Title: Fool's Gold

Pairing: Josef/Mick

Rating: Low Level NC17

Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Summary: Josef has crossed the line with one of his freshies yet again and this time he's gotten himself stung hard. Mick shows him that not everything in life is just fool's gold. Written for the Moonlightaholics Champagne Challenges.


The old Mantel clock struck twelve midnight. Josef sat seething in front of the television, Mick sat alongside making unhelpful suggestions.

"We could go out somewhere."

"Oh yeah, let's go out. Hey maybe I can meet another woman who'll rip out my heart, won't that be fun." Josef's scowl was a hair's breadth away from becoming a pout.

"It was just a suggestion." Mick huffed and stretched his legs out on the coffee table in front of him.

"You just don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?" Mick's brow furrowed in confusion. What was he supposed to get, Josef had crossed the line with one of his freshies and gotten burnt. It had happened before.

"I'm supposed to have rules, boundaries, never get involved. Meals on legs, that's what they are. Until one comes along that I could really fall in love with, and everything turns out to be fool's gold when she up and leaves." Josef angrily flicked through channel after channel, barely registering the rapid fire change of images on the screen in front of him.

"So what did the remote do to you, exactly?" Mick gave a crooked smile as he gestured towards Josef's fingers pounding away at the buttons.

Josef set the remote aside, and drew the line of his mouth into a thin lipped smile. "Very funny."

"I didn't know she meant that much to you." Mick's voice softened. He should have seen this coming. He'd known Josef more than sixty years; he should have guessed what was happening. He'd been through the same thing with Beth. There always came a point when age stood in the way. They were eternal fountains of youth; humans had to stand the ravages of time. "Why didn't you just turn her?"

"What, and risk having another Sarah on my hands? Once was enough, thank you very much." Josef reached for a glass of scotch on the table in front of him, raised it in a mock toast. "Here's to not turning mortals and the loneliness it brings."

"I'll drink to that." Mick knocked back a few quick draws of his own Scotch and then headed for a refill. He poured one for Josef as well, a double measure, neat, no ice, and added a few drops of blood for a chaser. For the first time in what seemed like forever he was thinking of his own relationship with Beth. When the wrinkles had appeared she had begged him to turn her. And he had refused. He'd had his reasons, but Josef was right, not turning mortals meant a life of continuous solitude, based on a never ending parade of lost loves and what could have been.

"You thinking about Beth?" Josef swirled the contents of the tumbler in his hands, and threw back a few quick sips.

"I guess we're both in the same situation." Mick placed his own empty glass to one side. For now the Scotch was imparting a comfortable glow.

"Been there, done that hey?" Josef offered Mick an arched brow smile. And then without warning the glass in his hand was sailing across the room, its contents shattered across the wall, running in rivulets onto the floor.

"Hey, whoa," Mick had jumped a full two feet backwards at the sound of breaking glass. Now he shifted closer to Josef, drew what he hoped was a comforting arm around his best friend's shoulder. "First the remote, now a Scotch glass, you want to give me a head's up when you feel another bash and crash coming on?"

"Sorry, I'll try not to vent in your general direction, Mr Sensitivity."

For his efforts Josef received one of the throw pillows in his face. "We could go out somewhere, tear up the town a bit. Just like old times - you, me, a roomful of willing freshies, Duran Duran playing on the stereo."

"Maybe I'd rather stay here and get smacked in the face with a pillow all night." Josef deadpanned.

"That could be arranged."

Josef snorted a laugh and threw another log onto the fire that had slowly been burning all night. "Or maybe I'd rather stay here, with you."

Josef did something he'd never done before then. He cupped Mick's face in his hand, turned Mick towards him, and kissed him gently on the mouth.

"So what happened to everything is just fool's gold." Mick swallowed nervously.

"Everything but us." Josef leant in for another kiss, noting the fact that Mick didn't pull away. He deepened the kiss this time, let the taste of blood and whiskey linger across Mick's mouth.

Mick broke the kiss and raised a crooked smile. "Right, so we're gold then?"

"Solid," Josef parried in return, matching Mick grin for grin. He brushed his lips against the side of Mick's face then, pressed his mouth to Mick's ear. "We can stop if you want to."

Mick poured one last measure of Scotch. "Here's to alleviating loneliness."

He was falling back into Josef's arms then, lips and body seeking heated contact. He had no idea where they were going with this and right now, in this moment, he didn't really care. Tomorrow they would decompress, talk things through. Tonight they were solid gold.

"Clothes," Josef was muttering around their kisses then, tugging at the back of Mick's shirt.

They separated briefly, clothes hitting the floor as they quickly shed their accoutrements and then stood sizing each other up, the Vampire rising within them both.

It was Mick who broke the stand-off, launching himself at Josef in a flurry of teeth and snarls. For his efforts he found himself pinned face forward into the nearest wall.

"Coraline may have fucked like a banshee in heat, but I prefer a little more artistry to my love making." Josef purred as he let his hand slide down to grip Mick's growing erection. "Now, tell me, do you want to do it here on the floor, or would you rather I took you to bed."

"That depends."

"Oh yeah, on what?" Josef ran the edge of his tongue like a knife blade along the side of Mick's throat, eliciting a shiver of approval.

"On where I'll be waking up in the morning."

"Bedroom it is then." Josef stepped back, offered his hand to Mick, and bade him follow. For a moment Mick seemed hesitant. "Is there something wrong?" Josef asked, casting his eyes over Mick's expression.

"Would now be a good time to say I've never done this before?" Mick's attempt at laughter came out half choked and spluttering. He quickly wiped the spittle from his mouth.

"Then why are you doing it now?" Josef was circling Mick then, moving ever closer, gauging Mick's reactions each step of the way. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." His demeanour suddenly shifted. He went to gather his discarded clothes.

"Don't."

Mick's hand was on his shoulder, halting him in his tracks. Josef turned to Mick, caught between friendship and longing.

"Once we do this there's no going back, you understand that, don't you."

"Yeah, I think I do," Mick nodded and reached for Josef's hand. "You said something about a bed?"

They staggered upstairs, stumbling and tripping as they attempted to orchestrate a snarling tangle of limbs and fangs. Mick had one leg wrapped around Josef's hip, both arms clinging onto Josef's shoulders and the two of them falling then, through the bedroom door, back onto the mattress below.

Josef reached for a bottle of oil next to the bed, drizzled some of the contents over Mick's cock, and then slicked himself with the remainder. There was sense of urgency to the proceedings, as if any moment one of them would change his mind. Mick could feel his heart beat increasing as Josef straddled his waist, poised just above him. And then there was warmth and tightness and pleasure enveloping him.

"Jesus, I'd forgotten how good it felt to be in this position, it's been far too long since I last did this." Josef swore then and gritted his teeth as he slowly began to rock back and forth.

A momentary flicker of confusion passed across Mick's features, he wondered whether or not now was the most appropriate time to be asking questions. Curiosity eventually got the better of him.

"You've been with other men before though, haven't you?" Suddenly the thought that this might be Josef's first time sent Mick into a tailspin. What if this was no good, what if he was just lying there like some big lummox, he was sure he'd heard Josef talking about his male lovers before, hadn't he?

Josef grabbed Mick by the shoulders and pulled him to him, his legs stretched out behind Mick then, heels still digging into the mattress for leverage. He'd watched the change of emotions, looking at Mick was like reading an open book sometimes. Or maybe after sixty something years they just knew each other too well.

"Relax, Rover, you're not my first." Josef found himself being forced to stifle a laugh then, the way Mick was looking at him with those puppy dog eyes of his he didn't know whether to continue mounting him or give him a bath. "I just don't normally take the catcher's side. But with this being your first time and all…" Josef trailed off with an extravagant hand gesture.

"So I guess I should say thank you, or something," Mick smiled, that adorable half-cocked smile of his that Josef was never sure if he wanted to kiss or slap the stupid thing right off Mick's admittedly handsome face.

"Or something would be good."

Josef grinned as he dug his nails into the flesh of Mick's back. Love was a bitch sometimes.

They stayed like that, clinging to one another in the chilled night air of an open window. Curtains blowing, wrapping them like gossamer and Josef was riding Mick at a gallop then, expert muscles squeezing along his length until he was ready to pop like warm champagne.

Josef felt Mick's body stiffen then, felt him arching upwards, reflexively thrusting as much of himself inside Josef's body as he could. And then sharp fangs were slicing through tender flesh and Mick was coming hard inside him. It was enough to send Josef over the edge a half a beat behind.

"You never did answer my question."

They lay together in the aftermath, limbs rested across one another, and fingers sliding over sweat glistened skin.

Mick furrowed his brow as he felt Josef's lips brush against the side of his face. "What question?"

"Why this, why now?" Josef cupped Mick's jaw in his hand, and turned Mick's face towards his. "I know why I'm here, but what about you?"

Mick pressed his lips once, lightly against Josef's own. "You get to know a lot about a person in sixty years, maybe I've just finally realised something."

Josef raised a facetious eyebrow. "Oh yeah, and what might that be?"

"The two of us are gold…"

Josef threw back his head and laughed uproariously then.

"Solid."