Your Mistake Was Speaking French

[Priya Kaur]

Thanks to a certain little kitty, Priya had found out all about the Bellefontes' secret council. Those poor fools hadn't even seen her coming. one after the other, they'd succumbed to Priya's charms. In fact, she even had the video to start sending, essentially with a note thanking Elsa and Erika for providing her with such succulent dishes. Only a handful remained.

Priya didn't even want to approach Beauregard LaRoux and Elizabeth Edison. she'd heard that they'd gotten engaged over the holiday, and also that they were nearly sickening perfect. Priya might have been able to sway one or the other, if she could figure out which was the weak link. But they'd all but merged together into some sort of strange, bimorphorous creature.

Fortunately, there was another boy, and he just happened to be French on top of it.

Priya actually set a trap for this one, as she had before. It was a bit trickier, but she'd discovered his particular dorm room and then swayed someone's emotions to mess with his personal computer. It wasn't that difficult to get its language set to Hindi. Then she'd arranged things so that technical support would point out that it would be easier to just seek out the director of the Indian school.

So all Priya had to do was sit in the dorm lounge, reading a book in her native tongue, and wait.

[François Laffont]

Franck was in at the computer, minding his own business, meaning to do some research for a work but, also, ready to check his mail and see if any of his French friends were on to chat with them. Of course, it would have been possible, perhaps, is his computer didn't end up acting very weird. Whatever those symbols were, Franck could not understand them. He supposed it was some form of language, the kind that was actually written and spoken somewhere in this world but he used a different alphabet and he’d be damned if he knew what it was. He tried to fix it, trying to remember the different buttons and their meanings. But he couldn’t get the language and set it back to something he could understand. French preferably, but English could do too. Anything but that.

Franck did fear if he didn't get a virus. He had one in his computer before and Evan helped him out with it and Franck did everything he should to help prevent that but it was not impossible. That or someone hacked into his computer but he couldn’t believe it. He saw no reason why his computer would be hacked. There was nothing worth hacking it for.

He finally managed to get some technical support and they said it was Hindi. Knowing it was an actual language was nice but it obviously didn’t help. He was then suggested to talk to the director of the Indian school, as she happened to be here. Franck remembered vaguely the woman but he couldn’t for sure if she really was the director. Anyway, he needed some help and if she could read those symbols and set the language back to French, he didn't mind seeking her help.

So he left in search of this director person. He wasn’t certain of her name but at least he knew she was a woman. Then again, there mustn’t be a lot of Indian adults around here. He was pointed out in the direction of the dorm lounge and Franck headed there. There, he saw a woman who might fit the image he had of the director of the Indian school. The fact she was reading a book with symbols resembling those on his computer comforted him in his idea. “Excuse me,” he said as he stood not too far in front of her. “Are you, by any chance, the director of the Indian school?”

[Priya Kaur]

Priya delayed looking up from her book, even as she heard the young man approaching. She certainly knew he happened to be coming, but she didn't see any reason to give the slightest hint at that. Her web had been woven: the fly could come buzzing into it and get good and stuck before anything happened.

The actual voice, polite, French, caught her attention, and she looked up from her book. A lazy smile spread across her features as she admired the boy. Ah, yes, so very attractive. This would be quite pleasurable indeed: she'd only been dealing with the fair females of Elsa's cute little group. She already started focusing on him, wanting to get a read on his emotions, maybe even start increasing his curiosity. She could already feel herself getting quite pleased.

"I am, by chance, the very person," she practically purred, recrossing her legs in a way that usually drew plenty of attention to them. "My name is Priya Kaur, and I don't believe I've had the pleasure?" she raised a brow, looking quizzical though nearly scoffing inside. As if she didn't know Francois Laffont.

[François Laffont]

Since the woman was deep into her reading, he feared he might be disturbing her or something. But he needed some help and he doubted it would take that long. Just some way to read this alphabet he didn’t understand a single thing of so they could switch it back to a language he could read.

Getting curiosity out of her as he called out for her attention was not something he didn’t expect but there was something about her that made him twitch slightly. With some luck, it would be mistaken for his nerve acting up as he disturbed her. It wasn’t much and probably irrelevant. He was well aware that the smallest of thing could trigger an emotion. How often did he feel lust sparking up from someone just because a person they found real sexy passed by? For all he knew, it was due to the book she was reading. It wasn’t like he could tell what it was, he couldn’t make up the title. He chased this awkwardness easily. He was used to it as he got all sorts of strange emotions anytime he approached someone.

He ignored the leg movement and focused on looking at the woman in the eyes, relieved to hear she was the director and that she was not going to turn him down because he disturbed her. It wasn’t like she really had to do anything to him, after all. “Oh, yes, pardon me. My name is François Laffont. But I often go by just Franck...” He said the last part out of habit, as he normally always told people to call him Franck. He had no idea if pronouncing his name would be hard to her. But he did realise that, as an adult and a staff member, she probably didn’t call students by nicknames and it made him feel uncomfortable for this mistake of his. He cleared his throat to try and chase this feeling away. “Actually, I... I was wondering if you could help me? My computer, for some reason, is locked to hindi and I... well, I don’t really understand that language,” he explained. Obviously, his discomfort didn't entirely leave him. He chuckled at his own nervousness. “I was told it might be easier to ask the director for help. If you don’t mind.”

[Priya Kaur]

He... ignored her leg movement? Priya frowned, feeling a spike of irritation in that. People did not ignore her movements like that. Ah, wait, there was some discomfort there. Priya could work to ease that, sliding a bit in as she heard his introduction, nodding along with the words. She could quite easily pronounce his name if she wanted to, though she probably wouldn't: it was beneath her to use such language, even if she did intend to drag the young man down to quite a level of familiarity.

"Francois is a much more pleasant name," she offered, using just the right amount of accent. She paused as she heard him explain, outlining precisely what she expected to hear. Though she pasted a look of concern on her face, even as inwardly she fought the urge to start purring like a cat. She knew she'd have to work on controlling her emotions a bit more: she'd heard that the boy was an empath after all. She'd just have to work up that lust...

...so where was the attraction? Or at least the curiosity? Oh, how she hoped he wasn't asexual, those were  always such a pain. "I'm certainly willing to help a student," she said, gesturing graciously. "I find that it's often a responsibility to make sure to instruct on all elements of life," she added a sly little smile to that, letting her voice drip with a little innuendo. She looked about. "Is it a laptop, or did you need to me to go somewhere? Like your room, perhaps?" And yes, a little more innuendo in there, at least enough to get him started thinking in that direction.

[François Laffont]

The irritation he clearly got from Priya was to him nothing more than the fact he disturbed her. He didn’t know her so it was hard to judge if it was too much irritation for something that little. People reacted differently and who knows, it might be a really good book.

His name was not the hardest French name to pronounce. He wasn’t making them try to say Guillaume, his second name, for example, as it would be painful for everyone involved. But he still tried to make it easier for people to call him. There was also the fact that saying he S as you normally did in English would turn him into a girl and he would much rather remain a boy. He was pleasantly flattered though that she got it right. Then again, he just told her how to pronounce it. Still, he liked the compliment and even said a timid thank you to her in response.

Again, reading an emotion that was different from the one the face showed was not something he was unused to. He didn’t expect her to take great concern in his problem. She wasn’t even a staff member of this school so he assumed she had no obligation to help him. But the emotions he got underneath... left him puzzled and probably frowning slightly. One more time, he reminded himself that he didn’t know her thus making it hard for him to know for certain what could be the cause of the feelings he got from her.

He tried to push it aside as he smiled at her. She agreed to help and he was relieved. To her dismay, Franck didn't get her hints as to what she wanted to do with him. He nodded, agreeing with her but thinking she meant her language and not something else. “It is a laptop,” he confirmed. “I brought it with me.” Franck dug in his bag to pull it out. He had been debating for a while if he should get a computer or a laptop. He did get a hard drive at home, for backup but he thought it might be good to get one he could take with him, just in case. The school had computers but they didn’t have one for every student here and he didn’t intend to kick anyone out of a computer to get one for himself. Not to add that it was best to have his own programs and files.

[Priya Kaur]

Priya felt her irritation rise as she kept searching Francois' feelings, looking for something that she could actually manipulate. The eagerness, perhaps? That could sometimes be twisted but, well, he already seemed to be so professional and just... aware of the situation. Priya shifted her legs again, subconsciously adding a little more appeal and notice to the motion than was strictly necessary.

She tapped her fingers against her leg while he kept going, dragging out the laptop. She looked at it with decided disinterest. Fixing it would be painfully simple. "You say it's just in Hindi?" she asked, arching a brow. "I'm afraid I couldn't do much more than the basics," a complete lie, "I'm more of a people person than a machine one," at least that was alright. "But you know all about that, don't you Francois? I've heard such good things, and you're quite handsome too."

There, toss out a few compliments, work him up, see the reactions that inevitably came from it. He was a puzzle that Priya was determined to solve or, at the very least, break.

[François Laffont]

Okay, she was irritated now and Franck didn’t really get why. She seemed so eager to help him out a moment ago. Did he do something to displease her? Even so, he figured it would only take a moment and she already agreed to help. He couldn’t get what might have happened for her to feel like this all of a sudden. He thought he had been polite, so what more could she ask of him?

“That’s what I’ve been told. It does look a lot like the symbols written on your book,” he explained, looking at the book she had with her. He frowned when she claimed it might be hard for her to help. At first, he thought she meant the language and found it weird then that she could read a book without any dictionary nearby but he then supposed she meant she knew little of computers. He was about to say that he could take care of that and work things out if she could just translate for him but her next words caught him off guard. Knowing all about that? Machines? Not really. But even more, hearing good things of him and adding that he was handsome. He startled slightly at this. “Oh, well, hm...” he began to say, surprised that a staff member could address to him with such words. “Thank you, I guess?” He had no idea how he should react to someone of her status telling him that. Any student telling him the same thing, he would have tried t nicely explain to her he was not interested but he could not believe Priya said that because she was interested in him. It was not right.

“I’m more of a people person as well but I’m sure we can figure out where to switch the language back to French. I just need someone to translate what it’s saying for me.” Yes, it was best to get back to his problem at hand and then leave and possibly forget what happened. Or ask Erika what was going on with this woman.

[Priya Kaur]

...

Why wasn't this working? Priya felt her frustration mounting further. Usually she at least got some sort of reaction but this young man seemed almost too savvy. Even if he were an empath, he couldn't possibly be this aware of his emotions and hers.... could he? No, he'd have to be...

No.

No, Priya couldn't have made such a glaring miscalculation. She nodded, half-paying attention to what the boy asked as he went. She knew what needed to be done after all: this was just a scene playing out, one where Priya had thought she knew the ending. Instead she found out that someone had written some sort of twist. no sense of flattery, no real discomfort, as if having an attractive woman flattering him had no effect. Yet he claimed to be a people person.

Fuck. Priya licked her lips, figuring she had one last gamble. If he was... what she suspected, then that, mixed with his emotional savvy, mixed with his power... made him her Kryptonite... She should have seen this coming: she'd done her research, had the cat spy. So Priya moved to look at the computer, pulled it up...

and then attempted to slam Franck with raw lust.

[François Laffont]

Franck was getting more uncomfortable by the second. He didn’t understand why she was so frustrated. He had the feeling she was because of him and it only made him more puzzled. He did nothing to this. Had he been one to easily lose his temper, he probably would have lashed out on her. Instead, he tried to keep it bottled. Franck even started to get a little scared of the woman. This sudden irritation, he feared what she would do about it.

Priya succeeded on hitting him with lust. Sadly for her, being lustful did not mean he lusted after her. He couldn’t want her. Franck had no idea where this lust was coming from. He quickly looked around, but he couldn’t see someone nearly ripping someone else’s clothes off because of sudden desire they could no longer contain. He didn't think at first that Priya could be responsible. Her emotions were too cold, too calculating. He was in an embarrassing situation however and he tried to hide it as best as he could. He grabbed a seat and sat next to her, placing his bag on his lap. At least it was not apparent anymore. The lust was still there however and Franck couldn’t focus on Priya or the computer while he was struggling with it. Who made him want some skin so badly? Because, right now, he really wanted some.

“I’m, I’m sorry. I’m not feeling so good all of a sudden,” he let out after a time. Did she talk? He had no idea. He tried to turn his attention back to the computer but he simply couldn’t.

[Priya Kaur]

Well, Priya felt the lust building, so at least she knew that on some level, her powers were working. However, that felt... repressed, and not in the way that so many people did around her. It didn't feel like "oh, this is my teacher" repression, or some sort of Catholic guilt. It felt almost as if he were feeling the arousal totally separate from Priya, as if the feeling were wholly manufactured...

which meant that he had a very good chance of figuring things out, especially if he picked up Priya's frustration and momentary burst of realization and panic.

"oh, it's quite alright," she said quickly, waving a hand. When was the last time she'd been a position this dangerous? She couldn't recall, but she knew what needed doing. She needed to extract herself from this as quickly and as easily as she possibly could. Otherwise Franck would be in a position to figure out too much. So her fingers began flying across Franck's computer keys, her near desperation starting to come through.

However, Franck's keyboard was not set to Hindi, meaning that Priya even had to spend a few moments figuring it out. She forced herself to get a little more flustered at the keyboard, figuring that perhaps she could hide behind that instead. At the same time, she tried to cool Franck down, diminish things, though her own power was split in such a way that the strain was proving to be quite noticeable.

[François Laffont]

Since no one seemed to be on the verge of having sex in this room, Franck came to the conclusion this feeling was suggested on him by someone. Some sort of emotional influence, not something he would feel on a person, more like something whispered at his ear. He had no idea who could be doing this to him and for what purpose though. What was the point in giving him a boner in front of this woman? Sure, it was kind of embarrassing, but it was ridiculous. It was not the only thing he didn’t understand however. The woman next to him was also acting strange. This anger, coming out of nowhere, and the panic he felt for a brief moment...

He didn’t know Priya but he didn’t trust her. He even started to fear her a little as he did think for a moment that she could be responsible for all he felt right now. It didn’t make sense though. Why would she try to get him so lustful? She was a teacher, no more, a director! This was too out of line for Franck to think that some people might not care as much as he did.

“Excuse me asking...” he said, breaking the silence that came between them while she worked on his computer. “Is everything alright?” He winced as he realised it might sound out of place for a student to ask that to someone in her position. Even if it wasn’t, it was also rather cryptic to suddenly ask that. “It’s just... you see... I’m an empath and, well, you seemed...” Further hesitation as Franck tried to find an adjective that would not insult her but also remained accurate. “upset, over something.” He had no idea what was going on but he could tell one thing, there was something wrong. The more she tried to concentrate on his computer and calm down what she caused in him, the more Franck was comforted in his feeling that this was not right, at all.

[Priya Kaur]

Priya's fingers continued to move, though she hit the backspace almost as much as she hit everything else. Were she calmer, she no doubt wouldn't have had nearly as much trouble orienting herself to the keyboard and dealing through things. She was fighting against her own panic and emotions as well as the stupid computer, and the rising curiosity and confusion from Franck certainly wasn't helping matters.

His question drew Priya from her task, her head swiveling. "Hmm?" she managed, her expression quizzical. "OH, everything's quite fine," she half-lied, waving a hand airily. It took a fair amount for her to steel herself, to push down those emotions and tamp them into something much calmer. Yes, he was an empath, and clearly a homosexual one. For a moment, Priya  was tempted to unload upon him. However, that struck her as... unwise for the time being.

"I'm just upset that such a thing could happen," she lied, nodding and turning back to the laptop. There, the screen. She now just had to fight the touch pad and get things in order. At least that much didn't require a keyboard; Priya had at least used touch-screens before. Yes, things were certainly going smoother, surely he wouldn't catch on, not at all...

[François Laffont]

Franck didn’t really pay attention to what the woman was doing. She could be digging through his personal files right now, he was too busy trying to figure everything out to really care. Something was definitely wrong and Franck wished he could talk of it with someone. Maybe like this he might be able to understand better what was going on, if it really came from Ms Kaur or if it was some prank played on him. Deep down, he knew it was not some prank. Had he been the only one feeling something out of place, he would have believed it but no one would be crazy enough to force emotions on a teacher, let alone the director of another school. Still, who could he talk of this about? He felt like he was making a mountain out of a molehill. He needed to calm down, then he would figure out if it was worth talking about it. Then he would have another dilemma, who he should talk of it with.

Everything was not as fine as she pretended it to be but it was a lie Franck heard too many times to really hold it against the woman. Her negative emotions lowered in intensity, it would seem but Franck remained focused on her. He always thought it was wrong to do that, to let his power read into someone’s emotions yet here he was doing it. On Priya Kaur no less! She had been too upset for it only to be because of his computer.

While she was taking care of turning the language back to French, Franck tried to put his thoughts into place. There was something animalistic about Priya. At first, he thought she wanted to eat him. Now, he still believed it but in an entirely different, more grim manner. The answer was there, in his head, but it was too ludicrous for him to believe it. Besides, how could she have caused the lust inside of him? Maybe he could ask Erika, or Elsa, what they thought of her. No, they would then ask him why he asked about her and he didn’t want to cause the woman any trouble if she did nothing wrong. “I’m sorry. I think I’m not feeling too well,” he said as he buried his face in his hands. “Can I... would it be alright if I go out for a moment? Just a minute a two?”

[Priya Kaur]

Priya kept working, remembering at just the last minute that she needed to switch the language to French, not English. Being around all these Americans had set her into something of a one-track mind, and she'd been focusing more on getting through this with her plans and her dignity at least somewhat intact. The actual "goal" had become decidedly secondary.

Priya tapped a last few keys, pausing to look up. "By all means," she said, gesturing magnanimously. In fact, she added another little emotion in there, a suggestion of tension that would release the moment he got away: certainly close enough to what he was feeling now, to be certain. "I'll have  this done a few moments, so if you'd just let me know where you'd like it, we can be finished."

And Priya could slink off to rethink her plan of attack, and to potentially consider how she could manipulate someone when her easiest, most powerful route was blocked to her.