2013-02-01 - Splitting at the Seams: Cry For Me

The evening is growing darker, that means the woods have long cast a long shadow over the Memorial Garden. Still, there is enough light to see by. The wind is chilly, but it has been an unusually warm winter. It has been a couple of days since the incident where Jean-Phillipe did not return. And then this morning Alex's classes were announced to being cancelled all day. Kenzie has been acting strange as well, drawing inward and not really talking to anyone openly about what happened. The school is facing difficult times, but where does that leave Lorelei?

Since the announcement that the Social Warfare classes were canceled, Lorelei hasn't really known what to do with herself. Then hearing that Jean-Phillipe has passed... The winged girl has been wearing black, a backless shirt that he helped her pick out, sometime along. Nightfall finds her visiting the Memorial Garden, flashlight in hand so that she can find her way back inside once she's finished mouring. She might not have known the French thief very well, but he had become something of a mentor for her in the short time he had personally trained her. Her eyes are red and her face is splotchy, sure signs that the teenager has been crying, and a fitful breeze blows around her, tossing her hair.

At first, it is strange, like something is not quite right as Lorelei stands there to think and work through her own grief. No, something is not right at all. After a bit, when Lorelei steps closer to the memorial stone pillar, she will notice that Jean-Phillipe has been crossed out repetaedly, and a new carving added: Charlie Cluster-7.

The shadows have lengthed now and you can feel the chilly breeze about your feathers. It is about time to head in anyway, though the disfigurement of the stone pillar a mystery. Yet, an almost wierdly alight appears toward the lake before fading away. And only a few moments later, a white figure is growing out of the lengthening shadows. This is not a ghost story though, but it may feel that way at first, with the chilly breezing causing a sharp snap of the trench coat about his legs as it flutters dramatically. The white clad man walks toward the memorial garden, the spitting image of Jean-Phillipe, mask and all has appeared, walking between the shrubs surrounding the Memorial Garden and moving about the stone paths of the it with ease, toward the center, toward Lorelei.

The defacing of the memorial to Fantomex earns a scowl from Lore as a harder gust makes her shirt billow forward. There's nothing she can do about it, for now, but she can certainly report it to someone. Just as soon as she gets inside out of the cold, anyway! The winged girl turns to leave, wings tucked close but feathers puffed out to preserve body heat, but stops before she's managed to take even one step at the sight of the man-- the ghost --walking toward her, "J-Jean-Phillipe?" Her eyes are wide in shock and her voice not likely audible from more than a few feet away to those with normal hearing. The wind gusts again, stronger this time, blowing toward the approaching figure and tossing any loose debris in his direction as she shivers. It doesn't occur to her to try to run: Either the reports of his death were highly exaggerated, or this is his spirit returned to haunt the school. Either way, there's no point in trying to flee.

The man smiles beneath his mask. His mon petit is always full of little surprises. He knows her general character, but there is just something about her that makes the Frenchman believe she holds many, many secrets yet that are yet to be discovered. He hears her whisper something, but misses exactly what it was. He can guess though. He continues to walk toward her, stopping just a yard from her, "Not scared mon petit? The dead walking?" The light humor is there in his French accent, but that is when he notices the red eyes. "Ah, mon petit, where you crying for me?" He sounds a bit amazed and pleased at the same time.

"I-" Lore shakes her head, "If ya are a ghost, then there ain't much use in runnin', is there?" She licks her lips and swallows visibly, almost making an audible 'gulp' when she does, "If you've come back t' haunt us, then it ain't like there's any place I could run t' t' get 'way, is there?" She's watched enough ghost hunting TV shows to know that much, anyway. Then he asks if she was crying and she ducks her head, shrugging both shoulders and wings at the same time, and blushes, "Yeah..." She shivers a little and wraps her arms tightly around herself, "We was told you're dead." Suddenly, she scowls and looks back at his memorial pillar, "Somebody marked your name out, though, and wrote something else: Charlie Cluster-7, or somethin' like that."

"That was Cluster, my other self." Other self?! But then, Fantomex steps forward once more before getting on one knee before Lore, looking into her little face. "I did die, but you should know me on mon petit. I have many secrets, and plans within plans." Then he has to ruin the seriousness of it, "One body down, how many more to go?" He winks up at you. "Least you did not start screaming like Alex did, when Cluster showed up in his room. Then again, I was wise enough not to climb through your dorm room window."

Jean-Phillipe then holds his white gloved hands to you, "I am very real mon petit."

"Cluster?" Lore blinks in confusion, "Other self?" Okay... Now she's even more confused... She studies him seriously, looking surprised when he kneels before her, and then confused when he talks about this Cluster person sneaking into Alex's room, "It wouldn't of done any good t' scream, though, right?" So why waste her breath? "What happened? I ain't heard nothin' but that ya died..."

Then he's holding his hands out to her and she hesitates for just a moment before ignoring them and trying to throw her arms around him in a hug, relief that he's real and he's alive overwhelming her good sense for a moment. The winged girl suddenly starts crying again, though not from grief, this time, but just happy that he seems to be alright and she's got back one of the people she looks up to and, oddly, trusts.

Alright, second hug in last 24 hours, but this one from the proper gender. Still jail bait, but hey, Jean-Phillipe doesn't look a gift horse in the mouth, especially when that gift is in the form of a petite angel-girl. He wraps his arms about her waist, careful of her wings. "Tears mon petit? You have me worried you are not happy to see me?" But he holds Lorelei for a little bit, actually enjoying the sensation. Hugs are not a comomn experience for him. After a few moments he says a gentle shhh, "It is fine, mon petit. I have a new body, and everything is fine. And you, you even wore one of the shirts I selected to show off your beautiful wings. "But you must be cold, shall we go inside?"

"I am happy." Lorelei sniffs loudly, the sound quieting her relieved sobs a little, "I thought I weren't gonna see ya again, but you're here and you're alright." She shivers a little, not releasing him from the hug until he mentions going inside. It's only then that she pulls back, blushing a little at having attacked him without warning, "I thought it'd be a good way t' show that I r'member your lessons." She nods at the thought of going inside and shivers visibly, "Yeah... I was goin' back in when I saw ya." See? She isn't completely without common sense.

Jean-Phillipe's hands linger on your waist as you pull back, and he chuckles. "You are still so innocent," and he removes his hands before standing up. He then offers his arm toward you, "Shall I escort you on?" Gentlemanly of him! He will save introducing you to cluster later, one shock is enough. She will search out Lorelei soo enough anyway, this he knows well.

Lorelei blushes, again, when he calls her innocent, but doesn't say anything refuting him. She might be jaded about some things, but she knows that she doesn't know everything about the way the world works... Then he stands and offers his arm and she giggles, hiccoughing softly due to her earlier tears, and nods as she accepts the offer of being escorted, "Thank you, kind sir." She makes a point to speak clearly, in an East Coast accent, but it's ruined by her giggles. The words might be more southern than anything else, but at least she gets the accent right.