Exclusivity, version 2.0 Chapter 6 (PG-13)

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librarian_7
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Exclusivity, version 2.0 Chapter 6 (PG-13)

Post by librarian_7 »

Disclaimer: The characters from Moonlight are copyrighted by CBS, and no infringement is intended. The characters from the WFS do not bear any resemblance to their online counterparts.

A/N: This work follows the events of "Within the Empty Reaches of the Night," and you might want to read that one first, if you haven't. If you’ve read this elsewhere, this is Version 2.0. The story originally reference events taking place in an RP long ago and far away, on another site. I’ve tried to rewrite to make it more my own. I hope you enjoy it…this is the last of my old stories to be reposted here. It originally appeared on MLL back in December 2007/January 2008.




Exclusivity

Chapter 6--Conclusion

I.
Lucky didn’t see or hear from Josef for a solid week after Julian’s death. None of the freshies did, and no one quite had the courage to ask Mick about it, the few times he stopped by Belinda’s. She hoped wherever Josef was, he was getting some nourishment, that he was coming to terms with what had happened. It could be nothing, he could simply be on a business trip, but somehow she thought not.

She found that she missed him, missed hearing his voice. And she began to wear a satin nightie every night, going to bed thinking of the touch of his hands, and the silken razor feel of his fangs sliding so easily through the veil of her skin, the soft insistent pull as he took the blood from her veins into his heart. Sometimes in the darkness, she almost thought she could feel the weight of his gaze upon her, the power of his regard. She whispered his name in the darkness, but silence was her only reply. And she ached with the wanting, and wept for it, for him.

So she wasn’t sure whether to be surprised or not, when there was a knock on the door one night, and she answered to find Josef standing in the hallway, his suit a little rumpled, and his eyes shadowed with hunger.

“Hey, doll,” he said, quirking his mouth into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Miss me?”

She stood back and held the door open for him. “Yes,” she said.

A few moments later, she was sitting comfortably on his lap, her arms around his neck, his cool hand resting on the satin of her gown as it draped across her upper thigh. She shifted, and the material rode up just a bit, exposing the ugly scars left by Lunos’ attack. When Josef’s fingers encountered the roughness of them, he stiffened in her arms. “Damn,” he said. “Lucky, we should have healed those wounds for you. These scars—they’re an obscenity.”

Lucky reached down and twitched the cloth over her scars. She shook her head. “I’m glad they’re there.”

“To remind me?” Josef said a little harshly. “How I failed you?”

She shook her head. “To remind me. Of everything you—and Mick, too, but mostly you—did for me afterwards.”

He dropped his head to her shoulder for a long minute, but when he raised his head again, she could see the beginnings of a familiar gleam in his eye. “You know, Lucky, one of the problems with living so long is that you start to repeat yourself. Julian—Julian reminded me so much of someone. Someone I met a long time ago.”

Lucky settled in, breathing slowly. Listening to him, feeling the vibration of his voice through his chest. “It was 1790. Marie was beautiful,” he said. “Julian looked a lot like her, and Marie had that same ‘screw everybody’ attitude.” He gave a short laugh. “I met her in London, back when it was a real party town. Good times, those. Go to a gambling hall for a little action, meet a French aristocrat. She escaped the Terror—got smuggled out of Paris in the bottom of a cart full of garbage. She said the smell alone nearly killed her, but she stood it, because the alternative—the alternative was stay behind, get caught, and meet Madame Guillotine. Up close and personal. And after all that—she died young. Some stupid accident. She was riding to the hounds.” He looked away. “It’s such a waste, sometimes, Lucky. Life, death, it’s all such a goddamn waste.” Then he looked her in the eye. “Help me forget about it, Lucky,” he said, with a quiet note of desperation voice that was echoed by the look in his eyes. “Help me forget about all of it.”

Lucky nodded, and silently pulled his unresisting head forward to her throat.


II.
After that, things seemed to fall into a pattern. Josef never mentioned Julian again, at least not in Lucky’s hearing, nor did anyone else. It was as though she had never existed, never set foot in Belinda’s place, and certainly never left it as spectacularly as she did. Lucky wondered if it would have been the same had Julian simply stood up and walked out the door and out of their lives. Would anyone have kept in touch? Would anyone have ever recalled the events of her departure? Freshies, Lucky decided, were very much creatures of the present. Without much security for the future, it seemed they had reason not to dwell on the past, either.

Lucky continued to spend most of her free time at the salon, even if the mood seemed either somber or brittle there now. That was all right—it was still the best place to run into Josef, who came by at some point almost every night. And it wasn’t just for him. Lucky was developing fast friendships with Ivoire and Felicity. That seemed odd on the face of it; they were both great admirers of Josef, and she often ended up as a silent witness to him feeding on one or the other of them. She would have thought there would be a rivalry between the three of them, or jealousy, but somehow an understanding sprang up instead. Maybe it was just that a vampire needed more blood than one freshie could supply. Maybe it was that they all understood the difference between being a freshie and being a lover. Or maybe, she sometimes thought wryly, Josef just had them all charmed into blind acquiescence. Certainly, when he gave her his attention, Lucky never thought of anything except him. He had a knack of making the whole world narrow down to just the two of them, and she assumed it was the same for the others.


III.
It would seem that a decision of sorts had crept up on her. After some of the things she’d seen lately, some of the trauma, maybe it was a strange decision, maybe it was a bad one. She pulled Lunos’s fang on its long chain out of her neckline, and clutched it in her hand. The pressure of its point against her palm was like a crystallization of everything that had happened. She thought about Julian, thought about her tragic choices. She’d never wanted to get emotionally involved, never expected to regard any vampire as more than a physical experience. She hadn’t counted on Josef’s dangerous charm, his mercurial moods, the allure of his hidden vulnerability.

Somehow, somehow she’d slipped past a turning point without even noticing. She realized that she could no longer bear the thought of feeding any other vampire. It had to be Josef, or no one. She knew it was unorthodox, but she had made a decision. If Josef accepted it, fine. If not, it was still the same decision. Usually, it was the vampire who asked a freshie to go exclusive, but her mind was made up. She was going to tell Josef she was exclusive to him, if he wanted her. She didn’t expect any special treatment, she would simply continue to be around, and if he needed her, if he wanted her, she would be there. If he didn’t like that idea, then she was going to walk away. Unlike Julian, she knew she could walk away. Maybe she would do some looking back along the way, but that was all right. She would have memories, and she would make herself a new life, if she needed to.

He was not her lover, he would never be her lover. But he was her vampire, and that was enough.
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Re: Exclusivity, version 2.0 Chapter 6 (PG-13)

Post by darkstarrising »

Wow!

So much going on here. Josef's in pain
“Help me forget about it, Lucky,” he said, with a quiet note of desperation voice that was echoed by the look in his eyes. “Help me forget about all of it.”
and Lucky is his path to healing.

While each regards the other in a certain light, they're growing closer together and Lucky is the first to understand the danger of giving her heart to Josef.
She’d never wanted to get emotionally involved, never expected to regard any vampire as more than a physical experience. She hadn’t counted on Josef’s dangerous charm, his mercurial moods, the allure of his hidden vulnerability.
Even so, she wishes to be his and his alone, if only to give him blood.
He was not her lover, he would never be her lover. But he was her vampire, and that was enough.
Wonderful ending, Lucky.
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Re: Exclusivity, version 2.0 Chapter 6 (PG-13)

Post by allegrita »

That last line is the best two-sentence encapsulation of the freshie-vampire relationship I've ever seen. In the case of Lucky, it didn't, um... hold true... but then again, Lucky and Josef aren't your typical vamp and freshie, are they?

I really enjoyed reading this, going back with you to visit the earliest days of Lucky and Josef. My, they've come a long way... but then again, you could see the beginnings even here.
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Re: Exclusivity, version 2.0 Chapter 6 (PG-13)

Post by mitzie »

I love the way Lucky pondered everything and decided she wanted to be exclusive to Josef. I guess at that point in their relationship she could have walked away if he said no. Loved the last line. Great story!!!! :yahoo: :yahoo: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :hyper2: :hyper2: :thud: :confused2: :sigh: :chin: :devil: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :thud: :thud: :thud: :thud: :notworthy: :hearts: :flowers:


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Re: Exclusivity, version 2.0 Chapter 6 (PG-13)

Post by francis »

Love this!
She hadn’t counted on Josef’s dangerous charm, his mercurial moods, the allure of his hidden vulnerability.
Isn't that Josef in a nutshell?

Her decision rings true in the light of what happened, and she thinks she can go away so easily? I doubt. And we know that the last line isn't true either, later on. But for now - and Lucky is always relying on the for now, as is Josef in regards to her - it's enough.
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Re: Exclusivity, version 2.0 Chapter 6 (PG-13)

Post by Phoenix »

Somehow, somehow she’d slipped past a turning point without even noticing.
Never truer words...
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Re: Exclusivity, version 2.0 Chapter 6 (PG-13)

Post by moonlight_vixen »

She hadn’t counted on Josef’s dangerous charm, his mercurial moods, the allure of his hidden vulnerability.
Perfectly Josef! :happysigh:

I loved it even better this time around, Lucky! :notworthy:
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Re: Exclusivity, version 2.0 Chapter 6 (PG-13)

Post by susieb »

Oh, wow!
Freshies, Lucky decided, were very much creatures of the present. Without much security for the future, it seemed they had reason not to dwell on the past, either.
Josef just had them all charmed into blind acquiescence. Certainly, when he gave her his attention, Lucky never thought of anything except him. He had a knack of making the whole world narrow down to just the two of them, and she assumed it was the same for the others.
I like this insight into life as a freshie.
She hadn’t counted on Josef’s dangerous charm, his mercurial moods, the allure of his hidden vulnerability.
Oh, yeah! :thud:
He was not her lover, he would never be her lover. But he was her vampire, and that was enough
Beautiful statement of the freshie/vampire relationship and a fabulous last line. :heart:
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Re: Exclusivity, version 2.0 Chapter 6 (PG-13)

Post by librarian_7 »

Many thanks, susieb...I remember writing this really as a sort of exploration of the meaning of exclusivity for freshies. And to hopefully tell a good story, along the way.

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Re: Exclusivity, version 2.0 Chapter 6 (PG-13)

Post by jen »

This was fabulous.

The last line summed up absolutely everything.
He was not her lover, he would never be her lover. But he was her vampire, and that was enough
Beautiful!

Thank you!

Jenna

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Re: Exclusivity, version 2.0 Chapter 6 (PG-13)

Post by tucutecats »

Oh,I am enjoying this so much ,glad to have a J/Lucky story,you have made this Turkey day for me, Better than pumpkin pie.Love,liz :flowers: :flowers: :flowers:
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Re: Exclusivity, version 2.0 Chapter 6 (PG-13)

Post by jen »

Funny, we never think of Josef needing an escape from the memories, from the inhumanity of it all, from the harsh realities of eternity, but he does.

And Lucky and the others are there to make certain he gets that reprieve when he needs it.

Wish Lucky and Mick had had that talk. Those two need to come to a meeting of the minds.

Wonderful!
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Re: Exclusivity, version 2.0 Chapter 6 (PG-13)

Post by maggatha3 »

Strange creatures, those freshies! It is hard for me to get their way of thinking. I like it that Lucky is going to ask to be an exclusive. I just don't know how old Josef is going to react to that. :chin:
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