Don't own, don't sue!

A big thank you to my wonderful beta treewitch703!

So sorry for the wait, guys ! But my life's been quite hectic lately. I've actually decided to go back to school (hey, 22's not that old, right ?) so I have to study to pass the entrance exam. Besides, my mom will undergo a surgery soon so I'll have to take care of my dad and my parent's house as well as my boyfriend and my own house. I'll also have to watch my nieces for my sister and believe me at 10, 6 and 3 years old, they can wreak havoc in less than 3 minutes! This unfortunately means that I'll have even less time to write now, but I promise to do my best to not let you wait too long, 'kay ?

"A telepath?" Well, fuck me. "A real telepath?" Eric blurted, astonished. His fingers unconsciously tightened around hers. If it becomes a common knowledge...

"Why? Are there fake telepaths?" His little dancer asked, with a mocking smile. Smart mouth.

"I don't know," He told her truthfully. "I've never met a telepath before. I had a psychic once though. It was incredible."

"Did the psychic think so?" Sassy. Delicious.

He actually thought about it. His memory took him back to Greece about three centuries ago. A peasant girl with a soft tanned skin and a skilled mouth. That she used later to convince her town that he was a daímonas, a demon to hunt down. He cut her tongue for that, before letting her die from the resultant infection. What a waste. "For a while." He told her with a smirk she couldn't see.

"And how did it end for her ?" Sookie asked suspiciously.

"It was a long time ago." Now it was his turn to evade her question.

Sookie snorted. "You're not answering my question. Does that mean it didn't end well for her?"

"You seem to be quite perceptive." He complimented her.

"Still not answering." Sookie replied and if it weren't for the faint blush that had spread on her face, he would have thought she had decided to ignore his praise.

"She's been dead for centuries." Eric deadpanned. No need to tell her that she had died by his hand.

Sookie huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, apparently finally realizing that she wouldn't get a proper answer. "Fine. Whatever." That made him chuckle. That was one of Pam's favorite answers when he messed with her. He had never really understood what it meant but the results following this sentence often were that she quit nagging him - so it was all good in his book. Pam would also occasionally stomp her foot while saying those words, he idly wondered if his little dancer would be enough of a brat to do the same. Somehow he doubted it.

Silence fell upon them as he reflected on what he had just discovered. A telepath. A freaking mind reader! That brought so many questions... And so many opportunities as well. If he could use her powers, his area would become even more prosperous. She could screen each and every person who worked for him, find spies, and liars, and thieves - Pam had mentioned that someone might be embezzling from them but she wanted to verify that with their accountant first. Her talent could be very useful in that situation, if Pam was right.

Useful but dangerous as well. If other vampires found out that she was a telepath, they might try to use her. No fucking way anyone would use his little dancer. Besides, she had told him that she knew he was here because she couldn't hear him, but did that mean that she couldn't hear any vampire at all? If she could , her life was already forfeit. Unfuckingacceptable. And what about other supes? Weres, Shifters, Fairies? Could she hear them? Eric would have to find out and soon.

First, he'd have to introduce her to other vampires to see if she could hear them. Some trustworthy vampires: Pam, of course, Long Shadow, maybe, and some of his other underlings. But the thought of any other vampire - except maybe Pam, maybe - close to his little dancer was already making him reel. Once he'd figured whether or not she could read vampires, he definitely hoped not, if it was the case even he might not be powerful enough to protect her. He'd have to try her gift out on some weres and shifters too. But none of those animals were trustworthy so he'd have to think about that carefully, maybe the Herveaux - since the father was already indebted to him, and they'd be careful not to piss him off. As for shifters, well, if Eric was correct, one was living here, in Bon Temps, even owned the local bar. Maybe his little dancer knew him already. There again, the idea of his little dancer near to that filthy mutt almost made him physically sick. And his little dancer probably knew already if she could read fairies' minds, since she was one herself.

Even if she couldn't read any supes at all, her gift would be useful enough with just humans. There were so many of them who worked for vampires now, most of them hoping that if they did a good enough job, vampires would grant them the gift of immortality. Eric himself employed a lot of humans in his businesses, so if his little dancer could screen them, it would be quite useful. Maybe it would be better if she couldn't read any supes at all. At least, she would be safe. Supes are, by definition, secretive, so if the word spread through the grapevine that someone could read minds, it could end badly. For anyone who would attempt to hurt his little dancer, that is.

"Do you believe me?" Her voice rang into the night, dragging him out of those reflections.

Though she couldn't see him, he shrugged. "Why wouldn't I?" He replied. "Why would you tell me you're a telepath if that's not true?"

"True." His little dancer told him with a smile before shrugging. "People usually don't believe me. They just think I'm crazy."

"Crazy ?" Eric asked with distaste.

"Yeah, that's even my nickname in town. When I was a kid, I had a hard time telling the difference between thoughts and actual words. Every time someone would visit my Gran, I'd answer their thoughts or ask for clarification on ideas I couldn't understand. Between that and my..." His little dancer hesitated slightly and Eric tightened his grasp on her hand. "...situation, I was soon called Crazy Sookie."

Crazy Sookie, Eric thought with disdain. Humans really were stupid, could no-one see how wonderful his little dancer seemed to be? Shunning her because of her differences was merely showing the ugliness of the human nature. Humans had always kept what they couldn't understand at bay. They didn't deserve someone like his little dancer for she clearly was something else. She didn't belong to this world and Eric couldn't help but wonder why she had remained in the human world - not that he was complaining since he would never have met her if she lived in Faery – or why she was still living in that shabby house of her's? Could that be because of...

"Your Gran?"

"Hmm ? What ?" Sookie asked, confused.

"Is this your Gran's house ?" Eric asked, automatically jerking his head toward said house.

"It was." His little dancer told him as her eyes filled up with tears. "She died. Two years ago, she had a heart attack in her sleep."

Though she couldn't see, Eric nodded. If he remembered correctly, it was a human custom to offer some comforting words. "I'm..." Not used to that though, he had to search for words, "...sorry for your loss. At least, she went peacefully."

"Yeah," His little dancer told him in a shaky voice. Her eyes were shining with tears she didn't seemed willing to shed. "So it's my house, now." She then added, in a voice a little bit too perky.

"And you live alone there?" Eric asked curiously. There was absolutely no evidence that someone else was living with her but Eric wanted confirmation. Question was, what kind of confirmation. On the one hand, he wanted her to tell him that no, she wasn't living alone. That would mean that he wouldn't have to worry about accidents during daylight, when he couldn't reach her. That would mean that someone would take care of her when he couldn't. But on the other hand, the idea of someone close to his little dancer when he couldn't be was quite unnerving. And that would be even worse if a man was living with her. The idea of another male talking to her, touching her, was...

"Yeah." Her voice broke through his train of thoughts and he immediately focused on her. "I do live alone, but someone comes everyday to cook and do all the housework. But at the end of the day, yeah, I'm alone in the house."

"What about your family?" Eric asked curiously. On the human side at least.

"I only have my brother left." His little dancer told him. "Jason. He's three years older than me."

Eric frowned. "What about your parents?"

She shook her head sadly. "They're dead. They died in a flash flood when I was ten. My Gran took Jason and me in and raised us."

"And where is your brother, now?"

"He moved back into our parent's house when he turned eighteen." She told him.

Fucker. "A woman shouldn't live alone. Especially not a..." Eric interrupted himself.

"An handicapped woman ?" Sookie cocked an amused eyebrow. "You can say it."

"That's not what I meant." Eric told her.

Sookie smiled softly. "Yes, it was. Do you truly think I'm handicapped?"

"No." Eric answered immediately. He truly didn't consider her handicapped. His little dancer was wonderful. Perfect. "But I really think that your brother, as the man of the family, should take care of you." He continued seriously.

Sookie's peals of laughter rang into the night. "Take...take care...of...of me?" Sookie gasped. "Jason? My brother Jason?"

Eric frowned, confused. Was his little dancer making fun of him? No, it couldn't be.

"Jason already has a hard time taking care of himself so taking care of me as well..." She shook her head.

"I see." Eric nodded. "What about the fairy side of your family then?" He then asked with a smirk.

Sookie chuckled. "Direct. I like it."

Eric grinned. "That's good. So?"

"Nothing to say. A great-grandfather, two uncles and two cousins. A little bit on the over-protective and stubborn side though."

Eric cocked an eyebrow "Over-protective and stubborn?"

Sookie rolled her eyes. "My great grandfather wants me to move to Faery ever since my Gran died."

"Does he now?" No fucking way. No-one would take his little dancer away from him now. Not even her own family.

She sighed heavily. "Yeah, but this is my house. I won't leave it."

Eric nodded. "Understandable. So is that why he became over-protective?"

She rolled her eyes again. "Yeah, he warded my house among other things."

"Warded your house?"

Sookie nodded. "Yep. The woman who comes to take care of the house chores every day is a witch."

Eric cocked an eyebrow. "A witch?" He hated witches. Can't trust those creatures.

"Yeah," Sookie smiled. "She's young but quite talented. She's actually a natural witch." Eric wasn't sure if that was worse or not. If that woman inherited powers from her lineage, then she was connected to the magic inherent to this world, unlike those witches who collected their powers by studying. Being a natural made her powerful and might lead her to be full of herself. On the other hand, the witches who got their powers by studying often became greedy, convinced that if they had come so far, they could go even further. Fucking witches. "Anyway;" Sookie continued and Eric focused again on her. "She warded the house, anyone with ill will toward me can't pass the wards. He also assigned one of my cousins to my safety. And he, himself, stops by to check on me every now and then." She chuckled. "Among other things."

"That bad, eh?" Eric laughed. Well, at least, it explained why she had let him approach her so trustingly. Between the protective wards and her ability to teleport she was quite safe. Good to know!

"Yeah. As I said over-protective." Sookie shook her head.

"Well, at least, a man of your family is taking care of you." Unlike your fucking brother. Speaking of it... "Does he protect your brother that much as well?"

"Mmm? My brother?" Sookie frowned. "My great-grandfather wants nothing to do with Jason. He doesn't have the spark."

Eric nodded. That made sense. Of course, her fairy relatives would ignore her brother if he didn't have the spark. Those fucking fairies were more obsessed with power and money than by blood. That was a trait shared by each and every fucking one of them. He had absolutely no doubt that if his little dancer didn't had the spark, she would have lived her whole life with her brother without knowing that she wasn't alone. It actually was quite surprising that they acknowledged Sookie since she was slightly...disabled. So that must mean that her spark was bright. But Eric knew that already since she could teleport: moving a body through space demanded a lot of power.

But did that meant that she had a fairy's weaknesses as well? If Eric was correct, lemon and iron could kill fairies. Un-fucking-acceptable. Iron surrounded them everywhere they went. An accident could happen so quickly especially since she couldn't see what she was touching. Maybe he should buy her gloves? But he couldn't force her to wear them anyway. And even if he could make sure she wore them at night, he wasn't around for that during daylight. But he was just probably freaking out a little - interesting, it had never happened to him before - she had probably been taking precautions all her life. If she had been careless, she wouldn't be here talking with him. Or maybe she wasn't affected since she wasn't a full fairy ? That would be actually perfect. Fairies' strengths but none of their weaknesses. He'd have to find out. Anyway, no matter what, lemons were less risky. He'd just have to make sure that the chef wouldn't use lemons in the restaurants he'd invite her to...

Throughout his musings, he'd noticed his little dancer fidgeting on her seat and biting her lips. He let her gather her courage to tell him anything she might want to say.

"May I touch you?" She asked him out of the blue.

Eric was so surprised by her bold request that he could only answer with a, "Huh?" Brilliant, Northman, really brilliant. Taking 'English as a Second Language' at a community college in the seventies sure was useful!

An enticing blush spread on Sookie's cheeks and Eric felt his fangs pressing against his lower lip. "I...'see' through touch." She quickly explained. "I'd like to 'look' at you, if that's okay." She asked shyly.

Had it been anyone else asking, Eric would have refused immediately. Vampires didn't like to be touched, except during sex. Part of it was probably due to the fact that they had spent centuries hiding their true nature from humans, the less physical contact, the less chance of humans realizing that their skin was unnaturally cold. But the thought of his little dancer's warm fingers running over his face made Eric's skin itch.

He nodded vigorously before remembering that she couldn't see him. Taking a mere second to compose himself, he then answered her nonchalantly, "Yeah." Who was eager?

Sookie smiled brightly and slowly raised her hand. Had Eric had breath, he would have held it as he watched her move carefully. He leaned toward her and sigh when he felt his little dancer's warm fingers on his forehead.

Those fingers traced every crease of his forehead before brushing across his eyelids.

"What color are your eyes?" She asked dreamily.

"Blue," Eric answered. "Blue is...huh...blue is..." Fuck. How could he explain that? How was he supposed to describe the notion of color to someone who had never seen it. The only thing that come to his mind was enumerating blue things but the problem remained. Eric could tell her about the sky or the sea, but she had never seen it so she wouldn't know anyway. "Blue is..."

"I know what blue is." Sookie told him serenely, putting an end to his misery.

"You do?" He asked, half surprised and half relieved.

She nodded. "Yeah, I wasn't born blind. I lost my sight when I was six." She told him. "So don't worry."

Eric wanted so badly to ask her what had happened but he couldn't. That was something she had to explain willingly. He didn't want to pry and upset her. So he remained silent and let her continue her exploration.

Her thin fingers danced over his nose, surprisingly making him grin - for it tickled, he found out - before brushing his lush lips.

Her warm palm then cupped his jaw and her fingertips tugged lightly at his ears before she released him. She then ran her fingers through his long hair.

"What color is your hair ?" She asked him sweetly.

Eric smiled before answering. "Blonde. Just like yours. Actually," he caught a strand of her hair and swirled it around his finger. "It's the exact same shade."

Sookie grinned. "Is that so?"

"Your smile is beautiful," Eric breathed without thinking. Blood gathered in his little dancer's cheeks and her enticing scent seemed to be enhanced. His fangs pricked his lip again and his tongue ran over the tiny wound, collecting a drop of his own rich blood.

"Thank you, Mr. Northman." Sookie smiled. "You really are..." She suddenly yawned. "Oh." Her cheeks reddened even more. "I'm terribly sorry."

Eric chuckled and stood up. "I should probably go. I've kept you long enough."

Sookie shook her head shyly. "You don't have to go."

"It's alright, Sookie. I have to check my bar, anyway."

"You have a bar?" His little dancer asked him with surprise.

Eric smiled. "Yeah, in Shreveport. You should come and visit sometimes."

Sookie chuckled. "That would be nice. I'd love to."

"I'll hold you to that, Miss Stackhouse." Eric said. He then gallantly kissed the back of her hand. "May I come and visit you again ?" He asked her.

His little dancer blushed even more and he grinned. He loved that reaction. "That would be lovely."

"Very well, I'll see you soon, then, Sookie." He kissed her cheek before immediately taking to the air, for he was afraid he wouldn't leave if he lingered any longer.

Twenty minutes later, he was entering his office in Fangtasia. Once again, Pam was sitting behind his desk. Eric idly thought that his Childe looked delicious in her red satin corset - the contrast with her milky skin was quite striking -, her black leather skirt and her black leather thigh-high boots. But her nice clothes didn't enhance her bored expression. "Evening Master, glad to see that you're finally gracing us with your presence."

"Get the fuck out of my chair, Pam." Eric grunted gruffly. She didn't need to know that he was in an excellent mood. She stood up and with her four inches heels she almost didn't have to look up at him.

"How did your meeting go, Master ?" She asked in her usual flat tone, but Eric could feel her undercurrent of curiosity.

He smirked and winked at her. "It went smoothly. A lovely evening," He faked a dreamy sigh - well, exaggerated would be a more appropriate word, since he actually had had a lovely evening - and Pam frowned.

"May I know, now, what all that was about?"

"Nope."

Pam huffed. "Fine, whatever. It's not like I care anyway." Pam grumbled and Eric chuckled.

"Someday, I'll tell you." Eric watched his Childe stomp her foot with amusement. Brat! "Now, now, Pam, don't pout."

She glared at him and opened her mouth to probably complain some more but Eric beat her to it. "I'm thirsty, Pam. So be a good girl and go get me..." Eric thought about it for less than a second. He remembered the blonde from last night, the false promise she offered, and didn't want to experience it again tonight. More importantly, he didn't wanted to taint his lovely evening by taking a fangbanger. "A bottle of Royalty."

He felt Pam's shock through their bond and his lips twitched. Was it so unexpected? "Royalty, Master?"

"Yes, Pam, Royalty." He confirmed.

"But..." Pam seemed to be at loss. Quite understandable after all. His behavior was completely irregular and irrational. But he wasn't in the mood to have it spelled out for him by his big-mouthed Childe.

"Now Pam."

Later that night, as he laid in his bed waiting for death to take him away for the day, Eric marveled over the fact that he could still feel the warmth of Sookie's fingers on his face. He fell asleep with the sight of his little dancer in his mind's eye, the scent of her sweet blood in his nose and the feel of her warmth on his skin.

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