Grantaire is almost late for class. He has no idea in hell where the fucking R-Wing is because they'd just finished building it over the summer. Since he'd gotten lost, the only seat still available is right up at the front of the room. He groans inwardly, being at the front of the class means that he can't screw around and not pay attention. He has no idea why he'd taken this fucking second year class anyway, since it's not even something he needs to graduate. He'd just thought that since it was a Political Theory class, he'd be able to pad his marks a bit. He still thinks he'll be able to do so since Classics and Political Theory often use the same texts. He's graduating this year and needs to pull his marks up just a little if he plans to get into a Grad school, an idea he's been toying with for the past year. He'll need to apply by January and by then he'll have completed this class and hopefully gotten the marks he needs.

He settles into his seat and splays out his notebook and an assortment of pens. He glances quickly over to get a look at his neighbour and his breath catches in his throat. Beside him, he swears, is Apollo. He has golden curls that brush his ears, piercing blue eyes stare straight ahead with muscled arms sheathed in a red jacket. He looks strong, confident and serious. A slight frown plays about his brow and he has a stubborn set to his mouth. These things don't prevent Grantaire from noticing the gentleness of his features, nor the slight flush of his lips. Suddenly, Grantaire wants to do something to make this man smile. His blond neighbour is beautiful, he has a face as lovely as any woman's and an almost otherworldly quality. In short, Grantaire has no idea how it is that he's supposed to pay attention while in such close proximity to such a gorgeous being. Grantaire wants to stare all day and drink in this god, possibly even fall at his feet and worship but the Professor is starting and Grantaire's attention is unwillingly forced back to the front of the class.

Their professor begins by introducing himself as Dr Valjean and explains their syllabus like every single other professor in the history of University has done. Finally, when he's done explaining exactly what he expects in an essay, he turns to the texts. "Has anyone read any of these prior to this class?" Valjean asks curiously. Grantaire has, of course. You can't make it through three years of classics without picking up Plato's The Apology or The History of the Peloponnesian War but he's not about to lift his hand and proclaim his expertise. His alluring neighbour, however, does just that.

Their professor laughs and nods, "Of course you have, Enjolras. Okay, to those who have read some of this, I put forth this question: should we care about ancient politics?"

Grantaire rolls his eyes because the answer to this question is the most obvious fucking thing but his neighbour, the sun god, Enjolras, shoots his hand into the air. Clearly, he knows all of the answers. Grantaire is beginning to think that this class is going to be far more interesting than he'd anticipated. Of course, Professor Valjean calls on the blond to answer. "Because ancient politics have great bearing on the formation of the politics we partake in today," he states easily and Grantaire is struck by the confidence in his honey smooth voice. "Without ancient thinkers like Socrates, Hobbes or Rousseau, politics would be quite different today, or they might be the same as they had been in ancient times."

"Well, I'm not sure that they wouldn't have changed at all, but you're correct with the first part," Valjean states, and Grantaire spots Enjolras flush in his periphery and smirks. Apparently this guy is used to being right, all of the time but Grantaire has had professor Valjean before and he knows that this professor in particular doesn't gloss over it if a wrong answer is provided. "Ancient thinkers have made a drastic impact on current politics even though their works were unfortunately unavailable for a good part of history. Let's talk about Greece for a moment though," their professor continues and Grantaire half tunes him out. He's heard all of this before and he'd much rather keep an eye on his handsome neighbour. He's already heard about Thales and his wanting to find a common element that made up all of nature, he's learned of the monists and their many disagreements. He knows the origin of the word philosophers (philo sophists) and so he doesn't feel the need to copy down every single word that his professor is spouting. Instead, he watches Enjolras scribble down his notes quickly, seemingly able to not only remember all that's being said, but also being able to write it down. Grantaire would be impressed if he weren't so cynical.

Grantaire does take notes that are specifically about political thought but for the most part, he just listens. Finally, professor Valjean asks them, "Do we think differently than the ancient Greeks?"

As Grantaire has quickly come to expect, Enjolras puts his hand up to answer once more. Seemingly, he's the only one in the class other than Grantaire that knows anything since no one else is even attempting to answer. Since he's been given no other choice, Valjean calls on Enjolras again. He answers confidently, "I think we do. We have different priorities and social conventions, not to mention the way that technology has shaped us."

Valjean nods and smiles at him and Enjolras tries to hide his own smile. "Now, this is true, we do not think like them at this point in time but are we different from them?" he continues.

For a moment, Enjolras looks confused and Grantaire feels a smirk pull at his mouth. Enjolras nods, albeit he seems unsure of his answer. "Yes...?"

Without even lifting his hand, Grantaire feels propelled to speak out. "No," he states plainly.

Valjean's eyes are drawn to him and he says, "Care to elaborate Mister...?" It doesn't even phase him that Valjean has forgotten his name. Grantaire doesn't remember actually going to his evening classes overly often, and certainly he hadn't been entirely sober for those three long hours even if he had gone.

"Grantaire," he replies easily. "While we know much more about the world and science and which sorts of philosophy can be trusted and which strains are complete crap, we still don't know everything about the world. We make new discoveries all the time that completely negate different ideas that were once thought to be truth."

"But we still know so much more than they did, they worshipped Gods, believed in myths, and we've been affected by modern individualism..." Enjolras argues.

"We worship gods and believe in myths, or are you going to try and tell me that the bible is factual?" Grantaire replies, leaning toward his sparring opponent with a grin on his face. Already, this is so fun. He hopes that Valjean will allow them to continue a bit longer "We may have more knowledge than they did, but since we are constantly discovering new things, we are still in the same position."

"But-" Enjolras begins.

"Actually Enjolras, Grantaire is arguably correct. We aren't very different from the ancient Greeks. We're democratic, as was ancient Athens and we even still debate many of the same social justice issues. If you'd like to discuss this further, feel free to drop by my office," Valjean states.

Grantaire turns to look at Enjolras and smiles at him and his smile on stretches wider when he sees the scowl on Enjolras' face. From this moment, Grantaire is making it his mission to argue with Enjolras at any given moment because he's beginning to believe that this golden god beside him will look insanely hot, hotter than he is just normally, when he's flying off the handle in a passion. Grantaire needs to see this as soon as possible since in his mind, 'political passion' translates to 'wild in bed'. He turns back to the professor though, since class is still in session and he needs to at least pretend to be paying attention to something other than the blond beside him.

Valjean introduces their texts for the class, Sophocles' Antigone, Thucidides' The History of the Peloponnesian War, Plato's The Apology and Aristotle's On Politics. All of these Grantaire has studied at length and written about so he doesn't feel worried at all about the course. When the class finally ends, he tries to pack up quickly to catch Enjolras in the hall but by the time Grantaire gets out there, the blond has already disappeared. Grantaire is disappointed but gets over it quickly. He'll be seeing Enjolras again next week after all.

The rest of his week passes the same since it's just the beginning of the semester and all of his classes are basically just introductions. He signs up for his final year seminars and tries not to get too drunk at the student pub and fails utterly, making him hung over for almost every class he attends. He knows that he'll just have to tone it down once classes start in earnest. That doesn't stop him from hitting the bar come Friday night with his roommate and fellow Classics major, Marius. While Marius is on a mission to find some female company, Grantaire is only there for a good time.

As they wait for their drinks, certainly not the firsts of the night, they talk about their classes.

"And then, Enjolras said that we are different than the ancient Greeks because we know more," Grantaire states. He grins at Marius amusedly. "But I totally shut him down and he looked so angry, and a bit like a sexier version of a muppet when he found out he was wrong!"

Marius' eyes go wide and he says, "You had a debate with Enjolras in class and you're still alive? Don't you know how dangerous that is?" Their drinks arrive at this point and they take them and head over to a booth so as to continue their conversation. "I had intro to Politics with him and he was scary, dude. I swear, I disagreed with him once and I thought he was going to pull my soul from my body with his glare!"

"Well it's a good thing I was born without a soul," Grantaire replies before laughing deeply.

"I was on his debate team for extra credit. He's a nazi, a genius, of course, but a nazi nonetheless," Marius adds.

"You mean you worked closely alongside him and didn't tell me that your debate partner had the hotness rating of a god?" Grantaire implores. "I can't believe you, Marius. I thought that we were friends."

"I hadn't noticed," Marius replies accompanied by a shrug, in his defense.

"Oh yes, I'd forgotten that you're so straight you can't even objectively ogle a man," Grantaire replies. "You really are missing out, Marius, since Enjolras is a fucking fine piece of ass," he adds before drinking deeply from his cup. "Jesus Christ, why don't they make these things bigger?" he asked referring to his now empty glass.

Marius just shakes his head and drains the rest of his as well. "I'll go get us another," he states as he stands and makes his way back over to the bar. Grantaire just leans back against his seat as he waits. The bar is beginning to fill up so it takes Marius an inordinately long time to return. When he does, he has drinks for both of them as well as a tray full of shots. Grantaire grins at him and reaches for his drink. Marius sets everything down on the table and says, "I just saw Eponine head toward the dancefloor, I'm going to go after her," he says with a smirk.

Grantaire just shakes his head. Eponine goes to the college attached to the University part time since she takes care of her younger brother Gavroche. She has a huge thing for Marius but he doesn't seem to notice her feelings and continues to take her home when he doesn't want to put forth any effort to find someone else. Grantaire feels bad for her because she's a nice girl but what the two of them do behind Marius' closed door is none of Grantaire's business.

Now he's been abandoned with a tray of shots, no less. He thinks that he should possibly find someone to share them with since if he keeps them all to himself he won't be able to walk, much less make it home later. It's then that he sees a shock of blond curls moving toward him. When Enjolras gets close enough, Grantaire grabs the sleeve of his red jacket. Enjolras looks down at him, shocked, before his face hardens.

"Enjolras," Grantaire says smoothly. "I seem to be lacking in company and in possession of an excess of alcohol. Join me?" he asks.

Enjolras eyes him for a moment and then takes a look at the rows of shots and nods. "I suppose I can spare a moment or two," he states before sliding into the booth across from Grantaire. "Grantaire, right? We have Great Political Questions II together with Valjean." It's not a question but Grantaire still nods and pushes one of the shot glasses toward his new partner. "I haven't seen you in any of my other Politics classes..."

"That's because this is my very first. You see, I'm a political virgin," Grantaire replies with a grin. He takes his own tiny glass and lifts it toward Enjolras who lifts his own and clinks the two together before tossing it back and setting the glass back onto the table.

"Then what is your major?" the blonde asks like it's the most important information that they'll exchange all evening.

"Classics," Grantaire replies. "I assume you're Politics?"

Enjolras nods, "no wonder you have an understanding of the texts. I was afraid I'd be in a class filled with brainless idiots. Even though Valjean shut me down, I still think you're wrong."

Grantaire laughs because really, he doesn't want to argue this point anymore, but he is open to others. "Whatever," he states. "Where do you stand on the state of nature issue?" he asks as he pushes another shot glass toward Enjolras.

The blond's eyes light up at the question and he leans toward Grantaire, fingers barely brushing the glass. Grantaire had been right. Enjolras isn't even in a passion yet and already he looks so good that Grantaire wants to devour him. "Hobbes is a fool," Enjolras states to begin and Grantaire can't help but scoff at him. "He's a complete fool. We don't need a state to protect us from violent death. If we were stateless, I believe that we would form communities and live peaceably together, if not intelligently."

Grantaire shakes his head. "How is it possible for anyone to believe that?" he asks. "Clearly, Hobbes is correct in the Leviathan. We need protection from each other. I bet the only thing stopping most of the men in here from carrying off their women is the fear of punishment for any untoward actions. The only thing stopping them from breaking into a store and just taking everything they need is because we have people that police them. It would be complete anarchy without the state and we'd both likely be dead." He motions toward the shot glass and picks up his own. "Human beings are corrupt in nature, and without the state we would have complete anarchy."

Enjolras takes up his own shot glass and drinks it back then leans even closer. Grantaire feels himself heat up at their proximity. Enjolras really is unfairly attractive. He watches as Enjolras licks his lips before he begins to speak. "Are you truly such a critic? Do you have faith in nothing?" the blonde asks. "How can you not see that it is only a minor amount of people that are corrupt and over all, at our core, we want peace and equality and freedom?"

This makes Grantaire actually laugh out loud. "You can't be serious," he states. "I will say that we could possibly form some sort of primitive communities but we would need them not for companionship but to protect us from other communities. We are terrified of the repercussions of being free, which is why every single human being signs the contract to belong to the state. We don't want our freedom, we want our property, we want our houses, we want our privacy and our possessions."

The conversation flows from there, slowly moving from the state of nature to the dimensions of the public and the private and they eventually move back to the Greeks, since inevitably everything always comes back to the Greeks. It seems that he and Enjolras disagree on basically every single point that comes up. The truth of this doesn't surprise Grantaire. It's obvious that Enjolras is one of those optimistic, wants to change the world type of people where Grantaire is, in no uncertain terms, not. This time, it's Enjolras pushing one of the two final shots toward him and taking the other up into his own hands. "How can you not have been moved by the allegory of the cave?" he asks before tipping his back back once again and swallowing down the shot. Grantaire is so distracted by the movement of Enjolras' neck as the liquid works its way down his throat that he almost forgets the question. It's only when Enjolras stares at him blankly that Grantaire remembers that he should be answering him.

"I need a smoke," he says instead, "I'll be right back."

Grantaire stands and heads toward the door, already working his cigarettes out of his pocket and sliding one into his mouth. He doesn't notice that Enjolras has followed him until he leans up against the fence and lights up. "That'll kill you, you know," Enjolras states.

"Something's got to. We all die eventually," Grantaire replies as he blows the smoke out of his lungs. "In answer to your question, the allegory of the cave is a completely romantic notion of reality. There is no reality, we just think there is because we're all too stupid to realize that our lives are meaningless and soon enough we'll just be corpses rotting in the ground."

"But the shadows on the wall are their reality, until they escape and realize how much more is out there," Grantaire's golden god proclaims as he moves to lean against the fence as well. "The idea is so inspiring, there's so much more out there that we don't know..."

"Fuck that," Grantaire replies. "The only thing out there is more heartache unless you stop feeling."

"And is that what you did? Let yourself turn to ice because you couldn't handle the fire?" Enjolras asks and Grantaire snorts. "I think you're just a cynic, Grantaire. You claim that you believe in nothing but everyone believes in something."

"I'm beginning to believe in you," Grantaire replies honestly. "Not the same things as you, but you nonetheless."

Enjolras' eyes go wide and Grantaire only has a moment to see the comical look on his face before he starts laughing, almost choking on the smoke in his lungs. For a moment, Enjolras is entirely too close to him, their chests almost touching and the air between them being shared. Once again, Grantaire goes hot all over and he tosses his cigarette away even though he's not even nearly finished it. Enjolras seems to notice as well and moves impossibly closer. It's at that very moment, the moment that Grantaire is about to close the few millimeters of distance between them that he hears his name being shouted by someone who is far too closeby. In that instance, the moment is shattered and Enjolras is pulling away from Grantaire and revealing a very drunken fucking Marius behind him, one with an equally drunk Eponine clinging onto his arm.

"Me and 'Ponine are taking a cab back home, you want to share or are you staying?" He asks, slurring his words sloppily.

Grantaire looks over toward Enjolras and shrugs. "I think I'm good, Marius," he states. "Now get out of here, I'm busy."

Marius concedes but not without noticing who it is that Grantaire is with and smirking at him. "Have fun, 'Aire," he says before leading Eponine away, toward the front of the building.

Grantaire watches them for a moment before glancing back to Enjolras who is leaning against the fence heavily now and looking up toward the starlit sky. "I need to go," he admits. "I never drink like this."

"No," Grantaire protests, "we were having such a good conversation."

Enjolras smiles at him for a moment but then looks positively sick. "I came here looking for Combeferre to make sure he didn't get too drunk to work on our debate tomorrow and instead I do exactly what I didn't want him to do," he says like Grantaire even cares. "I really do have to go," he adds as he pushes himself off of the fence uneasily. Grantaire moves forward to help guide him since it really does seem like Enjolras is far too drunk to be walking anywhere on his own. Grantaire would tease him about being such a light weight, since he'd only had four shots, but he doesn't because he's too distracted by their proximity.

"I'll get you a cab, then," Grantaire states, leading him toward the front of the building. If he's lucky, he can still get in with Marius and Eponine.

Enjolras, however, shakes his head and moves toward the side entrance. "I live close by, I'm just going to walk."

"You won't make it anywhere by yourself, I'll come with you," Grantaire replies. He gets an arm around Enjolras' waist and feels the blond lean on him heavily.

"You've had just as much as me," Enjolras replies.

Grantaire laughs. "More, but unlike you, I make a habit of doing this regularly," he states before lighting another cigarette.

Enjolras hadn't been lying, he does live close to the bar and they're at his house within minutes. Enjolras struggles with his keys momentarily but eventually does get his door unlocked without any additional help. Once the door is open and light from the hallway is flooding out into the dark night, Enjolras turns around to face Grantaire. "Thank you for your help," he says. "I'll see you in class."

Grantaire nods and utters his own goodbye before Enjolras closes the door. At this point, Grantaire heads back toward the bar to see if he can find himself a cab. He really doesn't want to go back home because Marius and Eponine have the tendency to be loud but it's not like he has the choice anymore, now that Enjolras has abandoned him. He just can't believe how close he'd been to kissing the blonde, Apollo, as he's begun to call him in his head. If only fucking Marius hadn't interrupted them at the most inopportune moment, then perhaps Grantaire and Enjolras would be making noise of their own right now.

Grantaire shrugs it off as he arrives back at his home, after waving down an empty cab about a block from the bar. He'll be sharing this class with Enjolras for now at least. Hopefully he'll have many more opportunities to get into his sun god's pants over the course of the semester.