In memoriam (PG)

[rijane]

“Were you side by side with your friends? Did you know they were counting on you to do your bit, hoping it was enough? Did you lose-?” Mick broke off, the echo of ‘everything’ loud and harsh.

Oh, this. Very much this - I think you've drawn a good and fine line between Mick and Josef when it comes to their pasts as soldiers. Mick's was a different time, a different kind of battle. And he served a different role. Always the caregiver, it seems.
Also, good god do I love that last bit: "the echo of ‘everything’ loud and harsh."
It makes me want to grab hold and squeeze hard.

Part of him yearned to share the man he once was with the friend who accepted the vampire he’d become.

As much as this is a Mick fic or a Mick/Lila fic, this is a Josef/Mick fic. Reading this, it occurred to me that Josef really is the one person who accepts Mick as the vampire he is. Beth still struggles with hard truths, Coraline has an idealized version of Mick and a misunderstanding of who he was and is. But Josef is such a solid figure here and he's the one vampire I think Mick can count on to stand by him no matter what.

Josef moved away toward the door, almost colliding with an incoming Beth. “Hi, Beth. Beth’s here.”

This makes me love Josef just a little bit more.

Sigh. Red, how can you keep producing such beautiful, wonderful fic like this? Tell me your secrets and please keep sharing your magic.

[wpgrace]

OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

What an unexpected fabulousness today!
And what a perfect mood, for today.

This Mick is, as we have come to always expect from you, so very Mick. The half completed sentences, the intensity and introspection mixed with the humor and a penchant to try to change and lighten the course of the convo once it begins to focus too much, his usual secretiveness warring with his intense desire to be understood and, dammit, loved.

But how perfect is this Josef?! I particulalry loved his little riff on Mick's tendency to fall hard, when his heart does fall... and it IS hard to keep up! Josef can get anyone, usually including Mick, off balance with his rapid mood swings in a conversation... And he does in places here too, until he digs too far into the Lilah. Then Mick becomes her protector again.

And then you seamlessly take us back into the ep... Can you do a bit of this for every ep?

Actually I'm not kidding.

[jenstc2003]

Absolutely lovely!!! I can SOO hear this conversation, LOL! And you KNOW J wouldn't give up easily!

[janicevictoria]

“I’ve been in some battles in my time, mostly involving pitchforks or blunderbusses

This made me laugh out loud, Red- You've nailed Josef's sarcasm perfectly...

Love how you've interwoven the scene from Moonlight when Beth walks in on the two of them...Brilliant

[redwinter101]

"...sometimes they still ache."

Indeed they do.

rijane, you flatter me, girlfriend (And I love it )

As much as this is a Mick fic or a Mick/Lila fic, this is a Josef/Mick fic. Reading this, it occurred to me that Josef really is the one person who accepts Mick as the vampire he is. Beth still struggles with hard truths, Coraline has an idealized version of Mick and a misunderstanding of who he was and is. But Josef is such a solid figure here and he's the one vampire I think Mick can count on to stand by him no matter what.

I loved this - for me this was totally a Mick & Josef fic and ITA on Josef being the only one who Mick can count on. No matter what. In many ways, I think that's the greatest pain of losing Ray and Lilah - because they were two people who fell into the same category as well.

As for the fic, well, bless you, honey. It's cheesy, but from the bottom of my heart, thank you. There are no secrets - but I adore that you found a little magic.

Grace, I am absolutely, positively keeping you, you know.

his usual secretiveness warring with his intense desire to be understood and, dammit, loved.

Oh, that's SUCH a perfect description of Mick. Perfect, perfect, a thousand times perfect.

Can you do a bit of this for every ep?

Like I said, keeping you. Who knows what the future might bring?

jen, you know how happy I am to see you, honey (we miss you around here, you know). Thanks for the lovely comment.

janice, I made you laugh... and you made my day. Thank you, honey.

Red

[NightAir]

There are so many good lines here that I could quote them all. Instead, in the interest of brevity, I'll just say that this scene feels completely authentic to the show. I'm going to have trouble remembering it's not canon!

I agree...there was so SO much to love about WLB. This is just one more thing.

And so I'm thinking about their first meeting all over again. So many possibilities.

This makes me very happy.

You're too kind. I've already written it once (and you know how that goes - it kinda becomes personal canon) - but maybe it's time for something different. I shall mull.

Red

I like the sound of that.

[MoonlitRose]

Oh Red,

This is such a great story for Memorial Day! So, Mick earned both the silver star and a purple heart during his time in the war. Very significant honors, and I have no doubt he would have performed actions that certainly qualified many times over for those medals of honor.

I'm glad Mick wasn't about to let Josef talk him into disguarding his human-live momentos. He should keep them, and hold them dear, and remember why they are so significant.

[redwinter101]

I'll just say that this scene feels completely authentic to the show. I'm going to have trouble remembering it's not canon!

That's marvellous - thank you so much, NightAir.

MoonlitRose, I have no difficulty imagining Mick as a war hero, hell we saw it in WLB. And I don't think those particular mementos are ones he'll ever want to discard. Nope - some things are just too important.

Oh, Mick.

Red

[wpgrace]

There are so many good lines here that I could quote them all. Instead, in the interest of brevity, I'll just say that this scene feels completely authentic to the show. I'm going to have trouble remembering it's not canon!

I actually always incorporate Red's stories into canon... Once she posts, now it's so...

[redwinter101]

Red

[Shadow]

Oh, Red. This was already one of my top favorite scenes from the series, my very favorite Mick/Josef scene, and now . . . now, it's so much more. I can't tell you how glad I am that you've expanded on this scene, making it so much deeper and more real. So much conflict in both of them here . . . Mick, with something deeply important to him that he wants to keep to himself, safe from mockery . . . but which he also wants so very much to share with Josef. And you can just feel Josef's deep curiosity and envy of what Mick has, embedded under his mistrust of sentiment. There's a certain sadness here, that maybe Josef really doesn't have the ability to understand what these things mean to Mick. So much like the episode in this moment, you've made Josef emotional and deeply curious . . . without taking him out of character in the slightest.

I love every word, but this has got to be my favorite line in the story . . . it sums up the entire WLB episode so beautifully as well.

Sepia memories, the past leaking into the future, age-old disappointment rearing up to poke and prod at him, taunting him with precious, dangerous hope.

[redwinter101]

Thank you so much, Shadow. I love this scene - I love the whole episode - it's one of those perfect Mick/Josef moments. In many ways, I'm messing with perfection here, so this:

I can't tell you how glad I am that you've expanded on this scene, making it so much deeper and more real.

makes me very happy indeed.



Red