Dawn Summers (brattydawn) wrote in freedomtownic, @ 2018-02-07 20:03:00 |
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Entry tags: | dawn summers (brattydawn), eric northman (swede_eric) |
The Last Thing She Expected Out of the Night
Who: Dawn and Eric
Where: Death and Taxes, Break Room
When: Backdated to when they first found out about the planet (shut up it took us a while to finish!)
Rating: PG/PG-13
What: Eric taking some steps to pursuing Dawn
Dawn's shift as hostess had just finished off at Death & Taxes, and she had headed back into the small break room to change, grab her things, and head home. Her feet were killing her because of the heels that she had to wear, and she was pretty sure someone had spilled something vaguely alcoholic on her dress. She didn't have a full change of clothes with her, but she did have a pair of tennis shoes to slip into for her walk back, but right now was simply sitting on a bench and leaning back against the wall, feet bare and basically mentally preparing for her walk back to her room. She was almost tempted to just stretch out and spend the night in the break room. She was NOT looking forward to that walk.
After his conversation with Pam it was fair to say that Dawn had been on Eric's mind, so it should come as no surprise that he entered the break room a few minutes after the young woman. "Well now, you look positively exhausted", he purred. He took a seat on the bench opposite to Dawn. He could smell the alcohol on her clothing, so he knew how her night had turned out. "People weren't mean to you were they?" He smiled in that sly way of his. "I mean, no more than usual?" His first instinct was to rub her feet, but he decided to take his time with that.
Dawn opened her eyes and gave Eric a smile. "I wouldn't say mean. More like drunken losers," she explained. Dawn had been working for Eric for what felt like forever now. Ever since the club was open, basically. She liked working here, despite the drunks. Eric was a good boss.
Well, Eric knew more than anyone the value of a good worker. Ginger had been wonderful, if ... overbearing at times. He did regret glamouring her as often as he did, though. He suspected that didn't have great long term effects. "While I know that you can take care of yourself, should you find yourself in a bind you know that you can talk to me about it. Or Pam." He smiled mentioning his progeny's name. He'd missed her. "I know that she can come across as abrasive but she'll protect you if I'm not there."
Abrasive. That was an interesting word for Pam. She did notice that Eric was a bit happier now that she was here. While Pam hadn't quite been *nice* to her, she'd mostly been at least polite, if a bit...stare-y. "I know. If things get *too* out of hand, I'll definitely call one of you."
Eric wouldn't have been surprised at Pam's staring, especially since he'd admitted interest in Dawn. She was protective of him, just as he was of her. "I'd appreciate it if you did." He gestured to one of her feet, a silent way of asking her to raise it for him. He didn't want to come across as that kind of boss, despite his interest in her. He realized then that she had a dancers grace about her. How lovely. "Aside from that, how have you been? Are you looking forward to the big move?"
She was a little surprised that he was offering to rub her feet, but right now they hurt enough that she was more than happy to take him up on it. She raised one up for him. "Yeah, I'm definitely thrilled to be getting back the home that I thought was buried in a hole in the desert," she admitted. "I'm hoping this one doesn't come with the whole Hellmouth problem, though. No one wants a Hellmouth in space."
Eric bobbed his head respectfully and set Dawn's heel on his thigh, carefully kneading the sole of her foot at they talked. "You've mentioned the Hellmouth before but I have to admit that we don't have those where we come from. There is, or was, a dimensional plane created by the Fae." For good reason, but he left that out. "What, exactly is a Hellmouth?"
OK, so Eric was ridiculously good looking AND great with his hands? Not fair at ALL. She shut her eyes and relaxed her head back against the wall as he worked on her foot. "Trust me, you're lucky," she told him when he said they didn't have Hellmouth's where he was from. "A Hellmouth is basically a weak point between dimensions. At home, it seemed like most of the other dimensions had nothing much more to them but full on Armageddon, Hell on Earth stuff, though. And, of course, it attracted all sorts of demonic creatures who seemed to want nothing more than to release said Hell on Earth on our world. I never did understand that, honestly. What good does that do? You really think that unleashing some Lovecraftian old god thing is going to benefit you? I would think they would kill pretty indiscriminately, friend or foe alike. I swear, I think most of the demons that came to Sunnydale to do that were idiots."
Eric continued to knead Dawn's foot and chuckled at her description of a Hellmouth. It went without saying that he was glad that they didn't have those where he came from. "Not to mention the fact that if you create Hell on Earth your food source dries up pretty quickly," he pointed out. He'd love a world where he was King (and had a close approximation while he ran Fangtasia), but he'd settle for feeding indiscriminately while he was here. At least some of the time. "Where do you plan to move to on this planet?" He asked, trying to sound nonchalant. Honestly, he wanted to keep track of her, maybe visit when he could.
"Another fabulous point," she agreed, biting back a groan when he hit a particular tender spot. She had realized a while back that one of the reasons she liked Eric was that he reminded her a bit of Spike. Yeah, still a vampire and don't you forget it, but at least a pragmatic one. She remembered Spike even saying something similar once. He liked the world the way it was, so bringing Hell in Earth was stupid. Anyway... "Well, Sunnydale was my home before it sunk into a crater, so living there is easy for me. What about you?" She wasn't actually totally sure WHERE Eric lived now.
"I'd like to stay where Death & Taxes ends up," Eric admitted. While Monstropolous had a certain allure, he'd come to enjoy living among humans. Even if he didn't feed from them like he did back home. "You'd always have a place of employment, no matter where it would be," he stressed. He wasn't sure how transportation in this world would work, but he'd figure out a way. He wouldn't readily admit it to someone other than Pam, but he'd grown fond of Dawn. "If that's something that you'd still want," he added, pausing in his ministrations to look her in the eyes, stressing the importance of his words.
"Of course I want to keep working for you," she insisted, smiling at him. While she didn't realize maybe just how fond of her he had become, they had struck up something of a friendship and she wanted that to continue by working together. She wasn't too worried about things like transportation. They'd figure that out soon enough.
Eric let out a happy grumbling sound and offered to take Dawn's other foot to give it the same kind of attention. He was sure that Pam would have a thing or two to say about how sweet he was being with Dawn, but fortunately she wasn't here, so that would stay on the back burner for now. "Then we''ll find a way to make it work." He paused briefly, before adding: "You are by far my favorite human here."
She moved so that he could have access to her other foot. She wouldn't have thought that it was necessarily appropriate for her boss to be rubbing her feet like this, but she didn't really care at the moment. "Aw, that makes me feel special," she said playfully. Well, mostly playfully. It actually DID make her feel kind of special, too. (And yes, Pam would have a thing or two to say, but she'd also find it kind of funny.)
Well, Eric liked to think that he had a certain charm about him. He chuckled and started on Dawn's other foot, knowing that he'd have to let her leave eventually. He could have glamoured her to make her do just about anything - or well, he could have attempted to. But he didn't want to. He didn't think about it all too much and just decided to let things flow naturally. "You are special," he decided to say. "And if you ever decide that you'd like to see more of me - well, I wouldn't say 'no' to that."
She blinked when he said the last part. OK, she hadn't been expecting that. Since Sam got sent back, she hadn't really been looking for anyone like that. With someone like Eric expressing interest in her, well, that was a whole 'nother ball game! "Are you for real?" she asked, looking up at him.
Eric was tempted to hide his amusement but ended up letting out a surprised belly-laugh. Only Sookie had seen this almost... innocent side to him, and even then he didn't have his wit's about him. "What's not to like?" He grumbled to himself, not wanting to pull out the line 'you make me want to be a better man'. That wasn't him. "I mean, really: I feel sorry for the other men in your life if they don't see how truly transcendent you are."
It wasn't that Dawn didn't own a mirror. She knew she was a pretty woman. However, she didn't think she would necessarily catch the attention of a however the heck old vampire! She couldn't help but wonder if this was how Buffy felt around Angel. At least, as far as she knew, Eric didn't have something that, if he had sex, he would lose and turn into a rampaging monster. (Although maybe it wouldn't hurt to check with Pam for any issues!) "Well, back home at least, most men I know see me as the little sister," she explained. Not that she hadn't grown since then! "It's actually been nice to meet people here that don't just know me as Buffy's kid sister first." That tends to cloud the judgment a bit.
Eric tsked and shook his head. "You're your own woman, Dawn. And you may be someone's sister, but that's not all you are." He hadn't met Buffy but immediately decided that he didn't like her. How dare she be the centre of attention. "And if you give me the chance I'd like to show you how special you are." He knew that he was laying it on thick, but he also said it with such sincerity that most people would find it hard to deny him.
It was nice to hear that she was her own person and not just support to someone else. And even if she was trying to resist (and she wasn't!), he was laying it on thick enough that she wouldn't be able to, anyway. "Well, as long as you don't think it'll affect our business relationship," she teased, "I think I'd like to try this."
Eric grinned. It was remarkable that his fangs didn't pop out, honestly. "Then I'd love to take you out when you have more energy," he rumbled. "Anywhere that you want." Well, within reason, anyway.
"We'll have to wait until one of my days off for me to have energy," she said with a grin. She might have actually been into it if his fangs had popped out.