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Post by Armand on Jan 26, 2009 12:00:14 GMT -5
It was not entirely what Armand had expected. The corners of his mouth turned down a little, his gaze cooling. Why had Nicolas mentioned Daniel? Armand had forgotten for a minute that their story was in there, thinking as he had been only of what Nicolas had been doing at the time.
"No," he said bluntly, and then, "Where were you for this?"
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Post by Nicolas de Lenfent on Jan 26, 2009 12:04:55 GMT -5
Nicolas might have wilted a bit at that stare, but if he did, it was only for a moment. He reached out, out of tenderness, to stroke back strands of Armand's hair, but his question threw him off, and he forgot what he had been doing, and neglected to pull his hand again, fingertips still brushing his hair, as he considered. "The Soviet Union. Thereabouts. In the satellites." It occurred to him then what Armand had been asking about, about the queen herself and her attempts to kill all of their kinds. He had thought of this before, for he'd never felt her, but then did not suppose he would.
"I don't know," he said, as though Armand had asked why he was still alive; and a bit defensively, as though Armand had said it as though wishing it were otherwise. "She spared others Lestat loved. He does seem to love me still, sometimes. And perhaps she did not find me. As you said last night, I was becoming a recluse."
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Post by Armand on Jan 26, 2009 12:26:05 GMT -5
Armand's eyes lowered as he thought, a sweep of lashes, then raised again. "I'm sure he does," he said. "Lestat has a tendency to love everyone regardless of their capacity or want of such love." A pause, as Armand realized his words would sound unintentionally cruel- for in truth, he hadn't been thinking of Nicolas at all when he'd said that. He reached out to touch Nicolas' wrist, looking up at him...not apologetically, but with a certain sweetness, the expression on his face unassuming and mindful of the little blunder he'd made. "I didn't mean you."
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Post by Nicolas de Lenfent on Jan 26, 2009 12:37:31 GMT -5
Nicolas had not been hurt by the statement, although he had been taken aback by it, for he was indeed conscious that it seemed as though Armand was referring to him. It had simply seemed too intimate a step into Nicolas' mind and position, which he would not have expected Armand to take.
"Oh?" he asked, eyebrows going up, then lowering into a frown again, one of confusion. "Who did you mean?"
He noticed he had been touched and glanced down at his wrist suddenly in surprise, a very faint flush coming into his cheeks for a short time.
((Not apologetically? I guess you didn't want to have to type "sorry" again? ^_^ *hugs*))
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Post by Armand on Jan 26, 2009 13:03:18 GMT -5
"Ah- everyone, anyone, Lestat falls in love so easily. You could cite Claudia as an example, or Eleni, although she was sweet to him from the beginning." In a flash of unusual bitterness, Armand had been thinking of himself, how Lestat persisted to this day of loving him despite what Armand had done to him. Perhaps Lestat considered them even. They had both come a long ways since Nicolas had been made. But now Armand switched back to his previous line of questioning, still curious, "You didn't feel her pass over?"
(( I've come to terms with that word and its usage now! Really! -_-;
Besides, unless it was a really grevious error, can you really see Armand looking at anyone apologetically?))
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Post by Nicolas de Lenfent on Jan 26, 2009 15:11:24 GMT -5
Nicolas could not picture Armand speaking of himself, for the words didn't seem to apply to him, and he'd have never shut up had he known who Armand had truly meant, alarmed and amused. He momentarily felt his own flash of bitterness as Armand's words, nodding unthinkingly.
Yes - Lestat was good at that. He'd always been. Oh, Armand didn't know the half of it. Or maybe it was less than the half of it by this point - so much time had passed. But it was the beginning, wasn't it - that counted.
Armand gently pulled him back to a more manageable topic. "No. I really didn't. I think I might have been. Ah, turned off, I suppose, is the best way to put it. I don't remember much; I was living outside of their cities." He glanced down at the book once more and then leaned back on the heels of the boots, wrapping his arms around his knees. He looked at Armand keenly. "I came to the colonies just to be with you," he said with a slight smile, aware of the irony of the old-fashioned term for America. Had he said that in French, he might have used the plural, formal word for "you"; but there was only one in English, and he did not realize that it sounded specifically to be about Armand.
((I was teasing. ^_^ *pets*))
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Post by Armand on Jan 26, 2009 16:34:06 GMT -5
So perhaps Nicolas had already gone into the ground, if he'd been so "turned-off." There was no point in asking him what he thought of the popularity boom of Lestat's band or the concert, whether he'd considered coming as so many other vampires had, after that. Nicolas's use of 'you' did confuse Armand. He didn't know why he alone would be enough of a draw.
"You haven't been here very long at all."
(( *siiiighs* ))
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Post by Nicolas de Lenfent on Jan 26, 2009 17:08:57 GMT -5
((For the record, I was thinking that he might have gone into the ground as I wrote that last post. He doesn't remember what he was up to at all. It's possible, though I don't know.))
Nicolas smiled, almost blushing, though it came very easily to him. How strange, to be sitting in Armand's villa, kneeling on the floor over the books in his hardly-used, fresh-bought, not-broken-in-yet gym bag, and talking to him after such a very long time. "Hardly at all, no. I've really only just learned English. I came in - ah. In the nineties. Well, I rejoined civilization in time to watch Communism fall in the East. It's a bit dazed before then, though."
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Post by Armand on Jan 26, 2009 17:23:15 GMT -5
"I won't be hard on you for your occasional lingual mistake, then," Armand said. There was a moment where, kneeling as he was, he could either stand up and so break this strange little tableau, the two of them kneeling a few feet before the elevator when there was an entire room to use, or he could settle in more comfortably and so make this even more personal. Armand chose the latter, sitting 'indian-style' with his back perfectly straight. Distracted for a moment, he was looking at the books again, and thinking to himself how amusing it was that Nicolas read Machiavelli.
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Post by Nicolas de Lenfent on Jan 26, 2009 17:30:27 GMT -5
((Why is that amusing?))
Nicolas didn't adjust his position to match Armand's, but he watched the older vampire move, smiling faintly as the hair swung lightly. He wondered if Armand often cut it, and could already imagine holding the cut strands cupped in his hand. He could put it in a box, as he'd done with Goat's hair once, he mused, watching him.
"I've read a lot in English since," he said mildly. "We learn quickly, don't we? Hm." He followed Armand's gaze finally, reaching to carefully reorganize them and display them. He tapped one of the halves of Interview. "How does it feel, in retrospect?" After a pause, he added - "Your Daniel, I mean. The anonymous author. Not any of the rest of it."
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Post by Armand on Jan 26, 2009 17:57:46 GMT -5
Armand nodded, agreeing that they picked things up quickly, then turned his head to follow the progress of Nicolas' finger as the other tapped the maimed book. "I don't know what you mean," he said mildly. "I didn't know him then."
(( It just is. There's a ruthlessness to Machiavelli that Armand would never have associated with Nicolas. ))
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Post by Nicolas de Lenfent on Jan 27, 2009 9:51:16 GMT -5
((Ah. Yes. Well, Nicolas likes to think so. XD))
"The irony of it, if there is any," he said softly, questioning, looking back at him, watching Armand watch him. "Do you picture him now when you read it? How does it feel?"
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Post by Armand on Jan 27, 2009 13:01:35 GMT -5
"Not at all," Armand said, looking up at Nicolas. His face was so smooth, so blank, big dark eyes in an otherwise colorless face. "This book is about Louis."
He was gently trying to guide Nicolas away from the subject, throwing the name out like bait for another subject.
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Post by Nicolas de Lenfent on Jan 27, 2009 13:59:45 GMT -5
((GOD DAMN IT I WANTED TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION. Why do I have to play a character it's so easy to distract??))
Nicolas leaned back on his heels and then slipped one leg under him, folding it, the other knee folded. He rested his cheek against it and looked back at him. He recalled Armand's refusal to really speak of him other than what he had already said in his biography, and still wanted to know more. "Will you tell me about him? Please."
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Post by Armand on Jan 27, 2009 14:09:35 GMT -5
(( *grins* For the same reason I play a character who takes advantage of that distractedness, dear. Don't worry; Nicki can remember it later. ))
Armand raised his eyebrows. "Didn't I already?"
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