Killing Time (challenge #117) - PG

[redwinter101]

Title: Killing Time
Author: redwinter101
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own Moonlight or any of its characters
Note: written for Champagne Challenge #117 - it's very short (but I still busted the word limit - sorry). This takes place a few months after Sonata.

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--- Killing Time ---

She had that look.

The look that said, watch out, something's coming, and Mick was both grateful and amused the waiter took so long to establish that yes, they really had finished and he could clear the plates. He hid his smile behind his wine glass, watching the bite of her lower lip, a reflex to keep her words contained; the fingering of her napkin; the flick of her glance to meet his eye then away; the high flush of anticipation rising on her cheeks.

"How was the steak?"

"As good as always."

Mick took a sip of wine, placing the glass down and resting his linked hands on the table, "So." His raised eyebrow was sufficient opening, the futility of avoidance a lesson hard-learned; he opened the door and Beth walked through without a backward glance.

"I've been wondering-"

"What else is new?"

She had the grace to blush, the deepening stain on her cheek drawing Mick's gaze, a lick of his lips.

"You never did tell me why you stayed in LA all these years."

"No, I didn't." There was no rejection, just a playful smirk. Talking about his past, once a rigid, bitter burden, now a ritual of uncurling, welcoming her into his life, his leap of faith taken months ago.

"Okay, so, why have you stayed in LA all these years?" Her smile was lopsided, a hint of rolled eyes.

"What brought this on?"

"Always the answer with another question. And don't tell me again it's because you like the weather."

Mick laughed, "Okay, so the weather isn't exactly my friend, but this is my home."

"For eighty-six years? Didn't you ever want to, I don't know, explore? Go new places? Isn't that one of the upsides of being a," her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, "vampire? You have time - you could go anywhere."

With a small sigh Mick realised this was about more than his past; she was calculating the pros and cons of their future.

"Maybe now, although commercial travel still has its problems. But thirty, forty years ago it wasn't so easy." He paused. There was more and he was reluctant to let the moment slip by. "And…"

"And?"

"Like I said - this is home. I can still feel my family when I'm here."

"Oh. I hadn't thought…" It was personal, honest, and she felt his truth, but she pressed on, "I guess I don't really understand wanting to stay in the same place forever. Home will always be there."

"For some people, maybe. After the war home was everything I longed for but it felt broken, somehow," she heard the distinctive ache in his voice. For all his joys and sorrows, it was only war and its aftermath that tinged his voice with the bitter warmth of too much loss. "If I was ever gonna leave, it would have been then. After Lilah."

Mick found himself wanting to tell her more, his reticence falling away in the moment, his yearning for her to know him as he knew her.

"The whole time Coraline and I were married," he glanced up and saw curiosity gone, replaced by a flash of angry fear, "I was caught. There was nowhere else," he shrugged. "But then, after you, I had another reason to stay. Twenty-four years seems like a long time to you, but perspectives change."

A frown, processing, "So, it was for me? It was because of me? You could have-"

Mick leaned across the table, one hand grasping for her, stroking, while the other reached beneath the cool, linen folds of the tablecloth finding the warmth of her thigh, resting gently against her skin, calming, soothing.

"No. It was because of you but it wasn't for you. It was for me."

Her hand turned in his, fingers linking, the heat of her palm within the cool of his touch.

"I was a free man, or so I thought. I had money, contacts - I could have gone anywhere, started over. But there was nowhere else I wanted to be. I needed to stay here. Knowing you were safe became part of me."

"So if I'd gone to college in Europe?"

Mick shrugged, "I guess I would have followed. I never really made a conscious choice, it just…" another pause, a soft sigh. "Every day for a long time, what kept me going was knowing you were safe, that something good had come out of… everything. I couldn't leave that behind."

"It never felt like you were wasting your life? Just killing time? Until-"

Mick's grip tightened, bringing her fingers to his lips. "Not for a single second."

He needed her to understand, there was no fault, no guilt, no regret. When the words wouldn't come, he leaned across the table, moving to stroke jaw, throat, the back of her neck, drawing her close.

"Because now, wherever you are is home."

[jen]

Lovely

[Lucy]

AWE.

[cassysj]

That's so beautiful. Home is where the heart is.

[Shadow]

Ahh, I always wanted to hear Mick answer that question honestly. How lovely to see him not only admit the reasons for the last twenty-four years, but explain the rest of his lifetime stay in L.A. as well. Still feeling his family there (that one line really hit hard), being trapped with Coraline, and only then keeping Beth safe. I really liked his explanation that it was for him, not for her, trying to be sure that she wouldn't feel guilt. So good that you've let him admit that his home is wherever she is. Hm, now I wonder if there will be travel in their future ...

[Moonlighter]

Awwww!! Dang it, Red, you've done it again. That last line -- wooo -- 'scuse me... (<--happy tears!)

[PNWgal]

One of my favorite songs is Jewel's Last Dance Rodeo - there's a line in there that goes something like "everywhere you are feels like home".

Wherever Beth is...is home to Mick. THAT'S love, pure and simple, and you've evoked it so beautifully here. You've a gift for making me sigh with delight whenever Mick and Beth are involved, but this just made me feel warm inside.

Mick could have gone anywhere, probably SHOULD have left L.A. somewhere along the line, but he couldn't.

"No. It was because of you but it wasn't for you. It was for me."

"I was a free man, or so I thought. I had money, contacts - I could have gone anywhere, started over. But there was nowhere else I wanted to be. I needed to stay here. Knowing you were safe became part of me."

So he stayed and kept Beth safe...and along the line, the two of them fell in love, and now they're both home.

Just wonderful!

[redwinter101]

jen, Lucy, Carol, thank you all for stopping by to read.

Shadow, I always wanted to hear a proper answer to that question too, and this challenge prompted an idea for how the discussion might have gone. I've written a lot of stories where Mick talks about home - I think that's a summary of everything he's lost - family, friends, the futures he dreamed - and it's only with Beth that he can start rebuilding.

Moonlighter, then my work is done. *hands ML a Kleenex*

PNWgal, thanks so much, sweetie.

Red

[allegrita]

Ohhhh, Red... this is just... oh, sigh...

This is one of those quiet moments--nothing big going on, no danger, no torment. Just communication. Just... communication!!! How magical is it that Mick is finally, finally able to tell her what's in his heart?!

I love your big stories, you know how much I love them. But sometimes, your little vignettes reveal soooo much about them. There's so much subtext... and, in this one, so much is actually said. I love this--I love that they are talking to each other.

[librarian_7]

This is a lovely piece, Red. Just lovely. I can see and hear Mick's slightly indulgent attitude, and Beth's determination.

dear!

Lucky

[Luxe de Luxe]

another delicate, beautifully nuanced piece from you, Red... the gentle testing of notches, new partners finding the hollows that will allow them to ease themselves into one another.

[MickLifeCrisis]

Oh, Red, this is beautiful! How heartwarming to have Mick finally open up to Beth. Some of my favorite lines:

Talking about his past, once a rigid, bitter burden, now a ritual of uncurling, welcoming her into his life, his leap of faith taken months ago.

Mick found himself wanting to tell her more, his reticence falling away in the moment, his yearning for her to know him as he knew her.

"No. It was because of you but it wasn't for you. It was for me."

"Every day for a long time, what kept me going was knowing you were safe, that something good had come out of… everything. I couldn't leave that behind."

"Because now, wherever you are is home."

Happy sigh!

Okay, so I practically quoted the whole story. This was just that wonderful! Thanks!

[darkstarrising]

As always, dear friend, how eloquently you describe Mick's opening up to Beth.

Talking about his past, once a rigid, bitter burden, now a ritual of uncurling, welcoming her into his life, his leap of faith taken months ago.

You capture the easygoing give and take between the two.

"Okay, so, why have you stayed in LA all these years?" Her smile was lopsided, a hint of rolled eyes.

"What brought this on?"

"Always the answer with another question. And don't tell me again it's because you like the weather."

Bringing them both to the realization that home for each is wherever the other is.

Lovely

[Lupine]

Oh, Wow, this is just so perfect! I read this and in my mind's eye I can see Mick and Beth, sitting at the table, having this conversation. She needs to know things, and he needs to tell her. Still the telling is difficult.

You write these characters with such truth and grace, never a wrong note. Thank you for keeping them alive all these years later.

[lorig]

YOu know...you do this to me every time You could write about Mick with a hang nail and you'd probably make me cry.


Home is where ever she is....*sigh*