the lioness

Lestat spoke casually to one of the saleswomen while the other helped Claudia with her dresses of choice. He nodded to each selection, giving silent approval, and seemed modestly receptive to the hopeless flirtations the woman was giving him; he was actually barely paying attention. The dresses weren’t what he would have chosen himself, but that was hardly the point. Lestat followed Claudia to the dressing rooms and stretched out on one of the couches, all of his attention on her even though the saleswoman, “Gloria”, was speaking to him. “Take your time, my dear.” 

She was used to people fussing over her. In Europe, Lestat would have her gowns specially made for her. She would endure hours of women with thick accents spatting back and forth with each other over measurements and colors. Claudia had ended up feeding from several of them, much to Lestat's displeasure. She remained calm while the saleswomen helped her into the different gowns. Each time, she would walk out into the main area and let him see. Claudia knew he was probably screaming in his head at her choices. She walked out, wearing a Versace one shouldered purple dress with a tight fitting bodice. As she caught her reflection in the mirror, she couldn't help but smile. "I think this is the one."

It wasn’t unusual for Lestat to request that the shops be closed to all but himself but Claudia. It was a request that was always granted to him, with only the most subtle bending of will. He liked to avoid pushing the minds of mortals; it was much more fun, more of a challenge, to gain confidence in the traditional way. He watched as Claudia levitated toward the red dress, his eyebrows lifting, but then he only shrugged his shoulders. “It would certainly make a statement, wouldn’t it.” Lestat didn’t say this as though it would be a negative thing - he was careful to avoid interfering, even though he always had a lot to say in the past. 

This was bizarre. Not having Lestat complain about dresses. The red dress was obviously quite form fitting, the kind he tended to complain the most about. In the past, Claudia would snap at him, telling him she didn't have any curves to worry over anyways. The memory caused her to bite her bottom lip for a moment, but she quickly recovered, moving to another rack. Considering every dress in the store was quite mature for her physical age, she decided to just shrug it off. Lestat had picked this store knowing what type of dresses they sold. One of the saleswomen came over, and Claudia pointed out which dresses she'd like to try on first. As they walked towards the dressing room, Claudia called over her shoulder. "Make yourself comfortable!"

It was simple for him to trust Claudia’s sense of style, even though she had picked clothing that was too mature for her physical age in the past. At this point, none of that seemed to matter. If Claudia wanted to pick her own dress for the opera, then he wasn’t going to stop her from doing it her own way and on her own terms. “I promise.” Lestat smirked at her good-naturedly, reaching over to brush a strand of hair away from her face. 

She didn't flinch from this touch like she normally did after arguments. Instead, she returned his smirk with a soft smile. Clothes had the uncanny ability to drag Claudia out of any harsh mood. She believed herself to be spoiled, but there wasn't much she could do about it after seven decades. Being the natural charmer he was, Lestat had convinced the staff to stay past closing especially for them. Claudia had the entire store to herself. Her blue eyes scanned the room eagerly, and she spotted a particularly beautiful red dress in the corner. Practically bouncing over towards it, she ran her slender fingers over the fabric. With a furrowed brow, she turned back to him. "Red would be a bit too startling for Il Muto, don't you agree?"

Louis almost never visited the Walpole public library. He much prefered reading books that he owned himself, but the books he had at the Rue Royale and the Pointe de Lac were currently untouchable. He could faintly sense another person in the library, but opted against seeing who it was. Instead, he pulled a large album from the shelf, flipping through the pages without really taking in what the words were. He had been so distracted lately, spending time wandering about or a few hours in Prospero’s home. Nights were spent sitting in awkward silence with Lestat on the bench. It was unnerving, seeing the blonde be silent, but Louis surmised that speaking would only bring more arguments.

Lestat took Claudia to the nicest shops in New Orleans, most of them clustered together on Royale Street. It provided a pleasant distraction from everything that had been happening for the past few weeks. His mood was pleasant enough, even as he remained quieter than usual. “Anything you want, my dear. There is no limit.”

She was a bit wary of the sudden shopping trip. Lestat had taken her hundreds of times in the past, but things had been happier then. Now she wondered if it was more for his sake than hers. Either way, Claudia decided to try and make the best of the evening. One eyebrow raised inquisitively at his comment. "Anything?" Claudia was dumbfounded for a moment since Lestat usually made such a fuss over her choice in clothing. "And you promise not to object?"

He took note of the small changes in Claudia, whatever he could see, and tried not to feel frustrated that her mind was shut tight against him. The tension was obvious, but Lestat made no secret of how closely he looked her over, his eyes narrowed with an emotion that was impossible to read. It aggravated him that she was so ambiguous - a mystery, perhaps even to Louis, who never seemed to know much more than he did, but Lestat made a point never to ask. It was impossible to truly know Claudia; he had accepted that fact long ago, but the reality could be unnerving. The few days they had been apart was the longest he had ever gone without seeing her. Even when they fought… even when Claudia did not see him, there was always that time when she fell asleep and when he did, when he could look in on her if he wanted. After the attack, Lestat had the impulse to check on Claudia every night - now that he couldn’t, it seemed imperative to be certain she was still perfectly safe. 

Her gaze left the river and focused ahead of her. A few late night joggers passed, and Claudia's eyes briefly followed them as they ran by. She then looked at him for the first time tonight. Really looked at him. He looked no different than any other time she'd seen him. Yet, there was something different about his manner. The way he held himself. It was almost as if he were - tired. Though their kind didn't tire like humans, Claudia could tell all the events had caught up to him. As they should have. They were all guilty in some way for what had happened. Whether Lestat took credit for his mistakes, she'd never know. He wasn't exactly the type that reveled in admitting he was wrong. Claudia crossed her arms in front of her, redirecting her sight straight in front of her. Her brow was furrowed slightly as she walked alongside him. "Would it have made any difference if I had come to you first? I would have left either way. It seemed fitting that I didn't bother you with it. Seeing as you have enough on your plate at the present moment."

Chrysanthemums || Claudia & Lestat

As he came up beside her, Claudia's jaw clenched. Had this been weeks ago, she would have lashed out at him, screaming, perhaps slashing his face again. Or worse. Damn fool. He was too stupid to see what was unfolding right in front of his eyes. Claudia glanced at him briefly, frowning. Lestat had a youthful quality about it. Even though their kind retained a younger appearance once they were turned, Lestat appeared younger. Claudia guessed he wasn't very old when he'd been turned. Late teens or early 20's. Perhaps that was why he acted like he did. Men seemed to mature much slower, and sometimes they didn't mature at all. Claudia was much younger than him, both in physical age and true age, and she could act more adult than he at times. She hadn't seen Louis in several nights. Though she was worried, Claudia knew he was fine. If something had happened to Louis, she would know. She was honestly surprised Lestat waited this long to come find her.