Pam (i_wearpink) wrote in we_coexist, @ 2012-05-20 00:07:00 |
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Entry tags: | eric northman, pamela ravenscroft |
New Freedom (Eric/Pam log, complete)
The dress was the usual vamp vamp. She didn’t feel ridiculous in it; it was just another outfit. She’d get to wear her more comfortable clothes once her shift was done; plus, she had to things to do at the bar. Business. She had a mind for it, even if her father hadn’t thought that way so long ago. There were times she actually thought about him and how very odd he’d find her life, even if she weren’t a vampire. Then again, if she weren’t a vampire, she’d be dead, or deader than she already was.
Pam gave a slightly fangy hiss at some silly human, then had to stop herself from rolling her eyes as the silly thing squealed and pointed. She would have been happier if the squeal wasn’t a sound of joy. Well, in this case anyway. She liked it when her food when it actually understood she could hurt it, or them.
She’d noticed that the bar felt a little strange; the humans were..docile. They felt off. She glanced around the main room. Something didn’t work. She hadn’t expected to see Eric at the throne, as it wasn’t his night, but she would have felt more comfortable to see him there, feeling just as bored as she.
----
Eric, spending less time at his bar than he would normally be allowed - or have allowed himself, was only showing up tonight because there was something in his office that he wanted. He knew, though, that when he walked through the door, it would cost him a few hours. Staff would want to speak to him. Customers would want to look at him. It was the same thing, always. Things he hadn’t thought much about recently.
What he didn’t expect was to wander in and feel something that he hadn’t felt in a very long time. The presence of somebody he knew. Somebody from his world. Not just the idiot dancers that had appeared, but somebody who had meaning to him. Eric knew the feeling of his child anywhere. Immediately, he was looking around for her.
As soon as he spotted her, he was by her side.
He was stunned, literally into silence, by her the sight of her. She was here. She was actually here. Eric wanted to reach out and touch her. The sentimentality felt weird to him, but even he would never deny that there was a strong bond between a maker and their children. He had also been without her for so very long that it was overwhelming to have her again.
“Pam.” He finally said as he found his voice.
---
Pam knew he was in the bar without thinking too hard about it, but as she’d been thinking about him...Her brow rose as she saw the look. He didn’t have to do much, but she knew his face and all his many quirks. He was...different too. He even smelled different. She was tempted to lean in close and smell at his neck and hair.
“Eric.” It seemed the thing to say. She watched him for a moment longer before turning back to counting the bottles of True Blood. Her lips pulled slightly. “We need to talk to the distributor again; I’m all for getting more for my money, but eventually they will realize what they are doing. It will bite us in the ass later.” There was a pause as she looked around then back at him, a question in her eyes.
“Where’s Chow? It’s his shift.” She had no idea, even if she knew that there was something not right. Not with her maker, but she’d wait to ask. At least for a few moments.
----
She couldn’t have been here long, Eric decided. Not long at all. She was doing things around the bar as if they were still sitting in the middle of a shit town in Louisiana. She hadn’t been outside at all, he was sure of it.
“Not here.” Not only was he not here in this bar, but he was not here in this world either. “We don’t have a distributor.” The City provided the True Blood for them, as well as everything else the bar stocked. He hadn’t seen a delivery truck the whole time he’d been here. It had, in fact, gotten to the point that he hadn’t even thought about it in a long time.
“Pam, how long have you been here?” It was good to see her, good to have her close, but he couldn’t help but worry now. He had been so completely out of tune with his old life, with only Fangtasia to remind him he’d ever been anywhere else.
---
“Two hours. I came in when I said I would.” Ever the one to take questions literally. Pam counted a few more bottles before hissing again at a pair of tourists. Or that had been the plan. She stared for a moment at their shirts. It didn’t say Shreveport. Not even some silly Louisiana with a crustacean looking very happy that it was going to be eaten after being boiled with corn. It said “City” surrounded by flowers. This pair’s shirt did anyway.
She knew that Louisiana, north Louisiana, wasn’t always known for its class or taste, but this was very lazy. She shook her head slightly and went back to counting. “Of course, we have a distributor. Did you scare this one? Will I need to find another one?”
----
Two hours. Pam had been in the City only two hours. That made him feel slightly better. That he would be able to help her and be the one to tell her where she was and what was going on. He could only imagine a stranger trying to introduce her to everything around her. She would think they were on drugs. He was also glad that however it had happened, she had appeared inside of the bar. It was not only safer for her, but for the humans outside the walls. Pam wasn’t exactly the sort to restrain herself when pushed.
“No. We don’t. We’ll discuss that later.” Eric thought about clearing the place out, emptying the bar with just a word, instead he nodded toward the back. “I need to talk to you. In my office.”
While she moved, he watched. Eric realized now that he had missed her.
---
“You told me not to glamour for more.” Pam wasn’t outright accusing him of doing it, and she wasn’t whining. She was pointing out something he had told her not to do. Money was a good thing; it helped their area, and it kept him in a very good position, which meant it kept her in a good position, even in a place like Shreveport. A happy Eric usually meant a happy Pam.
She slid easily enough from behind the bar and made her way to the back area. She didn’t hiss at any of the patrons, but she did spy a pretty woman who seemed more than willing to a bit of consensual fun later. The smile given to the woman was hungry with a hint of playfulness that didn’t quite fit the vamp costume she wore when on duty.
“If this is about that female human,” Pam didn’t think she had to say the woman’s name. It certainly wasn’t the one who had Pam considering breaking a rule, if only briefly. “I think pretending we had the talk would be better than having it.”
----
“What?” Eric couldn’t think of any human female that she might be talking of, the only one who came to mind was Fred, and Pam didn’t know Fred. Then it occurred to him who she was speaking about. “No. You can forget entirely about Sookie Stackhouse. She is no longer an issue of any kind.”
He opened his office door and went inside, moving behind the desk in an action that was natural and smooth even though he’d not done it in some time. He knew Pam would know enough to close the door behind her after she was inside.
Sookie Stackhouse. Mentally, Eric shook his head. He’d not thought about her once since being here. It was so strange to have her brought up now. When so many other, better, things had come along.
“Sit.” It was a command, though it didn’t need to be.
---
Pam paused only a moment after closing the door. Sookie Stackhouse was no longer an issue? She had been an issue since she’d come into Fangtasia; the girl had gotten under her maker’s skin somehow, and now she was not an issue?
She didn’t shrug, just took a seat across from her maker. Her ankles crossed under her chair. Her hands rested on her lap. Again, her actions didn’t match her outfit, and in the office, she didn’t seem to mind either way. Her brow rose ever so slightly to indicate she was listening.
----
“We are not in Louisiana anymore.” Eric started. “In fact, we’re not even on planet earth.”
He knew how absurd that would sound to her. It had sounded that way to him, as well. Yet he had come to enjoy his new surroundings and the people he had found within. He could only hope that Pam would adjust as well as he had. Considering past experience, he didn’t have much worry.
“This place is called the City. It pulls people in from different worlds and even different times. The streets move, the buildings move, there is no need to worry about politics here, vampire or human. The laws we have put into place for ourselves mean nothing.” Which wasn’t to say, of course, that he had just gone around killing people willy nilly. “I have met many strange people here.”
The last was a bit of an afterthought. On the back of it was tagged the idea of Baba and what she would think of Pam. Then the idea of getting the two of them in the same room as soon as possible.
Eric waited for Pam to respond.
---
Pam didn’t move. She sat perfectly still and digested the information. Eric had no reason to lie to her, and their humor wasn’t exactly given to flights of fancy. She didn’t even blink. Finally her chin lifted ever so slightly; her eyes seem to focus. They were little things that only another vampire would notice, and perhaps only one who knew her as well as Eric would even understand.
“Are you under a spell?” He smelled different after all. Perhaps something magical could do it. “One that makes you sound like you’ve been reading their pulp fictions?” She knew that the questions could put her in danger, but she thought she might as well ask.
----
“No spell.” Eric assured her. “Though I have met at least one here who could manage something that strong. I highly doubt she would be interested in doing that sort of thing. To me.”
He could, however, picture Baba doing it to somebody else. Perhaps somebody she didn’t like very much or somebody who had slighted her in a way that didn’t require full retribution. He might even suggest it to her to see what she could come up with. Maybe they could conceive of something to do to the Human Bill. Actually, that would be a lot of fun.
“Just the truth of the matter. If you don’t believe me, walk outside. Have a look for yourself. I’m sure that the changes will be immediately obvious to you.”
---
Pam stared at him, again processing. She looked to the door to his office before standing and brushing out her dress, not that it needed it. The petite vampire made her way to the office door, pausing again to look back over her shoulder at the Viking. With that quick look, she slipped out easily enough and right out the back way to the alley that was waiting for her. Or there should have been an alley.
She was a little confused as she saw a fastfood place with happy people who were busy stuffing their faces with dead cow and fried tubers. She didn’t go right back inside; instead, she turned and followed the edge of the building that held Fangtasia to come to a block corner that simply shouldn’t be there. This wasn’t right, and she felt more than a little uncomfortable with what she saw.
----
Eric followed after a couple of moments. He gave her enough time to get herself outside and have her first look before he was at her side. She’d made it all the way to the corner of the building when he caught up to her. He hadn’t wanted things to shift on her and get her lost, though he was sure he could feel her wherever she was here and know how to get to her, he wasn’t sure if the City could make that hard even for them.
“Things are going to be strange for a little while.” Eric placed his hands on Pam’s shoulders. She was one of the very few people in the whole of the universe who knew his affectionate side. He wasn’t afraid to show it to her, he knew she didn’t see it as a weakness. Most times.
“I will do what I can to help you. I think some exploring on your own would be good, of course. But I will be here for you. To answer what questions I can, to help.” Twice now in this very brief exchange he had said that he was here to help her. Given what she was seeing, he knew she was listening but not that she had heard.
He didn’t have to imagine how she felt, he knew. Their bond as maker and child was strong. The time that they had spent together had only strengthened it. Eric knew Pam as well as he knew himself, the reverse was true as well.
---
Pam wasn’t a break down and cry sort of woman, not anymore. She’d given all that up when she’d become a vampire, but that didn’t mean she had given up the need to be comforted. Having Eric close by was certainly helpful. Her head tilted to a hand on her shoulder, pressing her cheek for just a moment before she stepped forward and away.
“We are Alice, and this is Wonderland.” It was a strange thought, and she didn’t seem to mind it. Turning, Pam looked up at her maker’s face, to his eyes.
“You smell strangely.” Again, no accusations. It was an observation; her nostrils flared ever so slightly to show that she was testing the air again. She didn’t have to say that it didn’t smell like Shreveport, that would be a waste of time.
----
“I’m sure.” Eric nodded. Her observation of the situation was astute, though he would never have expected less from her. She was a smart woman, and a smarter vampire. One of the many traits that Eric had admired about her, that had made her his ideal choice as progeny. “I have been into some very interesting blood as of late. I’m sure that has much to do with it. I have also been here for quite some time. I’m certain I no longer smell like Louisiana or any of it.”
A small smile crept over his face. “If you smell closely, there is a chance you might also smell fairy.”
He still had the girl’s sweater, sealed in plastic, and had in fact been into it recently.
---
Pam took what he said as yet another hint, a suggestion. She stepped forward, rested her hand on his shoulder and pulled him down, expecting little resistance. Her face pressed into his neck then just behind his ear. Her fingers dug into his shoulder; she continued to try and follow a particular scent.
“Fairy?” It was a soft sound, almost a sigh. Her tongue flicked at his skin as if that would help her better identify what she smelled on him. Her head pulled back a little, and rather than ask, she buried her face once more in his neck; this time she bit. His blood would tell her what was different, surely. It wasn’t just fairy; though, there was something to his scent that teased her.
----
Eric did not resist Pam or what she was doing. He had actually not expected anything else from her. The word fairy alone was enough to whip many vampires into a frenzy, it would have caused him more concern if she’d shown no interest at all.
The bite was also not unwelcome. It had been too long since he’d felt actual fangs in his flesh. The tiny things Lestat boasted were nothing compared to the vampires of his own species. It was sweet bliss that found him as she tasted the things he’d been up to.
---
Pam jerked slightly as his blood touched her tongue. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it was different. Whatever was in his blood was not normal. She took only the smallest of pulls before licking at the bite mark. It wasn’t necessary, but it wouldn’t do to have blood smeared on his skin either.
Before stepping back, she took a few more sniffs at his skin. There was a hint of fairy, but it wasn’t in his blood. She may not be as good as some were when it came to tasting the different things in the aqua vitae - she really would smack another human poser if she heard that pass its lips - but there was something definitely new yet not fairy.
“What have you been eating?” It wasn’t a who. This was not a who taste. It wasn’t human. It couldn’t have been.
-----
“She is very old.” Eric smiled when he thought of Baba. “Nothing like we have ever seen before. Some call her a witch, but she is far beyond that. When you were a child, did you ever hear the tales of Baba Yaga?”
---
Pam’s face went blank as she searched her memory from before Eric. There was much she didn’t remember, or much she didn’t bother remembering. Witches, yes, but Baba Yaga?
“No. I don’t believe so.” A smile didn’t flash across her lips; she was more given to smiling than some of their kind. “You are interested in older women now? Thought you liked them much younger.” She was a prime example of such. Sookie another.
“She must be powerful.” That was the true reason Eric was ever interested as far as she could tell. He knew power or potential for it. She’d say that was his gift; the flying was just a perk.
----
“She’s older, but she doesn’t look it.” Eric smirked. “She’s a lot like you in that way, actually. The two of you could be college age humans in a sorority.”
The thought of it was more than a little amusing to him.
“Also very powerful, yes. I won’t lie and say that the thing that first attracted me was something else. I have never seen power like hers. But it has grown into more than just the mutual curiosity about abilities and things learned over lifetimes.” Eric didn’t know exactly how to explain what Baba was to him. Pam would just have to meet her to find out.
“Her blood is the blood I take most. With it I have been able to walk in the sun.” He thought that was a good example of what Baba could accomplish, or the two of them could together.
---
“But, she is not a fairy.” Pam was certain of that. There was no question in her voice. “You have met them, but she is not one. She is not Sookie either.” This woman was different, and the vampire wondered just what they had grown into. At least they were not connected at the hip; she could not respect either if that were the case.
“You are thinking of us in a sexy pillow fight with blood bags, aren’t you?” There was a hint of a smile. She wouldn’t have minded such a scenario with some of the college sorority types she’d had in the past. There were a few that would come in from Ruston just to indulge in the darker side of the night. Though what some of them did in Ruston could be very dark.
“Whatever it is, it does make you tasty, almost fuckable,” her lips twitched.
----
“I might be.” Eric admitted with a sly smile. If he hadn’t been before, he most certainly was now. It was also one of those things that he didn’t think Baba would be opposed to. She was attracted to blood almost as much as he was, and their intimate moments had gotten quite messy in the past. The idea of getting the two of them in a room together was reignited. Perhaps in a different way now, though.
“Almost?” he let that slide. “No, she is not a fairy. There are two of them here. A girl and a boy. She is a mixed blood creature, he is full blooded. I have managed to not kill either. Baba Yaga is much more than anything we have even ever thought of. Her power is astounding. We have bonded.”
Eric was speaking of the blood exchanged between them. But he meant it in other ways as well.
---
“She is your...not human?” The phrase could mean a great deal. “Am I allowed to taste her?” It was definitely with respect that she asked. Her hand lifted; he felt different, so very different. She was definitely curious, and she could show such with him in a way that wasn’t as hard or distant.
Her fingers brushed over his chest. He had been keeping busy; she could smell sex on him, and...her fingers lifted to his hair and pulled something from it. There was a blink or two.
“You are playing with blue furred things?” She brought the few strands of blue to her nose and sniffed before holding it out to him.
----
“If she consents, I am willing.” Eric didn’t know if Baba would say yes or no, but considering what had happened with Hank, he didn’t see her railing against the idea outright. Speaking of Hank, he watched as Pam pulled a blue fur from his clothes.
“Hank. He is mostly Baba’s toy, but I have had the recent opportunity to taste him. His blood is different than a normal humans. Where he is from, he is called a mutant. It is a gene that gives them powers. Previously he had just been a curious boy with big feet, on the outside. Now he is completely furred and that fur is blue.”
----
“And fur is good?” Pam rolled the blue stuff between her fingers. “Is he useful?” Yes, that was often a question that came to mind. Why bother if there was no use? Humans were useful; werewolves, witches, demons, they were all useful, but Pam didn’t see them as immediately requiring her respect. This Baba would get it only slightly because Eric was bonded. Eric would be loyal, and yet...he was allowing the woman thing to give permission to tasting.
“You like this Baba. Bonded. And she is not fairy. The fairies, you have tasted them? Or is that why they are still alive?” She didn’t seem to mind that they were still standing out for all the world to see. It wasn’t in her to care if he did not. Not at the moment. Then something came to mind.
“Are there others like us? The employees, yes, but any others?” If there were fairies, and witches. “The queen?” Her voice was hushed, as certain things weren’t common knowledge for humans. Only he’d hear it. “Bill Compton?” If Chow wasn’t, then were they alone?
----
“I would not normally say that fur is good, you know this.” Eric had never made a secret of how he felt towards weres and shifters. “His is different. He’s also extremely intelligent. His uses are considerable.”
Eric shook his head. “I have tasted neither fairy. The girl has a dust that she makes somehow, it does to us much what catnip does to cats. I do have her sweater, though. I like Baba quite a bit, and I’m hoping that you see in her what I do. Though I don’t think it will be difficult. You two are much alike in many ways. Different enough to make things interesting.”
He moved Pam out from behind the building enough that they could talk and she could still see what was going on. He wanted her to see the movement with her own eyes.
“Like us, but not. There is no queen, no Bill Compton. I have met other vampires here, but they are of what I have come to think of as other species. A vampire named Lestat is the one I have had the most contact with.”
---
“Useful furred one. A woman you like. No tastes of fairies. And, a sweater. Does it still smell of her?” Pam wanted to smell the fairy, but she caught something strange happening. Her attention shifted from her maker to just over his shoulder. She stared once more.
“The buildings move.” He had said that, but it was not something one completely believed without seeing it. “The bar?” She wanted to see what was out to see, but she did not want to leave her post unattended, certainly not without permission. Her fingers found his; he was the one who had given her freedom long ago, and he had shared the world with her. He could share this world with her as well. This...
Her head jerked slightly, returning her attention to him. There were no others like themselves? Did that mean that they were not held to the rules and laws? The heirarchy that was so very constraining at times? And had he actually said ‘a vampire named Lestat’?
---
There was a brief nod to Pam’s question about the sweater. He was more glad that he’d preserved it now, since she would get to enjoy the scent as well. She would probably laugh for a moment at all the care he had placed in securing it, but once that bag was open and she got to inhale of it deeply, she would understand why.
“Mostly the bar takes care of itself. I don’t even spend much time in it anymore. There are other, far more interesting, things to do around here. I check in, that’s about all. I won’t expect any more from you than that.” His fingers wrapped in hers, holding her securely. Eric felt as if he had everything now.
When she looked at him again, he knew what she was thinking. “The laws and rules do not exist here. The politics are missing. Some know we exist, and there are those who are dangerous to us, but there is nobody to hand out the punishments you and I are used to. There is no need to drink the synthetics. We have a freedom here that we have not had in a very, very long time.”
Pam had never truly known that freedom. She had just known the time before the Great Revelation, and how much worse things had become for them after. She hadn’t been a vampire long enough to know the times when they moved as they wished and didn’t care about body counts in the public eye.
“You will see.” He was smiling.