The Park [afternoon]

[texted3times]

Let's just say that it was a good thing Eric decided to sleep in his bed in his apartment rather than the coffin at the club last night, because when he woke up four hours later, he was seven years old and human.

And far too eager to explore. He spent a solid twenty minutes flipping the lightswitches on and off, then flushing things down the toilet and feeding them to the garbage disposal (which was in no way equipped to deal with a fork, a knife and a vase from the living room), then jumped on his bed for a half hour before bursting out of the apartment and tearing into the playground.

He had no idea what the purpose of the slides or swings were (not a lot of children's....anything back where he came from), but he was eager to experiment.

Chattering happily to himself in ancient Norse, Eric Northman played in the sun for the first time in a thousand years.

[OOC: Oh so open.]

Comments

[smartestone]

Hermione would much rather stay inside and read, but her parents had always told her that she still had to get outside and get exercise and that sunshine was good for her. Did this mean she listened even when she woke up in a strange apartment by herself? Yes. Yes, it did.

She just compromised and brought Hogwarts, A History to the playground with her, and took it to read on a swing. Of course it wasn't long before the boy caught her attention. "Do you speak English?" she wondered.

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Eric stared at her blankly.

So...not really, no.

But some things were universal, like inviting people to play on a slide. He climbed up the ladder and looked at her expectantly.

[smartestone]

"I think that's a no," she said.

And then she looked to her book. And then back up to the slide. And then back to her book. And back to the slide...

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Eric stomped his grubby little foot in frustration. "//Come on,//" he shouted.

[smartestone]

"If you yell, I'm not coming!" she shouted back, but stood up from her swing, carefully placing the book on the seat so it wouldn't get dirty, and headed over to the slide anyway.

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Eric grinned at her, then did an imitation of his father's battle cry before flinging himself headfirst down the slide in a stunning disregard for his own safety.

[smartestone]

Hermione's jaw dropped in shock. "You're going to hurt yourself!" she cried. It was part concern, part accusation.

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Eric bounced a couple of times as he landed, then brushed himself off and grinned. "//Now you!//"

[smartestone]

She shook her head at how very bad he seemed to be listening even if he couldn't understand her. But she climbed to the top of the slide, carefully sat down at the top because some people didn't want scrapes, and frowned. "It's high," she decided.

[texted3times]

He was getting the distinct impression she wasn't having as much fun with this as she should be and he frowned.

Maybe she'd like something else to play on instead?

He raced off toward the merry-go-round.

[smartestone]

"Wait! Where are you going!" Hermione called from the top of the slide. Well, now she was just going to have to get down, so she took a breath, and slid down with a little shriek.

When she got to the bottom, landing on her feet, she stood, brushed herself off, and muttered, "Boys," before running after him.

[texted3times]

That tone he recognized, even if the words were strange, and he grinned over his shoulder at her before arriving at the merry-go-round, leaping atop it and declaring part of the Kingdom of Eric the Brave, Ferocious and Unkillable in, well, ancient Norse.

There were a lot of hand gestures involved if that helped?

[smartestone]

"I don't understand you," Hermione complained, but she climbed onto the merry-go-round anyway. "Make it go."

Language barriers did not keep her from being bossy.

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Eric stared at her for a minute before jumping up and down down on the merry-go-round.

Which, no, didn't make it go.

[smartestone]

Hermione sighed. Maybe they didn't have merry-go-rounds wherever he was from?

"No, you run," she said, trying to explain by making her fingers walk, "and it spins!"

[texted3times]

Naturally, Eric then tried walking on the merry-go-round.

Which didn't work either.

He made a face, looking frustrated.

[smartestone]

Well Hermione was just going to have to do this herself, wasn't she? She climbed back off the merry-go-round and held onto the bar, jogging around it to make it spin because she was little.

Trying to climb back on while it was turning was proving harder than she thought, so mainly she kept jogging.

[texted3times]

Oh.

Ohhhhhh.

With a cry of comprehension, Eric hurtled himself off the moving merry-go-round and began to push as well.

[smartestone]

"We're both pushing!" Hermione pointed out. Not that she dare stopped, because she couldn't get on the thing and was kind of convinced the boy would run her over if she just let go.

[texted3times]

...that wasn't the point?

This thing was hard.

Eric looked baffled again, stood back and stopped pushing.

[smartestone]

Hermione tried to slow down, and when she could finally stop, she climbed on and waved a little, saying, "Now go!"

She figured he'd know how to get on. He was bigger than her.

[texted3times]

With something that sounded suspiciously like "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE", Eric ran around the merry go round until it got almost too fast, then leaped on it.

It was like flying!

[smartestone]

Hermione would not grow up to be a fan of flying, no. So she tried to hold onto the bar as tightly as possible, also with an "eeeeeeeeeeeeeee," but a different sort.

[texted3times]

Eric grinned down at her. "//Faster?//"

[smartestone]

He should totally go faster.

Hermione, though, was still stuck on "eeeeeeeeeeeeeee" so take that as you will.

[texted3times]

He was going to go faster and just hope she didn't get sick on him. His annual bath wasn't for another few weeks.

[unlimitedgoals.livejournal.com]

Joan was not especially fond of children, but since she treated them like tiny adults, they seemed to like her well enough. However: finding a child in the middle of the park on a Saturday afternoon seemed common enough. Finding a child speaking...whatever that language was and looking like he didn't understand playground equipment? Less so.

"Are you lost?" Joan asked when she was close to the child, kneeling down. There was something oddly familiar about him....

[texted3times]

Eric pulled up short. There was an adult talking to him.

He was pretty certain he hadn't done anything wrong, and she was certainly cleaner than anyone who worked for his father...

He gave her a tiny wave.

[unlimitedgoals.livejournal.com]

She waved back, a thought occurring. "Do you speak English?"

[texted3times]

He gazed at her blankly.

"Eric," he said, pointing to himself.

[unlimitedgoals.livejournal.com]

...did Eric have a son? Named after himself? Because that was clearly the explanation here.

"Miss Holloway," she replied, pointing to herself. She was so not letting some child she'd just met call her by her given name.

[texted3times]

There was a slight smirk to his answering smile that was very much older Eric admiring a beautiful woman, and he gave her a wave, then pointed to the slide.

"Side?"

Well, close enough.

[unlimitedgoals.livejournal.com]

"Slide," she corrected, and now she was really staring because the resemblance was uncanny. "Can you show me how well you slide all by yourself?"

[texted3times]

Eric was heading for the slide already, so he hoped that's what she wanted to see. He raced up the ladder, gave an impassioned speech about how all of the lands he could see from the top of the slide now belonged to Eric the Brave and Unkillable and then threw himself headfirst down the slide.

It was kind of amazing he lived to become an adult, frankly.

[unlimitedgoals.livejournal.com]

Joan hurried over as he went down the slide headfirst, because that was a great way for him to really hurt himself. "Are you okay?" she asked, kneeling beside where the slide finished.

[texted3times]

Eric had eaten a bit of dirt, but really it was kind of hard to tell because he was already fairly grubby.

He grinned at her. "Eee!"

[unlimitedgoals.livejournal.com]

"You, mister, need a bath in the worst way," Joan told him, even if he wouldn't understand.

She smiled, though. Those were universal.

[texted3times]

Eric grinned back at her. "Miss Holl-o-way," he pronounced carefully.