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[beautifulboy]

city CRAU welcome (though he wasn't there, lol)
will default to human daniel unless vampy daniel is preferred
if you can't think of a starter, feel free to just blank comment or send me a picture prompt and i'll write something up!

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[rescinded_vow]

[ Armand's mouth presses into a line that tells he's suppressing a smile, the up turn at the corners and the crinkle of his eyes giving it away. ]

You do not feel fake, either.

[ He gives Daniel an answering squeeze, nodding and wordlessly taking his hand once more to lead them both through the half open door to his left. This room is all in warm blue tones, a double bed, a wardrobe, a dresser and two distinct side tables. The one closest to the bathroom door and to them, holds Daniel's glasses and a small digital clock and on the other, there's what appears to be a journal and pen. The bed is made but there's a distinct lack of the 'lived in' feeling that so many of the places they've existed together in usually have. There's a tray on the dresser holding a few pieces of jewellery and a watch but otherwise, it feels as if Armand uses the space merely to dress and has been spending his time elsewhere.

He gestures to the bedside and the glasses there, only now seeing things from the perspective of an outsider or, more importantly, Daniel himself. Consciously and unconsciously, so much of this apartment has been decorated and staged as if Daniel has merely stepped out or that he's expected any time soon. Even the closet holds two sets of clothing, the bathroom also equipped in the same manner to be noticed if anyone dared to linger so long in his space - or not as the case has been so far.

But Armand can't hide from Daniel and the sudden rush of self awareness flushes his cheeks with what little blood is currently in his system and he waits quietly for Daniel to explore. ]

[beautifulboy]

[ The first thing that strikes Daniel as he enters the room is how unlike any of their other bedrooms this space is; the living room had been moulded in the shape of familiarity, harkening back to something known in a way that felt comforting in this place that bursts at the seams with things unknown, but this room is one he doesn't recognise at all.

The colours, the furniture, the way everything is placed just so, feels foreign enough that Daniel has to turn his head to make sure that the living room is still behind them, that they have only crossed the threshold and not taken a step into some alternate dimension through the doorway. Looking back, he soon realises what it is that feels different… In their past, Armand had flexed his wealth unwaveringly when it came to outfitting their most recent haunts, lavishing the space in the latest styles and fashions he'd taken a liking to, or else subverting them all and creating something else entirely his own. In contrast, this little room looks almost reserved, like a hotel. Or, Daniel realises as a strange bubble of excitement pops in his chest, like a home. This looks like the foundation blocks of something a pair could build together, with Armand's characteristic flair, yes, but restrained enough that it isn't overwhelming. Room to grow, room for another's influence. Daniel looks at his glasses on the bed stand, and a useless breath of air he's been holding in his lungs releases slowly.

Armand has been making this room for him, for his eventual arrival; for them to live in together. It's almost enough to make Daniel's eyes sting, this powerful shock straight to his heart, and he can barely think how to react. He stands there, perfectly vampirically still, his mind whirring but processing no thoughts, his eyes slowing rimming with pink tears. ]

I… It looks great.

[ He speaks after what feels like years, and then his eyebrows crease as though he's frustrated with himself for saying something that doesn't even slightly describe the breadth of what he's feeling. ]

Armand, I… I don't have anywhere to stay. Can I… I can stay here, right?

[rescinded_vow]

[ Armand inhales sharply at the question, grasping Daniel's hand with both of his and staring up at him with a pinched look. ]

I would not have you stay anywhere else, beloved.

[ He's been watching, flushed this whole time, studying Daniel, taking in how mercurial he is. It's always been this way, but something about his fledgling now is 'more' - raw, scattered almost and heartbreakingly uncertain of his place at Armand's side. No, he would not have them parted, never again if Armand had his way, but certainly not in this place and not now.

He squeezes the fine fingers captured in his own and gestures with his chin, the movement of his head, though his eyes never leave Daniel's. ]

All of this is yours, everything that I have gathered here, also for you.

[ Armand carefully frees one of his hands to touch Daniel's face again, to cup his cheek and track the visible emotion in those pretty eyes. It was easier to admit out loud than he expected, easier still when he can see the effect his work has had - Daniel's positive response settling with a happy thrill under Armand's ribs - made all the more poignant with those held tears.

..Oh, to hold this boy for eternity, it's all he's really ever wanted isn't it? ]

[beautifulboy]

[ It’s still so strange to see so much emotion on Armand’s face and so earnestly, or has it always been this way and Daniel has simply crafted a version of Armand in his head during their years apart that fit the twisted hurt sitting heavy in his chest? He’d closed off when Daniel had been turned, so sure that it would break them apart that he seemed to be pushing Daniel away, and Daniel had let him… but had there been moments like this, when Armand would look at him and cling and press his assurances into their joined hands, whisper them against his lips? Daniel can’t be sure, but it feels possible, and his heart breaks to realise it.

He raises his hand to press over Armand’s smaller one, to hold the fingers so that he can turn his head and kiss his palm, staring into the usually so placid face so tight with emotion and concern. ]

You know, I… I always liked it when you would spoil me. I said I didn’t, I put up a fight, but whenever you came home with a new box or surprised me with something new when we wandered Night Island, I… I felt this thrill go through me that I’ve never felt before, or since. I felt proud, that you wanted to do that for me.

[ He brings his hand up to tap at his chest, indicating the place said thrill starts - just over his heart - and the point of one fine nail taps against something nestled under his shirt. He blinks. ]

Oh. [ He murmurs, then reaches in and hooks a finger around the golden chain, pulling it out to reveal the amulet hanging from it. ] I forgot I went back for this…

[rescinded_vow]

[ His eyes go wide at the admission, glassy with relief and then with tears as Daniel pulls out the amulet. Armand feels the pull of his own blood for the first time in what feels like a lifetime and a single pink tear escapes as he reaches for the relic with the hand not captured by Daniel's. ]

..You went back for it.

[ From Armand's point of view, the amulet is in their bedroom on Night Island, tucked away in the belly of a carriage clocks drawer, now useless, but both of them strangely sentimental about it enough that it was not swept away after Daniel's transfiguration.

He touches it now with careful fingers, pressing it into the place where it rests, against Daniel's heart. Another gift, another sign of his devotion, of is love for this boy, the gesture carrying enough weight, enough memory to be retrieved in dark times when he was thought lost.. Armand's heart winces at the thought again, at the idea of leaving Daniel and he blinks wet lashes, looking up into Daniel's face. ]

This, those, everything, always I have wanted to spoil you, to keep you in safety and comfort. I-..It- It gladdens me to hear that it was not always unwanted doting.

[beautifulboy]

[ Daniel’s face goes a little pained, because while it seems impossible to him that Armand could truly believe any of the way he treated Daniel was unwanted… how could Armand have believed anything else, when Daniel gave him every indication to the contrary of the truth? Daniel would fight, roll his eyes, assure Armand that he’s no doll to dress up, no pet to groom before parading him along the boardwalk… but he never wanted it to stop. Each gift was a reminder, a reassurance that Daniel is what Armand wants to look at, even turned into something without that buzzing humanity Daniel never saw in other humans until he was turned, until he lost it himself.

Knowing what he knows about Armand, about Armand’s maker, about the kind of creature Armand is, Daniel knows now that the lavish gifts were never an act of control, but an expression of favour, of possession, of love from a being who never experienced another way to express it. ]

It wasn’t unwanted. [ Daniel figures Armand at least deserves to hear it from him in his own words. ] I liked it. Especially after I was turned. I didn’t want you to stop looking at me. I wanted to be connected to you still, somehow, even when I couldn’t hear you in my head.

[ He looks down at the amulet, where Armand’s fingers brush it so carefully. ]

I think that’s why I went back for this. It’s the last piece of you in the world. I needed it with me.

[rescinded_vow]

[ 'The last piece of you in the world' Armand can't think about that, can't think about leaving this darling boy, not when they are here, now, together. No, he grasps Daniel's other words with both hands, lips trembling as he battles to articulate the feeling of bittersweet relief.

He'd continued, of course, after Daniel's transfiguration to dote on him, but the feeling had changed and it turned into something he did in the absence of anything better to do. Before, with access to his mind, Armand could pick out the pleasure, the forbidden thrill Daniel felt at being kept, being spoiled. After, with nothing but silence and Daniel's habitual protests, he'd felt the insecurity, the wash of self consciousness lap constantly at his feet. Even in just the month or so they had together before he was brought here, Armand could feel it festering under his skin, the fear, the instinct to shut down, to push away, getting in the way of what he truly wanted.

'It wasn't unwanted', 'I liked it', 'I went back' each word quells the feeling, unbidden, words that Armand didn't know he needed to hear until this moment, the reassurance he'd always found in Daniel's mind, hanging in the air around him like the scent of fresh rain.

Say something, say it out loud, you fool ]

It is good then, that I have never once been inclined to look away..

[ No creature immortal or otherwise has ever turned his head in the way Daniel does, but it's not.. it's not enough- ]

T-thank you I--

[ No, it's not- ]

I had feared-- still fear the change, the silence. I wish- I love you, so very much, Daniel. No matter the future, I love you.

[ His other hand joins it's pair, holding Daniel's face, willing him to understand, to trust the unspoken parts of him. That this reassurance is everything, that Armand despises how tongue tied he is, how it feels impossible to be so vulnerable, that he can see how they fall apart because of exactly this, but how he vehemently wishes it not to be true, that it is never from a lack of devotion, of love, but it is grief and mourning and his own inability to voice emotions he barely understands. ]

[beautifulboy]

[ Daniel believes this really is Armand standing before him — because no-one else in this world or any other could possibly feel the way Armand feels under his hands, can captivate him like those wide, brown eyes and that sensual, even voice can, can know the things Armand knows — but the way he crumbles under the weight of his own emotion standing here almost makes him doubt his reasoning. He wants to ask what happened, what has this place done to make Armand so raw and flayed open by his own feelings... but Daniel remembers all too well the lingering taste of loneliness in the droplets of Armand's blood he'd been fed when he was human; the desperate craving for love, love me, love me, love me, that had clung to the back of his mouth and lingered in his memories even as the swoon started to fade. He'd mistaken it, then, for his own feelings surfacing through the desire to be one with Armand, to be beside him in the Dark Gift, but hadn't Lestat said that a vampires greatest weakness was his inability to survive alone? Daniel can feel his own soul crying out for a tender touch, for someone to take him by the hand and pull him along, to another plane, another museum, another bar, another show...

He kisses Armand, just once and painfully brief, and when he pulls back there is a slow falling tear running silently down Daniel's cheek. It's like he hasn't even noticed it, and he blinks slowly down at his lover. ]

I know, and I love you.

[ He says it simply, because he's always known Armand loves him, even with the uncertainty that rocked them apart, and the same should be true in return. He's reminded of the reunion between Lestat and Louis now, the silent forgiveness and inevitable understanding, the way they seemed each reborn in the forgiveness of the other. He wants that. ]

I never stopped loving you, throughout all of it. I think I did it because I love you, if anything. And I forgive you. Whatever made you do it, whatever your reasons were, I forgive you.

[rescinded_vow]

[ Armand's hands tremble, the kiss too brief and he chases Daniel's, lips pressing to that stray tear, senses lighting up at the droplet of blood as it dampens the crease of his lips. He pulls back, eyes dark and liquid looking still with tears, but he's smiling, petting Daniel's face with his thumbs. ]

I'm so glad you're here, Beloved. It's felt so empty without you.

[ His hands slip down, arms encircling Daniels neck and Armand presses as close as he can, curving into his darling's taller frame and breathing out a relieved sigh. He feels...calm, for the first time since being brought to this place, finally held against the one soul he's been desperate for this whole time. ]