Éponine pushed at the door to men's washroom, sniffing at the air. It stank of piss and unwashed walls as usual, but a different scent breached the clammy room. With a sly smile, she relaxed her body and allowed her visibility melt. She clung to the wall and crept as quietly as she could, willing her scuffed shoes to stay silent. She passed the urinals and made her way quietly to the end of the toilet stalls. All of the little doors were ajar, save for the very last one. She slid up and rammed her body against it, breaking the flimsy lock and causing the stall's occupant to exclaim in shock.
"What the fuck's your problem?" Montparnasse choked, attempting to not swallow his cigarette. "What if I were taking a shit?"
"Give it up, 'Parnasse," Éponine laughed, letting the shadows drip from her body like tendrils of smoke. Her power didn't give her full invisibility, but turning into a literal shadow was just as good. "I could smell the smoke as soon as I walked in."
Montparnasse grumbled but allowed her to liberate the cigarette from his long fingers. He smoothed down his orange clothing, attempting to regain his composure. "Why are you in the men's washroom, anyway?"
"Lookin' for you, of course," she blew smoke in his face and he glared half-heartedly. "The new probation worker's gone home early, which means everyone left. You don't have to hide to avoid working. Thought we could hang out."
"I don't believe I caught his name."
"The probation worker?" Éponine took another long drag. Montparnasse, who was still huddled in the stall, dodged out just as she aimed the smoke in his face. "He didn't say. I don't think he cares much, really. As long as he don't pry, that's good enough for me."
Montparnasse violently mashed a finger against her lips.
"What?" She managed to mumble, before shoving his hand away. "Fuck you."
"Someone might hear you," he whispered furiously, pacing in front of the stalls and rubbing the sleeves of his regulation jumpsuit.
"I didn't say nothin' bad," she insisted.
The dark haired boy gritted his teeth. Truly, he had not minded participating in the more or less accidental murders of their group's first two probation workers. But keeping the bodies hidden and unfound, that was where things became tricky. But that was a matter for a different time.
He fixed his eyes on the cigarette between her fingers and imagined it just slightly above her. Éponine let out a cry of annoyance as the cigarette jolted into the air and glided into Montparnasse's waiting hand.
"That's cheatin'," she grumbled as he inserted it between his thin lips.
"Only because you lost."
Éponine crossed her arms as her boyfriend tossed the butt into the toilet. "Wanna get a beer?"
"Not yet," his lips twisted and he grabbed her roughly by her hips. She pressed her lips against his, smiling as she kissed him.
Éponine drew away first. "I ain't gonna fuck you in the shitter," she said sweetly.
Montparnasse sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.
Éponine grinned wolfishly at the kicked puppy-dog expression that he bore. "I'll fuck you somewhere else, though."
Montparnasse clasped her cold hands and pulled her wordlessly from the dank room.
They stumbled down the hallway, kissing furiously; a whirlwind of clashing teeth, whirling limbs and motherfucking chaos. They staggered breathlessly into the main activity room.
"This way," Éponine breathed. She guided him to the supply room, and allowed him to raise the garage-style door up with his eyes. They rolled underneath just as the metal door slammed back to the floor.
"I'll have to sew that now," Montparnasse hissed when Éponine tore a hole in his sleeve in her desperate attempt to strip him.
"Yeah, I don't give a shit," she raked her fingernails down his chest in reply.
He ignored the clasp on her bra and pulled it over her head instead, snagging it in her tangled hair and earning a kick in the shin. He pressed her against the wall and rubbed his thumbs across her nipples as a peace offering, so she allowed him to snake his tongue into her mouth. Before they could advance, Éponine pushed him back and cocked her head.
"I wanna mean somethin'," Éponine mused, suddenly thinking about their strange new friends and everything they had been through in just a few short weeks.
"What?" Montparnasse's face clearly said that he was not in the mood for words that weren't dirty.
"I wanna leave a mark on the world. And not in the bullshit community service way that we already have to do. A real way."
He leaned over, breathing in the cheap strawberry perfume that she had dabbed behind her ears. "And how will you do that?"
"I don't know," Éponine shrugged and looked away. "I don't even know what I want to do. I just want people to remember me."
"One day the whole world will know your name," Montparnasse promised. "You'll make them remember you, or burn the world trying. Because that's what people like us do."
Éponine sneered and let her hands slip under the waistband of his boxers. He let out a choked cry as her hand tightened around his dick and—
-And light flooded the little room as the door slid up.
"Jesus Christ!" Éponine shrieked and let her body melt into shadow.
Montparnasse willed the door to close, for his power did not obscure his nudity, but a hand stopped the door from falling.
"For god's sake," Grantaire chuckled as he entered the room. "Surely there are better places to jerk off, Montparnasse."
If he saw the second set of clothes on the floor, he obviously didn't care.
"Get the fuck out," Montparnasse glared scrambling to get dressed. Éponine had hidden her shadow form in the back of the room, so he could not even tell where she stood. "Why are you still here, anyway?"
"Alcoholics Anonymous, it's mandatory for my sentence. Thought I'd set up the chairs."
"Will you at least look away while I get my clothes on?"
"Nope."
"Asshole," Montparnasse seethed as he scooped Éponine's jumpsuit and shoes into his bag.
He fled the room, feeling Grantaire's laughing eyes burn through the back of his head and hearing the pitter-patter of Éponine's bare feet behind him.
"If it makes you feel better," the lone shadow on the wall giggled as they hurried out of the community centre. "Just remember that I'm still naked."