A/N: Takes place after Guy Talk chapters 4 & 5, Corporate Joe and Help Wanted.
Mick and Beth, Josef and his freshies - on their way to Alaska to see the Aurora Borealis. Mick had planned the trip for Beth and invited Josef along. Now there was another reason to celebrate: Josef had offered Beth a job. She had quickly seen the possibilities and advantages of working for him and had been delighted to accept. She would start at Kostan Industries when they returned.
Josef hadn't had sex since Simone left. He had been mildly interested in a couple of women but nothing had come of it, least of all himself. He was a little worried but had decided this trip was the answer. Not to have sex since he had purposely chosen to bring two freshies who were partners. He would relax for a week and everything would be fine when he returned to L.A. Josef liked all his freshies but Zoey and Trish were perfect companions for this kind of trip. Soon after they joined his freshie pool Trish had remarked that being a freshie meant providing "Succor for the sucker." Josef, who happened to be taking succor at the moment, laughed suddenly and blood almost came out his nose.
The private landing strip came into view and they were soon on the ground. There was a hangar big enough for the jet, a small plane that could also land on water, and a couple of utility vehicles. Caretakers provided security for the property and a maid service cleaned before and after visits. Even Mick, who was accustomed to Josef's extravagance, was surprised by the lodge. He had expected a rustic cabin. It was two stories of stone and timber, well away from civilization but with every amenity. Mick hadn't been there before. Josef had owned it for three years and had only visited a few times himself.
The lodge was built over an ice cave. There was a power line for simple electricity but it was too cold and the rock too bare and hard for human habitation. Josef lived an easy life in L.A. This was his way of getting away from it all and roughing it. Except for the stack of sheets in various fabrics near the entrance. Josef slept naked. He loved the cold and didn't mind the hard rock. But he didn't enjoy his skin sticking to the rock when he got up, like a kid who touched his tongue to a frozen flagpole. Sure, a vampire healed quickly but looking even for a few minutes as if you had been flayed was unnecessary.
The girls went down to the cave soon after they arrived to check it out. They were impressed but said it felt like a tomb and were glad to go back upstairs to hot chocolate and luxury.
"Cold as the grave and almost as charming," Beth announced.
"Thank you," Josef replied seriously as though she had paid a compliment.
They drove out the first night to some hills a few miles from the lodge to watch the light show which was spectacular. The girls couldn't imagine what it would be like to see it through vamp eyes. Josef and Mick decided to walk back so Beth drove Zoey and Trish. When they got to the lodge Mick and Josef were already there, chopping wood. "We ran," they explained. "Thought you might like a fire to warm up."
Beth was surprised when Josef piloted them in the small plane for aerial sightseeing and shopping trips to Juneau and Anchorage. "Can you fly your jet?" she asked.
"If I had to," Josef replied. "But I'm not licensed and I don't want to invest the time required right now. Maybe in another life."
Beth couldn't resist buying an Eskimo outfit. She looked so cute in it that Mick couldn't resist her. "This is definitely not a practical purchase," he said. "Unless you're expecting nuclear winter instead of global warming?"
"Maybe there will be a costume party in L.A.," Beth replied. "Just wait, the perfect opportunity to be an Eskimo will come along and I'll have the outfit in the back of my closet."
They had gone out several times to watch the lights. The last night the guys decided to walk back again. The girls were in the lodge, Beth with a pair of night vision goggles, when they came into view. Josef and Mick looked at each other and nodded. Then they stripped and fell backward into a bank of snow. "They're making snow angels. Naked!" Beth said with surprise.
"Let me see," Zoey demanded.
"Should you be interested in looking at naked men?" Beth asked.
"I can admire an instrument without wishing to play it," Zoey replied.
"She's a music major," Trish told Beth, then asked Zoey, "What do they have? Flutes or trumpets?"
"Trumpets!" Zoey said.
Trish turned to Beth. "I need a second opinion from someone who actually plays in that orchestra."
"I've seen both of them naked," Beth replied. "Give them a minute and you'll be thinking of trombones."
Zoey couldn't help asking Beth: "Have you and Josef ..."
"Oh no," Beth said quickly. "When he was with Simone we all went swimming one night and it seemed silly to wear suits. I couldn't help looking but Mick is the only vamp for me."
Near dawn, Josef went to the cave. Mick was upstairs with Beth. He would be down later. Josef chose a silk sheet, spread it over a fairly flat rock and lay down to sleep. Which, like him lately, didn't come. He let his thoughts drift. He suspected Beth thought he was pining for Simone but that wasn't it. Josef wished her well but they didn't belong together. Even when he was considering whether to turn her he knew they didn't have what he and Sarah had shared. And since it was possible he was romanticizing his time with Sarah, he had taken a close look at Mick and Beth and knew that he and Simone didn't measure up to their relationship either.
Sometimes he wished he could be in love like that again. He still loved Sarah but he was no longer in love with her. Josef believed you could love someone forever but the more active state of being in love required a little interaction to keep it going. And not just sex – a look, a smile, a little conversation.
No, that was behind him, Josef thought. He had his shot and it didn't work out. He was happy for Mick and Beth and hoped fate would be more kind to them. Mick deserved a relationship with Beth. He had been through a lot: The pain of Coraline's betrayal, the years when he struggled to accept what he was and tried to make it work with Coraline, finally killing her to save a little girl. It hadn't been easy for Beth, either. She had recovered from being kidnapped and had settled into a normal life with a kind if unexciting human boyfriend. Meeting Mick again, finding out there were such things as vampires, Josh's death, Maureen's murder. Yes, both Mick and Beth deserved some happiness.
Josef figured he didn't really deserve more than the year he had with Sarah. He wasn't ashamed of things he had done in the past. He had been a young vampire and a little drunk on power and bloodlust. But he had discovered that thoughts and feelings and ideas could mature even though your body never aged. You gained wisdom, maybe, and found out that raw brutality wasn't the only way to handle a situation. Vampires could learn to play nice with humans and beat them at their own games. Although it never hurt to have a back-up plan involving violence.
Josef, on his stomach, began thrusting. The silk sheet wadded beneath him, caught between a rock and his hard place. The friction felt good enough that he turned over and reached down, stroking himself then squeezing his balls gently and not so gently. His hand circled the head of his cock, thumb pressing firmly then rubbing. He started the familiar milking motion, moaning a little, and eventually reached the expected conclusion. He felt some relief but no pleasure. What the hell is wrong with me? Can't get no satisfaction, that's what. Me and The Stones. Or me and my stones, actually. Still got a sense of humor. Might have to be satisfied with that. He sighed and stood up, wiping himself with the sheet. He dropped it in the hamper and took a fresh one, cotton this time.
Despite the regret of what happened to Sarah, he had managed to have a pretty good time since then. He would have again. If he was still having problems when he got back to L.A. he would try a hooker. He knew a couple of high-priced call girls. And he wouldn't expect more. He thought of the past year compared to the quiet, happy one with Sarah more than 50 years ago. Mick and Beth met again, Mick had to kill Lola, the return of Coraline, the bombing of his office, the Monaghan's. Wasn't that always the way? Years passed with nothing to write home about then suddenly everything was a BFD. But the excitement was over now. Probably nothing interesting would happen the rest of the decade.
He slept.