“Right! I’ll be off then. Thank you for the info, Charity.”
“You are very welcome, sugar. Good luck, and make sure to not let that grumpy Gus bully you!” she chimed before hanging up.
Bully? Foxx snorted. He was too stubborn to let anyone bully him. Shaking his head, he caught sight of himself in the mirror again. “I definitely need to change.”
Foxx took off into his bedroom, his mind chanting,‘change and pack’.
Harlow stood there, arms crossed, in the parking lot of Fran's. The sun had yet to rise, but the sky was starting to lighten. He had arrived early. Two large duffle bags sat by his feet, along with two packs of water, containing twenty-four sixteen-ounce bottles each. The first pack would probably be gone in less than a day. Harlow knew they wouldn’t last for the whole trip, but he could just stop by a store when he needed more.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to decide if he should just rip into one of the packs of water or smoke. It would probably surprise many, but Harlow didn’t smoke because he enjoyed it, or because of an addiction. He smoked to distract himself from the need to drink liquids. In fact, he sort of hated the taste of it, and the smell, though he had gotten used to both.
At the sound of a car’s tires crunching over the pavement, he opened his eyes. Harlow’s eyes widened at the car he saw approaching. It was a baby blue Mini Cooper with a white roof, two white strips on the hood, and…it had white polka dots over the blue. “He can’t be fucking serious.” Harlow groaned out loud. Was his ass even going to fit in that car?
The windows were dark enough that it was hard to see inside, but he knew that was due to the UV protective coating on the windows. From the other side, they were no doubt almost clear to the driver looking through.
Harlow grimaced in disgust as the Mini Cooper pulled up to him. The driver’s side window rolled down, revealing Foxx, looking extra cupcakey. He was wearing a baby blue sweater with a cartoon sun on it. His large aquamarine eyes stared up at him in excitement, his crooked smile out in full force. Oh look, no bald spot. “Hello, partner!” The trunk popped. “Go ahead and put your things in the boot, and let’s be off on our adventure!”
Boot? Adventure? Harlow shook his head, but didn’t bother responding to the vampire’s nonsense. He quickly put both duffle bags in the trunk, on top of Foxx’s, and then went to the back door to set the water on the floor behind Foxx, so he could reach them. On one of the back seats, strapped in, was an electric cooler, which he was going to guess probably had blood in it.
“That’s a lot of water,” Foxx commented, big eyes staring at him as Harlow situated the packs on the floor.
Harlow didn’t respond, instead he straightened and slammed the back door. Taking a deep, calming breath, he pulled the passenger’s side door open. Pulling the lever by the seat, Harlow set it back as far as it would go, and squished himself inside. Even setting the seat all the way back didn’t help much. “You had to have a tiny ass car?” he grunted.
Foxx gave him a hesitant smile. “Being fun-sized, I generally…don’t buy large vehicles. Buckle up! Oh, and I do ask that you refrain from smoking in my car. I noticed the scent the first time we met.”
He nodded, even as his mind was stuck on the word ‘fun-sized’. That was one way to describe being short as shit. As he buckled up, he made a plan to immediately find a body shop, when he got back from this case, to get his windows up to code for Foxx. He never wanted to step foot in this monstrously tiny car again.
Foxx started driving, and the vampire managed to stay silent for about five minutes before the questions came.
“So, Harlow, did you have a nice morning?”
Harlow snorted. “I was woken up at half past five… What do you think?”
Foxx giggled, and then the words just rushed out. “I can’t say I’m a morning person either. In fact, I can be an absolute sourpuss when I’m forced to wake up early. I usually hiss and growl, and do all I can to try to get a few extra minutes or hours of sleep. My best friend says the best method to wake me up is to steal all my covers because I hate being cold. Which, if you ask me, is a bit rude, don’t you think? Stealing someone’s warmth away is just downright cruel. Though, now that I think about it, our mornings are a bit switched, are they not? While you were woken up, I was just putting my PJs on, about to sit down and relax a few hours before bed. I suppose now I’ll have to get used to having a sleep schedule that may not be exactly normal for my species. What is your sleep schedule like? Does it switch, or stay a bit more normal for humans? It would switch, wouldn’t it, depending on what you are hunting?”
Harlow stared, his brain trying to catch up with the amount of nonsense Foxx had managed to say without taking a single breath. He knew for a fact that while vampires could hold their breath longer than humans, they did still need to breathe. What question did Foxx even expect him to answer? The man hadn’t even paused after asking most of them. Why the hell was he so peppy without sleep?! Wait… Foxx hadn’t slept… This was his chance for quiet!
“Being a hunter does mess up your sleep, which is why you need to take every chance you have to rest when you can. Why don’t I drive and let you take a nap, hmm?” Harlow asked with a forced smile as he reached back and punched a hole into the plastic around the water bottles before he yanked one out. He’d just unsealed the lid and brought it to his lips when the next onslaught of words came at him.
“Oh, what a kind suggestion. I am a bit knackered. Though I could keep going for quite a while.” Foxx hummed. “Oh, but shouldn’t we use this time to get to know each other, being new partners and all? I won’t necessarily be down and out without one day of sleep. I really want this all to work out. I want to get to know you. What do you think? I mean, if you are worried that I’m too tired to drive, I suppose I understand. There is always time later. Who knows how long this case will last. It could mean even more sleepless nights. Which could add up to a dangerous level. And there will always be more cases. I suppose you are right. It’s best to let the one with the most sleep drive for now.” Foxx nodded to who the hell knows which part as the vampire held a whole conversation with himself.
Harlow tried not to choke as he chugged the water down, thinking in horror that this was what he was going to be subjected to…for who knows how many years to come. Could he get away with killing him? So what if one vampire was to go missing? No… No… He knew for a fact, the first person Tony would look at would be him. Maybe he’d get lucky, and Foxx would die a few hunts in. Surely, whoever they replaced him with couldn’t be any more annoying?
* * *
After Harlow had graciously switchedspots with him, Foxx really had tried to sleep. Really, he had. He’d even closed his eyes after watching the sunrise. It had been a beautiful sight, and not one he’d seen often until the recent century.
Either way, he had closed his eyes and remained silent for a good amount of time. The problem was…he just wasn’t tired. Foxx had consumed three bags of blood before picking up Harlow, for the very reason Harlow had wanted him to switch—to kick back any sleepiness. Over consuming blood, for his kind, was like when humans drank energy drinks, or a ton of coffee. So instead of being tired, he was hyper as all hell.
After thirty minutes of having his eyes closed and being silent, he slyly peered over at Harlow at the sound of another water bottle being removed from the back. Huh, that was number three, wasn’t it? It hadn’t even been an hour yet. Odd—Foxx couldn’t recall humans needing to drink so much. Would it be rude to ask? Probably…next time. He’d ask next time.
“So, what are your hobbies? I—”
“Foxx!” The human growled out his name. It sent a shudder down his spine…in a good way.
“Yes?”
“Weren’t you going to sleep?” His voice sounded hopeful.
