continued from here / @lamourstre
the wind bites at his cheeks and nose in a way that makes his skin feel raw. it feels almost human. it connects him to their victim. he holds him like a lover, cradles his face, smoothes his finger over his flushed cheeks and takes comfort in the fact that he will be offering him a reprieve from the cold. it is a sick form of mercy, but he tells himself it is that as he sinks his teeth into his neck and indulges in the stream of hot blood. although he is still, armand’s presence is enough to remind him not to take too much, to stop once the heart has caved in, to stop before he is poisoned with it and madness instils. he releases the man as his body gives a final jolt and he falls as gracelessly to the ground as a rack doll. nicolas kneels, crouches over him to place a chaste kiss on his pale mouth.
armand is little more than a silhouette in the dark when nicolas peers at him through thick lashes. when the devil lights his cigarette all he sees are his thin lips and the elegant fingers he holds close to it. “there is a dumpster over there. you should burn his body. the jacket, too.” he speaks like it is some simple business transaction and like he is in a position to tell armand what to do. he stands, walks closer and studies the unintelligible expression on the man’s face as he comes closer. armand has a look that nicki has seen often before. he can tell he is deep in thought, but he knows well enough there is no way of guessing at what is really going on behind it. he doesn’t have the skill to force it out either or he probably would. it is much easier than admitting to being curious enough himself to care. “if you are cold you can have mine.”
nicolas comes close enough to take the cigarette from him when it is graciously offered. he doesn’t step back to smoke it, but merely turns his face to avoid blowing smoke in his eyes. he sighs as if to say that the evening’s events weigh on him heavily, but then he merely sinks back into silence. armand feels smaller when he leans the way that he does and nicolas thinks he must feel like a wall closing in on him, but he decides to stay within his personal space regardless. passively, indifferently, waiting for whatever accusation or verdict is being thought through to be put into words.
