chapter word count: 463
noir heart: eighty-one
Elsa ducks back around the corner of the apartment block, just out of sight of its main door as it swings open and clatters against its frame. Curious, she peers with one eye, and smiles to herself when the ex-wife Rapunzel strides into the world. Following her when she left her house has paid dividends, it seems, so with a knowing smirk she underlines the address on a notepad.
She looks up just as Rapunzel buries her head in her hand - there's no convulsing sobs, though, just a woman desperately trying to maintain self-control. Which means, Elsa notes with pride, that she was right. Jack does live here. Only someone that close to Rapunzel would cause her to be in such a state.
"Trouble in paradise," she says quietly. While her main goal was merely to find out where Jack lives, the state of distress Rapunzel is evidently in means something bad has happened between them. An unexpected bonus, and an opportunity.
There's a voice that pipes up from the ground to her right, between her and the steps leading into the apartment complex. A thick Cajun drawl, from a homeless woman she heretofore ignored . "Mm-hm. Dere was only one way dat was gonna go. Poor girl. Po' Jack. His heart mus' be breakin'."
Elsa's brows rise in interest at this woman, and her eyes flick up just in time to see Rapunzel hastily walk away from them and hail a cab. "You know of Jack?" she asks curiously.
"Why, 'course I do, cherie. Him and I been talkin' every night over a bottle-a whiskey."
Oh, now this is unexpected and fruitful. Jack has a friend, unbiased by a previous relationship or criminal investigation. Perfect. "Will you tell me about him, Mrs...?" she asks in her best voice of light persuasion.
The woman looks through the top left corners of her eyes, and regards her distrustfully. "Not if you gonna hurt mon ami Jack. He's been through 'nough. An' it's Mrs. Lafayette ta you."
Elsa steps out from the corner, smiling innocently. She holds up her left hand, and makes a X on her chest with the other. "I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die."
Mrs Lafayette eyes her for a few more seconds, ostensibly deliberating her options, not entirely trustful of Elsa's intentions - which is a little irritating. Especially since she has no desire to hurt Jack, and is mildly insulted this woman thinks she would.
Eventually, though, Mrs. Lafayette makes her decision. "Come see, mademoiselle," she says, patting the patch of cardboard by her side. "Not my place to tell you 'bout his life, but I can tell you 'bout what kinda man he is."
Elsa's smile widens.
early update. very discomforted. such self-questioning. wow. want to move on from this as quickly as possible. hope I'm not screwing up the Cajun accent like everything else.
special thanks to: doomstone, jpbake, oninoko, anastasia, ghost angel14, guest, weird reader, riverfall, maravillakatana47, vrupd.1992, xxxevil cookiexxx, hornedgoddess and noircorda for the reviews.