Hello Readers! I am very sorry for the late update. Life got very busy and I did not have nearly enough time to write. Also I had somewhat of a writer's block as well. Please pardon me for the mistakes in this chapter, I have no knowledge whatsoever of Spanish or French. I used Google Translator for this. So excuse the mistakes. I hope you enjoy the chapter and please Review. Happy Reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own True Blood...
Finding Her
Chapter Eleven
The next day after sunset when Eric awoke, he already found his master awake and flittering back and forth the house quiet excited. He was already dressed and ready to leave for the club. Eric took his time showering and dressing up. Truthfully he was just doing so to watch Godric's barely held in excitement. To his utter amazement Godric actually grumbled once about having only two more nights to spend with his new friend counting tonight as well and how Eric was being too slow.
Eric even heard Godric grumbling about hurrying up or he could just fly off to Fangtasia. Finally when they did arrive to Fangtasia, Eric zeroed in on his little kitten's scent and that special humming that his head did just for her. He walked briskly towards where she was and Godric followed right behind him. There she was sitting in Pam's office, filing happily. She was a strange little girl, his kitten. How could anyone be that happy with boring paperwork, let alone a child as young as her? She looked up immediately and gave them her brightest smile.
Now that was strange considering the fact that Godric and Eric were both being their best at being stealthy. She it seemed was too aware of their presence. Although this wasn't the first time Eric had witnessed this peculiar habit of his little kitten's, he was still a little impressed. It was good that she was aware of her surroundings. Godric on the other hand was thoroughly impressed and very surprised.
He whispered lowly, "Hon kunde berätta att det var oss. (She could tell it was us.)"
Eric nodded and replied with a slight smile, "Vampire hastighet verkar inte fasa henne. Hon kan alltid berätta när jag kommer till henne. (Vampire speed doesn't seem to phase her either. She can always tell when I come to her.)"
Godric commented with a little pride in his voice, "Hon har utmärkta sinnen då, jämfört med de flesta människor. Hon är verkligen en liten pärla, Eric. (She has excellent senses then, compared to most humans. She truly is a little gem, Eric.)"
They watched her watch them. She blinked slowly, twice and then greeted, "Good Evening, Mr. Northman and a very happy Hey, Dude to you Godric!"
Eric huffed almost inaudibly while Godric possibly beamed at his new friend. Godric greeted back cheerfully, "Hello to you too, liten pärla (little gem)!"
Arya cocked her head to the side, the curls bouncing a little on her head. Then she stated in her spouting-facts-voice, "From what I could tell, that was Swedish."
Godric flitted to her side and took a seat across her and chuckled a little, "Yes, it was, Arya. You have a very good ear for languages, it seems."
Arya shrugged nonchalantly and replied, "Not really, since I don't even know a bit of it. I just deduced which language it was, not what you said. I will accept that compliment only when I will be fluent in at least five languages."
Eric snorted and said in a voice that dripped in sarcasm, "Yes, little kitten because you already are fluent in four languages!"
Arya blinked once and chirped back, completely oblivious to Eric's slight insult and the glare that Godric was shooting at Eric, "Oh no, I only speak, read and write French and Spanish fluently, Mr. Northman. I still need to practice my German more."
Eric immediately snapped his eyes at her and watched her with a slightly stunned expression while Godric looked thoroughly amused as he commented innocently, "Oh did I forget to mention that little fact, Eric? It must have slipped my mind, regardless, our liten pärla here told me last night about her language skills. Other than English, she is very fluent in Spanish and French, currently she is working on her German."
Eric looked back and forth between his master and his little kitten and almost resisted the urge to snarl. His master was now teasing him. But he couldn't even get mad at his little kitten; his little kitten was being truthful and factual, she wasn't even in on the teasing. She didn't even know there was some kind of teasing going on. He demanded looking into her yellow eyes, "Why?"
She pouted a little and replied thoughtfully and in fluent French, "Je suppose, je me suis ennuyé. Aussi, j'aime apprendre de nouvelles choses, Monsieur Northman. (I suppose, I was bored. Also, I like learning new things, Mr. Northman.)"
Eric smiled almost in awe at his little kitten, "Eh bien, mon petit chaton, n'êtes-vous pas plein de surprises! (Well, my little kitten, aren't you full of surprises !)"
She smiled brightly at him, "J'ai toujours essayer de vous divertir, Monsieur Northman. (I always endeavor to entertain you, Mr. Northman.)"
His little kitten was proving herself to be more and more useful. He wondered if his Pam knew of the little girl's talent with languages, after all so far only Pam seemed to be keeping track of her notable skills and talents. Eric frowned to himself a little, well, Godric seemed to know about her too. He sneered internally; he simply would have to make sure he found out more about her as well. After all, this little girl was his.
He was brought out of his thoughts by Godric's soft voice commenting, "I have noticed Arya that your English seems to lack an accent. You were born and brought up in Louisiana yet you do not seem to have even the slightest of an accent."
Arya nodded and explained, "Yes. My momma had a Louisiana accent, but I never did get one. I don't exactly know why. Ever since I could talk, I never picked up the accent, which is strange because I should have the same accent I grew up around. I remember being very precise on my pronunciation of words. Saying them as accurately as possible, I suppose that is why I managed to avoid getting an accent. My French teacher at school said that my lack of accent is a good thing, it would help me adapt to other languages with much more ease. Also she said it makes me sound very mature and sophisticated."
Eric took Pam's seat and asked curiously, "So you learned French and Spanish at your school?"
Arya shook her head and replied, "Oh no. My momma could speak Spanish fluently so when I was a kid I insisted she teach me. Spanish was our thing, I suppose. French was something I picked up when I was bored at home when I was around ten. I learned a lot from books and from the library. There was a nice librarian there who helped me speak it. She was from New Orleans and she even got me this French learning CD set. She said I reminded her of her grand-daughter."
Eric leaned back and watched her with appraising eyes and asked in Spanish, "Pam tiene conocimiento de tus habilidades lingüísticas, mi pequeña gatita? (Does Pam know about your language skills, little kitten?)"
She shook her head and replied, "No, la Sra. Miss Pam no lo sabe, pero estoy segura de que ello lo sabrá muy pronto. (No, Miss Pam does not know. But I am sure she will find out soon enough.)"
Eric smirked. Pam would be most definitely pleased. He watched his maker and this surprising little girl curiously. Today, she was wearing a well fitted short-sleeved button up white shirt and a nice pair of blue jeans. She looked clean and pretty. Much better than she looked when he first saw her in Fangtasia. She was wearing gold earrings. Her newly pierced ears, the thought made Eric want to growl. But it was her wish and it did not hurt and apparently it was some sort of rite of passage for girls her age. As long as she did not get tattoos, other piercings or things along those lines, he was fine. Then again, his kitten was a very smart girl; smarter tan all girls her age, she was not interested in things like that, she was just too smart to make such ill choices in her life. Or as she would say, illogical choices.
A tiny, very well crafted gold rose in each ear. The size of a small stud and from what Eric could tell because of his superior vampire eye sight, those earrings were well worn. Immediately he could tell, those belonged to her mother. Her late mother, so she was speaking the truth when she said she wanted to wear her mother's jewellery. He could empathize with her, children especially those who quiet abruptly or tragically lose their parents did cling to the trinkets of the deceased parents in hopes of remembering them or keeping them close. Eric would never admit it, but he too kept his late father's sword safe and secured in a tightly locked vault at his home. While he would scoff publicly if such a notion was expressed by a vampire, in private he did understand and would put a blind eye to this one act of humanity. She was with in her right to feel for her dead mother, after all she was just a child.
There was also another part of him that thought that if the child's mother was alive she would give her those earrings herself and guide her through the path of womanhood with love, affection and sound advice. The poor child had to suffer through this alone. Ginger might be there, but no matter how much she tried or sacrificed, she could not take place of the child's mother. She would not truly understand what it meant to be a mother. He watched his little kitten with unblinking and unwavering eyes and decided that he would never pity her, he was proud of her. She was strong.
His master asked her softly and eagerly, "So what are the plans for tonight, liten pärla (little gem)?"
She blinked and demanded in return with a smile that Eric could best describe as impish, "I will tell you only if you tell me what liten pärla means, Godric."
Eric almost tensed for the briefest of seconds, only a very stupid person would demand something of someone as dangerous and ferocious as Godric. He remembered having witnessing Godric rip out the heart out of a nobleman once centuries ago simply because he looked at Godric for far too long. But Godric's soft chuckle dispelled that thought; he clearly was allowing the human child to be affectionately demanding of him since he adored her. Also, his kitten was smart and knew manners and had a survival instinct, she knew to never insult a vampire. Well, insult a vampire and never be caught that is. One of the subtle traits that he found endearing in his little kitten.
Godric answered, "It means little gem in Swedish, little gem."
Arya nodded accepting the answer and replied, "Well, I do not think I am any sort of a gem, but if you must give me a pet name like Mr. Northman and Miss Pam, then I suppose it is very much acceptable."
Godric smiled, his eyes twinkling in delight. He heard her huff and then she told him matter-of-factly, "I am seeing a pattern here, maybe giving pet names is a vampire thing. Or maybe not, but I want to give you a pet name as well. Like Mr. Northman and Miss Pam, you need a name as well."
Before Godric could interject or Eric could make a comment to sate his curiosity and irritation at her wanting to give Godric a pet name, she continued, "No, simply calling you Godric will not do just as calling me Arya does not seem to work well for you. I shall call you, mon ami d'humour (my humorous friend) and many other names, but mostly mon ami d'humour. I will make up more names for you as time goes by. "
Eric snorted loudly at that. Humorous friend. She had the most painful sense of humor, frighteningly dreadful and Eric could not even begin to comprehend as to why his master actually laughed at her jokes. They were sometimes pathetically funny and somehow managed to make a slight smile come to his lips, but they were most definitely not belly-aching laughter funny. That was the reaction Godric had and Eric knew it was genuine. But why and how ?
Then there was a part of Eric that thrummed in buzzing energy and he wanted to scoff at her special name for his master. She did not give him a special name, sticking with Mr. Northman and Sir, where as Pam got one and now Godric got one and was even going to get many more in the future. So why was he the one being excepted from her affections, he who had done so much for her, kept her safe and adored her even? He would have to see to it immediately to get a proper special name from her as well. One that she would only use for him in private. Something that suited his and his personality and sounded just right coming from his adorable and innocent kitten's mouth.
Godric on the other hand looked thoroughly amused and his blue-gray eyes twinkled as he answered softly, "I am honored to be called so by you, little gem."
She nodded and then explained, "We will cook tonight like last night, watch a movie and I took out some books and albums I told you about yesterday, Godric."
Godric nodded eagerly, "What shall we be cooking tonight, then?"
Arya smiled, "Thai-style chicken with noodles. I got the recipe off the internet."
Godric blinked, "Will it be simple?"
Arya patted his hand and assured, "Don't worry, my kitchen-skills-disabled friend. I will let you do the easy stuff and guide you through. Simple cutting, stirring, measuring and watching."
Godric nodded and to Eric's morbid fascination and utter surprise, he looked very much interested. What the hell could be interesting about cooking and that too when these human food smelt so so disgusting? Eric was sure that when he was human and that was a long time ago, such human foods would have tasted and smelt incredibly delicious, but now that he was a vampire, it smelt simply revolting. How could Godric bare to participate in such a revolting, pointless and boring task as cooking?
Godric smiled and nodded his head a tad bit too eagerly. Then he asked, "Should I buy you something sweet to eat after your dinner, liten pärla? You mentioned you like having desserts after dinner."
Arya shook her head and replied sweetly, "You need not do that Godric. Your presence with me is sweet enough for me."
To Eric morbid fascination and utter awe, Arya even proceeded to flutter her eyelashes wildly at him. Godric sniggered and replied with a distinct dramatic tone in his voice, "Oh how you flatter me. It seems to me as if you are mastering the ways to charm unsuspecting males such as myself. I should warn everyone."
Before Arya could respond to that, Eric snorted and sneered, "What charming? She looked as if she had something painful stuck in her eyes with all that blinking!"
Arya nodded once in agreement, but Godric shot a quick glare at Eric. Eric still looked incredulous. Arya explained matter-of-factly, "Mr. Northman, Godric was jesting and he was being sarcastic. A little too subtle sarcasm, but sarcasm nonetheless. I know it can be difficult sometimes to detect sarcasm, but I could point it out for you if you miss it sometimes."
Now it was Godric turn to snort, but he merely smirked and held in the snort. He was much classier than to snort like a pig and a certain Viking. Eric narrowed his eyes at his little kitten. He could tell she was trying to honestly explain things to him and not insult, even her offer to explain things to him wasn't to demean him but to help him. He replied dryly, "Thank you for the offer, my little kitten. Your help is much appreciated."
She smiled brightly, completely oblivious to his dripping sarcasm and chirped, "Your most welcome, Mr. Northman."
This time Godric couldn't help but added with a blank face just to goad his progeny, "Yes, do ask when you miss it, Eric."
Eric gave his maker an exasperated this-is-not-funny-at-all look. But Godric merely looked cheeky with his twinkling blue-gray eyes. Eric told himself that this was payback for all those years of mischief he caused Godric during his years as a new born. In fact, it was decades, almost a century of extreme mischief, rather than a few years. Then for many more centuries, Eric continued on pestering his master, it was just the bond between them. He was the mischief-maker and Godric the calm and wise guardian.
Eric watched Arya suddenly tug on Godric's sleeve and then chirp, "We must be going, mi amigo tatuado. We have much to accomplish this night. Also, I am sure Mr. Northman has much business to take care of. He is a very busy man, you know and not on a visit of recreational purposes like us."
Eric felt thoroughly and childishly disgruntled. How dare they go and have fun and leave him with all the work! The other mature side of him grumbled that really Godric was on a vacation of sorts and they were participating in strange human activities which were in no way fun. At least not for him. Cooking, horrible jokes, cartoon movies about fishes, horrible jokes, discussing books and more horrible jokes. See, nothing remotely fun about any of that, if he had to be brutally honest, it was all dreadfully torturous. Eric nodded grimly. Then why the hell did he feel the extreme urge to brood and sulk?
Godric agreed, "How very right you are, my friend. We must be off. Eric, I shall see you later."
With that, like the gentleman he was, he picked up Arya's bag, despite her firm statement of she was very much capable of carrying her own bag, he walked away with Arya. Before she left though, she did beam brightly at Eric and tell him, "Goodnight, Mr. Northman. See you tomorrow."
He grumbled to himself and was in a slightly pissy mood, from what Pam observed and it made her slightly gleeful since she guessed it was something about Godric and little blossom. Eric stayed in his office in the beginning of the night and sulked in his lonesome.
Eric did call in Ginger that night for a talk. When she asked if he wanted to drink from her, he declined and then he glamored her for the answer he was seeking. He found her answering in her annoying but very much dazed voice, "My little angel. She is so sweet, and she does so much. The other children are so horrible to her. They just can't see her and how wonderful she is, you know. She is my family and I love her so much. I loved her from the moment Katie showed me her and I took her in my arms."
To Eric's slight horror and fascination, Ginger's eyes were leaking a lot of tears and it was making her make-up run down her face. He listened to her and hoped that she would just stop leaking, "Arrie loves me a lot too, you know. She wants to take care of me, but it should be me taking care of her. I do as much as I can, and she told me it's enough and perfect. She said she is happy. But I can tell that she gets so lonely. You know how very very smart she is. But those horrible people in her school, they get jealous and hate her for it. I complained to her school about it, but Arrie told me she is fine and she is handling it. She will be out in a year from that horrible school and then she will go to college with smart people like her. She said that to me. She told me everything will work out."
Ginger was sniffing loudly and still continuing in a sad, shrilly voice, "Arrie isn't mean to anyone. She finds good things in everyone, you know. Even me. She doesn't hate me for drinking, or having sex with people, or letting vampires bite me or even working here. She doesn't hate vampires at all. I was so happy when I saw Mistress Pam and you being nice to her. She really is a sweet girl, you know. So sweet and her eyes are strange, I know. But they are her eyes, why should those awful people make fun of her. She will be so pretty when she grows up, you will see, Master. Then all those awful boys at her school will be so sorry they were mean to her and those girls will be so jealous. Katie was pretty too, you know."
Eric listened and put every word away in his memory. He could tell that Ginger really did love the little girl. She was taking care of her in the best way she knew how. She continued babbling, "She doesn't have any friends. I worry about her, you know. I was so happy when I found out she has that vampire boy over and they are hanging out, you know. She finally has a friend and she laughs and jokes these days. She is smart and knows how to take care of herself. I trust her. She isn't silly like me, you know. But I didn't tell her you know. I worried. I know you told her you would protect her and you wouldn't let anyone harm her, even her new friend Godric. But I checked when she was sleeping last night for fang marks. She is so happy that she has a friend you know. And he looks so young, around her age. They talk and laugh. They could be good friends. She could finally be not alone, you know."
After Eric had heard enough of her blabbering and the information he was seeking. He glamored her again into forgetting the conversation they had and sent her back working. He was surprised at the fleeting thought he had about glamoring her into telling Arya not to invite Godric over anymore. But he resisted that selfish urge and let them be. Godric had a friend and he seemed happy and Arya it seemed was not alone anymore. Eric told himself it wouldn't be for all that long, Godric would be leaving soon for his area anyway.
Later that night after he his meal, Pam came in his office to inform him that the vermin were waiting for him. His throne was waiting. He nodded dismissively. He was in a brooding mood and to feel a little better, he thought of teasing Pam and nothing teased Pam more than to dangle something in her face that she did not have or did not even know about. He was with in his right as her maker to be all knowing. He informed Pam blandly, "Little Arya has quite the talented and versatile tongue."
Pam looked at him sharply and raised an eyebrow and asked, "You mean to say you were at the receiving end of said talented tongue? Isn't she a little too young for you, Eric?"
Eric glared at her with the intensity of a thousand suns. His Pam was too cheeky for her own good sometimes. He growled, "You know very well that I did not mean it in that manner. Godric informed me and I found out this evening that Arya is fluent in French and Spanish."
Pam looked very interested at that and commented, "She really is very clever, isn't she? The more I find out about her, the more I find reasons for turning her once she grows up."
Eric nodded once. He agreed with her assessment of the girl's intellect, but something about Pam turning her did not sit well with him. He figured it must be the fact that Arya was a little child and he could not think of her being turned yet. But he did applaud Pam's choice.
Suddenly Pam looked up at him in a very devious manner that made Eric brace himself for another cheeky comment. Pam commented innocently, "Don't you find it curious Eric, that it was Godric who discovered Arya's talented tongue?"
Before he could even start admonishing her about how he did not mean it in the manner and Godric did not do anything with his little kitten and how Pam should mind her own tongue, Pam zoomed out of the office as fast as she could. Eric felt very sour and for the rest of the night he brooded. The only reason the vermin at his feet while he was on his throne were not the victims of his temper was because of the messages he received every now and then from his little kitten, informing him of what his master and she were doing and about things she thought were funny. Also a few horrible jokes. His lips did twitch a few times as he told himself firmly, the jokes were not in anyway funny.
