Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 2, 2010, 12:18am
Sookie couldn't get Eric out of her mind... like that was anything new. It was just so frustrating this time! Well, that wasn't new either. After holding out on Eric for so long, she had finally been ready to give into him, and what happened? He was called away on business. What kind of business, she didn't know, but she did know that she was endlessly frustrated that she had finally been ready to say yes to him, and he'd had to leave without much of an explanation. It wasn't his fault, she knew, and he'd warned her that it might happen, but still. The simple truth of it was, she missed him. They'd shared something really special that night, and she hadn't been able to see him since. She'd only been working single shifts, and only during the day, but that still left her plenty busy, and she guessed Eric had been too.
She'd heard from him, of course. That vampire was an expert texter. Technology wasn't so much Sookie's thing, but she could handle that much, and they'd exchanged a phone call or two, just to check in. It really did feel like they were dating. She looked forward to having a better car so she could actually go visit Eric, rather than waiting for him to visit her. She'd actually had to get a ride from Terry to work today, her car had been acting up so badly. She wasn't going to tell Eric that, though, or she was sure he'd follow through with his threat to have some flashy car show up at her house with a giant bow on top. He really wasn't above it.
His offer to bond further with her was still fresh in her mind too. It was something she hadn't stopped thinking about, really, and what surprised her most was that she caught herself smiling when she did think of it. She didn't like the idea of him having more influence over her or her emotions, but she honestly didn't think he'd use that on her any more than she'd try to control him. He'd always given her a choice, and never pressured her into anything, no matter how her decisions frustrated him. She had no doubt that he wished she did a lot of things differently, especially because he frequently told her so, but he never tried to control her.
As for the other things Eric talked about, she actually thought those sounded nice. She'd like being able to know when he was close, and to get a sense of his feelings. She already felt better whenever he was around, so she doubted that had anything to do with blood, and had more to do with the feelings they had for each other. She already saw Eric as more man than vampire, whether he knew it or not, and she liked the bond they had already. He said he'd wanted to wait until she was sure she wanted to be more deeply bonded, and she wasn't sure she'd ever know with complete certainty until she experienced what it was like, but for Eric, she was willing to take the risk. Washing out the last of the dishes from dinner, Sookie sighed quietly as she looked out the window, knowing she'd have to tell him in person instead of just calling him. Smiling, she quietly wished she was already able to sense if he was near so she'd know if he was coming to visit tonight. Wringing out her sponge, she looked around the kitchen. "Now where'd I put that phone?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by bill on Aug 2, 2010, 1:30am
Standing on the edge of the dense line of trees that separated the land on the edge of Bon Temps, Bill let out a single, long sigh as he stared out at the familiar farm house he had visited so many times before. This was torture of the self-inflicted kind, nothing more, nothing less, and he deserved it, a fact he would have loved to deny, but knew better than to try. It was torture to stare so longingly at something so pure, so innocent, and so rare, something he had had so completely and had lost just as soundly. Was the battle truly over though? Was there no hope of once more securing what had once been his so willingly? He refused to think it had. He had made his choices, his torment had made her own, but that didn't mean all was said and done. He was not one to just surrender, but was it too late?
The very thought anguished him, cutting through him like a silver blade, and in the darkness of the early summer night, he winced at the pain his mind had created. The pain was only magnified as he watched the source of both his hope and his sorrow voyeuristically from across her lawn, her figure illuminated angelically by the light from her kitchen behind her as she washed dishes, a smile, a genuine smile etched upon her features. It wasn't for him. How could it be? Every thing she had said to him rang through his mind in this moment, reminding him of just how thoroughly he had disappointed the girl who had so freely given him her heart to hold and care for. He had been a fool to disregard her as he had. What had it gotten him in the end?
Sophie-Anne was dead. The orders he had been following so faithfully in order to advance his position and to protect himself and Sookie from the Sheriff of Area Five had died with her second death. His project, the one that had consumed him so wholly while offering so much promise upon completion, was now just a bookish bragging right for his Sheriff, Texas, and Nevada. Something he had believed in and pursued passionately out of a genuine curiosity was now his burden, weighing heavily on all else he had come to cherish. Sookie hadn't understood, but how could she when he couldn't have explained, even if he had wanted to? He would never subject Sookie to the unnecessary danger knowledge of his database would have put her in. He was supposed to protect her. He wanted to protect her. He had to believe one day, she would understand. One day, she would see it had all been for her and things would once more be right and be as they should be.
He just had to hope it was not too late already. It had been only a few nights earlier that he had left his home in order to visit Sookie, to tell her that he and Jessica had returned home from one of the final trips his research would require of him. He had anticipated celebrating with her as they began to plan their reunion only to be stopped halfway to his goal. He had easily recognized the scent that hung in the heavy, humid summer air, it's trail still fresh and strong. His hands had balled immediately into fists and he flew across the ground towards Sookie's, his mind and thoughts traveling even faster than his supernatural steps.
Eric... ever the opportunist.
He had stood not far from where he stood now and watched, transfixed by the dim light muted by the curtains covering the window of her living room. The Corvette parked in the drive way, ostentatious even if it wouldn't have been parked in front of such a humble home, stood silent guard, it's mere presence there mocking his pain. He had waited in torment, almost hoping for Sookie to call out in anger or pain, willing her to give him reason to intervene after so long apart, but nothing came, nothing but additional encompassing anguish to himself. Minutes passed that felt like hours, but when he felt hopeless and most certain all was lost, his relief flooded over him with the simple opening of a screen door.
The vampire that had emerged, his Sheriff, looked so annoyed Bill was certain it was deadly. Only Sookie could do that, he was sure of it. There was hope.
He had returned home then, not wanting his potential reunion with the telepath he cared for deeply to be tainted by any lingering thoughts of the vampire who had always attempted to stand between them. With the hope he had found now, he chose to bide his time, and spent a few nights working on his database to allow them more time immediately together after he approached her. Tonight would be that night and as he studied her face from afar, through the soap-splashed window, he wondered if Sookie knew such a thing already. She had always greeted him with such enthusiasm every time he had returned to her before, he had to hope beyond all hopes that much hadn't changed and wouldn't.
As she turned away from the sink, Bill seized his opportunity, leaving his vantage point from the tree line and speeding around her house to the front door, his pale hand rapping upon the aged door soundly before his hands clasped together behind his back, waiting patiently for the door to open. As it did, his arms extended outward, ready to embrace the human who had unknowingly brought him back to Bon Temps after so much time had passed. "Good evening, Sookie," he began, a smile curling onto his lips at the very sight of her once more. "I have good news, sweetheart. May I come in?" Letting his eyes travel over her, seeing her more clearly now than his distance had allowed for before, his smile vanished, a look of concern and anger washing over him as he took in the scars on her neck and throat. "What has happened? Who is responsible? Why didn't you tell me?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by jessica on Aug 2, 2010, 11:03am
Jessica was bored as all heck. Bill was off staring at Sookie's house again, like that was anything new, and where did that leave her? Her new job at Merlotte's, that was where. It was really fun working with Sookie and all, even if she'd recently switched to mostly day shifts, and Sam had been surprisingly eager to hire her, considering all his waitresses kept dying or something. Jessica figured that she was already dead, so that probably wouldn't be so much of an issue for her. Of course, it wasn't like she was some fancy waitress, of even a bartender, since she couldn't serve alcohol until she was twenty-one. How lame was that? She'd never be twenty-one, and it totally wasn't her fault!
Still, it was something to do to get out of the house. Bill was always busy, which she got, and he'd even started taking her on business trips, which was nice. It was just the in between that killed her, metaphorically speaking, of course. She missed Hoyt. Sookie had been real great about consoling her over the end of her relationship, but it really didn't make it that much easier. Things were confusing enough to begin with, without having to deal with a break up. Being her age was confusing, being a newborn vampire was confusing, and who was there to help her?
Well, Sookie was, sometimes. Sookie always kept a bottle of blood in the fridge for her, and never judged her for actually drinking it. She got to go over to Sookie's to watch cool movies that had been banned from her house growing up, and even got to talk to her about some if her problems. Of course, Sookie wasn't a vampire, so she couldn't really relate. Bill was, but Bill has clearly never been an eighteen year old girl. Besides, Bill couldn't handle his own dating problems, much less give her any good advice on how to handle hers.
That was only made more evident as Jessica finished her run home, only to find the house empty. Looking across the graveyard to the warmly lit farmhouse, it was clear where he'd gone. Sighing to herself, Jessica swore she'd never understand men. Bill had to be like, the worst dater ever. Shaking her head to herself, she took off running, still in her uniform, to Sookie's. Bill would need help getting Sook not to kick his pale ass, and Sook would need comforting after Bill poured some more salt in that wound he'd made in her heart. Nearly getting run over, though, as she ran down the street that led to the farmhouse, Jessica looked up from where she'd toppled to the side of the road to see the red corvette pulling into Sookie's driveway. It looked like Sookie's comfort was already there. Shaking herself off as she stood up and the vampire got out of the car, she would've flushed if she were human. So embarrassing. "Don't tell Bill?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 2, 2010, 6:43pm
The papers were signed, the check handed over, the car was his, and Eric really couldn't wait to give the thing away. Bianca had given the vampire a difficult time about his untraditional choice in vehicles initially, but by the time the Viking was done looking through the showroom, he had found something that was the perfect amount of over-the-top flashy and had all the safety functions he was sure Sookie would require as her car died it's slow, painful, loud, ugly death. He imagined the new vehicle would look slightly out of place parked in Sookie's driveway or in the parking lot of Merlotte's, but it would look at home in the employee lot of Fangtasia and in Eric's driveway, and it was just what Sookie deserve. If the telepath would take his suggestion of taking on more work for the supernatural community seriously, the car would be trustworthy, reliable, and the kind of impression she wanted to make.
Though he was sure she'd protest a little, Eric was confident it was good for her.
Tossing the keys of the new Mercedes to his newborn, the Viking's instructions had been simple and not without reason. "Drive it around for fifteen minutes or so and then we'll leave. I need to get some miles on it." Just as he had expected, the car shot out of his driveway and down the street in a blur, the newborn anxious to test the limits of the car that really wasn't much like the sports cars that normally collected in their garage and driveway. "Don't set off any of the bags of air! Those are for Sookie!" he called out fruitlessly after it before shrugging his shoulders once and checking his phone for messages. There was no word from his telepath yet, so the Viking headed into his home, quickly showering and dressing for his trip to Bon Temps while the car was prepared for his mostly obvious lie.
By the time he was once more downstairs, the new car, a slightly duller red than his own, idled silently behind his Corvette in the driveway, waiting for their trip to a location such cars never should have been. Backing out of the car after his newborn, he led their small convoy onto the highway, his eyes frequently glancing to his rear view mirror to keep close track of Sookie's. It kept up impressively well, though he had a feeling once the keys were in the hands of the telepath, the vehicle would never see such speeds again. Weaving onto the exit for Bon Temps, the pair blazed through the redneck town, turning quickly onto the rural road Sookie lived on before turning into her driveway, his car nearly collected a vampire hood ornament in the process.
Parking, he didn't bother to kill the engine as he opened the door, easily sliding out of the low sports car despite his size, he offered Jessica a small smirk. "My lips are sealed," he agreed, lifting his hand to catch the keys to the vehicle behind his own. "Don't tell Bill that if it would have been him running on the road, I wouldn't have missed." Watching as his newborn slid into his car, it was almost difficult for Eric to leave it in the hands of another. "Be gentle with it," he ordered, watching as the Corvette pulled around the new car and headed back down the driveway before his eyes settled on the front porch. Looking to Sookie's front porch before glancing back to Jessica, Eric shook his head. "He's going to make a fool of himself," he stated confidently. "Does he know just how much I enjoy that?" he added before moving across Sookie's lawn and up her porch, choosing to lean against her porch railing rather than get between Bill and his making a fool of himself, Eric offered Sookie a smile and Bill a smirk. "Don't let me interrupt," he thought aloud, though everyone present knew just how much he enjoyed interrupting. "Will this be long? Do I have enough time to get the obnoxious, oversize bow out of the trunk?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 2, 2010, 7:34pm
Sookie knew she'd put that phone somewhere. She'd come home from work, she'd put her purse... in her room! Stepping away from the sink, she only had a moment to turn aroun before she heard the knock on her door. Wondering if Eric had known to come before she could even call him to say she missed him, she walked to the door, smile firmly in place as she opened it. However, the expression slipped quickly as she saw which vampire was on the other side of it. She hadn't seen Bill since they had broken up. She'd called a few times, but he hadn't picked up, and eventually she'd given up. She hadn't really expected him to show up at her door, though maybe she should have, since she'd heard Jessica had returned to work.
"Hey Bill," she replied, forcing the smile back into place with extreme difficulty, though she knew it was useless after he called her sweetheart. "You can come in if you don't call me that," she replied, shaking her head and moving to step out of the doorway when he asked what happened. It wasn't hard to know what he was talking about. The scars on her neck and arm were visible, even if the one on her stomach wasn't. "Oh, that," she answered, not exactly sure how to answer. It had been a while. "Things got a little dangerous in New York. It's healing. Not a big deal." She didn't want to explain and hear another 'Eric is putting you in danger' rant. "I didn't tell you because I got pretty tired of having conversations with your voicemail," she began as gently as she could, though the cars pulling into the driveway quickly captured her attention.
"Shit," she mumbled, shaking her head as she saw the Corvette drive away, leaving Eric and a shiny, clearly new Mercedes. "Tell me that's not the car I'm supposed to be borrowing, Eric," Sookie sighed, trying to get a handle on her frustration. "You have the worst timing, you know that?" Of course he did, and he looked way too pleased about it. she didn't have to look at Bill to know how he felt about it. "You pull a bow out of that trunk, and you are in serious trouble, mister." She didn't know what she would do to Eric, but she was sure there was absolutely no teasing in her voice as she said it. The last thing she wanted to see was a bow. Well, the last thing she wanted to see was her ex boyfriend and current boyfriend on her front porch, but still.
Noticing Jessica lingering behind Eric, Sookie's eyebrows shot up even higher. Giving her a polite smile so she wouldn't be offended, the telepath wondered who else was going to randomly show up. "Hey Jess. How was work?" she asked, partially to break the tension. Like that would work. Shaking her head, she forced a smile back into place. "Why doesn't everyone come inside. We're letting bugs in." Really, she just thought it was better that everyone be sitting down for all this. People were less likely to attack each other while seated, weren't they? "Does anyone want a TrueBlood? I bought some new bottles today..." She was rambling, but this was a pretty uncomfortable situation. That sort of thing was warranted, wasn't it? Stepping out of the doorway, she gave Eric a look. "Behave."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by bill on Aug 2, 2010, 8:11pm
Concern swept over Bill's face as his eyes traveled over the healing scars that tainted Sookie's flesh so brutally. They were old now, he could tell that much, and soon she would be healed completely, but he couldn't help but feel yet another stab of pang for her suffering. Once more, he reminded himself he should have been there to help her in whatever she had faced that had left her injured and scarred, and once more he found himself fighting between his duties and his desires. It was yet another blow in his mission to once more reclaim Sookie as well. He had failed to protect her from whatever Eric had needlessly and senselessly put her through for his own profit, and Bill was confident Eric was behind it.
"Sookie," he chided quietly as she insisted he didn't call her 'sweetheart.' She was going to be in one of those moods again, he could tell that much, but she would get over it. She always did. The telepath was an emotional creature, young and full of naive and erratic decisions, but he would help her see rationally. "I know you are upset now, but I will explain and we will move forward." She needed him. He reminded himself of such a thing and it kept his faith alive. He was grounded, secure, educated, stable, reliable... Everything the vampire pulling into her driveway at the present was not.
He really couldn't stop the sneer on his face from forming at the sight of the flashy cars approaching and without seeing through the tinted windows, Bill could wager a guess as to who was driving. Standing protectively between Sookie and the vampire who made his way quickly over to them as his own car disappeared into the night, Bill was sure his mouth was curled into a snarl instead of a respectful expression as he offered his Sheriff an obligatory nod in greeting, though it nearly killed him to do so. "Yes Eric," he agreed. "Your timing is unfortunate." Not to mention unwelcome. And he didn't like the idea that Sookie was about to borrow anything from Eric. The price he'd charge for such a courtesy wasn't one Bill was willing to let the telepath pay. "And your loan unnecessary. Sookie and I were about to..."
His voice trailed off as he caught the glimpse of red hair peeking out from behind the Viking's frame. "Jessica, shouldn't you be at home? I am certain there is something that needs attending to there." Sometimes he had to wonder if Eric and Jessica worked together in order to come between him and any chance at privacy he had with his Sookie. Forcing his attention back to Sookie as she spoke, he nodded, following just behind her as he entered her house. "Thank you, that would be greatly appreciated. Jessica and I will have one," he answered, speaking for his newborn, but her insatiable hunger was a constant. "I will help you prepare them," he offered, jumping in before Eric could attempt to do the same for a moment alone with Sookie. Bill just wouldn't let that happen.
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by jessica on Aug 2, 2010, 8:37pm
Waving to the other newborn as he took over driving Eric's car, taking away the pretty Corvette, Jessica would've blushed if she were still capable. Thankfully she wasn't, but it was a small relief. "Oh, thank you!" she gushed as Eric said he wouldn't tell Bill. "Not a word," she promised with a nod, doubting Eric would've actually run over Bill. She knew Eric and Bill hated each other, but she was pretty sure that Eric loved his car more than he would enjoy the temporary pain it would cause Bill. Maybe she should've said something to her Maker, but she was sure he wasn't in any real danger. "I was just coming home from work," she explained unnecessarily, given the Merlotte's uniform. "You know, Bill actually made me get a job? It's not fair. But at least it gives me someone to talk to, since he's always busy doing other stuff."
Following Eric even though she had no business getting in the middle of all this, Jessica shook her head. "Like that's something new," she chimed in as Eric predicted that Bill would make a fool of himself. Bill was worse at relationships than she was, and she'd fanged at her ex's mother at dinner. "I think he gets it," she acknowledged, knowing even Bill could grasp how Eric enjoyed his failure at relationships. From what Jessica could hear from this far away, he was still failing pretty good. Sweetheart? Honestly? She'd dumped him! Sookie couldn't have been happy about that one. Jessica was glad she'd came. They'd need her to help with this mess.
"The car is for Sook?" Jessica suddenly exclaimed excitedly, rushing over to the car to peek inside. "Oh, it's so pretty! You'll take me around in it, won't you?" she asked the telepath, only stopping and composing herself once Bill finally acknowledged her, only to tell her to go home. "There's always something that needs attending to at home," she pointed out with a pout, crossing her arms. "I just got home from work, and no one was there, so I came to see Sookie," she explained, smiling back at the very stressed looking human. Poor Sook. This was kind of a nightmare for her, she knew. She was being a pretty good sport about it all, though, not that she expected anything different. Sookie was nice like that.
"Work was pretty good. Lafayette was on tonight, and he was real nice to me, even though Arlene was giving me the dirtiest looks all night. I don't know if it's that I'm a vampire or that she dyes her hair to look like mine, but I don't think she could hate me much more than she does!" Sookie knew all this, of course, but Jessica was being helpful in giving everyone else something to focus on. Frowning at Bill as he spoke for her, Jessica decided to speak up. "Actually, I ate at work. I'm not hungry, thanks though." He really needed to learn not to do that. She'd talk to him about it later. She really had eaten at work, though not from a bottle. That didn't need to be mentioned, though. "So, what's everyone doing here?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 2, 2010, 9:13pm
In a way, this was kind of priceless. When Eric had left Shreveport, he had expected to deliver the car, listen to an hour of Sookie lecturing him about it, then get away with the gift by taking her mind off of it entirely in the best way he knew how, but this was almost- almost- better. There would be plenty of time to get his telepath out of her clothes once Bill had thoroughly humiliated himself and any attention Sookie would have paid to the lavish loan would be diverted to a situation he was certain she found awkward. In Eric's opinion, Sookie should have been able to enjoy this moment as much as he was, but he knew her well enough to know she'd be concerned about Bill's "feelings" and "hurting him" and other equally ridiculous crap. Eric was just ready to laugh.
"You talk a great deal and say very little," Eric informed Jessica as if he was offering small talk of his own and not insulting her. The newborn always seemed to have something to say and he honestly couldn't think of a time it had ever been remotely relevant to anyone other than herself. There had been a reason her initial time at Fangtasia so shortly after her creation hadn't exactly worked out. Still, the vampire found himself smirking as she agreed with him that the Civil War relic was going to make a fool of himself. "There is hope for you yet, newborn," he stated. "Continue saying such accurate, unflattering things of your Maker and next time you are at Fangtasia, I will make sure you have a drink on the house... and I don't mean one that comes in a bottle, but instead one that comes in some tight little outfit that leaves nothing to the imagination." He actually did feel for Jessica being ordered to down that synthetic shit all the time, forced into mainstreaming. She barely knew what it was like to be a vampire.
Glancing back at the Mercedes in the driveway as Sookie sighed, he smiled to her. "Not good enough?" he asked, jingling the keys to it in his hand. "I can call my newborn and have him deliver something a little more extravagant from my garage if this is not enough," he offered while Jessica reacted the way Eric had fruitlessly wished Sookie had. "I'm sure you'll have a chance to ride in it," he told her, not bothering to raise his voice to the newborn despite their distance as she examined the vehicle. "It, much like me, is not going anywhere," he concluded, pointedly looking back to Bill with a smirk. Eyes falling to Sookie, he offered her a more genuine smile. "Teasing. There is no bow, but I am intrigued by the prospect of being in trouble with you. It could be fun. Later," he concluded with both a wink and a smirk. Did Compton truly not get it?
Following Bill and Jessica into Sookie's home, he couldn't help but the mischievous smirk that crossed over his face as his telepath told him to behave. "Don't I always when we have company?" he asked, knowing they both knew the answer wasn't a resounding yes. Rolling his eyes as Bill quickly jumped in, Eric turned his attention instead to Jessica's inquiry. "I am here to surprise Sookie, but it seems someone has beaten me to it. As for a blood," he continued, his gaze returning to Sookie as he closed the door behind him. "That depends on whether or not I need to save room for later." Smirking, the vampire took a seat in one of the old, worn arm chairs of the living room, he beckoned the telepath to join him. "I think Bill can manage warming a blood on his own, can't you, Compton?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 2, 2010, 9:35pm
Sookie really couldn't believe Bill's behavior. She'd called Eric high handed a time or two before, but now she wasn't sure it compared to this. "I'm not upset anymore. I got over that months ago," she told him, doing her best to keep her voice gentle. She didn't want to hurt him, after all, but this was ridiculous. "I did move forward." A silent 'without you' was tacked onto the end of that, but she wasn't really sure he'd acknowledge such a thing with the way he was acting right now. Still, they were done. She cared about him enough not to want to hurt his feelings, but she really had moved on. She was sure the vampire she'd moved on with would be quick to point that out, judging by the smirk on Eric's face. This was going to be a disaster of epic proportions, and he was looking like he was enjoying it way too much.
Bill's expression didn't exactly put her at ease either. She could see that neither of them really intended on behaving. "You're both quite the surprise tonight," she corrected Bill, happy enough to remind him that he hadn't exactly called and asked if he could come over either. At least Eric had said he'd be by within the next few days. She'd sort of expected him. And that car. Well, not that car. "Too much, and you know it," she answered, shaking her head at the blond vampire. "This was hardly what I had in mind when I agreed." She was sure he knew that, though. Bill, on the other hand, had no right to speak for her. "We were about to what, Bill?" she asked, some of her displeasure at being spoken for leaking into her voice. "And I accepted the loan from Eric nights ago. It's not exactly what I had in mind," she continued, flashing another one of her looks at the blond vampire, "but I appreciate him looking out for me." She doubted Bill would see it that way, but Eric had been around to know that her car wouldn't even start, and Bill hadn't. Even if he had been around, he'd have no right to tell Eric off in her name.
"Jessica might as well stay," she offered with a smile to the female vampire, knowing her well enough to know that she was just trying to help, and also that she didn't get to spend much time around anyone she got to talk to. She was lonely, and Sookie could understand that. Smiling at the redhead, she nodded, trying not to be upset about the car... for now. She could lecture later. "I guess I'll have to," she answered with a tense laugh, not because she didn't want to drive Jess around, but because she'd kind of cornered herself into having to accept the loan. Nodding at the explanation about Arlene, that woman was becoming more and more of a pain. Jessica wasn't the only one who felt that way. "I'm glad Lafayette was there for you. He'll watch your back," she consoled, since there was really nothing to do about Arlene.
Sookie couldn't quite hide the relief as Eric assured her that he was teasing about the bow, though she did smile despite truly wishing he would behave. "Nope," Sookie answered as he tried to proclaim his innocence, not buying it. He was already acting up, and she couldn't even tell him that he wasn't getting a drop from her unless he really did watch his behavior. Chosing to ignore everyone, she shooed them all into the living room. "Nonsense. I'll warm the bloods. Gran would roll over in her grave if anyone served drinks in this house but me," she explained, deciding it was true enough. Keeping an eye on them as she put two bloods in the microwave, she was relieved when it was done and could bring both bloods back, setting them on the table for the men. "This is cozy..."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by bill on Aug 2, 2010, 10:27pm
Bill's head tilted slightly as he looked at Sookie, her words not entirely unexpected. She often tried to put on a confident, tough exterior, but he knew better than that. She was vulnerable and fragile, and she never knew what was best for her. He did though, and he'd smooth over his absence once she stopped being so stubborn. He hated seeing her crumble, it panged him every time, but it was also inevitable. "I know you believe that," he corrected, "but you do not truly understand the situation, Sookie. We will discuss it and then you will see." Things weren't over between them yet, he was sure of that much. Sookie needed him, he was important to her. When he hadn't been so readily available to her, it had deeply upset her. Now that he could give her more time again, things would fall back into place.
Glowering sullenly, Bill's dark eyes moved between Sookie, Eric, Jessica, and the ostentatious vehicle in the driveway drawing so much attention, approving of none of it or them at present. "I have always been welcomed by you," he pointed out as the telepath insisted he was a surprise. Even her grandmother had welcomed him into her home, his visits announced or unannounced equally. "I do hope I am not an unwelcome surprise," he added, casting a pointed glance to Eric, Jessica, and the inanimate vehicle in turn. Those were unwelcome surprises, getting in the way of a reunion that should have already begun. Looking back to Sookie as she questioned him on what it was they were going to do, he pursed his lips, not appreciating the manner in which she was interrogating him, not when such a peanut gallery had gathered to bear witness. "We were about to have a discussion. A private discussion," he added more for the benefit of the others there than her. It was obvious they needed privacy, which meant it wouldn't be easy to attain.
Turning back to Eric as he insisted he was also there to surprise Sookie, Bill found himself frowning. "You have succeeded, Sheriff," the vampire retorted, the title rolling off his tongue more like a curse word than a term of respect. "But your "generosity" is clearly unwelcome by Sookie. If there is additional business you need to discuss with her, I can bring her to Fangtasia later in the week." He was going to get his reunion with Sookie, he was determined to, and at present, he was cursing himself for not having used the last few days to approach his telepath. "If there is nothing else that needs immediate attention, perhaps you can give Jessica a ride tonight." He couldn't really dismiss his Sheriff, but he didn't need to make the arrogant vampire feel welcome either. He wasn't.
And neither Eric nor Jessica seemed to grasp that. Sookie even seemed to encourage it. Frowning, arms crossing in front of his chest, he shook his head at his newborn as she rambled on, gossiping about her co-workers. "You are meant to learn responsibility, Jessica," he stated disapprovingly. "That is why you have a job. Not to slander and speak ill of our neighbors." Reluctantly taking a seat on the couch as Sookie played the part of hostess, he frowned at the news that Jessica had already drank for the night, not entirely trusting that. "Take a seat and behave yourself," he instructed his child while wishing he could do the same for the blond vampire looking much too smug at present. Reaching for a bottle of blood as they were set on the table in front of him, he smiled politely to Sookie. "Thank you. You are a most gracious hostess," he stated, lifting his bottle in appreciation before taking a drink. He definitely couldn't agree that this was cozy, but he forced a placating smile of agreement to his face. "Of course it is. Sit down, Sookie. I am sure these bloods will last us."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by jessica on Aug 2, 2010, 11:05pm
Opening and shutting her mouth as Eric said she talked a lot and only said a little, Jessica frowned, not sure how to respond to that. She looked up to all these vampires, and they always saw her as more annoying than anything else, when they saw her at all. She brightened instantly at Eric's almost-flattery and his offer. "You mean it? You wouldn't tell on me? Cause I'm so sick of that synthetic shit, but Bill won't even teach me to feed properly. He says it's not right, but Pam's been much more understanding... when she'll talk to me," she added at the end, since Pam didn't do a whole lot of that. No vampire did, really. She was kind of surprised Eric was talking to her now, but she guessed almost running her over had made it sort of inevitable.
Admiring the car that had been left for Sookie, Jessica smiled at the fact that she was still being talked to by Eric, peeking inside the windows of the shiny new car. Beaming up at Sookie, she couldn't believe her friend wasn't totally flipping out, but she guessed Sookie had a lot on her mind. Oh Bill, he really was cementing their breakup in stone, wasn't he? Jess had loved the idea of them together because it meant she and Sookie could be closer, but even she could see that this was just not what Sookie needed. Besides, she'd since learned that she and Sookie could be close anyway, even though she wasn't dating Bill anymore. Sookie was becoming like a sister to her, and while it sucked big time that she and Bill couldn't work things out, Jessica could see why.
"Thanks, Sook," she beamed, nodding at her response to her work woes. "Lafayette's great! He's been teaching me all these make-up tricks. He told me that next week, he'll teach me how to put on false eyelashes." Jessica couldn't imagine why Lafayette had learned all these things in the first place, but she was eager to learn from someone who actually wanted to teach her something. Frowning at Bill as he took all the fun out of gossip, Jessica rolled her eyes. "Well if you had someone making crosses at you all night and calling you the spawn of Satan for hours on end, you wouldn't speak so nice of them either," she pointed out reasonably. Arlene really was a pain in the ass, and she'd talk about her however she damn well pleased.
Rolling her eyes once more at Bill's command to sit and behave, she bit back a response that she was the only one behaving, and it was the older vampires who needed to stop making Sookie so uncomfortable. "Sookie sure does seem surprised," she agreed with Eric, fidgeting with her hands in her lap as she noticed that the blonde hadn't sat down yet, and was instead standing uncomfortably in the middle of the room. Poor thing. "Yeah, Sook. Come sit next to me. I haven't seen you in forever," she offered, knowing that if Sookie sat next to her, she wouldn't have to choose between sitting with either of the male vampires. She was pretty sure she'd pick Eric, which Jessica didn't personally have a problem with, but she was pretty sure it'd send Bill into a tizzy. "How are your cuts healing?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 2, 2010, 11:48pm
Opening his mouth to answer Jessica's inquiry, the response was caught in Eric's throat as the newborn continued trudging forward in her own spoken-aloud thoughts. He really didn't understand how one so new to this world could possibly have this much to say about absolutely everything. "It may have escaped your keen eagle-eye, but your Maker and I don't exchange many unnecessary words," he stated simply, feeling that confirmed he wouldn't be running to inform Compton Jessica slipped on her mainstreaming diet because of him. "And he answers to me, not the other way around. It would do you well to remember that, young one," he concluded, giving the redhead a quick pat on the head that doubled as her dismissal. She could run off and ogle the new car as much as she wanted. Eric had other things to pay attention to at present... such as Sookie and his inferior underling, for starters.
"It belongs to me, what do you expect?" Eric asked as the telepath insisted the car was too much. "You are just borrowing it, aren't you?" he asked rhetorically. He knew Sookie well enough to know her pride wouldn't even humor the idea of keeping the car, whether it had been purchased for her or not. "When you have the money for a new vehicle purchase gathered, this vehicle will fit seamlessly back into my collection," he pointed out. He really had no plan of ever getting the car back. It was for Sookie, even if she wouldn't accept it outright. Once she drove it and got over the initial shock of the luxury vehicle, he was confident she'd love it and quickly forget about a need for a new, new car. Seizing hold of her hand for a moment, he smiled to her while pressing the keys to it into her palm. "When it is returned to me, it'll be my top choice when I want to drive something subtle." He had a feeling that wasn't the word Sookie would use to describe it.
Looking over to Bill as he did his best to dismiss him, Eric was torn between amused and annoyed. Did it surprise him that Bill was here now, attempting to weasel his way back into Sookie's life? Not really, but his pathetic antics were still bothersome. "Any business I have to discuss with Sookie no longer requires your presence," he stated flatly. In denial as Bill may have been about himself and the telepath, Sookie had relinquished Bill's claim on her completely much earlier. "But my 'generosity' along with myself are not here for business. This is purely a social call, so until dismissed by Sookie, I will be staying, and I believe the same can be said of your newborn." It really was satisfying that Bill could no longer even attempt to give Eric instructions of any kind by holding the Sookie card.
The discussion about humans Eric couldn't even feign interest in bored the Viking, but as Sookie returned with two bottles of blood and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, he could only arch his brow. Was she intentionally avoiding getting anywhere near him? This is cozy? "Not remotely," he stated bluntly, unafraid of saying the obvious while everyone else was playing polite. Reaching forward, Eric begrudgingly grabbed the remaining bottle of synthetic blood before settling back into his chair as Jessica offered Sookie a safe seat in the room, his legs reclining out lazily into the middle of the floor in front of him. "Where is it you two have been?" he asked, feigning curiosity as the newborn attempted to justify her offer with the reminder of their absence. "Something for your little science project?" he added, his gaze shifting from Jessica to Bill. Looking back to Jessica, Eric actually preferred her company to the Civil War relic's. "How long have you been working for the Shifter?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 3, 2010, 12:09am
Frowning at Bill, it was truly difficult for Sookie to keep her temper in check. "I think you're the one who doesn't understand the situation," she disagreed with a small shake of her head. There was a time when she would have loved Bill to show up back on her front doorstep, but this wasn't it. She had moved on, and she was with someone else. That someone else was making himself pretty well known, but hadn't said anything too direct yet. If Bill kept up with this, though, she was going to have to say something, and she really would've rather just avoided the whole topic. It didn't look like that was much of an option, though, and as much as she wanted to save Bill's feelings, she had no reason not to tell him about her and Eric. She was with him now, and maybe Bill had to know. She was proud of being Eric's girlfriend anyway, even if he was concerned it put her in danger. They had something special going, and it was important to Sookie.
"A surprising surprise," Sookie answered without really answering, feeling that Bill was pretty unwelcome, but knowing Gran would've been ashamed if she'd said so. Lowering her voice as Bill informed her that they were about to have a discussion, she rubbed her forehead roughly. "I'm not sure there's much to discuss, Bill," she answered quietly, though she was sure Jessica and Eric would hear anyway, even over them oohing and ahhing over the car. It was gorgeous, but way too much. They'd need to talk about that, but Bill certainly had no business doing so. "His generosity is not unwelcome by Sookie, and Sookie can speak for herself, so you can stop doing that," she replied, her tone a bit less patient than it had been before. She'd tried to make it clear the first time, but apparently he just wasn't getting it. Accepting the keys as Eric pressed them into her hand, she smiled a small but genuine smile at him, truly glad to see him. Biting her tongue, for now, she held onto his hand a moment longer than necessary. "Thank you." She meant it, truly and honestly, even if she couldn't imagine how she was possibly going to drive that car to work without questions.
"I'll take good care of it," she continued, knowing she'd be extra careful of the very, very nice car. It was nice enough to belong to Eric, that much was true, and it was one she could almost see him driving once she gave it back to him, which she was determined to do. She wouldn't exactly call it subtle, but it was incredibly thoughtful. It did feel good to have someone who cared about her enough to look out for her like he was. Frowning at Bill as he tried to dismiss Eric, Sookie couldn't imagine what he thought he was doing. Opening her mouth to say something she'd probably regret, Eric spoke first, and Sookie settled for nodding. "I didn't ask him to leave. I'm glad he visited. I was just about to call him to ask if he would when you got here," she explained partially so Bill got the message, and partially so that Eric did feel welcome, despite Bill's efforts otherwise. "And Jessica's always welcome." She wanted to make that clear, especially since Bill was bossing her around too. She thought it was extra nice of Eric to include Jessica in his defense.
Shaking her head as Bill scolded Jessica just for her choice of topics to talk about, Sookie silted slightly at Eric's bluntness that helped to cut through some of her own discomfort. "You get used to Arlene. Pretty soon, you'll be able to tune her out with no problem. Lafayette's got all sorts of tricks, you just be careful he doesn't teach you any you'll regret learning." Looking to Jessica as she offered a safe place to sit, she seated herself between Jessica and Eric. Smiling at Jessica's question, it seemed pretty clear that Jess hadn't told Bill about her injuries, and she hoped Bill wouldn't be too hard on her for it. "Much better now that I'm taking it easy. Eric's been taking good care of me too," she added, placing her hand briefly on Eric's arm, hoping he wouldn't be too mad that she hadn't sat down with him. She wondered if there was a subtle way to tell Bill that they were dating. Maybe if the conversation went on long enough? "I didn't know you were gone, Bill," she admitted with a small frown, suddenly a little less worried about Bill's feelings. It wasn't like Jessica was allowed to tell her anything, but that wasn't her fault. "Sounds like everyone's been keeping busy."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by bill on Aug 3, 2010, 1:07am
Sighing heavily, Bill could tell Sookie was not going to make this easy on the two of them. Her stubborn nature was both a blessing and a curse, and in this instance, it was obvious to the vampire it was going to be a curse. The matter really wasn't appropriate for discussion in front of an audience, however. Eric did not need to be aware of any cracks in their foundation, especially when Bill was sure they could be easily mended. Sookie would see reason. She always did. She just often fought it far more than she should have. "These aren't the conditions in which we need to speak in," he informed her, his eyes sweeping quickly over Eric and Jessica as if they couldn't hear his nearly whispered words. "You really don't understand the situation," he continued, confidence in his voice. He was sure she didn't understand the situation because he had kept a great deal of information for her, but he would help her realize it had all been not only necessary, but for the best.
"Sookie," he chided scoldingly as she jumped in to nullify his own words that had attempted to dismiss the gathered audience. She should have known better than that. They needed to present a united front, no matter how displeased she was with him in the present. Biting his tongue and clenching his jaw for a moment, he brought an apologetic expression forward. "I didn't mean to speak for you, sweetheart," he stated, his eyes turning toward Eric as Sookie thanked him for the use of the showy car. "It really was kind of you to offer Sookie the use of a car when she needed one, Eric," he stated, each word sounding as if it cost him a great deal to part with. He wasn't thankful though, nor grateful. Apparently, his absence had made Sookie forget the kind of personal costs that went with the Sheriff of Area Five's "generosity." He had a lot of damage control to do, but Sookie seemed almost unwilling to let him do it.
Taking another drink of blood uncomfortably as Sookie sat down between Jessica and Eric, he remained stiffly seated on the couch as his newborn rambled on about uninteresting matters he'd rather she not engage in in the first place. "The point of mainstreaming is to blend into the world of the living," he pointed out to her coldly. "When you refuse to accept their right to opinions, no matter how ignorant, and then speak ill of them, you are failing to blend. You do not have to agree with her," he continued, never having much cared for that particular waitress of Merlotte's. "But that does not mean you should be cruel in kind." Glancing momentarily away from his child and to Sookie and Eric, Bill didn't care much for the fact that Eric was still welcomed in Sookie's home, nor that he looked so comfortable. He had to attempt to do something about that. "You said Lafayette is aiding you, Jessica?" he asked needlessly. They had all heard her. "Eric, isn't he the one you tortured for nights on end before bonding to?" Sookie could probably do well with that dose of that reality right about now.
Sneering at both Jessica having some prior knowledge of Sookie's injuries and Sookie actually crediting Eric to helping her mend, he would need to have a very frank discussion with his newborn about information she was given, not to mention yet another discussion with Sookie about letting Eric anywhere near her. She always thought she could take care of herself, but she didn't truly understand what she was up against. "I was working on what I've been required to work on," he practically hissed at both Eric and Sookie, his own frustration leaking into his words. Eric damn well knew he had to continue work on the database that had been promised to Texas and Nevada, and Sookie should have known he was absent if he hadn't been to visit her lately. "It involves a great deal of sensitive work abroad," he added defensively. "But I wasn't the only one gone," he pointed out, looking to Sookie and the scars she claimed she had received in New York. "What exactly happened?" he asked, his gaze turning accusingly to Eric. "Need to flag down a taxi cab and Sookie was the nearest thing to throw in it's path?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by jessica on Aug 3, 2010, 11:31am
Jessica knew that Eric and Bill really disliked each other. She wasn't stupid, and she didn't like being talked to like she was. Still, Eric was offering her a chance to feed on a real human, and maybe even learn some tricks from him while doing it. "Well lots of people don't like Bill, but they somehow feel the need to tell on me anyway when I do something bad," she pointed out when an idea came to her. "Hey, since he answers to you and stuff, could you tell him to quit making me mainstream and let me live like a real vampire? What you, and Pam, and your other children do looks a lot more fun then what I've got to go through." She definitely didn't take his pat on the head as a dismissal, but the new car was pretty distracting. Jessica loved red cars, even if she never thought she could drive one because of her hair. At this rate, she was never going to get to drive one anyway, because it wasn't looking like Bill was ever going to let her own one. Not that she had her license, but so what? She was vampire now! She took her time to admire the car, hoping to seem unobtrusive while the men fought over Sookie. No one ever fought over her. Not that she was sure she wanted anyone to now. Sookie looked pretty uncomfortable. She'd like it if just one guy paid attention to her, though. Hell, she'd love it if anyone paid attention to her in any way. Most of the time, people just tended to forget she was there. She complained about Arlene at work, but at least she noticed her, which was more than Jessica could say about most of the other waitresses. She was still gonna keep glamoring customers into skipping out on Arlene's tip, though. Attention or not attention, that woman was a bitch.
Perking up as Sookie sat down between her and Eric, Jessica felt like she'd actually done something right for a change. And Eric was standing up for her, not just Sookie! This was a pretty unusual night. "Plenty of humans gossip about their coworkers," she pointed out as Bill continued scolding her. "I bet it'd be hard to fit in if I didn't, and you said yourself that's the whole point." Pausing, she frowned. "Besides, I don't like mainstreaming. It's boring, and I don't see why we have to do it." They'd had this discussion a lot, but if she brought up the topic, maybe Bill wouldn't freak out over the fact that Sookie had her hand on Eric's arm like she touched him a lot lately. She wanted to ask if they were dating now, but she didn't think that'd go over well. Smiling at Sookie, she was glad for at least her support. "Maybe if I tell her I have super good hearing, she'll quit mumbling to herself like I can't hear what she's saying."
Frowning as Bill accused Eric of doing awful stuff to Lafayette, she shook her head. "That can't be. Lafayette says such great stuff about Eric," she pointed out, confused. "I didn't understand a lot of it, there was something about hot cocoa, I think, but he really seemed to like you," she told the vampire with a smile. What warm chocolate drinks had to do with anything, though, was beyond Jessica. Nodding to Bill, she felt his question still deserved answering. "Yep, he's helping me lots. Tonight, he showed me how to put on lipstick without getting any on my fangs. I'm not sure how he knew that, though." Lafayette had weird pools of knowledge, but he was a good guy. "I've been working for Sam since we got back from our last trip," she told Eric. "Bill said I had to get a job, and I thought it'd be fun to work with Sookie." She shrugged for a moment before smiling. "It's not so bad, except I'm not allowed to touch the drinks, cause I'm only eighteen, and no one wants a vampire handling their food, and when Sookie's not there, no one wants to talk to me. I guess it's better than sitting in an empty house, though."
Frowning at the questions of where they'd been, those had not been trips Jessica could enjoy. "I couldn't tell you, even if I hadn't been ordered not to. It was all 'Jessica, stay here in this hotel room and behave yourself while I conduct business,'" she told Eric, impersonating Bill. You know, after a while, all those hotel rooms look the same." Sure, Bill had said his business was important, but Jessica didn't see why she needed to come along. Ignoring Bill's mean-spirited question, she took one of Sookie's hands. "You're healing up so well, from what I can see. I bet it'll barely scar, and Sam feels so bad that you're hurt, I'm betting he'll let you take lots of days off. Did you get to see a lot of the city? It must've been so exciting! I've always wanted to go to New York, but my parents always said it was just a den of sin." It didn't need saying that Bill was too busy to take her. Jessica hadn't known that Sookie didn't know Bill left. She thought he would've said something. Almost two centuries old, and Bill still knew nothing about women. Amazing. "Eric! I heard you made another newborn, like me! Can I meet him sometime?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 3, 2010, 6:50pm
"I could really care less whether or not Bill knows of your indiscretions," Eric informed Jessica honestly as she insisted many people tattled on her to Bill despite disliking him. Jessica was Bill's burden, not Eric's, and the more trouble she caused, the more of a burden Bill had. Informing the Civil War relic of all her wrongdoings was only helping him, something Eric had no desire to do. He would have much rather seen Bill blindsided. It was always amusing watching the vampire silently fume as he attempted to control his temper so as not to draw a scene. "He is already well aware of how I feel about mainstreaming, as well as his commitment to it, and the commitment he has forced upon you. I cannot change his orders to you." Nothing trumped the word of one's Maker. "But I don't need to respect nor honor his wishes either, and any choices I make for you, he has no choice but to respect." If Jessica ever said Eric gave his approval, Bill would have a difficult time punishing her for it. Such an act could be considered treasonous. "Does that answer your question?" How didn't she know this already? What, if anything, was Bill teaching the girl?
Eric didn't bother to conceal the exaggerated roll of his eyes as Bill called Sookie 'sweetheart' and continued down his road of denial. Of course, he hadn't seemed to figure out as of yet that not only was Sookie no longer his, but she belonged to another, nor had he been told. It was almost embarrassing. Looking to Bill as he called him kind, the Viking really hated being labeled such a thing, something he was sure the much younger vampire was well aware. "Sookie was in need of a vehicle that would allow her to travel safely to and from Shreveport regularly," he stated simply, wondering if Compton would possibly put the pieces together since Sookie seemed to be avoiding saying anything too blunt. "It is as much for me as it is for her." That much was mostly true. Turning his attention back to Sookie as she thanked him and promised to be careful, he shrugged his shoulders once. "I have the best insurance," he informed her, not wanting her to be eternally paranoid about something bad happening to the car. "And it has many bags of air, just in case."
Taking a drink of the bottled blood as Bill began lecturing Jessica on his principles of mainstreaming, it was all Eric could do to keep from making a face at his own synthetic blood and he had a thousand years experience masking his feelings. Did Bill really expect a newborn to do phenomenally? Dropping the bottle to an end table after only the single drink, Jessica had sort of asked Eric not to bite his tongue on the matter... "Mainstreaming is nothing more than vampires punishing themselves for what they are, repenting for our true nature when it needs no forgiveness," he stated matter-of-factly. "Unlike you, Bill, the girl has no reason to be ashamed of what she is, especially when she has not been given a chance yet to be much more than a human. And further, I do not think you are in a position to lecture on keeping up appearances or doing what one should when dealing with humans of a bigoted nature," he added, looking from Bill to Sookie fleetingly before returning his gaze to Bill. It really was no secret that Eric had succeeded in bonding to the telepath because Bill had gone to chase Fellowship members and left Eric with Sookie.
Bill trying to get under Eric's skin was nothing new. He never really succeeded, no matter how hard he tried. Eric knew who was the better between them, so the younger vampire's antics and attempts were really fruitless, but the Viking couldn't help but wonder how Sookie would take the reminders Bill was offering up now. She still had her hand on his arm, at least for the moment, so the vampire would take that as a good sign, even if there hadn't been many good signs tonight. "Actually, Bill is accurate," he answered Jessica as she stated Eric couldn't have harmed Lafayette. "I did as he said, but he shouldn't sound so proud of his limited knowledge when the only reason he possesses even that much is because a clever human informed him." Bill owed Sookie that. "But that was about business, and as quite the... entrepreneur, Lafayette understood. We are quite fond of one another now." Turning his attention back to Bill at his question, Eric brought a smirk to his face. "Yes, that's exactly what happened, since Sookie's injuries are so consistent with those of one struck by an automobile. Thank the gods I have you as my Area's 'investigator.' Nothing ever gets by you." Resting his hand over Sookie's as it rested on his arm, he wanted her to know Bill's accusations hadn't succeeded in bothering him, but the vampire did find himself momentarily stunned at Jessica's question. Blinking once, wondering how she knew, he shrugged his shoulders. "My newborn is in the custody of another," he answered uncomfortably. "But another's newborn is in my custody. He is not so much like you, but yes, you can meet him."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 3, 2010, 7:36pm
"I'm not really sure we do need to speak, Bill," Sookie repeated, her frustration only growing as he continued to insist she didn't understand the situation, and seeming more upset by the fact that Eric and Jessica were there than the fact that she was repeatedly rejecting him. She would tell Eric all about this anyway, and Jessica was her good friend. She'd probably tell her about it too, since Jess was really the only girl friend she had right now. "And you know what? Anything you need to say to me now can be said in front of Eric too. I'm not sending him or Jessica away because you finally wanted to talk. I wanted to talk for months before I ended our relationship, and somehow you were too busy then. Now I'm busy."
Biting back the urge to yell at Bill as he called her sweetheart again, Sookie took a deep breath, letting it out slowly to control her anger. "I already told you not to call me that. Keep doing it, and I'm gonna revoke your invitation." She hoped that would get through to him that she was serious. He clearly wasn't actually sorry for continuing to speak for her if he was gonna keep doing it by thanking Eric for her. Still, Eric's assurances about the car brought a small smile to her lips. "Many bags of air," she repeated with a small nod. "That sounds very safe," she agreed, not wanting to correct him when he had sounded so proud to have thought of such a thing, and was clearly concerned for her safety. She appreciated it.
Sookie didn't know much about vampires or mainstreaming, but she personally thought things were hard enough on Jessica as it was without Bill scolding her for every single thing that came out of her mouth. Still, she wasn't going to contribute to that part of the conversation when she didn't know much about it. "No, that won't work. Everyone pretty much suspects I can read thoughts, and she still thinks awful things at me. If it makes you feel better, she's been in such a mood lately cause she's pregnant and isn't sure who the dad is." Maybe that would help. If nothing else, it would prove Jessica's point that lots of humans gossiped. Her hand tightened slightly on Eric's arm as Bill so kindly reminded everyone what had happened between Eric and Lafayette. "That's not really necessary, Bill," she scolded, not holding what had happened against Eric. "Lafayette's... activities... are bound to get him into trouble from time to time. I'm sure that comes as no surprise to anyone." Lafayette was a really good guy, but he was also a drug dealer and a prostitute, which had consequences, even if that experience had been unusual. "I'm sure your work required that you not call me for months on end," she replied to Bill with a small frown, not wanting to say more than that on the topic when she really had moved on.
Still, her eyes went wide and her hand tightened once more on Eric's arm as Bill accused Eric of throwing her in front of a cab. "That's really unnecessary, Bill. For your information, Eric saved my life. He's the only reason I'm still here, so I really think you owe him an apology for accusing him of doing anything to hurt me." She knew how upset Eric had been over her injuries, and she hoped that Bill's words hadn't made that worse. That had taken some talking through just for the two of them, and Bill had no business throwing those sorts of accusations around, sarcastic or not. Smiling slightly at Jessica as she asked about the newborn, she shook her head. "The newborn staying at Eric's while I was wasn't his. He was real nice though. He's older than you, but I think you'd like him." Jessica really could ask a lot of questions at once. "Yeah, I got to see lots of it. It was amazing. You would love it, if you ever get a chance to visit. Make sure you go with someone who knows it, though. It makes it a lot more fun."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by bill on Aug 3, 2010, 8:35pm
It was difficult not to become indignant giving the behavior of everyone around him. Bill understood that Sookie wasn't pleased by his necessary absence, but there was really no justifying nor excusing her stubborn behavior now. He had always admired Sookie's spirit, but right now, it was definitely bothersome. She knew better than this, Bill was certain of such a thing. It was hardly appropriate for the two of them to be arguing in front of Jessica, let alone Eric. "Now Sookie," he began as gently as he could, but even he could hear that his voice held a certain edge to it. "I understand you are upset." He was starting to get upset too. "And I am sure you have a lot to say about everything." She always did. "But this is between you and I. Surely you can be reasonable enough to see that?" With Sookie, there was never really any telling if she would be reasonable since she so seldom was. The girl acted with her heart and not her head, but right now was not the time for an impassioned fighting nature. Now was the time to listen to him. "We will talk," he concluded, even if she fought it now and held onto her silly desire to have Eric and Jessica present for the moment, they would speak in private. It was only a matter of time.
"Sookie!" he scolded, appalled at the suggestion that she would rescind his invitation into her home, an invitation he had held since only shortly after they had first met. She really was doing neither of them a favor with her anger, especially with the witnesses they presently had. He understood that she was upset now, but she wouldn't always be. "There is no need to say now things you will regret saying later on," he informed her quietly, as if the other vampires present couldn't hear his wise words. Sookie would regret saying them, she would apologize, and Bill would forgive her, but she was still doing a lot of damage in the process. Looking to Eric as the elder vampire claimed the vehicle was so she could travel to and from Shreveport more, Bill couldn't help but scowl disapprovingly. "Is Sookie doing more work for you?" he asked somewhat accusingly. Eric had always taken advantage of Sookie's gift and exploited it for his own selfish purposes. There was little doubt in Bill's mind that the telepath wasn't being paid what she deserved while missing her own work at Merlotte's.
Scowling at both Eric and Jessica in turn as they insulted mainstreaming, the vampire couldn't help but hold his head a little higher. It took a lot of discipline to maintain such a lifestyle when so many looked down upon it, but mainstreaming was the lifestyle they were supposed to have since they had left the coffin. "You do it because it is the right thing to do," he informed Jessica firmly. "It is what the American Vampire League would have us do and encourages us to do. No one is above mainstreaming," he continued, looking pointedly to Eric who was chiming in with his own obvious and unsolicited opinion. "And it isn't up to you what I allow or don't allow Jessica." He wouldn't even respond to the comments of his own transgressions. He could be above retorting, especially when Eric was acknowledging just how low he could and would sink.
Shooting Sookie a glance in turn as she offered Jessica more gossip to mull over, he couldn't help but be appalled. Her behavior tonight really was atrocious. "Sookie," he scolded. "Purporting to slander someone else is most unbecoming, whether it is true or not. There is no need to speak on such things." Even Bill knew Arlene was an undesirable woman with crude morals and low standards, but it was just inappropriate to discuss. Frowning only further as Sookie actually attempted to defend Eric's actions with Lafayette while still not removing her hand from his arm, Bill was beginning to get truly annoyed. She was attempting to scold him. She really didn't know what she was doing. Ignoring his Sheriff's sarcasm, he turned his gaze on Sookie. "And who put you in the danger in the first place, Sookie?" he asked, not waiting for the answer they all already had. "Eric didn't save your life, he jeopardized it. You are hurt because of him. And that's enough, Jessica," he concluded, shooting his child a disapproving glance as she mimicked him and complained about their own travels. Taking a drink of blood, he couldn't help but frown at the group. This was definitely not the way the night was supposed to be unfolding.
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by jessica on Aug 3, 2010, 9:41pm
Breathing a small and unnecessary sigh of relief as Eric said that he didn't care whether or not Bill knew she was misbehaving, Jessica was glad to hear it. The fewer people tattling on her, the better. Enough people were too quick to complain to Bill about things she really didn't see a problem with. It was such a pain. "Mainstreaming sucks," Jessica added, in case her own feelings weren't clear. She wasn't sure what the alternative was, since no one had taught that to her either, but it had to be better. Tilting her head and trying to understand as Eric went into the whole hierarchy of who could order who else to do what, she nodded slowly. "I think so. Maybe. You're like his boss." It sounded like it, anyway.
Very nearly wincing at Sookie and Bill's conversation while trying to make it look like she wasn't listening, she could tell it was only a matter of time before they were shouting at each other. "He's really messing up, isn't he," she whispered to Eric as Bill called Sookie sweetheart again. She'd feel bad for him if he wasn't being such an ass about it. Fidgeting as she was ignored as the argument continued, as well as talk of Sookie's new car, borrowed from Eric, of course. The news that Sookie would be driving to Shreveport more wasn't surprising with the way they were making eyes at each other. She thought it was good that Sookie was trying again, after how heartbroken she'd been over Bill. Plus, everyone knew how hot Eric was. He was the kind of man mommas always warned their girls to stay away from, and for good reason. That vampire was sex on a stick, not that she'd say that in front of Bill, of course.
Jessica was beside herself with happiness as Eric actually stood up for her and against mainstreaming. Eric made a lot of good points, better points than she made, and more eloquently too, not that that was any surprise. "Why is it the right thing to do?" she asked as Bill insisted like she was supposed to just accept his word on it as final. "Yeah, well, the AVL hasn't done anything for me," she pouted, not even sure what they had to do with making her drink disgusting tasting fake blood. It was too bad she wasn't Eric's child. Then she'd have a shot at turning out like one of his other super cool children. Even his youngest ones were already so truly vampire that they surpassed her in basically every way. Being a newborn was confusing, and she was getting zero guidance other than instructions to do what the AVL said. Blinking a few times at Bill as he scolded Sookie, she could hardly believe the words coming from his mouth. Like he had any right to scold anyone else. Jessica was used to it, he was a pretty bossy Maker, but Sookie was her own woman. Ignoring Bill after she stuck her tongue out at him, she turned to Sookie. "I thought it was something like that! Terry's gonna be upset..." Really, she didn't care, but it was upsetting Bill, and he needed a good lesson about who he could and could not scold. How Sookie talked about people was none of his business. Hell, she was pretty sure how she talked about people was none of his business either. Bill was a jackass.
Eric's story about Lafayette was surprising, but it was none of her business. "I didn't know y'all were bonded. That's pretty cool," she decided, thinking it'd be fun to be in a room with the two of them. Trying to take everyone's minds off Bill's jackassery, Jessica was quick to pull a smile back onto her face. "That sounds like so much fun, Sook! Who took you around? What did you get to see?" she asked, thinking it sounded like a fun trip, other than getting stabbed and all that. "Oh, sorry," she apologized to Eric with a small smile, sure she'd be blushing if she were capable. "Sookie just told me that she had to avoid getting eaten by a newborn while she was sleeping at your place, so I figured he was yours. Most people don't like keeping newborns around..." She knew that from experience. "How's he not like me?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 3, 2010, 10:46pm
"I wouldn't know," Eric stated simply as Jessica informed him that 'mainstreaming sucked.' Sure, the vampire kept up appearances around Fangtasia, seldom found without a bottle of blood nearby, and if anyone questioned him on his activities, he would adamantly insist he operated under every level of the law, but it was all bull shit and everyone who remotely knew him knew such. True vampires were actually embarrassed by the very idea of it. Eric had existed for one way for a thousand years, he was really in no hurry to change it, even if their existence was now out there for the world to be aware of. Chuckling at her description of his authority over Bill, Eric halfheartedly shrugged before nodding once. "Something like that. It is a bit more complicated," he amended. "But you could say I am his boss."
Turning his attention away from the newborn and back to the arguing Bill and Sookie, Eric couldn't help but wonder what it was that the younger vampire so desperately wanted to discuss with the telepath. He couldn't possibly think he and Sookie were still as they once were, could he? "If I were you, Compton, I would make fewer presumptions or you'll really only embarrass yourself further," Eric advised easily, though he really wasn't against the idea of seeing Bill embarrass himself. "I believe if anyone is in danger of regretting what they say now, later, it is you." He really was dangerously close to pissing his Sheriff off, and that was only the beginning. It was obvious to Eric that Bill was pushing all of Sookie's buttons in such a way the Viking was prepared to warn the newborn among them to duck and cover. "My business with Sookie is really none of your concern, Bill," he continued. "But no, it is not so she can do more work." Leaning farther back in the chair, he smirked to himself. "Not that there is a job or two I wouldn't mind her performing for me," he added under his breath, though he was pretty sure even Sookie heard it.
Shrugging his shoulders once as Sookie scolded Bill for bringing up Lafayette, it wasn't as Eric cared or was bothered by it. "He was selling something he should not have been. He had to see reason in one way or another and eventually, he did. I don't expect all who owe me fealty to approve with my methods," he stated, eyes lingering on Bill. "But they will be respected and unquestioned." Eric really couldn't help but love the authority and power he had over Bill, especially because it drove the wet blanket so insane. It really was fun. "And I do not take kindly to the affairs of my Area being brought up to those who aren't privileged to such information," he continued, eyes flickering from Bill to Jessica and back again. "Consider this a warning, Compton. Next time, I assure you, I will not be so understanding." If Bill wanted to turn this into a cock measuring competition, well, Eric was confident everyone in the room already knew who was going to win. Actually smirking as Jessica insisted the AVL hadn't done anything for her, Eric nodded just once. "Your child has things figured out far better than you do, Bill. The AVL has no true authority and does nothing for us. Their suggestions for us are no different than humans following the latest fad diet. Jessica should be entitled to make her lifestyle choice for herself... or do you suddenly support Makers who force things upon their creations because it is what they desire?"
Snorting once as Sookie demanded Bill apologize to Eric for his insulting accusations about pushing her in front of a cab, the Viking couldn't help but be amused. He didn't expect an apology and knew it wouldn't be sincere even if he was given one, but he couldn't help but be entertained that she thought he deserved one. His amusement vanished abruptly though when Bill chose to point out Eric actually had endangered Sookie. It was something he had known and struggled with since carrying Sookie back to her hotel room. He had barely been able to look her in the eye as he had tended to her wounds because of his anger... at the human, at Sookie for not listening, but mostly at himself. "She was hurt doing a job she accepted," he stated without emotion, unwilling to let Bill believe the words had gotten to him at all. "There is always risk." Thankful for once for Jessica's constant talking, the Viking was more than willing to turn his attention on her distracting inquiries. "Newborns are trouble, but obedient, eager ones are not so bad to have around. Angelo is... elderly," he decided, nodding as Sookie called him 'older.' "You are older than him, but he is advanced in physical age... and is difficult to understand. He speaks a language I believe is called mafia."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 3, 2010, 11:26pm
Frowning at Bill, Sookie found herself much less concerned about hurting his feelings when he was behaving like he was. "I don't think you do understand, Bill, and I think I've said about everything I have to say. "There's nothing between you and I anymore," she told him more quietly, but still firmly. She wasn't keeping her voice quiet so the others could hear, she was sure they knew, but it was Bill who didn't seem to have a clue what was going on. They had broken up months ago, and he still didn't seem to have a clue. She couldn't regret her decision a bit. She'd put up with this sort of thing before, but she knew better now. She wasn't going to tolerate it now that she clearly didn't have to. She had no reason to. There really wasn't anything between them anymore.
"Don't 'Sookie' me. I mean it, Bill. I'm not yours anymore, I told you that before we broke up, and you'd have no right to tell me what to do, to speak for me, or anything else you know I don't like even if I was still yours, which I'm not going to be again." That was crystal clear for her before, but now it was just a disaster. Nodding to confirm Eric's answer to Bill's question about her doing more work, she pursed her lips so as not to smile at his really dirty suggestion, doing her best not to blush. "I'm considering doing more work with my gift, and the car will be useful for that, but it's mostly so I can visit for personal reasons," she admitted freely, shrugging slightly. She had no problem admitting that. She was proud that Eric wanted to be with her, and it had been her decision.
Sookie couldn't believe what was coming out of Bill's mouth. He was actually scolding her? Like she was some child whose behavior needed correcting? "I'll say exactly what I want to in my own house, thank you," she replied stiffly, having a little bit of trouble controlling her own anger. She was going to have to apologize later to Eric for the grip she had on his arm, but she was pretty sure it was the only thing stopping her from slapping Bill across the face. Sookie may not have liked what Eric had done to Lafayette, but she knew better than most what V dealers could be capable of, and could understand better why Eric had gone to such extremes with the whole thing. She had the scars to prove that sometimes, it was necessary. Now Lafayette was a friend to Eric, and Sookie knew from his thoughts that he didn't hold a grudge for it.
Smiling at Jessica tightly, she knew her friend was trying to help by including all this small talk in their argument. "Eric did, mostly. A couple of his children had lived there for a while though, too, and they knew it really well. I saw so much of it. I'll tell you about it another time and show you some pictures then, okay?" Now didn't seem like the time, as much as she was trying to help. Sookie couldn't feel Eric's emotions, at least not yet, but if he really could feel hers, she was sure he'd know she was fuming. "I put myself in danger, Bill. No one controls me. I make my own choices, and I chose to use my gift to help save lives and get drugs off the streets. I got a little cut up in the process, but it was completely worth it. I got hurt because of my own choices, not anyone else's. You should know by now that I make my own decisions." Pausing, she glanced over at Eric, taking her eyes off the vampire she was angry at for only a moment. "Just like I made the decision to start dating Eric." She'd tried being nice about it and not outright saying it, but she was proud of it, and it was clear as could be that she'd made the right decision.
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by bill on Aug 4, 2010, 12:21am
Why did Sookie have to be so stubborn? Bill couldn't understand why she was fighting him as she was when so often before he had proven to be the one in their relationship who thought logically and with reason. He was eternally grounded while Sookie spent far too much time living in the heat of the moment. Sighing heavily as she insisted there was nothing between them any longer, it was something that the vampire had actually feared quite a bit. He knew he had been gone for what Sookie probably considered a long time, though it didn't feel like such to him, but he was back now and the storm of work that had flooded him was quieting. It wasn't possible that there really was nothing between them. Sookie had fought so hard for them for an amount of time that far outlasted this relationship hiatus they had found themselves in now. It wouldn't be the end. "That's just not true," he finally argued back, unwilling to let her say nor believe there was nothing between them. "You know it's not. Think of all we shared, Sookie. It's not done." If she kept this up though, he would end up losing his patience.
It bothered Bill to his very core that Eric was chiming in, offering his own pearls of wisdom on matters that really didn't concern him. Why was it this vampire always insisted on interjecting himself in Bill's relationship? "Stay out of this, Eric," Bill warned, growing truly annoyed with Eric overstepping his bounds. He had never respected the fact that Sookie belonged to him, he had gone out of his way to even ignore their own rules and protections in order to try to steal her away. Looking back to Sookie as she argued her side, Bill shook his head. She may have taken back his claim on her, but it would only be a matter of time before he had it back. "This vampire has done nothing but exploit you from the moment he first learned of you," he pointed out, identifying his Sheriff with only a sharp gesture of his head. "He has used, threatened, and frightened you all for his own personal gain. You know better than this, Sookie," he scolded. And personal reasons? Really? What did Sookie think she was doing? If she kept doing this kind of thing, Bill wouldn't be quick to take her back when she finally came to her senses. Fangs extending angrily at Eric's quiet suggestion, it took all the vampire's self control not to lunge at the much older vampire for his crude advances on Sookie. Bill had really had enough of them.
"It's inappropriate," Bill snapped back as Sookie defended her words against her co-worker, unable to get past how inappropriate they were. He really didn't care much for the waitress with loose morals and so many prejudices, but that didn't make the slander conversation any of them should be having. Frowning at Eric as he chastised him for exposing his cruelty to the Merlotte's fry cook, Bill had no regrets, despite the threat. "Respected and unquestioned is perhaps true, but they will be judged," he stated without fear, and Bill had to hope the others in the room were judging it as well. That was how Eric treated people. He didn't belong on the pedestal Jessica had put him, and he definitely didn't deserve to be defended by Sookie. "Jessica!" he snapped angrily as his insolent child stuck her tongue out at him. "You will behave like a young lady, not one lacking in self-control." Glaring back at Eric at his words, Bill shook his head. "Jessica will be free to make her decisions once out on her own. As long as she is with me, she will abide by what we are all meant to abide by." No one was above the law. Sure, he had done questionable things as well... many questionable things, but transgressions for good reason were not the same as preying upon innocent humans which Jessica no doubt would. Bill was right about this one and he knew it.
Smiling with a smug satisfaction as Eric didn't deny he was guilty for Sookie's injuries, he couldn't help but take pleasure in how the ancient vampire's confidence and amusement seemed to waver so quickly. If Bill wasn't certain Eric felt nothing, he would have thought his Sheriff felt remorse, but that just wasn't possible. "I know you make your own decisions, Sookie," Bill sighed, incapable of arguing that one. Usually, her decisions were misguided, ill informed, and excessively dangerous. He found himself completely blinded by her following statement, but it sure was proof of how misguided her decisions were. "Have you lost all ability to think rationally?!" he asked, disgusted by the mere thought. Sookie was so innocent and good and everything Eric wasn't. He would corrupt and taint her before wasting her, and sooner rather than later. No one could accuse the Viking of having a long attention span. "You deserve better," he continued, knowing it was true. "The only thing he cares about is himself. You know it, I know it, even he knows it! Sookie, you're being ridiculous." There was just no other word for it.
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by jessica on Aug 4, 2010, 12:54am
"Lucky," Jessica replied as he said he wouldn't know that mainstreaming sucks. "No one can tell you what to do. I wish everyone would stop telling me what to do. It's always, 'Jessica, behave yourself,' or 'Jessica, stop trying to attack your old classmates,' or 'Jessica, stop trying to glamor your boyfriend's mother into liking you.' God, Bill's so boring. And he's always going off and doing super embarrassing things like this," she continued, gesturing at the steps where Bill and Sookie were fighting. "I wish he'd let me have a car so I could at least go places more. Hey, do you think I could visit Fangtasia more? Everyone there is so much more friendly towards vampires, and I could learn so much!" She didn't know if Eric would agree, but she thought he would. She hoped so. Most vampires in his Area had to visit Fangtasia a lot, didn't they? She could be really good at that!
Talking about coworkers might have been inappropriate, but so was trying to control what people said in their own homes. Even Jessica knew that, and she knew very little. Bill kept digging himself deeper and deeper. Sookie looked just about ready to blow her top, and even Eric was sounding pissed, though not about the Merlotte's thing. He was pissed that Bill was talking about business with Lafayette in front of Jessica. "No one ever wants to say anything important in front of me," she sighed, though she didn't know if Eric actually had a problem with Jessica knowing, or if he just didn't like Bill trying to make him sound bad. Probably the second, but it could've easily been the first. People didn't seem to like talking about anything important in front of her.
All Eric's flattery was only proving to Jessica that she was thinking the right things, wanting to live like a real vampire instead of stupid mainstreaming. She might not have been very old, but all her life, people had been telling her what to do. First her parents, then Bill. She wanted to be able to make her own choices, her own rules, instead of everyone else deciding what was best for her. Barely fighting the urge to growl quietly at Bill as he snapped at her, she turned away from him, crossing her arms. "If I lacked self-control, I'd have a lot more to say than just this," she argued quietly, not happy about being accused of that. All she ever did was control herself! She controlled herself, Bill controlled her, it was all one big miserable pile of control, and it still wasn't enough for him.
"I'm more obedient than anyone ever gives me credit for," Jessica pointed out with a slight pout as Eric said that obedient, eager newborns weren't bad to be around. That was how she saw herself, but no one ever gave her the chance to prove it. Everyone thought Bill was annoying, and somehow that made her annoying too. She had an endless amount of questions, but what newborn didn't? Most got them answered one at a time, but she had no answers. She was lost, and no one seemed to want to help her. "Someone turned an old dude?" she asked skeptically before shrugging. Her eyes got wider as he mentioned the mafia. "He's in the mob? Like on TV?!" How exciting! Everyone got to have fun but her. "That sounds good," she agreed, seeing that now wasn't the time. "Can't wait." Trying to hide her excitement for Sookie as she said she was dating Eric, Jessica was truly glad for her, even if she couldn't say so. Being caught in the middle sucked.
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 4, 2010, 2:29am
Arching a blond brow as Jessica seemingly pouted over the fact that she could be given instruction, Eric shook his head once. "You are wrong," he stated simply and accurately, but quietly, and he was confident their discussion was lost on their counterparts as Sookie and Bill battled things out. "I am not without one who can tell me what to do." Since Appius had arrived in Louisiana, Eric had been anticipating and dreading the night his Maker truly pressed and tested his authority over him. It would inevitably happen, but that was part of the reason Eric sought to keep his Maker ignorant of Eric's existence beyond his business at Fangtasia and the vampire's business as Sheriff of Area Five. Blinking as Jessica launched into a rant of what she couldn't do, coupled with hopes of what she might be able to do, Eric really couldn't understand how someone talked so much. "No," he answered as she asked if she could visit Fangtasia more. "I don't believe your Maker would allow you such a thing. With his permission or without his knowledge, however..." Eric's voice trailed off and he shrugged. "Then you are welcome to." He didn't know if Pam would agree with that sentiment, but the Viking wouldn't really discourage her from not listening to Bill...
Shrugging as that exact vampire told him to stay out of the fight he was having with Sookie, Eric wasn't overly eager to do Bill any additional favors beyond what he already had. Bill was making a fool of himself. At least, Eric thought he was. It was difficult to tell if Sookie intended on acknowledging directly that the two of them had found something together or if it was more important to protect Bill's 'feelings,' but even without such, she was definitely putting Bill in his place, and Eric was ashamed for him. "This vampire," Eric interrupted, not about to let Bill speak for him either, "has also been there repeatedly for her when others have failed to do such a thing." Even before the Viking had ever really had a chance with Sookie, even when she had been wholly Bill's, Eric had been more consistently at her disposal. He had taken a bullet for her, he had endured a disgusting sexual gathering of human trash, and he had even offered her an escape from all memories of and about Bill after the younger vampire had abandoned her. "The work Sookie intends on taking on offers me nothing." It was for and about Sookie, and helping her be more secure. It was about helping her in the only way she'd allow him to. Fanging right back at Bill, Eric offered him a sarcastic smile. "Don't tempt me to show you how they're really used."
Sookie had a surprising grip on Eric's arm. It was actually mildly impressive for a human girl who hadn't consumed vampire blood in some time, but the Viking had no desire whatsoever to interrupt the present explosion to tell her of such. Briefly, he wondered if they had always fought like this. He had grown quite accustomed to fighting with the telepath himself, but the argument he was witnessing now didn't feel anything like his own debates did. Usually those fights ended in Eric kissing Sookie, whether the action was invited or uninvited. In this one, he actually anticipated bloodshed. Letting the thumb of his hand over Sookie's stroke the back of her own reassuringly, he didn't want to see her upset. When human women- and Jessica- got upset, they tended to leak. He just wasn't good with that sort of thing. "It isn't important," Eric corrected the newborn as she pouted. "It simply doesn't concern you." And he didn't like Bill throwing at him everything he could to make the Viking look bad. Looking back to Bill as he took from yelling at one to another, Eric rolled his blue eyes. "Then release her," he offered. "If you will not give her a fair education in our ways, let her experience it on her own. You seem unable to tame this one, Bill," he continued, a smirk on his lips showing he was more than a little amused by the younger vampire's inability to really control his newborn. "So let her go. We're not all meant to be Makers."
Rolling his eyes once more as Jessica became so insulted by his words on newborns, he hadn't been speaking about her, though she seemed to still be the annoying handful she had been after first being turned. "I wasn't talking about you," he stated. "I was simply explaining why I do not always mind newborns being around." Brow wrinkling, Eric shook his head. "I do not know this dude you speak of, but yes, a two thousand year old vampire turned a sixty something year old man." Shrugging at her following questions, he didn't really know what she was talking about. "He is someone's godfather," he offered, about the only other thing he seemed to consistently pick up when other's tried to explain it to him. "He shot me, and tragically my car, once and told me I made him do it. He is a very peculiar newborn."
All of that was difficult to continue focusing on when Eric was struggling with Sookie's injuries and his part in them all over again. She had made her own decisions and they had directly contributed to her injuries, but Eric still felt responsible for the situation she had been in. The vampire couldn't dwell on it very long when the telepath abruptly announced they were 'dating.' That was definitely her word. Still, a very genuine smile crossed his lips at the admission. Looking to Bill, Eric's smile didn't waver despite the unkind words. "Don't pretend you know what motivates me, Bill, and I won't pretend to know what motivates you," he stated simply. Bill had no idea what went on in Eric's head. Yes, he was selfish, and yes, he protected himself first and foremost, but he didn't have the faintest idea how Eric felt about Sookie, especially when not even Eric entirely understood it. "Sookie is with me now, she has been for some time. She is not yours to protect if that is what you think you are doing, and I will not allow for you to upset her further."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 4, 2010, 6:09pm
Sookie blushed a whole lot, but the flush she was sure she was wearing now was for an entirely different reason. She was so frustrated with Bill, she was sure her cheeks were pink. She knew the vampire had been her boyfriend for a while, but he had to accept that this was over. This wasn't new information, or at least it shouldn't have been. Had he thought she was kidding when she told him they were over? Did he really not take her seriously? "I told you this a while ago," she told him, keeping her voice down as though that would get the message across. "It's been done. Your reaction wasn't even close to this strong when I told you we were done in the first place." He hadn't even tried fighting for her, just with her. It had been clear they were over then, and it was clear they were over now.
"Eric's a part of this," she insisted as Bill told him to stay out of this, frowning as he tried to tell yet another person in her house what to do. If he gave any more orders, she was going to... well, she didn't know, but she was not going to be happy. Opening her mouth to argue with Bill as he said that Eric had done nothing but exploit her, she nodded in agreement with Eric as he beat her to it. "Eric's been there for me every time you've abandoned me," she agreed, pointing out easily enough that Bill had done it more than once. "Besides, he's right. Any work I'm thinking about taking on would be for me." She thought it was a really good idea, if an intimidating one, but it didn't really have anything to do with Eric other than it being his idea. Shaking her head at Bill as he fanged at Eric, she couldn't believe he was doing this.
"Oh, and fanging at one of my guests isn't inappropriate," she snapped herself, not happy with his behavior towards Eric, but not surprised. She couldn't blame Eric for fanging back when the very action seemed like a poorly thought out threat from Bill. "You have no right to order me around or try to correct my behavior like I'm in any way inferior to you, Bill." She wasn't, and she wasn't the one acting inappropriately. He was her guest, and he hadn't stopped yelling at her since he walked through the door. Fighting with Bill was nothing new, but it always left her bitter than angry, instead of the rush she got from arguing with Eric. They frustrated each other because they were both so stubborn, but they also had respect for each other. Maybe that was what was missing with Bill. Bill didn't respect Jessica either, and Sookie couldn't help but think it might be best if she was released.
Giving Eric a small smile as he rubbed his thumb over the hand on his arm, she couldn't really keep the expression in place when Bill was yelling at her, even if Eric was able to maintain his own smile through the whole thing. "What I deserve is someone who pays attention to me, someone who's there for me when I need him, someone who respects me, someone who doesn't try to control me or tell me what to do or correct my behavior. Bill didn't know what motivated her any more than he knew what motivated Eric. "I with Eric now, and he's right, it has been going on for some time. And in that time, he's made me happy and he's been good to me. There's nothing ridiculous about that."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by bill on Aug 4, 2010, 8:01pm
How did Bill politely tell Sookie that he hadn't reacted in such a way when she had "broken up with him" because it was simply easier to humor her when she was being impossible rather than point out her flawed line of thought? "You were being unreasonable then," he finally stated, his voice mimicking her loud whisper, as if it gave them some kind of privacy despite their audience. "And you are still being unreasonable." Then, she had refused to accept the fact that his work was important and demanding and could monopolize his time. She hadn't been understanding or supportive, as she should have been. Every moment he gave to her, she spent complaining endlessly. It had been trying, to say the least. He had accepted her words then if only to obtain the peace and quiet he needed to actually get things done. "This isn't finished. It never was finished." If she thought it was, he would prove her wrong. Bill was sure the truth was Sookie just had more steam she needed to let out before rational thought returned to her. She really was lucky he was so patient.
"Eric has nothing to do with this," Bill snapped with less composure than he normally possessed, but he really couldn't help himself. Eric could make Bill's very skin crawl. Eric had been an unwelcome third wheel in Bill and Sookie's relationship since the very first night he had taken her to Fangtasia at her request, and Bill had always known it. He had known it the moment Sookie had- just like everyone always did- noticed and inquired about Eric so shortly after walking through the doors, and he knew it would be a very uphill battle when the Viking had returned the curiosity so fully. Glaring angrily at the elder vampire as he chimed in, Sookie quickly agreeing, Bill was nearing a breaking point. "Eric has flouted our own laws and regulations in order to get inside your head from the very beginning, Sookie!" he nearly shouted, hoping to wake the telepath from whatever trance Eric had her under. "He tricked you into bonding to him when he knew you were spoken for! He exploits your good nature and your ignorance! You are letting yourself be wrapped around his little finger!" Whatever "work" Sookie was so sure she was doing for herself was probably Eric's idea, for Eric's own reasons, and it would probably end up with her dead, her gift wasted, and Eric in the clear of any responsibility for it. How could she possibly be so blind?
Scowling, fangs still descended at Eric's challenge, it was all Bill could do to keep himself seated on Sookie's couch and not lunging at the elder vampire, poised and ready to rip his throat out. In moment's such as this, it was always difficult to remember how severe the consequences would be if he attacked his Sheriff, and it was also difficult to figure out if those consequences wouldn't be worth it. Few ever stood up to Eric. Sookie had been one of the unafraid to do so, but she had joined the cult of bowing at his feet. Disgusting. "Your behavior needs correcting," he snapped back at Sookie. She was behaving appallingly, not at all like the southern lady he knew she had been raised to be. "Not my own," he added. Eric deserved the act of aggression. The Sookie Bill knew would have slapped the Viking for such crude and blunt words. Glaring over at Jessica as she chirped in, he wondered if he was the only sane, reasonable one left on the planet. "What could you possibly be holding back?" he snapped. The newborn vampire talked constantly. She never held anything back. She had no self-control, despite her claim to the contrary.
"Perhaps I will release her," he continued, his voice really struggling to maintain any kind of composure. "Don't you see how he is?" he continued, his gaze turning back to Sookie. "He would rather send Jessica to an inevitable second death with how sloppy and uncontrolled she is than be reasonable. This is how he is. If it doesn't effect him, he doesn't care." Really, was he the only one who saw it? His stomach clenched at the very idea of Sookie and Eric together and he was nearly certain she was just doing this to punish him for his absence. Once Eric was through with her, and he would be, she'd be so much worse for wear and have already alienated him, didn't she know that? Apparently, she didn't. "You are so oblivious," he finally stated, his head shaking a few times back and forth, wondering if he should pity her or gloat when the time came she realized what she had done. "And it is ridiculous. Do you really think he will continue to pay attention to you? To be there for you?" She was brighter than that, wasn't she? Biting his tongue to keep any further opinions to himself, the day would come when he would be right. Lifting his bottle of TrueBlood, sarcasm dripped from his voice. "Congratulations to the both of you. And good luck." They would both need it.
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by jessica on Aug 4, 2010, 9:48pm
Jessica couldn't even pretend to hide her surprise as Eric said that there was someone who could tell him what to do. "Wow," she breathed, shaking her head. "I never would've thought! But, I mean, you're like..." Jessica searched for the right word. "Badass. Well, you're badass anyway," Jessica decided with a nod. Maybe he was just saying it to make her feel better, after all. She hadn't seen anyone even try to order Eric around, either way. She doubted it would work. Eric was seriously tough. He was like... the James Bond of vampires. No one told James Bond how to kick ass. He just did it. Sighing in disappointment as Eric said that no, she couldn't visit Fangtasia more often, Jessica could only pout until he said that she could come if he gave permission or if he didn't know. "Maybe I could come when he's out! He's always busy or on some business trip or another." It wouldn't be hard.
Eric said the Lafayette business wasn't important, and she sort of believed him, kind of. People still didn't want to talk about anything in front of her. "Nothing ever concerns me," she pointed out, though now didn't really seem like the time. Plus, Eric was probably just pissed that Bill was trying to make him sound like an asshole. Eric was kind of an asshole, but the good kind. Eric was a different type of asshole than Bill was, especially right now as Bill snapped at her again. "Plenty!" she yelled back at him. "Like how you're acting like even more of a controlling ass to Sookie than you usually do to me!" That probably wouldn't be appreciated, but she was getting upset with all this yelling at her. She didn't do anything wrong.
Blinking at Eric as he suggested that Bill release her, Jessica hadn't known that was actually an option. Bill could just... let her go? Eric was right in that Bill wasn't giving her any sort of education about being a vampire, but if he released her, where would she go? She had no money, no family, she'd only just gotten a job... Would she be better off on her own than with Bill? Would he ever actually even consider that an option? The thought was terrifying and exciting all at once, and she didn't know what to make of it, but Bill's words kind of helped sway her on the matter. "Sloppy and uncontrolled? Well maybe if you took the time to teach me anything, I wouldn't be so sloppy," she butted in, sitting back and crossing her arms, a definite frown etched onto her features.
Even Eric talking to her couldn't entirely cheer her up. She was hurt. Bill was her maker, even though neither of them had chosen it. She expected him to at least stand by her, not insult her in front of a group of people she wanted to think well of her. "Most people seem to mind newborns around, even if they're their own," she replied to Eric while glaring at Bill. A really old vampire turning a pretty old man was interesting enough to make her look at the blond vampire though. "He's the godfather?" she replied in awe, momentarily forgetting her own situation. "Like in the movie? Did he whack anyone yet? Make them sleep with the fishes?" Sookie had just shown her that movie not that long ago. It was great! "He has a real gun? And he shoots it at people? That's awesome!" Maybe now that Sookie and Eric were dating, she could get introduced. "If I meet him, do I have to kiss his ring?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 4, 2010, 10:53pm
Arching a brow at Jessica's shock, sometimes Eric wondered what went through that girl's head... if anything did. "Someone had to make me," he pointed out with a small chuckle. "I wasn't born this way, but yes, I am... 'badass,' and I actually credit him for much of that." Eric had nothing but respect for Appius and knew that he owed him a great deal. A vampire's Maker not only began one's existence, but they played the biggest role in shaping it. Everything Eric did was a credit to Appius and so much of his success was because of all that his Maker had taught him and encouraged in him. Unfortunately for Jessica, based on her Maker, the Viking wouldn't be wagering she was destined for such great things. "Fine," Eric nodded once as the newborn began plotting ways to get to Fangtasia without Bill's blessing. "You work on that," he concluded easily enough. Perhaps her scheming would keep her busy for a bit. Jessica always seemed to be in need of something to do.
Letting the newborn mull it over in her thoughts, Eric willingly turned his attention back on Bill and Sookie's argument which was becoming more heated by the moment. He really was anticipating bloodshed. At present, they were arguing about whether or not he was a part of their argument. "I wonder if they know Eric can hear them," he murmured quietly, not used to people talking in front of him yet not talking to him. Maybe this is what Jessica was talking about when she complained about no one listening to her or talking to her, but he also supposed this was the difference between him holding court in Fangtasia and sitting in Sookie's living room as her former flame found out their fire was thoroughly extinguished. "Tricked is such an ugly word," Eric interjected, clearly lacking the passion for the present debate Bill had. "Misled Sookie? Perhaps. Outwitted you? Definitely, but there was no true trickery to it. Tricking requires time and planning. I had neither." He was an opportunist, guilty as charged, but nothing he had done had truly been 'wrong.' If it had, there was no doubt in Eric's mind that Bill would have attempted to see him tried for it. "And really Bill," he continued, never above rubbing salt in the wet blanket's open wounds. "I have campaigned and longed for Sookie to be wrapped around many of my appendages, but never my little finger."
Chuckling as Sookie yelled at Bill for fanging at him without scolding him for returning the gesture, it really was difficult for Eric to keep from jumping in any further than he already had. The Viking had learned long ago that Sookie didn't like anyone else fighting her battles, however, and she could take care of herself... at least when it came to Bill. He didn't take kindly to what his much younger counterpart was saying, nor implying, but he knew he'd only risk angering Sookie if he reminded Bill of his place in the grand scheme of things by beating him into it. "Jessica has a better chance at becoming a vampire free from you than she has with you," he stated with a shrug of his shoulders. "You teach her nothing more than manners, something we don't even require." Eric definitely hadn't gotten where he was because he was polite. "And the discipline she's been instructed in does nothing for the things that truly concern a young one of our kind. You should devote more time to doing what you are supposed to be doing and less time devoted to telling others what you believe they should be doing." It was a simple assessment, delivered with a calm only Eric seemed to possess at the moment, but it was true enough and it'd do Bill a big favor in the long run.
Shrugging his shoulders once to Jessica as she pouted, Eric had never seen a vampire pout so often. "We are each different," he stated simply. If it made her feel any better, he'd be happy enough to tell her most vampires tended to mind Bill around. Eric half suspected the reason he was so focused on mainstreaming was because he had no friends in the supernatural community. Blinking as Jessica began asking questions that were familiar to Eric but still made no sense, the Viking was mildly impressed. "You speak mafia as well," he thought aloud. "He has a gun. I do not know if he shoots it at people or just me and my car." He was less impressed by that than she seemed to be. Blinking again at her final question, a blond brow shot up in surprise. "I do not think I am in the position to accept such invitations for him, but if you kiss his ring or any other part of him, I do not want to hear of it."
Head snapping back to Bill as the Viking returned his attention to Jessica's Maker, his hand ceased rubbing Sookie's as a frown crossed over his lips. "Sookie is many things, but oblivious is not one of them, Compton," he stated simply, nearly daring the other vampire to press forward. "And it never has been. In a thousand year's time, I have never met a more perceptive human. Sookie knows who I am, what I am, and my... limitations, whether I wanted her to or not." She had been throwing them in Eric's own face as reasons she would never have anything to do with him since they had first met. Sure, there was a great deal about him that Sookie knew nothing of, but many of his flaws... she had always been well aware of, unfortunately for him. "Yet still, me and the risk that goes with me are the more appealing option to her at present. So who is the one being ridiculous?" Rolling his eyes as Bill offered a sarcastic congratulations, Eric truly couldn't fathom why it had taken him this long to get Sookie for himself. "Thank you, Bill. We'll expect your gift in the mail."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 4, 2010, 11:58pm
Blinking at Bill, Sookie honestly couldn't believe the words leaving his mouth. "I was being unreasonable for not wanting to be your girlfriend anymore after you'd ignored me for months?" she repeated, not bothering to keep her voice down. "And I'm still being unreasonable because now, after you being gone for a few more months, I'm not interested in trying to reconcile? Even you can't possibly believe that," she decided, truly hoping she was right. She couldn't imagine the thoughts going through Bill's head, and she was pretty much an expert on those sorts of things. "It is, Bill. We're done. Just because you disagree doesn't change the fact that we've been done for a while." This sort of arguing back and forth definitely wasn't changing her mind.
Shaking her head and glancing at the Eric in question, giving his arm a small squeeze as Bill snapped at her, Sookie took the moment to silently fume as Bill tried to list the wrongs Eric had committed, she closed her eyes as Eric spoke, trying her hardest to calm down so she really wouldn't say something she'd regret. "You can't say you haven't used my nature and ignorance for yourself either, Bill. You can't talk of flouting laws and regulations when you never wanted to explain any of them to me, and at least Eric's explained what being bonded really means. I had your blood twice without having the slightest clue what that meant." She'd been really angry when Eric had gotten her to bond with him under the circumstances that he had, but he'd treated their bond as something special, as a real bond, rather than just blood because it was convenient, as Bill had. Closing her eyes once more at Eric's dirty comments, she pinched the arm she'd been holding but didn't say anything. She didn't want to give Bill even more to complain about, though he no doubt would anyway. Eric had a dirty mind even at the most inappropriate at times. There was just nothing to be done about it.
Pursing her lips at Bill as he said that her behavior needed correcting, Sookie really wished he could be more mature about the situation. "Even if that were true, you'd have absolutely no authority to correct it. You have no right to tell me what I should or should not be doing, especially in my own home. And your behavior does need correcting. You're picking fights and trying to order around everyone in this room, and I've just about had it." Frowning as Bill insulted Jessica as some sort of proof to her that Eric was somehow uncaring, she shook her head. "I see how you are. Jessica looks up to you, you're all she has, and you're constantly putting her down. She deserves better than that." Just like it was becoming clear that Sookie deserved better than Bill too.
Shaking her head as Bill continued to insult her too, Sookie kept her hand on Eric's arm even as he stopped rubbing it, grateful that he was defending her as he was. It helped her confidence a lot when the first man she'd loved was being so cruel in his words. "Yes, I do," she answered Bill's questions more calmly than she had before, if only because she really was sure of the answers. I know that Eric will be there for me because he's proven he will be. I know he'll keep paying attention to me because he always has. If I'm at all oblivious," and she might have been, despite Eric's flattering defense of her, "It's because I couldn't see what kind of man you were from the beginning." Pausing for a moment, she glanced at Eric. "I think you should leave, Bill."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by bill on Aug 5, 2010, 1:36am
"You act as if I was without reason for being absent," Bill scolded, maintaining the same loud whisper their argument had taken on as he looked back at Sookie's disbelieving eyes. "I was working. I have never punished you for your own work." It wasn't as if Sookie's "career" was very demanding, but it was still true enough. She was calling his responsibility neglect, implying his absence was unjustified, and nothing could be further from the truth. What he was doing was valuable and important, and could open many doors for him, and by default, her. "And yes, you are still being unreasonable. I came here tonight to tell you the demand of the project I am working on has settled down," he continued, undeterred by her own resolve, trusting it would only be a matter of time before it wavered. She would realize what an error she was making. He knew it. "Must everything be turned into a scene?"
Shooting a pointed glance to Eric as the vampire spoke to himself, why did his Sheriff need to be so obsessed with something that was Bill's? He had always known Eric's interest in the telepath would complicate Bill's ultimate mission, but the younger vampire also knew it was only a matter of time before the Viking's attention waned. It was all just a game to him, nothing more and nothing less. How did Sookie no longer see that? Bill longed for the nights Sookie would complain endlessly about the arrogant and self-absorbed Sheriff of Area Five. This peace between them wouldn't last and then, she would have nothing, all because she fell for Eric's tricks in a moment of weakness. "Tricked," he repeated firmly to the Viking. "You lied. You stole. And you of all people should not be defending his behavior," he continued, his gaze swinging from Eric to the human clinging to his arm. "You didn't need to know any more than I told," he continued without hesitation. "It's dangerous for you to know. It should concern you that he doesn't want to protect you from others who might not take kindly to your knowledge."
Scowling at Eric's crude language, Sookie really chose this? And he had actually considered her a lady. "Disgusting," Bill spat at his Sheriff, shaking his head disapprovingly. If Bill wouldn't have been so furious, he may have pitied Sookie. Eric had no doubt been waiting for this day to come, waiting for the day he could gloat about doing what Eric always did. The Viking managed to get who he wanted when he wanted them, whether they were claimed or not. When Eric set his sights on someone, it seemed to only be a matter of when, not if. Once he had sufficiently rubbed his triumph in, Sookie would be left at the wayside for the newest conquest to catch his wandering eye, and then it would be Bill's turn to gloat. Not to his Sheriff, but to the telepath who seemed much too sure of her choices than she should have been. "You are not the only one who has just about had enough," Bill nearly snarled, correcting the girl easily enough. He was the only sane one present, he was sure of it. He was, at the very least, the only one present who wasn't completely and totally deluded.
"Silence, Jessica," he snapped as the redhead chimed in with her opinions on the way her education as a vampire thus far had gone, only bringing him even closer to an inevitable breaking point. "I do not need your opinion, Sheriff," he continued through clenched teeth before turning his attention once more to Sookie, eyes narrowing. "Just because I do not irresponsibly indulge and endanger her to be her "friend" as you did does not mean I am negligent." Bill had really had enough of all of this. Frowning as Eric spoke, once more offering his opinion on something that hadn't been directed at him, he wisely chose not to reply and instead to maintain focus on the primary source of his frustration and pain at present. "Perhaps I'm the oblivious one," he offered coldly without elaborating, setting the spent bottle of blood down on the telepath's coffee table. Sookie definitely wasn't the lady he had expected her to be. He wondered how long Sookie and Eric had been engaging in this "relationship" of theirs. Perhaps he had long been blind to their treachery and betrayal. It wouldn't surprise him. Standing from the couch, he nodded stiffly once to Sookie without looking at her before turning his attention to Eric. "I will be by within the week with the database for you to take to Nevada and Texas, Sheriff. Jessica," he continued, looking to her disapprovingly. "Be home before dawn." Without another word, the vampire headed to and through the front door, speeding across the lawn and through the forest, putting the farmhouse and Sookie Stackhouse as far behind him as he could.
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by jessica on Aug 5, 2010, 5:45pm
"I didn't think you were born this way," Jessica explained defensively. Everyone knew that vampires weren't born, they were made. She wasn't stupid. "It's just, well, you're really old and powerful and stuff. I didn't think your Maker would be, you know, around anymore. That's so cool though! He's badass too? It's too bad my Maker's not badass." With how unbadass Bill was, she'd never be badass. She was screwed when it came to that sort of thing, if that's how it was determined. Nodding as Eric encouraged her to work on ways to get to Fangtasia, she could only take that as a good sign. Eric wanted her there! That was really awesome. No one ever wanted her anywhere.
Eric was actually standing up for her a lot tonight. She wondered if it was just to get under Bill's skin, or because he was actually starting to like her. She figured the first, but she could hope. She wondered if he really thought she had a better chance becoming a good vampire away from Bill. It was true that he seemed to only want to teach her outdated manners. Vampires should be able to do whatever they want, not just what was polite. And he was right, any discipline she'd learned had been completely unhelpful in figuring out anything useful. Eric sounded completely calm while saying it too, not like Bill and his yelling. Maybe Eric was right. Maybe she'd be better off away from Bill and his idea of an education.
Nodding as Eric said that all vampires were different, she could tell that was true as Bill demanded silence from her. She'd heard that so many times, she was so sick of it. Everyone was always telling her to be quiet. It was so annoying. She had things to say and opinions of her own, and just because she was young didn't mean they weren't valid! Blinking as Eric sounded so impressed that she spoke mafia, she looked at Sookie before nodding. Anything she could take credit for to impress anyone, she was going to. "Yep. I saw the movie, and now I speak mafia. It's so cool that he has a gun, though it sucks he shot at you. Did he miss?" She could only hope. "No, not like that! Like a ring on his hand! It's how you're supposed to greet the Godfather, like a sign of respect." What on earth had Eric thought she'd meant?
Frowning at the blow up, Jessica sat quietly in her chair, happy to go unnoticed in all the shouting. Even though Jessica had to be loyal to Bill, she really thought Eric was the right choice for Sookie. She'd thought Bill and Sookie would stay together, but Bill really was acting like a controlling ass, and Sookie wasn't one to be controlled. Jessica didn't have much of a choice. She knew that come dawn, she would be stowed away in Bill's house, whether she wanted to be or not. This sort of thing didn't come with an option to disobey. "Fine," she snapped back, watching him leave, not sure what to do once he was gone. Looking to Sookie and Eric, she fidgeted uncomfortably. "I guess I'll just be going too then? Unless you want me to stay?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 5, 2010, 7:47pm
"I wasn't turned by a vampire who would easily meet a second death," Eric informed Jessica easily enough, somewhat amused by her line of thought. "When he found and made me, he had already existed for over a thousand years time and back then, when conditions were so poor and human life was not easily found outside of large cities, that was no small feat. We have had mostly limited contact since I left him." At least, up until recently, when Appius had moved to Louisiana and practically forced a trading of newborns on Eric. "It will probably be much the same for you when you leave Bill. You will go out on your own and centuries will pass, but he will not cease to exist." Unfortunately. "Unless I have him ended," he added as an afterthought. Glancing over at Bill, it was always a possibility. The only thing that really kept the Viking from doing so was, despite Bill's best efforts to be so, Eric didn't remotely consider him a threat of any kind.
How could he when the much younger vampire was really his own biggest enemy? That fact was becoming even more clear to Eric and all others in the room as the younger vampire continued to rant and rave, as if the scene he was causing would somehow be his saving grace. Eric could hear Sookie taking deep, steadying breaths to keep herself from either screeching back at Bill or crying. If she did the latter, Eric might just need to decapitate his Area's 'investigator.' Arching a brow as Bill chastised him for telling her a few details of bonding, Eric couldn't help but chuckle. Who did he risk annoying by giving Sookie such a knowledge? His Sheriff? For some reason, Eric suspected he had such a vampire's consent. "There is a big difference between exposing her to knowledge she doesn't need and giving her knowledge she's entitled to. She is a part of our world, like it or not, and I will continue to protect her from any who does not approve." That included Bill.
Chuckling even more as Sookie pinched his arm and Bill called him disgusting, well, at least Eric was amused. He was possibly the only one who was at present though, since even Jessica seemed annoyed at all Bill was spewing about as he drowned in front of them. "Not teaching a newborn to be what she is is actually quite negligent," Eric pointed out, once more offering the opinion he had been repeatedly told Bill wasn't in need of. "She should be learning how to survive and thrive. You are barely teaching her how to exist." Returning his gaze to Jessica, for a brief moment, Eric felt almost badly for her, but he was sure the sympathy would pass. No one deserved having Bill as a Maker, but Jessica wasn't exactly Eric's idea of an ideal newborn either. He could at least answer her questions now. "No, he didn't miss," Eric answered with a shake of his head. "The bullet went into my shoulder. It was mildly inconvenient." Arching a brow as she explained what she had meant by 'kissing his ring,' the vampire slowly nodded. "I see," he stated, but he didn't see. He didn't see at all.
Looking back to Sookie as he felt her eyes on him, even Eric was somewhat surprised when the telepath suggested Compton leave. Part of the Viking was surprised she had lasted this long without throwing the vampire out and part of him was surprised she was doing it at all. Even when Sookie had been assuring him her feelings for Bill were gone, he hadn't known if he could really believe that, and she had definitely hesitated in telling Bill of their relationship. Giving her a small, reassuring nod, he turned his eyes to Bill as he spoke to him. "I will be expecting it, and will pass on to Gabrielle and Stan that it will soon be in transit," he answered, watching as Bill made his hasty exit. Grabbing hold of Sookie's hand that gripped his arm, the vampire pulled her from her spot beside Jessica over to him in his chair, arms promptly wrapping around her. Looking past her over to Jessica, Eric shrugged his shoulders, not really caring either way, so long as she didn't bother him. "So..." he began, his eyes sweeping back to Sookie, a smirk slowly forming on his lips. "What do you think of the car?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 5, 2010, 9:47pm
Shaking her head, Sookie had an impossible time believing that Bill didn't get this. "I get that you had to take trips. I get that you were busy. I don't get why you never told me when you had trips, and you never called or stopped by even for five minutes. No matter how busy you were, if you'd wanted to talk to me, you would have found the time. You didn't even answer my text messages," she pointed out, and that took like, less than a minute. "You can blame it on your work all you want, but if I'd been important to me, you would've made me some kind of priority. I just wasn't. I'm still not if you think you can just show up here and decide everything's magically okay again. It's not, and it's not going to be, project or no project."
Continuing to take deep breaths, it was incredibly difficult not to shout at Bill. He was just so arrogant! She usually accused Eric of the same thing, but she'd never known Eric to force his views on others with no respect for what they thought. This wasn't a discussion. Bill hadn't heard anything that'd left her mouth all night. She wondered if he heard anything she'd ever said. Maybe their whole relationship had been a lie. Was she really that naive? She hadn't agreed with a lot of what Eric had done when they'd first met, but they'd adjusted to each other. They'd gotten to know each other better. They didn't quite understand each other, but they were trying. Bill wasn't trying in the slightest. "How is it dangerous for me to know? It's not like being what I am doesn't already put me in danger. And you bonded with me. You made that choice. The only way to protect myself is to know what I'm dealing with." Knowledge made it easier to protect herself. Eric had taught her that. Rubbing her thumb over his arm as he said he would protect her, she appreciated that, even if she couldn't say so right now.
Rolling her eyes as Bill called Eric disgusting, Eric didn't seem bothered by it, but Sookie was. Considering they had been taught the same traditional southern manners, Sookie knew full well that Bill's behavior as her guest was completely out of line and incredibly insulting. Staying silent as she waited for Bill to leave, she didn't bother to say goodbye to him. She didn't want to. She just didn't want to see him again, but she thought that was clear, and Bill didn't show up for months at a time anyway. She didn't care about his project, she didn't care about him except that he was so insulting to her and Jessica and especially Eric. She didn't want him around. Looking to Eric for reassurance, she gave his arm a little squeeze. "Bill Compton, you are no longer welcome in my house," she said very quietly, hoping it would take even though he wasn't in the house anymore. She wasn't entirely sure how it worked.
Allowing herself to be very willingly pulled into Eric's lap, she curled up to him, reminding herself to take deep breaths as she adjusted to the comfort of his arms, trying to tell herself that the situation was over. "You can stay upstairs for as long as you want, Jessica. You'll always have a room here," she assured her with a small smile, watching as the young vampire bounded up the stairs, resting her head on Eric's chest. "You know he doesn't even give her a room in his home," she told Eric, clearly feeling bad for the redhead. Shaking her head to clear those thoughts from it, she laughed weakly at Eric's question about the car, burying her face in his chest, unsure whether to laugh or cry. "I don't know how I'll drive it to work, but I'm so grateful you care enough to go through all that trouble for me."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 5, 2010, 10:32pm
To be honest, Eric couldn't help but be a little surprised as he easily heard Sookie's whispered words after Bill had already vacated her home. Sure, he wanted the wet blanket to be unwelcome in Sookie's home, but the Viking couldn't help but be surprised that she would actually do it. He had always suspected there was a part of Sookie that still clung to Bill for reasons he couldn't possibly imagine, but rescinding the younger vampire's invitation into her home was quite a significant gesture, and he could tell the weight of it was already plaguing Sookie's mind. The telepath felt so much more than Eric could ever understand, but she wore her heart upon her sleeve, and tonight, it had taken a beating. Pulling her close to him, he kept his arms around her, a hand stroking over her back. It didn't seem necessary to say, but she had his support completely.
Watching as the redhead sped up the creaky farmhouse stairs, the Viking shook his head. "I didn't know that." But it would have been a lie to say he had ever considered Jessica's living arrangements. It just wasn't really worth Eric's thoughts. "His home isn't light sealed though," Eric thought aloud, not really understanding why Bill hadn't made an effort to do such a thing. It was costly, but far better than sleeping underground in a hole. "So a bedroom would not serve her much purpose." It would be privacy, perhaps, but a wooden door hardly stopped a vampire from knowing what was going on on the other side of it. "I had never realized the two of you were so close," he continued, his gaze momentarily shifting over to the now-empty staircase. "Is she here very often?"
Stroking the back of Sookie's head as she seemed to attempt hiding against his chest, Eric smiled. "I can tell you how you will drive it to work," he offered. "There is a key, I handed it to you earlier. It goes in the ignition, and with a simple turn, you are on your way." Of course, he knew that wasn't at all what the telepath had meant. That car would stick out among the old trucks and rusty cars that tended to crowd the Merlotte's parking lot the way Eric stuck out in Bon Temps. "You are not required to explain it to anyone," he pointed out. "So let the rumors run amok. You will hear them regardless, and even if you explained you are merely borrowing it, that would hardly stop human trash from talking." He really didn't have a high opinion of the townspeople of Bon Temps. "It is just a car," he added after a moment. Eric took a great deal of pride in the cars he owned, but Sookie needed the reassurance right now. He definitely did not want the new vehicle sitting unused in her driveway while her 'car' was pushed further to the breaking point. "The only difference between this one and the one you owned is that this one functions. Who cares what any might think of it? In a little time, it will be old news." He also doubted that. His Corvette managed to get looks every time it ventured to Bon Temps, but Sookie really didn't need to think about that.
"And it will be good for business if you intend on branching out," he continued, wanting to reassure her as much as possible. Compared to the car she had been driving, he was sure a Mercedes was going to be quite a change. "Your arrival is your first impression, and you have to admit, that car makes quite the first impression," he added with a smirk. Sookie's first impression definitely wasn't the one most would have. "It is professional. Your ability and judgment will speak for itself, but it will only make others trust you more quickly if their first impression of you is that you are sound and successful. It isn't always easy for those with so many secrets to keep to trust in outsiders. Every little bit will help you." Pulling her away from his chest just enough so he could look into her eyes, he offered her a small but genuine smile. "I care for you a great deal, Sookie. I have cared a great deal for you for a while," he confessed quietly, certain after everything that had unfolded, he needed to reassure her about more than just the car. "Do not doubt that."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 5, 2010, 10:57pm
Sookie wasn't sure what she had expected to feel when revoking Bill's invitation to her house. She was kind of surprised to feel a sense of closure as she did it, though. Maybe Bill would pick more fights with her and maybe he wouldn't, but she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had been right to end things with Bill. More than that, she knew that she had made the right choice in being with Eric. He had stayed with her through Bill's entire hissy fit, supporting her and defending her without making her feel like he was fighting her battles for her or undermining her in any way. Closing her eyes as he rubbed her back, she relaxed in his arms, nuzzling his shoulder. It felt really good on a lot of levels. She needed him right now.
Staying cuddled up to him as Eric said he didn't know Jessica didn't even have a bedroom, Sookie sighed quietly. "I know it's not, but every teenage girl should have a bedroom. Somewhere to put her things, somewhere to call her own, to have even the illusion of privacy." Bill didn't know much about teenage girls though, she knew, but it still didn't seem fair to Jessica that she didn't have anywhere that was just hers. "She doesn't really have anyone. You saw how Bill is with her. Her parents would rather see her permanently dead than a vampire. Her sister isn't allowed near her. She was so sheltered when she was alive that she doesn't have many friends, and those she had think she's six feet under." It was sad. Coming out of the coffin was supposed to make things easier for new vampires, but she didn't think it did. "Yeah, she comes over a lot, when she can. She's lonely. I get that." Did she ever.
Laughing quietly against Eric's chest as he stroked the back of her head and seemed to tell her how to operate the new car, she smacked his arm lightly. "That's not what I meant and you know it," she told him with a small smile. "You're right, though. Nothing ever stops the rumors. It's not like there aren't enough about me already. I'm sure it'll be fine," she decided, and she meant it. She knew that people would talk no matter what. "It's not just a car," she corrected him, knowing it meant a lot more than that. "But I'm glad it's not just a car. It's a way for you to keep me safe, and that means a lot to me. It's not 'just' anything." Placing a kiss on his shoulder, she relaxed a bit more. "It's still very over the top, but I really do appreciate it, Eric."
Nodding as Eric pointed out that the car would be good business if she did decide to go ahead with turning her telepathy into a career, she could see his point. It was a new type of business, and one that would require a certain image, like dressing up for a meeting. She'd have to look professional and trustworthy and like part of the supernatural community even before she stepped out of the car. "I know. You're right." Hopefully she would do well even without the car, since she did still intend on getting her own, but she believed him when he said it would help. This was his area of expertise, not hers. Looking up into his eyes, she smiled a very similar smile to his. "I care for you a lot too, Eric. You mean so much to me already. I know we don't always agree on everything, but thank you for being so good to me," she replied quietly before leaning up to kiss him softly. He really was good to her, no matter what Bill said.
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 5, 2010, 11:51pm
Turning his head in order to nuzzle the side of Sookie's head as she hid in his shoulder, Eric inhaled the scent of her hair and her skin, thankful not to smell the presence of saline on her, at least not yet. He didn't want Sookie to cry. Not only would it make him incredibly uncomfortable, but really, Eric didn't want Bill to have any kind of power over Sookie's emotions any longer. Perhaps it was a selfish reason, but it was true. Kissing the side of her head softly as he stroked her back, the vampire was almost content just listening to the sound of her breathing while feeling her heart beating against his chest, simple as it was, but he also knew he wanted to put his telepath at ease. He could tell she hadn't been prepared for tonight, but she had been put through it anyway. It was his responsibility now to help her decompress.
"So you have given her a room here?" he asked, almost a little concerned about Sookie's generosity himself. It was clear to Eric Bill wasn't taking his responsibility as a Maker very seriously when trying to get a newborn to mainstream. The hunger at such an age was unrivaled and Sookie tasted and smelled superior to most humans. The Viking wasn't sure if Sookie and Jessica's friendship could overrule Jessica's need for blood. "Being dead to one's family instead of undead is not unfamiliar to many of us," he pointed out, but he really didn't want to think about that now himself. "But if you are very concerned about her, there is a vampire that resides halfway between here and Shreveport I know of that could possibly help guide her, educate her, and help her come to terms with this change. Patience isn't his strong point," he continued, but then again, neither were females. "But if she understood who and what she was better, perhaps it would help. And it would be, at least, another to talk to and an escape from her home."
Allowing a small smile to cross his lips as Sookie struck his arm, he tilted his head towards her. "You are being quite violent with me tonight... at least compared to your normally passive ways," he teased. "I kind of like it." At least Sookie didn't seem as upset about it as she initially had and wasn't fighting it nearly as much as Eric had anticipated. He supposed she had gotten a great deal of her fight out of her already. "I do want to keep you safe," he admitted easily enough. The bags of air had been carefully considered by him to do just that. "But it is just a car, a car I want you to use and not to worry about. Anyone with an opinion on it that is uncalled for can easily be dismembered," he offered, though he was pretty sure she'd turn him down on that. "And it isn't over the top. I would dare say it's conservative for my own tastes. Once you drive it, you will wonder how you ever got by without it." Really, the Viking hoped she wouldn't get by without it. He had no intention of ever getting that vehicle back in his possession.
"We don't always agree on everything?" he repeated, a smirk crossing his lips. "We seldom agree on anything," he clarified, thinking that was a far more accurate description of how things worked with them. It almost was a miracle when they agreed on something without a great deal of debate and negotiation. "But despite that, I am not going anywhere," he added more quietly, lifting his hand from her back to her cheek. It was a promise that would be difficult to keep, but one Eric was confident he would. It wouldn't be easy and he would have to spend a lot of time apart from her in order to keep her safe, but he knew no matter what, he would need to be there for her. He didn't understand why, but he knew it was true. Meeting her lips as she leaned up to his, the Viking eagerly returned her kiss while holding her closer to him, reveling in her warmth. Pulling back for a moment, his eyes opened to meet hers while he rested his forehead against her own, a smirk slowly crossing his lips. "Do I still need to behave?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 6, 2010, 12:36am
Sighing contentedly into Eric's shoulder as Sookie unwound a little bit, she closed her eyes, trying to take deep breaths to relax. Being so close to him was so soothing after how hard the night had turned out to be emotionally, but she knew that they would be okay. Eric was taking such good care of her, and she was so grateful for that when he easily could have stormed out and been angry over being so insulted by Bill. He wasn't, though. He was comforting her, despite his claims that he wasn't good at those sorts of things. Just being cuddled up to him like this helped to sooth some of the hurt from earlier. "Thank you," she whispered quietly, sure he would hear her. It meant so much to her that he was doing this, staying with her.
"She uses the guest room sometimes when she needs somewhere to go, to be by herself," she answered with a small nod. "She never sleeps here or anything. She'll come over to watch movies and stuff too. Just spend time talking with someone else. It's good she's working now, though I don't know that Merlotte's was the best choice. Still, being around more people will be good for her." Nodding at Eric's words, she imagined most families thought a vampire was permanently dead when turned. It must have been hard to have Jessica's family wish she was. Nodding slowly as Eric suggested having another vampire guide and help Jessica, Sookie was all for it. "I really am worried about her. Do you think this vampire would do it? She could really use the help, if Bill would allow it. She's so confused about pretty much everything."
Smiling despite herself as Eric said she was being violent, she shook her head. "I'm not passive normally," she corrected, "But it seemed easier than saying anything that you'd no doubt ignore or tease me for," she told him with a smile. Eric being dirty was just Eric being himself, but she felt like she wasn't doing her duty if she didn't correct him in some way. Still, she didn't have it in her to truly object. She cared about Eric, inappropriate behavior and all. She couldn't disapprove. Smiling genuinely as Eric said he wanted to keep her safe, she shook her head, knowing it wasn't just a car. It was brand new, as far as she could tell, which meant he really had gotten it just for her. She wasn't entirely comfortable with that, but she wasn't going to object, at least not right now. "No dismembering anyone, but I'm sure I'll love the car once I drive it," she agreed easily enough. What was not to love?
Laughing at Eric's repetition of her words, she knew it was completely true that it was rare for them to agree on everything, but she couldn't just agree with him. "We agree sometimes," she corrected with a smile, knowing disagreeing about disagreeing wasn't actually unusual for them. Still, she quieted, her smile becoming much softer as he said he wasn't going anywhere. "I hope you're not," she replied honestly. "I love having you around. I'm not going anywhere either, though," she told him, truly meaning it. They had something special, and even though she'd thought things were special with Bill, she could already feel that this was so different after such a short time together. Kissing him wiped away the last of the tension she was holding onto, and as she looked into his eyes, she laughed quietly. "Because you were behaving so well before?" she asked with a small smirk of her own. "No, you don't need to behave."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 6, 2010, 1:56am
Tension and anger that had seemingly rolled off of Sookie only a few moments earlier seemed to be slowly subsiding as she curled against Eric, and the Viking was relieved it was. He knew she was hurting... Hurting in a way he couldn't really understand, hurting in a way that showed no visible damage but still created it's fair share of wounds, but he needed to know she would be okay. She was alive, this was part of the reason she was so strange and fascinating to him, but he still didn't want her to be in pain. It was difficult for a vampire who prided himself on having and maintaining control, and who was so good at fixing things to only be able to do this, but it seemed to be what Sookie needed now. Shaking his head slightly as she thanked him, he wished there was more he could do and that this was a problem he could solve. "It will be easier now," he stated quietly, feeling it was the truth. It had been a big, but important hurdle they had surpassed.
Nodding as she spoke, Eric tilted his head against hers, enjoying the contact between them as much as one could. "Why would Merlotte's be a poor choice?" he asked. "It is owned by a Shifter, Compton is a regular customer, a telepath is the best waitress in the place... a vampire on staff seems almost natural." The residents of Bon Temps were undoubtedly closed-minded, but the supernatural was an unavoidable part of them. "And I am sure Jessica's presence will rid the bar of anyone too small minded," he continued. Piss off a newborn and there was going to be a few less humans in this world, and that didn't bother Eric in the slightest. Considering her question, he nodded slowly. "Yes, I think he would if I was the one who made the request and I went about asking him in the right manner. If I made the request and he accepted, I do not know that Bill would have much say in it," he continued with a small shrug. "The vampire in question is very old, very strong, and has influence in the right places. He is not the kind of vampire one would want as their enemy, especially a vampire like Bill, who's expertise lays so far outside defense and combat. Speak to Jessica about it and if she is interested, I will contact him, but only if she is serious in her desire to learn. He would not respond well to having his time wasted."
Chuckling quietly, he could really only nod as she pointed out he would have ignored or teased her had she outwardly scolded him, it really was inarguable. "I am still intrigued by what trouble I would be in if I presented you with a giant bow," he thought aloud. "Do I get a hint? Is it wrong that I am hoping it involves bloodshed?" he teased while letting his fingertips roam up and down her back. Kissing over her shoulder as she shook her head, refusing to allow him to dismember any disapproving parties, he really did hope she enjoyed the car. "If you do, I hope you will consider keeping it," he admitted, lifting his head to look at her and stop her before she could protest his confession. "By purchasing it from me gradually. It is used now, I would give you a good deal on it, and would even be willing to accept use of your services in lieu of any kind of cash transaction or monthly payment. It is just something to consider if you do love it once you've driven it. If not, I will take it back when it is of no use to you any longer. Consider it."
Shaking his own head back and forth as Sookie insisted they agreed something, the Viking couldn't help but smirk at their newest disagreement. "When have we ever agreed?" he asked. "You are wrong, we always disagree." Initially, anyway. Things tended to work out before all was said and done, at least lately they did. Brushing Sookie's hair out of her face as they looked at one another, he couldn't help but smile. "And I hope that is true," he admitted as she promised she wasn't going anywhere either. He was much more concerned about that. Sookie seemed to attract trouble, Eric's very presence in her life was testament to that. He didn't want that trouble to ever get the best of her. Feigning a look of protest as she questioned his behavior, Eric nodded emphatically. "I was exceptionally well behaved for company," he insisted, his eyes leaving hers as his head and mouth descended to her neck, his lips kissing over it in between his words. "The most I am guilty of is implying aloud how much I desire you. If I had it my way, I would have been showing you."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 6, 2010, 7:04pm
Sookie was sure that Eric didn't have a very relaxing effect on many people. She was sure he inspired many responses, but calming people down probably wasn't his specialty. That was exactly what he was doing for her, though, right now anyway. Closing her eyes and resting against him, pressed up against him as he rubbed her back, Sookie took deep breaths as she steadied herself, thankful for the surprisingly familiar feeling of his arms wrapped around her. That grounded her more than anything after her heart took such a beating from the man she'd given herself to entirely, the first man she'd given herself to at all, for that matter. "You make it easier," she told him very quietly, no doubt in her mind that she wouldn't have survived that argument without weeping for days if he wasn't there to support her. He was there to hold and comfort her, though, and that was worth everything.
Thinking about the reasons Eric gave that would make Merlotte's a natural choice for a young vampire to work at, Sookie still shook her head. "The telepath is trying to work mostly days to free herself up for a certain vampire," she admitted with a small smile. "And Bill's not a regular customer. He mostly only came when he wanted to harass me about something or another. He knew I hated it when he came, so he only did it to bother me. He'd always get mad that I didn't pay enough attention to him while I was working," she admitted with a small frown, feeling silly for how long she'd let this stuff go on with Bill. "But vampires attract all sorts of negative attention in Merlotte's," she told him before hesitating. "Not that I wouldn't be happy to see you if you visited me while I was working at night," she admitted with a kiss to his shoulder, "But I'm not sure how Jessica will do with the whole thing. You have a tough skin. Even I do. She's still very young. It sounds like Arlene is already getting to her, and she's just the tip of the bigoted iceberg." Arlene could be awful, but Jess would face far worse than her if she kept working there. "I'll talk to her about that," she agreed, smiling at Eric, truly touched that he'd do this for the vampire he seemed to be trying hard to like, despite first impressions, mostly for her. "I really appreciate you taking any time to look after her," Sookie admitted. "She's a good girl. She just doesn't know who or what she is." Sookie knew way too well what that was like. Unfortunately, there was still no one Sookie could get guidance from the way Jessica could.
Rolling her eyes in a very teasing way at the vampire as he insisted he wanted to know what kind of trouble he would have gotten in for the giant bow he'd threatened her with, Sookie shook her head. "The way to punish you isn't with bloodshed," she answered with a soft laugh. "It's with a lack of bloodshed." She knew Eric well enough to know that much. Beginning to frown as it sounded like Eric was offering her the car, Sookie hesitated as she listened to him, finally smiling. "And I bet you thought you didn't know how to compromise," she responded with a smile. "I'll think about it. That sounds very fair." Really, she was glad it was. Eric knew her well enough to know she wouldn't just take it, and he wasn't trying to change that about her. It really was a compromise, and one that didn't sound half bad. Really, it was very reasonable. "I'll think about it very carefully." She'd have to see how she liked the car first, of course, but it sounded good to her, and she was pretty touched that Eric had considered how she'd felt about the offer first.
Laughing as Eric continued to disagree with her disagreement about disagreeing, Sookie kissed his shoulder, nuzzling against the skin of his neck. "We mostly disagree," she disagreed, laughing quietly against his skin, staying very close. "It is true," she promised him, not wanting to leave Eric's arms, much less leave him. He hadn't tried to play hero tonight with her. He hadn't taken over and defended her in ways that implied she couldn't defend herself. He'd been by her side and supported her without demeaning either of them, and that was exactly what she needed. He was exactly what she needed ."I was planning on calling you tonight to tell you that I do want to bond more with you," she admitted, knowing she had previously said that she had just been looking for her phone when Bill came by. She'd made the decision, but she hadn't wanted to say so earlier for obvious reasons. What had happened earlier, though, had only solidified her resolve. "Oh yeah, really well behaved," she agreed, her tone anything but serious as she tilted her head back to allow him more access to her neck. Sighing in pleasure despite her attempts to keep quiet, she couldn't help but smile. "Still not well behaved," she informed him, knowing that even if he'd kept his actions appropriate, his words had not been.
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 6, 2010, 8:35pm
Eric could only arch a brow as Sookie insisted he made things easier for her, thankful the action was hidden from view from her as she kept her face hidden in his chest. Really, the Viking felt mostly to blame for what had unfolded and left her feeling as she was now. Yes, Bill had been the source of her pain, but Eric was almost certain the Civil War relic wouldn't have been quite so dramatic and desperate had Eric not been involved. The Viking had always aspired to be a contributing factor in the end of Bill and Sookie, but he had never wanted it to come at Sookie's expense. Placing a few kisses on the top of her head, Eric's eyes fell closed as he rested his own head against the top of hers. "It is my job to make everything easier," he decided. Sookie was his now and it was willingly his personal mission to make her as happy and as whole as he could. Happiness may have been unattainable for him, but it was something Sookie could have and something she deserved. "I want to know if there are any further problems," he continued, his head lifting from her own as he glanced over toward her front door. "You will tell me, correct?" It was in Sookie's nature to handle things herself, whether she could or not, but she wasn't alone and Eric didn't want her fighting as if she was.
Letting a smile cross his lips as Sookie confessed she was working mostly days because of a vampire, Eric's brows lifted. "Anyone I know?" he asked teasingly. "I doubt the poor vampire knows what he is getting himself into." Despite his teasing, the vampire could see Sookie's point. "My last trip to the bar did gather some negative attention from the population present," he thought aloud, knowing it was probably news to Sookie that he had been there at all. It really wasn't his favorite place to go though, and he hadn't exactly been attempting to be very hospitable. "But it wasn't the locals who had the upper hand. Fear is a powerful ally and much more than my skin is 'tough.'" Of course, Eric had no trouble whatsoever instilling fear in the hearts of others and holding his own. It was difficult to take Jessica so seriously. It did her no favors that her Maker was the town's resident passive vampire, more a tourist attraction for hillbillies than a threat. A little time with Appius could change Jessica's outlook and potential a great deal, but it wasn't anything to take lightly, especially not for Eric. "If you discuss this opportunity with her and she is interested, I will require your word that you will in no way interfere or investigate," he stated very seriously, looking into Sookie's eyes. "I know you will be concerned for her and curious of who is teaching her and what they are teaching, but I cannot risk you being so exposed to..." Eric's voice trailed off, hesitating only a moment before continuing on. "Those who may not understand your importance." Though Sookie would probably think Eric was talking about protecting her gift, he wasn't. He wanted to protect her because she was important to him, and he didn't think Appius would understand, let alone approve. It would only be a matter of time before his Maker took an interest in the telepath, he was sure, but prolonging the time until he did was Eric's goal.
Smirking as she insisted the way to punish him wasn't with bloodshed, Eric shook his head. "That is just cruel," he stated with as much of a pout as he could manage. "I must make certain to get rid of the giant, obnoxious bow before you have the chance to discover it then," he continued to tease while tracing over her back. Watching her carefully for a reaction as he made a suggestion about the new car, he couldn't help but be pleased by the smile that followed a few moments of thought. "It is not that I am incapable of compromise nor that I believed myself incapable of such a thing," he argued quite naturally. "It is that I am never required to do so." That was true enough. What Eric wanted, Eric tended to get. He didn't have to negotiate for it, it simply happened in his way without protest. That had definitely changed since Sookie had entered his life though. Everything was some kind of compromise with her. "You have as much time to consider it as you need," he stated easily, resuming kissing over her shoulder once more. "But I think within a week you will take me up on it," he added with a smirk. Sookie needed a little luxury in her life.
"Always disagree," he murmured into her shoulder while kissing it, but he couldn't stop his lips from smirking as he did so. They really would never be without some kind of debate, he was confident of that. They saw the world and everything in it in very different ways. Disagreements were a natural thing. It didn't make him desire her any less though... just the contrary, truly. Somehow, it worked well. Meeting her eyes as she promised she wouldn't be going anywhere again, the Viking would do his best to make certain that was true. He desired Sookie in a way he was unprepared for, in a way he had desired few things in over a thousand years. It was significant to him. Arching a brow as she explained why she was going to call him, he wasn't sure a phone call was the proper venue for such a confession, but he couldn't help but smile at the news. He wanted to be closer to the telepath. It would help him protect her and possibly more importantly, it would help him trust her more fully. "Then we will," he promised her. "We will when you finally give yourself to me. You need to experience bonding in a way that has nothing to do with preservation or the advantageous effects of vampire blood." It would mean more. Kissing over her neck and hands trailing down her back as she continued insisting he hadn't been well behaved, the vampire chuckled quietly into her skin as he reached her ear, nipping at it once as his cold hands slipped under her shirt and ran over her back. "I was impeccably behaved," he whispered. "I could have clarified I wanted your legs wrapped around my head," he offered in between tugs on her earlobe between his teeth, fangs extended. "Or around my hips. I did neither. I didn't even announce I am without any underwear tonight. Does that count for nothing?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 6, 2010, 10:32pm
Smiling against Eric's shirt as he said it was his job to make everything easier, Sookie knew he hadn't always felt that way, and while he didn't always make everything easier, he had certainly made it easier to withstand what she had tonight. "You make me feel so much better," she murmured quietly, not wanting to move away quiet yet. Nodding slowly as he said he wanted to know if there were any further problems, it wasn't that she wanted him rushing to the rescue or to confront Bill or anything, but she could understand him wanting to know. Plus, if there were, it'd be nice to be able to do this afterwards. "If you want to know, I promise to tell you," she agreed. She'd been dealing with Bill by herself for long enough. "I know this must've been awful for you, but I'm really glad you were here tonight."
Laughing against Eric's shoulder as he asked if she was working days for anyone he knew, she shook her head. "Nope, it's a stranger," she teased, though she was sure Eric hadn't know what he was getting into when he started pursuing her. Frowning slightly in confusion, she looked up at him. "When were you at Merlotte's?" Not when she was there, she was sure. "You're a big tough vampire," she agreed as he decided the locals hadn't been intimidating. "Jessica's a vampire, but she's not so big or so tough. She's shy and self-conscious, two things I'm sure you've never been." Even when he was human, Sookie was sure Eric had been confident. Eric wanted her word that she wouldn't go investigating if Eric helped Jessica get this mysterious vampire tutor, which seemed a little strange. She wanted to ask questions, but something about Eric's tone made it seem like a bad idea. He seemed legitimately worried about her being around whoever this was. "I'll stay away," she assured him, knowing that he was doing her and Jessica a huge favor in going to whoever this was for help, and not wanting to worry him on top of it.
"Oh yeah, completely cruel," she agreed with a laugh, touching her fingertips lightly to his lips as he pretended to pout. "I really hope there's no bow on that very obviously new car." She hadn't had the chance to inspect it with Bill throwing a fit and all, but even with her limited vision in the dark, she could tell it was barely touched. Even with how new the car is, she couldn't argue too much when he was being so reasonable about the compromise. She was really touched that he wasn't just trying to force her into keeping it, especially after Bill's behavior for the night. "I don't doubt that for a minute," she agreed as Eric said he never had to compromise. Most people she knew tended to give Eric what he wanted without argument for one reason or another. "I'm glad you'll compromise for me." It showed he respected her, or at least she liked to think it did. "We'll see," she agreed as he seemed so confident that she'd be taking him up on his offer. The car was definitely beautiful, she just wondered if it was for her.
Shaking her head as Eric disagreed about disagreeing to a few degrees, Sookie nuzzled against his neck, her lips brushing over his skin as she smiled against it. Disagreeing with Eric was so different from disagreeing with Bill. Eric didn't try to make her feel stupid for her opinion, or that she was wrong, they just debated endlessly until one of them ended up kissing the other... Usually Eric kissing her. They'd always been like that, though. There were sparks between them, a fire that was nearly impossible to ignore, and she had tried for some time. "I want that too," she admitted to Eric as he said they would bond when she gave himself to me. Bonding for a reason that wasn't for medical reasons or for strength would be a totally new experience, and one she wasn't remotely opposed to. "I wanted to last time you were here," she admitted with a slight blush, resting her hands on his sides under his shirt as he kissed from her neck to her ear, making her whimper as he teased it with his teeth. Not protesting even slightly as his hands moved under her shirt, she fidgeted in his lap, unable to help it. Barely keeping track of his words, Sookie found it impossible to think of much but his mouth on her ear. "Okay," she answered, not quite sure if that was even a response to whatever he was asking, much more focused on the dirtier things he was suggesting. Those registered plenty. "You never wear underwear," she replied once the words sunk in, slipping her fingertips inside the waistband of his pants, just slightly, to check for herself. "Not that I object..."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 6, 2010, 11:42pm
"I want to make you feel many things," Eric stated, a small smirk crossing his lips. "'Better; is only the beginning of a lengthy list." The words were true enough. The vampire was fascinated by how much Sookie was capable of feeling, and how passionately she was capable of feeling. He didn't understand it, but he wanted more, always more. Even tonight, he had known she was hurt as he doubted he could ever be, but she was as spirited and as fiery as ever. He never wanted to see her lose that. "I want to know," he assured her once more, unwilling to let Sookie deal with Bill on her own, even though he was sure she was capable of doing so. Tonight though, Eric had seen a desperate vampire with a growing rage, and Sookie didn't truly know what that could bring about. Thinking about it for a moment, Eric shrugged his shoulders slightly. "It was not awful for me," he decided. "It was curious and revealing, but I have been aware of where I stand with Bill for some time. There is no need to be concerned for me."
Smirking as Sookie teased him back and insisted her mystery vampire was a stranger, Eric shook his head slowly from side to side. "In that case, he really doesn't stand a chance," he decided easily enough. "But I doubt he would want it any other way." Shrugging his shoulders once more as she frowned, he was a little surprised the Shifter hadn't informed Sookie of it the first day she returned to work, but then again, the Shifter seemed an appropriate amount of frightened of him as well. "Not that long ago," he answered ambiguously. "I wasn't there to see you," he continued. "I knew where you were. I had business to take care of, but if I visit the Shifter's pub anytime in the near future, I imagine it will be because of a waitress." Considering it, Sookie had a point. "No, I have never been shy, nor self-conscious." She suspected such, he might as well admit it. "Not even when alive. If Jessica spent more time around real vampires, she would not be so concerned about what the living perceive." Real vampires didn't include Bill Compton, at least not in Eric's opinion. Compton had his purposes, but none of them really required having fangs nor being dead. "Thank you," he stated simply, a little relief slipping into his tone as Sookie vowed to stay away from a very real vampire in Eric's opinion. Still, he could see the questioning in her eyes. "I will explain if such a thing becomes necessary." Sookie probably wouldn't like that kind of a promise, but it was better for them both if there was simply never a reason for her to ever know.
Opening his mouth and snapping his teeth at her fingers as they traced his lips, Eric couldn't help but chuckle. "That is where you are so wrong. The car is not new," he insisted with a smirk. "It is... days old. Days," he repeated, as if that somehow made it sound even older, despite the fact that the information was being delivered by someone who was older than a millennium. "But there is no bow." Pausing for a moment, he dipped his head once more to her neck and nipped at it once. "Does that mean I get bloodshed?" He really could hope. Lifting his head from her neck as she spoke, the vampire shook his head firmly back and forth a few times. "I will not compromise for you, but I will compromise with you." There was a definite difference in his mind. "I do not understand you at all, but I hope to, even if it means I must do things I have not had to do in the past." Like not entirely get his way. It was a definite process for him, but it would be for Sookie as well.
Kissing over her neck, reveling in the warmth of it against his cold lips, the vampire growled quietly into her skin as she decided she wanted to bond in the way Eric insisted they should, the vampire incapable of disguising his desire to have Sookie more completely. Sitting back abruptly as she confessed she had wanted to give herself to him on his last trip to Bon Temps, Eric was both surprised by the news and silently cursing his cellphone. Slipping one of his hands out from the back of her shirt, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone, showing it to her as he turned it off before tossing it onto her couch with a smirk. His own eyes fell briefly closed as Sookie's fingertips teased in front of him, a growl escaping his lips as his mouth once more went to her ear. "That's not accurate," he corrected before biting on her ear again, his hands grabbing the bottom of her shirt and pulling it up her body. "I just want fewer distractions between us." Dragging his teeth down her earlobe, he pulled back long enough to get the shirt over her head, tossing it over to the couch with his phone. "There goes another." Gripping her hips, urging her legs around his waist, the vampire stood from the chair, his lips hungrily meeting hers as he weaved through the furniture of her living room carrying her. "Don't object to anything tonight," he murmured against her lips, nipping at her lips as he made his way toward her bedroom. "You won't regret it."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 7, 2010, 12:40am
Smiling into Eric's chest as he said he wanted to make her feel many things, Sookie nodded, knowing the feeling. "You already do," she admitted knowing it couldn't be more true. Eric made her feel so many emotions, it was startling sometimes, but it only made him mean more to her. Even now, better was only one of the things she felt. She felt cared for and valued, protected and safe, content and hopeful. So many different things, but all of them positive. "I'll tell you," she assured him as he insisted that he wanted to know about Bill if he caused any more problems. "Having you here with me makes it a lot easier to deal with." She knew that was probably surprising, since it probably looked like Bill caused even more of a fuss over Eric, but she knew that the outcome would have been the same no matter what when Bill was still convinced there was still hope for them. Really, it was probably only Eric's presence that convinced him otherwise. "What did it reveal?" she asked curiously. Eric saw things way differently from she did, and she wondered just what he had seen tonight.
"Oh, I don't know. I'm starting to like him a whole lot," Sookie admitted about her mystery vampire with a teasing smile, trailing her fingers up his sides. "Why were you there?" Sookie asked curiously, wondering why no one had mentioned it to her. She guessed she'd been distancing herself from her workplace without realizing it, if she hadn't even known about that. "Oh? A cute waitress?" she asked, wrapping her arms around him once more. "I think with your support and help, more 'real vampires' would be willing to spend time around Jessica." Eric's opinion meant a lot to a lot of people. If Eric said Jessica was okay, that would have a lot of weight, she was pretty sure. Nodding, Sookie placed a light kiss on Eric's lips. "I trust you to do just that," she decided. Eric wasn't one to withhold information unless it was really necessary, she was pretty sure. Usually he liked to show her off, and in this case, he definitely didn't. She didn't think it was without reason.
Pulling her fingers back as he snapped at them, Sookie laughed, shaking her head at his words. "Days," she repeated, wondering if Eric actually thought that meant it wasn't new. He was probably just trying to get away with it. "I'm glad there's no bow, but you weren't really supposed to buy a new car in the first place," she reminded him with a shake of her head. Smiling once more as he asked if he could have bloodshed, she nodded, closing her eyes as he nipped at her neck. "Compromising with me is good," she agreed, resting a hand on his cheek for a moment, very grateful to have him. "I hope to understand you much better too." It included things out of her comfort zone for her too, but she had confidence that they could work this out.
Shivering in a way that had nothing to do with the cold as Eric growled into her neck, Sookie bit her lip, reveling in the reaction a simple admission got from him. Blushing at his reaction as he sat back at the news that she'd wanted to be his last time he was at her house, she couldn't help the smile that appeared when she watched him turn off his phone and toss it away. "That's very promising," she smiled, exploring just inside his waistband with her fingers, silently thrilled that nothing would get in their way. "Fewer distractions is good," she replied, briefly worried about Jessica finding her shirt on the couch on her way out, but quickly forgetting about it as he picked her up. Wrapping her legs around him, she kissed him eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck and nodding as best she could without breaking the kiss. "I'm all yours," she promised quietly against his lips. She might have been nervous about agreeing to anything Eric wanted, but there was one thing she knew for sure. "I trust you."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 7, 2010, 7:06am
"Many things," Eric answered ambiguously. The night really had been very revealing to him. Sookie had told him that she didn't want to hurt Bill, but tonight he had seen how true it was. Truly, the Viking had been nearly certain she wasn't even going to acknowledge that the two of them were together in order to spare Bill the damage to his ego. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that, especially when she had never spared his own ego when she had been with Bill, but he was certain it could somehow be explained by her compassion. The evening had also showed him that despite Bill's willing exit, the younger vampire wasn't done yet. Eric didn't entirely know what to expect, but he was certain there was more coming. "You shared a great deal with him, didn't you?" he asked, mostly not needing a response. It had seemed obvious to Eric that she had, more than he understood or knew. Possibly even more than he could ever share with her. It was all food for later, additional thought.
"I don't use the word 'cute,'" he corrected with a shake of his head. "Ever." Sookie was many things to him, but 'cute' was not one of them. "The waitress is intriguing, and arousing, and so very alive," he listed off. "I cannot get enough of her." Shaking his head slightly as she once more asked why he had been to Merlotte's when she wasn't there, the Viking shrugged. "Business," he answered. Pausing for a moment, the vampire knew that wouldn't be enough of an answer for a telepath. "I needed to speak to Lafayette and that is where I could find him," he elaborated, knowing Sookie would have tried picking through the thoughts of everyone she worked with, exhausting herself, just to get an explanation he hadn't given her. "He had contacted me while we were in New Jersey. I simply made certain he was safe. That is all." She didn't need to slap him this time, he was relatively certain. Arching a brow as Sookie nearly asked Eric to endorse Jessica for further acceptance by their race at large, while he was certain it would do the trick, he wasn't certain he was willing to take such a risk. He could compromise though. "Once she begins working with my... acquaintance, I will offer her my support, and let others know I am offering her such a thing." Appius wouldn't let her remain as she was for very long once he got his hands on her. It seemed a safe compromise.
"It isn't new," he argued, shaking his head back and forth before snapping at the fingers she had pulled out of his reach once more. Still, he had known he wasn't supposed to buy a new car, but had she really expected him not to? "I buy cars, it is what I do," he shrugged. Sighing once, he doubted Sookie would accept that. "The cars I own are made for their speed, not for their safety. Such a thing is not an issue for me." It took a lot to end a vampire in a car accident. It took a lot to get a vampire in a car accident. "But it is for you. You needed something sound and secure, so I purchased something sound and secure. If you give it back to me, I will then have something sound and secure of my own." He didn't want it back, but he wouldn't pressure her either. If he got it back, he'd simply have something she could use if she ever needed one again.
There would be plenty of time for them to hash it out later. The Viking had only one thought in his mind as Sookie offered the words he had waited so long to finally here. She was entirely his. With her legs cradled around his waist, he crossed the floor easily and blindly as his lips crashed so urgently against his, needing her just as he had for longer than he had ever desired another before. Pulling his own shirt off as he walked, he let the garment fall to the farmhouse floor as he pushed anxiously through her bedroom door. Turning once inside the room, he pushed Sookie back against the door, letting their combined weight close it as his lips fought her own for control, his teeth nipping at her warm lips. Nothing would stop them from knowing one another completely. Tonight, she would really and truly be his.
And he wanted to remember every moment of it. Letting one of his hands crawl up between the rough door and her soft, smooth back as his lips parted against her own, his pale fingers grabbed hold of the clasp of her bra and easily unclasped the prongs that kept it in place. Letting his hand trail across her back, pushing the sheer material to either side, the vampire's lips left her own, his eyes resting on her own as his hands moved to each of her shoulders, pushing the straps down her arm before the garment fell to the floor. Fangs extended, he kept his eyes on hers as one arm wrapped around her waist to support her, his other hand moving to her chest.
The contrast was invigorating. Her skin was so warm and flushed as her breathing hitched slightly beneath his cool touch. He could feel her heartbeat clearly in the tips of his fingers as his hand dragged over her skin, skin he was quickly memorizing, but would never grow tired of. His lips met hers in a nearly desperate rush, craving even more connection as his hand groped her soft, ample breast, kneading them as their kiss deepened in a way that had always seemed to come naturally between them. The feel of her breath on his face and the taste of Sookie on his tongue only left the vampire wanting more- needing more- and without needing the telepath to say it, he knew the same was true for her.
Pulling her away from the door, lips never leaving hers, Eric walked to her bed, his hand falling from her hips to the covers piled atop the sleeping place. Whipping them back to the foot of the bed and out of their way, he laid Sookie onto the bed as his feet slipped out of his flip flops. Crawling onto the bed beside her, in the blink of an eye he was once more atop her, an elbow propping him up over her as their kiss resumed. Coaxing her legs once more around his waist, neither wanted to lose the delicious friction created as their bodies moved against one another in their urgent kiss, filled with need and desire for one another. His hand worked roughly over her chest as her fingers scratched lightly over his back, up his neck, and through his hair, each one urging the other forward.
A growl escaped Eric's lips as his palm grazed over her breasts, her nipples pebbled beneath his cool touch as their lips, tongue, and teeth explored one another's. Every time Sookie's body writhed slightly from the mattress beneath her, it was greeted with another growl of pure, unadulterated desire from Eric. Letting his hand slink down her chest and to her stomach, he trailed his fingers down the center of her body until they reached the button to her pants. Easily undoing them, the vampire pulled away from her grasp, kneeling between her legs as her hands fell to the bed beside her. His eyes, filled with lust, refused to leave her own as he peeled her pants and panties down her body before tossing them to the floor beside the bed. His eyes separated from her own in order to sweep appreciatively over her body, mesmerized by the flush and glow of her skin, the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed rapidly beneath his appraising gaze.
If there had been any doubt as to whether or not Eric appreciated the view, it had to be erased the moment the vampire sunk quickly and suddenly back to his position over her, growling against her swollen lips as his hands trailed over up and down her body, appreciating the gentle curvature of her frame. Her warm hands pressed against his cold chest, pushing at the impenetrable wall that was the vampire in a way that only spurred him on as his lips left her own, kissing to her chin and across her jaw, tasting her skin as his mouth roamed the familiar territory of her neck. One of Sookie's hands moved to his back, scraping and gripping at his pale skin as her legs kept him pressed tightly to her core, sending shivers through her that were only amplified as the Viking's mouth descended her body with an insatiable hunger that showed no signs of waning.
Eric's lips kissed urgently across her chest as one of his hands slid up her smooth leg, up her thigh and between their crashing bodies. Letting his fingers run up and down her center, he took her breast into his mouth, his eyes resting on her own fluttering gaze as his fangs sank suddenly into her tender flesh surrounding her nipple. It was a treat that left the Viking growling as he sucked urgently at the blood elicited from the bite, the taste of her blood playing through his system as the smell of Sookie's sex enveloped his other senses. The telepath writhed beneath him, her body accepting both the invasion of his fangs and one of his fingers slick with her essence into her. Swallowing back the first mouthful of blood as Sookie shuddered beneath him, the vampire reluctantly licked over the fresh, inviting wounds, reminding himself there would be much more to come. As he lifted his head momentarily from her chest and licked over his lips stained in her blood, his eyes meeting Sookie's, Eric knew she was well aware of that fact as well.
"Don't close your eyes, lover," he instructed, something Sookie had heard from him more than once before and she offered only a breathless, urgent nod in return. Tonight was all about their connection, in more ways than one, and sharing this experience completely was of the utmost importance to Eric. His mind was closed to her and her mind was impenitrable to him, but tonight, they would open themselves completely to one another. His lips descended to her stomach, creating a trail of bloody kisses his tongue quickly ran back over to erase the path laid in her heated skin as her hands moved to his shoulders and head, urging forward as he crawled down the bed, her scent enrapturing him as he descended her. Forcing another of his fingers into her core and earning a moan from the telepath, the Viking guided one of her legs from his hip to over his shoulder and, without needing the instruction, Sookie lifted the other to match.
It was all the invitation Eric needed. His head descended immediately to her core, his proding fingers holding her open for his exploration. A deep, low growl reverberated through his chest as his tongue dragged once over her slit, tasting her essence as her fingers threaded through his hair, gripping and tugging on it without regard as her back arched masterfully and desperately from the bed. Working his fingers into her body steadily, his rhythm began picking up speed as she moaned and panted beneath him, her heels digging into his back as he lapped up all her body offered him. Sookie coated his lips, tongue, teeth, chin... and Eric wanted it no other way. Letting his hand snake up her body, his hand found her chest with ease and his fingers kneaded and tweaked her breasts with purpose as his other hand held her open to him, allowing for his tongue to enter her and be engulfed completely by her.
His eyes never left her pools of blue as he watched her face, flushed with heat and desire and though his own face lacked the rosy tint hers held, he was sure the desire was there. This was a way the Viking could become quite accustomed to making Sookie feel. His tongue lapped eagerly at her core before his fingers returned to her body, resuming their speed that surpassed anything natural to the world. His lips kissed eagerly over the soft, secret pair he was privy to now before his mouth wrapped around the tiny bud of nerves between her legs, sucking on it meticulously as his teeth scraped gently over it.
Sookie's body twisted and arched as she both ran to and from his attentions, her heels kicking off his back before she found herself trapped beneath his hand on her chest. Her heart raced as if she were running a marathon, her breath labored as she clenched at his hair, her fingers scraping down his scalp before scraping down his neck and back up again. Moans of encouragement and surrender engulfed the room, dotted with hungry growls from the vampire. Keeping her eyes open with great difficulty, she watched the torturous and rewarding show as her muscles tensed and relaxed, her body seeking the release it so desperately needed now.
Licking up and down her center, Eric's head lifted slightly, just enough for the telepath to see him lick slowly over his coated lips before his head turned, his eyes leaving hers as his fangs sank suddenly into the tender, inviting flesh of her inner thigh. A breathless scream of pain mixed with unimaginable pleasure filled the room as her eyes shot closed and Eric's mouth filled with blood, her body clenching and spasming around his fingers buried within her. Her legs shook beyond her control over his shoulders as he drank, his fingers curling upward to tease her innermost places while within her, prolonging the waves that rolled over and through her now. He moaned against her leg as he drank, never growing completely accustomed to how exceptional the telepath tasted, but never finding the experience more rewarding then he did now.
Licking almost lazily over the puncture wounds as Sookie's glazed eyes opened once more, her face glowing with the sheen of condensation her orgasm had produced, the vampire slowly moved his fingers in and out of her body before finally removing them entirely. Letting her legs fall from his shoulders as he stood from the bed, his eyes stayed unblinkingly on her own as he brought his hand to his mouth and tasted Sookie on them. Her own hand moved to the front of his pants, clumsily yet frantically undoing the button and zipper of them as she kept her eyes on him in turn, pushing the garment down his legs before her hand wrapped around his cock, stroking it a few times while the Viking stepped out of his pants.
In the blink of an eye, Eric was once more crawling onto the bed between Sookie's legs, her arms wrapping around his neck as his body settled over hers, their lips meeting once more in an urgent kiss. He could feel her heart racing against his chest as his cold skin pressed against her chest, her nails scratching lightly over the back of his neck as he positioned himself at her waiting opening. She nipped at his lips and the vampire growled in response, taking an unnecessary breath before pushing forward, his cock entering her slowly with a moan. He had waited so long for this and thought about this moment since the first night the telepath had entered Fangtasia. Finally, Sookie was his... and he wouldn't let her go anytime soon.
Pushing as deeply into her body as possible, Sookie's legs wrapped around his waist, the vampire practiced every bit of restraint and self control he possessed, holding the position so his telepath could adjust. Sookie breathed rapidly into his shoulder, her fingers clawing at his back as he nuzzled her neck and ear, inhaling the scent of her skin before nipping gently at her earlobe. As her body slowly relaxed around his, the Viking began moving within her, over her, her body rising to meet his with every thrust as her lips kissed and nipped at his shoulder and chest, everything she could reach. He buried his face in her hair sprawled haphazardly across the pillow, inhaling the smell of it, something so familiar he never wanted to forget it, not even after a thousand years had passed. Her hands dragged up and down his chest as he groaned into her ear in complete approval, and her heels dug into the back of his thighs, encouraging him as his teeth captured and dragged over her ear.
Their bodies rose and fell together, her body arching off the bed every time contact was nearly lost between them. Eric thrust into her, each rapid one greeted by a sharp intake of breath from the quaking telepath beneath him. Kissing up Sookie's neck, the vampire's lips met hers once more, each kissing the other almost desperately, craving and hungering for more. Eric pushed roughly into her, the sounds of their kiss, bodies, and noises of approval filling the tiny bedroom completely. Eric could hear and feel every beat of the telepath's heart, so unlike his own silent chest, and reveled in it as his lips left hers, his blue eyes once more opening to look down into the telepath's.
Eric wasn't used to feeling much of anything, but in this moment, he was nearly overwhelmed by what Sookie caused him to feel. Her eyes looked urgently back into his own as his hand snaked between them, the pace he was setting only increasing as he his hands reached her tiny bundle of nerves, his fingers circling over it as her legs pulled him even closer to her. "Bite me," he whispered almost urgently, his head tilting to one side as his fingers rubbed more firmly over her nub, his hips frantically navigating him in and out of her body. He could feel a moment of hesitation from the telepath before she leaned her head up from the pillow, kissing from his shoulder up the curvature of his neck. Doing the same to her neck as she seemed to study his own, the vampire sank his fangs through the fragile skin, a fresh mouthful of blood traveling quickly down his throat.
Sookie gasped, her body spasming around his as her own teeth broke through his flesh, eliciting a loud, nearly feral shout from Eric as he came, pushing as deeply into her as he could, his mouth sucking blindly at the puncture wounds of her neck. Every tug on his own neck Sookie took as she drank his blood caused the vampire to groan, his body writhing over her as his hands moved to the bedsheets, gripping the fabric of them in his fists as they both drank. Flicking his tongue over the fresh marks to her neck, they would be healed in only a few minutes with the blood she was taking in now, and despite not needing air, he breathlessly whispered into her ear, "That is enough for now."
Smiling into her neck as she licked over the wound she had created, as if that would heal it over, he laid atop her, unwilling to break the hold they had on one another for the moment. Her heart still raced beneath his chest, her body so warm it felt as if it were on fire to his own cold touch. Not moving beyond nuzzling her neck for well over a minute, the vampire wanted to hold her, and from the way Sookie continued to hold to him, she was in no great hurry to have him break away from her either. Languidly kissing up her neck, Eric's head lifted to meet her eyes and the vampire found himself smiling instantaneously, the sight of his blood smeared across her lips strangely enticing. Meeting her lips once more, kissing her slowly, the taste of both their blood was on his tongue as Sookie's hand stroked his face so naturally.
Lips moving from her own to her chin, cheeks, forehead, and closed eyes, Eric reluctantly withdrew from her body before he rolled to the opposite side of the bed, reaching down to draw up the covers around them from the foot of the bed. Slipping his arm beneath the telepath once they were covered, he pulled her into his side, his other hand trailing up and down her side beneath the sheets. Kissing the top of her head when not nuzzling his face against it, there were no words for what the Viking felt right now because of Sookie. He also had the feeling he really didn't need to say them either. He trusted Sookie knew. Resting his head on the pillow, his hand trailing over her side seized her own hand, lifting it from the blankets to his lips. "Tell me something, lover," he began, his head tilting to look into the eyes of his telepath. "Why is it we haven't done this sooner?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 7, 2010, 11:05am
Sookie felt she had to explain as Eric asked if she'd shared a great deal with Bill, knowing that he didn't expect an answer, but feeling it was only right to give one anyway. "Yes and no," she sighed against his chest, wondering if that was really helpful. "I shared a lot of myself with him, but he never shared with me. It's part of why we didn't work, and part of why this hurts so much. Having that sort of anger directed at you from someone you've made yourself vulnerable to is no fun." It wasn't that she still had feelings for Bill. No, now her heart was set on Eric, and she was hoping he'd be much more gentile with it, because there was no doubt in Sookie's mind that it was in his care. She wanted him in every way possible, and she was fairly certain it was mutual. He was doing so many things to show her that he wanted more than just sex with her, and that more than most other things made her want to take that final step with him.
And she couldn't regret even a fraction of a second of it. From the moment Eric lifted her off the chair, Sookie felt the deep connection between them, a connection she'd tried so hard to ignore, flare to life, making her need him just as urgently as he seemed to need her. There were absolutely no other thoughts in her mind as he helped her out of her clothes and explored each others skin in ways they were more familiar with than they'd once been, but that had never lost its excitement. Despite having done much of what they had before, everything felt different. This time, they both knew there'd be no stopping, no fighting to control themselves. This was about letting go and trusting the other, opening up to each other in ways that were a little frightening but so, so exciting.
Sookie had waited so long to give herself to Eric, and she wasn't remotely disappointed. They were so right together, she could feel it. She'd never felt this connected with anyone before, and she knew it wasn't just the bond they had in blood. There was something between them, something important. She could see it when she looked into his eyes, and she knew that no matter how long she lived, this night would be burned into her memory. Everything was beyond perfect, from the way he touched her to the way he kissed her to the way he thrust inside her just right in a way that made her think she'd moan so loud, even those outside the house must have heard. She wanted him to keep touching her forever, and she would have been completely thrilled if he'd told her they never had to leave the bed. He knew exactly what to do to make her whimper and gasp in all the right ways, and she couldn't get enough of him.
The taste of blood still fresh on her lips as she curled around Eric, draping a leg over him as he pulled her close, Sookie sighed against his chest, barely able to open her eyes for a moment. She was impossibly warm, and she didn't think her heart could possibly beat any faster than it was at the moment. She hadn't wanted him to leave her body, to move from on top of her, but being cuddled up to him like this was special in a way all its own. Tracing her fingertips over his torso, she smiled at his words, though at the moment, she really didn't know the answer. "I have no idea," she admitted, still pretty breathless. "I think we'll have to make up for lost time, though," she told him, knowing she couldn't possibly put into words how amazing that had been, but having the feeling he felt the same way. Opening her eyes to admire Eric's body before looking up to meet his eyes, she couldn't will her smile away even if she wanted to. "I don't think I'll be able to move tomorrow." He was right, that had been better than her wildest dreams.
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 7, 2010, 6:39pm
Sookie was finally his. The thought kept going through Eric's head as he relaxed back into her bed and the telepath draped her warm leg over his body. Finally, she had given her physical self to him, something he had waited for and longed for and he couldn't shake the gentle smile that curled on his lips as he listened to her heavy breathing and racing heart. Her body would relax quickly, he was sure, but he was equally positive Sookie would carry this moment with her for as long as she could. Eric was positive he would do the same. He didn't understand why this was so different from his usual, temporary trysts, but it wasn't at all the same. Sookie was something special. He had always thought so, he had even said so, but now, he felt he knew it was true. A curiosity he held had been filled, but his desire and fascination lingered. It wasn't something he had truly expected.
"I believe with a little convincing and prodding, I could come to support that suggestion," he stated with a smirk as she decided they would need to make up for all the time they had lost while she held onto her resolve to wait. He had waited and wanted her for so long, the vampire was tempted to take her again immediately, convincing and prodding be damned. The only thing that stopped him was the knowledge that humans exhausted themselves so easily. Letting one of his hands gently stroke over the back of Sookie's head, he met her gaze as her eyes lifted to meet his own, once more resuming a connection the Viking could only consider and describe as powerful. "We have a lot of time to make up for, but I am not going anywhere." He had said such a thing before, but now he knew it was more than a line to convince her to yield to him. He meant it.
Chuckling at her assessment, he shook his head against the pillow as he traced his fingers over her back. "You will be able to move tomorrow," he countered. "I am confident of that. You will feel better than ever, really. And the only thing you will desire is more." In a few minutes, his thousand year old blood would work through her delicate system, healing the breaks in her skin, soothing her aching muscles, and leave her with a nearly insatiable hunger and the energy required to go about quenching it. Eric wasn't modest about anything, but his blood was old, superior, and powerful. Sookie hadn't swallowed a few drops accidentally, she hadn't needed it for healing. She would be able to experience and enjoy it's potency and the connection it created without complication. Closing his eyes for a moment, searching himself and his mind, his eyes slowly reopened, returning immediately to her own.
"What is it like?" he asked curiously. "Can you feel it at all?" Pausing for a moment, he wasn't sure the telepath would follow his line of thought and he gave her a small smile. "The bond. I have never been on the human side of it," he explained cautiously. "Very few times throughout my existence have I bonded to one of the living more than once." Once was enough to find what belonged to him with ease and every exchange of blood after it became more significant, more tying. It wasn't something he sought, especially not with humans who were so temporary and usually, so unimportant to him. Rolling onto his side so they were facing one another, he let one of his hands run over the leg draped around him as the other brushed over her chest absentmindedly. "Once serves only a vampire purpose. Twice gives a small piece of ourselves to another," he explained. Three times was more significant than he could think about at present. "I am just curious."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 7, 2010, 10:16pm
Sookie closed her eyes as she rested against Eric's chest, not sure she'd ever calm down again. He brought such strong reactions from her body, ones she hadn't really expected to be so lasting, but there he was, making them linger even longer with just a glance at his body. Eric had bragged, and sure, Sookie knew that he was fantastic in bed from the samples she'd had of him, but damn. Nothing could possibly compare to what they'd just done, she was sure of that. Tracing her hand over his chest as she kept her eyes closed, the small smile that rested on Sookie's lips would be impossible to shake, she was sure. It wasn't just his talent that made Eric so fantastic though. It was the experience with him, the connection they'd had throughout those vital moments of complete pleasure. She could see it in his eyes that it wasn't just sex. She wasn't sure what it was, but she knew it was so much more.
"Like you need any convincing or prodding," she replied with a quiet, still fairly breathless laugh. Sighing happily into the bare skin of his chest as he stroked over her head, she smiled as he looked back into her eyes, nodding slightly. They had both said before this that neither of them was going anywhere, and now Sookie could only hope beyond hope that he had meant it. "Me either," she promised him, taking a few deep breaths, snuggling close, not for warmth, but just for the feeling of being so close to him. Sookie felt so good, but she knew this was only the beginning of what they could feel for each other. The connection between them had been so much stronger than just sex, and so much more powerful than anything that could simply be explained through blood. It practically demand exploring.
"I don't think so," Sookie replied with a soft blush she was sure barely tinted her cheeks with how flushed she was already. "I'm going to be walking funny for a week," she told him with a laugh, not minding the fact at all, but not doubting it. As he said she would feel better than ever, though, she remembered that his blood would heal any sore muscles, and that she would feel better than fine when morning came. "Desiring more really isn't so far fetched," she admitted, knowing that he could probably feel that from her. She was exhausted, but hell did she want him. And in so many ways, really. Her body wanted him, sure, but so did her heart and mind. She wasn't sure how much blood she'd had, it was hard to keep track in the midst of all that pleasure, but she was pretty sure it was a lot. That didn't matter, though. It was the bond that came with it that she'd treasure more than any side effects.
Looking up at him curiously as he asked what it was like, as he asked if she could feel it, Sookie finally got what he was asking before he even said the words. She was surprised to hear that he'd bonded so few times to the living, at least more than once, though the thought still made her smile. Who'd known she was the jealous type. "It's so powerful. I feel like I'm tied to you. Like you have a piece of me, and like I have a piece of you, and like I want to protect that." Hearing what Eric explained, Sookie nodded, moving even closer to enjoy his touch. "All I can think about right now is how to be as close to you as possible, but I don't know if that's the bond or just us. I'm not sure it mattered." They had bonded more deeply as an expression of feelings already there. When didn't Sookie want to get closer to Eric, even before they'd exchanged blood again? "I feel like I want to protect you, like I want to stay by your side and try everything I can to make you as happy as I can. I think that's how I've felt about you for a while now, though..."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 7, 2010, 11:24pm
Reveling in the warmth of Sookie's fingertips as she traced over Eric's chest, the vampire nuzzled his face against her head, memorizing her smell as he kissed her forehead, tasting her practically radiating skin on his lips. "I have never turned down a little prodding from you," he countered with a smirk of his own as the telepath's laugh shook her slightly in his arms. "Convincing though... you are probably right. I won't be requiring that anytime soon." He had been convinced they should have sex since their first encounter and despite finally having had the telepath he craved, Eric wouldn't be surrendering his claim on her. Sookie was a challenge, one he had only begun to undertake, and one he wouldn't be giving up on. He didn't know what came next. It was a strange position for a vampire who had lived so long, he was certain he knew everything there was to know and had done everything there was to do, but that was where Eric found himself now. Odd and unfamiliar as it was, he was looking forward to the uncertain, so long as it kept him with what he wanted.
Pulling the blanket a little higher, up to Sookie's shoulders, he didn't want the telepath to catch cold as she cuddled so close to his chilly body with her own warm one, their limbs intertwined in a way that left him strangely content. Being content wasn't a familiar feeling for Eric. There was always something to be conquered, always a problem for him to be righting. He didn't spend much time simply appreciating a moment, but that was what Sookie had him doing now. He wondered what else the telepath was capable of bringing out in him. He wondered if she even understood how unusual this was for him, how different this was for him when compared to his usual routines. "Now that you have a functioning car, perhaps eventually we will be able to actually spend an entire night and day in bed together," he thought aloud. Sookie's home wasn't equipped for that sort of thing and her only vampire accommodations were better equipped for a midget than Eric. He wasn't one who normally allowed the living to be in the same room as him when he was dead for the day, but he trusted Sookie, foolish as it may have been. Despite how often they disagreed, despite how often she pushed him away in the past, despite everything, he trusted her more than he even understood.
Letting a quiet, nearly silent growl reverberate in his chest as her already flushed cheeks took on an even darker hue, the vampire's fingers dug into the leg she had wrapped around him as she argued with him. Still, he couldn't stop himself from chuckling at her theory. "Walking funny for a week," he echoed back, clearly liking the sound of it. Letting his hand travel up her draped leg and thigh to her hip, he pulled her very pointedly closer to his own body as they laid facing one another. "I have a new goal," he decided easily enough with a smirk before dipping his head to her healed neck, kissing over it as she admitted already she desired more. "You are not alone," he murmured into her skin, his body grinding against hers as if to only confirm the truth to her. Lifting his head from her neck, he looked into her eyes before pressing his lips to hers, kissing her slowly but with purpose. Pulling back and meeting her gaze once more, he offered her a small but genuine smile. She could be very bad for him. Bad for his business, bad for his political plans, bad for his self preservation, and he knew it, but in this moment, he just didn't care.
Keeping his eyes on hers as she explained her own interpretation of how she felt, he nodded against the pillow, his hand still drawing invisible circles across the soft, warm skin of her chest and stomach as he held her, listening. He wondered what it would be like for him, to have a more clear sense of her feelings, to have them buzzing through his system all hours she was awake of his night. He wondered if he would recognize them, but he knew they would be there. She felt so much, it was inevitable. Would it distract him? He didn't know. "You have had a consistent presence in my existence for some time now," he admitted quietly. "And not entirely because of the bond." He willingly thought of her, he tried to figure her out, even while she still belonged to another vampire. She passed through his mind more often than he'd ever admit. "I am curious what this will do, if anything. I am not accustomed to the unknown." Kissing her forehead, he smiled at her words. "You are welcome at my side, but how long have you felt such a way?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 8, 2010, 10:20am
Smiling blissfully as Eric nuzzled his face against her head, kissing the skin there, Sookie's heart beat rapidly as she tried to come back to herself. There was no where else she'd rather have been than in Eric's arms at that moment. Laughing softly as he asserted that he had never turned down a little prodding, she couldn't help but feel a little proud that he didn't need convincing. She'd been worried, of course, that she wouldn't measure up to his expectations. She thought the sex had been amazing beyond what any words could describe, but Eric had had lots of sex. He had a much larger base to compare it to. Despite that, it didn't look like he was doing any comparing at the moment. He just looked happy.
Snuggling more into Eric than his blankets, Sookie smiled as he brought them higher around her. Her mind was in a million different places, but she wasn't worried about being cold. Still, she was touched that he was worried for her. She really didn't want this night to end. She was convinced, despite how it had started, that Eric had turned it into one of the best of her life, compared only to some of those wonderful dates he took her on, though they hadn't ended like this had. Nowhere close. She didn't want to let that go. "I would love that so much," Sookie admitted as Eric suggested they could spend all day and night in bed together now that she had a car that worked. "Could we really do that?" Waking up next to Eric would be something unforgettable, she was sure.
Her very slight blush turned into a real one as she felt him growl more than heard it, making her lift her head from his chest momentarily, lips parting just slightly as he dug his fingers into the leg that rested over him. Making a small sound of agreement as Eric's hand moved up her leg, pulling her close, and making her eyes shoot open as she felt that Eric wasn't just saying it, she really wasn't the only one who wanted more. Brushing her lips against his ear as he kissed her neck, Sookie met his eyes, feeling the heat still between them as she kissed him back, resting a hand on his cheek as she pressed against him, only wanting to be closer. Tracing her thumb over his cheek as he smiled at her, she couldn't help but smile back, completely happy with him.
Closing her eyes and making a small, content noise as he traced patterns on her chest and stomach, Sookie's muscles twitched occasionally under his fingers, making her smile as she stretched a little next to him. She looked forward to exploring a new part of their bond with Eric, and she knew she'd made the right choice. Bonding was another expression of feelings already in place. It didn't change how they felt, only let each other feel it. "It's been little bits at a time, I think," she told him quietly, her fingers moving from his cheek to his hair, playing with the strands that were so similarly colored to hers. "I've been a little slow in realizing it, maybe, but it was a gradual process. I knew I wanted and needed you in my life when you were taken, and knew I would've done anything, anything to find you. When you invited me to New Jersey, I knew I wanted to help you help your territory, and also just help you. When we were in New York, I knew I wanted to make you as happy as you make me." There was more to it, of course, but she had made those realizations one at a time, and knew they were completely, one hundred percent true.
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 8, 2010, 8:05pm
There was something very right about having Sookie wrapped securely in his arms, her scent in his nose, her taste on his tongue. Eric had been consumed by the telepath for so long, but he had never had her so completely before and now that he had, he didn't want to lose this. He knew he would be pulled away from her. It was inevitable and necessary with all he had and what he was, but he would always be most anxious to return to this, to find a moment he could steal away with just her. When had that happened? His priorities had always been reasonable, at least in his own mind. He was first, his position second, his territory, children, and nightclub falling somewhere just behind. Sex had always made the list, but personal relationships of any kind were too frivolous and foolish to devote time, thought, and effort to. Here and now though, he was realizing Sookie and what he shared with her had managed to weasel their way into his priorities.
But he wasn't remotely willing to admit how high they were on his list, not even to himself.
Arching a brow as his hand traced over her figure beneath the blankets, from her neck down her sides to the leg that rested over him and as Sookie claimed she would 'love' to spend the night and day with him in bed, Eric couldn't help but be a little surprised. He doubted it would be much fun for her... at least the daytime hours. The night hours he was positive he could help her enjoy thoroughly though. "I do not make the best company during the daylight hours," he pointed out with a small smile to her. In no way did he really want to talk her out of it, but it wasn't the kind of thing that she could change her mind about halfway through if bored out of her mind. His existence would be literally in her hands. "But yes, we could. I don't sleep in a hole in my closet. My bedroom is sealed and functional for my daytime needs. If you desired to spend a day locked in with me..." His voice trailed off and he nodded. "You would be welcome to." Those weren't words many ever heard, and words humans never heard.
But he really did want her, and he really did want to share with her. It was so odd to think he had become so enamored with a human, especially one that had the ability to infuriate him and disobey him like so few did. Guiding her hips against his body as their lips met, he kissed her hungrily and shamelessly as she cradled his face, keeping him close to her in turn. Eric wasn't unaccustomed to being wanted, especially for sex, but Sookie seemed to desire him for more than just that. It only seemed to make the heat and energy between them all the more potent. Eric had way more than his fair share of experience, but even he couldn't deny this was something rare, something different to him. Even the warmth of her hand on his cheek left the Viking with a small but genuine smile on his face. There was still time before Eric needed to make the run back to Shreveport before dawn, but one thing kept going through his mind. "I never thought I would be remotely reluctant to get out of Bon Temps."
Continuing to trace over Sookie's chest and stomach with his fingertips as Sookie began speaking, the vampire found he even wanted to memorize the tiny things about the telepath, like the way she stretched now, or the differences between her many different smiles. "Should I punish you for being so painfully slow?" he smirked, his hand trailing from her chest down the center of her body to tease over her. Moving his head to join Sookie's on her pillow, he could feel her every breath on his face as his hands continued their exploration of her body and her hands played through his hair. It was all strangely soothing to him. The Viking didn't much like to think about when he had been taken by drainers, but her explanation brought a question to his lips. "Didn't you still belong to another when I... went on an unplanned, unglamorous vacation?" He didn't want to say taken. He was too strong to be taken by a couple of humans. Smiling slightly at her words, he kissed her forehead gently. He wondered if she at all understood how curious he found her words, or if she understood how long he had been searching for some semblance of happiness himself. "You are happy?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 8, 2010, 9:40pm
It wasn't like this was Sookie's first time having sex, and it wasn't even her first time in bed naked with Eric, but their first time together felt more significant than she could have imagined it would. It wasn't just that the sex was completely mind blowing, which it was, or that they'd been waiting forever, which they had. There was something else, something Sookie couldn't quite name, or wasn't ready to yet. It wasn't the sex that made her feel these things either, and it wasn't the new part of the bond. It was the closeness between them, that connection they'd had while looking into each others eyes. They were both so normally guarded, and they'd broken down all the walls between them, at least temporarily, to be completely with one another. Maybe she couldn't truly acknowledge all of that to herself, but it was there, and she felt it.
Smiling as Eric warned her that he'd make pretty boring company during daylight hours, or at least did without calling himself boring, Sookie placed a kiss on his chest next to where her head rested. "I really like being cuddled up to you like this," she told him honestly, sure that he already knew that from how closely they were intertwined. "And if I've spent the night with you, I'm sure I'll have no trouble sleeping through the day too," she laughed, knowing that Eric's supernatural stamina would leave her incredibly worn out throughout the next day. "I'd love to spend the day sleeping next to you, though. And waking up next to you... I think that'd be pretty special." She wished she could do it tonight, but she guessed her room wasn't really vampire prepared. "Will you stay today anyway, even if we can't spend the day in bed together?"
Gasping into his mouth as he guided her body against his, Sookie kissed him back just as eagerly, despite or maybe because of everything they'd just shared. Being with him had only made Sookie want him more, something she couldn't deny as she traced her hand over his face, looking into his eyes with a true smile. Eric was really smiling too, a smile he didn't share with too many people, and one that made Sookie's heart flutter in her chest. "I wish you didn't have to leave," she replied honestly, ghosting her fingertips over his cheek, memorizing his face over and over again. He looked good on her pillow, in her bed, and she wished he didn't have to leave it. Even if he couldn't stay in her bed, she hoped he'd agree to stay at her house. She knew the hidey hole was cramped, especially for a vampire his size, and maybe it was selfish for her to ask, but she really wasn't ready to lose this connection they were developing yet.
Arching just a little bit into Eric's touch, Sookie closed her eyes, the flush returning to her cheeks as Eric mentioned punishing her. Somehow, she didn't think he meant an actual punishment, and the way he said it made it sound very, very dirty. Whimpering softly as his fingers teased her, she nodded, not sure what she was agreeing to, but getting the feeling that any time she put her body in Eric's hands, she wouldn't regret it. "No one's punished me like that before," she answered, her voice a little breathless at the idea, and very, very quiet, not that she needed to be loud when he was sharing her pillow. It was hard to will her heart to slow too much when he was so close and his hands were still exploring her body, but as she opened her eyes to look into his, she knew she'd have an even harder time willing her smile away, not that she'd want to. "I did," she acknowledged as he tried to confirm that she'd belonged to someone else when he'd been taken, though he didn't call it that. "But I haven't really belonged to anyone but you for a while," she acknowledged, knowing that her feelings for Eric dated back far longer than they should have, especially her attraction to him, physically and mentally. His question surprised her. "Right now? I couldn't be happier," she answered honestly, fingers still playing through his hair. "I'm completely happy," she told him, placing a gentle kiss on his lips, crossing the very small distance between them to do so. "Are you happy?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 9, 2010, 1:31am
Really, Eric could tell Sookie enjoyed being cuddled up to him without her saying the words aloud. The smile that rested on the telepath's face wasn't the crazy, phony expression she so often put on her face to conceal whatever contrary expression laid in her mind or heart. This was as genuine as possible, he was sure of it, and he was equally certain the smile on his own face was genuine as well. "I don't mind the cuddling either," he admitted, though he trusted she knew such a thing already just as he had known it about her. "But do not get let that information get around." He had a reputation to uphold, after all. "Once the world hears you don't mind laying in bed holding another and smiling... Well, I would have to dismember at least half a dozen people just to restore faith in me. With all that work, work, work for me, and there wouldn't be any time to lay around naked and do just this. We can't have that."
She did have a point though. If they spent the night together first, he was confident in his ability to exhaust Sookie thoroughly. Eric wondered what it would be like to hold a warm body to him throughout his daytime death. If it was Sookie he was holding to him, he had a feeling he would grow fond of it much too quickly. "Stay today?" he repeated a little hesitantly, his head momentarily turning toward her bedroom door, glancing in the direction of the guest room with the closet fit for a vampire before looking back to her. It was a risky way to spend his daytime hours despite not thinking many knew of the false bottom in the closet, but that didn't make the experience anymore comfortable. The discomfort would almost be worth it for the expression Sookie always met him with when he climbed out after the sun set. He couldn't ignore the almost hopeful look on her face now either.
Guiding her body against his firmly in a way that he was sure tortured them both equally as their lips moved against one another's, he wouldn't mind rising for the night to this either. Turning his head to kiss the palm of her hand as she traced over his face, he let the smile return to his lips. "I will stay the day," he agreed. "But I will need to return to Shreveport tomorrow night, before Fangtasia is to open," he added firmly, for both of them. He would much too easily be distracted by all that was Sookie and let his responsibilities slide if he didn't remind himself they existed. "You are welcome to come with me," he added as his own fingers trailed over her warm, rosy flesh. "If you are not working and wouldn't mind sitting at the club, your company would be much more desired than what I would otherwise be forced to entertain." He knew it wasn't her favorite place to be, but it was his home away from home. If he could suffer through the day in a hole in a closet, perhaps she'd think it was fair to suffer through Fangtasia for a few hours.
Unable to keep the smirk on his face from deepening as Sookie whimpered, his fangs once more extended at her whispered words. "Prepare yourself," he whispered back. "Your punishment is coming... and then it will be your turn to be coming." It was a promise he didn't think he would have any trouble whatsoever of keeping. Letting his fingers run up her thigh wrapped around him, to between her legs, to her stomach, to her chest, his palm settled over her racing heart as she confessed she had still been outwardly Bill's, but inwardly Eric's for some time, his desire for her only seemed to grow. "You haven't belonged to anyone but me for a while," he repeated, a smirk on his lips as his head moved from her pillow to the crook of her neck, nuzzling against it. "Say that again," he growled into her neck before he nipped at it with his fangs. As she promised she was happy, his head lifted from her neck so his eyes could meet her own, and the vampire wondered if her words were honest. Returning her quick kiss, he hesitated at her own question, and instead of answering it, he brought his lips once more to hers, lips parting against hers anxiously.
Gripping her leg, he hiked it farther up his frame before entering her suddenly and completely, a sound of satisfaction growled into her mouth at the sensation. Rocking her body against his while buried deep within her, one of his hands snaked up to her hair, grabbing a fistful of it and tugging on it gently as he deepened their kiss, his tongue exploring her mouth, his fangs grazing over the fragile skin of her lips. The arm beneath and around her body led her hips to his repeatedly, guiding her to meet him thrust for thrust. Tugging at her hair, forcing her head away from the pillow it rested upon, his mouth left her own, kissing to her chin and across her jaw before reaching her now exposed ear. Licking around the shell of it, he nipped roughly at the soft skin of her earlobe, drawing a tiny bead of blood he anxiously sucked into his mouth.
He moaned shamelessly into her neck while rolling onto his back and bringing Sookie with him, never breaking their connection. Both hands moving to her hips, his fingers digging into her warm skin, the vampire's head rested on the pillow as he looked up into Sookie's flushed face above him, his eyes filled with the lust she kept him so ready to act upon. Guiding and lifting her hips up to send her body up and down his shaft, the vampire's own hips bucked up to meet hers, a series of gritty growls escaping his lips as he looked up at her. Now this was a sight he wanted to get used to. Her face was flushed in the best way possible, only furthering a hunger within him that refused to be sated. He didn't want to ever not hunger for Sookie.
Letting one of his hands travel from her hips to her breast, the vampire kneaded the tempting flesh looming over him, her skin impossibly warm to his icy touch. He could feel her racing heartbeat in his fingertips as he dug roughly into the soft flesh, a groan of appreciation leaving his lips. Twisting and groping the skin beneath his fingers, his unblinking eyes never left hers. Her own words echoed through his mind. She hadn't belonged to anyone but him in a while. Selfish as it may have been, he didn't want her to belong to anyone else ever again. She was his, a fact he silently punctuated with a rough thrust upward and into her, wanting to fill her completely time and time again. His toes curled, his muscles tightening as he looked up at her, biting his own lip and drawing a tiny stream of blood without a second thought.
His hand sank from the pert flesh teasing him to her center, his fingers quickly finding the bundle of oh so sensitive nerves that would push her over the edge. Leaning up and off the bed, his mouth replaced where his hand had been, his lips wrapping around the nipple of her breast before sucking as much of it into his mouth as he could managed. He moaned into her skin, the heat of it warming his face as he suckled, his eyes still looking up to her face as her back arched, offering more of her chest to him. Her face, flushed with the signs of their exertions, appeared perfect to him, not at all hampered by the poor lighting of her bedroom, and the vampire silently pledged to memorize her appearance now, to think on it often when he couldn't have her, and to cause her to look like this every time the opportunity presented itself.
Without further warning, he sank his fangs into her perfect breast, refusing to relinquish his hold on it as her body writhed so perfectly over his. He groaned into the ample flesh as her body clenched around him as he drank, his fingers continuing to rub over her nub as his hips bucked upward frantically. Sinking his fangs even deeper into her flesh as his hand guided her hips once more down on him, his body arched off the bed as he released into the depths of her, a muted growl lost into her flesh as his eyes fell closed. Swallowing down the blood that had pooled within his mouth, his fangs left the puncture wounds he had created before his tongue languidly flicked over them, a sigh of contentment escaping him. Slowly, he sank once more into the bed, his tongue flicking over his lips to collect any trace of blood remaining and his eyes not opening until his head returned to the pillow.
Smiling up at her slowly, Eric's arms wrapped around Sookie, urging the telepath to curl down and into his chest. Letting silence fall over them, for a long moment, he was content to listen to only her breathing and the sound of her rapid heartbeat. "Punishment I am familiar with," he murmured quietly as he nuzzled the top of her head once more, his hands tracing up and down her back. He would be quite willing to punish her like that often. "Happiness I am less familiar with. I don't know if I am capable of being happy." It probably wasn't what Sookie was expecting to hear, especially not at such a moment, but he was trying to be honest with her, more honest than he was with others. "I haven't known happiness in over a thousand years. I don't think my kind is truly able to experience such a thing." It was a simple truth, but one he had a difficult time confessing to her for some reason. "I want to be happy. I have longed to be happy, but..." His voice trailed off and he shrugged the shoulder she wasn't nuzzled against slightly on the bed. "I am very content at present," he continued with a smile, wanting her to know that she was what made him feel such a thing now, and that he thought it was a good thing. "Even that is possibly more than I deserve."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 9, 2010, 5:39pm
Smiling as Eric admitted that he didn't mind the cuddling, Sookie was sure he really did like it, but she could only shake her head. "I'll keep your secret," she promised, laughing quietly at the idea, willing to promise so much more than that in order to free up extra time for Eric to be able to do this with her. Laying around like this, so close together, Sookie admired the different temperatures of their skin, and how well they complimented each other. He cooled her off just as she imagined she warmed him, and it was like they were mean tot go together. Nodding as Eric repeated her request to stay for the day, she could tell he wasn't too keen on the idea, and really, she couldn't blame him. She couldn't blame him, but she hoped he'd stay anyway.
Gasping into his lips as he guided her body against his, Sookie moaned softly into his mouth, she smiled as he kissed the pam of her hand as it ghosted over his cheek, she could feel herself light up as he agree to stay for the day. Nodding as he clarified that he'd have to return to Fangtasia the next night, though, she still felt a little surprised as he invited her. Fangtasia wasn't her favorite place, and of course she'd agreed to the car so she could visit him more often, but since he was already telling her when he'd have to leave, she hadn't expected to be invited. "I wouldn't mind sitting at the club," she answered, touched that he wanted her there with him. "Should I pack an overnight bag?" she teased, though really, she wanted to know if she'd be going back to his place after. As far as Sam knew, she was still injured, though Eric's blood had cleared most of that up already. She could just say she was extra sore and take a few days off. She wasn't sure why, but she felt the need to stay as close to Eric as possible when they were making as much progress with their relationship as they were. She wanted to keep the momentum up.
Blushing at the sight of his fangs at her whispered confession, Sookie ducked her face to his shoulder, hiding where it met his neck. Breathing heavily into his skin as he traced over her skin, she let a hand rest over his momentarily as he placed it over the heart that was quickly becoming his. Nodding as he repeated her words, she smiled as he nuzzled her in turn, making her tilt her head to allow him more access. "I haven't belonged to anyone but you for a while," she repeated a little breathlessly, punctuating it with a soft gasp as he nipped at her neck with his fangs. Sookie didn't fail to notice that he failed to answer her question, but it was tough to keep track of that as he was suddenly kissing her again in a way that lit sparks in her she was sure would be quiet the rest of the night, at least.
He proved her entirely wrong as he thrust into her once more, tearing a shout of pleasure from her throat and making her wrap her body around his in the best way. Whimpering as he tugged on her hair, Sookie could hardly believe how she was responding to his rough treatment of her. All she could do was moan and rake her nails over whatever skin she had access to as he continued to tug at her hair and even drew blood from her, something she was sure shouldn't have gotten her as excited as it did. Lifting her hips to match his eagerly as he guided her to do just that, Sookie would never have imagined that they could do this again tonight, and so anxiously as well, but she found that she was just as hungry for him as she'd been before.
The way Eric looked at her when she was on top of him, riding him, Sookie had never felt more desirable. Her nails barely left marks on his shoulders or his chest as she used her hands on his body to support herself, but she knew from the sounds he was making that he could feel them. Letting her head fall back as one of his hands found her breast, she moaned his name, sending her hips crashing to his even more eagerly, encouraging him as her eyes found his again. His fingers knew exactly what to do to her body to make her want to scream in pleasure, and his mouth found her chest, she couldn't help but arch her back to him, offering him more, and wanting so much more herself. Moaning his name breathlessly as his fangs sinking into her breast sent her over the edge, she rocked slowly over him as he licked over the wounds he had made, whimpering as he healed her.
Body still trembling as he pulled her down to his chest, Sookie opened her eyes for only a moment to look into his and see that wonderful smile of his before she closed them again to tuck her head under his chink. Sighing contentedly, still not quite able to speak as he ran his hands over her back, she had to open her eyes to see what he was thinking as he confessed what he did. "You deserve to be happy," she told him a little breathlessly but completely honestly, tracing just her fingertips over his cheek. "Maybe you've just forgotten how to be," she suggested, though she really wouldn't be able to know more until she became more familiar with what he felt now that their bond had changed. "Maybe you need someone to help you relearn what it is to be happy." She'd be happy to help him do that. He certainly made her very, very happy. "I think we have a lot to teach each other." Helping him relearn how to be happy was certainly very, very different from the things he had taught her tonight, but he'd made every inch of her body very, very happy. He seemed to be eager enough to teach her those sorts of things� repeatedly. "I'm sorry you can't sleep in my bed tonight. I wish you could."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 9, 2010, 8:13pm
It was strange for Eric to comprehend or understand, especially when still reveling in his post-release bliss, but he really did trust Sookie. He wasn't worried about the telepath telling others he was a cuddler, no one would believe her even if she did, but he trusted her enough to let some of the wall he built up around him down, to let a bit of himself peak out from behind the mask he normally had to wear. The Viking very seldom had the chance to let go of his pretenses and simply be, but she inspired that. Perhaps it was because the things that so normally worked for him, the things that tended to draw others to him, failed to impress the telepath at all. She seemed more impressed by the man behind the vampire than by anything else. It was strange to him and something that never happened. What was even stranger to him was that she seemed to want to help him. He really wasn't used to that.
Looking down toward the top of her head as she insisted he deserved to be happy, the vampire smiled briefly before letting his eyes stare unseeingly up at the ceiling of her room. Truly, he doubted he deserved to be happy, despite her words to the contrary. He had spent his existence doing whatever it took to survive and to succeed. He had killed friend and foe alike, he had stole, he had lied, he had cheated, without remorse. He wasn't sure it was happiness that chased after him now. "Perhaps," he thought aloud as she theorized that he had only forgotten how. "I have forgotten how to be many things." It was true enough, but it was something that weighed heavily on him. Pledging to push such things out of his mind and simply enjoy this moment, he kissed the top of her head, letting his eyes close as his head rested on the pillow. "Maybe you are right. Maybe I simply need an instructor." He didn't think it was that easy, but what ever was? He could feign optimism for her at the moment though.
"What do you believe we have to teach one another?" he asked, reaching down to once more grab hold of her bedding to pull it up around them and keep Sookie warm before his fingertips resumed drawing invisible patterns into her back. "I know my own areas of expertise," he continued, a smirk spreading across his lips. "Some I would be quite willing to impart upon you very regularly, but what do you intend on teaching me? How to experience happiness if possible? Anything else?" He wondered what she would be capable of teaching him, but he didn't doubt there was a lot she could teach him. He was an expert in more fields than she could imagine, but Sookie was full of nothing but surprises. She always left him curious and wanting to know more.
Shaking his head once against the pillow, the vampire rubbed her shoulders absentmindedly. "No apology is required for such a thing. You have no reason to keep a room that meets the needs of the dead. I am thankful you have even a 'hidey hole,'" he continued, doing his best not to roll his eyes at the name Sookie had for the light sealed nook. "It is much better than having to bury myself." He really had never been fond of that. "I will stay here with you as you sleep until dawn approaches and I must take cover, and then, you can sleep in my bed tomorrow," he offered, one hand lifting to brush Sookie's hair out of her face as she rested against his chest. "So you may want to pack that overnight bag tomorrow if you are able to stay over." He really wouldn't mind that at all.
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 9, 2010, 8:37pm
Sookie didn't entirely understand how she could go from having such a stressful night to being perfectly happy like she was now, but Eric had managed to make it happen. She was exhausted, sure, but her body was completely relaxed against his, and even her mind entirely relaxed in the quiet that Eric's mind provided for her. For once, she wasn't worried about what this would mean for them, and instead simply enjoyed what they had at the moment. Besides, she could feel a little of what he was feeling now, she was pretty sure. He called it content, but it pretty much matched what she was feeling, whether he recognized it or not. They were on the same page, and she knew it. It was really comforting.
The conversation about him being happy wasn't so comforting to him, though. Really, that upset Sookie, that Eric hadn't been happy in so long and didn't even believe he could be. She knew she wasn't really anything special, but just maybe she could helped o change that. It hurt something inside her to know he hadn't been happy in centuries and didn't have much hope for the future, though. Something inside her wanted to protect him, even from unhappiness, and to take care of him. It would have sounded ridiculous to say out loud, so instead she settled on placing a kiss on his cool skin, trailing her fingers lightly over it. "I want to make you happy." She could admit that much, and she meant every word of it.
Eric's area of expertise brought a slight flush to her cheeks as he brought the blankets around her, but she had to smile as he asked what else she could teach him. "Human things," she explained with a small shrug. "I'm teaching you how to date, for one. And about musicals. I could teach you to garden, but I'm not sure you'd be so interested. I could teach you to cook, too. That might be fun." Eric would have no use for that, of course, but her friends had all bragged at one point or another about dating a man who cooked, and it had sounded pretty nice. "I could teach you how to knit, but I don't think that'd be your thing..." He had the fingers for it, though. Blushing at her own thought, she tried to cuddle closer to him. "I'm pretty good at playing pool, and card games. I'm not sure what else," she admitted, with a small smile up at him. "We could find out though. And I'm already pretty fond of your areas of expertise."
Closing her eyes once more as he rubbed her shoulders in a way that had any remaining tension leaving her body, she frowned a little at the idea of having to bury himself. "You don't have to do that often, do you? It sounds awful," she admitted, tightening her arm around him slightly, as if to protect him from the thought. She'd seen Bill do it once, but she didn't want to think about it now, and anyway, it seemed somehow even more wrong for Eric. "That sounds great," she answered, leaning into his hand as he brushed her hair away, unable to shake her smile. "I'll so that as soon as I wake up," she promised, knowing it probably wouldn't be anytime too soon. "Is it real expensive to light-proof a room?" she asked, seriously considering doing it to hers if it meant Eric could stay over. If she ended up deciding to keep the car Eric loaned her, she could repay him with the telepathic services, and then use the money she'd been saving for the car to light-proof her room... If Eric could stay over that much. "Would you want to stay over more, if I could do that?"
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 9, 2010, 9:22pm
Listening to the sounds of Sookie's heart slowing from the racing thumping it had been and listening to her breathing even out was strangely soothing to Eric, and such a stark contrast to his own complete and encompassing silence. He had always loved how alive the telepath was and told her of such a thing often. She was the first human in a long, long time he had actively attempted to keep alive, and he wondered if she had any idea of what his own mind had theorized why that might be. All he knew for certain was that in this moment, he was positive he was meant to have Sookie in his arms. He knew he would want her there much more often, the very sounds of her life and existence all he wanted to focus on. Outside the comfort of their embrace, too many things would be waiting for each of them, demanding their attention, pulling them apart, but he almost trusted his mind would always be drawn back to this and when he could return to it. It was a pleasant thought.
He could feel something was amiss with his telepath as his mind mulled with thoughts of happiness and how it evaded him. Running a hand over the back of her head soothingly to quiet whatever upset her, he didn't want to press her discomfort, hoping it instead left her and she could return to the happy she claimed she was. "If there is any who could help me find happiness, I would not be surprised to learn it was you," he confessed with a small but genuine smile before hooking one of his fingers beneath her chin and lifting it, meeting her gaze before leaning forward to meet her lips for a soft, quick kiss that could only be called chaste by his own standards. Releasing her chin and resting his head once more on the pillow, he closed his eyes once more, listening to her heart as it beat steadily against his own bare chest. "Already, you make me feel more than I have felt in a long, long time."
Eyes opening, one of his eyebrows lifted as he looked from the ceiling down to the top of her head. "Human things?" he repeated curiously. Normally, Eric went out of his way to avoid human things. "Human things have become far more mundane than when I was alive," he continued thoughtfully as Sookie rattled off a list of things she could instruct him in. "By cook you mean food?" he asked, knowing he shouldn't need to point out that he couldn't actually eat anything he was taught to prepare. "Would you teach me how to prepare something you enjoy?" With the exception of the single swallow of TrueBlood he had had during Bill's tantrum, Sookie had been his very willing meal for the night. It would only be fair to eventually return the favor by providing her with something. He'd be willing to try the other things she mentioned as well. He was a fast study. "You are only beginning to learn my areas of expertise," he added as she cuddled closer to him. "I have much I could teach you."
Continuing to rub her shoulders with his hands, as he felt the tension leaving her, his hands moved lower on her back, wanting to help his telepath relax fully as she tired. Chuckling at her words, he shook his head against the pillow. "No, almost never anymore," he answered honestly. "Before we left the coffin, sometimes there was little choice when traveling. Windowless rooms in secure locations could be difficult to find, but one is never really without ground. When I was first turned, it was a nightly thing, but I have long since given it up." Kissing the top of her head as she promised to pack her bag for Shreveport as soon as she woke the next day, Eric could admit to himself that he liked the idea of spending the day beside his telepath. "It is pricey," he admitted with a one-shoulder shrug. "But worth every penny to a vampire." Arching a brow at her question, he attempted to look down at her face. "It is not that I do not want to stay over with you, it is that my work and headquarters for my area are in Shreveport. The discomfort of the closet amplifies that though," he added with a small smile. "I would stay over as often as my schedule would allow though, yes. Wherever you are, yes."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 9, 2010, 9:59pm
Here, in Eric's arms, Sookie didn't feel like she normally did. She didn't feel like an outcast or a freak or anything like that. She felt like a woman who was safe and cared about. She certainly didn't feel alone, which she felt far too much of the time, and she didn't feel like her life was out of control. She felt like this was where she belonged, right there with him. She felt silly for waiting so long to give herself to him. She'd been convinced that when she did, he would get bored and stop wanting her. He didn't seem to be showing any signs of either. He wasn't getting up to leave, but promising to stay a little longer, and settling into bed, even making sure she wasn't cold. All those fears just seemed silly now. She was grateful they did.
Running a hand lightly over his chest as he soothed his back, she couldn't help the sadness she felt at Eric's lack of happiness, but she knew it was best not to think about it right now. She could tell, somehow, that he knew something had upset her, and she didn't want to ruin this moment. "That would be wonderful," she told him, hoping that she really could help him find happiness. She did mean her words, that he deserved it. He was a good man, even if he didn't think so, and even if others like Bill were constantly saying otherwise. He did so much to protect the area that relied on him as well as those he cared about. He had a strong sense of duty and morals, even if those morals weren't the same as everyone else's. Gran would have said that his heart was in the right place. "Feeling things is a start." And it was. "You make me feel lots of things too."
Smiling at the look Eric gave her when she decided she could teach him human things, Sookie nodded slightly, not wanting to disrupt her resting place. "That's probably true," she agreed with a laugh. "What kind of human things did you do, when you were alive?" she asked curiously. "By cook, I mean food," she confirmed, not sure what else she'd be cooking. "I'd love to," she answered easily, thinking it'd be great if Eric knew how to make some simple food. "It'd probably be real easy for you to learn, with your sense of smell." Even if he couldn't taste it, he'd probably be able to smell whether what he was doing was correct. "You'd really want to learn?" she asked, finding it kind of surprising for Eric. "What other areas of expertise would you teach me?"
Sighing contentedly into his chest as he continued to rub her back, she nuzzled his chest lightly, appreciating the way he relaxed her muscles. He made her feel so good, she almost couldn't believe what her body was feeling. She wanted to tell him how amazing she thought his hands were, but she knew he'd never let her forget it. "That's good. It looked really dirty. I can't picture you wanting to be that dirty too often. I also can't picture you fitting underground too easy..." Eric was a lot of man to stuff into the earth. She didn't see that going well, but then she didn't know a lot about it. Unable to stop smiling as she thought about what she should pack for Eric's, she thought about how wonderful it would be to spend a whole day like this. "Well, when you can stay over here, I want you to be able to be comfortable. Maybe I could borrow the car from you a little longer than I'd planned and make the room light-proof first?" she asked, trying not to think about all the possible meanings of borrowing the car from him, and instead just being grateful she'd have it. "You're pretty wonderful, you know," she told him despite what it might do to his ego as he agreed to stay over whenever possible. He was really, really good to her, and she couldn't ignore that. "I'm so glad we did this."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 9, 2010, 11:01pm
Sometimes, Eric wondered if Sookie was remotely aware of how different she was. She was always the first to insist she was just a waitress caught up in a lot of supernatural shit that didn't belong to her, but she was so much more than that. Though he had thought about it more than a time or two and tried to figure the impossible-to-understand telepath out, the vampire couldn't understand how one human could be so exceptional. She wasn't like anyone he knew or had ever met for that matter. She was special and important. She even used words like 'wonderful' genuinely instead of as sarcastic quips delivered about situations that could only lead to inevitable and painful second deaths. "Wonderful," he repeated, the corners of his lips twitching upward at his own thoughts. If Sookie's quest to help him find happiness lead to an inevitable and painful second death, it might actually be worth it.
"Feeling things is... strange." Pausing for a moment, he shook his head. "Feeling these things is strange," he clarified. From the moment Eric had first met Sookie in Fangtasia, the telepath had accused him of being many, many things, most unflattering and almost always condescending. For someone who had quickly gotten caught up in the world of the undead, she really didn't have much knowledge of vampires. Silently, he blamed Bill for that. The vampire had seemingly gone out of his way to keep Sookie ignorant and unaware. Soon, Eric would have to make a point of finding out what the telepath knew and didn't know and educate her appropriately, if they truly intended on spending more time together. "I gave away most of my feelings centuries ago for self preservation. Being reminded of them..." His voice trailed off and he smiled slightly, though it wasn't entirely genuine at the moment. "It will take some adjusting. It's... new again." New wasn't the actual word he was thinking. Frightening would have been more appropriate, but he wouldn't admit to that now or anytime soon. "I like making you feel things though," he admitted, speaking his thoughts aloud as his smile became more honest. "And not just from sex."
Closing his eyes as his fingers trailed over her warm skin, he let a smile curl on his cold lips once more as he thought back to a time he seldom revisited, despite it's undeniable importance to him. "There was always a lot of blood," he admitted easily, thinking that news wouldn't surprise Sookie in the slightest. Opening his eyes, he did his best to look down at her. "I made for a natural vampire. We trained in combat from a very young age and were very competitive. Many hours would be passed challenging one another in different areas of our training. It wasn't all battle though," he insisted before she could lecture him as he almost expected. "There was swimming, fishing, dancing, and music." Shrugging his shoulder she didn't occupy, he tilted his head to rest against the top of hers. "Humans became more lazy as time went on." There really wasn't any arguing that. "Yes, I would want to learn, but nothing with garlic." He hoped that was unnecessary to say, but it needed to be said, just in case. "I am unsure what else I will teach you. I think I will enjoy educating you as I already am for some time..."
Rubbing the small of Sookie's back, the Viking couldn't stop the rumble of laughter in his chest from bubbling over. "Don't underestimate me, Sookie," he began. "I am completely comfortable with being extremely dirty and very often at that, but I don't see what that has to do with sleeping in the ground," he teased. Chuckling further as she insisted he was a lot of vampire to conceal, he kissed the top of her head. "And never forget that." Glancing down at her as started bargaining over the car, Eric shook his head. "I have no timetable on the car being returned to me, you know that. I do not really desire it back at all. If you intend to make improvements to your home solely for my benefit, however, I would prefer if you let me fund them." He anticipated an argument about that. "Especially since it would not stop at windows." He really anticipated an argument about that. "While the motion sensing light on your porch is endearing and will help you see death clearly should it be coming for you, your home is seriously lacking in security. Having any feature that would make it clear from the outside that you are familiar with vampires would put both you and anyone within your home in additional danger. This room especially." Lifting a hand to her head, he stroked over her head once more, his words almost whispered. "I won't expose you to more risk because of me. Anytime I was not here, I would be restless with concern if I didn't know you were secure and protections were in place." Letting his arms settle on being wrapped around her, he inhaled the scent of her hair, cradling her body to his. "I hope you feel that way for a long time to come."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 9, 2010, 11:24pm
Snuggling into both Eric and the blankets as Sookie's body cooled and relaxed to his, she nodded as he repeated the word, wondering why he found it so amusing, but choosing not to ask. He found the strangest things about her amusing, though she was sure it worked both ways. "I'd love to help you find some happiness," she told him honestly, though she didn't want to put any extra pressure on him. "But I think the best way to do that is probably just by enjoying each other's company, and not worrying about any of that." Worrying about happiness wouldn't actually inspire any happiness, after all. He had to be at ease to be happy, and contentment was a really good step for that.
"It's a little strange," she agreed with a quiet laugh, knowing that when she had met Eric, she would never have expected to feel half these things for him. Even after knowing him for so long, until recently, she never would've believed she could feel like this. Here she was, though, embracing those feelings. It was definitely a little strange. "A little scary, too," she added, but didn't move away from him in the slightest. She'd just been yelled at pretty harshly by the only man she'd ever thought she'd loved. The idea of feeling things for another man, so strongly and so quickly, was intimidating. "You make me feel lots of things, not just from sex," she told him, feeling he should know that even though they were embracing all parts of their relationship, there were feelings for other reasons.
"I'm not terribly surprised," she smiled against his skin as he told her that there'd been lots of blood, even when he'd been alive. "So you were badass before you were undead," she laughed, remembering Jessica's word from earlier as she ran a hand over the muscles in his arm, and then his stomach. "I bet you beat everyone up," she decided, knowing that all vampires weren't so well built, and they took the shape they'd died with. Eric had been in really good shape. "There's still swimming, fishing, dancing, and music," she told him, smiling just a bit more as his head rested on hers. "Jason still loves to fish. I never got into it much." She knew how, but it seemed... honestly, a little smelly. Choosing not to comment on the laziness of humans, instead she began wondering what she could teach Eric to make. "Nothing with garlic, I promise. It's really easy to avoid." There were whole vampire-friendly cookbooks now, with traditional recipes that had garlic substitutes, but plenty of food just didn't call for it in the first place. "I like the way you're educating me a whole lot too," she admitted, the slight flush returning to her cheeks. "You think teaching me will last for some time?"
Smiling as Eric's chest shook under her with his laughter, Sookie had to laugh with him, shaking her head. "That's not what I meant, and you know it," she insisted, realizing what she had said. "You're usually extremely dirty, but I meant dirty with actual dirt. You know, all muddy and grimy." He knew that, of course, but she might have been concerned if Eric had passed up an opportunity at teasing her. Biting her lip as Eric not only told her not to worry about the car, but decided to push on the funding for light-proofing her room and added security measures. He had a point about the motion sensing light, having had her fair share of scares with that one, but she didn't know how she felt about him spending all this money on her. She didn't want him to worry either, though. "I don't know," she admitted, torn. "I don't want you to feel like you have to spend all this money on me, but I don't want you to have to worry if I'm safe or not. You make some really good points, but that all sounds really expensive." She didn't want him thinking she expected it, and she didn't want to inconvenience him. Still, there was one thing she knew. "I will. You were right, I'll never regret tonight. It was so much more than I'd imagined it could be."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 10, 2010, 12:48am
"Enjoying one another's company," Eric repeated thoughtfully while settling further into the mattress with Sookie in his arms. The fit seemed very natural, and the Viking couldn't help but think she fit perfectly within his grasp. "That may not be so difficult to do." Sure, he and Sookie would still have their fair share of arguments, he was positive of that, but even that time he was sure he would enjoy. Sookie's spirit was strangely addictive to the vampire. He felt almost at ease, and when he was able to push the pressures and threats of his day-to-day existence out of his mind for even a moment, it was difficult not to enjoy himself. "Do you enjoy my company?" he asked curiously. Enjoying sex with him, sure, Eric was sure many had done that, but the other moments, the moments they had shared before tumbling into her bed and even the moments here they were sharing now, he wasn't so certain of. "Why?"
A blond brow arched upward as Sookie confessed she found what she was feeling a little scary. Sure, it frightened him, but he was unfamiliar with and out of touch of much of what humans knew and experienced on a day to day basis. Wasn't Sookie accustomed to what she felt? Or was there more to it? Was she feeling something she didn't normally feel? The questions bounced through Eric's mind as he puzzled over them. "Are you frightened of me?" he asked after a moment, frowning slightly at his own voiced thought. It wouldn't really be very surprising, and nothing he wasn't sure he deserved. He was what he was, he would never deny nor hide it away. He respected her too much to lie and say there was nothing to fear. "I can understand that," he added quietly before she had the chance to answer, wanting her to know he wasn't upset in any way. "I am sure there will be many more feelings to come," he thought aloud. It would probably be good and bad, for both of them, and definitely not just from sex.
"Yes," he agreed with a smile. "I have always been very badass." It was strange to say, the word definitely not often called upon by him, but it seemed to be a popular way to describe him tonight. "I was very dominant," he stated, a pride in his voice he couldn't stop as he closed his eyes, but the pride vanished as he continued. "But I couldn't best everyone." That was okay though. If he had, he wouldn't still exist today. "Someone had to kill me." Tempted to shake his head once more, the only thing that kept him from doing so was the fact that Eric didn't want to break the contact of their own nuzzled heads. "Yes, but humans have made it too easy... too artificial," he argued. Still, he couldn't help the smile that crossed his face at her confession. "You have fished?" For the death of him, the Viking had an impossible time picturing that. "I can imagine you feeding the fish, but not catching them." Her compassion had always dumbfounded him like that. "Do you speak from experience?" he asked with a smirk as she insisted garlic was easy to avoid. Sookie had had many vampires in her life. She knew what kept them away. Lifting one of his cold hands to her cheek to feel the flush he was certain was there without even seeing it, he couldn't help but chuckle at the warmth that met his fingers. "I know teaching you will last for some time," he corrected. "I wish to be prepared though. Are you going to blush every time we discuss sex?"
Unable to stop laughing as Sookie attempted to amend her statement, Eric could only find his telepath somehow more endearing. "Of course, muddy and grimy is what you meant," he teased, the sarcasm very obvious in his voice. "You can admit the truth, that you just like thinking about me being dirty. That's perfectly acceptable. In fact, I would encourage you to do such a thing even more often." He could feel Sookie mulling over his proposal, but it was difficult for him to tell whether she was fairly considering it or if her pride would interfere. As she spoke, it definitely seemed she was being fair. "Spend all this money on you?" he repeated. "What if I stated I was concerned for my own security as well? Have you seen the measures taken around my own property? I practically reside within a fort. The only reason I have been safe within here as it is is because no one would ever think there is anywhere here I could spend my daytime hours, and even if they entered and looked, all would think I am too proud to sleep in a closet. But for every person who has gone out of their way to attack you, there are at least ten who would like to see me second dead. It would be as much for me as you." Perhaps if she thought his actions were selfishly motivated, she wouldn't feel as if she was being gifted with something or that Eric was being 'high-handed,' or trying to turn her into a 'kept' woman. "If I was exposing you to that kind of danger, it would only be appropriate that I make certain you are safe when I am not here as well. I don't want you hurt. Least of all, because of me. I want there to be many more nights just like this one between us."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 10, 2010, 1:40pm
Nodding as Eric repeated her words once more, Sookie wondered if she was really giving him so much to think about. "I don't think it'll be hard at all," she replied honestly. She already loved spending time with Eric. It's why she'd agreed to the car, after all, so she could spend more time with him. Nodding as he asked if she enjoyed his company, she took one of his hands, threading their fingers together. "I've enjoyed your company long before I even wanted to," she admitted with a quiet laugh. "I can be honest around you. Just be completely myself. That's more rare than you think it is. You've got a rare sense of humor, you're incredibly insightful, so I get to see things we do together in ways I wouldn't have thought of. You've got a confidence about you that's almost infectious. I enjoy your company a whole lot." She was sure she enjoyed spending time with him for reasons different than others would give, but hers were honest.
"Frightened of you? No, not at all," she answered quickly, but not before he said that he understood. "I'm not scared of you. If anything, I always feel safer around you. That's not what scares me," she told him, trying to decide how to explain as her thumb ran over the back of his hand. "You make me feel some things that make me feel vulnerable. To feel so much for you, so quickly is... It's unusual for me. My only relationship before this was with Bill, and he hurt me. It'd be really easy for you to hurt me too," she admitted, not looking up at him as she said it. If he was going to experience her emotions, he had a right to know why they were there. "I trust you not to." And she really did trust him. Eric had always been there for her, even when she was still Bill's. Eric couldn't be more different from her former boyfriend, and she really liked that about him. She was trusting Eric with her heart, though she wasn't sure she could say that sort of thing aloud yet.
"Very dominant," Sookie repeated, sure that applied to him in death as much as it had in life. "You're still very dominant," she smiled, voicing her thoughts out loud. "No one wins every fight," she agreed as he said he couldn't best everyone. She wasn't sure how Eric felt about being killed, honestly. She imagined he had mixed feelings on it, but it had given him immortality. He didn't seem to want to talk about it, in any event. "You liked doing things the hard way," she guessed as he complained about things being too easy now. She could see that. Nodding as he asked if she'd fished, Sookie wrinkled her nose just slightly. "All the time when I was younger. My dad liked do. He liked to take me and Jason shooting too. They always got mad when I'd throw the fish back, though," she finished with a smile as he admitted he could see her feeding the fish. "Of course I speak from experience. I'm around vampires too much to want them looking at me like I smell all the time. That'd be really uncomfortable." Leaning into his hand even though she was sure he was laughing at her blush, she couldn't help but smile. "I might, for a while. It's not something I'm used to discussing." Plus, after learning what Eric could do tonight, she was sure the thought would make her blush for some time.
"Tease," she mumbled as Eric continued to tease her over her choice of words, though she didn't stop smiling. "It is what I meant!" she insisted, laughing quietly into his chest. "Though I do like thinking about you being dirty. I think I'll be thinking about it a lot after tonight," she admitted more quietly, though she was sure he heard her. Biting her lip as she seriously thought about what he was offering, trying as hard as she could not to let her pride get in the way, she felt a little better as he said it was for himself as well. She didn't want him staying in her home thinking it was unsafe for him, and put him at risk that way. She could tell he really was worried about her as well, and she remembered how he'd looked last time he'd felt he'd put her in danger. She didn't want to see him like that again. "Okay, but nothing too over the top, okay?" she requested, looking up at him. "I want you to be able to stay here with me safely, though. And I don't want you having to worry about me." It wasn't some lavish gift for no reason, so she could accept it, she was pretty sure. "Thank you, Eric. You wanting to keep us safe means a lot to me."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 10, 2010, 8:09pm
"We will find out soon enough just how difficult it will be," Eric offered after Sookie suggested it wouldn't be hard to enjoy one another's company. They were actively making plans to see one another regularly, and had already found a way to prolong their time together now by a few days. "I don't usually spend this much time with the living," he confessed quietly, lifting the hand she had intertwined with his own to his lips and kissing it once. "Not like this, at least." Not talking and smiling and laughing and just being. It was common enough for him to be submerged in a sea of the living, but he was never open, not even a little. This was different, special. Looking unblinkingly at the ceiling as he rested their hands against his chest and listened to explain why she enjoyed spending time with him, a small smile played across his lips. "You are talking to a vampire," he pointed out quietly. "I never underestimate how rare it is to have the opportunity to be one's true self." For a moment, the Viking felt a small pang of guilt. He hadn't really surrendered much of what was behind his own masks to the telepath who claimed to be trusting him so completely. "Have you really exposed so much to me?"
Listening as she explained her fear, Eric shook his head slightly. "You should be frightened of me," he decided without much hesitation. "And frightened of the fact that you feel so safe around me." One of the things he had often mulled around in his mind was trying to figure out why he hadn't simply killed the telepath yet. He actively sought to keep her alive and would, without a second thought, cut down and end anyone who remotely threatened her, but that didn't mean he hadn't thought more than once about just getting rid of her to end his own tormented thoughts and feelings she inspired and taunted him with, without her knowledge. "You are vulnerable," he continued, "but I have no desire to hurt you." That was always what would stop him from seeking an easy out for his own torment by causing her end. It would destroy him to betray her blind trust, to see such foolish faith in her eyes before the light was extinguished. The very thought of it made the vampire shiver unnaturally, something he tried to cover up by pulling the blankets farther up around them, as if he was capable of feeling cold. Perhaps she had been kept ignorant of that as well by her former lover who's name managed to rear it's ugly head, even in their post-coital chatter. "And I am not Bill." Something told him Sookie had only confessed to the tip of the iceberg in the ways Bill had hurt her. He wouldn't have an easy time clearing the road of the debris that had been left in his wake.
Nodding once, a smile on his face as Sookie agreed he was still very dominant, he wondered if she saw the glaring the exception he did. "Most of the time, I am," he stated, vaguely voicing that thought. The main exception happened to be in his arms at present, and he wondered if she was aware of that. Sookie constantly defied him, she fought him, and he hated the way she could humble him and demean his authority in front of his subordinates, but it was all a part of her, part of what fascinated him and drew him in. "Fortunately for me, I am 'badass' enough to quickly make up for the brief lapses of dominance I may experience now and then." Shrugging once as she stated no one could win every fight, Eric almost wished he had won that one. It was his own stupidity that had made him a victim. Meant for this existence as he was, he didn't like being taken from his family as he had been, he didn't like the influence Appius had over him, nor how he had used it. Perhaps if Appius wouldn't have turned him, his path would have crossed with Gabrielle again eventually... He mentally sighed, pushing the thought from his mind. No use leaking over spilled cattle. "You do smell, but it is a very pleasant smell," he stated, trying not to growl before nuzzling his face in her hair once more. "Perhaps you should be around more garlic," he continued, practically speaking into her hair. "It would keep others away." He would deal with the unpleasant odor just for the possessiveness of having Sookie to himself. He didn't want anyone else enjoying the blush on her cheeks the way he did. Chuckling at her shy nature, the vampire couldn't help but grin. "Your blush produces a hunger within me. I wonder..." he began before hooking his finger under her chin and lifting his own head to meet her eyes. Staring into them, the Viking did his best to focus on the pure, unadulterated lust and desire he so often felt for her, testing to see what she could feel from him, and whether or not the feeling alone would bring that irreplaceable glow to her cheeks.
Continuing to laugh as Sookie hid her face and laughed with him, he couldn't help but waggle her brows as she called him a tease. "I tease you, perhaps, but I am no tease, lover," he argued. "Anything you desire- especially if it involves me being dirty- all you have to do is say the word." He really did like the idea of her thinking of him being dirty... And he'd be happy enough to return the favor very often, even if he was certain the mere suggestion he would do such a thing would have Sookie striking him and reminding him she was a proper lady. Presently, he was practically watching the cogs of the proper lady's mind turn as she considered his offer while memorizing the way she bit her lip for his own dirty thoughts at a later time. Smiling at the first word out of her mouth, the vampire leaned forward as she looked up at him to catch her lips before giving the bottom one a bite of his own. "I will not bargain hunt for security," he stated with a roll of his eyes, as if the idea itself was absurd. "But I will be conservative," he added, knowing he'd be forced to compromise in some way. "No moat or pack of rabid guard dogs," he finally concluded with a chuckle. "It is my job to keep you safe, to keep us safe," he stated, though he quickly realized Sookie may not like anyone thinking they had to take care of her. "And I want to do it."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 10, 2010, 9:23pm
Sookie pressed her lips to Eric's shoulder as she shook her head, yawning softly despite her best efforts. "It won't be difficult at all," she was confident, since she already enjoyed Eric's company, and was sure that spending more time together would only be more enjoyable. "What do you mean, like this?" she asked, wanting to confirm what she hoped was true, that he didn't spend much time cuddling with other girls. Smiling as he kissed her hand, she shrugged gently. "I'm not really normal anyway." She'd like to be special in other ways to Eric, though. Nodding as he pointed out that vampires had little opportunity to be themselves, she'd noticed that about him to that extent. "I've started to," she told him as he asked if she'd really exposed so much to him. There wasn't much she kept from Eric intentionally. "I'm pretty much an open book for you."
Shaking her head as Eric said she should be scared of him, Sookie knew that wasn't remotely true. "I'm not. At all," she promised him, leaning up to place a lingering kiss on his cheek. "You've protected me through so much. You're pretty much the only one I know I can depend on. You've always looked after me, even when you haven't had to. I'm not afraid of you." Afraid of what he made her feel, maybe, but his words on that made her smile. "I know you don't," she answered quietly, trusting his words. "And I am so grateful for that," she finished as he said he wasn't Bill. "So, so grateful," she added, punctuating each 'so' with kisses left on his skin.
"Only most of the time?" Sookie asked, knowing she didn't exactly spend all her time with Eric, but figuring he was always dominate. He always around her, at least. Eric was always in control in every situation, always the one with answers who knew what to do, always the strongest presence in very room. She'd have to keep a careful watch for those brief lapses, but she was sure he ore than made up for them. "No girl likes to be told she smells," Sookie replied with a laugh, but at least it was a good smell. "I'm not gonna start eating garlic now that I'm not trying to keep you away. I want you to stay close," she told him, tracing her fingers of the hand not holding his over his skin. "You wonder what?" she asked curiously, looking up into his eyes, quickly becoming overcome with a desire for him so strong, it made her pulse pick up, her breathing hitch, her eyes glass over, and a definite blush rise to her cheeks. "You're doing that, right?"
Still realign from what he'd made her feel through their bond, Sookie continued to hide her face, taking a moment to nuzzle his chest as he explained why he wasn't a tease. "I'll keep that in mind," she promised, knowing she absolutely would. Eric could make her feel such seriously inappropriate thoughts, but after what they'd just experienced together, she couldn't object too much to those thoughts. Smiling against his lips as he kissed her, seeming to be very excited that she'd agreed to his request, she sighed quietly as he said he wouldn't bargain hunt for security. "I guess that's understandable," she agreed reluctantly, knowing that some things were dangerous to buy discount, like food. "Yes, be conservative," she urged, tilting her head slightly at the mention of dogs. "I could get a dog, though. It might be nice. I had a cat for a long time, but she was killed..." That was too sad to talk about. Smiling against his skin as he said it was his job to keep them safe, and that he wanted to, she looked up at him. "Not many people want to take care of me," she admitted, eyes not leaving his face. "I know I don't seem to want to let anyone take care of me... but I'm pretty sure you're the only one trying, anyway. It's pretty special."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 10, 2010, 10:43pm
Feeling Sookie's yawn against his shoulder, Eric wrapped his arms around her waist, rolling onto his side and taking the telepath with him so she could lay beside him. She was growing tired, and he wouldn't have her fight that exhaustion unnecessarily. Keeping close to her and their hands intertwined, he wondered when the always-doubting Sookie had become so confident, especially in him. "You think it will come naturally?" he asked, a small smile on his lips. "Most things come naturally to me," he continued, never missing an opportunity to boast and preen. Lifting her hand to his lips once more, he kissed the back of it before kissing her wrist, he rested his cheek against the pillow as he looked at her. "Like this," he repeated, though that didn't answer her question. "I don't do this... This closeness, smiling, laughing... and never do I do so much talking." He kept more back than he offered up, but it was still more than he ever did. "You are right though, you are not normal. You are so much more than normal. You are..." He had an extensive vocabulary, but there was really no easy way to identify what she was. "Important to me."
Turning his head to catch the telepath's lips with his own as she kissed his cheek, his own lingered against hers. "You've never known what is good for you," he murmured against her lips before resting back against the pillow, a smirk on his face. She should have been afraid of him, it would have been the smart thing to do, but Sookie so seldom did what was logical. Listening as she listed off her own logic for it however, the Viking had to admit she had a point, though he couldn't help but arch a blond brow. "When did you come to those conclusions?" he asked somewhat curiously. He had saved her numerous times over, he stayed at her side when those who should have were nowhere to be found, but he had almost always been told his presence and aid was unwelcome. Closing his eyes in contentment as the telepath's warm lips kissed his cold skin, he could tell she truly was grateful he wasn't Bill. "It would hurt you if he was ended?" he asked, probably out of the blue to Sookie, but it was something Eric thought of often. The Viking had a feeling he would pay for the sins of the wet blanket for longer than he cared to.
Actually chuckling as Sookie echoed back his word, though he didn't necessarily find it funny, Eric smiled. "Yes," he confirmed. "If you ask my subordinates, I have lately developed a weakness, a crack in my armor. It turns out I can be easily dominated by a tiny, temporary, often infuriating, human girl who can easily reduce the strong and respected Sheriff of Area Five to dates and flowers, between public chastisement of his behavior," he stated, his eyes narrowing as he turned an accusing glance to her, but a smile on his lips. "Her free will regularly undermines my authority." But he'd never try to take it away from her. "I am not so concerned about it," he continued. "I like the challenge." Kissing her hand once more as her other traced patterns into his chest, he actually liked hearing Sookie confess to wanting to keep him close. It made his experiment all the easier to conduct. Keeping his eyes on her and a smirk on his face, his brows lifted as he watched her face flush and listened to her heart begin to race. "I'm doing what?" he asked as innocently as he could while his fangs extended. "Are you trying to seduce me, lover?"
He couldn't help but revel in the way Sookie's heated flesh felt against his chest as she attempted to hide her face and it made the vampire hold her all the more tightly to him. "You best," he agreed with a growl as she promised to keep his words in mind. She may not have liked when he claimed her aloud, especially to others, but Sookie was his and he wanted her to think of him constantly, desire him constantly, and need him constantly. He would do all he could to protect and satisfy her, and Eric was confident in his abilities to do so. He didn't understand what he had with Sookie, nor why she was so important to him, but he was more determined to protect her and what they shared than he was most anything else. "Cats do not make good guard animals. I have a child who was a cat. He is good for many things, but not protection." Not remotely protection. "If you get a guard dog, does that mean I get to give you the moat?" he teased with a smile, his eyes moving to hers as she looked carefully up at him. "You are what is special, dear one," he stated with complete honesty before kissing her forehead. "Are you tired?" he asked, genuinely concerned. "I will hold you as you fall asleep, if you are warm enough."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by Sookie Stackhouse on Aug 10, 2010, 11:32pm
Nuzzling against Eric's skin as Eric wrapped his arms around her and rolled them onto their sides, she blinked slowly up at him, trying to wake up some more. She felt so natural, so peaceful in his arms, something she was a little startled to realize. "I think it will," she admitted with a nod, unable to help the smile that spread as he kissed her hand and wrist. "Don't you like it?" Sookie asked as he said he didn't normally do this much closeness, secretly glad she had this part of Eric to herself. "I know I do, a lot. And I like you like this." Eric had a smile that just lit her up inside, and she was getting to see so much of it. "You're important to me too," she told him quietly, looking up into his eyes. "Really important." She wasn't entirely sure when that had happened, but that didn't make it less true.
Smiling against Eric's lips as he caught them with his own, Sookie held the kiss a few moments longer than she'd anticipated before shaking her head. "You're plenty good for me," she answered, snuggling back into him as he rested his head on her pillow. When had she come to those conclusions, though? "I guess I'm a slow learner," she admitted, not entirely sure of the answer herself. Maybe it had come to her gradually, or maybe it had come to her when he'd tried to convince her that she should give him a chance, at least the time she'd agreed. "It took me a while to realize it. Maybe longer than it should have, but it's still true." Bill had had a hand in that, just as he had a hand in hurting her in ways that made her nervous to feel what she did for Eric. "No ending Bill," she answered, shaking her head. "It would hurt me, not for Bill, but for you. I don't want you to do that. He hurt me, but killing him won't help me through that. Being with me makes it much better. I don't want you killing anyone for me."
Sookie was surprised to hear that Eric thought he had a crack in his armor, but she wasn't sure how she felt about finding out it was her. "I don't want to be a crack in your armor," she frowned slightly, though she did like the dates and flowers. Trailing her fingers thoughtfully over his chest, she made a mental note to watch what she said to him in public. She could say whatever she wanted in private, but she didn't want to make him look weak or undermine his authority. "I can work on watching what I say in front of others," she told him aloud, A challenge wasn't such a bad thing. Eyes still a little glazed over and cheeks still far too warm as Eric tried to sound innocent, Sookie shook her head. "I think you're trying to seduce me through our bond." She also thought it was working. That Eric, didn't he know humans had limits?
Shivering at his growl, Sookie wondered how he could make her still want him so much after all they'd just done. She could barely move, and her lust for him hadn't gone away in the slightest. If anything, she wanted him more now. "Tina warned me of danger a few time, but no, protection wasn't her thing," Sookie agreed, though what he meant by having a child was a cat, she had no idea. "No, if I get a guard dog, you can help me train him, but still no moat," she answered decisively, closing her eyes as he kissed her forehead. "I'm too happy to sleep," she told him with a smile, not wanting this night to be over yet. Hearing that he'd hold her as she fell asleep sounded perfect. "I'm plenty warm, promise. I'd love to fall asleep in your arms."
Re: Behind Blue Eyes
Post by ericnorthman on Aug 11, 2010, 3:52am
Carefully considering her question, Eric cradled his and Sookie's intertwined hands between them as he laid on his side facing her. "It is new," he thought aloud. "And very outside my norm." He didn't know that Sookie could fully understand that. There were a countless number of reasons he kept his guard up and guises on. It wasn't easy to discard them, even for a night at a time. They were his torture, but they had also been his safety, and had been for over a thousand years. "I do like it," he admitted after a thoughtful moment, his eyes sweeping over her face, studying it, memorizing it as his mind churned through thoughts he so rarely had, and never admitted to.
He wanted to help her understand, he almost owed her that much, didn't he? She was giving so much of herself to him and he knew it. She was peeling back layers of herself, exposing wounds that were still fresh from Bill and risking additional ones from him."There are times that I grow tired," he admitted quietly and with great caution while pulling her closer to him, surprised at his own confession. Running his hand over her head, trying to help the telepath near the sweet surrender of sleep her body obviously needed in the present, he was tired in a far different way. After a thousand years of life, it was difficult to not grow weary, especially when his existence only seemed to grow more complicated. In his very, very recent past, he had been bound in silver, shot, nearly decapitated, stabbed, kidnapped, imprisoned, and drained. A position of power and authority didn't come without a cost, but Eric was always fighting, always on edge. "You and this are... a breath of fresh air," he decided, a small smile forming on his lips at his recitation of the common saying, especially when it was so inappropriate for a vampire. It wasn't easy, Sookie certainly hadn't made it easy, but moments like this were quite a priceless interruption to his chaos.
He really didn't know if Sookie had any idea of what he meant or what he was talking about, but he wasn't going to bother to explain as he watched her eyes growing heavier, and instead focused on soothing any worries that may have still plagued her at present. "You go head to head with me," he stated, not seeing it as entirely a bad thing. He wouldn't have respected her as much as he did if she didn't. "No one else has ever gotten away with humbling me as you have." He had killed for far less, but the others hadn't been Sookie. There was just something about her. There had always been something about her, and he had known it from the very first night he had seen her. She had rejected him- repeatedly- and wounded his pride often, but that was before, and this was now. "It will be good to have you at my side tomorrow night," he thought aloud. Fangtasia was the center of his territory. Having Sookie with him and still hopefully in their post-bonding bliss would be good for many. At least no one would whisper about how frustrated he seemed...
Keeping an arm draped around Sookie, he watched as her eyelids grew heavier, and it wasn't long before her breathing and heart rate became slow and steady. He watched her unblinkingly, searching to see if he could pick up anything from the telepath but found only a serene peace. Kissing her forehead once, he kept the blanket wrapped around her, the vampire slipping in and out of downtime at regular intervals to make certain she was still sleeping soundly. He was intrigued by the little things... the twitches of her face and body as she dreamed, the quiet sounds she made... he memorized them until he began feeling the weight on him as it grew closer to dawn. Kissing her forehead and nose once more, he slid out of the bed without jostling it. Collecting the clothes that had been ripped off earlier including the ones discarded in the living room, he folded hers and left them on a chair in her room before closing her bedroom door and slipping into the guest room. Folding his own and leaving them on the dresser of the guest room, he retreated into the false bottom of the closet with his phone in hand. Letting out a sigh before he closed the trap door of the tiny compartment, Sookie really was special to him. He wouldn't do this for just anyone, and he hoped she knew that.
