Again with the yelling. Lefevre couldn't understand why his Capitaine was always yelling his name. He just figured it was a word that LeGloan liked the feel of. Why it had to be his name that LeGloan became attached to, who knew.
Regardless, Luc snapped out of yet another reverie upon the bark of his superior. The portly man seemed to use all his strength to get up. Good ting you don't have to do too much moving in a cockpit.
"Don't worry, sir. Your seat is safe with me."
LeGloan sauntered off to the lavatory and left Lefevre to finish his first cup of coffee. He waived at the attendant behind the counter who promptly brought him a second and took the empty cup from the first. He began to relax, letting the worries that were plaguing him moments ago just slide away.
More people trickled in and the Cafe was starting to get moderately busy. The low murmur of conversation that was present when he walked in was slowly increasing in volume.
Lefevre reached over and picked up a data pad sitting on the table, thumbing through the day's news. More stories from the "battlefront" over in Languedoc. More drivel about the Brigands and Corse. Nothing he didn't already know because he was one of the ones dealing with all that nonsense.
He put the data pad back down where it was and watched as the attendant swept up the last remnants of the mess from earlier.
"Perfectly good croissants gone to waste," he muttered to himself.
Typical. Angry, caffeinated, unscrupulous individuals in one room socializing. It was like being in an elementary school. Chloe caught herself smiling, taking another sip from her spiked beverage.
As Amelie left, Chloe spoke up, "Mademoiselle Amelie, I would like you to fetch me a croissant, the evening paper, and a few painkillers." She said it louder than should normally be said, adding to the embarrassment she might be feeling.
Some people had to know their place...
"THE HULL HAS BEEN BREACHED AND THESCIENCEIS LEAKING OUT!"
Bernard glanced up at the nonsense and commotion that was being caused. He sighed heavily and sat down the datapad on the table. "Some people are trying to see if their brothers name comes up on the captured or killed list you know!" He shouted, not attempting to draw attention to himself.
It was a known fact that Bernard and Arthur Levesque were brothers. Amiral Arthur Levesque was, or well is, an Amiral for the Council. While Bernard got stuck following in their fathers foot steps before their father passed away from old age. Some people believed Bernard was a spy for the Council, yet he despised his brother a lot. Hell, those some people couldn't touch Bernard because of his position of power.
Though, it did chill him to the bones to know that there was a higher power that could make him disappear if he acted wrong, and with how corrupt the Gallic Royal Police are? He was lucky, he wasn't caught.
She replied with a simple "Oui," masking her frustration and lack of sleep at the same time. When she started toward the elevator, a small white sign was taped neatly to the door. Upon closer inspection, the sign said:
Elevator Out of Order, please use stairs.
"A practical joke," she thought, but her theory soon changed when she pressed the call button on the elevator. Nothing happened: no light, no bell, nothing. She mashed the call button furiously, but to no avail; the elevator was out of order, just as the sign said. Amelie banged on the elevator door before walking towards the stairwell.
"Ridiculous..." she muttered to herself. "Only one elevator comes up this high and it has to be broken NOW. They keep all the newspapers in the main hub, which is five levels down... merde!"
The stairs were old and dusty, hardly even used by maintenance. Down the first four flights she went, and the trip was so far uneventful and safe, but upon reaching the bottom few steps, the metal supports gave out, due to untreated rusting at the join. Amelie fell to the floor, just barely cushioning her fall with her right arm.
Already had the bruise begun to form, she could feel it as she brushed the dust from her uniform. "Stupid station workers can't even keep the stairs in working order," she grumbled.
The hub was lifeless. Another small sign rested on the central desk. It said:
On break. Will return soon.
Amelie said nothing. Venting her frustration would do her no good, as no-one would hear it anyway. She checked the desk for newspapers, but they were not in their normal place. From office to office she ran, but found none.
Suddenly, she tripped over something. A stack of Gallian evening newspapers. Why they were sitting in the middle of an office corridor, she would never know, but she picked one out of the stack and rolled it under her arm.
"Now to the Pharmacy..." Amelie groaned. Lucky for her, one of the elevators was working on this level. She rode it three flights down. Upon exiting, another white sign was in sight.
Went to central hub for a party. Be back later.
Amelie was astounded at the lazy nature of the staff of Gap station. But they weren't so lazy as to forget to lock up: the pharmacy was closed and every cabinet inside was sealed shut. She sighed in exasperation and distress as she leaned against the glass windows of the pharmacy. As she leaned, though, she felt herself falling back. The window swung open into the store, and Amelie resultingly fell to the floor with a hard thud.
In pain, she gasped for breath. "Merde!" she screamed as soon as she was able.
Amelie stood, and with bloodshot eyes, surveyed the room. Upon seeing the keys to the Plexiglas cabinets, she quickly grabbed them and unlocked the container holding painkillers.
She left a messy memo on the desk accompanied by the keys and enough money to cover the bottle of painkillers.
She wondered how she would get the croissants, though.
She took the elevator back up to the main hub. Yet another sign was on the center desk.
Moved to Hangar for Afterparty.
She ignored it, because despite the laziness of the staff, they did her a huge favor:
They left a plate of croissants sitting on the center desk. She set the newspaper and bottle of pills on the platter and carried it wearily away to the stairwell, which she climbed for five agonizing flights to the cafe.
Directeur Dupont still waited patiently at her table. Amelie approached her superior, battered and dusty, and set the goods down. Promptly, she sat down at the adjacent table and fell asleep.
A way a lone a last a loved a long the riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay,
brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.
Chloe smiled, inspecting the goods before her and giving her a thankful pat on the head. "Merci, madame Amelie." She promptly popped the pain killers in her mouth, downed them with the coffee, took a bit of the croissant, and began reading the paper without giving Amelie a second thought.
"THE HULL HAS BEEN BREACHED AND THESCIENCEIS LEAKING OUT!"
Villette looked up from her newspaper -- well, not really a newspaper, more of a news pad -- and over at the Directeur, Chloe Dupont. She smiled at the woman and waved reluctantly before returning to her drink. She flipped through the virtual pages on the screen of the touchscreen device. The headlines were all uninteresting to her, but she focussed on the information anyways. In her mind, it was better to be seen doing something while drinking a cup of morning coffee alone at a table than to be looking around the room, or worse, staring down at the table.
She looked over and saw Amelie a few tables over, asleep. She smiled as she finished her coffee and ordered another. As soon as the cup of piping hot liquid came, she walked it over to Amelie's table with miraculously rejuvenated courageousness and sat down. She placed the mug in front of Amelie and lightly shook her shoulder to awaken her.
"Wake up, sleepyhead," she said in a soft voice. "I saw what Chloe put you through and decided you needed some coffee. Don't worry about Chloe. She just does that when she's either bored, tired, or sometimes just for fun. You'll get used to it."
Brun smirks as he watches Amelie walk back into the room, obviously gone through a rough time. He wipes up the rest of the wine, throws the rags in the disposal, and walks up to the bar.
"Bonjour, give me a glass of your finest wine. I need it right now..."
"Er...how old are you monsieur?"
"I'm 21, now get me that wine!"
Brun takes a sip from the wine glass placed infront of him.
"Ah...merci mon ami...that's good wine."
A couple of glasses later, Brun passes out, face flat on the bar.
Amelie stirred. She looked Villette in the eyes. "No... not now. I've hardly slept at all... coffee will only make it worse."
With bloodshot eyes and drooping lips, Amelie cracked a smile. "I'd take the coffee any other time, but I can't now."
"Merci, et bonne nuit." she whispered moments before she collapsed back onto her pillow: two arms folded on the table.
A way a lone a last a loved a long the riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay,
brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.
Villette smiled and chuckled softly. She gently tousled Amelie's hair and picked up the coffee. "I'll take you up on that offer for a coffee later," she whispered. "Sweet dreams."
She walked back over to her table, smiling at Chloe Dupont as she passed her by.
After Brun was sleeping, a young woman sneaks up to him, with some coloured pencils in her hands.
She then lifts up his face, and starts drawing some funny lines into it, like a big black moustache and egypt eyes.
Afterwards, she colours his cheeks with pink.
Then, she leaves him alone again, walking away as if nothing happened, heading for the table of Directeur Dupont.
Bonjour madame, anything important in the paper?
In a brilliant tactical movement, i charged backwards.