Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie

[The Exodus]

Have you ever dreamed of being a space explorer? Or perhaps of being the one to cure cancer? While the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie cannot guarantee these dreams come true, Europe's largest science museum can put all the latest technology, discoveries, and natural history artifacts right at your fingertips! With its aquarium, IMAX theatre, planetarium, and fascinating exhibits, there is always something new to discover!

[blueeyeddevil]

Noelle Girard

Noelle was beyond excited. This was the first even semi hard hitting story she had been requested to cover in for months. The museum had gotten a new exhibit on the "Future of Space Travel" that was creating a big stir. There had been a lot of hype before the exhibit had arrive and people were vastly interested in it. They had asked her to go to the museum and cover the types of things that the exhibit included and how the opening day went over for it. She was actually rearing to write about this one.

She arrived at the museum, her newly dark hair pulled back and dressed in a professional white button up, feeling like a real writer for once in her career. She smiled politely as she approached the manager who was going to show her to the exhibit. "Hello. I'm Nolle Girard. We spoke on the phone," she said, holding out her hand for him to shake.

He smiled in return, shaking her hand. "Yes, Mme. Girard! Its a pleasure to meet you! I'm sure you'd like to get started," he said. "Right this way if you will." He gestured towards the stairs which she followed him up.

They reached the exhibit and Noelle took notes as he began to explain about the exhibit and how it worked. She took notes on the history behind the exhibit and how it had fared today in its debute. Suddenly though the manager was interrupted by his phone which he quickly answered. A moment later he looked at her with an apologetic expression. "I'm terribly sorry, Mme. Girard, but my services are requested down in the aquarium. I'll only be a moment. If you just wait here, I'll return in a moment," he assured her. "Feel free to look around while you wait."

Noelle nodded her understanding and watched as the man went bustling off hurriedly. She hoped nothing was too wrong down in the aquarium! For now she enjoyed the time to actually take in the exhibit. After all, didn't the best writers really experience their writing?

[plantnerd92]

OOC: Rose is free to anyone! Enjoy!BIC:

Rose Lee Peace

Rose decided to get herself and her children out of the house that day while Xavier had gone to work. Cally would be starting kindergarten this year, and she wanted her children to be excited about learning. It would also give them a chance to practice the sign language they had been learning so they could communicate with Dimitri. She couldn't believe that her children were as old as they were. She felt like they'd only just brought home Dimitri from the hospital a few months ago, but he would be two years old in July. It was strange to think about her having children. Growing up, Rose had been a rough-neck farm girl who was more famous for getting into fights rather than flirting with boys. Sometimes, she still didn't know how she managed to snag Xavier, but she thanked the Lord every day that she did, and she thanked Him for blessing her with her little family. And she wanted her children to gain the best education they could.

So to get things started, she brought them to the science museum! Rose pushed Dimitri in the stroller with one hand, and held Cally's hand with the other as they walked across the parking lot, and went inside.

"Cally, don't run off. Stay by Mommy the whole time, okay?" she told her four-year-old daughter gently, ruffling her little girl's crow-black curls when Cally obediently nodded in agreement. Rose smiled, and lead her children through the museum. Cally suddenly saw the aquarium and turned to Rose, her green eyes bright.

"Mommy! Can we go look at the fishies?" she begged, pulling on her mother's hand. Rose laughed.

"Yes, sweetie. Let's go look at the fishies," Rose told her vocally, as well as using sign language to communicate with her daughter. "Practice using your sign language too, hun," she reminded her daughter with a smile. Cally nodded, and signed 'Thank you,' before taking Rose's hand as the walked to the aquarium. Once there, Cally looked into the tanks with excitement, as Rose knelt down next to her, pulling the stroller up to her side, so that Dimitri could see the fish too. Dimitri laughed with delight and clapped his hands, showing off his new set of front teeth. With his brown hair and gray eyes, he was starting to look very much like his mother, though he had Xavier's face. Her children's exuberance made Rose laugh.

"Look at the fishies," she said moving her hand back and forth to make the sign for 'fish'. Dimitri watched her before trying to imitate the movement himself. Rose smiled at Dimitri, and tickled his tummy when he managed to accomplish the feat. "Good job, Dimitri!" she exclaimed aloud as she signed.

Rose was content to kneel there and watch as her daughter pointed out the different fish and asked her about them, as well as being a good big sister to her baby brother. Nothing made Rose happier than spending time with her family, and she felt the maternal bond she had with her children only grow even stronger as she spent time with them.

[Lets_Eat_Paste]

OoC: Considering how busy the two of us are, I'm making Greggy a LITTLE older than he really is, because by the time this scene is finished, he'll probably be that old. BiC:


Ashton Greene

One day, Gregory would realize there was a motif that ribbonned its way through his mumma and daddy’s relationship. A fishy motif. The date Ashton considers their first date, they fed fish in the cavernous subterranean catacombs of the Garnier. In hopes to impress her, Lucian had forced down the fish fillet that unfailingly made his stomach churn and lurch. The motion was sweet, surprisingly. Eating a food he despised to impress the woman he loved. It felt almost medieval, but heartfelt. And then, of course, there was the day Ashton made him a full seafood dish. Their feelings were completely inappropriate for each other, but over cocktail sauce and shrimp paella, they opened up the flood gates and welcomed in a rush of hormones to flow over them, drowning them in their own sweet love making, to take in each other, breathe each other’s brackish, fishy breath.

So maybe Gregory wouldn’t know that last one, but the theme of fish would one day become evident to him, so why not introduce him now when he was young?

“Look, Gregory,” Ashton said. “That’s a fish. La poisson” Ashton said, holding him up to peer into the glass at the living kalidescope within, teeming with vibrant colours like electric blue and vivid pinks. Damien would have a name for each color. A clinical name, and growing up with him as a brother, chances were, Gregory’s favourite colour would be “saffron” or “china rose”, as opposed to the standard “yellow” or “red” of other children. “Look at them swim, love. Nager, That’s swim, nager,” said she into her son’s soft, small ear. Though he couldn’t speak yet, he was still learning the words, and the muscle memory was developing so his tongue could later wrap around the words like a gentle quilt, making and forming such wonderful words that Ashton and Lucian both had etched into his mind at such a young age. She couldn’t wait to hear her son’s first word.

[plantnerd92]

OOC: Oh, look at that. Rose is cooperating. Not sure how long it will last, but it's something. BIC:

Rose Lee Peace

Rose had been so intent on watching the fish, and practicing her sign language and teaching her son while at it, that she hadn't really registered that Cally had began to drift gradually away from her mother and little brother. Rose looked around in a panic when she finally realized Cally wasn't with them anymore. She relaxed slightly when she saw her daughter standing a little ways away, looking at a blond woman holding a baby boy, and going up and talking to her, not the least bit shy. Rose bit her lip, and pushed Dimitri's stroller over to the woman.

"Cally, what did I tell you about wandering off?" Rose scolded her gently, before looking at the woman. "I'm sorry. My daughter has no qualms against going up and talking to random people." Cally dashed to her mother's side and wrapped her little arms around Rose's leg.

"Mommy, I wanted to see her baby. He's so cute!" she exclaimed adorably. Rose couldn't help herself. She laughed, running her hand over Cally's black curls.

"I'm Rose, by the way," she introduced herself to the woman.

[Lets_Eat_Paste]

Ashton Greene

The slippery, shimmery kaleidoscope of fish glistened as they swam about, a mesmerizing array of floating colours and shapes. Gregory and Ashton reached together to touch the cool, clear surface of the tank, the gateway to this beautiful and alien world. Their reflections swan with the fish, and for a moment, Ashton could take Gregory on an underwater safari without leaving the safety of her arms.

He’d likely never remember this moment, for his brain was too busy absorbing vowel sounds, but Ashton would, and she would tuck those little snapshots away into some mental scrapbook she could pullout periodically as he grew up so she could reminisce and smile on his baby days.

Gregory laughed as a large fish swam past, its body glinting magenta as it undulated past. “Do you like the fishie, Greggy?” Ashton asked gently, cuddling him to her. “I like the fishie. La Poisson. Daddy doesn’t, but that’s okay.”

Ashton’s voice was low, a mere wisp of silver sound, just soft enough for her infant son to hear. This was their moment, their special mother-child minute in time. But that second froze and fell to the ground with a shatter as Ashton felt a gentle, curious tug at her belt loop. She looked down, startled to find herself looking into a child’s face. Ashton smiled at her. “Oh! Hello! I’m Ashton,” she said, shifting Gregory so she could see the girl more clearly. “What’s your name?”

”Cally!” came her answer in the form of a worried mother. It was a tone Ashton knew would one day escape her own lips, but she prayed, as she clutched Gregory close to her, she wouldn’t need to use for a long time. ”What did I tell you about wandering off?”

The exchange was interesting, like taking a free, impromptu parenting class.

”I’m sorry. My daughter has no qualms against going up and talking to random people.”

Ashton laughed. That had been her when she was little, going up and talking to strangers as if they were old friends, straying from her frantic parents. It was only a matter of time before Gregory did the same.

”Mommy! I wanted to see her baby! He’s so cute!”

Ashton giggled and showed the girl, Cally, her son.

”I’m Roses, by the way.”

“Ashton,” she responded, introducing herself. “Don’t worry about it. Children are naturally curious. She’s adorable; I love kids.” She looked lovingly at her own little bundle of joy with a humorous chuckle. “I wouldn’t of had any if I didn’t, you know.”

[Deleted]

Myron Bolitar


"Come along. We're going out."


If Myron Bolitar had known that he was going to be kidnapped from his house today by a beautiful woman, then he would have sloshed back some Listerine, or done some pre ‘going-out-with-a-woman-must-be-studly’ activities. This was better though. It was out of the blue, completely spontaneous, and it was all Natalie Blackwood’s doing. Now that was his kind of woman, erm, one night stander buddy. Myron Bolitar, ladies and gentlemen, the nickname flatterer.

She wasn’t his woman though, and he had to continue to remind himself that every time his hand would accidentally brush up against hers as they walked into the museum. Myron could grab it, hold it, rub his thumb against hers, but it wasn’t his place. Myron broke a lot of boundaries and crossed a lot of lines in this world because that’s just the kind of guy he was. When it came to women’s personal bubbles? That was something he really didn’t want to burst.

Myron was trying to think if there was some rule. See, he had already been invited into Natalie’s bubble, but then afterward does that make him thrown out of the bubble? But once he popped the bubble (Woah, does that sound sexual or what? Woah, was he three or what?), did that automatically make him a guest in that bubble, or did he just get a VIP ticket for a night? Was he really thinking about this right now?

Myron Bolitar’s thoughts were put on hold when they stepped into the museum. He took a couple steps ahead of her to have a moment in those epic movies where the camera pans around the little boy with his eyes wide, gazing in awe at the large world around him for the first time. Except, he was a grown man and there was no camera to be filming this so-called epic movie; which made this moment a little less grand as he felt like it should have been.

As ‘I’m a night club owner and live that life’ as this sounded, Myron had never been to the museum. Which, what freaking kid didn’t ever go to COSI, right? He imagined that every kid’s first time would be someone having to drag you onto a field trip or something and then from there is when a person would get inspired to go back. He didn’t really have the desire to do so. Which, what did that say about his character that it took a woman to get him to go there? He wasn’t really going to answer that.

Spinning back to Natalie with a wide grin, his eyes looked at hers that were always so damn beautiful with enthusiasm. "Dollface, you've outdone yourself today." He told her, walking backwards in front of her as they continued on in. "You've managed to get me out of my snuggie and into a magical place where I've never been."

Turning so he was walking along side her, he smirked, nudging her arm. "You are somethin'."

There was no question that Natalie was truly something.

[The Exodus]

Natalie Blackwood

Natalie hadn’t meant to end up at the science museum. She supposed it was the least romantic place to go and that might have been part of her motivation in taking Myron. It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested in him. She was. But there were no rules; they lived in the space between the well-charted world and the taboo. They walked along the streets and every so often, their hands would brush each other. Little lightning storms jolted up Natalie’s arm each time. It was such a pleasurable sensation that she walked a little closer, swung her arms just a little more, in the vain hopes they would brush hands again and maybe Myron would hold her hand and walk with her as if they were lovers. He didn’t—of course he didn’t—and Natalie wondered why he wouldn’t be bold. He’d been so confident in that bar, but in the daylight, that Myron didn’t make an appearance. She wondered if maybe he could see the budding laugh lines on her face in the garish light of day and he made the conscious effort not to touch her because of them.

They reached the museum and before entering, Myron halted. Natalie stopped and stared at him, clasping her hands awkwardly in front of her. His dark eyes were the size of saucers and his mouth hung open just a little. It was as if he’d never seen a museum before. Natalie, who had ended up a few steps ahead of Myron, returned to his side and tried to see the place as he might have.

She was very familiar with the Paris science museum. When Damien was a child, she’d taken him often, hoping to instill a love of logic in him. Instead, she often roamed the halls alone, marveling at discovery and dioramas alike, while Damien dramatically flung himself on a bench, declared himself bored, and asked for ice cream or to go back to the Louvre. Natalie quite liked science museums. But if she erased all those memories and looked with fresh eyes, she could see the sleek, domed structure glittering in the sun like a mirrored disco ball. It really was beautiful, a ‘bright, shiny object’.

"Dollface,” Myron said appreciatively, grinning over at her, “You've outdone yourself today. You've managed to get me out of my snuggie and into a magical place where I've never been."

Natalie grinned and they kept walking. Doll-face. She rather liked that, she thought. It was much better than “Nat”, which her family and Lucian called her and made her feel like an annoying little bug flying in their ears. It was certainly better than Lucian’s sarcastic “Dear” in their last years of marriage. Doll-face implied timeless beauty, but had a very jazz-age American feel to it. She could certainly get used to it.


"You are somethin'."

“I do try,” Natalie said, threading her arm through Myron’s. And she did. She tried harder than he could possibly imagine, but she wasn’t about to tell him. “Thank you for coming with me. I couldn’t bear the thought of you in that awful Snuggie thing, alone in your flat all day.”

[plantnerd92]

OOC: Sorry this took me so long to get to. I beg forgiveness! *grovels* BIC:


Rose Lee Peace

“Ashton,” the blonde woman said, introducing herself. “Don’t worry about it. Children are naturally curious. She’s adorable; I love kids.” She looked adoringly at her own child with a chuckle. “I wouldn’t of had any if I didn’t, you know.” Rose relaxed and smiled, glad that Ashton wouldn't throw a fit because some kid barged in on her personal mother/child bonding time. It was sad, but it has happened.

"Yeah, they're great. There is never a dull moment with these two." Rose crouched down next to the stroller, and lifted Dimitri out of it, and sat him on her knee, holding him as he watched in wide-eyed wonder, lifting up his little hand and pointing at the fish, and looking back at his mother in question.

“Fish, Dimitri,” she said, making the sign for “fish” and spelling out his name in sign language. She gently took his hand and guided him to make the sign. Cally still stood by Ashton and continued to look at adoringly at her baby.

”What’s his name? she asked, before pointing at Dimitri. ”That’s my baby brother. His name is Dimitri. He’s named after Dimitri on “Anastasia.” I like that movie. Bartok is funny. And we are in Paris, just like in the movie,” she chattered incessantly. Rose laughed and shook her head. Dimitri wasn’t actually named after the movie character, but she let Cally think whatever she wanted when it came to that.

“Have you been in Paris long, Ashton?” Rose asked, wondering. The woman sounded like she was from across the Channel, and Rose was curious about what had brought her here. Everyone had their reasons, but it was interesting to learn about others’ stories.

[Deleted]

Myron Bolitar

"I do try." Natalie expressed, bringing her arm to loop around Myron's.

He smirked over at her, glancing down for a moment at their arms and then returning to her eyes. It was a different place to look. Throughout the years Myron had been settling into a chocolate colored gaze, but now they were an icy mixture that he couldn't quite depict. It was a change, and the change in itself, whether or not he liked Natalie as a friend of lover, was a new and for the better.

"Thank you for coming with me. I couldn’t bear the thought of you in that awful Snuggie thing, alone in your flat all day.”

Ah, so she'd be thinking of him? Though, thinking of Myron Bolitar in a snuggie couldn't be the most tantalizing of thoughts ever to cross a woman's mind. Still, at the sentiment, his eyebrows rose in amusement, a grin appearing. He squeezed his arm against hers. "My dear, I'd settle for any thought of myself in that pretty head of yours." He shrugged, looking straight ahead. "Even if it is in less than flattering attire."

Beginning to lead them more into the museum, Myron sighed happily, bringing his other hand to rest onto of her forearm at their binding arms. "What exhibit do you recommend for an uncultured museum heathen like myself?"

[Lets_Eat_Paste]

Ashton Greene

"Yeah, they're great. There is never a dull moment with these two." Rose said, crouching to retrieve her son from the pram. Ashton felt a pang of excited envy. Someday, she reminded herself, her own child would be walking about, chattering and babbling about the world he saw. Not now, but someday; and she would have the rest of her lifetime to spend with her son. Her green eyed monster fell asleep again, dormant, and Ashton was a peace.

“Fish, Dimitri,” Rose said, moving her hands in a repeated motion Ashton took for signing. It was a relief to know that teaching your developing child two languages at once wasn’t quite so bizarre, wasn’t over the top.

”What’s his name?” the little girl asked, making Ashton chuckled.

“His name is Gregory,” she replied simply. It had been a hard decision, naming him Gregory, one that she and Lucian did not make lightly, and there were days, Ashton had to admit, when she was worried he might grow up to not fit his name, but her fears were belayed when she looked at her son, wondering how she could ever of named him anything else.

”That’s my baby brother. His name is Dimitri. He’s named after Dimitri on “Anastasia.” I like that movie. Bartok is funny. And we are in Paris, just like in the movie," the little girl continued on, and Ashton smiled politely. She hadn’t seen the movie, to be honest, so she couldn’t relate. Bartok was a composer, and she couldn’t quite find the humour in him.

“Have you been in Paris long, Ashton?” Rose asked.

“For a while, yes. Two and a half years, maybe? I forget. Dates are running together it seems these days…”

It was astonishing, really, when Ashton thought about the time that had elapsed. She came here to escape reality, suspend it in time. She wanted to hide away from her father, her fiancée, the prospect of growing up against her will. She came here to dance, to live before she had to taste bitter responsibility, and she ended up falling in love. Not just with the city, but with her fiance’s father. And now, infidelity behind them, they were getting married. They carried on their love affair, just not covertly. It was a life-long love affair between husband and wife now, not a sneaky, painful lie. They had a baby together, a beautiful, perfect son that they made on a balcony out of love. All of that happened in two and half years. Her world was turned to putty and molded from the mess it was to the beautiful work of art it was today.

Ashton lassoed her mind and fished it out her reverie with “you’re children are cute.”

[The Exodus]

Natalie Blackwood

Myron smirked at her and fleetingly, Natalie wondered if she’d misspoken. She really had thought it a little sad to see him in a backwards bathrobe when she came to his apartment this morning.

"My dear,” he said. Natalie resisted an instinctive shudder. Lucian used to call her that. Sarcastically, of course, in more recent years. She preferred “doll-face”. “I'd settle for any thought of myself in that pretty head of yours. Even if it is in less than flattering attire."

Natalie smiled. Maybe she had a better chance than she thought. Of what, she wasn’t quite sure. And then it dawned on her: she’d made the first move. The wooing. The asking out. Myron had picked her up in a bar and like some dippy, clinging co-ed, Natalie had come crawling to his door because she was thinking about him. She wondered if that was sarcasm behind Myron’s smirk or if maybe it wasn’t unattractively desperate to pursue the man from your one night stand. But then Myron sighed and pressed his opposite hand to Natalie’s arm. No need to be embarrassed, it seemed, if the one night stand in question was receptive.

And had called you “doll-face”.

"What exhibit do you recommend for an uncultured museum heathen like myself?"

“Well, we could turn you off entirely from the museum experience and look at the geology section,” she said with a half-smirk. “Or we could skip straight to the main attraction.”

The hall of dinosaurs and extinct mammals was at the top floor of the museum and filled with all sorts of wondrous creatures. Natalie didn’t understand why some children—and, sadly, adults—yearned for a world filled with dragons and unicorns and werewolves and vampires when evolution had designed even more intricate and interesting creatures over the last several billion years. You always felt awed and tiny standing beside a Brontosaurus thigh bone or with your hand in the mouth of T-Rex. It was the only part of the museum she could get Damien to take interest in as a child. He’d hop up off his bench, forget the Louvre and ice cream, and for a little while stare with eyes the size of tennis balls at creatures bigger and bolder than the human imagination. Natalie wondered if maybe Myron would prefer the top floor boneyard to technology exhibits and displays about carbon dating. There was only one way to find out.

[blueeyeddevil]

Dr. Reid Collier

Reid had never handled having days off very well. Without work to do, he just felt like he was sort of wandering aimlessly. Everyday he could feel the time slipping away, the clock ticking down to an undisclosed point in time where he would be rendered useless because he could no longer even trust his own mind. He wanted to save all those he could before that happened. A day off was just a waste of the time he had left, in his opinion. Though the people at work had been quite insistent that he take a day. So now he was stuck with having to find something to do that wasn't work related.

Somehow that ended up with him at the local museum where there was a new exhibit that dealt with the mechanics of the human brain and how that gave people their personalities. It was fairly interesting if fairly basic. There were many key facts that were missing from the plaques in front of the displays that Reid found to be a bit distracting. Then again, that could have been the high school students that seemed to be on some sort of field trip to the museum. It was certainly hard to concentrate with them all chattering away about who was dating who and what so-and-so was wearing.

After a while he decided it was best to leave. Perhaps he could grab some coffee and catch up on the latest psychological journal...of course, for him that would only take up a few minutes. An hour at most if he reread.

Outside he found the high school group getting ready to load back up into their buses to return to the school. He stood on the curb, preparing to head towards his car. He noted one of the buses coming up as a girl who was busy talking to her friend was getting ready to cross the street to her own bus. It was strange the way it all went down. Instead of simply warning her the way he probably should have, he waited until stepped off the curb to grab her arm and pull her back just as the bus went flying by.

"Careful there! Look where you're going next time," he said gently, hand on her shoulder.

The girl nodded in understanding, shaking just a bit. "Oui! Merci, Monsieur," she said as she went hurrying back to her teacher who was approaching them now.

[Lets_Eat_Paste]

Charlotte Babineaux

Last month in the teacher workroom, Charlotte could hear her co-workers whining about field trips. There were permission slips that needed to be signed, buses that needed to be hired, and far too many adolescents that needed more than just a pair of eyes to supervise them. But Charlotte loved field trips. There was only so much that could be gleaned from a textbook and a lecture. Teenagers needed to take their education into their own grubby hands from time to time, especially when it came to something that kids deemed “boring” and “hard” like science.

Field trips with Charlotte’s students were never as nightmarish as her colleagues made them seem to be. She didn’t mind sitting on the sidelines, grading papers whilst they ran around with interest and taking a real investment in their learning. She answered the occasional question and called them together for lunch and discussions, but that was the extent of her needed services. Really, field trips were relaxing.

At least, they were until Charlotte stepped onto the bus and called final attendance. But between Cardeaux and Davenport, Bernadette Cortreau was nowhere to be seen. Out her window, Charlotte’s worried eyes found her. There, on the curb across the street she stood, her shoulder encapsulated by the hand of a man.

Charlotte’s eyes narrowed and her blood boiled as she stormed off the bus to see that this stranger unhanded her student.

“Excuse you!” she said in a shrill voice that surprised her. “But if you don’t let go of my student now, I will call the authorities.”

[blueeyeddevil]

Dr. Reid Collier

This was part of what he did. He helped to make sure the frightened victims of the crimes were taken care and tried to get them calmed down some. If he were being honest with himself, he'd admit that more than often it was the other members of his team from the FBI that handled the victims, but he'd managed on his own more than a few times. It was times like those that he was able to use here. The girl was obviously still shaken up by her close brush with could have ended up killing her. He tried to assure her that she was fine and that she just needed to be a little more careful next time.

“Excuse you!” someone shrieked behind him and he whirled around to see a woman coming from the direction of the bus the girl had been going. Probably a teacher of hers. “But if you don’t let go of my student now, I will call the authorities.” At first he couldn't understand what she was talking about. Then Reid glanced down to see that his hand was still resting on the girl's shoulder. Quickly retracting it he looked back at the woman, ready to do a little damage control.

"Ma'am, I assure you there is no need for the authorities," he tried to tell her. He didn't mention he was sort of working with the authorities. That was a minor detail at this point he was sure. "She stepped out into the street just as a bus was about to go by and I pulled her back. I was simply making sure she was okay. I'm only trying to help." He also didn't mention that he had all but waited until the last minute to step in stop the girl. That was another minor detail that probably didn't need to be known.