Below are the 4 most recent journal entries recorded in Petit Lapan LeBeau's InsaneJournal:

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
9:04 pm	Memoirs circa: early spring 2020 When the alarms went off Petit started to worry, mostly because the doctors had already said they were out of the woods. She caught an almost neon-white flash out of the corner of her eye when she turned to ask what was going on. It wasn’t there again when she turned back, and her ever-constant paranoia pointed out that there was nothing there that could have caused a reflection like that. On reflex she scanned the room peripherally, two, four, five more of those there-then-gone flashes, gone so quickly they might have been imagined. Her fingers tightened against Artan’s arm a moment, but she wasn’t going to call his attention to them, or worse, theirs to him. She knew what they were, but she’d never seen one, not that she could remember, except maybe, just maybe, once, during her Assassin Trials. She knew what they were, she knew that they scared her, and worse, that having them here infuriated her. “Stay with Henriette.” She told her husband, “Don’t let her out of your sight, not even for a moment. There’s something I have to do.” She knew that to actually converse with those bright shiners she would have to stay in the In-Between, caught in that paper-thin space between Here and There, and she didn’t want to risk being overheard. She knew Henriette would be alright where she was, with the bevy of doctors, and Artan, and her guard-Shadow Kitten. Petit had never been more glad of her daughter’s constant companion than she was when Kitten coughed up the tiny, crumpled black body of the spider that had bitten Henriette. She slipped away quietly, following the ebb and flow of traffic through the hospital, moving with her usual quickly-cutting purpose. The first empty room she found was the hospital chapel, so she slipped inside and through the edge of reality, finding it easier than she’d thought it would be to hold herself on the razor’s edge of In-Between, looking like a Shadow herself so that she could talk to the flashbulbs waiting in the wings. She could see them then, almost blinding, bright enough that there were no Shadows, bright enough to hurt. “You can’t have her!” She screamed, “She’s just a child, my child and I won’t let you!” Their answer was a crystalline thing, sharp-edged and glittering, like the spaces between the lines in a shattered mirror. She shook her head, “No. No you can’t.” Their next answer puzzled her, bitterly cold, dangerously brittle, like midwinter moonlight reflected through ice. “I don’t understand.” She said, feeling things start to shift, holding on to that almost-invisible space where the lights lived. The response was whistling, hissing amusement, a December wind through treetops, across a pond’s surface, they hadn’t expected her to understand. “What do you want from me?” She beseeched, still clinging to her increasingly tenuous hold on the In-Between. They explained. Perhaps a half hour after she’d vanished in the first place Petit returned to the room where they were treating Henriette, finding her daughter resting peacefully and her husband perched, somehow managing to look relaxed and out of place at the same time, in one of the plastic chairs beside the bed, “She’s going to be okay.” He said. Petit nodded, padding over and looping an arm around his shoulders, “I know. I heard.” (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
9:45 pm	Rescue Mission (dated for the Summer Solstice 6/20) The diplomatic method hadn’t worked, nor had shameless begging. That meant only one thing, it was time for door number three. Good old-fashioned training and senseless violence. Petit had done her research, and with the help of her minions she knew the security systems, she knew when the guard changed over, and when the owner would be making the rounds. In short: She knew the time when she could do the most damage in the shortest possible span. There were a few other things in the collection that she needed besides the razor, but if things did go south, that was the most important. She waited in the shadows; she knew the replacement guard wouldn’t arrive for at least half an hour, probably more. She had made sure of this herself, in fact, she still had his spark plugs in her pocket. She also knew that the owner was currently in the upper floor and wouldn’t be down for about the same amount of time. She smiled as the current guard left, practically vibrating with anticipation. As soon as the car was out of sight she darted across the lawn, the shadows clinging at her heels as she moved. The lock on the service entrance was easily dealt with, and the alarm was even easier. She shook her head as she slipped down the darkened hallway, turning the layout of the place in her mind, headed for the showroom. She hovered in the doorway for a moment, taking stock of where the motion detectors were. The coverage between them was almost seamless, but only almost, her grin was sharp as she edged along the wall, crouching to slip into the lee of one of the display cases, moving from that one to the next without triggering anything. She inspected the lock, old-fashioned tumbler with magnetic connections, the glass was wired for pressure, so just breaking it was out. Petit sighed, shaking her head, lifting one of the tools from her belt, the simplest sensors were the hardest to fool. Unless, of course one was in the business, or happened to have a boyfriend like Artan. She even tutted as she hooked it up. It would reverse the polarization, making the sensors read as contact, even with the door wide open, once that was in place it was child’s play to get into the display. The main generator for the security system was housed in the base, and the only way to get to it was through the display itself. She slid a few things out of the way to get at the latch, springing it and then freezing, holding still to make sure she hadn’t tripped any of the alarms. She wriggled herself up over the edge, leaning down into the space beneath to simply yank the main power cord right out of its socket. The sharp smile returned as the lights on the motion detectors winked out one by one. She wriggled back out of the case again, tugging her shirt straight and crossing the room, fingers trailing along the glass fronts of the display cases as she passed. Her grin was verging on being just as sharp as the razor she was after, it was alone in a display, nestled in dark red velvet, the fabric looking like day-old spilled blood in the dim, almost imperceptible glow of the security lights in the hall. She debated picking the lock, but decided that she rather wanted to break some glass. So she did, a quick jab of one elbow right through the front of the case, smiling at the noise, head tilting, listening quietly to see if she’d alerted the owner yet. She hummed to herself, carefully dusting glass shards away from the razor, picking it up to inspect it, she was humming My Friends softly to herself, probably not even realizing it. She frowned slightly at the ding on the backside of the handle, it had been hit with something hard at some point, and had been repaired, though not well. She’d have to inspect it further later. It was right about then that the lights snapped on. She growled faintly, whipping around to face the door, dropping into a half-crouch as she did so, the knife-edge smile back in place when she realized it was the owner, “Hello Mr. Andrews. Do you have any idea who’s this is?” She didn’t wait for him to answer, just continued, “Of course you do, which means you also know exactly what she’s fond of.” The man didn’t even bat an eye at this, this was apparently far from the first break-in they’d had, instead he just leveled a gun at Petit, who smiled further, shaking her head, almost cradling the razor back against her arm, the way a knife-fighter held a blade, “Her business is even older than yours Mr. Andrews. By generations.” She shrugged, arching a brow, “So go ahead, shoot me.” The man’s lip curled at that, but he did squeeze off two shots, right through Petit’s head and into the case behind, shattering the rest of the glass and lodging in the far wall. Petit tutted, shaking her head and easing forward, just moving through anything that was in her way, “You really oughtn’t have kept her locked up. Because now she’s bored, and she’s hungry, and she doesn’t like you.” Derrick Andrews was not an easily spooked man, it didn’t pay to be in his line of work, dealing with the people and creatures he dealt with it paid to keep a level head, but this? This was enough to send an icewater thrill down his spine, someone who was solid enough to break glass but not so solid as to be shot, something clicked in his mind then, lowering the gun, “You’re the assistant to the un-named benefactor aren’t you?” Petit arched a brow, pausing. She hadn’t stopped really, just ready, waiting, looking as if she would start moving again at any moment, “What do you think?” She smiled again as she felt the added weight in her bag signaling that Toto had finished his part of the mission, getting the set and likely a few other things as well, he was more of a klepto than she was. Given as how her mission was finished she didn’t wait for his answer, just darted forward again, ducking in under his arm as he lifted the gun, the razor snapped open, blade slashing out and up. The wash of blood was bright and hot and arterial and it just made Petit grin again, twisting herself close, using the momentum of her own movement to knock the man back, letting him fall, “Goodbye Mr. Andrews. Maybe next time around you’ll think twice about keeping a poor mourning woman away from her loved ones, hm?” That was all she had to say on the matter, really, stooping to wipe the blade clean with the man’s necktie before walking away, slipping into the shadows between shelves, headed off to make a delivery. (Comment on this)
Monday, March 31st, 2008
1:48 am	101 question meme 101 Questions You Should Be Able to Answer About Your Character Basics 1. What is your full name? Do you have a nickname? Petit Lapan LeBeau, and Artan calls me a lot of things, the least of which (and the most often used) being Squirt. 2. How old are you? When is your birthday? 25 going on 26, October 13th 3. Where were you born? Where do you live now? Are you patriotic? The swamps out back of New Orleans, LA, Earth. Closer to the actual city now, but still in the outskirts. Not really. 4. Who are/were your parents? (Names, occupations, personalities, etc.) My dad was Remy LeBeau, and he had a lot of occupations, people say I get my charm from him, and I’d believe it. Mom was Ronia, and she was a gypsy and a knife-fighter, and I got my height and my temper from her. They’re both to blame for my wanderlust, really, since neither of them ever settled down for long. 5. Do you have any siblings? What are/were they like? No blood siblings, but there’s a bunch of kids in mom’s tribe who are about the same age, give or take. 6. What is your occupation? Professional mooch right now. Not that Artan seems to mind. I’ve also been a waitress, and a pirate. Off the record though I'm a guilded Thief and a guilded Assassin. 7. How tall are you? How much do you weigh? 5’2” and weight depends on how many knives I'm carrying, but about 130 lbs. Give or take. 8. What color is your hair? What color are your eyes? Hair’s black, eyes are red on black. 9. What is your race? Mutt. 10. To which social class do you belong? Heh. If I tell that gives me away. 11. Do you consider yourself to be attractive? Do others? I'm okay I guess, besides being short. That doesn’t seem to bother other people though. 12. What is your style of dress? When I'm not on a job? Comfortable, otherwise, suited to whatever it is I'm doing. 13. Do you have any scars? Tattoos? Birthmarks? Other unique physical features? Got scars across my thighs, just above my knees, from where I got bitten by a gator when I was about 14, and one across my back from getting stabbed. And a fuckton of other smaller ones. Got a tattoo on my back, it’s wings made out of leaf skeletons, and so far that’s the only one. No birthmarks that I’ve found yet, besides the eyes, don’t think they count though. 14. Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses? No allergies that I know of besides the huge clouds of pollen at the end of spring, beginning of summer, but that never lasts long enough to be a problem. I'm a mutant, if that counts as a disease. And as far as physical weaknesses go, I'm going deaf in my right ear. 15. Are you right- or left-handed? Mostly right, but have enough strength and dexterity in the left to throw people off 16. What does your voice sound like? Uh… a voice? I don’t know, and it never sounds the same recorded as it does in reality. 17. What kind of vocabulary do you use? Sweary? I don’t know, use a lot of idioms I guess. 18. List three quirks or other defining characteristics. Well, the eyes are pretty striking, most people notice those first I can recite the alphabet backwards I'm flexible and I have good balance? Is that one or two? 19. How often do you bathe? Do you wear perfumes? Daily, and only if I have to for a job. I prefer essential oils, and sparingly 20. What kind of facial expression do you commonly wear (dour glare, wry smile, etc)? Variations on o_ô I guess. 21. Do you use body language? How? Heh, all the damn time, and mostly for work. 22. Do you have a commonly used saying? I don’t think so? I mean, there’s nothing I know that I say often. Childhood 23. What is your earliest memory? Walking a baby gator on a leash down the stairs of the Guildhall. I was about four and it was the only way uncle Henri could get me to wear a dress for some big to-do. 24. How much schooling have you had? Did you enjoy it? I’ve never been officially schooled, anything I’ve learned I learned from the Guild, mostly uncle Henri. 25. Where did you learn most of your knowledge and skill? See above, plus the other guild and a pirate island. 26. How would you describe your childhood in general? Abnormal. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. 27. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? A snake charmer for a sideshow. I was an odd child. 28. When and with whom was your first kiss? Michel, I was twelve. 29. Are you a virgin? If not, when and with whom did you lose your virginity? Not anymore. I pounced Caleb a loooong time ago. 30. Do you have a notorious or celebrated ancestor? Does that affect you? All of my ancestors are pretty notorious and/or infamous, but I don’t think it affects me at all. Influences 31. What do you consider the most important event of your life so far? Uh… hell if I know. Passing the Trials I guess. Marrying Caleb. 32. What do you consider your greatest achievement? See above. 33. What is your greatest regret? ¯\o Regrets, I’ve had a few; But then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do And saw it through without exemption ¯\o 34. What is the most embarrassing or shameful thing ever to happen to you? Well, managing to get myself poisoned during the Assassin Trial was pretty embarrassing, but I survived, so whatever. 35. Do you have any secrets? If so, what are they? …if I tell then they aren’t secrets anymore. 36. What is the most evil thing you have ever done? Evil is too hard, I'm better at petty. 37. When was the time you were the most frightened? I was 14 and got bitten by a gator. Thought I was going to die. 38. Have you ever traveled outside of your country? If so, to where? Heh, pretty much the only places I haven’t been are the arcticas and most of Africa, and that’s just for safety reasons. Beliefs 39. What is your alignment? Whatever suits me. Shut up. 40. Are you basically optimistic or pessimistic? Depends entirely on how well my day’s going, really. 41. Do you believe in a god? If so, which one and why? I haven’t met any, not that I know of, but those are the ones I’d believe in, ones I’d met. 42. Do you believe in an afterlife? Sure, reincarnation sounds like more fun though. 43. What is your greatest fear? That I'm going to die for some stupid, pointless, avoidable reason. 44. What makes you angry? Sad? Happy? Why? Emotions are all about chemical imbalances anyway. 45. Do you think people are basically good or basically evil? Either/or. Some born good, some born evil etc. etc. etc. 46. What are your views on politics? Religion? Sex? Just as long as they don’t get me involved I don’t care, ditto, and yesplease. 47. What are your views on gambling, lying, theft, and killing? Fun at times, more fun if you don’t make it complicated, and HA times two. 48. How far will you go to defend your beliefs? Uh, pretty far? I mean, as long as I know for a fact that I'm right. Kevin Smith had it right though, better to have an idea. They’re easier to change. 49. How much do you value money? Whatever, I guess. I'm comfortable and that’s what matters. 50. In your opinion, what is the most evil thing any human being could do? Kill an innocent. Child, animal, doesn’t matter. 51. Do you believe in self-sacrifice for the greater good? I’d like to say yes, but I'm pretty sure if it came down to a case of them or me, I’d pick me. 52. Do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/or true love? Yeah. Don’t see why not. I mean, hell, the guy I married was dead the first time, that’s got to tell you something. 53. Are you superstitious? oh GOD yes. 54. How much do you respect the beliefs and opinions of others? Until they give me a reason not to. 55. How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings? More honest about the former than the latter. 56. Do you have any biases or prejudices? Er…if given a choice I’ll always take a left-side door over a right one, and I'm biased towards double-edged knives as opposed to single edge. Dealing With Others 57. Who is the most important person in your life, and why? Uncle Henri, I think, because basically he was both parents when I was growing up. 58. Who is the person you respect the most? Despise the most? Why? I should say like, Mother Teresa or something, but really? It’s Bonney and Reade, for doing what they had to to survive, loving who they wanted, and basically giving the establishment the finger in a time when they could’ve been killed for it just on principle. The fact that I’ve met Anne and know this directly from her helps. And despising people takes too much energy. 59. Do you have a significant other? Who? I do, Caleb, he’s my husband. And maybe Artan, but I'm not going to talk about that right now 60. Do you have a lot of friends? Who is your best friend? I have a lot of acquaintances, that’s it. Right now my best friend is Artan, maybe Toto, but he’s a Shadow and doesn’t really count. 61. How do you relate to members of the same race? Class? Sex? Er, what kind of a question is this? I relate to people as people, not as people who are just like me. 62. How do you relate to members of a different race? Class? Sex? See above 63. Have you ever been in love? If so, describe what happened. We got married. Twice. You see, he was dead the first time, so it didn’t really count. 64. What do you look for in a potential lover? Uh, enough sense not to leave me high and dry? I don’t know, haven’t really had a chance to analyze this. 65. How close are you to your family? Uh. Still keep in touch with uncle Henri, but that’s about it. 66. Do you want a marriage, family, and/or children? I am married, but it’s pretty open, and I'm not ready for kids. Don’t know that I ever will be. 67. Do you tend to argue with people, or avoid conflict? Can’t it be both? 68. Are you a listener or a talker? See above. 69. How long does it usually take for you to trust others? I don’t know that I really trust anybody. Not because I’ve been hurt before, really, but because I don’t have any reason to trust people. 70. Do you hold grudges? Not really. Bad things tend to happen to anyone who I would have a grudge against. 71. Do you tend to take on leadership roles in social situations? Uh… not really? I mean, sometimes in like, crisis situations, sure, but not just the regular ‘let’s go to a movie’ shit. 72. Do you like interacting with large groups of people? Not if I can help it. Crowds make me a little nervous. I blame this on training. 73. How well do you express yourself? HA. 74. How quickly do you judge others? Usually on first glance. Doesn’t mean I can’t change my judgment later though. 75. Do you care what others think of you? Not generally. 76. Do you have any enemies? How or why are they your enemy? Not that I know of, for the same reason I don’t have any grudges. Personal Taste and Opinions 77. What is your favorite pasttime? Color? Food? Possession? Crossword puzzles Earth and/or jewel tones Teriyaki flavor jerky My plates. 78. What are your preferences in arts and/or entertainment? I prefer sculpture to painting, and painting to photography, and I'm not too picky on the entertainment, movies, concerts, staying home and playing scrabble, it’s all the same to me. 79. Do you smoke, drink, go whoring, or use drugs? Why or why not? Not tobacco, sometimes, not recently, see the first part. And why? Just because. 80. How do you spend a typical Saturday night? Nothing about my schedule is ‘typical’ it all changes. Lately though? I’ve just been sitting at home being bored most nights. 81. What is your most cherished fantasy? Oh yeah, like I'm going to spread that around. 82. How long is your attention span? Depends on what I'm doing. If I'm on the job, it’s great, it can be as long and as steady as I need. Otherwise it’s just ohey look, a bird. 83. Do you laugh a lot? What do you find funny? Not as much as I should. Caleb’s good at making me laugh though. So’s Artan 84. Is there anything that shocks or offends you? If so, what? Electricity shocks me, most of the time. And as far as offence goes, that’s hard to do. 85. How do you deal with stress? I hit things. And then go have some chocolate. 86. How much athletic ability do you have? Artistic? I'm pretty bendy, and I’ve got good balance and good stamina. Not so much of an artist though. 87. Do you like animals? Do you like children? I love animals, they’re tasty. I like other people’s children because I can give them back. 88. Are you spontaneous, or do you always need to have a plan? These aren’t mutually exclusive traits. 89. What are your pet peeves? People who chew with their mouths open, people with no sense of volume, and people who can’t control their god-damn demon children in public. Self-Image 90. What is your greatest strength as a person? Weakness? I don’t really know about my greatest strength, but my temper is probably my greatest weakness 91. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Plain brown eyes kthx 92. Are you generally introverted or extroverted? I'm more of an introvert than people think. 93. Do you like yourself? I guess so. I don’t hate myself anyway. 94. Do you have a daily routine? How do you feel if your day is interrupted? I didn’t used to. I kind of do now, and I wish it would be interrupted, it’s starting to make me feel OCD. 95. What goal do you most want to accomplish in the next six months? Your lifetime? Short term: stop being such a damn chicken about certain things. Long term: finally commit to leading a guild. Maybe both. 96. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? No idea, the same, and probably dead. That’s ancient for an Assassin and pretty damn old for a Thief. 97. If you could choose, how would you want to die? In a blaze of glory. Or at least taking some evil bastard out with me. 98. What is the one thing you would like to be remembered for after your death? For being the one who finally brought the Guilds together. 99. What three words would you use to best describe your personality? Sharp, and flexibly honest. 100. What three words would others probably use to describe you? Smug, smugger, smuggest. 101. Why are you risking your life to adventure? … what the hell are you smoking and where can I get some? (Comment on this)
Monday, February 25th, 2008
2:13 am	Sometime during the night Petit had dropped off into deeper sleep, blame the booze, blame the company, either way it wasn't important. When she finally dragged herself awake somewhere well past the crack of noon, she grumbled, staggering to her feet, making the occasional zombie noise as she gathered clothes and meandered her way to the bathroom without actually tripping on anything. Shower first, then coffee. And she might actually remember that she had company at some point. (24 Comments |Comment on this)