Lessons of Life

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the True Blood characters (unfortunately). I only own my original stories and characters.

Chapter 14

"I'll get it Eric. You don't look in any state to take visitors" I said to him, looking at his blood stained eyes and vest. He didn't look the happiest with this but he gave a sideways glance at Godric and decided it was best to stay on the floor. I didn't blame him to be honest but I didn't think Godric had it in him to do anything major. I still hadn't let go of Godric yet. I was afraid he was going to keel over. I scooped him up and before he could protest, I put him on the bed. "Don't move" I ordered, walking out to answer the door. I pulled myself together and opened the door. "That's her" the little blond was saying, making a move to walk into the room. I closed the door a fraction, taking in the sweet smell. "Can I help you? I don't think anyone ordered room service but you do smell appetizing " "What? No. How rude of me, I'm Sookie. This is Bill" she informed me, waiting, I think for me to exchange the pleasantries. I didn't. "Em, we're here to check on Eric and Godric if you don't mind?" the human drawled on in a Southern accent, flashing a smile. What was that smell? Not quite human. I felt the little tug on the shields of my conscious but in vampire mode they were shut tight. A Aha…a little mind reader. "Yes I do mind". "Excuse me?" I instantly didn't like her or this Bill fellow; he instantly gave me the creeps the way he looked at me. Was she his? I spoke a little louder and slower; just so I was nicely condescending. "I…said…yes…I do mind if you check on Eric and Godric. Good night to you" and with that I shut the door.

"What the fuck. How rude! She can't do that can she Bill? Who is she?" I heard he ask as she walked away from the door or more than likely dragged away by the vampire. "Sookie dearest please…we will see them at some point. Whoever she is she will be gone soon. She's probably one of Godric underlings" I heard the vampire respond. How wrong he was. Mental note: arrange a snack on Sookie and find out about this Bill fellow…possibly rock the boat a little.

I turned around facing the bedroom door. Neither Godric nor Eric weren't speaking a word. OK Sean…what the hell is the next move? I walked human pace back to the bedroom. Both Godric and Eric looked up at me; Godric still on the bed and Eric still on the floor. I walked over taking a seat on one of the armchairs. "Well, it seems we have a lot to discuss." I said. Both vampires nodded. Great, neither of the seemed to know what to do, and I guess it will be up to me to try to take charge of things.

"OK, firstly, what the hell happened to your nest Godric?" One step at a time Sean. Yes, good….I can do this. "It was one of the fellowships of the sun fanatics; he came to the nest and blew up the house. We lost many good humans and vampires. We retreated to this hotel for safety". "OK. So if you were planning to meet the sun; had you resigned from your station as Dallas sheriff or do you still hold a position?" It was Eric who answered this one. "The bitch Nan Flanagan stripped him of his title. He second in command Isabelle is to take his place". I nodded. "So you have no duties you are bound to?" "No" Godric answered, back to staring at the duvet. "Good. We will stay near to Eric then". Eric looked at me. He seemed surprised. "Do you have any issues with this Eric?" "No, no not at all. Godric is always welcome in my home…..a….and you are welcome" he added, although the later with less conviction. "Eric we have a lot of things to sort out between us. And for Godric's sake I hope we can work on amicable terms. However, I will not take any crap from you" I added. I could see Eric ready to argue so I butt in before he had time "I am over five times your age Eric. You will respect me for my age as a vampire if nothing else. But I would hope you can respect me as I am now a central part of Godric's life". Godric looked at me when I said this. I could see his eyes momentarily soften before saddening again. "Godric, you are mine and in vampire traditions I lay my claim on you". Godric only nodded, meeting my eyes once more. "Considering what has happened I don't want you out of my sight any more than is needed. Is that clear?" I stated. Again, another nod from Godric. "You will do what I say, when I say it until I can build up some trust in you. Right now I don't trust you to take care of yourself. I will take that responsibility as of now." "Eric, go and clean yourself up and make plans for travel back to Shreveport tomorrow night. You have tonight to settle up any business here." I was surprised to see him nod and move to get up off the ground. He gave Godric a fleeting sideways glance. I think he was glad for an excuse to leave to be honest.

"Godric, you need to feed" I said. "Will I arrange a donor?" Eric asked as he stood by the door. "That won't be necessary; I fed Godric for many years. He will do well on my blood" and at that I dropped fang and bit into my wrist, walking towards the bed. I could see the look of confusion and curiosity in Eric's face as he left us.

I pulled Godric towards me, resting his head on my lap and offered my wrist to him. He tentatively moved his mouth towards my wrist and let his fangs drop; sinking them into my wrist, pulling slowly on my blood. I ran my fingers through his hair. "I missed this. I suppose this is what a mother feels like when she nurses her child" I mused. "It has always felt so natural for me to do this for you." I sat there for a few minutes more, running my fingers through his hair over and over again. Eventually, I gently pulled my wrist away and smiled looking down at this bloody mouth and fangs. Instinct took over and I leaned in to lick the blood away from his mouth as he closed his eyes, taking in an unnecessary breath. I gently lay a small kiss to each of his fangs. This was so so so far away from anything I had prepared for when I came looking to confront Godric. Pulling my face away, I gently ran my fingers along his cheek bones and jaw line. Then I waited until he opened his eyes again. I could feel his nervousness through the bond. "Come on. You need to get cleaned up".

It felt like complete déjà vu from when he killed his maker. Here was my Godric again; vulnerable and scared. I stood up pulling him up with me and led him to the bathroom; leading him over to sit on the side of the bathtub while I turned on the taps to fill it up. I reached for the folded towels and hung them on the heated radiator. Searching around I found what I was looking for: the free bath stuff you always got in hotels. I opened up the little packages, getting soap, a face cloth and those little bottles of shampoo and conditioner. I could see Godric in the mirror, eyeing every little move I made. I ran my hand through the water in the bath, not that I needed to really worry about temperature but a nice hot bath should help relax him a little, or so I hoped. I walked over in front of Godric and held his head in my hands. "Mine" I whispered as I ghosted a brief kiss across his lips. I pulled him up to stand before me. He was so beautiful. I'd forgotten just how good he looked with his tattoos. I lifted my hands to rest my finger tips on his forehead; running them lightly and slowly down his face, along his jaw and down his neck. I ghosted my finger tips out along his shoulders and down his arms, only to move back along his arms and across his check, gently running them downwards. I stopped at the top of his trousers and undid the button. I heard his fangs drop down, I felt his lust, but I also felt his sadness and confusion. He wasn't ready for anything sexual and come to think of it, neither was I. The timing wasn't right…yet. I sent back reassurance through the weak bond we had created. We would need to make a proper bond soon. I was never letting him out of my sights again.

I slid his zipper down and let his trousers fall to the floor and led him to the bath. "In" I didn't need to say anything else. He stepped into the bath and sat down but looked away. I reached in and pulled his face towards me realizing why he looked away. I watched as a tear slid down his face. I leaned in a licked the blood away. I had only ever tasted Godric once before, when the time presented itself in Denmark It was over eight hundred years ago. Eric coming along kind of put a stopper to that. I let the tear linger on my tongue and then swallowed…"mmmm" was all I could manage to say. I closed my eyes savoring the taste, forgetting where I was until I felt Godric touch my hand. I looked down to see him barely touch my hand with his index finger. It looked as though he thought I might set him alight. I took the washcloth and dipped it into the hot water and lathered it with soap and started washing his back. "It's going to be OK Godric. We are going to work through this." I washed his entire body, checking for any signs of unhealed damage as I went.

I washed his hair, massaging his head as I did so; making every effort to try to let him relax a little. Although I think I'd have a better chance relaxing a feral cat caught in a trap. After I rinsed his hair out I stood up and walked over to grab the hot towel, motioned for him to get out of the bath. I wrapped the hot towel around him and grabbed the other towel, drying his hair, patting his skin dry. I led him into the bedroom again, looking around for signs of his clothes but then remembered this was Eric's room. "Do you have anything other than these pants?" I said, holding the white linen trousers up. "I think there are sandals here somewhere". Great, when did Godric go for this fashion look? I spotted Eric's bag and unzipped it, taking out the first t-shirt I could find. "This will have to do for now" I said, handing him the white pants and a black t-shirt. "We are going to have to put in an appearance in the lobby. There will be rumors and we need to show a strong front. It's best to get this over with now, rather than rumors circulating and getting out of control". I could see this was the last thing Godric wanted to do but he nodded anyway, putting on his clothes. "Remember, you are seen as a strong leader to many vampires. You must keep up that persona but it will soon spread about how old I am. I will take charge when I see it's necessary". For all intent and purpose, he looked like a lost little boy; standing there in white baggy linen pants, a baggy black t-shirt and sandals. I grabbed the room key, my room key and held out my hand. "Come on, we need to go to my room first so I can fix myself a little". He walked over obediently to me, taking my hand in his.

I led him to my hotel room, sitting him over on the bed. I got to work on myself straight away. I took off my dress and shoes, pulling a new one off a hanger in the wardrobe. I chose a more casual navy coloured dress and slip-ons, pinning my hair up into a messy bun. I didn't want to over dress, especially the way Godric was looking, so I toned it down a few notches. I applied a bit of lipstick, popped in earrings and I was ready. I stuffed the room keys into a little navy clutch bag. "Let's get this over with" I said turning to Godric. Once again he nodded, taking my hand. I hoped that he was going to be able to get through this.

Before the lift doors opened to the lobby, I saw Godric straighten his shoulders a little and lift his head. He looked to me and I nodded approvingly, giving his hand a little squeeze. We stepped into the lobby and immediately Eric was before us. "Godric, Sean" he said as his bowed his head. "Good evening Eric" Godric replied. I gave a curt nod. Eric led us over to sit beside him. A dark haired female came over to us straight away. She was very pretty and seemed distinctly of Spanish origins. "Godric, I'd like to thank you for suggesting me to take the role of sheriff. I still think you are better as sheriff that I can ever be". Godric waved his hand to one of the empty seats at the table. "Please sit Isabelle. You will make a fine Sheriff". She smiled but looked worried all the same. "Isabelle, I'd like you to meet Sean" he said, as he took hold of my hand. I smiled warmly and nodded, noticing Isabelle watch how Godric took my hand. "It's very nice to meet you Isabelle" I said. "Will you be coming back to Dallas to the nest Godric? I've already started plans on rebuilding the house" Isabelle asked. I gave Godric's hand a little squeeze. "Godric's going to be staying with me for now but I'm sure we will visit, won't we Godric?" I positively purred. I needed this to go smooth. I wouldn't have other vampires questioning the sanity of my Godric and we needed as many friends and allies as we could get. "Oh. Well, yes of course. It will be lovely to have you visit. You are always welcome. You will be missed Godric". We chatted for a little while. Isabelle was really nice. I could see why Godric had her as his second in command. She still held her human compassion. She would be a good friend to keep. The next few hours were roughly the same. There were well wishers, wanting to thank Godric for one thing or another. Mostly, vampires were just nosy It was obvious that rumors spread about Godric, about giving himself over to the fellowship and possibly it was leaked about the rooftop. That Sookie human was there and she did seem to belong to the dark haired vampire. Bill was it? They could have talked. At one point she made to come over but I shot out a death glare and Bill ushered her away. He's smarter than I gave him credit for.

We did as much damage control as possible. Godric did brilliant. He was polite and introduced me to many of the vampires but neither of us elaborated any further on who I was. You could see they were itching to know but afraid to ask. Eric did fine too; going along with the conversations.

I could feel the eyes of the room on us. I needed a drink. "I'm going to get a drink" I said to Godric, giving his hand one last squeeze before I walked to the bar. I ordered two donors. It was a little unnerving knowing the whole room was ogling me as I had my dinner, but I needed to drink that little bit extra, especially when I was drinking to feed Godric now. I'd had enough of putting on the little show. I was exhausted and headed back over to Eric and Godric, sitting on the armrest of Godric's chair. I leaned in and gave Godric a quick peck on the lips. "Godric will be staying with me today Eric. I will meet you in the lobby tomorrow an hour after sunrise" and with that I stood, pulling Godric up with me. Eric stood too and nodded, eyeing Godric and said his good days to us. As soon as the lift started to rise I let out a sigh of relief and looked around to Godric. "You did really well". He said nothing but leaned in and rested his head on my shoulder, clearly exhausted. The door pinged open and I led him into my hotel room, locking the door after me and used the remote to close down the light tight shutters. "You'll have to wear those back to Shreveport tomorrow" I said, gesturing at his clothes. "You'd better take them off". Smooth Sean…reaaal smooth. Nope, not now. I took my dress off but went into the bathroom to change underwear and pull on pajamas Godric had seen me naked hundreds of times but never in my adult body. I wasn't quite ready for that yet. I was thankful Godric had got into the bed under the covers when I went back into the bedroom. I let my hair down and pulled the covers back a little, sliding in beside him. "Drink" I said as I offered my wrist. He didn't even think twice. He dropped fang and slid them gently into my wrist and as I tugged away he licked the remaining blood off. I smiled but then found myself feeling a little awkward. But I needn't have been. Godric slid a little closer to me; moving towards me until his arm brushed against my arm. "Good morning Sean" was all he said before he slipped into day rest. I was caught completely off guard. I hadn't expected him to make close contact like that. It was so subtle but I was good to see him initiating contact, not just me. I smiled to myself and allowed the daylight to take me to rest.