Monkeying Around (Darcy)

[The Exodus]

Gabriel Fontaine

There were few things Gabriel hated more than wearing a tie. But Torben – Torben who couldn’t match his own socks – had advised him to wear one to the custody hearing. It would make him look more serious. Or something.

Although nothing about Gabriel Fontaine looked “serious” now that everything was said and done. Cristina had called him herself this morning. Not her lawyer. Her. And when ‘We need to talk’ is uttered by your ex-wife one hour before your court hearing, it is never good.

Except, apparently, just this once.

She’d had a job offer in Paris. She and Sophie were moving back to the City of Lights. And suddenly, it was less an issue about which city Sophie would call home and more an issue of whose apartment she would be staying at during the weeks and during the weekends. Gabriel had been so exuberant during the hearing that things were finally working out for his family.

He milled through the park, greeting strangers with smiles and waves. And that was when he saw it.

The jungle gym. Who said playgrounds were for kids?

Gabriel, in his suited glory, scaled the domed jungle gym like an oversized monkey and when he made it to the top, spread his feet apart precariously on the blue bars, balancing himself like the king of the world. He felt like it. He gave a triumphant hoot and pumped a fist in the air. Other parents were looking at him like he might have been drunk. But this was sober Gabriel to a tee.

One more fist pump sent Mister King of the World plummeting off the jungle gym and Gabriel hit the woodchips with a painful crunch and a bark of surprise. Then, agony.

[Super Samness]

Darcy Javier

I've gotta get out of here. Those words echoed in her mind as the blonde beauty had paced around her studio space/apartment that day, memories swirling around her, pain surrounding her. When does it end, she remembered asking herself, and was shaken when she'd answered her own question. It ends when she sees a certain man in a certain bar, it ends when she gets a little square bag, it ends when she's no longer sober. But what kind of life does a woman lead when it's the only thing holding her together? Surely there must be something more that she was missing. Or was it really just that she could not survive without her destructive crutches?

Darcy, you're a mess. I've gotta get out of here.

So she changed out of her casual painting clothes, and into a short black dress with tights, because who was she trying to kid? She knew she'd end up going to the bar eventually, and meeting the man that fed one of her habits in the building that fed her other. Coke and whiskey, how pathetic. I've gotta get out of here.

Telling herself she was just going for a walk, Darcy grabbed a black leather jacket and crunched her way through the leaves of the nearby park, with every step feeling both better and worse. Glad to be out of her apartment, knowing she'd been going stir crazy. Upset that she seemed to be losing control over herself. She was lost in her own mind when she passed by a jungle gym in the distance, and did a double take when she saw that it was not a kid, but a grown man atop of the contraption. Who did he think he was, King Kong? A bemused smile ghosted across her lips, and so she happened to witness his not so triumphant dive to the ground. 

"Zut allors!" a shocked Darcy Javier exclaimed before dashing over to help the man, the other Parisians present content to allow him to take his lumps. He could have a broken leg or have hit his head or any number of things! She wasn't the quickest in her high heels, but when she reached the grounded man she put her hands on his face to hold his head still. "Are you hurt?" she asked him frantically, checking for x's in his eyes or something. Nurse Betty, she was not. She moved her arms down his body, to his arms, then his legs, checking for a break. 

[The Exodus]

Gabriel Fontaine

It occurred to him in the moments after the fall that his phone was in his back pocket and if it wasn’t for the carrying case, would be crushed. Either way, it was unreachable and calling Torben to meet him up at the hospital – or calling the hospital itself – was out of the question.

Bollocks.

And then soft hands found him, pressed him gently. Gabriel propped himself up to look and see that a blonde angel had appeared from nowhere and was looking him over with all the expertise of a worried mother.

How hard did I hit my head?

"Are you hurt?" she asked. Gabriel supposed if this was a hallucination brought forth by concussion, his imagination wouldn’t think to ask if he was okay.

“I’m-“ Gabriel paused before realizing exactly what had happened.

One, he’d fallen off the top of the jungle gym because of his own carelessness. And two, he was being rescued from his distress by a pretty damsel. He started to chuckle as he sat up. Dizziness rushed to his head. He reached up and held it and offered a good natured smile. Falls happened; they were a part of life. But it was only once in a blue moon a kind stranger came to help you up.

Gabriel had never been one to look gift horses in the mouth.

“- Dizzier than I anticipated,” he finished, steadying himself. “Either I’m hallucinating or I’m lucky Faye Wray should come to my rescue after I’ve been shot down.”

He extended his hand- taking it from his temple and offering a handshake.

“A pleasure, mademoiselle,” he said. “The name’s Gabriel and I would be much obliged if you helped me to my feet.”

[Super Samness]

Darcy Javier


Darcy couldn't feel any broken bones in the clumsy stranger's limbs, but if she were to be perfectly honest with herself she wouldn't know what to do if she found one anyway. She left her hands on his legs as she waited to see if he was alright. “I’m-“ he started, but stopped and seemed to be taking stock. He tried to get up but stopped to hold his head, and concern flooded Darcy. He was smiling, which was a good sign -- or he was concussed. “- Dizzier than I anticipated,” She instinctively gave his leg a reassuring squeeze. “Either I’m hallucinating or I’m lucky Faye Wray should come to my rescue after I’ve been shot down.”
The blonde laughed lightly, her green eyes sparkling with mirth. Had she not been comparing him to King Kong just before he plummeted?

Vaguely aware that her prior needs to indulge her bad habits were subsiding, perhaps due to the adrenaline rush she had just experienced, Darcy took this clarity and put it to good use. She examined him up and down to check for any injuries she might have missed, and was treated to a great big smack to the hormones. She felt her heart drop to her stomach. Oh god he was cute. She blinked, trying to clear her mind. Get real Darcy, handsome men don't actually fall out of the sky for you to find. 

He offered her a hand, and she took it reflexively. “A pleasure, mademoiselle,” he greeted her, and she smiled at him shyly. “The name’s Gabriel and I would be much obliged if you helped me to my feet.” Darcy braced her legs for weight, and placed her free hand over his, then pulled. He got to his feet, and she let go of his hand. "I'm Darcy," she told him in return, "And I would be thrilled if you didn't scare me like that again!" She brushed her hand over his long hair, mindful of his recent injury, to remove a clingy wood chip. "What were you doing up there anyway?" she asked, finding his chocolate eyes to be a major source of distraction. 

[The Exodus]

Gabriel Fontaine

The woman helped Gabriel to his feet. In his experience strangers were often well-meaning and helpful, but seldom so beautiful. He always had the best of luck, though, even on a bad day. Or so he thought. He smiled at her and thanked her when he was steady and she let go.

"I'm Darcy," the woman said. Her accent, like his, was French; though hers was tinged with something distinctly not Parisian. He wondered if Darcy was visiting Paris; if maybe she needed a tour guide. He owed her a life debt, after all. "And I would be thrilled if you didn't scare me like that again!"

“I shall do my best,” Gabriel vowed, eyes crinkling up in a grin as she brushed a stray woodchip from his hair.

"What were you doing up there anyway?"

“Celebrating, of course!” said Gabriel. “Why else would a grown man scale the monkey bars?”

He dusted off his pants. Woodchips, woodchips everywhere. He wouldn’t be surprised if he found some in the washing machine tomorrow. He shook his head and continued smiling, studying his savior better than before. He’d been right to think she looked angelic, but her halo was made of sunlight and blonde hair. Her skin and eyes, though, seemed flawless as if by magic.

“Do you often rescue fallen strangers, Darcy?” he asked.

[Super Samness]

Darcy Javier

It wasn't every day that Darcy got the opportunity to flirt with someone who just seemed so innately fun. She couldn't help herself, and thought that no one would be able to blame her if they had crossed paths with such a man. “I shall do my best,” the stranger promised her, and she smiled at him. Somehow she thought he might crawl back up to the monkey bars and fall again if she hadn't made him swear to keep his feet on the ground. 


“Celebrating, of course!” Gabriel told her when she questioned his jaunt on top of the jungle gym. “Why else would a grown man scale the monkey bars?” Darcy laughed. "Lunacy, for one," she told him, "Or a death wish. I thought you'd broken your neck!" She had certainly had the fear put in her. She smiled at him as he brushed his fine suit off, the man was simply too much. His pleasurable and happy-go-lucky behavior was infectious, and she found herself giggly for absolutely no reason. "What are you celebrating anyway?" she asked, thinking that it would have to be pretty good to get her on top of some monkey bars at her age. 

“Do you often rescue fallen strangers, Darcy?” he asked her, and she laughed. "Only the cute ones," she told him. "You're lucky -- I usually only fight crime and save helpless men by night," she advised in a wholeheartedly foolish false solemnity. "Good thing I happened to be in the neighborhood." God it had been a while since she had shared a playful exchange, and it felt great. The habits she had took her to seedy places where there were by no measure of surprise men that were categorized significantly below Prince Charming on the personality scale.