Waiting to Exhale
Title: Waiting to Exhale
Pairing: Josef/Mick
Rating: NC17 for sexual content
Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Mick and Beth are planning their wedding when Josef throws a spanner in the works.
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“Six months, Mick. That’s all I’m asking for.”
Mick rubbed frustrated fingers across his forehead, and took a moment to gather his thoughts. It felt like they’d been going round in circles for the past two hours.
“You had more than twenty years, Josef. What difference is another six months going to make?” Mick emphasised his point with a cutting hand gesture, “besides that, you’re the one who told me I should ‘do something about it before it’s too late’…”
“…Yes, do something about it,” Josef was on his feet then, trailing a gesticulating hand through the air as he paced the floor in front of Mick, “tell her you love her, have sex, seal the deal, get it out of your system. Not go ahead and set the damn wedding date.”
Mick watched Josef for a moment. Josef’s attempt to wear a hole in the floor by repeatedly tracking back and forth over the same spot might have been amusing, if Mick wasn’t so damned fed up with the conversation at hand.
“I’ve had it, this conversation is over.” Mick got to his feet and bought a halt to proceedings with a disgusted wave of a hand.
“You don’t really love her, Mick,” Josef called after Mick’s retreating form, as Mick turned heel and began striding towards the door, “you’re in love with the idea of her humanity.”
“Go to hell, Josef.” Mick muttered through gritted teeth, fists clenched by his side.
And then the door was being flung open hard enough to almost wrench it from its hinges, and Mick was disappearing through it, leaving an empty space in his wake.
“So, how did it go?” Beth settled in next to Mick on the couch later that evening, resting her head on Mick’s shoulder and draping an arm across his chest.
“With what?” Mick reached for the remote on the armrest next to him, and flicked on the TV.
“You and Josef, something about a Wedding suit fitting, ring any bells?” Beth sat up again for a moment, head tilted, and a well natured, teasing smile on her lips.
Mick didn’t seem to get the joke, “Josef’s not going to be involved in the Wedding, Beth,” he stated with a determined tone, and began randomly punching at the controls on the remote, flicking through channels without bothering to see what was on the screen.
“Oh yeah, since when?” Beth arched a curious eyebrow.
“Since…” Mick broke off, and grabbed the glass of Scotch he’d been nursing for the past hour off the table in front of him, quickly draining in it’s contents in one hurried mouthful, “Since today, alright. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Beth tried to make light of the situation, wanting to lift the heavy pall that seemed to have descended over the room. “Did the two of you have a lover’s quarrel then?” She asked as she prodded a well intentioned finger into the side of Mick’s ribcage, and nuzzled her face against his cheek.
“I said I didn’t want to talk about it.” Mick rebuked Beth’s advances, shrugging her off with an abrupt tone, and then stood up, “I’m going to the freezer for the night.”
Bending down to place a quick kiss on the side of Beth’s face, Mick said his goodnights and then turned to walk away. Leaving Beth to watch after him, her face scrunched with concern.
“Josef phoned again, he wants you to call him.”
Beth leant against the kitchen cupboard, and regarded Mick for a moment. A week had past since his announcement that Josef would not be attending their wedding. A week in which she was none the wiser as to what had bought about this sudden turn of events.
“Does he?” Mick proceeded to pour himself a glass of blood, and look thoroughly disinterested in what he had just been told.
“Yeah, he does.” Beth shifted alongside Mick, and took the glass from his hand, setting it to one side. “What’s going on with you two?” She asked then, brokering a determined stance. Arms folded across her chest and chin set forward.
“I told you, nothing.” Mick picked the glass back up, and tried to step around Beth, intent on avoiding the conversation at hand. “I’ve got work to do.”
“Work can wait,” Beth’s hand snatched Mick’s arm as he tried to brush past her, “You and Josef have been best friends for longer than I’ve been alive, Mick,” Beth lowered her voice, letting Mick know she wasn’t going to be pushed aside, not this time, “he’s supposed to be Best Man at our wedding, and now all of a sudden you clamp up and shut down whenever his name is mentioned. Something’s going on with you two, Mick, and I want to know what.”
“Nothing’s going on, Beth.” Mick threw up his hands in frustration, and then stood back for a moment, tented fingers pressed against his lips. “It’s nothing for you to worry about ok,” Mick reached out a hand to stroke Beth’s hair then, and tried to offer her a reassuring smile, “it’s just Vampire business, ok. It doesn’t involve you.”
“Yeah, Mick, it does,” Beth placed a hand in the middle of Mick’s chest, and gently held him at arms length, “we’re getting married, so don’t give me that ‘it’s Vampire business’ spiel. Now tell me what’s…”
“…Just leave it, Beth, alright. For Christ sake can you just stop being a damn reporter, and butting into other people’s business for five minutes.”
“Fine, be like that,” Beth thought darkly, still reeling from the shock of Mick’s uncharacteristically harsh tone as she watched him storm out of the room, “if you won’t tell me what’s going on, I’ll just have go to someone who will.”
Twenty minutes later she was standing on Josef’s doorstep, regarding the image of Josef before her with a steely eyed, determined look.
“I’m here to talk to you about Mick,” Beth dispensed with pleasantries, and cut straight to the chase.
Josef hesitated, and then gave a cursory nod, ushering Beth inside.
“So what’s the story, Josef?” Beth pressed forward, “Why is Mick refusing to speak to you, what’s going on?”
For the briefest of moments Josef was tempted to answer with a dismissive, ‘you tell me, and we’ll both know’. He would have been lying then. Josef knew exactly what the problem was with Mick. And soon, so would Beth. If Mick was determined to go ahead with this travesty of a marriage, as Josef had begun to think of it, then Beth had a right to know about the past. After all, Josef reasoned, Mick was the one that was always going on about the importance of honesty, and integrity.
“Come with me,” Josef ushered Beth inside, and then gestured for her to follow him, leading her through a series of winding corridors, and into a small room at the far end of the house.
“This was filmed in 1990,” Beth stood watch as Josef went to one of several filing that lined the walls, and drew out a small, silver disc, “just after the first digital video cameras were released commercially. I’ll be in my office if you need to speak to me.”
Josef handed the disc to Beth with a polite smile, and pointed to a Laptop that stood on a table in the corner of the room.
Waiting until Josef had left the room Beth slipped the disc into the machine, and sat down to watch what appeared to be a home movie documenting a moment in time between two people whose relationship clearly extended beyond the boundaries of friendship.
“Tell me you love me.”
Beth listened to Mick addressing Josef from behind the camera. Josef, a silk robe wrapped loosely around his naked form, reclining on a hotel bed in front of him, one arm tucked behind his head.
And then Josef pretending to huff indignantly, rolling his eyes, and admonishing Mick to, “Get that damn camera out of my face.” Before breaking into an off centred grin, and quickly adding a tender note of, “You already know I love you, Mick. I’ve told you often enough.”
More words and images followed. Mick joining Josef on the bed, giving a brief narrative of where they were, and what they had been doing; attending one of Josef’s annual business conferences in Chicago, apparently. The both of them laughing, bantering back and forth wrapped up in each others arms. Fondly recalling a week of misspent nights spent sampling the blood of several willing freshies procured from a local agency, and ‘fucking like there was no tomorrow’.
Beth had seen all she needed. Shell shocked as she began to process the reality of what had just been revealed to her, she closed down the computer, and went in search of Josef. Seeking answers to a myriad of unknown questions formulating in her mind.
“Here, I thought you might need this.” Josef greeted Beth’s appearance in the door of his office with a double scotch, preemptively poured, in outstretched hand.
“Thanks.” Beth forced a smile, and gratefully accepted the drink, draining the contents of the glass in three quick gulps, a noticeable tremor running through her hand as she did so.
Beth tried to dismiss her obvious nervousness, laughing it off with the dismissive wave of a hand, and a hurriedly muttered apology. You didn’t need to possess the heightened sense of a Vampire though, to see through the façade.
“Sit down, Beth, please.” His tone matter of fact, still maintaining an air of politeness, Josef took a seat behind his office desk, and gestured towards the chair in front.
For a moment neither of them spoke. Eyes downcast, Beth could feel Josef’s gaze boring into her, waiting for her to say something.
After what seemed an eternity Beth swallowed back her nerves, and began to talk.
“So…ah…how long were you…I mean, when did you…I’m sorry,” Beth trailed off, offering more apologies, “It’s just hard for me to know how I’m supposed to respond to this.”
“That’s understandable,” Josef reached for the bottle of Scotch standing next to him, and poured another generous amount into a glass, sliding it over to Beth with a wry smile, “It’s not every day you discover your partner has been keeping a major part of his life secret from you.”
“No,” Beth let out a nervous sounding laugh, and took a grateful sip of the amber fluid, “No, it’s not. So what happened,” she asked then, brow furrowing as her natural curiosity began to override her previous hesitation, “I mean you looked really happy together?”
“We were, at least from time to time.” Josef looked wistful, lost in memory. He paused to gather his thoughts, and then continued on, addressing Beth’s previous, unspoken question, “Mick and I were together, on and off, for more than twenty years. Mick has always had trouble fully accepting certain parts of his nature though; it wasn’t exactly easy to have a relationship with him…”
“…You mean he had trouble accepting he was Gay?” Beth could hardly believe she was using that term in relation to the man she was supposed to be marrying in less than a month.
“No,” Josef rolled his eyes, and shot Beth a derisive look, “I meant accepting himself as a Vampire. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that waiting for Mick to come to terms with almost anything, is like…”
“…Waiting to exhale?” Beth interjected.
“Something like that.” Josef snorted a laugh and nodded his agreement. “I wanted more from Mick than what Mick was able to give, and having you on the scene didn’t exactly help matters either.”
“Oh yeah, how?” Beth sat back in her seat, arms folded, expression and tone shifting defensive.
“Rescuing you, watching you grow up, it was all a constant reminder to Mick of his own lost humanity,” Josef shrugged, and looked nonplussed at Beth’s sudden change in demeanour. “The longer it went on, the more obsessed he became with the idea that he could somehow rid himself of the Vampire inside, and return to the mortal coil. Josef challenged Beth head on then, holding her gaze steadfast with his own, “He doesn’t really love you, you know. You’re just his redeemer.”
“Really,” Beth drew the line of her mouth into the parody of a smile, and screwed up her nose, “and what, you think Mick’s still in love with you?”
“I know Mick’s still in love with me,” Josef smiled to himself, and arched a smug eyebrow as he watched Beth do a double take at his matter of fact reply.
Beth refrained from asking Josef exactly how he knew. Deep down she was afraid to hear his answer.
“Did you…did you tell Mick that?” Beth stammered nervously, eyes once more downcast, refusing to meet Josef’s. All traces of her previous bravado evaporating in a cloud of uncertainty. “Is that why he’s not speaking to you?”
“Wow, give the girl a gold star,” Josef’s voice brimmed with mock congratulations, another eyebrow, sarcastic this time, arched in Beth’s direction, “next you’ll be cracking the enigma code.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Beth raised an eyebrow of her own, and returned Josef’s mockery with a wry smile.
“Touché,” Josef smiled, and nodded a curt approval. Pretending to inspect his nails, his tone once more shifting serious, “and yes, let’s just say Mick didn’t exactly take too kindly to being told some home truths.”
“Can you blame him?” Beth shook her head, and looked incredulous, her confidence returning, “Josef, Mick and I are together now, we’re planning the start of a new life with each other. And then you come along and decide to drop a spanner in the works, with all this talk of ‘love’ and ‘home truths’. How do you expect Mick to feel?”
“I expect he’d be more than a little upset, under the circumstances,” Josef gave Beth that much at least, “There’s something you’re not factoring into this equation though, Beth.”
“Oh yeah, and what’s that, Josef.” Beth rolled her eyes. Pretence, or otherwise, having flown out the window.
“No matter what has gone before us,” Josef picked up his own glass of scotch, swirling its contents in his hand, “no matter how much time has passed. Mick always comes back to me, Beth…always. And when you’re long gone, I’ll still be here.”
“So why not just wait then?” Beth watched as Josef downed the scotch in his hand, and set the tumbler back down on the table with a resounding chink of glass on wood, “Let Mick have his time with me, however long that is, if you think he’s coming back to you anyway.”
“Because I happen to care about Mick,” Josef spoke matter of fact, a casual finger circling the rim of the glass in front of him, “and I’d rather not have to standby, and watch him making a huge mistake.”
“So why not just kill me,” Beth waved a contemptuous hand, “remove me from the equation completely.”
“Don’t think I haven’t been tempted.” Josef looked at Beth point blank, the slightest hint of menace creeping into his voice.
Beth shifted uncomfortably then, a healthy dose of fear running through her veins. She had the distinct feeling Josef wasn’t the sort to make idle threats.
Seconds ticked by, and then minutes. Time spent in watchful, wary contemplation of one another. And then Beth realised there were no further discussions to be had.
“Thank you for a very enlightening evening, Josef.” Getting to her feet, Beth pointedly brushed creases from her skirt, and forced a polite smile, “I can see myself out. Just one last thing though, before I go…”
“…Oh, and what might that be?” Josef stifled a pretend yawn, and tried to look interested.
“Mick loves me, Josef,” Beth’s voice strengthened, her determination evident, “He won’t stand for you killing me, you know that. And if you try and break us up, you risk an awful lot of resentment from Mick. Who knows, you might even be risking any chance you think you have of being with Mick again, after I’m gone.”
Beth didn’t need to be a Vampire to notice the shift in Josef’s own expression. Her words had made some impression, or at least managed to wipe the self righteous smile from Josef’s face.
“I’ll fight for him, you know.” Josef heard Beth telling him then.
“Of that I have no doubt,” Josef took a moment to pour himself another measure of Scotch, and then raised the glass to Beth in the mock gesture of a toast. “To the victor go the spoils.”
And then he was watching after Beth’s retreating form, listening to the clack-clack of her heels on polished wood. As Beth turned heel, and strode out of the room, determined to have the last gesture.
“And just where have you been, exactly?” Mick greeted Beth’s arrival home with a crossed armed, suspicious look. There was something else though, a current of fear lurking behind Mick’s sudden streak of possessiveness.
“I went to see Josef.” Beth spoke matter of fact. The time for skirting around the issue was over.
“Shit,” Mick muttered through clenched teeth, and then took a tentative step towards Beth. “Look,” he said, raising his hands in an open palm gesture of placation, and forcing a smile, “whatever Josef told you, he’s exaggerating, ok? You know what he’s like; he talks things up.”
“Not this time, Mick.” Beth placed a resigned hand on Mick’s arm, “Josef didn’t need to tell me anything, I saw for myself.”
“Christ…” Mick looked increasingly agitated, hands thrown up in frustration. He really did not want to be having this conversation.
“…Mick, it’s ok,” Beth tried to offer her reassurances, despite the fact that she still wasn’t entirely sure how they were going to deal with the situation, “there’s just one thing I need you to do for me. Look me in the eye, and tell me you don’t still have feelings for Josef.”
“Beth, this is ridiculous.”
Mick’s avoidance was more telling than any denials he’d offered so far. Beth lowered her voice, and repeated her previous request.
“You can’t do it, can you?” Beth looked taken aback. Mouth open, and expression incredulous as Mick sidestepped the issue for a second time.
And then suddenly Mick was a flurry of activity. Beth followed close behind, watching Mick move from one spot to the next, revealing secret enclosures, and hidden stashes. Checking and discarding one weapon after another, before settling on a heavy looking broad sword.
“Mick, what the hell are you doing?”
Ignoring Beth’s panic, Mick tested the weight of the sword in his hand. And then he was gone, out the door and off into the night.
“Shit.” Beth looked around wildly for a moment, unsure of what to do. Trying to chase after Mick was out of the question. A human couldn’t outrun a Vampire, no matter how determined they were. The telephone, she had to call Josef and warn him.
Beth reached for the phone, and then hesitated. As soon as Mick had picked up the sword, she’d known his intentions. Did she have the right to interfere? With Josef out of the way didn’t that mean she’d won? Isn’t that what she wanted?
“No.” Beth shook her head, and picked up the receiver. She wasn’t prepared to go that far. Winning at any cost would be a hollow victory.
“You don’t sound surprised?” Beth found herself puzzled by Josef’s laze faire response to her informing him of Mick’s murderous intentions. He sounded almost amused.
“Let’s just say, it wouldn’t be the first time,” Josef chuckled. “You really have no idea what you’re letting yourself in for.” Beth swore then she could almost hear Josef rolling his eyes on the other end of the line, “You’ve known Mick for, what? Two years. He has issues, Beth. You’re fooling yourself if you think two years qualifies you to handle Mick long term.”
“Thank you for your concern, Josef…”
“…You’re way out of your depth, Beth.”
“Well, we’ll see, won’t we. In the meantime, why don’t you just concentrate on not being killed?” Beth forced a polite tone, and then hung up. Leaving Josef to wait for his would be assassin.
A sharp knock at the door heralded Mick’s arrival.
“Hello,” Josef leant casually against the frame of the open doorway, and raised a facetious eyebrow in Mick’s direction, noting the broad sword gripped in Mick’s hand, “come to kill me have you? Right let’s get on with it then shall we.”
Josef stepped back, goading a response. Hands palm up and fingers raised in a ‘come on’ gesture.
And then he found himself almost having to stifle a yawn as Mick charged at him. To Josef it was like watching a particularly docile cow trying to run through a boggy field. In a series of lightning fast, precise moves, Josef had Mick disarmed, and pushed firmly against the wall on the opposite side of the room. Mick’s arms held tight behind his back. One hand locking and spanning Mick’s wrists, the other gripping the back of Mick’s neck, holding him steady.
“I’m older than you,” Josef’s breath fanned hot against the side of Mick’s face, “I’m faster than you, and I’m stronger. I was always the top, lover, remember?”
“Not always, Josef.” Mick closed his eyes, and bit down on his lower lip; anger dissipating, gradually replaced by increasing arousal. Josef’s body pressed close up against Mick’s own; Josef’s hand shifting from the back of Mick’s neck, snaking its way across his chest.
“Do you remember the first time we were together?” Josef let his hand trail lower, fingertips skimming beneath the waistband of Mick’s jeans.
“Josef…”
“…I had you against the wall like this back then as well.”
“Josef, don’t.” An involuntary shiver ran along the length of Mick’s spine.
“Why not?”
Mick didn’t have an answer. Try as he might, he simply couldn’t form a good enough reason as to why things weren’t meant to be happening the way they were, at that moment.
“Shit.” Mick gritted his teeth in frustration. And then he was breaking free of Josef’s now relaxed hold on him. Spinning around, and reaching out to draw Josef close.
“Ooh, change of plan.” Josef managed to quip in-between a barrage of kisses, “What are you going to try and sex me to death now are you?”
“Josef, shut…”
The rest of Mick’s reply was swallowed by Josef’s lips pressed firm against his own. And then Josef was mumbling something about a ‘bed’, and they were both trying to co-ordinate a frenzied tangle of limbs and fangs. Half stumbling, half dragging one another towards Josef’s bedroom at the furthest end of the house.
They made it as far as the lounge room, before Mick found himself bent over the back of one of Josef’s Chesterfields. Jeans and underwear hastily slung around his ankles, and Josef hurriedly slicking his own exposed hardness with an application of lubricant.
Mick wondered where the lube had come from, romanticising for a moment that it was a tube left over from one of their previous night’s intimacies in the same spot. Haphazardly discarded, and then hastily rediscovered. But that was ridiculous; it had been more than three years since they had last been together like this. Josef would have tidied up well before then. No, the more logical explanation was that it was a remnant of a more recent tryst, retrieved again after being left where it was dropped less than a night ago.
Mick felt a momentary pang of jealousy, and silently berated himself. What right did he have to insist that Josef remain celibate, when he was the one who was marrying Beth?
And then Mick couldn’t think at all, because Josef was inside him. Thrusting deep, pressing against his prostate, and sending shockwaves of pleasure throughout Mick’s body. Mick had almost forgotten how intense sex with Josef could be. How electrified it made him feel. How alive.
How…right.
Despite the pleasure, it took Mick a few moments to fully adjust to the sensation of being penetrated. But soon he was grinding himself back against Josef’s groin, trying to take more of Josef into him; fingers digging into the leather upholstery of the chair, vocalisations becoming increasingly frenzied, and animalistic.
Josef stepped up the pace; one hand reaching underneath Mick’s body, fingers encircling Mick’s cock, stroking Mick’s length in sync with his increasingly frantic movements, urging Mick on.
And then Josef was having to supporting Mick’s weight. Mick’s legs giving way beneath him as he came hard enough that he almost swore he could see stars. Fangs sunk deep into the flesh of Josef’s offered wrist, and fluid pumping over Josef’s hand.
Moments later Mick felt Josef’s own fangs slicing into the top of his shoulder. Josef coming inside him, a series of warm, wet pulses. Growling, and shuddering as he reached his own conclusion.
Waiting until they were both spent, and Mick had regained his strength, Josef withdrew, and lay back on the slate tiled floor beneath them. One arm tucked behind his head, gesturing with the other for Mick to join him.
“Please don’t tell Beth what happened.” Mick stretched out alongside Josef, nesting his head in the crook of Josef’s shoulder.
“What, do you think I’m that stupid?” Josef rolled his eyes in mock disdain, and then drew his arm around Mick’s own shoulders, “I do happen to like my testicles where they are, Mick, attached firmly to my body.”
Josef’s hand absentmindedly brushed the side of Mick’s face, fingers tracing the line of Mick’s jaw. Mick couldn’t help but notice the grudging note of respect in Josef’s voice. Despite faltering at times, Beth had stood her ground. That counted for something in Josef’s eyes.
“So when are you coming back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean?” Josef asked then. Pressing his lips to the top of Mick’s head, serious beneath his chaffing tone.
Mick managed a genuine laugh, and then fell serious once again, “I don’t know.”
Josef paused. Mick hadn’t said no; that was something at least. Nevertheless, Josef still felt the need to launch at least some form of protest.
“You’re making a mistake, Mick.”
“Maybe I am,” Mick propped himself up onto one shoulder, and reached out to trace the contour of Josef’s jaw with his finger, “but it’s my mistake to make.”
“Yeah,” Josef drew the line of his mouth into a smile, and nodded his understanding, “I suppose it is.”
“You know I’ll never turn her?” It was the closest thing to a promise of hope for future that Mick could give.
“So I won’t have to hold my breath for too long then,” Josef raised an eyebrow, and bantered with good humour.
“Vampires don’t need to breathe, Josef.” Mick shook his head, and snorted a wry laugh as Josef drew him back into a closer embrace.
True, Vampires didn’t need to breathe, but sometimes breathing had its advantages. Breathing could mark the passage of time. Breathe in, breathe out. Inhale, exhale, inhale…
…and hold.
Pairing: Josef/Mick
Rating: NC17 for sexual content
Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Mick and Beth are planning their wedding when Josef throws a spanner in the works.
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“Six months, Mick. That’s all I’m asking for.”
Mick rubbed frustrated fingers across his forehead, and took a moment to gather his thoughts. It felt like they’d been going round in circles for the past two hours.
“You had more than twenty years, Josef. What difference is another six months going to make?” Mick emphasised his point with a cutting hand gesture, “besides that, you’re the one who told me I should ‘do something about it before it’s too late’…”
“…Yes, do something about it,” Josef was on his feet then, trailing a gesticulating hand through the air as he paced the floor in front of Mick, “tell her you love her, have sex, seal the deal, get it out of your system. Not go ahead and set the damn wedding date.”
Mick watched Josef for a moment. Josef’s attempt to wear a hole in the floor by repeatedly tracking back and forth over the same spot might have been amusing, if Mick wasn’t so damned fed up with the conversation at hand.
“I’ve had it, this conversation is over.” Mick got to his feet and bought a halt to proceedings with a disgusted wave of a hand.
“You don’t really love her, Mick,” Josef called after Mick’s retreating form, as Mick turned heel and began striding towards the door, “you’re in love with the idea of her humanity.”
“Go to hell, Josef.” Mick muttered through gritted teeth, fists clenched by his side.
And then the door was being flung open hard enough to almost wrench it from its hinges, and Mick was disappearing through it, leaving an empty space in his wake.
“So, how did it go?” Beth settled in next to Mick on the couch later that evening, resting her head on Mick’s shoulder and draping an arm across his chest.
“With what?” Mick reached for the remote on the armrest next to him, and flicked on the TV.
“You and Josef, something about a Wedding suit fitting, ring any bells?” Beth sat up again for a moment, head tilted, and a well natured, teasing smile on her lips.
Mick didn’t seem to get the joke, “Josef’s not going to be involved in the Wedding, Beth,” he stated with a determined tone, and began randomly punching at the controls on the remote, flicking through channels without bothering to see what was on the screen.
“Oh yeah, since when?” Beth arched a curious eyebrow.
“Since…” Mick broke off, and grabbed the glass of Scotch he’d been nursing for the past hour off the table in front of him, quickly draining in it’s contents in one hurried mouthful, “Since today, alright. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Beth tried to make light of the situation, wanting to lift the heavy pall that seemed to have descended over the room. “Did the two of you have a lover’s quarrel then?” She asked as she prodded a well intentioned finger into the side of Mick’s ribcage, and nuzzled her face against his cheek.
“I said I didn’t want to talk about it.” Mick rebuked Beth’s advances, shrugging her off with an abrupt tone, and then stood up, “I’m going to the freezer for the night.”
Bending down to place a quick kiss on the side of Beth’s face, Mick said his goodnights and then turned to walk away. Leaving Beth to watch after him, her face scrunched with concern.
“Josef phoned again, he wants you to call him.”
Beth leant against the kitchen cupboard, and regarded Mick for a moment. A week had past since his announcement that Josef would not be attending their wedding. A week in which she was none the wiser as to what had bought about this sudden turn of events.
“Does he?” Mick proceeded to pour himself a glass of blood, and look thoroughly disinterested in what he had just been told.
“Yeah, he does.” Beth shifted alongside Mick, and took the glass from his hand, setting it to one side. “What’s going on with you two?” She asked then, brokering a determined stance. Arms folded across her chest and chin set forward.
“I told you, nothing.” Mick picked the glass back up, and tried to step around Beth, intent on avoiding the conversation at hand. “I’ve got work to do.”
“Work can wait,” Beth’s hand snatched Mick’s arm as he tried to brush past her, “You and Josef have been best friends for longer than I’ve been alive, Mick,” Beth lowered her voice, letting Mick know she wasn’t going to be pushed aside, not this time, “he’s supposed to be Best Man at our wedding, and now all of a sudden you clamp up and shut down whenever his name is mentioned. Something’s going on with you two, Mick, and I want to know what.”
“Nothing’s going on, Beth.” Mick threw up his hands in frustration, and then stood back for a moment, tented fingers pressed against his lips. “It’s nothing for you to worry about ok,” Mick reached out a hand to stroke Beth’s hair then, and tried to offer her a reassuring smile, “it’s just Vampire business, ok. It doesn’t involve you.”
“Yeah, Mick, it does,” Beth placed a hand in the middle of Mick’s chest, and gently held him at arms length, “we’re getting married, so don’t give me that ‘it’s Vampire business’ spiel. Now tell me what’s…”
“…Just leave it, Beth, alright. For Christ sake can you just stop being a damn reporter, and butting into other people’s business for five minutes.”
“Fine, be like that,” Beth thought darkly, still reeling from the shock of Mick’s uncharacteristically harsh tone as she watched him storm out of the room, “if you won’t tell me what’s going on, I’ll just have go to someone who will.”
Twenty minutes later she was standing on Josef’s doorstep, regarding the image of Josef before her with a steely eyed, determined look.
“I’m here to talk to you about Mick,” Beth dispensed with pleasantries, and cut straight to the chase.
Josef hesitated, and then gave a cursory nod, ushering Beth inside.
“So what’s the story, Josef?” Beth pressed forward, “Why is Mick refusing to speak to you, what’s going on?”
For the briefest of moments Josef was tempted to answer with a dismissive, ‘you tell me, and we’ll both know’. He would have been lying then. Josef knew exactly what the problem was with Mick. And soon, so would Beth. If Mick was determined to go ahead with this travesty of a marriage, as Josef had begun to think of it, then Beth had a right to know about the past. After all, Josef reasoned, Mick was the one that was always going on about the importance of honesty, and integrity.
“Come with me,” Josef ushered Beth inside, and then gestured for her to follow him, leading her through a series of winding corridors, and into a small room at the far end of the house.
“This was filmed in 1990,” Beth stood watch as Josef went to one of several filing that lined the walls, and drew out a small, silver disc, “just after the first digital video cameras were released commercially. I’ll be in my office if you need to speak to me.”
Josef handed the disc to Beth with a polite smile, and pointed to a Laptop that stood on a table in the corner of the room.
Waiting until Josef had left the room Beth slipped the disc into the machine, and sat down to watch what appeared to be a home movie documenting a moment in time between two people whose relationship clearly extended beyond the boundaries of friendship.
“Tell me you love me.”
Beth listened to Mick addressing Josef from behind the camera. Josef, a silk robe wrapped loosely around his naked form, reclining on a hotel bed in front of him, one arm tucked behind his head.
And then Josef pretending to huff indignantly, rolling his eyes, and admonishing Mick to, “Get that damn camera out of my face.” Before breaking into an off centred grin, and quickly adding a tender note of, “You already know I love you, Mick. I’ve told you often enough.”
More words and images followed. Mick joining Josef on the bed, giving a brief narrative of where they were, and what they had been doing; attending one of Josef’s annual business conferences in Chicago, apparently. The both of them laughing, bantering back and forth wrapped up in each others arms. Fondly recalling a week of misspent nights spent sampling the blood of several willing freshies procured from a local agency, and ‘fucking like there was no tomorrow’.
Beth had seen all she needed. Shell shocked as she began to process the reality of what had just been revealed to her, she closed down the computer, and went in search of Josef. Seeking answers to a myriad of unknown questions formulating in her mind.
“Here, I thought you might need this.” Josef greeted Beth’s appearance in the door of his office with a double scotch, preemptively poured, in outstretched hand.
“Thanks.” Beth forced a smile, and gratefully accepted the drink, draining the contents of the glass in three quick gulps, a noticeable tremor running through her hand as she did so.
Beth tried to dismiss her obvious nervousness, laughing it off with the dismissive wave of a hand, and a hurriedly muttered apology. You didn’t need to possess the heightened sense of a Vampire though, to see through the façade.
“Sit down, Beth, please.” His tone matter of fact, still maintaining an air of politeness, Josef took a seat behind his office desk, and gestured towards the chair in front.
For a moment neither of them spoke. Eyes downcast, Beth could feel Josef’s gaze boring into her, waiting for her to say something.
After what seemed an eternity Beth swallowed back her nerves, and began to talk.
“So…ah…how long were you…I mean, when did you…I’m sorry,” Beth trailed off, offering more apologies, “It’s just hard for me to know how I’m supposed to respond to this.”
“That’s understandable,” Josef reached for the bottle of Scotch standing next to him, and poured another generous amount into a glass, sliding it over to Beth with a wry smile, “It’s not every day you discover your partner has been keeping a major part of his life secret from you.”
“No,” Beth let out a nervous sounding laugh, and took a grateful sip of the amber fluid, “No, it’s not. So what happened,” she asked then, brow furrowing as her natural curiosity began to override her previous hesitation, “I mean you looked really happy together?”
“We were, at least from time to time.” Josef looked wistful, lost in memory. He paused to gather his thoughts, and then continued on, addressing Beth’s previous, unspoken question, “Mick and I were together, on and off, for more than twenty years. Mick has always had trouble fully accepting certain parts of his nature though; it wasn’t exactly easy to have a relationship with him…”
“…You mean he had trouble accepting he was Gay?” Beth could hardly believe she was using that term in relation to the man she was supposed to be marrying in less than a month.
“No,” Josef rolled his eyes, and shot Beth a derisive look, “I meant accepting himself as a Vampire. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that waiting for Mick to come to terms with almost anything, is like…”
“…Waiting to exhale?” Beth interjected.
“Something like that.” Josef snorted a laugh and nodded his agreement. “I wanted more from Mick than what Mick was able to give, and having you on the scene didn’t exactly help matters either.”
“Oh yeah, how?” Beth sat back in her seat, arms folded, expression and tone shifting defensive.
“Rescuing you, watching you grow up, it was all a constant reminder to Mick of his own lost humanity,” Josef shrugged, and looked nonplussed at Beth’s sudden change in demeanour. “The longer it went on, the more obsessed he became with the idea that he could somehow rid himself of the Vampire inside, and return to the mortal coil. Josef challenged Beth head on then, holding her gaze steadfast with his own, “He doesn’t really love you, you know. You’re just his redeemer.”
“Really,” Beth drew the line of her mouth into the parody of a smile, and screwed up her nose, “and what, you think Mick’s still in love with you?”
“I know Mick’s still in love with me,” Josef smiled to himself, and arched a smug eyebrow as he watched Beth do a double take at his matter of fact reply.
Beth refrained from asking Josef exactly how he knew. Deep down she was afraid to hear his answer.
“Did you…did you tell Mick that?” Beth stammered nervously, eyes once more downcast, refusing to meet Josef’s. All traces of her previous bravado evaporating in a cloud of uncertainty. “Is that why he’s not speaking to you?”
“Wow, give the girl a gold star,” Josef’s voice brimmed with mock congratulations, another eyebrow, sarcastic this time, arched in Beth’s direction, “next you’ll be cracking the enigma code.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Beth raised an eyebrow of her own, and returned Josef’s mockery with a wry smile.
“Touché,” Josef smiled, and nodded a curt approval. Pretending to inspect his nails, his tone once more shifting serious, “and yes, let’s just say Mick didn’t exactly take too kindly to being told some home truths.”
“Can you blame him?” Beth shook her head, and looked incredulous, her confidence returning, “Josef, Mick and I are together now, we’re planning the start of a new life with each other. And then you come along and decide to drop a spanner in the works, with all this talk of ‘love’ and ‘home truths’. How do you expect Mick to feel?”
“I expect he’d be more than a little upset, under the circumstances,” Josef gave Beth that much at least, “There’s something you’re not factoring into this equation though, Beth.”
“Oh yeah, and what’s that, Josef.” Beth rolled her eyes. Pretence, or otherwise, having flown out the window.
“No matter what has gone before us,” Josef picked up his own glass of scotch, swirling its contents in his hand, “no matter how much time has passed. Mick always comes back to me, Beth…always. And when you’re long gone, I’ll still be here.”
“So why not just wait then?” Beth watched as Josef downed the scotch in his hand, and set the tumbler back down on the table with a resounding chink of glass on wood, “Let Mick have his time with me, however long that is, if you think he’s coming back to you anyway.”
“Because I happen to care about Mick,” Josef spoke matter of fact, a casual finger circling the rim of the glass in front of him, “and I’d rather not have to standby, and watch him making a huge mistake.”
“So why not just kill me,” Beth waved a contemptuous hand, “remove me from the equation completely.”
“Don’t think I haven’t been tempted.” Josef looked at Beth point blank, the slightest hint of menace creeping into his voice.
Beth shifted uncomfortably then, a healthy dose of fear running through her veins. She had the distinct feeling Josef wasn’t the sort to make idle threats.
Seconds ticked by, and then minutes. Time spent in watchful, wary contemplation of one another. And then Beth realised there were no further discussions to be had.
“Thank you for a very enlightening evening, Josef.” Getting to her feet, Beth pointedly brushed creases from her skirt, and forced a polite smile, “I can see myself out. Just one last thing though, before I go…”
“…Oh, and what might that be?” Josef stifled a pretend yawn, and tried to look interested.
“Mick loves me, Josef,” Beth’s voice strengthened, her determination evident, “He won’t stand for you killing me, you know that. And if you try and break us up, you risk an awful lot of resentment from Mick. Who knows, you might even be risking any chance you think you have of being with Mick again, after I’m gone.”
Beth didn’t need to be a Vampire to notice the shift in Josef’s own expression. Her words had made some impression, or at least managed to wipe the self righteous smile from Josef’s face.
“I’ll fight for him, you know.” Josef heard Beth telling him then.
“Of that I have no doubt,” Josef took a moment to pour himself another measure of Scotch, and then raised the glass to Beth in the mock gesture of a toast. “To the victor go the spoils.”
And then he was watching after Beth’s retreating form, listening to the clack-clack of her heels on polished wood. As Beth turned heel, and strode out of the room, determined to have the last gesture.
“And just where have you been, exactly?” Mick greeted Beth’s arrival home with a crossed armed, suspicious look. There was something else though, a current of fear lurking behind Mick’s sudden streak of possessiveness.
“I went to see Josef.” Beth spoke matter of fact. The time for skirting around the issue was over.
“Shit,” Mick muttered through clenched teeth, and then took a tentative step towards Beth. “Look,” he said, raising his hands in an open palm gesture of placation, and forcing a smile, “whatever Josef told you, he’s exaggerating, ok? You know what he’s like; he talks things up.”
“Not this time, Mick.” Beth placed a resigned hand on Mick’s arm, “Josef didn’t need to tell me anything, I saw for myself.”
“Christ…” Mick looked increasingly agitated, hands thrown up in frustration. He really did not want to be having this conversation.
“…Mick, it’s ok,” Beth tried to offer her reassurances, despite the fact that she still wasn’t entirely sure how they were going to deal with the situation, “there’s just one thing I need you to do for me. Look me in the eye, and tell me you don’t still have feelings for Josef.”
“Beth, this is ridiculous.”
Mick’s avoidance was more telling than any denials he’d offered so far. Beth lowered her voice, and repeated her previous request.
“You can’t do it, can you?” Beth looked taken aback. Mouth open, and expression incredulous as Mick sidestepped the issue for a second time.
And then suddenly Mick was a flurry of activity. Beth followed close behind, watching Mick move from one spot to the next, revealing secret enclosures, and hidden stashes. Checking and discarding one weapon after another, before settling on a heavy looking broad sword.
“Mick, what the hell are you doing?”
Ignoring Beth’s panic, Mick tested the weight of the sword in his hand. And then he was gone, out the door and off into the night.
“Shit.” Beth looked around wildly for a moment, unsure of what to do. Trying to chase after Mick was out of the question. A human couldn’t outrun a Vampire, no matter how determined they were. The telephone, she had to call Josef and warn him.
Beth reached for the phone, and then hesitated. As soon as Mick had picked up the sword, she’d known his intentions. Did she have the right to interfere? With Josef out of the way didn’t that mean she’d won? Isn’t that what she wanted?
“No.” Beth shook her head, and picked up the receiver. She wasn’t prepared to go that far. Winning at any cost would be a hollow victory.
“You don’t sound surprised?” Beth found herself puzzled by Josef’s laze faire response to her informing him of Mick’s murderous intentions. He sounded almost amused.
“Let’s just say, it wouldn’t be the first time,” Josef chuckled. “You really have no idea what you’re letting yourself in for.” Beth swore then she could almost hear Josef rolling his eyes on the other end of the line, “You’ve known Mick for, what? Two years. He has issues, Beth. You’re fooling yourself if you think two years qualifies you to handle Mick long term.”
“Thank you for your concern, Josef…”
“…You’re way out of your depth, Beth.”
“Well, we’ll see, won’t we. In the meantime, why don’t you just concentrate on not being killed?” Beth forced a polite tone, and then hung up. Leaving Josef to wait for his would be assassin.
A sharp knock at the door heralded Mick’s arrival.
“Hello,” Josef leant casually against the frame of the open doorway, and raised a facetious eyebrow in Mick’s direction, noting the broad sword gripped in Mick’s hand, “come to kill me have you? Right let’s get on with it then shall we.”
Josef stepped back, goading a response. Hands palm up and fingers raised in a ‘come on’ gesture.
And then he found himself almost having to stifle a yawn as Mick charged at him. To Josef it was like watching a particularly docile cow trying to run through a boggy field. In a series of lightning fast, precise moves, Josef had Mick disarmed, and pushed firmly against the wall on the opposite side of the room. Mick’s arms held tight behind his back. One hand locking and spanning Mick’s wrists, the other gripping the back of Mick’s neck, holding him steady.
“I’m older than you,” Josef’s breath fanned hot against the side of Mick’s face, “I’m faster than you, and I’m stronger. I was always the top, lover, remember?”
“Not always, Josef.” Mick closed his eyes, and bit down on his lower lip; anger dissipating, gradually replaced by increasing arousal. Josef’s body pressed close up against Mick’s own; Josef’s hand shifting from the back of Mick’s neck, snaking its way across his chest.
“Do you remember the first time we were together?” Josef let his hand trail lower, fingertips skimming beneath the waistband of Mick’s jeans.
“Josef…”
“…I had you against the wall like this back then as well.”
“Josef, don’t.” An involuntary shiver ran along the length of Mick’s spine.
“Why not?”
Mick didn’t have an answer. Try as he might, he simply couldn’t form a good enough reason as to why things weren’t meant to be happening the way they were, at that moment.
“Shit.” Mick gritted his teeth in frustration. And then he was breaking free of Josef’s now relaxed hold on him. Spinning around, and reaching out to draw Josef close.
“Ooh, change of plan.” Josef managed to quip in-between a barrage of kisses, “What are you going to try and sex me to death now are you?”
“Josef, shut…”
The rest of Mick’s reply was swallowed by Josef’s lips pressed firm against his own. And then Josef was mumbling something about a ‘bed’, and they were both trying to co-ordinate a frenzied tangle of limbs and fangs. Half stumbling, half dragging one another towards Josef’s bedroom at the furthest end of the house.
They made it as far as the lounge room, before Mick found himself bent over the back of one of Josef’s Chesterfields. Jeans and underwear hastily slung around his ankles, and Josef hurriedly slicking his own exposed hardness with an application of lubricant.
Mick wondered where the lube had come from, romanticising for a moment that it was a tube left over from one of their previous night’s intimacies in the same spot. Haphazardly discarded, and then hastily rediscovered. But that was ridiculous; it had been more than three years since they had last been together like this. Josef would have tidied up well before then. No, the more logical explanation was that it was a remnant of a more recent tryst, retrieved again after being left where it was dropped less than a night ago.
Mick felt a momentary pang of jealousy, and silently berated himself. What right did he have to insist that Josef remain celibate, when he was the one who was marrying Beth?
And then Mick couldn’t think at all, because Josef was inside him. Thrusting deep, pressing against his prostate, and sending shockwaves of pleasure throughout Mick’s body. Mick had almost forgotten how intense sex with Josef could be. How electrified it made him feel. How alive.
How…right.
Despite the pleasure, it took Mick a few moments to fully adjust to the sensation of being penetrated. But soon he was grinding himself back against Josef’s groin, trying to take more of Josef into him; fingers digging into the leather upholstery of the chair, vocalisations becoming increasingly frenzied, and animalistic.
Josef stepped up the pace; one hand reaching underneath Mick’s body, fingers encircling Mick’s cock, stroking Mick’s length in sync with his increasingly frantic movements, urging Mick on.
And then Josef was having to supporting Mick’s weight. Mick’s legs giving way beneath him as he came hard enough that he almost swore he could see stars. Fangs sunk deep into the flesh of Josef’s offered wrist, and fluid pumping over Josef’s hand.
Moments later Mick felt Josef’s own fangs slicing into the top of his shoulder. Josef coming inside him, a series of warm, wet pulses. Growling, and shuddering as he reached his own conclusion.
Waiting until they were both spent, and Mick had regained his strength, Josef withdrew, and lay back on the slate tiled floor beneath them. One arm tucked behind his head, gesturing with the other for Mick to join him.
“Please don’t tell Beth what happened.” Mick stretched out alongside Josef, nesting his head in the crook of Josef’s shoulder.
“What, do you think I’m that stupid?” Josef rolled his eyes in mock disdain, and then drew his arm around Mick’s own shoulders, “I do happen to like my testicles where they are, Mick, attached firmly to my body.”
Josef’s hand absentmindedly brushed the side of Mick’s face, fingers tracing the line of Mick’s jaw. Mick couldn’t help but notice the grudging note of respect in Josef’s voice. Despite faltering at times, Beth had stood her ground. That counted for something in Josef’s eyes.
“So when are you coming back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean?” Josef asked then. Pressing his lips to the top of Mick’s head, serious beneath his chaffing tone.
Mick managed a genuine laugh, and then fell serious once again, “I don’t know.”
Josef paused. Mick hadn’t said no; that was something at least. Nevertheless, Josef still felt the need to launch at least some form of protest.
“You’re making a mistake, Mick.”
“Maybe I am,” Mick propped himself up onto one shoulder, and reached out to trace the contour of Josef’s jaw with his finger, “but it’s my mistake to make.”
“Yeah,” Josef drew the line of his mouth into a smile, and nodded his understanding, “I suppose it is.”
“You know I’ll never turn her?” It was the closest thing to a promise of hope for future that Mick could give.
“So I won’t have to hold my breath for too long then,” Josef raised an eyebrow, and bantered with good humour.
“Vampires don’t need to breathe, Josef.” Mick shook his head, and snorted a wry laugh as Josef drew him back into a closer embrace.
True, Vampires didn’t need to breathe, but sometimes breathing had its advantages. Breathing could mark the passage of time. Breathe in, breathe out. Inhale, exhale, inhale…
…and hold.