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« on: May 05, 2008, 01:18:06 am »
And here's to another post!
Despite his cavalier attitude, Remy was still trying to keep his mind from reeling. He was amazed at how much Belle had changed over the years. When he’d left her, she was a frail, slender girl, still very shy despite her burgeoning talents as an Assassin. Now, she had come into her own, and stood with the casual ease of someone well aware of their own capabilities. The way she spoke, her offhand manner, and seeming disinterest in the situation, all showed she’d matured greatly, and no wonder, considering she now was the leader of one of the most affluent criminal organizations in the United States.
And that didn’t even begin to cover how she’d matured in other ways. Remy had risked a quick once over, hoping his dark glasses would disguise the motion, and judging by her lack of a reaction, he’d gotten away with it, making him risk another glance when she was fumbling for her keys, rather than paying attention to him. He’d seen the way she’d looked at him; he’d had more than enough practice to know when a woman was admiring his form, and it certainly wasn’t revulsion in her face as she’d done so.
Remy listened quietly as Belle assured him that the Guilds weren’t having money troubles, and wondered curiously if she was intentionally ignoring his joke, or if she had just not thought it amusing. He hoped it was the former. He’d thought the crack was worth at least a smile. The news informed about more than just the fact that his sense of humor needed updating, however. That the Guilds weren’t in money trouble wasn’t surprising to Remy. He knew they would do well enough for themselves if they stopped killing each other off. There were always things to be stolen and people to be killed. But the fact that Belle had mentioned it within the first few moments of their first reunion after all these years meant that they were never far from her mind, and that she was likely quite proud of the job she’d done.
It wasn’t that Remy was particularly interested in the Guilds. They’d played a huge role in his upbringing, and many of his earliest friends were in the Thieves Guild, but Remy had even then liked to work alone whenever possible, and didn’t see the fun in the large group heists that many of the members of his Guild had grown to prefer over the years.
As Belle pulled her oversized key ring from her bag, Remy nodded slightly to himself appreciatively. While the overburdened key ring would be something of an inconvenience at first, in the long run it would function as an effective deterrent to all but the most accomplished thieves. The plethora of different sizes and shapes hanging from the ring would leave any hopeful B&E-er baffled at the front door for ages, trying first one key and then another, and unless the miscreant knew there was something especially valuable to be gained, they would probably lose interest and look for an easier score. Additionally, the overstuffed ring was a hefty weight in itself, and would have been difficult for even a master thief like Remy to pick out of a purse without having the owner notice.
Of course, Remy would more likely just bypass the whole situation by finding another way in.
As Belle pulled the door open, a slightly awkward motion, considering that she held several bags and had to pull out her key while the door was open, Remy apologized, almost sincerely, for not holding the door open for her. With a small smile, Belle turned to him as she stepped through the entranceway, saing “Guess de Assassin assigned t’ give y’ de key failed ‘is job.” Remy chuckled a little, somewhat unsure, and then frowned.
On one hand, Remy doubted that she wouldn’t have used an Assassin for such a trivial task, and he didn’t think that an Assassin would be able to find him, and if they did, he was almost positive they wouldn’t be able to shadow him without his knowing…but he also knew that with Assassins, unless you were one hundred percent sure, things could end up very poorly for you. Casting a look over his shoulder, he hurried through the door, saying, “Y’ din’ really send one a’ yo’ Assassins t’ Remy…did y’?”
Giving himself a little mental reassurance as Belle began to lead him up the stairs, Remy kept his eyes busy, scanning the interior for structural weaknesses that could potentially be exploited, for windows and points of ingress and egress. And he managed to cast quite a few glances at Belle’s extremely well defined rear, wishing he could see more.
As they reached her floor, and Belle was unlocking her surprisingly shabby-looking door, Remy noticed, with some pleasure, that there was a nearby Emergency Exit, meaning that if he had to make a hasty retreat, he would have two potential options, although, he cautioned himself, it was quite likely BellaDonna had trapped the exit, just so she didn’t have any unexpected visitors trying to make their way into the building stealthily.
Snapping his attention back to his wife, a descriptor that sent all kinds of unfamiliar, and not wholly unpleasant, sensations down his spine, Remy peered in through the open doorway, looking around the well furnished rooms as Belle said to him, “Make y’self at ‘ome.” Remy was impressed. Belle had done an excellent job of disguising her home-away-from-home. While on the outside, it was just another rundown apartment in a building full of the same, but on the inside, it was very tastefully decorated and furnished, sending an aura of subtle wealth that made Remy’s thief’s instincts tingle with the desire to start pilfering.
Instead, he followed Belle into the kitchen, lounging casually against the wall as she placed the groceries on the counter, and turned to him. “If we’s gunna do dis’ Belle need a drink…” she said, matter-of-factly. “W’at y’ wan’? We’s got wine o’ I went t’ de store an’ picked up some o’ y’ favorite bourbon…” Remy chuckled lightly, both in appreciation of BellaDonna’s forethought and preparation, and at the apparent domesticity of the apparently stone-cold leader of the Unified Guilds.
“Dis a nice place y’got ‘ere,” Remy said, glancing around as he moved further into the kitchen, opening one of Belle’s glass-faced, wood-framed cupboards and gently taking out a pair of wineglasses. Halfway through the act, Remy cocked his head at BellaDonna, grinning. “Y’did ask Remy t’make ‘imself at ‘ome, non?” he asked in a joking, teasing manner. Placing the two wine glasses (red wine glasses, of course) on the counter between them, Remy said, “’ow ‘bout we start wit’ jus’ a bit a de wine. Maybe I ‘ave a bit’a de bourbon later.”
Casting his eyes around the kitchen, looking for a likely place for Belle to keep the wine, Remy asked, somewhat cockily, “So den, ma cher. Wha’s de ‘dis’ dat we go’in’ do?”
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