To Paulito, thanks for the support, to Julie, tell your mom thank you, to Josh, keep your eyes peeled at night. Daniel's hand doesn't tremble, he doesn't worry about his tendons getting too tired after a dozen notes. He's social and chatty with everyone, even though he's not an especially social person, when he's boiled down. But there are elements of celebrity, fifteen minutes of fame, and more than that, elements of fucking freedom.

And tonight, there's an element of having Armand here, sitting so close to him.

"Oh yeah?" turns to converse privately, the next patron standing with their book in hand, waiting to address him. "You know they'll notice. That okay?"

He tips his head down enough to look at Armand over the top edge of his glasses, eyes as amber-orange as his maker's. Maybe it's not that easy, maybe no one will see them together and go Oh, Molloy's definitely a vampire, oh, wow, Molloy's definitely a vampire and his maker is Armand.

But.