LUC FOURNIER
Dragon
Posts: 61
Age:
354
Occupation:
Security Operative/Businessman
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Ingrid Nilsen
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Jun 16, 2024 19:00:09 GMT
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Post by LUC FOURNIER on Apr 22, 2021 15:59:42 GMT
This was a far cry from where he’d first laid eyes upon the unsinkable Ingrid Nilsen. Glass and steel rising overhead instead of the lines he could’ve both named and climbed in his sleep. Slick, business-like, cold to the touch – at least initially. There’d been a time when they had softened towards one another, as much as he thought either one of them had been capable of at least. Luc clucked his tongue, looking back down at the building’s entrance as he nudged the car door shut behind him. They might have been infinitely capable in other ways, but not that one. Ingrid did not allowed people close and he … had a tendency to depth charge his own life as much as others did.
A thumb rolled over the button on the car key and it was giving that discrete whoop behind him. There was a risk to parking out here instead of in the lot out back but the chance that he would be back out of the door within minutes was higher than him getting some sort of ticket in a town that looked like it had wardens for everything. Hell, there was a chance Ingrid would have someone calling for it to be towed before she’d even thrown him out of her office.
He was snorting as he walked in through the front door of the building. The uniform guy behind the reception desk looked up in greeting but Luc was already waving him off and heading for the elevators at the rear. He knew where he was going, didn’t do anything like this without a plan. That was one hold over from his time with Hector’s people, a message only rammed home harder when he’d started training with Ingrid’s people. You didn’t to remain on Ingrid’s payroll if you were sloppy. Her people were top notch, confident in their skills … and probably most important of all … ballsy. That part he’d always had down pat, with the woman herself too.
That was where he’d blown it wasn’t it?
Luc thumbed the elevator button, tipped his head back to watch the lights roll up to the floor her offices were on as he stepped inside and it started rising. Ballsy enough to demand an equal standing in what had long been her company, and to threaten to walk if he didn’t get it. Stupid enough not to see what he’d tossed away in doing it. A career derailed, a bone deep satisfaction building until he decided to come and eat crow, to choke on it if the welcome was as warm as he imagined.
He strode out as the elevator hit the right floor, a guileless smile shot at the receptionist as he again lifted a hand to wave her off. Walk anywhere with enough purpose and people didn’t stop to question you, not even those who were meant to know better. He got himself almost all the way back through the office before a brunette tucked behind a desk in an office next to what had to Ingrid’s met his eye through the open door. Luc offered her that same bland smile and moved on regardless.
Rowan was out of her seat in an instant, mouth in a thin line, hand at her hip. Nobody got back to Ingrid’s office without it going through her. There was nothing on the books, no call from reception to warn the guard dog at the door, so to speak, about being friendly. ”Excuse me, sir, Ms. Nilsen isn’t taking meetings right now. Stop!” Her fingers did more than brush the grip of her weapon then, they were around it, the gun being pulled even as the guy breezed right past her and through the door.
Turning half towards the woman who’d tried to leap into his path like a hero on a grenade, Luc grinned, raised his hand in a breezy brush off. Ingrid had obviously traded him in for someone a little more observant than the others. Not a bad choice. ”It’s fine, I’m sure Ingrid’ll be happy to see me. Old friends and all.” He winked at her, knowing she was following as he swung the door to Ingrid’s office open and walked in with that long legged grace. ”I like her,” he said by way of greeting as he dropped into one of the chairs set opposite Ingrid’s desk. Fingers worked open the button on his suit jacket, his legs crossing in that blythe, easy way he knew would get under her skin. ”The others though? Slipping a little. I could’ve been in here before any of them knew what I was doing. I guess even the great Ingrid Nilsen gets a little sloppy in the end.” Not her. Luc chuckled, his blue eyes narrowing faintly at Ingrid as he felt the press of the pistol against the back of his skull. ”Make that really like. Watch the hair.” His grin broadened as the pistol shifted an inch to the base of his skull, the sight snagging on his hair, yanking a few strands out with a quick sting. No wonder Ingrid liked her.
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INGRID NILSEN
Dragon
Posts: 47
Age:
Two Hundred & Eighty Nine
Occupation:
CEO Valkyrie Vali
Status:
Single
Partner:
Future: Luc Fornier
Played by:
Lissa
Last seen Nov 13, 2024 15:45:02 GMT
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Post by INGRID NILSEN on Apr 23, 2021 14:44:36 GMT
| It had been a while now since Ingrid had made the decision to stay in this small town. It had been a smart move making Washington her base of operations. Everything and everyone eventually came through the capital. Word spread and Ingrid had contracts all over the country. Something she had built for herself; no one could take it from her. Considering how she had started off in life, the meek timid girl. That girl had died a long time ago…
Parts of her were being found again. She was here for her family after all. A short while ago she thought she didn’t need those kind of attachments, or attachments of any kind. Though now here she was in town trying to build them and had seen an opportunity. Given the influx of supernatural in this town, some people were chomping at the bit for the security she could provide. Sure, there were other’s but none that could provide the specific talents she could provide, talents from the various different supernatural creatures. Some worked for her for the money, others did it out of loyalty, born from centuries of working together.
It was in her newest office, in the small town of Mystic Falls that she stood and looked out the rather large window. Specific glass to which she could look out from, though no one could see inside. As she looked out, she caught someone pull up outside her building and she gazed downward in surprise. Someone she never thought to see again, and she watched him as he entered her office building. She sighed wondering what the hell he was doing here. She turned away from her window and sat back at her desk knowing he was more than capable of getting here, and so when security called up, she said not to stop him, but gave no such direction to Rowan who was out of her seat only minutes later.
Slipping into her seat she heard Rowan’s voice shout, knowing he was just outside the door. She leaned back in her seat as she heard her door open her. She looked at him her gaze cold and impassive as he swaggered into her office. His impertinence irked her, but she did well at not letting it show, ” I’d be careful. She doesn’t need permission from me to shoot you.” Ingrid warned callously as Rowan pressed the pistol to the back of his head. His next words were designed to deliberately annoy her, but her team weren’t sloppy, she simply just avoided unnecessary bloodshed. He was more than capable of making his way up here if he wanted to, and she was more than capable of handling him herself. Though just to make him sweat a little, Rowan would remain there with a pistol to his head, until either Ingrid asked her to leave, or she got bored herself and just shot him.
After a few minutes she flicked her eyes to her desk, ” Fortunately for you this desk is imported. I’d hate to stain it with blood so soon… even if it is yours.” Ingrid quipped and then looked up to Rowan, ” It’s alright Rowan. This shouldn’t take too long.” Ingrid asked of her politely. With a nod Rowan dug her pistol hard into the back of his skull before pulling it away and left her office closing the door behind her, ” Now what do you want? I thought you were off building your own fortune in some unfortunate sorry corner of the earth.” Ingrid asked as she leaned back, keeping her tone cold and indifferent.
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LUC FOURNIER
Dragon
Posts: 61
Age:
354
Occupation:
Security Operative/Businessman
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Ingrid Nilsen
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Jun 16, 2024 19:00:09 GMT
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Post by LUC FOURNIER on May 14, 2021 18:36:18 GMT
He hadn’t exactly imagined that she would’ve fallen apart without his support but perhaps, Luc thought as he swanned into her office like he had every right to be there, he’d expected her to at least look a little like she’d missed him in the intervening century. Wringing her hands and getting teary wouldn’t have Ingrid’s style though. That cold, impassivity was all that most were ever allowed to see it. God, what did it say that he’d almost missed that too? There were few people in his world who were half as willing to cut him off so brutally at the knees.
Luc found himself grinning at it as the woman he expected was his replacement slipped into Ingrid’s office behind him. The pistol was pressed against the back of his head in an instant. A shot deadly to almost anything out there, certainly enough to put an end depending on just what sort of ammunition she was toting. ”I don’t imagine she does. You always did have those close to you well trained.” Back in the day that had been him and he’d known every way to try and get under Ingrid’s skin. Once upon a time he’d pushed her with those ways, hoping to put a big enough crack in her shields to have her letting him in. That hadn’t happened though, Ingrid was a closed book in a locked trunk, thrown to the very bottom of the deepest part of the ocean. Uncrackable.
Still, he was back here, wasn’t he? Seeking some sort of way back in, although not yet entirely falling on his own sword to make it happen. He had some pride left after all.
Humming, Luc reached out to trail a hand over the edge of the desk. One dark brow hitched, his fingertips drumming a light, rapid tattoo on the slick wood. A piece, he imagined, had been purchased to intimidate, at least a little. Those who tried to underestimate Ingrid so often found themselves proved wrong in some painful way. Including him. Luc’s grin remained as he drew his hand back. ”You always did have great taste. Italian? French?” He could feel the steady presence of the muzzle, not moving from where Rowan had shifted it to. ”Merci, Rowan.” Luc called over his shoulder as the gun was moved, the woman going with it. He said her name the French way, the accent his parents had never lost fresh in his mind even after all this time.
Luc relaxed into the chair once they were alone, crossing his outstretched legs at the ankle, his hands laced over his stomach. After all this time things hadn’t changed overly much. Ingrid still wasn’t one to beat around a bush if she could hack right through it. He clucked his tongue, tapping his thumbs together as he studied her with a long practised ease. ”Honestly, is that any way to greet an old friend? Come on, Ingrid, I think we can be a little more cordial to one another than that.” Injecting just a little hurt into his voice Luc pretended to pout. Knowing it would get him nowhere he let out another huffing little laugh. ”London was hardly some unfortunate sorry corner of the earth … and, I’ll have you know, it was never about the fortune, although I can promise I did well enough with all of that. It was about being an equal, your equal.” Knowing it was likely to have her spitting feathers at him again Luc peeled his hands off of his stomach and held them out to ward her temper off. ”I’m fully aware it’s not going to happen. I’m here to talk, that’s all.” Almost all at least. He could’ve laid it all out for her immediately but that no would be shorter and sharper than if he eased into it.
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INGRID NILSEN
Dragon
Posts: 47
Age:
Two Hundred & Eighty Nine
Occupation:
CEO Valkyrie Vali
Status:
Single
Partner:
Future: Luc Fornier
Played by:
Lissa
Last seen Nov 13, 2024 15:45:02 GMT
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Post by INGRID NILSEN on May 22, 2021 8:14:05 GMT
| He had been the last person that Ingrid expected to walk through her door that morning. Well, she expected to never see him again, given the way they had parted. It hadn’t exactly been on the best of terms. Left with a choice to simply allow Rowan to shoot him and be done with it… or to hear him out. She gave him the warning, that Rowan didn’t need her permission to shoot him. Granted those bullets wouldn’t kill him but would create a mess that she could do without.
They were all in a stalemate. He remained silent as did Ingrid. The pair waiting to see what Rowan would do. When she didn’t go shooting him as Ingrid half expected her to, Ingrid called her off. Explaining that she didn’t want her new desk ruined, ” Italian.” Ingrid answered. Ingrid nodded to Rowan who eventually removed the gun and left them alone in her office.
Once alone Ingrid, in a way that would be expected by him, got straight to the point. If there was one thing that she hated was beating around the bush, ” You lost any right to that title years ago.” Ingrid told him a dark chuckle coming out before her words were said. She lifted a pen and continued signing through bits of paperwork, contracts that had already been approved. Something to keep up the indifference that she felt toward him.
She ‘inquired’ as to his travels if that was even the appropriate term. More insulted his travels, but either way got the answer she was looking for. He had succeeded just as she thought he might, ” Well if you got all you were looking for, what has bought you back here?” Ingrid asked again impatience in her tone. Then he went on about being her equal again and she was about to give him the same answer. She had built this… taken it by force but had built it into what it was today, virtually by herself. He had no right to claim to be her equal. Before she could launch herself back into that speech, he surprised her by saying he knew that wasn’t going to happen, and that he was just here to talk.
” Well then. Out with it.” Ingrid told him again for the third time, still listening even as she pretended to be busy on her own side of the desk.
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LUC FOURNIER
Dragon
Posts: 61
Age:
354
Occupation:
Security Operative/Businessman
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Ingrid Nilsen
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Jun 16, 2024 19:00:09 GMT
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Post by LUC FOURNIER on Jul 24, 2021 17:53:45 GMT
Even when he had been young the warning not to poke the sleeping bear had been thrown around. Hissed by his parents when they were telling all of them they must hide what they were. Said in a dozen different ways the Huguenots had tried and failed to keep themselves safe with the advice. In the end they had been driven from their homeland and what they were hadn’t mattered when Hector and his supernatural crew had boarded their ship. Keeping their head down hadn’t worked then and Luc suspected it never truly would for him. If he’d put any belief in it he might not’ve strolled back into Ingrid’s office now, arms metaphorical wide open like this particular bear would have forgotten the ultimatums he’d thrown in her face. Ingrid had always been fair but never particularly forgiving.
He could, Luc supposed, as he eyed her across that expensive desk with a grin, fall to his knees to beg to offer up apologies but he doubted it would’ve gotten him an ounce more respect from Ingrid. That wasn’t what she had ever caved for, certainly not making it a case of it being better to ask for forgiveness later. Luc hummed lightly, rubbing his fingertips together as he withdrew them. ”Thought so, I’ll have to get the maker’s name later.” There was no intention to, of course, if he got his own way then he wouldn’t be looking to set his own office up somewhere in this town, he would be here, in one of those slick cubicles, perhaps even eventually nudging Rowan back down the ladder a rung. She probably wouldn’t like it, but, oh well, that was the price of business.
Once upon a time his business with Ingrid had worked out for both of them, oh how times changed.
Luc clucked his tongue at Ingrid’s cutting words. He deserved them, he supposed, he had been the one to draw the line in the end. It was practically carved through the room now, him firmly on this side of the desk instead of slipping around it the way he might once have done, one lean hip propped against the corner of it, allowed close to her without a gun against his head. ”Did it really end that badly between us?” he asked, his brows beetling even as he twisted that smile back into place. ”Surely there was some truth to absence making the heart grow fonder, or at least remain fond.” It had been more than a century though. Times changed, often in ways you didn’t anticipate.
Ticking his tongue against the back of his teeth, Luc watched as she started back into her paperwork. That was a dismissal if he’d ever seen one, not that he would take it. The questions still slipped out of her, that razor sharp edge to each of them. ”You don’t think I just missed you?” he asked, turning it right back against her without revealing a damn thing about why he’d actually left London. It was the truth in a way though, a weariness setting in after a hundred years of working alone. It was a risk turning it back on her, especially when that impatience was a biting edge to Ingrid’s voice but stripping the truth bare here would result in a simple yes or no and more than likely an escort straight out of the building.
He sighed, lifting his eyes from her hands to her. Well, at least they’d managed five minutes of something approaching civility here before they’d reached the point of the tight rope where he either found his balance again or fell right off. Luc lifted his chin towards her paperwork. ”I want back in. Obviously not entirely in my old spot, I wouldn’t want Rowan out in the cold after all … but back. I imagine there are hoops you’ll want me to jump through. You’ll never make it too easy for me, eh, Ingrid?” His use of her name again, just a hint of softness to it, would either be the icing on the cake or it’d make that trip back to the sidewalk even quicker. A shove with her temper and all that heat that boiled in her would send him right out that plate glass window.
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INGRID NILSEN
Dragon
Posts: 47
Age:
Two Hundred & Eighty Nine
Occupation:
CEO Valkyrie Vali
Status:
Single
Partner:
Future: Luc Fornier
Played by:
Lissa
Last seen Nov 13, 2024 15:45:02 GMT
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Post by INGRID NILSEN on Aug 22, 2021 14:34:24 GMT
| When this day started, Luc had been the last person Ingrid expected to see in her office. If anything, she thought that she wouldn’t ever see him again. Her company, she had built by herself and when he thought he was entitled to a share of it she had refused him. That refusal had him seeking his own fortune. Since he had always been ambitious Ingrid had never doubted that he wouldn’t find it. Not that she would ever voice that aloud. So to have him back here was surprising.
It was even better having him at gunpoint. Oh, how easy it would be to have Rowan shoot him and be done with it. Instead, she opted for the less bloody option, and at least allowed him the opportunity to at least tell him why he was here. When he told her if that was anyway to greet an old friend. ‘Friend’ wasn’t not a title that she associated with him anymore, ” That would need to imply I was ever fond of you.” Ingrid told him curtly.
They both knew it to be a complete lie, but it could also be true enough. Ingrid was fond of very few people, and even then, her emotions were buried deep down that even those closest to her would glimpse something other than the hard mask of stone which graced her features. Returning to the paperwork, though still trying to figure out exactly why he was here. She almost scoffed at the words that came from his lips, ” Well that is a load of bullshit.” Ingrid told him dryly immediately calling him out on that lie. Scrawling her signature on one of the last sheets of paper, she placed the pen back down and tapping the sheets against her desk to neaten the pile out, before placing them back down again in front of her, ” So if you don’t cut the crap and tell me why you are here I’ll have your ass thrown out onto the sidewalk before you can count to ten, even if I have to do it myself.” Ingrid snapped at him her patience wearing thin.
He seemed to quiet down with the jokes and eventually got to his point. She waited while he seemed to gather his courage and Ingrid raised a dark eyebrow at his statement. Ingrid was silent for a moment, ” Why?” Ingrid questioned. He wanted to go off and build his own fortune, and Ingrid wouldn’t give him what he wanted, ” My choice from then hasn’t changed. I won’t give you what you want, and that is why you left.” Ingrid reminded him a bored tone to her voice, but she was still curious nonetheless.
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LUC FOURNIER
Dragon
Posts: 61
Age:
354
Occupation:
Security Operative/Businessman
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Ingrid Nilsen
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Jun 16, 2024 19:00:09 GMT
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Post by LUC FOURNIER on Sept 20, 2021 14:13:42 GMT
Ingrid had dragon’s fire at her disposal but she never needed it to wound him. Her tongue had always been able to do that. As sharp as a sword and wielded in a way that would’ve had most swordsmiths green with envy. One look at him again and she’d known precisely where to slash with it. Luc made a low sound in his throat, his hand coming up to clutch at his chest with a little sound. There’d been a belief once upon a time that maybe there had been something there. Like the water that eroded everything in the end shields had come down at least partially and on his part at least there had been an ache in his chest when he’d left.
That had been the last time he’d seen her, he thought now, settling back in the chair as he frowned and shook his head at her. Proud as anything at the wheel of the ship, not a glance in his direction as he’d walked away through the docks, with a pained look back at her. His own pride had smarted enough that he refused to go crawling back then. Unlike now. Luc sighed, rearranging his suit jacket around him, smoothing fingers over his shirt. ”Come on now, Ingrid. You wouldn’t have allowed me in your bed if you weren’t, would you? There was something once.” And he’d been the one to crush it to dust with his demands, leaving it there for her to grind her heel down on in a last farewell to what had been.
A lot of water had passed under his keel, so to speak, between then and now. Trying to map out how the waves and feelings had fallen then was a fool’s errand. She wouldn’t admit to it and in the end he’d be forced to strip himself bare, a humiliation in that sudden naked and vulnerable emotional state. All because he wanted back in.
Pale eyes remained on her hands, the elegant scrawl of her signature across more paperwork. Far more formal than back in the day when you could buy a man’s bond for a purse of gold and a handshake. Now it was all bound by law, the rubber stamp needing to be put on everything. It could exhaust a man without assistance. Luc’s lips curled faintly as he looked up at her, dark brows rising in amusement. ”You don’t believe I ever did? We don’t all deny our affections, Ingrid.” Another red flag to the bull, just waiting for her to charge at him. Maybe the masochistic part of him wanted to be skewered by the horns again after all this time.
His hands rose like his eyes, warding off the heat that might’ve come in the wake of those snapped words. He’d like to have seen her try but given the silent approach of Rowan the first time around perhaps it was best not to dance around too much longer. Well. Luc clucked his tongue lightly, settling his arms over his chest. ”You really can’t keep your hands off of me after all this time.” Wary though, he spread his hands in the air, another warding before he lifted his chin and finally tore the band aid off. ”Nostalgia, regret, boredom. There are a myriad of reasons and trotting each one out now to try and talk you around is probably going to take longer than just falling to my knees here and begging.” The smile that slipped over his face like silk slanted at her as his eyes narrowed. ”Who said I was coming back to demand a seat at the big table?” It had been an easy assumption he supposed. He had after all spent more than a century as a head honcho in his own regard. A man who didn’t have to bow to anybody, now here, ready to crawl across the expensive carpet if he really had to.
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INGRID NILSEN
Dragon
Posts: 47
Age:
Two Hundred & Eighty Nine
Occupation:
CEO Valkyrie Vali
Status:
Single
Partner:
Future: Luc Fornier
Played by:
Lissa
Last seen Nov 13, 2024 15:45:02 GMT
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Post by INGRID NILSEN on Oct 30, 2021 19:31:20 GMT
| Once a long time ago Ingrid had been fond of him. Fond enough to share a bed with him at any rate. Though he had been the one to demand more from her. Demand something that he had no right to. She had been successful before she had met him, and had built on it, used her own finances and secured her future and now owned the biggest private security in the country.
With his departure that day she truly thought that she wouldn’t see him again. He left with a purpose, a goal in mind for himself. Now to find him back here… and if he was hoping to beg to get back in her good graces, he was certainly going the wrong way about it, ” Remind me… who was the one that threw it away so easily? Couldn’t have meant that much to you.” Ingrid shot back, a challenging tone to her voice.
With her papers signed she no longer had something to keep her distracted from having this discussion with him. She told him to come out with it or she would personally throw him out on his ass, ” It won’t be the kind of touching you would enjoy.” She bit off.
When he answered she leaned back in her chair, trying to keep a smug look off her face folding her arms as she wondered why. Curious as ever she asked for the reason why. When they last seen each other, he had seemed determined to find his own greatness and now he was willing to crawl back here and be her lackey, ” So you come crawling back here to ask my forgiveness out of boredom?” Ingrid scrutinised. She repeated wanting to smack the silky smile off his face.
She reiterated that she still wasn’t prepared to compromise as he put it a place at the big table… ” Because its what you wanted. I don’t believe you have given up on that.” Ingrid told him she wasn’t going to be so quick as to allow him back in. She didn’t even really know where to even put him… she didn’t trust him anymore to just allow him back.
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LUC FOURNIER
Dragon
Posts: 61
Age:
354
Occupation:
Security Operative/Businessman
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Ingrid Nilsen
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Jun 16, 2024 19:00:09 GMT
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Post by LUC FOURNIER on Nov 3, 2021 22:36:11 GMT
It was easy to see how he’d grown mad enough to turn his back on her. Luc wanted to throw his head back and groan, drag his hands over his face. Ingrid carved the lines she lived by deep and more than any other person he’d ever met she stuck by them. It had been like throwing himself against a brick wall then, thick skull ringing off of it as he tried to get her to budge just an inch. Or, God forbid, let him in past those shields she used to batter the world into submission around her.
He squelched it back to a sigh. Head ticking back and forth as he eyed her across that too wide desk. She would goad him until he snapped again, seeing it as forcing the truth out of him instead of squeezing the frustrations of multiple lifetimes out of him first. ”You’re presuming it was easy, Ingrid,” he chided lightly. Walking had been, pride had driven him from the boat and onto land for the first time in centuries, but what had come after hadn’t been. Changing the habits of lifetimes had been a painful lesson and in the end it had been a worthless one. He had come crawling back to her. ”Did it mean that much to you once upon a time?” A teasing sort of hope shining in dark eyes and that smile he tried to use to butter her up. It hadn’t worked before, Luc didn’t have a single doubt that it wouldn’t this time either.
Absence had only made one of their hearts fonder.
She had been right, he had tossed it all aside but giving her the satisfaction of hearing it would just be a metaphorical fish bone stuck in his throat. They both knew it.
Ingrid had to put her pen and those papers aside eventually, the distraction of it only lasting as long as she could churn signatures out on them. His smile was quick as she bit her retort out at him. Luc grinned, not making a single damn attempt at hiding it this time. ”Assuming again,” he sing-songed. ”I missed those threats.” It was always easier to get the emotional out when that physical to and fro was going on. Pushing literally, until one of them relented – OK, until he did.
He had this time. Years of wasting away doing what bought him infamy and acclaim. Luc snorted, tongue tracing his lower lip as she went from ice cold to smug in 60 seconds flat. He leaned forward, one forearm on the edge of her desk. ”A handful of reasons and you seize on just boredom? Oh, come on, Ingrid. What else do you want to wring out of me here?” An apology undoubtedly, an ounce of flesh and an ocean sized flood of regret? Once upon a time the barbs hadn’t stung with such cruelty.
Luc’s chin dipped, his smile sliding away as he eyed her solidly. It would come to that then. Whether or not Ingrid would believe a word out of his mouth and right now she saw every word as a lie or some sort of a game. He sighed, fingers drumming on the edge of her desk. ”I had a seat at my own big table. If that was all I wanted I would’ve stayed put in it. You won’t even punish me by putting me on the bottom rung of the ladder? Can’t imagine an old love … sorry, lover … of yours scrubbing the bathrooms or washing the sweat out of your people’s gym towels? Maybe you have mellowed after all.” Or maybe she hadn’t. Eventually Ingrid would make up her mind and he’d either have that door cracked open for him again or he’d be thrown right out of it with Rowan and her gun doing the prodding.
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INGRID NILSEN
Dragon
Posts: 47
Age:
Two Hundred & Eighty Nine
Occupation:
CEO Valkyrie Vali
Status:
Single
Partner:
Future: Luc Fornier
Played by:
Lissa
Last seen Nov 13, 2024 15:45:02 GMT
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Post by INGRID NILSEN on Nov 28, 2021 13:06:41 GMT
| Words could cut like a knife, and it was years in the making that Ingrid had learned to wield hers like a samurai sword. Cutting people to the quick, off at the knees, leaving them utterly speechless at times. A skill perfected and admired by few that actually worked with her at times, ” Seemed pretty easy for you from where I was standing.” Ingrid presumed. From where she stood the decision had been easy. Him demanding from her something she wouldn’t give; it had been staying where he was or walk away. He chose to walk away, and she didn’t stop him. In other cases, she didn’t need words and simply a look of seething rage, ” About as much as it meant to you…” Ingrid retorted which they already established couldn’t have been that much.
In a moment her papers ran out which were forming a distraction. So now she had no choice but to put her pen down and actually hear him out. Leaning back in her chair and she listened. When he was finished the look on her face was smug, ” You know exactly what I want to hear from you.” Ingrid stated almost calmly. The argument that had ended things many years ago had been huge. She felt that one day this might happen. That he might regret what he had done enough to come back with his tail between his legs…
She listened to his next speech and then she raised an eyebrow at him. So he was leaving something he had built out of regret and boredom, to come back to her company at the bottom of the ladder, ” What’s the point? You left for more than that. Why would I let you come back here just to bitch about how bored you are in a few weeks and storm out again?” Ingrid argued, ” No matter how amusing it would be to see you on laundry duty.” Ingrid muttered to herself, a comment that he would more than likely be able to hear, ” Like you I have some pride. Not going to make the same mistake twice. “ Ingrid told him.
She waited a few minutes, inhaling quietly as she centred herself. She was likely going to regret this, ” I’m likely going to regret this but fine. Bottom of the ladder. But you’ll report to Rowan. Whatever she needs doing you do it.” Ingrid told him. Until she could trust him again and trust wasn’t something that she gave out freely, ” Take it or leave it.” The ball back in his court.
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LUC FOURNIER
Dragon
Posts: 61
Age:
354
Occupation:
Security Operative/Businessman
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Ingrid Nilsen
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Jun 16, 2024 19:00:09 GMT
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Post by LUC FOURNIER on Dec 20, 2021 17:09:53 GMT
The other men had called her an ice queen. The captain of their ship untouchable, anybody who tried as likely to be frozen to the bone as they were to be roasted with the fire that burned inside of Ingrid. She kept it tamped down most of the time, hiding it behind those shields were a yard thick, but it was there, just waiting to explode and roast the unwary. That, Luc thought, letting out a hiss of a sigh, had perhaps been him, but he’d seen further behind those shields that anybody else seemed to have been allowed to and still he felt that bite of cold as she cut at him.
Luc folded his fingers into his palms, like he was trying to protect them from frostbite. His jaw went tight, his chin dipping as he inclined his head slightly. He knew better than to plead with her to see things from his perspective, begging got you nowhere with Ingrid. ”That was the problem, though, wasn’t it? We were standing in different places.” The view from hers was what he’d wanted but in the end Ingrid hadn’t fought to get him to stay – she’d no more do that than accept him falling to his knees. She wouldn’t admit to feeling anything for him but despite that heated look in her eye now Luc knew there’d been something there and her response to his question had that faint smile growing faintly. ”More than you knew,” he promised. His hand rose, fingers curling across his chest, massaging for just a moment before they fell away.
There was far too much satisfaction on her face when she finally had to push her work away, out of things to do to make him feel like he only had a small measure of her attention. Dark brows rose slightly with the corners of his mouth, a little smug on his own face. ”You want me to beg. To say that after all this time I realised I was a fool for ever leaving you. You want a sorry – and have it be one that I mean. Hmm?” All of the above and probably a trip down to his knees too.
Did he regret what he had done? In those moments when he’d allowed himself to reconsider, perhaps he had. He had pride too though and Luc felt it burning in his chest now, almost driving him back to his feet to walk away once again. That’d waste the chunk of sword he’d already fallen on though and, like any man, he could only take so much shame.
It had been easier when his captain was just the man who’d slaughtered his family. At least Hector wasn’t a fan of these little games. Luc held a finger up before he twisted his arm to tap it lightly on his desk. ”Assuming again, Ingrid. It took me decades to do it the first time.” He sighed, narrowing his eyes at her. Mistake. Was that really what he was to her?
Biting his tongue, he didn’t answer, didn’t bitch back at her. Just watched with narrowed eyes and those restless fingers drumming as Ingrid breathed lightly. Oh, she was considering it. He’d seen that look on her face enough once upon a time. She was risking that mistake – and would make him pay hugely if it did end up being one. He likely wouldn’t be able to walk to get away this time. Luc forced his smile to dim, too much smug wouldn’t help his cause. ”Be optimistic, Ingrid, you won’t regret this,” he promised. Luc lifted both hands in a sign of surrender, the penitent man. ”A spot at the table, I’ll take it. I won’t even crab too hard if she plays rough again. Shake on it?” There was a chance he’d regret it of course but he was already rising and holding his hand out to her. Oh, undoubtedly this would come with a written contract later but for now he knew a handshake would cement the offer to let him at least dip a toe back into her circle.
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INGRID NILSEN
Dragon
Posts: 47
Age:
Two Hundred & Eighty Nine
Occupation:
CEO Valkyrie Vali
Status:
Single
Partner:
Future: Luc Fornier
Played by:
Lissa
Last seen Nov 13, 2024 15:45:02 GMT
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Post by INGRID NILSEN on Jan 8, 2022 13:55:50 GMT
| Ingrid had thought that she wouldn’t ever see him again. They hadn’t parted in the best way after all. Though she silently wished him well. She had cared to a certain degree and wouldn’t voice it, especially not to him at the moment. He was certainly more than capable of getting all that he wished… she just hadn’t been willing to share her own success. Still wasn’t.
So to have him come back here begging for a place at her side again, had her quite confused. She could understand if his adventure hadn’t been a success, but it had been. Why was he willing to give that up, if he had gotten all the success that he wanted? She wasn’t going to make it easy on him either, and she told him that he knew exactly what she wanted to hear, ” Well begging would be a good start. I’ll draw the line at you kissing the floor though to beg for said forgiveness.” Ingrid agreed but felt as though she wouldn’t force him to entirely humiliate himself, no matter how tempting.
Asking aloud the questions that were bothering her. He left to find something, something that she couldn’t give him. He found it and yet here he was back here, wanting his job back. Why would she put herself back in that position again when he would inevitably get bored, and history would repeat. Though eventually as he could tell she was considering it and eventually conceded. Vocalising that she would likely regret this, and she glared at him when he stood and held out a hand to her. Looking up at him from her seat, ” Get out or I’ll change my mind.” Ingrid snapped dismissing him and ignoring the handshake. Her word was more than good enough and fairly soon enough the written contract would bind him in enough chains that the handshake would be obsolete.
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LUC FOURNIER
Dragon
Posts: 61
Age:
354
Occupation:
Security Operative/Businessman
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Ingrid Nilsen
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Jun 16, 2024 19:00:09 GMT
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Post by LUC FOURNIER on Feb 10, 2022 20:54:29 GMT
Somehow it was both worse and better than he’d expected. Some part of him had wanted more of a fight than this. Some heat to melt the ice that always seemed to gather a foot thick around Ingrid. He’d gotten part way through it the last time before he’d given up the fight. This time he’d hoped to chip through the last of it but now Luc could see that it was no thinner now than it had been the first time he’d set eyes on her. That cool beauty was still a kick in the gut, even with the added frost to her gaze. The imperious attitude filling the room – again expected – but not turned hard enough upon him to have him crawling across the ridiculously thick carpet to her yet. Was that an indicator that despite her bite there was still some small measure of affection there for him? Maybe.
Luc hummed lightly, glancing down at the carpet like he was measuring up for dropping down there. He’d likely to be picking the fibres of that stuff out of his teeth by the time he was done, irritating little nylon – knowing Ingrid it was probably something more expensive like imported merino from Italy – threads stuck deep in his skin. ”You wouldn’t believe a word of it anyway,” he murmured with some small measure of amusement. ”I’ll save us both from having to hear me faking it. Am I sorry that I left for a time? Not that way.” It was honestly as good as it was going to get. If he hadn’t left nothing would have changed anyway, they’d have just squabbled for a handful of lifetimes instead, until Ingrid tired of him regardless. This had been a firebreak, leaving room for new growth.
Those fingers that could’ve drive the pen right through him would tear that fresh growth out before those shoots had a chance to take if he wasn’t careful though. Luc dimmed his smile to just the right measure of satisfaction to avoid a grizzly end. He dropped his hand to the table, point a finger cautiously at the pile of papers she’d been signing. ”No contract? I guess some things don’t change … or is it just a quick way of getting me out if I do make you change your mind?” A loaded question that quite possibly be turned back around on him.
Pushing his way up instead, Luc leaned over the desk. Space between them still, he’d pushed things quite far enough today. Baby steps were what were going to get him back into his old spot – sorry Rowan, dedication to the big boss was only gonna get you so far. He turned on the charm in his smile, stopped short of pressing his lips to that marble stiff cheek. ”Look a little happy over it at least, Ingrid. This is going to be good for the both of us.” Well, if he made it through the inevitable probation that was.
Stepping back from the desk, Luc pressed both hands to his mouth and then spread them in his direction, like he was blowing her the kiss he wouldn’t dare plant on her here – or anywhere for a time. Back in the office was no guarantee of ending up back in her bed. A hundred years hadn’t addled his mind enough that he’d forget that. ”I’ll see you bright and early. If you’re lucky I might even bring you a coffee … boss.” A rakish blue eyed wink and Luc was strolling from the office. His first gainful employment in almost a hundred years. It felt good … strange, but definitely good. His replacement was hovering in her office, green eyes coldly following him. Luc waved at her too before he swaggered out, leaving Ingrid to curse his very name.
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