Fractals
38
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Fractals Chapter Thirty Eight (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply
A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta… *giggles*
wondermous and squishy for archiving/hosting! J
* Readers/Reviewers:
paranoid, lol. *GLOMPS * to everyone for
reading/reviewing.
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Remy looked
at ease to the casual observer but Jean-Luc knew better.
reaching for the silver bell to ring for tea.
“Ain’t gonna bite you.”
Remy
snorted softly and remained standing near—but not in front of—the window.
red hair and eyes so wide and blue they should have been on a
doll entered the room silently, placed a tray laden with tea items down before
Jean-Luc and slipped from the room on ghost feet.
Jean-Luc
smiled. “Anna was…released from my
employment in April. Had a terrible time
wit keepin’ secrets,” he added, pouring the tea.
Remy nodded
and watched as his father added two lumps to the dark liquid, then a slice of
lemon. The house was just as he
remembered from his youth—shadows and dark wood, that peculiar combination of
sinister and comforting that the Garden District seemed to breathe and
bleed. Genteel homes hiding dark secrets
ages old, ghosts reaching across the years to keep their counsel private… Remy
had missed it terribly. “
the thin china cups that had been in the family for years—though Remy had never
been clear on if it was through inheritance or leger
de main
was I summoned?”
Jean-Luc
raised a brow and took a sip of his tea.
“Pas en francais, Remy?
“Cause we
Cajun, Pere, pas de France.”
and set the china cup back down.
Jean-Luc
set his cup down with a deliberate grace most people would never master.
old street, the automotive sounds muffled by thick jasmine vines, still verdant
in the mild autumn of the
and magnolias so old no one could remember a time when they were not
there. “The Guild wants you dead.
He paused,
becoming still as death for a moment. “I
already knew I ain’t welcome here, Pere.
risk o’my life, oui?”
“Remy…”
Jean-Luc pushed the tea service to the side and leaned across the old table
urgently, “you ain’t graspin’ dis.
feud. Dis ain’t
fo’ honor… Dis a hit.
Frankly,” he leaned back, his voice dropping to a near whisper, “I
surprised you made here in one piece.”
Remy stood
and glared down at his father. “You call
me here to get me murdered, ol man?”
“Remy
Etienne LeBeau,” Jean-Luc countered with a distinctly
paternal edge to his voicename="_ftnref2" title="">
can’t come in here an’ accuse me…”
“
He was around the table and towering over Jean-Luc in a heartbeat.
wit Belladonna…”
Jean-Luc
was on his feet and in Remy’s face before the younger man could finish the
sentence. “You.
Are. My. Son.
Remy jerked
away but did not respond immediately. After
a long pause where the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner was the
only sound in the room, he breathed, “Den why you call me down here?”
“If you
countered, stepping around Remy and picking up the silver bell again.
Remy
gritted his teeth as the young woman appeared to clear away the tea things,
giving her a quick, all encompassing glance out of habit, memorizing details down
to how she turned her hand to pick up the abandoned cups.
addressed Jean-Luc, “Parce-que vous
etes mon
pere.”name="_ftnref3" title="">
Jean-Luc
stared at Remy for a very long moment before clearing his throat and becoming
businesslike. “De guild hired de Assassins après the news story
come out…” He nodded to the oak
sideboard running the length of the sitting room wall.
there, almost accusingly, daring Remy to look at their pages.
his father. “Ah,” Jean-Luc
murmured. “You did not know it was so
widespread, eh?”
“I doubt my…associates
up north are aware, either.” He chewed
the inside of his lip briefly before announcing, “I need to make a call,
Jean-Luc
shook his head. “Ain’t safe here.”
“Den what
you suggest?” he snapped. “I ain’t gonna
hide here wit you, waitin’ to be killed,
hair and vented a rough sigh. “Pour
quoi?”
Jean-Luc
smirked ruefully. “If you here, I know
you ain’t dead.”
Remy
blinked. “You panicked.”
The older
man snorted. “I did no such thing,
turned away and busied himself with arranging and rearranging knick knacks on
the end table. “Quit smirkin’.
Ain’t polite,” he added after a moment.
“I ain’t
He was oddly pleased that someone in the guild still cared about him,
and doubly so that it was his father, that he had not been abandoned, as it
were. “Mais
jus’ hide out here, eh?”
Jean-Luc
nodded. “Truth is,
je pense
Remy
nodded. “Keep friends close an’ enemies
closer,” he murmured.
Jean-Luc
returned his regard to Remy.
want. It’s all you mutants.
guilds. An’ dey…well,
you know dey gonna cause a fuss if you turn up
Remy goggled.
group! Dat’s
insane!”
Jean-Luc
spread his hands and looked down at his fingers sadly.
For the
first time in a long time, Remy wanted to be sick.
began, only to find his way blocked by the red haired girl wielding a rather
evil looking blade, the edges serrated to curved teeth
and aimed at his gut should he take another step forward.
“I mention
Non, Remy, you stay here till we figure
“You
I ain’t gonna leave nothin’ of you for
name="_ftn1" title="">
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of saying theft, pretty much. Really “slight
of hand” but isn’t leger de main just prettier?
name="_ftn2" title="">
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Jean-Luc’s going to be a tad OOC here.
This is an AU anyway so if you’re a stickler for canon, go
elsewhere. Which you
should know by now.
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That isn’t perfect French but Cajun is not perfect French.