Chapter 2

1899
San Francisco,
California

Taavit now known as Dave opened the door of restaurant that appeared to be a grill, a restaurant that wasn't exactly in the best part of town, though it wasn't in the poorest part of town either.
Taavit had taken the name of David, even if he went by Dave, as that's basically what his name translated into, though it still wasn't completely accurate. However, his original name from his plane was so unusual on this one that he was often stared at and asked to repeat himself, and so he had decided to just use Dave as it was very common in the century that he and his companions had landed on this world and always had been. It was likely that it always would be a very common name, and that simply made his life easier.
He had enough problems that he didn't need another frustration of always having to spell his name to others. His problems were much more serious than having to spell his name every time he needed to, and they all stemmed from his brother Miles who had tried to assassinate him a multiple times ever since he had arrived on this plane.
Some names just endured throughout time and always would remain popular no matter what century it was. Others faded into obscurity only to remerge decades or even centuries later. David was a name that was likely to remain popular throughout time.
Taavit had certainly gotten used to going by Dave and would answer to it just like he would his birth name.
He had left the others some time ago after all four of them had accumulated to this world and had started to travel on his own while Calyx and his family had settled in what had become New York though it had used to be new Amsterdam before King Charles had demanded that the Dutch, who had taken the land surrender by sending in hundreds of troops. Once the Dutch had surrendered without bloodshed, he had given it to his brother, the Duke of York so the original Dutch colony of New Amsterdam had become New York, which it had remained ever since.
Dave sat at one of the empty tables and just looked around the restaurant. The decor was rather shabby, but that made sense, considering it wasn't in the best part of town. So long as the food was good, it didn't really matter about the decor.
"Welcome sir, can I get you a drink while you look over the menu?" the waitress who approached him asked politely, as she handed over the menu, she was carrying under her right arm. The menus were paper and will be coming in rather ratty, so it was clear that they needed to be reprinted, but that the owner likely didn't want to go to the expense. Eventually though, the menus would get so torn up that the owner would have no choice, but to reprint them. She thought that this guy was very handsome, but his clothes were certainly nicer than most people could afford in this section of town. They were neat and clean and looked relatively new, which made this gentlemen stick out rather badly, as most people couldn't afford new clothes and patched up their old ones until they simply couldn't anymore. This gentleman's clothes had no patches that she could see, not even on the elbows of his long sleeve shirt.
Dave stared at the young woman in astonishment and shock, his mind reeling, as he realized that this woman was his mate, someone he had never expected to find on this plane.
"That would be splendid if you would ma'am," Dave finally said politely, trying not to stutter and the woman was surprised at how polite this gentleman was, as a lot of them were rude and pinched her behind, even though this wasn't a brothel or a seedy bar and it was clear she wasn't a whore. A lot of men though thought that any women who worked at all that their virtue was negotiable. A lot of the men that came into the grill were pigs, but this guy made no moves to touch her in any way, much less inappropriately, though it was clear that he was attracted from the avid interest in his eyes, though that didn't explain the shocked look on his face before he covered it nearly instantly. It was as if he had seen a specter or like she was someone he had known a long time ago, but that he hadn't seen in years and so was shocked, because he thought she was that person, who she must resemble quite closely.
Dave looked over the menu, which he took and began to look over quickly.
"I'll take the fried chicken," Dave finally decided, "along with a cup of coffee and a glass of water."
"I'll put the order in," the waitress promised writing it down.
"Before you do that ma'am, could I have your name?" Dave inquired politely.
"You know, I believe you are the first person to ask me that," the waitress said looking surprised at Dave's polite inquiry. "To most people my name doesn't matter so long, is their food arrives promptly. My name is Dania Yates and I will be your server."
"I'm David Rossi. It's nice to meet you, Miss Yates."
"It'll be ready in a few minutes, Mr. Rossi," Dania promised.
Dania left in order to put Dave's order in and get his coffee as well as his cup of water.
Once Dania was gone, Dave's thoughts whirled around in his mind. He had never expected to meet his mate on this plane. When he and Calyx and his family had escaped their original world they had been refugees, escaping from being executed by his brother Miles, which is what his brother's name translated into just like his basically translated into David.
One thing Dave knew was that Dania must be some kind of supernatural—well at least that was the likely possibility, as there were no complete humans on his plane. Sure, he looked human most of the time, but he could transform into his dragon form any time and the other species on his plane also had some form of special ability, though were not necessarily shifters. There were witches on his plane and they looked human, and he briefly wondered if his mate was a witch, though he was nearly positive she wasn't some kind of shifter, not necessarily a dragon, but some other species.
He knew he needed to find a way to approach her away from work, as he didn't want people talking about them acting inappropriately, as that could cause his mate to lose her job, which he didn't want, at least not until she agreed to be his mate. He would happily give her his tooth, which would mean that she would be his permanently and would live as long as he did.
He knew without Dania, having to say a word that she wasn't exactly very happy working this job, which he knew couldn't pay very much. It probably barely afforded her a roof over her head and food in her belly.
He wouldn't be surprised if the roof leaked where his mate lived or if she had trouble keeping warm in the winter. Dania probably lived not far from where she worked as Dave couldn't see her owning a motor vehicle, which hadn't been around all that long and though they weren't that expensive for someone like him, he doubted she made enough to afford one, not to mention the fuel that was required. Most cars ran on steam and though gas powered vehicles were available they were rarer than those that were steam powered.
Of course, there was also buses and Dania might very well take one to work every day if she lived far enough away that it was too far to walk. She might also take a bus at night, because this wasn't the safest neighborhood to be walking in, especially after, dark though it wasn't as bad as one that was much poorer.
Still, it was more likely that his mate would be mugged or raped if she didn't get off until after it was dark outside, as criminals seemed to relish attacking a lone woman at night. That she hadn't been killed yet was a miracle in his opinion, though he was sure that Dania was very careful when she was likely walking home as Dave just didn't see her, wasting the money to take a bus unless she absolutely had to.
The world was more dangerous for a woman, particularly in this type of neighborhood without a man to protect her. There were plenty of men that had no manners at all and would attack a lone woman who didn't have a man to escort her to and from places, particularly at night.
As much as he might like to get Dania out of this situation where she was likely only getting enough money to make ends meet, he knew he had to be careful, or she would likely reject him.
She had no idea who he was and that she was now his heart and soul as Dania would know nothing about dragon shifters and mates.
He would wait for her outside for hours if he had to and then follow her home to make sure she wasn't mugged, Dave decided. He would be her protector, even if she didn't realize it until he could figure out a way to introduce himself that wouldn't scare her off.
His food arrived within 20 minutes, which was pretty fast and Dave began to consume the meal he had ordered. It was actually pretty good considering that this place wasn't exactly in the best part of town.
The portions were large, and the prices more than reasonable, which Dave was grateful for as he could consume quite a lot at meal.
"You must've been hungry, sir," came Dania's voice, as she came to refill his cup of water. "Most people don't clean their plates as thoroughly as you did."
"What can I say? I was hungry," Dave said, even as he drank his refilled water glass in a few gulps.
"Would you like any dessert, sir?" Dania inquired politely.
"It depends on what you have, as I didn't look at the dessert menu." Dave said subtly flirting.
"We have apple pie à la mode, and ice cream sundaes that comes with chocolate fudge sauce, and three scoops of ice cream, with chopped nuts sprinkled on top," Dania said.
"What no maraschino cherries?" Dave inquired with a little smile.
"We're out of cherries," Dania answered truthfully.
"That's too bad, though to be truthful, I don't really have the room for such a large desert, not without anyone to share it with me anyway, so I guess I'll take the apple pie."
"I'll go put your order in," Dania promised writing it down on her pad before walking away.
Dave sat back in his chair and thought about how to officially introduce himself to his mate when she wasn't at work.
He had noticed how his mate had blushed when he had very subtly flirted with her, but that wasn't a sure sign of anything other than she liked him a great deal, which didn't necessarily mean she was going do anything about it.
Dave was sure that Dania would be cautious since many men were pigs and she wouldn't want to get herself into a bad situation. A woman's reputation was basically all she had and if that was ruined while she would be seen as a whore, even if she had done nothing to deserve it. Being seen as a whore once word got around would limit her job opportunities. There weren't really many opportunities for women anyway, though that would improve over the next few centuries. Dave doubted that Dania would be working in this grill if she had any other options.
Dania brought his pie and Dave took a large bite, chewing with relish, as it was very good and with the ice cream that made it even better.
"Give my compliments to whoever baked the apple pie, as it's really good," Dave told Dania when she came back with the check.
"That would be the owner's wife Mabel," Dania said, "but I'll pass your compliments on to Sid who will then pass your compliments onto his wife."
Dania handed Dave his check and Dave looked at it and nodded seeing it was correct and then took a 5 out of his wallet to pass it to Dania.
"That's much too much," Dania protested. "I'm not sure we have the change for a 5."
"That's the smallest bill I have I'm afraid and you can keep the change," Dave told her firmly. "If your boss doesn't give you the change from the 5, just let me know and I'll sort him out."
"Thank you, but I don't need charity," Dania said.
"It's not charity. It's just a large tip for the excellent service," Dave told her firmly.
Dania sighed and went to give the cashier Dave's money. When she returned to the table she found Dave gone so she couldn't give him his change. She knew that Dave had left deliberately so she couldn't return his change from the five.
Hopefully, Dave would come in again so she could pay him back the $4.45. He had left behind, as it wasn't hers no matter what Dave had said.
For now, she pocketed the money, but swore she wouldn't spend it at least for a while, though if she didn't see Dave again, she supposed that was his way of saying that she could keep the money no matter how much she protested.
She had never gotten such a large tip in her life, and it was more than enough to pay her rent for next month and also buy herself a new outfit and that was outside of her regular wages.
Her regular wages were barely enough to rent her apartment and put food in her belly so it was a good thing she had learned how to cook from her mother as cooking was far cheaper than eating out.
Still no matter what Dave thought 4 dollars and 45 cents was too much for a tip, but on the other hand, she was sure that her first time customer could afford to leave that large of a tip or he wouldn't have done so.
Finally, Dania sighed and left the money in her pocket, as she didn't want one of the other servers to have it, as there were a couple of them that would steal her tips right off one of her tables if she didn't watch them like hawks or pick up her tips immediately. Yes, it was hard to make a living as a waitress, but that was no excuse for theft, as they were all just trying to live their lives and make ends meet.
Some people though just didn't care or at least didn't think that they were taking the food out of someone else's mouth or stealing rent money.
Several hours later, finally her shift was over, so Dania got her rather shabby coat and headed for the door. She only hoped she didn't run into any muggers as she wasn't in the mood or have the energy to deal with them, as she was extremely tired, since she'd been on her feet since 7 AM when the grill opened, as she had the early shift and she had worked a double, because one of the servers had not come in and her boss had asked her too. Since she could use the money, she had agreed, but that meant she was very tired since she had worked a double and also that her feet ached like the dickens from being on them for hours on end.
She was only glad that they didn't open at five like some restaurants did.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Sid," Dania called.
"Tomorrow," Sid agreed. "Thanks for filling in and make sure you get plenty of rest."
"You're welcome and I will," Dania answered before she pushed open the front door for the grill and exited.
Dania headed towards her apartment, as it was nearly fully dark, and that was when a lot of men would try to mug you. If she hadn't needed the money so badly, Dania would've told Sid no thank you to working the second shift as she didn't like to walk home after it started to get dark, much less when it was fully dark. She could take the bus she knew, but that cost money she could not afford to really lose since she made so little. She barely even made 3 dollars a week and rent took a nice big chunk out of her paycheck every month. She made a little bit over $12 a month, but when she worked a double shift, she made a little more, maybe $13.50 for that month. Rent was $4.20 a month and food was at least 3.20 depending on what she bought at the store and how often she ate out.
That left her with about five dollars and some change for unexpected expenses, which was one reason, she walked to and from work most of the time, as that allowed her to save some of her money. Taking the bus might not have amounted too much spent, but it did save her at least some of her paycheck.
Dania never noticed that Dave was following her discreetly, even though she had her eyes peeled for possible trouble.
Dave used a little of his magic to make himself basically invisible so that his mate wouldn't catch him following her and get the wrong impression.
He made sure that Dania got home safely, though he didn't really like where she was living once they arrived, as the apartment building was run down, but then he knew that his mate couldn't afford any better. Dave made sure that Dania got safely inside before he went on his way.
He was going to change the path his mate was on where she was living paycheck to paycheck if he had any say in the matter, but it would take time to gain her trust Dave knew, so he would need to be very patient.
Dania would rightfully be suspicious of his intentions, as Dave was sure she believed that no man would want her other than as a whore or someone he could play with and then send on her way. That man, whoever he was, probably wouldn't care if he got her pregnant. He was sure that his mate would like to avoid such a possible fate if she continued on the path, she was on. His mate seemed like a sensible woman who knew she didn't have the money to take care of any child. Not to mention peoples probable reactions to the fact that she had a child out of wedlock as such things weren't really acceptable and it wouldn't matter if she had been raped or not. Such distasteful subjects were not talked about in polite society. It would be Dania who came off looking worse than the man that got her pregnant in the first place. Such a way of thinking wasn't fair in the least, but it was a way things were at least for now.
Dave knew that people would gossip about how it was Dania's fault that she had been raped because she didn't have a man to protect her and she worked for a living, so she deserved what she got would be what most people thought. They would say that if she had settled down like a proper woman it wouldn't have happened, but the sad truth of it was that it could've happened, even if she had settled down, which never seemed to occur to the gossips.
She would be shamed regardless and might even lose her job over the fact that she had allowed herself to get pregnant, even if it hadn't been something that was her fault.
That was the problem with society in its current form and that was if a women got pregnant from being forcefully violated were shamed for letting it happen instead of the man. The man of course would get away scot-free, which was hardly fair or right.

~~~Dave and Dania~~~