FicWad

The door flew open before Claude could reach to unlock it. Joan stood there, her pale eyes wide. "There you are! We were so worried . . ." Suddenly, she leaned back, frowning. "Claude . . . are you drunk?"

"Yeah, he is," the young man spoke up. Joan, who hadn't seen him behind Claude, jumped and gave a little cry of surprise.

"Oh, sorry. Um, I'm Lucien Demetri . . . just Luc, actually," he said in an almost apologetic tone. He held out one hand, and Joan shook it hesitantly. "I found him wandering around, and I just worried that he'd get hurt or something . . . you must be his girlfriend."

"No, no!" Joan blushed and stared down at her hands, biting her lip. "No, it's not like that at all. I'm just staying here for now. His brother's here, too . . ."

Grey walked up behind her and gently guided her out of the way so Luc and Claude could walk inside - or rather Luc could drag Claude inside. "Yes. I'm Grey Cordon, and that's my brother Claude."

Luc stared at them both for a moment, his eyes flickering from one to the other. Then a big smile broke out across his face. "Omigawd, you're both so cute!" he squealed. Taken aback by his sudden change of personality, neither Joan nor Grey could think of a response. Just a moment ago, he had been so businesslike . . .

"So you're twins! Oh, wow, you could be models!" Luc began to circle them, looking the brothers up and down appraisingly. "Not fashion models. Art models, I mean. Well, you could be fashion models, too, but that's so passé." He clapped delightedly. "You know, I'm an art dealer. I just recently opened up my own gallery, but I need to find art for it! The problem is, all of the good artists are too expensive, and any artists I can afford are horrible. I spent almost all of my money just opening the place."

Grey sighed. He wasn't used to humans and human reactions, so Luc's sudden outburst of enthusiastic babbling was a bit much for him. However, his flawless patience won out. "Joan is an artist," he suggested quietly. "It would be a paying job, correct?"

"Yep!" Luc helped the blonde angel move Claude over to the couch and smiled at him. "I'd commission works from her, and then she'd get a cut of the price I sell the piece for." He looked over at Joan, still smiling. "Hey, can I see some of your work? Do you have any with you?"

She nodded shyly and pulled out her sketchbook. Luc walked over and looked over her shoulder as she flipped through. "Wow . . . you're really good," he said, his eyes glowing with child-like wonder. "I like that one . . . oh, wait, wait, go back to that one - yeah, this. This is really nice . . . oh, what's on the next page?"

Joan turned the page to the sketch of Claude. Obviously delighted, Luc took the sketchbook out of her hands, marveling over it. "Oh my god! It's like a photograph!" He glanced over the top of the sketchpad at Claude and giggled. "Oh, man, and he's frowning like that . . . you captured him completely." He suddenly turned around and grabbed Joan's hands. "Can I have it? Please?"

"The . . . the drawing?" Joan was too stunned to ask why. "Um . . . sure, I guess . . . I mean . . . I can always draw another one."

"Ooh! Thanks!" He carefully tore it out and folded it up, tucking it into his jacket pocket. "It's so pretty. I'd love to have some of your art in my gallery. It's still really small, but I wanna expand." He hopped up on a chair next to her, swinging his legs back and forth. "I always wanted to do something having to do with art, but I'm a lousy artist . . . so I decided opening a gallery would be the next best thing. That way, I could still be around beautiful art all the time, even if I couldn't make it." Lucien beamed at her, winking.

"Oh . . . that's a good idea." Joan looked him over curiously. He was short and slender, with a boyish face and big eyes. His messy, honey-brown hair didn't really seem to have much of a style - it had no part, and simply flopped all over the place. There was something odd about his appearance, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it . . .
"Oh!" she suddenly exclaimed. Joan leaned forward slightly in her seat. "Your eyes are mismatched . . ."

It was true - one was deep brown, and the other was hazel. Luc laughed at her surprise. "Yep. You know, I used to hate it . . . I got teased at school when I was little. Now I think it's cool, though. It's, uh, different, y'know?"

"How old are you?" Grey asked quietly. He hadn't spoken since arranging Joan's job at the gallery, so the sudden sound of his velvety voice made both Luc and Joan jump.

"I'm twenty," he replied cheerfully. "Fresh out of college . . . I skipped a few grades in elementary school, so I got into college early."

"College boy, huh?" Claude slurred, obviously unimpressed. "Pfft. And how's that edu . . . educafe . . . edd-"

"Education," Grey prompted patiently.

"Yeah, that. How's that edu-thing working out fer ya?"

"Um . . ." Luc scratched the back of his head sheepishly.. "Well, you're right. it's not all that great right now. But, like I said, my gallery just opened up . . . and with Joan's art, I'm sure it'll be a hit!"

Joan blushed at the compliment and hopped out of her chair, stammering self-consciously. "W-Well, it's almost lunch time, and I was going to make something up . . . would you like to eat with us, Mr. Demetri?"

"Oh, so now you're inviting people to eat my food?" Claude snapped petulantly. It was clear that he was on the verge of passing out again, but he had enough spite and bite to keep himself upright for a few more minutes.

Luc clapped his hands delightedly, completely ignoring his ill-tempered host. "I'd love to! Oh, but please, don't call me 'Mr. Demetri' or whatever. I already told you, it's Luc!"

"S-Sorry." Joan walked into the kitchenette and opened the fridge, then clucked disapprovingly. "There's almost no food here!"

"Well, go shopping!" Claude grunted. "What am I, a grocery store?"

"But what do you eat?" Joan pressed anxiously. "All you've got in here is . . . is beer and a few sprouting onions!"

Luc leaned over her shoulder curiously. "Oh, and some kind of slop in a Tupperware container, but I've got no idea what that is," he reported manner-of-factly.

"There's instant ramen in one of the cabinets," the Fallen angel mumbled drunkenly. "Ugh. I don't even want all you losers in my . . . house. Apartment. Whatever."

Grey sighed and stroked his brother's forehead absentmindedly. "Well, I suppose we'll be eating instant ramen, then. You know, I've never had it before." He didn't mention that this was because instant ramen was invented almost six hundred years after he died.

Luc gasped in mock horror. "What? You poor, deprived child! Don't worry, Joanie and me'll take care of you!" He bustled over to the kitchen and helped Joan locate the plastic packets of freeze-dried noodles, then set some water to boil. "This'll be fun. It's like high school. You're still in high school, aren't you, Joan?"

Joan blushed again as she fumbled to open one of the packets. "Well . . . I don't go as much as I should. I just . . . I-I don't like it."

Luc gently took the packet from her hands and opened it in one fluid movement. "Aw, why not? I loved high school!"

"I . . . I'm the school slut," she admitted quietly. "Everyone thinks I'm white trash, and they're right."

"Oh, stop it!" Luc rapped her on the nose with a wooden spoon, causing her to squeal in mild pain and surprise. "That's stupid! You don't look trashy to me!" he glanced at her and shrugged. "Well, you're certainly not dressed for November, but . . ."

"My boyfriend . . . well, he tells me to dress like this," she said quietly. "And I don't go out much anyway."

"Pff. I think you should ignore him. It's freezing out." Luc suddenly turned and flicked a cloud of powdered seasoning at her, peppering her nose and cheeks with the cinnamon-colored powder. He grinned and put an arm around her shoulder, turning so they were facing Grey. "Look, Grey - we're twins, too!"

Grey glanced up and chuckled quietly. The seasoning mimicked the light freckles that were splashed across Lucien's nose, but that was the only similarity between the two. "I certainly see a resemblance."