lazy_but_loyal | OOM

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OOM - Fangtasia

[Continued from here.]

Fangtasia is closed for the night.

The red neon sign in the window is still on, the door still unlocked, but the place is empty except for Ginger in the kitchen and Pam in Eric's office.

Pam is changing out of her leather bustier and miniskirt into more comfortable clothes that she'd brought along. Hot pink cropped leggings and matching Uggs for starters.

She takes her time as she slips off her top, revealing a leopard-print bra. She thinks of nothing in particular, only that she hopes to hear from Eric before dawn.

[Dialog lifted from True Blood season 3, episode 9.]

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"The King of Mississippi. Who feeds vampire blood to werewolves. His own blood. And has done so for millennia."

There's a snarl in his voice now.

In all her centuries in the Authority, Nan has never heard anything like this before.

She presses her earpiece closer, frowning deeply as the Authority convenes yet again. This is serious. Very serious.

"How do you know this?" she asks Eric. She may be even a little curious, if he's telling the truth.

Also curious...is Pam.

"I've researched it," he says.

"There's a pattern. The Turks told folk tales of shape shifting jackals at the fall of Constantinople.
The Aztecs were decimated by disease from the Conquistadors' war dogs. Each time, there's been wolves fueled by vampire blood."

Back to sounding intense.

"I nearly found him in Augsburg in 1945. His wolves were in the service of the Wehrmacht. He disappeared after the war, and I-- I thought he finally met the true death."

But he'd been wrong. So wrong.

"Now he's returned."

"Do you know why?" Nan asks.

While Nan's interest is in the name of the law, Pam's interest is personal. She knows Eric never liked weres, but he's never mentioned this to her before.

"In times of conflict, Russell Edgington inserts himself into the affairs of men," Eric replies.

He is not looking at Pam.

Now that he has made his decision, he can relax as he tells them the truth. Elbows still on his knees, hangs hanging loosely.

But he cannot look at her.

Nan frowns. This isn't making very much sense to her. What would Edgington have to gain from meddling in human affairs and controlling lower life forms like werewolves?

"To what end?"

"He claims it's to prevent humans from destroying the planet and themselves and thus our food source," Eric replies, without adding his own thoughts on this idea, Edgington the Eco Warrior.
Right.

Nan is already shaking her head even before he finishes.

"But TruBlood changed all that. Humans are no longer food for us. The Great Revelation--"

Eric cuts her off, looking straight at her.
"Russell opposes the Great Revelation. And he doesn't want to coexist with humans."

She'll know what that entails.
He still says it though.

"He wants to subjugate them."

How do you like that, oh members of the Authority?

He briefly wonders if Nora is sitting there, on the other side of those cameras?
He's never told her either.

Edgington may be old and a king, but he is bound by the same laws as any vampire. That's the way it's been for centuries. Coexistence has always been the objective.

"The Authority will not--"

"Fuck The Authority!"
Eric's voice is startlingly loud.

Then he adds, in a normal tone of voice. "Russell's words. Verbatim."

That they won't stand for. They cannot be questioned.

Nan raises her eyebrows at the sudden outburst.

The members of the Authority grow uneasy at this insolence.

And for a tense moment it's uncertain if it's Eric's own sentiment. But he clarifies, and there is more discussion. Nan listens in before continuing her questioning.

"This is why he killed the Magister?"

"No, he killed the Magister because the Magister defied him,"Eric replies, flatly.
"He kidnapped queen Sophie-Anne because she refused him."

He really shouldn't have to spell it out. But he does so anyway. Shifting his focus to the cameras.

"Now, if the Authority or the AVL stand in his way, well ..."
He's got very expressive eyebrows

...There will be anarchy. Possibly bloodshed.

Nan looks Eric in the eye. As much as she dislikes him, she wonders just how far he's willing to go.

"These are treasonous allegations," she reminds him. "Why didn't you report this?"

Pam, who's been listening intently throughout, is very interested in the answer to this.

He knew she would ask that question.
Never mind that turning Edgington would have landed him in just as hot waters.

"Oh, I should have," he says. Quietly.
"But the Authority has existed for only a few hundred years. My history with Russell Edgington goes back nearly a thousand."

There is no way back. The truth it is. As much as it exposes him, as much as these people will never be swayed by soft emotions, many of them are old. They will understand the need for vengeance. And perhaps, they will even respect it.

"My family was massacred. All of them, by wolves. I managed to kill one and I watched him change into a man at the end of my sword."

Looking intently at the cameras.

"And these wolves, they're the same. Sweden, Germany, here."

A small pause. Then the truth.

"With all respect, I did not report Russell Edgington to you, because I want him to die at my own hands."

Pam exhales a silent breath at this revelation.

A massacre. By Edgington's wolves. Nearly a thousand years ago.

And Eric never told her, never even once hinted at something so tragic. Suddenly the past century that she's been with him are cast in a different light. It's painful. She can hardly process it, her heart aches too much. Yet somehow, she sees him better now. She just wonders why, why he chose not to tell her.

The two webcams swivel back toward Nan as the Authority takes Eric's statement into consideration. Nan listens carefully. She nods.

"Yes. ...Yes, I understand. I'm flying immediately to Portland. Thank you."

And she removes the earpiece and switches it off. Two V-Feds take away the cameras.

He manages to squeeze in a snarled "I have waited a thousand years for this," before everyone's attention is diverted by the private discussion going on between Nan Flanagan and the faceless Authorithy.
And then she is closing the connection and he is left gaping.

"What? Is that it?"

They can't be serious. They have to do something about Edgington.

Nan looks at him and almost sighs in annoyance, given how put upon she feels right now.

"The Authority will review your statement against the frankly strong possibility that I've lost an entire night's worth of airtime promoting the VRA in order to listen to a load of bullshit," she tells him bluntly.

"But some do believe in a fair hearing."

So this may work out in Eric's favor. She'll give him that.

"Americans," she mutters as she gets to her feet.

For the first time, he darts a quick look in Pam's direction. This is not how it was unposed to go.

"Miss Flanagan," he says, insistently, getting up from his chair.
"Russell Edgington is a threat to our very existence."

Why can't they see that?

Why are they not acting?

That's bureaucracy for you.

"But he's a King," Nan insists right back. "One who just donated half a million dollars to the same American Vampire League you say he's trying to bring down. Weird, huh?"

Honestly. Like whoever heard of rich people buying their way into and out of everything. Never happens.

Nan turns around and signals to the V-Feds.

"Bring in a couple of spare coffins for Sheriff Northman and his..." She eyes Pam. "...whatever you are."

She's not the only bitch in the room as Pam gives her a dirty look of her own.

Nan turns back to Eric.

"You're on lockdown 'til the Authority makes its ruling."

Human V-Feds replace the vampire ones to stand guard throughout the day. Yes, they've thought of everything.

He doesn't say anything.
It wouldn't matter anyway.

Instead he darts another look at Pam.
He's the one who brought her into this.

Nan leaves and take some, but not all, of the armed men with her.
Coffins are brought in and placed on the floor.

The armed guards take up position spread around the room.
He ignores them.

Instead, he looks at Pam. Trusting her to not ask him questions as long as they are not alone.
"You should get some rest," he tells her.

All Pam can do is nod, still reeling from everything she's learned tonight. It's been an emotional ordeal that's left her with more questions than answers. But right now, she doesn't have the wherewithal to start asking them, even if she and Eric were alone.

Which they aren't, annoyingly so.

She glances around at all the guards.

"Can't they put the coffins in your office at least? I'm not sleeping out here like a fucking dog."

Eric lifts an eyebrow and looks at the guard in front if him.

"You heard her," he says. It doesn't get a reaction.
He sighs.

"Look here, my office is located down the hall. There's one door only and no windows. It'll make your job easier. And give us some - privacy."

The guard glances at Pam. Then at Eric,
He gives one of the others a nod and off he goes, presumably to check out the office.
He returns and ten minutes (and a phone all to Nan Flanagan because they are all worthless, ball-less fucks) later, the coffins are moved.

They walk down the hall and into the office. The door is shut behind them.

Eric pinches the bridge of his nose and says, "Go to coffin, Pam. It's almost dawn."
He sounds worn.

Edited 2014-12-14 18:02 (UTC)

Does it have to be such a goddamn hassle to move two coffins into another room? Apparently, as Pam stands by and looks on with growing irritation.

But when they're finally left alone, she sags. And there's still so much she wants to know.

She looks at Eric. She can feel his weariness on top of her own. He'd flown all the way from Jackson just to be fucking silvered and he probably hasn't fed all night and--

"You need to rest, too."

"I will. In just a minute."

He won't.

"You lie down. You need it."

He sits down in the chair behind his desk. Then he looks over at her again.
"How's the house?"

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lazy_but_loyal - 2014-12-14 18:53 (UTC) - Expand

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onceaviking - 2014-12-14 19:35 (UTC) - Expand

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