A promise fulfilled

[onceaviking]

Eric unlocks the door - and locks it behind them once they are inside.

The room looks much as it did the last time, Emcee was there. A framed picture of a moonlit ruin has been added to one of the walls and there is a stack of file folders on the desk as well as a couple of books.

The bed is made and the decanter on the small table seems to have been refilled.

Eric walks inside, the way you do when you own a place, leaving his flip flops by the door, and unzipping his track suit top.

He turns to look at Emcee, his gaze heavy and measuring.

Comments

[i_am_your_host]

He pulls a face.

"A reanimated corpse? Well, that's unattractive."

It's said wryly, but really, could one be more distasteful.

"You know you don't need validation from a human, darling, and it's obvious that Father Harman is a very stubborn one at that. If he pisses you off so much, I would suggest limiting your contact before you- I don't know, remove a body part or something."

[onceaviking]

"I couldn't care less about Harmann," Eric says, which isn't objectively true at all. "Or his stupid opinions. But he's been hounding Pam. If he keeps that up I just might remove something."

He scowls.

"Like his heart."

[i_am_your_host]

Oh, that wacky Eric, ripping people's hearts out and whatnot.

"That's...certainly an option."

It's a scowl the Emcee would never want to be the recipient of if it leads to the forcible extrication of internal organs.

"Pam? Your progeny? She comes here now?"

[onceaviking]

"She does. She got celled on her very first visit."

He sounds - proud?

"You shouldn't approach her, though. Not on your own. She is not keen on humans. "

[i_am_your_host]

He raises an eyebrow. He's not going to argue if he considers that a worthy accomplishment.

Not on your own.

Eric sounds as if he's describing some kind of unpredictable predator- oh, right.

"Well, I usually can tell if someone is approachable or not, so I often err on the side of caution, in any case. How is she adjusting to a place like this, where some humans are overly keen on making new acquaintances?"

[onceaviking]

"She hates it," Eric says. "I've warned her that the women seem a little less keen on putting out here than the men, but Pam can be very persuadable so who knows. She might make some friends."

His smile clearly shows that friends is a loaded term. Another loaded term.

"And Pam is not hard to read if she finds your company not to her liking. But she'll behave."

He sounds awfully certain.

[i_am_your_host]

He leans an elbow on his knee and props his chin up on his hand.

"She sounds terrifying."

Being familiar with Eric, he means this in the best possible way.

[onceaviking]

"She is," he says, still smiling. And perhaps there is a hint of something a little softer at the edges of that smile. Blink, and you'll miss it.

"She is the only one from home who comes here. Her and a wolf, but I've only seen him once. "

He casts a brief glance at Emcee." And he is not one of the wolves I am looking for. "

So he is not important.

[i_am_your_host]

He may have caught it. It's easier for him to notice genuine affection when most of what he sees is impassiveness and indifference.

"Wolves? As in werewolves?" He puts two and two together. "They are the ones who bear that mark you showed me?"

[onceaviking]

"They are," Eric says, nodding a little.

"The one who comes here is from my time, but I met him before I had met him, if that makes sense. Anyway, his father owes me money, so he's at heel."

Disparagingly. Clearly, he does not have too high thoughts about wolves.

[i_am_your_host]

He tilts his head, factoring in all the odd timey-wimey shenanigans that the door gets up to, and then he nods, fairly sure that he's got it.

"So you met each other here before ever having met in your own world. That has got to be strange, and I daresay a little awkward. But it sounds as if you don't particularly like wolves in general, even the ones without the brand."

[onceaviking]

"Well, he was from now, and I came in from a couple of hundred years before. And no, you're right. I don't like wares. They're primitive and aggressive."

He scowls.

"And annoying. And they smell."

[i_am_your_host]

He snorts a little.

"All perfectly valid reasons to not like them. But what of the ones with the brand? Why are you looking for them?"

[onceaviking]

"They killed my family. I have a score to settle with them."

Revenge. Driving him for a thousand years.

Despite the fact that he shouldn't even care. At least not judging by what people like Father Harmann says.
Or Eric himself for that matter.

[i_am_your_host]

He's stunned into silence for a moment.


"Mein Gott," he murmurs softly.

With his gaze settled on Eric's face he's once again presented with another facet of him. The deaths of his loved ones. His human family. Vampire or not, there are some things that change you and stay with you forever. Emcee would find it hard to believe that someone like Eric no longer cared...even if the extent of his caring centered around vengeance.

"All of them? Murdered?"

[onceaviking]

"Yes. I don't why. But I learned, in Germany actually, that they had a vampire master. I want to find that vampire."

His voice is cold. But not passionless. Quite the contrary.

[i_am_your_host]

So that's why he asked about the symbol.

"I wish I could help you, darling, but unfortunately our worlds do not overlap in that way."

Eric's tone is grim and chilling, and also very telling of what he's capable of without saying much.

And then he recalls something Eric had mentioned.

"You said that you were in Germany a decade or so after my time, did you not? Was that when you found out about this...master?"

[onceaviking]

"It was. "

He looks grim.

"We managed to track down a branded wolf. She'd just lured an American soldier away and killed him when we caught her. "

There is a slight hesitation.
"We might have been able to trick her into telling us more. We were in uniform and she obviously bought that we were on the same side but -"

Another pause.
"I - lost my composure a little."

Godric had been displeased. Even before he'd let her drink his blood.

[i_am_your_host]

He blinks, a little wide-eyed at his story.

"You killed her?"

[onceaviking]

"Well, no. I let her feed in my blood and she attacked me. And Godric killed her."

He looks away.

"They can get very strong when they feed on our blood."

He's - actually ashamed of how that particular encounter had panned out. Mainly because he can still feel the weight of Godric's displeasure. His disappointment.

[i_am_your_host]

He's silent again for a moment, wondering how anything could overpower Eric. A werewolf on vampire blood must be a terrible thing.

When he glances at Eric's face, he can almost feel the pang of shame. Losing his composure, especially in font of Godric, when they were so close to getting more information that Eric needed. He won't dwell on it.

"At least you found out about the vampire master. If the branded werewolves are still around, then he must be, too."

[onceaviking]

"Yes," Eric says. "And this time I will find him."

Emcee has seen what he is like when he is restrained.
There will be no restraint this time.

[i_am_your_host]

He gets a bit of a chill again, and he nods.

"You said you were in uniform," he then murmurs, with cautious curiosity. "...Which uniform?"

[onceaviking]

"Schutzstaffel. Officers, lieutenants I believe. High ranking enough, that nobody tried to stop us."

He stretches.

"Though it took quite a few tries to find a uniform that I could actually fit."

[i_am_your_host]

His stomach turns a little at the thought of Eric in an SS uniform, but he swallows it back and manages a stiff chuckle at his remark.

"I'm assuming you had to kill a few officers in the process," he murmurs darkly. Just for the sake of saying it.