OOM - Fangtasia, Eric's office

[onceaviking]

Dusk falls.

Eric is still seated in his chair. Blood is dripping from his nostrils and his ears. His eyes.
Occasionally, he dabs at his face with a towel from the staff bathroom. It was white. Once.

The first couple of hours had been spent in a state of near panic.
He'd made a gambit - and he had no idea whether he had lost or won. He'd only exposed himself because he'd hoped that the threat to The Authority itself would be enough to persuade them to go after Edgington.

The hesitation was - worrisome.

A fair hearing. Was it Nora perhaps? Trying to persuade the others?
Or had she turned her back on him, disgusted by his weakness?

And Pam?

And then he hadn't been able to think for a while. Pam.

But he was calm now.

There was a possibility that they would pin it on him. He was already in captivity and in bad standing.
But he would meet his end unflinchingly.
He would not look away.

And he would talk with Pam. This was his fate, not hers. She would have to go on. Continue their line.
Godric's line.

And now he is here. And it is almost time.

Comments

[lazy_but_loyal]

Wakefulness comes slowly and gradually with nightfall, and so do Pam's thoughts from before she succumbed to the deep sleep.

She wishes that this mess would fix itself overnight. That things could go back to the way they were. That Eric wasn't in so much trouble.

That Eric had just told her.

Pam opens her eyes.

The fingers of her right hand feel for the latch that releases the lid. It springs open with a hiss of compressed air, and Pam sits up a little, leaning on her elbow.

She looks up at Eric, slumped at his desk. He has the bleeds in a serious way. His coffin is still propped up against the wall.

"Did you sleep at all?" she asks him, her voice soft and groggy from slumber.

[onceaviking]

"I'm fine," he murmurs and reaches for the towel again to wipe at his ears.

He is obviously not.

He looks over at her. He can taste her worry. Her-

He lets the towel drop down on his desk, letting his eyes follow it.
You can hardly tell it used to be white.

[lazy_but_loyal]

She stares at the bloodied cloth and realizes that Eric had stayed awake all day.

"Are the guards still outside?"

Climbing out of the cramped little coffin, she slowly gets to her feet.

Even Eric's desk top is stained with drops of blood.

[onceaviking]

"Mmhmm," he murmurs.
And then he looks up at her.
Calmly. On the surface at least,

"Pam, whatever the Authority decides, I will not allow you to take any responsibility."

This is his battle.

And they need to talk about this now, before the door opens. Before they have no more time.

He's been going over it in his head a hundred times now. What to tell her. How to tell her.

[lazy_but_loyal]

She rests her hands on the back of a chair and leans toward him, looking him in the eyes. (His very tired, red-rimmed eyes.)

"You didn't kill the Magister," she says, evenly and deliberately, as if reminding him of this fact.

Because the way he's talking, it's like he was the one who swung that silver-tipped cane. And she's having a difficult time believing that the Authority would heap the blame on him.

Or at least, a difficult time convincing herself.

Accepting it.

She can't.

[onceaviking]

He looks up at her with a tiny half-shrug.
"I make a cleaner scapegoat," he says, tiredly.
He does.

"Who's easier to pin it on? The Sheriff in your custody or a king who might be anywhere?"
Talking to his own hand, folded neatly on the table.

It makes sense.
It's what he would do.

"And if they search Russell's palace, they'll find the remains of his lover."

[lazy_but_loyal]

He does have an unfortunate point. It's usually how things work. Not always the right way, but the way most beneficial to those in power.

Pam comes around to his side of the desk and sits on its edge, her arms folded tightly across her middle.

"What did he do to you?" she asks softly, her brows knitted.

When Eric came in covered with blood and in a restless panic, she figured it was an impulsive act. She knows Eric and his impulses, but this was almost senseless.

[onceaviking]

He looks up at her.
Tiredly.

"Nothing," he admits.

"But he was the nearest thing to Russell Edgington's heart. He had to die."
Insistently.

[lazy_but_loyal]

She gives him a pained look.

Oh, Eric.

He has his reasons for everything.

"A hundred years I've been with you," she says, her tone still soft. "Why did you never say anything about Russell? Or your family?"

[onceaviking]

"You didn't need to know. What good would it do to share my pain with you?"

More honest about it than he has ever been. Naming it.
Pain.
My pain.

[lazy_but_loyal]

His pain.

There are still some things that he keeps to himself, that he doesn't want her to know or to feel. How he'd managed to hide this from her for so long, she'll never know.

But she could've helped him. She could've tried to ease that pain. She would've done anything for him.

"You didn't need to carry it all by yourself."

Her voice wavers. The corners of her eyes are red.

[onceaviking]

"I am not weak," he says, a little more hotly than her comment really warrants.

He was weak. Then. And now. He should have defended them. He should have avenged them. And now - he shouldn't care about his failure any longer.
Another weakness.

"I was the sole survivor. The burden was mine to carry," he continues and his eyes slides away.
His burden.
His shame.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Of course she didn't mean to imply that Eric was weak. He could never be weak in her eyes, no matter what. But she also understands him. What drives him, what matters to him. And so it doesn't really surprise her that he would reassert himself.

Still, he must know that she really would have done anything for him. Then. And now.

To help him. To keep from losing him.

She can't hold back the tremor in her voice.

"We've lived through so much for so long," she murmurs just above a whisper, the blood tears welling up in her eyes. "It can't end this quickly."

[onceaviking]

"Everything ends," he murmurs, looking away from her again.
His face is still, but his emotions are betrayed in the way he swallows.
In the way he avoids looking at her.
"Even the immortals."

And then he does look up at her, pale and exhausted and far too calm.
"If I cannot - go on, you must make a new vampire," he tells her.

He owes it to Godric.
And he does not want Pam to be alone,
"It is your time to be a Maker."

Because they never speak of the mistake years ago, where he indulged her and shouldn't have,

But he has faith in her. Now.

[lazy_but_loyal]

No. No.

His words shake her to her core. She isn't ready to hear it and she doesn't want to be ready, not now, and not because of this. He can't leave her. He has to make it through this.

He has to.

Unable to keep her own emotions at bay, a choked sob escapes her throat. Tears of blood fall from the corners of her eyes.

She drops to her knees at Eric's feet and clings to him, burying her face against his shoulder as she breaks down and cries.

[onceaviking]

He envelops her in his strong arms and holds her close, resting his lips against the top of her head.

And when he feels the sobs, when he feels Them inside himself, he begins to sway a little back and forth. Rocking her.

He can't cry. He'll let her cry for the both of them.

[lazy_but_loyal]

She refuses to believe that she'll never be held in his arms like this again. It hurts too much to think that she'll never have her eternity with him. So she holds onto him tighter, as if reaching all the way back through the past century and keeping every bit of him close to her heart.

It would kill her if he had to die.

She cries for a long time. When she thinks she's spent, there's always still a little left. And it's wrenched out of her in dry, painful sobs. She hasn't cried like this since...she can't even remember. Probably when she was human.

Eventually she does grow quiet, her sobs reduced to sniffles. His black tank top is damp with her blood tears. But she doesn't want to let go of him. Not yet.

[onceaviking]

It hurts to think he will not spend eternity with her.
That she will be alone.

He tightens his hold on her, just a little as her crying begins to subside.
He is not ready to let go of her yet. Soon. When the door opens. Not now.

He doesn't remember her crying like this.
And last time she cried openly in front of him, when he had told her no, when she stood there, blood streaming from her cut wrists - he had made the pain go away.

He can't.

This time, he can't.

He squeezes his eyes shut. Kissing her hair.
He'll let go. Just - not yet.

[lazy_but_loyal]

She keeps her cheek pressed to his chest, her head nestled under his chin, their arms around each other. She wouldn't admit this to anyone, but this is her favorite place to be.

In the quietude, she suddenly finds that she has so much to say. But she can't bring herself to say anything. She might start crying again if she dares to try to form words.

But it can't end like this. It wasn't supposed to end. It can't.

Her hand curls into a fist in his shirt. She couldn't possibly hold him any closer.

[onceaviking]

There is so much he wants to tell her.

But he isn't good at words, not when they really matter. So instead he just holds her as close as he possibly can.

There are heavy footsteps outside the door.
He tightens his hold on her.

It's just one of the V-Feds.

[lazy_but_loyal]

At the sound of footsteps, she tenses up and turns her head just enough to glance at the door out of the corner of her eye.

She doesn't pull away from Eric yet but she does look up at him. Her cheeks are streaked with red.

They'll both have to let go soon and face their fate.

[onceaviking]

He reaches up to wipe beneath her eye left eye with his thumb.
A caress.

Then the door opens and he turns his head to look at the helmeted guard.
Lifting an eyebrow.

There is no way he will let his own fears show in front of someone like that.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Her eyelashes flutter; she knows that Eric is capable of such a delicate touch.

When the guard enters, she stays where she is. He addresses Eric: "Miss Flanagan is arriving in fifteen minutes. Both of you are to wait outside in the bar." With his rifle pointed down, he then steps back from the doorway expectantly to let them through.

Slowly and reluctantly, Pam slips her arms from Eric's middle and gets to her feet. She doesn't care how she comes off looking to the guard; if it makes Eric look as if he's physically protecting her, which he would, then so be it.

"I need to freshen up first," she says, speaking to Eric more than the guard.

If anything, she's not letting Nan see her as less than composed.

[onceaviking]

Eric runs a finger down the side of her face and then gets up from his chair.

"Take your time," he says, ignoring the guard as he strips off his tank top and throws it on the floor.

He's got a few clean ones strategically placed in here. His low slung jeans reveal his hip bones as he almost brushes past the guard to fetch a clean top.
Still ignoring him.
Pointedly.

[lazy_but_loyal]

V-Feds are kind of like royal palace guards, trained to not have personal reactions to anything or anyone, to be as stoic as stone. The vampire ones are better at it than the human ones.

So Pam can smell this one's blood rise when he's ignored. And somehow, Eric removing his shirt is a threat. To his manhood or something. On the outside, he's as unmoved as a statue, but it's his insides that tell a different story.

Pam ducks into the private bathroom, turns on the tap, and starts to wash her face.

[onceaviking]

Eric smells it too.
He slowly pulls on his clean top and rubs at the dried blood in his face, making it flake off.
Then he runs his fingers through his hair and stretches.

It may be petty.
He doesn't care.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam doesn't bother with putting on makeup, but she does fix and fluff out her hair. Sleeping in a cramped coffin will flatten it like nobody's business.

Then, for a moment, she stands at the sink, her fingers curled around its porcelain edge to brace herself.

All their hope rests on the Authority ruling in their favor and deciding to do something about Edgington. And if the Authority doesn't execute Eric, Edgington will.

Pam emerges from the bathroom and goes straight to Eric. Reaching up, she brushes away dried blood at the corner of his jaw under his ear. He'll have to feed and rest soon to gain back his strength after staying up all day.

[onceaviking]

His eyes close briefly at her touch and he reaches up to run his fingertips along a lock of her hair.

Then he lets one hand rest at her back and walks her past the guard. Still ignoring him.

He heads for the table in the middle of the bar and sits down, a little more heavily than he would care to admit.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Guards are still posted at every doorway in the bar. Pam thinks it's overkill. This is what their tax dollars are paying for.

When Eric sits down, she sweeps her hand across the back of his shoulders before perching on a stool at the neighboring table.

And then they wait.


Outside, the parking lot is lined with armed guards. They're also waiting.

In due time, two glossy black luxury SUVs pull in. More V-Feds exit them, along with Nan Flanagan. She's looking somewhat less severe tonight, in a gray business suit and her hair down, but she is no less in a bitchy mood.

She confers with one of the guards, who confirms that Eric is indeed still inside.

[onceaviking]

And on a rooftop nearby is a pale presence with dark eyes filled with madness.
Cradling a lidded, crystal urn filled with a startlingly red and sluggish liquid. Caressing it with his gloved hands. Pressing his lips to it now and again. Soft, doting kisses.

"Is he inside? Oh, Talbot, Talbot. Look," the mad King whispers to his dead lover. His lips close to the glass.

"The American Vampire League protects your murderer. Perhaps they even sent him."

Yes, yes, yes, that makes sense.

He exhales softly as it all becomes clear to him.

"Oh. They will suffer for their sins, my beloved. I swear to you they will suffer."

And he laughs as he sobs as he soars, into the darkness.

They will suffer.

[dobadthings]

There's an odd gust of wind, a soft sound of rushing air. Perhaps a distant echo of laughter.

Nan glances upward.

Fucking weather.

A guard holds open the door to the club and Nan walks inside.

"You look like shit," she greets Eric.

[onceaviking]

He's low in his chair, resting his arms (and most of his body, and almost his head) on the table, but as Nan enters, he pushes himself upright.

"Well, I feel fantastic," he replies. Sarcastically.

He does look like shit.
But he is calm.

Either they agree that Edgington is a threat and throw their full might at him. Or -

He hopes they won't make Pam watch.
He She couldn't bear it.

(frozen)

[dobadthings]

The faster Nan can get away from Eric's sarcasm, the better. So she unfolds a sheet of paper. It has an official letterhead on it.

"The ruling is as follows," she says straightforwardly, glancing from Eric to Pam, and back down at the letter. "The Authority disavows any knowledge of our interview, your statement, or indeed, this ruling itself. None of this ever happened."

...And suddenly Pam sits up a little straighter, a bewildered what the fuck expression on her face. She looks from Nan to Eric. Did she just hear that right?

(frozen)

[onceaviking]

Pam's bewilderment is nothing compared to Eric's.
Nan's words make no sense at all.
At all.

He looks up at her, borderline slack jawed.
"What?"

(frozen)

[dobadthings]

Nan folds the letter back up, seemingly done with this whole situation.

"Missing royals, dead magisters -- it's a political tarbaby no one wants to touch," she explains. "Not with the VRA this close to ratification."

In other words, they're claiming ignorance. It's none of their business and it's not their responsibility.

(frozen)

[onceaviking]

Eric automatically holds out his hand as Nan hands him the neatly folded letter.

Then he gets up off the chair, scanning it quickly, as he strides away.

She's right. That is what it says.
But it makes no fucking sense.

He turns, looking straight at her.
"Russell will not stop killing," he says.
Why don't they understand?

"What if the human public finds out?"
Surely, they gotta care about that.

(frozen)

[dobadthings]

And she looks him straight in the eye.

"That's why you're going to take care of it."

Her tone is low and even, almost patient. As if she's graciously giving this opportunity to him instead of dumping it on him.

"Quietly. Discreetly. And most important of all, completely off the books."

She takes the letter back.

"You wanted revenge? It's yours."

(frozen)

[onceaviking]

He is reeling.

This is not at all what he had prepared himself for.

But now the opportunity is there. Now he can plan. If they give him command of just a handful or two of their best people ..

"What resources ado I get?" he asks.

(frozen)

[dobadthings]

"None," she says, back to no-nonsense, and she starts walking away from Eric, heading for the exit.

"We're not getting near it."

The whole claiming ignorance thing. It's what a bureaucracy does best.

(frozen)

[onceaviking]

"How do you expect me to kill him?" he asks, sounding both frustrated and disbelieving.
"He is three times my age!"

He's never voiced this in front of Pam before. His doubts.

(frozen)

[dobadthings]

That's when Nan's carefully controlled semblance of patience comes undone, and she turns on him like a viper.

"Listen, you whiny little bitch," she snaps coldly, staring him in the face.

"The only link between Sophie-Anne, Russell, and the Magister is you. You brought us this steaming pile of shit, and you're going to make it go away. Bring me his fangs -- or I will have yours."

With that ultimatum, she whips around and stalks toward the exit, leaving even more pissed off than when she arrived, and the V-Feds follow her and file out of the nightclub. The door slams shut behind them.


Pam is left stunned. If Nan wasn't in the position she's in, she would've gotten her head ripped off before she could finish saying the word bitch.

She looks to Eric.

Technically, their situation has not improved.

(frozen)

[onceaviking]

In reality, their situation have just gotten a lot worse, as far as Eric is concerned.

He is back to looking stunned.
And worn. And pale.

He runs both hands over his face and mutters, "I fucking Hates Nan Flanagan.

But even that emotion feels -weak.
He's numb.

Pam shouldn't have seen this.

(frozen)

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam slowly turns in her seat to rest both elbows on the table. She presses her fingers to her lips, staring at Eric.

And with a flick of her eyelashes, she shifts her gaze away, toward nothing in particular, her brows knitted in deep, deep worry.

"Oh my god," she whispers.

"What are we gonna do?"

(frozen)

[onceaviking]

"I'll take care of it," he says. Automatically.

He'll have to see about having that will drawn up. It was a good thing Jay stopped by.

"I'll -"
He turns abruptly and walk over to where she is seated, to put his arms around her.
"I'll take care of it."
And then, after a short pause, "I need to feed."

(frozen)

[lazy_but_loyal]

She barely moves when he wraps his arms around her, only leaning back against his body and covering one of his hands with hers.

He'll take care of it.

He doesn't sound too sure of how exactly he's going to take care of it. That's probably more worrisome than anything.

She turns her head and looks up at him. He's extremely pale, his arms heavy and lethargic.

"Then let's get out of here. It'll buy us some more time."

And to think they'd only just returned from Milliways. Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

(frozen)

[onceaviking]

"Yes, let's," he says, giving her a final squeeze.

It'll buy him a little time. He needs to think.

(frozen)

[lazy_but_loyal]

She nods, her palm sliding over his forearm as he lets her go, and she slips off the stool.

Together they head for Eric's office -- and a different kind of sanctuary, one at the end of the universe.