Title: Standing in the Shadows
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Josef Kostan/Mick St. John
Fandom: Moonlight
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 909
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.

***

Los Angeles, 1955

Josef raised his glass to his lips, pretending to take a sip of the amber liquid. His eyes roamed indifferently over the dance floor, past the figures that spun and twirled past each other, his gaze fixating on the one person who was capable of commanding his attention.

As usual, he was with her. Talking, laughing, looking at her as though she was the only person in the room. And for him, she probably was.

Josef's stomach twisted as though someone had driven a knife into his guts, twisting it with an expert flick of the wrist to remove everything inside him and leave him hollow, empty. He hated that feeling; he'd never dealt with it before, not in over four hundred years.

Why should he start to feel this way now, over a human who had never taken any notice of him as anything other than a friend? It was crazy. Insane. Not to mention hopeless.

All right, so maybe he was crazy. Given how he'd spent his last night as a human in 1626, he shouldn't have these feelings. He should turn away from them in horror and disgust, pushing away those memories that inevitably came rushing to the surface.

But he couldn't. The memories would fade with time; they were already a little blurry around the edges. But the desire only grew sharper and more detailed with every day that passed, with every time he watched the two of them together.

He wanted Mick St. John to look at him like that.

He wanted Mick to smile at him, to laugh with him, to slide an arm around his waist and pull him close. He wanted that look on Mick's face to be for him, that look that spoke of pride and possessiveness and a happiness that came from the heart.

It was wasted on Coraline, Josef thought in disgust. She might think that she loved Mick, but give her a few decades, and she would get tired of him as he aged.

She would never turn him. She was too selfish, too protective of who and what she was. She might use Mick as a fling, but that initial desire that she had for him would turn to ashes -- and Mick would be left with nothing more than bitter memories.

Josef didn't want to see that happen. He wanted to be the one that aroused that desire in Mick, instead of always being relegated to standing in the shadows, following Mick with his gaze and never quite being able to bring himself to express how he felt.

What if Coraline did turn Mick? Josef's heart thumped painfully against his ribs at the thought; if Mick was one of them, everything would change.

If Mick was turned, then he would need a mentor. Coraline might be his sire, but he would need more than that. She wasn't stable enough to be everything that Mick needed; and then Josef could step in and offer Mick what he needed.

He closed his eyes, allowing himself to savor that fantasy for a few brief seconds.

No. It wasn't going to turn out that way; there had been a slight flash of the future in his mind, a future that Josef wanted to recoil from. He'd seen flames, felt anger and fear -- and he didn't want to know which side of those emotions Mick was on.

That had always been one of the abilities that came with being a vampire that he didn't care for. He didn't want to know what the future would hold, for himself or for anyone else.

Especially when he was sure that future wouldn't be with Mick.

Mick didn't want a future with him, he told himself. Mick wanted to be with Coraline; he thought that he was in love, but he didn't know what the woman he had such a fatal passion for really was. Given a choice, he would choose her -- and it would be the wrong choice.

But he couldn't stop it, Josef thought with a sigh. All he could do was stand in the shadows, always on the outskirts of Mick's life, nothing more than a friend. He could watch and wait, and hold on to the hope that one day, things might change.

And if they did change, he would be there. He'd emerge from the shadows and hold out a hand, without the slightest doubt that it would be accepted.

Josef set the untouched drink down on a nearby table, stepping forward as his glance caught and held Mick's. This was no time to be standing in the shadows, he told himself firmly. If he wanted this man, he would have to do battle for him.

Oh yes, he wanted Mick St. John. And he would do his best to get what he wanted, even if it might mean resorting to some underhandedness. After all, he'd never been one to deny himself anything, as anyone who knew him could vouch for.

And he always got what he wanted.

***