The 𝓑𝓸𝔂

A light and a bed would be nice, yeah.

━ gingerly. Initiating contact was strange for him, but it felt right in this moment.

"Lestat. C'mon. We're both being vulnerable here, right?" He asked. "What's really bothering you? Tell me all about it."

He did have the offer. And god, he fucking wanted it.

But right now, he knew that something was wrong. He wants to believe his wish to dig in this case was driven by care for the vampire. But who knew when it came to Daniel Molloy?

His hand reached up to touch Lestat's cheek, cupping it ━

━ fucking kidding me!"

Fine. Fine!

Now he's gotta find someone to bum a lighter off of and a place to stay for the night.

━ heart-strings like they used to.

Putting a cigarette in his mouth, he tried to light it... failed. Tried again and failed again. He looked like he was going to burst into tears as he shoved his lighter back into his pocket.

"You've gotta be ━

━ now. Sure, he tried not to stay in one place for too long, but he couldn't keep that up if he died from exhaustion.

He had just gotten kicked out of his third motel, after begging in the least dignified way possible. Apparently, the pleas of a young man down on his luck didn't tug at the ━

━ @belchiaroscuro.bsky.social

Daniel couldn't tell you what day it was, where he was, or where he was going. He couldn't tell you if he was alive or dead, even. He's frazzled and running on very little sleep - maybe an hour a night, if he was lucky.

Which is why he's trying to find a place ━

"I wouldn't lie just to make you feel better, you know that."

His tone softened a little. He's trying his best, even if he feels like he's drowning here.

"You're just not used to seeing yourself roughed up. Which is -- that's a good thing! We're not gonna get used to it!"

━ worth was ordered for him.

He would've eaten it anyway.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll come with you."

He skipped the typical grumbling-and-whining portion of their evening. He wouldn't have been able to pull off a pout.

"What's the surprise, though? C'mon, give me a hint."

━ again, realizing how dumb and eager he must look, but he wasn't skilled at that in the least. Daniel Molloy is an open book and has always been an open book.

"You won't share me with the others on the playground?" He teased, placing his menu down on the table. Relieved when only ONE meal's ━

When Armand admitted to protecting him, Daniel's face broke out into a dopey grin. It was a thrill of its own to hear those words. It's like knowing there's a monster in your closet, but that monster was only a threat to everyone else.

It made him feel special.

He tried to school his expression ━

━ his life, to be delicate. Not too delicate, of course, but not the same idiotic bluntness.

"Why'd you do that?"

━ was a Louis trait.

"You followed him?"

That was curious. He was clearly a prick and Lestat had wanted to get away from him for most of his life, according to him. Why would he do that to himself?

That was a harsh way of asking the question, though. Scale it back. He's trying, for once in ━

The French Revolution. He nodded in understanding; he wasn't the best with history, but everybody knew about that.

Daniel was realizing something, though. Either Lestat didn't grieve his family at all (unlikely, judging by what he's seen thus far) or mourning forever was NOT a vampiric trait. It ━

a man in a leather jacket drinks from a glass in a dark room ALT: a man in a leather jacket drinks from a glass in a dark room

━ ❤︎ for a starter, length may vary.

━ wire again, but he's trying to learn his lesson. Do it better.

"Different question. You were the youngest, right? How come /you/ dealt with the wolves?"

━ grabbed his notebook too. It's not the first time he'd have to hurriedly jot things down after the fact, it's just a habit that he's been trying to kick.

"Right. Sorry. Got caught up in it."

He did not touch the Louis and Claudia thing with a ten foot pole. He would have to touch that live ━

Daniel listened. But he's not sure if surviving and having the capacity to kill are exactly separate when it came to vampires.

If you're squeamish, you'll starve.

But maybe it's not that simple. Maybe he's looking at it from a painfully human lens.

He nodded and filed that away. He should have ━

━ wished he could have made his tone softer. Sweeter. He had empathy, in his own way. It's just not the same as most people's. His empathy came in the form of fixing. Of being angry on others' behalf. On getting more information.

Another thing he could berate himself for.

━ the fuck are you talking about, man?" Not the turning. Obviously not the turning. His tone wasn't harsh, it hadn't changed at all. It was as if he was asking 'and then what?'

"What do you mean 'not the one I would prefer'? Do you think I'd prefer /Louis/? Look, I like him and all, but..."

He ━

Daniel was about to answer, but something else caught his attention. As was so often the case with him.

Maybe it was because his heart was raw. Maybe it was because he was cradled in Lestat's arms and having his hair pet by him. Or maybe he's still observant, even in his darkest moments.

"What ━

━ goes, isn't it? The first is the best and then you chase it forever? Nothing will ever compare?

Well, here he is now. Nothing could be better than this.

"Y'in my head?" He asked, slurring his words.

Between the anemia and the euphoria, he was helpless to fight the slurring. In a way he hadn't been since he was young and 'partaking' for the first time.

He laughed at the absurdity. He never thought he'd feel a first high again. That's how it ━

━ herself.

"It's really not that bad, Mae! I promise! If you keep ice on it, the swelling will go down!"

He did as she requested, getting her a plastic cup of water with exactly four ice cubes.

He would have stopped her before she went in the bathroom if he'd not been busy. He flinched at her shout - not because it was loud, but because he knew she'd freak out if she saw ━

━ another snatch up his toy. He was confident in that.

"Let 'em watch." He replied, beaming. "Unless you're vampire-famous and want to get out of here before the vamparazzi get pictures of you with me."

His stupid grin got even larger at his pun. Proud of himself.

━ didn't order yet."

That was practically an invitation for the vampire to order for him. He had noticed he liked doing things like that.

At his question, Daniel resisted the urge to look around like a dumbass. If there were other vampires, he wasn't really afraid of them. Armand wouldn't let ━

━ first reaction was no longer fear when he saw Armand. He didn't have the urge to bolt. Instead, he beamed. Excited to see him.

He placed his menu down. His most recent gift left him with enough cash for full meals. He didn't always use it for that, but Armand didn't need to know that.

"I ━

━ with plans just to abandon them at the last moment. But every time he'd 'lose' Armand for too long, he'd grow depressed and listless. He'd mill around until he was woken in the middle of the night by a vampire hovering over him, making new demands.

This had all spiraled to now. To Athens. His ━

━ catch-and-releases disabused him of that notion. This was real. He wasn't so much a mouse and more a wind-up toy that keeps a cat busy. Stop, start. Stop, start.

Eventually, he came up with some tricks. Burying his thoughts under other thoughts. Having other people buy tickets for him. Come up ━