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~•~After Chapter 2 of Brother, before majority Chapter 3 through~•~•
Michael’s head hurts. It’s throbbing so bad he doesn’t even know if ‘hurts’ is a strong enough word for it. But Sam is having fun, and that’s worth Michael being in pain.
The rollercoaster shoots off, speeding down the track, Michael loses sight of Sam in seconds. Usually this would be a cause for worry, but Dwayne promised he, Marko, and Paul would look after him. Even though Michael’s only known them a few days, The Lost Boys have been better to Sam then Michael’s friends in Phoenix ever were. So Michael will stand in the crowd, head throbbing, as Sam enjoys the rollercoaster with friends.
“Michael?” David calls for his attention, the singer's arm moving to rest across his shoulders. They’re close. Then Star joins their cluster making it a triangle.
“Hm? Yeah?” Michael manages to get out, somehow the two hear him, and laugh at his lack of attention.
“David just asked if you want to get away from the crowd, your head hurts, right?” Star fills him in. Michael looks back to the ride Sam’s currently screaming on, it’s a new place, leaving him alone would freak him out.
“If you want to say, we can. But the boys will look after Sam if you want to disappear for a bit, Michael.” Just after David says this the crowd around them becomes louder, another band on stage amps up, and to compete with it all, the vendors turn up their boomboxes. Michael thinks his head is going to explode.
“Get me out of here.” Is all Michael has to say for David and Star to grab his hands and pull him through the crowd, behind shops, and to silence so long as you don't count one stall playing instrumental quietly on their radio.
“Better?” Star asks, and Michael nods. It’s like he can finally breathe again. The three of them stand for a few minutes, the two musicians at Michael’s sides softly rubbing circles in the hands that they still hold.
“Want to sit down? Star knows a good spot.” David asks quietly, to not ruin Michael's relief from the noise. Another silent nod, and they’re moving again.
“I’ll go up first, help pull you up. Star will climb after you, just in case you fall.” David instructs, and starts climbing. Michael looks up to see the blond scaling a rusty ladder leading to a bill board sign. Just like he was instructed, Michael climbs after David, and hears Star following after him. At the top David helps Michael to the ledge, both of his cold hands squeezing Michael’s warm wrists. The temperature difference is nice, Phoenix was always too hot, David’s nice though.
“I always like how quiet it is up here, perfect for stargazing.” Star says, settling herself on the ledge beside Michael. A minute passes and Michael hears himself speaking before he actually knows what he’s about to say.
“Star, looking at the stars…” David snorts, trying to hold back his laugh, Star just looks a little tired, like she’s heard that joke before, Michael wishes he bit his tongue, “Shut up Michael!”
David loses control of his laughter, Star smiles, Michael didn’t mean to say that out loud.
“Please don’t, your embarrassment is hilarious.” David manages to say through his laughter, Michael agrees to his request, silently this time, because David’s laugh is worth a bit of embarrassment.
“Glad someone thinks so.” Michael mumbles, causing David to laugh more, and this time Star joins him. Michael thinks her laugh is worth it too.
It grows silent after their laughter ends, but not awkwardly or like you’re holding your breath. It’s not like the quiet house Michael returned to every night when they lived in Phoenix; Mom trying to hide her worries and pain from her sons, and Sam hiding away in his room, sometimes so effectively Michael wondered if his little brother was just something else his brain convinced him was real so he had another reason to keep fighting.
“I like this.” It’s a simple statement, and much less embarrassing than Michael’s last unthought-out sentence. In the corner of his eye Michael can see Star smile before she leans her head on his shoulder.
“Me too.” Her voice is soft, like it is on stage, but more sincere, this isn’t a performance to exaggerate, “What’s your favourite part?”
Her question causes a moment of thought from Michael, maybe David as well from his lack of comment on their conversation.
“Having a home and people I care about being safe, and together. Having a home actually feels like a real possibility, not just some dream a kid can’t let go of.” Michael’s answer feels too personal for people he’s only known for a few days, but he also feels like he can tell them anything and they’ll still be with him like this.
David rests his head on Michael’s other shoulder, a parallel to Star’s own position, “You will always have a home with us Michael. For as long as you’ll allow us, we’ll be by your side and ready to comfort and protect you. Whatever you need. That’s my favourite part about this.”
Star cuddles into Michael more, “I think I’d have to agree with David on this one. You’re definitely one of my favourite things about tonight, Moonbeam.”
Michael thinks he can feel the truth in their words wrapping around him, like a warm blanket, and easing his body. He doesn’t know if he’s ever felt this safe and relaxed. It’s nice. He hopes he can feel it more. And in the silence, warmth, and safe weight on Michael’s shoulders, he feels himself drift off to sleep.
~•~•~•~•~•
The boardwalk is always a lot for Star and Laddie, being new and half-vampires their senses are heightened but still fresh enough to not easily be controlled. Tonight Star thinks she’s handling it well, only a little louder than she would prefer, but that probably also has something to do with them standing in the middle of a crowd in the heart of the amusement half of the boardwalk.
“Doing alright, Star?” David’s voice echoes in her mind, distracting her from her own thoughts. She meets his eyes, knowing he’ll be listening to her frontmost thoughts to receive her answer.
“Just fine, though Michael is looking a little rough. Maybe check in on him.” Star glances at the human beside David, the blond gives a quick nod as a response. Star can tell when the other vampire starts listening to their companions thoughts, a small wince spreads across his face. So nothing good.
“His mind is mostly feelings rather than words, pain at the front and a little anxiety. My guess is his concussion is acting up because of the noise.” David’s voice informs Star. Out loud, the blond starts trying to get Michael’s attention, “Michael. Michael, would you like to go somewhere less crowded?”
The human gives David’s words no attention, rather than giving up he wraps his arm around Michael’s shoulders and tries one last time calling his name, Michael finally takes notice. Star joins them to close off their conversation to the surrounding people.
“Hm, Yeah?”
“David just asked if you wanted to get away from the crowd, your head hurts, right?” Star asks, David shoots her a quick glare.
“We’re not meant to know about his head hurting. To humans he was just zoning out.” Thankfully, David’s worries about her slip up are unfounded and Michael doesn't notice. David's attention shifts back to focus on Michael, who’s clearly hesitating to leave his little brother alone, “If you want to say, we can. But the boys will look after Sam if you want to disappear for a bit, Michael.”
Almost immediately Michael nods, whispering “Get me out of here.” And just like that the two lead him through the carnival area and to Star’s old hideaway, where she waited for her boys when they went hunting before she finally joined them. An area that’s almost always empty and quiet, especially when you climb to the top of the billboard.
Using the same ladder she did years ago, David goes up first, then Michael, and finally Star. Once they’re all settled on the ledge Star hears herself thinking allowed, “I always like how quiet it is up here, perfect for stargazing.”
For a moment Star thinks her words won’t be met with any in return, but is swiftly corrected when Michael dazzily says “Star, looking at the stars.”
David immediately starts giggling, likely to hold back a proper laugh they’ll hear in a few moments when David inevitably can’t hold it in any longer, Star holds herself back from joining him. Nine years ago, when David found her after one of his hunts and she was sitting on the same ledge she is tonight, looking at her namesakes, he used the same, stupid, flirty line.
“Oh, how time repeats, My Star.”
The human with them, who for obvious reasons doesn’t know about the humour of his words, seems to think his assessment is less funny, “Shut up Michael.”
Of course this just makes David laugh more, Star herself only barely holding her own laughter.
“Please don’t, your embarrassment is hilarious.”
Michael’s response, “Glad someone thinks so.” Does end up sending Star into a similar fit of giggles as her lover.
When the two vampires finally calm down, silence follows. Until Michael releases a soft sigh and says, “I like this.”
Star smiles, he’s so simple, like the clear blue sky she desperately misses seeing during the day, simple but so full of different shades of blue, a masterpiece. She relaxes, resting her head on his shoulder before answering him, “Me too. What’s your favourite part?”
“Having a home and people I care about being safe, and together. Having a home actually feels like a real possibility, not just some dream a kid can’t let go of.” Michael replies after a few breaths. Star hates how new the idea sounds to him. She hates that on a level she can understand, and the rest of her boys can as well. She hates that she sees David shut his eyes tight and tense, either remembering his own past, now so foggy in the decades that have passed him by, or seeing Michael’s. Star feels better when he finally relaxes, resting his head on Michael’s shoulder with her.
“You will always have a home with us Michael. For as long as you’ll allow us, we’ll be by your side and ready to comfort and protect you. Whatever you need. That’s my favourite part about this.” Through their colony bond, Star can feel the hum of David’s words. A true promise. An oath for all his brothers to know and hold him to.
Star sends her own hum of an oath in response, “I think I’d have to agree with David on this one. You’re definitely one of my favourite things about tonight, Moonbeam.”
Star feels Michael’s shoulders drop, just a little from where he held them squared, and breaths slow. Then she feels responses to David and her oaths from Paul and Dwayne, Sam’s safety and life to be protected, his love to be celebrated, and their brotherhood to be shared. Marko already made a similar oath to Sam a few nights ago, and oaths are meant to be taken when you're with the person, so he can’t make one to Michael. It’s warm, a sense of wholeness and love running through their bonds.
David turns the hum into a song, “There's something different in the stars tonight. Something 'bout the way they're shining.”
“It's brighter than it's ever been tonight. Somehow everything's aligning.” Star continues, the words being fed to her through the bond, through David’s thoughts, “Time and space seem like they're starting to bend.”
In a duet of fate David and Star sing to their sleeping companion, to each other, to their love that will only grow in the eternity they have together, hopefully with Michael between them just like tonight.
~•~•~•~•After the events of Brother~•~•~•~•
Michael has officially been a vampire, or at least half of one, for nearly a week. You would think during that time he’s figured out how he’s going to tell his Mom, who arrives in town tomorrow evening, but he has no clue. So now he sits on one of the many piers in Santa Carla, at night of course, trying to think of anything better then “Hey Mom, first off, don’t worry, Sam is safe and fine, but I drank someone’s blood and am now half vampire, and also I kinda really want to kiss two of the vampires that gave me this guys blood, and one of them is a guy. How’d the divorce go?”
“Hey Moonbeam, you don’t usually leave right after our show, Sammy said you were acting strange. Are you feeling alright?” Star sits down beside him, resting her shoulder against his. They’re both cold now, but Michael still thinks it feels better than the heat of Phoenix.
“I don’t know how I’m going to tell Mom about, well, all of it. I know she’ll be happy Sam and I made friends, but, I don’t know how she’ll take you being vampires. Me being a vampire.”
“Half, Michael. You're still human, if you choose, you can stay a little human, grow old, go in the sun, die at the ripe age of 124, or however old humans are when they die.” David states, taking the spot opposite of Star, copying her by leaning his side against Michael’s.
“But, what if I don’t want to die? How do I tell my Mom that the people I met a month ago are also my family, and I want to spend eternity with you two.” Michael worries, only catching his slip up after it’s left his mouth, “all of you, I mean, not just the two of you of course! The whole band!”
Star and David laugh at him, more David than Star though. David speaks up after he’s done taking pleasure in Michael’s embarrassment, “You want to spend eternity with us Michael? Well, good news for you then, so do I.”
David raises his hand and holds Michael’s face, Michael barely refrains from cuddling into the soft, cold, leather touch. Their eyes meet, David’s are both brown tonight, but small flicks of shining yellow make them easy to see in the night. Michael feels Star shove at his back, pushing him onto David. Their faces are even closer now, especially since David hasn’t let go of Michael’s face. Michael really doesn't want him to. Slowly, Michael raises himself up, closer to David’s face, his eyes, his lips. And David leans down, his eyes solely focused on Michael’s mouth.
Michael had kissed a few girls back in Phoenix, an expectation to be filled, a small desire for connection, a way to make himself feel like he’s more than his fathers favourite son. David’s kiss feels better than all of them. Cold, comforting, a dare for Michael to live, even if it’s ironic how Michael wants to die for David.
“I knew he’d kiss you first, Paul owes me 20 bucks.” Star says smugly, Muchael immediately pulls away from the man he was kissing. David wraps his arms around the fledgling to stop him from going far. The result is Michael still awkwardly leaning on David’s lap and side, and the blondes arms held tightly around him.
“Thanks for that Star, way to make it a moment. Michael was just about to let me open his mouth!” David growls, Michael feels the rumble echo in his chest. Star laughs at her leader's frustration.
“Well maybe I wanted a turn too, remember David, sharing? Or is that too human of a concept for you to remember?” David glares but shoves Michael onto Star, much the same way she did to him a few moments ago, and mumbles in annoyance.
“I’m 87, not 200, and I know how to share. Remember that year of you drinking from me? No? How convenient.” Star laughs more, Michael still feels dazed and a little panicked from the kiss.
“What?” Is all he can manage to get out. The two look down at him, laying half on Star’s lap, half on her shoulder, and break out in giggles.
“What, Moonbeam? Surprised David held back for so long before kissing you?” Star asks, Michael can’t help but think that her hair is really pretty from this angle. But he’s also confused, David holding back from kissing him?
“What?” The two continue staring at him before David once again bursts out laughing.
“AGAIN!? Wow Michael, Sammy is right, you really do have to work on that perception of yours.” David teases, then he glances up and meets Star's questioning look, “Michael didn't realize we’ve been flirting with him since that first night, didn't realize how much we’ve been holding back our affections after he joined us.”
Star looks down where Michael still lays on her, she looks amused, then like David, wraps her hands around his face and pulls Michael up to be face to face with her, “You’re lucky you’re so damn pretty Michael, there’s absolutely nothing in that head of yours is there?”
Michael manages a small “uh huh” before Star pulls him up the rest of the distance, making their lips meet. Star’s kiss is different from David’s, but Michael’s brain further turns to ooze with how much he loves it. Stars lips are softer than the blonds, but where David’s felt like a dare, Star’s feel like a promise. When she finally lets him go, Michael thinks he’s lost all control of his words. A thoughtless “wow” in Michael’s voice is what follows.
“So, Michael, whose kiss do you like better? Mine or Stars?” David asks, he sounds so smug, like he knows Michael will say his name. Michael does not.
“Wow… that was awesome.”
“You’re quite the poet, aren't you Michael?” Star asks, Michael doesn’t answer, he can finally feel the beginning of his mind piecing itself back together.
“I think my life just got a lot easier, and a lot more complicated.” Michael states, laying back on the pier, “Mom will be here tomorrow, I’m half vampire, and not only am I stupidly crushing on two vampires, you now know how to make it worse.”
“How? Like this?” David feigns ignorance, leaning down to place a small kiss on Michael’s lips. Michael feels his face flush.
“Yes, David. Like that. Now help me with the problems in my life that you are the cause of!” Michael covers his face with his hands, David has the gall to giggle, again, at Michael's misfortune.
“Well I’m sorry to tell you Michael, but we can’t fix any of the problems you’ve told us about, you’re half vampire until you either drink, die, or… well it’s basically impossible. And I don’t think I’ll ever forget how good you are at kissing.” Star says with fake pity. Michael thinks his life, half-vampire undead/alive life, is over, until Star gets an idea, “We can do something to soften the blow though, ever wanted to piece your ears Michael?”
Michael squints at her, struggling to see her point until he realizes an earring would become the most physically noticeable thing his Mom will see after not being around him for a month, “yes, absolutely.”
In seconds Star has a safety pin in one hand and a lighter in the other to sanitize it, “Don’t worry Moonbeam this won’t hurt anymore than the transformation did.”
David pulls Michael up and wraps his arms around him in a back hug, so Michael can’t get away from the terrible idea he’s about to go through with.
“3,” Star stars to count down, “2,”
When she finally says one, Michael expects to feel pain in his right earlobe, instead he gets a much more intense pain in the left side of his neck. David fucking bit him.
“David I could’ve messed up the piercing! Do you want Michael to have a crooked piercing for eternity?” Star chides, David, whose mouth is still attached to Michael’s neck, smiles. Star pats around her, apparently there pockets, Michael thinks she has access to the same pocket space dimension that Sam does, and then in the most trying-not-to-panic voice she can manage says, “I don’t have any spare earrings.”
Michael feels the relief of David letting go of his neck, his hand shooting up to touch the wound, only to not feel any blood, just the sharp indents of completely human teeth. David removes one of his own earrings, a dagger, and slips it into Michael’s, actually bleeding, new piercing. The man then takes out a white handkerchief, and lightly dabs it on the lobe, soaking up the blood.
“Thank you.” Michael says, teeth clenched and glaring, “but did you really have to bite me?”
David holds the small dots of blood up to his nose, closing his eyes, and taking a deep breath. Michael suddenly feels like he’s intruding on a private moment, before remembering this man kissed him less than five minutes ago and that’s his blood.
“Well now there’s two things your mom can take notice of.” Is David’s only answer before he presses a light kiss to Michael’s blood, while holding eye contact with him, and sucking it into his mouth. Star laughs at the blond's antics.
“You seriously gave him a hickey!? David! Why? You got the first kiss and hickey, save some milestones for our second date and me!” She pokes at the bite mark on Michael’s neck, which is apparently a hickey.
“What.” Is all Michael manages to say. David looks proud as he sucks on the hankie.
“David. Star. Who is this?” A deep voice asks from behind them. David and Star stand up so fast Michael swears they moved like puppets on strings, and the hankie with Michael’s blood is gone from David’s hands, so is his smile.
“Max,” David greets, his voice is a growl but Michael hears the pitch that comes with fear, the same tone he used talking to Richard, “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be cooped up at your little video store? Or did pretending to be a nice, normal human get boring and you massacred all your customers, and of course sweet little Pete.”
The man glares, “David, you know as my eldest I expect more from you. So do be more reticent when talking about our family diet. Now I’ll ask you again. Who. Is. This?”
Michael feels what he can only describe at chains pulling him up to stand between his friends, or are they lovers now? Michael doesn’t have time to think too much when the man starts whisper-yelling at David.
“Another stray, really David!? You and your delinquent brothers can’t just let strays go can you? First Marko, because you pitied how he was exiled from the army, too queer to even pass drafting. Then Star, and while I do admit my darling I now love you as my own daughter, but you must understand when my boys first found you, you were in no place to deserve a family. Then of course there’s the runt, what’s his name again? Buddy? Who’s too young to even turn. Honestly, I don’t know why you even keep him around, he’ll just become unruly with age. Halflings are touchy like that. Maybe that’s why you’re so… you, David. I never should have let you spend those months as a half. But past mistakes aside, why in the world you turn yet another no good, mediocre, boy.”
“They are my family! Marko and LADDIE are my little brothers! You wanted me to have brothers so badly, and now I do! And Michael is not just any boy. He’s one of us now. And if you cared to pay us any attention you would know me and Star are sworn to protect him. So if you really want to rid your precious family of him so much, then do it. Just know you’ll lose your eldest son and daughter in the fight.” David says through gritted teeth, he sounds ready for the fight, even if he also knows he would lose it. Michael thinks he falls just a little bit more, just for that. The man, on the other hand, growls and grips David’s face with his clawed hand.
“Do not speak back to me boy. Remember your place, or I will tighten your chain. Deal with your Michael before I see you again in two nights. Or I will, even if it means you and your sister die.” He lets go of David’s face, leaving small trails of his blood pooling and spilling out small cuts on his cheek. It’s not until the man turns around, walks away, and fully disappears into the crowd Michael feels his ability to move on his own return. Star and David shaking off the chains a minute after him.
“Who was that?” Michael asks, he feels a tightness in his throat, anger, fear, and the overwhelming desire to find the rest of his family and make sure they’re all safe.
“Max. Our sire.” David manages to get out, he sounds like Sam when he’s about to cry. The blond immediately falls to the ground, Star and Michael dropping after him, for comfort and stability. They hold each other as David cries, or at least Michael thinks he is. When David finally raises his head, his face is dry and just as pale as it always is.
“We’re going to find the boys, and we’re going to your place Michael. We’re a colony, we’ll protect you.”
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
David is concerned when Sam shows up alone to their usual post concert meeting spot, when his little brother explains how Michael left as soon as their last song was done and how strange he’d been acting all evening, David decides to go find Michael on his own. Or rather with Star.
The two find him quickly enough, between their blood bond and Michael’s recognizanceable scent. He sits alone on the edge of a pier, Star joins him first.
“Hey Moonbeam, you don’t usually leave right after our show, Sammy said you were acting strange. Are you feeling alright?” David watches as Star leans her shoulder against Michael’s.
Michael's voice is distressed when he speaks, “I don’t know how I’m going to tell Mom about, well, all of it. I know she’ll be happy Sam and I made friends, but, I don’t know how she’ll take you being vampires. Me being a vampire.”
“Half, Michael.” David stresses, “You're still human, if you choose you can stay a little human, grow old, go in the sun, die at the ripe age of 124, or however old humans are when they die.”
David sits and rests his own shoulder against Michael’s. He can’t help but miss the warmth the fledgling used to have, but the cold means he can stay with David just a little while longer.
“But, what if I don’t want to die? How do I tell my Mom that the people I met a month ago are also my family, and I want to spend eternity with you two.” David sees Star's eyes widen, and can feel his own. He’s sure if either of them had just eaten they would be blushing. Michael seems to have caught his wording though, “all of you, I mean, not just the two of you of course! The whole band!”
David can’t hold back his laughter, Michael is just too cute when he’s panicking, “You want to spend eternity with us Michael? Well, good news for you then, so do I.”
David raises his hand, cupping Michael’s cheek, tilting his face for the perfect view. The moonlight and boardwalk illuminating opposing sides of his face, two sides, both perfect. David can’t help but think Michael’s lips are especially perfect. Not too large, not small. He can’t imagine how many girls who’ve crossed his path have been jealous of Michael’s perfect proportions and soft pigments.
Star takes it upon herself to force them closer, shoving Michael halfway onto David’s lap; he'll have to thank her later for the encouragement. It’s the last push the two needed to finally make their lips meet. And David feels alive again. An energy he hasn’t felt in years, ecstatic and drunk on more than the drugs and drinks of his meals. He hadn't fully realized how much he needed Michael in his life until they met. Now, he doesn’t know how he was dead for so long not knowing Michael’s love.
“I knew he’d kiss you first, Paul owes me 20 bucks.” Star rudely interrupts, Michael quickly tries to draw away from David’s embrace, but that just won’t do. David wraps his arms around his lover's chest, pulling Michael onto his lap as much as he can without moving too much.
“Thanks for that Star, way to make it a moment. Michael was just about to let me open his mouth!” David glares at his Star, her glee in David’s torment apparent in her laugh.
“Well maybe I wanted a turn too, remember David, sharing? Or is that too human of a concept for you to remember?” David rolls his eyes, letting Michael off his lap, and onto Stars, “I’m 87, not 200, and I know how to share. Remember that year of you drinking from me? No? How convenient.”
Star laughs at David's comment, while Michael just stares up at Star, as if she’s his whole world right now, “What?”
And then, in unison, Star starts laughing with David, “What, Moonbeam? Surprised David held back for so long before kissing you?”
“What?” Is the man’s only response. David takes it upon himself to do a brief listen of Michael’s surface thoughts, and to his amazement and shock, so many moments click into place. Michael reciprocates David and Star’s affections but doesn’t initiate them himself. Michael looks at David’s lips when he helps him learn guitar, but never actually makes a move. Michael didn’t realize they feel the same.
“AGAIN!? Wow Michael, Sammy is right, you really do have to work on that perception of yours.” David laughs, lovingly of course, it’s only when he notices Star's questioning look he stops to explain it to his lover, “Michael didn't realize we’ve been flirting with him since that first night, didn't realize how much we’ve been holding back our affections after he joined us.”
Star stares down at their Michael, who still looks dazed from the kiss, wraps her hands around his cheeks and draws him closer to her, “You’re lucky you’re so damn pretty Michael, there’s absolutely nothing in that head of yours is there?”
David just holds back from laughing at Michael’s small, “uh huh”, as Star closes the space, connecting their lips. And in all 87 years of David’s existence, both life and afterlife, he doesn’t think he’s ever seen anything more beautiful. Star is lit up by the moon and her own radiant light, this time taking the form of an aurora. Michael is bathed in the red and blue lights of the boardwalk. His Moonbeam and His Star, shining together.
When Star finally releases Michael a small, “wow” escapes his lungs.
David will find a way to tease him about that later, in the meantime, he has a question he’s heard his brothers arguing about in their own relationship, “So, Michael, whose kiss do you like better? Mine or Stars?”
“Wow…” Michael says instead, newly dazed from Star’s kiss, “that was awesome.”
“You’re quite the poet, aren't you Michael?” Star asks sarcastically.
Michael lays back on the pier, “I think my life just got a lot easier, and a lot more complicated. Mom will be here tomorrow, I’m half vampire, and not only am I stupidly crushing on two vampires, you now know how to make it worse.”
David has found the moment he can tease Michael, “How? Like this?” He asks, leaning down to place a small kiss on Michael’s lips. In the exact way David hoped the halflings remaining blood surges to his face. Stunning.
Unfortunately Muchael covers his face, but David still finds his reaction amusing, “Yes, David. Like that. Now help me with the problems in my life that you are the cause of!”
With mock remorse Star says, “Well I’m sorry to tell you Michael, but we can’t fix any of the problems you’ve told us about, you’re half vampire until you either drink, die, or… well it’s basically impossible, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget how good you are at kissing.” Until she stops for a moment, working through a new idea, “We can do something to soften the blow though, ever wanted to piece your ears Michael?”
Michael takes a moment to respond before confidently, “yes, absolutely.”
At a speed David can only suspect she used her vampiric abilities for, Star is holding her tools and is prepped to give Michael a piercing.
“Don’t worry Moonbeam this won’t hurt anymore than the transformation did.”
As a projected thought David hears “Maybe hold him so he doesn’t move, and distract him when I stick the pin in.” So David nods to Star, pulls Michael into his arms, and thinks of the perfect distraction from a burning safety pin being stabbed into your ear.
Star counts down, and when she says one, David bites down on Michael’s neck. He doesn’t want to draw blood, what with how nice of an outfit Michael’s wearing, so he focuses on only using his human teeth, but the fight is hard won.
Star is not amused with David's restraint or idea though, “David I could’ve messed up the piercing! Do you want Michael to have a crooked piercing for eternity?” David refuses to give into her disapproval, and instead to push her buttons, smiles at her. She’s just jealous she didn’t think to bite their Michael first. It’s a few moments later when he hears Star confess, “I don’t have any spare earrings.”
David rolls his eyes, she definitely does, she’s just being petty. Still, David removes his dagger earring from his ear, and a white handkerchief from his pocket. The earrings slides in and David soaks up the beading blood with the white fabric.
Michael glares and with clenched teeth gets out, “Thank you. But did you really have to bite me?”
Rather than respond, David just raises the soaked up blood to his nose. It smells divine. More of a feast in a few drops of blood than in the countless bodies David has drained before. Blissfully David replies, “Well now there’s two things your mom can take notice of.”
Without wasting more time, David presses a soft kiss to Michael's blood, ensuring his eyes are met as he does so. After the moment is complete, David gingerly takes the fabric into his mouth, sucking out the small amount of Michael’s blood that’s been soaked into it.
Star burst into laughter, “You seriously gave him a hickey!? David! Why? You got the first kiss and hickey, save some milestones for our second date and me!”
The moment is perfect. David and his lovers, together, safe, and ready to spend forever just like this.
Then he feels his presence. Jagged chains tightening like nooses around his arms, feet, throat, and heart. He’s pulled to stand at painful attention.
“David. Star. Who is this?”
David tries to mask his fear, pain. It’s David’s job to protect his lovers and brothers, “Max, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be cooped up at your little video store? Or did pretending to be a nice, normal human get boring and you massacred all your customers, and of course sweet little Pete.”
Max tightens the chain around David’s throat. The boys offering to turn Pete a few years back when Dwayne, Paul, and Marko were seeing him, was not an act Max took lightly. Of course his response to their rebellion was to fire Pete and glamour him into believing the men he once knew as lovers were actually his tormentors, attackers. “David, you know as my eldest I expect more from you. So do be more reticent when talking about our family diet. Now I’ll ask you again. Who. Is. This?”
David fails to not look at Michael with worry when Max’s blood connection becomes control and he rises to stand beside David and Star. Max knows the way David looks at Michael. With love.
Max snarls, spitting out every ridicule and foul comment he can about David’s little brothers, his Star, and finally his Michael. He will not allow his colony to be spoken of in such a disrespectful and sickening way.
“They are my family! Marko and LADDIE are my little brothers! You wanted me to have brothers so badly, and now I do! And Michael is not just any boy. He’s one of us now. And if you cared to pay us any attention you would know me and Star are sworn to protect him. So if you really want to rid your precious family of him so much, then do it. Just know you’ll lose your eldest son and daughter in the fight.” David snaps, he will fight and die for them. No matter who that means he does at the hands of. Max, predictably enough, does not approve of David talking to him in such a way. His hand closes around David’s face, claws sinking into his flesh.
“Do not speak back to me boy. Remember your place, or I will tighten your chain. Deal with your Michael before I see you again in two nights. Or I will, even if it means you and your sister die.” Max threatens. When he learned of Paul and Marko, he became furious that his sons would be disgraceful enough to court within the “family”, then, after years of comfort and reassurance, Dwayne joined them and Max nearly stopped referring to them as his sons. A relationship of three “brothers” being where Max draws the line. When Star accepted David’s affections, his reaction was much the same.
Michael’s voice pulls David back to the present, “Who was that?”
Before speaking, David assesses his joints, heart, and voice. He can’t be weak when his colony needs him.
“Max. Our sire.”
And for a moment David manages to hold himself together, before the years of Max’s ultimatums finally crush him. He falls to the ground, thankfully he doesn’t fall alone. Star and Michael’s arms close around him, holding every piece of him as close as they can. When David knows his face won’t show any sign of his pain he raises his head.
“We’re going to find the boys, and we’re going to your place Michael. We’re a colony, we’ll protect you.”