Cranberry Juice [ On Hold ]

1. Bread Convention

"Crow, I swear to god, if you've used my account to pay for another goddamn Among Us add-on, I'm gonna cover the walls in so much garlic that it'll smell like a bread convention!" Soren cursed, bursting through the door. He dumped some groceries bedside the threshold, fingers cut from the strain of the bags, and facepalmed, scanning the room.

Crow ducked behind a couch. "I need it! I'm trying to understand the references! Back in my day, we didn't have impostors, we had stock market crashes!" he whined. He picked at the pills on his yellow turtleneck, and turned off his Reference Tablet (as he called it).

"Dude, the meme's dead. It died months ago. You don't even know how to play! You just run around, tapping the screen!" his roommate groaned, running a hand through his dye-damaged hair. Rain pattered against the window, and the leak in the roof dripped down into a pasta bowl. Crow's phone buzzed, and the vampire scrambled to silence it.

Soren turned at the noise, and then spotted a strand of his roommate's fluffy hair sticking up from behind the arms of the sofa. His gaze softened. It was hard to be mad at Crow. "I know you're trying, but please, just find a video on something. Look, when we find you get a job, you can buy all of the add-ons you want. Just not with my card." He sounded tired, the edge of a yawn lacing his words.

Crow frowned from behind his hiding spot. "I'm trying to look for one, but do you know how hard it is to find a job when sunlight literally kills you? Believe me, I don't want to be cooped up in here, with the Reference Tablet - sorry, phone," he spluttered, "taunting me with these obscure... references! What the hell is a Spunch Bob? And that colour theory post looks like blood - I'm not complaining, mind you - but who the hell puts it in a human hospital?" Crow had been trying his hardest to catch up to modern-day, but sometimes it was just a bit too ridiculous. One more Shrek POV and he was out.

Soren let out a laugh, and leaned on the couch without crowding his roommate's space. "That's the joke, Crow. It's irony," he explained. "I'll explain it to you tomorrow," he said, as reassuringly as he could muster. Then his face lit up. "Hey, coconut water was on special! I can mix it with some cherry juice, if you want?"

Crow looked up at Soren, and couldn't help but smile. "That would be really good. I'm sorry about the Among Us thing," he said. "I know you work hard. I won't do it again." (That was only partially a lie. His next goal was to buy Undertale just to hear Megalovania.)

"I know you will."

"I will."

Soren rolled his eyes. "So long as it isn't Among Us, maybe I'll be less mad. I'd be a bit more okay if it was for something that wasn't dead - no offence. You want to help with dinner?" he offered, gesturing to bursting grocery bags on the counter.

"None taken. I would love too. What is for dinner, anyways?" Crow rose to his feet, and pushed his round spectacles back up the bridge of his nose. The tall, exasperated image of his roommate came into focus. Black jeans and a jumper with a skeleton pattern. The usual outfit. If you were shown a picture of these two and told to choose the vampire, you'd probably pick Soren.

"Garlic bread."

"Soren!"

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Instant noodles for me, tomato soup for you. Sound good?"

Soren offered an outstretched hand to his roommate, and lead him to the laminate counter, spotted in the reflection of the overhead lights.

The two of them started cooking. The scent of cheap canned soup filled the tiny apartment as the sky stained a dusty colour, blanketed in the thundering clouds. Dinner was a quick affair, Soren had made sure of that. Gave him time to study, and gave Crow a chance to go outside for longer.

"Stay safe. If you see a priest, run away," Soren called, not looking up from his laptop.

Crow nodded. "I will. Remember to take your binder off - I know how boring those courses are, I don't want you to fall asleep with it on," he said as he pulled on his beanie.

"Thanks, man. You too, when you get back. Hey, did you get Undertale on this thing?"

Crow was already out the door.

As he stared up from the base of the ivy-robed building, rain splashing onto his shoulders, Crow laughed. Soren sat in the window half asleep, the warm glow of the apartment lighting up his face. Imagine sleeping. What a nerd.

Crow enjoyed these times outside. Old fashioned vampires would take the moon's rising as an opportunity to find a meal, but Crow was reasonably content with the coconut water instead. It was pretty expensive, but Soren handled that. Soren handled everything.

Crow was pretty lucky to have him around. He was the best friend - no, the only friend - he'd ever had. And he'd been alive for eighty years (even if most of those were spent locked in a condemned library).

To be honest, Crow hadn't really thought too much about what Soren had done for him. When Soren found him, Crow was too scared to speak. Soren had taken this shivering heap of vampire back to his apartment, and let him stay there. He wasn't afraid of him, he just recognised that this person was lost, and he did his best to take care of them.

The vampire checked to make sure there wasn't anyone else on their quiet street, and then he inhaled. He began to spin. He jumped, he leaped, he laughed. He was outside. The rain felt good. It hadn't rained in a while, and late summer rains were his favourite.

He stayed out there for a while. His clothes were soaked. He only went back inside when the sky started to tinge red. As he unlocked the door, he cursed. He should have remembered. Damn vampire lore. He'd have to break in, again.

After ten minutes of struggle, he managed to tumble in through the window. Soren was fast asleep. Crow couldn't help but feel guilty. He knew his roommate didn't care about taking care of the both of them, but Crow could see the fatigue in his expression. Even if he didn't get tired, humans had a horrible habit of it. Crow took off his jumper and put it over Soren's shoulders. Maybe, just maybe, he could start helping out a bit more. Hey, what could go wrong?

A/N: Thanks for reading this first chapter. In case you're unfamiliar with book cliches - stuff's definitely gonna go wrong. Please consider leaving a vote or smth :) I'll read all of your comments.

Also, for the colour theory thing, search up tumblr colour theory hospital ;)))