WELCOME TO NEXUS.

[~*Belle*~]

This...had to be the most awkward situation she'd ever been in.

Bella Donna Boudreaux just barely refrained from rubbing her temples. She didn't want it to be misconstrued as weakness, a show of how tired she was. The blonde wasn't tired after all, just exasperated. In a state of utter disbelief. She'd never pictured this happening to her. Well, not exactly. Blue eyes stared at the nervous young men sitting in front of her. One thief, one assassin. The Guilds of New Orleans were NOT unified. She was matriarch of the Assassins' Guild, all she'd ever been. The last she'd heard from the grapevine, a council was serving for the Thieves' Guild until they could work something out. Every time they went to vote, there was a dispute.

Find Gambit. Find Jean Luc. Are there any other LeBeau's hiding out? There was even a camp saying to give it to Merci; she was as close to the LeBeau line as they could get as she'd married in with Henri. In any case, until something could be worked out, they were kind of in limbo. The Assassins' Guild though? Well, Bella had been a busy woman there. In fact, she'd only returned stateside this year. Of course, the last several months had been so hectic and crazy that she almost wished that she had just stayed in Europe.

Bella Donna wasn't really in the mood for this. It'd be about ten times easier except that only three-quarters of it was in her jurisdiction. One of the young men here was a thief, technically out of her ruling. On one hand, she couldn't just let him go. On the other, she couldn't do too much of anything to him. Damn teenage hormones. Belle sighed. "Y' 'ave t'understand... t'ose girls are special." And not special in the way these boys were obviously thinking. Special as in, if they knew the truth, they'd backpedal so fast that they'd be at the state lines before Belle could blink. But it was too late now and she'd just barely stopped Gris-Gris from choking them out. The quiet black man had become quite protective of the girls in question. Up until ten minutes ago, he'd been in here, quietly glaring them down from behind her chair. Bella had only been able to get rid of him by advising that perhaps the girls could use a distraction. It had to be so..confusing for them.

Gris-Gris didn't know the half of it. No one except her did and it was getting difficult.

"I don' understand," the young assassin boy - Thoreaux - declared. "Ev'ryone says t'at th' twins be your proteges. T'at makes 'em assassins. So why is it wrong fo' me t'..t'like one?"

Or both. The boy could hardly tell them apart except that only one of them ever 'spoke'.

The thief boy, Ericks, wondered the same, but his reasoning was hardly the same. Sure, he thought the girls were beautiful, but he hadn't thought to do anything. /He/ hadn't. His dad did. And once the man had decided to try and take a shot at what he thought was a weak spot on the other side. Well. So it was on with pairing his son up with one of the 'Boudreaux devil-woman's' pretty little 'strays' and there had been no getting out of it. Ericks had wanted nothing to do with this, mainly because if it went to crap, it'd be him in the firing line.

And that's /exactly/ what had happened. He'd been inches from kissing her - he didn't know which one - when an assassin had dropped out of nowhere like some knucklehead Hand ninja. The assassin? The idiot next to him. Thoreau was apparently in love, or so he'd declared to Ericks while yanking the girl away. The girl hadn't uttered a word, only tried to get away. Thoreaux's reassurances to her had crashed to a halt, along with Thoreau, when she used her powers to smack some sense into him. That is, she mentally smacked him around, and he crashed. Ericks wisely stepped back - this was the wrong twin. The quiet one that didn't like to be touched. Maybe he should have thanked the idiot groaning on the ground. If Claudette didn't like having her hand held, she certainly wouldn't have appreciated him stealing a kiss.

That's when it really went to crap.

Apparently, the twin he was really supposed to aim for - Nicole - had been looking for Claudette. Well, she found her. Found her huddled by a tree clasping paper and pencils, Thoreaux on the ground, and Ericks just wanting to disappear. And he'd have done so if he wasn't dead in the middle of assassin territory with his only hope for a free pass standing five feet away in either direction. Oh, there were certain protections - non-aggression pact and such - but there were ways to do damage without touching him and he was sure that these dagger-happy psychos knew how to accomplish just that. Oh, and there was the fact that one of the 'Cercle de la Mort' was storming over. There was no hope for him now.

Gris-Gris was an intimidating figure to begin with, not that Ericks would ever admit it, but he was even more intimidating as he dragged both him and Thoreaux to see the Matriarch of the Assassins' Guild. He was trespassing after all and his intentions 'unclear'. Hmph. That brought him back to the present in the most uncomfortable position he'd ever been in. If he ever let himself be forced into carrying out one of his father's stupid schemes again, he'd kill himself or run and spare himself the trouble. Never did he dare to imagine he'd be sitting in front of Bella Donna Boudreaux herself, the Queen of Assassins...for trying to court/kiss/seduce? one of her strays. He opted to keep his mouth shut and see if the idiot couldn't keep the heat off him or indirectly talk both their ways out of this.

"..."

Bella Donna could appreciate their confusion; really she could. They probably hadn't ever imagined being brought before her, much less for..this. Attempted kissing. Attempted courting? Really, she wasn't sure. Gris-Gris was ready to declare he'd witnessed hands-on contact, but Nicole said nothing of the sort happened...after she got there. Why Claudette had lashed out was unknown, it could have been anything. Sensitive one, that Claudette. Honestly, she'd never thought she would take in strays. She heard the talk. The Boudreaux line would die with her - no husband and no kids, not even adopted ones or a named heir/heiress.

Lo and behold the St. Croix twins. The Guilds took on strays from time to time, it happened. It did not, however, usually happen with someone at the very time of the Guild food chain! The last stray to get taken in at that level...was a thief. The Prince of Thieves and their AWOL patriarch - Remy LeBeau. The difference there was that he'd been a thief even before the LeBeau family had adopted him. Now the Queen of Assassins had arbitrarily taken on little Princess Assassins, but they weren't pre-vetted as assassins. No one dared broach it with her, they hadn't the nerve after seeing what power the girls did have - and that was a different problem.

"Let's make t'is quick an' easy - no one has t'get hurt here. Don' let Gris-Gris see y' anywhere 'round the girls again an' it should be fine. The girls are off-limits; it's simple as t'at. Now go." A flat look silenced Thoreaux before sound could exit his mouth and the thief, Ericks, had been suspiciously silent from the start. The boys were exiting as Bella called out. "Not you Ericks - y'stay an' I t'ink y'know why."

Ericks cursed his father a thousand times in his head, added a few more against a cheeky Thoreau as he waved goodbye, and turned slowly. "Oui Matriarch Boudreaux." She knew. He didn't know how she knew, but damn it, she /knew/.

[~*Belle*~]

Ericks didn't know why anyone thought it was a good idea to openly make this woman an enemy. He'd been raised all his life - and boy do you feel how short life is sitting across from an assassin - that assassins are stupid, heartless, murderers. They're lower than a swamp rat and twice as worthless. Deceitful little liars. They are, irrevocably and eternally the enemy. He wasn't saying none of it was true; Ericks just felt that it was a bad idea to broadcast that. To a large group of them that didn't live that far away. The teen was never more thankful for the non-aggression pact than he was right now. The blonde across from him looked incredibly bored and he wasn't sure if he should be relieved or not. What do assassin even do when bored anyway? He'd stick with his default response: cautious.

Bella Donna was kind of stuck here. On the one hand, she had to do something. Thief on assassin territory...with, alright, so Claudette wasn't an assassin. However, she was in assassin custody, /her/ custody. It was the same thing. Worse, because it was common knowledge at this point. He don' look like the stupid type. You'd think that he would know better. Also not helping his case was that Bella could tell he wasn't in it to win affection. He wasn't matching up to Thoreaux who, poor idiot, was infatuated with the girls. Girl. She wasn't sure who he was gunning for - probably Nicole - but it didn't matter. They were off limits. Also off limits? Trying to use the twins to get at her.

HOWEVER...this kid was also kind of untouchable. She couldn't touch him, no assassin could according to the non-aggression pact still in play. She also couldn't quite place who's brat this was supposed to be, his dad could be anyone. Maybe even someone bucking for council over there. Taking her down a notch, by any fashion, would elevate any thief's status. Her face clouded over - kids being used for the Guilds political games...

Again.

She pressed her lips together in a displeased fashion at the thought. The Guilds weren't unified, she wasn't in charge - of thieves, that is. He was in her territory, messing with what was hers...but wasn't in her jurisdiction. She could lock him in a room with Gris-Gris. Icy sapphires stared the boy down. He was doing a commendable job by not squirming..much. Bella did him a favor by not smirking, just maintaining the bored look. She even propped her chin on a hand. "Why are y' here?"

Ericks thought about keeping his mouth shut.

"Y' c'n tell me wit' yo'r mouth o' tell me wit' yo'r head. Yo'r choice."

"Family." He wasn't taking the fall for this alone, but damn it he couldn't just hand his father up on a silver platter. The woman didn't even have the decency to look surprised. He supposed that at some point you expect this sort of thing at some point.

"I see," Bella said. She didn't have time for this right now so she made a snap decision..snap punishment. She'd track down the boy's full name and lineage later. "Get out."

Ericks' head snapped up, eyes wide for once. "Excuse me?"

"Get out. Don' let me catch you on my territory o' even lookin' in the twins' general direction."

Unbelievable, he was getting away with th--

"Gris-Gris will escort y' out. All the way back t' Thief Territory...for yo'r protection." She was proud to maintain the bored look. "Alone." And damn did the color draining from the kid's face make her want to smile. "How many ways can someone cause damage wit'out touchin' a body?" she queried, seemingly to no one. "Bon chance."

Ericks walked out to a death march he heard only in his head. Twin heads poked out of a doorway and Ericks froze like their eyes were laser dots on his face. They blinked at him...and then Gris-Gris came out. He turned back to the blonde woman in the chair, but she just gestured for him to turn back around. To Gris-Gris and what probably passed for a smile on him. One of the twins calling out ~*See, there was still one left in there. He's the one who wanted to give you a kiss, right Claudette?*~ was like a death knell.

[~*Penance*~]

Gris-Gris wasn't entirely sure of what to do here. He had been just fine glaring down the two boys in Bella's office. Then he'd been kicked out - no idea why - and sent to 'distract' the twins. He supposed that meant he should keep them from wandering around or getting loose. Fun thing to try when one of them had the power to /create portals/. He carefully opened the door, not bothering to knock. He had at first, having had several traumatizing experiences on every occasion that he failed to knock on Bella Donna or Singer's doors over the years. Contrary to the two Cajun women, the twins were hardly ever doing anything or in any state of undress. He always got a prompt come in and, once, Nicole had asked why he knocked. This train of questioning had come due to belief that lodging in someone else's home negated their right to privacy. That and Nicole couldn't fathom what he worried about seeing.

Should'o stayed outside. Because he had been a distraction indeed to the girls. Peppering him with questions - or Nicole had anyway - Gris-Gris had maintained his statue-impersonation. Now he wondered if the two young teens didn't think he was playing some strange game. They had these moments of childishness at times. Weird pair they were. He wondered because, now, the two were sitting and staring right back at him as twin statues. Precocious twin statues. He had to say that Claudette was way better at it. He'd be uneasy if he wasn't aware that her ability to mimic a stone figure was mostly due to her autism. Her behavior had been a mystery to them all until he had figured out something was interfering with her emotional capacity. Being an empath had a great many uses. He could tell her emotions weren't being consciously suppressed, nor was it true indifference. When asked if her sister had a medical condition, Nicole had said that nothing was wrong with her sister. Gris-Gris had detected the defensiveness there are re-phrased the question. That was when it came out that the other girl was autistic. A little research and now they, the inner circle here anyway, had gotten pretty good at handling the girl.

Nicole stared steadily back at Gris-Gris, thinking that this was a really weird game. She was trying really hard not to blink or make a face, just like Gris-Gris. She liked Gris-Gris. He was, in his quiet way, very nice. She didn't know why so many people steered clear of the burly black man, he let her and Claudette hang around him all the time. He even gave Claudette different kinds of paper to draw on and tried, emphasis on tried, to teach Nicole how to paint. Yeah...she'd leave the art to her twin. Nicole, personally, just found it relieving - and different - to deal with..people. There were people everywhere. People that talked to them, or tried. One or two knew sign language! They gave them sweets and treated them like, well, people! It was a novel concept. Fifolet said it was a given that they'd be treated so well; they were under the matriarch's personal protection.

Claudette sat patiently next to her sister, wondering when a winner to this game would be declared. Her sister would probably lose the game - again. Nicole was thinking of the blonde lady for some reason. The matriarch. Definition - 'a woman who rules or dominates a family, group, or state; specifically : a mother who is head and ruler of her family and descendants'. Except the blonde lady had no children and had no family. She was the last of the Boudreaux family it seemed. So the first definition, referring to ruling a group, was the applicable one. It was the title given to the leader of the Assassins' Guild, in the event that said leader was female. A male leader was patriarch.

They'd been led in here, but Claudette wanted to go back outside. Hopefully, that strange boy who'd been thinking of getting so close to her would stay away. She didn't like it when people got so close. Only Nicole could sit so close. Nicole was fine. Sometimes she'd let one of the people who'd found them - Gris-Gris, Singer, Fifolet - stand around her, but not touch. The blonde lady, she was alright. Nicole said that was the source of their protection. Why they always had escorts, why everyone was so accepting - though Claudette had detected several that were insincere, and why no one from the opposing Guild - Thieves' Guild - even tried to start fights. She wondered why the matriarch would extend protection to people outside of her group. She and Nicole were not assassins, never were, and they were not being trained as assassins. Granted, she and Nicole watched the training sometimes, if they were bored enough. Well, if Nicole was bored. Claudette found the training tactics interesting. This was, technically, 'secret' training, but no one ever stopped them from watching. Really, hardly anyone stopped them from doing anything.

Finally, Nicole cracked and lost, giggling for reasons unclear to Claudette. Nicole got up, hovering so that she was quite close to Gris-Gris' face. ~*Can we go see Ms. Boudreaux now? She's been talking to those boys a really long time.*~ Gris-Gris had twitched, a suppression of a reflex to someone abruptly getting so close to his face, before frowning. They weren't supposed to know about the boys being carted off to the blonde lady. Gris-Gris was now frowning at her. Oh, she wasn't supposed to read his mind for information. Those pesky empathetic powers, being around a telepath all the time, and that 'voodoo' stuff made it relatively easy for Gris-Gris to tell when someone was nosing around his head, even just skimming. Claudette could see benefits to that, but it wasn't helpful if you couldn't see it coming until it happened. By then, for a skim, the telepath would have what they wanted. Nicole said doing that wasn't nice. Claudette didn't see a problem if the information was pertinent to them.

In any case, they both broke so she won the game. When someone wins a game, they are supposed to win a prize. She decided that her prize was to go out of this room. When she tried to go, unfortunately, Gris-Gris remained in the way with no intention of budging. Nicole observed worriedly, knowing her twin would either make a portal out or make a portal to make Gris-Gris go away. Nervously, Nicole said, ~*I think Claudette wants to see Ms. Boudreaux. Can we go see her?*~

Gris-Gris didn't have to wonder about Nicole's nervousness. That tone suggested that Claudette was about to do something unpleasant to someone and she was trying to warn them. Unfortunately, he was the only one around, so he must be that 'someone' this time. He doubted Claudette wanted anything other than to get out, but he was supposed to keep them occupied until--

~*Her door opened!*~ Gris-Gris found himself nudged aside, which was a horrid sensation for a grown man when contending with a girl barely halfway through her teen years. Still, less damage was done now than when they had first discovered the girl's super strength. They were still repairing that part of the manor...

Nicole poked her head out the doorway, while Claudette strolled out into the hallway completely. ~*See, there was still one left in there. He's the one who wanted to give you a kiss, right Claudette?*~ Claudette hadn't been aware of this potential 'kiss'; she had only noted that he had been far too close to her. Kiss. Definition - 'to touch with the lips especially as a mark of affection or greeting'. Neither of those were okay. Well, Nicole gave her kisses sometimes, on the forehead when they were going to sleep or on top of her head. That was alright, but only from Nicole. Claudette filed memories of the boy's behaviors away, noting them as behavior meant to indicate intentions of kissing.

Nicole scrambled down the hall before Gris-Gris could stop her and Claudette followed sedately behind. She heard a sigh behind her, indicating that an inconvenienced Gris-Gris was following behind.

[~*Belle*~]

She was being stared at.

After sending the thief boy off home, escorted by a delighted - on the inside - Gris-Gris, the blonde found that she wasn't done with people in her office yet. Apparently, Claudette had wanted to see her. That's what Gris-Gris had said, sounding oh-so-smug. Funny t'at, 'cause she ain' said a word. Sure enough, when armed with stationary and colored pencils, the girl appeared to have nothing to say. Bella Donna spared the autistic child a bemused look. Hard to handle, but easy to please. Her sister though...

Bein' stared at. The Cajun couldn't fathom what was so fascinating about watching her do paperwork, but nothing could convince the young girl to take and twin and vacate. Unaccustomed to dealing with children, teens, that weren't terrified of her title, Bella guessed she had no choice but to leave them be. Claudette could draw and Nicole could..stare. The ability to focus so singularly could be useful, but Bella Donna really wished the girl wouldn't hone her ski-- Ah ha.

"Say..you girls.. Y' like t'watch the others trainin' sometimes non?"

Claudette kept drawing, which no longer shocked or irritated Bella Donna. She knew that, despite appearances, the girl had heard her. Talk to Nicole, but address both of them. Make sure to look towards Claudette at times, include her. The blonde assassin had become quite adept in Croix-etiquette over the last few months. Predictably, Nicole was all over it. ~*Yes, it's very interesting. Sometimes, they let us throw things,*~ the girl chirped. Throw things? Who let these two get their hands on weapons without asking first? She hadn't authorized that. With Nicole's super strength, she could kill someone. And Claudette? No telling. She might..put her eye out or something. Unlikely, as Bella Donna, did not eerie intelligence there in the autistic teen, but still. Dangerous stuff. Dangerous stuff that she hadn't authorized. Someone would be sorry, but the Cajun woman presented a smile. It was, in this present case, playing into her hands that they had held weaponry before. Even just for play throwing.

"Wonderful. Why don' we go practice t'gether?" Sure, she didn't really need to go. She trained at night. And yes, she should continue to sit and do paperwork while Claudette doodled and Nicole stared. It was the responsible thing to do. The matriarch thing to do.

Well this matriarch was 26 years old and bored of paperwork. Belle had every intention, now, of making good use of the two valid excuses sitting around in her office. "Can't 'ave y'unable to defend yo'rself from all the lil' boys who be wantin' t'kiss y'." Her expression turned bemused as Nicole wrinkled her nose in what looked like disgust. Into her teen years and still acting like boys had cooties or something. It was funny, how childish these two acted at times. Not bratty childish, just..child-like. It was, dare she say, cute..in a nauseating kind of way. "Right. C'mon. Bring yo'r sister along. She c'n...bring her art supplies if she wants." Belle waited semi-patiently as Nicole coerced her twin into having some 'fun', even bribing her with the allowance of the art supplies. To both their shock, Claudette abandoned her doodling - looked like a bunch of wobbly circles to Bella - and got up. With the coloring pencils in hand. ..... Weird kid. Probably shouldn't make that call on an autistic kid, but Belle couldn't help it. The girl did some strange things.

She better not be plannin' to draw on the walls o' floors.



((TBC: Belle: New Orleans: You'll Put Your Eye Out Kid))

This post has been edited by ~*Belle*~ on Jul 15 2012, 05:09 PM

[~*Penance*~]

Bouncing into the room uninvited, Nicole waited for her twin to get settled with what she was going to do before seeking her own entertainment. Claudette had opted to take a seat and amuse herself with a familiar pursuit - drawing. The blonde lady, the matriarch, Nicole, seemed not to have a problem with supplying plenty of stationary and such for her to draw on. It was like an endless supply of all sorts of paper with different colors and textures. All at her disposal. And then there were the pencils, color pencils, markers, and paints. All hers. The blonde lady said so. She had to keep the paints and markers in their room though. The blonde lady had said so about a day or two after she had tried painting in the kitchen. She had thought it needed more color. Monochrome and whiteness...she didn't like it. So she tried to change it.

...now she couldn't take paints outside of their room. But that was okay, she had 'fixed' their room already.

For her part, Nicole was studying Ms. Boudreaux. She'd never been allowed in an office before, allowed to watch the work. Trying to spend time with the father by doing what he 'liked' to do was not allowed. He always sent them away, saying their were distracting. It was weird because they only did it after seeing that it worked for Monet. Hm. And while Xavier certainly never kicked them out of his office, they'd never been super fond of being indoors. It was kind of nerve-racking. They always worried about damaging something, someone. Or that someone would come in and startle them. Then the spikes and talons went crazy and she went crazy and people bleed and--

It was better, as Penance, to stay outside.

That wasn't a problem anymore though! Nicole split her time between Claudette and marveling at the novelty of skin. Actual, real flesh. Sometimes she just stared at herself. It wasn't vanity, it was just so /good/ to see chocolate over ruby, brown instead of pupil-less blue. She could sit in this chair, while her sister was in that chair. Separate. She could reach over and touch her twin, if she wanted. And sure, it was really weird to be in this body that was bigger than she remembered being, bigger than her real age, but whatever. He-who-shall-not-be-named could have caused much worse than this, /had/ caused much worse than this. The could live with this.

Anyway, back to novelties. Nicole studied Ms. Boudreaux very carefully, as though her staring would unravel all the answers. Nicole had never been in a position to spend lots of time around grown-ups that didn't seem to mind her being around. They talked to her even though she had to use telepathy to talk back. They acknowledged her presence. She and Claudette didn't have to compete for their attention or be starved of it, it was freely given. So she stared, really, because she could. Because she was fascinated that she could. She wondered what all the paperwork was for. Ms. Boudreaux had told them, quite plainly, that they were among the Assassins' Guild. Nicole knew what that meant...kind of. A little. She knew what it meant like any kid would know it - like a story. Soldiers fight in wars, thieves steal things, and assassins kill people. So why the papers?

"Say..you girls.. Y' like t'watch the others trainin' sometimes non?"

Claudette heard the words, but didn't reply. Nicole would. She usually did. They did watch the training sometimes. On certain occasions, they were even allowed to participate. And by 'participate', she meant they gave them projectiles and stood a good distance away as they threw them. Claudette rather liked it after Nicole directed her attention to the circles. She liked circles; they were great. On and on, forever and ever. No breaking, no end. Throwing the projectiles at the circles had proved entertaining. Circles, circles.. The girl-teen's thoughts translated easily onto the paper she had.

Nicole, as predicted by both her twin sister and present guardian, perked up in response. ~*Yes, it's very interesting. Sometimes, they let us throw things*~] It had been super fun and, even better, Claudette had liked it too! It was hard to find things that Claudette would do for more than five or ten minutes. It was probably because the targets had circles. That was a great find. Nicole didn't know why her twin was so fixated on the circles, but she supposed there were more harmful things her autistic twin could fixate on. She'd be thankful that this fixation was so simple and easy to satisfy.

"Wonderful. Why don' we go practice t'gether?"

What's this? A grown-up /volunteering freely/ to do something with them? Nicole was over the moon with excitement. She didn't even care what the woman wanted to do. She was all for it.

"Can't 'ave y'unable to defend yo'rself from all the lil' boys who be wantin' t'kiss y'."

Nicole made a face. Ewwww... They were lucky that icky boy hadn't managed to...to cootie-fy her sister. They - she and Gris-Gris - had arrived just in time. ~*Gris-Gris wouldn't let that happen,*~ she said confidently.

"Right. C'mon. Bring yo'r sister along. She c'n...bring her art supplies if she wants."

While her twin was agreeable to anything under the sun, Claudette had already deduced that the blonde lady was talking about more target practice. She could do that, no problem. Except this time, she wanted to draw her own circle targets. Hers would be better, in different places with different colors. She could fly up the trees and place a nice white circle somewhere or maybe draw a red one on the ground. It'd be hard to do with coloring pencils, but she bet if she pressed just so, she could do it. She'd leave her paper here though. They always had plenty on the training grounds.


((TBC: St. Croix Twins: New Orleans: You'll Put Your Eye Out Kid))

This post has been edited by ~*Penance*~ on Jul 8 2012, 10:02 PM