[fic] The Grey Zone: Paris Encounter
May. 13th, 2005 01:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ickaimpYay!!!!! Mati's coming to visit today!! *happy dance* [Edit: She made it here safely]
Also, happy Friday the 13th! BWAUAHAHAHAHAA!!!
This would be the chapter before the 'Hakuba beating his head against the Table' Chapter, which is before the Highlander chapter, so three before the Tsubasa Crossover. (any one confused?)
London to Ashford to Calais to Lille to Paris.
Three hours, twenty of them spent under the ocean in a claustrophobic tunnel, and they were in not only another country, but another bustling metropolis.
Different cities had different feels to them, he was beginning to learn. Tokyo felt different from Osaka, London different than anywhere in Japan and Paris different from London. It wasn't just the language, although that played a part in it, same as weather conditions, but different moods to different cities.
But one thing remained constant about cities - the people. There were always LOTS of them.
Ruby Jones had met them gleefully at the rail station, kissing their cheeks and ruffling their hair fondly and insisting that they stay with her before taking them on a whirlwind tour of the city. Hakuba had been here before and spoke the language fluidly, he and Ruby making what appeared to be sharp tonged comments back and forth. When he asked Hakuba about it, the blond had commented that it was just a friendly rivalry between countries. Then Hakuba and Ruby had smiled at each other in such a sweet way he'd had to stop himself from checking to verify they weren't holding daggers behind their backs.
Kaito made a private note to learn French as soon as possible. He was already learning English, what was one more language?
But it had been a good day. Ruby knew the best secret places and French food was nothing like the French food he'd had in Japan. For one thing, it was better here. Although he'd had a little bit of a problem with the escargot, to which both Ruby and Hakuba had teased him about while daintily prying the grey creatures --slimy from butter and herbs instead of regular slimy snail slime-- from their shells and popping them in their mouths. Eventually they'd coerced him into trying one and found it not so bad but declined a plate of his own. One was enough.
It was also discovered that biscotti made a very useful weapon. Heh.
He'd wanted to visit the Musée du Louvre, since he'd only had a little bit of time to enjoy the treasures there, but Hakuba kept giving him funny looks every time he glanced in the direction of the glowing pyramid and Ruby kept giggling, so they saw some of the other sights in the central part of Paris instead.
Which was how'd they come to watch the sunset from the top observation deck of the 'Tour Eiffel' or Eiffel Tower.
He was less certain how'd he come to be standing on the -roof- of the tower however. He glanced down. 324 meters, give or take the antenna behind them, was a long way down. Not quite as tall as the Tokyo Tower, but still pretty damn tall.
Chat Noir --Ruby Jones really -did- know the best secrets-- was standing next to him, goggle cat-eyes glowing. "You ready?"
"Just a moment." He smirked, pulling out cell phone. Hirokini read is his mind, dialing the number before he could. It rang a few times before being answered.
"Hakuba."
"Yo, Tantei-san."
He could almost -see- the detective startle at that. "You're up to no good, aren't you?" Came the dry comment. It was followed by a small sigh. "Never mind. Idiotic question."
"Will you be alright finding your way home?"
"Certainly." The tone was almost affronted, as if he was insinuating that the blond couldn't take care of himself wandering around a strange foreign city at night. "Hour and a half?"
"Sounds about right." He didn't think they were going to take that long. It'd take longer getting -back-. And if they were late, it'd give Hakuba a chance to put his still fledgling lock-picking abilities to the test.
"Don't get caught." Hakuba said fondly, then disconnected the call.
Kid smirked in amusement, putting the phone away. Like he was going to get caught. Such lack of faith on the detective's part. Of course, he'd probably have the same reaction if Hakuba told him to be careful. He was always careful. Even when he was reckless.
"What did your husband say?" Chat Noir questioned, voice only slightly mocking.
"He's not my husband." And what did she mean was Hakuba 'his husband'? Did she think he was the blond's -wife-? If anything, Hakuba was the Kid's wife. -He- was the one to go out and get the jewels while the detective stayed home. Ha. "And I don't know how you were raised, but I was taught that it was manners to call and tell someone that you are going to ditch them." See? -Gentleman- thief.
"Hah." She didn't sound convinced.
He shrugged. "It's been a tough couple of months."
Her head inclined, adopting a thoughtful air as she looked at him. "He knows?"
"He figured it out about two years ago."
"And?"
"Apparently, he doesn't care." He rested his hands in his pockets, watching the hypnotic lights of the city. "If I get sloppy, he'll catch me. But he got involved with some pretty nasty stuff because of me in Japan." Took a bullet for him even. He was still boggling over that. The vest had stopped the bullet but still seriously bruised the ribs underneath. Hakuba had been wincing for days, every time he moved wrong. The stoic detective had tried to hide it of course, but he still saw it.
"I heard the men who killed your father were after you." Chat Noir commented. He raised an eyebrow and she shrugged. "I was curious and did a little digging. Magic's in the blood, non?"
"Oui." He agreed. "They're after him too, now."
"You're not happy about it." It was more of a statement of fact than a question.
"No." It was his fault. He should have said 'no' when the detective offered. He'd thought it the lessor of two evils at the time, keeping Hakuba safely in the background instead of attempting to mop up after the detective stepped into something messy trying to discover about the mysterious organization. He wasn't so sure anymore that he'd made the right decision. Hattori and Kudo certainly seemed to think not and made damn sure that they both knew it.
Perhaps it would have been better to have let Hakuba stumble around, trying to find the organization than to lead him to it. But what was done was done, there was nothing he could do to change it.
"Even though he's a detective." In this case, 'detective' was Kaitou speak for 'enemy'.
"We're... friends." Possibly more. Allies at least. Not quite rivals, not for a while now. "We watch each other's backs."
She chuckled, looking out over the light filled city as well. "You have a very strange relationship with each other, mon garçon."
"Tell me about it." He sighed. It helped, it hurt, it was confusing and he didn't know what to do with it anymore.
And dammit, he -owed- the bastard detective!
"I'll not taunt him too badly then." She assured him, clapping him on the shoulder. "But for now... "
With a muted cackle, she launched herself off the Tour Eiffel. "Last one to the Arc de Triomphe is jail bait!!!" Her voice taunted on the wind as her dark para-glider opened up, lifting her up into the night sky.
"Oi!" He leapt off the tower after her. Neither of them were young enough to be jail bait anymore, thank you very much. And since she was heading north, he was betting that it was the Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile across the Seine River to the north of the tower she was talking about and not the Arc de Triomphe de la Carrousel to the east.
Well, maybe he'd have to visit both of them, just to be sure....
-fin-
Also, happy Friday the 13th! BWAUAHAHAHAHAA!!!
This would be the chapter before the 'Hakuba beating his head against the Table' Chapter, which is before the Highlander chapter, so three before the Tsubasa Crossover. (any one confused?)
London to Ashford to Calais to Lille to Paris.
Three hours, twenty of them spent under the ocean in a claustrophobic tunnel, and they were in not only another country, but another bustling metropolis.
Different cities had different feels to them, he was beginning to learn. Tokyo felt different from Osaka, London different than anywhere in Japan and Paris different from London. It wasn't just the language, although that played a part in it, same as weather conditions, but different moods to different cities.
But one thing remained constant about cities - the people. There were always LOTS of them.
Ruby Jones had met them gleefully at the rail station, kissing their cheeks and ruffling their hair fondly and insisting that they stay with her before taking them on a whirlwind tour of the city. Hakuba had been here before and spoke the language fluidly, he and Ruby making what appeared to be sharp tonged comments back and forth. When he asked Hakuba about it, the blond had commented that it was just a friendly rivalry between countries. Then Hakuba and Ruby had smiled at each other in such a sweet way he'd had to stop himself from checking to verify they weren't holding daggers behind their backs.
Kaito made a private note to learn French as soon as possible. He was already learning English, what was one more language?
But it had been a good day. Ruby knew the best secret places and French food was nothing like the French food he'd had in Japan. For one thing, it was better here. Although he'd had a little bit of a problem with the escargot, to which both Ruby and Hakuba had teased him about while daintily prying the grey creatures --slimy from butter and herbs instead of regular slimy snail slime-- from their shells and popping them in their mouths. Eventually they'd coerced him into trying one and found it not so bad but declined a plate of his own. One was enough.
It was also discovered that biscotti made a very useful weapon. Heh.
He'd wanted to visit the Musée du Louvre, since he'd only had a little bit of time to enjoy the treasures there, but Hakuba kept giving him funny looks every time he glanced in the direction of the glowing pyramid and Ruby kept giggling, so they saw some of the other sights in the central part of Paris instead.
Which was how'd they come to watch the sunset from the top observation deck of the 'Tour Eiffel' or Eiffel Tower.
He was less certain how'd he come to be standing on the -roof- of the tower however. He glanced down. 324 meters, give or take the antenna behind them, was a long way down. Not quite as tall as the Tokyo Tower, but still pretty damn tall.
Chat Noir --Ruby Jones really -did- know the best secrets-- was standing next to him, goggle cat-eyes glowing. "You ready?"
"Just a moment." He smirked, pulling out cell phone. Hirokini read is his mind, dialing the number before he could. It rang a few times before being answered.
"Hakuba."
"Yo, Tantei-san."
He could almost -see- the detective startle at that. "You're up to no good, aren't you?" Came the dry comment. It was followed by a small sigh. "Never mind. Idiotic question."
"Will you be alright finding your way home?"
"Certainly." The tone was almost affronted, as if he was insinuating that the blond couldn't take care of himself wandering around a strange foreign city at night. "Hour and a half?"
"Sounds about right." He didn't think they were going to take that long. It'd take longer getting -back-. And if they were late, it'd give Hakuba a chance to put his still fledgling lock-picking abilities to the test.
"Don't get caught." Hakuba said fondly, then disconnected the call.
Kid smirked in amusement, putting the phone away. Like he was going to get caught. Such lack of faith on the detective's part. Of course, he'd probably have the same reaction if Hakuba told him to be careful. He was always careful. Even when he was reckless.
"What did your husband say?" Chat Noir questioned, voice only slightly mocking.
"He's not my husband." And what did she mean was Hakuba 'his husband'? Did she think he was the blond's -wife-? If anything, Hakuba was the Kid's wife. -He- was the one to go out and get the jewels while the detective stayed home. Ha. "And I don't know how you were raised, but I was taught that it was manners to call and tell someone that you are going to ditch them." See? -Gentleman- thief.
"Hah." She didn't sound convinced.
He shrugged. "It's been a tough couple of months."
Her head inclined, adopting a thoughtful air as she looked at him. "He knows?"
"He figured it out about two years ago."
"And?"
"Apparently, he doesn't care." He rested his hands in his pockets, watching the hypnotic lights of the city. "If I get sloppy, he'll catch me. But he got involved with some pretty nasty stuff because of me in Japan." Took a bullet for him even. He was still boggling over that. The vest had stopped the bullet but still seriously bruised the ribs underneath. Hakuba had been wincing for days, every time he moved wrong. The stoic detective had tried to hide it of course, but he still saw it.
"I heard the men who killed your father were after you." Chat Noir commented. He raised an eyebrow and she shrugged. "I was curious and did a little digging. Magic's in the blood, non?"
"Oui." He agreed. "They're after him too, now."
"You're not happy about it." It was more of a statement of fact than a question.
"No." It was his fault. He should have said 'no' when the detective offered. He'd thought it the lessor of two evils at the time, keeping Hakuba safely in the background instead of attempting to mop up after the detective stepped into something messy trying to discover about the mysterious organization. He wasn't so sure anymore that he'd made the right decision. Hattori and Kudo certainly seemed to think not and made damn sure that they both knew it.
Perhaps it would have been better to have let Hakuba stumble around, trying to find the organization than to lead him to it. But what was done was done, there was nothing he could do to change it.
"Even though he's a detective." In this case, 'detective' was Kaitou speak for 'enemy'.
"We're... friends." Possibly more. Allies at least. Not quite rivals, not for a while now. "We watch each other's backs."
She chuckled, looking out over the light filled city as well. "You have a very strange relationship with each other, mon garçon."
"Tell me about it." He sighed. It helped, it hurt, it was confusing and he didn't know what to do with it anymore.
And dammit, he -owed- the bastard detective!
"I'll not taunt him too badly then." She assured him, clapping him on the shoulder. "But for now... "
With a muted cackle, she launched herself off the Tour Eiffel. "Last one to the Arc de Triomphe is jail bait!!!" Her voice taunted on the wind as her dark para-glider opened up, lifting her up into the night sky.
"Oi!" He leapt off the tower after her. Neither of them were young enough to be jail bait anymore, thank you very much. And since she was heading north, he was betting that it was the Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile across the Seine River to the north of the tower she was talking about and not the Arc de Triomphe de la Carrousel to the east.
Well, maybe he'd have to visit both of them, just to be sure....
-fin-
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no subject
Date: 2005-05-13 09:19 pm (UTC):O! SO IT IS. XD; ::didn't realize:: AND TODAY IS SUN GOD AT UCSD! >D
no subject
Date: 2005-05-14 07:01 am (UTC)Mati: *Waves* Hey, Tdei!!!!!!!!!!
hee hee hee
no subject
Date: 2005-05-14 07:48 am (UTC)I posted Shiro!Kaito at my DA account if you're bored. ;P
Beware of the Biscotti~
Date: 2005-05-13 10:08 pm (UTC)>.> Oh well... ^^;
I've spotted a mistake here I missed in the previous 'Ruby Jones' chappy 6_6;
-"Magic's in the blood, oui?"
"Oui." He agreed.
French speach pattern goes : "Magic's in the blood, non?" to answer: "Oui."
The 'non' indicates that the speaker wants confirmation, given by the 'oui' >.>
oh, and:
-bon gargcon: it's 'Mon Garçon' (erm, 'Mon garcon' if the ç thing plays up 6_6;) XcD, 'My boy'.
And for some reason, I -have- to admit, I have a Grudge with that Eiffel Tower...
At Night it thinks it's a Lighthouse! XcP
V_V it has this great big floodlight go around in circles from the top. I had many a sleepless night thanks to that during my stay there. And every 15 minutes or so the whole tower sparkles... No wonder Paris is called "La cité des lumières" (the city of lights.)
Still fun seeing Kid and Chat Noir race around the skies of Paris~ :cD
Re: Beware of the Biscotti~
Date: 2005-05-14 06:44 am (UTC)Hmm... should prolly have the alternating light/shadows mentioned in the fic too. ^^;;
Thanks again for the french corrections!
Snuck this up while at work, kinda a paniced 'dash and hope no one notices that I'm dailing online' type of thing and realised it needs some work after wards. *Sighs*
Oh, question for you and the other French Speakers...
If Chat Noir gave Kuroba a pet name, what do you think it should be? ^______^
Re: Beware of the Biscotti~
Date: 2005-05-14 12:07 pm (UTC)If Chat Noir gave Kuroba a pet name, what do you think it should be? ^______^
Hummm... Interesting Question that...
I shall have to bother some of my french contacts and think on that one >.>
It's a bit tough, considering 'Magik Kaito' isn't that well known in france, although there are lots of Kid fans...
Whatever it may be, I think it would definitely NoT be Kit-kat Burger XcP
... Although come to think of it... Kaito does like chocolate <_<;;;;;
Pet Name~?
Date: 2005-05-14 04:19 pm (UTC)Humm...
So...
I got called a baka for even -thinking- of 'Toto' (which was really a bad baad baaad idea, considering Toto is the butt of a lot of blond and belgian/irish style jokes).
A french contact came up with 'trefle', which is french for Clover. Kuroba can be read as Clover >.> (or crowbar if you ask me, but you aren't asking me, so there.)
Another came up with: kaitochou, Kaitounet, Kaitounichet, Kaito chéri. And, if it's a nickname like little brother: 'tit frère, frangin, frèrot. This one also suggested errors in english/japanese if the speaker isn't fluent.
My other contacts either called him Kaito, Kai', Kuroba or Idiot >.>;
Except one who is living in Japan at the moment, and who swears Ruby already had a french name for him in the manga file, but can't remamber what.
That's all for the moment.
*snicker*
Date: 2005-05-13 11:18 pm (UTC)Re: *snicker*
Date: 2005-05-14 06:53 am (UTC)Not Glowing Cone.
~_^
I should let you know...
Date: 2005-05-14 05:19 am (UTC)Re: I should let you know...
Date: 2005-05-14 06:56 am (UTC)Hee hee hee
Sorry about the plunnies. They just seem to spread a lot.
Re: I should let you know...
Date: 2005-05-14 07:04 am (UTC)At least she's not started hitting back (yet)...
...hope that doesn't give her ideas...