Hey! Hey, you! Let's go! [Canon: Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec]

[femme_de_siecle]

[She crosses her arms huffily, blowing at a feather on a very feathery hat in a clear show of disdain and impatience. The slow tapping of a very fashionable shoe emphasizes this just a little bit more.]

Come on! As we speak the story of the century is out there, somewhere, waiting for me! I should be after it, not sitting here in your stupid, slow, foreign head. I should be out on the streets, finding the beating heart of Paris! And then discovering an adventure.

And no, I don't know what the story is but that doesn't matter. One always finds me, and there were all those rumours coming out of Montparnasse...

[She gestures with both hands in the direction of the door. Then waves them with a look of 'come on!' when nothing happens. When she speaks again it is rapid fire, with a look that implies that 'timidity' is pretty synonymous with 'useless']

Out there! Now, right now, in my city! And yes, yes, I nearly drowned on that liner, but we have things to do. Enemies could be at large! Plots afoot! Creatures amock and afoot! I am Adele Blanc-Sec, not a...a...parlour lady! Let's get to it.

[She strides off towards the door, skirts blowing and feathers dancing]

Well? Are you coming?

Comments

[ladyevangelinenix]

Goodness, give a person half a moment to adjust, you've only just moved in.

[Is she holding letters of introduction and a calling card? Yes. She's not completely lost her ability to mimic a socially functioning woman of her background ("parlour lady" as this one apparently and so disdainfully calls them) She's determined not to be flustered but she's already a bit caught off guard by the bright dress and that absurd hat.]

[femme_de_siecle]

[She rolls her eyes, literally tromping back and snatching the letters and calling card with something verging on bad grace and well past a lack of patience. She reads them out loud in a sing-song voice, head tilting from side to side.]

[She does take a moment to eye this person after actually noting all the credentials. That gives even her a moment's pause. Pretty, in the English way. Trying to look plain when they could turn every head in the room. A dull, dull hat. No flair, alas.]

Yes, hello, je suis Adele. [She once again gestures to the door] Move in later, adventure now!

[ladyevangelinenix]

[This hat keeps her from blistering all to hell in sunlight and it's just fine, thank you very much! She makes a small piping noise of indignation at having her papers snatched away. She was trying so hard to be a classy and composed young woman and Adele is throwing her off.]

Believe me, I entirely sympathize with the need to go find some mad thing to chase after but you can't just bully the person into letting you go.

Expeditions require planning! Assembling adventuring partners! Plotting courses!

[femme_de_siecle]

[She gives her a look that has much to say about wondering how the English became an empire and indeed what sorts of adventures she'd been on.]

[Then there's a slight pause]

Adventuring partners? Plotting courses? [She waves all of it away] Instinct! That is what is needed. What point is there to all the preparation when you are in a race to get there, hmm?

[ladyevangelinenix]

[Eva shakes her head and rolls her eyes a bit.]

Well, I'm meant to be your adventuring partner, so...you're going to have to compromise a bit on the planning thing, Miss Blanc-Sec.

[femme_de_siecle]

[The foot tapping resumes as her face goes a little bit blank, like a battle is going on between a burning fuse and the tiny, reluctant voice that argues that someone else may, for once, have a point.]

Oh, very well. What sort of plans do we need then, hmm?

[ladyevangelinenix]

Well, I'm sure if you gave the fellow a moment to breathe, it would become apparent. [She huffs a little, putting her hands on her narrow hips.]

Do you like monsters? Interest-wise, I mean.

[femme_de_siecle]

[She waggles a finger at her with a smile]

You stick with me, lady, and you'll see some monsters. Though, to be fair, the mummies were rather nice.

[She pauses]

Merde, he never gave me the suit back. Oh, well. [She waves it away]

What is another pair of men's pants laying around the place, oui?

[ladyevangelinenix]

Mummies--? [She blinks in confusion, which does not improve with the way Adele's mind seems to jump from one subject to another without any kind of transition. She of course blatantly ignores this trait in herself, though she likes to think she does not make such lurches aloud.]

In any case, yes, monsters. I'm pretty sure that's what we're going to be looking for.

[femme_de_siecle]

[She waves that away, too]

They're not important. After they got bored of the Champs Elysses, they went back to Egypt. I think. Something.

[And she gestures in a manner that says 'thank God']

Yes! Monsters! The key part being they are out there where I am not writing about them. Someone else will get the 'scoop!' Worse, that bastard Dieuleveult will get there first!

[She turns and looks out the window, arching up on tip toes just in case she can see something worth writing about.]

ugh sorry, moving fiasco in progress

[ladyevangelinenix]

Ah, a journalist. She gives some abstract and distant thing a long-suffering look. A French journalist to boot, though she tried not to be so grotesquely nationalistic about it.

"I have a list?" She suggests, removing a notebook from a battered satchel at her side. "Since you give the general impression of being ready to whirl out of the door without any kind of idea where you're going."

No worries :)

[femme_de_siecle]

"Aha! I knew you couldn't be as boring as all that!"

She immediately reaches for the book, impatient as a child facing chocolate.

"And I can find out as I go! Improvisation is a key skill of mine."

Re: No worries :)

[ladyevangelinenix]

Reflexively due to being startled, Eva pulls her hand back out of Adele's reach.

"Beg your pardon!" She squeaks, as the woman nearly lurches into her. "While I admire your enthusiasm and your confidence, I have learned that one cannot be too careful."

[femme_de_siecle]

[A foot stamps before she can help it, and there is a muttered 'merde' under her breath]

Yes, you can. You are being it right now. Didn't your mere teach you to share?

[If the rhyme was on purpose, she's not admitting it. Finally she tromps across the room and sinks into a chair with a roll of her eyes, like a clockwork automaton shutting down]

Oh, fine. You do your dissertation, then we can get to work.

[ladyevangelinenix]

Eva bites back the urge to point out that her mere had died before she was seven, and that there was not one to learn how to share with on her isolated estate. But she's trying not to be rude. She finds a spot to lean her hip and goes through her notebook.

"Well, your mun has made the suggestion involving the Russian folkloric figure of Baba Yaga, if cannibalistic old ladies are something you might be interested in?"

[femme_de_siecle]

There is a long moment of silence while words sink through the petulance.

"Cannibalistic old ladies?"

She starts to brighten, slowly standing.

"In Russia." The smile grows. "After the Revolution." It starts to cover her face. "With the Civil War engulfing the land!"

She rubs her hands together.

"Oh yes. Let's do that." She turns on her heels, and immediately grabs a suitcase. Well, cases.

"Here!" she says, tossing one at Eva's feet. "This one is for your disguises!" Another is tossed to her. "All the lingerie goes in this one. Never know, oui?"

she's so cute send help.

[ladyevangelinenix]

"Disguises?" She asks, and then, with further indignation. "Lingerie? Madame Blanc-Sec I think we may have very different approaches to adventuring....Lingerie!" She says again mostly under her breath. The French.

Well I sent non-cute onto DM tonight, possibly mostly for you :P

[femme_de_siecle]

She gives her a look that says 'you're helpless' with the tilt of her head, the cast of her lips, and her hands on her hips.

"Well, of course. Never approach from the back door when you can march in the front bold as brass. And do not 'knock it', like the Yankees say - you never know when you need a distraction."

She tilts her head back and forth.

"You have a certain willow-like nature that a good negligee could accent. We might need to distract some guards or something."

She waves it away as if using Eva as bait, in a negligee, is part of every day life.

[ladyevangelinenix]

"What? No...I...no..." She crosses her arms across her narrow form defensively. "No, absolutely not! We are not talking about this. We have other things we need to pack. Like books and maps and travel supplies. Do you speak Russian? Mine isn't great but I think I can manage. Also, money."

[femme_de_siecle]

She is already throwing clothing into a valise, literally throwing. She pauses, hefting extra notebooks in one hand, and a pair of champagne magnums in the other, deciding between them. Finally, she sighs and tosses the notebooks in.

"Oh, I can learn it," she said, "Russian isn't that hard." And, well, there's more crossover from the French than most people realize.

"We can buy maps at the train station! And money, well, I will get it from my editor on the way. He won't mind if we call in. Flirt a bit, we'll get more. He always had a thing for the English ladies."

[ladyevangelinenix]

"F-flirt--no!" She pipes, her sallow cheeks turning a lurid red with embarrassment.

Her own bags are packed with much deliberation and care to protect her documentation materials and her books. Admittedly probably more books than necessary. She looks relieved when the other woman puts aside the champagne things. Priorities!

"So, what? We're just going to plot a course through the Russian wilderness while on the first train you happen to come across?" She asks, though she is now legitimately afraid of the answer.

[femme_de_siecle]

She glances at the clock.

"Oh, no, we have about an hour before it leaves. What would we do, wait for the 5AM train? Goodness, no. That's when your enemies spring at you, right before the dawn. The guards and porters are most asleep."

"Though," she said, thoughtfully, opening her closet and looking critically at a fur-lined coat, "that means we could sneak on more easily if my editor is more stingy than usual..."

She pauses, arching an eyebrow at Eva.

"Since somebody is not a fan of the flirting."

[goblinish]

[ While a bit... well, yes, intimidating, it's also always refreshing for Avinin to run into human females who remind him of goblinish ones. All the push and go and impatience is pleasantly familiar. ]

I haven't met many female humans charged with peacekeeping. What's your position? [ Yeah, he's just going to go ahead and assume she's some manner of law officer. ]

[femme_de_siecle]

[The look he gets is half 'what on earth?' and half 'do I look like someone who, in any vague capacity, is concerned with keeping the peace?']

Generally running or riding or, lately, sinking. Peacekeeping? I am a reporter, par excellence! That has nothing to do with peace!

[In her case, though, possibly via deconstruction of said peace.]

[english_dignity]

[Have an eyebrow raise.]

If you want to find the heart, I suggest a good sharp knife. And some ear plugs. He shrieks like a dying rabbit.

[femme_de_siecle]

[She raises an exquisite eyebrow momentarily]

So do most things, when you stab them in the heart. What, do some do the box shuffle and play Le Marseillaise?

[english_dignity]

There are plenty of more dignified ways to go down.

[Read: English ways.]

[femme_de_siecle]

[She huffs]

The day the English know about those ways, I shall eat my hat.

But, still, the point - I am here, adventure is there.

[clever_cravat]

Odd's fish, Madam! I've no idea what a 'liner' is, but it sounds in keeping with the spirit of adventure! And Paris, no less! I myself have rather a fondness for the place, when she's in a friendly way that is.

If it's a plot you're looking for, I'm certain the muns would be willing to oblige. They are so demnably clever at these things!

[femme_de_siecle]

Her eyes narrow with something akin to suspicion. Well, at least this one has a dress sense. But...English. An Englishman with a sense of fun? That would be a first.

So the question of 'is he actually real?' raises its head.

"A big boat, with many people, that sinks very fast when it strikes an iceberg. And yes, Paris, though the last time she was friendly depends on your point of view and how much champagne you have consumed."

[clever_cravat]

"Sink me! It sounds a wonder to behold, so long as it's afloat." He gives a broad grin, seeming wholly amused by his choice of words and looking as if he thinks himself clever for them.

"Ah, Champagne! Lovely region, so long as her baskets are filled with grapes, and not heads! Fortunately for me, I haven't far to go to be reminded on the real beauty and passion of Paris. I've had the misfortune of bringing a part of it home, and marrying her!" Though the way he says it, there's no misfortune at all. Marguerite is the absolute light of his life, and he believes himself the luckiest man in the world, having met and married her.

[femme_de_siecle]

Yes, yes there is quite a lot of suspicion going on here. Her eyes narrow more.

"Alright," she says, throwing up her hands then going for her money purse. "Which cabaret are you with and how much should I give you? Excellent performance, very nice, but I am a busy reporter!"

She rummages around.

"Wrong currency, a button, the thumb of a mummy...ah, yes, pence."

She proffers him literally tuppence. Because she's making a statement about the performance, really.

[clever_cravat]

Percy, well, Percy literally pouts when she offers him the pence, but it's not a literal pout, oh no. There's the twitch at the corner of his mouth that says he is having a very hard time keeping the look without cracking.

"Lud, Madam. A button would have at least been a compliment." Gone is the loud obnoxious sound coming from his mouth, but there's still that boyish excitement in his eyes as he teases but with a more reserved nature to it all.

"Since my wife is not here, I shall have to apologize for my own outburst. I do get so damnably excited about the little things." Oh if only Marguerite were there, she would certain have taken advantage of that opportunity to make fun of his manhood. She had the cleverest of wit, one that surpassed his own and he found it incredibly alluring.

[femme_de_siecle]

She rolls her eyes, but it's at least a tiny bit amused.

"Alright, alright, I have paid you and you can drop the act. You are a very good actor, monsieur."

She pauses, shaking her head.

"Honestly, you're worse than the mimes." It's half a compliment, really. The mimes of Paris are dedicated.