fic: Madame Paris 1/?

Feb 28, 2009 23:19

Title: Madame Paris 1/?
Author: writteninhaste
Rating: R
Pairing: pairings referenced
Warnings: graphic violence, sexual content
Spoilers: references up to an including Narcissus In Chains
Summary: A new woman is in St. Louis. One who sought Jean-Claude out long ago, and now, has done so again. Ostensibly harmless, Anita is not so sure. What is the difference between human and humane? And what has she brought with her to St. Louis?
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any aspect of the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series. The series and all its associated materials are the property of Laurel K Hamilton and her associates. This piece was written purely for enjoyment. No money was made from the production of this literature and no copyright infringement was intended.
X-posted to: Pommedesang.com

Madame Paris



I walked down the steps into the Circus of the Damned to see Jason waiting for me by the door that led into Jean-Claude’s living room. He was sitting on the floor, jean covered legs drawn up to a bare chest and his chin resting on his folded arms. Seeing me, he smiled and rose to his feet with that swift boneless grace that all shape shifters have. I smiled back, I couldn’t help it - Jason’s smile was contagious; he smiled, you smiled back. His smile grew wider. He was pleased to see me, and to be honest I was pleased to see him too, as annoying and flirtatious as Jason could be, he was a true friend and I appreciated that.

“Jason.” I said by way of greeting, “What’s up?”

He smiled again - if he smiled much wider, his face would crack. “Anita, heard from Jean-Claude lately.”

Not really an answer but I was willing to go with it, “Yeah, I got a call from him earlier this evening, asking me to come over to the Circus once I’d finished my appointments for the night.” Unusually for me I hadn’t had very many. Two to be precise - an empty night by my standards. I looked at Jason again, squinting,

“Why?”

Jason rocked forward onto the balls of his feet, practically bouncing with glee.

“We have company.”

“Oh?” First, I’d heard of it. Normally company meant bad news but Jason seemed almost ecstatic. “And this makes you happy?”

“Well this Anita, this is the kind of company I like.” There was a twist of his lips and an emphasis that he put on the word like that made me think that this company was female. Of course, I could be wrong - Jason went for guys too - but there was something in his eyes, which made me think I wasn’t wrong.

“Who is she?” Jean-Claude hadn’t mentioned anyone coming to town, and to be honest that pissed me off slightly, Jean-Claude was supposed to tell me things like this.

Jason grinned, although this time it was more like a smirk. “Go and see for yourself,” he said, gesturing at the closed door, “I was supposed to wait here and escort you in but I know you don’t go for that sort of thing”.

I moved closer to the door, resting my palm upon it, “So why’d you wait?”

He shrugged, “Jean-Claude told me to.”

I frowned slightly, “Is that the only reason”, I was still trying to gauge whether anything unfriendly. I hadn’t sensed a new vamp enter our territory but it could simply be a master powerful enough to hide from me - but if so why wouldn’t Jean-Claude have told me?

He looked me up and down, leering at me, “Maybe I just wanted to watch your ass as you walked in?”

I laughed suddenly, reassured for the time being. If Jason could be this flirtatious with me, whatever was lurking behind door number one, couldn’t be that bad. I smiled once more at Jason and pushed open the door. It shushed quietly against the soft, deep carpet of jean-Claude’s living quarters. I pushed it open far enough that I could get a full view of the room. The first thing I saw was Asher. He was standing in the middle of the room; his face was alight with laughter, his eyes shining. He was looking at someone seated on Jean-Claude’s large sofa. I turned my head to see who it was that had made Asher light up like that, expecting to see Jean-Claude. Instead, sitting on the sofa, I saw a women, young probably twenty-four or twenty-five, smiling up at Asher mirroring his expression.

Her skin was creamy with a hint of a summer tan, hair the colour of milk chocolate cascaded down to her waist in waves. I must have made some sort of movement or sound because they both turned to me - though I suspect Asher had been aware of my presence since I came down the stairs. I moved further into the room, Jason walked in after me, closing the door, and curling up on the floor in a position to mirror the one, he had adopted outside. The woman looked at me, before rising a looking once again at Asher. He favoured her with a smile before turning to me. I looked between the two of them, frowning,

“Do you two know each other?” I asked still looking between the two of them and their smiling faces.

The woman turned to me startled, “No. We met only today.”

I raised my eyebrows at that. Asher, was barely that comfortable around Jean-Claude or me, how come he was this comfortable with a stranger?

Jean-Claude chose that moment to walk in from the door on the opposite side of the room. He stopped when he saw me, as though he hadn’t expected me to be there. I looked around the room - everyone was looking at me. All the staring was making me self-conscious, which in turn meant I was starting to get pissed off. First Jean-Claude asks me to come to the Circus no reason given, second Jason waiting for me when it wasn’t necessary, and then Asher acting like bosom buddies with a stranger in our territory. And no one was telling me a damn thing.

“Jean-Claude?” I asked, and the tone said it all. I wanted answers and I wanted them now. I tried to stamp down the little voice in my head, which was telling me I was jealous of Asher laughing like that with someone else, someone other than me. I looked at Jean-Claude who was watching me with a thoughtful expression.

Jealous, ma petite? His voice whispered through my mind and I jumped. I shot him a dirty look before propping my hands on my hips.

The woman who had been laughing with Asher seemed to sense my annoyance. She took a step towards me but something must have shown on my face because she stopped and held out her hand towards me - placating. She glanced at both Asher and Jean-Claude, frowning slightly before turning to me. “Ms Blake, forgive me. It is clear that you were informed, neither of my presence here, nor of my identity. For this I am truly sorry, though I feel it is not I who owes you the apology” At this she glared meaningfully at Jean-Claude, causing Asher to smile ever so slightly.

She re-focused her attention on me, “My name is Analise. I was once acquainted with Jean-Claude, though we have not spoken for many years. I heard, through the grapevine as it were, that he had become Master of the City here in St Louis. Having recently arrived in the country I decided to come and pay my respects.” She cast a glance over her shoulder at the vampire in question. “Of course I believe I over-estimated my welcome.” She glanced at Jason, “At least from some.” I felt rather than saw Jason smile behind me. Asher’s face too held a spark of laughter, but Jean-Claude’s face remained as impassive as ever.

“I have recently arrived from Paris.” She added as if she thought I would want to know this detail. She pronounced Paris, like she did saint - the French way - as if the last letter didn’t exist. I blinked slowly at her. Jean-Claude moved towards me, “Ma petite are you alright?” he asked, concern lacing his voice.

I looked at him, “Yeah. Why?”

He frowned, stopping, “Because I expected you to be more responsive that this.”
I raised my eyebrows at him but before I could ask, what he meant Asher intervened.

“I believe what he meant cherie is that you are unusually calm tonight - you are often much quicker to anger than this. You walk in here to find someone you have never met, who you did not know would be here and yet you are not, how do the American’s say it? Letting us have it?”

I waited to feel insulted, and didn’t. Jean-Claude looked at the woman - Analise - who regarded me for a moment and then winced. She looked apologetic.

“For the second time tonight I must ask your forgiveness Ms Blake, it appears my presence is making you more” she paused seemingly searching for a word she believed wouldn’t insult me, “placid, than usual. I have had this affect on a few people only throughout my entire life-time and now that I am aware of it I can prevent it from happening again.” As she said it, I felt barriers go up around her and at the same moment, my anger came flooding back. I glared at her furiously, and her apologetic expression quickly changed into one almost as pissed as my own. I tried to stare her down but it wasn’t working.

“You’re not a vampire,” I stated. I was sure of that, this sort of thing wasn’t vampiric, and she didn’t feel like a vampire anyway.

The woman continued to glare at me, hands on hips, “No shit Sherlock”. The phrase seemed out of place coming from her mouth and I laughed aloud.

The woman blushed and had the faint grace to look embarrassed, but she didn’t apologise. Jason had moved up beside and was chuckling quietly to himself. Asher and Jean-Claude were looking at her as if they didn’t know what to make of her anymore. Analise caught their gaze and shrugged, “I heard a child say it at the airport.”

Airport? Just how recently had she arrived in St Louis? When she answered my question I realised I must have spoken aloud, “I flew in this morning”.

“And you knew to come straight here.” It wasn’t a question.

She shrugged elegantly, “It is no secret that the Master of the City sleeps here, nor who his associates are - which is how I knew your name Ms Blake.”

I blinked, that hadn’t even occurred to me. Analise turned her back on me to face Jean-Claude; she looked at him for a long moment before speaking. “I fear I have overstayed my welcome here. I will leave. You know where I am should you wish to contact me.” She turned back towards the rest of us, “Ms Blake, Jason”, she smiled, “Asher, Good-day. I hope I see you again soon.” Somehow, I didn’t think that last comment was meant for all of us. She smiled once more and left, disappearing through the door and up the stairs without ever looking back at Jean-Claude. He watched her go before moving swiftly across the room and shutting the door.

I walked over to him and looked into his face, “Well” I said, “want to tell me what that was about?”

Chapter 2

genre: au, fanfiction, anita blake, rating: r, tags: abvh, genre: romance, type: het, genre: drama, madame paris, genre: action/adventure, length: multiparter

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