Ruling Rue Royale
Chapter Twelve
Louis led Mojo to the kitchen and buckled a collar around the dog's neck. "Mojo, you know you shouldn't interrupt when someone is on the phone, it is rude."
"Woof bark bark," Mojo answered, jumping up on Louis.
"That's right, you should do as we say, not as we do," David added, teasing Louis by pretending to scold Mojo.
Louis smiled, "Well, what I mean to say, is that when you interrupt, you should interrupt quietly. Now get down."
"BARK ruff bark!" Mojo answered as he leaned heavily on David's legs.
Louis gave a huge sigh of exasperation. "Well if Lestat jumped off a bridge would you do that too?"
Mojo , having lured David down to scratch his ears, whined softly.
"Oh come now," David said reproving him gently. "Lestat gets scolded to, he just doesn't listen."
Louis knelt fed Mojo one of the ridiculously expensive dog treats he'd purchased at a shop he'd discovered in Metairie, Canine Confections. David shook his head and rolled his eyes. He found it endlessly amusing how Louis babied this giant Alsatian as if he were a French poodle. Then he reached into the bag and fed Mojo another one.
Louis attached a long lead to Mojo's collar. "Would you like to come and walk with us?"
"I'd be delighted." David answered.
They left through the front door and began walking toward St. Peter Street.
"Louis, there is something I've been meaning to discuss with you."
"Yes?"
"Well, you see, I feel quite awful about the fight we had."
"Please David, it is over and done."
"Yes, I know but . . ." David was at a loss for words.
Mojo galloped up the Cathedral steps, just missing a mime.
"But," David continued, "you see, the thing is, I have a bit of a problem dealing with you."
Louis blinked in surprise. "Dealing with me? I am not certain that I follow your meaning."
Mojo conned a cookie off of a tourist who was just emerging from Le Madeleine.
"Well, if I may be blunt, you are the weaker of us, vampiricly speaking."
"Granted."
"At the same time , you are the elder of us, chronologically speaking, by quite a bit."
"Obviously." Louis smiled. He gave a short tug to Mojo's leash which brought the dog back to his side. They walked into Jackson Square and Mojo did some gardening there.
"And yet, I cannot seem to shake the fact that I am seventy-six and you are twenty-five."
"Do you mean that you feel as if you are the elder?"
"Exactly so, and I am afraid it will show sometimes."
"I understand." Louis said. They had wandered to the other end of the Square and waited to cross Decatur Street.
"I don't mean any disrespect, Louis. It is only that I feel an overwhelming sense of . . . of . . ."
"Responsibility?"
David thought about that as they crossed. "More like protectiveness."
"Toward me?"
"Yes."
"But not Lestat."
"I worry for Lestat, but it is a very different feeling."
Now Louis sighed. He rubbed his eyes as if he had a sudden headache. "I will not stand for being bossed or bullied, certainly you can accept that."
"Yes," David agreed quickly, "of course.
"I admit that my powers are not as strong as yours, or anyone's for that matter, but I am hardly frail, and I am the most cautious."
"I know."
"And I have survived the longest on my own, far longer than Lestat."
"Yes, I do tend to forget that."
Mojo begged a couple of beignets from some drunken revelers at the Café du Monde.
"Look David, I do understand what you see when you look at me, but you must realize that it is precisely this which was the fall of Lestat and I the first time."
"You mean with her."
Louis nodded. "Now yes, I have observed that many sorts of traits are arrested at the age one is made. In the light of that fact, I accept that you have achieved a certain maturity from living a full life, which I never will. I do hold you in a certain esteem due to your age. It does work both ways, you see, and I am not unaware of it. It is only that," Louis paused and looked off for a moment. "It is only that I do have a sense of dignity and independence which I need to preserve."
"Well, of course, that goes without saying."
They had reached the river bank and Louis gestured for David to sit down, then did the same, unsnapping Mojo's lead and allowing him to run along the Moonwalk unhindered.
"This is all a great transition for me, David. I traveled for many years alone and hunted, since the publication of INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. I had little contact with anyone and I trusted no one. It was only a few hours that Lestat and I were together before the concert, and we were together very little the night of the concert. Since leaving the Night Island, I have lived on my own. David, I am unused to being protected. It is odd to me that I am regarded as being unable to see to my own safety, and to be quite honest I find it an unfair assessment. In some ways I do welcome the comfort of having others not only know me, but actually be concerned for me. Yet, I do not see myself as you see me. I consider myself to be strong, self-reliant and well able to survive. Though I realize that you mean no insult, I confess that it hurts my pride that you perceive me as such a helpless and foolish creature."
"That is perfectly understandable, of course, Louis."
Louis looked seriously at David. "But I was wrong to have reacted so badly. I should not have behaved in such a superior and condescending manner and there is NO excuse for my cursing at you and Lestat. I do apologize, and I hope you forgive me."
David leaned over and hugged Louis tightly. "I provoked you. You accepted my apology and I certainly accept yours." David kissed him and they smiled at each other.
"May I have a bit of a say now though?" David asked.
Louis laughed. "Yes, by all means. I took over the conversation, didn't I."
"There is a first time for everything, Louis." David took Louis's hand in his own. "As you said, there is no getting around the fact of our mortal ages for either of us. Now, I am going to speak plainly and I do not mean to offend you."
"Go on," Louis nodded.
"Louis, you are a boy to me. You are a third of my age. And it isn't your appearance. I am hardly one to talk, on that account." David grinned, indicating his youthful face and body. "It is more, well, your actions sometimes, the way you fight with Lestat over silly things, the way that your emotions are always right at the surface, these are signs of youth to me, even immaturity. If only you had lived long enough you would have naturally come to know that few things are as important as one thinks they are, especially in relationships, and it is far better to prioritize and only fight for what you feel is truly important." David put his hand on Louis's shoulder, "You would be able to see that being damned with someone you love, isn't being damned at all."
"And that being raped by someone you love, isn't really being raped at all?" Louis asked.
David laughed, "Ah, well, you caught me on that one, but not the way you think. Morally, I couldn't possibly have asked Lestat to make me a vampire. I couldn't have lived with myself, or so I thought. Truly, though, I did want it, the only way for me to possibly accept it was to be taken against my will, to fight to the very last instant. Lestat did me a favor in how he brought me into this. I did need to leave him, assert my independence a bit at first. I had to pretend that I was highly victimized and offended, until I could come to a peace within myself and accept my own desires. That was a bit of my own immaturity showing through. I do accept it now, though, and I do not blame Lestat.
"You see Louis, we get a bit too caught up in what is right and proper and manly, and we find that we cannot accept in ourselves even one tiny trait that is less than ideal. So we fight against ourselves, denying our proclivities, and that is, in truth, plain stupidity, and makes ourselves miserable as well as those around us."
"But you are saying that there is no such thing as proper and improper behavior, and that is untrue."" Louis called Mojo to him and they began to walk toward Ursulines.
"No, Louis, that isn't what I am saying at all. My point is, if we want something, but we feel that to want such a thing is a weakness, then rather than accepting that we can still be who we are, and have this need, we instead think that to accept this need is to completely destroy who we are and therefore we fight against it."
"Excuse me, David, but I am not following you."
"That was rather convoluted, wasn't it. Here, let me take for example the office which you furnished for Lestat. Now that was a wonderful gesture, and I am not saying that there was anything wrong or immature about it. However, isn't it true that you really did all of that work out of a single, and very simple need to have someone you love say that he loves you as well? So that, instead of simply asking him to say it, you throw your self into all of this work and planning, only to have him say, 'Thank you, I love it.' Not, 'Thank you, I love you.' and so you are disappointed, but you cannot show it because what he did was perfectly proper. It is simply that you cannot confront your own need to hear such a thing from him because you think it is somehow weak."
"That isn't so at all!" Louis said, a bit more sharply and loudly than he had intended. "I only thought that it might be a useful thing for me to do. I just wanted for it to be right, functional that is, for Lestat's needs. And it was educational for me. There wasn't any hidden agenda for it. This is precisely the sort of patronizing attitude which I cannot tolerate, David!"
"Really, Louis?" David refused to be insulted or put off, as Louis obviously wanted him to be. "Do you deny that you actually enjoy the feeling of being protected, being led even being intimidated by Lestat? Can you honestly say that you do not enjoy his little threats, his strong-arm tactics, his attempts to control you and subdue you? You provoke him, you irritate him, you insult him, because you LIKE for him to frighten you. You want him to dominate you. It thrills you. In your heart of hearts, you WISH he would do to you as he did to me! You WANT him to ignore your protests, overpower you, hold you down and sink his-"
"NON! STOP IT!" Louis shouted. "You are just as vainglorious, insolent and egotistical as Lestat, if not more! How dare you say such things to me? You do not know me. You do not know how I feel or what I want. You do not understand me, you have no idea who I am!" Louis grabbed David's collar and pulled him close to his face. " Do you want to know what really thrills me, you smug, arrogant bastard? It is precisely that he will NOT do it to me! I know that he wants to. I know how he would love to make me into his lap dog, his puppet, his slave, the way he has done it to you. But he won't. He won't because that is the kind of power that I have over him. He could do it. God knows, he's strong enough, and certainly capable. But he won't. Not to ME! NEVER to ME! Do you know why? Because he could never bear to completely lose me. He doesn't DARE cross that line, with ME, David, because he KNOWS that I would NEVER come back after that!
"What we have is far from perfect. Yes, I get lonely without him. I wish he were with me more. I wish he were less irritating. I wish we didn't fight so much. And yes, I would like for him to be more affectionate, more verbal, more expressive in his love for me. But I do not doubt that it exists David. I know it exists because I hold that man's soul in my fist! I have hurt him, David, nearly killed him, not once but THRICE, and yet he still comes back to me. Always, always, he will return to me, I know it, he knows it. I cross lines with him all of the time, David, I go just as far as I want to with him, but he knows exactly where to stop with me and he does stop there, every time. He gets close, he pushes, he tests me, but he never, never crosses the line.
"That is why I never have to be jealous or suspicious about his relationships with you or anyone else. Because no one, NO ONE David, can ruin what I have with Lestat, save myself and him. I may go too far one night, he may go too far one night, but until that happens, nothing, NOTHING that either of us does with anyone else matters one whit!"
Louis could hear himself breathing heavily. His voice echoed off of the buildings around them. David swallowed, audibly. Louis let go of him and stepped back, running his hand through his hair, and looking off in the distance. David straightened his clothes silently, and Mojo crept cautiously out from behind a nearby trash can where he'd taken refuge when Louis's voice reached an unfamiliar and frightening intensity.
"I apologize, Louis, I misunderstood." David said quietly.
Louis gave a long sigh, and turned back to David. "Let's go back to your 'no apologies' rule, shall we?"
David smiled a little and nodded. They continued toward Royal street, Mojo keeping a safe distance, should this black-haired man, who was obviously the evil anti-Louis, take a notion to begin yelling again, or worse. He thought idly that if he didn't get some more food soon, that things would REALLY get ugly. He thought he saw a squirrel.
"I don't know what it is that makes me act so strangely uncharacteristic with you David." Louis said, as if they'd been engaged in this conversation all along.
"I don't know what it is that makes me continuously push your buttons, Louis." David answered.
They smiled and shrugged, shaking their heads at themselves.
"Mojo, viens ici, mon petit." Louis called.
'MY Louis!' Mojo barked, excitedly. 'Where have you been?' The dog quickly ran around in front of Louis and jumped up on him.
"Mojo, decendais. Bien." Louis said gently, removing the paws from his shoulders. He attached the lead to Mojo's collar and they proceeded onward.
"Were you making arrangements for our trip to the jungles, this evening?" Louis asked.
Apparently no more was going to be said on the previous subject. "I was indeed. I have arranged for all of our supplies to arrive by express shipping as soon as tomorrow night."
"Are we leaving that soon?"
"I had thought we would. Is it a problem for you? We can certainly postpone."
"No, whatever is planned is fine. What should I pack?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Not a thing. It is all taken care of; clothing, accouterments, provisions, everything."
"Could I bring my journals?"
"Of course, if you wish. I am having a good supply of blank journals and pens sent, though. I thought you might not want to risk losing years of writings in the quicksand."
"Thank you, that was very considerate."
"Oh, think nothing of it. I plan on keeping one too, you know. I ordered one for Lestat as well."
"He won't use it you know."
"No?"
"No, he hates the process of journaling. He would rather live through his adventures and then write them up afterwards, when he knows how everything turns out."
David laughed, "Yes, that does seem to be his pattern."
Mojo led them into his courtyard just as it began to rain. Lestat opened the back door. "Come in, quick!"
They hurried inside and Lestat shut the door just as a loud thunderclap sounded, releasing buckets of raindrops. Lestat unbuckled Mojo's collar and took David and Louis by the hand and rushed them all upstairs to his room.
Inside, they saw that Lestat had brewed three steaming cups of tea and gathered dozens of blankets, quilts and comforters on his bed. With many little kisses, but without speaking, Lestat wrapped Louis in a warm cocoon and installed him on the right side of the bed, and David on the left, giving them each a hot mug to hold. He laid Mojo across the foot of the bed, under another mountain of covers and then jumped into the middle, nearly spilling the tea.
"Lestat, what is all this?" Louis asked.
"Aren't you comfortable, Louis?" Lestat purred.
"Very comfortable." Louis smiled at him.
Lestat turned to his left. "And are you comfortable, David?"
"Yes," David replied.
"Well, I thought that since this is our last night home, we should spend what is left of it together. Especially with poor darling Mojo who will have to stay behind." Lestat petted the dog. Then he clicked a remote control he'd hidden under the blankets and the wall they were facing opened to reveal a humongous television set. Lestat clicked a few more buttons and 'Arsenic and Old Lace' with Cary Grant, sprang to life.
"Ah, now this is the way to pass a cold, rainy New Orleans night. Watching a good movie while snuggled up with my lovers and my dog!" Lestat announced.
They did snuggle up and eventually put their cups of cold tea on the night stand, shooed Mojo out, curled around each other like a pile of kittens and fell asleep.
As soon as Louis awoke the next night, they prepared to leave.
"Did Anne pick up Mojo?" Louis asked.
"Yes," Lestat answered. "Did you leave the note for the day staff?"
"Yes. David, did you stop the papers?"
"Yes. Lestat, did you get the money?"
"Yes. Is everything off?"
"Yes, is everything locked?"
"Yes. Is everyone ready?"
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Alright, say, 'Au Revoir, New Orleans!"
"AU REVOIR NEW ORLEANS!!!!"
Fin
The End
Book Four - A Jungle Nocturne (in progress)Graphic Credits for this page can be found HERE
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