Toulouse leaned on the brick wall, eye swelling up and face sore. He knew he shouldn't have fought them but he had to prove himself. He coughed and spit out some blood. He knew his mother would worry desperately over him. Marie would just say 'told you so' and Berlioz… Berlioz was almost as bad as him sometimes. He'd most likely just say he didn't fight hard enough this round. Toulouse suddenly heard whistling and tried to look as homeless as possible, afraid the gang was coming back. He closed his eyes to seem asleep, but real fatigue and exhaustion took over him and he really did fall asleep for just a second…
"You alright kid?"
Toulouse opened his eyes -eye now due to swelling- and saw a man with red curly hair was squatted in front of him. Toulouse jumped in fright at seeing the man so close to him and registering that he had been found.
"What happened?" the man asked.
Toulouse frowned. "I got my ass kicked, obviously."
The man smirked. "Didn't think you French folk had it in you." He looked Toulouse over a little. "You're dressed pretty fancy to be in these parts."
"I'm not from 'these parts' as you put it. I live in the city."
"Paris?" Toulouse nodded. The man gave a whistle. "Must be nice. Judging by your clothes, you must be part of some high class family then… I'm surprised you were able to hold your own."
"I'm like an alley cat." He said with a tired smirk.
The man chuckled. "That right?" He watched Toulouse for a moment and Toulouse realized that he had a cigarette in his hand. He took one last smoke of it and smothered it on the ground. "You want a lift back home?"
"I don't think it would be a good idea. No offense, monsieur, but we don't take too kindly to riffraff."
"What raffs am I riffing?"
Toulouse didn't really have an answer because no one had ever challenged the notion. Roquefort always told him that anyone of lower class was riffraff and that aristocrats didn't have time to be around them.
"I dunno… I was just told to say that."
"You don't seem like the type to just do what everyone tells you. If that were the case, I wouldn't be talking to you here on the bad side of town, eh?" Toulouse just stared at him. "What do you think? Do I look like riffraff to you?"
"I barely know you, sir."
The man smiled a little. "That may be… Anyway, I figured since you're pretty banged up that you'd want a lift home. Give you a while to think of a good excuse to tell your rich parents what happened. I mean, the least you can do is walk in with some pride on your shoulders. I'm sure your father will pat you on the back."
"I don't have a father. He died."
"Shame then…"
Toulouse wasn't sure what this guy wanted from him but he hadn't asked for any money or tried to rob him. As much as he wanted to dismiss the man and deal with his own sorry self by himself, he didn't have the strength to even get up lest walk all the way home. He was on the outskirts of Paris, quite a ways from home. Plus, the guy was right: Toulouse needed to rest his sore muscles.
"I guess I'll take up your offer."
The man nodded and then turned around. "Get on."
"You… didn't bring a horse?"
"Riffraff, remember?" he said with a huge grin.
Toulouse smiled and crawled onto the man's back. He stood up and adjusted the kid.
"What's your name, Alleycat?"
"Toulouse Gentilhomme… and you monsieur?"
"Uh… Thomas. Thomas O'Malley."
"An Irishman without an Irish accent… or is that even your real name? You seemed to hesitate."
"I go by many names, kid. Where abouts do you live?"
"The family name is Bonfamille… just look for it on the plaque outside of the house." He said with a yawn.
"You're lucky I know where the ritzy part of Paris is… Rest up, Alleycat." Thomas said with a small smile.
Toulouse really didn't want to rely on this man he didn't even know to take him back home but he was so sore and so tired. He eventually fell asleep against the man's back and Toulouse hoped to God that things would be fine.
Duchess paced the hallway, looking outside with a worried expression. Toulouse had gone out and he said he wouldn't be late…
"He's probably beaten up in a puddle or something." A young girl who had the same platinum blonde hair as Duchess said as she leaned on the banister.
"Marie." A black haired young man said.
"What? He's always trying to fight when he has no idea what he's doing. Grandmere may pay for him to have lessons on fighting but I doubt Toulouse can use them on an everyday basis. He's not a street fighter and the classes he takes are defensive classes, not offensive."
"He can at least hold his own even if he's just defending, unlike a certain someone." He said with a roll of his blue eyes.
Marie looked in the mirror in the small alcove of the stairs and adjusted her pink bow in her hair. "Ladies don't start fights but we can finish them."
"Puh! I'd like to see you two spar off like those cool people in Japan."
"Samurais?"
"No, the other ones, the ones that dress in black."
"Ninja?"
"Yeah! But what am I hoping for? You're nothing but a sister."
"Children, enough of this nonsense. We know that Toulouse would never fight Marie."
"But we know Toulouse would win."
Marie stuck her tongue out at Berlioz while he returned the gesture. The doorbell rang and Duchess practically took off like a greyhound from the tracks but Roquefort, the butler, took care of it. Duchess waited on the steps to see who it was.
"Wow, you weren't kidding, Alleycat. This is one fancy schmancy mansion. I think my eyes are going to bleed from all the sparkle and shine." She heard a man say as he stepped into the foyer.
"It's home." She heard Toulouse say.
"Toulouse!" she yelled, running down the stairs to the door.
Thomas let Toulouse slide off of him and smiled awkwardly as Duchess practically glided across the floor to her son. She was hugging and kissing him all over in worry and relief at the same time when she looked over at Thomas. Thomas' eyes widened at the large blue colored eyes that looked at him with delicate thankfulness.
"Me-yow…" he whispered and Toulouse elbowed him.
"I must thank you for your hospitality to my son, monsieur. What is your name?"
"It's Thomas O'Malley, ma'am." He said, seeming shy.
"Thank you, Mr. O'Malley, for bringing my son back to us intact."
"No problem, ma'am. He seems like a good kid. Just got caught on the wrong side of Paris…"
Duchess looked at Toulouse. "What were you doing outside of the city?"
"I didn't mean to, Ma…"
Duchess made a face at her oldest son as she turned back to Thomas. "Is there any way I can repay you for your kindness?"
"No need to do any of that, ma'am, it was nothing, really." He said with dismissive wave and a smile. "I'm glad I could help him get back home to you."
"Well there must be something that we can do for you?" Duchess said with a pleading look.
Thomas could hardly stand the pleading look in her eyes as she tried to get him to take something from her. Even though he really did help Toulouse because he genuinely wanted to, thinking of taking anything away from this beautiful woman just seemed to be crime.
"No, really, you don't have to give me anything. Knowing he's safe and sound is good enough for me."
Roquefort scoffed and Thomas looked at him as he stood at the doorway.
"You bring a child back here, a rich child, and yet you don't want anything? Are we to really believe you did this out of the goodness of your heart, Street Ruffian?"
"Hey, hey, I didn't ask you, Snobby. So what if I brought the kid back home? There may not be a lot out there like me but I pride myself on being the one and only. I don't have to have things to get by. Just the sunshine and the wind at my back keep me happy."
"A regular duke of the avant-garde."
"At least I'm the duke of somethin'." Thomas turned to Toulouse. "Hey, Alleycat?" Toulouse looked back at him. "Did I ask you for a reward?"
"No."
"Did you offer me a reward?"
"No…"
Thomas turned back to Roquefort. "He didn't offer one and I didn't propose one, so it seems that I don't want one. Are all you Englishmen this snobby?"
"No, just him." Marie said with a dreamy look in her eyes.
Thomas gave her a half-smile and Berlioz elbowed his sister. Thomas turned back to Duchess and gave her a small bow.
"Anyway, ma'am, just glad he's safe and sound. Maybe I'll see you around these parts." He said with a small waggle of his eyebrows at Duchess.
"Possibly." She said, but not in an uptight manner.
"Hopefully not!" Roquefort said.
Thomas rolled his eyes and walked out the door, giving Toulouse a playful punch in the shoulder.
"Don't let old tightwad here get ya down; and stay out of trouble, kid. Sayonara." He said with a small wave.
He left as Duchess looked over her son for a moment.
"Roquefort, please see to it that Toulouse gets washed up and medically taken care of."
"Of course, madam."
"I'm sorry, Ma." Toulouse said, hanging his head. "I didn't mean to make you worry."
Duchess just sighed and touched his swollen eye. "I'm just glad you're safe."
"How did you get on the outskirts of Paris anyway? You couldn't have walked." Berlioz said.
"I'll… tell you later…" Toulouse said under his breathe as Roquefort led him up the stairs to the bathroom.
After Toulouse had gotten cleaned up and bandaged up, he and his siblings sat in the music room. Berlioz was practicing his piano as Toulouse sat by him on the piano stool with an ice pack on his eye.
"I know you got beat up but I mean, did you win?" Berlioz asked.
"Pretty sure by the way I feel, it wasn't a graceful win if I did." He said, touching his sensitive stomach where he got punched and kicked a lot.
"So how did you get all the way to the outskirts of Paris?" Marie asked from where she was reading magazines on the chaise.
"I'm not really sure. One minute I'm fighting with the one who started the fight and the next minute, I am far from home running through back alleys trying to get away from a whole gang."
"You were in the slums of France, Toulouse, how could you not expect a ruffian like him to have backup from his gang?" Marie said.
"Where I was, Marie, wasn't the slums. You can't just categorize every place that isn't our jurisdiction as 'the slums'." Toulouse said with a frown. He turned back to Berlioz. "And anyway, I wasn't looking for a fight. I went to buy a crepe from that vendor that makes them right in front of you when someone hit me hard in the shoulder and made me lose my crepe. So, I turned around and gave a punch, clocking the guy who ran into me and made me lose my dessert. I had only had enough money to get the one crepe and so I started to leave when the guy tackled me and we just… brawled it out until the alley."
"Over a stupid crepe?"
"I was craving that crepe so bad! You know Grandmere gets picky with us when it comes to food at times and I knew she would never allow me to eat a crepe from a stand. He just completely destroyed my dreams and so I reacted. I wasn't expecting him to have back up."
Marie just rolled her blue eyes at her brother's stupidity while Berlioz made a face.
"How did you meet Monsieur O'Malley?"
"After they beat me up he came up to me and asked if he could take me home."
"That's dangerous."
"Yeah, I get that, Marie." He snapped. "But I didn't have a choice because I would have never gotten back home."
"He seemed pretty neat. I wonder if he fights."
Toulouse shrugged but hissed at his sore shoulder. The door opened and Roquefort walked in. "Toulouse, your grandmother wishes to speak with you." He said with a small bow.
Berlioz and Marie looked at him and he gulped, following Roquefort to his grandmother's room.
After knocking and being accepted in, Toulouse stood at the end of his grandmother's bed and waited for Roquefort to shut the door. Once shut, Adelaide Bonfamille looked over her grandson with a pierce expression. Although she had stopped acting a while ago, if not for the crow's feet when she smiled and the deep laugh lines at her mouth, one would think she was Duchess' sister. She was a beauty even in her old age, but she could still hold a gaze that was deadly and Toulouse tried not to look the woman in her brown eyes.
"Toulouse, my child, why do you get yourself into such a mess?" she said with a small smile.
Toulouse shrugged as he kicked his foot slightly. "I'm sorry, Grandmere…"
"I should chastise you up and down but I'm just glad that you're home safe. In the meantime, however, you are not to leave the grounds for a month."
"Yes, Grandmere."
"The things you do reflect on all of us and we will start to lose respect if people believe that I cannot control my grandchildren. There are many people who would like to see me lose what your grandfather and I have built up and take our places. It's a good thing it was the middle of the night or reporters would be eating this up."
"Yes, Grandmere."
"Now… that being said, I'm very disappointed in you."
"I know."
"I'm disappointed that I've spent all this money on getting you private tutors and you still come home looking like a ragdoll to the wolves." Toulouse looked up as Adelaide smiled. "I find that unacceptable. Should I hire more?"
Toulouse grinned. "It was a change in circumstance as to why I ended up like I did. But your tutors are fine, Grandmere. If not for them, I wouldn't have even made it at all."
"Splendid. So, one month without outing privileges unless with the family and double your lessons."
Toulouse bowed to his grandmother. "Thank you."
"Now go on." She said with a shooing gesture."
Toulouse left and went back to his room.
why am i starting a whole new fanfic when i've got soooo many others to work on? simple: i am an unreliable hoe (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
jk, but seriously, i'm trying to get back into the groove of things and i do plan on finishing those stories it's just going to take a bit
in other news: let's remember our french monsieur = meh-sure