The Blood Brothers Quartet, Part 4
Title: The Blood Brothers Quartet, Part 4
Fandom: Moonlight
Characters: Mick/Beth/Josef
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: After last tv episode, "Sonata"; inspired by the episode "The Ringer"
Author's Note: Sixth in my post-"Sonata" series. Mick forms a jazz band to surprise Beth. But it just can't be that simple, can it?
P.S. I appreciate all feedback; it has really encouraged me! Thanks!
We waited backstage, all of us very nervous, a rare feeling for a vampire. The suits Josef ordered were actually very cool-midnight blue, with black lapels, narrow pants, skinny black tie, white silk shirt. Very much like the suits worn by performers in the early sixties. We all had our hair slicked back to complete the sixties vibe, and I was definitely experiencing some déjà vu. I peeked out the dressing room door to survey the audience. I wish I hadn’t. My eyes zeroed in, despite the darkness, on the front table we’d reserved for Beth and Simone. They were there all right, but not alone. Two male vampires were cozying up to them, not realizing the danger they were in just by talking to our women. Josef needed to see this too.
“Hey, come here and have a look at these unlucky bastards,” I said to him.
When Josef saw them, he was instantly furious. “Shall we rip their heads off now, or wait till after the show?”
Well, that was a quandary. “The girls don’t even realize they’re vampires, I’m sure of it. But they don’t seem to be trying to discourage them, either.” I was starting to have a bad feeling about this, on so many levels. Guillermo and Logan came up behind us to try to see what was going on.
“That’s not good,” said Logan, as usual, stating the obvious.
“I think you can take them,” Guillermo said encouragingly.
I literally held Josef back. “Wait. We don’t want to disturb the peace of Daryl’s bar, do we?”
I saw the struggle over his emotions clearly on his face. His lowered fangs were a big clue too.
“Fine, but if they take one misstep while we’re performing, all bets are off. They must be able to sense that these women are already taken, so there are really no excuses.”
Just then, Daryl got on the stage to introduce us. Logan and I grabbed our guitars, Guillermo his drumsticks, and, as the lights went up, we filed on to the stage, Josef in the lead. Josef and Guillermo took their places at their instruments, and Logan stood at my side. The audience clapped enthusiastically, and I enjoyed the shocked expressions from Beth and Simone. Coolly, I put my guitar strap over my shoulders, and adjusted the mike. Then, I looked straight at Beth’s table. One of the vamps was nuzzling Beth’s neck. I could feel Josef’s anger swelling behind me, and I hoped I could nip this in the bud right now.
“Thank you,” I said to the audience. “Before we get started, I’d like to send a little message to the guys at the front table. Yeah, you. Get your asses away from our women, or we’ll snap your necks like toothpicks.” I said it with a smile, and the crowd laughed and cheered, but the vamps at the table met my eyes, and knew I was quite serious. They held up their palms apologetically, and casually slipped away to the back of the room. I guess they saw how they were seriously outnumbered. Beth and Simone were most definitely pissed off. Beth sat back in her chair, arms crossed angrily. Something was very off here. But the show must go on. I looked around at the band, and they nodded to me in satisfaction.
“Here’s an oldie from Little Willie John. This is dedicated to my Beth here at the front table.” I gave her a wink amidst the scattering of applause. “Okay, boys, hit it! 1-2-3!” Guillermo started us off with a soft brush on the cymbal. Logan joined in on the bass guitar, picking up the beat. Josef tinkled the intro on the piano, while I began lightly strumming.
I met Beth’s eyes with a smile, and began to sing…
Never knew how much I loved you.
Never knew how much I cared.
When I put my arms around you
You give me fever that’s so hard to bear…
Simone and I sat there in awe. Well, this explained a lot. The long nights, the song list. It didn’t exactly explain the hotel room, but I was suddenly through with second-guessing. And to think, we had almost ruined it for them. I felt so ashamed.
They played four numbers, two instrumental, and I was wowed by their talent. Even their matching vintage-style suits were great. The rest of the audience seemed impressed too, if the applause was any indication. The last song was my favorite by Frank Sinatra, and as Mick sang it, in a more soulful way than even Old Blue Eyes, I felt my tears well up. I glanced at Simone, and saw similar emotion on her face.
Fly me to the moon
I want to play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On Jupiter and Mars.
In other words, hold my hand…
At the end of the song, we were on our feet, cheering and whistling with the rest. They bowed and thanked the crowd, then went to the back to put up their instruments. I’d never seen them so thrilled. While they were gone, I looked again at Simone.
“We are such idiots,” I said.
She wiped at her eyes with a Kleenex. “Yeah. Uh, let’s not mention this ever again, deal?”
“Deal,” I agreed.
Mick and Josef joined us at the table in a few minutes, wiping their brows with their pocket squares. They took off their suit jackets and draped them on the backs of their chairs. Guillermo and Logan went right to the bar to get a drink and maybe pick up some unescorted ladies that were sitting there. Before he could sit down, I threw my arms around him, hugging him with all my might.
“That was great, Mick. I’m so proud of you guys!” He laughed out loud, with more abandon than I’d ever seen him.
“That was a blast!” he said, kissing me quickly and hugging me again. With a deep sigh of relief, he sat next to me. Josef, less demonstrative, was still smiling ear-to-ear, obviously proud of himself. Simone kissed his cheek with a loud smack.
“Yeah, we were pretty good, weren’t we?” said Josef confidently. I didn’t argue with him. Daryl and Carrie came over to offer their congratulations, and offered them a chance to play there again sometime. The guys agreed enthusiastically.
Another band was making its way to the stage, and the guys ordered drinks from the waitress. We sat back to enjoy the rest of the music, Mick holding my hand beneath the table. In the lull between bands, we had a few minutes to talk again.
“So, you girls seemed upset about something earlier. What was that all about?”
We looked at each other.
“Beth, you tell him.” What? I was gonna kill her later.
“Well…I’ve got a confession to make. I peeked in that envelope Josef left at your place the other day. I saw that key card and the note about meeting there at seven tonight. I’m sorry-I shouldn’t have done it. It was Simone’s idea.” There, take that.
“And so you girls showed up at the room. I didn’t hear you knock, but I thought I’d smelled you outside the door later. I thought it was my imagination.”
“We didn’t knock.” I knew I was blushing. “We just…eavesdropped.” I squinted my eyes closed, waiting for the explosion.
“And what did you hear that made you so mad, Beth? Women’s voices?” Surprisingly, he didn’t seem angry; just amused.
“Yeah!” interrupted Simone. “We heard talk of crotches and clothes coming off and lots of humming.” So much for never mentioning this again. I gave her an annoyed look.
“What?” Josef said, puzzled. Then, realizing what we must have heard, he burst out laughing. Mick joined in a second later. When they had finally calmed down, they were actually holding their stomachs in pain. I didn’t think laughing could hurt a vampire.
“Beth,” he said, “you must have heard Josef’s tailors, giving us the final fitting of our suits.”
“A fitting? They’re women?”
“Yeah. They work for Josef. Of course, they’re women. Oh, Beth. Next time, just ask me instead of jumping to these ridiculous conclusions.”
I hung my head, clamping my hands over my eyes in embarrassment. “You’re right, I know. It was all very stupid.”
“And we promise not to pick up guys anymore to make you jealous.”
“Simone!”
“Well, as long as we’re playing true confessions here, we may as well get it all out.”
This announcement did not get any laughs. Josef turned to her, seriously angry. “Try not to ever pick up anybody in a vampire bar.”
“What? You mean, they were-“
Mick nodded. “I’m sure they noticed your various bite marks. They were after a free meal-and probably more than that. But you encouraged them, didn’t you? That’s why they didn’t care that they could smell other vampires on you.”
“We honestly had no idea, Mick,” I said in shock.
“Well, Thelma and Louise strike again,” said Josef, suddenly chuckling. His mood swings would give me whiplash. I didn’t know how Simone could stand it.
“I seriously thought about bashing my guitar over their heads,” said Mick. I tried not to smile at that image.
“You know, it would have been helpful if you guys would have told us what you were up to,” I said a little defensively. “We agreed to no more secrets.”
“It wasn’t a secret, exactly. It was a surprise. If we weren’t any good, I wouldn’t have wanted you to hear us. Oh, and by the way-why didn’t you pass along Josef’s message the other day when he came by.”
I saw Josef smirking. “Lucy,” he said, in his best Ricky Ricardo imitation, “you’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do.”
I blushed. “You go first, Josef.” After all, I’d done nothing wrong that time.
“Okay, but you’re responsible for my death or dismemberment. Mick, I saw Beth au naturel. Nude. Naked. Unclothed. In the raw. In her birthday suit. In the buff. In dishabille. In the altogether. Without a-“
“Josef, we get the idea. And how did this happen…buddy? You let yourself into my apartment without knocking again, didn’t you?”
“Now, Mick. I knew you were probably asleep, and I didn’t want to disturb you. I didn’t know you were having a sleepover.”
“My point exactly. Now, I hope that’s a lesson to you.”
“It certainly is,” replied Josef. “Next time, I’ll come earlier so I can see the whole show.”
“Josef-“ Mick roared, standing up to belt him one, I was sure. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Daryl beginning to head toward our table to break up a possible fight.
“Hey!” I said, my hand on Mick’s shoulder, trying to pull him back down. “Nothing happened. It was an accident. Sit down, Mick, the next band is about to come out.” With one last dirty look at his grinning friend, Mick took his chair again. Daryl smiled at me and waved a little in relief.
As the mellow, more modern band began playing, I leaned over and whispered into Mick’s ear.
“You are so talented. I’m glad you’re playing again.”
“It’s because of you, Beth. You gave me my music back.” His mouth moved from my ear to my lips, and I kissed him like we were the only ones in the room.
NOTE: Okay, I went for the sweet, romantic ending. I did have an alternate ending planned, with a big barroom brawl and Mick actually hitting one of the vamps over the head with his guitar. That would have been fun to write, I admit. I guess I really wanted Mick to have his music back, without being spoiled by Beth’s unfounded jealousy. I hope you liked this ending instead.
Fandom: Moonlight
Characters: Mick/Beth/Josef
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: After last tv episode, "Sonata"; inspired by the episode "The Ringer"
Author's Note: Sixth in my post-"Sonata" series. Mick forms a jazz band to surprise Beth. But it just can't be that simple, can it?
P.S. I appreciate all feedback; it has really encouraged me! Thanks!
We waited backstage, all of us very nervous, a rare feeling for a vampire. The suits Josef ordered were actually very cool-midnight blue, with black lapels, narrow pants, skinny black tie, white silk shirt. Very much like the suits worn by performers in the early sixties. We all had our hair slicked back to complete the sixties vibe, and I was definitely experiencing some déjà vu. I peeked out the dressing room door to survey the audience. I wish I hadn’t. My eyes zeroed in, despite the darkness, on the front table we’d reserved for Beth and Simone. They were there all right, but not alone. Two male vampires were cozying up to them, not realizing the danger they were in just by talking to our women. Josef needed to see this too.
“Hey, come here and have a look at these unlucky bastards,” I said to him.
When Josef saw them, he was instantly furious. “Shall we rip their heads off now, or wait till after the show?”
Well, that was a quandary. “The girls don’t even realize they’re vampires, I’m sure of it. But they don’t seem to be trying to discourage them, either.” I was starting to have a bad feeling about this, on so many levels. Guillermo and Logan came up behind us to try to see what was going on.
“That’s not good,” said Logan, as usual, stating the obvious.
“I think you can take them,” Guillermo said encouragingly.
I literally held Josef back. “Wait. We don’t want to disturb the peace of Daryl’s bar, do we?”
I saw the struggle over his emotions clearly on his face. His lowered fangs were a big clue too.
“Fine, but if they take one misstep while we’re performing, all bets are off. They must be able to sense that these women are already taken, so there are really no excuses.”
Just then, Daryl got on the stage to introduce us. Logan and I grabbed our guitars, Guillermo his drumsticks, and, as the lights went up, we filed on to the stage, Josef in the lead. Josef and Guillermo took their places at their instruments, and Logan stood at my side. The audience clapped enthusiastically, and I enjoyed the shocked expressions from Beth and Simone. Coolly, I put my guitar strap over my shoulders, and adjusted the mike. Then, I looked straight at Beth’s table. One of the vamps was nuzzling Beth’s neck. I could feel Josef’s anger swelling behind me, and I hoped I could nip this in the bud right now.
“Thank you,” I said to the audience. “Before we get started, I’d like to send a little message to the guys at the front table. Yeah, you. Get your asses away from our women, or we’ll snap your necks like toothpicks.” I said it with a smile, and the crowd laughed and cheered, but the vamps at the table met my eyes, and knew I was quite serious. They held up their palms apologetically, and casually slipped away to the back of the room. I guess they saw how they were seriously outnumbered. Beth and Simone were most definitely pissed off. Beth sat back in her chair, arms crossed angrily. Something was very off here. But the show must go on. I looked around at the band, and they nodded to me in satisfaction.
“Here’s an oldie from Little Willie John. This is dedicated to my Beth here at the front table.” I gave her a wink amidst the scattering of applause. “Okay, boys, hit it! 1-2-3!” Guillermo started us off with a soft brush on the cymbal. Logan joined in on the bass guitar, picking up the beat. Josef tinkled the intro on the piano, while I began lightly strumming.
I met Beth’s eyes with a smile, and began to sing…
Never knew how much I loved you.
Never knew how much I cared.
When I put my arms around you
You give me fever that’s so hard to bear…
Simone and I sat there in awe. Well, this explained a lot. The long nights, the song list. It didn’t exactly explain the hotel room, but I was suddenly through with second-guessing. And to think, we had almost ruined it for them. I felt so ashamed.
They played four numbers, two instrumental, and I was wowed by their talent. Even their matching vintage-style suits were great. The rest of the audience seemed impressed too, if the applause was any indication. The last song was my favorite by Frank Sinatra, and as Mick sang it, in a more soulful way than even Old Blue Eyes, I felt my tears well up. I glanced at Simone, and saw similar emotion on her face.
Fly me to the moon
I want to play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On Jupiter and Mars.
In other words, hold my hand…
At the end of the song, we were on our feet, cheering and whistling with the rest. They bowed and thanked the crowd, then went to the back to put up their instruments. I’d never seen them so thrilled. While they were gone, I looked again at Simone.
“We are such idiots,” I said.
She wiped at her eyes with a Kleenex. “Yeah. Uh, let’s not mention this ever again, deal?”
“Deal,” I agreed.
Mick and Josef joined us at the table in a few minutes, wiping their brows with their pocket squares. They took off their suit jackets and draped them on the backs of their chairs. Guillermo and Logan went right to the bar to get a drink and maybe pick up some unescorted ladies that were sitting there. Before he could sit down, I threw my arms around him, hugging him with all my might.
“That was great, Mick. I’m so proud of you guys!” He laughed out loud, with more abandon than I’d ever seen him.
“That was a blast!” he said, kissing me quickly and hugging me again. With a deep sigh of relief, he sat next to me. Josef, less demonstrative, was still smiling ear-to-ear, obviously proud of himself. Simone kissed his cheek with a loud smack.
“Yeah, we were pretty good, weren’t we?” said Josef confidently. I didn’t argue with him. Daryl and Carrie came over to offer their congratulations, and offered them a chance to play there again sometime. The guys agreed enthusiastically.
Another band was making its way to the stage, and the guys ordered drinks from the waitress. We sat back to enjoy the rest of the music, Mick holding my hand beneath the table. In the lull between bands, we had a few minutes to talk again.
“So, you girls seemed upset about something earlier. What was that all about?”
We looked at each other.
“Beth, you tell him.” What? I was gonna kill her later.
“Well…I’ve got a confession to make. I peeked in that envelope Josef left at your place the other day. I saw that key card and the note about meeting there at seven tonight. I’m sorry-I shouldn’t have done it. It was Simone’s idea.” There, take that.
“And so you girls showed up at the room. I didn’t hear you knock, but I thought I’d smelled you outside the door later. I thought it was my imagination.”
“We didn’t knock.” I knew I was blushing. “We just…eavesdropped.” I squinted my eyes closed, waiting for the explosion.
“And what did you hear that made you so mad, Beth? Women’s voices?” Surprisingly, he didn’t seem angry; just amused.
“Yeah!” interrupted Simone. “We heard talk of crotches and clothes coming off and lots of humming.” So much for never mentioning this again. I gave her an annoyed look.
“What?” Josef said, puzzled. Then, realizing what we must have heard, he burst out laughing. Mick joined in a second later. When they had finally calmed down, they were actually holding their stomachs in pain. I didn’t think laughing could hurt a vampire.
“Beth,” he said, “you must have heard Josef’s tailors, giving us the final fitting of our suits.”
“A fitting? They’re women?”
“Yeah. They work for Josef. Of course, they’re women. Oh, Beth. Next time, just ask me instead of jumping to these ridiculous conclusions.”
I hung my head, clamping my hands over my eyes in embarrassment. “You’re right, I know. It was all very stupid.”
“And we promise not to pick up guys anymore to make you jealous.”
“Simone!”
“Well, as long as we’re playing true confessions here, we may as well get it all out.”
This announcement did not get any laughs. Josef turned to her, seriously angry. “Try not to ever pick up anybody in a vampire bar.”
“What? You mean, they were-“
Mick nodded. “I’m sure they noticed your various bite marks. They were after a free meal-and probably more than that. But you encouraged them, didn’t you? That’s why they didn’t care that they could smell other vampires on you.”
“We honestly had no idea, Mick,” I said in shock.
“Well, Thelma and Louise strike again,” said Josef, suddenly chuckling. His mood swings would give me whiplash. I didn’t know how Simone could stand it.
“I seriously thought about bashing my guitar over their heads,” said Mick. I tried not to smile at that image.
“You know, it would have been helpful if you guys would have told us what you were up to,” I said a little defensively. “We agreed to no more secrets.”
“It wasn’t a secret, exactly. It was a surprise. If we weren’t any good, I wouldn’t have wanted you to hear us. Oh, and by the way-why didn’t you pass along Josef’s message the other day when he came by.”
I saw Josef smirking. “Lucy,” he said, in his best Ricky Ricardo imitation, “you’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do.”
I blushed. “You go first, Josef.” After all, I’d done nothing wrong that time.
“Okay, but you’re responsible for my death or dismemberment. Mick, I saw Beth au naturel. Nude. Naked. Unclothed. In the raw. In her birthday suit. In the buff. In dishabille. In the altogether. Without a-“
“Josef, we get the idea. And how did this happen…buddy? You let yourself into my apartment without knocking again, didn’t you?”
“Now, Mick. I knew you were probably asleep, and I didn’t want to disturb you. I didn’t know you were having a sleepover.”
“My point exactly. Now, I hope that’s a lesson to you.”
“It certainly is,” replied Josef. “Next time, I’ll come earlier so I can see the whole show.”
“Josef-“ Mick roared, standing up to belt him one, I was sure. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Daryl beginning to head toward our table to break up a possible fight.
“Hey!” I said, my hand on Mick’s shoulder, trying to pull him back down. “Nothing happened. It was an accident. Sit down, Mick, the next band is about to come out.” With one last dirty look at his grinning friend, Mick took his chair again. Daryl smiled at me and waved a little in relief.
As the mellow, more modern band began playing, I leaned over and whispered into Mick’s ear.
“You are so talented. I’m glad you’re playing again.”
“It’s because of you, Beth. You gave me my music back.” His mouth moved from my ear to my lips, and I kissed him like we were the only ones in the room.
NOTE: Okay, I went for the sweet, romantic ending. I did have an alternate ending planned, with a big barroom brawl and Mick actually hitting one of the vamps over the head with his guitar. That would have been fun to write, I admit. I guess I really wanted Mick to have his music back, without being spoiled by Beth’s unfounded jealousy. I hope you liked this ending instead.