The 𝓑𝓸𝔂

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 ━

Thus began the most terrifying and amazing adventure of Daniel Molloy's life.

At first, he'd convinced himself that the vampire was a hallucination and he was running from a literal ghost. His nightmares and the lack of sleep had finally driven him crazy. Or the drugs did.

A few ━

— the post-feeding weakness.

His eyes opened and he looked up at Lestat. Pupils blown wide.

He tried to speak, but all that came out was a whimper. It was only a drop or two, but vampire blood is a hell of a drug.

His ears were ringing which made understanding Lestat hard. But he didn't really need to, did he?

Instinctively, he licked his lips, confused by the taste of blood at first.

... And then it hit.

The feeling was impossible to describe. The best high of his entire life. Especially when mixed with —

Daniel, liking feeling nearly dead since 1973.

"Don't ask dumb questions, man."

He laughed, relaxing as he felt his blood being drained from him.

By the time the vampire stopped, his grip had gone slack and he's barely clinging onto consciousness.

On cloud nine, really.

When he starts to pull away, Daniel clutches on. Tugs him closer.

"Y'can take more. It's fine."

Sure, he might pass out. But that's happened before. He was fine then, he'd be fine now.

One hand rests on Lestat, clutching onto him.

When the lightheadedness hits, he sighs happily. This feeling will never get old.

"Fuck."

He hisses, letting his eyes shut and his body go limp.

Hiding a smile.

<- PROUDLY a living on-demand juice box.

Just kinda...

Tilts his head to the side. 'Subtly' (it's not subtle at all) exposing his neck.

"Look, I'm good with the written word, I'm shit with the spoken one!"

That's not necessarily true. He's good at getting people to open up and spill their guts. He's not as good with comfort.

"Let me get you some water."

━ ask that!

"Don't take this the wrong way, but is that how makers typically choose fledglings? By seeing their potential?"

━ forth or wiggled in his seat.

Speaking of Louis, he couldn't help but think of how Lestat found him pulling a knife on his brother. Is that a typical way of makers finding their... wait, he can ━

"You proved you were a killer." He mumbled to himself, reading the words while Lestat spoke.

Daniel was fidgeting as he focused, fingers tapping against his leg to avoid making too much noise. He couldn't sit still, he didn't have it in him.

When he was interviewing Louis, he had paced back and ━