After the altercation with Pearly

[onceaviking]

He feels heavy and sluggish.
He looked down as he sat down on the bed and lifting his face feels like more of a chore than it ought, but he manages, looking at Pam.

His cheekbone seems to have righted itself, but it is still fully visible.
His flesh is torn, red and charred. His skin is white as paper.

He blinks slowly a couple of times.

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[i_am_your_host]

When the Master of Ceremonies had entered the bar tonight, it was at the end of a show, so he was in high spirits, flushed with adrenaline and the rush of hearing laughter and applause and catcalls. His only intention was to have a drink and perhaps a frivolous distraction, but upon going up to the bar, he receives a note.

The words, so formal and cold, yet written in such a feminine hand, and with such a cryptically urgent tone, is a little disconcerting. Emcee stares at it for a few moments, his demeanor the complete opposite of when he came in.

What could Eric possibly want? ...Well, his blood, yes. But why the note?

Pamela De Beaufort.

Eric had warned him not to approach her on his own. He had sort of laughed that off, but right now the danger is imminent.

Surely she can't be that dangerous.

Then again, Emcee is about to enter a room with two vampires in it. Yes, he is about to do this.

He folds up the note and slips it into his coat pocket, and with a bold and determined step, he heads upstairs.

After knocking on Eric's apartment door, he hears him call out. A little anxious, he glances up and down the hallway, waiting.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Eric starts to try to get up, but Pam stops him.

"Just sit up. I'll get the door."

She won't have him lying down and looking incapacitated because that's not what he is.

Standing, she straightens out her dress, her expression devoid of any emotion, and crosses the room toward the door.

[onceaviking]

He would prefer to get the door himself. But she is right.

He sits up, scooting back to rest against the headboard, and turns his head a little, so the first thing a Emcee sees will not be his ravaged face.

Trying to ignore the pain.

[i_am_your_host]

The door opens.

And the first person he sees is a beautiful but quite imposing blonde woman wearing a tight red dress and a stone-faced expression.

He blinks up at her. Then recovers.

"Fraulein De Beaufort?" he says evenly with a small bow and a polite smile. "Good evening. I am the Master of Ceremonies. I understand that Herr Northman has sent for me."

[lazy_but_loyal]

What.

Seriously.

This guy?

Really?

(He does have fabulous eye makeup, though.)

Nonplussed, Pam starts to internally question the company that Eric keeps here, but he has his reasons for everything, so this...person must have some value to him.

"...Yyyyeah."

She steps back, opening the door wider.

"Come on in."

[onceaviking]

"Good evening, Emcee," Eric says, and you have to know him well to be able to tell that the smooth calm of his voice is an act.
But then there is the way he holds his body. The way he sits.

"I had a little run in with one of the resident psychopaths and everything isn't healing quite a a well as it should."

Emcee is smart enough. He'll figure out what is expected of him.

He likely already has.

[i_am_your_host]

When Emcee walks in past Pam, he has a feeling she might be able to smell his fear of her, but it's only a wary, controlled sort of fear, and not out of panic. The healthy sort.

And then he sees Eric. His face.

"Scheiße," he gasps with quiet horror.

He does indeed already know what's expected of him, and he starts unbuttoning his coat without a second thought.

"What happened?"

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam, meanwhile, has locked the door and hovers between it and the Emcee, even though he doesn't show signs of bolting. He's actually quite willing to be here. Almost comfortable with it.

Thing is, he doesn't have that fangbanger undertone about him despite his willingness. That's maybe why Eric picked him.

She says nothing, however, and moves closer to the bed.

[onceaviking]

Eric pats the bedside lightly.

"Come sit here," he says. That way he doesn't have to move.

"I had a disagreement with someone who was, unfortunately, carrying silver. And I haven't fed properly the last few nights. I asked Pam to leave you a note."

His eyes flicker to her. Briefly.

[i_am_your_host]

He shrugs off his coat and lays it on the foot of the bed, then obediently sits down close to Eric. As he unbuttons his white tuxedo shirt, he also glances over at Pam, then back to him.

The exposed bone and torn and charred flesh on Eric's cheek almost makes his stomach turn. He can't look at it directly, but it's obvious he still wants to help. So he sheds his shirt, laying it aside, unbothered by Pam's presence.

"I had no idea a burn from silver could be this awful."

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam meets the flicker of Eric's eyes and says nothing.

She looks over the Emcee. He's a soft little thing, as Eric had described him, almost feminine but for the sharper angles of his arms and shoulders. But he's warm, and smells rich, his heart and blood pumping fast.

She might be considering a taste, but she'll leave him to Eric first.

"The asshole burned me, too, but not half as bad. Eric just needs your blood and he'll be as good as new."

That might have been her way of reassuring the Emcee? Maybe?

[onceaviking]

Eric reaches over and takes Emcee's hand, turning it over, vulnerable inner wrist up.

"Normally, the reaction wouldn't be quite as - spectacular," he says. "But Pam is right. It is easily taken care of."

Running his thumb along the strong pulse of Emcee's wrist.
He pulls his lips back and lets his fangs come down.



l{ooc: bedtime}

[i_am_your_host]

Eric's fingers are cold, very cold, possibly the coldest he's ever felt him.

He's never bitten him on his wrist before. Perhaps it's a less...personal way of being bitten. Emcee doesn't mind either way, but Eric might want to keep things a little more formal with Pam here.

But there's nothing restrained about his reaction to Eric's fangs coming down. He's still mesmerized by them even as they still inspire the thrill of fear. He tenses up in Eric's hold but doesn't pull away.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam smells his fear. It's like Jemma's fear, healthy as it should be, and the fight-or-flight tension keeps things interesting.

She likes that.

But really, what a strange little man he is. He's not her type, and she certainly never thought Eric would give him a second glance if not for his blood.

[onceaviking]

Eric lifts Emcee's wrist to his lips.
It's not visible. But Emcee will be able to tell that his fingers are trembling.

He bites, trying to be careful, and presses his lips to Emcee's skin. He's so warm.
There may be the tiniest whimper.

He tightens his grip, closing his eyes. Completely focused on the blood - and the pain as his own body reacts.

Bone to bone, flesh to flesh, skin to skin, as if glued. The women used to say that when they tied your wounds with crushed plants and cloth.

[i_am_your_host]

He has never felt Eric's fingers tremble like that before, but he assumes it's because he's not well. Or because he's very hungry. Or both.

Either way, the bite hurts, and he winces in pain when his fangs break his skin. But it's not a vicious bite, that much he can tell (and appreciate). And still he doesn't pull away, even as Eric tightens his grip.

He watches, breathing deep but fast, as Eric drinks, and with astonished fascination as his damaged flesh slowly begins to mend itself right before his eyes.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam is also watching -- and listening. Listening to Emcee's heartbeat in case Eric drinks too deeply. And he'll have to drink as deep as possible to heal completely, but without damaging the man. It looks as if his blood is already working, though, and she steps closer to watch.

There may be relief in her eyes, even if nothing else shows in her expression.

She can still feel Eric's pain and discomfort, but it won't be long now until he is rid of it. That's all that matters to her.

[onceaviking]

Eric's free hand moves up to rest at the nape of Emcee's neck. His fingers burying themselves in his hair.

Just like he would with a woman.

It's soothing, stroking someone's hair.

His mouth moves as he suckles the wounds, his grip on Emcee still tight.

He trusts Pam to pay attention to his prey for all he can sense is the blood filling his mouth and the pain as the wound on his own face finally, finally, close, the skin stretching white and whole across his bones and flesh.

He moans loudly against Emcee's wrist.

[i_am_your_host]

Now two sensations stand out, Eric's fingers in his hair and his lips on his skin, stroking him almost in tandem.

His eyelids flutter and he leans slightly into his touch. It's as soothing for him as it is for Eric. And it gives him something to brace himself against as he begins to feel faint.

He fights it for a while, keeping himself alert by watching Eric's skin regrow over the exposed bone and flesh, becoming smooth and flawless, with no scars whatsoever. It's amazing.

But not amazing enough to keep his eyelids from drooping and his shoulders from slumping.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam watches intently, her eyes darting darting from Eric's face to Emcee's and back again.

She steps closer to Eric's side, watching his skin mend. And she can hear Emcee's heartbeat begin to slow down.

Almost...just a little more...just a little more...

"Eric."

Her voice is soft, but firm. And relieved.

[onceaviking]

For a moment it looks as if he hasn't heard her - and then he reluctantly lets go of Emcee's wrist, licking his lips.

His other hand moves from Emcee's neck to cup his cheek.
Gently.

His fingers have stopped shaking. His skin is no longer frigid.

"Emcee? "

[i_am_your_host]

He forces his eyelids open and blinks blearily at Eric.

The blood on his lips is stark red against the white of his skin.

"Oh, good," he breathes out in a dazed, lethargic murmur. "You are handsome again."

[lazy_but_loyal]

Okay.

She has to agree with that.

"I think he'll be just fine."

[onceaviking]

Eric looks at Emcee, taking in the way his eyes look. And his skin.

He bites down on the pad of his thumb and strokes it across the bite marks. Watching them close.

Then he reaches up and runs his thumb across Emcee's bottom lip.

[i_am_your_host]

He sucks Eric's blood off his bottom lip, letting his eyelids fall closed again. After a moment he can feel himself regaining some equilibrium, as his heartbeat picks up and his limbs lose their sluggishness.

With a soft groan he runs his fingers through his hair. He is still pale (he has always been pale) and feels somewhat drained, but he's fully conscious and in no danger of passing out.

"Thank you..."

He looks at Eric more clearly.

"You are all right now?"