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Post by Adrien Baillon on Jun 28, 2010 19:15:48 GMT -5
They would be going to New York very soon, and Adrien had recently become a minor celebrity overnight, but Adrien had wheedled and finally persuaded Adrian to come with him to visit his maman.
Adrien was in a pair of longish black shorts and a button-up shirt and some boots that were uncomfortably schoolboyish, though he didn't seem to notice, and tugging incognito-Adrian along by the wrist, talking excitedly about the little apartment they were going to visit. It was just above a pawn shop Adrien's stepfather owned.
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Post by Adrian Veidt on Jun 28, 2010 19:36:23 GMT -5
Adrian was dressed with a ludicrous level of dignity and classiness that didn't quite gel with where he was going, but at the same time it no longer mattered if anyone knew where he was going or who he was.
He helped Adrien out of the car.
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Post by Adrien Baillon on Jun 28, 2010 20:14:57 GMT -5
(But in fairness the way Adrien had talked about how classy his mother was, she probably sounded as though she swanned about like a movie star and still had time to bake cookies.)
Adrien went to crouch down in front of a little girl playing out in front of the pawnshop, although to look at her she appeared to be a boy in a girl's dress - she was grubby and short-haired and seemed to be pretending to beat someone up. He chatted with her a little bit, then pulled a candy out of his pocket and gave it to her. She inspected it, looked at his suspiciously, and then began to open it.
"Claire!" cried a man from inside, who then rushed out. "Don't touch that!"
He pulled his daughter away from the stranger, then looked back at Adrien and froze, slack-mouthed and staring. He was a young-looking, handsome man, with slightly reddish-blond hair.
"What?" came a slightly panicked young woman's voice from inside. "What is it, what's the matter?"
Adrien stood up and stepped back into Adrian, feeling suddenly faint.
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Post by Adrian Veidt on Jun 28, 2010 20:19:00 GMT -5
"We're here to see a woman by the name of Lucie," Adrian said swiftly. "This is her son, Adrien."
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Post by Adrien Baillon on Jun 28, 2010 20:25:32 GMT -5
But of course, everyone involved knew this already, and Adrian was completely ignored as Lucie's swift footsteps were heard coming down the stairs.
She stopped suddenly in the doorway, hesitating there, skirts swinging. She was plainly dressed in navy, and it was far too easy to see how, really, this image of a young woman would be locked forever in a Catholic boy's mind as the visage of the Virgin Mary, for she was tiny, and pale, and wispy, and when she looked at Adrien, she even trembled a little.
Then she ran to him wordlessly and embraced him, and quite suddenly they were both crying and holding each other tightly, while Lucie's husband lifted Claire up and held her, watching.
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Post by Adrian Veidt on Jun 28, 2010 20:36:43 GMT -5
Adrian took an obliging step back to allow the reunion to take place.
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Post by Adrien Baillon on Jun 28, 2010 20:39:19 GMT -5
Lucie pulled back and stroked her son's tear-stained cheek for a long moment.
Then Adrien put an arm around his maman and turned to Adrian.
"Maman, this is Adrian."
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Post by Adrian Veidt on Jun 28, 2010 20:41:49 GMT -5
Adrian stepped forward.
"A pleasure to finally meet you, Madame. Adrien has told me a lot about you."
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Post by Adrien Baillon on Jun 28, 2010 20:43:35 GMT -5
Lucie smiled and took his hand gracefully.
Although no one in this family seemed to notice it was odd or uncomfortable, Lucie deferred to Adrian as she would have had he still merely been Adrian Veidt, thirteen years her elder and highly esteemed, despite knowing he was Adrien's fiancé.
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Post by Adrian Veidt on Jun 28, 2010 20:45:00 GMT -5
He lifted her hand to his lips and gave it a small, declamatory kiss.
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Post by Adrien Baillon on Jun 28, 2010 20:49:14 GMT -5
"Can I invite you in for dinner, Mr. Veidt?" asked Lucie. Adrien was clinging to her.
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Post by Adrian Veidt on Jun 28, 2010 20:50:48 GMT -5
"What- oh, yes. Yes, of course. I would be honoured."
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Post by Adrien Baillon on Jun 28, 2010 20:53:59 GMT -5
Adrien beamed and took Adrian's hand to pull him in.
If anyone in Adrien's family felt uncomfortable with their relationship, they hid it well. Claire, in the meantime, had given her father a furtive look, noticed he was staring at the new boy, and surreptitiously popped the candy in her mouth.
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Post by Adrian Veidt on Jun 28, 2010 20:58:25 GMT -5
Adrian followed Adrien inside and removed his hat, carefully smoothing his hair into position once it was off.
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Post by Adrien Baillon on Jun 29, 2010 16:37:27 GMT -5
"We read in the paper you were going to New York soon, for New Years," said Lucie softly, looking back over her shoulder at them after they'd reached the - slightly-cramped, but very neat and cosy - upstairs apartment. Her hands were cupped and holding onto each other, but otherwise she seemed serene. "I didn't want to hope for you to come."
Adrien brushed at his eye suddenly and his mother reached out to take his hand and clasp it.
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