Title: Boys Night Out
Author: Cprav
Written: 5 October 2008
Rating: PG13
Word Count: 1728
Characters: Mick, Josef
Spoilers: None.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I own neither vamp. If I did I'd keep them in my room and you wouldn't get to see them. (insert evil laugh) Thank you to SelenaAngel for the 'live a little, you might like it' line.
Summary: Josef helps cheer Mick up after the 'death' of Coraline.
Comment: The Halloween addition to my Holiday Series and my entry for the Moonlight Gala 2008 fic contest. I decided that Konstantin was the name Josef was going by before Kostan.
VvvV
"Mick, buddy. You're moping again." If Mick had been human he would have jumped right out of his seat. As it was, he couldn't hide the surprised look on his face as he whipped around to find Josef leaning against a pillar. "And you're obviously completely off your game."
Mick gave an exasperated sigh and leaned back in the chair he'd been sitting in. He'd been sitting there, staring at the flickering flames of the crystal fireplace for… he didn't know how long.
"What do you want, Josef?"
"It's a pleasure to see you, too, Mick." He pushed off the pillar and flopped into a chair with a huff. "What do I want, what do I want? Hmm. A lot of things – a never ending supply of fresh AB-; the love of a good woman – okay a lot of women; the recession to end – very bad for business; and for you, my friend, to think about something – or someone – other than Coraline. Just for one night at least. You know, baby steps and all that."
Mick snarled and started to pace the room. "I KILLED her, do you not understand that? She was my sire, my wife. I loved her and I killed her!" He stopped his pacing and slumped onto the couch, held his head in his hands. "I can still hear her screams and smell the fire." He closed his eyes as the phantom scent of charred flesh and burning hair filled his mind.
"I know buddy, but you can't carry this around for eternity. Forever will suck if you do."
"Maybe I don't deserve to live that long. Maybe I should have died, too."
"Enough!" Josef stood over him in a flash, finally having enough of Mick's pity party. "It's been months since Coraline died. You think you're the first vampire to kill your sire? You're not and others have done it for a lot less noble reasons. She was going to turn a child – a child! Feeding off a child is one thing, but turning one? That's repulsive. So you can keep your title of Boy Scout vampire, but you need to snap out of this." Mick scowled and wouldn't meet Josef's eyes. Josef could almost imagine his friend as a bratty five year old, pouty lips, crossed arms, furrowed brow, angry eyes – petulant child!
"You haven't eaten right since then – bagged blood as a regular meal doesn't cut it. You need to eat fresh. I have to say the girls are very upset. They're wondering if they've done something to upset you. Frankly I'm feeling a little jealous." That at least drew a smile from the brooding vampire.
"You? The Great Josef Konstantin – jealous? I don't believe it." Just as quickly, he was serious again. "Coraline was a monster. She made me. That means I'm a monster too."
"The girls would beg to differ." His lips twitch into a slight smirk at the thought of his freshies begging. "Maybe I'll arrange for that to happen. At any rate, if she was such a monster, why have you been up here bemoaning her death?" Mick scowled at being caught in such a loop. "C'mon, buddy, let's go out on the town. It's a perfect night for it."
"Josef, I really—"
"Did I mention you have no choice?"
VvvV
Mick had no idea where they were when Josef finally pulled the 'vette over and cut the engine. It was that silence that broke him from his thoughts. He'd been lost in them the entire time they'd been driving, and Josef had kept up a running monologue that Mick had heard but not listened to. He'd been listening to only screams of pain and anguish, the cries from the little girl's – Beth's – mouth, clinging to his shoulders. He saw only fire and death and blonde hair. Now, they didn't seem to be anywhere that Josef would normally have taken him to. Looking around, Mick saw only rows of upper middle class homes.
"What are we doing here, Josef?" Josef flashed him an impish grin as he took the keys from the ignition and exited the car with his usual graceful flourish.
"What else? A party!" Mick raised an eyebrow.
"Here." It was a statement more than a question and Josef scoffed.
"No, of course not HERE. I thought we'd walk the rest of the way." Mick furrowed his brow.
"You… want to walk? Are you alright?"
"Yes! Walking! We did that a lot before we had cars, you know. Well, we used horses a lot, too, but walking was definitely important. Now hurry up! Fashionably late is one thing, but I don't want to be rude."
With a heavy sigh, Mick opened the door and stepped onto the curb. Josef grinned and started off in the direction of the party. Mick dutifully followed, hands stuffed in his pockets, eyes studying his feet, thoughts drifting off again until he heard the sound of children's laughter and he looked up curiously. He spotted the children in question giggling and pointing at Josef and heard his friend's chuckle before he turned to him with a wide, fang-filled smile and twinkling ice blue eyes that glowed slightly in the dark. Mick's own eyes grew wide.
"Josef! People will see you!" His friend rolled his eyes and turned back to the children, impish grin still in place, and threw them an impressive roar. They squealed in laughter and took off down the sidewalk, wide-eyed and giggling. Finally, Josef leaned against a lamp post and turned his attention fully to Mick.
"Take the blinders off, boy-o. Be a good little PI and take a look around you." Mick did as instructed and, looking up and down the street, he saw dozens of children – more than should be out on a Thursday night. Some were with their parents, others travelled in groups. They all wore costumes – Garfield, Ninja Turtles, princesses and witches; even a few vampires. They laughed and screamed and sang and chatted; chanting and running up to doorways decorated with harvest crops and tacky ornaments. The smell of candles and too much sugar was in the air.
"It's Halloween, Mick. The one day a year we can take an evening stroll and not have to hide our true face. Hell, most people won't even notice us – we're quite tame compared to most of these humans tonight." He motioned to one parent, ushering a group of children, wearing a painfully hideous zombie costume.
"C'mon buddy, live a little. You might like it." What did he have to lose? It was so hard fighting everything he was all the time. The least he could do was not hide his features for one night. It wouldn't change anything about him, but it might help him relax a bit; one less thing about himself he had to keep locked up. As he felt his fangs lengthen and watched the image of the street get crisper and more detailed, he did feel just a little bit lighter. Tomorrow he could go back to his hermit ways but, just like the children out tonight, maybe one evening of fun and freedom wouldn't kill him. Josef grinned triumphantly and started off again. Mick followed, finally taking in the sights and sounds and smells of the night. He smiled, despite his earlier mood, at the innocence around him. Maybe everything wasn't quite so bad after all.
That was when they heard the scream.
Mick reacted first, following the sounds to an alley and Josef wasn't far behind. A man – from the smell of decay, Mick realized it was a vampire, and a young one – in a convict costume (how fitting) was dragging a tiny pirate toward a dumpster. He held the 'pirate' against the blue metal while he tore at the orange and black charity box the child carried. Mick flew down the alleyway and carefully tore the child from the 'convict's' grasp, moving the boy behind his back.
From closer to the alley's entrance, Josef motioned for the child to leave the fray and as the child quickly moved past him and back into the crowed street, he handed back the plastic jack-o-lantern fully of candy that had fallen in the scuffle.
Mick had his hand around the vamp's throat with his feet dangling toward the ground. He watched in disgust as the contents of the charity box – all one dollar and seventy-seven cents – spilled to the ground. He snarled and threw him against the wall, watching as he dropped to the ground. Teeth bared, he started pounding on the vampire. It started off as his usual type of punishment for monsters like himself who preyed on the innocent. It quickly turned into something much different.
In place of the 'convict's' features, he saw his own and the pounding intensified. He punished himself for the crimes he'd committed in the past. He punished himself for the thing he was, even if he'd had no choice. He punished himself for killing the woman he loved and he punished himself for loving a monster.
Finally, his visage stopped staring back at him and melted back into the broken, bloodied mess of the charity stealing vampire. With a snarl he stopped, dropped him back to the ground and stepped away. Mick looked around and found a wooden sword lying nearby; left there by the now long gone 'pirate'. He picked it up and plunged it into the chest of the vampire now laying motionless on the ground. With a sigh he turned and headed back to where Josef waited for him.
"Feel better, buddy?" Mick was about to scoff at the question, but then realized he did feel better. He wanted to be disappointed and angry that the violence had helped but couldn't bring himself to do so. He also couldn't bring himself to answer Josef while he was wearing that shit-eating grin. But Josef knew better.
"Excellent! See, you just have to get back to your old boy scout life and you'll be back to normal – for you anyway – in no time! Now let's get going. I'm getting thirsty and I heard the freshies would be dressed like Playboy Bunnies for Halloween. Or they actually WOULD be Playboy Bunnies. I don't remember." Josef slapped Mick on the back and guided him out of the alley continuing to extol the virtues of the party.
~ End