Eclair de Bordeaux's Story

Eclair could hardly believe the night. The infamous Black Cats had stolen a painting yet again. A painting supposedly done by Leonardo di Vinci himself. "Narcissistic fool" The young woman murmured and then stopped in surprise. She couldn't know that and why did she spout nonsense about the renaissance artists. She shrugged and entered the police headquarters. A person at the front desk directed her on how to get to her new partner's office. As she entered the elevator, the info her boss gave on her new partner felt exaggerated.

"He's obsessive and paranoid. The guy also is one of those genius types who are bad with people and hardly take care of themselves. Now considering your type of persona and view of things you could be able to actually work with it, I mean him. His superiors wantedy help on this nut and you just might be able to crack him." The boss slammed his hands on his desk. "Starting tomorrow your new partner is Theodore Valentine!"

The brunette sighed and walked down a hallway. She stopped at a room and tried the doorknob. It was unlocked. Elclair opened the door and glided in.

The room was dark, a single lamp illuminating the place. As her eyes adjusted to the lack of lighting, she could see a figure smoking and in thought. The mess on his side of the room creating the perfect scene, Eclair wanted to create a sketch right now. But business brought her back from wishful thinking. "Excuse me...I'm Eclair de Bordeaux. I've been assigned as your new partner." Her voice was even, but inside she was nervous on what to expect.

Theodore was pulled from his thoughts with the sound of the door creaking quietly opening. For most, the act of someone coming and going from their office would be commonplace, either by a partner or coworkers delivering documents or just to talk. That was not the case for the young DI. For all the world, his office seemed almost off limits, a place where he took himself away from the world to ruminate on whatever case was placed before him. Rumor had it that if someone interrupted his concentration, he would blow up at them, shouting abuse and maybe even throwing something if their reason for being there wasn't deemed good enough. Such a thing had never happened, of course, but it was a rumor that Theodore himself did nothing to dispel. That way, even on slow days, he could hide away in his office to do homework. So, the noise of the door opening was altogether unfamiliar and probably meant that there had been a break in the case or one of his superiors was coming in to badger him about a press conference (which he had steadfastly refused to hold; he was no friend of the media, especially in this case) or to ask him when he'd finally catch the art thieves.

Wrong on all counts, he realized as he glanced up. In the dim lighting, illuminated by the hallway's lighting fixtures, stood a girl, well, a girl compared to the other women working at the police head quarters. She was short and pretty like one of the porcelain dolls his grandmother insisted on collecting with her flawless skin and icy blue eyes. He hadn't seen her around before, unsurprising given his habit to not socialize with a majority of his coworkers and even those others mostly for cases or the occasional expedition to a pub.

"Excuse me...I'm Eclair de Bordeaux. I've been assigned as your new partner."

The first thing that hit him was her name. Not that it sounded familiar, but her name was Eclair like the pastry. Even the though of food sent his stomach grumbling, echoing loudly in the otherwise silent space. His eyes wandered to the digital clock next to his desk(he'd had to put it there once he needed more room actually on the desk). Noon already? He rubbed his eyes. He'd been locked in here for at least nine or so hours then.

"You're my new babysitter then," He commented, a wry smile crawling onto his tired face as he took another drag of his cigarette, puffing the gray smoke in the opposite direction of his new partner. Partner. The higher-ups had tried this before and it had yet to work out. His partners often quit after a while, fed up with his behavior or irritated that they were being bossed around by someone younger and with less experience than them. Theodore stood up, stretching as he did so, and made his way past the mess that was his desk and around it, over to Eclair de Bordeaux.

"Nice to meet you, Bordeaux," He said, sticking his hand out for a handshake. She may be young, but if she was to be his partner, she was going to be treated like any other officer. "DI Theodore Valentine. You can call me Teddy, I guess. What do you know about the art thefts?" The change in conversation was quick, but it seemed fluid in Theodore's mind, still filled to the brim with stories about Renaissance artists, clever thieves, and obstinate teenagers.

Eclair giggled slightly when her new partner's stomach growled. He called her his babysitter and shrugged with a smile and sparkling eyes. The smoke he seemed to intentionly blew at her didn't bother much. "I'm here to work on the case. Thats all, and I guess to be honest...my boss said something along the lines of babysitting though." His wry smile could be expected. When he came up to her to shake her hand she briskly did so. He went straight to the case after that and she held out an envelope containing her evidence and notes. On top of the envelope she held out a ball of rice.

"I know that the suspects are self-proclaimed vigilantes who steal art to give to the public. Know as the Black Cats, their team consists of four people. One of the members is identified as a hacker, his or her hacking skills resemble one from a hacker years ago. The four students last night witnessed their most recent crime and gave a vague description of men all in black." She finished with a small smile as he looked her partner in the eyes.

"That's pretty much what I know. Not much help...but I've heard your not the type to take care of yourself so I suggest you eat before we carry on." She took Teddy by the wrist and placed the rice ball in his open hand. "This called onigiri by the Japanese. Inside the rice I filled it with bacon." She scratched her head awkwardly "it's a strange combo but its oddly satisfying." With that said she released her partner's wrist.

"I'm here to work on the case. Thats all, and I guess to be honest...my boss said something along the lines of babysitting though." Theodore quirked an eyebrow at the response, giving his new partner an appraising look after their brief handshake. Her grip was solid, unlike the frankly weak handshakes a lot of the people he met had. That was the most honest reply that he'd been given out of all of the people his superiors had lined up as partners. Generally the reply was a fake smile and hollow assurances that they were just here to help. Yeah. Right. He sent another cloud of smoke in the air, this time pointedly away from Bordeaux. If she had the courtesy to be honest with him, the least he could do was not send a cloud of second-hand smoke in her face.

"That's the short of it," He said after her brief summary, reaching out to take the envelope of evidence from her hands, only to be stopped when she grabbed his wrist, putting a ball of what appeared to be rice in his outstretched hand. He stared down at it blankly as she explained what it was. A Japanese food called onigiri? Filled with bacon. She was giving him food? Well that was unexpected. Well, unexpected but not unwelcome. His stomach rumbled again as if asking why he was staring at the food and not eating it.

"You heard right," He said at her comment about not taking care of himself, plucking the envelope from her grip with his free hand and, after stubbing out his cigarette in a slightly overflowing ashtray situated on his desk, taking a bite of the rice ball in his other. It was an odd flavoring, he didn't exactly eat a lot of Japanese food in Paris, but it filled his stomach and wasn't entirely unpleasant. Actually, it was pretty good, although that might just have been his empty stomach talking. The onigiri was gone in less than a moment as he sucked an excess grain of rice from his thumb.

"I think we're going to get along quite well, Bordeaux," He commented with a lop-sided smile, like she'd just passed a secret test. Which, in reality, she kind of had in that in the three minutes she'd been around him she'd proven to be a better partner then all of the past occupants of the job combined.

"Your desk is over there," He said, gesturing towards the empty side of the room, kept neat and clean in a dramatic contrast to his own side filled to the brim with trash and mostly paperwork. He was about to settle down again when his stomach let out another loud grumble. He sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. The onigiri may have been filling, but he was practically running on empty. When had he last eaten? Yesterday morning? The night before that? He couldn't remember, but his body was insisting that he eat something else, the rice ball only having served the purpose of whetting his appetite.

"You know what? Let's go out. We can walk and talk," He said suddenly, grabbing his suit coat off of the back of his chair and running a hand through his always messy hair. "I need a change of scenery..." He glanced at the empty styrofoam coffee cups and made a face, "And some real coffee."

Which he probably did. Well, the change of scenery at least. After been locked away in his office for hours on end, brooding over the failure from the night before and the taunting calling card with the emoji cat, there was little else to be done in his dark office. He shrugged his jacket on, slipping a carton of cigarettes and his lighter into his pocket as he meandered towards his door before turning his head to Eclair.

"You coming?"

Eclair smiled a little more. He didn't seem as bad as her boss described. It was exaggerated as usual. "If I had to put it in words...he really is like a teddy bear." The girl's mind was wandering again while her partner ate the onigiri. When he had finished he assured her she was right again., as well as said they would get along. "That's my specialty." She returned the grin.

As he gestured to her desk, Eclair wondered if she was his first partner. The desk was too neat and covered in a layer of dust. As she was about o comment his stomach once again growled. "You know in honor of own new partnership, I'm going to cook you a proper dinner tonight." She said with an awkward scratch to the back of her head again. Onigiri she made were usually filling, but if this guy was still hungry something was up. In her little moment again she hardly noticed him getting ready to leave.

Eclair nodded when he asked about going with him somewhere. Her eyes sparkled and she went along ahead holding the door open for him to get through. "A suggestion is this rumored cafe called the Black Cat Cafe. Odd how their name is so close to the culprits."

Almost immediately after they exited the building, Theodore wasted no time in pulling out another cigarette, lighting it with an easy familiarity. The streets of Paris paid no mind to the Detective and his new partner, carrying on as if nothing of great importance had happened the night before. Even the crime spree that had captivated the entire nation was only a drop of water in the ocean that was Parisian life. Oh, there were people discussing the Black Cat crimes together, but like idle gossip as people finished their daily shopping.

Which, in a way, was a good thing, Theodore thought as he puffed out a ring of smoke. The damn criminals didn't need anymore attention then they were already getting. Eclair and Theodore were lucky as they walked away from the police station; the media was still swarming at the University, eager to see the scene of the crime. Maybe a little later in the day they'd have to use the back entrance in an effort to avoid pesky reporters barking out questions, demanding answers they didn't have, and pushing cameras in their faces. He grimaced at the thought.

"A suggestion is this rumored cafe called the Black Cat Cafe. Odd how their name is so close to the culprits."

He paused for a moment, giving the young woman walking next to him a cursory glance before turning his gaze back to the crowds around them, making his way past business men on their lunch breaks and teenagers reveling in not being at school with the ease of a true city-dweller.

"That doesn't sound half bad," He admitted, having to speak up just a little bit to be heard over the noise filling the city's streets. Horns blaring, the chattering of a thousand people, and all of the sounds of people going about their daily business mixing together into an orchestra of pure noise. "Maybe it is the name, but I've been going there a lot since the case started. You know, I think it's really more for teen girls and bored housewives," He snorted in mild amusement, "And I'm usually the only guy there, but they've got some great stuff on the menu. Especially coffee." Coffee. He could use some more coffee right now. As invigorating as actually moving after hunching over his desk for God knows how many hours was, he could already feel the effects of caffeine fading from his system, the false high dissipating as soon as it had appeared. Really, it had been the only thing fending off the sleepiness that threatened to take over during the night, but he couldn't sleep. Wouldn't. There were things to be done and art thieves to be caught.