InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "That's your mishigoss"

Mal Cobb (la_reveuse) wrote in utr_logs,
@ 2010-08-30 22:33:00

Entry tags:

mal cobb, petit lapan lebeau

WHO: Mal and Petit
WHAT: Checking up on Arthur
WHERE: Guildhall
WHEN: A few days after Mal arrived
WARNINGS: Nah

It had not been long to find a trace of this Petit and her guild; there weren't many assassins' guilds that kept hackers or chemists on retainer. Mal showed up armed, at the nearest portkey she could find to the guildhall's location on the outskirts of New Orleans. She ought to feel at home, somehow, but this wasn't France and it wasn't real French. But it was the States, and if her children had been here, they'd have been nearby.

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prettylilbunny
2010-08-31 04:00 am UTC (link)

Petit was used to people showing up without warning, some people made an appointment in advance, some didn't, it was just the nature of the business.

She had someone show Mal to the parlor while she made herself presentable, which was to say, change out of the shirt that had the baby spitup on it and sweep her hair up off her neck with a claw clip.

She was the picture of calm as she drifted into the parlor, smiling, "Has anyone offered you something to drink yet?"

(Reply to this)

	la_reveuse 2010-08-31 04:19 am UTC (link)
	Mal was at her most professional, especially with another woman. She rose when Petit arrived, shaking her head. "No, but it would be nice. I appreciate it. I'm glad you could see me on a short notice." (Reply to this)

	prettylilbunny 2010-08-31 04:22 am UTC (link)
	There was a smile then, "Not a problem, I always say that the door's always open." She shook her head then, "Water? Sweet tea? Mint julep?" A shrug, "Could probably scrounge up some chocolate milk or soda, if that's more your taste." (Reply to this)

	la_reveuse 2010-08-31 04:37 am UTC (link)
	"Just water would be nice. Thank you." Mal smiled, sitting back down and crossing her legs. "I'm new in this place, and thought I ought to make your acquaintance; you've employed a dear friend." (Reply to this)

	prettylilbunny 2010-08-31 04:39 am UTC (link)
	The same lackey that had shown Mal to the parlor slipped away to get a pitcher of water and glasses, Petit smiled, "I'm going to guess Arthur, but I wouldn't rule out Ezio either." She said as she settled into one of the armchairs, ankles crossing, looking perfectly at home. (Reply to this)

	la_reveuse 2010-08-31 05:10 am UTC (link)
	"Arthur, yes." Mal kept that smile. "Did he tell you what he used to do?" If he hadn't, obviously, Mal wouldn't. (Reply to this)

	prettylilbunny 2010-08-31 05:15 am UTC (link)
	She shrugged, "Former CIA, dropped into the life of a British secret service agent when he landed here." She tilted her head, "Most I've gotten was that he's been freelancing in information and security technologies for a while. And I have to say that he's the best intel guy I've ever had. Our last guy was good, but Arthur's better." (Reply to this)

	la_reveuse 2010-08-31 05:22 am UTC (link)
	Mal nodded. "I merely wondered; I worked with him and was going to be discreet if he had been." She chuckled. "I wanted to check up on him a bit, to be quite honest ... he worked with my husband and I for ages, and he seems ... out of water? I'm sorry, my English isn't perfect." (Reply to this)

	prettylilbunny 2010-08-31 05:26 am UTC (link)
	She laughed as well, nodding, "That's a good phrase for him." She shrugged then, "He hasn't volunteered any information, and I haven't asked. That's how I run things here, I let private lives stay private, unless they become a problem for work life." (Reply to this)

	la_reveuse 2010-08-31 05:37 am UTC (link)
	Mal nodded. "It makes sense, and I'm not his mother." She chuckled. "I simply wanted to know where he worked so that I could find him if need be. Any work he does for me won't interfere of course." Well, not if she could help it. Somehow, Arthur was Mal's first, though she wouldn't say that to Petit. (Reply to this)

	prettylilbunny 2010-08-31 05:41 am UTC (link)
	Petit smiled again at that, pouring them each a glass of water when the lackey returned, "Don't worry about it, if he needs time to do something he's got it." There was an amused little twist to the expression then, handing the glass to the other woman, "Though I suspect you'll have to tell me, I doubt he would." (Reply to this)

	la_reveuse 2010-08-31 06:00 am UTC (link)
	Mal nodded her thanks and laughed at Petit's statement. "He's close to the vest, I think you say." She shook her head. "I don't even know why he is that way, but it makes him an excellent point man." (Reply to this)

	prettylilbunny 2010-08-31 06:07 am UTC (link)
	"He is. On both counts." She shrugged, "I haven't known him that long and I already know I'd rather have him at my back than against me." Her brow creased slightly, looking for the right word, "He's ... efficient. I was going to say 'ruthless', but he isn't, really." (Reply to this)

	la_reveuse 2010-08-31 06:21 am UTC (link)
	Mal chuckled again. "He'll get angry with me saying this, but I know he doesn't even like to kill in dreams." An abstract statement, perhaps, but it was still workable without loads of further explanation. Still, a subject change. "He's a dear friend, and he's been good enough to allow me to lean on him somewhat. Since my husband and my children are ... not here." (Reply to this)

prettylilbunny
2010-08-31 06:26 am UTC (link)

She winced at that, shaking her head, "I'm sorry to hear that. My husband vanished for some time a while back, when I was still pregnant with Henri, I... well, I don't usually admit it, but I don't know that I would have made it through without friends." She shook her head, smiling faintly, "The kind that come and bring cheeseburgers just to make sure you're eating and then do a load or two of laundry while they're over."

(Reply to this)

	la_reveuse 2010-08-31 06:28 am UTC (link)
	Mal nodded, relieved the woman understood, though she had to try to be amusing, just to keep her mind off Dom. "Arthur would faint if I asked him to do laundry. Shoot people, yes; press shirts, beyond him." (Reply to this)

	prettylilbunny 2010-08-31 06:32 am UTC (link)
	There was a quiet huff and a barely-there smile, shaking her head, "He doesn't strike me as the fainting type. He'd make that face that he makes and then go find a dry cleaner." (Reply to this)

	la_reveuse 2010-08-31 03:24 pm UTC (link)
	"That face which so eloquently describes how silly the person is for asking him whatever they've asked?" Mal sat back, amused. "He's had that face for as long as I've known him, that's certain." (Reply to this)

	prettylilbunny 2010-08-31 03:29 pm UTC (link)
	"That's the one." She said, smiling again, "He's very adept at it, I've noticed, wide range of intensities." She shrugged, "But if he's been at it that long, it makes sense." (Reply to this)

	la_reveuse 2010-08-31 03:33 pm UTC (link)
	Mal had to think for a moment. "I've known Arthur since right before I got married, so for almost nine years. He'll say longer, because apparently he comes from a later ... time line? Is the word?" That was still strange, still alarming. "He worked for my husband right out of the military." (Reply to this)

	prettylilbunny 2010-08-31 03:38 pm UTC (link)
	She decided to latch onto the part of that that she could actually answer, "The different timelines thing happens pretty frequently around here." She shrugged, "So does alternate versions. For example, my son Henri, in another version of the world he was a girl, Henriette, and the adult Henriette is here too, in fact, she babysits sometimes." (Reply to this)

	la_reveuse 2010-08-31 03:50 pm UTC (link)
	That stopped Mal, eyes going faintly wide, eyebrows raised. "That must be utterly strange." She laughed softly, imagining Philippa grown, or even stranger, a boy - a Philip, perhaps, unknown to her entirely! "How did you manage, upon finding that?" (Reply to this)

	prettylilbunny 2010-08-31 03:54 pm UTC (link)
	She shrugged, "She was here first, and when I did get pregnant I was fine, I ... never really thought I'd be a good mother, but having her here as an adult? It helped. Of course, when I found out that the baby wasn't her I freaked out a little. But so far it's been okay." (Reply to this)

	la_reveuse 2010-08-31 04:05 pm UTC (link)
	Now that, Mal could talk about. "Oh, I was terrified when I found out I was going to have my daughter. But it helps when you have a good husband, and it helps to have friends around. You seem to have that at least." She'd had her parents, and some of her friends. And Arthur. (Reply to this)

	prettylilbunny 2010-08-31 04:09 pm UTC (link)
	She nodded, "Definitely have both of those." She said with a nod, regardless of the fact that Artan had gone missing for a while during the pregnancy, he'd gotten back before Henri'd been born, and he hadn't gone missing again since. She smiled then, shaking her head, "Guess none of us really knows how to deal with it at first." (Reply to this)

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