranoid about the absent DOV, which had happened around the same time, disguises really weren't needed at the moment. Taker slid a pair of sunglasses on, his Harley ready to go, and led her over to it.
"You're riding bitch again." She still hadn't learned to drive one on her own, not that he minded. "Or… you can sit in front of me… and I'll keep an arm around you." His eyes flashed behind the lens.
His arm around her the whole time they rode together sounded heavenly and Abigail found herself wanting to experience what it was like to ride in the front. "I've never rode in the front before, so…front."
If he was surprised, his sunglasses hid it well as she mounted the bike after him, her back pressed against his chest. Instead of holding onto the handlebars, the only other option was his thighs that also surrounded her. Oh man, this was a bad idea because now she was burning up. The injury he'd had was gone and fully healed with just a slight yellowish tint around his eye. Abigail felt his arm snake around her, the Harley firing up beneath her and the vibration, combined with being held by him, put her senses on overdrive. When he murmured in her ear if she was ready, she nodded and a few seconds later, they were off.
It was an hour or so, the way he drove anyway, later when they arrived at their destination. Being one lone motorcycle meant he could take shortcuts and paths that weren't usually feasible when all of them went out. That required more road and easy access to get out of bad situations. His hair today was an odd shade, it was a darkish red/brown with hints of black in certain light, a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee combo, his skin a little paler than he usually kept it and his normally green eyes were sporting flecks of gray in them.
Abigail had taken rather well to his constant changes, it was… odd, actually. Refreshing, but odd. He cut the engine once they were in what had once been the center of a small town, looking around. Taker hadn't seen anything besides a few animals on their way and hardly anybody came here now. Everything of value had been stripped away. Dismounting, he helped her off the motorcycle before taking Abigail by the hand and navigated the ruins of what used to be an entrance. Finally ducking under a toppled column, they stepped into the large rotunda of the town's library. Other than the entrance, the building was in great shape considering its age and the years of neglect.
"Here we are."
His appearance didn't bother her because she'd already expected the different disguises. She just didn't know it was done by magic…until Stephanie and Trish spilled the beans. It had shocked her to find out he was Chet, but that hadn't bothered her either, for some reason.
"Oh my god…" Abigail's jaw dropped at the sight of the inside, covering her mouth with her free hand. It was a library. He brought her to an actual library! "I-I didn't think these existed anymore…" She admitted, suddenly feeling excitement surge through her and beamed, eyes taking in everything surrounding them. Aisle upon aisles of books that didn't look too damaged and in fairly good condition stared back at her. "This is amazing! Shakespeare, I have to see if they have Shakespeare here…oh and Edgar Allan Poe! Hemingway, Stephen King, Twain and Dickens and…" She looked up at him, seeing he was trying so hard not to laugh at her and felt her cheeks burn. "Sorry, I love books…"
"Me too." He said, though not quite as excitedly as she had.
Taker came here several times a year and usually took a few back home with him, passing them out, hoping to at least start a little library for those who might want to read. However, during the winter, books were not as revered as they should've been. "Go on, have a look. Take what you can carry and comfortably hide." He winked at her. "I only ever take a few myself… feels wrong to take too many, you know?" How old was she? He wondered, eyeing her thoughtfully. "You ever have a library card? Not many people remember those…"
"No, I've never been to an actual library. My…Mom would bring books home for me on occasion from the local bookstore down the street."
Swap that for Bray and it was the truth, only it wasn't from a local bookstore, it was a library he'd gone to three times a year. For her. They didn't want to educate the women since they were killed after breeding anyway and the men cared more about fighting and growing their muscles than actually learning about reading, writing, math – the basics. Abigail released his hand and headed down the aisle, reading the faded signs hanging from the ceiling. She found what she was looking for, deciding she would bring back one book from each of her favorite authors.
He and Glen had gone to the library every week. They would get books of all kinds, fiction and non-fiction. They had grown up in a small town, without much outside prospects, so books had been his world and his best education. Glen had loved renting old videos off the small shelf with it's even smaller selection. He had lost count of how many times they had watched an old VHS of Bambi.
"I'll be over in the 'How To' section, darlin'." Taker called after her before turning. Jeff and Matt would appreciate some new material and he idly wondered if he would find something about solar power here.
"Okay, holler if you need me!" Abigail called back, sifting through the books and plucked out a couple, making sure they were paperback.
Hardcover was great and all, but not when she had to ride on a motorcycle for an hour. In the foster home, she would read to Bray at night, while treating his wounds, to help get his mind off the pain he was in. Then, once he created the DOV and they'd found, and took over, the castle, that type of intimacy had gone away, and Bray didn't want to be read to. All he did want was to make out with her and he'd even gotten angry with her one night when she asked if he wanted her to read to him. Sighing, Abigail headed into the next aisle, picking another one while running her fingertips over the rest, as if personally marking them. She would be back here again, especially since Taker enjoyed the library. Once she had 5 books, Abigail figured that was enough and went to find Taker, seeing the was still in the 'How To' section.
"Find what you were looking for?"
"Sort of." Taker flashed her the cover of a textbook he was browsing through. "I'm a fairly smart guy, but this way above my pay grade. Pretty sure Matt and Jeff will get some use out of it." He tucked it in the leather satchel he was wearing and then smiled slightly. "I also found this for Stephanie." He held up a paperback 'What to Expect When You're Expecting'. "We used to have a copy, years ago, but it got left out one day and we never seen it again. Figured she might find something in here to… I don't know… help her?" Helping birth a baby was one thing, no problem, he had done that several times, but helping a woman with questions about pregnancy, not so much. He just knew how babies were made. "What'd you find, darlin'?"
He really did care about his people and never took the time to make himself happy. Abigail had noticed that over the past month she'd been in Wonderful. "She'll love it and appreciate it, I'm sure. Same with the brainiacs." Jeff was a riot to be around and made her laugh. Matt was a creep, but a smart creep, so she supposed he was safe enough to be around. "That's pretty incredible, you putting everyone else before yourself. You really do care about every single person in Wonderful, don't you?" When he muttered good-naturedly 'not Steve', she laughed and shook her head, not believing that for a second. "Thank you for bringing me here. This is the…nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. I mean it."
He knew what she thought, Taker didn't take enough time for himself, and she was only partially correct. He had his tower, his retreat, but doing for others who couldn't, especially in these times, was what drove him every day. It wasn't because he was into self-sacrifice, he wasn't, he could be the most ruthless son of a bitch there was, but…. someone had to step up. "You're welcome, darlin'." He smiled down at her, reaching out to push yet another flyaway strand of hair out of her eyes.
Her cheeks flushed again as she looked away from him, clearing her throat and had her own satchel he'd given her prior to coming. "Okay mister, we're not leaving here until we find YOU something you like. You've looked for others, now it's time to look for you." Abigail had no idea how much time he wanted to spend here and knew they had to be back fairly soon, but not before Taker treated himself. She grabbed his hand, not minding when he laced their fingers together and guided him away from the 'How To' section. "Alright, you take the lead because I have no idea what kind of books you're into. What kind of books DO you like anyway?"
He promptly turned her right back around, grinning when Abigail sighed in exasperation. "Abbie, you might as well get used to it because this is what I do, it's what I like to do. And also…" He plucked a book right off the shelf, holding it out to her. Hardback, filled with pictures of motorcycles and information on how to fix and tinker with them. "That right there is porn." Now that he thought about it… he hadn't seen actual porn in years…eyed her, trying not to smile. She would slap him silly if she knew how his thoughts had just rambled away.
"Porn?"
Abigail didn't know what that was due to how sheltered she'd been throughout her life – first in the foster home and then Bray. Her world had revolved around Bray and the DOV for years. When he just gaped at her, she cleared her throat awkwardly and rubbed the back of her neck, having a feeling it was something she probably should've known at age 26.
"As long as it's something YOU enjoy, that's all that matters." She could not meet his eyes because he kept staring at her in shock. "Okay, why are you gawking at me like that? I don't know what porn is, there I said it, happy?"
"You… really?" Taker couldn't believe that, frowning. She had to be younger than him, but not by that much, right? He was only in his early 30's, she… his frowned deepened. "You are over 21, right?" When she nodded, he felt marginally better. "Sheltered life?" Another nod. He began to grin, feeling a little… devilish. "Porn, darlin', used to be a big thing. Old videos, or shit on the Internet, or magazines, even books… all about sex and naked people." Now Abigail knew, and he seen her blush. "Consenting, all done in fun. Not… not that DOV shit." Well, that had gone wrong.
"So, porn is sex…" Abigail said it thoughtfully, knowing the question was burning on Taker's tongue and decided to save him the trouble. "I'm 26, Undertaker." That sounded really lame because what 26-year-old didn't know about porn?
She knew about sex, somewhat, only what Bray had shown her though. Abigail hadn't been allowed to touch him below the belt, only caressing his shoulders, chest, arms and back, along with kissing. She felt his eyes on her, burning into her and she shifted uncomfortably, shouldering the satchel since it felt loose.
"I know, shocking right?" How the hell was a book about motorcycles porn though? "Wait, you called that porn, but there's no sex in that book. Isn't that what porn is based on or…never mind, forget it." Wow, she sounded like a dipshit.
Taker could only gape at her again, wondering just what kind of life she had lived in Salny. Abigail had survived the war; she would've been a kid back then though… a child. How did he explain the joke?
"It's… a joke." He said, knowing he sounded like an idiot. "You know, porn was tailored to people… like…" Taker stopped, not about to talk to her about the different types of porn. "Just, forget it, darlin'." Wow… he sounded like a pervert!
A joke…he thought calling a book about motorcycles was a joke? Then Abigail realized what he'd done – it was a metaphor, something she DID know about. "Sorry." She mumbled, feeling incredibly embarrassed and figured she might as well come clean to him about something else regarding herself. "You're going to find this out eventually, so I'll just tell you now. I'm…umm…I've never had sex before. I'm a virgin. That's why I don't, or didn't, know what porn was. I've…done the kissing and touching making out stuff, but…never anything more than that." Abigail let out a shaky breath, feeling somewhat of a weight lifted from her shoulders. "And I know it's pathetic because I'm 26, so I'd appreciate it if we could keep this between us. I don't…need anyone else knowing about this in Wonderful. Will you do that for me?"
She always said way too much when she could have just shortened it too she didn't know much about sex. Would have said the same thing with less words and why the hell was she telling him this? "If you don't want people knowing you're a virgin, then why are you telling me? What does that have to do with anything?"
He was genuinely confused because, before he had had his first sexual encounter, he had still known quite a bit about sex. People talked and joked; sex was just one of those topics a lot of people learned about early on. And why was Abigail telling him about what she had done? This woman made absolutely no sense at all and Taker found himself grinning at her.
