More Alike Than You Know (Raoul Jacques)

[Christine Svenna Daaé]

With the aquarium closed for the winter, Christine Svenna Daaé hadn't had as much opportunity or reason to go to the village at all. She didn't really mind the Manor all that much, but she did miss the village a bit. She missed the busy people, the little shoppes and cafés...

It was for this reason that she had decided to go on a little outing that day. She'd ventured down to the village to go to her favorite coffee shop there – a place called Starbucks – to enjoy a lunch away from the Manor. She'd just ordered a peppermint mocha with extra foam, two cake pops, and a ham and cheese croissant sandwich. The coffee was going to take a few minutes for them to make it, and so she took her cake pops and her sandwich and say down at one of the little tables to wait for them to call her name for the order.

She took a bite of the warm, savory pastry and closed her eyes enjoying the flavour as a little bit of cheese dripped onto her fingers and a few flakes of croissant crumbled off and fell into her lap. It was only simple food that they served here, really, but the coffee was exquisite, unlike anything she'd ever tasted back home.

As she sat eating the croissant, a few cars drove by outside. She hardly minded the people walking in and out, and did not notice at first the man entering the café whom, had she looked, she might have easily deciphered had come from the Manor...

[Raoul Jacques de Chagny]

I needed to get out of that damned mansion, I needed to think...I needed fresh air. Honestly, I was starting to get a headache from being cooped up in that daft place. I rubbed my temples as I exited the manor, breathing in the chilled air and closing my eyes, savory it for a moment. I followed the path away from the manor and hoped, for a fleeting moment, that I'd found a way out...only to stumble upon a village tucked at the end of the path and I sighed, shaking my head. Was there a way to get out of here?

Deciding to think on it over a steaming mug of coffee I scanned the buildings until I caught sight of a roomy looking building, labeled Starbucks. What a strange name...[/b] I thought with a shake of my head, moving towards it. I would never understand this new and strange world. It hardly made sense.

Upon entering the building I was assaulted by a thousand different smells; all quite appealing. I breathed in, vanilla and the bitter sweet tang of coffee swam up my nostrils, causing a smile to curve my lips.

I walked to the counter, taking a place in the three person line. It took all of about three minutes for them to be all served before I was there. I order what I wanted - just a simple Pink Place Roast. I was told it would be a moment or two before it would be ready, so I turned and looked across the tables, searching for a vacant one. Once spotting my table of choice, I moved to it and sank into the seat, leaning back against the chair, letting my thoughts wander. I hadn't spotted the woman eating the croissant but if I had perhaps I would have noticed she looked familiar.

[Christine Svenna Daaé]

Christine sat there, legs crossed and bouncing up and down as she ate her croissant, vaguely aware that someone had entered and sat down at one of the nearby tables, but not particularly paying them any mind whatsoever. She was just happy to enjoy some of the food from the village again rather than the stuff she found around the manor. It wasn't that the manor food was bad at all, but she really did like the variety in the village...

“I have a venti javachip frappucino with extra whipped cream and caramel syrup for a Christine Svenna Daaé?”

Christine's heard popped up, ears perked at the sound of her name and order. She quickly set her croissant down on a napkin and got up, not bothering to push her chair in. Quickly, she tapped the shoulder of the man at a nearby table (the same man who had just entered the café) and began speaking rapidly.

“Hey there! Would you mind watching my table for a moment. The rest of my order is ready, so if you could just keep an eye on things for a moment until I get back, that would be awesome! Thank you! You're a life saver!..”

And then. Without giving him time to reply with a yes or a no, she bolted off to the counter to grab her coffe. “Heeeeeey, that's mine. Thanks so much.” She took the cup and a straw, then went back over to her table and plopped back down into her chair. “Thanks again. I'm Christine, by the way,” she said to the man she had so abruptly demanded to watch her table. “And you?”

[Raoul Jacques de Chagny]

I was still mauling over thoughts of he manor, and if there was any possible way to get away from it - were the others there still worrying about getting away or had they just given up? - when I heard a familiar name being called. Christine...Christine Daae...Christine Svenna Daae... She wasn't my Christine, but maybe talking with a Christine would make me feel not so far from home? Or perhaps not. I hadn't been about to say anything when taptap.

I looked up, startled, into the eyes of the woman who'd been called, curls of brown falling onto her shoulder. I could hardly keep up with what she was saying, and she didn't give me a chance to reply as she went off to the counter. I was still startled, but turned my attention to where'd she'd come, making sure that no one took her table.

When she came back, I offered her a faint smile. I nodded, "Not a problem." I watched as she plopped onto the chair."Bonjour, mademoiselle," I greeted her with a larger smile. "I'm Raoul." I told her.

[Christine Svenna Daaé]

Christine leaned back in her chair a little, crossing one leg over the other and carefully tearing a little of the paper wrapper from around the bright green Starbucks straw. She listened to the man as she stared down at her work on the straw wrapper. Once she'd unwrapped half of the straw, she stuck the unwrapped end in her mouth blew, aiming it at the man, and sending other half of the white straw wrapper flying toward his hair.

She giggled a little when it hit him, wondering if it would catch or not. She then stopped a moment and tilted her head at him, quirking her brow when he told her his name. “Raoul? Well that's weird... You're the third Raoul I've met. Wasn't really expecting it since it's not common here in England... Have a different name? There are way too many Raouls...”

And then she chuckled again. “Your hear is funny... is it always like that?”

She popped the bright green straw into her cup of coffee, giving it a little stir before the took the first sip. Mmmmm.... She'd almost forgotten how might she liked he sweet chocolatey-caramely taste of her favorite frappucino. She set the cup don again before picking up her croissant sandwich and continuing to munch.

[Raoul Jacques de Chagny]

I watched her, not really sure of what to say, I mean can you blame me? I was still getting over the fact that she was named Christine Daae and that she looked much like the Christine Daae I knew. It was strange to run into someone who had the same name as your beloved, I supposed I had to get used to it. The fact that I wasn't looking forward to getting used to.

I arched a brow at her when she blew the straw wrapper at me. When it hit me, I expected it to just fall to the ground, but oh no it had to be attracted to my hair. It stuck and I pulled it out, rolling it up and putting it on the table. I turned back to her, my brows arching again at next words, my head cocking slightly in confusion. "That's odd..." I tried to wrap my head around it but gave up when she continued speaking. "Jacques, is my middle name."

My hair? Weird? The brow rose again. "Uh..." I started, "Yeah..uhm it's always like that." Was my hair really that weird?

[Christine Svenna Daaé]

Christine giggled girlishly when the paper straw wrapper caught in the man’s hair. She kind of liked him. He was fun to tease, and seemed to be a relatively good sport about the whole thing, at least for now. She listened to him, blue eyes watching him with curiosity as she sipped her frozen coffee beverage.

He told her that his middle name was ‘Jacques’, which she immediately took as an invitation to call him by. “Nice to meet you, Jacques. So I haven’t seen you around here before. Do you come to Starbucks often? Are you new here?” And then she gasped at an idea that just entered her mind. “Wait a minute… you’re from the manor, aren’t you?”

That must have been the case! After all, the way he dressed, his name… it wasn’t too terribly difficult to put two and two together in this particular case. After all, Raoul had told her that there were many others there, bearing the same name as them, and she had met several in the past, up in the manor. This was the first time, however, that she’d come across one in the village.

[Raoul Jacques de Chagny]

I had to chuckle at the girlish giggle that escaped her when the wrapper stuck in my hair. Despite the sudden condition of our meeting, she was starting to grow on me and to tell the truth I didn’t mind her. As my name was called, I turned to her, “One moment, mademoiselle,” I rose from the chair and went to the counter, accepting the coffee with a smile and a thanks. I made my way back to my table, sitting down and taking a sip from the steaming beverage, my spine tingling as the warmth spread throughout my body and went down my throat.

“Pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Christine,” I smiled politely at her, taking another sip from the dark liquid. I shook my head, “I’ve never been here before, no. So I can’t imagine you’ve seen me here. It would be rather hard if I’d never been here before,” I smiled at her, winking playfully. I nodded at her next words. “Yes, I am, an odd place, wouldn’t you say?”

I regarded her with faint blue eyes, I had to admit I think I’d seen her around the manor once or twice, but never once had I engaged in a conversation with her – obviously. I had really better start getting to know who I’d be stuck with for a while. That is until I could find a way out of this place. Not that I minded it, it was just…strange. And I didn’t like not having an explanation.

[Christine Svenna Daaé]

Svenna waited as Jacques went to go get his own coffee. Her legs were crossed one over the other and she swung the upper of the two as she took another long sip from the bright green straw that was poking out of her frozen coffee beverage. It wasn’t long before he came back and she took a break from her sip and set her cup down on the tale, uncrossing her legs and resting her chin in her hands.

She couldn’t help but to chuckle at his response to her question about him having been there before, an answer which was accompanied by a little wink. She couldn’t tell whether he was flirting with her or not, but she didn’t really mind either way. She was quite used to it by now, after having spent so much time around the villagers and dressing up as a mermaid on a day-to-day basis when the weather was warmer.

“Odd, yes, but I kind of like it. There are so many strange, fascinating things here… it’s like a whole new world! It’s all very exciting, don’t you think? And they never had coffee like this back in Paris, so the place certainly does have its perks.” She found her straw again without moving her chin from her hands, and chewed the end of it a little bit before taking another sip.

[Raoul Jacques de Chagny]

I arched a brow at her. "Yes well there are a few perks, this being one. But I'd would much rather be somewhere that I actually understood. Don't you think it's a bother that you have no idea how you came to be here? I mean it's rather strange that most of us share the same name and come from places relatively the same?"

I went back to the cup of coffee, sipping it slowly. I didn't enjoy being here, the main reason was because I didn't understand really what was going on. Perhaps if I knew how I came to be in this place I would like it better. Maybe maybe not. It was hard to tell considering I didn't think I"d ever find myself in this situation again.

I sighed slightly, and asked, "How long have you been here?[/color]"

[Christine Svenna Daaé]

Christine took a long sip from her icy cold frappucino as the other spoke. He seemed not nearly as enthused about the idea of being in this new place as she was, though she supposed she could understand why, given the circumstances. It was all rather strange…

“It is a bit odd, I’ll admit, but well, I suppose it’s simply because I’ve found so many people I know here, but I really don’t mind it all so much… Maybe it’s just because I was fortunate enough to have a very good friend of mine find me when I first arrived here… He explained what he knew of it to me and well… it sort of made sense… I figure that, since there’s not really any way—that we know of at least—to go back, why worry about it too much? We might as well enjoy what’s here.”

She took another sip of her coffee, twisting a curl in her fingers before answering his next question. About six-seven months now, I believe. I came on my birthday—I’m just too lazy to think about doing all of that math right now[/b],” she answered, making a bit of a face. She’d never been particularly good with numbers…

[Raoul Jacques de Chagny]

[ sorry about the wait and I realized at the end of this thread that I had switched from first to third person ]

Raoul was well aware of the fact that he wasn't as enthusiastic as she was. He didn't really have much reason to be as of late. Yes he'd met this man, Erik, but he was no quite uneasy about that man and he'd run into his Christine, but only once and he was rather hoping to fin her again.

Raoul looked at her as she spoke. "I've only met one person I know," he commented, frowning. He nodded a bit, that probably would have made him like the place a bit more if he had met Christine when he first came. That would have satisfied his need to find her. He shrugged a bit, glancing towards her, nodding slightly.

A thoughtful look came across his face, nodding a bit. He'd been there for about a few weeks, he thought. He hadn't really been keeping track. He would have liked to keep track, but he hadn't been.

[Christine Svenna Daaé]

((It's okay. Doesn't make a huge difference, really I can read it either way.))

Christine Svenna sipped her frappuccino as she listened to the man speak, her blue eyes bright and alert from the high intake of caffeine currently flowing through her system. It was a miracle she could even manage to sit still, really, with how much Starbucks she consumed on a regular basis.

She raised an eyebrow. “Only one? Well, that stinks! There must be some more of them floating around here somewhere... Maybe you just haven't bumped into each other yet...?”