An Introduction...

[mlle_claudia]

A small hand, pale and infinitely graceful in its movement, reached up to take the handle of the door, pausing only briefly before pushing it open and stepping inside, the clicking of her shoes seeming to echo into the night that lay behind her. Pushing back the heavy cloak hood that partially covered her face, she glanced around with an expression

Comments

[lestat_the_lion]

If her small hand on his cheek startled him, Lestat did not show it except for his eyes to flash slightly, though the emotion behind it was difficult to discern. He shifted his eyes to her, and at the same time reached up to take her small fingers and pressed them in a gentle way. For now he didn't answer her question, but seemed to be preoccupied by something about her fingers -- most likely the coldness of them.

He turned with Claudia and brought her into one of the sitting rooms, which was thankfully empty. Lestat paused by one of the chairs, considered setting her down in it, but then changed his mind and sat himself while keeping her on his lap. He drew back to look at her face, studiously, though there was still nothing in his eyes to suggest any strong emotion.

Finally he shifted, smiled at her, and lifted one hand to tweak her nose. "I suppose being poisoned, stabbed, and set on fire would do that to anyone," he said lightly, but his eyes remained on Claudia's with careful consideration. "You look absolutely the same, my dear, but lovely all the same. Did Louis pick out that dress? ...No, of course not."

[mlle_claudia]

Claudia did not appreciate such things from anybody, but she did not mention such a thing to him then, knowing it would not matter even if he did care. She tilted her head slightly after he spoke, not seeming amused at all, and then replied in a controlled tone. "Is it to your taste? Would it amuse you to know I thought of you when it was purchased?"

She leaned forward then, her faced tiliting up to she could see him better, to study him. "Perhaps you could explain to me why you are here. What do you want from me, Lestat?" Her voice was as sweet and calm as it ever was, though at the same time there was an obvious undercurrent of something else there, an emotion that gave her tone a darker quality...

[lestat_the_lion]

"Did you?" If Lestat felt any bitterness about Claudia's statement at all, it was well hidden -- or perhaps truly absent. "I should hope not. The color is a bit faded." He let his eyes move over it again, and then paused to fix one of her curls that hardly needed it, but he only wanted the excuse to touch her. His eyes remained on her face, searchingly, but there wasn't anything in them that might suggest threat.

If her studying bothered him, Lestat did not show it, and then used the opportunity to do the same thing. He openly stared at everything about her, the curve of her cheek and the way her hair framed her face. Claudia's words weren't surprising to him and he smirked a little, entirely humorlessly, and barely managed to repress his instinctual response. "Why? I have no idea. I hardly meant to come here." He knew that Claudia had actually been asking why he was alive, but chose to ignore the question.