"Death here is not permanent. Not even ours." He opens the door to the Enclosure after programming a very familiar place. He opens the door to the night scene. The trees grow tall over their heads, reaching almost to the ocean itself. The moon is bright, not that they need it, and the wind is biting cold. Godric smiles.
It's bracing. Familiar. He steps onto the smooth rocks and waits for Eric.
He takes that in, not exactly if that's a perk or a downfall to being on the barge. Does it make sense? More than it should. Clearly this Admiral character doesn't want them to die, even if technically they are.
But then the unraveling of the scenery around them steals his attention and whatever question that might've come next, dies on his tongue as he steps past the door and further in a few feet. He can't believe that after existing for over a millennia, something so simple and not even real could render him speechless.
He steps on the rocks and looks up. Most would react by shivering in response at that kind of cold, but Eric closes his eyes, relishing it as if he were back home in Sweden again.
Godric stands beside him, leaning his shoulder against him ever so slightly. Before he came to the Barge, no one touched him. He was Godric. He was ancient. He's one of the oldest living vampires and a sheriff to boot.
No one touched him but Eric and Nora.
It feels like that again here. He gives him a small nudge and starts to walk the shore.
He gives himself another moment and lowers down to look at Godric with the faintest of smiles. It hurts a little to think about how much he misses the snow and cold and the North Sea. This place isn't even close but that brisk air sparks homesick for Öland.
"Living as long as we did in the States, why did we never come up this way?" Eric questions, following closely behind for a few paces before falling into rhythm at his side.
Looking back, it's unfathomable to think of just how much they'd done. And yet, he remembers all of it. Every place, every laugh they shared, every cave and every den Godric created for them.
Eric turns and watches him, his small frame lit up under the moonlight. Something he always loved to do, sometimes even when Godric wasn't looking.
"No," Eric shakes his head. "Somehow it is very you."
"Good." He turns to look at him over his shoulder and points. "That's where the house is." He hadn't programmed the Enclosure with it, just because he wanted the land only. "It looks out over the ocean. The storms in the spring are - beautiful over the water."
"I don't care about the house, Godric," he states simply, shaking his head slowly without taking his eyes off him. "It's you. Wherever we've been and wherever we plan to go next from here, I don't care. You are home for me."
There's no shame in admitting that and Eric is sure his maker already knows and feels it.
Godric smiles and turns back to the ocean, walking out a little farther, letting the waves guide him. "I know. I feel the same for you. But I want you to imagine it. A home for us. A true home. One we can travel away from whenever we wish, but it will always be here, right in this spot, for us when we want it."
It does sound appealing. He moves closer to where the waves lap one after the other. It's calm and the entire area is peaceful and puts him at ease in a way he hasn't felt in a very long time.
Eric finally turns slightly and finds the house. He can only imagine the view and how breathtaking it is to see that much ocean in front of him. It tickles that part of his brain that remembers the journey's by boat; to explore and to raid.
"It sounds like the perfect place to start over," he says, nodding. "And it looks like this place makes you happy."
He thinks he can. What he does know is that he doesn't want to live like he used to. There would be no making any new vampires for him and there's still a quiet part of him that still wishes he'd stayed dead. There's so much to wrap his head around.
His gaze comes back to Godric. "New progeny's of yours?"
Godric never wanted a big family of progeny. He only wanted Eric. Nora happened only because Eric insisted, but Godric never once changed his mind about what he wanted.
"No. Nestmates, if anything. Annie is a friend. Archer is closer than that. A companion, if you will. His is the blood you smell in my cabin. And he's one of the ones who share my bed."
"Humans." The way his voice lifts slightly suggests he's asking, but he's not. If they aren't progeny's of his, they are also not vampires; the blood in his fridge allowing for him to reach the conclusion, even though it smells more than merely human.
Eric nods. It isn't his place to say anything about who he will and won't share his bed with. Their relationship was father, brother, son and companion of a thousand years. Maybe it was good for Godric to have someone else as a companion, in that regard. Especially without the emotional and physical bond they shared between them. Only there is a flicker of jealousy in having to share since he has never had to before. Nora and Pam were a different kind of situation altogether.
"No. Archer is - a spirit. Not human. He was once, as you and I were, but he is thousands and thousands of years old, as I am."
He holds a part of Godric's heart in his hand.
"Annie is not, either. That's a conversation for another day. But Jesus - you...met him. On your arrival. When you sank your teeth in his neck. He is human and I love him as I love Archer."
Gently admonished with no real bite.
But he does not love them as he loves Eric. It's different between them. It's uniquely vampire and uniquely theirs.
He listens, understanding the tone of which Godric speaks about his people through his own human and non-human connections through the years -- ones that never last and ones where he is forced to choose one life over the other. It makes him stop and wonder for a moment who his maker would save. Them or him.
Eric nods again, ducking his head as he turns to wander back up to where the water wasn't reaching and sits in the sand with his knees up.
"That's a lot of people," he states. "I'm happy for you."
And he is, though in saying it, Eric realizes how incredibly alone he feels right in that moment.
He follows but doesn't sit, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It was - a long time for me, Eric. A long time here, going through floods and breaches and ports. Meeting new people."
He had wanted to meet the sun because of how lonely he had been.
"But now we have each other returned," he says, squeezing his shoulder. "I have been waiting on this day with - trepidation and excitement both."
It seems the apple doesn't fall far. Eric's pain is a tidal wave that, no doubt, can be felt between the maker and his progeny. He should be happy they are reunited, but the truth was, he's still having a hard time fully believes any of this is real. The dream will end and then what?
Godric's hand on his shoulder helps, and he looks up again, managing a weak smile as if he's just been caught thinking aloud. "And you ended up starting over. Living how you wanted to, in a place where you had support. I understand."
"I know you do. And I know this is not easy for you to hear."
He finally does sit beside him. "You were always my reason for living. When I saw what I had done to you, when I saw the anger and the hatred that I had given you, I couldn't bear it."
Godric stares out at the water, at the waves, letting them remind him of where they came from. "It was always supposed to be you and me. Forever. Through the ages. But the world grew more complicated."
He's quiet, reflecting on that final moment on the roof and how he begged Godric to not leave him. Understanding why eluded him and he finally lived long enough to really see that his maker was still so very wrong about the humans in their world. Not all of them. But most.
"You should have let me meet my true death with you," he muses. "We could have been at peace together. I was ready, Godric. You created me. You kept me alive and when I wanted to keep you with me-"
He doesn't try to reassure him, either. The anger is justified and Godric has held that in his mind for this long. To hear it echoed and validated is enough of a punishment for him. He does take his hand.
"I can only hope to make it right with you here. And now."
For so long, Eric wanted to tell him that; to drive home that he was selfish on a level that betrayed everything that their bond was meant to stand for. Eric was loyal and suddenly in a matter of a day, he left him to exist alone in a complicated world without him.
And yet he squeezes Godric's hand so tight, afraid to let go because he can't bear the thought of losing him a second time.
"I forgive you for leaving," Eric whispers, taking his free hand to cup the side of Godric's face and bring their foreheads together. "But don't leave me again. I'm not sure what will become of me, if you do."
"I should drown you here to remind you of where you stand," he mutters, though this is nothing but play. The sort that he and Godric would have before, when things were easier. When it was just them and the woods and the night.
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It's bracing. Familiar. He steps onto the smooth rocks and waits for Eric.
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But then the unraveling of the scenery around them steals his attention and whatever question that might've come next, dies on his tongue as he steps past the door and further in a few feet. He can't believe that after existing for over a millennia, something so simple and not even real could render him speechless.
He steps on the rocks and looks up. Most would react by shivering in response at that kind of cold, but Eric closes his eyes, relishing it as if he were back home in Sweden again.
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No one touched him but Eric and Nora.
It feels like that again here. He gives him a small nudge and starts to walk the shore.
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"Living as long as we did in the States, why did we never come up this way?" Eric questions, following closely behind for a few paces before falling into rhythm at his side.
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He walks to the water in his bare feet, letting the waves wash over them.
"Do you still think it's an odd choice for me to call home?"
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Eric turns and watches him, his small frame lit up under the moonlight. Something he always loved to do, sometimes even when Godric wasn't looking.
"No," Eric shakes his head. "Somehow it is very you."
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"I don't care about the house, Godric," he states simply, shaking his head slowly without taking his eyes off him. "It's you. Wherever we've been and wherever we plan to go next from here, I don't care. You are home for me."
There's no shame in admitting that and Eric is sure his maker already knows and feels it.
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Eric finally turns slightly and finds the house. He can only imagine the view and how breathtaking it is to see that much ocean in front of him. It tickles that part of his brain that remembers the journey's by boat; to explore and to raid.
"It sounds like the perfect place to start over," he says, nodding. "And it looks like this place makes you happy."
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"But it won't simply be us. There are - others who will be there. Annie, there already. And - Archer."
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His gaze comes back to Godric. "New progeny's of yours?"
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Godric never wanted a big family of progeny. He only wanted Eric. Nora happened only because Eric insisted, but Godric never once changed his mind about what he wanted.
"No. Nestmates, if anything. Annie is a friend. Archer is closer than that. A companion, if you will. His is the blood you smell in my cabin. And he's one of the ones who share my bed."
In a way that he and Eric never have.
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Eric nods. It isn't his place to say anything about who he will and won't share his bed with. Their relationship was father, brother, son and companion of a thousand years. Maybe it was good for Godric to have someone else as a companion, in that regard. Especially without the emotional and physical bond they shared between them. Only there is a flicker of jealousy in having to share since he has never had to before. Nora and Pam were a different kind of situation altogether.
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He holds a part of Godric's heart in his hand.
"Annie is not, either. That's a conversation for another day. But Jesus - you...met him. On your arrival. When you sank your teeth in his neck. He is human and I love him as I love Archer."
Gently admonished with no real bite.
But he does not love them as he loves Eric. It's different between them. It's uniquely vampire and uniquely theirs.
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Eric nods again, ducking his head as he turns to wander back up to where the water wasn't reaching and sits in the sand with his knees up.
"That's a lot of people," he states. "I'm happy for you."
And he is, though in saying it, Eric realizes how incredibly alone he feels right in that moment.
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He had wanted to meet the sun because of how lonely he had been.
"But now we have each other returned," he says, squeezing his shoulder. "I have been waiting on this day with - trepidation and excitement both."
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Godric's hand on his shoulder helps, and he looks up again, managing a weak smile as if he's just been caught thinking aloud. "And you ended up starting over. Living how you wanted to, in a place where you had support. I understand."
They never had that in their world.
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He finally does sit beside him. "You were always my reason for living. When I saw what I had done to you, when I saw the anger and the hatred that I had given you, I couldn't bear it."
Godric stares out at the water, at the waves, letting them remind him of where they came from. "It was always supposed to be you and me. Forever. Through the ages. But the world grew more complicated."
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"You should have let me meet my true death with you," he muses. "We could have been at peace together. I was ready, Godric. You created me. You kept me alive and when I wanted to keep you with me-"
Eric's voice tenses.
"I'm so angry at you for that."
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He doesn't try to reassure him, either. The anger is justified and Godric has held that in his mind for this long. To hear it echoed and validated is enough of a punishment for him. He does take his hand.
"I can only hope to make it right with you here. And now."
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And yet he squeezes Godric's hand so tight, afraid to let go because he can't bear the thought of losing him a second time.
"I forgive you for leaving," Eric whispers, taking his free hand to cup the side of Godric's face and bring their foreheads together. "But don't leave me again. I'm not sure what will become of me, if you do."
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There's nothing but fondness in that tone and he closes his eyes, enjoying this moment as he temperature drops even more in preparation for the rain.
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"Please, I ask for nothing else."
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