Does secret agent things.

see where this takes them.
She /should/ be terrified, here with a vampire, but she isn't.
Instead, she's less afraid than she's ever been in her life.

"I stopped pretending hours ago." Is her quiet reply.

How did they get here? They started out as the most unlikely team, and now they're dancing by firelight.
They'd been pretending to be a couple, and now, they're dancing their way to...becoming one?
Maria is one to analyze everything, but she's weary of it.
Instead, she wants to just let go and-

meant to meet all along?

She does wonder if she was attention worthy at such a young age, and to one like Lestat.

Those thoughts flee when he brings her close, and she finds her breath catching in her throat.

Making up for lost time. That definitely says something to her.

"I like the sound of that."
Perhaps they were-

[Grumbles in old man logan]

indie interpretation of Logan Howlett, aka The Wolverine

Dad and teacher to many

into the #TARDIS

[edit by Briggs on tiktok]

Semantics...

dates were all sweaty palmed, usually shorter than me, various levels of jerk teenage boy."

"I would have had to fight everyone off just to keep my dance partner."
She laughs.
Lestat has a magnetic charm, and she imagines the sensation he would have caused amongst her contemporaries at the time.

"I would have been more willing to attend if you had been there, with me. I hated them. My-

in, she is met with /that/ smile. She had seen him smile when they had been at dinner, and it did not bode well for the man he spoke to.
However, the smiles he reserves for her only seem to grow in sincerity and they light his face from within.

Maria has never quite felt she fits in anywhere. But with Lestat, she is at ease.
Shaking her head, Maria laughs

"You are witnessing the
finest product of lessons,
cotillions, and Deb balls.
I may have rebelled, but when I learn how to do a thing- I learn how to do a thing."

Out, and then -

taken the lead in a way she finds most romantic, and what touches her more, authentic.
It is Lestat. He is showing her himself, and it leads her a little further down that path.

A slightly startled expression flits across her face, but vanishes almost instantly when she hears him begin to sing.
She had thought his humming lovely, but his voice is beautiful, rich, intoxicating.
She had been ready to plug her phone into the speakers and pull up a playlist, but he has -

*fans self*

self away.

She knows she'll love dancing with him.

She has also gotten way past pretending, and has decided to simply let this unfold as it wants.

With him.

Dancing is something that is rare for her. /Not/ because she doesn't like it, but for lack of a partner.
Here before her, is one she never in all her wildest dreams imagined.

Pushing her self up, she takes his hand.

"I like it very much."

She has to fight off a thought so as not to give her-

...the evening could definitely lead to a kiss...

👈Blames @lebriseurderegles.bsky.social for her Lestat obsession.
I think I'm already halfway through Season 1.
Send help.

but she's enjoying herself now.

"Poker?"

That's not what she really wants.

"Dancing in the firelight."
That. For a start.

She wants to know what he has in mind, too.

Her heart begins to race again, and she can't hide that from him, and she doesn't mind.

Oh the possibilities are endless.

"Oh, let me think."

A mischievous glint appears in her eyes as she continues.

"Board games?"
She feigns innocence.
"Chess?"
Maria Hill has never been silly in her life,-

It gives them this time, this time to be honest with each other, to get to know each other, and to simply be themselves.

This is definitely not what she had expected when they set off on this mission.
He's not what she expected, and she's never been happier to be so surprised.

"...and you do, too."

Does he believe it though?

"I have another confession."

She gives him a wicked grin.

"I'm glad we're snowed in."-

//Criminal Biscuit?

I'm dying!!
🤣🤣

//Me, trying not to scream at the TV:
"Don't you eat your nephew !!!!"

YouTube video by raylamontagneVEVO Ray LaMontagne - You Are the Best Thing (Official Audio)

youtube.com/watch?v=pknt...

and last night, you showed me you. You're not the rock star, or the flamboyant vampire. You're just you, Lestat. That's your tell."

She smiles.

"I like your tell."

play games. I want what we learn about each other to be in all honesty."

It dawns on her that she has learned a tell about him after all.

"You don't treat me as if I'm someone you'd throw away. From the start, you have shown me respect. But it's more than that, you have been gentle with me,-

She, who can remain perfectly calm, and bluff her way through almost any situation, is an open book to him.

"You know, there are many who would say I should have some mystique for you."

She traces the line of his jaw (mercy, what a jaw), with her fingers as she continues.

"But I don't like to-

you have an unfair advantage. You already know my tell. You can hear it. You knew it before I did."

Her brows raise.

"You may not even have one."