Chapter 7:The Darkened Diner

"Razor?"

"Don't ask me, I never got an explanation for the nickname. You'll have to ask Roy."

"Right, okay. What happened next?"

"I went to work.."

♦--~--♦

Thursday,7:36am. 1994, the 3rd of March. Earth.

It seemed to always be the pretty days that were workdays. The sun was shining, the cool air was blowing in the right spots and not many people were walking the streets. A perfect time for a walk around town to take in the beautiful surroundings that came with Spring being so near, but Angel was rushing past everything instead and only took note of the lack of people blocking the sidewalks. She was fighting with her skirt tie as she walked, the thing making her walk funky because she had tied it a bit too tight when rushing to get dressed. She then noticed that her shirt wasn't buttoned up all the way either and let out a sigh. "Today is not my day.." She mumbled. Angel paused her stride to go under the shade of a tree and shift her shirt over her bust so she could button it up the rest of the way, though she was sure if she moved the wrong way, the buttons would just pop right off today. They have been wearing away with each day she worked and if she remembered right, she did have the shirt buttoned up before she left. Meaning..they undid themselves and one wrong move was definitely gonna pop something off. She let out a heavy sigh, muttering to herself about needing a bigger sized uniform as she finished with the last button and then gave the fabric a smooth over with her hands before returning to her skirt tie. She did quick work of untying it and retying it, a relieved breath leaving her when the tight pressure was gone from her hips and was now snug and comfortable. "Okay...That should be good." She hummed, moving out from the tree and resuming the walk to work more comfortably, now looking around without the discomfort bothering her. "It's always pretty when I go to work." She smiled, scanning over the trees and looking into the park as she walked by it. The park was always a beautiful place no matter the season, even when it was crowded and looked stormy outside of it. It was like it had protection from the storm and crowds, always looking like the perfect place to go, though that could be Angel's love of outside that caused it to look that way. She took a mental note to go to the park on one of her days off.

Angel soon reached a crosswalk that made her look away from the park, the crossway being at the corner of a street and a turning point of the road. Across the walk was a small road that headed straight into her work's parking lot. She looked both ways for any cars, cause safety is important, before hurrying along the white lines to the other side of the road. Cars weren't known to be driving in the part of Darkened Dawn where the diner was, everyone mostly walked unless they were heading for either one of the two downtowns, but it didn't hurt to be safe and hurry on. Also, Angel could wonder how strange two downtowns were but she didn't want to dwell on it when she only had ten minutes left till her shift started and she had to be in the building in front of her. The diner was small compared to the buildings around it but it was still pretty big, it could hold the whole town. Angel made it up to the glass door of the restaurant that had a closed sign hanging on it from the inside, the door itself unlocked for staff to come in, and she walked right in after pulling the door open. "Tina, I'm here!" She called out, letting the door shut behind her. The diner was old fashioned, the walls checkered with black and white, the floors checkered with red and black. A small wooden podium that was waist height was set next to the door with a chalkboard hanging off of it by a nail, the words 'Please wait to be seated.' was written in fancy cursive with white chalk. It also had pink hearts around the words, a happy mood settling into Angel by the sight because she was the one that drew them and no one had erased them yet. A bar wasn't far from the podium and it held menus and things the staff needed behind it, access to the kitchen door was behind it. There were two big dining areas on either side of the bar, the right side happening to be Angel's area to serve. The she-wolf walked farther into the diner, her heels clicking on the checkered floor as the end of her tail swept the floor lightly. "Hello?!" She called out again, a crash responding this time and making her ears flop down as she heard a female voice curse-"Ah! Sweet cheese and crackers!"-..Kid friendly-like. Angel smiled, recognizing the voice to belong to the owner of the diner and the one she called out to earlier. She chuckled softly, walking closer to the bar. "Tina, you alright in there?" She asked.

"Yup, I'm fine!" A female called back out to Angel and soon the kitchen door opened to reveal a very young-looking woman, who was called Tina Goodman. She looked to be twenty but was actually twenty-five and she had short honey brown hair that reached her shoulders if it was down, right now it was pulled up into a high ponytail by a red rubber band. She had a heart-shaped face and she was more of the tan side far as skin tone. Her eyes were dark brown and held a lot of love in them as long as you were on her good side, be on her bad side and you'll see hell. Unlike Angel, Tina didn't wear a maid type uniform and instead had a black button-up with a black skirt and leggings, her outfit finishing with black slip-on flats. She had an apron tied on as well and was wiping her hands on it as she walked out of the kitchen and looked up with a bright contagious smile that made Angel smile back. "Angel, so great to see you again!" Tina greeted, walking around the bar and over to the she-wolf to pull her into a tight hug. Angel let out a cheerful laugh, Tina's happy energy surrounding her and making her tail wag as she hugged the woman back. "It's good to see you too, Tina." She said before Tina pulled away with an even bigger smile on her face as she held the girl's arms. "I'm glad to hear so! You know you worried me last night, I didn't get a call from you at all!" Tina exclaimed, a worried look flashing briefly behind her happy eyes. Angel blinked in confusion before suddenly being smacked with the memory of promising Tina she would call her when she got home. She then smiled in hopes of making Tina not worry. "I'm sorry for not calling like I promised, I was exhausted when I got home." She apologized sincerely as she could, feeling bad for not keeping the simple promise. Tina still smiled and move away from the other female, waving a hand dismissively as she turned to head back around the bar. "Ah, don't worry about it. I know you're okay now and I understand being exhausted, you were dozing off during the party yesterday." She explained, beginning to mess with stuff behind the bar. Angel felt her face flush a soft pink from embarrassment and chuckled nervously, not knowing someone had seen her trying to take small naps during the party. "Yeah...It was a fun party though! I can't thank you enough for it." She said, walking over to watch Tina fiddle with a pitcher of sweet tea and try to get the lid on it. "No need to thank me, hun. It was your birthday party, even if it was a little late." Tina glanced at the she-wolf with another smile, her attention quickly shifting back to the pitcher afterward. "I don't really do anything for my birthday though," Angel admitted. Tina responding with a promise of "You're in Darkened Dawn now, you're gonna be celebrating your birthday." Angel couldn't help the feeling in her chest, the feeling of belonging and being wanted somewhere was caused just by Tina's words and it made her happy, much happier than she's been in a long while. She couldn't possibly smile any more but managed to as her ears went up. "I count on that happening." She said. Tina humming to show she heard the wolf before she picked up the sweet tea pitcher and went back to the kitchen. Angel stayed where she was, letting the pure happiness she had settle in. Tina was the type of mom Angel wished she had, she was caring and very motherly, worrying for the wolf even though she wasn't her child, it was the exact opposite of how her birth mother had treated her. During the few months Angel has been in Darkened Dawn, it's mostly been Tina that has helped her through everything and was the one she went to when she wanted to talk because Tina listened to every word and gave her advice if she had any.

The sharp ring of a bell made Angel look toward the doorway, her smile stretching across her face more as a familiar face came running in, the person having a similar expression when they saw Angel. The she-wolf kneeled down, chuckling softly and bracing herself when the person ran over to tackle her into a hug, their small arms wrapping around her neck as she nearly fell back. "Aunt Angel!" They exclaimed. Angel laughed happily, stopping herself from going backward and wrapping her own arms around the smaller person. The person was a little boy named Raymond, Ray for short, who happened to be Tina's son with his features matching her's almost perfectly. He had short honey brown hair, only it was a little darker than Tina's but his eyes were the perfect copies of his mother's by being a dark brown. "Hello, Ray." Angel greeted, ruffling the small boy's hair as he smiled more. She unwrapped her arms from him and stood up making Ray look up at her due to being pretty short, but that was expected out of an eight-year-old. "How are you doing?" She asked. "I'm doing good!" He replied cheerfully, making Angel's smile grow more somehow. "That's good, Ray! Did you not have any school today?" She asked again, knowing the little boy was usually learning at this time of day. Ray's smile faded at the mention of school and he shook his head quite quickly to her question. "Nope, they let me out today." He answered, his cheerfulness had faded just a bit but that normally always happened when school was mentioned around him. The kid was really smart but his grades would slip every now or then because he loses interest or something else happens outside of school. Angel suspected something was wrong at school and offered to check but Tina said no, saying if something was wrong that Ray would tell her. This answer always made Angel frown, knowing that Ray wasn't going to say anything and Tina was a busy woman, she never went to the school when everyone was there and saw if anything was wrong. Angel could just sense something was going on with Ray though, blame her wolf instinct, but she couldn't do anything without going to the school and that wasn't possible when she was working. So, she just smiled at him and ruffled his hair once more. "That's great, I bet you've been having fun on your day off, right?" She asked, his happiness immediately returning as he nodded with a big smile on his face. "Yeah! Uncle George took me fishing at the pond!" He said, bouncing on his feet excitedly."Did you catch anything?" She asked and he nodded again. "Yup! I caught two fishies!" He said. Angel couldn't help but laugh when he called them fishes, kneeling down and wrapping an arm around him for another hug. "That's great! I'm proud of you." She really was proud because he was clearly proud of himself as well. "Ray!" Tina suddenly called out. "Yeah, mom?" He asked, looking toward the kitchen after Angel let go of him and stood up. Tina looked through the small window that allowed her to look into the dining area from the kitchen, she looked at her son with a smile. "Come here and help me with something." She said, going back into a part of the kitchen where she wasn't seen. Ray made his way to the kitchen, leaving Angel to smile while watching him leave. Ray was a good kid, especially with what went on around him. Tina was his mother and his father..well, his father wasn't around. Ray was quite happy despite this, he had his mom and uncle around, along with the people of the town. Angel just hopes he remembers that the people around him will be here no matter what. Angel's thoughts were cut off by another ring of the door, she turned her head to see a tall male walk in. It was George, or as most people call him, Uncle George. Angel returned a smile when he saw her and offered her his own. "Hello, Angel." He greeted. Angel went up to him and hugged him the best she could. "Hello, uncle George." She returned his greeting as he hugged her back and patted a gentle hand against her wings. George was a tall and big man, he could tower over anyone in town with no problem but he was just a big ol' teddy bear. He had short hair that was nearly the same color as Ray and Tina's, only his was black in the back and he had gray in the front blending with the brown, and his eyes were a warm light brown that shined just like Tina's. "I didn't see you yesterday, what happened?" Angel asked, pulling away from the hug and looking up at the tall male. He looked down at her and shrugged before turning going over to his normal corner where a table was. "Y'know, helpin' Ms.Wolfhow out as always."

Ms.Wolfhow, or simply just Wolfhow, was the owner of a nearby foster home. She kept many children no matter how they ended up without parents and welcomed them to her home with open arms. Angel had gone through her time there and was treated with so much kindness that it felt impossible that it actually happened. Yet, it did and the kindness continued when Wolfhow allowed her to live in a house by herself with no payments besides basic things. Angel smiled at remembering this, "You help her as much as she helps others." She chuckled and George smiled, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah..guess so." He mumbled. "Why am I hearing laughter?" Angel and George looked to the kitchen when Tina walked out with a freshly made cake covered in red frosting. "Just having fun talking about things," Angel answered, getting up and going over to the bar as Tina carefully set up the cake on a tray. "Someone order a cake or is this one of those days you're just using your cake tray?" Angel jokingly asked, her eyes watching the female set the cake up as carefully as possible. Tina smiled at her and rolled her eyes at the she-wolf's joking manner. "Just a day I decided to use this ol' tray." She answered. Angel let out a small chuckle before she looked the cake over, seeing it was vanilla from a slice of it missing, and it was covered thickly in red frosting with lots of sprinkles on top of it. "Why is some of it missing?" Angel questioned, glancing up at Tina to see her smile as she got the cover for the tray. "I put some on a plate in the back for you to take home, I know you didn't get to take any cake home with you yesterday so you can today." She said, making Angel smile and wag her tail with happiness. "Thank you, Tina!" She smiled widely, appreciating that Tina thought of her. Tina put the cover over the cake to keep it safe and then wiped her hands on her apron, stepping back. "It's no problem, Angel," Tina said before her eyes drifted to the glass door of the diner, her eyes sparkling when the light hit them before the bell rung again to say someone was coming in. Angel's ears went up, her tail halting mid-wag as her eyes looked where Tina did. A male had walked in holding a box labeled 'food' in big black ink. The male was tall, not as tall as George but he towered over Angel's short stature, he had obviously dyed bright red hair with orange growing in from his roots and blending with the dyed hair into a color that looked like flames, his arms and face were suntanned but what his tank top didn't cover showed he was naturally pinkish-pale. He walked in confidently, his head held high as he walked to the counter and set the box down. He smiled politely, stepping back into a relaxed state. "Hello, Miss.Tina." He greeted. Tina returned his smile, walking over with a happy greeting back before her eyes shifted to the box. "Is this what I'm hoping it is?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the man as she smiled more, hopeful his answer is yes. "Yup, it's your order from Ms.Wolfhow." He confirmed and her look turned into happiness with a bit of relief. "Thank you, I was hoping it was coming today!" Tina cheered before taking the box and going to the kitchen, leaving the male, George, and Angel alone.

The male turned, his gaze falling to Angel as she stood there taping her sharp nails gently on the marble of the bar. "Oh, hello." He said, a kind smile on his face. The she-wolf looked up, having looked away when he and Tina were talking. "Hi.." Angel hesitated to return the greeting, uneasiness settling in at the sight of a new person. He looked her over and she subconsciously crossed her arms over her chest, a nervous look making home on her face. His unnatural yellow eyes looked up to her blue ones, her ears going down at the eye contact. "You're Angela, right?" He asked, though it was more of a statement, Angel shifting her weight uncomfortably to her other leg, her stomach feeling sick at the mention of the name Angela. "I remember seeing you with Lil' Kaitlyn back a few months ago." He said, confirming his own thoughts and the she-wolf looked at the ground as a deep breath was inhaled through her nose. "I..uh...I go by Angel now." She finally replied, her ears going down all the way as she looked up at him with an unreadable look appearing in her eyes, she had set a gate up. He gazed into her eyes and frowned, a knowing look seeming to cross his features. "I'm sorry, I didn't know.." He apologized, slight guilt coating the tone in his voice making Angel frown and step closer. "It's alright." She assured, he looked up and smiled at noticing she had relaxed. "Well, Angel." He says, correcting the name he used. "It was nice to see you again but I gotta get more orders to people before noon." He smiled much more kindly, still looking a bit sorry but for a different reason other than getting get the name wrong. She finally sent him a smile back as he made his way to the door. "Alright, see ya!" She yelled out as he opened the door and the bell jingled again, he looked back once more and did a small wave of goodbye before fully leaving the diner. Angel watched him walk to a truck and get in before frowning when she realized she didn't get his name. Whoops... No time to go ask now. Her ears perked up at the sound of chair legs screeching on the floor and she looked toward the sound. George let out a grunt as he got up, his hands fixing at the straps of his overalls before he let go and fixed the chair he had sat in to go back under the table. He walked over, "I better get that box set up before Tina starts bugin' me with it." He said, walking by and patting Angel on the shoulder as he did, making her smile up at him. "Have a good day today, George," Angel said.

"You have a good day as well, Angel."