Jean-Paul, Jeanne-Marie, and Catseye

[x-catseye.livejournal.com]

A visit to Jean-Paul gains Catseye an invitation to a late lunch between the twins and she and Jeanne-Marie meet in person.

Catseye had to admit that yes, she was really turning human when she was back inside the mansion with its fridge and beds and sunny spots and pool and books and people. She was getting spoiled for human luxuries. Living in the woods wasn't as comfortable as she'd always remembered living outside had been.

She was excited to be knocking on Jean-Paul's door, anxious to tell him about her newfound discoveries about herself and her determination to try harder at being human, and hoping that he might have advice on how to tell if she wanted to be a couple with Nick since she hadn't made any discoveries about that yet. "Mister Beaubier? Can Catseye come in? Catseye brought some deer from when she went hunting today!" She'd seen people wrapping up venison in the kitchen before- it hadn't turned out to be very hard, although the package she carried with her was a little lumpy in places.

"Let yourself in!" was the called response, easily caught by Catseye's sensitive ears. "I am in the kitchen. With shrimp."

"Shrimps!" Catseye exclaimed delightedly, bounding into the suite and straight for the kitchen. "Catseye thinks she likes shrimps even better than deer! Can Catseye make a trade with Mister Beaubier? Deer for some of his shrimps?" She held out the package of venison she'd made proudly.

"Most certainly. Considering that I find myself with a disheartening lack of red meat in my freezer, I would say that your arrival is perfectly timed." Jean-Paul turned down the flame under the skillet on the stove and nodded toward the bowl of peeled shrimp sitting on the counter. "I just finished cleaning them. You can help yourself now, if you like, or join my sister and I for lunch when she returns."

"Catseye can meet OtherBeaubier? Catseye forgets her name..." she muttered, half to herself, face screwed up in thought as she opened the freezer and put the venison inside. "It is like Jean-Paul at the start... and it is like Marie-Ange... Jean-Marie?" She shook her head, feeling that it wasn't quite right, but gave Jean-Paul a sheepish smile and a shrug. "Catseye is excited to meet Mister Beaubier's Sister whatever her name is. Did Catseye tell Mister Beaubier that she thinks she does not want to work at the animal shelter anymore?" A piece of shrimp disappeared from the bowl.

"Jeanne-Marie," Jean-Paul corrected easily. "'Jean-Marie' would be a brother. Possibly a very confused one. And I would like very much for you to meet her. It is good for my sister and my students to know each other." He turned his attention back to the skillet, setting butter inside to melt. "You did not tell me. Did someone say something stupid when you were there last?"

She shook her head vigorously and watched the butter melt in the pan and the steam rising up from it with single-minded curiosity. After a moment, she shook her head again, this time to clear it, and looked at Jean-Paul. "No, no one said anything. But the shelter makes Catseye's brain feel very full. Full with thoughts about the cats. Catseye can understand them and they get scared or angry and Catseye did not care before but now Catseye does care and then Catseye went to play with some cats in some alleys and the cats would not play with Catseye and Catseye knows now that both these things- being worried about the shelter cats and the alley cats not playing- is because Catseye is more human now and Catseye does not know if she wants to be worried about the shelter cats because it makes her brain so full."

"You do have a lot on your mind right now," Jean-Paul agreed. "New people at the school, the new semester coming up, driving and so on...it would not be the worst idea if you wanted to take a step back and reconsider how much you have to deal with. Though I would warn you, it is not so easy to just turn worry off once it is on. Another unfortunate side-effect of being human."

"Being human is veryveryhard," Catseye answered, making a face. "But Catseye did lots of thinking about it when she lived in the woods and Catseye is going to try to be better at being human and not a cat because Catseye looks like a cat sometimes but Catseye is really human." She wandered out of the kitchen and into his main room to look at his books. "Catseye does not want to go to the shelter just to play with the cats," she said as she perused, "because that does not feel like helping and only makes Catseye more worried. Catseye thinks she maybe wants to learn French with Mister Nathan instead."

"Jean-Philippe will be helping me teach the French courses in the coming semester," Jean-Paul said, raising his voice to be heard from the kitchen. Though the new topic did remind him that he should talk to his assistant about setting up placement tests for the term. "Is there any reason you cannot take it on as part of your class load?"

"Ooooooooooooooooooo! Mister Beaubier is teaching French?! Nonono, there is no reason Catseye cannot take!" Other than the fact that she was thinking about joining the X-Men, which would surely take up a lot of time. "Catseye would like very much to learn French with Mister Beaubier and Mister Nathan and Mister Jean-Philippe! Mister Beaubier's Sister does not teach French too?" she inquired curiously.

"Mister Beaubier's sister does not teach at all," clarified a voice from the suite's entry with an accent not unlike Jean-Paul's. The encounter with Jake may have left her wary to enter her brother's room unannounced, but with an invitation such worries were considerably easier to shrug off. Jeanne-Marie carried a bottle of white wine with her, one hand at the base and one hand wrapped carefully about the neck, an offering for her twin, and a small smile for the unexpected guest as she joined Catseye in the living room. "Though I have been told I am an acceptable tutor." She turned toward the kitchen and raised her voice for her brother's benefit, slipping into their native tongue, "~Good afternoon, brother. Have we picked up a third for lunch? I hope you are planning to introduce us.~"

"Ah, here you are." Jean-Paul's pleased smile at seeing his sister was automatic and genuine. "Catseye, this is my sister, Jeanne-Marie. Jeanne-Marie, this is Catseye, one of my students and constant reading companion. I believe you two met on the journals."

Catseye's eyes went excitedly wide at hearing Jeanne-Marie's French and it took a moment before she recovered enough to offer a hand to Jean-Paul's sibling, which she knew was the human custom for introduction. "Hello! Catseye is veryveryhappy to meet Mister Beaubier's Sister! Catseye is happy Mister Beaubier has a sister now at the mansion to look after him and make sure Mister Beaubier does not get hurt anymore!" Having another person to keep an eye on Jean-Paul was definitely a goodthing in Catseye's estimation. She never wanted Jean-Paul to get hurt again. "Catseye thinks Mister Beaubier's Sister is verypretty and Catseye likes her pointy ears veryverymuch and Catseye would like to know if Mister Beaubier's Sister is speedyfast like Mister Beaubier? Catseye is a mutant too and her power is to be a cat but Catseye is not a real animal-type cat," she added, which was the new amendment she felt forced to make since her encounter with the feral cats, "Catseye is really a human but Catseye is not a very good human yet but Mister Beaubier is helping Catseye learn! Is it okay if Catseye calls Mister Beaubier's Sister Jeanne-Marie or should Catseye call something else?"

Jeanne-Marie recalled their conversation on the journals, which she had made precious little use of since, and supposed the violet hair and speech patterns should have been a giveaway. Perhaps she was getting forgetful in her old age. She shifted her hold on the bottle and took the naturally dainty and surprisingly callused hand offered to her, replying to both brother and stranger at once, "Ah, oui, but it is very nice to meet you in person, Catseye." She smiled softly through the knowledge that her past attempts at protecting her brother had been...less than successful, and added as their grip broke, "I will do my best for him. He needs all the help he can get, non?"


The slew of compliments and questions and comments came almost too rapidly even for the speedster to follow and she brushed back her dark hair if only to grant herself the excuse for a pause. "...Merci. Such kind students my brother has, and so curious..." She tossed an amused and faintly overwhelmed glance to her brother in the kitchen.

Her twin recognized the mayday and grinned briefly at his sister before turning back to Catseye. "I feel I should say, even if you are still working on understanding how to fit in with humans, you are making very fast progress. But yes, Jeanne-Marie and I have the same powers -- we both run and fly very fast. And I think calling her Madame Beaubier will suffice until you get to know each other better. And it can get you started with your French."

"Madame is like Mister in French?" she questioned. "Catseye likes that name." She liked Jeanne-Marie too, very much, especially her comment about Jean-Paul needing all the help he could get. "Madame is a french tutor? She can help Catseye with French too?"


"Like Ms. or Missus," Jeanne-Marie corrected without any of the fastidious sharpness her own schooling had been dominated by. She had learned better since then. "Mister, as for my brother, would be Monsieur," aware of Catseye's mounting curiosity, she smiled softly and added, "As you would be Mademoiselle. A good first lesson, non?" The second question gave her brief pause and she shook her head before answering. "Not in any official sense, but I worked in such a capacity for a year or two and French is my native dialect. If you would like my help to conquer my brother's lesson plan, I would be more than happy to assist." The last comment drew her eyes to her brother with an innocent and playfully challenging grin of her own.


Jean-Paul drew himself up in mock-indignation. "All the women in my life conspire against me. No wonder I am driven to men. Now, if you will excuse me, I am going back to my kitchen to cook for you ungrateful wretches." His flounce back behind the counter might have been very convincing if he hadn't tipped Catseye a wink as he went.