"Really," Lestat says, to Daniel. Not quite a question. Surprise without disbelief. Flattering, maybe, as far as his sketchy mental image of a Daniel pre-vampire goes. But perhaps it makes sense, the way lonely people might find each other, make odd connections.

He means Daniel and Louis, of course.

But Louis asks this, and Lestat looks at him down the length of his arm. "Oh, when we began to travel together," he says, and it's true—he speaks at a normal volume that still somehow winds through with perfectly clarity the sounds of old speakers, bad singing, a crowd of people. "Hunting as well. It had," back to Daniel, "been some time for me as well."

In case Daniel had somehow failed to notice.