SILLY SPEC: HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES Part 2, Posts 31-60 _________________________________________________________________________ Post 31: Jesse Jesse arrived just in time to see Louis in the spotlight prancing around for the cameras. "Beautiful! Just beautiful! Now why can't you move like that Brad? Didn't you take movement classes or were you just so beautiful you got cast without any acting lessons?" she thought she heard the director say. Louis was beautiful. But what was that commotion that only vampiric senses would detect? There-- under those trees! Why a gathering of nearly all the vampires she knew! :How did we all manage to be here at the same time?: Well there was Gabrielle-- Gabrielle her mentor and confidante and friend. And Khayman. :I wonder why he's here! If Maharet sent him looking for me I'll kill her! Just what I need a protector. Ha! I wish I had someone to protect me from vampiric ennui!: But did she see those auburn locks? Ahh the angel was here. "Armand..." Jesse sighed his name as she made her way over to her "family." __________________________________________________________________________ Post 32: Armand Armand saw Jesse arrive through the trees as Louis finished filming. "Reunion indeed!" he said softly. He was about to greet her when a flash of red caught his eye. At once he faded back into the shadows, following. He moved for some time, leaving the group behind, weaving through the complex maze of the set. Finally he stopped, watching as the figure settled gracefully in a chair, watching the shoot with great interest. *Now what is he doing here?* Armand thought to himself. *He's not in this scene!* He settled, full length, on the roof of a nearby trailer and watched Antonio as Antonio watched the shoot. __________________________________________________________________________ Post 33: Santino Daniel hesitated only moments. "Yes. I want to. Lets go." At once he vaulted over the fence, silently landing on the other side. He looked around for Santino, but he had vanished. In spite of himself he spun around at the tap on his shoulder, jumping. "Would you cut that out!" he snapped. Santino smiled. "Forgive me. I truly didn't mean to startle you." Then he crept into the night, leading the way to a prime vantage point. "Now, look here. Endless opportunities for fun! There - the entire coven gathered, with the exception of two." Daniel followed Santino's gesture and started counting heads. He wasn't kidding! Practically everyone except the twins were present! Santino nudged him. "Now, there... Louis and Brad Pitt. Looks as though Louis is making his acting debute. And over there..." Again Daniel followed his gesture, then gasped. Armand lay full length on the roof of a trailer, resting his chin on folded hands. His entire attention had been captured by the mortal below him. "That's Antonio Banderas! What's he doing here?" "Just what Armand is wondering, no doubt." Santinos grin reminded Daniel suddenly of a fox in a hen house. "Now then, fledgling. What shall we do next?" Daniel looked at him, indecision clearly written on his handsome features. ___________________________________________________________________________ Post 34: Gabrielle "Damn you, Lestat! Listen to me!" Gabrielle said a bit too loudly, heads were turning. She felt a soft hand on her arm and looked up to it's source, "Marius, what the hell do we do with him?" Gabrielle sighed as he pointed to Lestat who had just turned away from Louis and his kiss. "You think *I* know, Gabrielle. After 200 years, I still have no idea." Marius answered while watching the coven dispearse. He saw Louis and Lestat talking, Armand...where the hell was Armand? Gabrielle picked up the thought and giggled, :: Your beautiful Amadeo? Look up...:: Marius folloed Gabrielle's eyes to the nearby roof where Armand lay perched watching his alter ego below. Marius groaned and Gabrielle laughed. "I wonder who they got to play *you*, mon cher." Gabrielle managed to stutter between her laughter. "Gabrielle...." Khayman began, "Look who they got to play *you*!" Gabrielle watched as Khayman pointed to the set. She fainted back into Marius' arms. Lestat turned from Louis and saw his mother unconcious, "Someone fan the lady will you?" Hey, will someone make up someone atrocious that they'd pick to play Gabrielle, Marius as well. We need these and I HAVE NO IDEA! :-) __________________________________________________________________________ Post 35: Jesse Quiet as only vampires could be Jesse appeared out of the trees. As she appeared she saw: Gabrielle faint, Marius catch her, and Armand perch on a roof. :My oh my what is happening here? This should be quite interesting. But then whatever happens around the Brat Prince is always interesting. At least it's always interesting enough to write a book about! And now they're making movies of his books! No wonder all the world's bored vampires are here...Including myself.: Perhaps Jesse would go talk to Armand... ______________________________________________________________________ Post 36: Santino Santino was well aware that Armand had promised Daniel that he would go to see Brad Pitt and no more. Which was precisely why he had pointed out Armand's new interest in Antonio Banderas. But as soon as he'd seen Daniel's reaction, he'd regretted it. There had been real pain there and, no matter how little Santino cared for Armand, he had no reason to treat this fledgling so unemotionally. Besides, he found he was getting to like this young one. *Rather like Eric in his cynicism,* Santino thought. He watched as Daniel looked back and forth uncertainly from the small reunion to Armand. *Blast that imp! If he's actually neglecting his firstborn I'll...* Santino let the thought trail off. What *would* he do? He was hardly Armand's coven leader anymore. And even when he was Armand had always had ideas of his own. Santino had never been able to reign him in completely. Now Lestat, on the other hand, had a flair for dealing with the demon child. But Lestat was busy with Gabrielle or Tom Cruise or whatever it was that Lestat was doing. Santino squinted to try and see across the set better. What exactly *was* Lestat doing anyway? Ah well, no matter. The important thing was that he finally had Daniel by his side now. He took the younger vampire by the arm, distracting him from the sight of Armand. "Come along," Santino said gently. "If all we do is stand in place, we might as well have stayed in the darkness." _______________________________________________________________________ Post 37: Santino Daniel looked at Santino. "True. What would you do if I told you I don't want to be with any of them, just now?" He looked at the gaggle. "When the coven gathers like that, it's going to be endless fighting. Not to mention the fact that the Talamascan just showed up. Her I really don't need. And as for Armand..." he looked again at his creator, still absorbed in silent contemplation of Antonio, "he's obviously busy." He sighed. "So... Santino. What are you up for? Do you really want to mingle with *them*... or do you want to go stir up some trouble with me?" ____________________________________________________________________ Post 38: Gabrielle "ALRIGHT!" Gabrielle screamed, "Who the HELL thought it was a funny idea to cast Goldie Hawn as me?! She isn't *worthy* of me!" Gabrielle squirmed out of Marius' grip and turned to see him and Khayman snickering to one another, "And we wonder where Lestat gets it..." Khayman laughed. "Oh shut up!" Gabrielle spun around angrily and stomped her foot for effect as she faced the Nordic. "Just because you don't show up till the next book doesn't mean you're *safe*! I'm going to correct this." Gabrielle began to stomp off towards the set, Marius tried to catch her and got a piece of her arm before she reached the set. She tried to fight him off but he had too secure a grip, "What has gotten into, my dear friend. It isn't right for the Mother of our Brat Prince to be conducting herself this way." Marius scolded her, a twinkle in the eye. Gabrielle ripped her arm from him and glared, "Oh you should talk O' Venerable Elder, don't you think we *know* why you're here? You think that we don't know what's going on between you and David...." Before he could answer she stalked off into the maze of paths behind the set. She suddenly came across a familiar thought pattern. "Oh, so Daniel is here, this could be interesting...." She sent a little thought to Armand who still lay on the roof, :: Mon petit, you should guard your fledgling better. I suppose he's free game, non?:: ____________________________________________________________________________ Post 39: Louis Louis shrugged and turned to Jesse. He grasped her around the waist, lifted her and swung her in a circle, laughing. "Ma Cherie...(setting her on her feet once more) It's good to see you! Where were you hiding yourself and have you come here to see me... or someone else?" Lifts eyebrow and grins broadly. ___________________________________________________________________________ Post 40: Louis Louis smiled as Jesse winked at him and moved away into the shadows. He turned to Gabby. She slipped and arm around him and asked if he was really going to do the sceen test. "But of course!" he grinned. "If there's one thing Lestat has taught me is that if you don't get into some mischief at least once , you should consider the night a total waste!" Gabby swatted his rear end. Louis caught her wrist, and said loudly enough for Lestat to hear :"Careful Gabreielle... I may just return the favor!" A voice from the loud speaker called:"Will Mr. Jean-Louis du Ponte please meet the director at the control trailer." "Ah!" Louis turned to Lestat, eyes sparkling, "That must be about my screen test. Do you want to come along and watch? Or are you still too enthralled with Monsieur Cruise to move? You might get a chuckle out of the text they are having me read." Louis started to walk away. He glanced back over his shoulder...." It's Dostoevsky..." ______________________________________________________________________ Post 41: Marius It had, he thought, all gone to pieces in an astonishingly short amount of time. Louis- LOUIS!- of all people! was off to audition and would act as stunt double for Brad. Lestat was out to completely replace Tom Cruise. Armand was perched above Antonio Banderas with an unsettling look on his face, and Gabrielle had stomped off in a huff after seeing Goldie Hawn. Marius groaned, rubbed uselessly at his throbbing temples, and wondered if it wasn't too late to go keep his date with David. After all, David might be mad at him, but what could he do that would be worse then this mess? Marius flushed, abruptly remembering that one time when David had been a bit irritated (Marius had a problem with punctuality) and had gotten ahold of a pair of handcuffs... But, then again, that wasn't necessarily a *bad* thing, and it certainly wouldn't give him a headache, like this mess did... He'd do it. He'd leave. Let the others wreck havok on the set, let them seduce, incapacitate, maim, kill, or replace their respective actors; he just didn't care. He'd go and spend an evening with David and forget he ever saw them all here. He'd... Marius paused, staring. Who in hell was that? The man had just walked onto the set, from one of the trailers. Tall, and blonde, with a commanding and graceful stride. ::Not bad,:: Marius mused. ::Not bad at all.:: And look at those clothes, beautiful old fashioned things, all satin and lace and silk and in such a nice shade of red that went well with the man's pale skin, not too bright. Exactly the shade of red Marius preferred himself, actually. The man must be one of the actors... In fact, he must be... Marius' brain stopped, struggling with the concept. After a few moments Jesse reached over and considerately pushed Marius' mouth closed for him. "You were starting to drool," she told him. "What? Didn't you know they cast Jeremy Irons as you?" ________________________________________________________________________ Post 42: Tom Members of the crew rushed into Tom's tent. They found him on his back babbling on the little cot. "Blood... ooh... ahh... oh... do that again... yes, my... ooh..." He had a memory rush into him -- something about another pulling the blonde one out of the room... what was it? Tom's shirt was unbuttoned and his pants were undone. He looked down and found his schlong hanging out of his pants. "My God," he said embarrassingly and turned from the others to fix his pants. They giggled at him, shook their heads, and walked out of the room. "Hey! I wasn't doing what you think I was!" he shouted back. "Wha?! My God! Who were those people that were in here? Where did they go, where are they? They were..." he placed his hand against his neck but Lestat was thorough enough to seal the wounds. Nothing there. "They were vampires!" He shouted at himself. Tom ran after the crew. "There are vampires out there! You don't believe me? They're out there! They're here! Some blonde dude and another... Christ!" The crew continued to walk away laughing about Tom's very satisfied look on his face. Tom, discouraged and red from embarrassment, made a hrumpf sound and headed back towards his tent. When he turned around he came face to face with Daniel and Santino. He let out a little sound and just stood completely paralyzed looking at two very exquisite creatures. __________________________________________________________________________ Post 43: Louis Louis laughed to himself as Lestat folded his arms across his chest and made disagreeable noises in his preternatural throat. :Lestat just can't stand it when I have a little fun on my own. It will only last a few moments, his tantrums never do. He will either follow me and spy, or find trouble else where.: Louis made his way behind the cameras and lights, to the trailer. The sweater 'wardrobe' had given him seemed to be knited from barbed wire, rather than the cotton sweaters he preferred... better still cashmere. But her never wore cashmere in those days. He wore it frequently now... The director stood out side the trailer. He saw Louis gracefully walking towards him. Oh, yes. This one had star quality. The director took his hand and shook it . "Jesus Christ! Your hand's like ice!" Louis shrugged. "Bad circulation, I guess." The director slipped his arm around Louis' shoulder, amazed at the solid muscle beneath the sweater. "Now, Jean-Louis... Later on when we are finished with Brad and Tom's scene..." The director chuckled. "May I ask, what you find amusing?" Louis tilted his head to one side. "Oh..." the director grinned,"Tom and I have worked out a little surprise for our boy Brad... I thought it would be nice for 'Lestat' to grab 'Louis' and plant a big kiss right on his chops.!" "Not a bad idea." Louis smiled. :I don't mind that myself...: ______________________________________________________________________________ Post 44: Brad Brad watched Louis do the walk. He practiced a few times, swinging the hips just right, toe/heel, toe/heel, the pivot, the way the arms swung gently at the side -- no hands in pockets. 'Hmmm... very elegant but kinda poofy,' he thought. Louis was an instant hit with the director. Brad scowled a little but couldn't help but agree. Oh well. Thank God HE got the part first in the last film... He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, a schlock of red hair, long and flowing, attached to a rather exquisite body with an outstanding pair of legs. 'Now who could THAT be?' he wondered. 'Haven't seen HER around here before.' He scratched his head, shifted his tight pants a little, and strolled over to where Jesse was standing watching Louis. "Howdy!" said Brad, holding out his hand for her to shake. "Are you workin' on this set too?" He threw his prettiest smile at her and she did a double take when she noticed he was dressed in Louis-type clothing -- and looked quite... Louis-like. ______________________________________________________________________ Post 45: Jesse "Hello! Why you look like Louis. You're Brad Pitt aren't you?" Jesse said to the mortal who presented himself to her. "I'm Jesse." :I can hardly even smell his blood the stench of cigarettes is so overwhelming! He certainly is pretty though! Those eyes! Must be contacts...: _________________________________________________________________________ Post 46: Santino & Daniel A flurry of activity by the inpromtu reunion caught Santino's eye. He saw Gabrielle looking in his direction, something which he had not been planning on. "I don't mind going elsewhere at all," he told Daniel. As nonchalantly as he could, he pulled Daniel out of sight of the others, then made his way through the maze of sets and camera equipment. "Where are we going?" Daniel asked. "Where ever Dame Fortune takes us," Santino replied. He longed to scan back to the others to see if he and Daniel had been spotted, but he dared not. Practically out of nowhere a barely legal young woman bumped into him. Her hair was dyed platnum blonde and her face was heavily made up, but only in the sense that any actor's face would be made up. She wore a pair of ripped shorts and a tight T-shirt that barely covered the plastic domes on her chest where her mammary glands had once been. "Omigosh I'm so sorry," she said. "Quite alright," Santino replied. He took her hand in his and patted it reassuringly. "No harm done." "Oh good," she said. "It's just that I just got here and I don't know what I'm supposed to do or who I'm supposed to be with or anything." "You're working on this movie?" Daniel asked. "Yeah," she said. "It's just a small role but my agent says that it could spring me into the big leagues." She smiled. "All that work as a centerfold must have paid off." "I can imagine," Santino said, letting his mind do just that. "And what exactly is your role in this, Miss...?" "Harroks, Bubble Harroks." "A truly facinating name," Santino said, letting more of his Italian accent show. "But forgive me, I've interrupted you. You were telling us the part you play?" "Oh yeah," Bubble said. "I play this groupie for that pale guy's rock band." "Do you now?" "Uh-huh," she said. "And this is really going to show my acting range because my character is..." Bubble checked her script. "Caramelly unretrievable?" Santino looked over her shoulder. "I believe that says 'Carnally indefatigable'." "Right," Bubble said. "So it's going to be a big change from the centerfolds." "Indeed," Santino said. He looked over at Daniel who was watching this mortal girl with interest and an idea occured to him as to how he could make up for his earlier coldness. "You know, Bubble, it's very fortunate that we ran into you." "It is?" "Yeah, it is?" Daniel asked. "Yes," Santino said. He put his arm around Bubble, turning her to face Daniel as he did so. "Because my companion here is the actor who shall be playing Larry and he was just saying to me that he would love to get a chance to rehearse your scene together before going out in front of the others. Isn't that right, Mr. Slater?" ________________________________________________________________________ Post 47: Santino, Daniel, and Tom "Mr. Slater?" Daniel hissed at Santino under his breath. "I'm a thousand times better looking than that kid!" "You can say that again." Bubble was forgotten when Tom Cruise arrived. "I haven't seen you on the set before." "No, but we've seen you." Santino interjected smoothly, filling in for the slack jawed Daniel. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Cruise." He extended his hand. "I'm Anthony Romero, this is my partner Ron Davis. We're journalists..." Immediately the actor clammed up. "I don't give interviews. Whoever sent you..." "We're not here to interview you, specifically." Santino soothed. "We're here to document the proceedings." "Running into you was just a happy accident." Daniel added, getting into the spirit of the game. The busty young woman next to him finally made a small noise of protest. "Oh yes. Mr. Cruise, this is Bubble. She's carnally indefatigable." _________________________________________________________________________ Post 48: Armand Armand watched Antonio watching the shoot with great interest. How could someone so thoroughly... nice capture the darkness so completely? He delved into Antonio's thoughts and found more of the same. He seemed to be a thoroughly nice guy. And yet, watching him in Interview had given Armand the shivers. Every now and again he would capture his inflection, his gestures so perfectly... it was as though Antonio had been studying Armand his whole life. He was startled from his thoughts by Gabrielle. Damn, she had found Daniel. He quickly looked around, but saw to his dismay that his fledgling had abandoned his post. It was to be expected, really. Armand had been on the set far longer than he had intended. *Haven't you caused enough trouble?* he sent to Gabrielle, still looking for Daniel. *What have you done with him?* _________________________________________________________________________ PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM OUR SPONSOR, TAC/THN- "JoAnne, aka Lestat, has decided to drop from the game. She's too distracted with her new novel (which looks awfully good, BTW). So... what to do with Lestat? I'm more than half tempted to play him myself, and I _Will_ take him, at least temporarily, until we figure out who get s him for real. I've done everyone but the Brat, it seems... this is going to be fun. Suggestions, anyone?" --Lisa Hall, reporting live from New Orleans ________________________________________________________________________ Post 49: Lestat (now done by Lisa Hall) Lestat hrumphed as he watched Louis thread his way through the tangles of cables and lights. Fine. He couldn't visit Tom. At the moment anyway. But... His blue eyes twinkled suddenly with suppressed glee. "That I can do." he muttered to himself. Then he turned to the rest of the coven. "I've had a long night. Think I'll turn in." He yawned hugely. "Feel free to drop in any time. We're always around. See ya." With that he vaulted lightly over the chain link fence surrounding the set and hurried away, toward the Rue Royal. ________________________________________________________________________ Post 50: Louis Louis smiled as the director handed him him a dog eared paperback copy of Queen of the Damned". "Have you ever read this?" The director asked him. "This is Tom's copy, and it's a bit chewed up. Just pick a page and start to read. This is informal, so it doesn't matter if you screw it up. I just want to listen to the sound of your voice... I don't know if we want to get rid of your accent or not... just start anywhere, Jean-Louis." He sat down, folded his arms and closed his eyes. :This is entirely too much to be by myself, where is Lestat when I want him!: Louis took a familiar Louis-stance... weight shifted to his left foot, left hand in pocket, book in right hand, head slightly to one side, hair falling slightly into his eyes. In his warm baritone voice, he began to read... " Armand and Daniel... in The Villa of Mysteries..." :What a great pity Lestat's gone off in a huff. He picks the worst moments for tantrums.: Louis thought. _______________________________________________________________________ Post 51: Lestat Lestat could be heard muttering as he wandered the flat. "Where is that thing? I know it's around here somewhere... not my first choice but then again pianos aren't exactly portable... need a keyboard. Remind Louis to remind me to get a portable keyboard... attic! That's it." He dashed upstairs and rummaged around a bit. "Ah Ha!" Clutching the pristine case to him, he dashed back out into the night. "Louis' not going to be the only star of this family." Minutes later he was back on the set, heading for Martin's trailor. Without hesitation he opened the door and stuck his head in. He was about to say something flip, when the words dried up in his throat. Martin sat, eyes closed, listening intently to Louis read. Louis stood in a casually elegant pose which only he could pull off. The book... "... the gateway of life and death. I'll bring you with me through this gateway. And why? Because I am a coward. And I love you too much to let you go." To hear Louis read Armand's words... he felt tears rising and brushed away at them impatiently. The motion caught Louis' attention and he stopped reading. Martin opened his eyes as though coming out of a trance. "That was beautiful." he said softly, obviously moved. "Who are you?" Then he spied Lestat standing in the doorway. "And who are you?" Lestat suddenly grinned and propped the case containing the acoustical guitar within the door. "Am I late?" _______________________________________________________________________ Post 52: Santino, Daniel, and Tom A long moment of silence passed as Bubble actually tried to think. "Um," she said after a while. She pointed at Daniel. "I thought you said he was a, whaddyacallem... actor?" "No he isn't," Tom said, "He's a reporter." He glared at Santino. "Right?" Santino thought quickly. "He's an acting reporter reporting on the action of reporting in this, an acting situation. But I'm sure all of this is old hat to an accomplished actor as yourself, Mr. Cruise." "Of *course* it is," Tom said. He glared at Bubble now for raising the question in the first place. "I don't get it," Bubble said. "Let me help," Daniel said, putting his arm around the starlet. "Am I supposed to be doing that?" Tom asked, motioning toward Daniel's embrace. "No," Santino said. "After all a man of such a big..." Santino noticed the buldge in Tom's pants. *So Lestat has been here after all.* "talent as yourself shouldn't have to bother with the mundane dealings of those beneath you. No offense, Bubble." "That's ok," Bubble said. "I don't understand what you're saying anyway." "That's right, Tony!" Tom said. "I shouldn't have to deal with the little people or the hassles or the--" "Strange men breaking into your tent?" Santino finished. Tom was stunned. "How did you know about that?" "As your bodyguard, I should know these things, shouldn't I?" "I thought you said you were a reporter." "I'm undercover." Tom thought about this. "Oh, good job then." "I do my feeble best," Santino said. Looking quickly over at Daniel, he saw the look in the younger vampire's eye which showed that Daniel was sorely getting tempted into taking a little drink from the aptly-named Bubble. *Well I'll be damned if Daniel and Lestat have a nibble and I don't!* "Of course, Mr. Cruise, for me to do an adequate job, I should really be near you at all times, don't you think?" Santino locked his dark eyes onto the falsely colored blue ones of the actor and stepped closer. _______________________________________________________________________ Post 53: Louis and Lestat Louis tossed the book and the table and turned brightly to Lestat. He placed his hands on Lestat's shoulders and smiled. "I thought you'd never get here..." Louis pushed Lestat forward "Mr. Scorscese, I'd like you to meet Sebastian Melmoth... he's the real talent." Louis whispered to Lestat, far too softly for Martin to hear, "Want to do a voice over? You did nothing but bitch for months about that rocker Rose at the end of the first movie. And be nice, for once in your immortal life!" Martin was on his feet. He looked from Louis to Lestat and back again. "Wait just a moment." He turned to Lestat. "Let me finish up with your friend, Jean-Louis, and then I'll see what you can do. This isn't an open call you know." Martin glanced back at Louis. :What amazing eyes: he thought. "What do you do?" Louis shrugged a slow, French shrug. "Amatuer historian and bibliographer, I live as I may from a family trust. Nothing special." "After this shoot, next Friday, I want you on a sound stage at Warner for a proper screen test, nine am sharp. How do you like that?" Louis smiled. "I don't mind being Monsieur Pitt's double for distance shots... but I'm afraid I'll be in Rangoon. I promised a friend I'd visit her mute Auntie..." Martin handed Louis a card. "Any time you're in L.A. call me. That's my private number." "Merci." Louis nodded. Martin turned his eyes on Lestat. "Alright, young man... I take it you're going to try and sing something for me, hmm?" ________________________________________________________________________ Post 54: Santino, Daniel, and Tom Daniel tried hard to smother a laugh. *Acting reporter?* he sent to Santino. *Body guard?? Make up your mind!* *Some things in life are too easy. Observe, young one.* "Well, of course you need to be with me at all times." Tom snapped, as though he had thought of it. "What else is a bodyguard for?" "I mean... very close to you." Santino moved to Tom's side, eyes still locked with the actor. "Exceptionally close... almost like a lover..." his voice was low and hypnotic. Daniel found himself growing sleepy just listening to it, and shook himself awake by an act of will. He turned to his curvy companion, who stared slack-jawed at Santino. "Bubble, why don't we take a walk? Mr. Cruise and his bodyguard obviously have things to discuss." "Uh, sure. OK. So, you're an acting reporter?" she bounced away with him. "What do you do, like gossip columns?" _________________________________________________________________________ Post 55: Santino, Daniel, and Tom :No need for you to disappear, Daniel.: Santino quickly sent to the young vampire's mind. :After all, which do you prefer? Bubble, Tom, or *both*?: :Both?: Daniel perked up. :Watch and learn.: Santino pulled the now pliant Tom into his arms. "You do understand, Tom, that you must trust me completely if I am to keep you happy and secure in my arms?" "Of course," Tom said, once again being overcome by a vampire's mental powers. He leaned back, exposing his long neck. "Excellent," Santino purred. He brushed his fangs along the pulsating carteriod artery. He motioned for Daniel to do the same with Bubble. "Then I predict that we shall have a very... satisfying... working relationship." ________________________________________________________________________ Post 56: Lestat and Louis Lestat felt a sudden need to plunge his fangs into the side of Martin's throat. Louis saw the expression on his face and shot him a warning look. *Young man my ass.* Lestat thought to himself. Then he calmed. *If Louis can do it, I can.* He quickly cracked open the case and drew out the twelve string. "If you have a moment. Jean-Louis, he's the talker. I sing." Martin looked from one to the other. "Well," he finally said, "If you sing anything like he talks, you have quite a career ahead of you." Lestat looked hard at him. *How can _anyone_ be this dense?* Rather than say anything, he drew up a chair and quickly checked to make sure the instrument was in tune. Then he began playing. He chose a song of his own composition - one of Louis' favorites. It was lively, but still moving. Martin sat still, eyes closed, listening. For his second song Lestat chose a ballad of love and longing and broken hearts. It was the perfect companion for the "Villa of the Mysteries" section Louis had read earlier. The music wove through the room, Lestat's soft tenor voice soaring over the rich melody of the guitar. When finished, he set the guitar aside and waited. Martin opened his eyes and blinked rapidly several times. Then he looked hard at the two men in the room. "Sebastian Melmoth. And Jean Louis du Pointe. That's your story?" "And we're sticking to it." Lestat responded at once. Martin nodded slowly. "Well, friend, the job is yours if you want it." "Great." Lestat smiled. "What job?" "Good question." he looked at Lestat appraisingly. "I'd say you could double for Tom, but you really look nothing like him." "He looks nothing like _Me_." Lestat corrected quickly, before he could think better of it. Again Louis shot him a warning look, but Martin only laughed. "Point taken. How would you... and Jean Louis, of course, like to be the consultants for the film? And of course, you'd be in charge of the concert segments." Lestat looked at Louis. "Deal." _______________________________________________________________________ Post 57: Santino, Daniel, (and Tom) Santino flashed a perfect smile at Daniel. :Watching?: He knew he had the young one's full attention, but prefered to show off a bit. "What is it about this particular mortal that is so facinating to our kind, I wonder?" Santino looked up in surprise. "Armand!" Daniel gasped. "We were... uh..." "I can see what you were doing, Daniel." He frowned slightly. "I would have thought better of you both." He gave Santino a measured look. "Well, at least I would have thought better of you, Daniel." Meanwhile, Tom stirred restlessly in Santino's arms, muttering about blood and bodyguards. __________________________________________________________________________ Post 58: Gabrielle (to Armand) ::: You mean your fledgling isn't with you? I thought her heard me coming Armand and rushed back to you.:: Gabrielle sent to Armand while frantically searching for Daniel. ::: You scared him away, Gabrielle. ::: Armand projected into her mind. ::: Ha, ha. Very amusing Armand. Wait, another impression of him, he's not alone Armand, who the *hell* is with him? ::: With her mind attuned to Daniel, Gabrielle tried to pick her way across the movie set to find him. She sighed, ::: Armand, do you want to help me or are you going to drool over Antonio all night....did I ever tell you of that night Antonio and I...well....that's for another time mon cher. :: Gabrielle laughed and proceeded on her way. _____________________________________________________________________________ Post 59: Armand (to Gabrielle) :Gabrielle,: Armand thought as he stared at Santino :I found Daniel. You'll never believe who he's with. Or what he's doing. Then again, perhaps you might. Feel free to join us. We're behind the trailer of Tom Cruise.: __________________________________________________________________________ Post 60: Gabrielle and co. Gabrielle heard Armand beckon her to where he was. ::I wonder what Danny boy is doing now...:: she thought to herself. She walked through the trees and saw the trailer of "Monsieur le Star" in the distance. She picked up her pace and slipped around back. She was so amused at the sight she saw she burst out laughing. Santino glared and muttered, "Oh, great. We have a member of the hyena family de Lioncourt." Armand just smiled, amused by Gabrielle's reaction and Daniel's jaw dropped to his chest while Tom was still in a Santino induced stupor. "Oh, this is just too much!" Gabrielle stammered, "Why Daniel..." she drew in closer and ran the back of her hand along the smooth, pale skin of the fledgling, "How *nice* it is to see you again."