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[onceaviking]

Eric is standing in the hallway.
Alone.

Edgington has just fetched Sookie for a chat.
Sookie, who had been dragged here when Edgington returned, her pale vampire lover boy subdued by one of the King's burly security guards.
They had both expected Eric to do something to save her and he had been able to feel Sookie's chock and anger when he'd merely grinned at Edgington, telling him that he did not know what it was, but that he was sure it was valuable. Laughing at Sookie for believing that she was somehow his equal.

Bill had, foolishly, attacked Edgington. As if. He'd been dragged to the slave quarters and Loreena had stood there, tears in her eyes. But still present enough to snarl at Sookie. Who'd given as good as she got.
And Loreena was lucky that he could not be distracted by her when she bad-mouthed his Maker. That he had to let her live.

He could not let himself be distracted by this. Any of this.
He had to think.

And so he'd let Loreena leave and silenced Sookie with a hand over her mouth and taken her to the library to wait for Edgington who'd have to go placate his little trophy wife. Who'd gotten upset about something.

Sookie kept talking at him though. About how he was betraying her. How she hated him. Big hat, no cattle. Yadda, yadda, yadda.
Till he finally snapped and yelled in her face that he did not care about her.

He was torn.
He needed Edgington to save Pam. He was old enough and powerful enough and insane enough to go up against The Magister.
And he needed Edgington to die. Die a thousand times over. Suffer, and suffer endlessly for what he had done. Having to smile and pretend to be at ease in his company was almost unbearable.

And now Sookie. With her alluring scent and her golden hair. Her tempting breasts and the promise between her legs, and her headless, stupid bravery.
And he could not allow her to distract him.

For he didn't care about her. He didn't. At all.

Then Edgington had returned, doing his pants up, and had asked Eric to leave them alone. And he had.

And now he is standing here.
Torn.

Comments

[dobadthings]

Honestly, before this Bill Compton business, there had never been such chaos in this house before. Never.

First of all, Bill ripping a post from the banister to stake one of the guards? Unacceptable. Now Talbot will have to call the Italian carpenter who had originally redone the stairs to his specifications, and goodness knows he's a busy man. And the damage caused when Russell flung Bill against the ceiling? Those replacement tiles will have to be handmade and the shade of white will have to match exactly and it's going to be a pain in the ass.

Do you care nothing about our home? he'd shouted at Russell.

He was dismissed with a Not now.

When?! he demanded, before letting loose a string of curses in Greek and stormed up the stairs.

He couldn't care less about Bill being untrustworthy or the Sookie girl being any way important. They are not important to Talbot.

Some minutes later, Russell found Talbot pacing and chattering irritably in their bedroom. Russell put a stop to it.

And now Talbot, calmer and appeased, descends the stairs into the foyer, where the chaos seems to have died down. He orders one guard to mop up the bloody mess that was their former coworker (thank goodness he didn't die on a rug), then orders another to clean up the broken ceiling tiles and plaster that had fallen on the stairs.

"Eric," he says, waking toward him, still in a somewhat authoritative tone. "Let's distract ourselves from this bullshit madness, shall we?"

And without waiting for an answer he breezes past him into a brightly lit sitting room.

[onceaviking]

Eric's eyes follow Talbot as he breezes past. And then he slowly follows.

A plan is starting to form. And sadly, there is no way around it. The Magister will have to be dealt with first. Which means that revenge must wait yet a while.

He settles in a chair and looks at Talbot, raising one eyebrow.
"That was -"

Letting him fill in the blank.

[dobadthings]

"Ugh," he scoffs exasperatedly with a wave of his hand. That's his answer.

"Between you and me, I wish Mr. Compton had never set foot in this house."

He goes to a sideboard and opens a drawer, sorting through its contents before taking out a deck of cards. Sitting down at the table, his chair angled toward Eric's, he removes the cards from their box and begins to shuffle them. They're not typically modern cards; they have more of a 15th century design.

[onceaviking]

"Well," Eric says, slowly, "Although he gave me few problems while he resided in Area Five, I have never been terribly find of him myself. I first met him a hundred years ago and I remember having to teach him how to behave around his elders."

He shrugs.
"Of course, his Maker is an insane cunt, so -"

[dobadthings]

Talbot scowls a little. It's the least threatening scowl on a person ever.

"Before you arrived? Bill threw an antique oil lamp at her and set her on fire. I kid you not. The guards had to put out the flames by smothering her with a Celtic tapestry that was a gift to us from the Lord of Glyndyfrdwy in 1387."

He sounds very put-off.

[onceaviking]

"Oh dear," Eric says.
"Well, I am not surprised. Still, she was negligent when she made him."
He leans in a little.

"I stopped them draining whores in a brothel. He practically attacked me because she had never taught him what the consequences might be."

He leans back. Sighing.
"I let them live. Maybe I shouldn't have."

He's willing to bet the little housewife gets hot and bothered by that; power.

[dobadthings]

He slants a look at Eric as he continues to shuffle the cards. As beautiful as he is in that soft blue sweater that matches his eyes, Talbot has no doubt that with his stature, his broad chest and shoulders, and his calm and intelligent demeanor, that he would make quite a commanding figure indeed.

"Perhaps."

He then shakes his head slowly, pityingly.

"But one would think they would have learned some manners in the century since then. It seems that they resort to feral behavior the first chance they get. A shameful upbringing, really."

He begins dealing out the cards.

[onceaviking]

"The incident with the lamp hasn't been the only one?" Eric asks.
He is sure it hasn't. She really is a cunt. And Bill.mwell, he's Bill. And thus also a cunt.

[dobadthings]

He huffs a sigh and shakes his head, and he lowers his voice.

"Miss Krasiki is just incredibly lacking in good taste. I heard that she wanted Russell to make Bill watch while she killed the little Sookie girl. A ludicrous request out of nowhere."

A pause.

"Also? The hatesex they've been having has been getting on my nerves. Did they think that getting bloodstains out of silk sheets is easy? No, they must be thrown away and replaced. And the damage to the furniture in their bedroom is honestly the last straw. The most inconsiderate houseguests, ever. I'm glad Russell has finally relegated them to the slave quarters to do what they will."

He puts a fluttering hand to his forehead, feeling flustered again.

"I do apologize, Eric. It's been a hectic few days."

[onceaviking]

A hectic few days?
A hectic few days?

Eric smiles. Seemingly sympathetic.

"It must have been awful. Sometimes, ξενία can be a rather trying experience."

He can't recall the word for hospitality in Latin. Besides, the ancient Greeks probably thought of it first.

And Loreena really has gone mad. Thinking that making Bill watch her kill Sookie will somehow endear her to him.

Kill Sookie.

No, he cannot afford to be distracted by things that does not matter.

Casting a brief glance at the doorway. Just to check if Edgington is on his way.

Then looking back at Talbot.
"I rarely get a chance to play cards these days," he says, letting his lips curl a little.

[dobadthings]

His gaze shifts to Eric's sympathetic smile at the word ξενία, and he smiles gratefully in return, his shoulders relaxing. Russell used to indulge him with the old language, but he hardly does anymore, and so he hardly ever hears it from anyone but himself.

"You know, Eric," he says casually, straightening out his hand of cards, and nudging a pile toward Eric, "in spite of your unfortunate circumstances, I'm glad you came to us. Your presence has been very refreshing."

[onceaviking]

Eric reaches over to take his own little pile of cards.
Smiling.

Lucky for him that it takes so little to keep the pretty boy happy.

"Hey, wait a minute," he says, his large hand practically hiding the cards. "That's not how you play Kaiserspiel."

[dobadthings]

He raises his eyebrows a little, then realizes they'd been so distracted by their conversation that he hadn't specified what exactly they were playing.

"Kaiserspiel? We're playing Karnoffel."

The games are closely related enough that anyone could've made that mistake, really.

[onceaviking]

Yes, of course they are.
Of course, they are going to play the oldest variation, instead of one that makes sense and is actually fun.

He chuckles, looking down at his hands, a small smile on his lips.
The face he uses when luring sweet, young things. Not that Talbot is either.

"Oh, I'm sorry." And then, softer, "Wow. I haven't played that in centuries."
Flicking his eyes back up at Talbot. Infusing his choice of card game with meaning beyond itself.

[dobadthings]

It's a face that works on Talbot nonetheless.

"Russell taught me this game when I was still human," he says fondly, temporarily forgetting the tiresome spats and tiffs they've been having lately.

[onceaviking]

Eric lets his eyes rest on Talbot.

"How long have you been together?" he asks.
Encouraging him to talk.

[dobadthings]

He rolls his eyes ceiling-ward in brief thought.

"Oh, just shy of 700 years," he says, arranging his cards.

He then adds with an affectionately beleaguered sigh, "Although sometimes, it feels like seven million."

[onceaviking]

Eric laughs a little, looking down at his own cards.

When he looks back at Talbot again, his face is almost serious.

Capturing Talbot's eyes.

" I hope, he realizes," he says, voice low and intense, "how lucky he is."

[dobadthings]

Talbot chuckles as well.

But then he's held in Eric's gaze so intently that even as they exchange cards, and even as a mild disturbance occurs in the foyer, Talbot doesn't look away. It seems as though neither of them can.

"Oh, believe me," he says, his tone also low and serious, eyes locked with Eric's, "...he does."

[onceaviking]

Eric slowly slides his fingers away from the card he has just pushed toward Talbot, ignoring the hubbub in the foyer, as it dissolves into a screaming Sookie being pushed into the arms of a vampire security guard by Russell Edgington.

"Get your hands off me!" she screams, trying in vain to get out of his grip. "Carlo! Take this," the King says, and Eric slowly turns his head to look at him. At them.

Sookie screams again, "Let go of me," and Edgington says, "And have Timothy bring the car around," to Carlo, ignoring her completely.
He's gotten what he can from her.

[dobadthings]

Talk about ruining a mood.

When Eric turns his head, so does Talbot. Just in time to see the girl being dragged up the stairs (she puts up such a fight; she'd better not scratch the wallpaper) and Russell approaching the doorway.

"Where are you going now?" Talbot asks him. He tries to contain the annoyance that's starting to well up again.

[onceaviking]

Eric watches as the King, unfazed by the very obvious annoyance radiating from Talbot, merely says, "I have business."

Not watching Sookie as she tries to hang on to the bannister.

[dobadthings]

"Again?"

Talbot is really trying. But Russell has had so much business over the past several nights that it might take more than a few minutes of fucking to make up for his absence.

[onceaviking]

"Yes," the King says, and then Sookie screams, "Eric! Please save Bill," as she is finally dragged all the way up the stairs - and for a moment the mood lifts a little, as Eric catches Talbot's eyes and chuckles.

Really now. It's almost sweet, the way she carries on.

Edgington folds his hands in front of him and says, "Mr, Northman, would you accompany me this evening?" Looking at Eric. Ignoring Talbot.

As does Eric, shifting his full attention from Talbot to Edgington as he gets to his feet.
"It would be an honor," he replies.

Finally, finally, something is moving along.

[dobadthings]

Please save Bill. Talbot has to chuckle at that, too, because after the conversation he and Eric have just had about him, nobody is saving anybody.

But then, Russell asks Eric to come with him. And like a shot Eric is on his feet, complying, obeying. Talbot looks back and forth between the two of them with such disbelief that he might get whiplash.

Excuse me, hello, I'm still in the room!

So this is Russell's plan for Eric, is it? To take him along on all his little business trips? While he can stay home as usual and mind the house that Russell barely even pays attention to anymore?

"You never take me anywhere!" he finally bursts out, and he stands up, unable to contain his emotions.

One of which seems to be jealousy.

"Because you prefer to be in the company of sycophants," he continues, glaring at Russell but with a fluttering gesture toward Eric.

He manages to rein it in a little as he approaches Russell, arms folded, simmering with frustration and anger.

"Deep down, my darling, you're a very weak character."

And he storms off upstairs (again), muttering curses in Greek. So much for a quiet evening.

[onceaviking]

The King doesn't answer Talbot's outbursts. He does have very expressive eyes and eyebrows as he glances as Eric, who's stepped out of Talbot's way. Watching them.

Talbots storms off and the King says, "He's in one of his moods," to Eric, again with that confiding air. You know what it's like.

So Eric smiles, resting a finger against his lower lip. Amused. Understanding.

"Well, never mind," the King says, apparently not too concerned about the stage of his marriage this time around.

He steps closer to Eric and says, "We have much more pressing matters at hand," briefly touching him with a couple if fingers, right below his ribcage. "We're gonna see an old friend of yours," he continues and then he turns and leaves and Eric manages to keep the smile in place, till Edgington is gone.

They'll go save Pam. And then, then he'll get his revenge.