Dead Man's Party (Mick/Beth; G) 2008

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Tam
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Dead Man's Party (Mick/Beth; G) 2008

Post by Tam »

Author's comment : Written for the Moonlight Gala Fanfiction Contest 2008. This was my first publicly posted Moonlight story. I thought I might migrate some of my stories here so that when I post newer ones, they can be read in the right context. You may have already read it on another forum or at fanfiction.net. I'm going to make a few edits here and there, but nothing that will change the plot.

Characters: Mick, Beth, Josef, Logan, the Cleaner
Rating: G
Spoilers: Ep 1-16 of Moonlight, season 1
Summary : Josef throws a Halloween party (sillyfic)
First posted : http://www.moonlightfanfic.com, Halloween 2008. Winner in the special category : "Best Use of a Costume Accessory".

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, no money is being made and no infringement is intended.

Dead Man's Party


"No! Seriously, Josef, it's not a good idea."
"Oh, come on, Mick, it's an excellent idea. Don't you remember all the fun we used to have at Halloween?"
Mick sighs and shakes his head. He looks back at Josef.
"Yes, I do remember, that's just it! I can't subject Beth to tha-"
"Subject me to what?" Beth asks, coming back from the bathroom. Josef smiles broadly at her- something that tends to unsettle Beth, because it usually means he is up to something. She has learned to distrust that twinkle in his eyes.
"I just invited the both of you to my Halloween Party, but Mick doesn't want to go," Josef says. "It is going to be the inauguration of my new office, like a house-warming...a haunted-house warming, so to speak."
"Really?" Beth replies, delighted. "I love Halloween! Mick, why don't we go?"
Mick opens his mouth to speak, but Josef cuts in. "Yes, why don't you go?"
Looking from Beth to Josef and back to Beth, Mick frowns. Trapped between their expectant looks, he mumbles: "There'd be a lot of vamps there, Beth."
"Well, they can't be worse than Josef," Beth says nonchalantly, smirking at Josef. He grins back and says: "Yeah...wait. Hey!" He gives her a mock-indignant look.
Mick sighs. "I can't guarantee your safety there, Beth. I just...think it's too dangerous."

He looks into her eyes, hoping she will see reason, but he can already tell that it's not working. Beth has that special Buzzwire look on her face, that insistent, defiant, rallying fire in her eyes.

"I can take care of myself," she says, crossing her arms. Josef chips in.
"She's a big girl, Mick. And besides, you'd be at my place. I wouldn't let anything happen to her. My guests are all screened."
Mick sucks in his lower lip, biting it. Josef is watching him closely, a small smile playing on his lips. It annoys Mick - his friend is enjoying stirring Beth up against him far too much!
"I still think it's a bad idea," he says stubbornly.
Beth sighs. By the way she lets out her breath, Mick can tell her playful mood is quickly shifting into something darker. Something dangerous.

Mick voice-over : Something female.

"You know what I think?" she says, without giving him the chance to answer, "I think this isn't about danger. I think it's about you and me. You don't want other vampires to know you're with a human."
Mick's jaw drops. He gathers his wits and protests: "No! No, it's not about that at all!"
Beth sits back in the couch, crossing her legs as well. "Prove it. Tell me we'll go."

Mick voice-over : Women. You just can't win!

--

Josef's new office looks even more magnificent as the old interior. The vestibule is hung with large framed reproductions of Aubrey Beardsley's work. The impressive glass front in the main office is restored, offering a brilliant view over the city's nightly map of colourful lights, and where there used to be several screens running current information tickers is now a huge flat screen that takes up almost an entire wall. It's displaying clips of still black-and-white horror movies. A stage has been temporarily set up before the window, and a band of 4 is playing jazzy background music. The floor is inlaid with dark green marble, and the same material is used as a base for a large glass plate that usually serves as a desk, but is now laid out with a Halloween buffet. There are canapés for the human guests, and blood reserves- many types- for the vampires. Josef has spared no expense. Spotlights in the floor shine up to brighten the room with pillars of light. In between the lights stand tall, sleek vases with white lilies, giving off an almost intoxicating scent. The two side chambers have matching dark green leather sofas. For the occasion, several stand-up bistro tables are put up in the main room. In the middle of each table sits a carved pumpkin with a candle inside. A team of young women dressed in tight black dresses are serving drinks. All of them are holding tablets with champagne flutes; half of the glasses filled with a syrupy red, half with a sparkly golden liquid. When Mick enters the room, he is momentarily awed by the grandness of it all. Recovering quickly, he sees Josef and walks up to him.

"For someone who lived in my apartment for a week claiming to have no money, your office turned out nicely," he says by way of greeting. Josef smiles.
"Good evening to you, too, Mick. And thanks, I am glad you like it." Josef seizes up his old friend, who is wearing replica amour in Spanish style, puffed trousers and a fake grey beard.
"Don Quixote? It suits you," Josef says, smirking. "Original. Between us," he says, leaning in, "a lot better than everyone always coming as Béla Lugosi - five this year." He rolls his eyes. He himself is wearing a velvet green suit and three top hats stacked onto each other, a tape measure and a big bowtie around his neck.
"So tell me," he says, smiling quizzically, "why is a raven like a writing desk?"
Before Mick can answer, Josef turns to wave at some new arrivals and excuses himself. A waitress offers Mick a drink and he takes a glass of blood. There are quite a few guests there already. He recognises a few familiar faces and goes to mingle, keeping an eye on the door for Beth.

Beth walks into Josef's new office tentatively. She is having second thoughts about her costume. It seemed like a great idea in the store, but somehow doubts entered her mind on her way to the party, and now, standing in the entrance, she wishes she could go home and change. Although she's telling herself she's too old, too self-assured, too feminist for this kind of insecurity, she automatically compares herself to the other women at the party. It doesn't help that the women she sees are all thin, pretty, and well-dressed. When she sees a woman wearing the exact same dress, she turns to leave.
"Hello Dorothy," a familiar voice whispers into her ear, "I love your ruby slippers."
Beth, still startled at the speed vampires can sneak up on someone, recognises Josef and smiles.
"Really?" she asks. "I got them on a shopping spree and never wore them before. They aren't exactly suitable for work."
Beth looks down at her high stiletto pumps. She had initially wanted to go for a tight red she-devil's costume, but the mirror in the costume shop had been rather unkind (Beth blamed the hard light) and so she had looked for an alternative to go with her funky red heels and ended up picking a Dorothy-dress from the Wizard of Oz. Slippers...high heels, as long as they were red, right?
"You look great," Josef says, holding out a glass of champagne. Accepting it, Beth looks around and sees Mick. He is talking to a woman in a black leather outfit and a mask. She is smiling and -Beth notes with a twinge of resentment- obviously flirting with Mick.
"Who's catwoman?" she asks Josef, trying not to sound too jealous. Josef smirks and turns to look at Mick and his companion.
"Oh! That's Bella. She's one of the Cleaners," he says.
"She's a Cleaner?" Beth asks. Somehow, when Mick told her about them, she imagined men in toxic protection suits.
"Yep. Anonymous, practical, fast," Josef replies matter-of-factly. "But she's not here on duty. I'm glad she could make it, Halloween is a busy time. Lots of vamps getting...over-exited."
Mick apparently said something funny- the woman laughs, laying her hand on Mick's arm.
"Don't worry," offers Josef, "their relationship is purely professional."
Beth raises an eyebrow. "Does she know that?" she comments darkly, and goes to join them. Mick's face lights up as he sees Beth and he beams a smile at her. Turning back to Bella, he introduces them to each other. Bella looks at Beth coolly. Though she is polite, Beth can feel Bella's eyes lingering on her dress, and mentally braces herself, preparing to defend her costume. But no remarks are made, and Bella excuses herself, leaving Mick and Beth to each other.
"Well, your friends seem to like me," Beth says drily.
"Beth..." Mick starts, but he's unsure how to continue.

"I know," Beth says, forcing herself over her competitive habit, "it's not your fault. Women flock to you, it's the 'tortured soul' thing, works like a magnet on motherly types."
Mick raises his eyebrows. "Are you a motherly type?" he asks. Beth grins.

"Let's go get another drink."

To their surprise, even Logan made it out of his basement. They meet him at the buffet. He is wearing a Hawaii shirt, shorts, a camera around his neck, and a Mickey Mouse-ear cap. Mick smirks. "I like your costume," he says, "very scary."
"Thanks," says Logan, grinning and downing a glass of blood. "Human Disneyland tourists, brrr." He looks up at the band, and then back at Mick.
"Hey, Mick, don't you play the guitar as well? I bet we could spice this party up a bit, what do you think?" He airguitars vividly, headbanging along to his imaginary music and spilling the dregs from his glass over the floor. Mick looks at Beth.
"Oh, I'm not sure..." he starts to say.
"Oh, come on, just to get people on the dance floor!" Logan says insistently.
Beth nods. "It's okay. Go on," she says, "I've never heard you play."
Mick smiles and joins Logan. They walk over to the band and discuss sets. Beth tries to blend in with the party guests, but it's harder than she imagined. Everyone around her seems to have known each other for centuries - literally. She walks over to a mixed group and smiles shyly. They politely try to involve her in their conversation, but give up when they notice that Beth can't help but look at them blankly when they discuss events that happened two hundred years before she was born. She decides to get herself another drink, and to simply enjoy watching Mick make music. He and the band are playing an eighties' rock song. Mick has taken off his cuirass and helmet and is playing in the plain white shirt he was wearing underneath. Logan goes into a guitar solo, sinking to his knees dramatically. Beth smiles. A crowd is beginning to gather in front of the stage, and people are starting to dance. Most of them, she notices, are women. And quite a few of them are batting their lashes at her boyfriend.

A few songs later, requests are coming from the dance floor. Mick is in his element. There is a boyish smile on his face and Beth isn't sure if she should feel proud or annoyed at his success. She steps onto the balcony for some fresh air. A couple stands in close embrace and doesn't notice her. She discreetly passes them and walks up to the railing, looking down at traffic.

"Whose human are you?" someone asks from the shadows. She turns around to face him. "I don't belong to anyone," she says.
"I saw you talking to Mick St John and Josef Kostan," the man says, stepping into the light. His skin is pale and a little too smooth, his beard well-trimmed. He has bright blue eyes. "Are they sharing you?" he asks.
"That's none of your business," Beth says, feeling slightly repulsed. His steely eyes seem to try and look through her dress.
"Oh come now, Dorothy," he says mockingly, taking a step closer. Beth steps back, feeling the railing behind her. He is cutting off the entrance to the office. "You're not in Kansas any more..."

Mick hands the guitar back to its owner and thanks him. Logan isn't ready to stop yet, but Mick wants to find Beth. He couldn't find her in the crowd any more during the last song, and doesn't want her to feel deserted. He looks around, breathing deeply. The lilies are clouding his vampire sense of smell. His eyes scan the crowd. Then, a flash of blue and white catches his eye. He recognises the chequered Wizard of Oz costume, the skirt partly covering a slim leg sticking out from the couch in the side room to the left. The calf muscles are tense, the shoe fallen off its feet. The rest of the body is shielded from view by a green suit- Josef is bending over her. His top hats lie discarded on the floor. Mick's eyes change hue. His fangs protrude in an animalistic, possessive snarl. Within seconds, he is there, pulling his friend off the couch. Josef turns, his mouth bloody and his eyes narrowed and pale. He growls at the intruder, before recognising Mick and backing down, breathing heavily. He wipes the blood off his chin with the back of his hand, retracting his fangs and giving Mick an inscrutable look. Mick looks down at the couch. A mortal woman wearing the same Dorothy costume as Beth is lying there, stretching like a cat in the sun, glowing with after-burn of the bite. Mick smells the blood on her. It is tinged with alcohol and lust. Josef nods at a man waiting in the corner of the room. The man steps up to the couch, opening a briefcase with medical equipment and taking out disinfectant and gauze. The woman sits up, straightening the bodice of her dress, and holds still while the man routinely checks her heartbeat, and cleans and binds the wound on her neck. She keeps her eyes on Josef, a mixture of awe and desire on her face. The man hands her a glass of water and a vitamin tablet. Mick takes a few steps back, struck dumb and trying hard not to think about the implications of what he's just seen. Then, his ears pick up voices from the main room. A crowd is gathering in front of the window, whispering among themselves. The band has stopped playing. Suddenly the crowd parts to make way for Beth. More whispers ripple through the group of party guests. Beth is walking barefoot, her face flushed. Hurrying up to her, Mick asks: "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine," she says, "let's dance." The band picks up her cue and sets in again.

As Mick takes her into his arms, he looks over her shoulder to the balcony. In the dark, he can barely discern a male vampire, lying paralysed on the floor, a ruby red stiletto heel piercing his heart.
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francis
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Re: Dead Man's Party (Mick/Beth; G) 2008

Post by francis »

:rolling: :rolling: :rolling:
I somehow missed this story of yours before. I think your prize is well earned. Red stilettos - love it.
You excel in bringing this party to life, from the description of the room and the guests to the awkward conversation to Beth feeling out of place. And then the end with the red herring of Josef biting and the conclusion - soooo good! Very entertaining and so true to each of their characters. I love Logan's guest role too.

:coffee: :coffee: :coffee:
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Re: Dead Man's Party (Mick/Beth; G) 2008

Post by jen »

Tam: This is fabulous. It is a delight to see Mick and Beth out as a couple in a vampire-oriented social setting and it is a pleasure seeing Beth demonstrate that she is a bit more than the standard damsel-in-distress.

On Click, we saw her take a major step into vampire society when she took Dean Foster's pictures of Mick being hit by a car to Josef in order for him to 'handle it' knowing precisely what that meant. I would think that her ability to hold her own in vampire society, without Mick or Josef at her side, would increase their respect.

Somehow I doubt that the vamp she staked will be invited to any more of Josef's parties, but I bet Beth will--and Mick will be proud to bring her!

:flowers: :flowers: :flowers: :flowers: :flowers: :flowers: :flowers: :flowers: :flowers: :flowers: :flowers:
Mick and Beth--two of the lovely faces of Moonlight
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AussieJo
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Re: Dead Man's Party (Mick/Beth; G) 2008

Post by AussieJo »

Oh Yeah Beth!
You go girl! :yahoo: :hug:
Tam, this was terrific!
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Re: Dead Man's Party (Mick/Beth; G) 2008

Post by wollstonecraft61 »

Ditto what AussieJo said! You go, Beth! I bet every vampire in that room parted like the Red Sea when Beth walked through! :rolling: :rolling: :rolling: :rolling: :rolling:
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Albra
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Re: Dead Man's Party (Mick/Beth; G) 2008

Post by Albra »

:rolling: :rolling: :rolling:
I like it very much :hearts:
Thank you, Tam
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Re: Dead Man's Party (Mick/Beth; G) 2008

Post by moonlightlover60 »

Beth: I can take care of myself!

Mick: Um, yes I guess you can. :blushing:

Ah this was fabulous. :yahoo: Here Mick and I are worrying about Beth and she took care of herself just fine, although she probably ruined a pair of red stiletto's. Great one Tam. :clapping:
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Re: Dead Man's Party (Mick/Beth; G) 2008

Post by allegrita »

I've gotta say, that was a heck of an inventive use of a costume accessory... :rolling:

Nice job, Tam. I like the descriptions, and it does my heart good to imagine Mick onstage, guitar in hand... :melts: :melts:
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Re: Dead Man's Party (Mick/Beth; G) 2008

Post by Tam »

Hee, thanks everyone :thanks:

Oh, and btw - I made Josef dress up as the Mad Hatter before I know Johnny Depp was casted ;)
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Re: Dead Man's Party (Mick/Beth; G) 2008

Post by susieb »

What fun! Reading your description of the party setting, I wanted to be there. Love the costumes for Mick and Josef. Beth, too, though I thought she might come as Alice :giggle: Great story! :hearts:
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Re: Dead Man's Party (Mick/Beth; G) 2008

Post by MickLifeCrisis »

This was a terrific read! Very enjoyable! Yes, I guess Beth can take care of herself! :twothumbs:
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