(no subject)

[thenorthman]

Eric was not having a good day.

He'd noticed that there had been some money missing from the Diamond accounts; someone was stealing from him (and had been stealing from Clarke before that). Someone was going to have to answer for that, and pouring over the books to figure it out (who could he trust with this?) might have given him a headache, if vampires had been prone to them.

And obviously, this had to come up the night he was supposed to meet Kersen's oh so interesting human. Eric had closed the books and pushed them aside when they were shown into his office, and shoved all of that aside to focus on their conversation. Michael Corella worked for Cesare Borgia, and that was a connection worth cultivating.

Things had been going well when someone opened the door to his office without knocking. Jamie - one of his managers - looked surprised to find three pairs of eyes on him, and stopped in the doorway. "I was looking for..." He trailed off, but his eyes had strayed to the books on Eric's desk, before snapping back to Eric. "I'll leave you to your meeting."

"No," Eric said, strolling over to the door to invite the other vampire in with a gesture. "Come in." Jamie had worked for Clarke, too, and Eric closed the door behind him. "Kersen. Do you remember that list of staff you gave me when I took over? The ones I might be able to keep on? Jamie was on it, right?"

Comments

[trustearned]

Michael focused on his breathing as Kersen drank, not fighting the arousal, letting the pain and pleasure blend together. There was no urgency to the moment, no, and he simply enjoyed the moment, his other hand stroking Kersen's hair.

[kersen]

Kersen deliberately drank slowly, but he didn't take too much, and he eventually pulled his mouth away and licked the spot clean. Then he looked up at Michael. "Thank you."

[trustearned]

Michael nodded slightly, and laid his arm down, inside of the wrist up, so any blood still rising to the surface wouldn't drip onto the bed.

[kersen]

Kersen looked at him for a moment. He was well aware that they hadn't resolved a thing about their fight. But he was loathe to bring it up again. He didn't like Michael being angry at him.

[trustearned]

Michael was happy not to talk for now, like most of the time. He kissed Kersen's hair, then resumed stroking it, letting his bite-induced arousal fade back down.

Eventually he said, "That Magister." It was the word Eric had used, but Michael wanted to know more.

[kersen]

Yeah, Kersen had had a feeling this was coming. He let out a breath, and relaxed against Michael, enjoying the gentle way he was being held.

Finally he said, "It's a title. A judicial body inside one person. He or she acts on behalf of the Authority and hands down judgment. The Authority's had such little presence in London for so long that it hasn't really been an issue. But them sending Eric here means that things have to go their way or things will get very bad."

[trustearned]

"How bad?" Michael had to ask.

[kersen]

"War," said Kersen. "With vampires, at least. And humans are always collatoral damage. And the authority will win anyway. They're both stronger and better organized."

[trustearned]

That was not an answer Michael liked hearing, but he was used to accepting those sorts all the same. "So whatever that Magister says, you'll go with it."

[kersen]

Kersen hesitated, because he knew that Michael really, really wasn't going to like what he said next.

"If I fought it. Or if I didn't show. They'd go after the things I care about. Burn down the bar. Kill my employees. And it wouldn't take long for them to find you either."

[trustearned]

Michael wasn't after a justification. He simply wanted the bare truth of it. "So whatever that Magister says, you'll go with it."

[kersen]

Kersen sighed. "I... guess." He sounded unsure, now that it was spelled out so plainly.

[trustearned]

"If you want an alternative, you need to decide that now," Michael pointed out evenly.

[kersen]

"I do not want an alternative that involves you in it in any way," Kersen said immediately. He knew Michael wasn't going to like it, but it was true.

[trustearned]

Michael grew tense and quiet. A few breaths went by before he asked, without relaxing, "Don't be a fool."

[kersen]

Kersen winced in response to that tension. It sat there between them for a second as he tried to come up with something, some rationale that would make Michael happy, and it was just so hard and the truth just came out because it was easier.

"Look I'm over four hundred years old," he blurted. "I've wanted to die a hell of a lot of times over the years, and as unlikely as it is, if the reason I finally do is to save someone I love maybe that's not the worst thing in the universe."

Then Kersen's face when kind of pale as if just realizing what he'd said.

... oh. Fuck.

[trustearned]

Michael was silent for a beat, and then sidestepped that word to focus on what mattered. "Then you make that choice. But if you want other options, don't shut me out."

Michael had no intention of dying. In service to Cesare, he would, in a heartbeat. But that was it.

[kersen]

As mortified as Kersen had been when he'd let the word slip, it was actually a disappointment that Michael had completely refused to acknowledge it. He supposed the reaction could have been much worse, but... well. Still.

He bent his head. "I don't know, Michael."

[trustearned]

"Figure it out," Michael simply said. Kersen needed to, now that he had taken it all away from Michael, and upon himself. It was the least he could do, if you asked Michael.

[kersen]

"Michael, I'm sorry I - " Kersen hesitated. The truth was, he wasn't sorry for what he'd done, but... "I'm sorry that I um, that I stole the consequences of your own actions from you."

[trustearned]

Michael took a moment to let that sink in, then nodded. "I understand why you did it."

[kersen]

At that, Kersen relaxed, tension visibly leaving his body. He touched Michael's face. "And it's not your fault. You did what you had to. It's just... it's a shitty situation. There were no good options."

[trustearned]

Michael had no regret about what he had done, but he mostly thought that Eric might view things differently. He might be wrong, however; either way, Eric was not their major concern now. "There still aren't," Michael pointed out, to remind Kersen to look to the future, and the choice he had to make.

[kersen]

Kersen suddenly wanted to ask Michael how upset he would be, if Kersen didn't come back. How much did he care, really? But how could he ask that?

"I... as I said, I think it's really unlikely that the consequences will be that bad. But I... I'll make sure that if the worst happens, that..." Ugh, he really shouldn't have even decided to say this. "That Eric tells you what happened."

[trustearned]

"So you are going with whatever that Magister says," Michael stated plainly, again, keeping the riot of emotions in his chest under control, although it made his gaze shine harder.