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Post by Nakki on Feb 7, 2009 16:55:47 GMT -5
The first thing Alistair noticed about this mind was the sound: a sound of thousands of raindrops landing on a wet, cobblestone road. He looked out, a little confused, from the alcove where he found himself. He was in Paris... Paris, France. He remembered the styles of the buildings from a time when he was sent to Paris on a mission. There was even a silhouette of the Eiffel Tower in the distance, its outline picked out by spots of electric light.
Alistair shivered a bit, pulling his trench coat a little further around him against the slight chill from the rain, and looked around, noting the bright little restaurant at the end of the street. He wondered, absently, whose mind this was, and if there was anyone else here who could tell him who exactly owned this place.
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Post by Lovenu on Feb 7, 2009 17:30:28 GMT -5
A strange looking little figment of a boy walked up to the tall man while sobbing, "Où est Josephine? Où est Josephine?"
The little boy had a very sad looking little face and lines under his eyes that looked like they had formed from stains caused by his constant crying. The little boy was very short and looked about eight years old. He was crying so much that it was obvious even in the rain.
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Post by Nakki on Feb 7, 2009 17:44:20 GMT -5
Alistair looked down at the little boy and a sympathetic expression came onto his face. He always liked children, and it made him sad to see them unhappy. Well, unless the kid was a certain blue-skinned nephew of his; he'd never seen Bobby come even close to crying, and he doubted he'd be very sympathetic if the boy did cry.
But Bobby was not this little boy, and thus the sympathy was all there. He knelt down to the boy's height as he tried to figure out what he was saying. From what he could decipher (thanks to his mother forcing him take Latin in school and the French lessons he took to prepare himself for the Paris mission), the boy was asking where Josephine was. Josephine! he thought suddenly, and he knew where he was immediately. He'd gotten pulled into Jo's mind somehow. He even felt a little stupid, now; Jo was the only French resident at camp that had lived in France for more than a year.
Alistair, not knowing how to speak French very well, shrugged and said after a moment, "Je ne sais pas." He wished that the Paris mission hadn't been so long ago so that he could remember some of his language lessons and get along in this mind. He also wished he knew whether he'd actually said the words correctly.
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Post by Lovenu on Feb 7, 2009 17:56:12 GMT -5
The boy stopped crying for a moment and chuckled a little at Alistair's pronunciation but started to cry again. Suddenly, an average looking man with a square jaw walked up to the two. He had apparently heard their conversation and was chuckling a bit, "I'm assuming zat you cannut speak French zat well, non? Zis is understandable I suppose... Allo!" The figment stuck out a hand for Alistair to shake, "My name eez Monsieur Lambda... I am a client of Mademoiselle LaBelle... Except she 'asn't come out of zat dang restaurant for a year now..." he said sounding somewhat annoyed.
He suddenly gasped, "Are you ze date she 'as been waiteeng for?! Oh zank goodness! She'll finally come out!" said Lambda, assuming the best. He quickly muttered some things in French to the little boy and the little boy stopped crying and smiled looking up at Ali expectantly.
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Post by Nakki on Feb 7, 2009 19:58:53 GMT -5
Alistair looked at the square-jawed man who'd just introduced himself in confusion. He took the man's hand and shook it, saying, "Um, yes... My name is Alistair..." When he heard the next things the man said, he listened with great interest. "She's in the restaurant?" he repeated. Then another thing clicked. "Did you say 'date?' She's waiting for a... a date?"
Despite what he wanted to think, Alistair's heart sank a little and his face reflected it a little; in a mind, a person waiting for or obsessing over one thing was a clear sign that they hadn't let it go. And since Jo was waiting for a date, she might be....... Alistair quickly shook this thought from his head, not wanting to think such pessimistic things.
He regained his composure and faced this Monsieur Lambda. "Er... I'm sorry to have to say this, but... um..." he paused, unsure of what to say.
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Post by Lovenu on Feb 8, 2009 4:28:29 GMT -5
Lambda's smile quickly turned into a frown, causing the little boy to start crying again, "Je manque Josephine! Je manque Josephine!" Lambda quickly tried to comfort the poor boy but it was too late. The boy ran off into the night, crying up a storm. Lambda sighed and shook his head, "Zat was Peine... He's alwayz cryeeng... None ov us know why zough... He was 'opeeng Josephine would tell him why..." he said with a sad face. Suddenly he perked up, "'Ey! Maybe you should go talk some sense into her! Maybe you can try and convince her zis dream guy eesn't comeeng and she'll just 'ave to be lonely, which really eesn't zat bad..." he added with a small chuckle, "I'm a bachelor myself... Despite what Belle zinks..." he said with a little cringe. He quickly shrugged it off and stood proud, "You must get her out of zere Alistair! She needs 'elp!"
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Post by Nakki on Feb 9, 2009 7:20:56 GMT -5
Alistair gave a determined nod in response to Lambda's instructions. "I'll go see if I can talk some sense into her, hmm?" he said, pulling his trench coat's collar up to protect from the rain and briskly walking across and up the street towards the brightly-lit restaurant. Now that he was closer, he could see it was rather ornate and very beautiful.
Alistair pushed through the glass double-doors and into the reception area, where a waiter worked at a podium. He stood politely in the room, waiting for the waiter to notice him so that he could go talk to Jo. In fact, he could see Jo from where he was standing; she was sitting at a table set for two out in the dining area.
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Post by Lovenu on Feb 9, 2009 8:41:01 GMT -5
The waiter gave Alistair a strange look, but shook it off when he realized that this was a man. A man around Josephine's age. He gave a small jump and quickly directed Alistair over to Jo's table while saying things like, "Why on earth have you keep her waiting so long?" in French. He pulled Alistair over and showed him to Jo, "Mademoiselle, you're... Friend... 'As arrived..." he quickly walked away.
Jo put her menu down and there she was. She had her hair down, just the right amount of makeup, and a beautiful dress on. She looked lovely. She gave Alistair a strange look and frowned, "You're... Um..." she suddenly blushed and grinned a little. It was going to be hard being stubborn when this man was so handsome. She quickly began to look at her menu again as she took another sip of wine, "You're not him Monsieur..." she said with a small sad glint to her eye.
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Post by Nakki on Feb 10, 2009 18:04:47 GMT -5
Alistair was silent for a moment when Josephine put her menu down; she looked absolutely beautiful. However, when she spoke, Alistair remembered why he was there and looked away for a moment, realizing he'd been staring.
"...May I ask who he is, and... and why he's been making you wait so long?" he asked tentatively, wanting to learn a bit more about what was going on in there. It was his job, as both a Psychonaut and a detective. "As long as you don't mind, of course. I just met a few people outside who seemed concerned, and it made me wonder a bit..."
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Post by Lovenu on Feb 10, 2009 18:25:19 GMT -5
Jo sighed and looked up at him, "Well... A year ago zis guy asked me out and I don't know what his name eez and I don't remember what he looks like, but I've been waiteeng for him ever since... He said to meet 'ere so I did... He promised so I expect zat he'd keep eet..." she sighed and took a sip of wine and looked out the window, "I hope ze rain will stop soon... Eet's been raineeng for a year now..." she sighed again and looked back at Ali with a little chuckled, "Ze're concerned because ze've never been in love... Zey'd understand if zey were promised somezing..." she said sadly.
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Post by Nakki on Feb 11, 2009 18:40:34 GMT -5
"A year??" Alistair repeated, slight shock evident in his voice. "And you don't even know his name or what he looks like?" To anyone besides this figment of Jo, this 'guy' was obviously not going to come. He hadn't even introduced himself or anything! Just asked her out on a date and left the rest of this to unfold, Alistair thought to himself, slightly melancholy. Then he remembered that this was just her mind and snapped out of it, looking out the window as well and watching the rain pour down absently.
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Post by Lovenu on Feb 12, 2009 17:05:13 GMT -5
"So who are you anyway? Deed ze waiter send you in 'ere?" Jo looked around the room with a confused face. With the exception of the waiter, they were the only two people in there. Jo sighed and went back to looking at her menu, "Why deed you come? Eef you're tryeeng to get me to leave, I'm not goeeng to... Zose clients will just 'ave to wait a beet..." she said with a slight frown as she took a tiny sip of wine.
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Post by Nakki on Feb 12, 2009 17:49:07 GMT -5
"Oh, um... My name's Alistair... I was in town, and... and your clients out there asked me to go in and talk to you... I think the waiter mistook me for your date..." Alistair explained a little awkwardly. Then he got straight to the point, quickly saying, "They're just worried about you! And they need to talk to you, too... and you need to talk to them."
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Post by Lovenu on Feb 27, 2009 13:23:49 GMT -5
Jo quickly looked back at her menu, covering her face, "No please... I'm fine... I can wait..." she said sadly.
Suddenly the waiter walked in with a scowl, "YOU ARE NOT HER DATE MONSIEUR!!! OUT OUT OUT!!!" he said angrily as he grabbed Alistair by the collar. Josephine quickly put her menu down and suddenly stood up, "Please! Don't 'urt him! He wasn't causeeng any trouble!" The waiter quickly shot her an angry look and she sat back down and went back to looking at her menu while holding back tears. She hated to admit it, but she wanted Alistair to stay and give her company. He was handsome and seemed kind and just looking at him made her think a bit less of the other guy.
The waiter promptly dragged him to the door and threw him out into the rain, "Bon débarras!" he yelled out as he shut the door.
The rain was falling a lot harder now and Lambda had been waiting outside. He sighed and walked over to Alistair, offering a hand to help him up.
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Post by Nakki on Mar 1, 2009 11:42:09 GMT -5
"Wha-" Alistair didn't have much time to react before he found himself being tossed back out into the street. Unfortunately he hit the cobbled street a bit hard and he gave a short shout of pain. He glared back at the waiter as he closed the door and shouted, "Well, same to you, jerk!"
He looked over at Lambda and took his hand, standing up with the man's help. "You're right... she's really obsessed with that guy..." He dusted himself off and pulled up his collar a bit more to shield himself from the pouring rain, looking over towards the restaurant sadly.
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