Instinct (Mick, PG-13)

[redwinter101]

Title: Instinct
Author: redwinter101
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own Moonlight or any of its characters
Note: 100 words that drove me crazy - this rattled around my brain for weeks before it finally made its way onto the screen.

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--- Instinct ---

Nature versus nurture, so they say; your unthinking protection, your guide, your survival. For Mick instinct meant facing up to a fight, to protect, to commit, to take a chance.

But then a second birth and the new replaced the old. The flinch from the sun, the urging towards the shadows, the primal hunger stronger than choice or reason, the desire to control, close up, seal off.

In the mirror he saw the thirty-year-old face of an eighty-five-year-old soul and smiled. For Beth, the old would come back and he could almost be Mick again.

[Moonlighter]

Wow. I liked this. It's so...instantaneous. I can't explain it, but that middle part was pretty phenomenal, Red.

I really need to stumble around in here a little more -- I see dozens of goodies posted!

[redwinter101]

Oh Moonlighter, you have no idea - you've totally made my day. This little thing had been sitting there in my office completely unloved and then you come along and read (and comment ). Bless you.

Red

[francis]

Oh, I have seen this on another site but I'm so glad this has been bumped up. I love how you give Mick a voice in this one, and a hope for the future.

[AussieJo]

Red, enjoyed it totally.
I think I've read it before....
Can't really remember.
Although the 'the thirty year old face in a eighty-five year old soul' line rings a bell!
And isn't that a fantasy we all harbour?
Youthful looks plus the wisdom only aging can bring?

[GuardianAngel]

Red, you've put your finger on Mick. Spot on. That's him. I don't think Beth makes being a vampire okay but she takes the edge off. She accepts him (well, at least as much as he allows her to see) and makes him feel more 'him'.

How could this ever have been sitting there unloved? That's awful!

[darkstarrising]

I agree with GA - Beth brings the 'old Mick' back to the surface again, but the new Mick will always remain.

And this shouldn't have been left unloved for so long.

[redwinter101]

Thanks, francis. I can't envisage a Mick without hope now that he's found Beth.

AussieJo, I remember you commenting on that line when this was posted at ML4E. I'm so happy it lived up to a second reading.

GA, thank you, sweetie. That's lovely - and not unloved any more.

dsr, that's the conflict. The vampire will always be there - but somehow, he will find a way to live with it. To go on.

Red

[allegrita]

I know I commented on this on another site long ago, but it shouldn't have been allowed to languish here unloved for nearly a year!

Instinct does indeed depend on the circumstances--especially, I'd think, for a vampire. Imagine all of those new instincts kicking in, the sensation of being an unwilling victim of one's own body. Poor Mick.

I love the image of Mick looking at himself in the mirror; it hearkens back to that awful morning when he stumbled into the bathroom to find a monster in the mirror. Finally Mick can begin to see himself again. Because of Beth.

I think Mick will finally truly be at peace when he doesn't think of the vampire as a separate person from the man. But I'm not sure that will ever happen.

[redwinter101]

I'm not sure it'll ever happen either, alle - and therein lies the tragedy.

Red

[AussieJo]

Oh Red!!, I'm nothing if not consistant!
And you remembered!!

[redwinter101]

You see, when we go on (and on...) about comments being precious, we really do mean it.

Red

[jen]

Fabulous, Red.

You distill so much into so few words.

[redwinter101]

I love this format SO much...

Red