Today was the day. The day of the date.

Mei was a bit much very anxious about today. She hadn't been able to talk to Cassey irl since they gave her their contact four days ago. Yesterday, the café was closed, the day before Mei had gone but another barista had been faster than Cas, so they hadn't been able to speak, and the day before that Mei simply hadn't been able to go at all. The hospital called her before the shift started because there had been some big accident and they needed her help to assist both doctors by bringing the blood supplies and pain killers, as well as taking care of the less urgent patients, sort of as moral support. This last task was the less favorite one, having to console injured people who couldn't go inside the operation rooms yet and helping the families around the place... Seeing all these people brough up bad memories, but after a few years working here, Mei had learned to push those feelings down and concentrate on her job.

Choosing what to wear was the hardest thing of them all. Mei's closet was basically made up of the same stuff, white or black simple t-shirts, skinny jeans of different colors, and flannels/jackets. There was no variety, the vampire only owned one elegant dress and it was a bit too much for a first date, she didn't want to overdress.

But yet again, it was a first date. She couldn't just wear some simple clothes, she had to look at least a bit fancy!

After way too much debating and creating a big mess on her bed, Mei finally had the outfit ready. She had chosen a dark red turtleneck that was hidden at the end of her closet to wear underneath a white t-shirt, all tucked in black jeans with a nice golden-toned belt around the waist. Her hair was now up in a ponytail, except for some strands that didn't reach that back, which now fell at both sides of her face. As far as Mei was aware, they were fairly big strands, but she couldn't be too sure since she didn't own mirrors she could check on. There was no use on having them anyways, vampires can't see their reflections, at least in mirrors made with silver.

Silver is a pure metal, and, as it turns out, vampires aren't "pure enough" to be reflected in it, since they're half dead and all. Phones also contain some silver inside them, but not in such a bit quantity, meaning that Mei could use hers without much trouble. She tried to check her appearance with the camera of her phone, but, as always, her image was semi-translucent, which wasn't of much help. At least, for what she could see, her hair wasn't terrible.

Lastly, Mei wanted to accessorize. Her outfit seemed a bit too plain, something was missing, maybe a necklace. She was about to pick one of her favorites when she remembered that werewolves can't be in contact with silver. Cassey was a werewolf. A common myth is that both vampires and werewolves are allergic to silver, but that isn't entirely true. Silver simply doesn't consider vampires valid enough to reflect their image, that's it, while it actively harms werewolves, creating a similar effect than when vampires are in contact with the sun: rashes, redness and swelling in the part touched by silver. Thankfully, both vampires and werewolves have a fast regeneration and immune system, meaning that wounds don't affect them as much as normal humans.

The best second option for a necklace was a simple black leather string with a cute metal ring hanging from it. This one wasn't silver, a gift Mark, her little brother, gave her years ago.

Along with the necklace, Mei decided to wear her black ring. Before, Mei would wear her ace ring all the time, but a few years back she stopped wearing it a bit, mostly because she was a bit embarrassed, or, better said, concerned for other's reaction upon recognizing it. This considered, Mei still wanted to wear it for today. She would be with Cas, and this'll be a good way of knowing if this relationship would have a future or not. That if Cassey even knew what the ring meant.

...

At 1am the café was practically empty, just as you'd expect. There were only two customers inside, one of them sleeping on the table. Mei located Cassey inside, behind the counter. They were wearing the green apron that was mandatory for employees over a white shirt, their hair was up on a manly bun. Today's pronouns where a mystery for the moment since they were a bit too far away and Mei wasn't able to distinguish the color of the necklace.

Mei tapped the glass window, not knowing if it'll be a better idea to go in or to wait outside. Cas looked up at the sight of movement, their face lighting up. They then checked their watch, smiled, and gestured Mei to wait before they ran into the back of the store. Less than a minute later, they were out of the café, ready to go on the date.

"Hey!" Cassey smiled, blushing a bit. Now that they were closer, Mei could see that the necklace had a single blue crystal, "I'm so glad you came! I was gonna end up dying of boredom inside there."

"Heh," Mei chuckled, "I'm glad to see you too."

"Sorry I didn't get you anything," Cas said, "I wasn't sure if bringing flowers or something would be a good idea since it's only our first date. I also didn't know which type of flowers you like or if you even like flowers, so I thought better not risk it, ya know?"

"Oh," Mei hadn't been expecting this. Well, Cas hadn't brought anything, but still, he had thought to... "It's fine. To be honest, I'm not sure of which type of flowers I like either, altho I do think some are pretty"

"Well... If you'd like to, some other day I can take you to Haze, I bet ze can find some flower that you like. If you'd like to," Cas suggested.

"Sure, sounds fun. Who's- who's Haze tho?"

"Oh! True. Alright, so Haze is my roommate and best friend. Ze works in a flower shop, and we have a deal where I'll help around and ze'll give me free flowers. I haven't got to pay my part of the deal yet, so if you wanna, I can take you there some other day?"

"Yeah, good plan," Mei nodded, "But, just to make sure- uh, what are Haze's pronouns...? Like, sorry, but I'm not sure if you said he or ze or something else-"

"Ah, it's fine, people often get confused. It's nice you asked. Haze's pronouns are ze/zir/zirs. Like in z-e, z-i-r, z-i-r-s," Cas explained.

"Ok, thank you," Mei nodded. She felt a bit awkward, but not the bad kind of awkward where you feel completely out of place. It was more of the wanting to engage more and look cool but knowing that you aren't that great.

"You're welcome!" Cas smiled. After some hesitation, he offered Mei his hand, "Wanna hold hands as we walk...? If it's weird to you or something, it's ok and all-"

"No! I mean, no, it isn't weird or anything," Mei replied, even if she was a bit doubtful if this was a good idea, "But I do warn you, my hands are very cold."

"Meh, I'm sure it won't be too much."

"Alright-" Mei lifted her hand and held Cas's. She didn't hold his whole hand, it was a lighter grip, just with the pinkies.

Contrary to Mei's hand, Cas's was warm, altho not as soft. He didn't make any comment on how cold her hands where even if they are literally unnatural, dead cold. This weirded out Mei a bit, since she had gotten used to people commenting on her body temperature, but at the same time, it felt nice to not be reminded of this, made her feel almost human again.