Chapter Text
Tomek generally made a point of not reading too much into his customer’s mannerisms, but werewolves’ tells were always rather hard to ignore. Well, it seemed that way anyway, perhaps it was just the obvious ones, of course.
Either way, the person currently wandering vaguely through the store, trying not to sniff too obviously at the shelves, was clearly a werewolf. It was just as clear that they didn’t know what they were here for, or at least not where to find it, and were stalling for time before coming to ask him. He had far too much experience working here to go up to them to offer assistance though. It made too many people uncomfortable or jumpy, and that was a dangerous game in this business.
So Tomek stayed behind his counter and looked as welcoming and unoccupied as he could.
After a while, they wandered closer. “Hi, um–”
“Evening,” he smiled and they nodded back at him.
“So,” the customer said, leaning on the counter with slightly clawed hands. “Do you have anything for vampires?”
“I’m going to need you to specify,” he replied, after a rather awkward silence he had hoped they would fill. “When you say ‘for’, you mean…?” Usually what people meant was “against”, and he really preferred not to sell stuff like that.
“I mean…” The werewolf grimaced. “Something…nice?”
Okay, not much clearer, but at least less worrying. “Something nice,” he repeated. “So it’s a gift, then?”
“No!” they protested hastily. “Well, it’s… We live together and– I mean we share an apartment.”
Tomek kept his face carefully neutral. As neutral, he hoped, as his customer’s face was embarrassedly expressive. “Right. So you want to buy something nice for the house that they will like?”
“Yes!” Relief flooded the stubbly features. “Yeah that sounds good.”
It took him a lot of restraint not to ask any further questions. The world was so unfair sometimes. “Alright,” he carried on. “What sort of vampire are they?”
The customer’s yellow eyes darted up and down uncertainly. “Uh, he’s…old–er? Likes dramatic music, hates rice…”
“No, I mean–” He cleared his throat to hide a smile. “Is he undead?”
“Oh! Yeah, sure.”
He nodded. “Then I know just the thing. I don’t sell it here, cause it’s not exactly occult, but he’ll love it, trust me.”
The werewolf slanted their head curiously. “What is it?”
“A hot water bottle. Preferably more than one. Just leave them lying around somewhere where he’ll find them.”
They frowned, and they had rather a lot to frown with. “I’ve never heard of that, what do you mean?”
“They’re rubber bottles, or bags with stoppers more like, that you fill with hot water to keep you warm. In my experience, vampires don’t mind cold, being cold themselves, but they love warmth.”
“Really?” They sound almost suspicious.
“I mean, the ones I know do.” He was pretty sure Elsie had four hot water bottles and an electric blanket by now. “But of course I don’t know your friend, so– ”
“Roommate,” the werewolf mumbled hoarsely.
“Right,” Tomek corrected hastily. “Roommate.”
For a moment the werewolf stood at the counter in doubtful contemplation, but then their face brightened and the tension sagged from their shoulders. “Okay! Yeah, thank you, I will do that. Sounds like something they’d have at the drug store, yeah?”
“Mhm,” he nodded. “I know the one across the fortune telling centre sells them.”
“Great!” They flashed him a toothy grin and bounded back towards the exit. “Thanks!”
“Always happy to help. Hope he likes it.”
“Yeah!” They spun round, walking backwards a few paces. “Uh, great store by the way, sorry I didn’t buy anything. I’ll tell Yule about you though, she loves all this!”
Tomek nodded, not bothering to answer as the shop bells chimed happily at the closing door. He hoped, for Yule’s sake, whoever she was, that she was not the third roommate in this equation. He also hoped, quite fervently, that if she did decide to stop by, she’d be willing to gossip about her friends to a total stranger.