The contrast in Louis' favorite past times from when he was with Lestat to when he is with Armand is so interesting to me.
From what we have been shown, it appears that Louis' favorite past times include reading (the man always has a book in his hands) and being in nature.
When he was with Lestat, we saw him with a book in his hands, all the time
Heard him mention how many books he had read
Had Lestat reference the pleasure Louis recieved from reading
And we even learned that Louis had a favorite bookshop
For his other favorite past time, we always saw Louis surrounded by nature, mostly by trees in the park
But we did also see him go to the lake with Claudia
Fast-forward to 2022 and this is not the case anymore. The interior of the Penthouse seemingly clarifies that Louis has the same favorite past times, but it is far more controlled.
While he has a full library, all the books are suspended in the air and appear to only be accessible to someone who can fly, which we know Louis can not
Its been a while since I've watched all the epsiodes fully, but I'm pretty sure the only book we've seen Louis pick up is Daniel's book, which did not come from the library.
For his love of nature, the interior of the reading room is clearly meant to emulate nature, but is still artificial. The little nook has one tree, one source of light, a couple of stones, and gravel.
Since it has been over 80 years, it is fair to say that Louis' hobbies may have changed, but when Louis became distraught and started to breakdown, he didn't run to the "love of his life," he ran to the little corner of nature he has in the Penthouse and put is feet in the gravel to comfort himself and regain composure. I think this shows that Louis is still in touch with nature and is soothed by it, but is unable to truly reach it now.
Now, I don't want to assume Armand's and Louis' relationship, but from what I've seen, Louis is not in control here and does not appear to be free.
