Work Text:
High Society Christmas
by Sam-Tony
With the clink of fine china and the murmur of voices rising and falling as he made his way through the stately, overly perfumed crowd of all manor of government officials, Henry Fitzroy, bastard son of King Henry VIII was transported centuries back in time to his father's court. The heavy, cloying scents, the sheen of silk gowns, the glitter of light off the multitude of jewels on display...
...the callous backstabbing going on under the layers of polite conversation. Hundreds of years and still politics hadn't changed.
Though Congresswoman Callen's dress would make a great evil villain's robes. Too much design and not nearly enough fabric for polite company. Though that shade of green really did bring out her...eyes.
Grinning behind a very dry and very expensive glass of champagne, Henry allowed his eyes to scan the crowd, vampire senses more than capable of cutting through the room as he searched for the man of the hour and the reason they were all there. Of course this was a Christmas party, but the Mayor was nothing if not pragmatic.
Why spend money on an additional celebration to honor the man who saved your daughter's life from ruthless kidnappers when a party to honor the savior of Man had already been planned? Exalting the exploits of a hero police detective was always a great way to ensure the police union was in your pocket, but saving taxpayer money while doing so? You kill two birds with one stone.
The irony of hosting a Christmas party on the Winter Solstice was not lost on Henry, though far be it for the Mayor to try and steal well respected, voting members of the community from their families on Christmas Eve; even for the ritualistic sacrifice of said police detective on the altar of election year politics.
Speaking of the sacrificial lamb being lead to the slaughter, Henry's eyes picked Detective Sergeant Michael Celluci out of the crowd as he made his way across the room to where Henry stood, safely out of the way beside a rather large planter. A brief, idle thought that Mike looked good enough to eat in the tuxedo, rented or not, made him smile and lick his lips, feeling the canines itching to sink back into the delicious skin.
Catching the amusement in the blue eyes now holding his, Henry felt the frustration and exasperation that came with Mike's avoidance of formal affairs resonating through their bond. Of course the eternally, incessantly suggestive gratitude of the Mayor's daughter might have something to do with tonight's added irritation. As a seventeen year old who had never heard the word 'no' fall from doting daddy's lips, Miss Amelia was nothing if not persistent.
Talking a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, his own eyes scanning the crowd for his pursuer under the cover of taking a sip, the detective asked, "Remind me again why I don't just bust my way out of this joint and run for the hills?"
"The Mayor wanted to thank you personally for saving his darling daughter's life," Henry obligingly reminded him. "What's the matter, Mike? Aren't you glad you saved the lovely Miss Amelia from murder and mayhem?"
"No," Mike muttered low into his glass, nodding politely to the social elite passing them by on their slow, circular rounds. "Can I take it back?"
"And how would you propose to accomplish such a feat, Detective?"
"Oh I don't know. Time travel?"
Henry chuckled at the dry offer, one eyebrow raised in speculation. "I didn't know that was one of your Kryptonian abilities. You wouldn't be holding out on me, would you?"
Mike only snorted. "I wish. And no - well, yes," Mike dropped his voice well into vampiric hearing range, low enough not to be overheard by anyone else. "All the things I can't do to you here? Just wait until I get you home."
"No stealing me away to a conveniently secluded corner somewhere to have your wicked way with me then?" He chuckled evilly.
The low groan was music to his ears. Serve the man right for stirring him up knowing they were an hour if not much more away from making their escape back to Henry's penthouse apartment where he could hold him to that low promise. Political parties could go one forever; Henry remembered that distressing fact all too well.
"You've been drawing too many romance novels, Fitzroy," Mike chuckled.
"Or maybe I've been watching her sniffing around you all night and the vampire wants to stake his claim," Henry countered, noting and acknowledging the wave of bloodlust that came from the beast within at the admission. A wave he easily reigned in, thanks to centuries of long practice.
The fact that Mike was his and his alone helped, as did the satisfying if hurried feeding Mike had offered earlier. "Ever think of that?"
"In fact, I have," Mike smiled, the light reaching the blue eyes as he moved a little closer, taking his hand under cover of a friendly handshake. "You want me, Henry?" Mike challenged as he prepared to turn away. "Find me. Before she does."
With that Mike was gone, moving back through the crowd toward the balconies and the vast acreage of forest outside.
In his hand lay the little blue Kryptonite necklace that Mike wore under his shirt, allowing the alien to work at a purely human level. Without it Mike was incredibly strong, fast, and invulnerable to almost anything, even Henry himself; he could be anywhere amongst those trees by now.
*Find me.*
Spotting the Mayor's daughter through the crowd, obviously searching for Mike, Henry felt the low growl bubble up through the civilized mask; the beast rumbling to the surface at the guttersnipe's persistent chasing after his mate. Only the wave of belonging that surged along their bond, bringing with it a direction if not an actual location kept Henry from cornering the child in a dark nook and scaring the crap out of her.
*It's not her you want, Henry. Find me.*
Another wave, this one conveying lust and impatience as well as love, and Henry was turning on his heel, tucking the gold chain with its little stone in the pocket of his own tux.
Stalking through the fringe of the party until he was outside the double doors, a quick check to make sure he wasn't being watched and wouldn't be missed, and Henry was over the second story rail and crouching on the damp grass outside. Sharp eyes open to the night, Henry caught the scent of his mate in the cold air and let the vampire loose.
Find his mate, place the necklace around his neck and mark the once-more vulnerable body in as many ways as possible while the Mayor's guests dined on oblivious inside; that was the game.
Running through the trees, following Mike by the gentle pull as well as scent, Henry easily moved deeper into the forests around Toronto; the wild, feral smile open and eager on his lips.
Let the hunt begin.
End