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 Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 7:59 pm
“Toulouse are you done yet?” Felicity yelled from the driveway. Her head was tilted back as she looked up at Toulouse’s precarious position on the roof top. He was adjusting the satellite disk with right to left movements. “Julien and Mir are going to be here soon and I have to go like now. Come down.” Felicity never could understand how Toulouse had gotten on the shingled roof in the first place. One minute he was on the back porch complaining about television reception and then the next, poof! He was on the roof.
“I’m not going down until this damned thing is set right!” Toulouse shouted over his shoulder. “I’m tired of the ants races on channel ten. I like that channel you know.” He had bonded with channel ten since the pottery lessons. Toulouse tried not to think about that embarrassing day too hard. He also tried not to think about the glamour lessons he was supposed to be giving Julien either.
“Please just get down! Julien is coming.” Felicity said again. “And if you fall, child services will have my butt…and don’t say damn, for goodness sakes. Jodi is gonna have a fit if she sees this.” Felicity groaned in agony at the thought of her sister-in-law seeing Toulouse on the roof of the house.
“Silence woman. I don’t want to have to come up here again. It has to be perfect.” He grunt and looked to be going into a battle of will with the satellite. “Oh, and the devil woman is coming. I see her coming up the drive. I think Mir and Julien are right behind her too.”
“What!” Felicity cried, stuck between wanting to see Mir and not wanting to. She didn’t want Mir to have to meet the odious Jodie.”
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:07 pm
Mireille followed the other car down to where Felicity's house was, occasionally glancing back in the rear-view mirror at Julien. "You're sure you're going to be okay all day?" she asked again, and Julien just chuckled, taking her overprotective questions with a cheerful nod.
"I've got all the ingredients for lunch in my backpack for both of us, and a bag of cookies for Toulouse and Felicity," he assured her. "It'll be good for Toulouse and I to have this time together. Really." There was no impatience in his voice, and he seemed utterly relaxed to her, but as she looked away, Julien frowned faintly, looking out the window at the landscape in thought. Someday, he'd have to come clean about what these visits were really for...
"Looks like someone's stopping at the same place. Ready to say hi?" Mireille asked, pulling to a stop and parking the car.
"Always," Julien grinned, eyes bright once more as he unbuckled his seatbelt and moved to get out of the car.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:20 pm
“Please.” Felicity begged almost on her knees but not quite. “Toulouse, please get down!” The redhead turned to see that Toulouse had not lied and that Jodie, Julien, and Mir were coming up the drive.
“Calm yourself. I’ve almost got it.” Toulouse said this just a Jodi parked her red Cadillac expertly on the right side of the drive way. Felicity’s sister-in-law didn’t even get out of the car. She simply rolled down her window.
“Are you coming or not?” Jodi asked petulantly. Felicity blinked in worried surprise “I don’t want to be late.” It was obvious that Jodi had not seen Toulouse on the roof. Felicity screamed in glee inwardly.
“Oh…um the baby-sitter hasn’t gotten here yet.” Felicity replied nervously. Toulouse heard this comment but said nothing. He could yell at Felicity for the embarrassment later.
“Really? You should have taken that girl I recommend. At least I know her. Whose this boy you told me about? Is he CPR certified?”
“His names Julien, Jodie. He’s a nice boy, not that it’s any of your business, and Toulouse isn’t going to need CPR.” Jodi was about to offer out a retort as Mir’s car came driving up.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:32 pm
Julien stepped out of Mir's car as Mir hesitated, seeing that the other woman wasn't even bothering to step out of her own. Without waiting to see if Mireille would follow, he moved to Felicity with a warm smile. "Hi. It's good to see you again," he offered, holding out a hand to her. "Is this your ride?"
Mireille hesitated, then shut off her car and stepped out as well, a little nervous, but relaxing as she watched Julien. Somehow, the boy just... was comfortable around others.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 9:32 pm
“Y-yes.” Felicity stuttered taking Julien’s hand in a squeezing kind of handshake. “It’s great of you to come on such short notice. Thanks.” She smiled and widened her eyes, hoping Julien would just go with it. Jodi had decided to just pop up again after Toulouse had planned a get together with Julien. "Oh, Julien, this is Jodi."
“This is the baby-sitter? He’s much of a baby himself. Does he know what to do in an emergency.” Jodi squawked from her car, eyeing Julien suspiciously, being very rude.
“Don’t worry Jodi. It’s okay. He's a good baby-sitter.” She said soothingly. To Mir she said, “Thanks for taking Julien up here. I know it’s a bit of a drive.” She laughed awkwardly, wanting to sink into the pavement. Oh boy did she have some explaining to do later.
Toulouse watched the events down below with keen interest. He was half hidden behind the silver dish and it wasn’t likely that he would be spotted by the Jodi woman. He almost flat bad for Felicity. Toulouse had once had an aunt who was much the same way.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 9:36 pm
Rather than take offense at the woman's rudeness, Julien turned to her with an apparently open smile, offering his hand near the window. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Don't worry. I've been taught precisely what to do in various types of emergencies, and have all the necessary numbers. Toulouse is perfectly safe with me."
Mireille nodded at Felicity, her own smile a little stilted as she watched Julien try to relax the situation through charm. "Don't worry about a thing, Felicity," she offered, doing her best to sound utterly confident.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 9:49 pm
Julien’s charm did what it was supposed to do. Jodi was thoroughly charmed as she took his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.” She simpered through the window. “I’m sorry if I seemed overly cautious. One can never be to careful these days. Well, we better get going Felicity.” Jodi said turning to the redhead with a bit more nag in her voice. “I don’t want to be late.
It took Felicity a moment to regain her composer and draw back her slack mouth. She could melt in happiness over that fact Julien and Mir were playing around. “R-right. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay and talk more Mir. I feel like such a bad hostess.” Jodi snorted at this. “I-I’ll call you tonight okay?” Felicity smiled awkwardly getting into the passenger seat. “Oh, Toulouse is…uh hanging about.” Felicity tried to point discreetly upward, not wanting to alert watchdog Jodi. “Bye.”
Toulouse watched as Felicity willing got into a car with Jodi and drive away. He hated Jodi and decided he must do something about it later. He wondered if Mir or Julien were offended by her strange manner.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 9:59 pm
Waiting until the car was gone, Julien turned a raised eyebrow to Mireille. "She was... interesting," he offered wryly, a half-chuckle in his voice. "I'll call when I'm ready to come home, okay?"
Mireille nodded, biting back the more graphic comments that floated through her mind at the thought of the woman and leaning in to hug Julien. He hugged her back tightly, kissing her cheek before she stepped back into her car and drove off.
Once she was gone, Julien turned, looking up and peering around. "Toulouse? You hiding?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:19 pm
“No, not really.” Toulouse replied from the roof, startled out of his plots of revenge on Jodi.
Toulouse poked his head over the ridgepole of the roof and looked down at Julien. “Are you sure you know what to do in a emergency? I might fall and break my wittle noggin’.” Toulouse wanted to keep things light and fun. He didn’t want Julien bringing up anything that didn’t have to do with magic. He smiled. “Hang on.” He clambered up on the ridgepole and walked nimbly across it to the chimney. He slide down the roof, grabbed the top of the open attic window and flipped in.
He ran down the stairs and through the house. “Fancy seeing you here.” He said as he opened the front door smiling at Julien in a breathy sort of way.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:23 pm
Julien laughed, watching Toulouse for several moments before slipping off his backpack and holding it up. "Well, since the biggest emergency I expect to encounter is no lunch, I've come prepared. I even made double chocolate chip cookies for after, but you have to eat my lunch before I'll let you have any," he informed Toulouse serenely, reaching out to ruffle Toulouse's hair before stepping inside.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:38 pm
“I’m not promising to eat anything until I’ve seen it. How do I know that you haven’t brought something noxious like bug sandwiches or something like that.” Toulouse laughed thinking of pickles as he ushered Julien deeper into the house.
“I want to show you something Julien. Sit here for a second.” Toulouse pointed imperiously to the leather couch. “Love, Love, Lovey, Love.” Toulouse cajoled in good humor. “Where are you? Come out.” He ran into the kitchen and looked under the table for the little kitten that he had found. “Here kitty, kitty.” Toulouse whistled a bit wanting Love to come out. He wondered where she had wandered off to.
“Well, I did have something to show you, but I think it’s run off.” Toulouse said to Julien with a shrug. “She has to be around here somewhere.” Toulouse was on his hands and knees looking under the recliner.
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:53 am
Julien sat down, watching Toulouse with a chuckle as Toulouse called for Love. "A new cat?" he asked, eyes dancing at the sight. It was good to see, really... and gave Julien some hope as far as Toulouse was concerned. "I think she might be afraid of me. I'm new, after all. She doesn't yet know I won't hurt her," he pointed out to Toulouse, setting his bag down on the floor beside the couch.
"I brought soup and sandwiches for lunch, actually. I figured I'd try a soup recipe, and I liked how it turned out. And there's nothing quite as good as roast beef on fresh bread." Julien hesitated a moment, then added a little more quietly, "How have you been? Since..."
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:07 am
Toulouse banged his head on the bottom coffee table, the place he’d been kneeling under. Where was that cat? He ignored Julien for a moment as he searched about. He didn’t want to answer Julien’s last question. Didn’t even want to think about it. It was just one time and didn’t need to be brought up again. He wasn’t that angry about it, more embarrassed, but he hung on to the anger because it was easier.
“Oh! I know what will get her.” Toulouse exclaimed, still not answering Julien. “She likes to eat. Love!” He shouted going into the kitchen and grabbing her cat treats. He shook the container briskly.
A small mewling began issuing under the couch where Julien sat. Toulouse placed a treat next to Julien’s foot. “Don’t move okay? Let’s see if she comes out. She doesn’t like people much.” Touluse squatted down, looking at the space between the couch and floor waiting for Love.
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:12 am
Julien kept the smile on his face, but there was something a touch sad in his eyes as he watched Toulouse. That good, huh?, he thought wryly, sitting very still. "She'll probably be more comfortable with me if she gets used to me being around before she's made to come out," he pointed out to Toulouse, half-wondering if he needed to give the golden boy some space as well. "Kind of like you."
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:23 am
“I’m not a cat.” Toulouse replied being deliberately obtuse. Please don’t make me talk about it Toulouse thought while glaring at the floor. He really didn’t want to talk about it. “If Love doesn’t come out I’m not sure what we’re going to do. She’s your homework.”
Toulouse got down on his side, his head touching Julien’s show. “C’mere Love.” He coaxed putting in a bit of compulsion to his words. He could see Love’s blue eyes flickering apprehensively, but she finally managed to wiggle out from under the couch to Toulouse’s waiting hand.
“Here.” Toulouse said snatching Love up and deposited the white kitten on Julien’s lap. "You're homework." The homework cried a bit, then sat down.
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