Taken In
Title: Taken In
Rating: R for violent imagery, vampirism, oral sex
Word Count: 4,854
Pairing: Eric Northman (True Blood)/Gabriel Gray (Heroes)
Warnings: Spoilers for S2 of True Blood and up to the most recent S4 episode of Heroes 'Hysterical Blindness'
Summary: Eric's been forced to uproot from the South to the East Coast after the events at the church with the F.O.T.S. Starting over in a new place is boring enough until one night a man with no memory winds up on his doorstep. Eric always does want the very best for himself.
A/N: Two weeks without cable and this is what I cook up lol. I'm crushing on the pairing of Eric/blankslate!Gabriel so hard right now that I just had to make this happen.
Disclaimer: No Heroes belong to me, No Vampires belong to me. Heroes and True Blood are the property of all creative parties involved in their inception and no one else.
It’s not as if Eric hadn’t moved around before, but he’d been in Shreveport, Louisiana for at least the past decade. Maybe more, time didn’t mean anything now when it passed by. Queen Sophie-Anne was being completely reactionary when she made a deal to transfer Eric to another state, and have him take over for the Sheriff there. He’d lost the Fangtasia that so many years of time and effort had been put into to build, and now he was forced to start from scratch. In Maryland of all places, the Queen said it was so he could lure in the ‘prurient political element-one can never have too much potential blackmail material’. While that was certainly true, it meant giving up his rather lucrative V market he’d built secretly in the state, so he had to depend upon the bar being a success on its own. It was day four since the grand opening of Fangtasia East and so far, so good. Business was steady, the clientele exactly what Queen Sophie-Anne and her Maryland associates wanted to exploit, and there had yet to be any significant drama. Though few things could beat a maenad showing up and enthralling a town-Eric wasn’t really involved personally in that event.
After having made his nightly appearance in the club, Eric was at his desk involved with the more routine elements of running a business-going over his recent expenses. There was a knock at the door before Pam walked in looking fabulous as ever in a navy blue button up with white buttons, tight white Capri pants, and white strappy heels. He arched a brow and glanced up from the stack of papers in front of him.
“I see you’re going for the patriotic vibe in honor of our new locale...there’s no red though is there?” He looked her up and down before staring back at the documents. Her lipstick was pretty red, so perhaps she believed that should count.
“It’s meant to invoke classic Americana…not beat you over the head with it. Eric, there’s something you need to see.” She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a look before she left his office. Eric sighed and stood from behind his desk, moving down the hall to another room in the back, sort of a break-room for their employees. Pam met his gaze as she stood inside of the room and nodded to the corner-there was a man sitting on one of the spare bar stools. Eric couldn’t see his face as he was staring at the floor but he looked like a complete mess in the most intriguing of ways.
Clad in a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants combo that both belonged to the ‘Baltimore Police Department’, there was blood on his shirt from what appeared to be bullet-holes at his stomach and chest. The stench of sweat and fear curled Eric’s nostrils slightly as he watched the man shiver-a glass of water gripped tightly that he occasionally sipped from. His hair was too-long and it fell in his eyes whenever his chin tipped up, it also had soil on it as did most of his body from what Eric could tell of the very Earthen scent pervading the room from the moment he stepped in.
He turned and looked at Pam, speaking to her in their shared tongue of Swedish so that this interesting find didn’t overhear Eric’s questions of why he smelled as if he’d been underground or why there’s only the scent of dried blood but nothing fresh from where wounds clearly once were. Pam replied that he hadn’t said anything except to ask for a glass of water when she found him collapsed near the club’s side-door. For a moment, Eric considered the man then told Pam to leave them. She scoffed slightly before she turned and left them in the break-room together. After she was gone, Eric moved and took another bar-stool, placing it near the man before he sat down.
“My associate tells me she found you outside of my club, judging from the bullet-holes you were shot at one point, but you’re not bleeding anymore…that’s definitely peculiar.” There was a twitch in his shoulder as he moved the glass to his lips again.
“I’m not dangerous…She was supposed to help me…she was horrified by me I-I think. Or maybe…maybe just scared. B-but I don’t know how it happened, s-so I ran as far as I could. Lost-in the woods, again…” He drank from the glass and looked up for the first time at the man sitting across from him. It unnerved him how the tall blonde seemed to be eyeing him up. At the moment, there was nothing he could do about it as he sat there. Eric leaned forward and when his eyes locked onto the brunette’s own, he began to speak in a very soft and smooth voice.
“It’s okay…everything is alright…tell me your name and what’s happened to you…everything is alright, I promise.” It wasn’t his favorite thing to glamour someone, but it was a good way of getting information quickly. As soon as he was done speaking, Eric noticed the man visibly relax and sit up a little straighter on his stool as he slowly took a breath.
“They told me my name was Gabriel Gray-a watchmaker from Queens…I don’t remember that-or anything about myself. The first thing I remember is waking up covered in dirt. I was in a grave-a hole and I had to dig myself out. I was found by an officer and brought in…there was an officer he said I murdered my mother-I don’t even know who that is. S-something happened…I ran, I was shot at, but…the wounds closed up again. I’m scared that someone’s after me and I have no idea why.” So much of this didn’t add up in Eric’s mind. The facts of being buried and able to heal meant vampire, and yet this man was clearly human still. He leaned forward and looked into Gabriel’s eyes again.
“Everything’s fine…Gabriel, I want you to show me where they shot you at.” His arm reached out and his fingers curled at the end of the man’s sweatshirt to lift it up slowly. Under the glamour’s influence, Gabriel sat quiet and still as Eric revealed inch after inch of his stomach then his chest. Dried blood, yes, but otherwise there was not a mark on him. The sweatshirt was allowed to settle back over the dark curly hairs that lined from Gabriel’s belly button down as Eric stood up slowly. This wasn’t quite like anything he’d seen of a mere mortal-something had to be different about this man. He would be considered quite a find for any vampire, but Gabriel was now all Eric’s-and he wanted to find out more about this bloodied enigma.
Once the glamour wore off, Gabriel’s twitchy nervousness returned, if not quite as bad as it was when he first showed up. Another quick sip of the water and he stood on shaky legs to try and set the glass down on a nearby table.
“I-I’m sorry I bothered you, please don’t call the police, I didn’t mean any of it there’s just…I can’t control it-it terrifies me.” Gabriel moved to head for the door again before Eric’s firm grip stopped him in his tracks. He nervously glanced up at Eric’s eyes as he waited for the surprisingly strong grip to loosen-it didn’t.
“Wait just a moment Gabriel…you can’t go back out there, especially not like that. But if the police are after you then you need to stay hidden. For all you know, it could have been a cop that left you to die in that grave, correct? You have nowhere else to go so why don’t you just lay low here for a while? Maybe a missing persons report will turn up with your face on it, but until then I can offer you a job in my club.” A slight smile tugged at the corners of Eric’s lips as he withdrew his hand from Gabriel’s arm. Though his memories seemed to be gone, his common sense remained. Gabriel gave the tall man a wary look as he stood there uneasily.
“Why…why would you want to help me? I don’t understand.” Eric’s expression became more serious again as he crossed his arms over his chest. Why, indeed. It could be a number of factors, the leading one being Eric always wanted the best for himself. A human who could heal was certainly quite the notch in his belt. Also there was innocence present in the man that held an appeal Eric found secretly irresistible. He set his hand on the man’s shoulder looking into his eyes again but speaking without the intention of glamouring him.
“Because, I’ve lost a great deal recently and perhaps you fell at my doorstep for a reason, Gabriel. I can keep the police from finding you, help you build something new-life itself is so tenuous. You should be living in the moment from this day on, and forget about grasping at the past. It’s merely dust that will fall through your fingertips no matter what you do to try and keep it in your grip. Believe me, I know. Now then…if you wish to stay you can sleep on the couch in my office and work in the club busing tables, for a start.” Such a mischievous glint in Eric’s eye when he thought about where he could see Gabriel ending up after a couple weeks here-Eric could feel a great deal of potential within this man. No matter how damaged he appeared on the outside, he had something primal on the inside.
Anyone else would have already called the cops and left him out to dry. Why wouldn’t they? He was covered in blood and grime, unable to recall who he was or what he did-he really could have murdered someone for all Eric knew. But as for Gabriel, he knew nothing of any such act. Just that things went sour in that interrogation room and something happened that he couldn’t explain no matter how hard he could have tried. Any kindness he could get should be taken and treasured.
“I-I’ll stay, thank you…I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name yet.” Eric flatly refused this man always had such semi-pathetic puppy dog eyes every time he’d look up at someone. This wasn’t a timid mouse-he was a wounded beast. In all of his years, Eric could tell when someone’s mind had been toyed with, and this man was a perfect example. It could have been a hex perhaps, or something as pedestrian as a common head injury. Under the loose fitting pants and the baggy shirt, Eric could practically sense a strong, lean body. He would delight in taking in the sight of it when it was exposed to him for the first time-but that would wait.
“My name is Eric, and there’s something you should know about this place and about myself before we get you cleaned up and into some decent clothes.” The subtle click could barely be heard as his teeth extended behind his pursed lips.
-----
A week later and Gabriel’s world had been opened up in so many ways. Every moment brought a new sight or sensation as he spent his nights working until sun-up at Fangtasia. Did he know about vampires actually existing before he lost his memories? Maybe, but he certainly knew now. His boss was one, Pam was one, and various customers at the bar were as well. The first couple of nights were a little rough to handle. Watching humans being fed from as they sat at the bar, but they seemed to love every minute of it. It intrigued Gabriel so much what it felt like, but he had no intention of just any person taking a bite out of him only so he could know what it was like.
He was collecting glasses from an empty table when he felt a sudden chill at his arm, there was a hand on his shoulder. Slowly he turned around in his red, nicely-fitted Fangtasia staff t-shirt and black pants to look into the eyes of a medium-build man who looked to be in his late-thirties but could very well be in his first century. Sure, he’d been stared at quite a few nights since he began working, but this was the first time he’d ever actually been touched.
“Is there…something I can get you, Sir?” The muscle of his arm flexed nervously as the ice-cold hand remained on his skin still. A smirk was the only reply until those fingers dragged along his arm like melting ice-water dripping against the warmth of his living flesh.
“I’ve seen you here over the past few nights…but you don’t seem interested in what most of your fellow employees are. You’re scared, I get it…the first time is always the most difficult. But you don’t have to worry, boy I can go easy on you.” An arrogant cadence in his voice made Gabriel increasingly uncomfortable. His heart-rate quickened-the vein in his neck, unbeknownst to him, began to throb and bulge out invitingly. The faint click of fangs being released made him feel something buzz over his fingertips. When he glanced down, he realized that somehow a ball of blue crackling electricity was sparking threateningly from the palm of his own hand. A hand from behind landed on his shoulder and the electrical current disappeared as suddenly as it came. Pam was in a tight white and black striped cap-sleeve dress tonight with her hair pulled into a high ponytail.
“This one here is Eric’s companion. You should be thankful I saw this little affront before he did, or he’d ship you straight to the Magister. You’d have had your fangs yanked out by the roots before dawn. Now go on, shoo.” She made a dismissive hand motion, and the previously intrusive vampire stammered over an apology then scrambled off through the crowd behind them. Slowly, Gabriel turned and looked at Pam-extremely grateful she was there.
“Thank you…I wasn’t sure if he actually would have or no-“She interrupted him sharply, taking him by the arm to coax him out of the bar and into the backroom.
“He practically had your blood dribblin’ on his chin, now you need to learn what to say in order to keep your doe-eyed self safe here. James respects Sheriff Northman, but you may find yourself face-to-face with a vampire who does not. Come.” She led him through the ‘Employees Only’ door and down the hall to Eric’s empty office. There in the middle of the floor was a stool with a sheet set out underneath it. Pam led Gabriel to sit on the stool as she moved to gather a few things from a nearby stand.
“Anytime, and I mean any time you are approached by a vampire, you are to say that you’re Eric’s. If you say you’ve been claimed by him, then you shouldn’t run into any trouble. Now then, I can’t stand looking at that shaggy hair for another second so sit up straight, and keep your head down pup.” He did as he was told, as she gave him his haircut he wondered what being claimed meant. There was an obvious answer but Eric never leered at him like some of the vampires and even the other humans sometimes did while he was working. There had been no missing persons report with his information on it, at least he was never told of one. But Gabriel was trying his best to try to do as Eric suggested that first night-start a new life.
“When I say that…what does it mean, exactly?” He felt her long fingernails drag through the thick strands as she checked to see if the sides were even. She chuckled softly and trimmed along his right side a little more.
“Exactly what you think it means, it means you are His. And if you persist with this innocent lost boy act someday you may really be as much.” She’d never seen him like this with a human before. But he hadn’t been quite the same since the demise of Godric, so perhaps he was reaching out to avoid being alone. Gabriel was an appealing oddity, he likely could remain with a vampire, and never have to be turned himself. She wasn’t sure exactly what he was but, he was powerful beyond his own comprehension. She’d witnessed his hand spark electricity before, and once he reached for a glass and it jumped to his grasp before he actually grabbed it himself. Pair that with healing, and he was a living vampire all on his own. That made him infinitely more interesting than Bill Compton’s dewy little hussy.
When she was finished, she also gave the man a nice close shave and it was as if another person emerged underneath scruff and stubble. She walked around and surveyed her work, gone were the bangs and now he had a much more suitable short on the sides, side-parted style. Her fingernail moved over his cheekbone as she nodded.
“Much better, you look like much more than a mere bus-boy now. Perhaps Eric will give you a promotion.” She smirked and wondered if he’d make a decent dancer in one of the club’s VIP areas. It’s a show she wouldn’t mind seeing herself, but that was all Eric’s decision to make. Gabriel stood up and moved to a mirror behind Eric’s desk. At first he was taken aback by the clean-cut image in the glass’s reflection, but he smiled a little more at it the longer he looked. In the blink of an eye, Eric’s reflection was suddenly behind his own. Gabriel remained calm as he continued to look-maybe seeing himself in better condition would force a new memory to emerge. Nothing happened though as he stood there.
“I thought vampires didn’t have reflections.” Eric raised a brow and took another step toward him.
“A myth…there are many, and most of them are wrong. Pam did an excellent job on you .She also told me you were approached in the bar by a vampire.” Gabriel turned around and nodded his hands in the pockets of his black work pants.
“Yes but nothing happened, she told me that I was to tell people I was yours. Then it wouldn’t happen again.” Eric sat down behind his desk, boots propped up as he scanned Gabriel’s body up and down slowly.
“That’s very true. Gabriel, I don’t want you bussing tables anymore. It’s not for you; you have so much potential here to do other things. Please take a seat.” His hand motioned to the empty chair across from him, Pam had left a few minutes prior almost as soon as Eric entered the office. In a couple short strides, Gabriel was seated across from Eric, anxious at what the blonde was hinting at.
“Alright, so what do you want me to do here Eric?” Again, his heart began to race just as it had with the vampire near the bar. But this was filled with a strange sense of excitement that Gabriel only really felt when it was just he and Eric alone in a room together. There was no concept of gay, straight, or anything in between-concepts of depravity and purity also didn’t figure into his mind now. Gabriel only knew from his senses; he practically had no hang-ups this way as he looked back into Eric’s eyes.
“I’ve been without a human companion the entirety of my life as a vampire. The only bond I’d ever felt that lasted over the decades was that of myself and my maker, Godric. The idea of human companionship has always seemed so trite to me. But you-there is something about you Gabriel that will not leave my mind. You could well live without fear of death or disease and that puts you on the same level as me. No other human could have even been considered close before, but now I wonder if you’d allow me to actually claim you as my own. Would you like to be mine, Gabriel?”
-----
Three Weeks Later
Now even his tongue did all the little things that Eric always enjoyed. Every flick and lapping motion lathered warm saliva all over his sensitive flesh as he, in turn, held Gabriel’s outstretched arm to his lips and fed greedily from the young man. Well, thirty-one was quite young compared to over a thousand years and counting -Gabriel’s blood streaked down Eric’s lips and over his chin with each passionate withdrawal. Down on his knees at Eric’s feet, Gabriel’s own lips were firmly enclosed around the head of the vampire’s cock. He sucked and slurped, knowing it was his own blood that kept Eric throbbing and pulsing in his mouth.
So much had changed since the day in that very room he said yes. Now he lived in a private estate, sleeping at Eric’s side-often with their limbs entangled together in the pitch black room. If it weren’t for his ability to heal, Gabriel would be peppered with bite-marks and bruises from every single moment they spent with each other. Another perk of the cellular regeneration was that Eric didn’t have to wait long between feedings as he had a constantly refurbished blood supply.
It was only a couple of days after Gabriel had arrived at Fangtasia that Eric had a copy of the police file from the Baltimore station in his hands. The picture he thought was very bemusing, while maintaining part of what he was attracted to in the man in the first place. Also, every single clock in his estate and the club now ran perfectly so that was an added bonus-his keen sense of intuition was really quite another impressive talent to add to an already unique list. About a week ago he’d purchased a pair of Oliver Peoples designer frames for his companion to wear, and he really did look quite fetching in them. The only reason he didn’t have Gabriel wear them while he was pleasuring him was because it would be a shame to streak the glass. Eric’s tenacity grew as he bucked and quivered in Gabriel’s warm mouth-soon he finished as Gabriel lapped up every last drop except for what crept over his moist lip. As soon as he’d had his release, Eric relinquished his grip on his companion’s wrist-it fell back to Gabriel’s side as he sat back on his legs and caught his breath once more.
Eric’s tongue licked lazily over his own lips as he cleaned off the blood that seeped out during his feeding. His eyes glanced down to meet with Gabriel’s own gaze-so full of adoration and now more than a hint of devious pleasure. It was the exact reaction he’d always wanted to see from the one he chose to be with-and it wasn’t even the result of glamour. Eric came into Gabriel’s life at the perfect moment for the vampire to build it around himself. From the clothes Gabriel wore to the acts he engaged in with Eric, it was all a result of his wanting to please the man who took him in. He’d done exactly as Eric requested that first night-forgot about the past and embraced his future.
“When you’ve caught your breath again Gabriel…I’d like to give you something before we have to go out there.” A vampire bar had caught the attention of a local news affiliate and Eric had been granted permission to allow a camera crew to film a piece on Fangtasia East. There hadn’t been any mysterious deaths, or sordid activities that weren’t exactly what the regulars and/or tourists wanted-so it was a chance for positive promotion to try and stem the tide of hostility the vampire community still faced after the incident in Texas with the F.O.T.S.
“You give me too much, Eric.” He smiled and shook his head slightly, glancing up at the man again as his mind reeled to what it could be now. Eric brought his own arm up to his lips-fangs still out and ready as Gabriel watched in astonishment at what he did next. Those glistening teeth tore into his flesh until warm blood oozed from the fresh wound. He extended his arm and watched the first drop hit the floor by Gabriel’s knee.
“This is something I should have done the day you said yes, but you’d been through so much I wanted to try and take things a little slower with you. When you drink from me, Gabriel, it will solidify our bond. I will be in your subconscious, I will always know where you are, and if you’re ever in need of my immediate presence. We will then truly have as close of a shared existence as is possible while you remain mortal.” It didn’t even figure into Gabriel’s mind that it meant the dissolution of any shred of privacy. Why would he even want for something like that, when he had the strength and guidance of Eric to keep him on the right path? His neck craned forward so that his quivering lips could glide against Eric’s arm. Gabriel carefully latched on the best he could, wincing a little from the strong flavor of the blood as it ran down over his tongue and down his throat.
Only a few gulps of the substance and Eric took his arm back from his companion’s lips. His thumb brushed over Gabriel’s jaw and chin appreciatively before he stood up from his chair again. A serene smile stayed on his lips for some time until Gabriel stood up and retrieved a button up jacket. He slipped it on, carefully buttoning two of the buttons then he exited the office so Eric could finish getting ready for his on-camera segment.
Miles away, it had been hours of work with little to show for it, again. Stacks of documents, messily arranged research equipment from slides to microscopes were all over the room. It was time for a break. Mohinder closed out the current chart he was going over in favor of checking out some news headlines. Mindless web-surfing became an excellent way to get his mind off of the stress he’d felt over the past month or so. Everything he’d tried to do ended in dead-ends, and he was very nearly at the point of giving up.
There was an article about some bar in Maryland that catered to vampires-that in and of itself was such a shock. He and the people he once associated with were too self-involved over the past two years to realize that vampires have existed in the World for a very long time. They’d ‘come out of the coffin’ as the expression went, and were assimilating into modern society. Suresh couldn’t deny being absolutely fascinated with the concept of the walking dead…he’d entertained the idea of studying them when he’d first heard about this social phenomenon. He clicked on an embedded video interview with a vampire who ran a bar in Maryland apparently. It had become quite the tourist attraction and local hangout if only so people could say they’d shared space with a vampire and lived.
This Eric Northman talked about having been made on the battlefield and he had been alive for approximately 1,100 years now. It was stunning to Suresh to think about all the things he’d seen and experienced. As the interview went on, somebody clumsily bumped into the camera. When it panned over from the blonde vampire there was a slightly shorter brunette standing at his side. He was extremely well-dressed and setting a pair of plastic-frame glasses back onto the bridge of his nose when the camera moved to put Eric back into the center of the frame.
It took a second for the image of the man to settle into Suresh’s thoughts as he moved the cursor over the video and put the video into reverse so he could get a better look. It took a few tries but when he did, he had a blurry freeze frame of what could only be described as a ghost. He watched this man burn, everyone did-and yet there he was alive and well and for some unknown reason, in a vampire bar in Maryland. While he didn’t actively speak to anyone from the past two years, he had a few of their numbers. Who should he call, or better yet should he call anyone at all? The body that was incinerated in front of his eyes was a lie so, no, this was something he would keep to himself. After he watched the video a few more times he wrote down the address and contact information for the bar called Fangtasia.
Rating: R for violent imagery, vampirism, oral sex
Word Count: 4,854
Pairing: Eric Northman (True Blood)/Gabriel Gray (Heroes)
Warnings: Spoilers for S2 of True Blood and up to the most recent S4 episode of Heroes 'Hysterical Blindness'
Summary: Eric's been forced to uproot from the South to the East Coast after the events at the church with the F.O.T.S. Starting over in a new place is boring enough until one night a man with no memory winds up on his doorstep. Eric always does want the very best for himself.
A/N: Two weeks without cable and this is what I cook up lol. I'm crushing on the pairing of Eric/blankslate!Gabriel so hard right now that I just had to make this happen.
Disclaimer: No Heroes belong to me, No Vampires belong to me. Heroes and True Blood are the property of all creative parties involved in their inception and no one else.
It’s not as if Eric hadn’t moved around before, but he’d been in Shreveport, Louisiana for at least the past decade. Maybe more, time didn’t mean anything now when it passed by. Queen Sophie-Anne was being completely reactionary when she made a deal to transfer Eric to another state, and have him take over for the Sheriff there. He’d lost the Fangtasia that so many years of time and effort had been put into to build, and now he was forced to start from scratch. In Maryland of all places, the Queen said it was so he could lure in the ‘prurient political element-one can never have too much potential blackmail material’. While that was certainly true, it meant giving up his rather lucrative V market he’d built secretly in the state, so he had to depend upon the bar being a success on its own. It was day four since the grand opening of Fangtasia East and so far, so good. Business was steady, the clientele exactly what Queen Sophie-Anne and her Maryland associates wanted to exploit, and there had yet to be any significant drama. Though few things could beat a maenad showing up and enthralling a town-Eric wasn’t really involved personally in that event.
After having made his nightly appearance in the club, Eric was at his desk involved with the more routine elements of running a business-going over his recent expenses. There was a knock at the door before Pam walked in looking fabulous as ever in a navy blue button up with white buttons, tight white Capri pants, and white strappy heels. He arched a brow and glanced up from the stack of papers in front of him.
“I see you’re going for the patriotic vibe in honor of our new locale...there’s no red though is there?” He looked her up and down before staring back at the documents. Her lipstick was pretty red, so perhaps she believed that should count.
“It’s meant to invoke classic Americana…not beat you over the head with it. Eric, there’s something you need to see.” She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a look before she left his office. Eric sighed and stood from behind his desk, moving down the hall to another room in the back, sort of a break-room for their employees. Pam met his gaze as she stood inside of the room and nodded to the corner-there was a man sitting on one of the spare bar stools. Eric couldn’t see his face as he was staring at the floor but he looked like a complete mess in the most intriguing of ways.
Clad in a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants combo that both belonged to the ‘Baltimore Police Department’, there was blood on his shirt from what appeared to be bullet-holes at his stomach and chest. The stench of sweat and fear curled Eric’s nostrils slightly as he watched the man shiver-a glass of water gripped tightly that he occasionally sipped from. His hair was too-long and it fell in his eyes whenever his chin tipped up, it also had soil on it as did most of his body from what Eric could tell of the very Earthen scent pervading the room from the moment he stepped in.
He turned and looked at Pam, speaking to her in their shared tongue of Swedish so that this interesting find didn’t overhear Eric’s questions of why he smelled as if he’d been underground or why there’s only the scent of dried blood but nothing fresh from where wounds clearly once were. Pam replied that he hadn’t said anything except to ask for a glass of water when she found him collapsed near the club’s side-door. For a moment, Eric considered the man then told Pam to leave them. She scoffed slightly before she turned and left them in the break-room together. After she was gone, Eric moved and took another bar-stool, placing it near the man before he sat down.
“My associate tells me she found you outside of my club, judging from the bullet-holes you were shot at one point, but you’re not bleeding anymore…that’s definitely peculiar.” There was a twitch in his shoulder as he moved the glass to his lips again.
“I’m not dangerous…She was supposed to help me…she was horrified by me I-I think. Or maybe…maybe just scared. B-but I don’t know how it happened, s-so I ran as far as I could. Lost-in the woods, again…” He drank from the glass and looked up for the first time at the man sitting across from him. It unnerved him how the tall blonde seemed to be eyeing him up. At the moment, there was nothing he could do about it as he sat there. Eric leaned forward and when his eyes locked onto the brunette’s own, he began to speak in a very soft and smooth voice.
“It’s okay…everything is alright…tell me your name and what’s happened to you…everything is alright, I promise.” It wasn’t his favorite thing to glamour someone, but it was a good way of getting information quickly. As soon as he was done speaking, Eric noticed the man visibly relax and sit up a little straighter on his stool as he slowly took a breath.
“They told me my name was Gabriel Gray-a watchmaker from Queens…I don’t remember that-or anything about myself. The first thing I remember is waking up covered in dirt. I was in a grave-a hole and I had to dig myself out. I was found by an officer and brought in…there was an officer he said I murdered my mother-I don’t even know who that is. S-something happened…I ran, I was shot at, but…the wounds closed up again. I’m scared that someone’s after me and I have no idea why.” So much of this didn’t add up in Eric’s mind. The facts of being buried and able to heal meant vampire, and yet this man was clearly human still. He leaned forward and looked into Gabriel’s eyes again.
“Everything’s fine…Gabriel, I want you to show me where they shot you at.” His arm reached out and his fingers curled at the end of the man’s sweatshirt to lift it up slowly. Under the glamour’s influence, Gabriel sat quiet and still as Eric revealed inch after inch of his stomach then his chest. Dried blood, yes, but otherwise there was not a mark on him. The sweatshirt was allowed to settle back over the dark curly hairs that lined from Gabriel’s belly button down as Eric stood up slowly. This wasn’t quite like anything he’d seen of a mere mortal-something had to be different about this man. He would be considered quite a find for any vampire, but Gabriel was now all Eric’s-and he wanted to find out more about this bloodied enigma.
Once the glamour wore off, Gabriel’s twitchy nervousness returned, if not quite as bad as it was when he first showed up. Another quick sip of the water and he stood on shaky legs to try and set the glass down on a nearby table.
“I-I’m sorry I bothered you, please don’t call the police, I didn’t mean any of it there’s just…I can’t control it-it terrifies me.” Gabriel moved to head for the door again before Eric’s firm grip stopped him in his tracks. He nervously glanced up at Eric’s eyes as he waited for the surprisingly strong grip to loosen-it didn’t.
“Wait just a moment Gabriel…you can’t go back out there, especially not like that. But if the police are after you then you need to stay hidden. For all you know, it could have been a cop that left you to die in that grave, correct? You have nowhere else to go so why don’t you just lay low here for a while? Maybe a missing persons report will turn up with your face on it, but until then I can offer you a job in my club.” A slight smile tugged at the corners of Eric’s lips as he withdrew his hand from Gabriel’s arm. Though his memories seemed to be gone, his common sense remained. Gabriel gave the tall man a wary look as he stood there uneasily.
“Why…why would you want to help me? I don’t understand.” Eric’s expression became more serious again as he crossed his arms over his chest. Why, indeed. It could be a number of factors, the leading one being Eric always wanted the best for himself. A human who could heal was certainly quite the notch in his belt. Also there was innocence present in the man that held an appeal Eric found secretly irresistible. He set his hand on the man’s shoulder looking into his eyes again but speaking without the intention of glamouring him.
“Because, I’ve lost a great deal recently and perhaps you fell at my doorstep for a reason, Gabriel. I can keep the police from finding you, help you build something new-life itself is so tenuous. You should be living in the moment from this day on, and forget about grasping at the past. It’s merely dust that will fall through your fingertips no matter what you do to try and keep it in your grip. Believe me, I know. Now then…if you wish to stay you can sleep on the couch in my office and work in the club busing tables, for a start.” Such a mischievous glint in Eric’s eye when he thought about where he could see Gabriel ending up after a couple weeks here-Eric could feel a great deal of potential within this man. No matter how damaged he appeared on the outside, he had something primal on the inside.
Anyone else would have already called the cops and left him out to dry. Why wouldn’t they? He was covered in blood and grime, unable to recall who he was or what he did-he really could have murdered someone for all Eric knew. But as for Gabriel, he knew nothing of any such act. Just that things went sour in that interrogation room and something happened that he couldn’t explain no matter how hard he could have tried. Any kindness he could get should be taken and treasured.
“I-I’ll stay, thank you…I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name yet.” Eric flatly refused this man always had such semi-pathetic puppy dog eyes every time he’d look up at someone. This wasn’t a timid mouse-he was a wounded beast. In all of his years, Eric could tell when someone’s mind had been toyed with, and this man was a perfect example. It could have been a hex perhaps, or something as pedestrian as a common head injury. Under the loose fitting pants and the baggy shirt, Eric could practically sense a strong, lean body. He would delight in taking in the sight of it when it was exposed to him for the first time-but that would wait.
“My name is Eric, and there’s something you should know about this place and about myself before we get you cleaned up and into some decent clothes.” The subtle click could barely be heard as his teeth extended behind his pursed lips.
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A week later and Gabriel’s world had been opened up in so many ways. Every moment brought a new sight or sensation as he spent his nights working until sun-up at Fangtasia. Did he know about vampires actually existing before he lost his memories? Maybe, but he certainly knew now. His boss was one, Pam was one, and various customers at the bar were as well. The first couple of nights were a little rough to handle. Watching humans being fed from as they sat at the bar, but they seemed to love every minute of it. It intrigued Gabriel so much what it felt like, but he had no intention of just any person taking a bite out of him only so he could know what it was like.
He was collecting glasses from an empty table when he felt a sudden chill at his arm, there was a hand on his shoulder. Slowly he turned around in his red, nicely-fitted Fangtasia staff t-shirt and black pants to look into the eyes of a medium-build man who looked to be in his late-thirties but could very well be in his first century. Sure, he’d been stared at quite a few nights since he began working, but this was the first time he’d ever actually been touched.
“Is there…something I can get you, Sir?” The muscle of his arm flexed nervously as the ice-cold hand remained on his skin still. A smirk was the only reply until those fingers dragged along his arm like melting ice-water dripping against the warmth of his living flesh.
“I’ve seen you here over the past few nights…but you don’t seem interested in what most of your fellow employees are. You’re scared, I get it…the first time is always the most difficult. But you don’t have to worry, boy I can go easy on you.” An arrogant cadence in his voice made Gabriel increasingly uncomfortable. His heart-rate quickened-the vein in his neck, unbeknownst to him, began to throb and bulge out invitingly. The faint click of fangs being released made him feel something buzz over his fingertips. When he glanced down, he realized that somehow a ball of blue crackling electricity was sparking threateningly from the palm of his own hand. A hand from behind landed on his shoulder and the electrical current disappeared as suddenly as it came. Pam was in a tight white and black striped cap-sleeve dress tonight with her hair pulled into a high ponytail.
“This one here is Eric’s companion. You should be thankful I saw this little affront before he did, or he’d ship you straight to the Magister. You’d have had your fangs yanked out by the roots before dawn. Now go on, shoo.” She made a dismissive hand motion, and the previously intrusive vampire stammered over an apology then scrambled off through the crowd behind them. Slowly, Gabriel turned and looked at Pam-extremely grateful she was there.
“Thank you…I wasn’t sure if he actually would have or no-“She interrupted him sharply, taking him by the arm to coax him out of the bar and into the backroom.
“He practically had your blood dribblin’ on his chin, now you need to learn what to say in order to keep your doe-eyed self safe here. James respects Sheriff Northman, but you may find yourself face-to-face with a vampire who does not. Come.” She led him through the ‘Employees Only’ door and down the hall to Eric’s empty office. There in the middle of the floor was a stool with a sheet set out underneath it. Pam led Gabriel to sit on the stool as she moved to gather a few things from a nearby stand.
“Anytime, and I mean any time you are approached by a vampire, you are to say that you’re Eric’s. If you say you’ve been claimed by him, then you shouldn’t run into any trouble. Now then, I can’t stand looking at that shaggy hair for another second so sit up straight, and keep your head down pup.” He did as he was told, as she gave him his haircut he wondered what being claimed meant. There was an obvious answer but Eric never leered at him like some of the vampires and even the other humans sometimes did while he was working. There had been no missing persons report with his information on it, at least he was never told of one. But Gabriel was trying his best to try to do as Eric suggested that first night-start a new life.
“When I say that…what does it mean, exactly?” He felt her long fingernails drag through the thick strands as she checked to see if the sides were even. She chuckled softly and trimmed along his right side a little more.
“Exactly what you think it means, it means you are His. And if you persist with this innocent lost boy act someday you may really be as much.” She’d never seen him like this with a human before. But he hadn’t been quite the same since the demise of Godric, so perhaps he was reaching out to avoid being alone. Gabriel was an appealing oddity, he likely could remain with a vampire, and never have to be turned himself. She wasn’t sure exactly what he was but, he was powerful beyond his own comprehension. She’d witnessed his hand spark electricity before, and once he reached for a glass and it jumped to his grasp before he actually grabbed it himself. Pair that with healing, and he was a living vampire all on his own. That made him infinitely more interesting than Bill Compton’s dewy little hussy.
When she was finished, she also gave the man a nice close shave and it was as if another person emerged underneath scruff and stubble. She walked around and surveyed her work, gone were the bangs and now he had a much more suitable short on the sides, side-parted style. Her fingernail moved over his cheekbone as she nodded.
“Much better, you look like much more than a mere bus-boy now. Perhaps Eric will give you a promotion.” She smirked and wondered if he’d make a decent dancer in one of the club’s VIP areas. It’s a show she wouldn’t mind seeing herself, but that was all Eric’s decision to make. Gabriel stood up and moved to a mirror behind Eric’s desk. At first he was taken aback by the clean-cut image in the glass’s reflection, but he smiled a little more at it the longer he looked. In the blink of an eye, Eric’s reflection was suddenly behind his own. Gabriel remained calm as he continued to look-maybe seeing himself in better condition would force a new memory to emerge. Nothing happened though as he stood there.
“I thought vampires didn’t have reflections.” Eric raised a brow and took another step toward him.
“A myth…there are many, and most of them are wrong. Pam did an excellent job on you .She also told me you were approached in the bar by a vampire.” Gabriel turned around and nodded his hands in the pockets of his black work pants.
“Yes but nothing happened, she told me that I was to tell people I was yours. Then it wouldn’t happen again.” Eric sat down behind his desk, boots propped up as he scanned Gabriel’s body up and down slowly.
“That’s very true. Gabriel, I don’t want you bussing tables anymore. It’s not for you; you have so much potential here to do other things. Please take a seat.” His hand motioned to the empty chair across from him, Pam had left a few minutes prior almost as soon as Eric entered the office. In a couple short strides, Gabriel was seated across from Eric, anxious at what the blonde was hinting at.
“Alright, so what do you want me to do here Eric?” Again, his heart began to race just as it had with the vampire near the bar. But this was filled with a strange sense of excitement that Gabriel only really felt when it was just he and Eric alone in a room together. There was no concept of gay, straight, or anything in between-concepts of depravity and purity also didn’t figure into his mind now. Gabriel only knew from his senses; he practically had no hang-ups this way as he looked back into Eric’s eyes.
“I’ve been without a human companion the entirety of my life as a vampire. The only bond I’d ever felt that lasted over the decades was that of myself and my maker, Godric. The idea of human companionship has always seemed so trite to me. But you-there is something about you Gabriel that will not leave my mind. You could well live without fear of death or disease and that puts you on the same level as me. No other human could have even been considered close before, but now I wonder if you’d allow me to actually claim you as my own. Would you like to be mine, Gabriel?”
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Three Weeks Later
Now even his tongue did all the little things that Eric always enjoyed. Every flick and lapping motion lathered warm saliva all over his sensitive flesh as he, in turn, held Gabriel’s outstretched arm to his lips and fed greedily from the young man. Well, thirty-one was quite young compared to over a thousand years and counting -Gabriel’s blood streaked down Eric’s lips and over his chin with each passionate withdrawal. Down on his knees at Eric’s feet, Gabriel’s own lips were firmly enclosed around the head of the vampire’s cock. He sucked and slurped, knowing it was his own blood that kept Eric throbbing and pulsing in his mouth.
So much had changed since the day in that very room he said yes. Now he lived in a private estate, sleeping at Eric’s side-often with their limbs entangled together in the pitch black room. If it weren’t for his ability to heal, Gabriel would be peppered with bite-marks and bruises from every single moment they spent with each other. Another perk of the cellular regeneration was that Eric didn’t have to wait long between feedings as he had a constantly refurbished blood supply.
It was only a couple of days after Gabriel had arrived at Fangtasia that Eric had a copy of the police file from the Baltimore station in his hands. The picture he thought was very bemusing, while maintaining part of what he was attracted to in the man in the first place. Also, every single clock in his estate and the club now ran perfectly so that was an added bonus-his keen sense of intuition was really quite another impressive talent to add to an already unique list. About a week ago he’d purchased a pair of Oliver Peoples designer frames for his companion to wear, and he really did look quite fetching in them. The only reason he didn’t have Gabriel wear them while he was pleasuring him was because it would be a shame to streak the glass. Eric’s tenacity grew as he bucked and quivered in Gabriel’s warm mouth-soon he finished as Gabriel lapped up every last drop except for what crept over his moist lip. As soon as he’d had his release, Eric relinquished his grip on his companion’s wrist-it fell back to Gabriel’s side as he sat back on his legs and caught his breath once more.
Eric’s tongue licked lazily over his own lips as he cleaned off the blood that seeped out during his feeding. His eyes glanced down to meet with Gabriel’s own gaze-so full of adoration and now more than a hint of devious pleasure. It was the exact reaction he’d always wanted to see from the one he chose to be with-and it wasn’t even the result of glamour. Eric came into Gabriel’s life at the perfect moment for the vampire to build it around himself. From the clothes Gabriel wore to the acts he engaged in with Eric, it was all a result of his wanting to please the man who took him in. He’d done exactly as Eric requested that first night-forgot about the past and embraced his future.
“When you’ve caught your breath again Gabriel…I’d like to give you something before we have to go out there.” A vampire bar had caught the attention of a local news affiliate and Eric had been granted permission to allow a camera crew to film a piece on Fangtasia East. There hadn’t been any mysterious deaths, or sordid activities that weren’t exactly what the regulars and/or tourists wanted-so it was a chance for positive promotion to try and stem the tide of hostility the vampire community still faced after the incident in Texas with the F.O.T.S.
“You give me too much, Eric.” He smiled and shook his head slightly, glancing up at the man again as his mind reeled to what it could be now. Eric brought his own arm up to his lips-fangs still out and ready as Gabriel watched in astonishment at what he did next. Those glistening teeth tore into his flesh until warm blood oozed from the fresh wound. He extended his arm and watched the first drop hit the floor by Gabriel’s knee.
“This is something I should have done the day you said yes, but you’d been through so much I wanted to try and take things a little slower with you. When you drink from me, Gabriel, it will solidify our bond. I will be in your subconscious, I will always know where you are, and if you’re ever in need of my immediate presence. We will then truly have as close of a shared existence as is possible while you remain mortal.” It didn’t even figure into Gabriel’s mind that it meant the dissolution of any shred of privacy. Why would he even want for something like that, when he had the strength and guidance of Eric to keep him on the right path? His neck craned forward so that his quivering lips could glide against Eric’s arm. Gabriel carefully latched on the best he could, wincing a little from the strong flavor of the blood as it ran down over his tongue and down his throat.
Only a few gulps of the substance and Eric took his arm back from his companion’s lips. His thumb brushed over Gabriel’s jaw and chin appreciatively before he stood up from his chair again. A serene smile stayed on his lips for some time until Gabriel stood up and retrieved a button up jacket. He slipped it on, carefully buttoning two of the buttons then he exited the office so Eric could finish getting ready for his on-camera segment.
Miles away, it had been hours of work with little to show for it, again. Stacks of documents, messily arranged research equipment from slides to microscopes were all over the room. It was time for a break. Mohinder closed out the current chart he was going over in favor of checking out some news headlines. Mindless web-surfing became an excellent way to get his mind off of the stress he’d felt over the past month or so. Everything he’d tried to do ended in dead-ends, and he was very nearly at the point of giving up.
There was an article about some bar in Maryland that catered to vampires-that in and of itself was such a shock. He and the people he once associated with were too self-involved over the past two years to realize that vampires have existed in the World for a very long time. They’d ‘come out of the coffin’ as the expression went, and were assimilating into modern society. Suresh couldn’t deny being absolutely fascinated with the concept of the walking dead…he’d entertained the idea of studying them when he’d first heard about this social phenomenon. He clicked on an embedded video interview with a vampire who ran a bar in Maryland apparently. It had become quite the tourist attraction and local hangout if only so people could say they’d shared space with a vampire and lived.
This Eric Northman talked about having been made on the battlefield and he had been alive for approximately 1,100 years now. It was stunning to Suresh to think about all the things he’d seen and experienced. As the interview went on, somebody clumsily bumped into the camera. When it panned over from the blonde vampire there was a slightly shorter brunette standing at his side. He was extremely well-dressed and setting a pair of plastic-frame glasses back onto the bridge of his nose when the camera moved to put Eric back into the center of the frame.
It took a second for the image of the man to settle into Suresh’s thoughts as he moved the cursor over the video and put the video into reverse so he could get a better look. It took a few tries but when he did, he had a blurry freeze frame of what could only be described as a ghost. He watched this man burn, everyone did-and yet there he was alive and well and for some unknown reason, in a vampire bar in Maryland. While he didn’t actively speak to anyone from the past two years, he had a few of their numbers. Who should he call, or better yet should he call anyone at all? The body that was incinerated in front of his eyes was a lie so, no, this was something he would keep to himself. After he watched the video a few more times he wrote down the address and contact information for the bar called Fangtasia.