The Shadows of Paris (Nemo & Diana)

[Diana]

Piper Olson practically fell out of her cab onto the Parisian street in the process of trying to unload herself and her three bags. The cabbie was no help at all (rude) and she nearly unloaded all of her clothes on the stone sidewalk. Yet she was there! Paris, France. Right about to walk into her very first living on her own abroad experience. A student housing situation wasn't exactly ideal, especially being a co-ed dorm, but with her scholarships only paying for her studies, Piper was on the hook for her living arrangements. Turns out trying to get an apartment in Paris was too rich for her blood.

Tucking one bag under her arm and hefting up the other two suitcases, Piper made her way to the beautiful historic chateau she was meant to spend the next few years in. Of course, the pictures of it made it seem a lot more... renovated that what she was seeing with her own eyes. The roof sported some storm damage and Piper spotted a cracked window or two. But really, who expected these one hundred plus year old homes to be in great shape? It probably survived a couple wars!

No one was there to open up the front doors for her and to help her drag her suitcases up the stairs. The inside of the place at least looked well kept, clean, and homey. Traditional old furniture was the main decor, but there were modern elements here and there too. Somewhere in the house was a television for sure, because Piper could hear the sounds of a Paris news station. (At least, she was pretty sure. How did newscasters all over the world seem to have that strange news announcer accent no matter what language they spoke?)

After dropping her bags more than once, Piper finally found her assigned room. The roman numeral VII - lucky door number 7. Easy! Her key did get a little stuck in the lock and she had to force it open with her shoulder, but once she was in she was...

Underwhelmed. Okay, there were two beds, two nightstands, and a desk. Piper kind of thought the rooms would come with a little more furnishing, but this was fair. Maybe she could get a part time job at a cafe and buy herself a few things? At least there was a closet to hang her clothes!

Wait... there was no bathroom in here. Where were the bathrooms?!

 

[Nemopedia]

It had only seemed like yesterday when the children of house Rothschild ran through the halls, forcing Jane to chase after them as she tried to reprimand them in English. These French speaking brats really held no sympathy whatsoever for the pale foreign governess that their father had brought over as part of their education. Not that Jane had ended up teaching these kids anything other than brat-like manners and so much babysitting that the governess had felt more like a mother than anything, something that, compared to the actual mother and lady of the house, was no big feat.

Yet, it had been perhaps a century, maybe more, maybe even less. Jane had lost count.The convenience of being stuck to an area was that she adjusted as well, her white blouse forever something that fit within the fashion, even if a little ghostly. The members of the house also changed, the children of Rothschild grew up, only retaining half their wits for god knows what reason (she had been so careful to teach them and the strings of governesses they got were of decent quality as well). Whatever followed had even less spine, at first finding themselves quite at home until Jane would do something that bothered them a tad too much. Always Jane, or so the rest of the house claimed, because Jane tended to interact with the residents the most, but she couldn't wither away her pleasant manners and good social skills just because she happened to be a ghost, right?!

Back to the residents. They were growing more diverse, just as the rooms that once occupied the chateau were split and made into even smaller rooms, the ante-rooms even used as sleeping rooms and so they went forth. More diverse, but also less spine still, for the house had seen so many faces, with some on the last of their nerves as they left. The latest acquisition had previously been one of them even, somehow unable to move on, groaning about this and that exam that they had to pass, but would never get to because… well…

"Bonjour! Bienvenue!!!" Jane had started her exciting repertoire as she heard a door open in the chateau, the signalement of a new resident as the room had been previously unoccupied. Dashing in after a young female of maybe around Jane's age (age of death, not actual age, she didn't like to mention that) Jane followed after the stranger, eyes wide and curious as she tried to guess what this new resident was made of and where she had come from. After all, the new generation of residents had been so diverse so far!

Somewhere else in the chateau, somewhere in the attic, Dante had once more blessed himself for his good fortunes. Paris was expensive, yes, but being a rich heir meant that he could get around doing things others couldn't, one of which was buying an apartment in the city. Granted, the apartment was on top of a student housing, but Dante was a student himself still and so he didn't have to miss out on the student life too much. At least, insofar it was all about partying and playing around that was, because there was no way Dante was ever going to share a bathroom, or a sink, or even a kitchen with the rest.

So, Dante had bought the entire attic floor of this picturesque chateau in the middle of Paris. Attic floor, because he liked to be high up and because that meant he could renovate the ceiling freely, replacing one end of the Parisian chateau with glass panels to create a greenhouse within. No rent, only a mortgage that was at large paid off already, and then space for himself and all he had to do was to go down the stairs to find the livery in the rest of the chateau with the poor unfortunate gnats that had to share the public spaces like the swines they were.

Contrary to popular thought, attics weren't quite as haunted as well. Not that Dante believed in ghosts, but from the frequent screaming and changing of residents the male had heard about the gossip, with many a peer gasping at the very mention of his residency in the chateau. A reaction he hadn't understood quite so, because again he had seen nothing, yet and he had lived here for at least a year by now. Though, maybe it were the suckers who were forced to rent the basement rooms, those didn't really get much attention other than hiding the fact that they could serve as possible torture chambers rivalling the Parisan dungeons.

There was, however, one thing that Dante did make use of like the rest, and that was of the laundry machines downstairs. Just because, he had no real reason for it other than the fact that he simply hadn't bothered with ordering a laundry machine and a dryer for himself yet. Besides, most shops also didn't like carrying those things up six flights of stairs and the chateau was, unfortunately, lacking in an elevator.

"A new one, Frederique," Hugo said, shoulder leaning against an invisible wall as he pointed into the direction of room seven, (un)lucky seven that changed residents most often, if only because Jane was a nightmare to be around with.

"It's Dante," was Dante's reply and Hugo would shrug at that, as if not caring, which Dante didn't either as he turned further down the stairs.

"I give them three months!" Dante would throw over his shoulder just before rounding the corner, but by then Hugo would already be out of sight, or so Dante assumed peering at the spot where he had thought that he had seen the long-time resident earlier.

 

[Diana]

"Gah!" Piper squealed, dropping her bags on the ground - one even popping open to spill hastily packed clothing and shoes onto the floor. In that moment she realized she hadn't even packed sheets or a pillow to go on these bare mattresses. The only thing in her suitcases were clothes, books, and shoes!

"I uhm. Bonjour! Parlez vous... toilettes?" she fumbled her French, Piper was certain, but she buried her cringing under her curious surveying of the other young woman. They must've been the same age, for sure, but her clothes were very... cottagecore? Yes! That's what it was! Old world cottagecore. At least it was a cute look. Piper herself was wearing a simple little sundress and had her ginger red hair twisted up in a messy pony-tail. Her whole vibe probably screamed more Kansas than Paris, but it's not like she came to college to study fashion. Piper was a history nerd.

"I thought we'd at least have our own bathrooms," she went on to grumble. Oh no. Piper was going to have to get towels too! And shampoo! Ugh, why didn't she think about all this before? Maybe the excitement of moving to a different country had obliterated all of her common sense.

 

[Nemopedia]

Awkward French aside, Jane had to think for a bit about the toilets. It had been a while after all since she had to go there, and even alive she hadn't liked to go to the loo more often than needed. Given, they were a lot cleaner and stink a lot less, but they were so loud now! Almost as if (haha) a ghost lived within the pot.

"I think it is down the hall," Jane answered in English, "they relocate it often," she supplied with a musing thought before twitching at the sound of a conversation outside.

"Hugo knows! It is where he ended," she exclaimed, before stopping for a bit, another musing thought popping up. Hugo may not have been as old as she was, but it had been a while nonetheless, and sorta her fault. How was she to know that he had a weak heart, after all?

"Otherwise Dante knows! I think I just heard him," Jane exclaimed, pointing outside of the room. Jane was at least sure that he was alive. Though, she had never quite understood Dante's living situation apart from the rest. It was complicated, something about the house being split into layers like the rooms were separated as well. It had sounded awfully complicated, but it had meant that Dante had been here longer than anyone else, minus the ghosts. "He lives in the attic, a bit strange, but he knows everything!"

Well, to Jane that was. Dante always seemed to have an answer for everything, but then again, Jane rather avoided him, for anyone that willingly banished themselves in the attic couldn't be right in the head. That was the place of lunatics! Besides, the man was, for someone alive, cold to the bone.

Dante, in the meanwhile had pushed his laundry in the machines, carefully separating coloured from whites and pants from shirts, and whatnot should be minded. Not that he had that many clothes, but Dante only did his laundry once every once in a while. When his closet would be empty, and that did leave him with a huge amount. And even then he liked to push it so far that he needed several trips to his attic back to the basement again, while allowing the first program to start. It was to his fortune that the chateau came with multiple washing machines and dryers, for the habitants of the chateau (whenever they came) certainly didn't appreciate his style of doing laundry.

"New girl, new girl!" Adelle had giggled, a little girl in frivolous frocks and French curls that frequently visited the place. Why her parents allowed her to dress as such was beyond Dante who could only roll his eyes at the presence of the child as he tried to haul his new box of laundry past without tripping over the other.

"Yeah, yeah, go torment her and out of my way," he grumbled, though Adelle as per usual pretended not to hear or see Dante, as she continued running down the hallways.

 

[Diana]

Where he ended? What is THAT supposed to mean! Piper chocked the weird statement up to something getting lost in translation. In the meantime, it was far more important to tour the dorm house so she knew where everything was. If she needed to get up and pee in the middle of the night, she didn't want to stumbled in someone's room by accident.

"Well, I'm Piper and it's nice to meet you!" she responded cheerfully, lifting up a hand to count. "And now I know there is a Hugo and a Dante. And who are you?"

Figuring the girl would accompany her on her exploration, Piper stepped back into the hall and picked a direction. Was it towards the bathrooms? The attic? It was hard to tell! The wallpaper on the walls made everything looked exactly the same. Much like those creepy old hotels in the mid-west that hadn't been updated since the 50s. This place was giving her some real Shining vibes.

Just her luck that some giggling little girl running past had Piper side stepping and then ramming face first into someone's dirty laundry basket.

"Hey!"

 

[Nemopedia]

There were no real rules that ghosts had to keep themselves with. Nor were there etiquettes to mind. Yet, there seemed to be a set rule to which Jane lived, or rather a habit, which always had her share too much about the rest, but never about herself. When Piper, the new roommate, had introduced herself and asked her for her name the ghost had already disappeared, seemingly rounding a corner too fast as Adelle ran past.

In the meanwhile Dante had just managed to evade Adelle, or he thought he did not realise that his foot had passed halfway through Adelle's frocks that were always so wide and so frilly. Just so until he realised there was a bigger Adelle in his way that happened to receive a shower of dirty… laundry, let's call it laundry for the sake of everyone's pride.

"Hey yourself," came the annoyed response of the man. The laundry basket had shoved up rather painfully into his stomach, after all, wheezing him out of his air and Adelle's constant running and giggling hadn't helped after hauling three baskets.

There stood an unfamiliar face, just as Hugo had claimed. Red haired and simply dressed. Very much not Parisian, Dante could tell. Perhaps not even French, judging by the lack of a lack of 'h' in her 'hey'.

Now where was Jane when one needed her to hang around girls? Heaving a sigh Dante couldn't believe his unbelievable luck at the third run of laundry that was now half thrown over the newcomer, forcing him to reach out to pluck off his rather personal item off the top of the head of the new on before he dropped it back into his basket with another frown, choosing to scowl rather than to feel embarrassed.

"Look before you cross," he told her, even if it was rather hypocritical. He was after all not looking before crossing either, walking down the stairs with a laundry box filled.

 

[Diana]

"I could say the same to you, buddy," responded Piper with a huff. Still, having knocked his laundry all over the place, she felt obligated to stoop and help pick things up. She paused for a moment and flushed three shades of red when she realized she was holding men's underwear. This co-ed dorm life was going to be real interesting! Piper shoved the articles back into his laundry basket. At least she knew there was an onsite laundry room in this place.

"I was trying to find the bathrooms and maybe look around, but apparently my new roommate had better things to do. Actually, I'm not sure if she's my roommate? My room was pretty barren!"

 

[Nemopedia]

Ignoring the buddy Dante jutted his chin into a direction down the hallways as an answer for the newcomer, very much a redhead and very much an American, judging from the accent that was, with cheeks that matched her hair and an attitude belonging to that weird country with states larger than countries here at this side of the sea. "Down the hall, they're shared as well," Dante explained, already delighting himself in the imagination how much this was going to disgust the lady with the thought of having to share the bathrooms with men as well.

"No one knows what room Jane sleeps in, but she likes to pop out of nowhere," Dante proceeded to explain, remembering how she had managed to chase out the last occupant. Perhaps it would be a fair warning to the new one, but before Dante could come to it the bob of pale hair and even paler features popped just between them, the ghastly face of the infamous Jane popping up once more.

"There you are! And you found Dante, great! He should know where the bathrooms are, and else you can use his," the female chirped, rambling off as if she hadn't disappeared just a second ago only to appear again at the sound of her name. A bad tendency she had, but one she didn't see a problem with. "Dante, Piper, she is new!" Jane was quick to introduce, a little curtsy following after before she looked straight down the basket Dante was holding. "Going to the roaring machines again, Dante?" Jane exclaimed, a little disapproving before turning back to Piper, "devices of the devil, and I swear they don't wash it as clean as the hand does," she shared.

By then Dante had quite enough of all the commotion in the rather small hallway in which he was occupied with both women. Bidding Piper a 'nice to meet you' under a disgruntled voice the man thus tried to pass the both of them, hoping to edge one of the ladies out of his way as he shuffled his way down before he had to hear too much about Jane's 'organic' way of doing things.

"The laundromat is in the basement, free for use, but bring your own detergent!" Dante called over his shoulder as one last tip that he was going to leave Piper with. He would have said more, such as telling her to stay away from Jane because Jane liked to stick to one person in particular and drive them completely crazy, but it seemed that he was too late in that regard.

Undeterred as ever Jane waved Dante off who disappeared into the basements with his box of laundry before she let go of a nostalgic sigh. "It sure is good to not have to go around the house to reach the basement anymore," she nodded, "Dante is a bit grumpy, but he will help if you ask!" she explained, "kinda reminds me of Thomas the gardener, though he has been gone for a while ever since the gardens were replaced with stone tiles," she lamented.

 

[Diana]

"He kind of seems like an asshole to me," Piper said boldly, once Dante was out of earshot. At least Jane, as strange as she was, was actually polite and more than willing to help. ...well, when she wasn't oddly vanishing.

Piper was going to have to do a lot of adjust to these weird foreign habits.

At least she knew where the laundry room was located, and Dante had kindly directed her to the bathrooms - co-ed bathrooms! Of which, Piper absolutely had to see for herself. Not waiting to see if Jane was keeping up, or pulling another of her vanishing acts, Piper made a beeline.

With great relief Piper found the toilets themselves were of a "water closet" style, nicely private within closed doors. The showers on the other hand... The stalls were barely big enough to fit a person inside, and instead of closeable doors there were just flimy curtains hanging on rods. What a privacy nightmare! Piper was really expecting something much better for a European Dorm.

...then again, she did sort of grab the cheapest space available that could be done with her scholarship.

"This isn't too bad, really," she acquiesced to her fate. "I guess now I just need to be acquainted with the kitchen and common rooms!"

 

[Nemopedia]

"Oh yes, he is quite ill-mannered, there was definitely a lack of a proper governess in his household, or a mother with any sensibility, to cultivate a man like that," was Jane's instant response, for a odd-while her former manners resurfacing that she had long since unadopted after she died and the times changed. But the time in which she taught young critters how to properly sit and drink their tea had long since passed and she turned back to Piper, undisturbed by the fact that she should have been toppled over by the laundry box earlier.

"If you want food you can try the bakery across the street!" Jane had called not soon after Piper, recalling the fresh warm rolls of her own time here. However, time had come and went and Jane didn't realise that the last time she had stepped outside was in a time before the streets were broken open to widen the roads to make space for cars, and that the bakery she used to frequent for a treat with her students had been gone even longer.

"Otherwise there is a supermarché somewhere near the metro?" It was the first time Jane actually used a French word, the term unfamiliar to her as she wasn't sure what to make out of a place that was literally translated 'super market'. Was it a giant market? Even larger than the yearly market, or the ones on the streets? The concept had confused Jane a bit, and afraid of causing misunderstandings the female thus went for the word she had heard instead of translating it.

"Dante usually goes there every Thursday, which I think should be today!" Jane exclaimed with more confidence, for Dante's schedule was a fixed something that he never allowed anyone to disturb. Laundry first and then shopping, and then the dryer. Jane knew it by heart and would bet on it that he even had set potty times if it wasn't for the fact that he had his own pot.

This was all before Jane remembered one last thing, her eyes searchingly looking at Piper as she narrowed her eyes, "you do have money, right?" she questioned, hoping that the other did, for she most certainly didn't have any of that coin that they called the 'euro'.

 

[Diana]

Piper flushed a bit at the money question, it's not as if she looked poor or anything like that, but sometimes she wondered if she gave off that country nobody vibe and somehow people could just see it in her. The sophistication of Paris was definitely a far cry from where she grew up.

"I've got enough to feed myself if that's what you're worried about," she replied, then paused to give it some thought. "But I'm going to need a job if I'm going to get some furniture. Something part time here nearby or maybe offered by the university itself."

As much as she didn't like it, Piper was likely going to have to ask ole grumpy-butt Dante for some assistance. Jane seemed to know a nice bit of information about the house and it's guests but... she seemed a little daffy if Piper were honest! And the only other person she'd seen was the random little girl. The aforementioned Hugo had yet to make an appearance.

Sighing, followed after Dante's trail to head to the basement.

"How many students are actually here in the house right now?" she asked curiously.

 

[Nemopedia]

Enough to feed oneself was adequate enough for Jane, even if that didn't actually answer the question, it did cover the most important (human) part! "Okay! Good! Good, because pennies don't work, it seems, or rather franc, but you know better than I do!" Jane exclaimed, glad to know that she didn't have to explain any of these complicated devices that apparently spit money out of the wall after punching in some numbers. It was weird.

Jobs, however, jobs Jane was familiar with, for she had always worked a lot and it didn't seem that the jobs had changed much since her own time. Not for this age category, at least.

"I used to be a governess myself, which I think they call nanny now, so you could ask Dante if he has any hidden children about, he is certainly rich enough!" Jane exclaimed before she tapped the corner of her lip, trying to think really hard of what other jobs she had heard in the corridors.

"Otherwise there is cleaning, then waitressing, if you know the language, but for the university itself I have no clue, I never attended!"

The female was growing more excited as she rattled off, clasping her own hands and turning around as if remembering something and started to dash off, right past an annoyed Dante who had come back up again with a load of freshly washed laundry.

"Stop telling every new resident that Adelle is mine!" he had barked after Jane before his glare turned over to Piper, as if trying to warn her from believing whatever lie the resident had fed her with with a heaved sigh.

"Currently?" he mused out loud when the question was thrown at him, "they never stay for long, thanks to Jane, but you should be the only student here," he counted out loud, never really having thought about who occupied this place more. It always felt more, what with Adelle running around and Hugo calling him Frederique, or with Jane tooting in his ears from god-knows-where. None of them were students, however, Dante had realised that early on. Hugo may have studied, once upon a time, but had moved on to do something else, whatever that something was, and Jane? Jane never struck as the studious type to begin with, or maybe she was the classic party girl.

"There are usually more when a new semester starts, but who knows?"

Secretly, Dante was hoping that Piper was the only one. If only because she seemed a little shy and in overall just decent and not too crazy. A nice foil for Jane, besides with zero-risks of wild hall parties.

 

[Diana]

Dante certainly had a look about him when he glared like that, and Piper could feel herself turning red all over again. If Jane's flippant commentary were true, that meant Dante was some sort of rich playboy, best to be avoided.

Which was going to be rather difficult if he and herself were the only students in the house!

Not masking the surprise in her features, Piper fell into step with Dante and followed along the boy and his basket of laundry.

"I've only seen Jane and the kid myself, so I guess it really is just me so far. How weird! With a house like this and how cheap the rental costs, you would think they'd be cramming in dozens of students." Piper fell into a thoughtful silence. Maybe it wasn't just housing for students, if there was a former governess, some weirdo kid, and whomever Hugo was. Piper was starting to wonder if maybe this particular housing dorm wasn't exactly legal or University approved. After all, rich or not, how did Dante get away with renting out the entire upper floor?

"...Oh! I was wondering if you know anywhere local that might be hiring? Preferably somewhere that doesn't mind really bad French. I didn't exactly plan to end up in Paris so I never really studied the language... and well. They didn't say the rooms would be practically empty either!"

 

[Nemopedia]

For a moment Dante cursed himself on his insistence to do all of his laundry at once. For a moment he also cursed himself for not getting himself a proper washing machine in his own attic. For a moment, everything was pain and too much when Piper followed him around with that titter, talking and talking.

"Again, blame Jane," was his sordid response. Was he about to warn Piper of the stories that involved Jane? No, not really, it was actually rather amusing how the pale and rather fragile-looking Jane managed to scare so many out of the house. The stories all outrageous, as if there was an unknown competition ongoing, resulting in halving the rental price and even the deposit.

"People usually question low rent prices," Dante continued, pausing midway on the stairs when he turned towards the student, his eyes narrowing, 'why didn't you?' he wanted to ask, but kept himself from asking, wondering if Piper was that down for money, or if she was just stingy.

But Paris wasn't the city for the stingy. Touristic as it was. Besides, it held Sorbonne, even for those who didn't come to the city for the romance and the fashion or the Eiffel.

"How did you end up here anyway?" was the next question that escaped him, each line that escaped Piper even more baffling than the other. The why, the how, the what, they all came and passed and Dante wasn't sure what to make of this particular American anymore who found herself in the city almost every girl dreamt of, only to claim that she didn't.

"Pippi Longstocking is Swedish," Dante then informed Piper, wondering if that's why she was here. Americans did have a penchant underestimating the size of Europe, or jumbling up the entire map and mistaking Paris for Amsterdam instead. Outrageous, but it was the unfortunate truth there.

Part time jobs aside, Dante just really wanted to know what Piper was doing here if she never intended to come here.

 

[Diana]

Piper was seriously wondering how the perfectly kind (though admittedly weird) Jane was to blame for anything. Like what? She talked people to death? There were worse things a housemate could do!

As in rudely suggest she was a complete moron and not only didn't question the price of the dorms, but ended up in Paris because she thought it was somewhere else!

Piper had stopped dead in the hall way from pure insulted shocked, before she huffed under her breath and continued to follow. If this was an American dorm, she might've thrown something at his head. She wasn't going to risk having charges filed against her in another country though.

"My scholarships only covered a small selections of schools abroad. It was a choice between here or Germany and I much prefer French food," she explained. "You're a bit rude, aren't you? Are you sure you're not the one scaring out all the housemates?"

 

[Nemopedia]

Ah, the choice between French and German food, the mention of it and the question that followed from Piper earned a chuckle from Dante, a first smile from his usually broody expression as he continued his way up the stairs, laundry still in arms.

"Wanna find out when we go out for groceries?" the male quips back, a challenge in his voice as if wanting to edge Piper into declining wanting to shop with him. Not that she had much of a choice. It seemed almost a tradition at this point. Jane did a house tour, then disappeared and left Dante alone to show the newcomer around in the neighbourhood. Whether he wanted it or not, this was his charge before the house would run empty again.

"See you at the front door in ten minutes, unless you like to starve!"