FRIDAY.

DIMITRI MICHAELS | VAMPIRE "will you find out who you are too late to change?"

[fridaymichaels-blog]

axgustvs:

A smirk tugged at the edge of Augustus’s mouth. “True enough,” he said as he pulled the chair back and sat. He remembered when he was newly turned, reconfiguring the way he thought about time. The impatience with which he tried to make the months and years feel shorter, as if that qualified his immortality even more. The way his sire had once admonished him: there’s no need to squander your life just because you have more of it. Then he shrugged, coming back to the present. “Though rest assured, as quickly as certain moments will go by, the passage of time will often feel drawn out and slow. For better and for worse.”

“Regardless, it has been a while since we’ve properly spoken,” Augustus said. “How have you been adjusting lately? Better, I hope, than how I found you.”

He did not mention anything about how he was faring, or the state he’d been in the last time they’d been in the same room. Part of Augustus hoped it would not have to come up at all, though he supposed he needed to acknowledge it. There was no other way to secure his role as the powerful, collected vampire mentor. He might’ve lost precious weeks of his influence to other, less desirable vampire mentors, but now that he was back to himself he would make up for it tenfold.

      He thought about how he had already begun to learn more patience ---how he had held off on seeing Mona for so long, even though her time was certainly less than his. He would have said the same about her before he was turned, to be fair, given her penchant for both life -threatening and -shortening habits. Still, he knew she was alive and that gave him enough reassurance that patiently was the right way to go about things, even if it wasn’t easy. “I know what you mean.” He smiled, a twinge of longing in his eyes as the thought of Mona refused to leave him, now that it had come around again. 

      “Oh, absolutely,” he blurted with an excited nod. “I’ve had good people helping me, erm, adjust.” He’d been well fed, and wanted for very little between the small gang of vampires that had taken it upon themselves to care for him in whatever ways they could. They all did something different ---Catherine made sure that he wanted for nothing; Adalene had taught him how to hunt; Charlie provided a safe place to call his home, a warm presence he didn’t know how terribly he needed; and Augusts, even in the vulnerable moments the man didn’t want to speak about, was a wealth of wisdom and much needed guidance. He had all his bases covered, and all he had to do was wander back into town and look clueless. “It’s been a lot easier. I think...” He paused as the thought entered his consciousness, taken aback by its unexpectedness. “I think I’m starting to feel like this could be normal.”

[misschalamet]

[fridaymichaels-blog]

( axgustvs. )

@fridaymichaels​

He realized, too late, in the parking lot behind the restaurant, that he hadn’t at all thought this meeting through.

“Shit,” he muttered, pressing his forehead to the steering wheel. How did this slip past him? Dimitri lived with Charlie, and he hadn’t even considered the possibility that the newborn vampire knew about what had happened. Surely Charlie would have let Augustus know? Or maybe it was foolish of Augustus to think they would be secretive about all of this.

This car was too hot, he decided, because there was no other reason for his face to be so flushed. He decided that he wasn’t going to bring it up until he knew, for certain, that Dimitri already knew. Newly resolved, Augustus stepped out of his car and walked to the front door. The younger vampire was already waiting for him, and Augustus nodded to him in greeting.

“Good to see you,” he said. “It’s been a while.”

Dimitri had been puzzled by the sudden invitation ---insistence, almost--- that they meet up again, after what seemed so long past their last encounter. Perhaps it was for the best, to allow them both some time to deal with all of their respective, undying issues. Undying, indeed ---if he put things into persepctive, it really hadn’t been that long at all, had it? Not in a lifestime that spanned indefinitely into the future. 

Still, he had arrived early, and had been nursing a glass of lemonade. It was barely touched by the time Augustus arrived, but it had sat there long enough to go warm while he waited and twiddled his thumbs. 

When he saw the other man walk in, he straightened his back and offered a smile, friendly though a little nervous. 

      “Not so long for us though, really, is it?”

[axgustvs-blog]

stay. augustus&charlie&dimitri.

summary: poorly timed phone calls make for odd bonding moments

Keep reading

[fridaymichaels-blog]

( grinlikecheshire. )

Charlie found that, sometimes, the best thing to do with someone who had Dimitri’s countenance was to act as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Sure, the boy’s anxiety radiated off of him in waves so intense it almost made Charlie uneasy himself, but if he acted as if nothing was wrong, eventually, Dimitri would believe it. 

“Oh, I see. Big shoes to fill? Me, personally, I was the first Charles. Didn’t quite fit that name, though, do I look like a Charles to you?” He asked, an amused glint in his eyes. 

It was true, even Gabriele called him Lie. Rie and Lie, they were, and they were the only two who ever referred to each other in that way. Subsequently, though no one ever had, no one was ever allowed to call him that. 

Charlie’s tactic was working, and Dimitri found it increasingly easier to talk to the man. For him, he would prefer that nothing be addressed at all; a real fan of ignoring your problems until they go away. It worked so well, in fact, that he laughed a little at the question. 

      “You’re definitely not a Chuck, that’s all I know.” 

He shrugged, and breathed through his lingering smile until it faded just a little, and he remembered how they had begun talking in the first place. He blinked it away as best as he could, and continued talking to move past the unwelcome thought. 

     “As for the shoes... Not any more, I suppose.”

There were no shoes to fill at all, now that his parents thought him to be dead. While most of that was unsettling, a small part was a comfort, and he held onto that.

[fridaymichaels-blog]

( leah-hawthorne. )

She didn’t think West Hollow was typically the type of town one returned to once they left. Small town syndrome normally had people clamoring to get out, not get in. But then this town wasn’t exactly normal. He looked a few years younger than her, probably not in her grade in school, but she found herself wishing he looked familiar. She ghosted her way through this town so intent on staying out of the way that sometimes she felt like she never got to know the people around her.

“Well welcome home,” she offered with a smile. “I’m sure you’ve found not a whole lot has changed. I mean … the sign for Talbot’s got a font change …but other than that every landmark has remained stubbornly in place since the day I moved here as a teen.”

Dimitri decided, just then, that he liked her ---friendly, helpful, and seemingly normal, there wasn’t much else he looked for nor admired in a person. That decision, when made consciously as it was then, made him feel a little easier around her. His guard was still up, acutely aware of just how little he could tell her, but it made it much easier to navigate the minefield that was talking about his life. 

      “Thank you.”

 He smiled, more genuinely than any time before, and let out a sigh. Shoving his hands into his pockets and riaisng his shoulders in a large shrug, he gave a quick look around them. Not much to see, but it was horribly familiar. 

      “It’s nice, actually... that everything’s the same. Comforting.”

[fridaymichaels-blog]

( nova-manning. )

Why was he here? That was what Nova wanted to know. He oozed discomfort, rigid in his seat and captivated by his glass. If he’d come in to score drugs he would already be gone, if he’d come in to score a chick he didn’t have a chance in hell, and really she couldn’t thick of any other reason he’d step foot in the place. Certainly not for fun.

Grandpa’s name. Hmm, so a tradition thing, maybe not so linked to his species considering the short time span. “That’s cute.” She hums softly. “I like old fashioned names.” Despite her own being something punchy, modern. That had been her mothers’ doing, she had some fanciful obsession with stars.

“You don’t have to pretend you like it here for my sake.” Nova smiled, for a second almost taking pity on him. “But I’ll take that as a compliment I guess- what brought you here then?”

Not for fun, no ---he was on a mision. One that had, by now, failed. Even if Mona were there, he couldn’t hang around much longer now that he’d had this much attention brought to him. He wanted to lay low ---this was not laying low. 

She smiled, and whether or not he meant it, Dimitri took it and held onto it as some form of comfort in this place that made him so uneasy. If he’d gone with Mona, back in the day, it would have bearable. But this was... almost torture. 

      “I was, uh, looking for a friend, actually... But she’s not here, I guess.”

[fridaymichaels-blog]

( bloodsbeauty. )

“Oh, so you were a hunter in your past life? Excellent,” Adalene remarked, mulling over the new information silently. There was a good chance that despite being able to put a bullet in an animal’s skull, the younger vampire would have trouble using his teeth and hands to take one down. She’d need to prepare for something to go wrong, such as the deer escaping and running into a human who’d wonder what kind of beast would cause that much damage. 

“This should be a cake walk then,” she added, tugging him around a corner and down yet another alley. It didn’t take them very long to reach the street where she’d parked her car, but she paused just before they actually left the safety of the alleyway. “You have two options: you can get in my car and let me take you hunting, or you can go to the forest yourself and grab something to eat. What’s your pick?”

Dimitri couldn’t help but feel as if her words were disinegnuous, whether they were or not. She was right, of course, and he would still struggle with the kill, at least internally. For god’s sake, he had struggled with the pigeons; with the vial of blood she practically spoon-fed him. He was troubled, and most of the trouble came from this new lifestyle ---but he was also hungry, and that part of him was winning. He feared it always would. 

      “I’ll ---I’ll go with you, obviously.” 

He had meant it to sound grateful, but it came out a little more like snarky. For him, it was indeed obvious that he would take her help ---what other option did he have?

[fridaymichaels-blog]

( grinlikecheshire. )

He couldn’t help the grimace that appeared on his face as he told him all he needed to know about his living conditions. Again, it was terribly reminiscent of his own time as a young vampire, living in less than savoury locations. His grimace deepened as he realized, without Augustus, he never would’ve left. In fact, without Augustus, Charlie would probably be dead. But he’d much rather avoid thinking about that now, so he skillfully changed his expression back into one that would appear more pleasant. 

“Charlie,” he said simply, “I happen to know where that is, actually, so I suppose I can’t really say that I’m new to West Hollow anymore,” he joked. 

There was a deeper meaning to this, but it wasn’t obvious in the slightest. Charlie had been in West Hollow for nearly a year, now, and he was beginning to read into signs that he wasn’t welcome. Signs placed up by Augustus, but still. He had made worthwhile friends here, ones he hadn’t expected, and they were beginning to sniff around his past and the place he lived in a little too closely for comfort. He couldn’t afford to stay here much longer. 

“Dimitri’s a great name. Russian, I’m guessing?”

Dimitri found himself easing into conversation with Charlie, slowly but surely. The man’s demeanour was welcoming, calming even, despite being a near-stranger. He couldn’t say he was completely unfamiliar, as they seemed to share a certain... illness. Uncommon as it was, it gave them common ground. It felt nice, not to be alone. 

He nodded, remembering his father. He was a Russian Jew, his family before him fought in the second world war ---and he acted like it. Stern and stoic, not one for affection or frivolities, like the art that Dimitri so wanted to pursue. His mother, also Jewish, was far kinder. 

      “Yeah, it is. My grandpa’s name was Dimitri, so... Naturally...” 

He gestured to himself, still uneasy and a little hungry, but falling into step with Charlie’s calm.

[fridaymichaels-blog]

( axgustvs. )

Augustus decided to put a pin, for now, in the discussion of who he was trying to meet at his paper. He did know exactly who Desi was, but there were more pressing things to worry about. He nodded at Dimitri and held up his hand to indicate that he should wait there. Then he turned and walked a few feet away, as if that would prevent the boy from hearing. “Charlie?” he said into the phone. “Have a minute to chat?”

He hung up much, much angrier. Fuming, Augustus stood in front of the newborn vampire. “I’m taking you to Charlie’s apartment. Let’s go, my car is parked a few blocks over.” He turned the boy around and placed a hand on his back to urge him forward as he started to march down the street. “And I’m supposed to ask your permission to take you. Are you coming willingly?”

Dimitri didn’t have it in him to protest, and stood quietly as the other man spoke on the phone. He heard a few things that caught his attention ---namely, the word ‘kidnapping’ tossed around a few times. His mouth was pressed into a thing, nervous line while he waited, hands folded in front of him. He fidgeted, playing with his fingers and staring down at them in an attempt to focus on something other than whatever the men on the phone were saying. His head shot up when he was spoken to, and suddenly, before he had time to protest or agree, he was being guided down the street. 

      “No, no ---I mean yes! I’m... coming willingly. Yes.”

[fridaymichaels-blog]

( leah-hawthorne. )

“Oh, yeah, I do that sometimes, I’m sorry. Habit bred from a combo of being quiet and learning to move real fast around the hospital.” Leah shifted from one foot to the other, gaze darting to the sidewalk for a moment. “I get it though. I get jumpy when I work a double.”

“Nice to meet you.” She smiled when he gave his name, committing it to memory with a small nod of her head. “Next time I share the sidewalk with you I promise to stomp or hum an embarrassingly loud tune so you know I’m coming. Are you new to town? It’s not the smallest but small enough that you start to recognize the majority of faces.”

Interesting tendency, he thought. Sneaking up, catching people off guard ---that was something he imagined he was likely to start doing, now that he was... what he was. He couldn’t even say it in his head, and had no idea how he planned to tell Mona, if he ever chose to. 

Dimitri’s mouth pressed into a line when she asked if he was new to town, never certain of how to answer such a question. Yes, West Hollow is awfully strange, isn’t it? Where’s the nearest blood bank? Or no, I actually nearly died, but someone turned me into a vampire and now I’m back! Just headed to the forest for a snack. He settled on something a lot less frightening, and a little less loaded.

      “No, actually, I grew up here. Just coming back after being away at school for a while.”

[fridaymichaels-blog]

✦

✦ - a drabble about my muse from the perspective of… someone my muse admires.

     “I know I’m just a high school art teacher, but that boy has something special. Anybody could have seen it.”

Mrs. Humphrey smiled as she looked back on the classes she had with Dimitri, always pleased and surprised by the work he came up with. Often, she saw the same girl feature in his work —if it wasn’t all of her, it was her eyes. Unmistakable, the way he drew them; beautiful but sad. Her smile faded into a frown, and she blinked to pull herself from her thoughts.

     “It’s horrible, what happened to him. He was always so… gentle, you know? It’s hard to think of him fighting a war, but—”

She stopped herself, and shook her head.

     “He will be missed.”

[fridaymichaels-blog]

( bloodsbeauty. )

How the young vampire had lasted this long, Adalene would never know. It was a wonder he wasn’t wreaking havoc in an attempt to quench his thirst, but maybe he would’ve lunged at some random human if Adalene hadn’t been there to intercept him.

“So what, you’d rather go tackle a human and suck their blood instead?” She countered, leading him down a nearby alley. “Look, I’m willing to help you out here so you don’t attract unwanted attention, alright?” If Catherine, or even Josie, heard of an untrained vampire freshly turned and not playing by the rules, it’d be an entirely different mess. “We’re going to head out to the forest, I’ll wound a deer for you, and then you can make the final blow. Deal? Or are you going to cry and start bawling over Bambi’s corpse?”

Dimitri’s greatest fear was that he would have done just that. He didn’t know how to control himself, any more. In the year in between Somalia and West Hollow, he worked the night shift not only because of the sun, but because there was no one else around to put in danger. He hunted every day, but only for small things, things to barely tide him over. At her question, he shook his head and blurted out a ‘no’ as they rounded the corner into an alley. 

He appreciated her help, but the thought of his father rose into his head ---their hunting trips, always ending with an upset Dimitri. In the beginning, he did cry, but with his father’s disapproval he learned to at least hide his tears. It would never be somethig he preferred, but seeing the horrors of war made the death of a deer feel like an insignificant loss. 

      “I’m not going to cry... I used to go hunting.”

[fridaymichaels-blog]

( nova-manning. )

She hopped onto a stool as their drinks arrived, shooting a charming smile at the server who’d remembered she liked yellow straws.(Felt like drinking out of a sunshine tube, what about it?) “Dimitri.” She repeated, one eyebrow quirking up “that’s quite an old fashioned name, is it a family name or are your parents just trying to be retro?” Or was he old enough that it had been fashionable at the time of his birth, that was what she really wanted to ask.

“Its no problem, I like to make sure people don’t leave Alastor with a negative impression if I can help it.” She shrugged, sipping her drink. “Plus I get lonely.” She joked with a little laugh.

Dimitri used the glass as something to hold onto, to fidget with, to keep his nerves down. He was always nervous, but this place only served to make it worse. He was entirely out of his comfort zone, and made little effort to hide it. A laugh forced its way out of him, slightly awkward and perhaps too loud. He nodded. 

      “It was my grandpa’s name.” 

He took a sip of his cola, and his brows raised at the mention of a bad impression. 

      “Well, I mean... This isn’t really my, uh, my kind of place to begin with, but... It’s not the worst.”

[fridaymichaels-blog]

“I wish I could just make a wish and become a better person.” ((past))

Friday sighed, and leaned over to bump shoulders with Mona. He stayed there and let his head fall against hers, his hand moving to grab her own and force it to relax into his palm, itnto his fingers, until their hands were intertwined. It was slow, like ice melting into water, allowing her to let go of her tension at her own pace. Once they were there, he gave her hand a squeeze and held it tight as he spoke to her. 

      “You’re good enough.” 

He smiled, though where his head was, there was no way for her to see it. His eyes were sad, however, as they always were when Mona spoke lowly of herself. She was everything to him, his everything, and no matter how she saw herself, he would see her as the very centre of his world. No matter where he went, he would always come back. If not for his mother, or the familiarity of this town, then for her. 

      “You’re good enough, for me.”

[fridaymichaels-blog]

“I guess I’ve just never been a trustworthy person.”

Dimitri’s brows furrowed at the other man’s words. He didn’t beleive it, not with the Augustus that he had seen. Perhaps another version of him —the one he saw peeking through the first time they had met, or when resentment stained his words when he spoke to Charlie… But the man who offered him comfort when he needed it and made him believe, if only for a moment, that this life was not a curse —he had to be trusted. Didn’t he? Dimitri, at least, would but his faith in the man. Even if he didn’t want it. 

      “I… don’t believe that.” 

He was the anxious one, the one on the brink of tears at any given moment, if only someone were there to give him a shove. Eternally uncertain and worried he had done the wrong thing, said the wrong thing, Dimitri was not used to offering comfort, himself. Unless it was to Mona. He wasn’t providing comfort here, though; that didn’t seem like something Augustus would want, nor something Dimtiri believed he needed nor would try to offer him. He was just being honest. 

      “I might be a child, or an idiot, or whatever you want to call me, but, um… I just don’t.”

[grinlikecheshire-blog]

vampire dads

Characters: Augustus, Charlie & Dimitri  Location: Charlie’s condo Summary: Augustus and Charlie try their hands at parenting; Dimitri is overwhelmed, tries (and fails) not to eavesdrop.  Mentioned: Marin (briefly), Monday, Adalene, Catherine & Josie (briefly)

Keep reading