Damn Good Coffee

[tiny_dancer81]

Theresa had taken to hanging out at Cool Beans even when Maddy wasn't behind the counter. They served good espresso, and their pastries didn't get stale from sitting in the glassed-in case for ages. A small portion of her paycheck was going into the register at Page Turners, providing her with paperbacks. She had a major crush on Jackie Collins' Lucky Santangelo.

The vampire was currently taking up space on one of the couches near the back of the establishment. There was a book in her lap and two empty cups on the table to her left. The plate that accompanied the cups was sprinkled with crumbs from a blueberry scone. Even though she couldn't really taste food anymore, she liked the play-acting that eating involved.

The bell above the shop's door jingled, and Theresa glanced up from Lucky's adventures in the mob to see if she knew who had just stepped inside.

Comments

Damn Good Coffee

[melodymagic]

Another double shift at the magic shop had Melody buzzing with excitement. She had finally perfected a potion she had been trying and the timing had finally all come together. Some of the buzz was also from her growing addiction to the caffeine in the coffee she was regularly getting from Cool Beans and she was heading in there for one now, in celebration.

As she entered she looked around and saw the girl sitting on the couch, reading, and headed to the counter to order her usual. She looked around again and back to the girl on the couch as the milk was heated. She was kind of disappointed Maddy wasn't there, as she could have told her all about the potion, and how it had finally come out the exact colour it was supposed to be. Now all she had to do was test it, and she really did want Maddie to be around for that, just for safety. The idea of testing it on herself didn't scare her, unless it went terribly wrong, or even more so, terribly right! She looked across at the girl and wondered for a brief moment if she could possibly be a potential test subject, but chided herself that she should wait for Maddy.

"Is that a good book?" she asked instead. She didn't read a lot of novels, but friends at school had always been reading one author or another. Melody had always preferred reading the books she managed to get from the store she now worked in, but didn't tell any of her friends about them.

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[tiny_dancer81]

"The first book was better, but the sequel's pretty good too."

Theresa had returned her attention to what she was reading when she didn't immediately recognize the girl, but she looked up again when the figure approached the place where she was sitting. A vague memory flitted across her mind, and she put her thumb between two pages as she closed the paperback.

"Melanie. Right? From the New Years's thing at the Dive?"

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[melodymagic]

"Melody," the young witch corrected, then remembered where she had seen the vaguely familiar face. "And yes, I was there, with Maddy," she continued, her head on the side as she looked at the other girl a little more openly. "Theresa? And you had purple streaks which looked great! You work there, don't you?" she said, smiling widely as she remembered that night, and meeting Theresa and Brian.

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[tiny_dancer81]

"Melody. Sorry. I knew it started with an M, though."

Theresa scooted over on the couch in case the other girl wanted to take a seat, then added, "And yeah, I still work at the Dive. I let the purple fade, though. It costs, like, thirty bucks a pop to get streaks, and I can't always afford it."

She wondered if Brian's slight weirdness around her had caused Melody to twig as to her real nature, then decided probably not. The girl would hardly be so friendly if she knew the truth, would she?

"So what's up? I haven't seen you around the place in a while. I'm guessing clubbing isn't your usual thing, though."

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[melodymagic]

Seeing the shuffling as an offer of a seat Melody sat down, shaking her head.

"No, I don't really get much time to clubs really, well, other than when I'm working for my parents, because... well, I'm usually working for my parents!" she said, with a smile at the end. She knew a lot of girls her age didn't get it, and that was okay with her - she loved her parents, and family, and while there was the occasional time she would have liked to go somewhere, to something some of her friends were doing, she had usually been okay with staying home or working. She had gone to the best school, and her clothes and books and everything she needed had always been bought, without hesitation. It was something she knew other kids didn't always have, so did not begrudge her parent's work ethic or expectations of her to work hard also.

Plus she had found her calling, and she had plenty of time to immerse herself in that world. And her parents had started to see that she could be trusted, with both going out, and with her craft.

"And also sometimes the smoke, it makes my eyes water, and makes me cough," she added, realising it sounded a little like an excuse. "My father, he has asthma, and they say that sometimes, in air like that? I might get it too. So it's okay, I don't mind not going," she went on to explain, "but I know I miss hearing bands, but it means I can save up and buy the tapes!" she said, pulling her Walkman out of her pocket briefly, then shoving it back in. "I like Maddy and Brian's band, they were good that night!"

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[tiny_dancer81]

"Yeah, they were rockin' that night. Tat was the first show I ever helped put together. It was like my final exam, to see if I could keep the job. I'm glad I passed."

Theresa didn't have much experience with parents who actually, well, parented. Not in her own house, anyway. She hadn't been abused, per se, but getting hit would have meant they knew she was around. The streets hadn't been awesome, but anything was better than being ignored.

"Where do you work?" she asked Melody, for her cup before remembering that it was empty. "I'm not much of a day person. I'm a total insomniac, so staying up all night is a habit. But I don't get out much during the day, so I've probably never seen you if you work in a store or something."

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[melodymagic]

"Oh, just next door, at the magic shop," Melody answered, and was about to continue when the coffee she'd ordered appeared on the counter. She gave Theresa a quick smile, and excused herself for a moment to collect it before returning.

"I also work for my parents, doing waitressing at their catering jobs, and sometimes Maddy has helped out too, with some big jobs when they need extra wait staff." She sipped at the coffee, her tongue darting out to lick the foam off her top lip as she lowered the cup.

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[tiny_dancer81]

Magic. Huh. Theresa believed in that stuff, at least now she did. She watched Melody claim her cup, then dogeared her spot in the book and set it aside.

"My dad used to take me to magic shows when I was a kid," she said once the other girl had returned. "I saw this woman get sawed in half. It scared me shi- gave me nightmares, even after she got out of the box and was okay."

The self-censoring was rare, but it occurred to the vampire that Melody might not be used to what appeared to be someone close to her age having a filthy mouth. She fiddled with her empty cup. "What kind of stuff does a magic shop sell?"

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[melodymagic]

"You wouldn't believe half of it!" Melody laughed, shaking her head as she started to recite the stock that was 'front of store' type of merchandise. It even included trick card packs and all the accoutrement of a backyard magician-wannabe.

"That's the stuff that pays the rent, my boss says," Melody said after taking another sip of her coffee. "The rest of it is a little more well, specialised?" she continued. Her fingers wrapped around the large mug she was holding, her thumb rubbing against the edge of the handle as she talked.

"We have clients who need things they can't find anywhere else, for their work, and they come to us. Things like crystals, and ingredients like essential oils and the like."

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[tiny_dancer81]

"Huh. So you believe in all that stuff? That magic exists, I mean. You don't look enough like a hippie for that."

Theresa smiled when she sad it, then lifted her weight off of the couch to get a refill. The counter guy had just finished with the espresso maker, so it didn't take long to get back. The vampire settled back against the cushion, freshly filled cup in hand.

"So are these, uh, clients of yours witches or something? Or do you just figure it's better not to ask?"

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[melodymagic]

Melody was about to answer Theresa's question when suddenly she headed off to order herself another coffee. So instead, while she waited, Melody considered her answer, hands cupping her mug for the warmth as she sipped from it. She had never realised that being a witch was considered as being a 'hippy', and she tried to think of a few of the customers, then realised that perhaps some might appear a little 'hippy-ish', so shrugged internally and looked around as Theresa waited for her refill.

And it was when she looked toward the windows to see the passers by, that she saw, or didn't see, something she expected, or didn't expect.

Theresa's reflection wasn't there. The guy serving her wouldn't have noticed, given the signage on the windows where he was standing, but the angle Melody seeing gave her a different view, and the guy was talking to himself as Theresa paid for the coffee. She blinked and checked again, and wondered if it was 'Meet a Vampire Week', at least for her, after meeting Daniel a few days earlier.

She sat there and waited as Theresa returned and settled back into the cushion.

"Well, we have all types of clients, or customers," she answered, "some who are regulars and also do some work from time to time, like creating wards and specialty items, and others we can pretty much guess are on their 'learner's permit' and we also get a few others who are looking for some help with different... conditions." She looked at the window, where again she could see only a reflection of herself, and no-one sitting on the dented cushions.

[tiny_dancer81]

They'd had more scones in the case, but Theresa had decided against it. Pretending to need food was one thing, but there was no point in wasting good money on it. The vampire was about to make some remark in response to Melody's comments when she noticed the way the mortal was looking at the plate glass window of the shop. The place where her diminutive form wasn't reflected.

Shit. Shit, fuck, shit.

"Don't yell."

Her voice was mild when she spoke, but she'd thrown a look over her shoulder before she said it. If the counter guy had noticed it too, she might very well be screwed. And not in a positive way.

"Just...I can explain. Really."

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[melodymagic]

Melody sat there, the slight widening of her eyes the only indication on the outside that she was different. Her mug was still in her hands, fingers holding it steady. She had talked to Jazz, her boss in the magic shop, about meeting Daniel and the woman told Melody, 'Yeah, there're some vamps who don't bite, but don't you go thinkin' they're all like that. They're the rarity and most'll sooner sink the fangs quicker 'n you can blink. Even you.'

"It's something you can explain?" Melody said, a little blankly. Theresa was a vampire, so Melody was wondering what needed to be explained, exactly. And she wondered if Maddy knew.

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[tiny_dancer81]

"Uh..."

That was a good question. How did you explain it? Theresa knew how she'd ended up dead at eighteen, but she doubted Melody wanted to hear all the details. The vampire took a drink of her espresso, tried to gather her thoughts cohesively.

""I'm not...not all of us are one way," she said finally, and one small shoulder went up and down in a shrug. "It's better to live under the radar. Easier, y'know? Shit, the whole reason I came to Nevada is because somebody torched the one who made me. I was looking to avoid trouble, not cause it."

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[melodymagic]

"One way," Melody repeated, figuring Theresa was referring to the way of blood-sucking killers. She had read a little more about them, not much of it very reassuring, and it was only her experience with Daniel that stopped her from getting up and leaving, and making sure she was not alone on the street. She cleared her throat, looking down at her hands before back to Theresa.

"How old are you, really?"

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[tiny_dancer81]

"You mean when I died? Eighteen. My ID says I'm twenty-four, though. I had that made after I got fangs."

Theresa shrugged again. As the eternal teenager, she'd come to terms with always looking the way she looked. She would never grow old and get wrinkles, or look in the mirror one day and find a gray hair. In some ways, it wasn't that bad.

"I know what you're thinking, or at least I think I do. Some of us really do just want to get along, though."

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[melodymagic]

"So you've been a... " She stopped, glanced around the shop, and lowered her voice, knowing she had a habit of speaking loudly when she was surprised, or curious.

"... you got your fangs when you were eighteen, and that was six years ago?" she asked, trying to figure that part out. It was pretty easy to see Theresa had been young, but it didn't mean she wasn't a few hundred years old.

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[tiny_dancer81]

Theresa scooted towards the opposite end of the couch when Melody nearly blurted out the word 'vampire', then warily settled back when the other girl refrained. She was imagining pitchforks and torches, or at least puddles of gasoline.

"Five, actually," she said after giving it a minute of thought. "I figured it would be best to say I was almost into my mid-twenties so I'd be closer to Dane's age. That way people wouldn't ask so many questions."

She realized as soon as she'd finished the sentence that she sounded as if she'd liked the son of a bitch, and a sheepish smile crossed her face. "The bond's a thing that can't be helped, even when you'd rather not feel it."

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[melodymagic]

"So you do have some sort of bond with your sire?" she asked. Yes, she'd read the books, but she also liked to hear it first hand, because that information was about as good as you could get.

"And yours was man called Dane?" Her curiosity was slowly making her forget all her concerns, just like it had when she was talking with Daniel. Or at least with Theresa it was happening more easily, probably because of her experience with Daniel. "But you said he's been... he's gone. So that's gone, right?"

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[tiny_dancer81]

The diminutive vampire looked down into her cup. Did she grieve for Dane? He was the asshole who'd murdered her, and there had been times when she'd wanted to immolate him herself. But he'd been the only family she had left, one that didn't always ignore her. So yeah, she did grieve, however muted that grief might have been

"There's a hole where the bond used to be," she admitted in a low voice. "It's really hard to explain. It's like...Siamese twins, only you're linked here."

She tapped her chest, above the place where her heart no longer functioned. "If one dies, the other feels the string being cut. After that it's, like, a void. I don't know why, it just works that way."

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[melodymagic]

The description made Melody frown with puzzlement. She had come to believe that vampires basically didn't 'feel' anything, and the way Theresa was talking made her rethink that.

"So you do sort of feel something?" Melody asked, head tilted a little to one side as she studied Theresa a little more openly. "I mean, do you feel happy, or cranky, or sort of tired, or depressed, or stuff like that?"

[tiny_dancer81]

"We feel stuff. It's kind of like a funhouse reflection of the way humans feel things, but we do have emotions. They're just...directed at what others would consider wrong."

Now Theresa was thinking of Maddy, who she'd gotten temporarily fixated on, and Valerie, who for those few minutes her mouth had been attached to the blonde's wrist had been the hottest thing she'd seen in ages. The first thing seemed to have faded, probably from lack of exposure to the other brunette, and she'd backed off from actively hitting on the Slayer because she wasn't sure it hadn't been the ingestion of megawatt blood talking. And she definitely wasn't going to explain any of that to Melody.

"Not all of us kill for fun," she said, lowering her voice. "Yeah, we're kinda few and far between, but it does happen."

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[melodymagic]

Melody wasn't sure the whole emotions thing was making sense to her, and she finished her coffee as she listened to Theresa. It was making her a little nervous, the thought of meeting another vampire who was basically saying Melody didn't need to worry about being attacked outside the door. Or at least that's what Melody was thinking the meanings were. She wasn't sure.

"Not so far between, it would appear," she murmured, staring into the bottom of her now empty mug before looking at Theresa. The vampire knew where Melody worked, and had her coffee, and Melody decided it might be time to head home. It was the end of another double shift and she had promised her parents she would be home straight after the shift. They still worried about her being out, and as she still lived at home it was only fair she abide by their rules.

"So, what do you live on if you don't... you know, drink 'cherry Cola'?" she asked, wondering if the euphemism Daniel had used was a universal, or at least even a locally well known one, or if Theresa was just going to look at her like she was stupid.

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[tiny_dancer81]

"Donations, actually. You have to know where to look, but there are people who don't mind letting you...well, you know. When I got the job at the Dive, I had to promise the manager I wouldn't snack on the premises."

Now that Melody knew, would she tell? Theresa had a pretty good thing going, and that could get screwed up if the other girl decided to start telling people. The diminutive vampire looked down into her cup, then drank some more of the strong brew.

"I could swear on something that I'm mostly harmless, but I'm not sure you'd believe me. Killing is wasteful and stupid and it attracts too much attention. I like to read the news, not be the source of it."

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[melodymagic]

"It is!" Melody agreed, probably a little too quickly, and just as quickly bit her lip. This conversation could have gone so differently if she'd tried the potion that was nestled in her satchel, but she hadn't, and didn't want to until she had her friend with her to make sure things went OK. "As in it is wasteful," she added, to explain.

"And really? I'm glad you think that way, though I have to say I've heard of there being people who, sort of, did that? Donated? But I wasn't sure it really happened." Her nose twitched a little and she rubbed it as she tried not to think about what it would be like to have some stranger's teeth sinking into your skin and actually volunteering to do it.

"How... often... do you need to... get donations?"

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[tiny_dancer81]

"I can go without eating every day, but after that I start to get fuzzy-headed and punchy. It's usually better for me to have a nibble every twelve hours or so. That way I don't take too much from one person."

Theresa's coffee cup was almost empty, and she drained it before saying, "I should probably let you cruise on home. Look, don't...don't tell anybody, okay? I know you don't owe me anything, but it would be a big favor if you'd just pretend you don't know."

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[melodymagic]

Melody's eyebrows rose at the 'nibble', and she swallowed a little, her eyes darting to Theresa's mouth as she imagined the fangs.

"Oh, I won't, don't worry, except..." She paused and looked at Theresa, and asked, "Maddy knows, doesn't she?" She had to talk to someone, and while she didn't want to talk to anyone else, she also didn't want to 'out' Theresa with their mutual friend once she promised not to. "I mean, I can talk to her, right?"

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[tiny_dancer81]

"No, she doesn't. I think Brian might, though. He's never said anything, but he acts weird around me sometimes."

Should she give Melody the green light to tell Maddy? She'd like to avoid the conversation about 'Oh, by the way, I thought about eating you' now that the urge had passed. It would put a kink in things at work, if nothing else.

"I know you guys are tight. You and Maddy, I mean. You think she's the type to freak?"

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[melodymagic]

Shaking her head quickly Melody assured Theresa that Maddy was far from the type to freak. And it was clear to her that Theresa had no idea about Maddy.

"I think she's a lot more aware of that sort of thing than she lets on," she said nonchalantly, looking down into her empty cup again before glancing at the vampire.

"She won't freak, but I won't tell her if you don't want me to." It would be almost impossible to keep that promise, so Melody really hoped that Theresa wouldn't insist on it.

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[tiny_dancer81]

It didn't have to be a disaster. Melody hadn't panicked, and she knew Maddy better than Theresa did. The vampire squared her small shoulders and took an unnecessary breath.

"Okay, you can tell her," she said, trying to overcome her reluctance. "Just...not in front of Brian. He's already acting weird. If he knows for sure, he'll probably start hauling out a cross every time I get near him."

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[melodymagic]

Melody giggled a little at the image that conjured up, and then blushed slightly, both at the giggle and the fact she'd imagined Brian in any way.

"I won't. I don't really see him that much anyway," she added, "as I said, I don't really go to their gigs, because ... well, I just don't." She had to sigh silently, wondering if the potion she had in her bag would make much of a difference to her once she had taken it. She hoped so, but she had no idea just how the change might work.

Re: Damn Good Coffee

[tiny_dancer81]

"Thanks, Melody. Look, I gotta scoot. It was nice to see you again. If you ever do get back to the Dive, come over and say hey."

Theresa started cleaning up her stuff, stacking both empty cups on the plate. There was a plastic tub near the counter, and dishes rattled as she added her contribution. She returned to the couch long enough to retrieve her book, then offered Melody a smile and a wave as she made her way to the door. The bell jingled as she let herself out.