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Armand.
Armand.
Armanddddd.
Daniel’s phone rings.
“Hello?”
“Daniel, this has gotta stop.” Louis’ voice on the other end is pure exasperation. “He can’t fuckin’ hear you.”
Daniel knows that. Of course he knows that.
It doesn’t matter.
“Maybe he can feel it through our bond if I shout hard enough,” he says defiantly.
“He can’t,” Louis says, tone still sharp. “It’s just loud as fuck for the rest of us.”
“Well sorry that I don’t know exactly where to find my maker,” Daniel says in a huff. Embarrassment and other emotions he can’t name are clawing their way up his throat, choking him. He feels the sting of tears in his eyes, determined not to let them fall. “Mine didn’t hole up in a dilapidated house reliving the glory days for seventy-seven years. Little harder to hit a moving target.”
“Have you considered he doesn’t want you to find him?”
Wow, Louis’ really being a dick today. Daniel must have pissed him off more than usual. Still, the words hurt.
“If you didn’t want to hear my voice for the rest of eternity, maybe you shouldn’t have left me alone in a penthouse with the guy whose life I just blew up.”
Louis laughs; it’s a dark sound, and Daniel doesn’t like it. “Daniel,” he says, and it couldn’t sound more patronizing if he tried, “just…enjoy life. Death. Whatever. Forget about him. Nothing Armand brings to your life is gonna make it better. Trust me.”
Daniel wants to fight back. He wants to rage. He wants to tell Louis he’s wrong, that he doesn’t know, he doesn’t understand. But something nags at him beneath Louis’ words.
“Oh fuck,” he says, realization hitting him all at once. “You know where he is.”
There’s a pause. It’s answer enough.
“Louis, where the fuck is he?”
There’s a dramatic sigh on the other end of the phone. “Night Island.” A pause. A chuckle that makes Daniel’s already-cold blood run even colder. “Well, most of him anyway.”
The line goes dead before Daniel has a chance to respond.
He stares at the phone in his hand, his breathing speeding up enough that even in death his vision starts to go fuzzy around the edges.
“Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck—”
His hands shake but he calls Armand’s phone once again, even though he hasn’t gotten through to him even once in the six months since he left. It goes to voicemail as expected. The first couple of times, Daniel left angry messages. Then he stopped leaving any, afraid the mailbox would fill up and he’d never be able to say anything else.
The tone sounds.
“Armand,” he says, his mouth going dry. “Whatever happened, I don’t care. Whatever he did, I’ll fucking kill him myself, I swear. I don’t fucking care if you don’t want me anymore, I’ll still—”
The tone beeps loudly, signifying the end of the recording.
He looks down at the phone. “Fuck.”
Daniel hurries towards the bedroom to pack a bag, fingers flying over the keys. He’s hungry and he should hunt, but it’ll have to wait.
He has a plane to catch.
—
Armand stares up at the ceiling. The french doors that lead to the beach are open, a soft breeze blowing the gossamer curtains in the wind. The sound of the ocean is rhythmic, soothing. The room is built so that the light never scorches his skin, but it still fills the room all the same. An oasis he’d built, just for them.
The bed is too big for just him; it’s too big for only two as well, but it had delighted Daniel when they went furniture shopping, and so he’d purchased it. He’d do anything to see his boy smile in those days, when things were easy—easier—and Daniel was still alive.
“It’s ridiculous, it’s like, the size of a small country,” Daniel said. “We should get it.”
Armand walked up to him and tucked a lock of hair behind his ear, leaning in to kiss him softly. “Whatever you’d like, beloved.”
Daniel smirked, leaning into Armand’s touch. “You gonna fuck me in it, babe?”
Armand’s eyes went molten. “Here? Or at our home? I can freeze the other mortals, if you wish…”
Daniel shakes his head. “Nah. At home. I like the sound of it. Our home.”
Armand kissed him soundly, and got the bed delivered that very day.
Armand sighs. At least his vampiric memory has allowed him to retain those early days in such detail. They’re all he has to sustain himself now. All he’ll ever have.
He reaches up to rub his eye, only to encounter the scarred-over skin that covers where his eye used to sit. Abhorrent. An ancient vampire and now…this. Boticelli’s angel no more; Marius had seen to that.
He curls up on his side, pulling a pillow to his chest. He wishes Daniel were there. Everything was better with Daniel nearby.
But no—he couldn’t. Daniel deserves better than the pain and heartache Armand inevitably brings to people’s lives. And Armand’s heart would not survive it if Daniel looked on his scarred face with revulsion. He would find a fire and end it that same day, scared of death as he was. It would be enough.
He cries, his one remaining eye shedding hot tears onto the pillow, and lets sleep take him.
—
Daniel lands in Florida a little past midnight. He’s starving at this point, so he takes a few little sips from distracted bystanders as he makes his way through the airport. It’s not enough to sate him, but enough to keep him going.
It doesn’t take him long from there; Night Island is surprisingly easy to get to, especially when you’ve got supernatural help. Real Rashid did owe him a few favors after all; the least he could do was help arrange transportation with all those Talamasca hook ups.
Daniel gets to the villa in the dead of night with his one bag in hand and stops outside their home. It’s massive.
“Jesus, you don’t do anything by halves, do you?”
He shakes his head and braves the walk to the front door. He stands there, on top of a kitschy mat that says Home Is Where The Heart Is, and he can’t bring himself to knock.
He’ll admit it—he’s scared. Scared that Armand will turn him away. Scared that he’ll flee. Scared that maybe he really does regret turning Daniel. Maybe he just…doesn’t love him the same way anymore. Armand is the one who remembers their past, after all. Daniel only remembers bits and pieces. Maybe he was such a pain in the ass all those years that Armand had finally had enough.
Only one way to find out.
But he doesn’t knock. He decides to walk around the perimeter, looking for another entrance. Because nothing bad has ever come from sneaking up on a vampire.
He sees a pair of french doors open, curtains blowing softly, the sound of the ocean nearby calming, and just knows.
Carefully, he walks from the soft sand onto the deck that goes around their home, and stands just outside the doors.
There he is.
Armand is sleeping, curled up on the bed, looking small amongst the giant mattress and a horde of pillows. But god is he beautiful, and he’s here. Daniel’s heart might stop again just at the sight of him. He’s here…he’s really here. His maker, his lover, his Armand.
He swallows hard. Fuck, he hopes Armand still wants him like that. But if he doesn’t, well, he can at least tell him to his fucking face.
Daniel walks in quietly and puts his bag on the floor before slipping his shoes off and crawling up behind Armand. This is probably a bad idea. Armand might panic and turn around so fast he slices Daniel’s throat before he has a chance to react. But Daniel’s banking on the fact that they’ve done this so many times that Armand will know, even in sleep, that he’s safe.
So he crawls onto the bed and situates himself in their usual position as he spoons Armand from behind, slinging an arm over his waist and nuzzling behind his ear.
Armand shifts a little, pushing backwards against Daniel and sighing contentedly.
“Hi, baby,” Daniel whispers.
“Daniel…” Armand replies softly. It sounds like relief.
Thank Christ.
“I missed you,” Daniel says just as quietly. Shit, there’s that emotion in his throat again. He swallows it down and presses a kiss to the back of Armand’s neck.
“Missed you more,” Armand murmurs, still half asleep.
Daniel chuckles quietly against his skin. “Dunno, boss. Maybe we can call it a tie.” He wraps Armand a little tighter in his arms.
He feels it the moment things change.
Armand’s body goes tense, realization catching up to him, and Daniel is so fucking scared that he’s going to bolt, but he won’t hold him there. He loosens his grip a little.
“Please don’t go,” he begs. “Armand, please, I’ve been looking for you, and I just—if you don’t want this anymore that’s fine, but don’t run away. Talk to me.” He laughs, but it’s a desperate sound. “I’ve been looking for you for six months and I didn’t even know to look at home.”
Armand is fully awake now; he can feel it.
“Daniel,” he says, voice steady, and it’s just harsh enough to make Daniel flinch. Armand must feel it, because he softens his tone. “Daniel…”
He’s fucking terrified, but he says, “Yeah?”
“Do you truly believe that I do not want you? That I do not long for you? Miss you? Love you?”
Daniel feels speechless. “Uh…I don’t know? You did run out with like, no explanation. Doesn’t seem like a crazy conclusion to draw to me.”
Armand is quiet for a long time.
“I was trying to make things safer for us,” he says finally. “And I…miscalculated.”
It’s not like him to be so evasive anymore, not with Daniel. “Miscalculated how?”
“The perils of immortality, Daniel, are that you start to believe you are invincible. And I was quickly proven wrong.”
Daniel feels the dread in his stomach grow. What the fuck happened in those six months? “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, but I need you to know that I would gladly go after anyone who hurt you. Whether we’re together or not.”
“You keep thinking I do not want you, but you have it backwards.”
“Excuse me?” He’s offended, actually. He scoured the globe for Armand and he has the gall to say Daniel doesn’t want him?
Armand sighs and rolls over, burying his face in Daniel’s chest. “I misspoke. You will not want me, even if you currently do.”
“Why?” There was nothing on earth that could make him not want Armand. He didn’t know how to convince his maker of that fact.
Armand looks up and it takes one, two, three seconds before Daniel sucks in a breath, registering the change.
“Holy shit.”
Armand quickly buries his face again, tucking his arms against his stomach to roll into a protective ball.
“Hey, no, no, not so fast.” Daniel gently unhooks his arms and pulls Armand against him. “Jesus, Armand. I’m not—it’s a shock, you know? But I’m not looking away.”
Armand glances up at him, holding eye contact for the first time. “It’s hideous.”
Daniel takes one hand and gently traces the side of Armand’s face, his thumb coasting over his temple, down to the scarred skin. “What the fuck happened?”
Armand raises one shoulder in a shrug. “It’s not important.”
“Not—”
“It’s not, Daniel, please. I don’t wish to talk about it.”
Daniel understands that, he does, but his stomach has just dropped out and he feels like he’s going to be sick. “Can you at least tell me who?” So I can kill them, he doesn’t add.
Armand bites his lip and seems to come to a decision. He speaks very quickly. “If you want to be pedantic, Akasha. If you want to talk cause and effect, Marius. And if you are including people who stood by and did nothing, well, I think Louis got the last laugh there.”
Daniel was ready to kill them all, even his new friend Louis. He was ready to rip Marius limb from limb. And he didn’t know who Akasha was, but they were in for it too.
“You’re breathing so quickly,” Armand says, putting his hand on Daniel’s chest. “And your heart, Daniel. It’s beating so fast. It frightens me.”
“You never say my name this much,” Daniel says. It’s such a stupid thing to focus on in this moment.
Armand looks confused too, his one eye squinting.
“You call me a lot of things, but rarely Daniel. Should I, uh, assume those other things don’t apply anymore?”
Armand looks no less confused. He gestures with one hand towards his ruined eye.
“That wasn’t exactly an answer, boss, I’m gonna need some clarity here.”
Armand blinks. “I…assumed you would not wish to remain companions in light of…” He gestures again.
Daniel doesn’t want to give him some trite words that you could find in a Hallmark greeting card. He wants Armand to understand in his bones just how loved he is.
“You’re beautiful,” he starts, and Armand looks away, but Daniel gently brings his face back to center with a hand on his chin. “Hey, no, listen. Armand…baby…you’re beautiful. You’re always beautiful. Before and now. This…this is some badass scar. And you got it trying to protect me? Protect us? Are you kidding? You’re twice the vampire I’ll ever be.”
Armand looks down. “That’s not true. You are already exceptional.”
“Yeah, well, I got it from you.” Daniel smiles.
Armand returns the smile, the first one Daniel has seen on his lips since he arrived.
“I don’t know how many more ways I can tell you that I’m crazy about you, but I’ll keep trying,” Daniel says, “because you’re it for me. You’ve been it since you were chasing me around the globe fifty years ago. This?” He jerks his chin towards Armand’s eye. “Was never going to be a factor in that decision. Not to be weird about it but you could lose a lot more than an eye and I’d still think the sun shines out your ass.”
Armand giggles. “You are so crass. I love you.”
Daniel blushes. “Good. I might be a writer, but I was never great at poetry. I don’t always know what to say, but if you run, I’ll find you.”
Armand smiles softly, bringing his mouth closer to Daniel’s. “If you were not mine, that would be quite a frightening statement.”
“Well, nothing about us is normal, babe.”
“Mmm. True.” Armand leans in, presses his lips softly to Daniel’s. He pulls back after a moment with a soft sigh. “I’ve missed you, beloved.”
Daniel’s heart clenches. “Me too.”
“It really doesn’t bother you?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I hate whoever did this to you and I’m gonna make them fucking pay. But do I mind like, how you look? No. You’re still gorgeous. You’re still scary. You’re still mine.” He kisses him again before moving to his jaw, his cheek, softly trailing kisses upwards until he’s pressing his lips against the scarred skin with a featherlight touch.
Armand whimpers and clings to Daniel tighter.
“Love you so much,” Daniel whispers against his skin as he kisses everywhere he can reach on Armand’s face. “My big scary vampire.”
Armand giggles again, and it’s music to Daniel’s ears. “Yes, I’m certainly more frightening now.”
“Nah, you were always scary as hell.”
“I have been wearing an eye patch in public. I look a bit like a pirate, according to one very loud child in Target.”
Daniel blinks. “Sorry, I just blue screened between being turned on by the idea of you as a pirate and the shock of thinking about you shopping at Target.”
“They have an impressive collection of kitchen appliances.”
“Armand…how many blenders did you buy?”
Armand pouts. “Daniel, I’m missing an eye. I deserve a room full of blenders.”
Daniel laughs and pulls Armand closer, crushing their mouths together. Armand sighs against him, dragging his hands gently up Daniel’s back. They kiss for a long while.
“Please,” Daniel says, pulling back and looking at Armand. “Don’t disappear again. It hurt in, in here.” He grasps at his chest, over his heart, not sure how else to say where their bond is.
Armand understands. He looks down. “I know. For me as well. I…I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” And it really is. Eternity is a long time, and Daniel isn’t gonna hold on to this. He tilts Armand’s chin up and gives him a soft smile before he kisses him again. “Wanna show me the blenders?”
Armand beams.
Yeah, they’re gonna be okay.