Godric lay on his back gazing up at the sky above him. The boat beneath him gently rocking from its position hitched to the pier. His childe and lover were an amusing pair when they were put together. August's and Eric's relationship was best described as a choppy sea amid a hurricane. Beautiful, rough, and heavy, with a central calm that made them perfectly suited for one another. Neither would back down form a fight willingly nor would they allow the other to run away from one. It was fascinating to see play out, like the Planet Earth documentaries August often watched with him. It was one of the things he would have missed or possibly had ruined if he had met the sun.
The lavender haired vamp had only been gone a few hours, Godric found himself missing his bubbly presence.
As if summoned by the thoughts alone, the teen vampire suddenly descended from the sky and landed on the pier. Godric took in the fearful look on his lover's face and was immediately at his side.
"Has something happened my sunshine?"
"The queen is gonna throw Eric under the bus. The magister came." August said.
Godric quickly moved to hold the panicking baby vamp's cheeks in his hands.
"It's ok August." He hushed. "You need not worry over Eric so much."
"Why not?" August whimpered leaning into the supporting arms of his lover.
"Eric knows how to work himself out of these situations. We just have to trust him and be the silent guards that cover his blind spots." Godric said moving one had to card his fingers through lilac locks.
August pouted at his words before burying himself into Godric's shoulder.
"I don't want to be in the shadows."
"I know my heart."
"I want to be by his side so they know he isn't alone." August breathed shakily. "So he knows that he isn't alone."
"I think Eric is well aware of our place with him." Godric smiled rocking them slowly to help calm August more. "It's that reason that makes him push us away in these situations. I've seen his best and his worst since the day I turned him. I know better than anyone what makes Eric react the way he does. If he didn't feel some kind of love for you, or me, or Pamela, he would not be doing what he is right now."
"And what's that?" August asked, lifting his head to meet Godric's warm gaze.
"Protecting his clan."
August gave the elder vampire a small smile as he stepped back out of his embrace. He tugged on the other's hands until Godric allowed himself to be led to their room. August would accept being the viking's shadow for now, but it would only be a matter of time before something forced the eternal teen to step out and play all of his cards.
"Hey Lyle can you toss these in the dumpster out back?" August asked, tipping his head toward a pile of boxes as he carried a plastic-covered loveseat across the main floor.
"Sure!" Lyle smiled making his way to the pile after setting aside his broom.
The younger man took a few trips to get all the boxes out but sighed in relief when he finally picked up the last one. Lyle tossed the excess packaging into the dumpster with an accomplished huff. He felt like he had become an expert at building Ikea furniture now. If only Alcide could have been around to help the process would have been infinitely more fun. Thoughts of the beautifully built man flooded his mind and almost made him miss the huddled figure leaning against the back wall of the opposite building. He took in the figures long, oily, unkempt black hair that covered their face, and a tan skin stretched taut over bony fingers clutching a dirty blanket.
"Hey," Lyle called out softly. "You ok?"
The figure didn't move or appear to have acknowledged the ginger's call. Lyle turned to the back door of the shop and warily called for August.
"Hey August! Can you help me out here?"
There is shifting from inside the shop before the vampire poked his head out the door.
"What's up gingersnap?" He chirps.
Lyle points at the still huddled figure with a shaking finger. August looks over and gasps.
"Oh you poor thing."
August pulls the figure inside and sets them on one of the couches before rushing off to pour them a cup of tea.
"Here you are, little bird." August cooed.
"Nightingale." The figure corrected in a smooth yet boyish voice.
"Your name?" August asked in wonder. "It's so unique!"
August grasped the top of the blanket and lifted it to reveal a head of long, thick, and slightly dull back hair. An aristocratic face and dark caramel skin that spoke of mixed parentage. Despite his unkempt appearance Nightingale was a looker.
"I went by Gale mostly." He said bluntly as he stared at his teacup.
Lyle sat beside him with curious eyes.
"Why were you…"
The human was cut off by the front door banging open and a familiar face from TV walked in. August glared as he slowly stood from his crouched position to meet the woman's scowl head-on.
" ." She greeted in a no-nonsense tone.
"Bitch." August said with a slight dip of his head.
If Lyle seemed worried about why a seemingly homeless man was in their trash, it had nothing on the amount of shock and awe he felt about August's show of hate and disrespect toward the woman.
Godric settled on one of the stools in the kitchen with a pensive look on his face. August's senses had developed at an alarming rate and were far superior to what he displayed just a year ago. In the beginning the couple had paid little mind to the rate at which they improved, chalking it up to the teen vampire maturing over the years. However, during one of August's Robin Hood escapades they had to acknowledge it. Godric went to several trusted sources to help figure out exactly how and why August's senses were becoming more sensitive. Luckily his sense of touch was not affected, but the other 4 were growing at various rates. His main suspicion was the one he least wanted to be true, but if it came down to it they would all have to acknowledge it. Godric hoped he was wrong.
"For someone so loud you are very hard to track down." Drawled the unwelcome voice of one Nan Flanagan.
August let out a long unnecessary sigh before turning to face the AVL rep. He stared at her blankly for a solid minute then broke out into a beaming grin showing far more teeth than necessary.
"For someone I have told on numerous occasions to fuck off you sure don't know when to take a hint." He chirped.
Lyle was frozen stiff in his seat beside a stone-faced Gale.
"And I told you that you would be seeing a lot more of me since you decided to go into business with a human." Nan stated flatly as she made herself at home on one of the plush mint chairs still wrapped in their protective plastic.
August sneered at the sight of her crisp grey pantsuit defiling his furniture with its presence. Nan rose a brow at his display before pulling a sizable stack of paper out of her briefcase. She tossed the stack onto the pale green sea glass coffee table before her with a loud smack. Lyle flinched at the sound, but the room's other occupants didn't so much as twitch. August didn't spare a glance.
"That better not be what I think it is." The eternal teen said blandly.
"If you mean a contract that allows your little business venture to thrive under the backing of the AVL with all advertising and material fees taking care of in exchange for being one of the faces of Vampire-Human relations, then yes." Nan stated bluntly. "Sign it."
"Fuck no." August said in a flat tone.
"Excuse me?" Nan asked in disbelief.
"You heard me bitch. I'm not selling out my passion or my human companion to your little charade." August smirked, finally settling back into the nearby settee.
Lyle gapped at his friend. He couldn't believe the man actually talked back to the lady on tv. He glanced at the man beside him wondering if Gale was in the same state of shock. Gale hadn't shown any sign of caring. The blanket covered boy just continued to sip the tea from his mug as if nothing was happening.
"I'm sorry." Nan sniffed. "You seem to be under the impression that you have a choice in the matter."
August scoffed.
"You think I have to do business in the US to have a shop? I legally have multiple citizenships in other countries that I am a hell of a lot more willing to work with." August laughs leaning forward. "You think I didn't already have this shit thought out in this case scenario?"
August stood from his seat making his way to stand over the table Nan dumped the papers onto.
"I've spoken to quite a few members of The Authority and they saw absolutely no issue with me opening up shop in London or Seoul. A few of them actually encouraged it since Eric has Fangtasia here as a beacon of Human-Vampire relations."
Nan was now glaring at the amused grin on the teen's face.
"If you don't believe me I don't mind giving Roman a call." August smiled cheerily.
Nan bared her fangs at the younger vampire.
"You're lying." She growled. "There's no way in hell you know the Guardian."
"Of course I do. We have dinner 4 times a year to catch up. Godric introduced us years ago." August beamed. "We bonded over our love of old blood and good suits. He's quite the charmer."
Nan was at a disadvantage and couldn't find anything to say as she scowled at the young vampire. August recognized their argument as a win for himself and pulled a glittery pink lighter from the pocket of his blazer. He crouched before the table, keeping eye contact with Nan as he did, and lit the stack of papers on fire.
"You may be older than me Miss Flanagan, but I was taught by the best how to play this game." August told her in an eerily calm voice. "Now kindly get the fuck out of my store."
Nan huffed before standing from her seat and walking to the door.
"This is not the end of this discussion." She snapped.
August laughed at her retreating form before turning to the humans on the loveseat. Gale suddenly stood causing Lyle to flail and fall onto the floor, shocked at the others' quick movements after being completely still during the confrontation. August tilted his head in curiosity at the others' movement.
"What's wrong little bird?" He asked turning to fully face the disheveled human.
"I want to be like you." Gale stated bluntly.
August seemed confused, but Lyle seemed to understand exactly what was about to happen. The ginger stood up and nervously glanced between the two unsure of what would happen.
"What exactly do you mean?" August said with a coy smile.
Gale shrugged off the blanket covering his battered form and used it to put out the small blaze on the coffee table. August's eyes took in the bruised dark caramel skin and toned muscles making note of the obvious fang marks dotting his arms, collar, and legs. Gale looked up to meet his gaze once more with determination burning heavy in his eyes.
"I want to be a vampire. I want you to be my maker. I want to be as powerful with words and as confident in my body as you are." Gale said bluntly. He moved away from the smoking pile of ash to kneel in front of August and pressed his forehead to August's belly.
"I want to be a part of you." The man whispered as he buried his face into the eternal teen's torso.
August was frozen in place with a look of absolute shock on his face. He had no idea what to do in this situation. Lyle's jaw had practically hit the floor at the other human's announcement. Only one clear thought could come to mind.
"What the fuck?"