[armand]

[brightyoungreporter]

Daniel, historically speaking, is terrible at this. He'd been a shitty boyfriend, and then a shitty husband; dates were either the standard dinner and a movie, or more likely, centered around whatever story he was chasing.

The only time in his life that he suspects he might have been any good at romance is the part of his life that's been erased, and no shortage of irony here, by the vampire he's trying to woo tonight.

(He's aware he should give more of a fuck about that, but he just doesn't.)

So he asks Armand to meet him at the Boardwalk, and he uses the power of technology and anonymous dating apps to arrange dinner later, and even though he's got Armand's blood in his veins, he's a little nervous. What memories he's recovered, his turning-- it's not just his health that's returned and sharpened. An emotional component exists, the return of feelings he thought he'd been too cold and truth focused to feel.

Turns out he was just missing most of his heart.

Leaning against the railing, listening to the ocean, he decides not to lead with that.

Comments

[brightyoungreporter]

"Maybe we should try that again. Somehow," and he's smirking, tone warm, "I think you might still get a kick in dressing me up any which way you like." He can't deny the appeal of it on his end, either.

"So maybe it wasn't the issue, but I--" Jesus. He ducks his head before he can stop him, a much younger gesture. "It means something to me. I don't remember all of that, for one. And I know it doesn't get more serious than a declaration of eternal companionship, but this is part of me showing, not telling."

Daniel's had a chance to chat this shit out a little, between Neil and Lestat. It helps. "I want to be good to you," he murmurs, feeling like he's going to find out if the undead can still turn red in the face.

[damned_devil]

The turmoil that rests in Armand is a perilous one. How many times has someone said that they want to be good to him? Certainly Marius. Many of those in the brothel. Even some of Marius' companions.

And yet, he believes Daniel. The trouble is, he'd believed others before. "Sometimes, I don't like that," he admits, staring at their joined hands. "It's easier to believe when we're bickering or snapping at one another, because it's real. I've played the role, happily and willingly, of a man in a happy situation far too often."

It's not that he doesn't want it either. "Hm. I don't want you to be cruel either," he admits, which puts them in a quandary. "Do you want to remember Paris?" he asks, instead of continuing down this rocky path.

[brightyoungreporter]

"Okay," Daniel says, "I can work with that. I want to do better for you than I did with... anyone else. Doesn't mean I'm going be able to do it. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop being a cantankerous old bastard."

He hesitates at the mention of Paris. "I don't know yet," comes the answer. "Paris and all of the other memories I don't have... just knowing they're there, feels like an answer to why I always felt so hollow. But where you and I are now, we fucking worked for this. I know I'm gonna want to know someday. You know I will."

They draw close to the food stalls and dumb carnival games.

"But first," Daniel drawls, smirking with barely suppressed glee, "I want to watch you fleece some poor cheating carny at his own game."

[damned_devil]

"I like when you're a cantankerous old bastard," Armand says sweetly. "I like when you're difficult and contrary. When you fight me. When you make me want to devour you alive and leave nothing but bones." He's speaking like these are compliments, starry eyed for the way he's looking at his companion.

"I'm the one who hollowed you out, but I can put them back. I won't say that I want to be better," he notes, because the ship has sailed on that, "but I want it to be different. I want you to see me for everything I do."

His lips curve up with amusement as he regards the stalls, and Daniel's glee. "You brought me on a date for profit?" he teases. "And what would you like to take home?"

[brightyoungreporter]

Nevermind the crowd flowing around them, Daniel catches Armand up, both hands on his waist.

"Oh," he says softly, just for the two of them. "I see you," and his eyes gleam the same gold as Armand's, a dangerous smile in his voice. He leans in, kissing Armand with a bit of fang, and murmurs, "You know I do."

He has to pull away then, or risk something that's going to cause a real problem, the kind he doesn't want to deal with tonight.

"Well, I was thinking I would just relish these guys having their games taken apart by the prettiest little thing they've ever seen," Daniel teases, "but now I want you to hunt down the ugliest fucking prize they've got."

[damned_devil]

For all Daniel's addiction, Armand thinks he's just as bad. He soaks up Daniel's acceptance and his desire like the treasure it is, hungry for more after years of having to furiously chase being wanted -- and to play the right role. Heady, dizzy with it, Armand tips his chin upwards to steal more of that kiss, whining and desperate as the crowd flows around him.

"You see every monstrous part," he murmurs into the kiss, "every shamed weakness, and yet, you still kiss me like that," he marvels, tenderly stroking Daniel's neck with the backs of his knuckles. "And yet, I want you ever the same, no matter how many lives your stories have destroyed."

He'd nearly said it there, I love you all the same, but he wants that to be for a moment that isn't a boardwalk in public.

For one, he doesn't want the witnesses. For two, he's not sure he wants to fuck on this boardwalk.

Taking off his jacket so he can drape it over a shoulder and meander, he shoots Daniel a wink, taking out a pair of sunglasses to slide them on. "You'll have to define ugly for me," he notes, nodding his head to summon Daniel with him. "And just how far I'm allowed to destroy any of these gentlemen and ladies of cheating repute."

[brightyoungreporter]

Of course Armand lays upon him the implication of vampirism, of a kind, through journalism, slings a his jacket over his shoulder like a goddamn supermodel, and then saunters along in with a walk that makes Daniel want to tackle him to the ground.

He adores this beautiful gremlin.

"Let's see," he says, trailing Armand, rubbing his hands together. "I admit I was trying to what you'd find most heinous and unforgivable in appearance-- but holy shit, do we have a winner." He gestures broadly to the line of Rastafarian bananas, all of them grinning the empty grin of the damned from beneath stringy yarn dreads.

"I'll let you decide how much to destroy him. Terrible taste, but who knows? He could be running sketchy games to put himself through med school/"

[damned_devil]

Armand takes in the truly abhorrent garish bananas of his nightmares and instantly decides he's going to win Daniel at least three of them. "Hold this, please," he says with a fang-filled grin, draping his suit jacket over Daniel's arm as he approaches the game in a casual stroll, like this is nothing to him.

"Three plays for a dollar?" the man offers.

Armand merely blinks until the man holds out the rings to toss, strangely forgetting the concept of accepting payment at all. "I'd like to win your largest banana. Many of them." With a fiendish smile, he casts his gaze over his shoulder to Daniel. "My fiancé can't get enough of them. He's such a stickler for potassium," he says, using his power to throw the first ring on the highest rung. "Can't stop wrapping his mouth around them." The second hits its mark. "Insatiable, he is."

And there goes the third.

[brightyoungreporter]

It's a damn good thing Daniel's left holding the jacket, able to hold it right in front of him, because is this ever doing it for him.

To be fair, Armand quietly reading the phonebook would do it for him.

But the fucking smartass sass, those perfect pearly white fangs flashing, the clear baiting-- yeah. Yeah.

"Oh, babydoll," he says, strolling closer, giving Armand a quick smack on the ass. To their victim, he says, "Wedding's only a month away, and he's a little stressed. Total oral fixation, but he loves to tease me about it. Thought he'd come blow off some steam, check out the Tunnel of Love. That thing have a swan boat?"

He almost feels bad for this guy.

[damned_devil]

Armand's entire visage lights up and he stands a little taller than his already-tall frame at the ass smack, the delight clear throughout the games, the winning, and the smugness that he levels at the man, who tiredly gestures above him. "You get the biggest one of the..."

"Yes, that one," Armand cuts him off with a gesture upward, and accepts the banana with aplomb, turning to Daniel with the utmost of serious looks in his eyes. "Is this what you seek, beloved?" he questions, not joking at all. Pleasing Daniel comes first, and that means doing anything he wants.

"Or is it the Tunnel of Love you seek? I haven't been on one of those in decades, not since...well, Santiago," he admits. "I'm not sure it was quite a Tunnel of Love in that case."

[brightyoungreporter]

To be honest, Daniel had kind of expected he might get some bickering about a public tap on the ass. It's most assuredly not the case, and when he gives it a second though-- well, yeah, that makes sense.

He adds it to that list he's making, for when they're back alone in the apartment, though he's not sure if he means it for discussion or action.

Armand wins the hideous fucking banana, and Daniel cradles it like an infant, entertained as hell and unable to keep himself from leaning in for a kiss. "It's the worst fucking thing I've ever seen," he murmurs. "I love it."

I love you.

The words want out, and by god, Daniel is a master of repression. Not now. That tidbit about Santiago helps, and he squawks, affronted. "Santiago? I realize I wasn't born yet," and sorry to the poor guy they're doing this in front of, "but really? That guy?"

He snorts. "I seek a place I can feel you up in public."

The poor bastard with the bananas makes a slightly tortured sound. Daniel's not sorry.

[damned_devil]

Armand's daze only continues when Daniel speaks of how much he loves the prize. Armand seeks the crowd, finds someone there alone, and hypnotizes them as they come up to hold a hand out. "If you'd like it carried for you," he says, gesturing to their new help. "He can also take it back to our apartment."

Our, he says, because he'd given Daniel exactly one evening together before deciding to move in with him.

He reaches for his hand so he can pull him away from the game, eager to continue onward. "Santiago was incredibly attractive," he counters. "I admit that his personality did leave something to be desired, but for his looks and body alone, you would not blame me for it. You would have appreciated it too."

Armand's eye catches on a ferris wheel and his lips curve upwards, smug. "And if you want to do something about those feelings and feel me up, I think I have just the thing," he says, taking his coat back to slide into it.

[brightyoungreporter]

"Babe," Daniel says, well aware that nothing about him in tone or facial expression actually communicates what he's about to say, "we can't make a habit out of hypnotizing the fine citizens of this city to be our little worker bees at any given moment." Yeah, this would be more effective if he hadn't handed the banana over in favor of making sure that jacket gets back on Armand and taking his hand again. "It feels a little... ruling class. For me."

He gives a little snort at the description of Santiago. "Fine. Either of our fellow vampires remember him enough to flash me a mental image, I'll rethink my position on it."

Following Armand's gaze to the ferris wheel, he finds he sure does want to do something about his feelings and get a good grope in, maybe more than he'd even expected. He squeezes the cool hand in his, lets Armand move them along.

"I can't remember the last time I've been on one of these," he says, once they're at the foot of it, looking up at the slowly rotating lights.

[damned_devil]

Armand simply stares back at Daniel for the reproach about using the local population as their help. "What else are they for?" Perhaps he needs Daniel to remind him about humanity, because it's been so long that Armand had been one himself that he forgets that they aren't simply vessels for their usefulness.

And still, Daniel takes his hand, so he smugly smiles, instructing the hypnotized man to leave the stuffed creature at their door.

"I'm not sure either will paint the picture accurately," Armand muses, given what he had put them through, respectively. Yes, trying to hog the spotlight should seem a more minor inconvenience, but Armand has seen both Lestat and Santiago on stage and is well aware of the dual egos at play.

Armand watches Daniel's face in the lights, staring at him with awe and adoration and no lack of besotted fondness. "I hope you've no fear of heights," he murmurs, as if he hasn't taken Daniel in his arms before flying to the sky before.

[brightyoungreporter]

"Nah," Daniel says, paying way more attention to Armand's face than anything else. His stupid, beautiful, angelic face that's probably about to hypnotize the ride operator, and while Daniel's accepted that much of his life will now involve swindling (he's okay with it), he takes the opportunity to pass over the five bucks it takes to ride. "No fear of heights here."

He wraps his arm around Armand's waist, leading him over to-- what, loading area? Either way, it's where they can settle onto the bench and get buckled in, so to speak, the bar coming down over their laps.

"Of course, you could always hop out and zoom around," he teases, leaning in so that his mouth brushes the perfect shell of Armand's ear.

[damned_devil]

Armand spends a half a moment debating whether he intends to climb into Daniel's lap, but they're in public and he does still believe in propriety and acting as one would expect. Still, it's quite the tempting thing -- as Daniel always is -- and he leans firmly into the weight of his shoulder.

"And abandon you again? I'm done with that," he says, as if this is just a casual comment and not a reminder of the time he did abandon Daniel. His tongue taps his lower lip as he inhales sharply for the touch of Daniel's lips to his ear, a shiver made worse by the breeze striking up.

"Is this what humans do, then? Circle the world to see it from above?"

[brightyoungreporter]

"Yeah," Daniel says, still nuzzling, taking in the scent of Armand's skin, his hair. "I know, you're not going anywhere." His hand shifts to Armand's thigh and squeezes. "I'm not letting you go anywhere."

Even a week ago, those words would have felt strange in his mouth, answering some bone-deep urge and pushing past the filters in his brain that say too much, too possessive. Now, he hears Lestat's voice in his head, the bond between fledgling and maker, and he goes with it.

"It's one way we do it," he agrees, quiet and warm. "...they, it's they now, isn't it. But having so recently been there myself, I can say a giant wheel in the sky doesn't begin to cover what humanity will do to see the world from higher up."

[damned_devil]

Armand's hand drifts into Daniel's hair to slide through the curls, using his sharp nails to roughly nudge at his scalp. His eyes are closed, negating the bright lights and the view as they begin to travel upwards, but to him, it's about who he's with and that Daniel wants him in a way that he hasn't felt in centuries.

It also begs the question -- has anyone ever wanted him like this? The truth is too terrifying to face, so he ignores it.

"I cannot wait to try running and see exactly how far I get. I suppose I do owe you a chase in reverse," Armand muses, staring at him fondly as he opens his eyes, ignoring the city below. "Are you speaking metaphorically, beloved?" he questions, of Daniel's 'higher up' comments.

[brightyoungreporter]

Something clicks for Daniel, and he grins into the side of Armand's neck. "I had, what, about five more arranged stops on the book tour, back home," he murmurs. "And then, yeah, your time was up. I wasn't sure how I was gonna do it. Draw you out, maybe. Punish myself until you got the picture. Or," and he presses a kiss to that golden skin, "I was gonna figure out how to hunt you down."

His hand squeezes Armand's thigh again.

"Sounds like we should do that anyway. I know we've got a small world here, but I'm game." He nips at Armand's jawline, and then eases back, the rest of the conversation coming back to him.

"Nah, I was thinking more like NASA," he says. "Vampires in space, though. There's a book idea. You know Rolling Stone called me a pulp fantasist?"

[damned_devil]

"You wouldn't have needed to go very far," Armand notes, ensuring his tone is even and half-bored. "I was never that far from you. I couldn't face the guilt and the repulsion of what I had done to my fascinating boy, but I was there."

The squeeze at his thigh and the promise of a hunt is a promising thing, as equal as it an old memory locked away that he doesn't know how to experience. He takes the sway of the bucket into account, sliding into a straddle of Daniel's lap while they're poised above Darrow, where he can draw his nails down Daniel's face.

"I'll let you chase me anywhere you like. Beg for you. Plead for you," he murmurs. "Let you write whatever books you like." He leans in to press soft kisses to Daniel's neck, fangs elongating. "Tell me which writer and if ever I return home, I'll deliver his body to your door."

[brightyoungreporter]

"I know," Daniel tells him, hands sliding to the small of his back, absolutely no fear of their compartment capsizing. Even if it did, Armand can fucking fly. "I thought I could feel you. I was just getting impatient."

His head tips back, mouth falling open. "If I started writing about you, I'm not sure I'd ever stop. Biography, fiction, a series of essays... I could go on." He slides his hand into Armand's hair, crowding those growing fangs towards his throat.

"Right now, let me feel your teeth."

[damned_devil]

"You? Impatient?" he mocks gently, raising a perfectly dubious eyebrow as he looks at his infuriating reporter. "Never," is lost to Daniel's neck as he sinks his teeth in and drinks from him, slowly to draw out this moment. He unbuttons his suit jacket swiftly to give himself more room to rock his hips forward against Daniel's, letting their compartment sway a little.

"You tried," he murmurs, in between soft bites and lapping licks to clean the blood, "to get my story before. Over the years, I suppose you were able to draw more out, blood from a stone. I'm not like Louis, though. I don't need the odyssey of recollection."

He'd rather burn his memories, let them all be lost like the ones already in the darkness.

[brightyoungreporter]

"Fuck," Daniel sighs, with feeling, staring up at the night sky and its unfamiliar stars as his blood pumps slow and easy into Armand's mouth. He's hard under the roll of Armand's hips, pressing up slightly.

"You may not need the odyssey of recollection, but if I know myself at all, it wasn't about that. Just like I do now, I would have wanted to know everything about you for the selfish pleasure of knowing it. Of being the world's first and foremost Armand expert."

[damned_devil]

The taste of Daniel's blood is as heady as ever, but he only takes a little drink. He still wants Daniel on his own two feet when the ride comes back around. As they descend to a new position, he clambers out of Daniel's lap, but only to grab at his hips and try and reverse it, so Daniel can have his own drink.

"I'm afraid no one can ever be that," Armand informs him, a soft sadness in his eyes. "There's too much I've forgotten about who I am. There's too many walls that have been erected to become who I've needed to be. However, you can be the expert of the Armand I am now."

[brightyoungreporter]

Does Daniel trust the ferris wheel here in the pocket dimension of batshit ill-repute? Nope.

Does he trust Armand? Against every ounce of common sense and happily so.

He shifts and moves just as directed, tickling some memory deep in his muscles of letting Armand move him how he pleases. With a soft, hungry sound, he takes his own little drink, marveling at the taste, the intimacy, the lunacy of doing this high above the ground.

He's careful to heal up the puncture, lap up any smears of red, and then he's kissing Armand's face, at the outer corner of each eye.

"I am absolutely gonna be the expert of the Armand you are now, because the Armand you are now is my Armand." He grins, buzzed and buzzing with the blood, the heights, fully intending to do whatever he needs to ease that sad look. "Gonna be your biggest fan."