Josef Kostan

⋆｡‧˚ʚ💋ɞ˚‧｡⋆   𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲   𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞

❝   i   can’t   believe   you   beat   me   at   rock,   paper,   scissors   three   times   in   a   row…   rematch.   ❞

❝   loser   has   to   buy   the   next   round   of   milkshakes,   deal?   ❞

❝   you   can’t   just   call   dibs   on   the   front   seat,   there   are   rules.   ❞

❝   if   you   eat   the   last   cookie,   i’m   never   forgiving   you.   ❞

❝   we   both   know   i’d   win   at   mini   golf,   don’t   even   try   me.   ❞

❝   why   does   it   feel   like   you’re   secretly   keeping   score   of   every   argument   we’ve   ever   had?   ❞

❝   i   will   trade   you   this   french   fry   for   literally   anything   on   your    plate.   ❞

❝   no,   you   can’t   just   make   up   rules   in   the   middle   of   the   game.   ❞

❝   this   was   supposed   to   be   a   study   session,   not   a   competition   to   see   who   gets   distracted   first.   ❞

❝   who   even   let   you   be   the   dj,   your   playlist   is   chaos.   ❞

❝   we’re   definitely   lost,   but   you   look   way   too   confident   holding   that   map.   ❞

❝   i   call   not   carrying   the   heavy   bag—i   carried   it   last   time.   ❞

❝   you’re   supposed   to   cheer   me   on,   not   laugh   when   i   miss.   ❞

❝   admit   it,   i   make   the   better   road   trip   partner.   ❞

❝   the   only   reason   you   won   was   because   i   went   easy   on   you.   ❞

❝   stop   pretending   like   you   didn’t   just   trip   over   your   own   feet.   ❞

❝   if   you   fall   asleep,   i’m   drawing   on   your   face.   ❞

❝   who   said   you   get   to   be   in   charge   of   the   remote?   ❞

❝   i   can’t   believe   you   stole   my   pen   and   then   had   the   audacity   to   lose   it.   ❞

❝   if   you   hum   that   song   one   more   time,   i   swear—   ❞

❝   why   are   you   acting   like   board   games   aren’t   a   full   contact    sport?   ❞

❝   tell   me   again   how   you   plan   on   winning   with   that   strategy.   ❞

❝   no   way,   you   can’t   just   leave   me   hanging   during   karaoke   night.   ❞

❝   who   gave   you   the   right   to   be   this   smug   about   winning   trivia?   ❞

❝   the   prize   doesn’t   matter,   i   just   need   to   beat   you.   ❞

❝   you’re   not   seriously   trying   to   race   me   to   the   car   right   now,   are   you?   ❞

❝   i’m   not   sharing   popcorn   with   you   if   you’re   going   to   eat   it   all.   ❞

❝   don’t   even   try   to   tell   me   you’re   not   cheating   at   this.   ❞

❝   we’re   supposed   to   be   teammates,   not   mortal   enemies.   ❞

❝   why   are   you   making   everything   into   a   competition?   ❞

❝   i   saw   that,   you   totally   peeked   at   my   cards.   ❞

❝   there   is   no   universe   where   you   beat   me   at   mario   kart.   ❞

❝   if   you   keep   making   that   face,   it’s   going   to   get   stuck   like   that.   ❞

❝   you   only   came   along   because   you   didn’t   trust   me   to   win   without   you.   ❞

❝   we   were   supposed   to   be   practicing,   not   trying   to   outdo   each   other.   ❞

❝   you   cannot   just   call   a   nap   a   ‘strategic   break.’   ❞

❝   fine,   but   if   we   get   in   trouble,   i’m   blaming   you.   ❞

❝   you   can’t   back   out   now,   you   already   said   yes.   ❞

❝   are   we   actually   competing,   or   are   you   just   trying   to   annoy   me?   ❞

❝   last   one   to   the   door   has   to   do   the   dishes.   ❞

❝   don’t   think   i   won’t   hold   this   over   your   head   forever.   ❞

❝   i   can’t   believe   you   talked   me   into   this.   ❞

❝   i   call   being   referee,   there’s   no   way   i’m   getting   dragged   into   this   again.   ❞

❝   no,   you’re   not   allowed   to   quit   halfway   through.   ❞

❝   why   do   i   feel   like   you’re   making   this   up   as   you   go?   ❞

❝   don’t   act   like   you’re   not   having   fun.   ❞

❝   you   only   won   because   i   let   you.   ❞

❝   we’re   supposed   to   be   on   the   same   team,   remember?   ❞

❝   don’t   worry,   i’ll   remind   you   who   the   champion   is.   ❞

❝   you’re   way   too   competitive   for   someone   who   just   lost.   ❞

"Of  all  people...  it  had  to  be  you."

“I  like  you  the  way  you  are”

"We  were  never  supposed  to  end  up  here."

"This  shouldn’t  make  sense  but  it  does."

“I  fear  to  admit  that  I  have  thought  of  you  often.” 

"I  was  supposed  to  hate  you."

"You’re  everything  I  swore  I’d  never  want."

“This  was  never  part  of  the  plan.”

"You're  the  wrong  choice,  but  I  keep  choosing  you."

"How  did  you  end  up  under  my  skin?"

“You  were  supposed  to  be  the  enemy.”

"You  could  ruin  everything...  but  I  still  want  you."

"I  don’t  trust  you.  That’s  the  problem."

"We  shouldn’t  even  be  talking."

"You  and  me?  This  is  a  bad  idea."

“If  anyone  found  out...”

“This  is  reckless.  Say  we’re  not  doing  this.”

"You’re  supposed  to  be  off-limits."

"We  can’t  undo  what  just  happened."

"I  don’t  want  to  feel  this  with  you."

"Why  do  you  look  at  me  like  that?"

"You're  the  one  person  I  can’t  afford  to  want."

"I  tried  not  to  like  you,  you  know."

"Don’t  act  like  this  is  easy  for  me."

“I  shouldn't  be  here,  not  with  you.”

"We're  not  meant  to  last,  are  we?"

"Tell  me  you  regret  it.  Lie  to  me."

"What  happens  when  this  falls  apart?"

"I’m  not  supposed  to  feel  safe  with  you."

"You  crossed  every  line  I  drew...  and  I  let  you."

“We  couldn’t  be  more  different.”

“I  never  thought  I’d  crave  someone  like  you.”

"I  keep  finding  reasons  to  stay  away.  None  of  them  work."

“You  don’t  fit  in  my  world.”

“Everyone  warned  me  about  you.”

"I  don’t  know  how  to  do  this  with  you."

"You’re  the  risk  I  swore  I  wouldn’t  take  again."

"This  wasn’t  supposed  to  mean  anything."

"Joseph," she noted and then also filed away nicknames like 'Joe' or 'Jojo' if she got mad at him...going back their records she'd be using either one in about two minutes.

"Oh Kapische," She raised an eyebrow. They could TRY to kill her if she broke these 'rules' but Mina would defend herself. Either way, it must be serious if he broke out random Italian.

Mina didn't even want to link arms with him, but the others would buy more they were coming in together if there wasn't a football field of distance between them.

Of course he had a few very close friends that could joke with him about names, Mick, Beth, well, that just about ended the list of course. The thing about being a vampire, moving about is that you lose your name, in modern society where things are so easily recovered alias, well they become common place. But he’d gone back to his original name, let meant something. “You can be very irritating.” But it was a simple statement, he’d not stoop to that level and refer to her as Nina, or Hark, Ark, something along those lines. 

Naturally Josef meant death in terms of other vampires, they lived by a set of rules and if one of them broke the rules they were dealt with in accordance to the transgression.

Him not giving a shit about people dying was not surprising. She wasn't even going to try to state her case why he SHOULD care. it wouldn't dissuade him. Humans were cattle to bloodsuckers, that didn't change with him. She guessed she just happened to be one of those cows that played in the yard with the big ball like a puppy and amused him enough that she was a pet he wouldn't send to the slaughterhouse like everyone else.

Maybe she was a bit buzzed, she wondered if that metaphor made sense.

"I don't even liken it to fishing at all, more like I went to the fish stand, pointed and said 'May I have that bass?"

But she was getting bored with discussing metaphors.

When he had the audacity to tell her she didn't need to anticipate death when a bunch of them got together, she let out an amused noise. wAs he serious? With HER history?

"Now Kostan," she said, "We've been friends for like 90 minutes. That's not a lot of time to expect the BIG changes. That's like me immediately wanting you to value the lives of innocent humans. It ain't gonna happen in the time we've been talking. Besides, all I have is your pinky promise that they're different. I have to see it for myself."

She went to take his arm like he was escorting her in, "And anyway. I already promised I'd be good."

What more did he want?

"Probably best not to tell them I'm a hunter though."

But she didn't REALLY want to be one of his girls either....

Naturally there were a few mortals that Josef cared for but by and large he doesn’t entirely care about what their lives amount to, so long as they don’t risk exposure of his friends and himself then as far as he's concerned it's of little consequence. Hell with his friends he’s make jokes about the food mouthing off. 

“Semantics. Fishing not fishing, you want information.” He shrugged, not that in this case at least he cared about offering it. 

His lips pursed for just a moment, “Josef.” He corrected

Mr. Kostan was common place enough, doorman, associates, but frankly he didn’t like his surname by itself much less in such a tone. “We have rules, you might come from lawlessness, but you break our rules, we kill you ourselves and bye bye immortality, they know that, we all follow it. Kaspische.” 

“Why haven’t you killed him?” “There’s more than one suspect.” “So kill them all. That’s what I would do. Look, I know you have morals and scruples, and that’s fine… sort of. But you are not the man I, on occasion, pretend to respect if you don’t get this under control.”

"Knew him huh?" Mina sighed, they usually said THAT too. , "And I suppose you weren't nice enough to help get rid of the little problem, were you?"

He didn't seem to have the same calling she did.

Mina shrugged when he noted she was fishing, "Is it fishing if I'm just outright asking?" But she took note of what he told her. People always went about things the hard way, you could get a lot of mileage if you just asked. No one ever really expected that.

“Crossed paths a few times, not a vampire, look at that, surprise surprise mortals kill mortals, scandalous.” He never will be able to not tease. “Eh, didn’t bother me, kept attention on his victims and not… well you can finish that thought.” 

“Direct fishing then.” Of course he still considered it fishing just in a very direct manner and well, he didn’t care enough to not share his given surname. 

She didn't even realize to think about what they were. She'd just been flying by the seat of her pants tonight to see what would happen. She hadn't even figured out if she liked him as a friend or not. But what the hell, there were worst people she'd been friends with. Why not try to make some affection between them into a comaderie?

"Women were obsessed with true crime back then too," Mina pointed out, "Jack the Ripper, oh the ladies talked about that one. Speaking of, you're not Jack the Ripper, are you? I've met a few of your lot that say they were."

"Where did you grow up by the way?" she asked and smirked, leaning in to see if he'd tell her.

He had been just rolling with it but friendship? Why not, no harm in it after all. 

“True… alarming.. but true.” He teased, his tone entirely playful as he buttoned the top button of his suit jacket and chuckled, “Not him.. knew him… but not him.” He committed more than a few atrocities but he never cared to claim other peoples… actions.

His brow arched as she asked, “Fishing for information..

smart.” There’s a laugh mixed in between the information and smart as he shakes his head. “Alright I’ll give you a starting point for your research. Kostan is an abbreviation. I was born Konstantin… let’s see if you can guess where I grew up from that.” 

When he said victorian mingling and this centuries mingling was different, Mina snorted, "Is it different? It's talk about the weather and families and work and if you really feel like being a menace; sports, religion and politics. Throw in some philosophy to shake it up, things are about the same."

Civilized talk and all. And despite being a heathen most days Mina was good at it.

Have we defined that yet?” He can’t help but to tease about it. “Fair point. Murder, blood. Casual Friday night talk.” In truth about 80% of conversation even with Mick was surrounded by murder. 

There was one thing that Josef couldn’t agree on, small talk in the days when he was mortal or even when he was a newly turned vampire seemed so archaically boring but even now he didn’t stick to the weather or family, that just wasn’t his usual go to but hey to each their own right. “Different circles.” He left it at that as he grinned. 

Favorite Characters

Josef Kostan (Moonlight)

Mina gave a tired sigh and handwaved his guess like it was no big accomplishment that he called it "Yes, yes, everyone knows the Dracula story or can guess as much. But MAYBE you have other questions, I don't know!"

"I know how to mingle, I'm victorian, I'm an expert at turning bullshit boring topics into full conversations we all pretend to be engaged in," she pointed out.

But her retort results in a laugh of his own, “Victorian mingling and this centuries mingling is verrryyyy different.”

He exaggerated as he spoke. “But yeah gist of it is go with it.” He opted, or as he sometimes would, change the subject to something more interesting in a tactful way, or theres always excusing yourself.