paris in the spring

[her_imperial_radiance]

Aedyt, I've decided to take Harley to Paris for a few days, and you want to come with me, Elspeth sends one morning.

Comments

[pumpkin_pie]

[I do? Yeah, I totally do!] says Aedyt. [Cool, where should I meet you?]

[her_imperial_radiance]

My rooms.

"We're going to go to France with Aedyt," she tells Harley.

[pumpkin_pie]

[Now?]

[pythbox]

"Fun," Harley opines.

[her_imperial_radiance]

As soon as you're ready.

"Yes, it'll be fun. We'll look at all the tourist attractions and show you off to French people. Can you say salut?"

[pythbox]

"Salut," he repeats obligingly.

[pumpkin_pie]

Aedyt appears.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"That is how you say hi in French," Elsie tells Harley. "Or bonjour, is more formal. Hello, Aedyt."

[pumpkin_pie]

"Hello, Elspeth! Any particular reason why Paris?"

[her_imperial_radiance]

"I have a list. I am visiting locations from it in strictly randomized order. Next will be visiting the Amazon coven. It is convenient that the department learned to get along without me; I can take time off whenever I like."

[pumpkin_pie]

Aedyt giggles. "Sounds like fun," she says.

[pythbox]

"Fun!" Harley repeats.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Your favorite thing," Elspeth says, touching the end of Harley's nose. "All set? Do you pack stuff or just squares, Aedyt?"

[pumpkin_pie]

"I'm covered," she says cheerfully. "I can always teleport home to grab something."

[pythbox]

Harley playfully bites at Elspeth's finger.

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth's finger is impermeable to baby human bites. "France is full of humans. If you bite them, they might be unhappy," she tells Harley. And she teleports herself, the baby in her arms, and Aedyt to one of the small Imperial offices - not a full capitol, just a suite with pamphlets and a couple of staffpeople for Parisians interested in learning about the world shadow government.

[pythbox]

He giggles.

[pumpkin_pie]

Aedyt giggles, too.

[her_imperial_radiance]

Out they go. It is a lovely day in Paris. The Eiffel Tower isn't visible from here; Elspeth starts a meandering route towards it. "What have you been up to, Aedyt?" she inquires. She's still speaking English; it will do no harm for Harley to pick up some of the other languages she speaks, but as a matter of general policy she wants him to anchor on a single native language rather than be dizzied by dozens. At least spoken languages. She signs to him all the time too.

[pumpkin_pie]

"Making jewelry!" She displays a necklace she is wearing, a thin chain with a series of colourfully patterned glass disks increasing in size from right to left.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"I like that one. You must accumulate a lot of trinkets."

[pumpkin_pie]

"Yeah," she says, "when they start to pile them up I give some away. Do you want one? We could swing by my place later and you could have a look."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"If there's something in particular you want to give me, I'll be happy to take it. I'm not so much inclined to go pick something out. I didn't even loot Volterra when I had the chance and my bodyguards were going through Jane's - the vampire, not the ansible network, do you know this story? - jewelry box."

[pumpkin_pie]

"I've heard it! You can tell me your version if you want," Aedyt says cheerfully.

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth laughs, and readjusts Harley's position so he can more easily look around them. "Well, we took over, Jane was not one of the ones we were able to safely keep alive, and Alec said he didn't care what happened to her belongings, so Maggie and a few other people looked through them and took what they wanted. She had a lot of jewelry. Aro used to give her something shiny every time she had a birthday."

[pumpkin_pie]

"Which adds up to a lot of shinies," Aedyt agrees sagely. "Well, if I come up with something I think would really suit you, I'll show it to you and see if you like it."

She looks at Harley.

"I'm kind of hazy on human development - is he old enough to wear jewelry without, I don't know, trying to eat it?"

[her_imperial_radiance]

"He would probably try to eat it," says Elsie. "I'm not sure, in this case, if that would be because he's little and babies do that, or because trying to eat things amuses him in general." She holds up her recently bitten finger.

[pumpkin_pie]

Aedyt laughs.

[pythbox]

The baby beams innocently.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"You're a little nibbler," Elspeth tells Harley. "With that habit it's a good thing you aren't very toothy and sharp."

[pythbox]

"Nibbler!" he repeats gleefully.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Yes. Maybe we should find some tasty French food for you to try nibbling when it's lunchtime."

[pythbox]

"I'm a food nibbler!" he asserts.

[pumpkin_pie]

"I sure hope so!" says Aedyt, amused.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"If you weren't you'd get very hungry," laughs Elsie. "Look, up there, above that building you can see the Eiffel Tower." She holds Harley up above her head for a better look.

[pythbox]

"Ooooooh," says Harley.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"It's more impressive up close." She sits him on her shoulders, steadying him with one hand. "We're almost there."

[pythbox]

"Oooooh," he repeats, crossing his arms and resting them on top of her head.