Chapter Notes: Roughly 3 or four days from the trial is how much time has passed from the trial to this chapter.

Warning: transphobic stuff later in the chapter.


"Yeah, so last time they argued a few days later, Bill and Sookie fucked and then they weren't mad at each other? It will probably happen again when she finds out that Bill has a new progeny, she was already pretty mad at him for not telling her that he was going to be punished. I don't get it. Sex is fine and all, but wouldn't it be better to try to talk and find the real source of conflict in the relationship so that further issues won't occur in the future?"

"You have a point, but," Eric waved his hand, taking a moment to look away from his paperwork. "Sex."

Kit snorted, looking at Eric from somewhat upside down as they lounged over the armrest of the couch. "How eloquent of you. So, what—"

The door to the office swung open suddenly, and both occupants were quick to pay attention, Eric stepping around his desk to a more defensible position in front of Kit. Their tensions eased slightly at seeing it was just Bill with his new progeny trailing behind. They cast a quick look to Eric and he gave a slight shrug, not aware of what Bill was there for either.

"You need to take her." Bill spoke, and it was impossible not to hear the demand in his voice that he tried to hide.

Eric leaned against the front of his desk. "This is your punishment, not mine. What am I supposed to do with her?"

"Excuse me, I can hear you, Mr. Rude." Jessica snarked from the door of the office.

"I wanna go to the bar. I wanna be one of those dancers. Oh, I'm hungry." Jessica turned to look in the office once again, taking notice of Kit on the couch. "Ooh, can I eat her?"

"No." The three in the room chorused.

"I'm not a her, I'm a they." Kit finished.

"She won't listen to me. It'll take more time than I have to teach her obedience." Bill returned his focus to the conversation with Eric.

"You can't handle one little girl, Bill? Newborns can be like this. She's not even one night old."

"That is not the issue." Bill sat down on one of the chairs in front of Eric's desk.

Eric hummed, but didn't press for more. He, and likely Kit as well knew what Bill was rushing for time for. He would rather go obsess over Sookie than deal with the incredible importance and responsibility of being a maker. Eric shrugged off his jacket and laid it over Kit's shoulders, who had since shifted to sit on the edge of the couch, legs wide and elbows resting on their knees as they paid attention to the scene before them. Kit reached up and tugged at the jacket, trying to bring it closer around their shoulders

"Want to stay with your maker, don't you?" Eric addressed Jessica for the first time.

"No," Jessica turned back to look at Eric. "He's a dick. Dick, dick, dick. You're cute. Can I sit in your lap?"

"No." Eric and Kit chorused.

"You're not his type." Kit continued on.

Jessica turned on Kit. "And what? You are?"

Eric stiffened, but didn't do much else. As long as it stayed as a fight of words, Eric would stay out of it. He has witnessed the swapped jibes and snark between them and Pam, and he could almost feel the tension that was building in the air like it had before, but more aggressive.

With teeth bared, Kit retaliated. "Honestly, I don't know if I fit his type. I've walked in on him fucking plently of times, so there definitely is a wide variety there. But you are definitely not it. Really, I don't think many people would want to fuck a whiny, obsesivly attention seeking virgin like you."

"So what if I'm a virgin? How did you know that anyway? What so you know about sex?" Jessica snapped back, her tone accusatory.

"Well first off, you're growing up - or should I say grew up?- in the Bible belt, look somewhere between sixteen and twenty, and you're still wearing what you went to ground in; it's not hard to tell that you're a virgin. And about sex, I know a hell of a lot more than you do. I've written and drawn more heavy sex scenes than you can ever imagine, and needed to research in depth each one. I'd like to think that I know a bit more about sex than the avarage person, including you."

Kit's tone never wavered, and they ended their little tirade with a cruel smirk. Jessica was quiet for the first time since she arrived. Eric leaned back with a chuckle, proud of Kit, though he would never admit it. Jessica's demeanor gave no indication of anger or resolve to retaliate against Kit, so Eric was satisfied in relaxing himself.

"Jessica." He commanded the baby vampire's attention to himself. "Close the door behind you."

The red-head scowled, but did as she was told, and stood to the side of the room. Eric turned to Kit, amusement leaking back onto his features.

"You know, liten räv (little fox), I would like one of those drawings, of myself, of course."

Kit huffed and put their feet up on the couch again, with their phone in hand. "We can discuss medium and price later, but I reserve the right to charge you more than my usual commissions."

"More valuable subject?"

Kit halfway rolled their eyes to look into Eric's. "Mental scarring."


Eric had finally gotten the stubborn girl to sit in one of the chairs against the wall with a book on vampire law, with a threat of what would happen to her should the book be damaged in any way. He settled with Kit on the couch, much like they had folded into it and each other before.

"I've seen you snark with Pam before, though it was more good natured than you were with Jessica, so why don't you speak that way with Sookie, even if it is just in jest?"

"It is a different situation." Kit shrugged, not wanting to lift their eyes from their phone.

And there are more serious repercussions possible.

"I should be going soon." Kit sighed, finally lifting their eyes to meet Eric's gaze. "It's getting late, I want to try to wake up before noon, and you clearly have things to attend to."

"I suppose so, though I would much appreciate it if you did not leave me alone with that thing." Eric tilted his head towards Jessica.

Kit stood with a snort. "You'll be fine, I think. Just text me when it's over so I can come again. It looks like our conversation about drainers is going to have to wait a little while."

"Yes it will. As soon as I am free to do so, we will have that conversation."

Kit gave a nod and walked out the door, their things already packed away in the bag over their shoulder.

"Why did they want me to call them they instead of she?" Jessica asked as soon as the door had closed, just barely lifting her eyes from the book.

Eric sighed, reminding himself that this girl had been raised in a glorified cage, some things would take patience.


"So try to be a little extra kind if you run into Arlene. Rene got in trouble with the law or something a few towns over and most likely not be back."

Kit nodded and worked on rolling out the pie crust as Gran pulled a finished crust from the oven, ready to be layered with pecan filling. They were working on preparing sweets together, needing extra help for the extras for the Descendants of the Glorious Dead meeting. It was mostly quiet as they worked, light conversation filling the space otherwise. It had been a long while since Kit was able to have a comfortable conversation with Gran or Sookie, not since they had broken away from the mindset that they had been raised in.

"You know, I was reading the news and there was this story about these boys pretending to be girls, and they wanted to run on the girls track team. I just don't think it's fair that those poor girls have to be pitted against those men when they have worked so hard."

Kit tensed. This was not a conversation topic that they wanted to deal with. They had at first tried to argue back, tried to get Gran to see reason, but it never went that way. Gran had claimed that college had muddled their brain, taught them some things that weren't really true. They were never able to convince Gran to change her mind. If Gran was able to accept Laff, then why couldn't she extend the same courtesy to gender expression? Kit had given up on argument, it was tiring and had no point to it anymore if she refused to change.

Kit only hummed in response, something that wasn't quite affirmative or negative, just enough to give Gran an idea that they were listening. They were half heartedly listening as they brought the dough into the next pan, pausing a moment to think.

A new perspective maybe?

"Didn't Frances Clayton, a woman, fight in the Civil War as a man? Deborah Sampson did the same thing in the Revolutionary War as well."

"Try not to interrupt someone when they are speaking next time, okay dear?" Gran waited for Kit's nod to continue. "That was a different situation in different times. Those women, because dressing up as they did didn't change the fact that they were women, did that to honor their country. They never claimed to turn against what God had created them to be. What those boys did was turn away from what God has designed, and it was wrong. Understand."

Kit nodded, losing the renewed will that they once had.

So much for a new perspective.

Kit finished up the pie crust they were working on, shoulders drooping that much more, and a weariness in their eyes that wouldn't be solved through sleep.

"Okay Gran." Kit pushed the last pie crust toward her. "I'm going to head up to my room now. I was up early and would like to get a little extra sleep."

"Okay dear." Gran smiled wide, and Kit gave back a forced one.


End Notes: Eric gave his coat to Kit, a sweet moment that also holds more. Eric is covering them in his scent, as kind of a way to warn off Bill and Jessica. Vampires do have scent stuff, because those senses are way stronger than humans. So if a human (usually through a blood exchange) smells like a certain vampire, then they are that vampire's. The verbal claim takes the place of that or reinforces it.

Eric forces himself to have a little patience with Jessica over things that she would have missed out on because of her upbringing, but her attitude and whininess is not something he wants to deal with.

Okay, Kit has a nickname from Eric! Liten räv means little fox, at least according to Google translate. A kit is a baby fox, which is where I derived the nickname from.