A/N: Well, this is the first chapter of my second fan fiction, which I started yesterday. I thought I'd just pop it up and see what you guys think. It's fairly different from the Risk deal; I tried to make it a bit more true to the period and the style's more serious (though it's still supposed to be a comedy). I tried hard to keep them in character, but, as I haven't really had much practice, I'm not sure if I succeeded.
Although I don't find this chapter as amusing as the second one (which I've written about half of), I figured I might as well get it out of the way.
Courfeyrac was ready to move in for the kill. For almost half an hour he'd been lounging across the street from a café, making eyes at a fetching brunette who sat at a well-shaded table, taking dainty sips from a glass of wine. Every so often, she would glance at him coyly, sometimes twisting a glossy lock of hair around her finger and making a pouting grimace, as if she were uncertain whether to accept the young man's advances.
At last, however, her eyes had lingered on him for several moments longer than usual and he had taken this for an invitation, confidence swelling in his breast as he started foreword. Mentally, he reviewed the strategy that he had devised upon first seeing the girl, hastily pieced together with the ease of practice. Attract notice. Check. Provoke interest. Check. Move in, perhaps with a charming bow and a flourish of the hat. His fingers twitched slightly as if the silken brim were already held between them. Hit her with one of his tried and true original pickup lines, or perhaps a line of Jehan's poetry, pilfered for just such an occasion. He couldn't help but smile as he continued forward, as always, delighted by the prospect of a new catch.
With only a few more steps to go before reaching his target, Courfeyrac absently stepped around a pedestrian and was surprised and mildly annoyed when the man moved back into his way. "Excuse me," he said testily, reaching out to shove the stranger aside.
"Did you get the eggs?" The man asked by way of a reply, his voice tinged with impatience.
"Eggs?" His eyes were still locked on the woman, as if he hoped that ignoring the newcomer would make him go away.
"Yes, eggs! I sent you to get eggs, remember?" Combeferre moved to block Courfeyrac's line of vision, making the girl disappear from his sight in a puff of pink lace. "Have you been here this whole time?"
Craning unsuccessfully for a view of his quarry, Courfeyrac was forced to admit defeat. With a sulky glare that would not have looked out of place on a much younger individual, he fought to keep a plaintive tone from voice. "I just stopped for a few minutes to look around. Surely that's no crime."
"Courfey," Combeferre said levelly, refusing to succumb to his own exasperation. "You've hardly even traveled three blocks. How can you call that 'a few minutes'?"
Unable to come up with a witty reply, Courfeyrac was forced to employ a retort that sounded lame even to himself. "I became distracted."
"Yes, I gathered." With a tug of the arm, Combeferre set his companion in motion, half-dragging him in the direction of the fresh market. "Do you realize that I had to leave Feuilly to look after the oven by himself? Feuilly! We'll be lucky if the Musain is still standing by the time we get back."
At this, Courfeyrac raised an eyebrow, clearly unsettled by the idea of leaving the little fan-maker alone with a heated kitchen implement. "Why didn't you just send him instead?" He inquired, plucking his sleeve from between Combeferre's fingers and fastidiously smoothing the fabric.
"Because you wouldn't have listened to him," was the reply, leaving Courfeyrac to wonder if perhaps Combeferre knew him a bit too well. "Besides, some famous fan-maker is displaying his wares today in the Tuileries, and Feuilly's been begging me to let him go. I was afraid that if I let him out the door we might not see him again."
"Good call," Courfeyrac remarked as they turned onto the Rue Saint-Jacques and began to stroll down its length, each step bringing them closer to the Place Maubert and the little cart of freshly laid eggs that waited there.
A/N: Coming soon: Chapter Two starring Feuilly and Bahorel…In a kitchen…Oh, dear.