oh that we could always see such spirit through the year
From @oopsallvampires
To @fofoqueirah
(Crosspost to AO3)
Rio at Christmas was nothing like New York. Nothing was like New York, really, just as no city could ever compare to Venice, or to Rome, or Paris, or New Orleans. And no city in the world was like Rio de Janeiro at any time of year, Christmas least of all. Armand traversed the city, heavy humidity clinging to his clothing and fluffing his curls, revelers dancing past him, and wondered if he should have stayed in New York. He was sure to be wanted at Trinity Gate. He didn’t know the score here, what reception would greet him. He let the music and the drunken shouts wash over him as he strode past the fairy light bedecked palm trees to his destination. Worrying wasn’t his style, and he wasn’t worried now, but he didn’t like this uncertainty. Marius would be happy to see him, of course. But would Daniel? Their relationship last time they’d spoken had been strained, to say the least. What would it look like now?
Marius had bought a new house. It was more Marius’ style than the previous one, more neo-classical, grander. Armand wondered idly if Daniel ever swam in the pool. Daniel had been a strong swimmer as a mortal, the results of a brief and disastrous stint on his high school swim team. Someone had decorated the place for Christmas, expertly if garishly. Surely not Marius’ idea, but who was to say? Sometimes he didn’t seem to know his Maker very well anymore. He opened the door and went inside. No sense knocking. They were expecting him. So it came as a bit of a surprise when Daniel wandered out from a doorway in his underwear, looking puzzled.
“What are you doing here?”
“Visiting. I told Marius I was coming.”
“Must have slipped his mind.” There was a strange edge to Daniel’s voice.
“Where is he?”
“Out. Hunting.”
“When will he be back?”
“Later. I don’t know.” Daniel sighed. “I guess I’ll get dressed.”
“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, Daniel.”
“Oh, I know.”
With no further ceremony, Daniel slipped back through the doorway and disappeared. Armand perched himself on a dark green velvet chair in the sitting room and waited for Daniel to get dressed or Marius to get home, whichever came first. He hadn’t expected much but he had expected Marius to at least tell Daniel he would be coming. And he’d hoped Marius would be there waiting for him. Daniel did not reemerge. Either he had regressed in the important skills relating to dressing and personal grooming or he was planning to steer clear until Armand left. Neither option was very appealing. An hour passed before he heard the slow, steady heartbeat that let him know an ancient vampire was near. Marius peeked around the doorway in a very Daniel-like way. If Armand had been in a better mood he would have laughed.
“Ch– Armand, I wasn’t aware you were coming to visit.”
“I told you I was.”
“Did you?”
“Well, I left you a voicemail.”
A little tsk from Marius. “A voicemail.”
“On the answering machine.“
“I understand what a voicemail is, Armand. Why on earth would you let me know you were coming via voicemail?”
“Well, you didn’t pick up the phone.”
Marius sighed. “Your reliance on modern technology amazes me.”
Armand’s eyes flicked to the elaborate TV and stereo setup on the other side of the room. “I can’t imagine where I get it from.”
Marius bent to kiss Armand’s head. “I’ve missed you.”
This was news to Armand. He leaned his head up into the kiss. “Daniel wasn’t happy to see me,” he said.
“Daniel has been in a dreadful mood all week. I wouldn’t take it personally. If I can get him to leave the house this evening I’ll consider it a miracle.”
“I didn’t realize.”
“He’s doing far better, on the whole. But he does have his challenging moments.”
“I thought my presence was what upset him.”
“I doubt it. He was asking after you just a few days ago. But he needs our patience, Armand.”
“Patience isn’t one of my virtues when it comes to him.”
“He’s your firstborn. If you knew exactly what to do with him you would be a rare vampire indeed.’’
“You would have known what to do.”
Marius laughed. “Now, that is news to me.”
Armand gave a half smile. “So he… isn’t well. What can I do?”
“Well, give him time, like I said. But you might…” Brief pause. “You might take him hunting, if he’s receptive to it.”
“You said it would be a miracle if you could get him to leave the house.”
“Yes, it would be a miracle if I could get him to leave the house. But you… who knows?”
Armand chose not to voice his skepticism.
Unsurprisingly, Armand failed to get his fledgling out that night. He found Daniel, sure, but the young vampire was deeply absorbed in tinkering with some small electronic device. He approached with all the caution of a person approaching a wild animal. Daniel didn’t look up.
“Is that a cassette recorder, Daniel?”
“Yeah. Not the famous one, though, don’t worry.”
“I wasn’t. A little obsolete now, isn’t it?”
“Well, I hate CDs.”
“What are you trying to do with this?” Armand gestured to the recorder.
“Hmm? Oh, nothing, just messing with it.”
“May I?”
Daniel handed the cassette recorder over, white fingers brushing white fingers. Daniel had clearly fiddled with this machine a lot. The white printed text on the play and rewind buttons was worn down to almost nothing, the compartment door loose. Armand made a mental note to take a screwdriver to it later, if Daniel would allow it. Although there was a distant but wry look on the young vampire’s face that suggested he was remembering the fates of other devices that had fallen into his Maker’s hands. Assuming, of course, Armand wasn’t reading wildly into it based on decades old insights into Daniel’s mind. And to think he had called the cassette player obsolete. He passed it back to Daniel silently. Daniel took it and they sat there for hours. The silence was not companionable, but neither was it hostile. Marius peeked in once or twice but appeared rather busy and didn’t ask what they were doing. Armand wondered how much more his Maker was gleaning from Daniel. What did the inside of the boy’s head feel like now, anyway?
The next night Armand returned and slipped into the house. Marius was home this time. Armand watched with amusement for several minutes as Marius muttered things like “oh, for the love of…” at the ancient Rome documentary playing on the television.
“Master..?”
Marius looked up almost sheepishly from the screen, as if he’d been caught in the middle of something unseemly.
“Surely you heard me coming,” Armand said.
“I did. I simply…”
“Got invested?” Armand inclined his head towards the television.
“Got invested, yes.”
“I’m going to try again to take Daniel hunting tonight.”
Marius nodded. On the TV, the narrator was saying that Roman statues would not have been white but instead brightly colored. A recreation of these garish statues flashed on the screen. Marius groaned. Armand wordlessly handed him the remote.
When Daniel emerged from his room a while later he seemed, if not chipper, at least reasonably content.
“Mornin’,” he said without a hint of irony. He was fully dressed, although his hair wasn’t combed. It still lay flat in the back, molded into the shape of his pillow. “Really, old man, another Rome documentary? I thought you learned your lesson.”
“It’s entertaining, in a way.”
“Sure.” Daniel turned to Armand. “Hey, Armand.”
“Hey.” Armand mimicked Daniel’s accent. Daniel snorted in response.
“Armand has offered to take you hunting,” Marius told Daniel.
“He offered, huh?”
“I did,” said Armand.
“I guess neither of you thought I’d remember last time you took me hunting.” Daniel’s tone was still playful and good-natured, but something in his eyes was different.
That icy feeling to which Armand was so accustomed started creeping up through his stomach. Of course Daniel didn’t want to go hunting with Armand. Of course he didn’t. Why should he? So he wasn’t expecting Daniel to say,
“Yeah, okay, I’ll go.”
Marius smiled approvingly.
“Should we go now?” Daniel asked.
“Yes, let’s– let’s go now.”
Once outside, they walked for blocks in that same strange silent limbo that had fallen between them the night before. Armand again began catastrophizing. Daniel might have agreed to this but that didn’t mean he actually had any interest in Armand’s company. And why had Daniel agreed to this, anyway? They were walking along the beach now.
“Look how they lit those palm trees up,” Daniel said. His tone was light and pleasant, a stark contrast to Armand’s cascade of thoughts.
“I noticed them yesterday.”
“Did we do that on Night Island? I can’t remember.”
“We did.”
“Figures you went all out on the decorations.”
“Well, you always liked them.”
“I did.”
Daniel reached out, lightning fast, and grabbed Armand’s hand. Armand almost startled, or whatever the vampire equivalent was. But he didn’t pull away.
“C’mon, Boss, I’m hungry.”
Armand was led by his hand like a child into the nearest nightclub. Amid the pulsing lights Daniel’s expression was firmly the expression of the newborn fledgling he’d been once. Enthralled, a little buzzed, otherworldly. Armand felt an affection for Daniel he had not truly felt in years, decades even. Women were soon eagerly circling the two of them. Out of years of habit Armand directed them towards Daniel, watched Daniel dance with one woman, then another. A gasp from one of Daniel’s new friends followed by the scent of blood let Armand know he’d bitten her. But soon she was free and back to dancing, nary a scratch. Armand smiled approvingly at Daniel. A pretty short-haired girl danced up to Armand and wrapped her arms around his neck. Daniel gave Armand a look that said well, go on Boss. Armand encircled her waist and let himself sway with her. Dark eyes that matched Armand’s looked up at him.
“Tá com frio!”
“I’ve been colder.”
The girl laughed and pushed her body closer to his. Again Daniel gave Armand that look. Curious, this feeling of being watched. He nuzzled into her neck and bit down. Her blood was thick and sweet and alcoholic. She laughed again, thinking he was playing with her, and swatted at him. He’d had enough, anyway. He nudged at her mind, pushing her toward the idea that she would rather dance with someone else. She wandered off to find that someone else and then it was Armand and Daniel again, thronged by laughing mortal girls who soon went off after their friend (at Armand’s silent insistence). Daniel looked like a child who’d let go of his balloon as the women left.
“I wanted you to myself,” Armand said.
Daniel feigned fear. “What are you gonna do to me?”
“That’s for you to find out. Come on, Daniel.”
The balmy night air felt almost refreshing after the tight conditions of the nightclub. Armand took a deep breath through his nose, bringing in every smell. The fried scent of pasteis and and the perfumes of bromeliads and orchids and the sour-sweet medicinal smell of a thousand mixed drinks mingled in his nose. And through these myriad smells and millions of thoughts he found what he was looking for. A very lonely man. After three Christmases alone there was no amount of alcohol that could ever put him in the spirit of anything. Armand found his way to this man like a shark scenting blood, Daniel in tow.
The mortal sat forlornly on a low wall, sweating liquor, head in hands. But he looked up when Armand arrived. He smiled widely. That’s right, it’s okay. Armand beckoned Daniel and sat beside the mortal man on the wall. The man reached for Armand before Armand could reach for him. Moments later Armand’s fangs were in his neck. Daniel watched Armand drink, clearly aroused. Armand beckoned him again. He felt the little jerk when Daniel bit into the other side of the man’s neck. In minutes their victim had gone limp. Gently, Armand pulled Daniel away.
“I know how to get rid of a body now,” Daniel said. He was pink in the face and his violet eyes were sparkling.
“Good. Show me.”
After the body was disposed of, and after Armand heaped praise on his fledgling like he never had before, they returned to Marius’ house. Marius greeted them warmly, patting Daniel on the back like he might a particularly conscientious adolescent boy and giving Armand a squeeze.
“I take it the hunt went well?”
“Very well,” Armand said.
“Good. I think I’ve found a documentary that will make all of us angry.”
“No more documentaries,” said Daniel. “Come on, man, it’s Christmas.”
“It’s December 23rd,” Armand said, frowning.
“Exactly, Charlie Brown time. Let’s go.”
Marius made eye contact with Armand and shrugged. Ten minutes later, the opening music of A Charlie Brown Christmas filled the house and on the sofa, Armand had his head on Daniel’s shoulder and his feet in Marius’ lap. And he forgot, for a while, that he’d ever been worried about anything at all.
