A gift, this admission Daniel offers up to him. Louis, the only person Daniel would let into his mind that way. Louis feels the way that truth hooks behind his ribcage. Flutters next to his heart.

Who else would Louis let in? Lestat, only Lestat, and that's not possible. It will only ever be Daniel in his head. (How deep was Armand in Louis's mind? If Daniel delves deep enough, would he find traces? Familiar fingerprints set deep into the soft clay of Louis' head?)

The water runs hot as promised, a misty rainfall from two shower heads that envelope them both and Louis turns back around under the spray to Daniel. Smiles at him.

This is the most he's smiled in a long while, Louis knows. It comes easy, with Daniel.

"I like saunas."

A statement deliberately stripped of the we that could have, would have colored the answer in Dubai.

His palms flatten across Daniel's chest. Feel his heart, secure and steady. Cherishes this small fact, pieces of Daniel outside Louis' experience, outside the scope of books and interviews.

"Never chugged cheap wine though."

Louis de Pointe du Lac seeking only the finest vintages for his worst moments.

"Tell me something else. From then."

Pieces of Daniel's human life.