Outside; nighttime; biting

[onceaviking]

The night air is pleasantly cool. Eric passes Ragnar and walks toward the garden instead of the forest.
"We can go here then. It's closer."

He is colder than the night air and he is silent apart from his footfall, still surprisingly light for a man his size.

He looks even paler in the moonlight. Less human.


He heads for a secluded spot with a bench and nods at it.
" There."

Comments

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"You want me to sit there?" Ragnar says.

Guessing that is so, he does.

"So, how does this work?"

[onceaviking]

Eric stays standing for the moment.

"I let my fangs down," he says. "And bite you. I can bite your wrist or your neck. The wrist is slower going and you have to hold very still. It's easy to damage the tendons. The neck is quicker, but more intimate."

He doesn't care either way.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Neck," Ragnar decides.

He wants to be back inside before Athelstan misses him. He expect to be chewed out, metaphorically, for making a bargain with the vampire on Athelstan's account, in any case.

[onceaviking]

"If you move your hair out of the way," Eric says, settling down next to Ragnar.
"I'll try to avoid too much blood getting anywhere."

And then he pulls back his upper lip and lets his fangs down.
The sound is loud, specially when one is up close.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

Ragnar moves his braid aside, and tilts his head.

He's paying a debt for Athelstan; he doesn't mind if it hurts a little. That vampire blood may actually have saved his lover, at that crucial moment.

[onceaviking]

Eric moves close and takes hold of Ragnar's chin. Not too tightly.

He leans in, chest pressed against his shoulder, tilts his own head a little more - and bites down.

It hurts. Of course it hurts.

And when he starts drinking, the pull of his mouth may indeed be painful as well. But it is also strangely intimate.

His skin is cold.
His lips are cold.
His tongue is cold.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

Ragnar holds still and lets it happen. He's known much worse pain, and he's doing this for Athelstan -- both his love and worry are very present in his consciousness as he's paying this debt.

[onceaviking]

Eric's mouth moves as he swallows, and his grip on Ragnar's face loosens. But he doesn't move his hand away.

Just in case.

And like when he drinks from Athelstan, he remembers the way things used to be.
The way people used to taste.

The way he had never been alone, inside. Back then.
With Godric.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

Ragnar isn't alone, either -- he has his family and friends to think of, the people who follow him on his raids, the people in Kattegat who trust him to keep them safe.

And Athelstan. First and foremost, Athelstan.

[onceaviking]

Eric's fingers start drawing small circles on his skin.

It's an old habit intended to soothe a reluctant participant.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

Ragnar's mind is drifting a little, thinking about Athelstan, about the way he should have put his foot down and taken him home, and about how soon he can go and get him back.

That drifting is probably partially due to what Eric is doing, and partially to the fact that at current, Ragnar's mind always defaults to worry about either Athelstan, or his children.

[onceaviking]

Eric should stop soon.
And he will.

In a little bit.

He moves his hand to tip Ragnar's face a little to the side, pressing closer. Swallowing again.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"If we need it...?" Ragnar murmurs, a bit too well soothed to get the whole sentence out in one go.

[onceaviking]

Eric pauses and says, "Mmm?"

His voice sounds sticky.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"... we'll ask for more blood," Ragnar says. "For Athelstan. To make him better the next time he comes."

[onceaviking]

Eric licks his lips.

"I might feel charitable," he says.
"Or I might not."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Take enough," Ragnar says, "for another time."

[onceaviking]

"No," Eric says.
"It doesn't work that way."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Then this has been enough," Ragnar says.

He does look a little woozy.

[onceaviking]

Eric sniffs - but he does stop feeding.
Before retracting his fangs he lifts his hand to his mouth and bites down on his thumb.

And then he moves the blood slicked finger across Ragnar's wounds.

They close.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Thank you," Ragnar says, getting to his feet.

He's mostly steady.

[onceaviking]

Eric stays seated.
"Kale," he says. "And red meat."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Yes, I know," Ragnar says. "I'll see you."

He walks away, as he wants to be back inside before Athelstan wakes from his nap.

[onceaviking]

Eric stays behind, on the bench. Legs stretched out, arms along the backrest.
Thinking about nothing in particular.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

Ragnar is gone without thinking too much; he feels a bit woozy still, but his worry about Athelstan is more important than thinking about vampires.