La Serenissima

Lady Moon-Chan

AN: Inspired by the 30smiles prompt table on LJ, set Beta. The specific prompt was "Closure." It made me think of Armand, and Venice, and the way he was so violently torn out of his life there... so, voila. Also, Daniel. Because he's fun.

Disclaimer: This is a non-profit, fan-based work of fiction. I don't own or claim to own The Vampire Armand, Marius de Romanus, The Vampire Chronicles, or any other Vampire Chronicles characters mentioned herein.

Fic Start

Venice at night was enchanting. What vampire couldn't help but be enthralled by it? Who could fail to take joy in the way the water city was as bright as day even in the dead of night? At the exuberance of its people?

Well, Armand could, apparently. Since they'd come to Venice he'd been uncharacteristically quiet and almost completely withdrawn from Daniel. It had quickly become his custom to go off on his own once he was sure Daniel had fed, prowling the city alone until near dawn. Wherever he went, whatever he did, he didn't share it with his Child. Daniel knew what this city was to Armand, of course, and what had happened to him here. He could guess how painful some of the memories must be – but if it caused Armand so much grief, why were they still here? That was what Daniel couldn't understand. What on earth made Armand linger here like a ghost? What was he waiting for? He half-suspected Armand didn't know the answer to that himself.

They sat together for a change, in a street cafe overlooking a canal. Armand was silent as he'd been for the past week. He simply stared out over the canal, eyes distant and clouded with pain. Unable to stand the silence any longer, Daniel burst out, "Why are we still here, then!"

The question seemed to shock Armand out of his silence. "What?" He turned wide, startled eyes on Daniel, perhaps the first time they'd made eye-contact since coming here.

"You're miserable, I'm miserable, why don't we leave? Why do you insist on torturing yourself here? Why not let the past stay in the past? Let it go, Armand!"

Armand stared at him wide-eyed and seemingly uncomprehending for another moment, then he smiled sadly and shook his head. "Ah, amore mio. I wish I could." It was the only answer Daniel was to receive, because immediately after he said it, Armand got up and left.

But there was no way Daniel could let it go, after that. A non-answer like that was almost worse than if Armand hadn't answered him at all. Did his maker honestly expect that to satisfy his curiosity? But then again, maybe Armand hadn't even been thinking of Daniel when he spoke. Maybe whatever ghosts from his past lingered in this city obsessed him to the point where he couldn't think of anything else. I certainly know that feeling, Daniel thought with a certain amount of ruefulness. What right did he really have to judge Armand for his obsession, he who'd been so utterly obsessed with becoming a vampire?

But that feeling was overshadowed by the burning desire for answers, the end of his patience with his maker's silence. So Daniel took off after Armand, tracking him through the minds of the mortal's he'd passed by. Still, he eventually lost Armand and found himself lost in the heart of the city, seemingly invisible to the mortals passing by him on either side.

Daniel ransacked their minds without remorse, searching for even a hint of Armand. He found none; but he happened across a mind he couldn't read, but one which he could tell even through ordinary means was older and more powerful than Armand's. Who's there? He opened his mind to receive the answer.

Good evening, Daniel. Marius de Romanus stepped out of the shadowy arch of a doorway. His eyes locked with Daniel's almost immediately, and he gave a nod and a small, polite smile.

Daniel nodded back, making his way over to Marius. A good evening to you, too, Grandfather. It was a joke he'd come up with back when the coven was gathered on the Night Island; as Marius was the maker of his maker, he was in all technicality Daniel's vampiric grandfather.

Marius shook his head, feigning exasperation at the nickname and at Daniel, but the smile twitching at the corner of his mouth betrayed his amusement.

"Have you seen Armand? We had a disagreement earlier, and I can't find him now..."

Marius was silent for a long moment, eyes lowering in thought. "I haven't," he said finally, "but I can guess where he might have gone." He turned away, gesturing for Daniel to follow him. He walked briskly, silently, the mortals around them instantly making way for him. It was a struggle for Daniel to keep up, vampiric abilities and all.

Marius stopped quite suddenly halfway out across the Bridge of Sighs, and Daniel barely managed to stop before he plowed into Marius' back. "Why're we stopping?" Daniel asked. Marius' only response was to point out a spot below them, and some distance away from the bridge.

There was Armand, stepping out of a gondola. He paused to thank the gondolier and pressed enough money into the man's hands to make his eyes boggle. They spoke very briefly, their voices easily carrying to where Daniel and Marius stood.

"Grazie."

"No, no..." The man gave Armand a quick bow before rowing off. Armand watched him for a moment before turning and walking away from the bridge for a block or so, before stopping in front of a shop, now closed for the evening.

As far as Daniel could tell, it was a perfectly ordinary building. Why here? Why that shop?

It isn't the shop at all. It's... what used to be there. Marius explained to him, mental voice wistful.

The palazzo? Daniel guessed.

Marius nodded and sent Daniel the images: a grand palazzo with a Moorish facade, the walls within covered with paintings. Familiar images, things Armand had shown him before. The other boys, the apprentices at work or at the supper table. But these things were colored by Marius' feelings, Marius' impressions. And then there was Armand himself -Amadeo, as Marius had called him then and would always. Amadeo on his first evening in the palazzo, exquisitely turned out in blue velvet. Amadeo whose soft brown eyes were ever turned to the Master.

Amadeo who became his lover, to whom he gave the Dark Gift rather than lose him forever. The brief period of peace and happiness they'd had together as immortals -Marius' 'Perfect Time.' And then Santino's minions and their fire. The paintings burned, his apprentices kidnapped, and Marius de Romanus, painter and magician, reduced to a blackened husk from the fires and too weak to stop them from doing any of it.

The visions ended, and Daniel found himself speechless, only able to stare at Marius as he stood staring down at the distant figure of Armand. Armand had told him the whole story before, that was true. He'd shown him some of the same images as Marius had, of the palazzo and the other boys. But he had spoken very briefly of his relationship with Marius, of the circumstances under which they'd been parted. Even the images he'd given Lestat which Lestat had later recounted in his book hadn't managed to fully convey the sadness of the tale. Or perhaps Daniel had been too riveted by his account of being brainwashed into the cult, the Children of Darkness, and so it hadn't sunk in then.

Either way, he hadn't quite been able to grasp the breadth of what his maker had lost here, before. With what Marius had told him, he was beginning to. Daniel put his hands over his face for a moment. Armand had had no memory upon arriving in Venice, and so, to the boy he had been, Venice and the Master had become past, present, and future. And to have all that so cruelly torn from you... "My God."

When Daniel looked up, Armand was staring at the two of them, face blank and eerily mask-like except for his slightly furrowed brow. He moved toward them, and to a human might have seemed to disappear from the door of the shop and reappear on the bridge with them. He moved that quickly, and it still startled Daniel at times.

"Daniel." Armand kissed his fledgling, very lightly and very briefly, and then stepped back, looking at Marius. There was a slight pause, before he said, "Master."

"Amadeo." Marius moved forward, taking Armand's face in his hands and kissing first one cheek, then the other, decorously.

Daniel recognized the greeting (Armand used it on him often, and he'd seen Louis and Lestat greet people in the same way when the coven was gathered on the Night Island), but was a bit surprised to see Armand submit to it so readily, considering how tense and wary he seemed. But perhaps he shouldn't have been surprised, given the nature of their past relationship: Armand had been subordinate (or rather, insubordinate, by his own admission) to Marius in almost every way.

The two of them seemed surprised too; Marius let go of Armand, stepped back and leaned against the stone rail of the bridge as before, glancing away. Armand wrapped his arms around himself tightly, tilting his head so that his hair hid his face. Both of them seemed to have quite forgotten Daniel was even there. There was something in the air between them now, raw and hurting yet tender despite that, and it made Daniel feel like he was intruding on an incredibly private moment. The next moment, Armand seemed to remember -or to realize- that his fledgling was still there.

He looked over at Daniel, tucking a few curls back behind his ear (something Daniel had seen him do a few times before, while deep in thought. Armand never seemed to realize he was doing it). "Ah... Daniel, caro..."

His voice was as soft and even as Daniel had ever heard it, but his slight hesitation and the tension he was carrying in his shoulders gave him away. He was nervous. He'd never been nervous about asking Daniel anything before. It didn't take a genius to figure out what Armand wanted to ask, though (then again, Daniel had been a reporter in life, and the Dark Gift had only enhanced his newshound instincts). Clearly, he wasn't sure how Daniel would take this particular request.

"Sure, Boss, no problem." He said easily, as if there'd actually been a question addressed to him. "I'll see you back at the hotel later, huh?" He planted a kiss on Armand's forehead just because he knew how much he hated it, shook hands with Marius, and left.

But he didn't go far. Despite the fact that it felt like he was intruding on something private, he couldn't stop himself from wanting to watch things play out between them. That probably came from being a reporter too – he'd sniffed out something interesting, now he wanted to see how the story unfolded.

He climbed up to the roof of a building further on down the block and settled in, peering around the piece of facade he was hiding behind. Marius gestured for Armand to come closer, and he did, leaning against the stone rail very close to Marius, but not actually touching him. Daniel was surprised to feel a sudden surge of possessiveness over his maker.

They were talking quietly now, so quietly that Daniel couldn't pick up the words, and Marius had closed his mind. Whatever they were talking about, they apparently wanted to be absolutely certain nobody overheard.

Marius finished speaking, then wrapped an arm around Armand's shoulders, tugging him closer and closing what little space had remained between them. He wore an expression Daniel had never seen on him before, deeply affectionate but with something mischievous to it as well. Armand smiled as he replied, and whatever he said made Marius laugh -and that Daniel just about heard, the sound low and rumbling and pleasant- and lean down to plant a kiss on Armand's cheek.

At that point, Daniel decided he'd seen enough and climbed down from his perch, intending to head back to the hotel he and Armand were staying at. He glanced back toward them one last time -Marius was kissing Armand properly now, and Armand, though he seemed surprised, had yet to pull away- and then shook his head, taking off.

By the time dawn came for Daniel, Armand still hadn't returned. But Daniel wasn't afraid for him. If he'd been with Marius all this time, let them bed down together for the day. If not... well, Armand was clever enough to find someplace else to sleep the day away if he couldn't reach the hotel.

When Daniel woke the next evening, Armand was already awake and waiting for him. He stayed even after Daniel had hunted. He was still quiet, but now it less of a moody silence and more of a thoughtful one. And now he could be drawn out of his thoughts with a question or comment from Daniel, where before Daniel's every effort had met with failure. Clearly, whatever had happened with Marius last night after he'd left had given his maker at least a little closure, and Daniel was glad for that.

"I take it things went well with Marius?" He called out to his maker's back – Armand was several steps ahead of him, apparently too buoyant to wait around for his fledgling. But he stopped now to glance back at Daniel, innocent and curious.

"Well enough, I suppose. Was it that obvious?"

"You're in a better mood than you've been since we got here, the night after you hook up with an old flame... wasn't hard to guess." Daniel caught up to him, leering and nudging Armand's ribs. "So c'mon, spill. What happened? I want to hear every dirty detail." That was the truth, hopefully disguised by his hamming it up.

But Armand didn't say a word; he simply smiled and shook his head, then leaned up to kiss Daniel. He bit into his fledgling's lower lip, lapping at the blood that welled up from the small wound. Daniel groaned, tugging Armand closer to return the favor.

Armand broke the kiss, turning so that they were standing back-to-chest and resting his head in the crook of Daniel's neck. After a few moments of silence, he spoke. "What do you think, amore mio? Shall we try breaking into the Doge's palace?"

"Sure, sounds like fun." Daniel replied, pressing a kiss to his maker's auburn curls. He felt Armand smile against his neck, then he slipped out of Daniel's arms and started walking. He moved briskly, not letting Daniel catch up and speeding up when it seemed he might. In that manner, they made their way to the Doge's palace, and once inside, spent hours wandering the halls, almost until dawn came for Daniel.

At that point, Armand ushered them back to the Hotel, and he sat by Daniel as Daniel lowered himself into his coffin. Daniel felt his eyes slide shut, felt the irresistible call to sleep... and before awareness faded completely, he felt Armand softly dusting kisses over his forehead, his closed eyelids, his cheeks, and his lips.

On awakening the next evening, Daniel found himself completely alone. A note from Armand lay on the table, apologizing for his absence and promising to see Daniel later in the evening. Daniel could easily guess where he'd gone – to see Marius. And he wanted to find them and follow them again, despite the feeling that he was spying and despite the jealousy and possessiveness that flared up in him when he thought of them together.

So Daniel hit the streets, searching for any hint of either Armand or Marius in the minds of the mortals around him, and seeking out Marius directly with the Mind Gift when his first tactic failed. That worked a bit better; he got a glimpse of Marius' surroundings before the link was severed as Marius closed his mind.

A glimpse was enough; it was one of the places he'd gone frequently in the last six nights. He took off for the Piazza San Marco, pausing just inside the Piazza to look around. There was a quartet playing violins, and he spotted Marius right away, standing on the fringes of the audience and watching the musicians play with a distant look in his eyes. But he was alone; Armand was nowhere in sight.

"Grandfather." Daniel said by way of greeting as he went to stand beside Marius. Marius turned, studying Daniel and the empty space around him for a moment. Daniel discerned faint confusion and concern in his expression before Marius' face went blank.

"Daniel." He returned. Another quick glance around. "Isn't Armand with you tonight?"

"Uh-uh, haven't seen him all night. I thought he might've been with you...?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

Daniel thought for a moment. "Do you think maybe he went back to-" He stopped as a pair of slender hands clamped down on his shoulders. Behind him, he heard Armand laugh.

"Talking about me behind my back, are you?" He turned Daniel around and leaned up to give him a quick kiss. Daniel turned back to Marius and he followed, settling his back against Daniel's chest and dragging one of Daniel's arms around himself.

"Never mind." Daniel said to Marius. Marius acknowledged his words with a small nod and smile, then his eyes went from Daniel's face to Armand's.

"Amadeo... you need not make a decision right away, of course. I can wait. Just know that my door will always be open." There was a deep warmth and affection in his tone, and he sent Daniel a glance that seemed to say, and the same to you.

Armand's grip on Daniel's arm tightened almost imperceptibly, then he spoke. "I know, Master. Thank you for that. And when it's time, I shall..." He trailed off, and Marius nodded.

"Of course. When it's time." And there was that same current of warmth, which Daniel would have had to be completely stupid not to sense. Marius reached out, like he might touch Armand's face, then seemed to think the better of it and dropped his hand. He wished them both a good night and left, walking briskly across the Piazza.

"Mind telling me what that was about?" Daniel asked, planting a kiss on the top of Armand's head.

"He asked if I would..." Armand paused, turning around in Daniel's arms and pressing his face into the crook of his fledgling's neck. "... if I would like to come stay with him, like old times. If only for a short time."

"And you would." It wasn't quite a question. Daniel recalled the way he'd seen them acting together on the bridge, how happy Armand had seemed, how at ease and almost playful Marius had been. Was that how they had acted together centuries ago?

"Yes." Armand said slowly. "However..." He broke away from Daniel and walked a few paces. He wrapped his arms around his chest, staring intently at the paving stones beneath his feet.

"However?" Daniel prompted, following him.

"I... wasn't sure. Afraid, I suppose." Armand laughed, mirthlessly. Daniel was amazed by the confession; it was rare for Armand to admit any sort of weakness, especially fear. "Besides, what would I do with you?"

"You act like I'm a pet that needs to be babysat. I'll be fine on the island by myself for a little while." But he didn't suggest Armand bring him along. He knew better than that; he would only be a third wheel for the two of them- Armand and his Master.

Armand glanced over his shoulder at Daniel, a strong, sudden breeze tousling his curls. His expression was unreadable, and not for the first time, Daniel wished he could use the Mind Gift to figure out what was going through his maker's pretty head right now. "And what if it wasn't for 'a little while?'"

"What do you mean?" Daniel ignored the sinking feeling in his stomach, the sneaking suspicion that he already knew. He wanted to hear the words out of Armand's own mouth.

"What if I chose to stay with him for years? Decades, even. Would you wait for me still?"

It was not the question he'd thought Armand would ask, and his first instinct was to ask what sort of stupid question that was. But something in Armand's gaze stopped him; there was something raw and desperate lurking in the depths of his eyes, and that was what had Daniel changing his answer.

"Of course I would. Of course." But there was something not-entirely-genuine sounding about the words, even to him.

AN: Y'know, it's the darndest thing - I have all these little thingies I'm writing about Armand, and not one of them so far has an honest-to-God happy ending. They're all turning out bittersweet, like this one and In Loving Detail. Well, at any rate, please review!