milliways_bar | (no subject)

Richard walks in with Amadeo in tow.

"What are you up to, David?"

He looks up from the manuscript, and smiles at them both. "Nothing much. Homework, I suppose."

He gestures to the rest of the couch. "Join me, won't you?"

Richard sits down next to him and Amadeo immediately stretches out over bot of their laps.

"What homework?"

He tries to get a look at the manuscript.

His fingers move immediately into Armand's hair, stroking it. "Just... making notes on the changes as I see them. Changes in my personality, my mannerisms before and after the Body Thief incident."

Armand smiles up at him, reading the manuscript from his place on David's lap. "Your writing's atrocious, Mister Talbot," he says.

Richard cuffs Armand lightly.

"Brat, be polite."

He looks to David.

"What personality changes have you noticed?"

Armand smiles. "His physical writing, Richard. It's illegible."

David rolls his eyes at the two of them. "I actually act like a 27 year old now."

"He can read it, and that's what matters."

He shrugs.

"Sometimes form defines function. And it sounds like you didn't get to act 27 when you were 27, so maybe you're having a second childhood or summat."

"I acted 27 when I was twelve, I think," he says with a smile.

*snerks*

"Old man."

He nods. "I should really be proud of that by now, but I know better than anyone that age does not bring wisdom."

He's still stroking Armand's hair; a happier family one has never seen.

Richard rubs Armand's back and leans against David's shoulder.

"Still up for writing my story down?"

He nods, and presses a kiss to Richard's head. "Of course."

"When do you want to do that? And where should I start?"

He smiles. "Whenever you're ready, love, and you know? The beginning. I've heard that's a very good place to start."

"I'm ready now. Which beginning do you want? There are several."

A small smirk.

"Whichever one you want to give. Tell me about before you knew Door."

Richard shifts to lay down in David's lap next to Amadeo. Good thing that David has long legs.

"Before I met Door I was in my securities and public relations job and I was engaged to Jessica Bartram. This was about five years after I'd left Scotland."

He nods and strokes Richard's hair.

"Yes, I remember you told me you were engaged. Go on."

"Do you want to hear about her?"

He rolls onto his back and settles Amadeo onto his chest.

He nods. "If you think it's appropriate. You've read our books; they're superfluous to the max."

And a smile, and his hand rests on Armand's hair.

And Richard tells him all about the company trip to France where he met Jessica in a museum, and could never convince her after that that he hated museums. He talks about the year that they dated, Jessica's proposal, and their eighteen month engagement after.

".....and then one night we were going out to meet her boss for supper, and I tripped over a young girl who was lying on the pavement. I saw that she was hurt and bleeding and I stopped to help her. Jessica was worried that we'd be late, and I'd make a poor impression on Mr. Stockton. She told me to call emergency services and leave Door where we found her. I wouldn't, and she dumped me, and then I took Door back to my flat to patch her up."

He raises an eyebrow.

"A formidable woman, oui?" he says. "What then?"

He chuckles. "You don't know the half of it. Jessica was something else. Then.....my life turned upside down. Everything that I had ever been told was imaginary turned out to be solid fact. Vampires, Angels, Shepherds, Blackfriars, the whole lot...."

He tells David about tracking down the Marquis de Carabas, and all the madness that followed. He takes a deep breath and sooths Amadeo, who had actually snarled during the nastier parts.

David blinks.

And takes mental stock of it all.

"So... there are vampires that are not vampires in London Below. Interesting."

He shakes his head and merely says, "wow," as he takes it all in.

"Right. Is that all? Nothing else. Just... death-defying adventure and... wow."

He nods.

"Right, the Velvets, they feed directly on your life-source rather than on your blood. Really nasty bitches."

He shudders at the memory.

"That's most of it. Then I got sent back to London Above for a few weeks, and then I went back and spent two years wandering around London homeless, and then Bar called me here."