Coffee grounds

The cafe was noisy, in that vague, cheap music and bad coffee machines way. She was conspicuous here, with her silence and her horns, but people were very carefully not looking at her.

Having to wait for him annoyed her. Most things about him annoyed her. She had already decided to sacrifice him as soon as he stopped being useful. Not even to the devil; too prestigious. To some two-bit demon who wouldn’t even eat him, just leave him hanging over the abyss for all eternity.

He walked over from the kitchen, his smile predatory, like a mouse who thinks he has something over the lion. She left her own face expressionless. Responding to him was a waste of time, and enough time had already been wasted that morning.

“Darling,” he said, leaning over to kiss her cheek. She made no move to return the greeting. Darling, indeed.

He sat, his grin still firmly in place. She almost respected his inability to read a room. It was the most honest thing about him.

The other clients were eyeing them now. He loved the attention, the speculation, the power he displayed by making her wait. Most humans would have arrived early and sweated away the wait for her pleasure.

“How much for how much?” she said.

“Not even a good morning, darling?” He spoke to the cheap seats. His dark eyes scanned the room, making sure his audience noticed his audacity. But he didn’t turn his head; even he knew to keep her in his sights.

She waited. His grin faltered.

“Six for a ton.”

She waited.

“Look, it’s not easy keeping this stuff. And keeping the bugs away is a full time job.”

She waited.

“Okay. Five.”

“Four.”

He hesitated. This time, when he spoke, it was almost a whisper.

“Fine.”

She opened her hand. Four cheap looking brass coins failed to gleam there. Her profile was heads; his was tails. He snatched them. She waited.

“And each one…”

“Each one is a record-breaking business day.” she confirmed. “Your staff will be run off their feet.” It was an illegal transaction, which he was performing in front of a carefully cultivated audience. She had no intention of catching him when he fell. A business-destroying fine would prepare him well for his eternal damnation.

He stood up. “Back there.”

She followed him to a cold storage unit plugged into a generator. Inside: a ton of coffee grounds.

“Fabulous.” she said, pulling out a rune-covered spoon. “This is enough for today. See what you can get for tomorrow.”

“What do you need this for? You don’t look like you’re into home composting.”

“Caffeine, darling.” she said. She tapped the mound of grounds with her spoon; the mound collapsed to the size of an egg. She took a delicate bite as he stared.

“Awake at last!” she said, her eye glinting red and black. “It’s going to be a good morning.”