Louis sighed in boredom and tossed his CD of Iron Maiden's Power Slave back on his shelf. He glanced at the other CDs and sighed again. He had listened to all of them at least three hundred times each, and he did not want to listen to them again. Even Eiffel 65 had lost its flavor.

"Something different," he mumbled, standing up from his comfortable chair. He stretched, then wandered out of the room and went downstairs. One glance around the living room told him that there was very little of interest inside. Still, he sat down in front of the television, grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels.

"Big money, big money!"

"A small child died today when she was shot--"

"What is a logorithm?"

"This is my stop, got to get off, I may go pop--"

"Everytime I look at you I don't understand, why you let the things you did get so out of hand--"

"Welcome back to Talk Soup!"

"You've slept with my brother? Well, so have I!"

"'Cause suicide is painless..."

"In China today a thousand people were massacred--"

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!"

"People who are hungry, people who are starving, matter more than your feet and head!"

"Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can--"

"Drink from me and live forever..."

Ugh.

"With great power comes great responsibility."

"Up, up and away!"

"You have murdered me! You have murdered me, murdered me, murdered me--"

"They're bringing back the chain gangs--"

"To the tune of starving millions to make a better kind of gun!"

"Jerry! Jerry!"

Louis rolled his eyes and flipped through more channels. So many channels and not one thing on!

"My God, I'm sick, I've been used, and you knew, all the time."

"I'll never let go, Jack, never let go."

"Skeleton Warriors!"

"Someone out there has a broken arm, and God is healing that right now."

"31...32...33...34...35...36...37...38...39!"

"To go where no one has gone before!"

"Trust your feelings, Luke. Let go, Luke."

"Christ, I know you can't hear me, but I only did what you wanted me to!"

"Ah, for a muse of fire that would ascend the greatest heaven of invention!"

Louis smiled and set the remote down. Finally! Kenneth Branagh and Henry the Fifth! He settled into a more comfortable position and stared silently at the screen as the entire story played out before him. Several hours passed until the final credits rolled by, and then he had to start changing channels again.

"Fighting evil by moonlight!"

"'Cause it's Blue's Clues, Blue's Clues!"

"Did you mean to die like that, was that a mistake? Did you know your message would be a record breaker?"

"Da na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na Batman!"

"Oh, that is it!" Louis sighed, standing up and turning the television off. "Things I have seen before and things I don't want to see!" He was quiet for a moment, and he suddenly heard the phone in the dining room hang up. Louis evidently didn't want him to hear what he'd been saying.

Worried about what his lover might be doing, Lestat walked quickly to the dining room and found Louis closing a small notepad and sliding the pen into the wire.

"Louis, what were you doing?" Lestat whispered. Everytime Louis hid something from him, something unpleasant usually happened.

Louis smiled secretively, none of his melancholy present. "Nothing like what you think, chere, but I can't tell you what it is just yet. You'll know tomorrow."

Lestat narrowed his eyes in worry. "What is it, Louis?"

Louis' smile turned into a grin. "You'll see. And trust me, you'll love it, simply love it!"

Louis' cheerful nature, rare in itself, was too difficult to resist. Lestat started to smile as well, even though he was not convinced he would like it. Still, it would be a nice change of pace, whatever it was.

The next night found Lestat sitting in the passenger side of his own Porsche, blindfolded, as Louis drove him through the city. He drummed his fingers on the seat nervously, wishing he coud look around. His curiosity was driving him wild.

"Are we there yet?" he sighed.

"No, now stop asking that," Louis complained. "You aren't peeking, are you?"

"No," Lestat groaned, "and I wish I were. Where are you taking me?"

"You'll see. We're almost there."

"It's about time, we've been driving for hours."

"We've been driving for fifteen minutes."

"Well, it feels like hours."

Louis smiled as the huge warehouse came into view. "Now, don't take your blindfold off, all right?"

"We're there?" Lestat smiled, sitting straight. "Are we there?"

"Yes, we're here." Louis pulled up to the front, parking the car and getting on. He opened Lestat's door and helped him out, firmly drawing him to the door. He unlocked the door and pulled Lestat in, locking the door behind him. Louis untied Lestat's blindfold and swept it away. Lestat looked around and frowned.

"Louis, I can't see anything. It's all dark."

"We're just in a small room, chere." Louis flipped on the lights, and now Lestat could see they were in the front office of a warehouse, the room that would open out into the main area. "You'll go inside in a moment. Right now, though, you need to get ready."

"Ready?"

Louis pulled a bag out from under his coat and set it on the desk. "Sit down."

Lestat complied, taking his seat in the hard swivel chair beside him. Louis reached up and pulled Lestat's sweater over off, then took the shirt off as well. Lestat's eyes grew wide in surprise as his fledgling showed no reserve in removing his maker's shoes and socks, taking off his pants as well. Once Lestat was completely unclothed, Louis opened the bag and took out a heap of gold and blue jewelry, laying it on the floor.

Lestat smirked. "Oh no, you aren't serious?"

Louis smiled wickedly. "Yes, I am. I've always wanted to dress you up like my own doll." He started on Lestat's legs, slipping on anklets and golden chains studded with sapphires. Then he went up to Lestat's waist and wrapped a long chain around his midsection. Lestat also received a loincloth which was just as revealing as Louis' had been. Next he slid gold bracelets and bangles on his lover's arms and wrists, adding a necklace made of a web of chains and spotted with lapis lazuli. Finally Lestat received a blue barret to hold most of hair back.

"At least I don't have to wear any lip stick," Lestat smiled.

Louis helped him stand up, giving him a kiss on his cheek. "Wait five minutes, chere, and then go out through that door," he pointed to the door to his right. "And take your time finding me."

Lestat reached out and seized his arm before he could leave. "Louis, we are alone, right? You don't have the entire coven out there waiting to see me like this, do you?"

Louis laughed and kissed him again. "No, nothing like that, although that is a funny idea. Trust me, we are all alone. You will like this, I promise." He slipped out of Lestat's grip and disappeared out the front door, locking it behind him.

Lestat waited awhile, tapping his bare foot impatiently on the cold tile floor. His mind was racing furiously as he wondered what his fledging had prepared for him. After three minutes, he decided he couldn't wait anymore. He raced to the door, flinging it open.

"Oh, my," he whispered, staring for half a minute at what lay before him.

He seeemed to be in a forest instead of a warehouse. There were tall trees all around him, some with green leaves, others with purple leaves, others with gold. All of them had different colored flowers on them. There was a stone path leading through them, made of red sandstone, and various grasses and smaller flowers were blooming and seemingly glowing between the stones. Ivy vines twisted over the ground, spiralling around outcroppings of boulders every few feet. When he came closer, he noticed that there were small fountains on the tops of the boulders, and the water that trickled out fed into a babbling stream that followed the path. He looked up at the ceiling, and found that the roof had been painted black with fake stars twinkling at him. A large moon was the only light, but it was enough to fill the entire warehouse with a soft light.

Lestat started walking down the trail, careful not to trip over anything. Ribbons and streamers dangled from several branches, gently blowing in the fake breeze. The hooting of owls and chirping of crickets had been recorded and piped in through a sound system, along with a wolf's occassional howl. Once in awhile he heard a twig snap behind him, but every time he would turn around he'd see no one there.

"But there are no twigs here," he whispered to himself. "It must be a recording as well." But still, it was extremely unnerving. He felt as if he were being watched, and even though he was a powerful vampire, being practically naked made him feel even more vulnerable.

The trail twisted around, taking him past pieces of statuary and more elaborate fountains with colored lights shining on them. Louis had certainly created a beautiful faerie-land, but then, his fledgling had always been rather imaginative.

Several minutes into his walk, he turned the corner and froze, stunned. The forest suddenly opened up to reveal a small waterfall plummeting from the side of a faux cliff and pouring into a shallow pool which fed into the brook he'd been following. A rose mosaic lay at the bottom of the pool, and several pink, blue and green lights lit up the water like a liquid rainbow. Mossy rocks lay scattered around the pool, while two large fountains covered in small mirrors sprung up on either side, spouting water that sparkled with the white light reflecting off the mirrors. The rest of the area was covered in dark flowers and grass, and sitting in the center of the pool in front of the waterfall, dressed in the jewels Lestat had put on him when he'd been his "slave," was Louis.

The fledgling smiled at Lestat's awed face. "Do you like what you see?"

Lestat slowly grinned and headed for his lover, splashing through the wet pool. The water barely came up to his calves. "It's beautiful, Louis." He sat down beside him, pulling him close. "How did you--?"

"Hush," Louis whispered, setting his fingertips on Lestat's lips. "I wanted to ask you something, and I want you to hear me out before you say anything, all right?"

Lestat nodded slowly, afraid of what his fledgling might say.

Louis took a deep breath. "Over these past few years, I feel that we've grown closer than ever before. I know you so much better than I ever have, and you've taken such good care of me whenever I needed it...I know that when I need you, you'll be there, and that you love me with all your heart...of all the people in my life, you are the most constant. Lestat...I want to be together with you, forever and ever. I want to love you through eternity, no matter how that long that is. And...and..." he opened his hand, revealing a beautiful gold ring. He reached forward and picked up Lestat's hand, then looked into Lestat's astonished eyes. "And I have to know, chere. Will you marry me?"

Lestat watched the ring slip onto his finger, and his mouth opened to say something, but no sound came out. Tears formed in his eyes and he turned away, and for one terrible moment Louis was certain he had ruined every hope he'd ever had.

"Lestat..." he whispered, about to apologize.

Without any warning, Lestat turned back and crushed Louis into his arms, almost suffocating him. "Yes, yes, oh, Louis, I...Louis, I love you so much! I never dreamed you would...and I was too scared to...!"

Louis smiled in relief. "It's all right, mon amor. I love you. I'm just so glad you said yes. I was terrified you might say no."

Lestat let his fledgling up only after a long kiss. Louis expected him to be grinning, but instead Lestat was still sniffling, and looked extremely pitiful. Louis raised his hand to Lestat's face, stroking his cheek.

"What's the matter, darling?"

Lestat shook his head sadly, but the tears were beginning to stream down his face. Louis smiled as he understood what was making Lestat so mournful.

"Oh, my love, don't cry. None of your temper tantrums will ever drive me away. I know who you are, I've known you for decades. I know exactly what I'm getting into. I'm not marrying someone awful, or worthless. I'm marrying a prince."

"A brat," Lestat whispered bitterly.

"No, someone who just needs plenty of love and attention." He kissed away Lestat's tears. "You're simply a high maintenance wi--" he broke off suddenly.

Lestat smiled slightly. "Louis, what were you about to call me?"

Louis blushed. "Um, well...I didn't mean to think of you as, I mean...I mean, it's always the man who proposes...oh, that is, um..."

Lestat started to laugh and ran his fingers through Louis' hair. "And here I thought I was the one who wears the pants in this family."

Louis smiled and lay his hands on Lestat's shoulders, pushing him back into the warm water that lapped over his legs and arms. Soft music started to play throughout the "forest," echoing oddly through the water.

"Does this mean I get to lead this little family now?" Louis teased.

Lestat grinned and pulled Louis down a bit more so that their jewelry jingled together. "And where did you get that outrageous thought from?"

"Outrageous?" Louis kissed him hard, holding him down with his new strength. "Say it! Say I'm the leader!"

"What, are we children now? Well, I called it first," Lestat mock-whined. He tried to sit up, but found that their jewelry had locked up. "Oh no..."

"Is being chained to me so awful?" Louis smiled mischeivously. He twisted around, and they quickly discovered that the only way he could sit straight was if Lestat was cradled in Louis' arms. "Ah, now this is how things ought to be."

Lestat chuckled, but he just lay still and soaked up the attention. "So, how do you want to go about it?"

"What do you mean?"

Lestat closed his eyes and drowsed. "I mean, it's not like present society allows our sort of marriage. Do we get a priest, a party, do we invite any of the coven--?"

"No," Louis said firmly.

"No? But, chere...?"

"I proposed, I decide."

"Oh, is that the way it works?" Lestat laughed.

"Yes, and I decide no coven, no party, and no priest. Merely a private exchange of vows of eternal love."

"My fledgling, so intent on his privacy," Lestat smiled.

Louis stroked Lestat's hair, running his wet fingers along his lover's cheek.

"That's cold," Lestat whispered, snuggling closer to Louis' chest.

Louis bent and kissed him, nibbling on his lips. "So, shall you go first, or will I?"

Lestat's eyes opened wide in shock. "What, now?"

Louis nodded with a twinkle in his eye.

"But...but I need time! Don't I get to prepare something, or at least find a good sonnet--"

"No," Louis interrupted. "I want this to be straight from your heart. Nothing pre-arranged, nothing read, just your feelings and love."

"But I can't make speeches," he still tried.

Louis openly laughed. "This from Monsieur Rockstar? I thought you wrote all of your songs?"

Lestat squirmed in his fledgling's hold, but Louis held him tight. "Chere, I had time to write those. I--I--I mean, I just--"

Louis covered Lestat's mouth with his hand and shook his head playfully. "Do you want to get married or not?"

"I...you go first, though?" Lestat asked hesitantly.

Louis smiled and nodded. "All right. I'll start."

Lestat's brow furrowed. "Did you plan what you were going to say?" he asked suspiciously.

Louis shook his head. "No. This is exactly what is in my heart."

"You know I love you, Lestat," Louis whispered. "After everything that happened to us, everything we put ourselves through, I came back to you. I'd never loved anyone before I met you. I was so intent on going through life without feeling anything, without caring for anyone...and then you stepped into my life. No matter what awful things I've ever said about you--"

Lestat smiled and chuckled.

"--if I had the choice again, I would still become your fledgling. Despite everything that happened, I love you, and I need you, and not just to buy my books and keep my bed warm." He smiled and kissed Lestat. "I need your protection, and your personality. I need you to keep me from falling too much into my books. I need you to remind me that I am alive. I need you to force me to have fun. I need you. I love you so much that it hurts when you are not near me. I love your very essence. I will spend the rest of time with you, and even beyond that."

"Even though I'm an unbearable brat?" Lestat whispered.

Louis laughed. "That is part of why I love you. You've managed to keep, through two hundred years of pain and abuse, your inner child. Despite everything that has happened to you, the solitude, the constant cravings for love and affection, your love of life has never diminished. Your light is so strong that it rekindled my own flame. It sustained me even while you had gone to ground. But I swear, I will not lose you again."

Lestat put his arms around Louis, hugging him close. "Do you know," he stammered out in a thick voice, "how long I've waited to hear those words? How much I needed to hear them?"

Louis nodded silently and stroked his hair. "I'm sorry it took so long for me to say them." They sat like that for a long time, merely holding each other tightly. Finally Lestat broke away, sitting up as much as their jewelry would allow.

"Is...is it my turn now?"

Louis nodded again. "Don't be afraid. Just say what is in your heart."

Lestat peered up at Louis and lay his hand on his fledgling's cheek. Crystal green eyes stared back at him. Lestat traced his fingers across the pearl-white skin and light rose petal lips, running them through the lustrous black hair. In the dark pink lights of the illusory forest, his lover looked more like an ephemeral spirit than a deadly beauty.

"Every time I look at you," Lestat sighed happily, "I fall in love with you all over again."

Louis smiled back and stole a kiss from a more than willing Lestat. "Mon amor, you are a sweet little songbird."

"And you, ma petit, are a treasure fit for a king."

"Or at least a prince?" Louis chuckled.

Instead of laughing back, though, Lestat hugged his fledgling tight and shut his eyes, and Louis could see tears squeeze from the edges.

"I've done so many dreadful things to you, but you keep coming back to me," he cried. "Oh, Louis, you don't know what I would do if you weren't here. You're my guiding star. I couldn't survive my past without you. I can't even bring myself to imagine my future without you. I love you with all my heart and I always will. I need you."

"Only as much as I need you," Louis whispered comfortingly, petting his hair.

"I will never let you go again," Lestat vowed. "You won't slip through my fingers ever again. I'll keep you safe and happy forever, my pretty fledgling."

Louis kissed him again. "If I am your 'pretty fledgling,' then what are you?" he asked curiously.

Lestat favored Louis with a mischievous grin. "Honored Maker?"

Louis made a strange noise that sounded like a strangled laugh.

"Worshipful Master?"

This time Louis couldn't hold in his laughter.

"Perhaps even Royal Lover?"

"A royal pain, rather..." Louis smiled.

"You mean I'm not your Gorgeous Lion?" Lestat grinned.

"Gorgeous Lion?" Louis mused. His eyes suddenly brightened. "Yes, I think you are!"

"I am?" Lestat asked in surprise. He hadn't expected an answer to that one.

"Yes," Louis bent and kissed Lestat's nose. "You're my pretty kitty."

"Pretty--?!" Lestat stammered, trying to sit up. Louis just pushed him back down. Lestat had no leverage to push himself up, and both of them knew he was helpless in Louis' arms. Lous pushed Lestat's head back down, baring the tanned skin.

"Beautiful One...?" Lestat said worriedly.

"Hush, my little kitten," Louis whispered, "not a word. Just lay still."

"And if I do not?" Lestat asked.

"Then I will put you on a leash and make you my prisoner," Louis teased.

"Mmm...sounds intriguing."

Louis did not answer. Lestat felt the prick in his throat, and then his eyesight blurred in the heady rush that came from his fledgling's drinking. The lights and water swirled around in front of his eyes, and the music drizzled into a continues drone. The warm water lapped up against his body as Louis lowered him a little, and his entire body relaxed and went limp. He closed his eyes, and didn't even open them when Louis stopped and picked him up. His fledgling carried him a short distance, but Lestat didn't care where they went.

SPLASH!

Lestat was suddenly immersed in cold water, with more pouring down on his head. He flailed wildly and finally managed to stand up. He looked around and found himself one of the large fountains, his eyes a little dazzled by the reflecting mirrors. He glanced to his right and saw Louis laughing on the edge of the fountain.

"Louis!"

"Well, you were falling asleep! I had to wake you up!"

"You little fledgling..." Lestat growled, jumping out of the fountain.

Louis started to back away, hands out, still smiling. "Now, Lestat...don't be hasty..."

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not," Lestat smiled darkly, and he suddenly lunged. Louis turned and tried to run, but Lestat caught the chain around his lover's waist and pulled him back, swooping him up in his arms. Louis struggled as he was carried back, but he could only cry out in shock as he was dumped unceremoniously into the fountain. Water splashed everywhere, but when he staggered out again, neither of them moved. Both of them were sopping wet, but the air was warm enough that they were not cold. They both started laughing.

"What a pair we make!" Lestat cried. "We're acting like children!"

Louis smiled and stepped closer to his lover, laying his head on his shoulder. "Want to play hide and seek?" he laughed.

Lestat looked down on his fledgling in wonder. "All right, who are you and what have you done with my Louis?"

The dark haired vampire just wrapped his arms around Lestat. "Yes, I'll hide and you find me."

"And what do I get if I do find you?"

"Everything you see," Louis answered, pulling away. He turned and disappeared into the fake greenery, blending in easily.

Lestat waited for half a minute, then ran after him, jumping over rocks and splashing through the brook. He glanced up into the trees and behind bushes. After a moment he came upon a small clearing of lush grass and soft ivy, spotted with clumps of foxgloves and poppies. There was a rustle to his left, and he quietly snuck up to a silvery tree. A twinkle of green and silver lay behind it.

"Gotcha!" he yelled, grabbing Louis' shoulders and pulling him out. Louis squirmed playfully in Lestat's hold, not minding when he was gently set down on the ivy covered grass. Lestat pushed his lover flat and took one slender hand, pressing it against the leaves and wrapping the ivy around it until it was securely bound down. Then the other hand was wrapped in greenery, but he didn't stop there. Louis looked up curiously as Lestat wrapped more ivy through his jewelry and around his waist and upper arms, sliding it over his ankles and hips until it looked like Louis had always been a part of the clearing.

"It seems that you're my prisoner tonight," Lestat grinned.

"You just want to get me back for when I chained you to the bed," Louis retorted. He tried to sit up, but he had bought the best ivy possible, and there was no way he could break through it.

Lestat smiled lovingly and took another handful of ivy, which he circled around Louis throat several times, careful not to make it too tight. Then he took a thick strand and wrapped it around his lover's eyes, blinding him with the soft leaves.

"This isn't fair," Louis sighed, not really caring.

"You've always been such a sensualist," Lestat murmured, caressing his cheek. "You don't mind this at all."

He smiled as he watched Louis' hands jerk in the ivy, trying to reach back and unable to. Seeing his fledgling so utterly helpless but so willing at the same time was highly erotic. Every pathetic struggle was music to his vampire senses.

"Good thing, since I didn't have much of a choice," Louis said sarcastically. "You have this annoying habit of doing things to me without so much as a warning."

"Oh, hush," Lestat laughed, silencing him with a lingering kiss. He plucked a few poppies and foxgloves and made a quick chain of them, stuffing them gently between Louis' lips. Now completely at his maker's mercy, Louis could only moan unintelligibly as Lestat's fingers coursed over his body, touching and teasing every sensitive spot. He twisted around in the ivy as Lestat's lips wound their way from his gagged lips to his throat, to his chest and stomach and further below...With a jolt he felt the loincloth slip away and Lestat's hand stroke between his legs and up around his back. For several minutes he groaned and writhed under Lestat, enjoying the hot sensations between the ivy and flowers. Finally he felt the ivy being stripped away from him. He looked up as his blindfold and gag were removed.

"Was that all?" he whispered.

"'Was that all!'" Lestat smiled. "Louis, I had you tied up for half an hour!"

Louis grinned and rolled onto his stomach, practically purring as Lestat massaged his back. "I suppose time really does fly when you're having fun."

Lestat lay down on top of him, playing with his hair. "If you get tired of this, chere, let me know."

Louis looked up at him and took another kiss. "We have all night to consumate this marriage, Lestat. I expect you to do everything you can imagine to me."

"And in return," Lestat kissed him deeply, "I expect the same from those delicious fantasies of yours. How long do we have this forest at our disposal?"

"For as long as you want it," Louis answered. "We can spend our entire honeymoon here if you want."

Lestat shook his head. "Oh no, I am taking you around the world for that. But I suppose I can keep you here for a week or two, just to start us off."

Louis shifted so that he could put his arms around Lestat. "And then where will we travel to?"

"Italy, Spain, perhaps Japan and Mexico. Maybe some tacky little hotel with mirrors on the ceiling and heart shaped beds."

Louis started laughing at the thought.

"But right now?" Lestat continued. "I'm going to take you to brink of paradise."

The End