Kate wasn’t too sure about this whole drinking blood business. She was a little worried she might barf it up. And that would be wholly embarrassing. But she wanted to try, at the very least. Having the stitches tear and then have to be sewn back up? Not fun. She would do just about anything to not have this open wound in her shoulder anymore.
So she arrived at the address that Tyler had given her, and went up to the door. Her arm was back in the fucking sling again, as she kept trying to move it and further aggravating the wound. Other than the sling, she looked like Kate usually did; black jeans, purple shirt, sunglasses. She waited after ringing the bell.
“You’re lucky I like you,” she teased Tyler just a someone rang the bell. Truth be told she would heal anyone that asked for it. Mutual friends in common or not, but she was glad Tyler was there. Made the whole ‘here have my blood’ thing less awkward.
“Hey,” Caroline greeted the girl outside with a smile. “You must be Kate, I’m Caroline.” Obviously. “Come on in,” she opened the door wider to let Kate inside.
Tyler was kind of glad that Caroline had agreed to help Kate out. For one, work was a lot more fun when Kate was actually around. For another, he would have felt like an ass mentioning the magical cure-all and then needing to tell Kate that it was off limits after all.
He’d brought some of the hard stuff too, as both a thanks to Caroline and as a “the drinking blood thing really isn’t so bad” thing for Kate. When Kate walked into the room, Tyler smiled. “Hey! Glad you made it.” He knew how strange this likely was for her.
Kate gave the other woman a smile. Boy, she was pretty. Reminded Kate a little of Cassie from her Dreams. Kate wondered for a moment if all vampires from Tyler’s Dreams were so pretty. “Hi,” she said, and then nodded, “thanks.” She came into the place, feeling a little awkward. How did one strike up a conversation now? Nice to meet you, thanks for the blood.??
“Hey,” Kate was relieved to see Tyler in the apartment. Made things feel a little less awkward. “Thanks for doing this,” she said, first to Tyler, then turned her eyes to Caroline, meaning the thanks was for both of them. “I’m sorry this is so awkward, but God I’m looking forward to being better again.”
Things were rarely awkward for Caroline. Even this. Though granted she had given her blood to a few friends of friends before. Mostly Peeta’s friends actually. So this was nothing new for her.
“Don’t worry about it,” Caroline said walking into the kitchen to get a cup for her. Because drinking straight from her wrist was reserved for dire circumstances, and/or her boyfriend. Grabbing a knife she cut her hand and let some blood drop into the cup before her hand healed. Granted it wasn’t a lot of blood but it should be enough to heal Kate’s shoulder. “You want to pour some of that in?” she asked nodding at the alcohol Tyler had brought. “It might help with the taste.” She had no idea, blood tasted good to her, but she as a vampire.
“I’ll be glad to see you back at work,” Tyler said, pouring the alcohol into the glass with the practiced ease of someone who’d been a bartender for the last nine months. “The alcohol will definitely help,” as it seemed to help so many things in their dreams.
Kate followed Caroline into the kitchen, but made sure to turn her head when the blonde cut her hand open. It made Kate wince. The thought of someone cutting themselves open? Made her wince. She accepted the cup when Tyler offered it up to her. “...oh, God. I can’t believe I’m doing this.” She said, giving Caroline an apologetic smile. She was given a great gift with this, and she knew that she wasn’t being the most gracious. But still. Drinking blood was a little weird.
“Bottom’s up, then.” Kate said, holding the cup as if in a toast to the other two, then knocked back the shot. As it burned its way down, she tried to ignore the coppery aftertaste of the alcohol. Wait, that was the coppery taste of the blood, not the alcohol.
Caroline was used to that reaction. One of her best friends refused to drink her blood she was so disgusted by it. Caroline got that, she did. But it also healed which was the important part. And why Kate was here. “It’ll be worth it,” Caroline replied with a small smile before turning her attention to Tyler. “Where’s my drink,” she teased as if she totally wasn’t the hostess and should really be pouring the drinks for the two of them. Whatever, they were both the bartenders.
“Coming right up.” He filled three more glasses with the alcohol, assuming Kate probably wouldn’t be up for taking another drink from the same glass that Caroline had just bled into. He turned his attention to Kate as he slid her fresh glass across the table toward her. “How you feeling?”
Kate chuckled softly. She thought that Caroline and Tyler had a great friendship--even though she’d only seen just a little of it. She set the mug down then reached for one of the shot glasses. “Thanks for the chaser,” she added, then downed the second shot. Ah, thank goodness for the good old taste of alcohol without the blood in it. “Feeling… better.” She paused for a moment, to think about the shoulder. She hadn’t noticed that the pain was gone. But now it was pretty obvious. She had no pain in her shoulder anymore.
Caroline smiled proudly. Drinking blood may sound gross, but it helped. She could tell Kate’s pain was gone. And that definitely earned her a drink. Even if it wouldn’t really do anything for her. So she down the shot she had demanded from Tyler. “Glad to hear it,” Caroline said after the alcohol slid down her throat. “Don’t hesitate to ask if you ever need more. Which, hopefully you won’t.”