fangednconfused (fangednconfused) wrote in birthrightrpg, @ 2020-10-26 12:33:00 |
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Entry tags: | derek mitchell, ~mikey marks |
Team Up
Who: Mikey/Derek
What: Coffee and Conversation
Where: Searchlight, M&M Coffee
When: Backdated October 17th
Ratings/Warnings: Low
“There’s no way. You’re making that up,” Myles exclaimed, leaning over the hand-off counter and staring at Derek incredulously. A steaming mug of hot chocolate sat between them. Derek laughed, shaking his head, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye.
“I’m one hundred percent serious. I started at the top of the parking garage, the skateboard got caught on a loose hunk of gravel or pavement, whatever, and I slammed right into an oncoming car. A nice one, too. I think it was a Mercedes,” the vampire boasted. He held out his arm, pointing to a spot just above the head of his wolf tattoo. “You can kinda see where they had to cut me open. They put metal pins in there and everything.”
Myles squinted. “Isn’t it kind of weird that you have a wolf tattoo, when -- “
The bell over the coffee shop door rang out, and Derek raised his voice to cut the barista off. “Anyway, never accept a dare from your friends. Stay in school. Thanks for the cocoa!” He grabbed the mug and turned around to snag a table.
Mikey wanted an evening pick-me-up so he could get in some serious video gaming -- Ronnie was working a late shift today, and Abby was out with some yoga friends in Vegas, so he was at loose ends. He nodded to Myles as he opened the door, and his eyebrows shot up when he saw Derek, looking significantly less wrecked than he had a few weeks ago.
“Hey, man,” he called out, raising a hand before putting
his order in with Myles.
Derek looked up from the task of blowing on the surface of his mug and spotted Mikey. “Hey!” He set the hot chocolate down and gestured to the vacant chair across from him. “I saved you a seat,” the vampire joked. “I totally knew you’d come in here.”
He looked around to see if Ronnie was also nearby, but it didn’t appear so.
“You psychic?” Mikey joked. He smiled quickly as Derek looked around for his other half. “He’s got a late shift,” he said. “Bet he’d love it if you swung by Terribles, though?” His smile widened. “But you totally knew that,” he added as he picked up his Americano and made his way over to Derek’s table.
“How you been, dude?” He asked, wrapping his hands around the espresso, waiting until it was cooled down a bit before taking a drink.
Derek grinned and took a drink from the white, slightly chipped mug. “I’ve been better,” he answered honestly. “A lot better.” For the second time that night, he held out his arm.
“Veins are a lot less black. And I’m completely coherent. I call that a win. Thanks again, by the way, for keeping me company that night.”
“Hey,” Mikey replied, his eyebrows shooting up. “That’s awesome. You look a ton better. You had me worried there. And it’s no big,” he added with a shrug. “You mean a lot to Ronnie, you’re pretty much the only family he’s got left, and… Ronnie means a lot to me. So seriously, any time. And thanks for keeping him safe in Vegas when we were cleaning up from the craziness with the frankendeer and shit. That was…” he made a face. “Be glad you weren’t here.”
The vampire grinned at that last part. “Well, actually…” Derek glanced around for anyone possibly listening in, and lowered his voice. “I was here. Literally, here at this cafe. There was a bison thing.” He used a napkin to wipe any whipped cream residue off his face.
“I went home after we got it nice and beheaded, though. I didn’t realize it was a town-wide problem until I got that text chain.”
Derek was met by a wince. “Yeah,” he said, “I… there was a bunch of ‘em by the marina, that’s where I work, and I was with a group of friends that got surrounded. Once we got through with that mess, a few of us headed to town to try to help, but it was mostly clean-up at that point, just sorta… walking around and sniffing out the rest of ‘em and…” he made a chopping gesture. “I’m just glad Ronnie managed to keep his ass alive while I was stuck out by the marina.”
“From the sound of it, Ronnie really stepped up,” he began to tell Mikey, but then he didn’t know how much
the werecougar knew and didn’t want to get his friend in hot water if they hadn’t discussed it yet. Derek knew the topic of the chef’s safety was a sticky one, especially with the apparent loan-collecting psycho harassing him.
“I’m glad you guys are okay,” the vampire concluded.
“Yeah,” Mikey replied, “I mean, he saved Celeste’s life. Typical Ronnie, always lookin’ out for others. I wish he wouldn’t take so many risks sometimes,” he added, “he’s, you know… squishier than we are? But it is what it is. Especially in Searchlight.”
He paused. “So… Veronica.” He said. “I just heard she… wasn’t gonna be a problem. That over for good? Or is it like a temporary reprieve?”
“She’s gone for good,” Derek answered quietly, his gaze dropping down to his mug. “It’s over.” His tone was flatter than usual when he said it. There was a beat of silence, and then, “Ronnie said he was considering moving to Vegas. I told him that would be cool, but I wouldn’t press the issue. It’d be easier to get to him, too, if anything were to happen…”
The vampire drifted off, not wanting to put any bad ideas in Mikey’s head. They had enough to worry about as of late. “And I think it would be good for him, being in the city.”
Mikey frowned a little. “Yeah,” he said, a little uncomfortably, “...well, I mean…” he took a sip of his drink. “We talked about it?” He shrugged a shoulder. “We wanna move in together. And we’re stayin’ around here, least for now.”
He cleared his throat. “It’s… I know we both wanna keep him safe,” he said. “You can always talk to him about it too? But you gotta know, I got his back.”
Derek nodded. “I understand. We both care about him. I’m glad he has you.” There was silence after that as the vampire cast around for a change of subject.
“So...l was wondering,” the vampire began, lowering his voice again, “when you, ya know, shift...do you ever get the urge to bat around a big ball of string? Like what would happen if you went and visited the World’s Biggest Ball of Twine?”
Mikey snorted, grateful to shift the conversation away. “It’s more anything that moves sudden,” he replied. “Crazy about rabbits. The way they zig zag and flash those tails of theirs, man. I just gotta go for it. Rabbits and lizards. And mice, if we’re being cliche.” He grinned a little. “I can honestly say no-one’s ever tried dangling yarn in front of me before when I’m like that, but there’s a first time for anything?”
He tipped his beverage towards the vampire. “How long’ve you been, you know? You one of those 900 year old dudes in a 30 year old body?”
Derek snorted too, covering his mouth to keep hot chocolate from escaping his mouth. That was a good one. “I was turned when I was 21,” he explained. “And that was 10 and a half years ago? Almost 11? It’s hard to keep track. I don’t know how people who get into their hundreds and beyond remember anything.”
Mikey laughed. “I know, right? I met this one lady, she was like… maybe into the thousands? Old as balls. Some sorta… I don’t know. Angel person? Anyways. Weird shit. I can’t imagine all the stuff she’s just... forgotten. And how fast stuff changes. I mean, the last two hundred years or so, a lot of shit happened, you know? We went from horses and carriages to putting a guy on the fuckin’ moon.”
His mouth twitched slightly. “An angel person, huh? That’s something.” Derek brought the mug to his mouth and smiled to himself. Sounded like Phanuel was making herself known.
“If I think too much about stuff like that, I won’t stop,” the vampire admitted. “It’s like these thought spirals.” He set the mug back down on the table. “I saw this painting once, and it was this spiral of purple and blue, and this one lady repeated over and over, just falling into the center of it. That’s what my mind feels like sometimes.”
Derek shook his head, chagrined. “Sorry for the tangent, just something I remembered.”
“That’s intense,” Mikey replied. “I get it, though. About getting stuck. I get stuck up in my head all the time. And yeah, I get it, there’s… there’s stuff it’s just easier to not think about.” He smiled a little. “I like going on hikes after work, you know, on four legs, clears up all sorts of stuff. It’s simpler.”
He took a sip of his drink. “And...” he added, “you know I’m gonna do my best by him, yeah? Best I can.” He raised an eyebrow. “So, I still gotta meet your girl, Penny. She seems pretty cool, from what I’ve heard, you guys been together long?”
At the mention of Penny, his grin faded. He had been thinking about her a lot, but they weren’t entirely happy thoughts. There had been something he wanted to talk to her about for a while, but needed to strike up the nerve to do so. “Oh, um, a couple of months,” Derek admitted quietly.
When he told people, they were surprised. Especially when he revealed they had gotten married Vegas-style on the third date. “A lot of crazy stuff has happened since then.”
“Yeah,” Mikey replied, “yeah, I hear you there. I think Ronnie got into his mess with his dad just a coupla weeks after we started dating, and it’s like… when things get intense, it sort of carries over? I knew I liked him, but when that guy started putting down serious threats, I was… it made a couple of things come into focus a lot faster than they would’ve.”
He paused. “You…” he shrugged. “You good? I know it’s…” he paused again. “I know it’s hard to, you know, have perspective and stuff sometimes.”
Derek shrugged, and the gesture had a tinge of sadness to it. “You know, it’s going...it’s hard. Penny and I, we don’t see things the same way, sometimes. And I don’t really know how to deal with that. This is my first serious relationship in -- “ He broke off and laughed, shaking his head. “Well, ever.”
He moved his mug away from him slightly. “I get what you mean about Ronnie. He brings out a protective side of you.”
“No shit,” Mikey replied with a quick smile. “And I… I know what you mean? Ronnie’s my first, too, and I…” he shrugged. “I get all up in my head about whether I’m gonna fuck it up, or hurt him without meaning to, or… he doesn’t talk about his ex, but I know it wasn’t good for him, and I don’t want to make the same mistakes, and it’s…”
He took a deep breath and let it out, shrugging again. “I don’t know what I’m doing like… most of the time? I’m making it up as I go? So you’re not the only one. And… it can be really hard to talk about shit sometimes, like, really hard. It is for me, at least.”
He laughed a little. “And like, look at us, dude. Our problems sometimes aren’t other people’s problems, you know? It can get complicated. They don’t write books about how to have a good relationship for people like us.”
Derek smiled. It was an accurate statement, and one that he didn’t realize he needed to hear. “Seems like you can talk about it to me. You understand. I think I do, too.” The vampire looked down at the mention of Ronnie’s ex. Certain subjects made that old anger flare up again. He couldn’t stand people who tried to take advantage of his friend.
“He’s had a hard time. He doesn’t always show it. But I also see how happy he is with you. Happier than in a long time,” Derek told Mikey earnestly. “So you’re doing something right.”
Mikey shook his head. “I’m tryin’, man,” he said. “Best I can.” He looked over at Derek. “Way I see it, that’s key, you know? That you’re both trying to do your best by each other. I hope you guys can find a good middle ground.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And you know, like, you ever need to crash, or wanna just hang and play video games and shit, like, yeah, it’s gonna be Ronnie and my’s place instead of just Ronnie’s, but that door is still wide open. Whenever.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that.” Derek grinned. “Even if you’ll be sorry when I take advantage of that, and I’m always over at your place wanting to play Call of Duty.” He was kidding...mostly. He changed his mind and kept drinking the cocoa, even as he realized he was hungry for something else. From the fridge, of course. No humans required.
“I think it’ll be good for him not to be alone,” the vampire mused. “Just be prepared for him to cook a lot.”
“I am so not mad about that,” Mikey replied. “He’s insanely good. Like, he had a bake-off? With a professional pastry chef? And I got to taste test all of it? Ridiculous. And I’ll kick your ass at Call of Duty any day,” he added. “Seriously. Always down.”
“Oh, you mean Ro? Yeah, they both told me about that,” Derek laughed. “And you also might regret saying that. I’m as good at video games as Ronnie is at cooking,” the vampire boasted. “So, I guess what I’m saying is, you’re gonna get owned.” He shrugged.
“It’s on,” Mikey replied with a laugh before taking out his phone. “Hey, man” he added, “I should, like, get your number? Seein’ as we’re on Team Keep Ronnie’s Ass out of Danger and all.”
Derek gave Mikey his number before inputting the were’s into his own phone. “And also just Team Friendship,” he added, then winced slightly. “That was...forget I said that.” He put the device away before standing up, grabbing his mug.
“I should probably be heading out, but I’ll probably be seeing you soon.”
“Sure,” Mikey replied. “And hey, I’d be up for that team too, dude. See you around.”