(no subject)

[thenorthman]

The Authority had sent their English Magister to the trial, a vampire about the same age as Eric, who looked twice as old. Still, power and authority reeled off of him, and people knew better than to cross him. He held the power of life and true death over each and every one of them, or close enough.

Fortunately, he had been told to go along with Eric's plans. Both vampires in his custody ought to die, to herald the coming of the new Sheriff and assert his authority over London.

The club had been exceptionally closed tonight, and its doors opened for certain select individuals at 2. By 2:30, it was packed with vampires, and the trial began. They had extracted confessions out of both Michelle and Clark, and while the latter retained some of his defiant spirit, the former was broken, all fight having left her.

Kneeling on a small stage at the back of the club, she explained how she and two other vampires had, on Clark's orders, kidnapped Kersen's human to draw him in. How Kersen had shown up and gotten captured, while his human escaped. How much torture they had put him through, before his human came back with a small team of fighters and managed to free him. (Eric was curious to meet that human, some day.)

After that, Clark only confirmed it all, laying out his own motivations - his disdain for Kersen and what he stood for, and his defiance of the Authority. The latter would have been enough to earn him the true death, even if he hadn't committed crimes against his fellow vampire.

The Magister pronounced his verdict - true death for both of them - and Eric invited Kersen to take care of Michelle while he handled Clark. Michelle was the sort of vampire to turn to dust, and not bloody goo; that much easier for clean-up. He waited until Kersen had staked her, his face impassible, before giving Clark his due, staking him mid-insult. He exploded in a mess of blood and insides, spattering Eric with it. The sheriff hardly gave a shit.

And now, for the evening's entertainment. Eric thanked all the vampires for their presence, and with a gesture, signaled the entrance of human dancers, as music started to play loudly in the club. Drinks were on the house tonight - so to speak - while staff discreetly handled the removal of Clark's remains and cleaned the stage.

Eric needed to get cleaned up and get a change of clothes, and he caught Kersen's eye before nodding towards the back in quiet invitation, in case he wanted out of the crowd for a few minutes.

Comments

[kersen]

Kersen had had the good sense to step out of the way when Eric staked Clark. He was already battling conflicting emotions over this whole thing, and ruining his outfit would have only made him feel worse. Even if he was just wearing all black, it was a nice shirt and trousers.

He'd texted Michael when he'd had a moment to himself: It's done.

And then he'd lingered for a bit, not entirely sure what to do next, before he saw Eric gesture to him, and then he followed behind him.

[thenorthman]

Eric locked eyes with his lieutenant on his way to the back, the vampire's nod enough to assure him that he would keep an eye on things while Eric made himself presentable again.

He'd already pulled his tank top over his head when Kersen joined him in his office, and was heading for the washroom in the back. It hadn't been meant for Clark and it wasn't meant for him, obviously, but mortals so often needed those things, and there could be the occasional need for it even for them. Case in point.

"That went well," Eric stated, leaving the door open as he walked into the tiled room, dropping his top in a corner of the room to pull off his boots, vampire fast.

[kersen]

As if Kersen could help himself from watching Eric shirtless. He tried not to be too obvious about it, but damn.

"I suppose that is exactly how it was supposed to go," Kersen said, noncommittally. "Did you expect anything else?"

[thenorthman]

"There could've been trouble," Eric replied from next door, dropping his bloodstained pants next. He had planned for a change of clothes, and he slid into a new pair of black jeans. "There are still Clark loyalists. The city isn't settled yet." But they weren't making a move for now, which was troubling. He'd rather put it all to rest as soon as possible.

[kersen]

Yeah, Kersen couldn't help but look, and the brief distraction was welcome, though he was also glad when he put pants back on.

"I won't pretend I'm thrilled for more vampires to know about my abduction," Kersen said. "Especially the part about being rescued by a band of humans, as it were."

[thenorthman]

"Couldn't be helped," Eric replied offhandedly, getting the water running to wash the blood from his face and neck. He was silent while he did that, then grabbed a towel to dry up. "You're here to tell the tale, and they aren't anymore. That's what people know, after tonight."

[kersen]

"Yes well, she might have emphasize how I still managed to kill their ringleader after days of torture and not feeding," Kersen said dryly. He found himself realizing that his annoyance was partly due to how much he wanted Eric to respect him.

"But you're right, it's over."

[thenorthman]

Eric stopped in the doorframe, pulling on a tank top. "She wasn't in a state to emphasize much of anything." In case Kersen hadn't noticed.

[kersen]

"Yes," Kersen agreed, a bit sheepishly.

He carded his fingers through his hair. "I admit, that was actually more satisfying than I thought it would be."

[thenorthman]

Eric smiled slightly; Kersen was much younger than he expected, in some ways. "It can be." He walked over to sit in his chair and pull on some socks and boots. "And now's your chance to make an impression. Most of London's influential vampires are next door."

[kersen]

"And how do you recommend I impress them?" Kersen asked, more because he wanted to know that Eric's answer would be, than he actually wanted the advice.

[thenorthman]

"If I need to tell you, you're not the vampire I thought you were," Eric remarked with a small smirk.

[kersen]

Kersen wanted to know what Eric thought he was, but he knew better than to ask.

"I don't suppose you have something to drink here, first?" Kersen asked. And then clarified, because it was necessary for him if not for Eric, "Blood I mean, of course."

[thenorthman]

"I can get someone in for you," Eric offered, and then smiled, knowing that with Kersen, he ought to specify, "They're willing, and generously paid for their services."

[kersen]

Right. Given the current context, that made a lot more sense than having bottled blood on hand. And Kersen certainly wasn't going to refuse now, not and risk Eric thinking him silly for it. The clarification at the end was important. Though now he kind of wished he'd just hadn't asked.

Well, except for the part of him that realized it had actually been some time since he'd drank from a vein, and how good it would be. Maybe he was happy he'd asked after all.

He nodded. "Thank you."

[thenorthman]

Eric nodded, and pulled out his cellphone to make a quick call. The girl that was sent in was tall, blonde, curvy and gorgeous.

"I'm Bianca," she introduced herself with a smile.

"Hello, Bianca," Eric greeted her. "My friend here is hungry."

She turned to Kersen. "Where do you want to bite?"

[kersen]

Sending him a woman, no matter how beautiful, was a guarantee that Kersen would reply, "Wrist, please. Thank you, my dear."

[thenorthman]

Bianca took off the (gold) bracelet she wore and stepped closer, holding her wrist up for him.

[kersen]

Kersen glanced briefly at Eric before taking the woman's wrist and bringing it to his mouth, sinking his fangs into her skin. He wouldn't take too much, not more than he needed, but he felt better immediately. Stronger.

[thenorthman]

Bianca sighed out a low, throaty moan when Kersen bit her, and Eric's eyebrows raised in curious amusement. He hadn't known that Kersen was one of those.

[kersen]

Yes, well this was why Kersen preferred to go for the wrist on a woman. It was awkward for him otherwise. Embarrassing, a bit.

He did notice how she moved even closer to him as he drank, and her body was almost flush against his. When he released her, he took a step immediately back, though kept a hand on her arm to make sure she was steady.

"Thank you," he said politely, and looked away, because she was looking at him like she wanted more.

[thenorthman]

Eric was still smiling slightly, and he walked over to Bianca to take her by the waist and draw her towards the door. "Go see Luke, he'll fix you up."

He of course would not give his blood to heal just anyone, but Luke was a different type of vampire. His blood would only heal her, without any lasting side effect, as long as she did not die while it was in her system.

Once she was gone, and the door closed again, Eric turned back to Kersen. "Was she that unpleasant?"

[kersen]

Kersen blinked at him, a little surprised by the question. "What? No. No, of course not." Was he that obvious in his bit of discomfort? He smiled a little, sheepish. "It was only that I could tell she was aroused by it, and with women I always find that a bit awkward." Not everyone reacted as she did, but it happened enough.

[thenorthman]

"We could've swapped her out for a man," Eric remarked easily, but it hardly mattered. For all that Kersen's discomfort was amusing. It was very human. "Feeling better?"

[kersen]

Kersen laughed. "I needed a drink, not a date, so it was fine. And yes, thank you for your hospitality. So is this how you operate most of the time? You keep human volunteers around for when you need them?"

[thenorthman]

"The club makes it easy," Eric answered, moving back towards his desk to lean back against it. "They double up as dancers."

[kersen]

"And do they all want to sleep with you?" Kersen asked with an arched eyebrow. It wasn't something he had considered before.

[thenorthman]

"A lot of people want to sleep with me," Eric replied evenly. "And most of them don't even know what being fucked by a vampire is like."

[kersen]

"I, ah, I can imagine how you might have that effect on people," Kersen said.

[thenorthman]

"Does it bother you? Being wanted by someone you don't want," Eric elaborated. Kersen really was a curious creature.

[kersen]

"It isn't that, exactly," said Kersen. "I suppose it does sound odd, doesn't it. Well. In any case it isn't an everyday occurrence for me. You were probably been dealing with that problem even before you became a vampire."

[thenorthman]

"It's never really seemed like a problem to me," Eric admitted easily. It hadn't been something he had consciously been capitalizing on until his entire life had changed, but it wasn't as if being made into a vampire had suddenly allowed him to. He had learned to use it, over the years. "Why do you call it that?"

[kersen]

Kersen wondered if he would ever come away from a conversation with Eric without thinking that he'd made himself look stupid at least once.

"Maybe... I have a more complicated relationship with desire," Kersen said after a moment. "But mostly because of my life before I was turned. Being gay in the seventeenth century had its challenges."

[thenorthman]

"I can only imagine," Eric agreed, in his own manner, leaving Kersen free to elaborate if he wanted - or not.

[kersen]

Kersen almost did. But then, was that really what he wanted to spill to Eric? How terrible things had been for him so he'd run away halfway across the world, and ended up selling himself for lack of any better ideas? And then everything since then, too - even being a vampire couldn't protect him from bigotry, and he'd been alive a long time.

He tried to decide what to say instead and finally settled on, "Well, let's just say I never thought I'd be quite where I am today." He nodded to the door. "Should we mingle?"

[thenorthman]

"Yes," Eric agreed, pushing off of his desk and running his hands back through his hair to make sure it was sleeked back. "Let's go."