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vocab_drabbles2023-07-02 11:13 pm
mxcatmoon) wrote in vocab_drabbles2023-07-02 11:13 pm
#055 Peregrinate, 068 Insouciant, 069 Stygian - Moonlight/Original - Still Waters
Title: Still Waters
Fandom: Original/Moonlight TV
Author: Cat Moon
Rating: PG
Words: 521
Characters: Patrick (OC), Shane (OC), Josef (Moonlight)
Summary: Even vampires occasionally ponder the meaning of life, although they don't always agree on what it is.
Notes: This fic marks the debut of a new OC I just created, Patrick, a 500-year-old vampire professor who spends his time frustratingly trying to correct humans on all the history they've gotten wrong.
1966 New York City:
"What do you want to be when you die?" asked Professor Patrick.
The blond man sitting across from him raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Isn't that supposed to be, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?'"
"Far too late for that. I mean, what kind of person do you want to go out as?" Prof quirked a curious eyebrow as he sipped his martini, stirred, not shaken.
"Hopefully, I won't have to worry about that for quite some time," his companion, a fellow vampire, answered with an amused smirk.
"Perhaps, but it isn't only humans who foolishly think they have forever. Even vampires never know if tomorrow will truly arrive."
"That's a bit too stygian for me," Shane responded, lazily stretching his long legs out before him as he slouched on the sofa.
"A being who must avoid sunlight complaining about darkness?"
"Hello darkness my old friend; I've come to talk with you again," Shane sang, his dismissive manner exuding insouciance, although he was quite capable of serious conversations when the mood struck. It just so happened it rarely did. Still waters ran deep, though. He was often underestimated but preferred it that way.
Professor Patrick shook his head in exasperation. "You peregrinate through this world, wandering to and fro, trying this and that and the other thing, but what do you hope to accomplish?"
"You speak as if I need a goal. Isn't the meaning in the journey, not the destination?"
"Everyone needs goals," Patrick insisted.
"Even the fool's errand you persist in, Pádraic?"
"It's true, I admit, I toil hopelessly to try and teach these humans real history rather than the garbage they read in books," he conceded. Having lived through five hundred centuries, the vampire had seen world events play out firsthand, and it rankled to see the inaccuracies humans were teaching each other.
Shane took a drink from his tall glass of Jack Daniels, shaking his head. "History was always written by the victors, nothing new there. You think you have it bad, have you taken a look at what passes for Viking history?!"
"Ah, but I have purpose. What legacy will you leave behind?"
"Smart vampires don't try to leave legacies," Josef Konstantin announced as he entered the room. "You should have learned that by now, Pádraic." He went over to the bar and poured two fingers of Macallan into a tumbler before joining Shane on the couch.
"Perhaps we're all foolish in our own ways," the professor suggested.
"I live for adventure, Josef lives for money and power, and you live for knowledge. None of us will ever convince the others of their position."
"But it is fun trying," Patrick admitted with a rueful smile.
"Amen to that," Josef agreed, holding his glass up in a toast.
"And you never know what the future has in store. Even our footloose friend over here may one day discover his legacy." Patrick nodded in Shane's direction as the other two laughed in amusement.
Many decades later, watching his newborn daughter sleeping in the cradle he built for her, Shane would think about irony.
And legacies.
THE END
Fandom: Original/Moonlight TV
Author: Cat Moon
Rating: PG
Words: 521
Characters: Patrick (OC), Shane (OC), Josef (Moonlight)
Summary: Even vampires occasionally ponder the meaning of life, although they don't always agree on what it is.
Notes: This fic marks the debut of a new OC I just created, Patrick, a 500-year-old vampire professor who spends his time frustratingly trying to correct humans on all the history they've gotten wrong.
1966 New York City:
"What do you want to be when you die?" asked Professor Patrick.
The blond man sitting across from him raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Isn't that supposed to be, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?'"
"Far too late for that. I mean, what kind of person do you want to go out as?" Prof quirked a curious eyebrow as he sipped his martini, stirred, not shaken.
"Hopefully, I won't have to worry about that for quite some time," his companion, a fellow vampire, answered with an amused smirk.
"Perhaps, but it isn't only humans who foolishly think they have forever. Even vampires never know if tomorrow will truly arrive."
"That's a bit too stygian for me," Shane responded, lazily stretching his long legs out before him as he slouched on the sofa.
"A being who must avoid sunlight complaining about darkness?"
"Hello darkness my old friend; I've come to talk with you again," Shane sang, his dismissive manner exuding insouciance, although he was quite capable of serious conversations when the mood struck. It just so happened it rarely did. Still waters ran deep, though. He was often underestimated but preferred it that way.
Professor Patrick shook his head in exasperation. "You peregrinate through this world, wandering to and fro, trying this and that and the other thing, but what do you hope to accomplish?"
"You speak as if I need a goal. Isn't the meaning in the journey, not the destination?"
"Everyone needs goals," Patrick insisted.
"Even the fool's errand you persist in, Pádraic?"
"It's true, I admit, I toil hopelessly to try and teach these humans real history rather than the garbage they read in books," he conceded. Having lived through five hundred centuries, the vampire had seen world events play out firsthand, and it rankled to see the inaccuracies humans were teaching each other.
Shane took a drink from his tall glass of Jack Daniels, shaking his head. "History was always written by the victors, nothing new there. You think you have it bad, have you taken a look at what passes for Viking history?!"
"Ah, but I have purpose. What legacy will you leave behind?"
"Smart vampires don't try to leave legacies," Josef Konstantin announced as he entered the room. "You should have learned that by now, Pádraic." He went over to the bar and poured two fingers of Macallan into a tumbler before joining Shane on the couch.
"Perhaps we're all foolish in our own ways," the professor suggested.
"I live for adventure, Josef lives for money and power, and you live for knowledge. None of us will ever convince the others of their position."
"But it is fun trying," Patrick admitted with a rueful smile.
"Amen to that," Josef agreed, holding his glass up in a toast.
"And you never know what the future has in store. Even our footloose friend over here may one day discover his legacy." Patrick nodded in Shane's direction as the other two laughed in amusement.
Many decades later, watching his newborn daughter sleeping in the cradle he built for her, Shane would think about irony.
And legacies.
THE END