brat prince

"The Vails gave me the things that I needed from family in my past life but never received. They encouraged my exploration of music. And even though my soul was reborn they saw me as their child. They loved me the way my other father never did. They protected me the way my other mother never could."

He took a step back.

"And I'm free to love openly now. You should see the fanart of me with various men. I revel in how they have embraced me being openly homosexual."

Another step back.

❝I will be. We still have much to discuss.❞

He smiled sadly at the other.

❝Get out there and break a leg, yeah?❞

He was trying so hard to let him go. It's what Nicky wanted, wasn't it? he thought.

Wasn't it?

He was starving to say the least. After being held hostage for many nights and denied blood, he was finally free. But feasting on his kidnapper wasn't enough, he needed more.

Centuries of self-control had now (mostly) gone down the drain, all because of a few nights without much of anything, perhaps a rat if he were lucky. He could scarcely hide his fangs at this point and he was almost too hungry to care about scaring any potential prey.

And that scared him.

There was always that moral conundrum about being a vampire, at least one with compassion. He tried to not see people as just a food source, he made sure of that. There was always goodness in him underneath the hunger and the thirst.

There was a prickling feeling on the back of his neck, a cooler-than-normal breeze that hit him, a chill that ran down his spine. There was another vampire nearby, that was the intuitive feeling he got from said chill. He decided to investigate immediately.

It didn't take long for Lestat to find the other, why, he could see those pearly white fangs shining in the moonlight from a good distance away. Why were they out, he wondered. He didn't sense any threat or means to feed nearby, save for the rats-- and then it dawned on him--

In a city of ice, there are burning cathedrals...

When the song ended, the curtains opened to reveal Nicky. He was dressed in leather pants that clung to his body. He wore no shirt and his skin was covered in various tattoos.

For an thirty minutes the band played before taking a brief intermission.

Nicky slipped back stage and sipped at a bottle of water as he looked at Lestat.

"It's strange. You were always the singer. The one for theatrics. And yet...in this life I actually trained my voice to be halfway decent."

Halfway decent.

Yet the crowed said his vocals were amazing.

He did not have the heart to tell Nicky the truth. Especially with only a few minutes to spare, especially on his show night-- no, that wouldn't have been fair to him. And god, after the intro song, Lestat was using every ounce of his energy not to just run away again.

It wouldn't have been fair for him to run away again.

❝Oh, you know, living lavishly, completely engulfed in the music,❞ he was trying so hard not to break, trying so hard to keep his cool, keep his appearances up-- smiling politely at Nicky. There was still so much to be said, but so little time. It would have to wait until after the show.

❝You've always had an affinity for music, but you seem much more… I don't know, exactly. You seem happier. I am glad for you. Your voice, it's-- lovely.❞ And he meant that, genuinely. He always hated to see Nicky suffer in his last life-- in this one, he did seem happier, better, healthier-- without Lestat.

He had a sad smile on his face as he reached out to brush a lock of hair out of Lestat's face.

Then, the ticket appeared in his hand. Its black in color with metallic red embossed print. A golden ticket of sorts, in that it is a back stage pass for the show.

"I didn't think that you would come here tonight. I wasn't sure that you could feel me the way that I could feel you. But you are here. And I don't know how to feel. But I need this, Lestat. I need closure and I hope that you will give it to me. Come to the show tonight. It starts in two hours. Plenty of time for you to get dressed and get to the theater."

He feels like he's shaking on the inside but knows that on the outside he is cool and calm. Unshaken.

"We have much to discuss."

And then he leaned in, and placed a small kiss on Lestat's lips.

He breathed deeply. Whereas Nicky was seemingly unshaken by everything, Lestat was-- well, he was a mess over it all. He pulled away from Nicky and smiled sadly, though never averting his gaze from the other's. No, he could stare into those sky blue eyes for centuries. ❝I look forward to seeing you play more. We do have much to discuss-- after the show, oui? Go and get ready.❞ And just as soon as he appeared, Lestat vanished.

He knew Nicky could feel him linger near for a while longer before he set back off to his hotel.

As Lestat walked, he examined the 'golden ticket' of sorts, the backstage pass-- very well made, he noted to himself, running his fingertips over the embossed metallic red print. It all still felt incredibly hazy and dreamlike to him-- he had so many questions, and after seeing Nicky up close, he had so many more.

Before he knew it, he was back in his hotel room, standing under the hot spray of the shower, though he couldn't feel it warm him any. When he was finished, he went to drying off, then spent the next hour picking out an outfit. He finally settled on the initial one he had put together, just a black dress shirt, slacks, boots, a designer belt-- casual enough for him nowadays. He didn't want to draw too much attention to himself backstage. This was Nicky's show, after all, and he didn't want to take away any of the attention from him.

Nicky wondered if it meant his thoughts would be closed to Lestat like they had been back then; or if ...should he open his mind...he would be an open book.

His eyes had in his past life; been brown. Now a sky blue, he looked up towards the back of the crowd. Eyes focused on Lestat and reflecting the fire that had been set as lighting in the center of the park for him. Flames danced in his blue eyes as he watched the predator that had ruined his life.

Lestat had cheated on him. Probably for power but he had still done the act.

Lestat had left him with a monster who had chopped off his hands when he had gone into a manic episode.

Lestat had been his downfall even if Armand had been the one who had lit the match that ignited his funeral pyre.

He loved him.

He hated him.

And here he was.

The last notes of his song died away and the crowd went into a frenzy. Nicky took a sweeping bow before speaking.

"I'm Nicky Vail of 2nd Half Life! In just a few short hours, we will be playing the Orpheum Theater for a sold out show! Thank you so much for enjoying my little solo. I've been cooped up all day! If you have tickets to the show, I'll see you there! If not...I'll see you next time!"

Then...somehow...he was simply gone. The fire went out, and Nicky was nowhere to be seen.

If people looked...they would find him on the very hill that Lestat had recently vacated.

He held his violin and bow in one hand...and something else in the other. A gift.

Lestat took a small pathway, just a little ways away from the congregation of fans watching the famous "Nicky Vail" play. As the crowd roared and applauded the end, gasped at the disappearance of Nicky, Lestat finally stopped and stood against a large oak tree, leaning most of his weight into it, slumping slightly as he clutched at his heart. The drumming of it was so loud-- if Nicky had been immortal still, there was no way he wouldn't have been able to hear it, even with the bit of physical distance between them.

Get a hold of yourself, fool. He scolded himself. Clawed through his fine blonde hair, dragged his hands down his face, and let out a heaving sob. Memories flooding back to him rapidly now. He remembered those brown eyes from back then, how they lit up in the sunlight when they were mortals still. They were blue as the sky and sea now, but undeniably his eyes. He never would have forgotten that gaze.

No one could see him like this, he concluded quickly, regaining his composure. He must've looked mad, roaming the streets at night in his silk, black robe, black silk pajama set to match, and slippers. He smoothed out some of the wrinkles of his robe-- It was then he heard the other's voice in the distance. Beckoning him. Coaxing him out of the shadows, it did.

Lestat appeared behind Nicky seemingly instantaneously, at first with his head held low. He slowly raised it, lifting his gaze to meet the other's when he'd turn.

❝You played beautifully, tonight,❞ he breathed softly, ❝Est-ce vraiment toi? Is this really you?❞

He remembered all he had done wrong. He had so much remorse, so much guilt, ate him alive night after night. But it would be unfair of him to put that on Nicky now-- whatever Nicky felt for what Lestat had done-- he had every right to feel it, this Lestat understood.