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Post by shanecross on Jul 13, 2011 0:17:02 GMT -5
Squeeeeeeak.
Sidney grimaced as the elaborate oak door made the same horrible strident noise, unpleasantness etched over every inch of his tired, waterlogged face. You would think that simple oil maintenance on the hinges would come as part of the package of the insanely expensive apartment Sidney had owned for the last two years. His hand was still clutching the elaborate doorknob as he pulled his jacket over his head as the rain continued to beat down. The boat ride was unpleasant, to say the least: the only ferry willing to take them on under such urgent conditions was a dank, moldy schooner that shipped canned goods. The two were huddling under deck in the cold for hours, shivering as the sheets of ice-cold rain beat down on the wooden floor above them. Luckily enough for them, it happened to be raining heavily in France, too.
Sidney used his hand to move his sopping wet hair, unfurled straight with sogginess, out of his face and opened the door to reveal what was clearly an incredibly luxurious apartment, even in the shadows. The dark, expansive living room lay ahead, the faint outline of a television and a larger-than-life sofa hanging in the backdrop. The smell of leather, fresh soil and jasmine rode the ever-so-slightly musty air.
Groping around for the light in the hallway, Sidney finally found the switch, and flicked it. The wall lights and lamps flicked slightly before shining proudly, illuminating the apartment. A large red leather couch came into view, as well as several drawers and armchairs seemingly kneeling towards an old, commandeering antique desk, carved skillfully out of a coffee mahogany. The chandelier, a little late to the game, ignited on all sixteen of its lightbulbs and shone brilliantly in the vaulted ceiling. It definitely had character – its intricate, silver design looked like it dated back to the Victorian era. This apartment definitely had all of the bells and whistles.
Besides the ridiculous number of things that were very expensive, the other most noticeable feature of Sidney’s apartment was that there were a great number of live plants around the area, potted in thick clay. There were small trees, bushes, small ferns, flowers, and a single peace lily grown to almost three times the size of a regular peace lily hanging over the kitchen counter. that was very noticeable.
”Come in, come in,” Sidney said hastily, motioning with his hand for Maron to come in. There were tinges of sheepishness, as though he was embarrassed to own a property this grandiose. She was still standing in the doorway, probably wracking her brains to figure out how a relatively young mutant like Sidney could accumulate enough money to buy this apartment. It was in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, possibly the richest area of maybe the most expensive city to live in in the world. It was two stones’ throws away from l'Assemblée Nationale, and a short walk to the Eiffel Tower.
“Seriously, come in. You must be tired.” Sidney strode over briskly to a collection of trees assembled in a corner of the living room stocked thickly with plants of every sort and variety. He was gone from Maron’s sight of vision momentarily, then returned holding an apple and an orange, both vibrant in color and verging on the size of bowling balls. He offered them to the girl.
“You must be hungry. We have basically every kind of fruit, from apples and oranges to persimmons, kiwi, coconuts…whatever you want.”
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Post by maron on Jul 13, 2011 2:48:09 GMT -5
Maron was absolutely miserable. She's calmed down considerably from the accident in Ireland, but the constant downpour from the heavens had left her cold and dejected. The girl's hoody had done absolutely nothing to help fend off the wretched weather, and soaked her completely to the bone. She wondered if it was possible to recover after being chilled so thoroughly.
She'd never been to Paris before now, and was wide eyed as she tried to take in the sights at the same time as avoiding any eye contact. And then.... The building he lead her to. Well, Maron was absolutely positive she was hallucinating. This place was something you'd expect millionaires to live in. She was on autopilot, her body following and her mind still somewhere around the door in complete disbelief. Her mind didn't catch up with her body until she heard him speak, urging her to enter.
The girl blinked behind the sunglasses, snapping out of her daze instantly and staring at him in utter shock. "This.... This is your home...?" She sounded almost in awe. Not just because it was insane that someone like him lived here, but also because never in her wildest dreams did she think she'd even be allowed to enter the building! Being invited to stay here...
It wasn't until his second urging that she really responded, cautiously entering the doorway. Pushing her hood back, she shook out her long wet locks, her guarded gaze still wide eyed. She took a few more steps into the apartment with that same, cautious and hesitant manner as before. His enthusiasm on his return just about scared her out of her skin, the girl visibly jumping as he reappeared with giant fruit. She stared at him with that same shock, avoiding his eyes, of course, before hesitantly reaching out to take the apple. She didn't take a bite though, just stared down at it intently, as if lost in thought.
"You never explained why. You know, why you are being so nice and hospitable to me.."
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Post by shanecross on Jul 14, 2011 16:07:18 GMT -5
Sidney shrugged his shoulders at Maron’s evident awe, trying to appear nonchalant. He wasn’t exactly bursting with pride at the way he made his money, so he didn’t want to make a big fuss about it. How would Maron feel about being hosted by one of the most prolific drug dealers in all of Western Europe?
“Let’s just say that for me, money actually does grow on trees…”
Nodding silently with approval as Maron took the melon-sized apple into her hands, Sidney ran his hand along the cool, bumpy exterior of the enormous orange he was still clutching. Its skin peeled off neatly, resulting in pieces of orange-skin the size of doormats curled at the young mutant’s feet. He made a sort of flourish with his free hand, and the massive peace lily beside the two leaned over. It wrapped one of its long, thick stems around the peeled orange skins and deposited them neatly in the kitchen trash can. The peace lily straightened up immediately after this eye-popping phenomenon and stood there motionless, as if nothing had happened.
Sidney felt the adrenaline of the trip wearing off. It was pushing 4 am, the weather outside was still wet and stormy and pitch black, and he felt completely exhausted. Collapsing on the leather sofa with the ridiculous orange still tucked under his arm, he grabbed a soft down pillow and tucked it behind his wet head of hair, kicking off his shoes and resting his feet on the coffee table in front of him. He peeled off a hamster-sized orange slice and chewed thoughtfully, processing Maron’s sullen confusion.
“You need to start understanding that there are mutants out there who are wiling to help. I know you’ve lived on tooth and nail thus far, but once in a while a person’s luck will change. Just eat before you faint of exhaustion and I have to get my peace lily to force feed you.” Sidney gave a pointed look at the peace lily right beside Maron’s head, who curled one of its leaves almost forebodingly.
“And for Chrissake, make sure the sunglasses stay on. I’m not looking to be a garden gnome in my own house.”
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Post by maron on Jul 27, 2011 1:29:29 GMT -5
Maron felt like crashing. After everything that had happened, it was surprising she'd lasted this long as is! None the less, she continued to stare down at the apple in her hands. She knew she was hungry, starving actually, but the girl had absolutely no appetite.
Sidney seemed to realize this though, because he'd added the thread of having a plant force feed her at the end of his explanation. "......" As expected, she gave the plant a glance out of the corner of her eyes, just to make sure it wasn't actually going to try to force feed her.... At that moment. Strangely though, the plant, peace lily he'd called it, looked like it was waiting for the order...
"Don't you think you're just asking for trouble though? Having me around.... No chance of you turning into a garden gnome if I'm not here...." Well, wasn't Maron cheerful today! Not only that, she was starting to feel lightheaded, probably from a combination of no appetite and exhaustion. She hadn't actually eaten anything at all the previous day, and the alcohol she'd consumed had only made it worse. Bracing herself against the wall for support, she closed her eyes, already worried that Sidney would be angry with her...
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Post by shanecross on Aug 1, 2011 22:33:31 GMT -5
Still lying almost limply on his leather couch, Sidney casually wiped a few drops of orange juice from his chin with the back of his hand. He popped another whole orange slice into his mouth and screwed up his eyes as he tried to manage the entire fist-sized chunk of fruit all at once. After a while of intense effort, he had swallowed the slice whole. Satisfied for the moment, he looked up at Maron. She didn’t look like a beneficiary of any goodwill at the moment: she was pale as a sheet and swaying back against the wall, looking as if she might swoon at any moment. The girl was not in good shape, and Sidney felt guilty that he had put her through the weathered journey to get here. All of that on the heels of a murder of an innocent man. It just wasn’t Maron’s day.
Sidney fought off the thick fog of disorientation and slid gracefully to his feet, padding over to Maron. He gave her a look of intense rumination as he put a firm hand on her shoulder, steadying her.
”I want you to eat. You’ve been through a lot today.” This was a slight understatement. In just the last few hours Maron had had her first experience with alcohol, withstood a great heaping of sexual harassment and the unshaken guilt of a murder, inadvertent though it might be.
”And I refuse to respond to any more incredulousness about me helping you out. You’re like a broken record. Talk to me about something else.”
As Sidney spoke, the resilient peace lily snuck a surreptitious vine under Maron’s arm, pushing her apple-hand urgently towards her mouth. It just wasn’t going to give up until she ate.
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