Eli likes puzzles. (dashdotdash) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-05-28 23:22:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, eli, remy lebeau (gambit) |
Who: Remy and Eli.
What: Random meeting at a diner.
When: Sunday night, 4/26.
Where: A diner.
Rating: PG-13 for mentioning vampirism.
Status: Complete.
It was late, but Remy didn’t feel like going home yet. Dusk had fallen, and he was still thinking about Logan being missing. It was a little weird, especially when he had a lady like that at home. There wasn’t anything going on at the moment, or at least he didn’t think so. He’d ask Scott next time he got a chance; he’d been damn explicit about how he wanted in on whatever the next time around.
He’d stopped into a little diner, figuring he could get some grub before heading in. The place was quiet, but he sat at the counter anyway; he was used to it.
There was a girl in the diner as well. Her long black hair streamed down her back, and her blue eyes looked around the room. She was casually observing people inside the diner, her fingers around a mug of coffee that never seemed to empty, no matter how many sips she took. When Remy sat down near her, she offered him a shy, acknowledging smile.
He knew a people-watcher when he saw one; he’d been there too many times as a kid. “If you don’t mind my askin’, are you hungry?” She didn’t have any food, and she did look awfully small. If she was just people watching, okay, but if she was trying to size up a mark, well, he knew about that, too.
Eli blinked, then smiled shyly. She’d been found out. “I am not, but thank you for asking. My papa will be amused that you asked, though. He prides himself on keeping me fed. I came in because I thought it was going to rain.”
“Ah, okay.” He smiled a little too. “Sorry. Just, I used to be a kid wit’ no place to go, and sometimes I’d come in restaurants and bars and see who I could con into buyin’ me lunch.” Hopefully she didn’t get pissed that he’d thought she looked small. “I’m Remy.”
“Oh, no, I just didn’t want to get wet.” Eli smiled, turning to him and offering her hand. “I’m Eli. And my papa speaks very fondly of a man named Remy. Is your last name LeBeau?”
“Yeah, it is.” Remy raised an eyebrow. “S’nice to meet you, Eli. Who’s your papa?”
“His name is Logan. He speaks of you fondly,” she giggled. Her accent was even stronger when she was very amused.
His eyebrows shot up. “Logan? Logan Howlett?” He couldn’t help but laugh. “Can’t imagine he talk of me too fondly, but I’m glad he finally takin’ responsibility. He must have at least a handful’a kids in different places, oui?” He wasn’t judging, just saying. Logan didn’t make a secret of liking to fuck.
“Oh, he is in the process of adopting me. He isn’t my biological papa. I met him one day while I was on a walk, and I told him he is my papa now.” She shrugged. It didn’t seem too difficult to her.
“Oh, so you ain’t even his biologically.” Well, that was awkward. “Sorry, didn’t mean to put mon foot in it, just if you know Logan you know a little about his past. Homme got a heart of gold, though.” Whether Logan would admit it or not, really.
“Oh, I wouldn’t be surprised if I was his biologically.” Eli snorted. “I am sure he slept with Sweden once, and that is where I was born.”
Remy snorted. “I ain’t sayin’ you wrong.” But he couldn’t really talk, because frankly, he’d had just as many, he just didn’t have a pathological aversion to condoms. “Still. He gonna look after you good, if I might say so. He’s a good man. When you come here from Sweden, Eli?”
“Oh, I came here from Germany. Before that was France, before that was England, before that was Poland, before that was Portugal, then before that was Sweden. About ... five months ago?” She thought to herself. It seemed like forever, but it really wasn’t that long at all.
“Damn.” Remy raised an eyebrow. “You done a lot of travelling in your life. Me, I just grew up in New Orleans, then came here.”
“My father was in the military. It is how he met my mother, she was an interpreter.” Eli smiled. “I assumed that was where you are from. You sound French to me, but yet somehow not.”
“About right. Ain’t never been to la France myself, but I’d like to. Goin’ on my honeymoon soonish, but can’t afford to go there.” Remy smiled back.
“Where do you want to take your future spouse?” Eli wasn’t judging if he liked boys, she figured better to err on the side of caution.
“Candy - my fiancee - never seen the Caribbean and she talked about how she might like it. Figure I might be able to make that happen.” He actually appreciated her choice of words. “Your papa say I make him vomit, so I just gonna say, Candy a really great girl.”
“Papa makes everyone around him vomit, he has no room to talk,” Eli chuckled. “Do not ask me about his love life, I will turn green.”
“That so?” Remy smirked. “I saw his lady friend on a post on the network. She’s pretty.” He didn’t think Logan would leave someone like that hanging, either. “You ain’t seen him recently, have you? Apparently he ain’t been home now two days.”
“She’s very pretty. And no. Last I saw him, he was putting on the suit he wears when he’s off to hurt something.” She shook her head. It broke her heart to see him put it on.
“That so, huh. Might want to tell the lady.” Remy caught the harassed waitress, putting on the charm and ordering food, watching her leave with a smile on her face, to his satisfaction. “She post on that network lately sayin’ she ain’t heard from him. C’est mal, that. Hope he’s okay.” He didn’t say it to make Eli worry, but just to say it.
“What, that Papa went off wearing his pants to kick ass?” Eli shook her head. “Wherever he is, he will be fine.” She was too busy worrying about herself; she had to eat daily, and without Logan to feed from, she was starting to look haggard.
He was a little surprised by that, but he didn’t have the same relationship with Logan that this girl did. Remy shrugged. “Just surprised, I ‘spose. But maybe I smother Candy.” He smiled. “Can I ask, you in high school? I don’t ask to be fresh, just wasn’t sure if you were in university yet or not.”
She felt suddenly very tired and nodded, closing her eyes. “I can’t go to school any longer. The sun, it burns me.”
Remy raised an eyebrow. “You okay, Miz’ Eli? Do you want me to take you home?” Was anybody even there looking after her, if Logan had fucked off someplace?
“Just ... need to feed,” she murmured. “Papa’s gone, so I can’t.”
“Feed?” Remy’s eyebrows climbed higher. “P’tite, what exactly might you be?” If she was a vampire or some other creature, he didn’t know if he could help or he’d have do something he didn’t wanna do. He lowered his voice. “I’m like Logan, so I seen some unusual stuff.”
She looked up with her unusual eyes, so very much like a cat’s. Her fangs descended for a moment, then she tucked them back in. “Do not worry. I would never hurt someone who is Papa’s friend.”
Well, huh. He’d heard a lot of legends, but nothing concrete. This was concrete. “And I t’ought I seen it all.” Remy said, shaking his head. His mind was starting to turn in a couple directions. “What is it you need, p’tite? Blood? Just plain ol’ blood?”
She nodded. “But I cannot bite anyone. If I do, they turn. I have to kill them or they will become like me. Papa is the only person I know of who is immune.”
“I got you.” Remy nodded, thinking. “I mean, I’s Cajun. I know about some types of vamps, but not sure I’s familiar with that. I was gonna offer, but there’s other ways.” He grimaced, thinking for a second before coming up with something. It might wind up insane, but at the same time - he was Gambit. He was the head of the thieves’ guild.
He looked over at her. “There a hospital nearby? Doctor’s office?”
She shook her head. “Humans need that. If it gets really bad, I’ll ... “ Kill someone, like she had killed her mother. Pushing a streak of white hair behind her ear - hair that had been black until recently - Eli nodded. “Okay.”
“Two things. One, takin’ two bags ain’t gonna hurt nobody.” Especially if he nicked type O, the most common. “Two, I might have some experience. I’s a pretty good t’ief.” He grinned wide.
Eli chuckled. “Uh oh, you want to show off, is that it?”
“Nah, want to help. But that’s a nice perk.” Remy smiled. He looked outside. “It ain’t raining at the moment.” He took out his phone, opening the maps application and searching for blood banks and doctors’ offices. “Got a coupla hits.”
She stood up on shaky legs. “The sooner the better. If you do not mind.”
“You ok to walk to my car? It’s just there.” Remy nodded, rising, chucking down some bills to pay for what he’d eaten. “We gonna get you squared away, Miz’ Eli.”
“I am.” She hoped he hadn’t noticed the grey in her hair, the ashen cast to her skin.
Remy nodded, beckoning her with him. In only a minute or two they were in his car and heading down the street. The doctor’s office he’d found was only about ten minutes away, and even though he took a roundabout route, soon they were parked in the lot in the next strip mall. Luckily, Remy was wearing black and brown.
Old habits he hadn’t known he had came flooding back to him, flooding into his head and allowing him to just move. “You stay here,” he told Eli, “and stay low. I gonna be quick as I can.”
She crouched down into the passenger seat, folding herself into the floor well. “I will just stay here. Thank you,” she murmured.
“Ain’t a problem.” Remy closed the door quietly, heading for the office.
Those same old habits were pointing him, though it might sound odd, toward the front door. He could pick a lock, to his own astonishment, in a matter of a minute; once in the vestibule, his eyes were able to pinpoint any security cameras. The office seemed small, and after about thirty-five minutes of careful creeping, he was in the supply room and pulling out three bags of O-negative.
It was another twenty or so before he was out, everything as it ought to be except the doors were left unlocked. Remy got back to the car quickly, the bags under his jacket, tapping the window quietly so as not to scare Eli when he just appeared. He was fairly vibrating from the rush.
Eli reached up to unlock the doors so Remy could enter. Driving away was more important. “I hope you will not be caught. If you are, I will be your alibi,” she whispered.
Remy didn’t reply right away; he started the car without headlights and turned into the alleyway behind the strip mall. Only once they were on the other side of the block did he slide onto the main road and turn the lights on. “I ain’t thinkin’ it gonna go bad,” he told Eli with a smile. I’m Gambit was on his tongue, but he wasn’t cocky enough to say that out loud. He’d worn gloves, he’d missed the cameras, and he hadn’t disarranged anything but the cabinets and the locks. The chances were good. “You can eat, if you need to. Ain’t gonna bother me.”
“Still. If something were to, Papa would beat himself up for not being around, and then he would be upset that you helped me at all.” She did a poor mimick of Logan’s accent. “Darlin’ you could’ve found someone that I’m not friends with,” she play growled.
But still, the smell of the blood, even through the bags, was intoxicating, and she daintily put the tube that fed the blood through an IV into her mouth. She looked for all the world like a girl drinking fruit punch through the world’s most cumbersome Capri Sun.
Remy had to be a little amused. "You got Logan, that is for sure." He drove back toward the freeway. "Thinkin' I best take you home for now," he said, "if only so you can be drinkin' in peace."
“I don’t want you to have an upset stomach on my account.” She could barely breathe, she’d sipped so hard. But the benefits were clearly showing; the grey in her hair and skin had given way to how a sixteen-year-old girl should look. In fact, she looked downright sleek.
“Trust me, girl, I seen worse.” He wasn’t trying to be rude, just truthful. “Don’t you worry.” He got onto the freeway, figuring it wouldn’t be long to drop her at home and then head back to his own place.
“Mister LeBeau?” Eli leaned over and planted an innocent kiss on his cheek. “Thank you. Papa is right, you really are a kind man. ... not that he used those words, but you get the idea.”
Remy chuckled, though he kept his eyes on the road. “Yeah, I get it. And really, I was just tryin’ to help. You think it was enough?” Yeah, she was a vampire, but at the same time, she could have just tried to kill someone, and she hadn’t shown any interest. And she was Logan’s. He did trust Logan’s judgment.
“It will last me for a day or three.” She curled her legs upon herself. She never wanted to drain a living person ever again. Needles would do it for her.
“Hopefully we can find Logan by then.” Remy shook his head. “You said he’s okay cause he heals. Right? It’s why you don’t hurt him?” Logan was probably unique in that way, and that spoke pretty high of the man, willing to take one for the team like that.
Eli nodded. “I try not to hurt him too badly.” She didn’t like that she had to do it at all, and bloody tears welled in her eyes.
Remy saw that out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t say anything about it; what was there that he could possibly to say to make it better? He just shook his head. “Logan wouldn’t let you do it if he couldn’t take it, oui?” He smiled a little. “This the right exit for your place?”
“It is, yes. I just wish I weren’t, sometimes.” She let her head rest against the window, wondering where this reservoir of sadness had come from.
“We all think that way.” Remy nodded. “‘Specially with the dreams.” He couldn’t imagine that she’d been this way when she was born.
“I used to love sunrises, you know.” She squeezed his hand. “But I suppose there’s no sense in weeping. It won’t change things.” She dabbed at her eyes, chuckling. “Look at me carrying on.”
“I know it don’t replace the sun in the sky, but you really do got a real good daddy,” Remy told her, pulling off onto a side road. “And at least you got somebody who works at keepin’ you safe.” More and more he was sure that Logan hadn’t just run off - not if this girl was in bad shape. He’d have to get a hold of Scott, if Logan didn’t reappear soon.
Eli smiled and gave Remy a hug. “You’ll be a good father someday. But you’ll have to promise to let me babysit when you have one.” Eli smiled impishly.
Remy blushed a little. “Might be a while, we ain’t married yet, my girl and me.” But he smiled. “But I’ll tell her.” He pulled up where she directed him to. “Think this your stop, Miz Eli.”
“Thank you, Remy.” Eli got out of the car, food in tow, and waved. “I’ll be sure to have Papa invite you and your fiancée for supper sometime soon.”
“It’d probably hurt him.” Remy chuckled. “We’ll get him back soon.” It was a promise, if he could help it.