"I'm bored."
Jean-Luc LeBeau resisted the urge to laugh in his young son's face. Fortunately for him, he had heard that particular phrase numerous times over the years, and he had an answer. "So go find something to do."
Remy rolled his strange red-on-black eyes and sighed. "I've already done everyt'ing you'll let me do, an' de t'ings I wouldn' mind doin', you won' let me."
"Dere's a reason for dat, petit. But don' worry 'bout dat. Are you sure you can' t'ink of anyt'ing to do?" Jean-Luc asked.
"Dere's not'ing to do an' no one to do it wit'. Ev'ryone else is old."
This time Jean-Luc did laugh. "I s'pose I should take exception to dat statement, but I won'." He said. "It's not easy for you, bein' around adults all de time, is it?"
Remy shook his head, his scraggily hair falling into his eyes. "Dere's no one here my age."
Jean-Luc was silent for a moment, thinking about what to do to rectify the situation. Remy had been part of his family for almost a month, and he had yet to meet the two youngest members of the New Orleans Thieves Guild. Jean-Luc wasn't sure why he and the older members had kept Remy from meeting the other boys, but now was as good as time as any to let him know he wasn't the only one. "You're actually not de youngest, Remy. In fact, dere are two boys in dis guild who would make good friends for you, if you'd like to get to know dem."
Remy's eyes first brightened at the idea, then clouded over. Trust didn't come easy to him, and he wondered how easy it would be to get to know the other boys. "Who are dey, Papa?"
"Actually, dey're my nephews. Deir names are Emil and Etienne, an' dey're de sons of my two sisters. You 'member meetin' Theoren de day after you came here? Well, Etienne is Theoren's younger brother." Jean-Luc explained. "Etienne is eight, and Emil is ten. Dey're good boys, but dey have a habit of getting into trouble. Would you like to meet dem?"
Remy nodded. As he did, the doorbell rang. Jean-Luc's older son, Henri, who had been passing through the living room on his way to the kitchen, paused and said,
"I'll get it."
Both Remy and Jean-Luc could hear the voices drifting in from the entrance of the mansion. Jean-Luc smiled when he recognized the voice of one of his young nephews. Moments later, Remy found himself face to face with a boy who looked to be about his age.
The boy stared back at Remy unflinchingly, his sparkly blue eyes gleaming curiously. His thick, wavy red hair was windblown, and he had a piece of licorice in his mouth. The two boys sized each other up silently while Jean-Luc looked on. He knew they couldn't be rushed, and he was glad that Emil had gotten to meet Remy first. Because Etienne was younger, he tended to go along with whatever Emil did or said, therefore, in Jean-Luc's reasoning if Emil and Remy hit it off, Remy wouldn't have a problem getting to know Etienne.
The silenced stretched, but Jean-Luc still didn't say anything. He knew Emil would speak sooner or later…it wasn't often he was quiet unless someone had yelled at him to be. His being talkative was simply part of what made him unique.
Emil finished off the licorice he was eating and dug into his pockets for more. He came up with two more pieces. In a gesture of comradeship and peace, he held one of them out to Remy. Remy's eyes widened and he hesitated, unsure if he should take the candy or not.
Seeing the hesitation, Emil's face broke into a smile and he laughed. "Go on, take it. 'S okay. I can get more."
"T'anks." Remy replied, taking the candy from Emil and savoring it. He hadn't often got candy of any kind in his life, and he was rather flattered that Emil had given him some.
"Y' welcome." Emil replied. "You're Remy, ain' ya?"
"Yeah…" Remy said around his licorice.
"T'ought so. I'm Emil. Me an' Etienne have been wantin' to meet you for awhile now, but dey wouldn' let us." Emil smiled.
"'Etienne an' I', Emil." Jean-Luc corrected.
Emil rolled his eyes. "Dis ain' school." He muttered.
Jean-Luc cast him a warning glance. "Emil…"
"Sorry Uncle Jean-Luc." Emil said hastily, lowering his eyes. He immediately knew that this was one of those times when he shouldn't have said what he thought.
A little while later, Theoren came over to the LeBeau mansion and brought his younger brother with him. Jean-Luc had called him and said it would be a good idea to bring Etienne, because Remy and Emil had already met. An alliance between the three boys would be beneficial to the Guild in the long run. Slowly but surely, the Guild's numbers were dwindling, and both Jean-Luc and Theoren knew the time would come when there weren't going to be many of them left. It would help if the ones remaining were close allies.
The three boys spent the first little while just talking and joking around. They were still testing the waters, still trying to figure out what to make of each other. They eventually grew more comfortable with each other and they obtained permission from Jean-Luc and Theoren to go outside.
"You may go play in de back yard, but I don' want you gon' near de swamps, understand?" Jean-Luc commanded.
"Oui." The three boys replied as they headed outside.
Once outside, the boys tossed around a baseball and climbed the trees. At one point, Remy looked at his two new cousins.
"How come he's so strict 'bout us not gon' in de swamps?"
Etienne brushed his blond hair out of his eyes and almost fell off the branch he was sitting on. "B'cause it's dangerous."
"So?"
"Remy, we could get hurt, somet'ing could happen to us, an' no one would know where we were." Etienne explained. "B'sides, if we do, an' dey find out, dey'll get real mad."
"But what if dey don' find out?" Remy asked. "What if we jus' went in, explored a bit an' came back b'fore supper? Dey'd never know we were missin'."
Emil's blue eyes gleamed mischievously. He was usually the one who hatched hair-brained schemes. He was liking Remy more and more. "Dat would work, long as dey don' come lookin' for us b'fore we get back."
"Why would dey? Even if dey looked out de window an' didn' see us, couldn' dey assume we were in de trees or somet'ing?" Remy said.
"Yeah!" Emil exclaimed. He had always wanted to go exploring in the swamps, but had never dared to, mainly because he could never talk Etienne into joining him, and he couldn't go by himself.
"Guys, we shouldn' do dis…" Etienne protested, haltingly following his older cousins as they made their way towards the swamps.
"Why not?" Remy and Emil replied in unison, checking over their shoulders at the windows of the house to make sure no one was watching them. Finding the coast was clear they kept going.
"We're gon' get in trouble…" Etienne said. "I don't wan' go."
"You don' have to come if you don' want to, Et." Emil retorted. "If you want to stay here, go ahead. But we're goin'. An' if you tell on us…"
"I won'…" Etienne said, stopping and watching them leave. Realizing suddenly, as the older boys walked off, that he was alone, he raced after them "I'm comin', I'm comin'! Wait up!"