Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Lutetia City: Valentine Park

as written by glmstr

"If you ask me, he's just a prick," Camille shrugged and took a bite from the waffle cone. "There is definitely a chance Val has it right, it'd sure give a lot of context for his recent behavior."

"Wait, Tommy? You banged that piece of shit? God, I can't believe you two could stand him. Even if he's good and bed, you had to make it through him opening his mouth," the aristocrat's thin lips curled into a frown. "Al, you need an intervention, your taste in men is pretty god damn abhorrent. Your brother needs to start vetoing your choices."

Even without going to the same school as the Castellanes, he still was familiar or at least aware of much of the goings-on there, sometimes hearing it from the twins themselves. High society in Lutetia was a small world, figuratively and literally. Even the smallest gossip tended to spread through the upper crust like a plague, and Delacroix was an excellent Petri dish.
 
as written by Krysis

"Oh. That. Nothing to be concerned over, I assure you, Warden." Pierette laughed as she finally stood up with the other sisters. She seemed relaxed and even a little cheerful as she explained, "Let me guess. Something dark, like death is sitting on my shoulder? It is. I've got emphysema. It's not something you get better from."

Charlene and Liz kinda flinched, but didn't look surprised. They looked at the ground at first, avoiding Celeste's gaze. Charlene soon mumbled something about checking on the children, but Liz stayed put as the blonde hid in activity.

Celeste gaped at Pierette, and then at Liz. The proselyte had gone pale and trembled with complex emotions. Finally she hissed at Liz, "You knew?! By the Wick, how could you not tell me? I wouldn't have--"

"I didn't want you to know, Lesty. I didn't want you to treat me differently." 'Rette broke in harshly. "I've embraced my fate, I don't need anyone to act like I am some fragile thing at this point. The hour is far too late and I will not waste the time I have left being coddled."

It wasn't that they had forgotten Noah was standing there. Not exactly. He had just managed to stick his foot in a whole stew of family drama and became a witness to the fallout.
 
as written by Script

"Oh, come on, it was a public service!" Al protested. "He got markedly less obnoxious once he was out of the closet. And besides, I didn't exactly give him much of a chance to speak." He folded his arms in a pout. "Don't you judge me, just because you're stuck in the chastity club and don't have equal opportunities to make questionable but enjoyable sex-based decisions."

"Speaking of, though," Val cut in with a grin. "We're hosting a party on Saturday, at our place this time. You should come along, since you missed the misadventures of the rave."

____


Noah's eyes widened and he stood speechless for several moments as the drama began to unfold - clearly horrified by the revelation he'd mistakenly brought about. "I ... I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to ... That isn't what I meant..." he trailed off, afraid to cause any further trouble. This was why he never normally spoke to anyone about what he saw in their auras unbidden. It was simple etiquette, taught in their first year at the Academae. But the situation with the child had been so unusual, and she'd been staring at him, and...

... he really never should have said anything.
 
as written by glmstr

"Public service? That kind of service sounds like something you'd get from a court order," Camille retched before returning to his cone, only about half of the cone remaining. "And it's not the chastity club itself that's holding me back, frankly it's standards. Well, that and the tidal wave of drama that would come along with it. You two love stirring it up, after all, you should know," he smirked and took another bite.

"But yeah, I'll come to your party. Is this a hush-hush affair?"

Lacroix took a few more bites and eventually finished off the cone, and gave his mouth a quick once-over with a napkin to catch anything that dripped or spilled.
 
as written by Krysis

Liz and Celeste exchanged a look, then moved off a little way to argue about whether or not keeping that big a secret was the right thing to do. All three of Pierette's sisters were still within the distance of a shout, but it was as close to privacy as he was going to get at the moment.

'Rette sighed, then shrugged and smiled at the animancer, "You were trying to help. If I didn't know, and you told me that there was a good reason to get to the hospital soon-- Well, in my case it wouldn't have done any good."

She leaned just a little closer to Noah then and asked shyly, which was very odd for the usually forward girl, "Do health problems usually show up in auras? I... I think I am seeing stuff like that. Naturally, I don't know anyone I can ask for details. Hell, I thought I was loosing my sight at first, and went to an eye doctor."
 
as written by Script

"There's only drama if you let it happen," Al waved a hand dismissively. "No strings attached is the way to go. At least at this point in life. Commitment schmitment."

"I'm sure people hit and quit even in the chastity club," Val remarked with a grin. "And no, the party's not hush hush. But it is invite only. You can bring along anyone you want, within reason, but we won't be letting just anyone in."

Inarin seemed to be staying quiet for the time being, letting the talk of sex and drama pass by over his head while he did his best not to blush too much.

____

Noah sighed, frowning concernedly at Pierette. "Some animancers can pick up on such things, but I am not one of them. It was something else that I saw, regarding... ah, are you aware that you are... pregnant?" He hoped very much that she was. The last thing he wanted was another shocking revelation. "What I saw was regarding your children. Something..."

He struggled for the words, to find something that would not offend her. Nobody would want to hear that their unborn child was 'dark' or 'ominous'. "I'm worried that something may have taken ahold of them. What I saw would suggest... maybe a malevolent spirit of some sort, or a curse? I'm afraid I'm not the best soulseer, but another of my order might be able to help you more."
 
as written by Krysis

Pierette nodded in encouragement when Noah asked if she knew about the baby, though him struggling to find words did have her tensing up a bit.

Her reaction to his revelation was far more subdued than he might have expected. She merely bowed her head and closed her eyes as she cradled her arms against her still flat stomach. "Ah. It'll be another miscarriage then. I almost expected that."

Perilous nodded once more, preferring to be angry with what she saw as inevitable, instead of grieving prematurely. "Nothing to be done about it now. Just have to keep moving forward and all the rest of that self-help bullshit. Will every aura-seer that I meet see this? I just want to know if I should brace for the pity of strangers or not."
 
as written by Script

"I- No! I mean, I don't know what it means." Noah shook his head vigorously. "Truly, you would need an animancer more specialised in such things to be able to tell you that, but I wouldn't jump to that conclusion!"

He ran a hand through his hair. "As for if other animancers, or aura seers, will be able to tell... It depends on the individual. Like my soulsight is limited in what I can discern, others won't be able to see anything at all. Others might be able to tell you much more. The former, more commonly than the latter. But if you go to the Academae, I'm certain you'll be able to find someone who can tell you more. And who might be able to lift a curse or possession, if that is what it turns out to be."
 
as written by glmstr

Lacroix nodded and produced his phone, tapping the event into his calendar. "I don't think there's anybody in particular I wanted to invite, and anybody that would be a candidate is probably on the guest list already," he promptly stuffed the phone back into his pocket.

"Yeah, it'd be pretty dumb to get too committed right now. Gotta test the waters, and all that," Camille shrugged, "but you would not believe how often people try to pin scandal on us. You two already show up on all the shitty news rags, but a family like my own has enough of a clean reputation that landing a good headline could get those publications actually relevant again."

"Hell, if you find someone you think I'd like, send them my way," it seemed like a bad idea to leave that sort of judgement to the twins, but he trusted them enough to put even the mildest amount of thought into such a request.
 
as written by Faithy

“Oh, right. I guess that would make sense since it’s all hush-hush and all. I’m feeling puny as it is and it’d probably be a good idea for me to sit down before I passed out or threw up… one of the two or maybe even both.” Jimmy shook his head, not jiving on how things were turning out, but for the first time since he was bitten, he was starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

“To Merveilleux then. Do you have to let the others know you’re going? I mean, will they be looking for you?” He ran his fingers through his hair, but followed all the same, figuring that a simple text could be sent if necessary.
 
as written by Krysis

Pierette nodded slowly, then grinned as she stepped back and spread her arms, as if inviting Noah to really look at her. The 'punk-goth' girl had acquired a note of 'glam', but still-- Torn jeans, and a t-shirt (reading "Some people want to watch the world burn" on the front and "I have a fresh book of matches" on the back). She even had the sleeves torn off to show her bicep tattoos and short enough that her new navel ring could be seen (though the dark blue stone hanging there seemed an odd choice for her, and almost hides in the circle of thorns inked around her bellybutton). The pink and blue hair dye had faded a bit, and she had toned down the make-up for the day, but made up for it with a day-glow orange smiley face on her nose piercing, and an equally bright pink skull dangling from one of her ears, though the rest of her jewelry was just heavy gauge silver. The boots were nice though: tall and laced up her skinny calves, simple black leather, with a short heel and chrome accents.

"Ignoring the aura for a moment, do you really think anyone at your Academae would let me in the front door? I know they won't at the Monastery. Not even to visit my sister." Perilous Pierette almost seemed pleased at that notion, or at least amused.

"Nah, Noah. I'm happy enough with my choices. No one needs to save me. You, however-- I'd be careful in your shoes. Your rider's aura is almost as distinct as your own. I bet she can move you sometimes already, and you think you let her do it, that she needs permission." 'Rette was making guesses, but since she had always been good at reading people, she was betting they were good ones. Or at least, close enough to the mark to push the already off-balanced and nosy animancer into defending himself instead of worrying about her dark child.
 
as written by Script

"Challenge accepted," Al noted with a grin. "I think we're up to that task."

"Definitely. I'm sure we can find someone to your tastes, Cam." Val paused for a moment, before raising a quizzical eyebrow. "Though, we should check..."

"...are we scouting for girls, or for boys? Or both? We wouldn't want to make any assumptions." Al finished, shrugging.

____

"I'll shoot Al a text," Arien said. "But we didn't have any particular plans, so they won't mind me making myself scarce."

The teen pulled his phone out and shot off a quick text, and before long, the pair had hailed a taxi and were on their way towards Merveilleux.

____

Noah had been ready to protest Pierette's assessment of Auclair's elitism - yes, the building was ornate and courses there were costly, but there were many animancers there from poorer backgrounds. Himself included. She surely wouldn't be turned away, provided she explained the reason for her visit.

Then, his train of thought was derailed by her quip regarding Aurore. His eyes widened slightly. "You- I see. Your sight is clearer than I thought, if you can see my companion," he remarked, taking care to compose himself. He was, as predicted, going on the defensive. "Thank you for your concern, but by both my own and my former tutors' assessment, my bond with this spirit isn't dangerous, and is fully under control to our mutual benefit."

This spirit does have a name, you know.

Unnecessary details, Aurore.

Phaw! My name, an unnecessary detail? Watch your tongue, boy, lest I call you nothing else by way of retaliation!

"In any case, I think you would be surprised by the Academae. I'm sure that plenty of the Order would be willing to help. But I won't push the issue. I'm a stranger to you, after all." He glanced across towards the other Hogan sisters with an apologetic frown. "I'm sorry again about the argument I ended up causing."
 
as written by glmstr

"Girls or boys?" Camille scratched his chin, "Never put much thought into the whole orientation thing. I presume I'd rather a girl, but I guess it'd more come down to the person in question. I'd say just look for both to be safe."

Come to think of it, the idea of romance wasn't terribly prominent in the noble's life so far. Not that he wasn't interested, but he'd only had romantic exchanges on any level with a total of three girls, and even then none of those relationships moved much farther than the occasional kiss or cute gift. Aside from Lily, his sister's friend's little sister, whose breakup with Lacroix was more than slightly dramatic (and mostly caused by the falling out between the pair's older sisters), they had split up with Camille for reasons outside of their relationship, such as moving away in the case of one or being kidnapped in the case of the other . Bad luck in the dating scene was nothing new for Camille's family, from Luci's myriad of bad boyfriends to his parents' issues with finding dates (until they met each other, that is). If anything, he was thankful that he was having better luck than those mentioned did when they were his age.
 
as written by Faithy

“Pretty sure they’re quite content with Inarin anyways.” Jimmy couldn’t suppress a grin, because he was glad that Inarin had others to hang out with and as long as the twins didn’t hurt him, he was okay with the situation for the moment. Stretching out his achy body, he was glad when they got into the taxi and wound up leaning back with his head resting against the frame of the window.

“I’m actually looking forward to the party. I definitely need something to take my mind off my father… who I still have to bury.” Shaking his head, Jimmy squeezed the bridge of his nose, staving off a sneeze.
 
as written by Script

"Well, he's nothing if not open minded," Al remarked with a sidelong glance at his brother.

"Maybe we should find him a nice strong man, who's a little less likely to be kidnapped than his usual fare." Val smirked.

"Or a nice strong woman," Al noted. "We're an equal opportunities matchmaking service, Val. I mean, just look at Celeste. Can you imagine anyone trying to kidnap her?"

"I can imagine them trying..."

"My point exactly. So, what are your tastes?" Al cracked his knuckles as he looked back to Cam. "Tall or short?"

"Slender or buff?" Val cut in.

"Fair or dark?"

"Smooth or hairy?"

"Big..." Al gestured vaguely at his chest "...or small?"

"... big or-" Val snorted with laughter as he made to make the same gesture at his crotch, but couldn't bring himself to follow through with the question. "Oh, you get the idea."
 
as written by glmstr

"How the hell am I supposed to know what I want?" Camille's incredulous tone was only half serious. His three previous girlfriends were all vastly different from each other, from big and strong to even smaller and thinner than he was. At the very least, Lacroix's low experience in the dating scene was with three very distinct people.

"I guess I like someone that's willing to take the initiative sometimes or even often, and not just in that sense, Al," he gave the more cheeky twin a bit of a glare.

"They'd also obviously need to be okay with, you know," the noble gestured from his head to his feet with a waving motion, "this. Some people get weirded out by it and others have a thing for it, so the latter category would be preferred over the former."

"I'd rather not look for other proselytes, for the sake of avoiding drama, but wouldn't be against the idea if you two think one of them would be a good fit."

"And, finally, you know the kind of people I get along really poorly with, so avoiding that would be a given. These rules are really just guidelines though, and at the end of the day I'll trust your judgement."

It almost seemed dangerous to give those two that much free reign, almost being the key word. As conniving and mischievous and generally wild as they are, they seemed enthusiastic enough about doing it, and at the very least it'd make Camille's day to day life more exciting.
 
as written by Script

"Val, quick, get me a pen, we need to take notes." Al made a show of rummaging through his pockets, but came up empty handed. He grinned. "Ah well, shouldn't be too hard to remember. In short: no proselytes, no assholes, okay with femme. Got it."

"I think we're going to have to use our better judgement to narrow it down a bit," Val noted. "Half of Delacroix falls into those checkboxes."

"And of course, nobody has better judgement than us."

At that, Inarin laughed under his breath, prompting both of the pair to turn to him.

"Something funny, In?" Al folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Do you disagree?" Val added, with mock indignance.

"N-no, not at all," Inarin replied, still laughing. "You're probably right. I-I'm sure you've gotten all your mistakes out of the way by now."

The twins shared a brief surprised glance. "Well!" Al huffed. "The boy has wit, too!"

"You're lucky you're adorable," Val grinned, squeezing the proselyte and poking him in the ribcage, prompting him to laugh even more. "Or else we might get offended!" He continued to assail Inarin with jabs to the side, that soon devolved into tickling.

"N-no! Stop!" Inarin laughed, flailing helplessly. "I was kidding! Kidding! Ahh!"
 
as written by glmstr

"I swear, knowing you two there's going to be flyers all over town and auditions or something like that, like that one time you were looking for folks to date the two of you," Camille smirked and folded his arms. The affair he mentioned was much more extensive than the details he gave, there were talent scouts, proffesional judges, and even prizes for runner-ups, to name a few things.

He couldn't help but giggle at the twins' antics with tickling Inarin, further cementing the idea that they mesh together almost too well. It was good to see his classmate finally making more friends and socializing more, even if it wasn't always strictly voluntary.
 
as written by Krysis

"I can't, actually, see her. I've always been able to read people from small hints. It's just gotten--" Pierette shrugged one shoulder, making a gesture like she wasn't even going to try to find the right word.

"Thank you, Warden Lévêque, and don't worry about the argument. It was bound to happen sooner or later." Perilous smiled wryly as she turned towards her sisters.

Then she looked over her shoulder at Noah again, giving him a saucy wink, "Of course, if you are lonely and want to endure the drama, we won't turn you away."
 
as written by Script

"We really did get carried away on that one," Al snickered. "But it was a fun party game, if nothing else."

A buzzing in Val's pocket saved Inarin from his tickling, and he released the smaller boy in order to retrieve his phone from it. "Oh, wow. Time flies. We need to get going, Al. We've got class in twenty minutes and James - that's our driver," he added for the benefit of the proselytes, "is waiting."

"Oh, boo." Al sighed. "Well, it's been fun. We should be back later, we have two periods and then... music practice, right?"

"Right."

"Yeah, so we'll be back by early evening."

Val tilted his head in thought for a moment. "Want to get dinner with us? We know the best Volarian restaurant."

"Ohh, Amrana! I love that place!" Al grinned. "It's one of those places where the kitchen is in the center so you can see your food being made, and one of the cooks is an actual avorian, and dem wings though."

"You'll have to be careful Al doesn't drool over your food." Val remarked with a snicker.

"Are you denying he's hot? God, I could just bury my face in that downy plumage and make a nest."

Inarin laughed. "I- uh, sure. I'd love to." He smiled, nodding his head.

"It's a date, then." Val returned the smile, before glancing across at Cam. "Want to make it a double?"

____

The faintest hint of a flush took to Noah's cheeks at the wink, and he cleared his throat to regain his composure. "Ah, thank you, but I'm alright. Please, consider what I said. Your children may be at risk, and my Order can help."

With that, he gave a short bow, and turned to walk away.

I get the feeling she wasn't telling us everything. She seemed very unconcerned by what you said.

Perhaps she was already aware. She was able to sense you, after all. It seems likely she would be able to sense a strangeness about her own children. But why she brushed me off, I couldn't say.

Noah cast a final glance back in Pierette's direction as he moved off, frowning. I hope I don't regret not pushing it.

'twas not your place to, if she did not wish to discuss it. You've no fault there, Noah.

"Hm." Noah shook his head, and turned his gaze forward again, moving to seek out a seat in the stands to watch the rest of the tournament.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top