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Ian · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 521 Location: South Carolina

~~But God bless the child that's got his own, that's~~ "Ouch!" Ian looks down, while Billie keeps singing. A small spiked wrist band is on the floor, with the bedsheets, Ian's clothes and a worn paperback copy of "Dracula". He picks up the wrist band and smiles softly, then sees the nearly faded red marks on his body. "Last time I bring home a goth chick who thinks she's a vampire." He mutters. Quickly, he cleans the room, so it is neat, like the rest of his small house. Then he looks at a map and sighs. "French quarter. Look for Corwin. Hmm. French quarter. I need to see, what was her name, that cute teacher's assistant at Tulane...Hayden!" The day planned, he heads for the shower.

TonyLB · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 494

Just as the water comes up to the right temperature ... knock, knock knock.

Then, a few moments later, knockKNOCK.

Then knockaknockaknockaknockaknockaknockKNOCK!

Ian · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 521 Location: South Carolina

Used to quick showers, he wraps a towel around his waist, grabs the wrist band and the book and opens the door. "Forget someth..." Water drips on the floor.

TonyLB · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 494

A young girl of some eighteen years stands in the door with a duffel slung over one shoulder. Her short black hair is ruffled and slightly wet, and her clothes are rumpled and clearly slept in. She takes a small step back.

"Ewww," she says, "You're all naked!"

Ian · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 521 Location: South Carolina

"Untrue. I am wearing a towel. Come in, have a seat. I'll be more presentable in a moment." The faintest trace of a smile touches his lips and his eyes and he goes back to his bedroom to change. The living room is amazingly clean. Clearly Ian is not your typical bachelor. A record player sits in one corner, with some soft jazz coming from the two small speakers. She has just come up a flight of stairs to the landing where Ian's apartment and the one across the way share. As she steps in, she is on an oval rug, with small round table to the right with four chairs. A bookcase to her left has books on Geography, French, New Orleans and art. Upon further perusal a few cookbooks can be found, turned backwards so a casual glance would not reveal them. A couch is directly across with a coffee table. A corridor to the right no doubt leads to a bathroom and the kitchen and the door to the left leads to Ian's room.

TonyLB · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 494

The girl dumps her duffel and settles gingerly on the couch.

A short time later, she shouts in through the door: "She told you I was coming, didn't she? God DAMN it!"

Ian · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 521 Location: South Carolina

He walks out, dressed in a white, long-sleeve shirt. The cuffs are not buttoned. His pants are black, probably cotton and cover the tops of the low boots he is wearing. "What difference would that make?" He says with a smile. He sits next to her and hugs her tightly, then kisses her forehead. "Goddamn it's good to see you." He hugs her again.

TonyLB · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 494

Her forehead is salty. She returns his hug, but when they separate, he can see that her lips are drawn up in a pout.

"Well, it's good to see you too, Ian. It just pisses me off to think that mom can second-guess me." She sighs lightly. "I thought you'd be all 'Oh my God, what are you doing here?', but I guess I'm not as clever as I hoped."

She sulks a moment longer, then says "Okay, fine. It is what it is." She smiles, though weakly. "So, if we've only got a little time together, let's not waste it arguing. Take me to breakfast! I'm starved. Greyhound stations are a food torture house. They tried to feed me plastic."

Ian · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 521 Location: South Carolina

He leads her outside and locks the door behind them. They go down the seventeen stairs that lead to the sidewalk and he turns left, on Chanson Street. "So what have you been up to?"

TonyLB · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 494

The girl shrugs. "I have no life," she says flatly. "Mom's been trying His old haunts ... again. So we've been moving practically every week. She isn't even bothering with school for me any more."

"Oooh, ooh!" she says suddenly, "I won a joust! It was awesome, there was this guy in nasty black armor, I'm sure he must have painted it after every battle, because you really can't get metal to take a tint like that, and he was all savaging these guys, and there was a whole 'Oh, woe is us, it's not like the old days when Corban ruled,' only they pronounced it wrong, because of course it's not the real Avalon, and then ... "

She shakes her head. "Anyway, I guess you had to be there. Bit of a boring story, now that I actually try to tell it. What have you been doing? I mean, apart from lying in wait to flash innocent young girls."

Ian · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 521 Location: South Carolina

"You won a joust? Excellent!" He opens the door to Hadley's. The smells of spice, bacon and strong coffee assail them as they enter. Ian nods to the chef, holds up two fingers and walks straight past the collection of hangover victims, early morning workers and sundry who make up the scant clientele of this restaurant. Ian steps on something with many legs and holds her chair out. "So how is Mom, and not that I'm not happy to see you, but why are you here?" He sits after she does.

TonyLB · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 494

"Mom's crazed, as usual," she replies. "I'm here to get away from her nutty quest. I'm sick of it. We're never going to find him. He's probably been dead since before either of us was even born."

Ian · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 521 Location: South Carolina

"Well, you're welcome to stay with me as long as you like, or until you get so annoying I toss you out on your ear." Breakfast arrives. A pot of black coffee, a carafe of orange juice, croissants, eggs, crispy thick bacon, grits and a bowl of fruit are brought. "And for the record, most girls I flash aren't that innocent. I don't like to teach, remember?" He chuckles as he pours them each a cup of coffee, thinking of the disastrous fencing lessons she had with him.

TonyLB · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 494

The girl grabs a few croissants, and piles fruit on her plate. As she starts munching, she talks around a mouthful of food: "Don't t'ink I din't notish that you dodged my question," she says. "What'cha doin' that you don' wanna talk about?" She swallows, then smiles slyly at him. "Are you doing something sneaky?"

Ian · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 521 Location: South Carolina

"Sneaky? Me? Mom had a vivid dream one night about Corwin showing up somewhere where people spoke French. It was so vivid, so she says, that she had me stop off in Montreal first, then come down here, to New Orleans. So I've been checking the city, street by street. But I haven't gotten lucky. In finding Corwin of course." There might be more, hidden behind his blue eyes, which look considerably softer as he thoughtfully drinks some orange juice. "I'm looking for a painting, too. Of her."