Marko and Paul were wrestling playfully on the ground, punching and kicking at each other while Dwayne just sat on the couch and tossed small rocks at them to throw off their concentration. Marko was gnawing and drooling on Paul's hand by the time David showed up.
Dwayne glanced over at him curiously, "that was fast. Usually you stay back there for a couple of hours...something go wrong?" There was no sign of Michael. No sign of the girl either. Maybe his little experiment had failed.
David grinned at them, "No, no, nothing went wrong." He motioned back the way he'd come, "Michael, come meet your brothers." He stated calmly, eyes still locked on the boys. He had won and it felt so, very, good. His newly-turned fledgling slowly strolled up behind him, hands tucked into his pants pockets as he glanced around...eyes landing on his stuff nestled neatly in a corner.
"Who cracked my stereo?" He asked, frowning. A little moody at the discovery, but otherwise perfectly relaxed.
Marko sat up, wiping off his mouth and pointing down at Paul. Paul sputtered, "Wasn't my fault! It didn't work when it got here!" Of course Paul really had broken it.
David strode over to his chair, settling into it, glancing at Dwayne with a smile, "So, what do you think?" The other vampire shrugged in response, not really having much to say. If he did, it would only draw Michael's attention. One of them or not, he'd wait until he had a better idea whether or not the younger vampire had a short fuse before he started talking about him like a pet project.
"So, umm, Mikey, how're you doin'? Had a good meal?" Marko looked up at him from his place on the floor, unsure of what was going through his new brother's mind. The changes from turning were a little unpredictable sometimes, time to see how much Michael had changed.
Michael looked at him thoughtfully, then glanced over at his pile of belongings, and crossed towards them, kneeling down and picking through a box of things, "had a headache for a bit...but it's gone now," he shrugged, picking out a picture and examining it before tossing it behind him. The glass in the frame shattered over Star's grinning face. Then he seemed to find what he was looking for, and smirked as he stood up with a copy of a Baseball magazine. "Why?" He glanced back at Marko, scowling slightly, "there's none left…"
"None what?" He cocked his head to the side, "What're you looking for?"
Michael held up his magazine and gave Marko a funny look, "why do you care?" He immediately went on the defense, "I'm not giving you anything...apparently you guys just like breaking my shit."
Paul yawned, leaning up against Marko and yanking on his braid, "you hear that? Mikey doesn't like to share!" He feigned offense. The only member of the pack who didn't seem to be bothered or concerned at all about how their new member would behave. Then again, Paul tended to not give much of a damn about anything besides the generic interests of any 80's rocker, and blood, of course.
David crossed his legs, "Paul breaks everyone's shit, it's why I thought about putting him in a straight jacket." He rested his cheek on his fist, "What're you looking for, Michael?" Time to see if he knew who the boss was or not.
Michael quirked an eyebrow and held up his magazine, "dude...I've already found it. Just a magazine…" Now he was getting seriously confused, "why?"
"You said there was none left." David stated, "I'm curious what that none is."
"...Blood, David. I finished her off. Fuck, man, you were back there with me." Michael just shook his head, flipping open the magazine and scanning a couple of pages.
"Still hungry?" He questioned, he'd love to take Michael out for a hunt, but he needed to be careful; David didn't want him to encounter his human family. The younger vampire lowered his magazine, looking up at him. A look of distress quickly flitted across his face before fading away.
"...Yeah…" Michael replied, slowly. It was like there...like there should be a reason he wouldn't want to eat, but he just couldn't quite recall what it was. He was hungry, why shouldn't he feed?
"Let's take a little trip then, get some grub." David headed for the exit; they'd all have to keep an eye on Michael. It was late enough, so there shouldn't be an issue with his human family or the Frog brothers, "Michael, you'll have to ride with me until we can get you a bike."
Michael gave him a dubious look, then reluctantly nodded. He clearly wasn't too hot on the idea, but he wasn't arguing. So...that was definitely new.
Marko and Paul looked excited, "We get to go hunting? Finally? Damn, you've been so fucking busy, we haven't gotten to hunt as a pack." Marko grinned as he spoke, practically bouncing.
Paul quickly skipped over to David, throwing an arm around his shoulder and giving him a fat, wet smooch on the cheek, "gotta love this son of a bitch!" Then he drew back slightly, "anyone ever tell you that you've got the most beautiful eyes, Davey?"
David growled, planting his hand over his face and pushing, "Yeah, your mom." He started up the stairs, expecting the others to follow. Michael was the last one to leave, because he couldn't help but linger behind and gaze down at the photo on the ground. He knelt down to pull it out of the frame, cutting his fingers on the shattered glass. Then he folded it up and quickly pocketed it, jogging to catch up with the rest.
The lights had just gone out on the boardwalk, one-by-one, as the Lost Boys picked their favorite hunting spot of choice, more than eager to show it to their new member, now that he was a little bit more biddable.
Michael glanced around the darkened parking lot, confused. There was no one here. "I don't get it…" It was practically empty, except for maybe a car or two in the distance. What could they have planned?
"It's the perfect vantage spot." David stated, looking out over it, "People come through here all the time and they're easy to pick off. It let's us do some flying and get a meal. Fun and games."
He wasn't too sure what he thought of that idea. 'Fun and games'...it was all just food, wasn't it?
"Dwayne, why don't you start us off tonight?" David paused briefly, "Dinner isn't just about feeding, it's about the hunt, the chase." The others nodded in agreement, gazing out in the distance with a sort of nervous glee. And despite himself, Michael picked up on the energy, letting himself soak it in a bit, too.
"Watch and learn," Dwayne advised Michael sombrely, taking to the air in a rustle of fabric and metal as he alit from the side of his bike, scanning the scene below him, before his eyes settled on something in the distance. He nodded to the others below him, and Marko took to the air next to get a good look at what Dwayne was eyeing. Then Paul. Michael watched them with curiosity, before he glanced over at where their attention was focused. A middle-aged carnie lumbering towards his car at a sluggish pace, stumbling every so often from one too many drinks.
David grinned, speaking softly to Michael, "It never takes long for someone to come walking in and we take advantage."
A woman was hurrying after him, heels clicking on the pavement as she called out to him. He grumbled, waving her off, shouting something unintelligible. He wasn't looking at her but it would only be a matter of time before one or both of them disappeared. Michael leaned forward, then glanced up at the others as they gently sailed closer to the car the couple was headed towards, remaining just high enough in the air to go unnoticed.
"Do we…" Michael frowned, glancing over at the couple and licking his lips. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until now… "do we go up there with them?" He asked, curious. Growing a little anxious now, unsure why they weren't just going right for the kill.
"We can, just no jumping the gun." He grinned, moving up with the others, "Come up and join us." He sounded so welcoming, calling to him, "Michael," David's voice echoed in his head, prompting him to finally take flight, eager to feed and yet still unsure exactly what was happening right now. A thrill ran down his spine...and gradually, the sense of melancholy he'd felt earlier in the evening when they left the hotel seemed to fade away.
The man had reached his car now, and was feverishly trying to jam the keys into the handle...three...four time he was unsuccessful until the woman snatched them from him and unlocked the door herself, pulling it open and shoving him away from the driver's side.
David chuckled softly, "Too bad, drunk drivers are fun to pick off."
"Why?" Michael asked, only half-listening. He was growing impatient. Why was this taking so long?
"Because they do a lot of weaving, it's like trying to grab a fish in water."
"Fun to clean up, too, if you don't grab them before they go splat!" Paul cackled, before Marko quickly covered his mouth with a snicker. They'd very nearly caught the attention of the pair below...and in fact, the drunk was squinting up into the night sky as he stumbled around to the passenger side, too blind from a night of hard liquor to register much beyond the shifting world about him.
David punched Paul hard, giving him a dead arm, "You almost ruined it, fucker." He hissed lowly as the car started up.
They waited until they were pulling out of the parking lot to give chase, following Dwayne's lead for this hunt. And he was fast...dizzyingly so. They all were...Michael could hardly believe he was even able to keep up. The rush and beat of the wind against his ears imitated the sound of a thumping heart, of rushing blood, and it made him all the hungrier before Dwayne finally gave a quick nod and grin to their pack leader, before swiftly hurtling down towards the car, latching himself onto the roof as his body slammed into the metal, causing it to groan and dent, while the vehicle swerved off of the road into the sand and grass, continuing to power away while the driver screamed bloody murder.
Michael had to admit, as grating as the sound was, it was also a little intoxicating. His head spun with the sensory overload. David thumped down beside Dwayne, digging his claws into the metal and pulling, tearing the roof off like a can of sardines. Marko and Paul whistled, clapping their hands in hideous glee, their faces morphing as they descended together to join their brothers, Paul at the trunk of the car, and Marko at the hood, waving playfully to the wailing driver and passenger...who by now, most definitely, was both sober and soiled.
"Come on Michael! Which do you want?" David grabbed the back of their shirts, hoisting them both up, "Male or female?"
The brunette looked pensive, sailing down on a gust of screaming wind and eyeing the thrashing victims, half-mad with fright, and for a moment, he almost felt a little guilty for what he was about to do...then he broke into a grin and tore the woman from David's grasp, "I think I want the one who didn't shit herself," he decided, giving her a good shake to silence the pitiful wails, while even further below, Dwayne and the others had leapt from the car as it spun out of control for lack of a human driver.
David looked at Dwayne, offering the man to him, after all, it was his hunt first. There were plenty of others to eat and Dwayne had shown a proper hunt.
As Michael pulled the woman closer, he picked up a familiar scent...not the fragrance of her actual skin and blood, but something cloying with it...a perfume. For a moment, he came very close to dropping her in surprise, or foregoing his meal in favor of trying to understand exactly why it seemed to bother him…and an image of soft cotton sheets encasing a tender body he couldn't see assaulted his mind. He flinched at the thought, like it was a shard of glass piercing his skull. It hurt...and he didn't want to feel that pain.
"Michael?" David questioned softly, "What's wrong?" His eyes narrowed slightly.
Michael shook his head, confused, before drawing the woman closer and forcing himself not to focus on that flitting image in his mind. Trying to hold onto it was like trying to cup water in his hands...it would fall out anyway, despite his best efforts...and it only ruined what could be an incredible meal. "Nothing…" He rasped, before viciously tearing into the throat of his whimpering victim, cries and shouts turning into gurgles as her life-blood spilled out around Michael's mouth. He had a feeling that David might press the issue later but for now he was going to enjoy the fear that enhanced the taste of her blood. Much better than his first meal. No hang-ups to worry about. Though he wasn't really sure exactly what had bothered him before.
When he finally dropped her, letting the empty husk of what had once been a person fall and crumple to the ground below, bones shattered and limbs splayed almost comically, Michael could barely remember why he'd been upset at all. In fact, he was feeling pretty good now. For the most part. He glanced over at David, wiping the blood from his chin and licking it from the tips of his fingers, "I'm fine."
David eyed him incredulously, "Tell me if anything is wrong, or on your mind or talk to Dwayne." He didn't quite believe him but he wasn't going to push it, at least not this time.
Michael just rolled his eyes, "I'm fine. I said I'm fine, so I'm fine. Okay?"
David growled softly, "I'm your pack leader, don't forget that, Michael."
The younger vampire crossed his arms, "when did I say you weren't?" He didn't even know why he was getting so defensive about this.
"Your well being is important and keeping something to yourself instead of telling me, isn't a good idea." He stated, keeping calm, surprisingly enough.
He sighed, "okay. I just...I don't know what's wrong, okay? Something's missing. That's all. And I don't know what it is," he felt a little lost now, just thinking about it. Because he couldn't even understand what he was saying, or what that weird memory before his meal meant. All Michael knew for certain was that he definitely needed to avoid smelling perfume for awhile, apparently, if that was how he was going to react to it.
"I get it, we all feel a little lost at first, like something's missing. What's important is being part of a pack, relying on the rest to push past it. You belong, you're not lost, you're one of us, Michael."
"Wow…" Michael's eyes widened slightly, "that's almost touching. Do you want to cuddle and watch 'It's a Wonderful Life', now?" He smirked, shrugging away his doubts for now. They weren't going to help him in the long run. He'd just have to learn to...well, he'd have to learn not to think so much about whatever that was.
David smirked, "Yeah, let's go sit in a circle and sing songs together, sound good, boys?" During their little pow-wow, Dwayne and the others had rejoined them, listening in on their little heart-to-heart. Marko propped an elbow up on Michael's shoulder, smirking privately.
"Sure, have some spritzers, paint our nails...Dwayne, didn't you just get the latest issue of Cosmo?" Marko batted his eyelashes.
Dwayne glared at him, "No, but Paul did, I saw him pick up that and Seventeen."
"Hey," Paul defended, "all tits are created equal...no matter the age or style. That's what this country stands for, my friend. Plus, you're the one who ripped out all the perfume samples..." He stuck out his tongue and dodged Dwayne's arm as he took a swipe at him.
David raised an eyebrow, "That's just sick, Paul. All tits are not created equal, that'd be like doing one of the little shits we play with on the boardwalk. Something seriously wrong with you if you think age isn't important."
"Well, then…" Paul tilted his head up, "I guess I'm just more patriotic than you, Davey…"
"Or desperate," Michael suggested, laughing.
"A desperate patriot…" Marko mused, "sounds like a skin flick. That suits Pauly about right."
"Dude, that sounds like an awesome one, where'd you find it?" Paul looked excited at the thought of seeing that movie.
David leaned back in his chair, watching the boys as they went about their business. He enjoyed this, it was just so mundane, so normal, and he so rarely got to enjoy it. Dwayne was reading, Marko was playing with his pigeons, and Paul...Where was Paul?" He scowled, had lost sight of the son of a bitch. Never a good sign. In fact, always a bad sign. Half the time Paul disappeared he was high and wandering the caves, the other half was what you had to worry about. He was known to get into things he shouldn't and more often than not he was destroying something that didn't belong to him. Whoever coined the blessing 'may you live in boring times' should have added 'without Paul hanging around to fuck shit up.'
Michael was sitting by his things, still sorting them occasionally, but mostly just staring at a crumpled picture in his hand and that worried David more than anything else. He wasn't sure what the picture was but it was holding too much of his fledgling's attention. He would have to think of some way to redirect all of that energy Into something more productive.
"Where's Paul?" Michael lowered the photo and looked about curiously. A smiling face was just barely visible...framed by dark curls. Star...
"Hello, ladies," Paul crowed, striding into the lobby with his hands tucked behind his back, grinning saucily as he flopped down beside Marko, sending pigeons flying about them in a flurry of feathers and dirt, earning him a hard punch from the smaller vampire.
"Fucking asshole, you scared my pigeons."
"They'll be back. They always come flying whenever they see their precious Marko...what do you do with those birdies all the time that makes them like you so much, huh?" Paul nudged him and snickered, pulling a joint out of his pocket and tucking it between his lips as he glanced over at David and then Michael. "Hey, Mikey...you just gonna leave all your stuff in that corner, or you gonna pick somewhere a little safer from all the pigeon shit, huh?"
Michael tucked the picture into his pocket and glanced over at Paul, "it's fine where it is."
"You sure?" Paul leaned forward. "Gonna be all white and splotchy pretty soon...won't it, Davey?"
"What? From mold?" David scowled, "Yeah, I guess some of it will be."
Rolling his eyes, Michael stood up, "fine...I'll fucking move it if it'll shut you up…" He knelt down to grasp at his weights, moving to lift them in one go, when a jacket fell away from one half, revealing that Paul had taken all of the weight off of one side and loaded it up on the other. Michael yelped, stumbling to the side and dropping it right on his foot as he stumbled to catch himself. He howled in pain, kneeling down to shove the weights away.
Paul was the only one laughing, the other three cringing slightly and looking at the culprit, "Fuck, Paul…" Dwayne shook his head, they still didn't know exactly what Michael was going to do when faced with conflict. So far, he'd been fairly passive, even to the odd joke or two but this was something totally different.
"Bit heavy, huh, sunshine?" Paul snickered. Michael didn't respond. "Mikey?" He stood up, slowly creeping towards him, "dude...you lose your balls, or-"
Michael jerked his head up, snarling, fangs and claws drawn as he threw himself right at Paul, slashing and tearing at him in a fury. The older vampire was even more surprised than Michael had been about the little prank with his weight set, and hardly had time to recover before they were rolling about in the dirt, cloth rending, blood staining the ground beneath them. Maybe it was the edge his anger had given him, or the pain of a mending foot, or even the fact that Paul was halfway to blitzed, but the fight was a fairly even one, the outcome fairly uncertain for a good few minutes until they began to slow down, and it became less about doing actual collateral damage than forcing the other to submit.
The three observers were practically on the edge of their seats, curious as to who was going to win. What place would Michael secure in the pack?
"Mother fucker!" Michael shouted, landing a few punches before he finally dug his fangs into Paul's neck and pinned him to the ground, growling. The rocker was way too out of it to continue to struggle much, and finally gave in with a grumble, stilling.
David clapped, "Bravo!"
Sitting up, Michael climbed off of Paul and stomped back towards his weight, kneeling down to re-set it, "asshole," he mumbled, throwing one last angry glare at the rocker before he went to setting his stuff back in order. Well, he wasn't looking at the picture anymore.
"Good job Mikey! You're not at the bottom!" Marko grinned at him, "So proud of you man."
Paul sat up, rubbing his neck, "so he's got one up on you too, then," he retorted, picking up the joint he'd dropped on the ground...crushed and snapped in half.
"Didn't know it was a contest," Michael sighed, removing his shoe as he sat down to examine his foot. The bones had already begun mending, but the rest would take awhile...it'd been flattened like a pancake. If he'd been human, he doubt he'd have been able to walk for a long time.
"It's always a contest!" Marko glared at Paul, "I beat you last time so there!" He stuck his tongue out at him.
"And three times before that, I owned your ass like a little bitch." Paul replied, twisting the end of one of the longer broken pieces of his poor Mary Jane, and resigning to give the other a proper funeral later.
"Yeah, well, only the last one counts." He pouted, one of his pigeons hopping over to him. He reached down and gently stroked down its back. Dwayne lowered his book and glanced between the two, then snorted as an unreadable look crossed his face, before returning to his novel.
"So let me get this straight, I'm going to be dealing with him touching my shit on a regular basis, then, because it's always a 'contest'?" Michael grumbled, sliding his shoe back on and leaning back against the wall.
"No, the fight was a contest." David stated, "To prove who was higher up in the pack and you won, so you're above him."
"Don't challenge Dwayne though, he fights dirty." Marko grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck, "I think he permanently marked me that first time."
"You had it coming," Dwayne replied dryly, turning a page in his book and continuing to read. "Don't shit-talk Hemingway." He paused, "and don't let your pigeons shit on my Hemingway, either."
"Yeah, never again, won't happen, promise." Marko rubbed his neck again, "I'll be good."
"What's so great about Hemingway?" Michael quirked an eyebrow.
"Oh fuck, don't get him started!" Paul covered his ears.
David shot Dwayne a look, "Don't even go there. He's a lover of the classics, let's just leave it at that."
"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some-" Dwayne began what would turn out to be a very long, and very dry lecture. Michael would never ask him about Hemingway again. Search him why a guy who couldn't even wear a shirt properly had so much enthusiasm for great writers of the early 20th century.
Michael finished zipping up his fresh change of jeans, adjusting a white t-shirt and slinging on his jacket before heading towards the exit, "how long are we going to do this before I get my own bike? Seriously…" He complained, following Marko and Dwayne.
"Probably not for too much longer, the issue is finding one that we can get ahold of. Not always the easiest thing to do in this town." Dwayne stated, though Michael wasn't sure whether he was honestly serious or just fucking with him. It was sort of hard to tell.
"I thought you liked riding with David, Mikey." Marko grinned at him, gnawing his thumb.
Michael scowled, "I think you'd look better riding bitch than me," he retorted. "You'd make a convincing ugly chick."
"Nah, Paul's got the hair for it, he'd be the better chick." Marko shot back.
"Even if I was, my dick would still be way bigger than yours!" Paul laughed, skipping outside as they followed, leaving only David behind to finish getting ready.
David came out a few minutes later, not looking the happiest but he didn't look murderous either so that could be counted as a win, "Alright boys, let's get out of here, I think we need to participate in some good old fashioned harassment."
"Got them nice and worked up...gonna be fun taking the next step," Marko bit the thumb of his glove and grinned behind it.
"Got who worked up?" Michael looked between them as he climbed on behind David, starting to grow more and more agitated with riding bitch, but not quite pissed off enough to raise a fuss about it. Yet. A few more days, and he just might.
"There are these brothers in town and they are complete idiots. They think we're all dead but they know what we are so we've been fucking with them the last couple weeks." Dwayne explained as they started up their bikes.