Chapter Notes: Kit, Eric, and Pam have been texting back and forth for a bit, and Kit has been back to Fangtasia a few times if they had something to do in Shreveport. So there had been interaction, but not long enough time spent in person. This chapter is a scheduled meet up for the most part. I will try to give a rough idea of passing time before each chapter in the future as an easier read. After each chapter, if there is something I thought I would like to explain or comment on, I will do that as well.
"Oh."
Everything halted, from the gyrating of his hips to the sucking of his mouth upon the bleached blonde's neck, when he lifted his head to meet the eyes of Kit standing in his office doorway.
"Well. I will make sure to lock the door, but I'm just going to take a seat on the couch 'til you're done."
Eric said nothing in return, and instead watched the odd human, lips parted with the stain of blood still on them. They did as said they would, locked the door and settled themselves on the couch, and attached earbuds to themselves as they drowned out the world with music, paying no more mind to what Eric had chosen to occupy himself with. The blonde below him arched her back, brushing her breasts against his chest, looking for friction. Her movement came with a whine and a new flow of blood out of the wound on her neck. Eric's attention was again brought down to the woman beneath him on his desk, and he resumed his earlier movements without a second thought.
Sometime later, Eric sauntered out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist, and another in his hands against his head. His desk had long been cleared of any bodily fluids or bodies. Kit was still reclined on the couch, but had taken their earbuds out sometime when Eric was showering. They had finally looked up from their phone when Eric stood in front of the couch, arms crossed and looking down curiously at the human.
Kit raised an eyebrow. "As enjoyable as the sight is, I think pants would be necessary to conduct a conversation."
Eric rolled his eyes, but complied and turned to put clothes on. "I will have you know that I have had many a conversation while naked."
"I'm sure you have, but not this one."
Eric huffed, but didn't say anything more. He nudged Kit to lean away from the back of the couch with his foot, and took a seat on the other end of the couch, tucking one leg against the backrest while the other foot was planted on the floor, and rested Kit's legs into his lap.
"So, I promised to tell you about Vikings as I knew them, so what do you want to know?"
Kit tucked their phone away in their pocket, a contemplative look on their face. "I don't know. I know I'll probably come up with more questions and ask them later, so to start, how about a story about your gods?"
"There are so many of those." Eric drummed his fingers on Kit's calf. "But I think I have one. Would you like to hear about the time that Loki made a bet on his head?"
"Sure."
"So, Loki is a trickster, he likes to cause mischief. One day, he ended up cutting off all of Sif's long golden hair. Sif, the wife of Thor, and Thor himself were both furious at Loki. Thor threatened Loki's life if he did not find some way to fix what he had done. So Loki went to the dwarves, famous for their forging abilities, and asked for their aid. And the dwarves did so, crafting golden hair for Sif that would grow as real hair did. In that time they also crafted Gungnir, Odin's staff; and Skíðblaðnir, a boat with the ability to shrink into one's hand.
"Now, Loki seems to be unable to keep himself out of trouble for long, so he makes a bet with Brokkr that his brother dwarf, Sindri, that he can't make three better items than what they had already crafted. Loki, as I said before, made the bet on his own head. The dwarves got to work, and in an attempt to not lose the bet, Loki turned himself into a stinging fly, but was unable to distract Brokkr for the most part, he did manage to cause a minor mishap on the third object.
"When all is done, the dwarves and Loki go to Asgard to present what the dwarves had made. Sif and Thor were pleased with the hair. Odin received the staff. Freyr received the boat. The next three items were revealed afterward. The first was a magic boar, called Gullinbursti, and was said to run better than any horse. The second was a magical ring, called Draupnir, that would create eight copies of itself on every ninth day. The third, which I am sure you have heard of, is Thor's hammer, Mjölnir. The hammer was agreed to be the best item crafted, and Loki tried to flee when he realized he lost his bet, but Thor stopped him. Brokkr was going to cut off his head, but Loki protested, saying that Brokkr could cut off his head, but none of his neck. Brokkr was unable to do so, so instead, he sewed Loki's lips shut, if only for a short time.
"Was that a satisfactory story?"
Kit's only response was a simple nod. Eric took the time to study them, as their mind seemed elsewhere.
"You look like you have another question on your mind, little human."
"I…" A small sound of frustration emanated from the back of their throat.
Eric's features did not shift, but his attention did. He listened as their heart rate seemed to grow erratic. He watched as they tried to crack the knuckles that had already been cracked some time ago. He smelt the slight increase in salt as they blinked to keep potential tears at bay.
"What about gender and sexuality?" Kit spoke even though their throat seemed to tighten on them and prevent the words from coming through.
"What about it?"
Kit was slow to speak, but quick to wipe at a tear that had fallen. Eric sat up more fully and leaned in closer to Kit, tilting their head up with a bent finger.
"Hej, what is this all about? Is this about your last question?" Eric met their eyes, brimming with tears and sorrow. "Why do you really want to know about gender and sexuality among Vikings?"
Kit's hands shook within their lap, fingers pressed tightly against their palms, and they closed their eyes as they took a jagged breath. "I want to know if you're going to reject me for who I am."
"Oh."
Kit couldn't focus on Eric's tone, couldn't tell if it was pity, understanding, or finality. They didn't dare open their eyes to look through the blurred lens of tears to see the rejection they feared, the rejection that they had been met with before.
Their legs were gently pushed to the ground, and they readied themselves to stand, to leave. They had prepared for this, but it didn't mean that it hurt any less. They had tried to prepare themselves to not see Pam or Eric again. They had prepared the lines to say in their head already, the emotionless way to say goodbye. They worked to shift their weight to their feet. Their throat tightened, so tight, too tight as they tried to fight back the tears that were already in the process of falling.
But their balance was upset – they were falling. Their eyes opened and were met with white – Eric's shirt. They gave a sharp inhale of his scent; it was crisp like the ocean on a cool day and something that was just strength. His arm encircled their waist, the other on the back of their head, anchoring them to him.
"I'm not rejecting you."
Oh.
Oh.
They brought a hand up to hold tightly to his shirt, afraid of losing what they had just found. They let their tears fall freely as their throat released the tension within it, and their breath came in short bursts.
Oh.
He just held them. The weight of his arms on them was an anchor to this reality and a comfort that he couldn't begin to comprehend, but they just felt. He let them exhaust their tears, not sure of what else to do. He waited and listened as their heart beat returned to its normal patter, and they had calmed down.
"In the time that I was raised, there was shame in femininity in men, as it was seen as weakness. Marriage was also only seen as a way to further the population, so it was only between a man and a woman. It was a different time, a different set of circumstances. Truthfully, I have never thought deeply on the views of gender and sexuality that were around when I was human.
"But keep in mind, that my ideals do not need to fit the culture that I was raised in. Look at yourself, your friend Lafayette, or Pam for example. Not only that, but I have lived a thousand years, and do not abide by such ideals anymore.
"I will not reject you for your gender or for your sexuality."
The room lapsed into silence as Eric waited for Kit to regain their barings. Slowly, Kit's hand released the tight grip it had on Eric's shirt, and Eric could feel their muscles relax under his hand.
"I'm sorry for crying on you." Was the whisper that finally came.
"Don't be. While normally such displays in humans are somewhat repulsive to me, you are different. I like you, and so does Pam. Such a thing isn't to be taken lightly."
"So Pam wouldn't-"
"No, and I can prove it." Eric ignored their light words of protest and called Pam to himself.
The blonde walked in the door a moment later, a smirk on her lips at the scene in front of her. "How domestic."
"Pam, berätta för dem att du inte kommer att avvisa dem för deras kön eller sexualitet. (Pam, tell them that you won't reject them for their gender or sexuality.)"
"Of course I won't." Pam scoffed. "I don't care what you identify as, just as long as you're not an asshole. A little bitchiness is welcome from time to time, though."
A timid smile graced their features, and Pam returned a smile, although hers was a little more menacing.
"I will be getting back to my post now, but you and I, little human, will need to get together sometime." Pam gave a wave of her fingers before walking back out the door.
Eric raised his hand from Kit's head and rested it behind his own. "See, she likes you."
"Yeah." Kit's voice was breathy, their emotions still working to catch up. "Can we stay like this, at least for a little bit longer?"
"Sure, I find this quite comfortable as well. Would you like to hear another story?"
"Yes."
Eric began another story, this one another about Loki and Thor. Kit closed their eyes and rested against his chest, listening to how his voice reverberated inside of it.
Is this peace?
"Pam, what does demisexual mean?"
"Why, both you girls seem chipper this morning." Gran puttered around the kitchen, a late breakfast in the making.
Not a girl.
"It was a good night." Sookie responded, beaming.
Kit studied their sister carefully. "You were with Bill, right?"
A blush came upon Sookie's cheeks at the mention of the Vampire, and Kit said nothing more. A grin pulled at Kit's lips, they tried to hide it by taking a bite of their food, but was unsuccessful. Sookie lightly swatted Kit when she noticed.
"What about you, Kathleene? How was your night?"
My name is Kit.
"It was fine. Eric and I talked a lot about norse mythology." Kit's mood lightened slightly.
Gran was about to respond, but a chime from the rear of the house gained her attention instead. "I will be right back dears, I need to go switch over the laundry."
As Gran left the room, Sookie rounded on Kit. "Eric as in the Eric from Fangtasia?"
"Yes?"
"You need to stay away from him, he's dangerous."
Kit simply raised an eyebrow. "Says the woman who was just railed by a vampire."
Sookie huffed, but chose to stay quiet.
End Notes: (Yes, I cried while writing this) I did research the best I could, but it's pretty hard to find information on Vikings and the Norse. But generally, taking partners of any kind was fine, but for men specifically femininity was frowned upon. And they took male bottom shaming very seriously.
