Fire, Chapter 2 --PG-13

Post Reply
User avatar
librarian_7
Forever Moonlightaholic
Posts: 23481
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:21 pm
Location: wherever Josef is
Contact:

Fire, Chapter 2 --PG-13

Post by librarian_7 »

Standard disclaimers apply.

No spoilers here.

This story is rated PG-13 for relatively mild violence and sex.

This story follows the events of “Control.”



Fire

Chapter 2

“Hey there! Alexander!” Ralph, Lord Milner, bellowed across the crowded pit of the theatre. Josef sighed inwardly. Of all the boorish dolts of his acquaintance, and London seemed full of them, Milner was the last human Josef would have wished upon himself this afternoon. Still, with the theatres newly open, now that the plague of the past months seemed to have abated, all the populace of London was crowding in to forget their woes in the escape of drama, and etiquette demanded that he ask Milner to join him in his box. A gentleman of quality could hardly be expected to mingle with the crowds in the pit, or the galleries above. The press of the crowd weighed significantly on Josef; so many beating hearts, so many crudely gasping lungs that his ears were near overwhelmed with it. Painted whores smiled boldly at him, and more than once a dainty questing hand brushed none too casually against his groin in passing.

That didn’t bother him as much as the other professional hands seeking to relieve him of his purse, a matter of far more import to him than the assaults on his long-departed virtue. Within the space of ten minutes, as he made his way slowly to his box, he evaded no fewer than four attempts, four sets of fingers dancing through the pockets of his coat. It grew wearisome, and the last time, he simply tightened his grip on the offender’s wrist and snapped it with a quick twist. He had to admit he was impressed when there was only a gasp, not a scream, in response. “Tell your colleagues,” he growled quietly over his shoulder to his unseen captive, “to leave me alone.”

Still, the experience was, on the whole, exhilarating even before the dramatic performance began. After Milner joined him, the native Londoner began a tedious litany of gossip about the various personages in attendance. Josef listened with half an ear, interest only in so far as he might be able to detect any evidence of vampirism, and more specifically rogue vampirism, in the human’s tales. But although Milner had plenty of roguery to relate, none of it was anything that sounded useful to Josef.

“Here, luv, how about an orange?” a woman passing by with a basket on her hip said, enticingly. She was young and pretty, with a saucy smile and a jaunty striped skirt that made her stand out in the crowd.

Josef smiled back, and flipped her a generous coin, holding up two fingers. Her smile grew broader as she caught the coin, giving it a quick glance before dropping it deftly into her bodice. He considered the view well worth the minor sting of handling the silver.

As she handed him the oranges, he gave her a smirk. “Do I get to fish for change?” he asked with a significant leer at her bosom.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you, me lord,” she replied, laughing and setting one hand on her hip, but her words were belied by the wink she gave him.

Josef nudged Milner, passing one of the oranges to him while he brought the other up to his face. The rich aroma went some ways to countering the overpowering scent of unwashed bodies packed into the theatre. Josef inhaled deeply, the ripe fruit redolent of sun and heat and Spanish laughter.

Milner, meanwhile, had accepted his orange, ripping it open between his short, stubby fingers and sucking greedily at the interior. “It’s sour,” he frowned, leaning forward in his seat and aiming a cuff at the orange girl.

“I never makes no promises about the taste,” she responded, dancing out of his reach. “Ye’ve no need to be complaining to me.”

Josef laughed again, and snagged a copper coin out of a small pocket in his waistcoat, sending it spinning expertly into the valley between her buxom breasts.

“Oh, you’re a wicked one, sir,” she giggled as she twitched away, calling out her wares to the crowd. Josef turned his attention reluctantly back to Milner’s endless monologue.

“—and I’m telling you, Alexander, you’ve come to London at a good time. We’ve not seen a playhouse open for nigh on a year. Demmed plague shut everything down. Unconscionable nuisance, don’t you know?”

“I understand the death toll was quite high,” Josef responded negligently. “That sort of thing can be quite inconvenient.” He briefly entertained thoughts of ripping off this blithering idiot’s fatuous head, and dismissed it as too messy.

Perhaps later, on the way home.

When at length the actors took the stage, Josef saw with some amusement that they were in competition with the audience, the orange girls, and the courtesans to see who could catch the most attention. The company had chosen an old play, one of Shakespeare’s, to open the playhouse again, and it didn’t take long for Josef to realize why it had seemed a good choice to bring in the crowds. Whatever its other timeless merits, for this audience As You Like It was perhaps most memorable for the breeches role that allowed a slender, clever young actress the chance to appear on stage in boy’s clothing. Women on stage at all were still a novelty in London, and women in male dress were positively scandalous. Rosalind, cavorting through the Forest of Arden as her romance progressed, was a gem of a part, and Josef found himself increasingly captivated by the young woman portraying her.

Her figure was neat and slender, her movements and gestures evidencing both long practice and deceptive ease. While her face was not, to Josef’s connoisseur’s eye, the ideal of beauty, her slightly irregular features, even under stage makeup, were compensated for by her vivacity and the intelligence sparkling in her eyes. Watching her long legs displayed in satin breeches, listening to her laugh and her low-pitched, melodious voice, Josef felt a heat rising in his cold heart that he had not felt since his turning. The physical desire for a graceful, attractive woman was one thing, but this went beyond. He wanted to meet her, to listen to what she had to say, and to possess not just her body but her mind. To make her aware of him as he was aware of her, and to have her direct that merry, mischievous gaze at him, and know him for what he was without flinching.

Finally, much as he hated to do so, Josef tore his eyes away from her, and turned to Milner, who was engaged in a salacious conversation with a woman in the next box, who from what Josef could gather was the pampered, if somewhat common, mistress of an earl. He wondered idly why she would show the slightest interest in the boorish baronet seated next to him, until she began fluttering her fan, and her eyelashes, in his direction. He wasn’t sure she’d consider him a catch, if she knew him better, but he was not unused to flattery and outright invitations from women. He smiled politely and begged her pardon for interrupting her flirtation.

When he had Milner’s grudging attention, he came directly to the point. “That girl—the actress. I want to meet her.”

“That one?” Milner replied. “Good luck. She’s as choosy as a countess, from what I hear. Moreso than some I’ve met, in fact. She needs to be lessoned in how a doxy behaves to her betters.”

Josef smiled to mask the rapid loss of patience he was experiencing, but he could not keep the acerbic tone out of his voice. “I may be the one to accomplish that particular task, if someone would be so kind as to tell me her name and how I can get to her.”

Milner waved a hand, his lace falling limply over the cuff of his coat, then raised a handkerchief to mop the sweat from his florid face. “Don’t see how you bear this heat so well, Alexander. It’s enough to give any man an apoplexy.”

“The name, Milner, the name.” By that time, the boyish Ganymede in the play had been replaced by pretty Rosalind again, as the play rollicked to its conclusion, with weddings all around, virtue rewarded and the wicked cast down…or at least humiliated. She was as enticing in skirts as she had been in breeches, and Josef felt his mind wandering to visions of her out of her skirts—or her breeches.

“Gads, Alexander…you’re relentless. What’s the difference? A skirt’s a skirt.” Milner snorted. “But her name is Mrs. Shaw—Mary Atherton Shaw.”

Josef nodded, his eyes drawn back to the stage. The play had ended, and the crowd was already streaming towards the exits, but he sat still.

Milner threw him a questioning glance. “No reason to stay here,” he grunted.

Josef shrugged. “I do not care to fight my way out through a crowd, when waiting a few minutes will rectify the situation. But if you are in a hurry, please don’t stand on ceremony.”

“Yes, well, I do have an engagement…” Milner let his words trail off, and Josef knew he was supposed to understand that the “engagement” was an assignation, most probably with some accommodating lady whose husband was otherwise engaged himself. He didn’t care if Milner was planning to service the queen, as long as he removed himself from Josef’s vicinity.

The baronet took his leave, at last, just as Josef was re-considering the advisability of eviscerating him, and left the vampire alone in the emptying theatre. Once he was sure he was unobserved, at least by anyone of his acquaintance, Josef rose and made his way to the backstage area of the theatre.

The spectators’ area might have been growing empty by then, but backstage, lightly controlled chaos seemed to hold sway. Actors and flunkies swarmed, and bits and pieces of costumes and scenery crowded every available corner and surface. Friends of the company shared food and wine, and the buzz of chatter filled the air, along with the heady smells of makeup and sweat. Lamps flickered, giving the area an air of unreality far greater than what had been offered on view to the audience earlier.

Mrs. Shaw, to give her the courtesy title accorded to actresses in that day, lounged disheveled in front of her dressing table, a cotton wrapper loosely draping her figure as she removed the makeup from her face. As Josef entered, she was laughing at some sally from one of the company, sipping from a glass of wine. She looked up to see the newcomer, and favored him with a smile.

Josef bowed slightly to her, not the deep bow he would give a social equal, but polite enough. “My compliments to the company,” he said.

One of the older men present, the company manager, Josef assumed, returned the bow, if not the smile. “Thank you, sir. And you are?”

Josef pulled several gold coins out of a hidden pocket, and gestured for one of the young serving boys to approach. “I am the one who is sending out for a cask of wine to show my admiration for your work.”

The atmosphere immediately became more cordial. “Well met, indeed, sir. A patron of the arts is always welcome here,” the manager said.

“Indeed,” Josef returned, “I had thought that might be the case.”

Mrs. Shaw laughed again, and Josef realized some of her merriment was drawn from the red liquid she imbibed, as well a the natural exhilaration of performance. “So formal, sir,” she said. “Do you have a name, dear patron?”
Josef strode over to stand before her, bowing over her as she extended a hand to him, with a regal gesture he suspected she had perfected for some queenly role. “Lord Josef Alexander, my dear,” he said, “and I trust this will be the beginning of a—friendship.”

Her eyes flicked down to the cool hand that had taken possession of hers, noting the value of his rings, and the flawlessness of his lace. When she looked up to the warm brown eyes that regarded her so intently, her smile was bright and welcoming, and held no hint of mercenary design. “I am certain, my lord, that your trust is never misplaced.”
User avatar
coco
Cleaner
Posts: 6983
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2009 6:17 pm
Location: In my own little corner of Moonlight heaven :)
Contact:

Re: Fire, Chapter 2 --PG-13

Post by coco »

Lucky I love the banter here:
“Here, luv, how about an orange?” a woman passing by with a basket on her hip said, enticingly. She was young and pretty, with a saucy smile and a jaunty striped skirt that made her stand out in the crowd.

Josef smiled back, and flipped her a generous coin, holding up two fingers. Her smile grew broader as she caught the coin, giving it a quick glance before dropping it deftly into her bodice. He considered the view well worth the minor sting of handling the silver.

As she handed him the oranges, he gave her a smirk. “Do I get to fish for change?” he asked with a significant leer at her bosom.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you, me lord,” she replied, laughing and setting one hand on her hip, but her words were belied by the wink she gave him.

Josef nudged Milner, passing one of the oranges to him while he brought the other up to his face. The rich aroma went some ways to countering the overpowering scent of unwashed bodies packed into the theatre. Josef inhaled deeply, the ripe fruit redolent of sun and heat and Spanish laughter.

Milner, meanwhile, had accepted his orange, ripping it open between his short, stubby fingers and sucking greedily at the interior. “It’s sour,” he frowned, leaning forward in his seat and aiming a cuff at the orange girl.

“I never makes no promises about the taste,” she responded, dancing out of his reach. “Ye’ve no need to be complaining to me.”

Josef laughed again, and snagged a copper coin out of a small pocket in his waistcoat, sending it spinning expertly into the valley between her buxom breasts.

“Oh, you’re a wicked one, sir,” she giggled as she twitched away, calling out her wares to the crowd. Josef turned his attention reluctantly back to Milner’s endless monologue.

“—and I’m telling you, Alexander, you’ve come to London at a good time. We’ve not seen a playhouse open for nigh on a year. Demmed plague shut everything down. Unconscionable nuisance, don’t you know?”

“I understand the death toll was quite high,” Josef responded negligently. “That sort of thing can be quite inconvenient.” He briefly entertained thoughts of ripping off this blithering idiot’s fatuous head, and dismissed it as too messy.

Perhaps later, on the way home.
coco's Fan Vids/coco's Graphic Art
Image
Avi by TugaFanatic & banner by me. Thank you.

"Maybe it was her blood in my veins that let me feel her. The beating of her very living heart. Or maybe, we've always been connected." Mick & Beth - Moonlight


coco's YT channel
coco's Vimeo channel
100% Moonlight Tumblr
:twothumbs:
mitzie
Courtesan
Posts: 2911
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 1:39 am
Location: Somewhere in Moonlight land...

Re: Fire, Chapter 2 --PG-13

Post by mitzie »

It took me long enough to get to reading this chapter!! :blushing: This story is so lush with detail and snark!!!! :clapping: But then, all your stories are! I got so enmeshed in reading this chapter that when my husband, Mr. Mitzie, came into the room I nearly jumped out of my seat because I was unaware of anything else but this story!! :coffee: I adore the way you write Josef!! He seems to be really taken by this actress and I'm off now to read more... :yahoo: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :hyper2: :hyper2: :woohoo: :seesaw: :angel: :melts: :melts: :evillaugh: :heart: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :thud: :thud: :notworthy: :hyper2:


mitzie :mooncat:
User avatar
librarian_7
Forever Moonlightaholic
Posts: 23481
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:21 pm
Location: wherever Josef is
Contact:

Re: Fire, Chapter 2 --PG-13

Post by librarian_7 »

You know, mitzie, one of the nicest things you can tell a writer is that her story got you that involved! Thank you, dear, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!

Lucky
User avatar
allegrita
Moonlightaholic Admin
Posts: 45960
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 9:22 am
Location: Snuggled under the brown afghan, watching the fire

Re: Fire, Chapter 2 --PG-13

Post by allegrita »

One of the things I've always loved about Lucky's stories is the way she used her words to paint the scene so vividly. I can hear the crowd, smell the oranges and the other, not so savory, scents, and see the kaleidoscope of characters moving about the theatre. Josef is not as mature here as he had become by the time we met him on the show, but he is definitely the vamp we know. I love the way he endures the oafish Milner for the sake of good manners (and, of course, extracting information from him), while secretly enjoying a fantasy of messily eliminating him. :snicker:

He's young enough (as a vampire) to remember human relationships. I wonder if that's why he's so fascinated by the beautiful actress. Kinda reminds me of another vampire we know and love.
Image
User avatar
Lilly
Moonlightaholic Mod
Posts: 25373
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2009 4:24 pm

Re: Fire, Chapter 2 --PG-13

Post by Lilly »

With the detail of the hustle, sights, and sounds all around us in the theater, it's like being immersed in a period movie, but it's soooo much better, because we are privy to Josef's inner thoughts in a way that could never be brought out on screen. Just one tasty tidbit...
librarian_7 wrote:He didn’t care if Milner was planning to service the queen, as long as he removed himself from Josef’s vicinity.
So. Very. Josef.
Lilly

My Fanfic Index
Avatar from "Matasaburo of the Wind" © 2009 Alex Gross, used with the permission of the artist
Post Reply

Return to “Fire”