The Louvre, Gala, Main Area
Mentions @WhiteAngel25, @Estylwen and @Lexisheeps
Steady breaths. In, and out again. Words were spoken, uttered and exclaimed. Softly, carefully or without inhibition. This strange family, broken, mended. It began to dawn on Aurélie, as Cosy was so trusting and interactive, that she was the black sheep of the family once more. Not that it mattered. She had to find her own way in life, right now, and she was hellbent on navigating these complicated relationships at her own pace. It was a toss-up between judging those around her for moving on easily and admiring them for it. They were trying. She, apparently, was not. Not outwardly, at least. Inside, she was making massive leaps and steps to try and find the concept of trust and utilise it.
Through her painted lashes, she briefly looked at Nick. He was still a riddle to the young woman. But, Cosette seemed incredibly at ease with him, which was all she could hope for, really. Her hesitant self would follow behind, soon enough. If only so Cosette could be happier. It wasn't nice to be apart from her, just because Aurélie didn't want to stay over at her father's. But it was a reality they’d have to live with for now.
At some point during the idle talk, her parents and Nick carefully skirting around bigger topics like a ballerina performing a grand stage, Auri let go of her mother’s hand. She folded her hands in front of her, finding an odd solace in the soft fabric of her dress. A man unknown to her approaching caught her attention, but stragglers, fans, or big shots striking conversation with her family wasn’t an unfamiliar thing. There were always people that wanted to get in with the family. Either Lennox or de Villiers.
She ignored the man as pleasantries were exchanged, instead opting to give a cheeky wink to her little sister. But, after an uttered ‘excuse me’, her eyes followed as Nick and her father walked toward the designated dancing spot. Her back straightened ever so slightly as she took them both in, momentarily distracted. Oddly, it seemed to be a right fit. A thought she had also surprisingly nourished when she was sitting in the café, looking toward the pair embracing on the dock. It had seemed quite right then, too. Picturesque. It’s not like she didn’t accept it. It’s not that Nick was a man, or that he was young, or American. Or maybe it was. The point was more that Aurélie found herself lacking the bandwidth to truly focus on it. The survivor mode was still slowly seeping from her being as her body got used to what to do with itself when not in constant fight or flight.
The young woman’s attention was pulled back when she was handed a golden little box, her mother and sister holding the same. Old, hammered-in politeness took over as she gave the man a slight nod of her head, her brows raised in a manner of thanks. But was she thankful? One more nod signalled their goodbye, and Aurélie looked down at the odd gift, opting to briefly open to box to find a bracelet, an expensive one.
Never in the history of suspicious gifts had something been more suspicious. She closed the box, not trusting to wear the gift, and shoved it into the hidden pocket of her dress instead.
As Aaron approached, she couldn’t help the softening of her eyes. While she had only seen him during her scan, Cosette seemed entirely fond of Nick’s younger brother. Theo had said he quite liked Aaron, too. Conveniently leaving out if he liked Nick or not. But, Aaron was as a coincidental addition to this family as she was at this point. He hadn’t done anything to receive Auri’s distrust.
”Aaron, hey.” She answered, though a small shake of her head and the showing of her palm had her deny the sweets. She’d probably get sick from nerves mixed with sugar. Cosette, a child obsessed with snacks, obviously took the chance right away. Hell would freeze over before she would decline a snack.
She wasn’t quite sure what got the addition to their family stammering his words, but as his eyes met hers, she smiled at him, encouraging Nick’s brother to speak and feel at ease. As he rambled on about American stragglers the blonde couldn’t help but crack a grin, the skin beside her eyes bunching up as her eyes twinkled with humour. A reprieve from all the awkward and solemn interactions people had with her thus far, this one. At the compliment, her smile softened with genuineness.
”Thank you.” She told him, despite knowing his compliment was likely mere politeness.
At the mention of her brother, her eyes shifted toward the still-empty stage. Was Theo nervous? Or was he totally fine? She figured the latter. He’d always been better at these types of things. Social, amicable, likeable. Unlike her. She put her gaze back on the man before her and shook her head slightly.
”You’ll have to wait and see.” The slight tightening of her throat and narrowing of her lids would’ve gone unnoticed by Aaron, who mentioned
dads because Cosette asked him about the scan’s results instead, before practically shoving the bracelet in Aaron’s face. She didn’t want her little sister to wear it, as she didn’t trust it, but how could she tell her that?
The Louvre, Gala, Main Stage
Mentions @WhiteAngel25, @Estylwen and @Lexisheeps
A playful roll of his eyes graced Theo’s face as he was easily seen through. Of course, he was a bit afraid, and a bit was an understatement. Yet, he found himself not afraid of public speaking, being the centre of attention or his pants dropping off mid-stage. The fear found itself rooted in the wanted acceptance of his father, which Monsieur Dupont seemed to understand. Then again, not much went past the man who had known Theo his whole life.
His laughter, much like that of a mall Santa Claus, brought comfort to the young man and he grinned, a slight shake of his portraying his fondness.
He knew now that Thierry was proud of him. But there was being proud, and there was being impressed. And he wanted to
impress him. Thierry could have easily been proud of Theo excavating a coin from ten years ago if he showed it off proudly enough. No, Theo wanted more. Needed more. His elevation had been a priority for him, despite the shady denials of his requests for more adventurous missions. In the back of his mind, he knew more would come soon. Knew he’d been rewarded, knew an offer was waiting for him. To become more like his father.
Still, the man’s kind words touched the ambitious young man and Theo raised his hand to his shoulder, squeezing ever so slightly.
”No, it is I who am honoured that you are opening for me. Thank you, monsieur Dupont.” His own hands straightened his jacket a bit as he watched the man walk onto the stage, years of hosting having him emanate a presence that quieted the crowd.
With a wide grin, partly trained, partly his born charm, Theo walked out on stage and was met with applause. He raised his palm to the crowd, greeting people, pointed a finger to the colleague who was on this project too, and waited until the crowd chose curiosity over the politeness of clapping. Time to put on his best English.
”Thank you, thank you. And a very special thank you to Monsieur Dupont. I may be dubbed as a desirable bachelor by the press, but Monsieur Dupont is celebrating a marriage of 60 years this week with his loving wife Florence. A feat more admirable.”An applause ensued for the man before it eventually died down again, much more exciting things were on the verge of being unveiled.
”There is a list of international missing treasures, with artefacts none other than the lost Imperial Fabergé eggs and the Crown Jewels of Ireland gracing the top of it. This summation of wonders is used almost as a life goal by most archaeologists something great to achieve. A bucket list, if you will.” His eyes roamed around the crowd as he got comfortable speaking, eliciting laughs from the crowd.
He did not seek out his parents with his gaze, or his sisters, but he knew they were watching him. His hand moved to undo the one button holding his jacket together before it gracefully slid into his suit pants pocket. A more casual and relaxed appearance.
”I did not necessarily expect to find an item from this list as I entered the Basilica of St-Sauveur, nestled on the lovely clifftop commune of Rocamadour. A building that had been undergoing renovation, but a miscalculation of what exactly a supporting wall does caused a portion of it to crumble.” A charming grin graced his face behind him, on the big screen, a slideshow began to play. Of Theo and his team, helping with the effort of clearing the rubble, piece by piece. The cliff-top village was visually stunning on its very own as if the buildings were caved out of the very stone while sheltered by a blanket of bright green trees.
”My team and I worked with a set of admirable volunteers to clear the rubble and set to work at restoring that which we still could, in the scorching hot July sun.”More pictures showed the effort of the team, Theo coordinating the volunteers, his team bowing over a piece of wall with the remains of a painting, and Theo with a small brush by a wall. The angle of the picture and the look in his eyes reminded him very much of a picture his sister had snapped of him in the pyramid of Giza when he was pondering about the words on the wall while assisted by his brilliant mother.
”I found artefacts that didn’t quite belong in the quant village and decided to investigate further.This brought me to an elongated broken piece of stone, already put in the pile for rubble to be crumbled and remoulded into new stones.” Theo let his gaze go over the crowd, seeing the attentiveness he was getting, everyone eager to find out what was still hidden.
”This story brings us to another basilica, the one of Saint-Denis, where parts of the French Crown Jewels had been stolen in 1795 and never to be returned.” Theo knew that this specific information would connect the dots for those well versed in the subject.
”It took me and my team months of careful restoration, but I am beyond proud to announce that this part of the French Crown Jewels has returned to see the light of day once more, back to it’s home in Paris. Maria, if you’d please.” He nodded toward the woman standing by the display case holding Theo’s biggest discovery as of yet.
”Everyone, I present to you, the previously missing Scepter of Dagobert!”As the woman did as told, the artefact of about 56 centimetres long was gracefully displayed in the case, shown in a bit of an angle, held up by two satin-clad hooks. The beautiful artefact, made of enamelled gold, shone brightly as the flashes of cameras went off to try and capture a semblance of its splendour.
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