Lestat's awfully expressive. Daniel follows the way his eyebrows raise, takes in the blunt but flippant way the other speaks, elegant in his sudden petulance. Lestat doesn't like when he doesn't have immediate answers. Fair, Daniel supposes. What he doesn't appreciate is how that flippancy is directed towards him. There's something off in the way the other talks, too, something the younger man can't exactly put a finger on or place quite yet. He slides the cassette into the recorder, finger lightly on the play button but not pressing it down, and purposefully looks over with the express intent to make eye contact with Lestat after he finishes speaking.
The vampire's read his mind. It's a sharp, piercing reminder that Lestat is an apex predator, senses keen and alert in ways beyond Daniel's full comprehension. He's reminded once more that honesty is the best policy, and offers a slight smile. It's humourless.
"He did the same thing you just did just now, only he offered some to me." Is that a trick Lestat taught Louis go do? Read minds? Is Lestat aware he's echoing his former lover? The only reason Daniel's hand doesn't reflexively move to his bitten neck is because it's still hovering over the record button. He inhales slightly.
"A wealthy, good looking guy in Polynesian Mary's that I've never clocked before reading my mind and asking if I want drugs? I asked if he was a narc, he responded he was a vampire, the rest..." He shrugs offhandedly. It's history. Louis had been absolute catnip for someone like Daniel.
"He didn't seem to have a very high opinion of you."
Lestat is expressive, which is why even though the flicker of displeasure is brief it’s undoubtedly obvious. The seemingly genuine hurt that lingers might only be evident to someone as observant as Daniel, too, though Lestat attempts to play it off nonchalantly with a shrug of his shoulder and a vague flap of his hand.
“Considering the last time he and I saw one another he cut open my throat, you can imagine that the lingering animosity goes both ways.”
And yet Lestat has more or less forgiven Louis. In his mind, the whole scheme of it had been Claudia’s, and Louis was powerless to deny her anything. Lestat remembers the last night with a remarkable clarity considering the delirium from fasting. For all the fights and disagreements, there had been, at least to Lestat, real love. People who weren’t in love simply didn’t look at one another the way he and Louis had while they danced. Was it simply foolish optimism that had convinced Lestat that Louis would be pining for him as well?
“Is your desire then to have some sordid exposé about vampire romance? Two accounts of who said or did what so the intrepid journalist can piece together the truth in all of it?”
american spirits werent invented yet oh nooooo shhh
Daniel can't help himself. He laughs again at Lestat's words, face brightening considerably.
"Something like that. A book, maybe. You're more than a puff piece in a newspaper, that's for sure." And the issue of Louis. Daniel tilts his head to the side for a moment, and finally his hand moves away from the tape recorder and back to the pack of cigarettes he'd been reaching for a short moment ago. He sticks one between his lips casually as he talks, again defaulting to honesty. It's working so far. Lestat's easy enough to read, anyway. He keeps his voice light and information--just casual facts, nothing accusatory.
"Louis and I spent a while talking. Hours, days. It's hard to tell." he'd been euphoric, hopped up on drugs and lust and the feel of Louis' teeth puncturing his neck. It had felt greater than any high he'd experienced. The whole thing had been a maddening, heavenly fever dream, a whirling dervish that Daniel would do again in a heartbeat.
Maybe that's why he's so adamant to interview Lestat. Maybe it's not just the bite. Daniel uses a cheap lighter to light his Camel cigarette, shortly exchanging the bic in his right hand for the glass he'd poured earlier.
"And at the end," he confesses, "he got upset. Took my tapes."
"Then I suppose I can neither corroborate nor contradict whatever story it is he might have told you."
At that, Lestat stands from his chair and moves the short distance to sit beside Daniel. He's close enough that barely a breath separates them, and as he rests his arm on the back of the couch behind Daniel, he looks at the man with and expression that seems earnestly curious.
"Tell me, Daniel, do I live up to your expectations? Am I the monster he undoubtedly told you I am? He always seemed so scared of me. You could not care less."
His head tilts and he smiles, gazing at Daniel unblinkingly and yet somehow seeming pleased.
Of course Daniel jumps: Lestat was across the room and now he's here with a capital H, like he'd been before when that claw-like finger had ghosted across his neck, reminding them both that Louis had drank from him. He swallows, lump thick in his throat, realizing it's a miracle that he hadn't dropped or spilled the contents of his glass with how quickly the other's shifted over.
Daniel doesn't laugh this time, despite his startled surprise. He's still half-grinning, finding it surprisingly easy to move back to being still: the natural reaction to the euphoric effect of shooting up.
"I care, man." Lestat is close. Beautiful, more so out of the dingy bar where it's difficult to cut through the noise. Now that he's up close, now that Daniel's not jonesing or pissed off about how his night with Louis had ended. The Frenchman's eyes are hauntingly beautiful and his blonde hair seems to genuinely shimmer in the light; picturesque and locked into the visage of a stunning young man despite years beyond Daniel's comprehension. Daniel briefly forgets what he's saying with the other's like this, with the other smiling in a way that denotes a sultry kind of danger. The vampire doesn't blink but Daniel has to in order to clear his head, doing so rapidly for a brief moment.
"I guess I care about learning about you more. One person's story, one person's version of a relationship ending... There's another side, dig?" That smile is back, curious eyes sharp. He leans up, facing Lestat head on, reckless. Alive.
I'm not scared of you. This is the most interesting thing that's ever going to happen to me. I have to write. I have to know.
"I don't think you're a monster, either. Not in the way that he thinks."
"That may be the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a very long time. I can see why he liked you. You're an honest man."
And he can see, too, how Louis may have gotten so annoyed by the same trait. Lestat gets the impression that Daniel's bluntness may have gotten under Louis's skin. It hardly matters at the moment, though, because Lestat is preening under the attention and the idea of someone enjoying his company.
He teases some of the curls at the nape of Daniel's neck, continuing to give him an easy smile.
"Answer a question for me, and I will answer a question for you." It seems a fair trade as far as he's concerned. "Do you merely pursue the company of other men to get your precious drugs, or is it a perk you genuinely enjoy?"
no subject
The vampire's read his mind. It's a sharp, piercing reminder that Lestat is an apex predator, senses keen and alert in ways beyond Daniel's full comprehension. He's reminded once more that honesty is the best policy, and offers a slight smile. It's humourless.
"He did the same thing you just did just now, only he offered some to me." Is that a trick Lestat taught Louis go do? Read minds? Is Lestat aware he's echoing his former lover? The only reason Daniel's hand doesn't reflexively move to his bitten neck is because it's still hovering over the record button. He inhales slightly.
"A wealthy, good looking guy in Polynesian Mary's that I've never clocked before reading my mind and asking if I want drugs? I asked if he was a narc, he responded he was a vampire, the rest..." He shrugs offhandedly. It's history. Louis had been absolute catnip for someone like Daniel.
"He didn't seem to have a very high opinion of you."
no subject
“Considering the last time he and I saw one another he cut open my throat, you can imagine that the lingering animosity goes both ways.”
And yet Lestat has more or less forgiven Louis. In his mind, the whole scheme of it had been Claudia’s, and Louis was powerless to deny her anything. Lestat remembers the last night with a remarkable clarity considering the delirium from fasting. For all the fights and disagreements, there had been, at least to Lestat, real love. People who weren’t in love simply didn’t look at one another the way he and Louis had while they danced. Was it simply foolish optimism that had convinced Lestat that Louis would be pining for him as well?
“Is your desire then to have some sordid exposé about vampire romance? Two accounts of who said or did what so the intrepid journalist can piece together the truth in all of it?”
american spirits werent invented yet oh nooooo shhh
"Something like that. A book, maybe. You're more than a puff piece in a newspaper, that's for sure." And the issue of Louis. Daniel tilts his head to the side for a moment, and finally his hand moves away from the tape recorder and back to the pack of cigarettes he'd been reaching for a short moment ago. He sticks one between his lips casually as he talks, again defaulting to honesty. It's working so far. Lestat's easy enough to read, anyway. He keeps his voice light and information--just casual facts, nothing accusatory.
"Louis and I spent a while talking. Hours, days. It's hard to tell." he'd been euphoric, hopped up on drugs and lust and the feel of Louis' teeth puncturing his neck. It had felt greater than any high he'd experienced. The whole thing had been a maddening, heavenly fever dream, a whirling dervish that Daniel would do again in a heartbeat.
Maybe that's why he's so adamant to interview Lestat. Maybe it's not just the bite. Daniel uses a cheap lighter to light his Camel cigarette, shortly exchanging the bic in his right hand for the glass he'd poured earlier.
"And at the end," he confesses, "he got upset. Took my tapes."
wow this thread is ruined
At that, Lestat stands from his chair and moves the short distance to sit beside Daniel. He's close enough that barely a breath separates them, and as he rests his arm on the back of the couch behind Daniel, he looks at the man with and expression that seems earnestly curious.
"Tell me, Daniel, do I live up to your expectations? Am I the monster he undoubtedly told you I am? He always seemed so scared of me. You could not care less."
His head tilts and he smiles, gazing at Daniel unblinkingly and yet somehow seeming pleased.
no subject
Daniel doesn't laugh this time, despite his startled surprise. He's still half-grinning, finding it surprisingly easy to move back to being still: the natural reaction to the euphoric effect of shooting up.
"I care, man." Lestat is close. Beautiful, more so out of the dingy bar where it's difficult to cut through the noise. Now that he's up close, now that Daniel's not jonesing or pissed off about how his night with Louis had ended. The Frenchman's eyes are hauntingly beautiful and his blonde hair seems to genuinely shimmer in the light; picturesque and locked into the visage of a stunning young man despite years beyond Daniel's comprehension. Daniel briefly forgets what he's saying with the other's like this, with the other smiling in a way that denotes a sultry kind of danger. The vampire doesn't blink but Daniel has to in order to clear his head, doing so rapidly for a brief moment.
"I guess I care about learning about you more. One person's story, one person's version of a relationship ending... There's another side, dig?" That smile is back, curious eyes sharp. He leans up, facing Lestat head on, reckless. Alive.
I'm not scared of you. This is the most interesting thing that's ever going to happen to me. I have to write. I have to know.
"I don't think you're a monster, either. Not in the way that he thinks."
no subject
And he can see, too, how Louis may have gotten so annoyed by the same trait. Lestat gets the impression that Daniel's bluntness may have gotten under Louis's skin. It hardly matters at the moment, though, because Lestat is preening under the attention and the idea of someone enjoying his company.
He teases some of the curls at the nape of Daniel's neck, continuing to give him an easy smile.
"Answer a question for me, and I will answer a question for you." It seems a fair trade as far as he's concerned. "Do you merely pursue the company of other men to get your precious drugs, or is it a perk you genuinely enjoy?"