To continue celebrating the month of the Barricades, here's another one-shot/drabble/I dunno. I also posted this little snippet on my Tumblr so if you want to see it in picture form, you can find it there :) I wanted to continue/expand this fic but I got too lazy/busy to go on. Tell me what you all think or if you want me to expand this to a multi-chap!
Disclaimer: 'Ponine and Enj are my babies, but not my creations :(
The first time I saw her she was trying to steal my Monet. Two years later, she was sitting in my living room and still without the Monet.
"You changed rugs." That was the first thing she'd said once she noticed my presence.
"You grew out your hair," I pointed out as I entered the study, wondering why in the world she was here.
Her fingers flew to her hair at my comment, twisting the tips as she hummed in agreement. "Cutting it took too much time and effort."
"I thought it made it easier to run?" I stopped by the edge of the desk, letting it separate me from the armchair she sat on.
"I haven't been running for a while," she shrugged, her eyes flitting to the cold, empty fireplace.
Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself and asked, "So what brings you back here?"
Her eyes slowly rose to settle on the Monet hanging above the fireplace. A playful, teasing smirk tilted her lips as she replied, "Just wanted to see an old friend."
I followed her gaze to the old painting, an Enjolras family heirloom. On the Bank of the Seine, Bennecourt had never been my favourite painting, the Liberty Leading the People was more my speed, but the stories grandfather had told of his own great grandparents bartering for the piece with their lives made me keep it. It was history, no matter how irrelevant it seemed to me.
Until I met her.
The warmth in her brown eyes swirled with a mischievous tint of gold, and the tilt of her lips reminded me of our first encounter in this very same room.
Loud, pounding music. Stifling atmosphere. Rising need to escape. The (mostly) empty study. The little tilt of the frame to the left. Smudge marks. A broken lamp. Lots of cursing. Lots of insults. A little banter. More insults. An injury. And a trip to the ER. Those were my first thoughts when I return to that first day. Of course, it was difficult to forget any type of meeting with the shadowy brunette, especially not when, the next time we met, she was hobbling into the Café Musain on crutches.
It was strange, really, to have first met a person because they were trying to steal your family's prized heirloom, and the next week, be having tea and biscuits with them while debating about the most recent elections.
"How long will you be staying?" I managed to ask as I let my eyes wander from her face to the painting.
"A couple of months?" My eyes snapped to hers, a nervous shift in them as she realized that she has my full attention. "I—well, uh, I managed to get a job at the Musain, and 'Chetta's letting me room with her for a while. I mean, I don't really know how long I'll be here, but I'm thinking a while."
I was quiet for a long while and she shifted under my gaze until I finally spoke up. "Couldn't stay away from the Monet, huh?"
She blushed, probably embarrassed at the memory, but she rolled her eyes and shrugged. "That, among other things."
"There are more important things than the Monet?" I managed to tease through my pounding heart as all kinds of thoughts flew through my head. The loudest of them being: She's staying.
"Well, I heard that there's this grumpy marble man that could use some company."
"I think he'd like that."