Last time on the VC's
@minaharkerdailymirror
@leroilestat
Lestat x Mina
VC x Dracula
Mina nodded and went to lock the doors in the house, "I needed them and got them because they stole them. It's not like they ever bother to share their research. I've not heard of anyone that's ever benefitted except maybe you and that's just because David's mancrush."
"I need to know the uglier details," she told him, "I need to know what my father was. If they know."
But they couldn't know because it wasn't in the files they stole.
Mina went back to bed, and curled up holding a pillow before settling into a fitful sleep. Finally before it got dark, she gave up, got up and made herself a dinner with leftovers.
Lestat did not sleep long. He never did when something unresolved lingered in the house and in his mind. He rose early. It was well before dusk. He was already dressed as if he had only paused rather than rested. He found her in the kitchen and stopped in the doorway, watching for a moment without announcing himself. “Mina eating,” he said at last. He was quiet and almost approving. “Good. That is already better than most grief manages.” He stepped inside the kitchen he was unhurried and taking in the details of the leftovers and the tension still sitting in her shoulders.
“You will have the uglier details,” he continued. “I won’t curate your life into something softer than it was but I will control how it reaches you. There’s a difference.” He leaned back against the counter his arms folding loosely. “The Talamasca doesn’t share because information is leverage it always has been. David was the exception because he knew how to make himself useful.” There was a faint, dry note of amusement in his voice. “And because he was persistent in a way they couldn’t outlast.”
His gaze settled on her again, sharper now, more deliberate. “If your father worked with others then they’ll have names. If he didn’t, there will still be patterns like travel, purchases, disappearances around him. Hunters rarely act in perfect isolation, no matter how much they pretend to.” He paused. “And if there is nothing,” he added, “then we treat that as truth too because it is not a failure but an answer.” He pushed off the counter and moved closer... not crowding her. “We leave when the sun drops. I’ll start with the archivists, then the older contacts... the ones who remember before this century blurred everything into paperwork.” His tone cooled slightly. “They are harder to lie to.” He studied her face. “You didn’t sleep.”