Work Text:
Title: Resolve
Pairing: David/Marius (From the Queen of the Damned)
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Like Marius promised, he came to pay David a visit
Disclaimer: Anne Rice owns. I just had to play
Unbetaed so all mistakes are mine. Also, I have only seen the movies (haven't read any of the books) so there might be some inaccuracies most likely with Marius. Forgive me...
Note: I'm too lazy to make a special friends group for the people who wanted to read this, so I'm taking a small chance with all of you. If you think it's wrong of me to have written this, please act like this post doesn't exist, because really I have no money to pay for Anne Rice and I don't want to get in to trouble. ^_^
~*~
”Hello David.”
David froze in his chair. He knew that voice even though he’d only heard it once. Lifting his gaze from Lestat’s journal, David saw that the ancient vampire was standing in the middle of the room on the Persian carpet, looking like it was nothing out of the ordinary. Like vampires just waltzed into their offices every day.
Well, there had been two in this very office just minutes ago but David hardly thought that was the same thing. First of all he had known Jesse for years and he’d been pretty sure he’d be safe with her, but this was Marius.
Marius with whom David had been obsessed with for years and years. Standing there in his slightly odd looking clothes looking graceful and very full of himself.
David laid the journal down on his desk carefully and stood up trying to act composed but it wasn’t easy, because unlike Jesse, David had never wanted to actually meet vampires face to face. It held no appeal to him. He didn’t want to die just to satisfy his curiosity.
But then there was Marius and David had no way of stopping the vampire from doing anything he wanted. Now his heartbeat sounded deafening in his own ears and he wondered if Marius could hear it? He was pretty sure the answer to that question was yes.
“Hello Marius, what do I owe this honour for?” he asked politely and begged that nobody would come in, it wasn’t probable as it was late and most people had gone to their homes, but there were always some interns running around, so fascinated with the new knowledge available to them that they couldn’t tear themselves from the libraries. Now he regretted his policy of having an open door and encouraging his students to come by anytime they had questions.
Marius seemed to take his fidgeting and staring at the door the wrong way and shook his head slowly, smiling, amused. “David, David. You should know by now that there is no way that you could escape this room and I think I should feel offended that you’d even consider that. After all, I did tell you I’d come by and see my paintings.”
David had been mesmerised by Marius’s hypnotic voice, his slight but prominent accent draping itself around him like some sort of drug and it took a moment for David to actually realise what the vampire had said.
“Your paintings? Yes, yes of course. Take any you like. They are, after all, yours.” He felt a faint hope that Marius would be satisfied with just that. But because he was a very intelligent man he knew that the hope really was faint.
And he was right. Marius laughed, tossing his head back so that the veins in his neck were visible, and David thought that it must mean something for a vampire, to flaunt one's weakness so openly. Maybe it was a form of an insult. Saying that David was no threat. And of course he wasn’t. He was after all just a human.
Marius walked to the paintings and flipped through them nonchalantly, not stopping at any of them before turning to face David again. He had a pleasant smile; David thought and then chastened himself for thinking that. It was like saying that a tiger was beautiful before it ripped your throat out.
“I knew you were a collector but this is impressive David, I had no idea that so many of my works had survived through all these centuries. I feel flattered.” Marius pressed his fingers together and tilted his head to the side and seemed to be studying David.
David felt himself go rigid because it occurred to him that there was no record about whether or not Marius could read minds. His fingers gripped the back of his office chair and he didn’t even try to meet those blue eyes, instead focusing on the golden button on Marius’s velvet jacket. If he really thought about it, it looked ridiculous on the vampire; he wondered who made the clothes for him because he sure as hell couldn’t buy anything like that from a store.
Then he blinked. This was an even worse thing to be thinking about, insulting the man’s taste in clothes. Carefully he lifted his eyes to meet Marius’s and found the vampire still smiling at him and that had to be a good sign?
“You remind me of a slave I knew when I was still a man. He was a scholar, a teacher for a wealthy family in Rome. He looked completely different of course but you have the same posture and way of carrying yourself. Even when you know you are in the presence of your betters you still have this defiance, this knowledge that you are worthy that you know things they don’t. I believe that if this slave had been born free and wealthy he’d become a senator. It is the same with you. There you stand as meek as a mouse, not ruffling any feathers, not challenging me in any way, but still, there is a fire inside you, this knowledge that this weakness doesn’t make you lesser.”
David felt like his cheeks were flushing from annoyance. Was he supposed to take that as a compliment?
“I should think this is wisdom. What use would it serve to fight against you, or even to argue with you? But I am curious; what did you come to seek from here? I know why Jesse came: to say goodbye, and I know why Lestat came: with her. But why did you come? As you said, I am nothing, a person of no interest, so why did you come if not for your paintings?”
Again Marius smiled, and now he was closer, so that David could see the pointed teeth quite clearly. He wanted to lift his hand to his neck but instead took off his classes and cleaned the lens to the tail of his shirt. He knew this was a gamble as he wasn’t able to see the vampire as well but he needed something to occupy his hands with.
“You were offended even though I was complimenting you. As I said, the slave would have been a senator if circumstances had been different. And I’m saying the same applies to you, dear friend. What do I seek here? A guide. I know you have read the journal and so have I, you know why I turned Lestat, what I wanted from him. But I think you would be a much better choice than he ever was. My days are empty now. There is no queen to sit vigil to anymore. Most of my friends were killed by her or have returned to their homes far from here. As Lestat so eloquently puts it, there is only the cold desert of loneliness out there.”
David’s hands stopped, his whole body stopped moving for a moment, as if he wished that if he was totally still Marius wouldn’t be able to see him, like he would pass. He felt like a hare lying under a bush wishing that the wolf wouldn’t notice it, if it just could stay put for one more second.
Lifting his classes back to his face the vision of Marius cleared once more. The vampire was sitting in one of the chairs, totally at his ease, one leg thrown over the armrest, curiously looking to see David’s reaction. David had no recollection of seeing him move there. Was the vampire trying to scare him with his powers? Or impress him? The second thought gave him pause.
David didn’t feel like he could trust his legs so he slumped into his desk chair and said. “What is it with tonight? A man lives to see his forty-fifth birthday and then suddenly every vampire wants to turn him.”
Marius’s eyes gleamed dangerously and the vampire sat up straighter staring at David, looking angry. “Who has offered this to you before me?”
David swallowed before he could answer because he was really frightened by the look of sheer murder in those eyes. “It was Jesse, and she was just kidding. Just kidding Marius.” He tried to convince the ancient being and it seemed to work because Marius relaxed again and smiled.
“I apologise. Of course it was just a joke. Jesse wouldn’t do that as she has Lestat. And he wouldn’t allow it either. She’s so young, I find it hard to understand her humour.” Marius brushed his anger aside, like it had never been there in the first place.
“So, what do you say dear friend? Eternal life, if not youth, as that is behind the both of us.” Marius smiled easily, his rage a thing of the past already.
David sat there weighing his options. They were all bad.
“No thank you.” He said and looked around his office, knowing that he would miss it. The shelves full of books in dozens of different languages, the warm wood panelling and even the Persian carpet. David wished there wouldn’t be too much blood spilled that would ruin the wool, or spatters on his beloved books.
But there was no attack, like he’d expected and again David had to turn his gaze to the vampire who was again studying him like a very interesting book or some other kind of specimen.
“I think you are telling the truth. I know that most of the people who work for this ridiculous place would die and kill for what I’m offering. But not you. Jesse couldn’t wait long enough to latch herself onto Lestat. I love her aunt but really, that girl annoys me to no end. And now I have to stand her for eternity.”
David had to smile a bit at Marius’s complaint, because he had a point. After all, David accused her for most of his grey hair.
“Why don’t you want it David?” Marius asked, sounding truly puzzled.
“Do you have to ask? I know as much about being a vampire, as it is possible without actually being one. I know about the loneliness, the weight of the years, the guilt of killing, the sadness of knowing everyone is moving forwards while you stand still, unmoved, unchanging. The madness that kills most of your kind. But mostly, I just don’t want to take anyone’s life just to sustain mine.” David answered truthfully.
Marius inclined his head acknowledging that he had heard what David had said. “You know that I could still do it. I don’t need your permission. Even if you didn’t want to be turned, I only need to feed you one drop of my blood and you’d then do the rest yourself. You couldn’t resist the taste in your weakened state. I didn’t give Lestat a choice.” Marius answered and just looked at David who nodded.
“That is true of course. But I would only have to wait for the sunrise to finish myself off.” David answered and glanced out from the window into the bright artificial night of London.
Marius moved so fast that David didn’t even have time to blink. First the vampire was sitting in his chair and the next he was leaning over David, his smile looking predatory this time.
“What if I kept you shackled into a bed, or locked you into a room with no windows?”
“I’d wait. You couldn’t keep me prisoner forever after all.” David answered even though his voice was trembling slightly because the vampire was so close.
Marius tilted his head back again and moved to sit on David’s desk so that he wasn’t looming over David anymore, although he was still too close for comfort in David’s opinion.
“Remarkable. You do know that this only makes me want you even more? I knew you were something special before we had this chat but now… I don’t think I’ve met anyone like you. And do you know how seldom that happens anymore?”
David licked his lips and frowned at the mention of Marius wanting him but tried not to dwell on the idea.
“I like to be challenged, that’s why I chose Lestat and now I’ve chosen you. I like to be challenged to an extent, that is something that Lestat never learned. That is why things went as they did. But I’m sure you’d know when to stop pushing me.” Marius seemed to be musing out loud and his fingers were in David’s hair, the cold touch sending shivers down his spine. He sat completely still, his mind working furiously, trying to think of a way to get out of this alive.
Then the door opened and Maria, a second year intern walked in with her arms full of folders. She stopped in her tracks as she saw David and Marius and blushed crimson. “I’m so sorry sir, I should have knocked.”
Marius grinned down at David and he realised what this must look like to her, but he didn’t dare to make any drastic moves because Marius’s hand had moved to his neck now, and was caressing his hair in the nape of his neck.
“It’s alright Maria, just leave the folders on the table there and I’ll go through them tomorrow. And go home already, it’s late.” He told her, wishing that he sounded normal.
She nodded, cheeks bright red with embarrassment and walked to the side table placing her burden on it before hurrying to the door and wishing him goodnight before closing the door again.
“That was smooth David, I’m sure she’ll tell everyone that you have a male lover, but perhaps that does not trouble you?” Marius complemented him, his question teasing.
“Everyone seems to think that might be my inclination, so I don’t think it will make a big stir.” David answered sarcastically.
Marius lifted his browns and laughed again. “I like you David, you have courage, and you are able to keep your wits even when you are frightened. And now I think I know why you were glancing at the door when I came in. You weren’t thinking of escaping. You were worried that someone would walk in and be in danger. You truly are altruistic, aren’t you?”
David shrugged, his eyes on Marius's knee. “I just don’t want anyone to get hurt. After all, I even went after Jesse, tried to save her from herself. Even when she did not wish to be saved. Fools errand in the end.”
Marius lifted his chin with a cold finger, and made David look into those blue eyes, so full of knowledge, sadness, the weight of the centuries. “You are not a fool David. Not for caring.”
David couldn’t meet those eyes for long and averted his, wishing that he’d dare to pull away from the misleadingly gentle touch, but he stayed still, waiting until Marius let go.
“But it is a weakness that you just revealed to me. What if I tell you that I’ll come back here every night and kill one of your beloved students until you give in? You know I could do it and you couldn’t stop me. Even if you told them not to come to work, I’d find them. How many do you think it would take before you’d give in? Five? Ten maybe?” Marius asked, his voice gentle and soft, no trace of malice in it.
David felt tears in his eyes and looked up into the vampire. “Anything else, ask me anything else, and I’ll do it, just don’t hurt anyone, and don’t make me hurt anyone either.” He was begging but he didn’t care. All he could think was Maria, with her blood drained, lying in a gutter, her brown eyes staring at nothing, her limbs limp, lifeless.
Marius caught one of the tears that escaped from his eye and licked it from his finger and thought for a moment. “What if I wanted you to give me your body, make you my slave? You must know that it is done; your favourite student even went into one of these clubs in her search for vampires. I would do whatever I pleased with your body and you wouldn’t say anything against it.”
David stared at the floor, his tears drying on his cheeks and his nose all stuffy because of crying and all of a sudden he wanted to laugh because this was absurd. Why would the vampire want him? He was past his prime and not very attractive. Was it just the fact that he resisted, that he didn’t want to live forever? That he didn’t think it was romantic to live by night, sleep in coffins and kill innocent people?
But there was only one answer he could give. “I said anything.”
Marius laughed, but this time he sounded surprised. “You’d rather be my catamite and my meal than be my equal, my companion, my guide to the modern times?”
“Yes. I won't take lives just so I can live.” David whispered and wondered why he cared so much about humanity. What had it ever done for him, to deserve this protection?
“Then look up.” Marius commanded and David obeyed even though he didn’t meet the vampires’ eyes.
He had expected to be bitten so the kiss took him by surprise and his mouth opened to gasp air and that was all Marius needed. The vampire’s kiss was peculiar. Dominant and not asking for permission but at the same time it wasn’t brutal or violent. He didn’t force David to submit to him, he coerced and lured it out of him.
Marius’s hands were framing David’s face, keeping him in place but not gripping painfully. David held to the vampires’ arms, because he needed to hold on to something. The cold fingers were a sort of solace, as it told David that the vampire hadn’t fed in a while, but still David thought he could taste the metallic twang of blood in the kiss.
David closed his eyes and kissed the vampire back. He caressed the invading tongue in his mouth, now inviting it in, instead of just tolerating the intruder. He gave in, surrendered and it was easy, or easier than he had thought it would be.
When the kiss ended Marius smiled at David and caressed his lips with his thumb, the long fingernail scraping against the puffed skin. “I can see what this obsession of yours has been like David dear. Have you dreamed about this before?”
David nodded even though he hadn’t. But he was a slave now. If Marius wanted him to admit to lusting after him, he would. Maybe this would make the vampire grow tired of him, move on to something more exciting. Maybe this would save his students.
“Ah dear boy. I see that you lie. You can’t live as old as I have and not learn to read people. So you haven’t lusted after me. This is just an act. I said that you are my catamite and now you are. Just like that. I must say that I admire you even more now. The strength of character this must take. Act meek, obey me, a vampire. This amuses me, let us go.” Marius said abruptly and jumped off the table and walked to the door. There was nothing to be done but to follow him.
In the hall as they walked out David hoped that they wouldn’t meet anyone. The less people Marius saw, the harder it would be for the vampire to actually act on his threat and kill his students or colleagues. They walked past two people and David sighed in relief as they stepped into the cold drizzle of a London night.
“Can I drive my car?” he asked Marius and when the vampire nodded they walked to David’s old Aston Martin and sat on the leather seats.
The drive was short as David had picked his apartment with the commute in mind and they walked to the door side-by-side, Marius’s hand on the small of David’s back.
David opened the door even though his hands were shaking, and stepped to the dark hall without switching on the light. He took off his over coat and shoes and walked deeper into his home with the vampire following.
“Where do you want me?” David asked and turned to face Marius, he noticed that he was standing on a carpet again and wished that it too would be saved from stains.
“The bedroom.” Marius said, his voice silky smooth and deep as the night itself. David couldn’t make out his expression but he was pretty sure the vampire was smiling.
David nodded because he knew that Marius would be able to see the gesture perfectly fine even in the dark and walked to his bedroom, stopped and shook his shirt and tie off, his pants and socks had the same faith of ending up on the floor. David had the absurd thought that the clothes might be offended because usually David treated them with much more respect, folding them neatly into his closet.
Standing there in the dark, wholly naked made David feel vulnerable. He wondered what Marius saw? A middle aged man, past his prime, softer than he used to be when he was twenty-five, less toned.
When he felt the cold fingers on his bare back, he flinched and shivered. The nails scraped and the fingertips asked for forgiveness after the rude treatment. Marius made David back towards the bed and fall on his back onto it. David laid there his eyes open, trying to see where the vampire was when he felt the mattress dip and Marius was looming over his body. “So beautiful, so brave. Perfect. I shall draw you tomorrow, with coal. You are back and white and grey, just shades that blend into each other. No need for bright colours to blind the viewer, to distract from the flaws.”
Again Marius kissed him and David allowed it. After a while the lips moved lower and when the sharp teeth penetrated the soft skin hiding the arteries on his neck, he couldn’t hold back a moan. The pain was intense, sharp as a blade between the ribs, but that sensation soon had to make room for others, much stranger ones: Desire, arousal and lust.
David could feel himself grow hard, his leg wrap around Marius’s hip, bringing their bodies together fully. The coldness wasn’t as severe as it had been just moments ago, and it took David a moment to realise that it was his own blood warming the vampire on top of him.
These rational thoughts just passed his mind because most of him was concentrated on his cock that was painfully hard, the feel of Marius’s tongue licking the wounds on his neck and the erection that was pressing against his hip.
Marius laughed again and kissed the wound that was now only dribbling blood, as the vampire had sealed it with his saliva, before saying. “Who knew you’d be one of the people who find being bitten arousing. It is a good thing for both of us, I think. As you weren’t really in the mood earlier, now were you?” Marius teased David and moved his hips making David moan because of the sweet friction.
The two fingers being pushed into David hurt again, now a slow burning pain, like a bad sunburn or scalding water. But David wasn’t really there anymore. He was in a state where pain and pleasure were just the sides of the same coin. He felt lightheaded from the blood loss and vaguely wondered how much Marius had taken. For some reason he couldn’t remember how much it was safe to lose, was it a pint?
David blinked owlishly and drew a deep breath as Marius brushed against something inside him, something that made him remember that there was a difference to pain and pleasure after all. But the respite was short because all too soon he felt something much bigger than just fingers pushing inside him and he screamed from the pain. Pain like having your ankle badly twisted when you are nine, pain like someone breaking your nose in a fight when you were twenty.
Marius leaned over David again and this time bit into his shoulder. The scream died in his lips and the haze of primal feelings rose forward again. His cock hardened again and he didn’t care that he was in pain. Pain was nothing. The smell of blood was making him feel a bit queasy so David closed his eyes and concentrated on the feeling of being ripped apart, drained.
Every move Marius made started a new wave of pain through him. When one passed there was another just behind it. This was good pain, pain that made his cock leak onto his stomach and made quiet moans escape his lips. He could feel blood trickling down his shoulder and onto the linen and he felt sorry for the clean white cotton. His fingers were clutching the headboard, trying to keep hold of something solid.
Marius moved so smoothly it made David feel awkward, like he couldn’t control his limbs, his muscles at all. And it was true; David was so weak from the loss of blood, from desire and from pain that there was no room for control of any kind. When he came, it was like an eruption, and like a volcano, he was empty afterwards.
Marius moaned and rested his head on David’s chest when he came. His semen felt cold inside David. When the vampire pulled out, David was too out of it even to react to the new pain. Marius chuckled and turned David to his stomach and said. “That’ll help a bit. But all of this is by your own choice. If you were a vampire that wouldn’t have hurt so badly and you would have healed already. Think on that my dear friend.”
David blinked slowly as he felt the bed dip again as Marius got up but he was too tired to turn his head and follow the vampire with his eyes. The pain wasn’t good pain anymore. It was a dull ache that was sure to increase in volume as it gathered strength inside him. Something was dribbling out of David’s ass and he hoped it was just come.
He heard the front door close.
~*~
David woke up in agony. Blinking his eyes blearily David could see his own room in the bright morning light. The pile of clothes on the floor seemed accusing. His alarm showed that it was half past seven. On a normal day, David would be in the shower by now. But this wasn’t a normal morning. Far from it.
David tried to turn on his side but a horrible spike of pain that shot through his lower back stopped that for minutes but finally he was on his side, facing the door. He was thirsty and hungry and he could feel that the linen was hard in places where his blood had dried. Again David wondered how much Marius had drunk.
He needed to get up. He needed water and most likely medical attention. But he didn’t get up. Instead he opened the drawer on his bedside table and rummaged through the content with one hand until he found what he’d been looking for.
David swallowed, even though it made little difference, as his mouth was dry but old habits died hard. David stared at the object in his hand and thought. Marius had said that he would come back tonight. He wanted to draw David and most likely do other things as well.
David knew that even though Marius was a very patient man, he also had a temper and could make quick decisions. He might change his mind and turn him into a vampire against his will, or he might change the rules of their agreement by saying that David had to agree to be turned or Marius would hurt his pupils. There was no certainty.
But he knew one thing: Death was final. The knife in his hand was old. He had gotten it from his father when he was fifteen. It had a short but sharp blade and the handle was made of bone, deer bone; his father had told him.
David tested the blade on his finger and hissed as it sank to his flesh with ease. There was no such thing as ‘good pain’ now that Marius wasn’t here and David sucked the finger into his mouth instinctively but the taste of blood turned his stomach and he spat, trying to get rid of the awful taste.
David shifted again and hissed in pain, tears blurring the blade in his hand for a moment. He wiped them away with the palm of his hand and just lay there for a couple of minutes. The sounds of the traffic were faint because David lived on a quiet street and he had triple windows, but now David wished he could hear birds singing or children playing outside. Something happy, something that would convince him that this was the right thing to do.
For David was no hero, nor was he brave. He feared that if Marius turned him into a vampire he would forget what it was like to be human, that he’d forget his promise not to harm others. That he wouldn’t care. He could imagine a future where he just cared about Marius and about ‘good pain’ and maybe killing would become one aspect of this good pain. It would pain him to kill but it would feel so good that he would do it anyway.
Marius with those blue eyes that David could never truly meet. Not because he was afraid, but because he understood what he saw there, because he wanted to ease the pain and sadness he saw. He had always seen it in the paintings, he’d read it in Lestat’s journal and he had finally seen it in those eyes yesterday. The longing there was almost tangible, the desperate plea of ‘I don’t want to be alone’ so loud, so irresistible, at least to David. He wanted to ease that. And there lay the real danger. He wanted…
David extended his arm and stared at his wrist. He was pale and the veins looked blue through the skin. David sighed and held his breath for a second or two before slicing with the knife. He gasped and bit into his tongue because it hurt, hurt so badly. He had never been tolerant of pain; he didn’t deal well with it. David rolled on his back even though that hurt as well and nursed his wrist against his chest. The blood felt warm against his skin but David didn’t open his eyes to look.
He was a ball of hurt, everything hurt, like you had been raped and then slit your wrist.
David’s breathing was shallow and rabid as his body tried to fight, tried to live. Again his heartbeat sounded louder than anything in his ears, but now it was getting fainter and more erratic, losing the fight as the blood escaped his body once again.
David tried to think of the good things this accomplished but couldn’t remember any. He wished that Marius would be there and place his cold hand on his neck like last night at his office. That had been pleasant. He wished he had one of the paintings here so he could look at Marius’s face before he died. He thought that he shouldn’t think like this, that Marius was bad and that he was doing this to fight Marius, but that didn’t make sense either.
David opened his eyes and saw little specks of dust floating in the ray of light that came into the room through his drapes. They looked beautiful. David closed his eyes.