Chapter 4: A Meeting of Minds
When the noises in the room stopped, Bill waited for a few moments for decency's sake then raised his hand and knocked hesitantly at the door. They waited silently and a little awkwardly then the door opened. As it opened Sookie cast her eyes down staring intently at the pattern on the hotel rug, she could feel the blood burning in her cheeks.
"Please, come in." Godric's voice was pleasantly soft and welcoming. Sookie risked a glance up at him and immediately regretted her decision. Godric was only wearing his white pants, his upper body bare and white; his ancient tattoos were being shown off to great advantage. Wow. Sookie couldn't help but admire his lightly muscular frame. But it was his face, his mouth in particular that quickly brought her eyes back to the floor and the flush of embarrassment back to her cheeks. His mouth was covered in blood. Who's blood? Eric's or was he feeding off a fangbanger? Sookie let down her mental shields but though she could hear faint thoughts from other humans on the floor, she could only feel the blank spaces of two vampire minds in the room. Oh good Lord! Eric's!
Sookie felt Bill incline his head deeply, his voice cool and calm beside her, "Good evening. I believe you were expecting us." There seemed to be a tone in Bill's voice but she couldn't quite put a finger on it. She mentally girded herself and looked up into Godric's eyes, her face settling into it's too bright smile for when she was feeling distinctly nervous or uncomfortable. Do not think about what they were just doing and you'll be fine.
"Good evening Godric." Even to herself she sounded embarrassed and maybe a little prim.
Godric's smile widened as he motioned them further into the room. "Why don't the two of you sit while I clean up a bit." He was on the edge of laughter. Her reaction was priceless! She was very innocent for someone who hung around vampires, usually they were far more forward about sexual practises, her blushing was not only delicious to look at but refreshingly innocent. To be honest fangbangers could get more than a little tiresome. Godric heard the shower turn off in the bathroom and his smile became a little wider despite his efforts to reign himself in. And now the real fun of the evening begins. I do so wonder how this will turn out. And without another word to his guests he turned and left them sitting on the couch.
As he entered the bathroom Eric was just stepping out of the shower, he grabbed a towel from the rack and wrapped it lightly around his hips.
"Eric I would like you to go out and see to our company, I shall be out in a moment."
Eric inclined his head, turned to look at himself in the mirror, slicked back his hair and sauntered out into the front room. Smiling, Godric shook his head at the antics of his child. Quietly, but so that Eric could hear him, "Don't forget to get dressed first."
Eric continued on his way into the front room, with the slightest inclination of his head to Bill, "Bill. And dearest Sookie!" He focused on her smiling his sweetest smile. No woman had been able to resist that smile, not while he was alive or undead. He noted her eyes widen slightly and the small catch in her breathing before settling into her usual don't-you-try-that-with-me face. It made him smile all the more sincerely. God did he love a challenge!
Holy crap! Holy crap, Holy crap! Sookie thought to herself in quick succession as she saw Eric enter the room. Then he focused that smile on her and she forgot how to breathe. It took all her mental efforts not to let her jaw drop and start drooling. I hate this man! I hate this man! I hate this man! He had held Lafayette prisoner in his basement and tortured him, and he had tricked her into drinking his blood! Remember that! But no matter how hard she tried to focus on her old feelings of hate, anger and fear for this man she had seen and gone through too much with him in the last two days. He had protected her in the church, even offered himself in exchange for her freedom. He had shielded her from the bomb, and seeing him that vulnerable on the roof had erased all her hate, and to her dismay a lot of her fear, which was distinctly unwise, she reminded herself.
Not to mention the dream...Focus girl! She mentally slapped herself. You had to be on the tips of your mental toes to deal with vampires, especially one as old and wily as Eric. There was an end game here and she didn't know what it was.
Bill was not too happy. Not only had he been summoned here against his will be he could tell even Godric found Sookie interesting. How could he lose her now when he had just found her? It was amazing to him that he could love her this much already when he had thought that emotion had died with his human life. The interest she caused among other vampires drove him nearly mad! He felt fiercely protective and possessive of her and he could not help it. Maybe the blood bond between us, so newly strengthened will make them back off. Knowing Eric that's not to bloody likely! And Godric...what is the nature of his interest in my Sookie? Bill could feel his fury and frustration building.
Eric languidly folded himself down onto the opposite couch, still smiling, his eyes never leaving Sookie. Bill gritted his teeth. Sookie tried to meet his eyes with a defiant and angry stare of her own just to let him know she still was not happy with him, but the longer she held his gaze the harder it was to hold onto that feeling. Snippets of her dream started popping up into her thoughts confusing and unfocusing her. Can he influence me now that I have had his blood? Is that another consequence of having his blood inside me, or am I just that weak for a nice body? A damn nice body...Whoa, keep it together, both Eric and Bill can feel what you're feeling!
Sookie settled herself closer to Bill and took his cool hand in her own. Bill protectively put his arm around her. But he was stiff and hard as a statue. She glanced up at his face, and his eyes were fixed on Eric, and she could see his fangs were slightly extended. She could now feel the waves of hostility rolling off him. I am definitely in the middle of something here, she thought anxiously to herself.
Just as the charged silence was becoming a little awkward Godric re-entered the room He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt and his white pants and brown sandals.
Oh thank God! Sookie relaxed ever so slightly and smiled in his direction. Both vampires looked in Godric's direction as well somewhat breaking the tension in the room.
Godric's eyes swept the scene, taking in everything. It was almost enough to make him burst out laughing again. He was careful not to let his face show anything. Eric was sitting opposite Bill and Sookie, still clad only in a towel, obviously showing himself off for the human and deliberately provoking her companion who had been glaring at Eric like he would like nothing more than to see him die on the spot. The tension in the room was palpable, and the human girl's relief at his entrance quite comical. He let none of this show on his face as he walked over to sit down beside Eric.
"Eric, could you get our guests a drink?"
"Of course, how rude of me for not offering before." Eric gracefully lifted himself from the couch, but just as he stood the towel let go. Eric was quick to catch it but not before showing quite a bit of what was under it. The girl went so red, it looked as though she had been sunburned and the vampire hissed quietly, glaring at Eric.
"And what is your preference this evening? The fridge is not well stocked but we have A negative, O negative, and vodka, gin and whiskey." Eric's eyebrows rose quizzically over eyes full of innocent enquiry.
Oh good God! Godric almost lost his control at this. This is so much better than watching human soap operas. He had tried a few times to watch human television programming to try and stay in touch with modern thoughts and speech, but they had been too boring and predictable to watch for long.
"O negative please." Bill replied with a voice that was quiet and frigidly cold.
"Gin please." Godric could hear the struggle of emotion in her voice. He wondered if she found this amusing at all, judging from her voice, no. But her face was stretched in a bright smile..so who knew.
Eric handed Bill and Sookie their drinks, and was back in the blink of an eye with a bottle of A negative for Godric as well. "Don't forget to get dressed." Godric reminded him softly.
Eric looked down at himself and gave a rueful smile. "I shall be back in a moment."
Godric then focused his attention on the two opposite him. He and Bill both took a swallow from their drinks. Sookie drank the whole thing. He was quiet for a moment, considering.
"First, Sookie, I would like to say that you look beautiful tonight. And thank you for persuading me to stay a bit longer. I must say I did not believe my life was worth living any longer. But I feel like I have at least one more job to do before I meet my end, and I have you to thank for that.
Though I must warn you, now that I am no longer a Sheriff I do not know if I will have much influence over other vampires. We are proud and wilful as I am sure you have seen, and many are of the opinion that we should not have revealed ourselves to you, let alone live amongst you and treat you as equals. Especially considering the reception many of our kind have received from your political leaders. But I am willing to try, if only to try and earn my own redemption." He took another gulp of the True Blood.
"Thank you, Godric. That is all I could ask." She looked a little uncertain of herself but continued, "Godric, I don't mean to be rude, but now that you have given up your positions of authority, where will you go?" Bill had given her hand a little squeeze, and a shake of the head to convey to her that she had made a slip in vampire etiquette. Sookie was too curious to care though and moved forward to the edge of the couch, "Will you go on television?"
He considered that for a moment, "Now that's a thought. I hadn't considered that option, but to do that I would have to get permission from..." he stopped, looking thoughtful, "but it is definitely a possibility."
Sookie thought he had been about to say something, but caught himself. Permission from who? Vampire culture was something she was not too familiar with and it seemed quite complicated, so she thought it better not to ask. Vampires love their secrets.
"I had thought to find temporary accommodations with Eric before deciding on my next step. Mingle with a few more humans perhaps to see if they are also agreeable to closer relationships with vampires. Right now we seem to be more of a dangerous novelty, not something you would want as a neighbour. Do you really think that will ever change?"
"I think they can if people are introduced to vampires like you and Bill," she gave Bill's arm a gentle squeeze. "Most people have only seen vampires in places like Fangtasia, and they play up their otherness there. And my patrons at the bar have only seen Bill and a few other vampires who certainly haven't wanted to be part of human society." Sookie shuddered a little at the memory of Diane and Malcom and their grisly ends. They had frightened Sookie quite badly.
"Not to mention the performance Eric put on when he came to take Bill away to stand trial Threatening is not usually a good way lessen people's fear and gain their acceptance."
"I just warned people that we vampires would not tolerate injustice or acts of violence upon our kind. We are being treated like second-class citizens and too many of us have seen this type of violent and hateful behaviour persist in your kind towards others who are different, and that has been towards other humans." Eric moved to stand behind the couch, casually leaning down, his forearms resting on the back. He was wearing a black see-through shirt and dark denim bluejeans. Sookie could clearly see the lines of his body, and his nipples through the thin fabric and had to force herself to look away. Sookie could see no argument around this. It was certainly true that humans had persecuted humans, and that it had taken quite a while before things even seemed more civil on the surface. Things like racism still existed and injustices still happened on a regular basis. But surely things can change. She needed to believe that. She herself was proof that things eventually changed if attitudes were more tolerant, she was best friends with Tara, a black girl and she was very close to Lafayette. But she could not fight with the rejection that otherness caused – she herself though beautiful and nice was seen as crazy due to her gift and she had tried all of her life to close out their thoughts and not act on them. She was just crazy Sookie.
"Okay, I can't argue against that. But you are immortal right, so can't you just wait things out and start a campaign to change people's minds. I'm not saying it will be perfect, but we need to make a start." Sookie said, her voice full of the passion of her conviction.
"Well, well Sookie. Who knew you were such a political firebrand!" Eric sounded impressed and just a bit mocking. Sookie was getting ready to reply with a scathing remark when to her horror her stomach chose that moment to growl very loudly. Sookie closed her eyes in mortification, she could hear Eric snicker quietly.
Godric silently chastised himself. "Well it seems I have been more rude than I knew. Sookie would like to go downstairs to eat, or would you prefer us to call up some room service. I apologize, I am not used to being around humans for so long. At the Fellowship, I came into contact with humans only at night and they took shifts. I didn't think to have any food prepared for you when I called this meeting. How long has it been since you've eaten?"
Sookie tried to think of the last time she ate, "Just before going to the Fellowship of the Sun with Hugo. I ate a small meal before meeting him a the bar. So a little over a day." She said this with a little surprise in her voice. Had it really been that long?
"Sookie, why don't we go down and get some food and leave Eric and Godric to their evening?" Bill rose quickly from the couch and offered her his hand. It was obvious to Sookie that Bill wanted to leave, but to be honest she was having a pretty good time conversing with other vampires, even if one of them happened to be a conniving snake. Some of the time. Her mind amended. Dammit! Do not go down that road! She looked around at the vampires surrounding her. Her Bill, beautiful and dark, the first man she had ever loved. His dark eyes and beautiful lips could make her melt. The tall blond viking, as likely to joke as to rip your throat out, but with surprising depth she was only just beginning to see. And the dark, exotic Godric, older than any other vampire on this continent and so sad. She basked in the amazing feeling of not having to have any of her mental guards up, their silence was golden, and more precious to her than any of their other attributes combined. Well almost... she smiled to herself. She felt oddly comfortable and safe in this room even though any one of them could kill her in an instant. But she was positive that none of them would. All three men had saved her life. She reached for Bill's hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. She smiled at each man in turn. All three returned her smile, though Eric's sent a very unwanted thrill through her. Damn him!
"Yes I think I should eat something. I'm starving!"
Me too! Sookie's eyes widened before she could pull her face back under control. A 1000 watt smile stretched her face. She had heard one of the vampire's thoughts! Oh Dear Lord in Heaven! Please don't let that have been real! She knew it had not been a stray human thought because she could feel the blood-lust intimately entwined with it. But whose was it? She quickly brought up all her mental barriers. If a vampire was thinking something she sure didn't want to know what it was. She was sure there would be no protection on this earth if vampires found out she could hear their thoughts, even if this was only a small glimpse, and would hopefully never happen again! She was sure both Eric and Bill had felt her mood change, but thankfully they did not know the reason. The sooner she was out of this room the better! She moved towards the door now practically towing Bill along in her wake. She stopped at the door to observe polite custom. Her grandmother had taught her well.
"Thank you Godric, it was a lovely evening." She inclined her heard first to Godric then a slighter one to Eric. "I'm sure we shall speak again soon."
She had not expected any form of physical farewell from a vampire so she was more than a little surprised when Godric took up her hand and brought it to his lips. She felt him breathe in, taking in her scent, and she felt the soft coolness of his lips, just barely brushing her skin.
"Good evening, dear Sookie." And with an inclination of the head, "Bill."
He let go of her hand and opened the door. "I also hope we shall see each other again very soon."
Sookie smiled brightly and began walking down the hall towards the elevators.
Who's voice did I hear? Oh please let it have been Bill's. She tried to convince herself that she had been hearing Bill, but even as she thought it she knew who she had heard...Eric.
Oh this can't be good.
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