Inebriated (Jacques)

Subject: Inebriated (Jacques) Sun Dec 16, 2018 6:10 pm

Being in Mumbai was so much fun! The parties she got to attend, the people she got to meet, the friends she met up with and made new. Everything was amazing and it was doubly amazing because she was with Mercy. Mimosa didn't know how to explain it but things just felt better with Mercy around. Even boring things like the one time when the power went out and everyone was really hot for a while before the generate got activated. When everyone else had spent the time complaining about how warm they were, the girls had ran cold water into the indoor bath quite big enough for them both and had a pool day. Another time Mercy had been dragged to Mimosa's Bollywood dance sessions and had somehow managed to move and dance like a boy to Mimosa's very petite an graceful Indian girl dance. They had been an instant hit in the studio.

So on days like today when Mercy was ill, Mimosa found it both cloying and restless on her own. It had happened once before when they had newly arrived in Delhi. Mercy had gotten sick and missed the bash thrown for Mimosa's arrival. But Mimosa understood, Mercy had Lupus and it wasn't very nice. Mimosa had a sickness too, but it made her just easy to injure, it didn't take her away from her friends or her work for days. Mercy had gotten sick once again a few days ago, so sick that her mom had to fly in. Mrs. W had assured Mimosa that Mercy would be okay in two days but she hadn't. In fact, it had been almost four days now and tomorrow was Mimosa's birthday.

Having already made her peace with the fact that she would not have any cake for her birthday, the young witch had at least looked forwards to eating a lot of sweets with her best friend upon turning twelve. And now it looked like that wasn't going to happen either. The young witch pouted, curled up in bed on ehr tummy with her phone in her hinds, legs swinging up behind her as she read Jacques' messages for the hundredth time. Beside her bed lay the remains of the giant gift basket he'd sent her upon finding out she'd made Student of the Year. The sweets, chocolates, cakes and macaroons she had distributed among everyone else but she'd kept his handwritten note to herself, putting it carefully under her pillow at night to imagine she could go to sleep smelling his special perfume-y smell she'd been used to since she was a little girl.

Just as she was contemplating getting up and maybe going out somewhere to keep herself from more boredom, her phone pinged. The witch's face brightened at the thought of a text from Jacques but it fell once more when she saw the anonymous number on her screen. This was the fourth anonymous message she had received since her arrival in India, and as with others, it as merely a picture. The same picture this time that she had texted Jacques, of herself in the lehenga at the welcome bash.

It didn't really occur tot he child to be worried that an unidentified person was taking pictures of her and sending them to her anonymously. It was probably a fan, and the pictures did make her look good so what could be wrong about that? As usual, Mimosa replied with a simple "thank you, that looks great <3" before forgetting all about it.

Now to find something to do in this big mansion.

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Subject: Re: Inebriated (Jacques) Sun Dec 16, 2018 6:43 pm

The air around the Palace had changed to one that Jacques did not like in the slightest. Everywhere he went he felt like he was walking on egg shells, each meal was charged with the unspoken discomfort of the family over Elenore's decision that was not being spoken of in the slightest, and more significantly, Jacques couldn't find it in himself to look his Maman in the eye at the moment. He knew with time, however, his Maman would forgive him for his decision, she would know it had not been taken lightly, but in this moment, he knew he had managed to accomplish something he'd never done before with his Maman.

He'd disappointed her.

Let her down.

Had it not been for the benefit of the family in the end, Jacques would never have chosen to disappoint his Maman, but he'd been left with little and less choice in the end. Elenore would have exactly what she wanted, because in the end, it was the easiest option for them all. That didn't, however, stop Jacques from wanting to make amends with his Maman now. The boy had gone to the gardens the morning after the news had been delivered to his parents and carefully, meticulously, cultivated a bouquet of dahlias for his Maman of the most beautiful shades. Bringing them back to the Palace, Jacques had done his very best to arrange them in a manner that looked pretty in the vase he'd managed to obtain via the staff upon his Maman's coffee table in her withdrawing room.

There was no note, because you could not express in words the deeply rooted apology Jacques wished to give his Maman, but she would know they were from him. And it would start to make amends for the things he'd done.

His twenty first birthday had come in the usual splendour of the Palace, but Jacques had not felt the need to celebrate this year. The yacht had come, a vineyard in Italy had been named as his, a new super car now resided in the Palace garage -- a deep purple Jacques believed Mimosa would love -- and endless expensive gifts that Jacques hadn't registered as they continued on through. This year, the gifts didn't fit, because he knew that his Maman and Papa were not happy, so how could he be?

After a meal with the family -- another tense affair -- Jacques had been allowed to leave the Palace. To leave the country, and as he climbed up in to the private jet Jacques realised, for the first time in his life, he was glad to be getting away from the Palace for a few days.

India, unexplored by the Clement heir, was going to be a good break.

The flight was a long one, even in a private jet, but it allowed Jacques to get some sleep on the way. As they came closer to their destination, Jacques was offered a change of clothes as he woke. Taking up the opportunity to change in to a simpler set of trousers and shirt, the Clement heir looked out the window at the country below, wondering how Mimosa had been getting on. He hadn't told the witch he was coming -- but had told her hosts, of course -- because he wanted to surprise her. He needed the refreshing personality of Mimosa right now, and that included her uncontrolled excitement upon seeing him arrive in India just for her birthday.

The plane landed just a short way off from their host's home, a car was already waiting for Jacques as he disembarked in to the heat of the Indian morning. It had thrown the Frenchman off guard for a moment, but the cooling embrace of the air conditioned car took that thought away a moment later. Five minutes later, Jacques stood before the home Mimosa had been residing in for the last month of so, the heat making him reconsider his choice of shirt in that moment as he undid the sleeves and rolled them up to the elbow.

That done, Jacques pulled his phone from his pocket, tapped number one on his speed dial, and brought the phone up to his ear.

Two rings later.

"Mon chouchou! Come out the front of Mukesh and Drishti's house. There's a surprise for you." Jacques said before Mimosa could say anything, cutting the call off before she could reply, or question him. The grin upon his features was already growing as he waited for the arrival of the youngest Clement, knowing she would run full on in to his arms and then go off on a torrent of information he couldn't even begin to guess about now.

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Subject: Re: Inebriated (Jacques) Wed Dec 19, 2018 9:24 am

The child had just sprung off the bed in search for her shoes when her phone rang once again, this time Jacques' face lighting up her screen. Mimosa's face broke out into a huge grin even before she swiped to answer the call.

"Mon chouchou! Come out the front of Mukesh and Drishti's house. There's a surprise for you."

"A surprise, for me?" the child squealed, lunching herself off the bed once more and running straight for the door, forgetting all about footwear. The almost twelve year old dashed barefoot atop the marble floor, ignoring cries from servants and Ayis alike as she slipped and skidded her way to the grand staircase, slowing down only to regain her balance. "Mimosa Bibi!" the babysitter called out, holding up a pair of slippers in one hand which the model promptly ignored, contemplating the long curving Bannister before loping her slight frame over the wooden rail and sliding downwards.

The young witch came to a stop just before the end of the banister, hoping off it and running towards the front door. Akash registered somewhere in the periphery but before he could say anything, the ends of her panel cut Kurti were flying past him as her jean clad legs pumped up and down, carrying her to the front steps of the porch where her surprise awaited.

The child hadn't stopped to think what it was Jacques had gotten her, it didn't matter really because it had come from him, so it needed to be seen now, now, NOW! Open reaching the final flight of steps, she finally saw him, waiting outside a car, arms already open in anticipation as she jumped the last two steps and ran the short distance before imitating her usual leap on to him, knowing without doubt that he could catch her.

Like he always did.

in a moment, she was safely in his arms, cuddled close to him and happy fit to burst. "How did you get here,' the words were muffled against him but the child didn't care. Her Jacques would understand regardless. "Did anyone else come with you? Are Grandmere and Grandpere here too? Did you come for my birthday? Oh, can I have cake for my birthday? I thought I wouldn't but now you're here so I cannnn."

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Subject: Re: Inebriated (Jacques) Thu Dec 20, 2018 6:14 pm

As the sight of Mimosa came pouring out of the large house she was currently residing in, Jacques' features grew with happiness. How much had he missed the witch in the last couple of months? It was much too much to describe, and as Mimosa hurried to him, her body readying itself to launch in to him as she always did, the Frenchman couldn't help but notice the witch had grown in the last couple of months.

But there was no time to think about that as Mimosa jumped in to his arms and Jacques spun the younger witch gracefully to take the momentum out of her movements in order not to hurt her. Though, this time, his hug came with a little more firmness before as he held Mimosa as close as he could, glad of the respite she could offer him after the turbulent time he'd had back at the Palace.

"Mon chouchou!" Jacques managed in a soft breath as he stopped spinning. "I've missed you!"

Mimosa had opted to nuzzle in to him closely, too, and the man couldn't help the smile touching his lips as Mimosa spoke against him, leaving him to piece together the muffled sounds of her question. "I flew overnight from France after my birthday meal with Maman, Papa, Elenore and Grandmere." Jacques told her, answering the first question easily. "But, I'm afraid it's just me. Maman and Papa are very busy back at the Palace, and Elenore is getting ready for University, so she couldn't come here, either. And yes, I came especially for your birthday, because I couldn't have mon chouchou not having her cake, could I?" Jacques asked fondly, carefully placing Mimosa back on the floor.

"You've grown, you're getting way too big, much too quickly! I bet you're catching up with Mercy, aren't you? Or have you two been having a growing race this summer?" Jacques asked playfully, gently bringing Mimosa's friend in to the question so that he could find out where Mercy was, and why the two of them weren't their usual inseparable selves.

"So... are you going to show me around, or are we going to stand out the front all day?" Jacques added, giving Mimosa permission to take his hand and drag him inside and probably all around the home she was staying.

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Subject: Re: Inebriated (Jacques) Thu Dec 20, 2018 6:33 pm

Upon being told that he was alone, the young witch's smile didn't lessen a single watt. While she would have loved to have everyone around her for her birthday, having her Jacques was in no way a consolation prize. Instead of questioning him more, the child was content to listen as he told her where everyone was and what they were doing.

"And Great Grandpere? What is he up to? Did he get better? In Grandmere's last letter she said he wasn't feeling well and needed lots of rest." Maybe Great Grandpere had Lupus too and Mimosa just didn't know, but if that was the case he would only be poorly for a few days like Mercy was.

"Mercy isn't feeling well," she admitted, a slight pout to the statement because while she loved the older witch, it was boring being on her own when she was expecting to be with her best friend. "I'm not sure if its her regular Lupus or something bad because her mom had to fly in. The healers are keeping her away but we text a lot." That at least was reassuring, communicating with the Gryffindor ever few hours meant Mercy couldn't be all that badly off.

When her Jacques asked to be shown around, Mimosa latched on to his hand at once. "Oh yes, I can show you aaaallll my favorite places, there's the fountains, and the dance halls, and the mandir, and the small petting zoo a the back! Come on!" Of course, the child was interested in giving him a complete tour of the giant estate, no, she would show Jacques only he places she liked most because he would only like the places she liked most. It was just how things worked.

Before she got very far though, a bai came running towards them, expertly side stepping her sari and walking a lot more gracefully than Mimosa previously had in jeans. In her hands, the woman carried a set of plain sandals. "Bibi, aapke joote!"

"Oh,' the witch realized, casting her blue eyes down to her bare feet. "I guess I forgot my shoes. Jacques, this is Lakshmi, she works in the house. Here, do this."

Wit that, the child folded her hands in front of her and uttered the word "Namaste", watching as the young heir mimicked the action, making the middle aged servant blush.

"Shukriya Lakshmi Bai, hum bahar jara hai hein," she informed the server before taking Jacques' hand once more, a big proud grin on her face. Along with her French, her Hindi was also improving.

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Subject: Re: Inebriated (Jacques) Thu Dec 20, 2018 6:52 pm

Mimosa was very quick to pick up on Jacques' mistake of leaving out the mention of his Grandpere in that moment, and the Frenchman chose to omit the truth in this moment. He was happy, Mimosa was very happy, why should he bring the moment down with the admittance of the recent loss of the eldest Clement? "He's getting lots of rest," Jacques replied, keeping his answer short so that it couldn't be pulled apart by the younger witch.

"Oh no! That's not good, at all. I'll check in with Mrs Williams later to see if they need anything to help Mercy to get better quicker!" Jacques insisted, because this seemed to happen a little too often, and Mrs Williams coming all the way to India, for Lupus? Jacques didn't feel quite right about that. But, Mimosa didn't need to know that there was a problem, not until Jacques knew there was one.

"All of those things?" Jacques asked in faux surprise. The place looked big enough to house all these things -- though Jacques had no clue what a mandir was -- but that didn't mean he couldn't play along with Mimosa's obvious excitement in that moment. "And, don't forget to help me find Mukesh and Drishti, I should probably greet them as soon as we can before you take me all around their house. It would be rude not to quickly drop in."

Even if he was a Clement, Jacques didn't wish to be rude to their hosts.

Before they could make too much progress, though, they were stopped by... well, what appeared to be one of the servants of the house. An odd arrangement, truthfully, Jacques was much more accustomed to the notion of the staff rarely being seen back at the Palace unless they had been called for, but perhaps India was different that way. The woman who had approached spoke in what Jacques could only presume to be Hindi, but she spoke to Mimosa, who took on whatever had just been said, and quickly offered Jacques an explanation as she pulled her shoes on.

Mimosa continued on with the show of... well, Jacques didn't know, but did as he was told, bringing his hands together and repeating the word 'Namaste' to the woman who had appeared who turned a little red in doing so. Looking sideways to Mimosa curiously, Jacques waited for her to finish speaking to Lakshmi before he spoke.

"You've been learning Hindi?" He questioned, though that wasn't exactly necessary. "What did you say to Lakshmi?" Jacques asked, curiosity clear on his features, though there was an underlying sense of pride in the younger witch. Learning languages was no easy feat -- Jacques had given up on learning anymore than French and English quite early on, but Elenore had not seen fit to follow his footsteps. "You'll be able to impress Elenore with your new language skills when we go back to the Palace. You're up to three languages now! More than me! I can't remember how many Elenore speaks now, but she's got a good number of the European languages tucked up her sleeve!"

The pride of both witches was clear on Jacques features for a moment, before he caught himself thinking of Elenore, and quickly pulled back to the present moment with Mimosa.

"Come on, lets go see everything!" Jacques reminded, not wanting to dwell on his sister and the mess he'd left thousands of miles away.

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Subject: Re: Inebriated (Jacques) Thu Dec 20, 2018 7:14 pm

Mimosa had always felt something warm and fluffy unfold indie her when her Jacques was around, and the feeling grew when he praised her or was proud of her. It was why he came to all her Quidditch matches because even though she'd never told him, he knew about the fuzzy feeling. Her Jacques knew everything in the world!

"I told her we would be out for a bit," Mimosa related happily, though not wanting to lie to the man she added "But that's the longest proper sentence I can say in Hindi. I'm not that good yet." She certainly wasn't anywhere near Elenore good, but maybe she could be one day if she practiced hard enough. It would make Jacques really happy if she did, so the witch decided on teh spot that she would try harder.

They made their way through the gardens, heading first to the little bird sanctuary Drishti Aunty kept. Walking into thr enclosure, Mimosa pointed out the parrots and petcocks, all left to roam freely in the greenery, the area fenced by a thin magical sheen to ensure nothing escaped too far. "The peacock sometimes makes his tail really big," she explained, pointing out the magnificent bird. "And it's really colorful. Bai gave Mercy and I each a feather from the tail, she says it's lucky."

When Jacques impressed upon her how he should say hi to her hosts, Mimosa merely shook her head. "Everyone's out, except Akash. Mukesh Uncle goes to work really early and Drishti Aunty is in Hyderabad for today and tomorrow. She says she has to climb a really tall mountain to ask God for something special, she wouldn't tell me what though." Mimosa didn't exactly understand why her host had to go all the way to another city to a high up Mandir when there was a perfectly good one here at home, but grown ups were strange like that.

"Oh, we can go see the Gods next at the Mundir, but you have to take of your shoes before you go in, and put something on your head," she clarified as they navigated away from the bird sanctuary and towards the Temple. The young witch held on to Jacques' hand the whole time they walked, narrating what they were passing by and what was to come, trying to tell him every single thing that had happened and listening to his news of the palace too. When they arrived at the large stone gazebo that acted as the residence's place of worship, the child respectfully stopped outside, first reaching for a shelf to remove a traditions topi for Jacques and then a thin silk dupatta for her own head.

"Here, you have to cover you head because their God doesn't like hair. He isn't like Grandmere's Gods, he gives you sweets afterwords,' the American explained, draping the silk expertly over her head and shoulders before removing her shoes and stepping onto the cool marble tiles.

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Subject: Re: Inebriated (Jacques) Thu Dec 20, 2018 7:32 pm

"You're better than me, though!" Jacques pointed out as Mimosa tried to play down her achievement. She couldn't be allowed, though, Jacques wanted her to be proud of everything she achieved, because he knew that Mimosa had to work doubly hard sometimes to learn things. "You can teach me sometime." He added, knowing it would only encourage the witch more.

But the conversation was left there as Mimosa hurried him along to the fountains which were beautiful in their own right, but not as beautiful as the pieces in France. A bias he knew he would never be able to shake, but one that did not hinder his enthusiasm. From the fountains came the enclosure of the animals that Mimosa had spoken of and they took their time watching the parrots and peacocks going about their day. The idea a peacock feather was lucky was an idea Jacques had never thought of before, or been told of, so he took this news on with a small nod. "You better keep that feather safe then, so you continue to be lucky!" Jacques had commented with a grin.

"We'll see Mukesh later, then," Jacques replied easily to Mimosa's explanation of where everyone was today before they started to move on to the next thing on Mimosa's list. It was good, just to submerge himself in the happiness of Mimosa's world. He'd always wondered what it would be like to be so carefree in the world, to not have to worry about anything. Perhaps when he was younger, like Mimosa, he had been much the same, but Jacques couldn't remember right now. The refreshing spring in Mimosa's step was contagious, though, and the man couldn't be more thankful to himself for deciding to come over to see the witch for her birthday.

It sounded like she'd been having a great time whilst she was here, and that was all Jacques could have asked for.

As they arrived at the temple Mimosa had been explaining, he took the headdress that Mimosa had given him and carefully placed it on his head, doing his best to hide his hair beneath it as Mimosa had explained that the Gods here didn't look favourably upon that. Truthfully, the Frenchman didn't know, but it seemed reasonable, given that the headpiece was located outside the temple. Following that, Jacques slide his shoes off, putting them beside Mimosa's before turning back to her. With the silk draped across her features, the witch looked just as beautiful as she had in the picture he'd sent him during her stay. Mimosa's blue eyes becoming more pronounced in that moment to fully enunciate why she'd been chosen so frequently for modelling shoots, and once again reminding Jacques that she was growing up.

But, deciding against a comment, the man simply motioned for Mimosa to show the way and followed her inside the temple.

"What are we praying for today, then?" Jacques asked, very, very softly, as they settled, following Mimosa's instructions carefully as they were given because he didn't wish to upset her ideas, nor their hosts beliefs by being too loud in a place of worship. Not that he would pray, the Gods were not real, Jacques had never believed because there had always been too many flaws in his readings of his Maman's religious beliefs. But, he had learned from a very young age that indulging the women in his life with their beliefs made them happy, and Mimosa would be no different in that respect.

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Thanks to .V0ldiemort @ TDA for my signature!

Subject: Re: Inebriated (Jacques) Thu Dec 20, 2018 7:49 pm

As the wizard walked only slightly behind her, allowing her to show him the appropriate behavior in a temple, Mimosa wondered if what Grandmere had told her a long time ago was true. At five years old, Mimosa had seen someone praying for the first time, non other than the Lady Clement herself. The child had been very confused until she had been sat down and explained to why it was that Ladies of the House prayed. Mimosa had loved everyone at the palace so much, she had instantly wanted to be one of the Ladies of the house and so had begged Grandmere to teach her.

And now she was teaching Jacques.

"We can't say what we ask for," she replied, trying not to laugh at the notion. Her Jacques was funny sometimes. As they approached the three statues depicting he gods, Mimosa reached up to ring the bell she could just about reach, signalling the beginning of the worship session. "You have to ring the bell to wake them, so they know to start listening,' she explained as she knelt gracefully to her knees and then, arching her body forwards, touched her forehead to the marble tile. Rising back up to ehr knees, the child folded her hands in front of her, eyes closed and murmuring words that didn't make a sound. Her eyes didn't open until she felt Jacques beside her doing the same, having taken the hint.

She tried really hard to think of something to ask for. But of the few things she wanted, the biggest was already here. In the end, the child simply thanked God for bringing him to India before adding a PS about Mercy getting better. Even though she knew Mercy would be better soon anyway. Once she was done, she motioned for Jacques to stay where he was while she reached for the vermilion colored powder paste, rubbing a little on her finger before placing it on his forehead.

"This shows people you've prayed for the day,' she announced, implying it was now okay to talk. "So they don't keep telling you to go pray again and again. Boys put this on their forehead and some girls put it in their hair but I don't know why? Maybe it just looks prettier in the hair?"

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Subject: Re: Inebriated (Jacques) Thu Dec 20, 2018 8:05 pm

Jacques had hoped, for just a moment, that Mimosa might give him an insight as to what she was going to pray for in that moment, but she hadn't. The smile on her lips was one that he could almost liken to his Maman's when he'd asked her the same question when he was much younger. The knowing smile of the person who just knew you didn't answer that question. Though, his Maman had given him a half answer, Mimosa was staying tight lipped.

It didn't matter, though, they both continued on, and Jacques knelt down beside Mimosa, copying her as she bowed her head down to the marble before looking back up. As her small hands joined together in prayer, Jacques' hands met in the middle and he looked up to the depictions of the Gods in this country with curiosity for a moment before slowly closing his eyes.

Please, let Elenore stay safe in America...

And, please don't bring Maman too much hardship, or worry whilst Elenore is in America.

Help Papa find the right words to comfort Maman through this hurdle.

And... finally, please ensure mon Chouchou - Mimosa - stays this happy forever.

The silent list of the things that Jacques wanted was not a complete list. He wanted to ask for so much more for his family, but he didn't wish to put time in to this that he knew would be wasted in the end. He was merely pretending to believe for Mimosa's sake. Nothing more.

As Jacques opened his eyes and looked across to Mimosa, he noted the witch was already done, and gave a small nod to show he was ready. He'd not expected the next bit, and as Mimosa pressed powder against his forehead, he couldn't help but frown momentarily before Mimosa explained why she had done that. "May I?" Jacques asked motioning to the powder that Mimosa had just gotten hers from, before moving to take some, and very carefully put pressed his thumb along the top of her forehead where the younger witch's hair met her forehead.

"There," He finalised, taking a moment to take the witch in. "And, you're right, you look very beautiful with this addition to your hair." Jacques appraised, pulling the witch in to a small hug because he felt better now, weirdly. This small temple seemed to be... uplifting, in a manner.

"Where to next, m'lady?" Jacques added as he let go, much too happy to just keep following the younger witch around, even if his shirt was starting to stick to his lower back from the heat of India, he just wanted to keep having fun with his favourite person in the world.

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Thanks to .V0ldiemort @ TDA for my signature!

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