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Post by Blaise Park on May 29, 2010 6:49:55 GMT -5
Blaise stared at Rhys. "What the hell are you talking about?"
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Post by Rhys Adler on May 29, 2010 6:52:47 GMT -5
Rhys opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again and looked away, shaking his head.
"Nevermind, sorry." Weird shit. "Thanks for letting me stay at your house, and paying for my ticket and everything. I don't think I actually thanked you yet, did I?"
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Post by Blaise Park on May 29, 2010 7:46:57 GMT -5
Blaise shrugged one shoulder. "It's no big deal. I should probably thank you in advance for putting up with my mother, though. She's kind of a pain."
Blaise yawned and laid down in the seat, using the last half of the flight to get in a nap before he had to deal with being home again.
The rest of the plane ride was fairly peaceful. Blaise slept most of the way and had some very interesting dreams in the process, mostly about his roommate. Every so often he kept slipping and falling on Rhys, and typically he readjusted himself and went back to sleep without another word.
Eventually they made it to the airport, where they were picked up by a stumpy Frenchman in a black suit named Jacques. He spoke very little to either of them and only in French, but he made sure to address both of them as "monsieur". Jacques wasn't the limo driver they had before, and Blaise guess that either his father found out about his mother's affair with the twenty-something year old limo driver they had a few months ago or his mother got tired of him.
They drove through most of Paris -- Blaise pointed out some of the less traditional sights, such as the movie theaters and montmartre -- and eventually into something that seemed to be more suburban than the city itself. The neighborhood seemed to be mostly large manors, each progressively bigger than the last -- Blaise showed Rhys the country club and the stables -- until they finally turned down what seemed to be a long, narrow road underneath a canopy of trees.
Eventually the trees thinned out, and they reached a large gate with a large, elaborate letter "D" made in the curling iron of the bars, and Jacques had to get out of the car and punch in a PIN to open the gates.
The estate itself was enormous and green, covered in flowers and trees, but that was hardly the impressive part. Blaise's "house" was, in fact, a château. The entire building was made of pale stone, with towers and a balcony, like something straight out of a Disney movie, with three full stories and rooms for nearly everything that a person could think of.
Around the back -- though it wasn't visible from where they were -- was a tennis court, an outdoor pool, and a pool house. The garage was off to the side of the main house, and was bigger than most houses.
The limo pulled up near the front door, and Blaise hopped out immediately and stretched. Despite everything, it was...actually kind of nice to be home. He'd missed having the run of the place -- which he usually did -- and he even sort of missed the servants, though Sophie could never quite match Rhythan's eclectic cooking style.
Blaise grinned, peering back at Rhys. "So, what do you think so far?"
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Post by Rhys Adler on May 29, 2010 8:22:46 GMT -5
Rhys leaned against the window for the rest of the flight, twitching every time Blaise landed on him. He was eager to get up and stretch his legs, and once Blaise was asleep, he realized he was completely out of things to do.
When they finally got off the plane, he followed Blaise around like a chick after a hen, already taking in the sight. Just about everything here was in a language he didn't understand, written and spoken, though there was still a bit of English in the airport (along with a lot of other, non-French languages he also didn't understand). The human part of his brain was nervous at such isolation, but the rest of him just saw the same bunch of loud gribbly maybe-foods it usually did.
Paris was beautiful. There was something really nice about seeing so much that was familiar interspersed with so much that was different; most of the time, he could hardly tell he wasn't someplace a lot like home, just a little bigger and sometimes a little older. As they turned out of the metropolis, things got more alien: older, somehow more specific, and definitely not like most of the places Rhys had lived. Grandma and Grandpa's place was big, but it was a ranch house, not one of these old-money, hyper-civilized places, and it was still way closer than his stepdad's place, much less the places he remembered from when he was tiny.
Blaise's house... Blaise's thing he couldn't quite grasp was a place where people actually lived. It looked like something you'd go to on a field trip.
Rhys opened the door and got out, looking around. Blaise was still grinning at him, seeming genuinely happy.
"I keep expecting to see a gift shop," he replied, only half joking.
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Post by Blaise Park on May 29, 2010 8:41:02 GMT -5
Blaise laughed. "This place has been in my mother's family for generations. The pools and the tennis court are new editions, and the inside has been renovated a few times, but this house has probably been around since France actually had nobles."
Blaise peered up at the top story, shielding his eyes with his hand. "There, see, that one?" He pointed at one of the windows along the tower, overlooking the woods. "That one's mine."
Jacques had already begun taking in their bags, which Blaise took as his cue to head inside the house. It was probably a bit too early for his mother to be home, which meant that if he was lucky, he wouldn't have to bother seeing her until tomorrow.
Blaise led Rhys into the foyer, which was decorated elaborately between paintings and statues, in a blend of Victorian and Modern art. Everything was beautiful in the way that made you hesitant to touch it. Even the sofas looked like they were just there for decoration.
"Well, would you rather see where you're sleeping first, or do you want to take the tour from the bottom up?" Blaise looked back at Rhys. "Your room is in the guest room next to mine up on the top floor. If we start from the bottom, there's the kitchens, the wine cellar, the library... All of that stuff."
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Post by Rhys Adler on May 29, 2010 8:46:46 GMT -5
Rhys hesitated a moment, wide-eyed at the whole thing.
"I want to see your room," he answered.
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Post by Blaise Park on May 29, 2010 9:18:37 GMT -5
Blaise smirked. "If that's what you want, I'm not going to say no," he replied, a teasing note in his voice. "Come on, I'll show you."
The blond dashed up the two flights of stairs, hardly breaking a sweat as he reached the top. Blaise led Rhys down the hall, passing four or five other doors that were probably guest rooms as he reached the end of the hall. The hallway, much like the foyer, seemed to be made entirely of things that individually were worth more money than Rhys had ever seen at one time. Strangely, there seemed to be no family pictures anywhere.
Blaise opened the door to his room and stepped aside, letting Rhys enter first. While everything about the room looked ridiculously expensive, from the flatscreen television to the shiny satin bedding, there was something very comfortable about the room that made it seem lived-in.
It smelled better to Blaise, mostly because it smelled like him. He couldn't really quantify the scent like he could others, like the way Rhys smelled warm and woodsy or Alex smelled like fresh mint, but there was definitely something there that made it smell different. The walls were covered in posters, which spanned everything from tennis players and the Soccer World Cup (Blaise seemed to be a U.K. fan), to movies and bands, to attractive models and actors of both genders.
The window looked much bigger from inside the room than from on the ground, and in fact spanned most of the wall. Several plush chairs set by the window, facing the television, which was equipped with an X-Box and a Wii. The shelf by the television was crammed full of games and movies.
The bed was large and circular and low to the ground, with mounds of soft pillows and an odd stuffed animal or two arranged over the satin bedding. The bedding and the walls were a soft sea-green; the carpet and the accents of the room were a deep red.
Blaise sat on the edge of the bed and folded his legs up beneath him, kicking his shoes off into the floor. He watched Rhys, waiting for a response.
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Post by Rhys Adler on May 29, 2010 9:29:56 GMT -5
Rhys slowly circled the room, looking out the window, running his fingers over the wall of movies, glancing at the posters (it amused him for some reason he couldn't pin down that Blaise had a bikini model right next to a guy in his underwear), then back over to the bed. He smirked and poked one of the stuffed animals.
"If you decide to stay, I'm gonna have to invite you over to see my room sometime."
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Post by Blaise Park on May 29, 2010 9:38:26 GMT -5
"That...actually sounds like fun," Blaise admitted. And strangely enough, he was starting to like Dunehelden. He'd actually started to get used to the magic and the vampires and all the crazy weirdness that went with it. A normal school just seemed so boring by comparison.
He let himself fall back on his bed, baffled by how soft his bed felt after being stuck at Dunehelden for so long. He wasn't sure he could force himself to get up from it, as nice as it felt.
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Post by Rhys Adler on May 29, 2010 9:45:42 GMT -5
Rhys stood there for a second, then kicked his own shoes off and started stretching out. He bent both his arms in all sorts of directions, knelt down to stretch his legs, bent forward and backward and to the side...
His stomach growled loudly, and he flopped softly onto the huge bed as well.
"No idea where the hell you'll sleep..."
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Post by Blaise Park on May 29, 2010 18:25:53 GMT -5
Blaise scooted up to his roommate and lazily draped one arm around Rhys' waist. "I'm more than happy to share, you know," he said, grinning from ear to ear. "Though I should warn you, I spoon."
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Post by Rhys Adler on May 29, 2010 23:10:43 GMT -5
He twitched backwards, hesitating for a moment before rolling out of bed, as if some part of him was complaining that it really wasn't worth the effort.
"Great, you can sleep with my older brother," he deadpanned. "This place is pretty cool... you wanna show me the rest of it? I should probably at least figure out where I'm sleeping, and where the bathroom is."
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Post by Blaise Park on May 30, 2010 0:49:42 GMT -5
"Well, since you seem so adamant about it, I suppose I'll show you your room." Blaise smirked, pulling himself up off the bed. "Just remember, my bed's open in case you get cold, or have nightmares...or just get a bit lonely."
Blaise hopped to his feet and led Rhys out the door. "Your room is the guest room right beside mine. It's not much..." Blaise opened the door of the next room, heading inside before Rhys.
The room was small compared to Blaise's, but it was still half again the size of Rhys and Blaise's dorm room. There was a bed, a dresser, and a desk; the room was decorated simply in tan and pale greens, with simplistic artwork of natural scenes along the walls. The bedding was forest green and velvet, with lining in deep brown. Rhys' belongings were already in the room, sitting atop the bed.
"The good guest rooms are on the second floor, but those are for business acquaintances and family only," he said. Blaise glanced back at Rhys and smiled. "Besides, this way your room is right beside mine."
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Post by Rhys Adler on May 30, 2010 2:05:14 GMT -5
Rhys padded over to the bed, sat his things on the floor, and hopped onto it. He buried his head in the pillows for a moment, smelling the faint hints of detergent and mothballs, only the barest scent of any living thing hanging onto it.
He was actually going to be sleeping on this thing for a week. Blaise was being pretty damn nice to him, they would go ride horses and go to the zoo and see Paris, and maybe Blaise was even serious about swimming in something other than water. Even if this whole thing was just to piss off Blaise's mother, it was getting really hard to hate the guy.
"Mm." He sat up, smiling at Blaise. "You think if I just moved in here anyone'd notice?"
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Post by Blaise Park on May 30, 2010 2:44:36 GMT -5
"Maybe the maid, but if you give her a few euros I'm sure she'd stay quiet." Blaise grinned and hopped on the edge of the bed, folding his legs up beneath him. "You really like it here that much?"
He wasn't exactly sure why Rhys' opinion mattered to him that much, but it sort of made him happy that he liked it here. "So, you want to go horseback riding or what? I'll have Jacques run and get us something from McDonald's while we're riding."
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Post by Rhys Adler on May 30, 2010 2:51:27 GMT -5
"Are you kidding?" Rhys laughed. "I mean, seriously, I'd miss my family and I don't speak the language, but this is... this is something else. If you could stand me I might be fine hiding under your damn bed all summer."
"I would love to. Just point me in the right direction."
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Post by Blaise Park on May 30, 2010 3:11:58 GMT -5
"If you could stand me, you could hide in my bed," he remarked. Blaise grinned and slipped off of the bed. "Let's go. I want to be out of here before my mother gets home."
Blaise led Rhys back down to the ground floor, then quickly found the chauffeur and headed out to the limousine.
The limo was big enough to seat ten comfortably in the back, with a half-circle of black leather seats opposite the door. There was a minibar, as well as a sunroof.
Blaise climbed in the back of the limo and raised the privacy screen between the driver's seat and the passenger's seat, lounging out across three of the seats.
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Post by Rhys Adler on May 30, 2010 3:21:11 GMT -5
"I mean as something other than somebody you pretend you wanna have sex with." Rhys rolled his eyes.
He followed Blaise back down to the limo and stretched out on the seat next to Blaise's feet. "So what do they have at the McDonald's here? I know it's different in different parts of the US, so I figure it's different here?"
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Post by Blaise Park on May 30, 2010 3:39:07 GMT -5
"It's basically the same," he said idly, pulling a Coke out of the minibar. "You can get cheeseburgers, fries, sodas... I think the American portions are bigger, but other than that, it's the same." Blaise leaned back and kicked his shoes into the floor as the limo rolled into motion. He sipped his soda thoughtfully.
"Do you really think I'm just pretending?" he asked, his voice tinged with amusement. Blaise rubbed a socked foot up the side of Rhys' leg, his eyes glinting mischievously.
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Post by Rhys Adler on May 30, 2010 3:44:04 GMT -5
Rhys' eyes widened, and he fished around in the minibar for a Coke for himself.
"I dunno," he replied drily, trying to ignore Blaise's foot. He crossed his legs and opened his soda. "I'm kinda startin' to like you, hate to think you'd just throw yourself at whatever walks into your line of sight, even if it seems like it."
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Post by Blaise Park on May 30, 2010 4:06:01 GMT -5
"Maybe I just like you. Do you find that so hard to believe?" Blaise's foot trailed slowly up to Rhys' knee, and he grinned over at the other boy. "You have nice legs, you know."
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Post by Rhys Adler on May 30, 2010 4:11:11 GMT -5
"Yes."
Rhys moved about six inches away. "What the hell does that even mean?" He grumphed and took a swig of his drink. "'Sides, if you liked me you wouldn't keep doing shit like that."
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Post by Blaise Park on May 30, 2010 4:21:13 GMT -5
Blaise sat up in place, looking at his roommate pensively. "And why's that so hard to believe?"
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Post by Rhys Adler on May 30, 2010 4:30:06 GMT -5
Rhys twitched and leaned back. He hadn't been expecting Blaise to actually continue this line of conversation.
"Uh." He attempted to untangle his line of thought through the weird emotions that had suddenly sprung up. "You're- well, you're rich as hell. And... you don't act like your serious. And you could probably have any girl you wanted- or guy or- or whatever the hell you wanted. And you- I dunno, I'm not gay. And- you're not desperate."
It did vaguely occur to Rhys that, while he was pretty damn sure he wasn't gay, he hadn't actually thought about it overmuch. In fact, he was pretty sure he had no desire to think about it any more, either.
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Post by Blaise Park on May 30, 2010 4:49:01 GMT -5
Blaise looked at Rhys and raised an eyebrow. "You're not gay," he repeated. "Seriously? Because that's not exactly the impression I've been getting."
Blaise had no intention of mentioning to Rhys that the impressions he was getting were coming more from the scents he was giving off than how he was acting, though he figured that if it was really bothering Rhys he wouldn't have agreed to follow him to France.
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