KINDRED SPIRITS

by Soledad

A "Pathways in the Dark" story

Part 09 of "The Toreador Chronicles". Follows "Courtship Rituals".

For disclaimer and background information see the Introduction.

Rating: 14+ for this part, mostly for language.

Author's note: Celeste is a canon characters in the White Wolf RPG. The "casting" is mine, however. S/he is played by Hugo Weaving, whose Elrond in the LOTR movies I absolutely hated, but he's said to have been an excellent drag queen.

Summary: Emmett, who's been given a job in Girard's designer studio as a gay fashion expert, is introduced to Celeste, the transsexual drag queen – the only surviving male of the Toreador bloodline Sons of Discord (a 11th generation vampire). The two bond immediately, and after a disturbignly short while, Celeste Embraces Emmett. However, s/he forgets to ask Angel's permission first, which could get them in deep trouble. In the meantime, Brian has a happy reunion with his best friend.

Brian was sitting on a high stool, bare-chested, his shoulders squared, his head turned to the side to offer his profile in a classical position to the artist drawing him. It wasn't too comfortable a position, but after daily sessions for almost two weeks, he was growing accustomed to the immobility. More so since he usually got more than enough action – of the most satisfying sort – afterwards.

Alain worked in his small, private atelier in the attic, built in a clever way, so that the sunlight would fall onto the model through the roof window, while he could remain in the shadows. He hadn't enjoyed drawing so much for decades. With his tousled dark hair and wide hazel eyes, Brian was the best model for classical studies Alain had had since leaving Europe some two hundred years ago. The lush, red mouth, slightly shortened chin and long, graceful neck only added to the classical air. The young man could have stepped off an ancient mural from Crete. As if he were a descendant of those wasp-tailled princes portrayed on the walls of Minos' palace.

Since he had slowly letting Alain get closer to him when they were alone, Brian didn't wear his usual mask of calm arrogance that would have ruined the atmosphere of the drawing. Plus, he was narcistic enough to endure the discomfort of the session, so that his beauty would be captured forever. These two factors resulted in a truly stunning portrait that seemed timeless and somewhat dreamy.

"So," Alain said, signing the finished picture and spreading fixative spray all over it generously. Pastel crayons enabled one to work with the finest details and shades, but the end result was very… sensitive. "We are done. Do you want to see it?"

"Sure," Brian slid from the stool and popped the joints in his back in relief. He took a long, critical look at the portrait and gave a low whistle. "Wow! I knew I was hot. But I never knew I was this hot. Are you sure you weren't idealizing me?"

Alain laughed and kissed his bare shoulder. "I am sure. I have my shortcomings, but you can trust my eyes. I'm happy with the results. Let's celebrate."

"What do you have in mind?" Brian inquired, rubbing his body against the artist's suggestively. Alain shook his head in amusement.

"You really do have a one-track mind. But I was thinking of something more… public tonight."

"More public?" Brian raised an eyebrow. "Kinky…"

"If you find a business dinner with the Vignes kinky, then yeah," Alain grinned. "They want us – well, more you than me, actually – to participate on the brainstorming session of the Rage movie."

"What?" Brian stared at him in honest surprise. "I thought Justin has blown their chances with the director for good."

Last time, it had been a disaster. That selfish little prick had insulted the homophobic studio exec and alienated the director with his blatant attempts to sell his ass for a chance to influence the storyline. The director, who had been well aware of the fact that Justin was responsible for the artwork, not the stories themselves, had not been amused. And Mikey… Mikey had been devastated, seeing his chances stolen away.

"It was a close call," Alain admitted, "but Brett Keller still loves the idea. And with Justin off to Italy, and so unable to jump his bones during business negotiations, this time it might even come together."

"But what does Brett need me for?" Brian asked. "It's Mikey he should have here. He was the one who came up with the whole idea in the first place, and he's the creative mind behind the plots."

"I know," Alain nodded, "that's why Vera Vignes had him fly in, together with his lawyer, a certain Miss…"

"Marcus," Brian said, as there was no real chance Mikey would have asked anyone else but Mel. "Melanie Marcus. But… do you mean Mikey's here? Since when?"

"Well," Alain glanced at his watch, "their plane must have arrived about half an hour ago. They must be in the D'Oblique, soon. Wait," he stopped Brian, who was already moving towards the door, "they're probably jet-lagged, and they'll need to rest to be in their best form for the evening."

"I just wanted to call them," Brian said defensively, his irritation about the way he was constantly manipulated, rising. "I haven't seen him for moths, for fuck's sake!"

"And you can't distract him right now; this meeting is too important," Alain pointed out. "Vera Vignes was… displeased with the last meeting. Very much so. This might be the last chance for the movie to get the green lights."

"It'll be all right," Brian smiled. "Mikey's adorable, especially when he gets to talk about his superheroes. He'll wrap them all around his pinkie finger in no time. Plus, he does have good manners."

Several hours later, in the huge, elegant villa in West-Hollywood that the Vignes siblings shared with Henry Waters, Edward's Childe and lawyer, Alain had to admit that Brian had been right. Michael Novotny, a short, slender man with an average face and big, shiny dark eyes, was adorable, in the best sense of the word. He talked about his brain-child, the gay superhero Rage, with a childlike excitement that seemed to infect even Brett Keller, although the cynical, ruggedly handsome Brujah director usually was a tough negotiating partner, and Alain could see Vera Vignes literally meld under the influence of those beautiful eyes and that thousand megawatt smile.

Beyond that, Michael was also clever. He came well-prepared, providing three different plotlines for a possible movie, pointing out the pros and contras of each plotline, arguing to the bitter end in favour of certain aspects he seemed to find particularly important and giving in relatively easily in other things. He even created an important female character from the scratch, in less than ten minutes, when Vera Vignes voiced her concern about wanting a blockbuster, not a little-known, independent gay movie. To make it short, he was the exact opposite of what Vera Vignes had disliked in Justin. Of course, unlike Justin, Michael was a mature adult – with a decades-long passion for the topic to begin with.

Brett seemed particularly taken by the improvised female character, Dragonfly, and Alain knew why. Brett had wanted to give his Childe Susie Wong, a chance to make the big break as an actress. An exotic beauty and a martial arts expert, Suzie could be the ideal casting chance for this Dragonfly character, especially since she could act, too.

"I don't want big names for this movie," the director said, with a glance at Vera Vignes. "I want the idea getting the people to the theatres, not the starring actor. Besides, big shots usually play themselves, not the part they have been cast for."

Vera shrugged. "The casting decision is yours. Although, as Mr. Novotny said, we might have to make certain… allowances to the current trends. For example, I don't think that having an all-white lead cast would be a good idea… politically."

"Well, we don't have much choice with JT," Brett said thoughtfully, "or with Rage himself, for that matter. But Zephyr perhaps… Michael, could you imagine him as a Hispanic-looking character?"

Michael, dark-haired and dark-eyed himself, just like the character that had been based on him, nodded. "Why not? It would make a nice contrast… and what's truly important is his heart, not his looks, anyway."

"Good," Brett said. "With Suzie as Dragonfly and a Latino actor as Zephyr, we'll have two ethnic characters, one of them a woman… I think that should be enough."

"Cast a handsome black actor with big muscles as the main villain and let him show lots of naked skin," Michael suggested with a lewd grin. "People would be too busy drooling to complain."

"We should pick the plotline with this Shadow guy," Brett said, after the general laughter had died down. "I like the mind-controlling plot. I think Dawn could make a visual world around him that would make the viewers bite their nails. I don't want that overly technical sci-fi shit everyone has been doing in the recent years."

"Including yourself," Vera Vignes pointed out, "but I see your point. It is high time to change genres, and it always pays out to be the new trendsetter. Something more esoteric would be refreshing – especially when we can be the ones to establish the new trend. Of course, we'll need a very good and aggressive campaign for that. Mr. Kinney; that is why we wanted you here for today."

Brian nodded, giving Michael a smile… the first true one Alain had seen on that handsome face, ever.

"No problem, Ma'am. I'm familiar with the material. I've already done a lot of advertising for the comics – I still have good contacts to those journalists and TV-reporters."

"Good," Vera Vignes nodded. "Brett, if I may suggest something: it would be a shame to waste that Black Widow character from the other storyline. Mr. Novotny, could you probably work in her as an ally of Shadow? I think Sarina would play her with amazing creepiness."

Michael shook his head apologetically. "I'm sorry, but that won't work. Either her or Shadow – we can't squeeze them both into the same story, they are just too big for that."

"Keep that thought anyway," Brett said. "If the movie turns out a blockbuster, which I very much believe, we can do the sequel with the Black Widow. Sarina would indeed be great for the part. Perhaps we can shoot a teaser with her and add to the DVD-release."

"You really trust the idea that much?" Michael asked in amazement.

"Do you have success with the comic?" Brett raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah… and it still dumbfolds me," Michael admitted. "I thought it would have a tiny corner on the market. After all, it was written for gay teens who are struggling with their identity. And now…"

"Sixty per cent of your fans are women, most of them straight," Brett finished for him. "And there would be even more, had Justin not tried to turn it into bad porn. Market research shows that particular issue cost you 2.6 per cent of your female readership and only a 0.8 per cent increase of male readers. Women read it for the plot, not for the chance to look at pornographic pictures – although I must admit that Justin's artwork is very good."

"For my part, I'm tired of movies made only for male viewers between the age of 14 and 49," Vera Vignes said. "The female-oriented market is covered with sappy, mindless romances aimed at illiterate teenage girls; it's insulting. I think if we can make a movie with enough action for the men that can also give something the women who want to see anything else than Brad Pitt still desperately trying to look twenty years old, we might practically create a whole new market – and earn a lot of money, before the concurrence realizes what's happening."

"Especially when I manage to cast someone like Keith Hamilton Cobb as Shadow," Brett laughed. "That was the secret of the early Andromeda episodes: half the women watched them for Tyr Anasazi, while the men got their technobabble and space battles."

"What about the supporting characters?" Edward Vignes asked, joining the discussion for the first time.

"I've got a few thugs up my sleeve who'd put Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude van Damme to shame," Brett answered. "Plus, they'd cost considerably less. The current body-building madness makes it easy to cast background characters for a superhero movie. All we need to do is to put them into skin-tight costumes and let them adore themselves in front of the camera."

"Sounds promising," Vera Vignes nodded. "Any casting ideas for the main characters yet?"

Brett named three young, relatively unknown actors who had similarities with Brian, Michael and Justin. They were talented, physically fit, and interested, he said. And he had them read every single issue of Rage. They were willing to do moderate sex scenes, but not graphic ones. Even the one openly gay among them refused to blow anyone before the camera.

"That shouldn't be a problem, though," Brett finished, "as I want to make an action movie, not an erotic one. With car chases, wall-climbing and the hero kissing the guy on top of the imploded building at the end."

"Which guy?" Vera Vignes asked. "If I understand the basic idea correctly, Rage has two men in his life: JT, with whom he has sex, and Zephyr, with whom he has everything else."

Alain noticed with amusement Brian and Michael exchanging a meaningful glance and Michael blushing a lovely shade of magenta. Personally, he had no doubts who would 'get the guy' at the end, despite Michael being currently married to another man. These two were destined to be together – perhaps the Clan should consider Embracing Michael as well. He'd be an asset to the movie industry, and he'd make a gorgeous Childe…

"It depends on what sort of movie the studio is planning to make," Brian replied to Vera Vignes. "If you want hardcore porn, let JT get Rage. If you want women consuming whole boxes of Kleenex and sentimental queers drooling all over the theatre, let Zephyr get him. Eventually with JT returning as the vengeful ex-lover in lieu with the evil Black Widow in the next movie."

"That's not very nice, Brian," Michael chastised his friend softly.

Brian shrugged. "It's the truth, though. Sex sells – but sentimental clichés sell even better. And if you provide the healthy amount of action and some violence to balance the droolworthy scenes out, you won't end up with kitsch."

Vera Vignes looked ad Brett. "It's up to you… to a certain level. I won't give the go for hardcore porn, though. This studio has a certain reputation to protect."

"I'm not interested in porn," Brett said. "I want to translate Rage to the big screen in its original form: dark and funny. Besides, I always thought that Rage and Zephyr belonged together… and could never stand JT. Such a snotty, whining little prick! Now, that that's settled – Michael, would you be interested in writing the screenplay?"

Michael nearly choked on his drink. "Me? I really don't think I'm up to it."

"Of course you are," Brian murmured in an aggressively protective manner that made Alain smile. "Don't sell yourself cheap, Mikey."

"Brian is right," Brett nodded, his acute vampire hearing having caught the low-voiced remark. "You have remarkable talent, Michael. You are full of ideas – hell, you've just created a new character in ten minutes! – your dialogues are fast-paced and funny… the rest is made up of technicalities like camera angles and stuff, which can be added later by a professional co-worker. Of course, this would mean extra money for him," he added, turning to Melanie, "as well as a certain percentage of the profit the movie will make. We can have your lawyer work out the details with ours."

He reached Melanie the preliminary contract, and she scanned the text with a critical eye… an eye that was widening with every new line. Not the writing fee was the really big deal, even though for a first time screenwriter it was considerable. But that was noting compared with the potential offered by the percentage of the profits. Since Brett hadn't made anything else but hugely successful blockbusters for the last seven years or so, that could make Michael almost outrageously wealthy.

Melanie, realizing that potential, broke out in a wide grin (after all, it meant a small fortune for her and Michael's child as well), exchanged a look with Henry Waters, then nodded. "If Michael wants to give it a try, I'm all for it."

"I'd like to," Michael admitted with dreamy eyes. "Writing the comics has been great, but a movie script… wow!"

Alain couldn't remember having seen such a motherly-benevolent smile on Vera Vignes' face. Ever. And he'd known her since the 19th century. Brian noticed it, too, and grinned. The famous Novotny charm had worked its magic once again. And in his typical humble manner, Michael hadn't even realized that he'd managed to woo some of the toughest Hollywood studio bosses, without effort. But that was Mikey for you: always willing to see the best in everyone, never believing how wonderful he was himself. This often angered Brian, but he had to admit that it was an essential part of Michael's charm.

The discussion turned to business details, which Alain found horribly boring, so he tuned out and watched Brian interact with Michael instead. Twenty years of close friendship were a long time for humans – small wonder that they seemed capable of communicating almost without words and could finish each other's sentences without hesitation. They had an interesting dynamic with each other and with the lady lawyer, who seemed to adore Michael, but she obviously despised Brian. Interesting indeed…

Alain's cell phone rang, and accusing looks turned to him. Ventrue could be very snobbish when it came to etiquette. On the other hand, this was a phone for emergency situations only, and the few people who knew the number wouldn't call him for nothing.

"My apologies," Alain murmured, retreating to the furthest corner to pick up the call. Barely had he answered it, he became deathly pale, even for a vampire. "I see. On my way." He switched off the phone and turned to the Vignes. "I'm sorry, but I must leave now. A… family emergency has just occurred. Can you see that Michael and Miss Marcus get back to the D'Oblique?"

"I'll drive them," Brian offered.

The others, Ventrue and Brujah alike, nodded and watched Alain leave in a great hurry. Family emergency was an euphemism among vampires, with a deadly meaning.

Someone has been Embraced without Angelus' permission, and probably against their will. And since it was Alain who'd been called away, the perpetrator must have belonged to Clan Toreador.

In the darkened backstage area of the Pink Stools, one of the less than prominent transgender bars of West Hollywood, Emmett Honeycutt was convulsing in the unbearable pain of the Becoming. His not-quite-voluntary sire, Celeste, sat on his side, sobbing in fear and despair.

"I d-didn't p-lan t-to Embrace him," s/he wailed. "I got c-carried away w-while f-fucking and f-feeding. He w-would have d-died, I t-took too much b-blood. He's s-such a s-sweetie, I d-didn't w-want him t-to d-die!"

"It would have been more merciful to let him die," Victor Girard, the Primogen of Clan Toreador in LA, said grimly. "You know how Angelus thinks about Embracing people without their consent – and without his permission. He might send Spike after you and have you both killed… slowly and painfully. Spike does have a certain reputation…"

"On the other hand, the bloodline of the Sons of Discord is nearly extinct," Alain said. "Celeste is the last one – and Emmett would certainly be a good match, for both the Clan and the bloodline."

"Unless the females of the bloodline discover him and kill him like the rest of the males," Victor Girard said sourly. "That wouldn't be a pleasant death, either. If I'm not mistaken, they tore their last discovered 'brother' to pieces, with their bare hands."

"You are mistaken, but being killed by Muse is a grisly death nevertheless," Alain replied. "However, we could disguise Emmett as a Toreador and give him into foster care. Our current association with him would make the guise convincing."

"That could work," Girard admitted reluctantly. "If we found the right foster Sire for him, that is."

"I'd take him myself, but I've still all hands full with Oliver, Pierre and Sarina," Alain said. "And it would be dangerous to have him near Brian right now. That man is very observant for a mortal; we can't risk breaking the Masquerade. Besides, since I'm planning to Embrace him in the not too far future, I can't concentrate on Emmett right now. What about Diego's Sire?"

"Joaquin Murietta?" Girard shook his head. "That's a bad idea, Alain. Aside from the near impossibility for an LAPD detective to take in such a flamboyant queen and not draw unwanted attention, Joaquin is too old and too strong. Emmett wouldn't last a week under his hand."

Alan shrugged. "Diego seems to manage well enough. And he's a sissy, too."

"Diego is a lot stronger than you might think," Girard replied, "and he's Joaquin's Childe, has the same strong blood. That's different. No, we can't give Emmett to Joaquin. But what about the Blount sisters? They're old enough to deal with a neonate, and they would have a lot of common with the boy… at least when it comes to fashion taste."

Alain thought about it for a minute. The fact was, that probably no sane male vampire would be able to deal with Emmett in the long run. But two females, with Edward Blount as the higher authority, if need must be…

"It could actually work," he said in surprise. "You think you can talk Edith and Enyd into accepting the responsibility? They never wanted to make a Childe themselves."

"I don't need to talk them into anything," Victor Girard replied coldly. "I'm their Primogen; they'll do as I tell them. I think they'd actually like Emmett, and so would Edward Blount. The relationship between the three of them is not an exclusive one, and Edward is known to like a good, willing ass occasionally. The real problem is to get Angelus' blessing for the plan."

Alain sighed. "I'll give it a try. Since I've done him a favour with taking Sarina into foster care and Embracing Oliver and Pierre for him, so that they won't work with Rebecca against him, he might listen to me."

"I hope so," Girard opened a vein in his own wrist and offered the seeping blood to the half-mad fledgling to calm him down. "We've lost too many young ones during Cyrus' realm of terror. I'd like to keep this one."

TBC