As much as i dislike the whole narrow and oversimplified love language theory it explains so much about the problems and miscommunication at the de Pointe du Lac-de Lioncourt household if you consider that they speak different love languages. Aside from their 32958394577 other issues of course.
Louis is quite clearly a ‘quality time’ and ‘acts of service’ type of person. He often feels uncomfortable with overt gestures and believes that actions speak louder than words and the way he shows love is rather practical. Providing for and taking care of his loved ones and spending time with them is very important for him. He’s not outwardly very affectionate towards others but he makes a great effort to help his family and sometimes also the community (and he tries to justify to himself his exploitation of women by insisting that he’s actually protecting and helping them). With Paul they spent a lot of time just doing things together like walking and talking and going to church and dancing. In the beginning with Lestat they bond over music and theatre and arts and Louis talks and opens up to him about things like never before other than with his brother. Later we see him pause reading (his favorite hobby) to listen to what Lestat is saying to him and even at his most depressed he tries to share with Lestat what he’s reading. In modern day he remembers a dessert that was emotionally meaningful for Daniel and has it prepared in an attempt to connect with him through it (and eats himself despite that it tastes awful to him!).
He frequently does things he feel uncomfortable doing to please Lestat (going to opera with him despite having to act as his valet, drinking human blood, having sex with him after finding out he’s cheating again etc.). Becoming a father and taking care of Claudia was something that brought great fulfillment to Louis (”the simple joy of her hand in mine”). He enjoys ‘homemaking’ whether that’s decorating christmas trees or doing his child’s hair and he was at his happiest when the vampire family was living as close to normal everyday family life as possible, and later tries to unsuccessfully return to that status quo. The most important way for him to communicate love with other people is to simply choose to share his life with them. Lestat who expects dramatic romantic words and gestures could never understand the greatest love Louis ever showed was to stay with him despite everything.
Lestat is strongly a ‘words of affirmation, ‘physical touch’ and ‘gift giving’ type of person. He encourages and compliments Louis and tells him he loves him all the time. I think the scene in ep 6 where he mouths ‘i love you’ when walking away from the park bench despite nothing special happening implies that it’s something he tells Louis almost every day. Verbally expressing his emotions is very important for Lestat. He obviously carefully rehearsed his church love confession beforehand and later even literally wrote a song for Louis. Lestat who is deeply insecure needs words of love and reassurance but rarely receives them. When Louis does show verbal affection he just soaks it up like a sponge (”you missed me?”). Lestat is very tactile person and to quote Sam Reid can’t keep his hands off Louis. When they’re together he’s rarely not touching him. Louis is significantly less touchy-feely, he allows Lestat to touch him if they’re not fighting but initiates it himself much less frequently. When they’re not having sex frequently Lestat feels unhappy and abandoned, not just because of his high libido but also because for him sex is an essential way to convey intimacy and connection. This is also shown in his pattern of cheating where despite claiming he likes variety he actually mostly just carries out a years long affair with one person despite finding her tedious, because she offers him constant validation and an illusion of intimacy. He was rather physically and verbally affectionate with Claudia too before the things turned sour, sometimes gently touching her and calling her with pet names.
Lestat, like Louis, loves taking care of his loved ones but he’s more focused on actual providing and giving things. Lestat showers both Louis and Claudia with gifts; clothes, jewelry, books, money. When Louis is worrying about going home and his business after being turned Lestat tells him “this is now your home” and “i have all the money we need”; he has obviously already envisioned the future he will take care of all Louis’ needs and Louis will never have to work again or worry about anything or pay for anything anymore because Lestat is happy to buy and give him everything in the world. He calls vampirism a gift as well and is frustrated when Louis and Claudia are not grateful for receiving it. After the DV incident he tries to literally buy himself back into their life and sends so many gifts that they have to burn more of them than bodies. He whines to Antoinette about how ungrateful and disrespectful Claudia is despite that he’s given her ‘so many incalculable gifts’. Roots of this behaviour are in Lestat having lived most of his human life in poverty and having to act as a provider. Even after years of being rich he values material things and considers giving and receiving them a powerful act of love and loyalty. Louis had not experienced similar poverty and hunger while being human and Claudia who as a human had nothing i think just sees through bullshit. I think despite their different backgrounds Claudia is actually fairly similar to Louis in this regard that they value more practical and straightforward everyday love. Claudia nurses Louis back to health and makes it her mission to save him, and while she loves pretty things as an expression of love they mean nothing to her.
