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Name: Crescent City Institute
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Crescent City Institute -
11:02 pm December 24th, 2010
gregoire
[info]crescentcity
[info]gregoire
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Characters: Gray and Frankie
Setting: The LeClair House, Montreal. Christmas Eve, just after (this.)
Content: Just language, most likely. AND ANGST.
Summary: Frankie dramatically runs away from home Christmas Eve, and strangely… runs to Gray's house.


It was Christmas Eve, and Gray was expecting to spend the night by himself. He'd sprawled out on the couch, in his boxers, with a bottle of rum and Home Alone 2 on the television. It could have been worse. The house was warm, and he was certain Suzette would return in the morning to make sure he'd survived the night and hadn't been 'horribly murdered by the ghost of Christmas past or future something'.

He hadn't thought it very funny, but his sister had a good laugh at her own joke, at his expense. Not that that was unusual.

When his mobile rang, he was sluggish to answer, curled in a massive duvet, and stretched lazily over on the length of the couch as he answered. Frankie hadn't seemed amused when he'd suggested she could sleep in his bed, but as quickly as she had called, he was leaving the warmth of the duvet and frantically searching the upstairs rooms for trousers… and a shirt.

He wondered what had happened that would drive her from her family at Christmas. She'd been cryptic over the phone, but it was likely that when she showed up she would be ranting for hours.

As he waited in the second den for her (it acted as sort of a wizardly foyer--no real doors, just a massive fireplace flanked by two arched windows and immensely high walls), he tapped his mobile in his free hand.

Ghost of Christmas Past, indeed.

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Comments
Thread started by Frankie Prideaux
petitechou From: [info]petitechou Date: December 24th, 2010 09:58 pm (UTC) (Link)
After she had stormed out, Frankie had made her way around the back of the house, walking through the back of the house and into the fireplace without seeing anyone but the family dogs. In no time she was stepping out of Gray's fireplace, looking harrassed. She was pretty sure Gray wasn't up to much when she had called, but still felt slightly guilty for interrupting his evening.

Brushing soot off her arms she looked up at Gray and then around the room. "Your dad isn't here, is he?"
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gregoire From: [info]gregoire Date: December 24th, 2010 10:10 pm (UTC) (Link)
"In the islands with Claudette." Gray eye-rolled, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pajamas. "It's just me," he reassured her. She wasn't dressed for a quick visit. His eyebrows rose with his line of sight.

"You.. look nice." Unfortunately for Frankie, Gray had been drinking as per the usual, and while he wasn't drunk-- it did make him a little more prone to stupid than usual. "Are you my Christmas gift?"
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petitechou From: [info]petitechou Date: December 24th, 2010 10:22 pm (UTC) (Link)
"Claudette" Frankie echoed with a raised eyebrow. She was relieved, she had only met Gray's father once, but that was enough. To say he was unconventional would be the least.

Looking down at herself she shrugged, sighing. "The Prideaux annual Christmas party" she explained thn tutted at his joke and rolled her eyes. "Very funny. I already gave you your Christmas gift, remember?" She stepped out of her shoes and sunk a few inches, kicking them into a corner.

"I may have done something bad tonight" she said, explaining her sudden apperance.
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
gregoire From: [info]gregoire Date: December 24th, 2010 10:35 pm (UTC) (Link)
"I remember," Gray replied, deadpan. He'd laughed for a second at the Justin Beiber hotpants-- and then it stopped being funny when his sister kept insisting that he loved the Beebz.

Gray turned to exit the room; rum didn't seem to do much for warming bare feet on tile. It was warmer in the rest of the house, anyway. He grinned, glancing back at her, fully expecting her to follow. "Drive your retard brother to suicide, France?"
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petitechou From: [info]petitechou Date: December 24th, 2010 10:43 pm (UTC) (Link)
"You shouldn't be horrible to retarded people, isn't that a line that shouldn't be crossed or something?" She was still angry at Jules, so she let the comment slip. She did follow him through the house though, pouting a little.

"I may have caused irreparable damage to my family structure" she explained a little more jokily than she was really feeling.
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gregoire From: [info]gregoire Date: December 24th, 2010 10:56 pm (UTC) (Link)
"Naah. Survival of the fittest or something." He shrugged. Having made it back into the living room, he turned to face her.

She was clearly upset, and though she didn't seem any worse than normal.. it was still fucking Christmas Eve. Even Gray knew that was a big deal. Shouldn't he have been like, thoughtful and shit?

"Are you cold?" He blurted out instead of something more helpful like 'what happened?'
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petitechou From: [info]petitechou Date: December 24th, 2010 11:02 pm (UTC) (Link)
"Well, you should probably be a nicer to the little retard and then he wouldn't give me so much shit." Frankie muttered, flopping onto the couch.

She could see Gray was struggling a little and nodded at his question, even though it was quite warm in the room. Giving him something helpful to do might even make him feel good.

"Yeah, a little."
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gregoire From: [info]gregoire Date: December 24th, 2010 11:11 pm (UTC) (Link)
"Yeah, okay." Gray snerked a little, trying not to sound TOO sarcastic, and failing. "He totally started it."

"Coffee? Tea? Hot-chocolate? I'm sure I can get Daph--" He cringed a little, remembering that Daphne had left. "I can... get you some?"
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petitechou From: [info]petitechou Date: December 24th, 2010 11:16 pm (UTC) (Link)
Frankie doubted Gray's prowess when it came to fixing decent hot beverages, her eyes falling instead on the rum. She had started the night off drinking, why stop now?

"Or something a little more exciting" she hinted with a grimace. "And cigarettes. Lots of cigarettes." she ordered, smiling faintly.
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
gregoire From: [info]gregoire Date: December 24th, 2010 11:27 pm (UTC) (Link)
Gray clapped a hand to his chest with a laugh. "What a fucking relief. Last time I tried to use the microwave, it blew up. Small fire and everything. My dad was pissed. off."

Having an alcoholic partier for a father made things easy. Spare glasses were in the mini-bar just to his right, and he tossed a pack of some fancy gourmet cigarette one of his dad's flings had left behind in the general direction of Frankie's lap.

"So," He sat next to her, pouring excessive servings of rum for the both of them. His tone was careful as he spoke, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"What happened?"
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petitechou From: [info]petitechou Date: December 24th, 2010 11:33 pm (UTC) (Link)
Boys. They were so hopeless sometimes. The microwave incident was not surprising. Catching the pack she pulled out one of the cigarettes. It was long and thin and she rolled it between her fingers before lighting it. "I don't think you make tea in the microwave anyway" she pointed out with a smirk, which turned into more of a quivering lip as she tried to explain what had happened.

"I made an idiot out of myself. I definitely almost gave dad a heart attack, I offended some important people and I ruined my mother's antique side table" she blurted out. "That's not even all of it. I thought families were not supposed to argue until Christmas day."
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
gregoire From: [info]gregoire Date: December 24th, 2010 11:47 pm (UTC) (Link)
"Shit," Gray pushed Frankie's glass over to her on the coffee table, gulping his own down as he sensed the coming of a serious talk.

Somehow, the longer he'd known her, the harder it was for him to talk about things seriously. At least without copious amounts of alcohol.

"If you're going to fight, it doesn't pick a day to explode. Shit just happens."
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
petitechou From: [info]petitechou Date: December 25th, 2010 11:10 pm (UTC) (Link)
Frankie took a drink herself, shivering from the taste and sniffing. "I think I might be disowned. It wouldn't have happened if Julian hadn't been such a baby-" she stopped and punched Gray in the arm. "That's for being the cause of all this! He really doesn't like it when you call him a homo."
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
gregoire From: [info]gregoire Date: December 25th, 2010 11:23 pm (UTC) (Link)
"Hey--Ow!" Gray winced a bit and cradled his arm. Although it wasn't as if Frankie could punch that hard. "How is this my fault?" he nearly whined, pouting at her.
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petitechou From: [info]petitechou Date: December 25th, 2010 11:34 pm (UTC) (Link)
She pointed an accusing cigarette at him. "You made him angry! He started going on about who I can and cannot date and you know how that makes me feel, besides we haven't even dated for fucking ages. He's insane. He broke my phone!" She smiled slighty. "Okay, the phone part probably isn't your fault."

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
gregoire From: [info]gregoire Date: December 26th, 2010 12:02 am (UTC) (Link)
"You didn't have to tell him." Gray made a face, slouching back into the cushions of the couch. "He's got some mental deficiency. ...Or you're hiding something from me." He waggled his eyebrows at Frankie.
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petitechou From: [info]petitechou Date: December 26th, 2010 12:13 am (UTC) (Link)
"I didn't tell him, he just guessed" she defended herself, swinging a cushion into his chest. She curled her legs underneath herself. "He didn't even stick up for me when dad was all 'you're a woman know your place" she added, wounded. And then she was sniffling and looking the other way, brushing tears off her cheeks.
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gregoire From: [info]gregoire Date: December 26th, 2010 12:39 am (UTC) (Link)
Gray responded with a little 'oof', half smiling; though it faded the further she explained what had happened. By the time he heard her sniffling, his smile was gone and his eyebrows knit.

He certainly did have a knack for making girls cry, didn't he? Fuck, how did he never know what to do when they did, then? Why did girls have to cry all the time? He didn't get it.

He cringed a little to himself, throwing the pillow to the side."Hey," he said a little quietly, pulling her into a hug. "He's a dick. It'll be okay. ...I'm sorry."

He said that last part as if it were a bit painful-- and it probably was.
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petitechou From: [info]petitechou Date: December 26th, 2010 12:50 am (UTC) (Link)
Frankie pressed her face into his chest, crying wasn't very graceful or becoming and she didn't want him to see her all blotchy and snotty. She stayed like that only long enough to pull herself together before pulling away. His top was definitely a little ruined, which in turn made Frankie laugh.

"Revenge." She said, smiling a bit. Her emotions were always so up and down that nearly as soon as it had started, the crying was almost forgotten. She downed the rest of her drink and winced.

"I'm not stepford wife material. I told dad I was going to have a sex and drug orgy. How long do you think he's going to be angry for?"
(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)
gregoire From: [info]gregoire Date: December 26th, 2010 12:50 pm (UTC) (Link)
Gray let out a sigh of relief that he hadn't been aware he was holding in, rubbing his hands over his pajama pants, and then through his hair.

"Uuughhh." He grimaced down at himself, finally looking up to catch that weak smile; the soggy shirt seemed worth it.

"You could still do that," He smirked, trying to sound nonchalant.
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petitechou From: [info]petitechou Date: December 26th, 2010 12:59 pm (UTC) (Link)
"Behave" she scolded, taking a shakey last drag of the cigarette and searching around for an ashtray. "You need more than two people for an orgy."
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gregoire From: [info]gregoire Date: December 26th, 2010 01:16 pm (UTC) (Link)
"I could see if I could get the maid to come back?" He laughed, leaning back with a sigh. He slid a tray in front of Frankie with his foot; it was obviously meant to be decorative but had been turned into a makeshift ashtray. Gray didn't own any real ones.

Though watching her smoke made him want a cigarette, and he pat down his pajamas for his own.
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petitechou From: [info]petitechou Date: December 26th, 2010 01:22 pm (UTC) (Link)
"That depends, is she blonde or brunette" Frankie said with more than a hint of sarcasm. She stubbed the cig out and mirrored his pose, leaning back lazily. She fished around for a lighter on the coach, chucking it in his lap and feeling a lot more sane than she had earlier this evening.

"Are you on your own for Christmas?"
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gregoire From: [info]gregoire Date: December 26th, 2010 02:22 pm (UTC) (Link)
"Brunette," Gray shrugged, finally situating his cigarette and lighting it up. He looked a little bewildered when Frankie asked him if he was alone for the holiday.

"I... yeah?" He half smiled, glancing over at the TV. Macaulay Culkin was running away from a million pigeons in Central Park.

"It's not really so bad," he added quickly, side-eyeing her..
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petitechou From: [info]petitechou Date: December 26th, 2010 02:32 pm (UTC) (Link)
"Too bad, brunettes aren't my type" she joked. She studied her friend carefully. It wasn't right that anyone was alone for Christmas, even if it was what she would want. "What are you doing tomorrow? Can you even cook dinner?" She smirked and turned her attention to the TV.

"What is this?"
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gregoire From: [info]gregoire Date: December 26th, 2010 02:57 pm (UTC) (Link)
"Damn," Gray laughed, shaking his head, exhaling smoke a bit forcefully. He didn't expect the answer to be yes, either way. He sat up and ashed his cigarette.

"I don't know. I might go see Hunter. ...Suzette said she'd check on me in the morning. It's no big deal. We don't really do Christmas in this house, anyway." He shrugged it off, pretending that everything was fine, like he always did--but more intensely bothered by the fact that Frankie didn't recognize Home Alone.

"Uh. Home Alone 2? Macaulay Culkin?" He made a slightly horrified face.
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petitechou From: [info]petitechou Date: December 26th, 2010 03:07 pm (UTC) (Link)
Frankie surprisingly felt a little better at the thought of Gray and Hunter spending Christmas together. At least he wouldn't be by himself. She looked puzzled at his expression.

"Macoolee? What is that? Is this new?"
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