Undeath and Taxes (PG-13, Champagne Challenge #165)

[allegrita]

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The plot is the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's note: This drabble was inspired by Champagne Challenge #165 and is rated PG-13.

Undeath and Taxes

Tonight Coraline told me we needed to go to her accountant’s office and sign our tax forms. “Why?” I asked. “We’re dead.”

She rolled her eyes and gave me a not this again look. “We aren’t dead. We’re undead. And as long as we live among humans, we need to avoid drawing attention to ourselves.”

I held her mink so she could slip it on, drawling, “Yeah, you’re the soul of discretion in that outfit.”

She gave me a dirty look and swept out the door.

Funny. She says she saved me from death. But even she can’t escape taxes.

[darkstarrising]

Leave it to Coraline to be a walking contradiction and Mick to call her on it Does that make taxes more powerful than death?

[cassysj]

Coraline needs to look pretty for her accountant. Over three centuries and she can't avoid the tax man.

[allegrita]

Thanks for reading and commenting, DSR and Carol! I love to write about Mick and Coraline's relationship. It was just so complicated and fraught with emotion, and that is lots of fun to explore.

[choccyterri]

Alle, I love this story. Do you know, when you can just hear someone speaking..? See the scene unfolding as part of our lovely little show? It could almost be one of those coloured flashbacks. Coraline and Mick's relationship, obviously apart from his turning, is a wonderful mystery to all of us. Thank you for sharing what would no doubt have been part of their day to day existence. Still having to deal with the humdrum as well as all the extra things!

[librarian_7]

Leave it to Coraline to be a walking contradiction and Mick to call her on it Does that make taxes more powerful than death?

This. Although I also see this from her perspective--here she is trying to teach her callow fledgling how to navigate his new , uh, unlife...and he's getting snarky. It's really no wonder their relationship was so volatile.

I could see this as part of a much longer piece about the two of them. (Hint, hint!)

[allegrita]

Thanks so much, choccyterri and librarian_7! Terri, I'm so glad you could "hear" them here! I think Mick would be very impatient of the humdrum stuff. After all, he probably avoided a lot of that in his grungy musician phase. Somehow I don't see Musician Mick dutifully paying taxes on his under-the-counter gig wages. So on top of his resentment of Coraline for turning him into a vamp, I think he'd find these new responsibilities of pretending to be human in a human world even more irritating.

Lucky, you're right--this little story could be part of my The Early Years - Mick and Coraline story series about their relationship just before and just after their marriage. I think this story would fit into Mick's "vampire adolescence" phase, where he was starting to feel cocky about his abilities, and was beginning to pull away from her emotionally. I bet Cora found him very annoying to be around when he was in that sort of mood.