P ulling his bear hood up, but leaving the shield down, Foxx walked up behind the waitress named Samantha while she quietly talked to another patron, making it quite clear that she, in fact, could talk.
“Excuse me!” he bellowed.
“My stars,” she gasped as she jumped and spun around at the sound of his voice, her hand clutched over her chest.
Samantha’s expression twisted on spotting him. Or rather, on looking down, as the human had at least five inches on him. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and by his guess, she was probably in her thirties.
In the face of her disgust, Foxx smirked. “Oh, so you can talk! You’re just incredibly speciest and rude. I’m curious though, do I tick off any more of your boxes of hatred? I happen to be a feminist, and you do look like the type to be a self-hating misogynist. What say you, Samantha, are you offended by my ‘unmanly’ clothing choices? Or are you just a good old-fashioned homophobe?!”
Her jaw clenched but she stayed quiet. Tossing her head back, she tried to step past him, but he moved right in her way.
“I am not done talking, and since you refused to, I am happy to have this conversation all on my own. Whatever kind of bigot you and the rest of these people in here are—who have stared, whispered, and demonized me for the crime of simply existing and being other—my wish for you all is that you have the lives you deserve .
“Because while I remain hopeful for a future without horrible, nightmarish twatwaffles such as yourselves, the fact is, I will leave here today and continue to live, thrive, and be happy. You, on the other hand, will remain in this dying town, denying people their right to exist, hating everyone different from you, and honestly, that’s what you deserve.
“You deserve to stay in this town, being dragged down by your own hatred, blaming everyone except yourself for your own failures, never once reaching even an ounce of the happiness I have managed to grab hold of, because you are far too bloody bitter to recognize you have played yourself.
“I know people like you. Your kind has been around for centuries. You’re not unique, or special. You’re a washed-up, run-down, twice photocopied image of a bigot?—”
“Why don’t you leave the lady alone?!” a middle-aged human in the booth directly to his right said as he stood up.
Foxx stared at Samantha silently for a moment. The woman was looking down at him with wide eyes now, the color in her cheeks gone.
Snorting, he glanced toward the man. “Sit. Down!” he hissed. The human may have had a foot on him, but he swallowed hard under his gaze, and wisely sat his ass back down.
He turned and looked around the drab, mostly beige-colored diner, with its white booths, chairs, and chrome tables, meeting the gazes of the humans all around him as he went. Everyone in the place—even though only those in the two tables nearest to him could have possibly heard what he’d said—were looking at him with suspicion and fear, or a deep seething anger…all except for two people.
The first of the two was Gavin. The dragon was smiling, his back against the display case, looking ready to steal his small silver Loch Ness monster statue. And the second was, of course, Harlow. The dhampir was standing only feet away, his hand reaching out to him, with a wide smirk on his face.
Foxx smiled and didn’t hesitate in taking that hand. With Harlow’s fingers twined with his, he turned back towards the waitress, and that’s when he did hesitate. He’d been prepared to say more, to really lecture about what their hatred brought to others…bu t as he looked at Samantha’s face, and still saw the hate behind her fear, he realized he didn’t want to.
Foxx was tired. He was tired of saying the same shit, in a different century. Because no matter how he said it, or what year it was, the people who he talked to never fucking learned a bloody thing. And the fact was, he didn’t owe them anything besides disdain.
Foxx knew who they were, he’d seen the depths of their hatred, he had it burned onto his very flesh. It was forever there as a scar on his back, to remind him alongside all of the horrible fucking memories of what had been done to him. What they had done to him.
Foxx had survived people like them, and they did not deserve his time. Not when he didn’t want to give it. Because in the end, they were nothing to him, and nothing to the world, besides an impediment of progress. And while he could only hope that by the time they were dust in the ground, the ideals they clung to in life had been taken with them, in that moment, he knew what he said would change nothing.
Foxx knew that these people were heartless, and the only way they would change or see reason was if it personally affected them. And just as they were nothing to him, he was nothing to them as well, besides an embodiment of all they hated.
Foxx had been joking around when he’d mentioned the toddler meltdown, but…why the fuck not?
Foxx slipped his hand free and faced Harlow, letting the biggest, fattest tears pool in his eyes, while he started to hiccup. “I j-just wanted a grilled ch-cheese! Why are they all being so mean to m-meeee?!” He dramatically burst into tears, wailing loudly, stomping his feet in true toddler fashion as he reached for the dhampir.
Harlow’s brow rose as Foxx sobbed like a nap deprived toddler who’d been told no. Stomping in place, the vampire reached towards him while wagging his arms .
He may not have been an expert in body language, but Foxx clearly wanted him—if Harlow wasn’t interpreting this entirely wrong—to pick him up. He wasn’t sure what had gone through the vampire’s mind in the seconds after he’d taken his hand, but whatever…
Harlow picked Foxx up, and shifted him onto one hip, just as one would hold a toddler. He assumed the vampire wanted to see the room, because the room certainly saw him. The humans in the diner had now gone from fearful and angry to jaw-droppingly baffled, and well…his best guess was horrified.
“There, there.” Harlow patted Foxx’s back.
He held back his laughter as the man ramped up his crying, pointing at the waitress! “SHE WOULDN’T EVEN TELL ME HER NAME! OR SAY ANYTHING! And she threw my cheesecake on the table!”
“She did do that.”
“It also wasn’t even a sliceeee!” Foxx whimpered. “It wasn’t even HALF a slice! I WANT MY CHEESECAKE!”
“What in the hell is going on out here?!” A man dressed in jeans, a black button down, and boots stormed out of a door from back that was marked as staff only.
“Lany!” Samantha cried, rushing over to the man. “This vampire is causing problems! He was insulting me before he started to freak out.”
“ME?!” Foxx screeched. “I just came in to eat. You wouldn’t say a word to us, let alone tell us your name! You threw my sliver of cheesecake onto the table! THE TABLE! I JUST WANTED FOOD AFTER A NIGHTMARE! I JUST WANTED A GRILLED CHEESE AND MILK! WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN?! YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW ME!” The vampire’s wailing picked back up, and he was now bawling his eyes out after burying his face dramatically in Harlow’s shoulder.
Lany stared wide-eyed at Foxx, before his gaze flicked to Harlow, his brow pulling slightly before he slowly said, “I’m the owner and manager of Lany’s Diner. I’m sorry you and your son were mistreated, but we can’t have you shouting and disturbing the rest of the guests. If you could please calm your child down… ”
Harlow’s right eye started to twitch with the amount of willpower he was forced to use in order to keep a straight face.
He almost lost it when Foxx pathetically sobbed, “Daddy, the man is scaryyyy!”
Oh…this fucking menace.
Clearing his throat, Harlow patted the vampire’s back, and allowed a mask of fakeassery to drop into place. “He’s just upset. Like he said, he had a bad nightmare. And instead of receiving comfort from food and the small-town atmosphere, everyone glared at him the second we walked in, on top of our waitress refusing to talk. And then she messed up his sweet treat. My child is understandably upset. You can see for yourself what we are talking about.” He nodded towards their table. “The pathetic piece he was served is still right where it fell when our waitress tossed it at him.”
Foxx let out another whimper, not looking up.
Lany looked over at their table, frowning as he must have caught sight of the admittedly sad looking piece of cheesecake. “Samantha,” the man sighed, sounding disappointed, before his mouth curved into what he was assuming was the man’s best retail smile. “I’m so sorry, the bill is on us. And for the trouble, how about I throw in the rest of the cheesecake?”
The waitress tried to defend herself. “Lany, I?—!”
The human shushed her with a stern look.
“Cheesecake?” the vampire said, his voice sickeningly sweet as he sniffled and looked back at the human with his big, currently watery, aqua-green eyes.
The fucking sucker , he thought with disgust when the human’s smile became instantly genuine. “You know what, kiddo, how about I grab a whole one for you? Sound good?”
Foxx gasped excitedly, clapping. “YAY!” The vampire’s dimples flashed as he smiled.
The man chuckled. “I’ll go grab that and get it packed up for you. If you haven’t finished eating yet, go ahead and sit back down, otherwise, I’ll only be a moment.” After gently, and he’d even say sweetly, speaking to Foxx, Lany looked at Samantha, sternly barking, “You, follow me,” before both of them disappeared into the back.
“Happy now, Brat?” he grumbled softly .
Foxx giggled evilly. “Yes!”
Rolling his eyes, with Foxx still in his arms, Harlow slowly turned away from the staring crowd, who looked no less shocked, and was surprised to find Gavin still standing there by the display case, looking just as shocked as everyone else. The statue was missing, so he could only assume the man had taken it already, but that didn’t explain why he was still in the building.
Swiftly closing the distance, once he reached the dragon, Harlow whispered, “Why are you still here?”
“Is…is he broken?” Gavin rasped, his eyes wide.
Foxx gasped, sounding outraged. “Daddy, he’s mean too!”
“Foxx!”
Table of Contents
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