Insomnia 2 PG Mick/Coraline

[jen]

Disclaimer: I don't own Moonlight. I'm just playing with the toys. No money comes from this, just the enjoyment of writing.

Many, many thanks to the fabulous Luxe de Luxe for agreeing to beta this piece.

So, without further delay

Insomnia 2
Rating: PG
Pairing: Mick/Coraline

Coraline walked up the steps to the door of her residence--their residence now. She signed with relief as she escaped the blazing L.A. sun into the coolness of the foyer. Her butler closed the door softly behind her.

“Good afternoon, Madam,” he said with the little bow.

“Godfrey, where is my husband?” she asked "and I believe I asked you to address me as Mrs. St. John now that I'm married.”

“Yes, Mrs. St. John. I’m sorry, I don’t know where Mr. St. John is. I've not seen him since yesterday.”

“Very well. My driver has several containers of liquid that need to be refrigerated immediately. See that it is sent directly to the kitchen and stored accordingly.”

“As you wish, Madam. Will there be anything else?”

Shaking her head, she ascended the winding staircase, leaving no doubt in Godfrey's mind as to who was in charge in this house.

As she changed, she pondered what had gotten into her new husband. She couldn't fathom why Mick was so upset about his new condition. She was sure she'd explained the pleasures and powers he'd gained, but he didn't seem to want it. He even withdrew from her. He wasn't the first of her fledglings to respond this way but she utterly rejected that it could be due to any failure of on her part. Taking the back stairs to the kitchen, she retrieved a bottle her driver brought from the refrigerator and lowered it into a cloth satchel she brought with her. Securing the strap on her shoulder, she went to find Mick. There was a lot to accomplish and not a lot of time if there was to be time for a nap before the evening arrangements she'd made.

Coraline thought of how her sire had been opposed to her intention to turn Mick, angrily asking if she had learned nothing from her many fledgling failures. No matter. They were not on the best of terms, anyway. She would not be told who she could and could not turn and was not going to admit defeat--at least, not yet. Deciding she'd been too hasty in disposing of other fledglings who rejected their new life, she resolved to be more patient with Mick. After all, she told herself, I take take a longer view and Mick's worth it.

She expected marriage to Mick to be a lot more fun. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, she opened the door to the basement and the damp smell of mold and earth assailed her nose from below, reminding her of cellars she'd slept in during her first century in Europe. She didn’t like being reminded of those days. She dark basement appeared empty, but he was here. She walked down the circular metal stairs to the concrete floor below. Illumination was provided by a single bulb suspended on a wire that could be turned on from the top of the stairs or below. Lighting wasn't necessary for her--or him and these days, her husband preferred lighting to match his mood. Spotting her fledgling seated in the corner behind some pipes, Coraline walked over and sat down nest to him on the cold concrete.

Showtime.

“Oh, Baby,” she said softly, and reached up to touch his face gently. At first he recoiled from her touch, but when she continued to stroke his face, his resistance crumbled and he leaned into her touch, but not understanding his reactions but craving the comfort her touch provided.

“I looked for you before I left for the meeting at the bank this morning. You knew I wanted you to go with me. You need to know the details of our finances. How long have you been down here?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Mick muttered, clearly resenting his need for her and wearing his misery like a shroud.

“I brought you something,” she said, drawing a bottle of crimson fluid from the satchel and opening it. She didn’t have to see his eyes flash white, as she felt the echo of his hunger.

“Where did you get this?” he asked, taking the bottle from her and drinking deeply.

“I bought it this morning--after the meeting, from a contact at a local hospital.”

He looked down into the depths of the liquid, “Is there more?” he asked.

“Yes. It’s yours if you want it but only if you come upstairs, clean up and shave,” she smiled at him “come on, you will feel much better after a shower and some fresh clothes.”

Nodding, he allowed her to lead him upstairs.

Moments later, he met her in the kitchen looking much more like the man she had married.

There was a large glass of blood poured on the kitchen table and he sat down and drained it quickly. She refilled it and sat down beside him.

“Can I feed like this all the time?“ he asked, not taking his eyes off the glass.

“I wouldn’t recommend it. Blood collected like this is…inferior. For one thing, it isn’t as fresh as what comes directly from the vein of a live donor. Even though I bought it this morning, it was taken from the donors hours or even days before and we have less control over the donor’s physical condition.”

Arranging her face into as compassionate expression as she could manage, she reached across and placed both of her hands on one of his. “Mick, I know you think I don’t understand, but I do. Remember when I told you how your emotions would be raw at first, and the blood lust will be the strongest in the early stage? You are having a harder time adjusting than I thought you would and the way we have to feed is causing you the most difficulty right now. Am I right?”

He nodded, raising his eyes to hers cautiously.

“I thought so,” she said, nodding. “Every person who is Turned reacts differently, but the transition is rarely without some problems.”

There was much she'd not tried to teach Mick yet. She had not taught him the basics required to move past his bloodlust, and acknowledged to herself that she had to do better in that. Still trying to adjust to the strong stimuli his enhanced senses provided, Mick also had no conception of the power and control she wielded as his Sire and was still interpreting his dependence on her as love, in spite of his horror at her ‘wedding gift.‘ Fine. She resolved to do nothing to dissuade him of his sentimental feelings on this point, as it was another aspect of the situation that worked to her advantage.

“I can’t see humans the way you do--just as food. I used to be one of them. People I cared about still are.”

She pondered, then nodded. “What if I make arrangements for you to feed this way while you adjust. Does that sound good?”

He nodded, relieved. “Thank you.”

“Promise me something, will you?”

“If I can.”

“Promise that you'll try to work with me. We can get past this, but you have to meet me half way.”

There were shafts of sunlight in her voice and he recalled the love he had felt a matter of days before but that was a lifetime ago (and he had not yet learned that sunlight was now a danger. It burned.)

He nodded slowly. “I promise, Coraline.”

“Good!” her lovely face lit up with another smile and somehow he couldn‘t see that it didn‘t quite reach her eyes, “I have a surprise for you! The man we were going to meet this morning is wealthy, influential, and one of us. He and I have known each other for a long time and he manages my… now our money. I wanted you to meet him, and I wanted him to meet you. He is having a party at his home this evening and we have been invited. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

Mick smiled at his wife’s obvious joy. “Whatever you want.”

“That’s my guy!“ she said. “You need to get out more, meet others like us. You will see that things are not as dark and depressing as you think.”

Mick took both of her small hands in his. “I’m sorry.“ he said softly.

Coraline frowned slightly, not understanding.

“This hasn’t been much of a marriage so far. This ’eternity’ thing is more than a little…overwhelming, but...if you want me to be your partner in this, I guess I'd better get started. What time do we have to be at the party at this guy’s house and what did you say his name was? Carson?“

“Kostan. Josef Kostan. The party will start at eight, but I thought that we would have time for a nap first.”

“A nap…” he considered. “Maybe, if we work together, we can find a better way to pass the time...”

“We can always be late…” Coraline suggested. This was more like it!

Much later, Mick watched as his beautiful wife climb into their freezer.

“Are you coming?” she asked.

“In a minute,” he said.

All marriages require adjustments, he thought, theirs more than most, but as long as his wife loved him, and he was certain he loved her, they could work through anything.

This wasn’t something either of them needed to lose sleep over.

fin



.

[darkstarrising]

Ah, wonderful, Jenna

How little we saw of the newlyweds after Mick's turning and this story shows that Mick's transition continued to be difficult. Coraline has found a way to entice him out of his physical and emotional 'dungeon'. Love this passage:

A single bulb suspended on a wire provided illumination for the basement, but it wasn’t switched on. These days, her husband preferred lighting to match his mood.

He is indeed in a dark place and his wife is doing what she can to dispel the darkness, first by blood, then by a compromise. I can hear Coraline's / Shannyn's voice explaining the downside of morgue blood. Little by little, she coaxes him out, determined this time to be more patient with her fledglings than in the past.

That was a neat addition to the story - having Coraline's fledglings not transition well and the reason why:

She dismissed the notion that some failure of hers was responsible, choosing rather to focus on the cruelty of fate, as it seemed the new turns she was most attracted to didn’t ‘take.’

But with Mick, how could she resist?

Nicely done, sweetie

[francis]

This is very beautiful. Mick is trying so hard to make this work, but Coraline sucks as a sire, and not in the good way. She at least tries to meet him halfway about the feeding, but she could just show him a better way not to kill people.
And meeting Josef will be a turning point, I'm sure.
Well done!

[jen]

DSR

You are very generous.

As I saw it, Coraline was upset by not getting what she wanted right away when she turned Mick. Mick had no idea the danger he was in during those early days. Things could have gotten dicey if his new wife had lost interest.

Once again, thanks for reading and leaving the lovely comment!

Jenna

[jen]

Francis

Totally agree that Coraline has major issues with her ability to sire successfully!

Poor Mick was so traumatized by his Turning, now isolated from people and things he had loved, all he really had to turn to was her.

To me, and I don't know how well this came across, Coraline was the consummate actress who had honed her craft over centuries. She turned Mick for entertainment purposes and the fact that he did not wind up as some other men she had attempted to turn but they rejected the new life testifies to his good luck. Mick was totally at see this time and she was the only life preserver he could latch onto.

Thank you for reading and leaving the kind comment!

Jenna

[Luxe de Luxe]

Jen, what strikes me most about this piece is how sweet Mick is to Coraline despite his unhappiness. No wonder he finds it hard to see through her facade.... Although he now knows that she's not quite the woman he thought he married, he can't imagine at this point in their relationship that his wife may be somewhat less than genuinely understanding and caring of him.

All marriages require adjustments, he thought, theirs more than most, but as long as his wife loved him, and he was certain he loved her, they could work through anything.

Poor Mick. We know that over the years he learns the hard way.

Along with dsr, I also like the inclusion of her backstory -- that she has done this before with other men like Mick. Even though we know she doesn't dispose of our Mick, the information that she has done so in the past to other fledglings who didn't want to kill gave me a shiver.

[jen]

Luxe

Thank you so much!

It felt plausible that Coraline, now posessing the power and longevity to do as she pleased, would do what pleased her and determining past conduct from what we saw, I thought this was something she may have done.

I agree that Mick was totally out of his depth and in way over his head, yet I don't think Mick could concieve of a depth of vigilant selfishness like Coraline.

Had the tragic events of Lilah and Ray sent Mick into a self destructive cycle that was stopped by his encounter with Coraline and the darkness she introduced him to? That is another question and there are a lot of them here.

Thank you for reading and leaving the very kind and lovely comment!

Jenna

[lionsonleashes]

Oh wow, Jen!!! This was a very gentle, and touching, look back into Mick's early days with Coraline, as her fledgling vamp husband. It is so well written! Bravo! Mick's signature self-loathing already up and running, but....he felt he was in love with Coraline, and was willing to try to make a go of it initially. We see his preference for bottled blood start here.....as a gift from Coraline. Huh....who'd a thunk it?
Anyway.....I won't ramble on.....but I LOVED this! Excellent work!
Lions

[allegrita]

Jenna, I missed this story before. I'm so glad Lions bumped it.

I've always been fascinated by the early days of Mick's and Coraline's marriage. Your theory that Mick was just one of many failed fledglings is very interesting, and you do a good job of presenting it here. And your descriptions of Mick's love for Coraline, and his attempts to please her and to make a go of his disastrous marriage, make a lot of sense to me. I have a less cold-hearted view of Coraline (her heart, not yours!), but this story does a good job of making your case. And I love the idea that Coraline is the one who introduced Mick to the idea of drinking bottled blood.

What touched me most in this story was Mick's willingness to dare to hope that things would be better, in the midst of his despair. You can see a good man struggling with forces that are much too huge for him to fight, and clinging to the only comfort he can find.

[jen]

Lions

Thank you so much for reading and those kind and encouraging comments. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your kind words!

When I wrote this, my thought was that Coraline Turned Mick and then realized that she had gotten herself into a project that was going to be a lot more trouble than she thought, and yet Mick was worth a little extra trouble.

There are a lot of intriguing questions here left unanswered, just as they were left unanswered in the series--could the marriage be the Turning Point for Coraline? We know that for a while, Mick became like Coraline and joined her in relishing in the power and perks their condition provided, but could Coraline have learned some things from Mick, as well. Were seeds planted in her that took root during their years apart.

Interesting to consider.

Once again, thank you so much for reading!!!

Jenna

[jen]

Alle

Writing this was an interesting experience.

While my first allegiance is to MickBeth, there are interesting questions that remain unexplored here, just as they were never explored in the series (what a waste). I definitely portray Coraline here as rather cold hearted in her past, as I judge past behavior by her Turning of Mick. What he wanted was immaterial and that is pretty unforgivable from someone who was supposed to love him. We all spend a lot of time focusing on how Coraline changed Mick, but did Mick change Coraline?

If what we saw in "The Mortal Cure" was sincere in any degree, it did.

I viewed Coraline through the lens of Mick's reactions to her. Mick's dismissal of her from his life so easily didn't seem right. Based on what we saw, this personality--if genuine--was very much like Mick now. The show could have changed completely in tone.

Now, it lives only in fanfic. But live it certainly does.

Not giving Coraline the benefit of a doubt here shows that I am more hard hearted than I think! There is ample evidence for both points of view here.

Thank you so much for reading and leaving the kind comment!

Jenna

[maggatha3]

Ooops, missed that Jenna.

What a lovely writing on Mick's first attempts , on his first vampire steps. He is definitely trying to meet Coraline half way, but she is only telling him half truths, so...they are bound to lose some sleep about that marriage of theirs..

I have really wondered ever since watching Moonlight , if Coraline had any serious thoughts and feelings about Mick's reactions. If she ever even thought of making his life easier instead of having her fledgling fighting all the time through the days of eternity...I feel she is so much into her self to think of anybody's feelings.

Thanks Jenna

[jen]

Maggatha

Thank you for reading and leaving the lovely comment.

My first response to Coraline in Moonlight was to think she was totally evil, but after thinking about it some more I realized that no one is totally evil. I just couldn't see anything at all redeemable about her.

To her, eternity just meant that she had lots and lots of time to pursue her own brand of selfishness.

Had she done this to others, men she was attracted to and Turned only to be toyed with a cast aside when they no longer amused her?

If Mick was so love struck he thought that they could go through eternity in love, she wasn't going to dissuade him.

It just took him a while to catch on and catch on he did. He caught on so well that when Coraline showed up again and (maybe) she had learned and changed, he didn't believe her. Dismissed her easily at the end of The Mortal Cure.

I really think that Mick would have gone after Coraline had there been a Season 2.

Jenna

[maggatha3]

What do you mean, he would have gone after her in a 2nd season? To have an affair with her , or to save her from the Duvalls?

[jen]

I really think he would have attempted to rescue her, or at least determine whether her life was really in danger.

Coraline exihibited a rare talent to messing with people's heads, and I think Mick really wasn't sure whether Lance taking her away, staked, was a ploy to get him to step into a trap or if she was genuinely in danger.

Mick, just being Mick, would have had to find out which was the truth.

Would Beth be upset? Absolutely! Would she understand? I think so, but she wouldn't be happy about it. This is just my opinion, though.

This could have been a story arc for the second season that never was...

Jenna