The Universe's Mixer

They had talked, him and his mate, about this Other Eric that was out in the world. There had been caution at their first chat. A plan. They were going to establish themselves in the City and then seek out the other version. Between those events, they were going to discuss what they should do about it. But somewhere along the line, the plan had gone out the window, and Eric had gone to talk to the mirror of himself without Macklyn there to back him up.

It didn't anger the fairy, on the contrary, it frightened him. They had no idea what the other Eric would do, and yet his love had wandered off to confront him alone. It wasn't that Macklyn didn't think his Eric could take care of himself. He knew that there was very little alive that could take him down. Peter, probably, but Peter was a friend. That didn't mean that Macklyn wished to see his soulmate hurt in any way, and this seemed like a good way for him to get hurt, particularly psychologically.

He wouldn't chide Eric for it, or let his distaste toward the situation be known. Eric was a man, and could make his own decisions. Though he belonged to Macklyn now, in heart and in blood, and Macklyn could order him to not do or do something as he pleased, that's not what Macklyn wanted for either of them. Lilith had done that to him, he would not do it to another.

The result of that meeting had been that Macklyn needed to go speak to the Other Eric. He had been told to play nice. He had promised that he would go into the meeting with a clear head and he would. He had not promised that everyone would walk away from it. Macklyn still did not trust the Other, a lot of damage could be done by this one man, a man fresh with hurt. More than one. A man who still swam in the darkness like a hungry shark, bent for revenge.

The hybrid did not find the Other Eric as easily as he could have found his own, but it was still by far more simple than it should have been. His scent was still that of the man he loved, and the City seemed to be guiding him, bringing the pair together. The apartment building loomed before him, and he could hear the soft padding of feline footsteps within. Macklyn decided to start this venture by knocking on the door like a civilized being. He mounted the long stairs, though he didn't take those as a human would. He was at the top in a blink, knuckles rapping against the wood lightly.

This Eric knew as much as the other had, which already set Macklyn on edge. But it meant that he would not talk with the practiced Southern accent, nor would he go by Ben here. It would just be Macklyn. Fairy, vampire, every truth. Macklyn sighed. He really wished that Eric had taken a little more care in introducing the truth to his mirror.

John was finally getting used to the City. Well, in terms of the noise, smells, and lights.

It took a little while, but food and the darkened Purgatory refuge helped. He hadn't explored much, being uneasy at the prospect of meeting his sire's double. He was still slightly anxious about the prospect, though the talk with his actual sire had helped a great deal.

There was one face, however, he was looking for now. He hadn't seen Pam yet, taking a moment to get his bearings and to retrieve his things from his apartment. He'd been relieved to find his guitar, which looked to be brought from the old world, like him.

And now it was time to find his sibling and mentor. After all, the resolution to learn to hunt and feed like a true city vampire was all well and good, but he needed instruction. And there was nobody better to do it than the woman responsible for his new life in the first place.

John took a moment to reach out, remembering Eric's instruction on how to locate his family. It was still not as natural as it had been in the previous world, but he sensed Pam fairly quickly and went to find her. The fact that he might not run into the one who knew him didn't even occur to him.