Tales of Blood Clot Cafe

Cold Hands, Warm Cups

What one lacks, one seeks. Case in point, the cold gnarled fingers pressed against the sides of a white coffee cup filled with a dark red warmth. Finger pads pressed harder. Sunken brown eyes filled with hesitation stared into the cup before glancing at the blond young man across the table who had already sucked his drink clean. Yes, sucked. Not drank. With a  tongue that had slithered out from between his lips like a long dark leech, no less.

"Just drink it already, man," the blond was starting get impatient with his apprehensive companion. Less because he was wasting his time and more because, after all that has happened to them, they were still friends. And he hated seeing friends waste away to skin and bone even after he had physically half-carry half-drag him into the cafe. "It's gonna get cold."

"You're sure this is...uh..safe to drink, right?" The other seemed to be struggling with pronouncing his words. Understandable, given how recent his transformation was.

"Well, yeah. Of course, it is."

"I dunno, James.... This looks a little...raw."

"Dude...are you for real ? You're a vampire now, Simon! You can't get salmonella even if you tried !"

"Have you tried getting salmonella?"

James, the blond one, opened his mouth as if to object. And then closed it. He sighed. "Look, that's not important.Just drink your blood, you're dying."

"I thought vampires can't die."

"We whither up if we don't feed enough. So yeah, that's pretty much dying."

The newly turned vampire took in a deep breathe before bringing the cup up to his mouth. Lips parted to reveal way too many teeth for a human jaw. He scrunched his eyes shut and took a sip of the blood. James rolled his eyes at his friend.  Meanwhile, the other's eyes had fluttered open. He wasn't sipping his drink anymore. He was greedily downing it all, horribly misaligned teeth awkwardly bumping into the rim of the cup and tongue lapping at the bloody contents.

"See? That wasn't so bad!" James chuckled, briefly wondering if he himself had been this messy back when he was just starting out. Nah, that was unlikely.

"I..uh.. "Simon set his now empty cup back down. He rubbed the nape of his neck sheepishly," I think could go for another cup.."

"Then go get one. What? You weren't expecting me to pay for all your drinks, were you?"

"I was hoping you would." Now Simon was laughing a little too. That really wasn't as bad as he was expecting. In fact, it was good! He never thought he'd actually enjoy the taste of blood. He stood up from his seat.

However, before he could go over to the counter for another drink, James stopped him.

"Dude, you've got a little something on your..." the blond gestured at his friend's face, "uh ..everywhere."

Simon was a messy feeder it seemed. As expected of a.... what type of vampire was the guy anyways ? James couldn't pinpoint what on earth his friend had turned into. Too much teeth for a gothic-type vampire. But not enough claws to pin him down as the beastly-type. Certainly not the leech-type like himself, considering that he didn't instinctively use his tongue as a bendy straw.

But that was going to be a question for another day. Actually, never mind that, he could go for another drink himself. James glanced at the seemingly antique clock on the wall. It was 4:35 am.  He supposed it wouldn't hurt to stick around. He wouldn't normally do this for anyone but the two had been friends since grade school. Besides, how many more cups of pig's blood could the man down anyways. That is, assuming Simon wouldn't get all experimental with his drink orders. It's not like they'd end up staying till daybreak, right?

---

It was now 5:55am.

Simon had passed out in his seat after draining his twelfth cup.  No amount of poking and prodding was waking him up and if it weren't for the occasional grunt or sleep mumbling he could have been mistaken for being straight up dead (as opposed to undead).

James was starting to question if his friend truly was a vampire or just something else altogether. Just five cups pig's blood was filling enough. And this idiot downed twelve! Even the two baristas remaining behind the counter appear mildly disturbed.

James was also starting to question if his friend really should be spending so much on drinks.

One of the baristas, a hunched young woman with bright green eyes and a fanged overbite, approached them for the sixth time tonight. She gave the unconscious vampire a pitying glance and sighed.

"You better work this out very soon. We're closing in five- no, four minutes."

James groaned. He was going to have to carry Simon home, wasn't he? But how? Piggyback the guy home? But what if his friend was the type who fried in the sun? There must be an easier way, right?

He looked up at the cafe employee who was now impatiently tapping her claws on a nearby table."You guys wouldn't happen to have something I can carry an entire adult man in , would you?"

"We should have a spare body bag in the back."

"Seriously? I can't take the subway like that!"

"Would you rather use one of our coffins?" she pointed a thumb over her shoulder as one of the staff wheeled out an entire wooden coffin plastered in paper talismans from the backroom. The coffin rumbled. James regretted even asking for help in the first place.

It was only when he was halfway up the staircase out, struggling with a jacket covered Simon on his back and an umbrella in hand, that it crossed his mind.

Wait.

Why the fuck do they have an entire coffin in the backroom?

[Author's note]

Yeah, this one's mostly setting up for some recurring characters and the like. Not really much of a story, more of a snippet of life, I guess. Anyways, thanks for reading! A vote and/or a comment would be much appreciated!

Seeya next chapter~