I apologize for the LONG wait for another one-shot in this series. I've been very busy with my story "The Blood That Binds" and on writing an original screenplay too.
I also was waiting for inspiration for something new in this series. That came while thinking of the possibilities for the personality of the King of Texas in my story (he wasn't included at all in True Blood, so he's fair game for me) and what view Nan COULD have taken to Godric prior to the whole FotS mess in S2, pre-series when he was maybe more willing to 'play along' after the Great Reveal… And I hope you like what fun I had with THAT.
To be really nice, I made this longer than previous stories. PLEASE read and review!
*The Karma Short List*
If you asked Godric, he would tell you that the King of Texas believed his sole reason for ruling the state was to find ways to torture his sheriffs with social functions, particularly since the Great Reveal. This interest in swanky charity galas was only made worse by the media attention thrown the king's way by Nan Flanagan and the AVL.
The ancient vampire was convinced there would eventually be an assassination attempt by religious extremists with all these continued public appearances. "Coming out of the coffin" perfectly suited the vampire barely one-fifth Godric's age and his thorough enjoyment of being an attention whore. It was for this reason that the Sheriff of Area Nine believed his king had been placed in the position shortly before the Great Reveal.
As Godric donned his Armani tuxedo for yet another event on this particular Friday night, Isabel knocked on his bedroom door. "Enter."
She stepped in, already dressed in her floor length red satin gown, looking every bit the sexy vampiress she was. "Are you almost ready to go? Stan is getting impatient. He wants to get this night over with and get back out of that monkey suit. It looks ridiculous on him." She came up behind her sheriff as he finished straightening his bowtie. "You however, look absolutely stunningly handsome."
Smirking, he turned to her. "Nice try. I'm still not friending you on Facebook again." Always the perfectionist, he picked the lint roller off his dresser and proceeded to go over his black suit. "Do you think anyone will notice the irony in a vampire charity ball for human blood cancer research?" he asked offhandedly while checking himself in the mirror.
Soon the three were at the Hilton Anatole and making their way through the security checkpoint into the Coronado Ballroom. All vampires in the Dallas area were looking forward to the completion of the new vampire owned Hotel Carmilla, but the Hilton was doing an excellent job of serving their needs in the interim.
"Uh oh," Stan murmured, leaning down toward Godric's ear. "Bitch and her cronies at your ten o'clock, coming in fast."
Godric barely had time to look up and acknowledge her before Nan Flanagan was in his face, or rather, looking down at him from her insanely high stiletto heels accessorizing her pitch black evening gown.
"Nan," he offered by way of a mild greeting, barely withholding a grimace.
Ever haughty, she gave her hair a flounce. "What, not even a nod or slight bow of the head? I do believe I'm a superior of yours. You should acknowledge that, shouldn't you? And it's Ms. Flanagan. Show some respect."
She was always looking for some way to make herself feel higher up the food chain than she was, being far younger than many vampires she attempted to 'boss' around.
"I believe not, Nan. You're a media puppet. I'm a sheriff." The blonde's eyes appeared as if they were about to explode out of their sockets due to the pressure building up in her head as she nearly boiled over, but Godric didn't stop. She was possibly his least favorite person ever. "I'm also over two thousand years old, one of the most ancient vampires in the New World, so I will call you whatever I please, Nan."
Refusing to back down, she set a hand on her hip with an air of defiance. "If you're so damn powerful and special then why aren't you king?"
Godric was already sick of this stupid ball, and he hadn't been at it for ten minutes. "Silly girl, The Authority has offered me sovereignty over many of the states, and I have refused them all. I do not want the trouble. The King of Texas is the King of Texas because I do not want to be."
Finally noticing that a few others had taken an interest in what looked to potentially be a stand-off between the AVL's PR queen and the well-known and respected sheriff, she relaxed her posture and he casually leaned to rest his hand on the back of a chair beside him as if their conversation were merely friendly.
"Did you get my email?" He gave her an odd look, and she remembered she had sent him at least a dozen in the past couple of days alone. "The one about the interview with the college newspaper."
He tensed his jaw for a moment before speaking calmly. "Yes. I suppose there is no harm in accepting the request."
"Good. They seemed exceptionally interested in interviewing you, and it would be great PR. You have the right youthful look and are popular with the college crowd." She smirked. "I saw your Facebook profile."
Several humans and vampires in the vicinity heard the cracking of the seat back where Godric's hand rested not-so-lightly at those words.
The remainder of the night went on without incident, mostly because Stan and Isabel played interference between Godric and Nan. They also helped to steer the king clear of Godric since their sheriff was in no mood for the much younger vampire's overly exuberant personality.
Not soon enough for any of them, they were back at the nest with half the night to kill so-to-speak. All three split off to their rooms to change then meet back in the TV room to relax after the stress of pretending to like a roomful of people they either didn't care for or didn't actually know.
Godric entered the room to take his usual spot at the end of the couch beside Isabel, and his two nestmates tried not to smirk or ask questions about his latest shirt. "Dear Karma, I have a list of people you missed," it stated clearly. Neither had any idea where it came from, but both could guess that it was directed toward Nan Flanagan and a few others they'd dealt with through the charity event.
"I don't think I've ever been so glad to write a check in my life," Godric said with a weary sigh. "As soon as he said we could leave after making a sizeable donation, I didn't care how many zeroes I added at the end of it, so long as it was my ticket out of that hotel."
Isabel started to inquire just how much that sizeable donation was, but the look on her nestmate's face told her that wasn't a wise idea. Instead, she turned her attention back to the latest episode of Dr. Phil.
"Tomorrow night, expect a visitor from the university, one of the journalists from the school newspaper. I've agreed to do an interview."
Godric said nothing more on the subject, and no questions were asked. They all knew the request came through the AVL and trickled down via Nan to the sheriff. Neither Stan nor Isabel wanted to get within 100 miles of the topic of her again for the night.
The following night at exactly nine, their doorbell rang. Both Stan and Isabel had made themselves scarce by heading out to a movie, not wanting to be dragged into an interview themselves, so it was left to Godric to answer the door and deal with the young journalist.
To his surprise, he was met with a curvaceous blonde coed who looked oddly familiar. "Good evening," he greeted, gesturing her inside the nest. "I am Godric. Welcome to my home."
She giggled softly as she stepped inside. "I know who you are, most of the vamp fans at school do. I'm one of your Facebook friends. Don't you recognize me?"
"I apologize, but even with the excellent vampire memory I possess, it is impossible to keep track of every one of my so-called 'friends' on that site." The list had grown to well over fifty thousand at this point in time and continued to swell every day. "Forgive me if I must ask your name."
The girl seemed genuinely disappointed for a moment, but quickly recovered with a bright, and rather flirtatious smile. "That's okay. It's Amber, Amber Kryten."
"Well, Miss Kryten, shall we have a seat and begin?"
She blushed as he led her to the couch and they sat down. As Amber took her notepad and pen out of her purse, she gave a funny glance over the couch, and Godric felt some embarrassment rush over him. They were sitting on the same couch where Isabel had him pose for his profile picture. This girl obviously recognized it.
Most of her questions were rather mundane, what he'd expect of an interview in light of the changes in the world. How did you feel about revealing that you're a vampire to the public? How old were you when you were turned? Is it difficult to integrate into society at your age with all the modern technology? What is it like having lived so long and seen so many changes in the world? Have you met any significant historical figures? And a few other of the humdrum questions he'd been asked countless times.
After those questions, she pulled out a digital video camera and asked if she could do a video interview for their student run campus website too. He agreed, not sure what else to do in the situation. Then things got a little more interesting in the interview.
"We know you speak a lot of languages, Godric. Do you speak the language of love?" she asked from behind the camera.
He sat stunned for a moment then tried to think of the best PR answer to the question. Feeding and sex had been the vampire way forever, now they were trying to 'mainstream', but humans enjoyed the sexy image of vampires it seemed. Oh, the countless ways in which he wished to torture Nan Flanagan for getting him into this mess.
"I am as old, possibly older than the Kama Sutra," he answered with a wink.
It was almost impossible not to smirk at the sound of her heartbeat speeding up and the slight increase in her respirations at the insinuation of his simple answer.
"Are you romantically involved with anyone right now? Do you date humans?"
Godric hadn't ever 'dated' anyone and had no particular interest in romancing anyone. He doubted there could be any human who could hold his pique his interest at his age, but that answer would not please anyone.
With a sexy smirk into the camera, he showed a little fang. "I am completely unattached. Do you know someone I might like?"
Amber visibly shuddered, and he could smell the faint hint of her arousal. He hoped Nan Flanagan was damn well happy because he was not.
"Just one more question for the camera, Godric. We all really appreciate how great you've been with this interview." She swallowed nervously. "We've all seen the tattoos on your Facebook profile picture. Do you have any others you could show us?"
If Godric could blush, he would have turned beet red. That was not a question he expected by any means, but he held it together and proceeded as if completely unaffected.
He stood up and tugged at his shirt, untucking it from his jeans. "You might like the one down my back." With a mischievous smile he knew Amber, and likely the entire lot of University of Texas coeds would find sexy, he slowly unbuttoned his shirt, turned, and dropped it to the floor, revealing the well-defined muscles of his back, and the intricate sea serpent following the length of his spine.
His interviewer managed to choke out a few comments and an almost breathless ending to the video segment as he turned back around to face the camera and give a friendly wave, complete with full fanged smile which he thought was about to make her faint.
She gathered up her things and prepared to leave, Godric still shirtless had her flustered and embarrassed. He wasn't pleased with the situation, but nudity wasn't something that bothered vampires or other supernatural creatures, so he was fine with using it as a tool to get her out of his nest. Amber was definitely attracted to him, but didn't seem to know what to do now that she was faced with him half-naked right in front of her.
He found it rather amusing, right until the point that she was about to walk out the door and made the fumbling final comment. "It was really great to meet you, but you're a lot shorter than I expected."
Godric almost growled. "I may not be tall, but don't forget that a vampire becomes more powerful with age, and I am over two thousand years old. Consider what that means. Good night." With that, he shut the door in her face.
The sheriff was in his room when his nestmates returned that night, so they never heard about the interview from him. Isabel took the call when Nan called to praise him for the job well done, excited that the video had been posted on YouTube and gone viral. He was a hit sensation on the college scene, and she could barely keep up with requests for interviews with him.
His lieutenant was afraid to give him the message that MTV wanted to schedule him for a live audience interview at his earliest convenience.
Nan Flanagan wanted to use him as the vampire poster boy for gaining popularity among teens and twenty-somethings, youthful yet ancient, the picture of innocence yet dangerously sexy. The King of Texas was thrilled with his sheriff's likeability and considered it a point in his favor.
Godric however, had spent the past week after the interview in a foul mood, worrying his nestmates because of his insistence on wearing one single t-shirt emblazoned with a statement they couldn't figure out the reasoning behind for all their undead lives.
"I'M NOT SHORT. I'M CONCENTRATED."
PLEASE REVIEW!
For something on the more serious side with Godric, check out my story "The Blood That Binds" or my sister js1280's story "True Colors".
