Thanks for the reviews guys! It makes me feel really great to come home from a long day and see that some people are enjoying my fluff! - R

"What do you mean lay down?"

Sookie looked at Eric in clear exasperation. "These aren't difficult instructions, Eric. Lay on the stupid blanket."

He sighed and settled on his back on the blanket. Sookie smiled in satisfaction and plopped next to him. The park was quiet at this time of day and the grass cushioned her back under the afghan.

"What is the purpose of this?" Sookie sighed and braced herself on one elbow to look down at his tense form.

"It's relaxing and fun to just be out her in the sun. Plus, we can get tans. Here just," she wiggled his stiff arm. "Relax your muscles! This is supposed to be enjoyable. You look like you're being tortured."

Eric rearranged himself experimentally. When the sun came out from behind a cloud, Sookie could see his body finally settle.

"See?" She laid back and closed her eyes. They were still and silent for a while. A dog barked somewhere in the distance and Sookie's eyes fluttered. She looked up at the sky and smiled.

"Eric," she nudged him with his elbow. "Doesn't that cloud look like a unicorn?"

He cracked an eye open. "It looks like people having sex."

"What?" Sookie screeched. "It does not! Look at that part right there." She pointed and Eric nodded.

"That's his head."

"And that point there?"

"That's her leg." Sookie tilted her head and blushed.

"Alright. What about that one?" He followed her finger and smiled lazily at her.

"A nice pair of breasts." When she pointed again he squinted then folded his arms behind his head casually.

"That one right there?" She nodded in anticipation. "That's a bunny."

She looked at him in stunned silence for a minute. "A bunny," she repeated.

"Mmhm. See? It's got a big, fluffy tail and floppy ears."

She stared at him for a moment then burst out laughing. "Just when I think I have you figured out. At least you didn't look for a dirty image in that one."

"I'm not looking for the images," he protested. "You're just avoiding them. I'm beginning to fear, my Sookie, that you might be a bit of a prude."

"I think you're mistaken, dear Eric," she mocked him. "Because actually it's just that you're a slut."

He grinned and rolled onto his side to face her. "I haven't had sex as a human in a millennium you know," he said suggestively.

She closed her eyes and snuggled deeper into the blanket as the sun beat down on them. "Mmm," she murmured. "You're probably really rusty."

He barked a laugh. "You could help me practice…" He trailed his fingers along her bare arm and she forced herself not to react.

"Just a reminder, Eric, those very human fingers are very, very breakable."

He flopped onto his back with a sigh, "prude." She could hear the mirth in his voice.

"Slut." They were silent for a second then she said, "Well it's good to see you haven't turned too human."

"What do you mean?" Eric turned his head to look at her.

"Well, I don't know, I thought that maybe being alive again you might, you know, get all those intense human emotions and stuff back. But you're still you."

Eric pondered this for a moment.

"It's not as if we lose all our humanity at the exact point of becoming a vampire." He was looking at the sky again. "We evolve that way over time because we have to. When I was turned, Sookie, humans did not know about vampires. I had to skulk in the shadows for a thousand years. I had to abandon my village, my family, my friends, my children."

Sookie glanced sharply over at him but his eyes were unfocused.

"You never get to say goodbye when you're turned. You really do die even though you're still walking around. The pain of that, of losing everything that you once knew and loved, and of being shunned and hunted by society…if I didn't separate myself from my emotions, I would have gone crazy."

"And besides," he continued. "After a thousand years the whole 'human experience' becomes kind of boring."

"Doesn't it get lonely, though?"

"Yes." Sookie was surprised by his blunt answer.

"I just couldn't imagine, like with Jason," she hesitated. "With Jason missing, I just, my insides are all jumpy. I can't imagine a life without him." Her eyes stung and she blinked them rapidly to chase away the tears threatening to fall.

"He seems more trouble than he's worth." 'Well, there's that bluntness again.'

"No," she said firmly. "No, Eric. He's my brother and he's a good person and he's looked out for me a lot over the years. We're all we have left."

"He got mixed up with a murderer, taking V, and with supernatural creatures who sell drugs," Eric smiled wryly at her. "It seems to me, you are the one constantly looking out for him."

"No, you don't know him. He has the best heart. You promised me you would help me find him."

"And I will," his voice was solemn. "I will make some phone calls when we get back to your house to see what I can find out."

Sookie watched as Eric studied a ladybug that had landed on the back of his hand.

"Do you think they'll know about, you know?"

"About your brother's good heart?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No, I mean about you being human."

"No," his gaze followed the bug as it flew away in a blur of orange. "Pam and Chow are trustworthy and I still sound the same, don't I?"

She considered this. "I guess. I think maybe your voice just sounds a little…less hard."

He leered at her, but before he could say anything she interrupted, "yeah yeah I know some hilarious innuendo about your penis."

Eric looked stunned then laughed. "Maybe you're not such a prude after all." He flipped onto his stomach and laid his head on his arms. Sookie concluded that he looked very good in the sunlight.

"It's nice out here in the sun like this isn't it," she asked dreamily.

"Yes," his face was serious and although she had a strict moral code against it, Sookie reached out with her mind to see what his thoughts were. It secretly thrilled her that she was finally able to see the inner workings of this man who had been such an enigma to her.

He was remembering Godric; how he had met the sun. His thoughts were tinged with worry as he contemplated his visions of his maker.

Unable to help herself, Sookie said, "I still talk to my Gran."

Eric lifted his head and gave her a puzzled look.

"I mean, I wouldn't worry too much about seeing Godric. Grief does strange things to us. And I have this feeling that you haven't let yourself really experience your loss in the way you should. I just thought you should know that I still talk to my grandmother too."

Eric's face darkened but he said nothing. Realizing that he probably felt violated, Sookie took one last peek inside his head to see how angry he was. He was picturing the two of them back at her house, in her bed…

"Eric!" Sookie sat up and slapped at him, her face burning. Eric chuckled and ducked his forehead against his arm.

"Anytime you want to look in my mind, Sookie, just let me know. I have plenty of interesting things for you to see."

"You're a pig," she spat out, her cheeks still enflamed.

"Well, those were my private thoughts."

"Yeah, yeah," she gave him one last dirty look. "I'll stay out from now on."

The silence that stretched between them was interrupted by Eric's stomach growling. He looked down at himself in surprise.

"I'm hungry." The look he gave her was so intense she could have sworn the ends of her hair singed.

"You're hungry for human food, remember," she warned. "Not for me."

He nodded in agreement. "You're right this is an entirely different hunger than the one I have for you."

Sookie smiled weakly.

"Wild boar and mead?" Sookie repeated slowly. "That was your favorite meal?"

"Yes," his eyes scanned the road and she thought he might jump out of his skin with excitement.

She steered the car around a large pothole and said thoughtfully, "I mean, I guess I could go to the grocery store and pick up a ham or something to make you."

"There!" Eric's yell nearly made her swerve the car into oncoming traffic. "There," he said again more calmly, his finger jabbing at the window. Sookie looked where he was pointed.

"There?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes," Eric's voice was insistent.

"Eric, listen, you're not going to like that place. There are plenty of better-"

"This restaurant was not invented when I was turned. I have spent years watching people eat there and they all have seemed to love it. I want to experience the delicious food that they all rave about."

Sookie sighed and put her blinker on. "As you wish."

The crowd at Burger King mostly consisted of children under the age of six with their parents or elderly couples. Sookie heaved a silent sigh.

"How's your burger?" She didn't even try to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

"This. Is. Delicious." Eric's mouth was stuffed with equal parts burger, French fry, and onion ring. "Sookie, you must have some of this." He shoved some fries across the table at her. "I cannot believe you were skeptical. Have you eaten here before?"

Sookie crinkled her nose. "I don't think I have ever seen you so excited about anything."

He slurped some soda and reached to open his third burger. Her eyes widened.

"You better be careful or you're going to get fat," she warned him.

He froze with a chicken nugget half way to his mouth. He put the hunk of meat down and regarded her with something that looked like pity.

"Sookie, I was the son of a king. Do you know what that means?"

Sookie stared in fascination at a glob of ketchup that stained the corner of his mouth. Was this really the same vampire who had brutally buried Russell in cement a few weeks ago?

"It means," Eric continued, seemingly undeterred by her silence. "That I ate like royalty every night. I was not subjected to porridge or bread as meals. We always had more than necessary and I never had a problem staying fit. You modern humans are just too busy watching the television to be active." He looked at her. "I was to be king," he stressed again as if she could not grasp the concept.

"Well in that case," Sookie's voice was cracking with exaggerated awe. "Here you go Your Highness ." She got up and snatched a cardboard crown sitting on the back counter and placed it on his head.

Eric remained silent and Sookie smirked as two young boys ran past them wearing the same symbol of royalty. She waited patiently for Eric to rip the crown off and get angry.

"Well," he began quiet seriously. "I thank you my lady." He gave her an exaggerated bow and she laughed in surprise and delight.

"You are the lord of fast food!"

He grinned at her and took another big bite of his burger.

"I am THE burger king."

Sookie suggested a walk after they got back to her house, mainly because Eric looked a little green after consuming so much greasy food and she thought the fresh air would do him good.

"So what's the best thing about being a human in 2010 then?"

Eric bent to pick a flower as he considered his answer. "Well the food has obviously seen some advancements."

"Indeed," Sookie deadpanned. "After a five star meal like that how could you not add food to your list?"

"But," he continued, ignoring her sarcasm. "At this moment I would have to say indoor plumbing."

"Oh," Sookie said. "Oh," she repeated as she thought of the consequences of using a bush as a toilet. "You had to go outside?"

"Yes. At night and in the winter we also kept a pot inside for-"

'Oh, guck.' Sookie grimaced.

"You went to the bathroom inside? And let it sit there with you all night?"

Eric was amused. "Yes if it was cold and dark. Just think Sookie: how would you have liked stumbling outside and letting the chilly February air stroke your bare skin?"

He tickled her sides playfully and she swatted his hands and sprinted away from him. He caught up to her easily and grabbed her hand to slow her down. Their fingers tangled clumsily for a moment before they dropped to their respective owners.

"I cannot even imagine," she said seriously.

"I know, but it was not so bad when you knew nothing different."

"But now…" she trailed off.

"Now," he leaned his face close to hers and whispered. "I am in love with your toilet."

Sookie snickered, "I bet."

They had reached her house again and their steps automatically slowed as they approached the porch.

"So, now what?"

"Now," Eric told her. "I begin the process of finding your brother."

Sookie began to follow him up the steps but he turned back and stopped her by placing both hands on her shoulders.

"You stay out here," he said softly.

"What? No, Eric I want to help-"

"And you will. But pacing around me like a fly in my vision will not expedite the process. You can help by staying out here and working on your tan. I will let you know what I find out. Here."

He thrust a bundle of flowers she had not noticed him picking into her hands. "Now go."

He was inside the house with the door shut behind him before she could protest. She walked haphazardly to her backyard and sat in the grass. She hoped Eric had some good connections.

Absently she smelled the flowers and looked toward the house where she could see Eric's shadowed figure moving in the windows. Today had been a weird day, she mused, weird but oddly enjoyable. She thought of the way his long fingers had twined with hers, just for a moment. She had never considered that she could have fun with the Viking, but that's just what today had been, she suddenly realized: fun. She and Eric Northman had spent a day together having a good time and learning about each other.

She slid so her back was on the ground and looked up at the shapes of the clouds. "A penis," she said to no one and then laughed so hard tears came to her eyes and she rolled onto her side. She had the urge to run inside and tell Eric about the cloud she had seen. She was certain he would appreciate the immaturity of the situation as much as she had.

Sookie stopped laughing and wiped her eyes. 'Could it be possible?' Yes, it seemed that she and the Sheriff of Area Five were becoming friends.