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The world was a strange place, Daniel thought as he typed on his laptop. Now and then he looked up from his work and watched Armand laying on the sofa with his Ipad. He was still not sure how it happened.
One day Armand had greeted him in the lobby, introduced himself as a new neighbour, and after a week he had become a regular guest in Daniel’s apartment. Like a stray cat Armand was coming and going like he wanted. Daniel probably should have stopped him from coming over but he was ensnared by his fascination with the boy.
Daniel had always been good at reading people, that was one of the things that made him so good at his job, but after two months of knowing Armand he was still a mysterium. The kid was 27 years old but acted like he was born during the renaissance. Whenever Daniel asked about his past he was met by silence. But most of all he was weird.
Point in case, right now Armand was watching the fifth documentary in a row about elephants, not counting the clips on Youtube.
“Have you not tired yet? You've been at it for hours. I mean, if you really think they are so fascinating you know you can go to the zoo and see them live,” Daniel asked.
That got Armand’s attention. He immediately looked up from the screen. “Do they have elephants at the zoo?”
“Yeah,” Daniel said slowly, for of course they had. “Come on, you know this right? Have you never been there?”
“No.”
Daniel tried to decide if he was joking or not. “Not even on a school excursion?”
“Should I’ve?”
“You're shitting me,” Daniel said and he couldn’t believe it, but he began to suspect that Armand was actually telling the truth.
Armand shook his head then frowned like he wasn’t sure what the fuss was about. Daniel added that to the list of weird things about him.
“That settles it. I'm taking you tomorrow,” Daniel said.
Regrettably tomorrow turned out to be a cloudy day. Daniel looked after his other jacket, the one with water protection when the doorbell rang. “One minute, I’ll be right there.”
When he opened the door he started laughing. Armand was dressed in a 40s style long coat and hat, looking like he was about to smoke a cigarette under a street light in the rain. “Was someone following you?” Daniel asked between the giggles.
Befuddled, Armand turned his head down the corridor. When he realized no one was there he looked at Daniel with a frown.
“You know, the spy outfit,” Daniel said.
Armand looked down to his clothes and the frown got deeper. “Is there something wrong with the way I look?”
“Gezzes, you look fine.” Danciel was old, not blind. Armand could be crawling out a sewer and still be on the cover for GQ magazine. “Let's go.”
Despite the weather the zoo had quite a few visitors, families with kids or big friend groups. Daniel already regretted coming here. The zoo had never been one of his favorite places, too many memories of boring animals and his daughter crying when he refused to buy them ice cream.
At least his lack of enthusiasm was compensated with Armand’s excitement. He insisted they went to the elephants first. Indian elephants, Armand stressed because apparently that made a big difference.
Most of the hoard was gathered by a heap of branches, eating fresh green leaves but a mother and her two caves played in a big puddle. Armand smiled softly as she used her trunk to splash muddy water over them. “Did you know the calves lack the motoric skills of adults and often trip over their own trunk?”
“Mm,” Daniel said.
“I don’t have many memories of my childhood but I remember how we used to feed wild elephants with fresh fruits,” he said with a low voice, like he talked to himself.
“I thought you grew up in England,” Daniel said. They had never discussed Armand’s background but his British accent had made him come to that conclusion.
“I was born in India but I don’t have many memories from that time,” Armand said with a bite, making it clear he didn’t want to speak about it. He hunched and the coat seemed too big for his frame. It made him look vulnerable, like a small child lost in the world. Daniel started to wonder who he really was. What had he suffered through to make him look like that? They watched in silence as the youngest calf laid down in the water and rolled around.
“Look! They have lemurs!” shouted Armand and interrupted Daniel’s thoughts.
“Huh?”
“Here.” Armand took Daniel’s hand and pulled him past the gift shops to the enclosure on the other side. Armand’s hand was cold and smooth and Daniel felt silly but his heart made an extra beat from holding it. “Calm down, some of us don’t move as fast as we once did,” he grumbled to mask his embarrassment.
Armand ignored him and didn’t slow down until they reached the fence and saw the lemurs climbing in the trees. A mom carried her little ones on her back. Daniel wondered how she managed all three. Two had been enough for him and he was the barely present parent.
One of them sat down right before them. A small black and white furball with eyes like street lamps. “Look, that one is pretty cute. He looks just like you.” Daniel pointed out. Armand turned his big ember eyes to him with a full scorn.
They watched the tigers next, then giraffes, turtles and rhinos. The whole time Armand was sprouting facts of the like you found on the backside of a corn flakes package. Daniel was only listening with half an ear. He noticed a group of young men following Armand with their eyes.
Nothing unusual, Armand had his fair share of admires, as expected with his look. But the way they exchanged whispers and meaningful glances gave Daniel the creeps. Worse was a short, blond guy with a hipster beard who leered at Armand. He only stopped when his friends started to pull at him, complaining that they wanted to move on.
“–and up to 90% of their diet consists of bones. Are you listening?” Armand asked.
“Yeah, of course,” Daniel lied.
By the time they reached the red pandas, Daniel’s feet started to hurt and his mood was turning sour.
“You think they are boring,” Armand said. He watched the tree with the sleeping pandas.
Daniel was surprised Armand had noticed. Working as a journalist had taught him to have a good poker face. “It doesn’t matter how cute you are if all you do is eat and sleep.”
“All animals eat and sleep,” Armand said.
“Well, some of them have other interesting features.” Which reminded him that there was one place they hadn’t visited that he wanted to go to, one place he actually liked to visit. “Come on, it’s my turn to choose the next animal.”
The reptile house was dark, warm and humid. Lizards scurry up and down over rocks, golden scaled snakes slept under a lamp and an iguana was munching on insects.
“You do love danger,” Armand muttered.
“What?” Daniel asked, distracted by a brown snake, perfectly camouflaged between logs and deep green leaves.
Armand shakes his head. “Nothing. Let me guess, your favorite is the most venomous one.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Daniel said, suddenly feeling hot. It was probably because of the room. He tried not to think about how unsettling it was when Armand saw right through him.
He took him to the Ruby-eyed Green Pitviper. “This is one of my favorites. Look at the cold dead eyes. Very cool, huh?” The green snake looked at him. Like always Daniel got hypnotized by them. Come to think about it, the reminded him of–
A loud laughter woke him from his musing. He turned around and he saw that the group of Armand’s admirers was back. The blond hipster guy was checking him out again. Daniel wondered if he should go up to them and give them a piece of his mind.
“I believe I’m starting to get a headache. Do you mind going and buy me a bottle of water?” Armand said, rubbed his temple, obviously about what was happening behind them.
Hipster Guy whispered something to his friend and Daniel hesitated, but Armand was an adult, even if they tried something he could take care of himself. Probably.
Daniel tried to hurry but the queue was longer than he expected. When he got back the reptile house was empty except for Armand and Hipster Guy, who was standing close to Armand and talked to him in a flirty voice. ”Come on, just one date.”
Armand bit his lip. “I’m not interested.”
“I can show you a good time,” the Hipster Guy coaxed.
Irritation boiled within Daniel. He was about to beat the smug grin off Hipster Guy’s face when suddenly Armand let out a jarred, horrifying laugh. “What you mean is that you want me to show you a good time.”
“No? What?”
Armand’s lips formed a cruel smile. “You’re a pathetic man with a big, empty hole in your heart. You hope that meaningless sex will fill it, but you know it won’t. The only comfort is that you can brag about your conquest to your friends. A little less lonely when basking in their spotlight. But one day they will grow tired of your stories and you won’t have a single person who cares for you, just as you always feared.”
Watching them, Daniel’s heart started to race faster. It was incomprehensible how the person before him was the same sad, lost boy reminiscing his childhood in India. Armand was so stunningly beautiful like this.
Hipster Guy took a step back, tripped and fell. He looked up at Armand with big terrified eyes. Armand leaned over him and grabbed his hair, tugging until they were face to face. “You’re a boring, meaningless human and I want nothing to do with you. Do you understand?” said Armand and pushed him away.
Hipster Guy scrambled to his feet and ran for the exit as fast as he could. The moment they were alone Daniel started to yell at Armand. “What was that?!”
Armand flinced like Daniel’s words had hurt him. "He was the one coming on to me.”
“Yeah, but you were the one to send me away so he could approach you. I guess you saw how he looked at you before and decided on humiliating him as a punishment.”
Armand's mouth parted slightly, like he was surprised to be found out. “Are you sure you want to know the answer?” he asked in an odd voice.
“Yes,” Daniel said without blinking.
Amber eyes bore into his soul, leaving him out of breath. Tilting his head, Armand stared at Daniel like a predator staring at his prey. “I have a talent for finding weaknesses. I can break a human with only my words. And I have. On many occasions.”
Then, like a cut string, the weird energy left Armand’s body and he released Daniel with his eyes. Once again he was the young unsure boy. He gazed at Daniel like he expected him to bolt. “Are you going to leave me now that you know the truth?”
The facade had cracked, revealing glimpses of the ugly parts underneath. Daniel might be insane but he wanted more. “If you think you can scare me away you’re wrong. I know you told me the sugar coated version and I don’t care. I want the real you.”
“Good, I'm not yet ready to give you up,” Armand said. Hesitantly he moved to Daniel, reached out and touched his face before letting his hand drop. Daniel took the hand, entwined their fingers and gave them a squeeze. Armand rewarded him with a coy smile.
Me neither, Daniel thought.