Chapter Text
He waits patiently on the street for Lestat to finish putting on his jacket and join him outside.
They had met at the same time almost every day for the last three weeks. They’d take a walk around the city, stopping in bars and the few open businesses, before picking up the money on Basin Street and ending the night in Jackson Square. He enjoyed the company. Louis didn’t have many friends, and Paul wasn’t one to tag along.
They took turns rambling about their childhoods, Lestat telling him about the countryside of France and his life as a boy. Other times, they’d walk in silence.
“Perhaps a drink to start the night before our walk, Louis?”
The first glimpse of Lestat made it difficult for Louis to conceal how interested he was. “Not tonight. The night is young; I want to get out and stretch my legs.”
Lestat did not speak a response, but he did murmur a noise of acknowledgment as he turned to lock his townhouse.
Louis felt a longing in his chest as he watched him. The townhouse was beautiful with two stories and a nice green finish. It’d be the perfect spot if Louis ever decided to leave his family home and get a place for himself. “How are you liking the place?”
“It is very nice, much nicer than where I lived in France.” Lestat hesitated for a second before he added, “It is missing something to make it more of a home rather than a place to live.”
“Like a davenport?”
“Non”
He glances at him from the corner of his eye as he thinks about what Lestat might mean. In typical Lestat fashion, he did not elaborate.
He enjoyed spending time with Lestat, probably more than he should, given that Lestat would not be around for long. He hasn’t mentioned it, but it was expected for a man of their age to settle down, marry, and have children. That’d significantly reduce the time he could spend with Louis. He knew better than to enjoy this too much.
Lestat’s shoulder brushed his as they walked side by side. Louis naturally walks slower, each step deliberate and in step with his cane. Over the past few weeks, Louis noticed Lestat intentionally slows his pace to match Louis’ as they walk; and while he appreciates the sentiment, Louis prefers when Lestat is slightly ahead of him so he can watch him navigate the street. Lestat moved as if the world were made to conform around him. His hips led in a swaying motion that acted as a siren calling Louis to them and testing his self-control.
“It’s about time you let me update your wardrobe.”
Lestat stopped walking. “Do you want me to be your doll, Louis?” It was the way his name sounded coming from his lips. Like syrup from a bottle.
“No.” Yes. “It’s just time you get caught up with the fashion is all.”
“If you insist, I will let you turn me into the second best dressed man in the city.” Lestat ran his hand down Louis jacket. “You’re the first.”
Louis teetered on the edge of his seat. His anticipation would not allow him to keep still. Somehow, Lestat convinced a shopkeeper to keep his doors open longer than usual and was currently changing into one of the tailor’s suggestions.
He emerged from the back room wearing a plum colored suit and went to look in the mirror.
“What do you think?” Lestat said, interrupting the tailor singing his praises.
“It’s not to my tastes, but if you like it?” Louis shrugged. He hoped Lestat could pick up that he didn’t like it. He didn’t want to come off as too invested in front of the tailor. Truth is, Louis hated it. It was an awful color that washed out Lestat’s skin.
“Non” Lestat grabbed his hand and pulled him up from his seat, “You said you would update my wardrobe. Pick my outfits for me.”
This made him happy. He wanted to pick out all of Lestat’s clothes, but didn’t want to overstep the bounds of their friendship. Given his proclivities, he tried to stay away from anything that might give his interests away. It was one thing to tell a man to update his clothes and another to shop for him.
If the tailor found there dynamic strange, he did not say. Money buys silence in this city. Louis glanced around at the different textures and color palettes before deciding on one. "Try this on for me.”
Lestat hummed and let his hand cover Louis’ as he grabbed the selection.
In a few short minutes, he emerged dressed in layers of tweed and wool. A dark brown overcoat hung open over a fitted waistcoat, and his matching pleated trousers fell in a way that hugged those hips Louis loved.
Louis bit his lip as he brought over a red tie to add to the look.
Instead of putting the tie on himself, Lestat bent his knees so that Louis could reach around his back and put the tie on him.
As he hugged Lestat’s body while tightening the tie, their eyes caught in the mirror. For a second, it was only them in the store, and Louis could picture himself doing that every morning for Lestat.
Every fiber of his being begged him to resist, but he had to indulge just one time. He let his thumb touch the soft skin of Lestat's neck, and Lestat let out a soft moan.
Louis coughed and took a step back as he glanced at Lestat in the mirror.
He looked good. He looked damn good. Lestat did a spin for him and held his arms out. “Does this satisfy you?” Fuck yes.
“It looks good, Lestat.” You look good, he thought.
“Excellent! Shopkeeper, I will buy whatever my companion here picks out.” His companion.
Lestat turned to him as the shopkeeper hurried to grab something to take down the order.
He brought his lips to Louis’ ear. Louis could see the image of the two of them in the ti-fold mirror. He whispered, “I insist you get something, Louis. A suit to match me.”
After a short protest, Louis bought a suit to match Lestat’s. It was a shade darker, but otherwise identical in its essential elements. In the days ahead, if anyone should notice the matching attire, they would only laugh it off, insisting it was nothing more than a sale at the tailor’s. The intentionality of wanting to look the same was a secret shared only between Louis and Lestat.
After a long period of silence, Louis worked up enough courage to say, “Where it when you think of me.”
“That is ridiculous,” Lestat chuckled. I can not wear one suit all the time. It will smell rancid.”
This time Louis couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face.