Title: First Priority
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Josef Kostan/Mick St. John
Fandom: Moonlight
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,540
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Josef Kostan or Mick St. John, unfortunately. Please do not sue.

***

Mick sighed softly as he made his way up to Josef's penthouse, looking at his watch. No doubt his boyfriend was going to be a little annoyed; he was nearly two hours late. But he'd had a break in a case, and he'd had to follow it.

Josef would understand that -- at least, Mick hoped he would. He knew that Josef had a tendency to get lonely, and the last thing he wanted was to walk into the apartment and see a horde of slutty women there from an escort service.

He looked up impatiently at the numbers on the elevator, willing it to go faster. All he wanted right now was to get into Josef's apartment, apologize to him for being late, and spend what was left of the night -- and probably a good deal of the day -- in bed with him.

Well, that was his plan, anyway. Hopefully, Josef wouldn't be so annoyed at his being late that he'd have changed the locks on the penthouse doors. Mick sighed, wishing that he'd just taken the stairs. With his vampiric speed, it would have been quicker.

Finally, the elevator stopped, and the doors slid smoothly open. He stepped out and walked quickly down the hall to Josef's apartment, pulling out his key card and hoping that it would work. He breathed a sigh of relief when it did and he pushed the door open.

Entering the apartment, he closed the door behind him and kicked off his shoes. He wanted to make his way into the place silently, though Josef would know that he was here. A four-hundred-year-old vampire could sense his presence easily.

Mick almost wanted to check the bedroom first, hoping that Josef might be waiting for him there -- but he decided to head for the large living room instead. More than likely, Josef was sitting there, sipping a glass of blood and checking his watch.

As he entered the living room, his eyes went to the comfortable chair that Josef usually favored, then to the couch. He was surprised to see that his boyfriend wasn't there -- until his eyes were drawn to the large picture window.

Josef was standing in front of the window, looking out at the city, so still that he almost looked like a pale marble statue. It didn't surprise Mick to see him standing there -- but he was surprised to see that the other man was stark naked.

The first thought that jumped into his mind was that Josef had been with a woman -- and that was why he'd removed his clothes. Even though he could sense no one else in the apartment, Josef would have been with someone earlier.

Mick dismissed the thought from his mind as quickly as it formed. Josef hadn't had time for a woman to get here, make love to her, and then send her away before Mick walked in the door. And he hadn't known what time Mick would actually get here.

No, he couldn't have been with someone else. Then why was he naked? Had he just gotten out of the shower? Or was he trying to send Mick a message about what he wanted? That wouldn't be surprising; Josef was a surprisingly sensual man.

He would never have guessed that fact about his boyfriend if Josef hadn't proved just how sensual he could be once they'd become lovers. He had always thought that the other vampire came off as .... well, cold and invulnerable.

But there was a different side to Josef once he let down those walls he hid behind -- a vulnerable, needy side that hardly anyone ever saw. In fact, Mick was fairly sure that he was the only one who'd seen that side of Josef Kostan for more than fifty years.

Sarah might have seen it, of course. But with her, Josef would have been very different from the way he was with Mick. After all, he dealt with women differently; he was something of a ladies' man, or he had been until he and Mick had become lovers.

Mick had no doubt that Josef was faithful to him. He'd shown no interest in women since the two of them had become intimate; and he wasn't the type of person to flit from one lover to another when his emotions were involved.

No, he was sure that Josef was physically and emotionally faithful to him. So the only reason that his boyfriend could be naked in his living room was that he'd been waiting for Mick -- and that he'd expected his lover to be here already.

Well, he was here now, Mick told himself, hoping that Josef wouldn't be angry at him for being so late. He had wanted to spend more of the night with his boyfriend, but surely Josef would understand that there were times when his job took priority.

Moving across the room to where Josef stood, Mick took a moment to admire Josef's slender, pale body before he embraced the other man. He'd never seen any sight so beautiful -- unless it was that body lying back against the midnight blue silk sheets of Josef's bed, waiting for him.

Stepping closer, he wrapped his arms around Josef's waist, drawing the other man back against him and pressing his lips to his boyfriend's hair. "Hey," he whispered, his voice soft and husky. "I'm sorry I"m late. I got a break in the case."

Josef nodded, closing his eyes as he leaned back against Mick's broad chest. "I figured it was something like that. But did you forget how to use a cell phone? You could've called to let me know you were going to be late."

Mick sighed, hoping that this wasn't going to degenerate into an argument. "I didn't think it would take so long. I thought it'd be twenty minutes, a half hour, tops. But it got complicated, and I didn't realize how long it had taken until I got here."

"I understand," Josef told him, the word ending on a sigh. "There are times when I don't come first. I get that, Mick. I don't expect to be your top priority all the time. Just tell me when something like this comes up, okay? I worry about you."

"You don't have to," Mick murmured, feeling contrite. He really should have called Josef, at least left him a message. "You taught me how to take care of myself. I'm not the fledgling vampire that you have to keep under your wing. Not any more."

"I know. But I can't help worrying. You're a lot younger than me, you know," Josef said with a soft laugh. Mick couldn't help laughing along with him; if they were still their actual human ages, Josef would only be a few years younger than he himself was.

He'd been over thirty when he was turned; Josef, barely twenty-seven. He looked so much younger than he was; everything about his appearance was deceptive. No one would guess that this was a man with over four hundred years behind him.

"I get lonely, Mick," Josef continued, his voice barely above a whisper. "And then I start thinking -- what if you decide to leave me? What if you don't want a four-hundred-year-old man for a lover any more? And I get scared. I start thinking things I shouldn't."

"Don't ever think I'm going to get tired of you, or not want you," Mick told him, his arms tightening around Josef's slender waist. "That's not in the cards, babe. I'm the faithful type. I'll stick around. And we've got a lot of centuries ahead of us to be together."

"I understand that there are priorities," Josef said, sighing again. "I just get worried when I'm not the first one, you know? I'm .... not used to opening my heart to anybody the way I have to you. That makes me vulnerable, and it scares me. I'll try not to freak out about it, though."

Mick's throat tightened at Josef's words; he knew how hard it was for his boyfriend to admit to having any kind of vulnerability. Josef had changed since they'd been together; he'd become softer, more emotional, and seeing that side of him had only made Mick fall more deeply in love.

"Thanks for understanding," Mick whispered, moving his hands down Josef's bare skin to rest on his narrow hips. He could feel his own desire rising; it would be a miracle if they made it to the bedroom and he didn't simply take Josef here on the couch.

Josef turned around in his embrace, draping his arms over Mick's shoulders and flashing him that insouciant grin that Mick had grown to love. "Come on. Let's go to bed," he said softly, taking Mick's hand as he stepped away from his lover and headed towards the bedroom.

***