Chapter Text
"Should I sell feet pics?"
Her question was met with a quirked brow and a snort. Almond-shaped eyes pinned Mina down, unimpressed. "Why is that always your go-to get-rich-quick scheme?" asked Hitomi as she threw back a shot of tequila.
Mina let out a rueful sigh and followed suit, shivering as the alcohol traveled down her gullet. Gasping for air, she followed it with a sip of water. "Well, you already shot down me selling my virginity-"
"-because it's illegal, and you hate being touched," Hitomi interjected with an eye roll. She waved down the bartender, a thin woman with shoulder-length blonde hair. "Two more shots of tequila, please."
The bartender had a sunny disposition, which Mina found odd considering there were bite marks riddling her upper torso. The whole sex dungeon vibes of the establishment also put a damper on things, but the woman was upbeat as she grabbed their empty glasses. "Sure thing, darlin'!"
"Which is why I want to sell feet pictures," Mina continued onto more important matters. Her best friend was an enterprising woman, so surely, she would support Mina's decision to capitalize on her small, dainty feet. "I'm sure there are some handsome gentlemen out there-"
"-weirdos on the internet-"
"Hey, aren't you the one telling me not to kink shame?" protested Mina. The corner of her lip twitched, the need to be a smart ass too irresistible to ignore. "Let's not forget about you and Ryan-"
"I don't wanna talk about Ryan," her friend scowled, disgusted by the mere mention of her ex boyfriend. "Besides, that was a long, long time ago. I’m a new woman now.
Mina scoffed, "Sure, if you think three months is forever ago."
"Fuck off."
The blonde woman reappeared before them, two tequila shots in her hand. She deposited them down along with salt and two slices of lime. "Here y'all are!"
"Thank you!" Hitomi and Mina chorused. The pair saluted before licking the salt off their index fingers and shooting down the tequila.
"Damn," Mina winced as she sucked on the lime. While she was no stranger to alcohol, she was still a fortified weakling when taking shots. "Put hair right on your chest."
"You know, Mina," Hitomi spoke up, her voice straining over the loud club music, "if you do sell feet pics-- of which I do not condone-- but let's say-- hypothetically-- should you capitalize on selling them-- which again, I cannot stress enough, I am not endorsing you do-- I should get some of the profits."
Mina gave her a bored look, flippantly twiddling the ends of her black hair. "Oh ho, ho, someone changed their tune pretty fast."
Hitomi narrowed her eyes, voice dryer than the Atacama. "Listen, if you're gonna take them in my house and use my peanut butter-"
"Who said anything about peanut butter?"
"-I should get some money out of it, you know? If anything, think of me as your manager." Hitomi gave her a wink.
"Oh yeah, sure," Mina chuckled. "Add that to your resume. Part-time investigative journalist, part-time feet pic manager. Real classy."
Her cheek earned her a smack to the shoulder. It didn't hurt, but that did not stop Mina from releasing an indignant squeak. "Hey! I should sue you for abuse!"
"Would you shut up about my job?" Hitomi hissed lowly. Her brown eyes scanned the room, checking if anyone had heard Mina's slip.
Black eyebrows furrowed. Mina looked around and found that all the bar goers were paying them no mind. Some were dry humping on the dance floor, others drinking themselves silly. "About facilitating feet pictures?"
If anything, Mina would have thought people at a vampire bar would be into it, especially one in Shreveport-- the proverbial armpit of Louisiana.
"No, you dope!" Hitomi shot her a glare before scooting closer and dropping an octave. "The journalist job. I don't want anyone to hear you."
"Wait, is that why we're here?" Mina was shocked. Sure, it was a nice place-- in a creepy, BDSM way, and the black and red interior decorating was... interesting. Definitely a detour from their usual hang-out places, but it had booze, and well, yeah, it had booze.
Mina and Hitomi stood out like a sore thumb, considering every other party-goer was clad in latex and revealing clothes. They both donned their Tulane University shirts; Mina wore a pair of black leggings, while Hitomi had on Nike shorts.
And it was only by the grace of God that Mina opted not to wear her neon green Crocs, but ultimately, she decided that her sex appeal could not bear any more damage.
"Yes, why did you think we would come here of all places?" Hitomi asked, genuinely surprised.
"I don't know! To drown out all of our woes?" pouted Mina, a frown forming on her lips. She could hardly believe it, considering they were on their third or fourth or fifth shot.“I didn’t know you were working, you sly thing you.”
Hitomi snorted humorlessly. “Girl, I’m always working. And what do you mean our woes? It’s your woes. You're the one who wanted to go out and pout about getting cut off."
"Oh yeah, you're right. I'm depressed," Mina sighed into her hands. "God, I don't know what I'm going to do."
"Sell feet pics?"
"Don't tempt me," Mina grumbled before signaling the bartender again. "Could we get another round of shots please?"
"I'm sure your dad will come to his senses soon, Na. You're the baby and the only daughter, remember?" Hitomi pointed out.
"Ugh, I'm also the only one of his children that isn't going into medical or law school," Mina cried out. She quickly accepted her shot from the bartender and gulped it down. Not surprisingly, the bitter sting had lessened this go-round.
It was true; Mina had always been the designated apple of her father's eye. Growing up with four older brothers dictated that she had special treatment; that was the case until last night, when she announced to her intention to be a physicist, not a lawyer or a doctor. He had such high hopes for her, and in one thirty-four minute conversation she had destroyed all of them.
"You know what?" Mina growled, slamming her water down. "Screw my brothers for being so successful and putting all this pressure on me! Didn't they stop and think, maybe our baby sister would like to be a mathematician or an exotic dancer? But noooo, they had to be heart surgeons and dentists and corporate lawyers!"
"You did get the short end of the stick,” Hitomi mused aloud. “Literally. You're what? Five-two, five-one? And they're all over six feet.”
Mina shot her glare and crossed her arms. “Yeah, yeah, they inherited my Dad’s spectacular Swedish height, but I got stuck with my mom’s pee-wee size.”
“At least she makes a damn good curry,” Hitomi chimed in. Her stomach gave off a rumble when she remembered the last time she had Mrs. Ecklund's chicken curry.
Mina could not deny that. She nodded, acquiescing, “Yeah, the woman can whoop a damn good curry.”
”Dude, you’re so lucky. Homemade Indian food all the time? I’d die happy,” told Hitomi before an idea popped in her head. "We should get curry after this"
"It's nearly 1 am, Hit. Where are we going to find Indian food at this time of night?"
Instead of Indian food, the two girls settled on drinking more and waved down for another round of shots. "Curse the natural rotation of the Earth. Say the saying with me."
"Time is a flat circle," they said in perfect duet but in a not-so-perfect Mathew McConaughey impression.
Mina's head flopped onto the counter. Ordinarily, the action would have disgusted her, especially seeing a woman feast on another man's neck. Ew. Not that vampirism or biting sex fetishes were wrong-- Mina was not one to judge because again, she was a twenty-one woman who wore bright neon Crocs--, but seriously, it was pretty unsanitary. However, after their fourth shot, the counter was starting to look pretty comfortable.
"If I could go back home, I'd just walk to the fridge and get leftovers."
Hitomi tisked her, wagging her finger, "You know, you could always learn."
"And be your little Indian housewife? Uh, no thanks. Why don't you make me Japanese food?"
"Because," Hitomi drawled, shooting her shot, "I can't cook worth of shit AND technically, I'm letting you crash at my house for FREE, so yes, the least you can do is be my little housewife."
"So you think you can pimp me out in your kitchen?" Mina accused, a playful smile on her face. "Girl, I can't even make Kraft Mac n' Cheese correctly-"
"You just add water-"
"The science eludes me," Mina stated blandly. Despite having a perfect 3.98 GPA (curse Dr. Sidorov and his Quantum class), she was absolutely hopeless in the kitchen. She may have inherited her mother's dark hair and eyes and short stature, but one thing that did not get passed down was her exemplary culinary skills.
"Hey love birds!" a feminine voice broke their banter. Their heads shot up to see an impeccably dressed woman saunter up to the bar, her glacial eyes glued to the blood-sucking love birds next to them. Her pale blonde hair was pulled up in a tight, albeit stylish, ponytail, and she wore a skin tight latex suit with the highest pumps Mina had ever seen. "I understand this ain't the most family friendly establishment, but we have a no open-feeding policy here at Fangtasia."
Her steely orbs slid to Hitomi and Mina, a smirk twisting on her rouge-colored lips. "Scares the humans, you see," she explained, the rasp in her voice amplified when she said humans. Her eyes flickered back to the couple. "So why don't you move your display to the bathrooms. There you can feed and fuck to your heart's desire; I don't care. But out here, you will follow the rules, or I'll rip your heart out."
The couple had the decency to look embarrassed. They kept their heads down as they scooted off to the bathrooms, presumedly to indulge in either activity away from the gazes of others. The woman watched as they went, hand placed on her hip, before turning around and sashaying away, disappearing in a crowd of people.
Hitomi whipped back around to Mina. "Whoa! Did you freaking see that!"
The corners of Mina's lip dipped. "See what? She told them to go to the bathroom. Most bars do that when their clientele get a little frisky."
"Yeah, at a human bar! That, my friend, was the modern interaction between a vampire business owner and their human/vampire costumer! God, this is so freaking exciting. I gotta put that in my notes," Hitomi exclaimed, excitedly scribbling down on her notepad. Mina raised an eyebrow and peeked at the barely legible garbage on the paper. Really, she was way too drunk for this. "Notice how she's catered to our human sensibilities and upheld the law, but she didn't necessary discourage it either, which is a non-reprehensible way of not facilitating it but not knocking it either."
"Yeah, Hit. I was there."
"God, this place is amazing," Hitomi sighed dreamily, head in her hand. "It truly is insane, Mina. Imagine a world where we just get to co-exist with vampires."
Mina shrugged, "I try not to think about too much."
"Oh come on, aren't you a scientist? How does this stuff not interest you at all? They literally defy every scientific law!"
"Exactly as you said, I'm a scientist, and vampires defy every biological, chemical, and physical principle I have studied," Mina answered honestly. "It's magic, and it's mysterious, and it challenges everything I believe in, so for my sanity, I'd prefer not to think too hard about it."
"Doesn't that make you a shit scientist then? Where's your sense of wonder?"
Mina gave her a lazy look. "Ignorance is bliss, baby. As far as I'm concerned, vampires are part of the simulation you and I are undoubtedly in."
"So you're not interested by them in the slightest bit? What? It doesn't do it for your scientific inquiry boner?"
"My scientific inquiry boner is only interested in two things," Mina said, holding up two fingers. Curiously, after her last shot, her fingers were starting to look a little funny. "String theory and..."
Mina paused to wave down the bartender again for another round of shots. "And how many shots does it take to kill my kidneys. For science, of course."
Hitomi rolled her eyes, but there was a signature sparkle in them that told Mina she was game. "Oh yeah, for science. And you're not worried about getting totally shit-faced at a vampire bar?"
Mina halted a second and considered. There were definitely sketchy people in their midst, and the last thing the two of them needed to be doing was tempting fate and getting stupid drunk around a bunch of bloodthirsty vampires.
But then the image of her father's disappointed face as she told him her decision, and her mother's devastated tear-stricken cheeks when she packed her bags and went to Hitomi's apartment.
Mina picked up the shot glass and smiled, solemn. "It's all just a simulation."
Honestly, it was just a few drinks. They'd get shloshed and be Ubered home. Nothing bad was gonna happen to them.
Right?