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Post by Rhys Adler on Jun 2, 2010 1:38:23 GMT -5
Rhys found himself under a table in a room. It was a large room, filled with furniture. He'd knocked against something on the way here; he wasn't sure what, and he didn't quite remember it, but the rapidly-healing bruise attested to its presence. He just hoped it wasn't expensive.
Two facts occured to him: one, that there was no good reason for him to be under a table in what was probably Blaise's kitchen, and two, that now that things had stopped spinning and people no longer seemed like food, he was absolutely starving. Together, they nearly beat out the fact that he had somehow ended up in bed with Blaise. Gnawing on Blaise's shoulder.
There was no way in hell he was going to try to figure out what that had been about before a shower, breakfast, and preferably some nice extensive physical activity to work off the strange anxiety he seemed to be feeling.
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Post by Blaise Park on Jun 2, 2010 1:53:34 GMT -5
Rhys had been pretty easy to track down, considering; he was pretty loud, and he'd knocked glass vase into the floor in the process. He'd have to come up with some excuse for that later--she'd probably believe that one of the dogs did it, though that might get the maid in trouble, and Blaise didn't exactly want that either.
Blaise bounded down the stairs and chased Rhys into the dining room. He sighed. He could see Rhys' feet underneath the tablecloth. Blaise leaned over and pulled back the cloth, peering down at the other boy.
"Like I said last night, if you want to pretend none of this ever happened, I won't hold it against you." Blaise smiled at him.
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Post by Rhys Adler on Jun 2, 2010 3:12:27 GMT -5
Rhys backed up and sat against the leg of the table, crossing his arms over his chest. He sighed. "I don't know what happened, I don't know why I'm under a table... can we just start the morning over? I'm hungry and I smell funny."
He crawled out from under the table, feeling extremely awkward. "Uhm. You... okay and everything?"
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Post by Blaise Park on Jun 2, 2010 3:42:48 GMT -5
"I'm going to presume you don't mean crawling back into my bed when you say 'start over'." He smirked and sat down in the floor beside Rhys. "I'm perfectly fine. I'm not the one running around and hiding under tables. Are you alright?"
He shook his head. "I can have Claude cook something for breakfast, if you want. How do you feel about crêpes? While he's cooking, there's a shower on the second floor and one on the third. Presuming you're opposed to sharing, of course." Blaise grinned wide.
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Post by Rhys Adler on Jun 2, 2010 4:38:34 GMT -5
Rhys looked at Blaise, then stood up and stumbled back through the hallway towards clothing and a shower.
"Thanks," he mumbled. The fact that Blaise had actually asked if he was okay- and what exactly a crêpe was- escaped him.
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Post by Blaise Park on Jun 2, 2010 5:22:04 GMT -5
Blaise headed back up the stairs toward his room and gathered his clothes to take a shower. He had a feeling he probably smelled god-awful, even if he couldn't smell it himself, and his skin felt like it was covered in a layer of sweat and dirt. Now that he could smell again, he was pretty sure he could still smell that damn horse on his clothes, too.
He'd also woken up with Rhys sprawled on top of him, after having a few fairly graphic dreams about him, and that was enough to shake even him. He was fairly certain the only thing they'd actually done was kiss, but his memory was admittedly pretty fuzzy. He just hoped he hadn't forgotten anything too good.
After showering -- which took a bit more time than it should have, partially because Blaise spent most of the time just standing under the water and enjoying the feeling of being clean -- and spending a few minutes getting his hair to look right, Blaise headed back downstairs to find Rhys.
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Post by Rhys Adler on Jun 2, 2010 5:54:36 GMT -5
Rhys leaned against the wall outside the kitchen, blotchy reddish patches fading from his skin, hair a tangled, mildly-perfume-smelling mass pulled back with a thick cloth hairband.
He could smell the food. He had no idea whether there was some kind of etiquette here he should be following, but he did figure he should at least wait for Blaise, so he stood there with his hands in his pockets and waited.
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Post by Blaise Park on Jun 2, 2010 6:21:45 GMT -5
Blaise quickly descended the stairs, his slightly tousled hair smelling of something fruity and floral and the rest of him smelling of expensive musky men's cologne, feeling much better than he had waking up. His headache had even mostly passed, and from the look of his room the maid had already taken care of its horrible state, and she hadn't asked him any question. Though he couldn't help but notice that the half a bottle of red wine had disappeared along with the mess... She'd probably taken that as a tip.
He practically skipped up to the kitchen and grinned at Rhys. "Feeling better?" he asked. He took a closer look at the other boy and frowned. "You look like washed with sand paper. You're not allergic to the soap or something, are you?"
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Post by Rhys Adler on Jun 2, 2010 6:35:18 GMT -5
Rhys half-smiled when he saw Blaise. "Hey. Yeah... thanks, I'm good."
"Uh, had to wash my hair, and... let's just say I'm used to shittier water quality." He glanced back towards the food-smell. "So," he said, giving Blaise an eager grin.
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Post by Blaise Park on Jun 2, 2010 6:52:40 GMT -5
"Hungry, I take it?" Blaise rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's get something for you to eat."
The spread laid out for them in the kitchen was remarkably elaborate for breakfast for two. There were several types of crêpes set out--fruit and powdered sugar, something with chocolate drizzled over the top, and some with just whipped cream--as well as eggs both scrambled and fried, and an assortment of breakfast meat.
Blaise loaded his plate with several chocolate crêpes, two fried eggs, and most of the sausage, then took a seat at the kitchen table. It had been a long time since he had a good meal, and he intended to make the best of it.
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Post by Rhys Adler on Jun 2, 2010 7:03:46 GMT -5
"Heh. And you're not?"
Rhys looked over everything, glanced at what Blaise got, and grabbed one of each kind of crepe, a bunch of scrambled eggs, and what seemed to him to be the most delicious-smelling hunk of ham he had ever seen before sitting down across from Blaise and setting into the meat and eggs.
"Mm. So the crêpe is, mm," he said between bites, "the pancake thing? I've seen them in restaurants but I never had any. Looks delicious."
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Post by Blaise Park on Jun 2, 2010 7:37:18 GMT -5
"They're thin pancakes, usually stuffed with fruit." He pointed out one with fruit glaze on the top. "I think that one is Nutella." Then, figured Rhys probably had no idea what Nutella was if he didn't even know what a crêpe was, he added, "It's a chocolate spread with hazelnut butter. It's really good."
Blaise kept having to catch himself to keep from bringing up the previous night. He wanted to joke about it, or see if Rhys had actually started to come to terms with the fact that he might be attracted to men (and he had presented Blaise with nearly irrefutable proof that he was), or hell, just say something, but he didn't want to freak Rhys out too much over it.
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Post by Rhys Adler on Jun 2, 2010 8:04:26 GMT -5
Rhys put the eggs down for a moment to try a bit of the fruit one and then of the chocolate one. They were both delicious, but they were far more delicious when he stuck them together and ate them like that.
"Mm. I love chocolate and strawberries. It's like sweet and different-sweet gettin' together and having-" probably shouldn't be that kind of vulgar in front of Blaise, much less adults- "a party," he finished. He twirled the whipped cream-crepe around in the drippings and looked at the other boy. "So, hey, what do you like to eat, anyway? And do, and stuff. Other than flirt with and irritate people, and tennis."
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Post by Blaise Park on Jun 2, 2010 8:37:50 GMT -5
Blaise gave Rhys an amused grin. "I do plenty more than flirt, I'll have you know." He took a few bites of his eggs and thought for a moment. "Aside from tennis and all that though... My dad is in business, and I don't really plan on going into anything like that myself, but I know a lot about it just from him. I keep up with politics and economics, I like literature and the theater, and soccer is my favorite sport other than tennis."
"I'm not all that picky about food, as long as it tastes good." He shrugged. "French food kind of has a bad reputation among Americans because of things like paté and escargots, but most of it actually tastes really good." Blaise sawed off a triangle of one of his crêpes and dipped it in the glaze, and he smiled over at Rhys. "We'll have to go to a nice restaurant later. It's been a long time since I've had real French food."
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Post by Rhys Adler on Jun 2, 2010 8:58:49 GMT -5
Rhys paused in the middle of a bite and rolled his shoulders back, suddenly looking a little uncomfortable at what Blaise's implications brought to mind. He got up and got a couple more fruit and chocolate crepes to stuff together.
"Hm." Blaise sounded remarkably well-rounded given what he'd thought the boy was like. Rhys felt a little embarrassed; he didn't think he could give such a full account of himself. "All right. So... what're we gonna do today? Any ideas?"
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Post by Blaise Park on Jun 2, 2010 23:32:44 GMT -5
Blaise opened his mouth to reply, but stopped dead when he saw the door slowly arc open. His fork halted inches from his mouth, his eyes wide and unblinking. His throat went dry. "Maman."
Into the room swept a tall woman with chin length blonde hair, her dark eyes sweeping over the two boys. She had the same narrow, angular face and high cheekbones as Blaise, and the same white-blonde hair. Her mouth was thin and severe, with a smile that didn't meet her eyes. Her gaze settled heavily on Rhys, scrutinizing him.
"Il serait poli de présenter ton invité, Blaise," she said quietly, her voice light and cold.
Blaise looked back at Rhys uncertainly. "Maman, c'est Rhys. Rhys, this is my mother." He turned back to his mother and set the fork back on his plate. "Rhys ne parle pas français, Maman."
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Post by Rhys Adler on Jun 3, 2010 0:02:51 GMT -5
Hell. Rhys could just about feel Blaise's mother judging him. No wonder Blaise treated her like he did; she was scary. The fact Mr. High-and-Mighty had suddenly become this, too...
He wiped a bit of chocolate off his mouth and nodded to her, fingers digging into his shorts under the table and trying desperately to remember what Madam Gaudreau said about etiquette. "Uh. Bonjour, Madam." Wow that was botched pronunciation- even he could tell. "It's nice to meet you." Yeah, French was not happening today.
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Post by Blaise Park on Jun 3, 2010 0:50:05 GMT -5
"Enchanté." She extended her hand to Rhys. "I am Marie-Elisabeth Desrosiers. I hope you are enjoying it here?" Blaise's mother glanced down at Rhys and scrunched her nose, and Blaise realized rather self-consciously that he did the same thing.
"You do not intend to wear those clothes around the city?" she asked, her eyebrow arching high on her forehead. "Blaise will lend you something more suitable."
"Maman..." Blaise began. "Vous n'êtes--" His mother turned her cold gaze, and his words caught in his throat.
"Blaise," she began slowly, "do you know what happened to the vase in the foyer?"
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Post by Rhys Adler on Jun 3, 2010 1:32:51 GMT -5
"Ah..." His eyes widened a little, and he figured 'I just put on something clean' wouldn't cut it. He shook her hand and smiled. "Yes ma'am," he said sincerely. "Your house is beautiful, and Blaise has been a great host so far."
...Vase? There was a- oh fuck. Do not show fear. He looked sympathetically at Blaise; that was completely his fault, and he had no idea what the hell he could do about it.
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Post by Blaise Park on Jun 3, 2010 2:13:25 GMT -5
Blaise looked his mother in the eyes and shrugged. "C'était Drago." His mother pressed her lips in a thin line, fiddling with the string of pearls hanging against her throat. Blaise held her eyes for only a moment, then took another bite of his crêpe.
"We're going to be leaving after breakfast to spend the day in the city," he said. "We probably won't be back until late in the evening."
His mother shrugged and headed back toward the door. "I will be needing the limo today, so make sure to take the car." She opened the door, then paused and looked back at him. "And Blaise? Your father will be home tonight, so you will be expected to return for dinner." She turned on her heel and slipped out the door, not waiting for him to answer.
Blaise sighed and sank down in his chair. At least it hadn't gone as poorly as he'd been expecting.
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Post by Rhys Adler on Jun 3, 2010 2:21:55 GMT -5
Rhys wanted to reach over and pat him on the shoulder, but he figured that would just make it more awkward.
"So, uhm. You okay?" He gave Blaise a lop-sided smile, trying to cheer him up. "And... what did you just tell her? Something about dragons knocking it over?"
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Post by Blaise Park on Jun 3, 2010 3:01:51 GMT -5
Blaise snorted. "Drago is my mom's cat. He likes to climb on the furniture, so this wouldn't be the first time he's knocked something over." He pulled himself to his feet and dumped his dirty dishes in the sink. He sighed and looked back over at Rhys. "I'm alright. She wasn't as bad as she could have been, and I'm trying not to antagonize her right now."
He shrugged. "So what do you want to do in the city?"
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Post by Rhys Adler on Jun 3, 2010 3:13:05 GMT -5
"Oh." Rhys quickly finished off his breakfast and thought about that question.
"Uhm. Well, I don't really care, but I think my mom's expecting some kinda photo of me in front of somethin' big and famous. I kind of want to get something souvenir-y for Kathy before I leave, and maybe Reed and my parents..." He shrugged and got up to dump his own plate. "Uhh. Other than that, what is there to do?"
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Post by Blaise Park on Jun 3, 2010 3:44:56 GMT -5
"We can probably go by the Eiffel Tower or Notre Dame if you want, though I don't want to spend too much time at the tourist traps. We'll hit the tourist traps early that way they aren't as crowded, then we can grab lunch at a nice restaurant. Then after that, maybe I can drag you down to the Red Light district and you can pick up a cute French blond." Blaise shot him a mischievous smile.
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Post by Rhys Adler on Jun 3, 2010 3:51:21 GMT -5
Rhys sighed miserably and rubbed his eyes, then looked around to make sure they were relatively alone.
"Blaise... do you remember last night? After we finished eating and everything?"
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