Exit post

[onceaviking]

Eric comes down the stairs and walks straight to his door.
Touching it lightly.

Then he goes back to Bar and orders blood.
No sense in going back hungry.

When his glass is empty, he heads toward the door again. His face is cool and impassive, his movements sure. He doesn't hesitate as he grabs the handle and opens the door.

He can feel the pull of Godric's command, from the other side of the door. Commanding him to leave the rooftop.

But should you catch sight of his face as he opens the door and walks through it, bloody tears have begun to fall again.






{ooc: and Eric is back to the events of Season Two. Feel free to catch him as he comes down the stairs or at the Bar, if you need him for anything. Or just to say hi. He won't be gone long. Likely.}

Comments

[runningred]

Jay watches Eric order a drink, waiting till he's settled to come over and join him. "You look like you've made up your mind."

[onceaviking]

Eric nods. "Yes," he says, looking briefly at Jay.
"I have to."

[runningred]

Jay nods, not pushing the subject further. He knows how hard this has been for Eric. "Anything you need?"

[onceaviking]

"I don't know," Eric says, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Closing his eyes.

Then he looks back at Jay. "Once things have settled I'd like for you to come back and finish the garden."

Hiding in practicalities.

[runningred]

"No worries." Jay want to rest a hand on Eric's shoulder, let him know it's alright but he knows it won't help. "Just come find me when you're ready and I'll finish it off."

[onceaviking]

"Unless a century passes again. In that case, it probably won't matter anymore," Eric replies before taking a sip of his drink.

[runningred]

Jay chuckles. "I stand by my workmanship but the gas in those canisters only has about a twenty year effective life. After that, it won't scare anyone away as anything but a bad smell."

[onceaviking]

"I'll keep that in mind," Eric replies. "And hopefully your time will not pass as quickly as mine. If I need you to upgrade the system."

When you're a vampire, everything dies.

[runningred]

"You know me, always tinkering. I have a few improvements and modifications planned already."

He nods to Eric. "Do you have your security fob on you? There's something I've been meaning to check."

[onceaviking]

Eric takes it from his jeans pocket and hands it over.

[runningred]

Jay pulls a smartphone from his pocket and plugs it in, streaming lines of code. "You know, I had a feeling it might do that." He mutters, mostly to himself as he retypes several lines of numbers.

"The step between your world and the bar puts the calibration out a bit. I think it has to do with the time difference. It shouldn't be an issue once I rerun the code but I'll have to recalibrate all of them with a patch when I'm there next."

[onceaviking]

"And in words ancient vampires understand?" Eric asks. "What does it mean?"
He can use computers. He doesn't necessarily get them.

[runningred]

Jay considers being sarcastic but he can tell Eric's in no mood for that sort of banter tonight.

"The code I wrote to run your system is tied to a timer. The frequency of both the locks and the keys changes often to make it very, very hard for someone to crack. The timer is what makes sure they change together."

"Because of the time difference between here and your world, the timers get out of sync. It's only a couple of seconds but as those seconds add up, the keys will stop working. I've found a way to stop that from happening but it means I need to reset the timers on all the keys."

[onceaviking]

He nods.
"Okay, that sounds sensible."
He smiles a little. It's a somewhat pale smile.

"Is that part of the original offer or is it an additional service?"

[runningred]

"It's an unexpected flaw with my original design." Jay nudges him with his shoulder, grinning. "I'm not gunna charge you to fix it! Who do you think I am? I take pride in my work."

[onceaviking]

"I wouldn't mind paying you," Eric says.
And then he puts one arm around Jay's shoulders and gives him a squeeze.
It's an oddly apologetic gesture. And he doesn't move his arm away.

[runningred]

Jay leans in a little, surprised but warmed by the touch. "Pay me for the landscaping work and anything else I build for you but let me fix my own designs."

[onceaviking]

Eric's arm lies heavy across his back.

"That's a deal," he says. "If everything works out, I'll bring you back with me."

[runningred]

"I'll be here." Jay smiles, "Just come find me when you're ready. And I'd say give my love to Pam but she hates me enough already."

[onceaviking]

"Yeah, let's not go there," Eric says.

Then he sighs. "I'd better get going."

[runningred]

Jay cocks his head, watching Eric's face for a long moment. And then leans in and presses a swift, soft kiss to Eric's lips. "Travel safe. I'll see you on the flip side."

[onceaviking]

He closes his eyes at the kiss, but he doesn't move away.

"Yes," he says and gets up.
Once he starts walking, he moves swiftly and purposefully.
And with bloody tears streaking his face he opens the door and walks through it. Back to Dallas. Back to the sunrise. Back to his Maker's true death.

[runningred]

Jay watches him go, hating to see Eric in pain like this. He sighs and orders a stiff drink. Nothing to be done and he hates that even more.