Armand could feel the extra energy as he came through the carriageway into the back garden. Not completely sure what it was, only that he could sense them moving in the flat, and there was something sweet and playful and innocent infused in it, thrumming beneath the presence itself. Lestat was home, he could feel that as well, and Louis. Their energies were different from each other, each palpable and distinct. Lestat felt bold and loud and vivid, Louis soft and sweet and comforting. Lestat was a popping champagne bottle, the splatter of paint on a Pollock canvas, a firework in the night sky. Louis was a gentle hand on your back, reassuring whisper in your ear, the slow and seductive pull of dawn.
I’m here, he told them as he ascended the stairs. He wondered if he should let himself inside, or knock, but instead put his hands in his pockets and waited.
But then Lestat’s face was in the window, his eyes glittery and excited, skin darkened by the recent trip to the sun. The door opened on its own, Lestat’s doing, and it was instantly obvious that he’d chosen to use his mind because his hands were full.
Before he could speak, Lestat extended one arm out, in his hand a single German Shepherd puppy. Three others wiggled against his chest and he cooed in French at them. “Here,” he said, and thrust the one into Armand’s chest. Armand grabbed it instinctively, somewhat bewildered but immediately charmed by the warmth and purity radiating from the creature. “I named this one Armand.”
The spike of anger and reflexive venomous response that usually came out in these moments were quelled by the gentle life in his hands, and he looked away from Lestat to stare at it. It was kicking its legs and squirming but he gave it a little scratch behind its ear to calm it down. It stopped moving and looked at him, eyes so shiny and black, and responded by licking his face. Armand ducked his head so that Lestat wouldn’t see his smile.
“Come inside, I want to close the door. Don’t let them out,” Lestat said, and backed away to make space.
He saw Louis then, when he cleared the doorway, still snuggling his namesake to his chest. Sitting cross-legged on the velvet couch, Mojo curled up beside him, a solid black puppy in his hands. He was scratching its ears and smiling at it and…
Strange ache in his chest, because he’d never seen that look on Louis’s face before.
“Where did all these puppies come from?” he asked. Louis looked up at him as if waking from a trance, like he’d been too absorbed to even notice Armand had arrived.
“Turns out Mojo is a lady,” Lestat said. He plopped down on the floor in the center of the room and took turns giving each puppy pats on their heads. They climbed on his legs and chewed on his shirt.
He held his puppy away from his face to inspect it again. It tilted its head at him and whined, and… strange ache again as he realized how unusual it was, and how he was straining to remember last time he’d held an animal this close. At home, in Kiev. They could never keep pets in Venice. He felt cold all over for a moment before pulling it to his chest again, feeling its warm little body settling against him and hearing the fluttery little heartbeat.
“What are you going to do with them?”
Lestat shrugged and picked one up, rubbing his face against its chubby, furry belly.
“Why don’t you give one to Daniel? Maybe you can win him back.”
♛Lestat here. Louis and I had a wonderful dog, which took some time for him to warm up to as he had nearly killed the poor creature the first time they met! Mojo remembered that, but having such a large heart, Mojo was able to forgive and forget.
There was a cat that made her home with us, a black cat named Harriet. Louis informed me that that was her name.* She is tolerable. I mean, she only lets Louis pet her so you can see why I’m not overly fond of her!
Animals are instinctively wary of us, it’s been a painful side effect of being what we are that dogs in particular often see us as threats and their startled owners are left flustered with apologies like “She never acts this way around strangers normally!” and that sort of thing. Dogs were a great source of solace for me in my youth and I know that Louis loved horses. I have frightened horses into compliance but it’s not the same as the caring relationship one can have with a beloved pet *sighs*
What type of pet would we like if we could have our choice? Louis has always been fond of birds, so I would say that he’d like a pair of lovebirds, or an a talking bird like an African Gray parrot. I’m sure he’d prefer I not teach it curse words, but you know that I would have to do that!
Personally I find large cats like tigers compelling and would love to have one, but I love my interior decoration more, and those two things do not mix. As much of a gentleman as Mojo was, a number of vases and statues fell to their deaths due to an accidentally wagging tail or… admittedly… our impromptu wrestling matches *grins*
Yeah, I can see why you might imagine Mojo that way! I imagined him as more of a Siberian husky, myself, when I first read the books, bc a neighbor of mine had a black & white husky… the floof and the smile seemed to be a perfect fit for Mojo to me! This one here is a Siberian husky [X]:
From TOBT:
[Mojo] was covered in deep, plush fur, beautifully golden and gray in places, and overlaid
with a faint saddle of longer black hairs. His overall shape was that of a wolf, but he
was far too big to be a wolf, and there was nothing furtive and sly about him, as is the
case with wolves. On the contrary, he was wholly majestic in the way that he sat
staring motionless at the door.
Even though it’s right there that he’s more of a German shepherd mix:
On closer inspection, I saw that he most truly resembled a giant German shepherd,
with the characteristic black muzzle and alert face.
German shepherd w/ the black saddle pattern on the back and muzzle [X]:
I can’t find it now (does anyone have it?) but I know I saw a pic of the REAL Mojo w/ Anne Rice, she confirmed that he was a long-haired German shepherd [X]:
I gotchu fam! There’s probably better pics on line but I took this with my cell phone cause it’s the back cover of one of the TOBT comics. 😀
Yeah, I can see why you might imagine Mojo that way! I imagined him as more of a Siberian husky, myself, when I first read the books, bc a neighbor of mine had a black & white husky… the floof and the smile seemed to be a perfect fit for Mojo to me! This one here is a Siberian husky [X]:
From TOBT:
[Mojo] was covered in deep, plush fur, beautifully golden and gray in places, and overlaid
with a faint saddle of longer black hairs. His overall shape was that of a wolf, but he
was far too big to be a wolf, and there was nothing furtive and sly about him, as is the
case with wolves. On the contrary, he was wholly majestic in the way that he sat
staring motionless at the door.
Even though it’s right there that he’s more of a German shepherd mix:
On closer inspection, I saw that he most truly resembled a giant German shepherd,
with the characteristic black muzzle and alert face.
German shepherd w/ the black saddle pattern on the back and muzzle [X]:
I can’t find it now (does anyone have it?) but I know I saw a pic of the REAL Mojo w/ Anne Rice, she confirmed that he was a long-haired German shepherd [X]:
I-want-my-IWTV 