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Post by Gambit on Mar 29, 2012 15:40:00 GMT -5
Remy nodded, walking to the kitchen. Unable to help it any longer, he grabbed his cigarettes from the cupboard and lit one, placing the rest back. After the first orgasmic lungful he finally was able to speak. "We all wish dere was somethin' we could do," he said. "But dere ain't." Pressing his hands to his chest in the most sincere expression, he continued, "I mean, I know she be goin' through some rough time. I'd be lyin' if I said I didn' sympathize. I been dere myself-" he smoked some more. "If I speak from experience, she's gonna get over it. I know it's hard but she gotta make it through, an' once she does, she's gonna get harder an' wiser. It's tough gettin' through loss but it's necessary."
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Post by Shade on Mar 29, 2012 15:51:14 GMT -5
There were memories that had come back, memories of the two of them sitting in front of a fireplace, she couldn´t exactly sort where, maybe that part was still missing, but had had not been in New York probably, she remembered this being some kind of hutt. And snow. A memory of them sitting there and Gambit talking about his childhood. About how he had become a thief. There wasn´t much that Shade knew about his life among the guilds other than the story of him getting caught and sold after messing up an initiation job when he was a young teen, that and his marriage to Belladonna. Didn´t know who he might have lost and when, but from the little patches he had trusted to her here and there, the things she had concluded from the rest and from their visit to the Bayou she guessed his childhood had been anything but hers in a normal, almost clichée suburb with a harmonic family and a house with a picked fence. So she drew a few own patchy conclusions from his words. If Connie was anything like him, he might very well be right.
"It´s just not something that should happen to kids." she said, partly just uttering the thoughts that were on the top of her mind. "Having to go through this sort of thing I mean."
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Post by Gambit on Mar 29, 2012 16:04:17 GMT -5
Remy picked up the knife from the floor and washed it, then moved the ashtray closer to have it nearby and started to take stuff out of the bags and wash it. Then he started to chop onions, chili and bell peppers. "Well, no, 'course it shouldn't," he said. "But since it already has, might as well deal wit' it instead of wishin' it never happened."
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Post by Shade on Mar 29, 2012 16:12:42 GMT -5
That answer, she noted, was exactly Gambit and she inwardly wondered how much his daughter was actually like him. Maybe if she had a somewhat similar attitude (as far as a little child could have that) it would make things easier ... or not. There were downsides of dealing with things the way Gambit did.
He was smoking a little more than usual, she noted, but didn´t comment on it. It meant he was stressed and she couldn´t blame him. Actually, she thought that he was not dealing badly with the situation so far, it could be worse.
She fell silent for a moment, hanging after her own thoughts before picking a few applies, oranges and bananas from the grocery bag, deciding that she was feeling like fruit salad. "I was considering to bring a few movies for her earlier," she said. "you know...kids stuff. But I wasn´t sure. Most of it was some kind of fairy tales or things that involved some kind of kid fantasy, I wasn´t sure how she´d react to that," she added, recalling the girls somewhat unusual reaction to her own attempt to use her invisibility for entertainment.
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Post by Gambit on Mar 29, 2012 16:35:56 GMT -5
"I don't think it would be such a good idea," Remy said, after a moment's consideration. "See, ya gotta take her background into account," he glanced back at Shade for a moment, then returned his attention to the vegetables. "Small town, very religious, very low income. Movies an' entertainment considered 'bad', dat sort of stuff. I'm sho Connie would love her some Disney, but right now, dumpin' a huge deal of new stuff on her would probably break a few mind bones..."
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Post by Shade on Mar 29, 2012 16:43:37 GMT -5
Disney would be great, Shade agreed inwardly. Well, minus the Lion King maybe. Or Bambi. It was kind of bewildering, trying to wrap her mind around that kind of small-town America, but the girl´s reaction to her little coin trick, the request to speak a prayer before breakfast and the remark about her eyes spoke a clear lanauge. Sounded like a very restricting environment, especially for someone who was very obviously a mutant.
"Probably" Shade said, carrying the fruit over to the counter and starting to wash it. "Sounds like a very different world she used to live in."
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Post by Gambit on Mar 30, 2012 16:04:56 GMT -5
"Exactly," Gambit nodded. He poured some oil onto the frying pan; the chopped onions and chili followed. "Which is why I can't put a finger on what t' do wit' her. She could be like me - but she's not. I dunno what I'm gonna do wit' her."
For anyone else, this was the level of intimacy unimaginable from Remy's side, which merely served to show how much he trusted Shade that he was willing to admit such things aloud to her.
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Post by Shade on Mar 31, 2012 3:57:38 GMT -5
The trust be bestowed in her by admitting those things was something that Shade was very well aware of. She never spoke it out, never made a mention of it, but knew very well that admitting that he was at a loss of what to do was nothing that Gambit would ever admit unless he trusted someone completely. Admitting helplessness meant showing vulnerability, Gambit usually didn´t do that. He liked being on top of his game all the time and usually he was. This was a special situation none of them could have foreseen.
"I think this is the hardest part right now," Shade said. "the most difficult time. I was wondering if it was best to let her pick her own pace, you know. Not push her. Let her decide when she´s hungry or when she needs company and when she needs time alone." This was based on the possibility that she had inherited her father´s character, though. "But she´s a kid, I mean... I guess the best we can do is show her some stability, some normalty, give her the feeling we´re here and looking out for her." Normalty? she wondered. It wasn´t exactly like their lives were normal.
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Post by Gambit on Mar 31, 2012 9:37:06 GMT -5
"Stability," Remy glanced at Shade with the most sarcasm he was capable of putting into one word. Riiiight. "Look, I got stuff to do. Work, commissions, clients. De club. I ain't exactly free as a bird for anyone t' be pickin' deir own pace wit' me."
He started to cut up meat while the vegetables were sizzling in oil on the frying pan.
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Post by Shade on Mar 31, 2012 10:26:22 GMT -5
"Which is why I said ´some´," Shade said. She was aware that stabilty and normalty was something that didn´t go well with Gambit and that was part of what made him interesting, but she had gotten used to it and Connie was a child. "I didn´t mean playing family with three-meals-a-day and trips to the zoo. More like building up some trust and not leaving her alone for starters. Acting like we do and giving her an impression this can be a home for her. And I guess that takes time."
She had no clear idea even what all of these things look like put to practical means and thought that she might as well hope Connie had some traits of her father´s. This would make things a little easier quite possibly.
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Post by Gambit on Mar 31, 2012 15:53:58 GMT -5
"In no actin' do I want to be an impression of home for anybody," Gambit said obstinately. "I can provide Connie wit' shelter an' food. I ain't carved out for anythin' else." The chunks of meat went onto the frying pan; he poured spices generously all over.
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Post by Shade on Mar 31, 2012 16:54:33 GMT -5
It might take more than that, Shade thought with an inward sigh, to raise a child, especially a traumatised one. She couldn´t even contradict him on that, he very possibly was not carved out for it, it was certainly not anything he would have seen himself doing anywhere in the near future, if at all and now it was rushing in on him all of a sudden, confusing him. Shade noticed this was probably the first situatio that was out of his control ever since she had known him. Her amnesia, well, he had mastered that, the kidnapping in Tunisia - dealing with a group of armed kidnappers had been right up his alley. This was not.
She stepped next to him, checking the counter for some bell pepper or other snack she could nick, but everything had gone into the pan already. "Weeell, good thing you got Shade" she said, drawling out the first word a little "cause she´s like, a total expert in all that kind of stuff." Which wasn´t true. He more likely than not knew that as well. "but it´s a challenge. What would life be without challenges?"
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Post by Gambit on Mar 31, 2012 17:39:20 GMT -5
"Right," he repeated with the same sarcasm, but decided not to dwell on it any longer. With a sigh, he switched his attention to the frying pan - stirred the meat a bit more and then poured some water, tomato sauce and rice over it, then closed the lid. Nothing soothed a troubled soul like a bowl of jambalaya.
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Post by Shade on Mar 31, 2012 17:44:26 GMT -5
Shade reached out for him, her hand touching his upper arm. "Who knows what it looks like in a few days," she said. "it might go better then, maybe she´ll even start to trust me a little , once she stops thinking I´m a witch." It was meant to sound somewhat humorous but there was some sincerity to it. She had the feeling Connie didn´t trust her and she couldn´t blame the girl, she was a stranger to her and there had been a lot happening recently. It would take some time.
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Post by Gambit on Mar 31, 2012 17:54:57 GMT -5
"Dat gotta go," Gambit said, serious. "I'm gonna give 'er de powers talk in de next few days. She's a mutant, so she gotta know what it means. I ain't puttin' up wit' de witch attitude," he glanced at Shade a bit sheepishly, "provided dat is what she thinks. If no, so much the better."
He stepped over to another cupboard and took out a bottle of white wine.
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