[neil]

[brightyoungreporter]

Right now, Daniel really appreciates that Louis and Lestat were dropped into this city from a time well before his. It's a great reason not to talk to them about this.

Would it hold up in vampire court? Not at all, especially when vampire court also means Lestat digging through his head and laughing.

Daniel's prepared to be grilled or roasted or cooked any number of ways, and just because he's patiently stalking Neil right now doesn't mean he expects anything less from his new mortal friend. Added to the newly renewed expectation that Armand could be and probably is watching everything he does (something he should be pissed about but isn't, how sad is that), a non-affiliated party seems like the best bet.

It's absolutely not because he wants to gossip like a teenage girl. This is not that.

Still, he waits outside Neil's house. Waves at some curly-haired kid on his way out. Thinks about smoking. Thinks about Armand, because he's truly, deeply fucked.

Comments

[myfavoritedream]

When he didn't immediately hand over his beer, I leaned closer with a grunt of annoyance and snatched the bottle out of his hand, putting my empty in its place.

"And you trust him now? Not to fuck with your head."

Unfortunately, I felt like the answer was maybe that he just didn't care. Which was also something I could understand.

[brightyoungreporter]

"More than I thought I would," Daniel says, the admission surprising him. "Who knows, maybe it turns out he's playing me like a fiddle. Back in Dubai, I took his life apart, broke up his, uh, marriage, I guess, of seventy-plus years. He let me. The fact that he sit there and let me means he wanted it, just like--"

Cutting himself off, he taps his fingernails on the empty bottle.

"We're beyond fucked up, but we're each other's fucked up."

[myfavoritedream]

"Okay," I said, tipping the beer against my lips. I couldn't know what any of that was like. Not really. They weren't even human, and I had a feeling that it might be an insult to imply that they didn't have super special vampire feelings that us humans couldn't comprehend.

But it sounded familiar. Not the part about tearing down a seventy-year marriage, but two fucked up people finding they only fit with each other. That made sense.

Glancing at my cane, leaning against the wall across the room, I said, "I almost tore up my life for someone who isn't even here anymore. I can't even say it wasn't worth it, so. I get it, is all I'm sayin'."