Shadowcovcn - Tumblr Posts - Page 2
🪐 — LOST PROMPT : @shadowcovcn ( claudia ) for madeleine ▶ ❝ you took those bastards down like it was nothing. it…was amazing. ❞
IT WAS ALREADY TOO LATE to save her blouse. the fine fibers had absorbed the blood of her victims she just as ravenously as she had, turning from ivory to red down to her waist. killing the humans was easy now — they moved so slowly — but feeding without ruining her clothing proved to be more difficult. but madeleine shrugged it off as easily as the final man's crumpled body. it was nothing to be concerned about. claudia had assured her that her skills would sharpen with time. & there would be time enough for practice, & for purchasing more fabric ; time enough for everything, now.
as the last heartbeat in the pile of bodies at her feel fell silent, her companion's voice called her from her red-tinted haze. & madeleine returned to her without hesitation, stepping out of the carnage & moving to claudia's side. ❝ i had a good teacher, ❞ she replied simply, wiping at her chin with the back of her hand. her companion had fed too, of course, but unlike madeleine, she had managed to keep her yellow dress unstained, a bright spot in the grimy, blood-stained alley. ❝ & besides, no one will miss this trash. ❞ & she glanced back at the bodies they had left behind with contempt. the ability to read the mortals' thoughts had been quite overwhelming shortly after her transformation, but it had made it a simple matter to find deserving victims, no matter where she & claudia traveled.
🪐 — LOST MEME : @shadowcovcn ( lestat ) for louis ▶ ❝ stay with me a while, will you? it's not safe outside in the storm. ❞
THE IDEA THAT LOUIS WOULD come all this way, cross an ocean to return to the city of his birth ( nearly 100 years after he'd left it ) to track down his maker, & finally finally find the courage to say all the things he should have told him a century ago, only to leave the moment after he'd said it — in the midst of a roaring hurricane no less — it's simply so ridiculous that he can't stop himself from laughing.
but lestat isn't laughing with him. in fact, the look on his face is almost childlike in its hopefulness, his round blue eyes still rimmed in bloody tears. louis has never seen him like this before. he goes quiet, & it strikes him suddenly that maybe he doesn't truly know his maker after all. ❝ yeah, of course. i'm not going anywhere. not today. ❞ human ears might be at risk of losing his voice to the howling wind, but knows lestat can hear him. & even though the sky is still darkened with clouds, the pitch black night is giving way to a stormy grey dawn. ❝ is there room in your coffin for me ? ❞
IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE that this is the same room that had served as a kind of combination prison-slash-torture-chamber for he & ed over those horrible months. in fact, the little nook where they are lounging together now is almost exactly where izzy had lay when his captain had ordered his toes removed, one-by-one. but ed doesn't live here any longer — he's ashore, with stede, where he wants to be — & izzy has a new captain now. & frenchie ( along with wee john & the rest of the crew ) had clearly worked some kind of magic to exorcise the demons from the ship. now, sunlight pools on the floorboards where shadows used to linger. candles burn in every lamp & all the knives & splintered furniture have been removed in favor of more comfortable seating. soon, they will add more color, fill the walls with art again. soon, it will look like an entirely different space.
& he's never before been accused of being an optimist, but izzy only shrugs at it now, softened by the term of endearment frenchie bestows on him. ❝ i don't know, ❞ he admits. ❝ maybe it's the music, or the calm day. maybe it's you. ❞ it's gentle ; far more gentle than he's used to being. he would never say such a thing if there were anyone else around to hear, but there isn't. & even in the midst of the storm, in the arms of the kraken, frenchie has always kept izzy safe. ❝ you want to hear me sing, then you'll have to play something i know. ❞
THE SOFT MELODY WASHED OVER THE CABIN cleansing it of the dark aura which had lingered for so long, well, that and the candles Wee John had lit. "Keep talking like that and people might take you for an optimist." His words blended into the final notes of the song and judging by the look on Izzy's face he hadn't distinguished one from the other.
"Oi, mon rayon de soleil," Frenchie gave Izzy's good leg a gentle poke with his foot, "what's brought this on? You're away with the faeries today." And he wasn't the only one. Frenchie thought this must be what it felt like to be a summers breeze. He caressed the neck of his lute, and as he looked at Izzy he found himself smiling once more. I don't think I've heard you sing. Not even a shanty."
EVEN THE WAY HE MOVES seems strange somehow. the lestat that stands before him is entirely different than the one in louis' memories, the one that had followed him through the streets of paris & lingered around the penthouse in dubai. this version is smaller, paler — but no less beautiful. after breaking from their long embrace, lestat takes an unsteady step backwards, then another, his touch falling from louis' waist to link their hands instead. & for the first time, louis lets himself follow the pull of the unseen tether between them without any resistance.
the inner room where the coffin sits is just as neglected & ruined as the rest of the house, though at least here boards have reinforced the broken windows to keep the day out. the coffin itself matches its surroundings perfectly, its frame cracked & the velvet within ragged & covered in dark stains. lestat trips as he steps inside, clumsy in a way he never was in louis' memories.
& now, nearly a hundred years after waking to his new life, louis murmurs a soft word of thanks & steps carefully into the coffin beside his maker again, just as he had on that first night. ❝ why didn't you get yourself a new one ? this one must let the sun in with all these cracks. ❞ he asks as he settles, lying back into lestat's arms. but he already knows the answer. he could remember at one point flinging this very coffin over the balcony railing in his anger. but lestat was sentimental & quite attached to it, so they'd had it repaired in lieu of buying a new one. louis had thought it silly, at the time. but now he wonders if it's not too late for the same to be done for the two of them. & he cannot pull his eyes away from his maker's face, a hand softly tucking a fallen lock of golden hair behind lestat's ear before coming to rest against his cheek. perhaps in the past louis would have held his tongue, but this time he allows himself to give voice to what forms in his mind when he looks at him. ❝ i missed you. ❞
'NOT TODAY.' Those two words, so innocently thrown out, stuck him like a knife. Tomorrow, then? Or perhaps the night after that. Regardless, Louis planned to leave him once more, and, loath as he was to do so, Lestat would let him just as he had 77 years earlier. He nodded and managed a half-smile. "Good. Good. Far too dangerous for that... good." The fact that there time together would be short only meant that he must memorize every detail so it may be feasted upon for years to come.
The thrashing of the wind and rain was mere background noise against the resonance of Louis' voice. "Of course, mon cher. Always." He took an unsteady step back as if he intended to backwalk his former companion into the adjoining room. It was only after another step was clumsily taken that Lestat allowed his hands to fall from Louis' waist to his hands. He held the hand of his former companion as if it were made of porcelain and carefully led him into a small room, with boarded windows, and empty save for the coffin placed in its center.
Although, it had braved several cross-continental trips and was nearly half a century old the coffin maintained its regal appearance. The wood remained unblemished, with a polished sheen that reflected even in the worst lighting. It's ornate decoration wrapped around the top as sharp and finely finished as the day it was carved. He opened it with a flourish, revealing that even the fabric had neither aged nor stained.
Lestat carefully stepped in, his grip on Louis' hand tightening as his foot hit against the coffins side causing him to lurch forward. He gave an airy laugh, the excitement of it all having him lightheaded. Once settled he reached out for Louis hand once more, "still wish to be on top, beautiful one?"
HE COULD BE A HALLUCINATION, a trick of the light, izzy simply seeing what he wants to see instead of what's in front of him. it wouldn't be the first time. when frenchie had been on stage, singing at the open mic as his hands moved gracefully over the neck of a worn guitar, izzy couldn't be certain. but as he approaches the alleged apparition, there are undeniable signs of substance.
the thin, subtle lines at the edges of frenchie's eyes, for example, are proof of lost time that izzy's delusions would never include. & then there's the simple fact that frenchie draws closer to him, opens his arms & pulls izzy into his chest, folding them neatly together. in all his dreams he has where frenchie returns to him, he always disappears before they can touch. so the only explanation is that this is not some spectre that izzy had conjured up out of pure loneliness ; this is real.
& izzy lets out a breath that feels like it's been held in for years, softening instantly at the contact. he allows himself to wrap his arms against the taller man's torso & cling to him tightly. & it feels different than it had before — frenchie's ribs aren't as narrow as the last time izzy had held him, & his skin smells cleaner than it ever did in the wilderness — but also the very same. the way that he fits right under frenchie's chin so that he can lean his head against izzy's is exactly the same; the way his voice sounds when he speaks is exactly the same.
❝ wouldn't be the strangest thing that's happened to us, ❞ he replies flatly, going for a wry attempt at humor. & he gives frenchie one tight squeeze before leaning back — just enough just to see his familiar eyes. ❝ what are you doing here ? i thought you were . . . ❞ he trails off, unsure of how to finish the sentence. the truth was that he had no idea where frenchie had been, or what he had been doing all this time. no one had heard from him since their rescue from the woods, & that had been decades ago. izzy hadn't even known for sure that frenchie was alive, & he certainly hadn't thought he would ever see him again. ❝ i didn't think you'd ever come back here, ❞ he says, settling for a close-enough approximation of what he really wanted to say.
"Am I dreaming or is that really you?" - @musecraft
THE FAMILIARITY of the voice gave him pause, momentarily leaving his guitar case half closed as he righted himself. The odds of- it couldn't be. He of all people wouldn't have been caught dead in a place like this. And yet the voice was too distinct to be anyone else.
Izzy often spoke in a low, hushed tone as if he were hoping not to be heard- ironic given how prone he was to yelling. But he didn't have to yell this time, or even raise his voice. The pub was quiet with all but the most devoted drunks remaining. A grin broke out across his face as he turned around, his free hand outstretched, beckoning him in for a hug.
He was older now- they both were but Izzy wore his like a chewed up dog toy. Had he not said something Frenchie likely wouldn't have recognized him.
The look of uncertainty was all too familiar, as if he thought Frenchie would yell "psyche" and push him to the ground like a schoolyard bully. It was only after Frenchie took another step toward him that Izzy accepted the invitation. He leaned down and, ever a creature of habit Izzy, nestled into the crook of his neck as he had hundreds of times before.
He rested his cheek against the side of Izzy's head. The smell of stale cigarettes and cheap whiskey clung to Izzy almost as strongly as the pomade. Same brand he used in high school, if Frenchie had to wager. Were there not decades between them he may have kissed Izzy right there. But it had been far too long for that. "It'd be weird having the same dream, wouldn't it?"