Joshua watched from the mouth of the alley as Mingyu mauled his newest victim.

Mingyu had started the night well, had probably chosen the most persuadable human in the nightclub. It'd taken very little time to be charmed out the club, had eagerly followed Mingyu into the alley.

And now Mingyu was making a mess of it.

Joshua winced as he heard something crack -- he couldn't see what was going on in the alley too well, Mingyu was a flurry of movement. Joshua hoped Mingyu hadn't gone into a feeding frenzy; it would be hard work to clean up.

The human's sounds stopped, there was a gurgling, and the body went limp. Mingyu fell into a crouch, his head over the body. Joshua could hear him slurping up the blood.

Joshua wrinkled his nose and stepped into the alley. "What am I going to tell the Council this time?" he demanded.

"I'll hide the body properly." A mouthful of blood spilled out of Mingyu's mouth, darkening the body's white shirt.

Joshua hummed. "Right, like last time? And the time before that. This club's a popular hunting ground, the Council are going to notice a human disappearing. You've had enough incidents they're going to accuse you immediately."

Mingyu whined. "I'm sorry, I'm just always so hungry! I can't help it."

Joshua sighed. He couldn't help but place some of the blame on himself, he was supposed to be Mingyu's mentor. "Just feed, I'll help you clean up after. We can talk about this when we get home."

Mingyu grinned, his fangs glinting even in the lack of light, and lifted up the body's arm. It was not connected to the corpse. "Do you want to feed? This one's fairly sober."

Joshua shook his head. "You need it more than I do, I'm much older than you are. Besides, I prefer blood when it's still coursing through the veins."

Mingyu made a face at Joshua's jibe, then returned to feeding.

Joshua looked about the alley while he waited for his charge to finish, trying to assess the damage. There was blood on the walls and ground, and what looked to be a couple of teeth at the body's feet.

"How do you still make such a mess?" Joshua muttered to himself, knowing full well Mingyu would be able to hear him.

 

Joshua turned the TV on, shrugged off his jacket, and sat down on the couch. He listened to Mingyu cleaning up in the bathroom, scrubbing his hands and face. Once the water shut off Mingyu darted to their bedroom, quickly emerging in the lounge room in a pair of pyjama bottoms. He pulled a shirt over his head and took a seat next to Joshua.

Joshua sighed, placing a tender hand on the back of Mingyu's neck. "What am I going to do about you?"

Mingyu's posture slouched, his shoulders rolling forward. "I'm sorry. I'll try harder."

Joshua shook his head, his hand playing with the hair at Mingyu's nape.

"I know." Joshua couldn't say it was alright, it wasn't. Mingyu wasn't newly turned anymore, the Council wouldn't give him leeway now. He was expected to abide by the rules.

Joshua leaned his head on Mingyu's shoulder. He could feel it rising and falling, Mingyu still in the habit of breathing as heavily as most humans. "Maybe we shouldn't leave it so long between feedings. If you drink more often you might not --"

Mingyu's shoulder tensed under Joshua's head. "It wasn't a feeding frenzy, I didn't attack you when you got closer." Mingyu's voice was tight.

"I know, you aren't the first newly turned I've found myself mentor to. I meant you might be able to restrain yourself better if you feed more often."

Mingyu stiffened, so slightly Joshua would've missed it if he weren't so finely attuned to him. Joshua waited for Mingyu to say something. When it became obvious he wasn't going to, Joshua continued. "It's worth a try. Maybe we should go to the Council, too, get you assessed."

Joshua's mind started spinning. He hadn't meant to say it, but maybe it was a good idea. See if Mingyu had reasons he fed as savagely as he did. Some felt the effects of turning longer than others did, maybe Mingyu was a case like that.

"Why?" Mingyu groaned. "So the old guys can find out I'm a terrible vamp and kill me?"

Joshua lifted his head off Mingyu's shoulder, leveling his gaze. "Would I suggest anything to get you killed?" Mingyu shook his head. "If you don't want to do it, we won't. It was just a suggestion as your mentor."

Instantly, Mingyu straightened. He shifted away from Joshua, as far to the arm of the couch as he could. "Sorry, I didn't realise we were discussing it in the context of mentor and newly turned."

Joshua chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "Oh, you're too cute. It's an informal discussion, yeah?" He reached out and grabbed one of Mingyu's hands, raising it to his lips. Mingyu relaxed into the couch, nodding.

"I really think we should increase how often we go out. It would be possible to supplement some of your feedings on me, but I don't think that would be a good idea."

Mingyu looked up through his lashes, blushing. "That's a real thing?"

Joshua nodded. "It would mean I'd have to drink a little more often, but I really don't think it would be ideal. It's a possibility -- if all else fails."

"Why?"

"Judging by your blush, you already know."

Mingyu shook his head. "All I know is from bad vamp books."

Joshua smiled to himself, he knew the type. It was amusing humans had romanticised the monstrous species he belonged to.

"Usually only the older of our kind feed off each other, the ones much older than myself. It can be quite scandalous for younger vampires to feed off of each other -- it's seen as an incredibly intimate act. Unless it's someone trying to get their newly turned to feed, then it's seen as feeding a baby."

Mingyu scowled, pulling his hand out of Joshua's grip. "You're picking on me." He crossed his arms.

Joshua shook his head. "Of course not. Everyone knows the nature of our relationship, nobody would see it as me feeding a baby." He placed a hand on Mingyu's thigh. "It would, however, be very scandalous. I'd been seen as taking advantage of a younger vampire, surely someone as freshly turned as yourself would want to explore all their opportunities."

Mingyu shifted, getting comfortable. His eyebrows furrowed. "But don't most vamps end up settling down with the one who turned them?"

Joshua chuckled. "But I'm not the one that changed you, just who the Council decided should teach you our ways after you were abandoned."

Mingyu pouted. "I wish you were the one that changed me. This would all be easier then."

Joshua resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Mingyu hadn't listened to him at all over the last few years. "The relationship between the two is usually rather intimate, yes. But there's almost always a more familial relationship than the type of intimacy we have. In society, at least. I don't know very much about those who live outside of society."

Mingyu nodded, leaning towards Joshua. "Can we continue this conversation later? I'm getting sleepy."

Joshua stifled his amusement. It was interesting that Mingyu still held onto so many human habits; vampires didn't need to sleep. Instead, he nodded and stood up. "C'mon, let's go cuddle. You can sleep."

 

--

 

The knocker was heavy in Joshua's grasp.

He'd been back to this house very few times in the years since he'd left. He could count them on one hand. And each return had been a sign of failure, that the one who'd turned him and trained him hadn't done so well enough. That somehow, even after being allowed to stay until well after he was no longer newly turned, there were still gaps in Joshua's knowledge.

Taking a deep breath, an unnecessary but calming habit he'd learned from his current charge still full of unnecessary human habits, Joshua slammed the knocker against the door.

He heard shuffling from inside his house. He withdrew his hand, took a moment to make sure his clothes were sitting properly, then clasped his hands in front of him.

Joshua saw an eye peering through the letter flap, then the door was thrown open.

"Joshua!" Seokmin greeted him, his smile as blinding as always. He reached out and touched Joshua's elbow. "Come in, come in!"

Joshua relaxed, smiling himself. Seokmin was easy, comfortable. There was no hierarchy between them -- they'd both been turned by the same man.

"Junghan's out at the moment, reckoned he might be a couple hours. You wanna watch some TV while you wait?" Seokmin walked Joshua through to the living room.

It was a much brighter room than it had been while Joshua was living there, the room full of creams and golds rather than the deep reds and black it had been.

"It looks nice," Joshua commented as he sat down.

Seokmin shrugged as he turned the TV on. "Make sure to tell Junghan that, he takes a lot of pride in his house -- well, you'd know. You were here first."

Joshua nodded. It was strange being back, but he had been the first. Unless Junghan had gotten himself a mate, Joshua would inherit it all if anything ever happened to Junghan.

"What's Junghan doing?"

"Something at the Council, I'm pretty sure," Seokmin answered dismissively as he clicked through the channels. "Where's Mingyu? Isn't he meant to follow you everywhere or something?"

Joshua ducked his head, he'd fed yesterday so the human blood was still rich enough for him to blush. "Shouldn't you be with Junghan?"

"Nah," Seokmin shook his head. "I'm not considered newly turned anymore."

"Neither is Mingyu. I left him at the apartment, Minghao's with him."

"Those arseholes didn't tell me they were meeting up!" Seokmin accused. He drew a hand up to his forehead. "Oh, the betrayal!"

Joshua chuckled. "Careful, you're picking up Junghan's theatrics."

Seokmin lowered his hand. "It's normal, isn't it? To pick up habits and traits of the vampire that turned you. Junghan's pretty much my vamp dad, isn't he?"

"Never say that again," Joshua cringed. "I refuse to think of Junghan as my father."

Seokmin shrugged dismissively. "You don't count as his kid; he's not that much older than you, right?"

Joshua nodded, leaving it at that. It was a touchy subject, not something he or Junghan liked talking about. It had been difficult to learn how to be a vampire from someone who hadn't quite figured it out themself. They'd made many mistakes.

Seokmin laid back in his chair, bringing his legs up over one of the arms. "How's Mingyu been going? I'm assuming you're not here just to chat with Junghan."

Joshua fixated his eyes on his feet. "He's still, uh, having issues. Taking longer to get used to things." He lifted his hands and slapped them back down on his thighs. He hated talking to people about Mingyu's shortcomings, it reflected badly on himself. "You can go over to mine and see Mingyu, if you want."

"Really?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm just waiting for Junghan. It's been a while since you last saw Mingyu, he said he missed you the other night. I can wait it out here without you."

Seokmin shot up and handed the TV remote to Joshua. He stopped dead when he reached the doorway. "Uh, Seungcheol's been around every Sunday night for the last month."

"He does this a couple times every decade. Thinks Junghan's finally ready to settle down and start a little coven. It's nothing new." Joshua waved it away lazily.

"Really?" Seokmin asked, visibly calmed.

Joshua nodded. "Go have some fun with your friends. Don't let Minghao try convince you and Mingyu you can both eat blood oranges, Jun's perfected the art of eating human food. He mentioned something about teaching Minghao."

Seokmin blanched. "Thanks for the warning."

Then Joshua was alone in Junghan's too big house. How he'd managed to afford such a nice, out of the way place Joshua would never understand. It was usually only the old ones that had anything near nice, old buildings. From since before human society had complicated itself.

 

Joshua was oddly engrossed in an episode of a weird cartoon he sometimes caught Mingyu watching (why were TV networks airing children's shows at three am?) when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't jump anymore," Junghan complained as he squeezed Joshua's shoulder.

"Oh, really? Poor you," Joshua deadpanned.

Junghan laughed, probably throwing his head back if Joshua knew him at all. Then, he lifted his hand from Joshua's shoulder and made his way to the couch Seokmin had been sitting on earlier.

"Has Seungcheol been around?"

Joshua shook his head. "Not tonight. Maybe he finally realised how fruitless his attempts at wooing you have been for the past century."

Junghan's lips pressed together in a thin line. "I sure hope not. I'll have to send him a gift tomorrow."

Joshua smirked.

"Don't give me that look, you know I've got to keep him under thumb. He's one of the more influential members of the Council. How am I supposed to sway them otherwise?" Junghan asked pointedly.

Joshua shifted, uncomfortable. Of course Junghan would know why Joshua was visiting.

"You at least cleaned up properly this time, didn't you?"

Joshua nodded, his head bowed.

"Good. This has to be the last time Mingyu bleeds them dry -- he isn't newly turned anymore. The Council say they're cracking down on those who might jeopardise us. I'm not sure how much I can do now."

"Mingyu still has many human habits, I'm concerned his turning might be a prolonged one."

Junghan shrugged. "It's rare, and Mingyu never seemed to have much natural aptitude. I don't what the one who turned him was thinking, the idiot."

 

--

 

Two figures, one teetering on heels, stumbled out of a nightclub and into the nearby alley.

Joshua grinned, it meant he could feed, too -- not just Mingyu. It had been a while.

He pushed off the facade of the shop across the mouth of the alley and crossed the street. He was salivating. The two humans were definitely drunk, possibly high, and while tainted blood wasn't the nicest tasting it would do the job fine. Quench the fire is in throat perfectly.

When he reached the mouth of the alley he heard a high pitched squeal and a snap -- not of breaking bones, but a heel. Mingyu must've gone for the easier target.

"What -- no! This is a dream!" The other human squeaked, shaking.

Joshua pitied the poor creature -- it was in denial. Mingyu, at the end of the alley with his mouth attached to its friend's neck. The friend frozen in fear. It was a sight straight out of a nightmare.

Joshua chuckled as he came up behind the poor thing. It jumped when he placed a hand on its shoulder.

"Hush, hush. It isn't painful. Your friend will be quite alright."

The human turned around, its eyes wides. "Really?"

Joshua nodded.

Of course, the other human would probably die -- Mingyu still hadn't learned self control, still drained his victims every time he fed -- but a human tasted better when it was calm. At least for Joshua.

The human nodded resolutely. "'Cause I'm dreaming."

"Oh no, this is very real. My kind has a kind of chemical in our fangs that make it painless, rather like a mosquito."

The human paled and turned back to face its friend. "It looks painful."

"I've been told it isn't. I guess you'll be able to tell me, soon enough."

Before the human could react, before their heartbeat could even speed up, Joshua grabbed their wrist and brought it to his mouth. He used one hand to smother their mouth, he didn't need them making noise. He'd be done before they could even pass out from lack of oxygen.

Joshua turned his attention to Mingyu as he drank, just in time to see Mingyu's human struggle. Without hesitation, Mingyu smashed his human's head against one of the alley walls.

Great. Joshua's human made a tiny noise in the back of their throat, and Joshua could sense the pure terror coming from the human in heavy waves.

"If you struggle the same thing will happen to you," Joshua warned. "I've been rather nice to you, so far. Close your eyes, I'm almost done."

Joshua's human nodded slowly, just as Mingyu stepped on his human's leg in his fervour. The crack echoed in the night. Mingyu seemed to notice the sound only briefly as he crouched down to bite the still conscious human.

Joshua let go of his human, shaking his head. He couldn't enjoy a single feed without Mingyu's bull.

"Thank you, you tasted quite nice. Please, enjoy the rest of your night." Joshua motioned for the human to leave. He should kill the human or take it on as a live in blood bank, but he had to deal with Mingyu before the Council showed up. "I'll try make sure your friend makes it to a hospital."

The human stood still, their gaze slipping past Joshua to Mingyu. "Sister," it corrected.

"I'm sorry. He's still not very good at self control, I shouldn't have lied. I'll do my best, however. The sooner you leave the sooner I can take care of him. I do ask you don't mention this to anyone, of course."

The human nodded. "Of course not." It swallowed, "I'll be leaving then."

Joshua watched the human leave the alley, heard its breathing speed up as it realised what had happened was real. Joshua should've brought that one to live with him, it had tasted so nice.

Drawing himself up to his full height, Joshua wiped away at the blood he could feel at the corner of his mouth.

"Mingyu," he called. "It's time to stop, you've had enough fun.

Mingyu sat up, something long and thin in his hands, and pouted. "But I'm still thirsty," he complained.

"You're always thirsty. You've already broken the poor human's leg, isn't that enough? Time to stop before you do any more damage."

Mingyu smiled sheepishly. "Uh --" he glanced down at the thing he was holding. "It might be a bit late for that?" He threw the object at the ground in front of Joshua's feet.

Joshua looked down, already knowing what to expect.

It was an arm, snapped off at just above the elbow.

Joshua grunted in disgust. Mingyu was old enough he shouldn't be pulling this anymore. The Council would be pissed.

" Gyu," Joshua kicked out at the arm. "You know the rules! How am I going to explain this to the Council? You're not newly turned anymore."

Mingyu rolled his head back to look up at Joshua. With a cocky grin, he wiped away some of the blood at the corner of his mouth. Completely ignoring the blood down his chin and soaking into his shirt.

Joshua wanted to scream. He didn't, though, because he had self control.

"Don't give me that smug look, you need to get yourself out of this mess. Junghan told me if I was connected to any more human deaths because of you he wouldn't even be able to persuade the Council to let me off."

Mingyu stood up, his face sullen when he looked down at Joshua. "Which means..."

"Yeah," Joshua nodded. "I told you, you need to cut this out and learn restraint."

Joshua wrinkled his nose when Mingyu took a step and he heard a splash. How Mingyu made such a mess when feeding was beyond Joshua, they were supposed to leave their clumsiness behind when they turned.

Joshua noticed Mingyu glance down, the taller man's fangs peeking between his lips.

Joshua held back a sigh. "Don't you dare, it's bad enough you made such a mess. I don't need the mortification of it going around that you lapped up a puddle of blood in a dirty alley."

Mingyu leaned against the wall he was closest to, his head tilted up to the night sky. "They'll kill you for this, won't they?"

"No. You're not recently turned anymore, you're considered responsible for your own actions. Considering all the others I've taught are law abiding and have restraint, you'll be seen as an anomaly. The fault will lay with you and whoever turned you."

Mingyu's adam's apple bobbed. "How will they deal with me?"

"As they see fit. I'll probably have to do it, and the Council will want to make sure it'll sever any ties we might have."

"They'll make you kill me."

Joshua nodded. "More than likely, yes."

Mingyu turned to Joshua, regret in his eyes. "I'm sorry I make such a bad vamp."

Joshua gave Mingyu a sad smile, stepping forward to plant a kiss on Mingyu's cheek. "Just help me clean this all up, the sun'll be out soon. If we do a proper job disposing of all this the Council might not even call us."

 

 

=============

A/N:

It's up to you what happens to Mingyu. I like to imagine that Junghan managed to influence the Council