Michael (walkedmanypaths) wrote in worldsapart_ic, @ 2019-09-20 11:15:00 |
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Michael hadn't been doing a whole lot of anything prior to Billy's contact, mostly just pottering around his house and listening to music which was a mixture of jazz and blues as well as enjoying several glasses of wine. He was thankful he had made the move away from France to the States given that it seemed like he'd come over at just the right time as life seemed to be picking up pace or at the very least excitement. Not always a positive but life did that, peaks and troughs.
The door was unlocked and Michael had fished out a t-shirt as he generally didn't wear a lot of clothes when he was home alone but he knew it wasn't for everybody and he'd gotten pretty good at not doing that when Billy lived with him.
Billy just let himself in. Grayson was asleep and Kitty had left and Billy just needed somewhere... safe. He just needed to be somewhere where he felt safe and where he could talk to someone who would understand. Not just how worried he'd been about Grayson but about what he'd been told. And okay, so it was an active investigation, but this was Michael and honestly, Michael was the only other person in the world that Billy did trust completely. The shame still clung to him, the years of angst and missing his sire that a month of closeness couldn't shake, the strange sense of disbelief and the... the creeping feeling that something was being hidden from him (some mixture between the sire bond and his cop instincts) made him just...
God, he didn't even know. He pushed the door behind himself and shrugged out of his jacket, kicking his trainers off and padding in socked feet through to the kitchen where he saw Michael standing and cleaning, a glass of wine half empty. He rested his shoulder against the door frame, arms folded loosely across his chest. "Having a good evening?"
Michael hadn't needed the sound of the door opening to inform him that his Childe was close by because that was one of the many unique things about a Childe and Sire bond you knew where the other was without need of any sense be it sight, sound, hearing or otherwise. "Riveting," he assured Billy with a flash of his teeth before chuckling softly. "Far less exciting than your own though from what I gathered." He latched his fingers around the glass of wine and lifted it to his lips before he turned, resting back against the nearby counter.
"Drink?" Alcohol didn't solve everything but it certainly helped.
Billy scoffed and moved closer with a nod of his head. "Yeah, please. And I'd take a boring evening of pottering and unpacking over what happened tonight. Jesus fuck." He moved to rest his hips against the counter, picking up a cocktail stick from the surface and twirling it between his fingers.
"You wanna swap evenings?"
Michael strayed over to a nearby cupboard where he rummaged out a glass that he placed down beside Billy before he snagged the neck of a nicely aged scotch that had a splash of Billy's preferred blood type of choice and poured the other vampire a generous glass. "Not really, I am an old man after all." Age was completely irrelevant to vampires given that they never really aged but even then you did start to feel the years as they rolled over.
"Let's go set up in the living room and you can unburden yourself." The bottle would go with them.
Taking the glass, Billy trailed into the lounge after Michael and sat down on one edge of the couch, leg tucked under himself and the other foot resting on the coffee table, slumped into the comfortable fabric cushions.
"I'm not sure this shit can be unburdened," he admitted softly, wetting his lower lip and watching Michael move to join him. "Shit, I feel like all I'm doing is coming here to bitch."
"Well," Michael remarked teasingly though caught it a moment later with a slow reassuring smile that evidenced that he didn't mind, not really. He was happy that Billy could still talk to him about his problems. He eased onto the couch and left the bottle on the nearby table before he sipped at his wine glass.
"So, what happened?"
Billy shook his head, "I promise I'll start making house calls that don't involve some kind of crisis, existential or otherwise." Once Michael was settled, Billy had half a moment of hesitation before he pushed past himself. If they were building anew, if they were going back to the very beginning and... whatever had started when they'd met on the battlefield he had to stop second guessing everything that happened, every move. Especially when Michael always seemed so grateful for each concession.
"Found Grayson." He shifted, turning to rest his lower back against the firm arm and stretching his feet out, tucking them underneath Michael's thigh before thinking better of it, one staying there with his toes under the fabric of his sweats as the other stretched out and rested across his thighs. "Well, he found me. Shot, wounded and smelling like vampire."
Michael smoothed his hand over Billy's ankle as the other vampire rested his legs over his lap, slipping a thumb beneath the material of his jeans to brush over his skin. "That sounds worrying," he affirmed. "Especially if he smelt like vampire." It was no secret that some vampires had an issue with werewolves and vice versa but it was seriously frowned on to let those issues spill over into the public eye.
"Did he tell you what happened?"
"Yeah," Billy said softly, taking a sip of his drink and savouring the taste for a moment before he started talking, relaying the story as Grayson had told him, feeling himself getting angry all over again. He took a breath and rolled his neck, hand resting against the skin before he just shook his head. "I- he asked me to call a friend of his, a witch. She came by, did some... whatever," he gestured with the glass, "and he's asleep now. I just needed to get out of the house."
Michael listened quietly as Billy recounted the tale and as he did he could feel a distinct and ugly pit opening up in his stomach because it all sounded strangely familiar. He'd been alive long enough to see all sorts including how some vampires seemed to think it was their God given right to farm humans for blood though admittedly the Magisterium had put a stop to that or so he'd thought. Was the operation really working out of Los Angeles without the Magisterium not being aware?
"I bet you couldn't wait to get away with a witch in the house," he remarked with a wry smile as he topped up Billy's glass because a story like that deserved more alcohol. "But that's a concerning turn of events."
Billy snorted again. "I waited until she'd gone before just bailing," he said, mock offended as he poked Michael's thigh with his toes. "I wanted to make sure Grayson was at least settled. And she seemed to care about him, at least." He wrinkled his nose. "She smelt of werewolves." Or, well, a werewolf. One. It was pretty strong. He wet his lower lip. "I've fed it into the Detective that's handling the case, though I- I'm not sure how he'll take it when he picks up the message, since he's a werewolf and he's been working pretty closely with the kid since Grayson found those wolves to live with and all."
Michael lightly swatted the offending toes poking him in the thigh before simply finishing off his wine, leaning over to rest the now empty glass on the table before he returned to the couch. "My guess? Not well." He brushed his thumb over Billy's ankle again. "Especially if vampires are involved." He would talk to Daniel but Daniel was Daniel, he was likely to already know more than he should, and Michael had no desire to tarnish their long standing friendship with politics. They had done well to keep that topic well off the table but he supposed that eventually push would come to shove but that was a concern for their future selves.
Billy nodded. "It's just such a mess. I- and I'm not senior enough to do anything about it." It was the first time in years that he'd felt frustrated with his position. He leaned into the touch unconsciously and rolled his glass between his palms. "I can only do what I'm told." Still, he wondered why Grayson had come to him, rather than go to the witch directly, or to the pack he'd found. "I'm not expecting you to do anything about it, but- it's good to talk about it, I guess. I can't really talk to Shiloh about this."
"I was never very good at that," Michael admitted. "Doing what I'm told." It had gotten him into a world of trouble on more than one occasion but he definitely wouldn't change anything about the choices he'd made. "Shiloh?" Michael asked, curious. He squeezed Billy's ankle. "Upside to me being in town, I can listen and help where I can."
Billy chuckled, "I know, but- I'm not really in a position to throw casual fuck yous at authority." He poked Michael's thigh again with his toes, then rested his leg back on the vampire's lap. "Shiloh's a friend. She's a dragon, collects crystals and runs a blog. Sometimes I end up in videos with her when she needs an assistant." He shrugged, he didn't mind all that much but still, he did it largely because no one he knew followed her or was interested in her tips. He shook his head and wet his lower lip, sipping his drink. "Can't really help with this one, I'm afraid."
"Without getting myself into a world of trouble with a certain stuffy and entirely out of touch Magisterium," Michael concluded. It wouldn't be the first time but he had a strong desire not to be dusted at the moment so perhaps wise for him to hold his tongue. For the time being. Shiloh? A dragon who ran a blog? Michael was going to have to look her up.
Billy shrugged. "Please don't do that," he muttered, eyebrow lifting. He leaned back a little more, slouching down further until his head was pillowed on the arm rest and both of his legs from the knee down were draped over Michael's lap. "Have you been to Black Velvet yet?"
Michael snorted slightly before he smoothed the hand on Billy's ankle down to squeeze the other vampire's foot before letting the pad of his thumb sink into the arch, an impromptu foot massage. "Not yet," he shared with a shake of his head. "Daniel keeps telling me I should go, check it out."
Breath catching as Michael's thumb pressed into the arch of his foot, Billy bit back on a groan. He was only really a tactile person with two - three if you counted Shiloh - people, and often times he and Daniel only really hugged hello and goodbye. No one else just touched him for the sake of it and, with Michael here, he was beginning to realise just how much he'd missed it. How starved he'd been for the casual touches Michael gave him so freely. Even if he didn't deserve a single one of them. "It's much nicer than that place we found on the East Coast in the 50s," he reassured. "Cleaner, they treat the donors better."
Michael hummed softly under his breath as he added a second hand to Billy's foot, the pads of both thumbs running along the arches and then circling around the ball. "That's always a plus. I really did hate that other place." So much so that he had basically gotten himself banned for being "too disruptive". Vampires really didn't like it when you rocked the boat, but that was Michael did, especially when he didn't things were right. He'd become a vampire as a direct result of not being willing to accept the status quo after all. "Do you enjoy it?" He asked, glancing up at Billy.
"What, Black Velvet?" he asked, "Or the foot massage?" He grinned a little, fangs bared.
"Well I happen to know you enjoy foot massages," Michael replied with an answering grin. "So, definitely Black Velvet."
"It's okay," Billy admitted, "but you have to go with the right people otherwise it's just awkward. I don't like going alone." And he didn't, there was just something he felt uncomfortable about when feeding off of humans alone. Though it tasted better, it was definitely... unsettling for him to do it alone. He wet his lower lip, downed the last of his drink and then put the glass on the table, lacing his fingers against his stomach. "But the donor quality is really high."
"Perhaps we can go together one night?" Michael suggested, dragging his thumbs over Billy's heel where he circled the skin beneath the sock in slow purposeful circles. "You can introduce me for a change." He smiled over at the other vampire before tipping his head as he ran his hands up and worked on a few knots in Billy's ankle. So far Black Velvet sounded like a good place.
Humming in appreciation at the massage, Billy lifted his eyes and looked at Michael with his eyebrow lifted a little. "Sure," he said quietly, "I'd like that. I'm not sure I'm allowed to get you a membership; you might need to ask Daniel for that considering my status as a mostly persona non grata, but you can come in as my plus one."
"Well, generally speaking your Sire vouches for you in places like Black Velvet so I'll speak to my own, see if he can't pull some strings going forward." He didn't think it would be a problem, his Sire was ancient after all and whilst Michael had definitely not gone quietly into the night as some vampires did he knew his Sire appreciated his take on things. He smoothed the flat of his palm over the length of Billy's foot and pressed his fingers into the arch all over again.
Billy shrugged, "Or someone who's pretty well liked, Daniel could get you a membership without really trying," he pointed out, humming a little as Michael's fingers returned to his foot. He hadn't intended on a massage happening when he'd sprawled over his sire but he wasn't about to complain. "When did you want to go?"
Michael lifted his shoulders into a shrug. "Whenever, I'm not precious." He passed his hands up over Billy's ankle and ran the flat pads of his thumbs along those tight calf muscles before simply smoothing his touch back down in slow repeating movements. "There's a lot to keep me occupied."
Billy glanced around, “You seem to almost be done unpacking,” he said quietly, slouched down even further under the reassuring touches and ministrations from his sire. “I’m supposed to be off shift for three days straight after the full moon, if you can wait until then?”
Michael paused in his ministrations but only for a moment as he looked around at his home that was definitely looking more like that and less of an empty space previously left neglected and unloved. "I work fast."
A mental check of the dates in question and he nodded. "Those work for me."
"You need to find more things to do with your time so you're less efficient," Billy teased. He hummed, slouching back into the couch more and let himself relax. He'd need to leave soon; he wanted to make sure Grayson was okay, but this was nice. He'd forgotten how nice it could be.
"Alright, well, then we're sorted." It was a date, except not a date, but it was a date.
"I'm writing a new book I'll have you know," Michael returned with a smirk as his hands continued rubbing and gently easing out knots of unwanted tension. This was nice, just being with and existing in the same space as his Childe, it really had been too long. "I'll look forward to it."
"Me too," Billy agreed quietly, pretending he hadn't perked up at the knowledge that a new book might be hitting the shelves soon. He could add it to his collection.
For now, though, he was just going to enjoy the moment for what it was; the two of them sitting together as though it hadn't been almost half a century since they'd done this.
He felt at home, for the first time in a long time.