The Universe's Mixer

Macklyn hadn't really been back to the little house much. He made sure that the animals there were fed and taken care of and that the plants didn't die, but for the most part, he roamed and spent time by the water, or in the park, careful to use his connection to Eric to stay away from the other man. His anger at what he'd had to do to Ariel had stayed burning in his chest for a really long time. To twist that innocence, to betray somebody who was his friend. To know that he'd had to, or she would remain afraid of him and never look at him in that same way again...

But now...

The hybrid stood at the door, Mara on his shoulder. The strange bird never left his side. She was so much different than Bran, it was hard to imagine that she was technically the same creature, just changed. She needed blood to live. She was a she. She was... alive. That was truly the biggest difference. Mara had a heartbeat where Bran did not.

It had been so long that Macklyn wished he couldn't remember what they'd fought about. He wished he didn't have a vampire's mind for memory. And a fairy's for that matter. If he could only forget as a human could do, maybe he wouldn't have let this go on for so long.

He missed Eric.

They were soulmates, and that was something that he knew he could never sever. Not that he really wanted to. He needed his soulmate by his side. But he also needed to make sure that Eric understood the dangers of throwing information around. He was far too casual about the truth of himself. Macklyn hadn't lasted as long as he had in the world telling people willy nilly that he was part vampire. Hell, most never even discovered that he was a fairy, unless they were creatures that could tell right away.

The house smelled a bit stale and musty. That just wouldn't do.

"Mara. I need you to find Bran. Bring them back. I'll clean up here." It was time. Probably far beyond time. The two of them needed to reconnect, needed to make peace. Needed to be together. Macklyn opened the communication channel back up, that which he had blocked off to have his privacy. Now Eric would be able to sense him once more, in all the ways he'd been able to previously.

It had been a long five months.

Eric had given it a try, trying to hold reign on a normal type of a life. But the days were restless and the nights stretched out far too long. Every time he closed his eyes he didn't feel rested in spite of being so exhausted to the point of collapsing, and when he awoke during the evening hours it felt too long. He had adapted his sleeping schedule to be awake during the nights in hopes of catching John at the studios. Eric had been desperately trying to distract himself from the emptiness, but each day that came and went seemed like an eternity. The misery overwhelmed him when he was alone in that damned apartment. And the calendar on his mobile phone was all too eager to keep track of the days and nights so he didn't have to. They had flown by, each one had escaped him, and now he was convinced that this facade of an existence was no longer worth the effort.

Before....before the transformation into what he was presently, Eric had been able to be by himself with no concern. He hadn't needed anyone else, hadn't needed contact and presence of others to be happy. He loathed that the fairy part of him yearned so badly for that contact, the subtle motion of normal interaction. Being in Lee's presence helped, finding her on the wall was always a treat, and then there had been John. All of the time they spent together was nice, having someone to compose with, that understood the depth of music...but no matter how much time Eric spent with his friend it didn't ease him. This life he had built in Macklyn's absence was no life at all. In fact, each time Eric awoke to face the moon it was with dread. It felt like dying over and over again and he couldn't put up with it anymore.

Having made up his mind a few days ago, Eric knew it was best to escape this place while he could. There was nothing left for him here. He had entrusted Selina with Saucer, something that felt like abandoning part of his heart to a woman whom would only crush it beneath her shoe if she got the chance, but Saucer would be safer with her. And it was one less tie to the misery that had plagued him for the last five months.

This was the eve of the eve of his death. It loomed before him like a shadow and it made him hate the apartment more than usual. The couch where he slept during the day was a mess, his constant tossing and turning sending the cushions and blankets to the floor. The bedroom had remained untouched, the apartment itself was as much of a ghost as he felt like. Coats of dust covered much of it. He avoided the place when he could but having no place else to go made this the only true dwelling. He had toyed with the idea of burning it to the ground and each step closer he came to the 30th, the more pleasing the idea became.

Tonight he planned on going to the studio, though. There was a track that needed to be laid down and tampered with, and it was unfinished. He couldn't leave it like that. Hopefully John would show up at some point during the evening to approve it. If the vampire did, Eric would leave him the keys to the place. Eric knew John would keep it up and use it, which was what he had wanted.

But then something changed.

He had been about to put his keys in to the pocket of his leather jacket when he felt something in his mind switch onward and a flood of things returned. At first, it was a bit overwhelming, the connection coming back. Eric closed his eyes and savored it, letting relief wash over him. He wouldn't get his hopes up, not yet, but this was a start.

Another moment and he heard Bran in his head speaking to him.

Mara is here. She is beckoning us to return. It is time.

His eyes opened slowly. Eric wasn't sure if he was ready to face Macklyn yet. They had ended on such terrible terms and he was aware that his mate wouldn't have forgotten it. Eric couldn't even think to utter the word 'vampire' in regards to himself. He no longer thought about that part of himself. Buffy knew the phantom and the fairy, but only because of her occupation, and John wasnt worldly enough to know the difference in species.

It was time to go home.

Squaring his shoulders, Eric did push the keys in to his pocket and he was out the door of the apartment in a flash. It didn't take him long to find his way back to the little house that had once seemed a distant memory. Looking at it was painful.

Bran took his usual spot on the roof and the hybrid approached the front door unsure of what he would find. It took only a moment to open the door to the house, and once he had crossed the threshold he peered around at the dark, stale atmosphere. It felt like a shell of what had been there previously.

He wasn't sure if Macklyn was there waiting for him, they had a lot to catch up on when they did find each other again. It seemed best to just hang around and wait. He'd waited long enough already, what was a few minutes more? Slowly, Eric made his way further in to the house and settled into a shadow thrown by the kitchen to wait.

John walked down the street, in a somewhat cheerful mood. He didn't have any particular reason, but running into Melody had been nice, and thing in general seemed to be improving for him. He didn't particularly have a direction in mind when he'd set out, having not explored enough of the City to traverse it with much intention. Besides, if the rumors were true, the City generally wound up getting you where it wanted you to go, intention or no.

So, when he saw the neon glare of Eric's recording studio ahead of him, he smiled slightly to himself. He'd been spending more time with the strange man, and while he still was rarely sure if Eric merely tolerated him, or enjoyed his company, they both seemed to enjoy their guitar sessions.

Wandering up and finding it unlocked and vacant looking as ever, John went in with little hesitation. There was no way to tell if Eric was here or not, but in general the vampire assumed the guitarist would have locked the door if he didn't want company, knowing John to have entered uninvited several times previously.