Work Text:
From The Facebook Page of Anne Rice, 10/1/14:
" Lestat here. Last night, through this FB page, I received this question from Davetta L. Wilson. "If you could have one companion for all eternity, who would you choose? Well, Davetta, I will never face such a choice, obviously, but if I did have to choose, the companion would be Louis. My longest most enduring friendship and love affair in this world was with Louis. And though his limitations can be maddening, they can also be as inspiring to me as his virtues. Of course it might seem that Marius would be a wiser choice. After all, Marius is 2000 years old, and entered eternity with the mind of a brilliant Roman philosopher. But the best choices we make are not always the wise choices. Sometimes they are intensely emotional choices. And I've always had a deep Romantic respect for emotion. My love for Louis transcends wisdom. And I may need the pain as much as the consolation that an eternal relationship with Louis would involve. Thank you, Davetta, for your question. Lestat signing off."
~~~~~
Once inside I saw saw him, my Louis, cross-legged on the floor in front of the fireplace. His face was bathed in firelight, yes, but also in the blue-white glow of the electronic tablet he was looking at. He looked up at me with a welcoming smile. “You’ve been outside for a while. Star-gazing, I take it?”
“It’s nice to see them all so clearly again.” I said, crossing the room to join him on the floor. He had a blanket over his shoulders but his narrow, elegant feet were bare and the skin of his cheek was warm where my lips brushed it. “And I come in to you reading in the dark. Some things never change.” I leaned against the couch behind me and he set the tablet down and shed the blanket, wriggling back to sit between my thighs.
“You don’t need light to read something from a lighted screen,” he said reasonably as he leaned back against my chest. “Reading sparks questions, wouldn’t you agree, my love?”
He turned his head and his eyes were wide and filled with a disingenuous sort of light. He was up to something, that much was certain.
“I’d say that was a fair statement. What were you reading?” Predictably, he ignored the question.
“Well, now that I know my limitations can be maddening, I wondered perhaps if you might care to elucidate these limitations. You know, so I can…improve.”
I opened my mouth and then closed it again when I realized I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.
“As for the virtues, well, I am pleased to know they inspire you,” he went on, sitting up and turning around to face me. He wore an expression of guileless sincerity, so perfectly executed I almost forgot that he was up to something. ”I admit, Lestat, I grieved to find that you thought Marius to be the wiser choice. I would have wept, yet my sorrow was greatly mitigated to know you bow to emotion…out of Romantic Respect, of course.” His façade slipped for the briefest moment when I saw the twitch of his delectable mouth. I would have missed it had I not been so intent upon the puzzle he was presenting.
He was watching me expectantly and to gain time I said “Please. Do go on, Louis. Surely you have more to say?” He fetched a deep sigh and looked down, his hair falling forward to cover his face, but not before I caught the twitch again. “I admit I find it interesting that the belief in the wisdom of the elders still persists. Not that Marius isn’t wise in so many ways, of course.”
“Of course.” I agreed. I was completely mystified. He nodded with an air of some satisfaction and I began to think I’d missed something vitally important. Had he said something just as I’d come in a few minutes ago?
“Such knowledge.” Louis sighed. “So many insights. I have always enjoyed my conversations with Marius. Still, knowledge doesn’t always equate with wisdom in some matters, don’t you find?” He shifted and leaned back on his elbows, lengthening his body with a feline shiver. He’d just upped the ante and I knew it; now if I could just figure out the game…
“No. Not always,” I said. He nodded and flashed me his beautiful smile. He was close to laughter; I could almost smell it.
“One only has to look to his poorer decisions of late to see that. Yet I don’t think you had such things in mind. I expect it was more about practicality, yes? I mean a Companion for the Ages should be someone interesting and wise… without too many pesky limitations. Like Marius!” he said brightly. I gaped at him for a moment, completely at a loss.
“You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you.” he said. The mirth was bubbling up and his shoulders had begun to shake with silent laughter.
“No! I don’t!” I cried, caught between consternation and laughter. He groped for the tablet, and…I swear this is true…he snorted and then began to laugh out loud.
“Are you certain?” and was he wheezing? “The post on your ghostwriter’s page has quite a lot of 'likes'.” His laughter began to overtake him and he collapsed backwards. I snatched the tablet and tapped the screen to see what he’d been reading.
I read it with dawning realization. That phone call…when was it? A week back, possibly? The question from a fan. I’d given her brief answer, with the vague understanding that she might add a little to it. Companion for all eternity. Well, who else would I have named? Louis had regained control, though his eyes gleamed redly with the remnants of the tears that had sprung forth with the gale just passed.
“Why must she over-elaborate every small thing I say?” I said, incensed. ”This is clearly to bring more readers to this damnable book.”
He made a sudden, swift movement and I found myself flat on my back as he straddled my hips.
“Not everything.” Louis said. His voice had turned rough with sudden emotion. “I have been a source of pain, haven’t I?”
“As have I.” I said. “We are good at that, the two of us.”
He nodded once. “And am I so maddening?” he asked with a little half smile.
“Not because of any limitations, but in most other ways, certainly.”
Again, a nod. “And consolation?”
“Ever and always.” I told him.
He lowered himself onto my body and I put my arms around his back. “Sometimes she gets things right.” he said.
“Yes, my forever companion. But didn’t you think it odd?”
“A little.” he said. I felt the laughter ripple through him again. “I mean you’re really too old for Marius.”
FIN