Chapter Text
Louis lounged with his feet in the sand. Hawaii was different than he thought it would have been. It's just as beautiful but the sentiments of cheer are lacking. Not that there had been a lot of that to begin with. He sighs warmly, wiggling his toes. Feeling the unpleasant gritty feeling between them, it didn't ground him like the pebbles in his home had. The human loves of feet in the sand, frolicking along the shore edge. He had tried it out and did see the appeal. Though just the freedom to be able to do this was enough.
Enough for him. So long in his life he had felt trapped. In his human youth, as a human adult, and so on. Whether his prisons were of his own making or not. Trying to find yourself was hard work to do. Who was Louis if he was stripped to his bones? In two years he felt no closer to that answer than when he started. However, he was finding joy in life again. He wasn't sitting somewhere just surviving. He was living again, traveling, going out, enjoying himself.
Dubai was no longer a place he called home. He kept the penthouse for traveling needs. A vacation home of sorts. His new home was out in Nevada. Where he acquired 40 acres of land in the middle of the desert. The officials had looked at him crazy for his choice, but Louis loved it. It was secluded, quiet, and beautiful. He had a view of mountains, and a clear night sky of stars. No city lights too bright hiding them.
His home was the latest new age technology money could buy. Even with a rush it had taken a year and a half to complete. He hadn't even been home just yet to see it with his own eyes. Busy traveling places, and experiencing humans up close. They were so active nowadays. There was so much of everything going on. It was getting easier and easier for him to blend in. The more time you spent around them, the easier it was to mimic the fluidity that humans passed. Unlike the marble statue like way vampires moved as they aged. It was part of the reason they had to move with the times.
The 21st century was a unique time. Rarely did Louis feel hunger pains. He had too much money. He was fed gluttonously in Dubai. He understood why Lestat had been so hard on him back then. Nutrition was the key to maximizing your growth. He was stronger, faster, and had acquired a new gift. The cloud gift was something that came without warning. He had woken up one morning in the air....just floating.
He didn't have a need for as big a payroll as he had in Dubai. He still had most of his loyal servants. People with no homes or families, who willingly followed him across the globe. Settling in a new place. This go around. He made sure they had their own places. A small gated neighborhood about a 45 minute drive away. They had been grateful. To Louis it was what they deserved.
The government officials here overlooked him just the same. As long as he kept their pockets full. His freezer stayed stocked with ethically sourced blood. In an organized fashion that kept him from wasting blood. Given its one year cap. He had some farm animals out, for when he was in the mood for live, and a good contact to get him other animals if he so pleased. Occasionally he still fed on humans. Only his trusted associates, no strangers he had to kill because he lacked a mind gift.
Not that killing was something he struggled so harshly with. He simply prefered not to. It was time consuming to clean up. In his strength he could not just hear minds but watch life's like movies. He had taken out some evil souls in the world lately. All in a night's work of the life of a vampire.
"Dawn in 4 hours, sir."
"Thank you, Kendall. We'll be leaving." Louis announced, rising from his seat without the need of his hands. He showed off on occasion. The cloud gift was just fun to use. He didn't care that it was taxing most times. Since acquiring the gift one random night, he had been practicing its use.
"Back to the Airbnb?"
"Yes."
"I'll have blood warmed upon arrival." Kendall stated, Louis nodded pleased with him. As they strolled back to the waiting car, Louis felt the urge to check on Lestat.
He hadn't spoken to the man in 10 months, seen him physically in a year. They were on the outs again. Which in turn 10 months versus 77 years was nothing. It still ached to think about. Their relationship was touchy. Both to blame for that now. Seeing Lestat in New Orleans two years ago had set the tone for this course.
Louis hadn't meant to stay long. He just wanted to thank Lestat, talk, and hug him. Feel the relief of burden. Upon seeing Lestat a shadow of his former self had cut him too deep. Claudia had once said "You spend an hour alone with him and you're breathing in sync together", a statement that was still as true as it had ever been.
One day turned to two. Two days to a week. One week to four. Four weeks to two months. A time that seemed to blur by. The longer they stayed in each other's presence however, the less safe things they had to talk about. The more passive aggression from unresolved issues neither felt stable enough to speak on sparked. The more irritation and annoyance that bloomed. The more anger.....the more passion...and till it exploded.
Which for them ended up being with teeth in each other's necks, trying to drain the other. To feel that intimacy, that closeness they both longed for. The equivalent of human sex for vampires. They had also had some human sex too. The kind where bloodied mouths were elsewhere on the body. Louis unconsciously rolled his tongue where his fangs would be.
An act that Louis had called a mistake. Not to harm but to be honest. They weren't anywhere near ready for an intimate relationship again. One blood swapping night and Lestat wanted Louis to stay in New Orleans, reinstate their companionship, and run off happily ever after. When he declined Lestat became enraged and they argued some more. Louis had taken the step to leave before hurtful words became words that branded from the past. He had scribbled his number on a note, handed it to Lestat asking him to call, and left that day.
Not before depositing a hefty amount into Lestat's bank account. To which Louis was cussed out three ways to Sunday, when Lestat called him two months later. In the end, Lestat had needed the money. With distance they had calmed. It was texts, calls, impromptu visits. It had been smooth and easy. Then a year ago, Lestat decided to visit him in Dubai for the first time.
Louis had been all too excited to have a guest in his temporary home. That he had drastically changed to facilitate new beginnings. Even with new decor the bones of the penthouse were all the same. It still felt like a cold, dark, cavernous, prison. Words Lestat had said that Louis acknowledged. Still the visit had been great. Spending quality time together felt good. Even if their relationship closet was stuffed full with a bulging door. Still the argument that followed that visit still sat bitterly in his mind. He regretted the way he handled it. He should have truly seen the gravity then.
Lestat and Louis stumbled over to the couch, blissed out on an overfill of blood. Lestat had talked Louis into using more than just one of his human reserves tonight after coming back from a hunt. Getting blood tapped straight from the body. Damnek had been a great help, along with two other muscular built men. Who were gathering to leave at the moment. Louis felt the brush of long fingers along his neck. Gliding up and down, felt it like a touch straight to his cock.
Lestat had been less than subtle about his desire. He had a hand on Louis just about everywhere they went. He didn't have it in him to spur off Lestat's advances. Admittedly he was craving the blonde more and more. So instead he sat there head tilted back, eyes closed, just feeling. Lestat's drags no longer light brushes. He traced the artery in Louis' neck purposely. Louis shuddered, hua imagination taking him places. Then they were interrupted by a sudden voice. One of the men had lingered.
"Maître du Lac, are you in need of my service tonight, sir?" Louis' eyes flew open, setting on the tanned native of Dubai man. Who's eyes were settling hungrily on Louis. Louis didn't need a peek in his mind to know what he was thinking. Fingers on his neck stilled. Louis' attention shifting to Lestat who wasn't looking at him. Louis had seen that switch flip in Lestat one too many times in life.
"No, that'll be all." Louis firmly spoke, his dismissal clear as the man quickly left.
Lestat's eyes followed him to the doors. He stared at them long after they closed. Fingers still idle on his neck suddenly pricked him. Nails sharpening without intent. Louis leaned away, snapping Lestat from his thoughts. There was a smile there on his face as he turned to look at Louis. Though it didn't reach his eyes. No, they were swirling pits of emotion.
"A drink, cherie?" Lestat asked, voice rough as he looked away. Louis felt a tightening in his chest. Knowing Lestat had no doubt been privy to all the thoughts inside that man's head. Seen the type of relationship they had, that they...all had. Armand was like a ghost standing before them. Even without being physically there, his presence was felt.
"What you want?" Louis asked, shifting to rise. Lestat's eyes found him once more. Freezing Louis with his gaze.
"You..." Lestat tossed, Louis blinked, settling back in his seat. Eyes growing soft and guarded, Louis found the words to say hard.
"Lestat....l...I'm not ready for that." Louis confessed, Lestat's sigh was agitated.
"Louis, Louis, Louis.....how much longer will you keep my heart from me?" Lestat questioned, eyes growing distant. Louis could see Lestat's gaze shift to the right, like he was looking at someone. His breath quickening and his eyes growing red rimmed. Louis frowned at the display.
"Lestat, can't this be enough for now?" Louis offered, reaching out to touch the man. Lestat flinched back as fingers grazed his arms. Looking at Louis as if he were the real demon in the room.
"So cruel you have become, Louis. Tell me, did you love him? Hmm?" Lestat spat, Louis frowned. There it was, what had driven Lestat's mood to sour so quickly. He felt the need to lie. To save face. To protect Lestat, but they promised each other, no more lies.
".....77 years....is a long time."
"Do you love him?" Lestat repeated, eyes staring into Louis' soul. A deadly question knowing just how hard Louis struggled to confess himself to others. For a long time he hadn't answered, just stared at the man who grew more agitated as Louis' mind ran.
"....at a time. Yes. I did love Armand. In my own way, there was love there. There is love there...." Louis confessed, words that burned Lestat like the very sun. He stood abruptly near flinging the couch back. Jumping away as if Louis were some predator.
"Lestat! Come on. You've loved before me. You will love after me." Louis rushed.
"No! There will never be a love after you Louis! It is impossible! My heart is forever in your hands. You are forever the ruler over my love. There will be no others to love." Lestat erupted, the red ring around his eyes darkening. Louis frowned, it wasn't fair, this wasn't fair.
"You asked me a question. I was honest with you." Louis snapped.
"Yes."
"Why are you so angry then? Armand is not here. Armand and I are through." Louis voiced, Lestat shook his head pulling at his hair. The strain was evident, Louis worried he might rip it out. Louis didn't understand what was going on here. Armand had never come up, not once since they reconnected. Granted he should have thought ahead before agreeing with more blood, should have chosen better, but for Lestat they had been the best option.
"What is it?! What's the problem?!" Louis pressed.
"YOU LOVE HIM!" Lestat erupted, Louis felt like the very building threatened to topple with the weight of Lestat's anger. It did more than groan, it screamed.
"YOU HAVE PROFESSED YOUR LOVE FOR HIM. WORDS THAT NEVER LEFT YOUR LIPS IN ALL THE TIME WE HAVE SHARED! WORDS I HAVE LONGED TO HEAR FROM YOU FOR DECADES. GIVEN SO EASILY TO ANOTHER! I HAVE LOVED YOU MORE THAN I'VE LOVED MYSELF. MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD AND IT IS NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU. I AM NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU!" Lestat roared, Louis was slapped by his words. Spat with such raw and real pain. Thinking back to a time he uttered those words to Armand, in Magnus's lair. Had he meant them at the time? No, did he find it later......unfortunately so. Even then Armand never heard the words again when Louis did feel it. It was difficult expressing that. Love was a convulsive emotion, it was far too hard to try and pin down to simplicitys.
"I WAIT FOR YOU TO LOVE ME! WHEN WILL YOU LOVE ME LOUIS. Quand reviendras-tu vers moi? Quand ne me puniras-tu plus? Quand mon cœur battant ressentira-t-il l'étreinte?" Lestat continued, pouring out himself for all to see. When will you come back to me? When will you stop punishing me? When will my beating heart feel the embrace?
I do love you, Louis had wanted to say but the words sunk like cement in his throat. Lestat's heart was pounding, Louis could hear it clearly, its beat far surpassing his own. Lestat was bare to him. The pain and sorrow Lestat hid behind exuberance. Louis thought he was getting better. Lestat sounded like he was getting better, but seeing him now. Was like seeing the man he met in New Orleans a year prior. Hurting, broken, weak.....needing someone. Louis had stared as Lestat descended into sobs, falling to his knees.
"S'il te plaît Louis, je suis... s'il te plaît Louis... s'il te plaît." Lestat cried, Louis could hardly understand the words. Please Louis, I'm... please Louis... please
Could hardly pay attention to him. He was stricken, never.....never had Lestat crumbled like this. Not even in New Orleans. He was manic and Louis was frozen. Lestat was begging Louis to embrace him, begging Louis to touch him, begging Louis to fuck him. To make him feel anything other than his numbness. Promising to be whatever Louis needed him to be. It was a scene that had shattered Louis to pieces.
He had finally moved his body when his mouth refused to listen to his mind. He hoped panic was conveyed in his movements as he dragged Lestat off his knees. Up onto the couch and in his arms. So many words spinning in his head, so many things to say, too little brain power to compute his mental storm. So he hugged Lestat instead.
Hugged him like a mother would hold a child. Hoping that it would be enough. Lestat had calmed in his arms and they had sat there for what felt like hours before Lestat moved again. Putting on his facade, Lestat had flashed an outward smile. Which only deepened the frown on Louis' face. This moment was a joke, it wasn't to be brushed off, it was concerning. Lestat didn't seem to like what he had seen on Louis' face, because next he was cupping Louis' face....bestowing a kiss on him.
Trying to deepen it. Trying to hold Louis in place, Louis turned his head with more force than he should have needed. Lestat was holding him so strongly it hadn't been easy to break it. Grabbing the wrists of the hands cupping his face, Louis pulled them down. Peering up at Lestat, Louis' gentle denial of sex seemed to breeze by easier this time. Lestat had simply nodded, kissed his forehead, took a deep inhale, and gracefully climbed from his lap. Mumbling how he was tired and leaving to his coffin.
....and Louis let him go.
Louis soured at the memory. When he woke the next night. Lestat was already gone. No words, no text, not a letter. Just gone. That was Louis' problem, he thought too deeply, acted too late. Louis had planned to sit him down, to lay it all out on the table. To actually talk. Not talk about the modern world. Not indulge in fantasy. Talk, to say everything they've wanted to say. Try and figure out a way to balance them. He had thought about it all that day, waiting to rise and embark on a journey of shattering to mend hearts. Unable to sleep longer than an hour.
Lestat had other things in mind for them clearly. Louis had sent him many texts, tried calling him, hell even emailed Lestat. All going ignored. Then Daniel dropped the news that the book was to be published in a week. When it dropped it took two days for Lestat to message him. No words, just a single picture of the cover of the book. Louis knew the man was hurt. Louis hadn't told him about the book. Not to mention disclosed their personal life. That was 9 months ago. Louis stopped trying to contact him soon after.
Lestat never answered and Louis gave up trying. Radio silence was what Lestat wanted, so it was what Louis would give him. Maybe it was petty, maybe it was ill advised, but Louis was falling back to familiar territory. Silence was a weapon between them. It was in the recent months that Louis had discovered that if he thought about Lestat hard enough. He could feel an invisible cord in his mind, like it was tethered to his heart. Louis had no one to ask if it was a new gift or not.
He just knew if he mentally touched the cord, it would vibrate. Then most times he would feel it vibrate back. It kind of felt like an itch, the feeling was fleeting but enough. Enough for him to know Lestat was alive out there. Even if he had deemed to shut Louis out, and admittedly Louis felt he deserved it. Resting his head on the seat watching the ocean disappear from view, he felt that familiar itch. Bringing a smile to his face. There he was.....
Los Angeles, California......
Lestat groaned as laced blood poured into his mouth. He couldn't remember what this girl was on. Ecstasy, Cocaine, maybe a little MDMA. He wasn't sure. What he did know was he felt fucking great. His mind was numb, his thoughts too garbled to make sense of. Soon she collapsed against his chest, growing weak in his arms. He drained her until he heard her heart slow, only then did he stop. Dropping her in the dark dirty alley. He didn't kill her, not that he didn't want to. It was just much easier to leave them alive. Drugs still wreaking havoc on their bodies. Til the memories were just as a mess as his brain was, he did toy with their minds a bit. Not as good as he could do if he wasn't under the influence, but he was in a time where he just didn't care.
Licking his lips he sighed in bliss. Pricking his finger on his fang he rubbed bloody fingers along his bite. Healing the holes left. Stepping over her body, he took a stroll back to the bar. Spotting his band members easily. Rowdy in the back, high as a kite. Just the way he liked them. Alex, Larry and Tough Cookie were uncanny attachments of his. Stumbling upon them with thought to make them a snack a year ago had done him well.
Some wild twenty something year olds practicing music in the middle of a cemetery. It was a morbid scene that made even Lestat giggle. Satan's Night Out became The Vampire Lestat. They had been making a name for themselves since. Originally through his charisma using his preternatural charm to get through doors that had been closed to the band. Now he didn't need to use his prowess anymore.
His band was a hit. Such a hit the upcoming album was very anticipated after just one single. His latest "Long Face" seemed to be really what the world wanted to hear. According to Tough Cookie, TikTok was eating it up. It was trending as they said. Lestat still struggled with understanding the internet. It was vast and seemed to touch everywhere. There was too much to look at. He found himself being attacked often. Not that he cared. Just the other day he was in twitter wars with some group of unicorns. Lestat could hardly understand half the insults and simply told people "He'd eat them, and watch their blood drain." Which ultimately led to his new PA taking over his accounts. You couldn't say that apparently.
Free of the easily distracting nonsense left him in a state of drift. His cares were free. He was free. Or at least that's how he felt when he was pumped so full of narcotic tinged blood he could hardly see straight. Sitting down on the torn couch near his band. He let his head fall back. His darkened sunglasses shielding most of the flashing lights around him. He hummed to himself just enjoying the waves. Nothing could crash him when he was like this.
Nothing....
Except that tickle in his mind. Lestat flinched at the feeling. His eyes popped open as his heart skipped. Like the travel of rippling water, the strum was felt like a beacon. If he so wished he could follow it and be led to the center. Lestat didn't care to dabble in the vampire science of it all. He just knew by the way his heart skipped that....Louis was calling him. He gritted his teeth trying to shake the feeling away. Yet, he couldn't help the way he responded. Pulling at that cord to send the signal right back.
Come to me.
That was all Lestat wanted. He was tired. Tired of chasing love. Tired of being the light for others. Tired of his flame being blown out by all who he gave it to. Tired of being abandoned. He was bored of pushing by himself. On the cusps of happiness....he was robbed time and time again. When would someone do for him what he did for others? He was lost. Misunderstood. Tattered. Broken. All of it, any and all of it. Nothing was right....really, if he really sat and thought. Which is why he didn't like to fucking think.
Everything was bleak, the world colorless, sound scathing, life...meaningless. What was a vampire who could not live? The immortal life was losing it's captivation. Those thoughts led him to the abyss of the end. Was eternity worth it if he was to be alone? Ran from by all he loved.
Why was he this monster?
Why could they not love the monster?
Why was he cursed with immortality?
Why was he such a fucked up person?
Why would he be loved?
The man who threw his love from the sky, the man who choked his child, the man who's beating heart sliced his neck, the man who crossed the ocean for blind revenge. The man whose child called out to him....and he had been too frozen to save her. He couldn't save her....he could have saved her. Had his appetite been right, but it hadn't.
He failed her.
Lestat found his high crashing in a flash. Tainted by the cruelty of his beating heart. Louis would torment him til the end of time it seemed. Reminding him that he was out there. Telling him he was anywhere but right there with him. Where Lestat needed him.
Lestat needed someone.
"We should probably head out. You start the docu-series tomorrow night." Alex spoke up, practically yelling over the loud music. Lestat had been numb as he was pulled to his feet. Carried out by humans weaker by miles, yet he felt like the weak one. Being reminded of his secret agreement only worsened his mood.
A split second decision. To rid the weight of hatred on his name. He still couldn't believe Louis had spilled so much. To a man in his quaint little penthouse. Saying all the words he had never uttered to Lestat. Airing their dirty laundry for the appeal of the world. For what? Another lash to Lestat's bleeding back. Like he didn't know he was terrible. Like he didn't know himself a monster.
So much was said and yet so little went unsaid. The supposed love of Louis's life was somewhere nursing a shattered heart. Bitten by the very jewel he coveted. No pain was greater than the pain Louis could cast on another. He also knew Armand to be hiding from Louis. Which was comical to say the least. A 500 plus year old vampire hiding from a 147 year old vampire. It was pathetic and in a way....Lestat seemed to be echoing that very sentiment.
Here he was.....hiding from Louis in plain sight. Yearning for his love to return to him. He wanted nothing more in this life but to weep in Louis' arms. For someone who knew his pain to guide him through this heartache through this sorrow. He had no one, and no amount of pleasurable bodies could chase away the cold in his heart. Lestat doomed to be alone forever.....just like Louis had said. Spewing his fears to him with jagged edges lodging deep and twisting as he bled out.
Louis had a way with words....what he physically could not do...he more than made up for with icy venom.
It was almost too easy to get the anger to consume him. To pull it on like a cloak, feeding a coal fire. It was a habitual cycle for him now.
High.
Depressed.
High.
Angry.
High.
Manic.
High.
Regretful.
High.
High.
High.
High.
HIGH.
Numb.
Then back to high to start it all over again. Round and round he went on this merry go round his life had become. With no signs of stopping. Somehow he felt trapped within himself. Not Lestat....yet, watching Lestat. It was an out of body experience. Like a fly on the wall. He was just observing the spiral. He so wished someone would hear him. His soul was crying out.
He needed someone to hear him.
He was finally getting back out there. On bigger stages than he had ever been. His music love recharged. Yet, a sea of adoring fans wouldn't change his outlook. They weren't the ones he wanted to cheer for him. The one he wanted to perform for.
His thoughts revolved around longing.
Around pain. It was his driving force. The ink to his pen, as he scribbled in journals. Journals....like the ones his doux ange de la mort used to write in. As if compelled to follow his thoughts, Lestat felt the bad he was sprawled in dip. There his angel sat, on the end of the bed, still in that yellow dress he last saw her. Still bloodied, still battered, still hateful. sweet angel of death
"Tsk tsk, Uncle Les. You're wasting away." She taunted, he stared at her wearily. Wondering what tonight's visit would bring him. Sometimes she tried to kill him, sometimes all she did was laugh, sometimes she sat there crying....asking how he could betray her. Other times she was nice....sweet almost. More often than not however she was the venomous vampire he knew her to be.
"Leave me....I do not wish for this tonight."
"Oh, Louis on your mind again? Ha! Again...that's funny. He's always there. Always festering like the maggot ridden bodies you slept next to." She tossed, he flinched at her words, closing his eyes. Another reminder she was long since gone. She couldn't have known about that, he never spoke of it. She was a conjuring of his mind. He knew it to be so, but the touch of her hand....felt real.
"Uncle Les, not gonna win ya'self any awards lazing round. What's next, huh?" She poked, he frowned, opening his eyes. Finding her form again only she was looking at the journal next to him. Still open from where he had hastily scribbled words when he first arrived.
"Oh uh....that's not a good song. You're tryna make him mad, huh? Another Come to me? That how you gonna get his attention?" She spoke, he huffed, swatting the journal off the bed.
"I do not sing of him." Lestat spat, Claudia gave him a deadpanned look.
"All....you sing is him."
"Leave me." He spat, averting his gaze. Just for her to appear standing right where he had turned to look.
"Poor Lestat....still singing songs....still groveling...still whinny like a dog locked outside. Wanting his owner to just open the door. Scathing at it so helplessly.....help me....see me....want me....Louis." Claudia voiced, her eyes taking on that sharp evil glint. So cruel, so sadistic, so.....him. He felt his neck burn in phantom pain, a blade....gliding across his neck. Cutting like butter...so smooth
"Louis.....Louis...Louis....mets-moi dans mon cercueil, Louis." She mocked. put me in my coffin
"LEAVE ME!" He roared, lurching out of bed. He thought he would have grabbed air, but the firm shoulders his hands snatched made him freeze. Claudia tilted her head ever so slowly.
".....you didn't love me, Les.....why didn't you love me?" She whimpered, big red-orange eyes looking up at him. The flips of her mood would always throw him.....Louis had said they were alike in that regard. That knowledge sat like a chain of spikes on his mind. This was what he was like to others.
"I did....I do love you." He assured, nodding as she shook her head.
"No, you attack me...you hate me."
"I can not...you are me...a product of me..I can not hate you. You made me so proud." He confessed, his eyes tinged with red as he held her tighter.
He had loved her. He loved her more than he cared to admit. She was his daughter. She never stopped being his daughter, even when she stopped wanting to be that. He had been excited, beaming with it those nights he taught her to hunt. Watching her fondly as she climbed trees, testing her abilities. He had fretted over her more than Louis had the time she fell out of one. Broken her arm and she teased him for crying about it. Even though he knew she would be fine in a few hours. He couldn't help it, his little monster had been hurt. Louis had teased him too that night. Claiming how he thought he would be the one freaking out.
All those days he sat with her planning her room's redecoration. Pouring over her wants, making sure they all came to pass. Fretting over her clothes. Scolding Louis for his sheltering when she confided that she wanted to feel more self-sufficient.
"You never thought about me! It was always Louis!" Claudia yelled at him, Lestat sadly shook his head.
That wasn't true either. He thought about her often. She was his prodigious killer. He knew her deeply, which is why he knew of her rebellion long before Louis. Louis too focused on her appearance to look past her vampiric nature and her true age. He knew when and how she snuck out? When she came back, only then did he sleep when in his coffin. When he knew his time with Louis had come to end, that last night together. Despite anger for Claudia....he had been proud of her. She was a formidable vampire, one you were lucky not to cross. She was the perfect predator in his eyes. He had a hand in making a masterpiece, even if at the end of her blade.
That was his daughter, his little monster...his baby.
He had so many regrets. So many things he should have said to her. So many things he should have done better. To be a better father to her. What qualifications did he have for that though? His own parents were shitty, Louis' parents were shitty, and in turn they made many errors.
He cried for Claudia often, wishing he could dream. If it meant he could see her alive and happy. He had nothing of her left....nothing. Just these visions of her phantom. The last piece of her he had left. Even as she ripped him to shreds night after night...he feared he'd lose her if she stopped. He worried when he didn't see her for a few days.
The string he was holding onto, he couldn't let her go. He hadn't cherished her enough when she was here. Lestat felt another piece of himself crumble. He dragged Claudia close, wrapping his arms around her. Petting her hair....only she had disappeared and he was holding no one.
He was alone.
Alone and regretting ever agreeing to tell his life story. He had been particularly curious about Daniel. The man to whom his cruel lover had spilt his soul. The man was brash and annoying, but Lestat kind of....in a very mild margin, liked Daniel. He referred to Louis' rat diet as an eating disorder, which Lestat had found comical. Until the power of the internet had made him curious to know more, and with humans now studying any and everything. It wasn't as funny as it had been.
That was the last time he looked up some random human terminology to understand brain inner workings. Even though he was tempted. Given that Daniel in the last two weeks kept telling him he was betting money that Lestat had Borderline Personality Disorder. He wanted Lestat to agree to be evaluated at the end of his docu-series. Just to confirm or deny, Lestat had denied his want...but Daniel was still pushing.
He refused to look that up. Less he crumbled to a pillar of salt. He had no time for human constraints. The series was a mistake and it was waking ugly traumas he had to discuss to tell his story. Every other night felt like he was slitting his wrists so people with cameras and makeup could watch him bleed. The Great Vampire Lestat....deduced to an emotional wreck every night.
Tonight was no different. He was tired, from two days of restlessness, from being cooped in the studio, with his past nipping at his heels. He was irritable and apparently choking a mortal was grounds for a break from storytelling.
"You know what you need? Some fun! How about we just say fuck this and leave? What are they gonna do? Nothing, we can just reschedule. You need a night out, you need some ass I'm your lap, you need to get your dick wet. Then you'll be good." His bandmate Larry voiced, as the man crushed up some pills to snort. Lestat hummed Un acknowledgement, snatching the man's wrist. Pricking Larry's wrist just hard enough for a single drop of blood. He ignored the man's wince. Tasting the drop he frowned.
"Do it all." Lestat commanded, staring at the three lines the man had made. Mutely Larry nodded, some days he liked to tease Lestat, act like he didn't enjoy the bite, didn't enjoy being high. Tonight however, like some nights, he genuinely worried if they might piss the man off.
"So what do you say? Fuck them." Alex echoed, her enthusiasm was cute.
Despite her goth core aesthetic, she was what Tough Cookie called a "Golden Retriever". She was a smart girl, but bubbly, playful, and bouncing off the walls most nights. He liked her, she was amusing, a kick ass drummer, and a distraction. Her literal puppy dog eyes and bouncing were just enough for him to decide he was done for the night. He was ready for a night out like suggested, until from across the crowded noisy room. He picked up on a name that froze him.
"Mr. Malloy, I know you said no interruptions, but one of your red names has called, a Mr. du Lac is on the line." Lestat's entire focus was across the room. Watching as Daniel perked up, Lestat poked in his mind a bit, hearing that he hadn't spoken to Louis in months. He pulled back as to not miss a single word spoken.
"Louis! My favorite hermit crab, it's been a minute. Where have you fucked off to now, hmm?" Daniel blurted, his genuine smile irked Lestat. Daniel wasn't worthy of hearing Louis' voice.
"No, it's not a bad time." Daniel responded, to whatever words Louis had spoken. Lestat couldn't quite hear but a few words here and there.
"TAKE 20!" Daniel called out, pulling the phone from his ear. Lestat poked in his mind again. Trying to figure out whatever would bring another break on. Given that Daniel hadn't wanted to take one at all. The only reasoning Lestat discerned was that Dsniel genuinely wanted to talk to Louis.
"Im..." Daniel trailed off, eyes honing in on Lestat. Lestat caught some spark of Armand in Daniel's mind. The fledgling felt Lestat poking around. He scowled, closing his mind off, Lestat scowled at him in return. Like he had been entitled to invade his mind.
"Just a sec." Daniel voiced, getting up from his seat and stalking off.
"See now's our chance." Alex blurted, Lestat ignored her rising from his seat. He found himself lingering in the hall, a safe enough distance to hear Daniel.
"I'm in Los Angeles.....No, where are you?....Miami? What are you doing there? Oh, you're like a dragon, you know that. Collecting the glitter and the gold, except it's art. Yeah, whatever.....So you saw him?....If he felt you, I doubt he lingered.....Yeah, I know you know Armand, but.....well he fucking bit me so....." Lestat felt, himself pulse, a wave of fury overtaking him. Louis was wasting his time tracking Armand? When Lestat was here! Waiting for Louis to realize he was missed! That he was wanted.....no needed. Lestat needed him! Yet, where was he as always.
"Fuck him....what's next from Miami? Home?.....What? Since when?....I wish I could, but I'm working......Doing that docu-series with Lestat.....Yeah, Lestat.....Oh?....Makes sense if you ask me....He's? Hell if I know. He's your husband not mine......Bullshit.....Well he's a rocker now, so doing what a rocker does....Look if you wanna ask him why he's not talking to you. I'll go get him, but don't take it out on me....It's fine.....Yeah, I'll believe that when you introduce me to your next Beard....Whatever you say Louis....Its all in your voice.....No, I don't need to be looking at you to tell if you're serious....Ive been married, i know my shit....So what? Been divorced too....You say that now but..." There was a long pause before Daniel spoke again.
"Is this a temper tantrum? Don't curse me because you're.....Hello? Helllllooooo? Temperamental assholes, all of them. I'm over him my ass." Daniel huffed, Lestat quickly slithered back to his seat. Twisting the ring on his finger in barely contained anger.
Over him?
Louis was over him?
Was. That. So?
"So?" Alex inquired.
Lestat grinned something sinister. He was definitely done for the night. Except he wasn't going to some bar. No, they were going to find the nearest recording studio. He had something to fucking say.
