In Paris, especially with the way the old buildings stacked rigidly upon one another, Julien Courfeyrac was lucky for there to be even a bit of space between his home and the one next to his. Most next door neighbors were exactly that- not a house away, a nice year to separate the homes, even a concrete walkway towards the door. No, here, you go up one floor or even the room next to you was where your "next door neighbor" lived. However, the young adult's living quadrant was at the end of the unit, a small window and sill protruding from the wall. Stationed just what he would estimate, give or take, seven feet away. The nook gave enough ways for people to weave in and out into alleyways, and on some nights, the boy was able to spot some pretty sketchy people.
But that is how he met Eponine, (And through her, Marius) one of his dearest friends. But the female was not of importance at the matter.
For it was the figure that moved in the window sill.
It was just a dreary day to be honest; dark clouds hung in the sky with possible threats to drench the streets. Hardly any sign of civilization scurried about. Even the rats knew better than to adventure in the gutters with a possible storm like this. So his mother forced him to study for his English test (Which in all honestly, he hated the too-fancy words that flittered across the pages.) In fact, the day was so uneventful even the usual chaotic sounds of his multiple siblings were notched down to a dull hum.
So when he saw figures moving in and out of the window, it more than shocked him.
When the form of a face caught the corner of his eyes, his hands jolted up and fumbled with the book, along with a not-so-manly shriek. He scrambled towards the end of the bed to pick up his book, pushing his unruly hair back in sheer embarrassment of the reaction. He had to double check the window just to make sure he wasn't crazy. Stealing a quick glance, only to whip his head around once more, his jaw lowered slightly.
A boy with almost silly hair (it was braided into a thin plait, while strands of fly aways poked out and almost gave him a frazzled look). He was pale, and his ash blond hair didn't make him look any darker, but from the the distant he could see he had a sharp jaw and a pinched nose. If he wasn't in shock at the fact that someone finally moved into the home next door, he would have bursted with a fit of chuckles at the number he was wearing. Just over his shoulder, Courfeyrac spotted crates and boxes that needed to be unloaded, yet the boy was busying himself with freshly potted flowers, adjusting them in a way that seemed almost obsessive. The tiniest of plants were placed in the middle, and each pot that flanked the other grew larger flowers.
Excited at the fact of the teen, pushed up his window, annoyed it was a bit resistance. He would have to find oil later to fix the hinges. He sat in place for a while, his weight placed on his arms that rested on the edge of the sill, causing his shoulders to hunch up. A very goofy and lopsided grin stretched out on his face because the way the boy still busied himself with his plants, not even giving Courfeyrac a single glance. He was about to speak up, but the other scurried off, disappointing the first immensely. In mid process of ducking his head back in, the boy reappeared, having moved his plants out of the way to sit on the sill. His back was facing Julien, but he twisted around and from his hands was what looked to be an old bowl from a bird bath. Inside it was a a plant that had leaves flowing out from the sides, tentacle-like ferns toppling over each other with flowers that sprinkled throughout the plant. He took the hook from top and attached it to the other, trying to balance out the weight.
"That's a lovely bush you got," Courfeyrac nearly shouted, wanting his attention. The boy with the pale skin nearly jumped, causing his grip on the hook to release. Both men watched at the bowl toppled over itself, crashing instantly to the ground. Courfeyrac on instant burst out laughing, but the other blushed profusely and held a face of pure horror. He never looked up, just stared and looked like he was nearly about to cry. This caused the darker haired one to stop, only stifling a few chuckles. "I'm sorry!" He yelped out, covering a fist over his mouth to stifle his peals of laughter. Settling down, he titled his head and pursed his lips into a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry- I really am. I was just trying to say hello." Courfeyrac felt encouraged once the other finally spared him a look. "Hey-tell you what. Tomorrow when I go out into town, I'll buy you a new one. Okay? Promise."
The other climbed back in, able to actually take a look at the other. His face was still blotchy from earlier, but the redness faded to a soft tint of pink. Courfeyrac noted it suited him well. "N-no, you don't ha-have to, really…" He stammered out, looking anywhere but his eyes. The other assumed he wanted to look at the remains of his smashed plant, or he was afraid of the other.
"No! I want to! I must." Courfeyrac protested in a rather cheesy manner. "It wouldn't be a gentleman if I didn't! But then again, it's odd for me to buy you something without even knowing your name." He trailed off, wanting it to be mistaken as simple rambling, but he threw it in slyly to find out the name of the adorable boy next door.
He took notice, his hands close together and long fingers tapping against the wood in a random pattern. "J-Jean Prouvaire. Th-that's my name, that is." He looked away, a small gulp trailing down his throat.
Courfeyrac crooked a smile, put replaced it. He repeated the name, becoming found of it instantly, "Jean Prouvaire," He drawled out, "I like i-"
"But you can call me Jehan!" He interrupted instantly, and almost a bit too loudly. He noticed this himself, eyes widening slightly and the blush creeping back in. "Sorry, I just pref-fer it over Jean. Jehan sounds nice…" He stated, and Julien couldn't help but melt at the fact he needed to justify his outburst.
"Well then Jehan, you can call my Courfeyrac. Julian Courfeyrac. Or just Julien. Usually go by Courfeyrac. Which do you prefer?" He smiled warmly.
Jehan smiled back, falling more into ease with the other. "I think I'll call you Courfeyrac. Just Courfeyrac."
Said boy smiled even wider, and the two stared at each other for quite a while. He noticed his eyes were green-no, he was certain they were silver. Looking closer, Courfeyrac swore they were blue, until squinting just a bit to notice their true colors. The colorless of blues, almost clear. He marked it down by Alice blue (He had a large collection of color names, mostly because Eponine once scolded him over his tactless choice of describing the color by either the sky or the ocean. A whole week he was chastised to learn certain names of different values and hues, and at the moment, he couldn't be happier he knew the different colors.) He didn't even knew he was staring at him for so long, and thankfully for him, neither did his companion, until a speck of rain stung Julien's nose. He blinked, eyes going cross-eyed trying to look at his nose, and shook his head. "Well Jehan," he pronounced the name oddly, delighted the way it felt on his tongue. "Tomorrow I'll meet you here and we can get ourselves some new flowers?" He offered, arms now lying on the sill. Jehan nodded, bidding him a farewell before closing his window, a single glance threw over the shoulder before stalking off. Courfeyrac sat there for a while at nothing, a ridiculous smirk on his face before snapping out of it and closing his own window.
Too excited, a weird feeling in his gut persisted him to not get comfortable and study during the drizzle. Instead he shrugged on a light hoodie and walked into the hallway, immediately attacked by one of his sisters. She was only a six and a total chatter box, going off about her world of unicorns and butterflies and Courfeyrac swung her from his arms, listening intently. His brothers were playing video games on the couch, one of his sisters reading and the youngest clambering off him to go color. Or do something- she spoke so fast it was hard to keep up. Instead he glanced at the clock, noting it was just a quarter after five, and knowing his parents would most likely be busy to cook dinner, Julien debated on whether to take the role of dinner duty or just feed them snacks to fight off their hunger.
It ended up with the five of them tangled over each other's limbs eating a mixture of grapes, apples, crackers, rolls, and a platter of chips watching Disney's "The Incredibles." He sent them all to bed sometime after, staying up in the kitchen to wash the dishes. His parents arrived in the middle of his time, his father hanging his coat up and grumbled a hello before sulking to bed, his mother kissing him swiftly on the cheek and thanked him before following her husband.
He was honestly too busy multi-tasking to notice their arrival; rapidly texting back the lyrics of "Know Your Rights" By the Clash to Grantaire, washing the dishes, having a civil discussion and correcting each other's false statements about the French government with Eponine, and rejecting Marius's calls. They were all about Cosette nowadays anyways, even if he adored the petite blonde, he just didn't want to hear about her twentyfour-seven. (He joked about it with his best friend, warning him he'd fall in love with her too if he heard more about her, but alas even the comment couldn't stop Marius' declarations of love.)
He turned his head up from his phone to ask his mom if she knew anything about the family that moved in next door, but by the time he did he realized five minutes ticked by. Instead, he decided that was enough phone for the day and placed the remaining dishes into the dishwasher, flicking the lights off and taking a quick shower only to pop himself into bed.
His room wasn't that big; one twin bed crammed into the corner, a desk with various shelves loomed over with trophies of different sports dwelled at the opposite side of his room. On the left of him was a bunk bed where his two brothers stayed, a closet for the three of them to share, and one small end table filling the gap between the beds. A lamb and things like pencils and paper pins littered the tiny space, with a window pouring in lights from the city.
That window wasn't the one he met Jehan. No, he had his own, smaller than the main one, but enough to climb out of. He used it on multiple occasions to sneak out of; it was perfect for the action too. A ledge was hefty enough for him to sit on, and several ones were placed strategically along the way. He was only three stories up, so if he made it at least two sills down he would be fine to jump. But across from his was Jehan's. He found himself staring at it now, the rain cleared but left a misty dew over the windows.
Unfortunately, he noticed a curtain that was now hung up, however thin enough to see a peek of light shining through. Light enough to see a small square that he swore wasn't there before. Sliding his window up (no easier, most likely because of before), Julien slipped out with the likeliness of a tom cat, clinging to the borders of the ledge and crouching low to it. Taking steps, he had to cross the gap between his own ledge and the others, peering closer towards the other window. On a neat slice of stationary, with cursive so neat and light, it forced Courfeyrac's lips to turn upwards in a smile. There were four sets of lines, placed in quotes that read,
"The pretty Rain from those sweet Eaves
Her unintending Eyes -
Took her own Heart, including ours,
By innocent Surprise"
And in bigger text that seemed to be more human, more like the writer itself, with bigger curves and an even added smiley to the end was,
"Good night Courfeyrac. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
In the corner was a small sticker of a flower. Obsessed with the words, the smile broaded as Courfeyrac flicked the paper, wishing a silent goodnight to his new comrade. He crawled back into his own home, the scent of rain and the words filling his head with pleasant dreams.
hi this is my current otp and im so done
COURFEYRAC WOULD BE A JULIEN OKAY he just reminds me of a julien. But since Jehan and Marius are the only ones with last names, I have to give the other's full names ;n; why hugo why
But here's a list on who I have so far
Enjolras- Gabriel
Combeferre- Just totally reminds me of a Maximus okay but I don't really wanna use that helP
Courfeyrac- Julien
yeah that's it :'D I'll think of more later don't worry 3
I think if you want to know the visuals for the two, everyone would be movie!verse unless stated so. Brammer makes an adorable Jehan, but mine is much more narrow faced I'd like to think, with very thin and long hair. Also more frail-looking.
Another thing, this was inspired off a post off tumblr and a discussion between my friends and I today is that we could see Jehan possessing a slight stutter. Most likely because he hardly likes talking and prefers to write, so sometimes he's not used to talking. VuV
Inspired by "Flowers In Your Hair" by the Lumineers. And I love the Clash okay.
also the poem used above is Emily Dickenson's "The Pretty Rain".
By the way, can someone tell me how many siblings Courfeyrac has? And possibly their genders? I know he has many- my personal headcanon he is the eldest and a child of five. But idk. Also is that he tries really hard to be the loving big bro but his siblings kinda ignore him omfg. theyre like "okay cool." and that's why he's really close to Gavroche because Roche treats him like that really cool older brother (i just love their dynamic okay)
Aaaand that's all I have to say for now. VuV