"What the hell is that?" Conrad pointed at a dish on the counter top that contained a steaming pile of black-ish brown goo topped with a green chili that oozed over some white stuff that vaguely looked like larvae.
"Eh? Oh, that? I think it woz called Dinu-summat. Can't quite recall. Just saw it by a diner and decided to try it out…"
Conrad twitched when the doctor implied that abomination to actually be edible. Oddly enough, he could smell a rather pungent scent emanating from the pile.
"You ate something without even knowing what it is?"
"Well, s'long as it's edible and tastes good, I couldn't care any less" shrugged the older man as he started lighting another cigarette.
"Okay. Fine. Whatever. But could you please tell me why you're here and why you brought this… thing into my house?"
"Ain't it obvious enough, Connie?" smirked Worth.
The vampire wasn't in the mood for any of this. Especially now since the scent was starting to really get to him. So without a word, Conrad nimbly pushed Worth out of his apartment door and slammed it shut. A faint "See ya later, Confag!" echoed throughout the hallway.
"AUGH" Conrad yelled back. He was feeling a little lightheaded now. The smell that came from Worth's 'food' got even stronger, now that the doctor has left. It didn't smell bad, per se, but it did give off a rather strong aura which resembled that of the one human blood gives off. The vampire decided to inspect the substance more closely and even took a whiff off it.
Then it hit him.
"Wait a minute… This is…"
...
It's been two months since Conrad's last trip to Worth's for some blood. This wasn't exactly unusual for vampires in general, since they don't really need to feed too often. But seeing as this was Conrad, something had to be up. Even Hanna thought so.
"Hey, Worth? I haven't been seeing too much of Conrad lately. Did you do something to him?" the redhead eyed the doctor suspiciously.
"Wot? Me? Do somethin' to the little artfag? Thas' a bunch o' waffle" Worth sneered. Hanna folded his arms and gave Doc the 'I-know-you-did-something-so-get-out-of-here-and-apologize' look. Worth sighed and said:
"Alright, alright, I'll go and see what the bloody hell his problem is."
Hanna brightened up at this and proceeded to skip out of the 'office.'
"Alrighty then! Hey, c'mon Orpheus, we promised Veser we'd be there early! See ya later, Doc!"
Worth grunted in reply and watched Hanna and 'Orpheus' disappear out the door. He followed suit shortly after, slammed the door shut and went off to Conrad's place without locking the door [as usual].
Huh, what the hell does he think he's doin' anyway, avoidin' us like that? It'd be stupid of him if he was seriously pissed at me all cuz of that damn whatsit called… Heheh, that was actually pretty damn funny…
The man was too preoccupied with these thoughts to notice that Conrad's apartment building was about to hit him in the face. Fortunately for the wall, a strong scent of something familiar got to Worth first. After trudging up the ridiculously long flight of stairs that led to the vampire's abode, he knocked at the latter's door and hollered, "Oi, Confag! It's me, Worth."
A loud 'CRASH' noise came from the inside, followed by a panicky "J-JUST A MINUTE~!" Shortly after, Conrad opened the door looking a bit flustered, smiled a rather odd smile and said, "Y-yes? Wh-what're you doing here at this hour anyway?"
"Fer chrissakes, it's quarter past five. Barely even twilight."
"Oh… Heh, you're right…"
"Well? Ya gonna let me in or what?"
"Huh? Uhh, I wasn't exactly expecting any company, so it's kinda messed up in there, and-"
"Oh Connie… You should know me better than that. I don't give a flyin' fuck whether some place's clean or not. So whaddaya say?" the older man grinned.
Conrad made a face and simply said "No."
"Why not?" he implored while moving closer to the vampire, which made him visibly uncomfortable.
"I-it's my house! I've the right to choose as to who gets in or stays out!"
"Aw, come on."
"I said 'NO', goddamnit!"
Worth sighed, realizing that this would go on forever if he didn't do something about it. And so he did. He grabbed at Conrad and kissed him, roughly at that. And while the latter was temporarily frozen in shock, the former spun both of them around, thus exchanging their positions.
"Wh-what… WHAT THE HELL?" Conrad was red with embarrassment. Worth just smiled at him, then slammed the door in his face and locked it. That should give him enough time to snoop around before Conrad finds a way to break into his own home. "WORTH, FOR FUCK'S SAKE, LET ME IN!" along with some heavy banging against the door cut through the peace of the building. Of course, that didn't stop him from investigating.
"Eh? That smell… Kitchen."
The scent of that 'something familiar' got even stronger in the kitchen. At this point, the cussing and banging at the door quieted down and ended with an "ARGH." Ignoring that, Worth tried sniffing the air in the room. Bing!
"Ohoh… Well, well, well…" It was no mistake. The scent had a distinct quality to it that made it impossible to mix it up with any other smell. It smelled delicious, despite of what is was. The aroma of it was what drew Worth to try it out that fateful day.
"HEY YOU. YES, YOU. GET THE FUCK OUTTA MY HOUSE" a rather tiny voice screeched at Worth's ear.
"OW! What the bloody hell?" It was Conrad. In his bat form. Flapping around Worth's head. Apparently, he came through the open window in the living room.
"GET. OUT."
"…"
"What?"
"Pfft, I can't take ya seriously in that form… Heheh… Y'look so stupid…" Conbat rolled his eyes then flew a few feet away from the doctor. How he transformed from bat to human was all a blur. Couldn't quite describe it. It's like, ipoof/i, then the next thing you know, he's transformed.
"A-anyway, get the hell out of here before I call the police."
"Alright, alright, I'll leave ya… After ya tell me what this is." Worth pointed at a bowl that was 'hidden' under a newspaper. Conrad frowned and mumbled something that sounded like 'I'm such an idiot.'
"Okay, you caught me… I admit, this stuff is delicious. Don't you dare say 'I told you so.'"
"So you're saying you've been living off solely on this fer the past couple o' months?"
"Well, yeah… It may be cooked, but it's still… blood, right?"
Pffft, I'm guessin' the poor sap has no clue as what kind of blood this stuff is, Worth thought. The man snickered at the idea of that.
"What the heck're you laughing at? This stuff is blood, in case you didn't know. I can sense it!"
"Oh, Connie… You think this stuff is human blood?"
"Um, yeah, I guess… Why else would the stuff be sold in such a shady area? Besides, I couldn't understand a word the vendor was saying…" The doctor tried not to laugh at this. So, he put on his best poker face and slowly said:
"Conrad. That ain't not human blood."
"… Say again?"
"That. Thas pig parts cooked in pig blood."
An awkward silence filled the apartment. It was broken when Conrad quietly reacted.
"Oh my GOD."