"Ah, dammit!" Enjolras curse, bringing his punctured thumb up to his mouth to suck at the blood.
He had been busily making the red, white and red rosettes for the revolutionaries and so far he only had four done. He had the fabric laid around him, each in its own pile and a box with the finished rosettes at his feet.
His friends were expecting them at the next meeting at the ABC Café and he was in bad shape with time. The night was coming on quickly and he only had candle light to see by, hence his stabbed finger.
He sat the needle down, a loud sigh coming from his lips. There was nothing he would rather be then a leader to his friends in this time of need but sometimes he wished he had someone to share his fears and doubts with. At the meeting's he had to portray this angelic figure that never saw anything but positive. While all of those things were true, he was a man like any other man and he did have fears and bad thoughts though he tried to keep them to himself.
He was just picking his needle back up when he heard fast footsteps climbing the stairs. He turned, expecting to see one of his friends but instead he saw her.
The girl who finally had a name.
Eponine.
She was drenched to the bone and shaking, her face showing every emotion inside of her. Her brown hair was plastered to her face, and whether it was from the rain or her tears he didn't know. He watched her take him in and saw the guard go up immediately. Her tears stopped and she folded her arms across her chest.
"I didn't know anyone would be here."
He nodded, still taking in the sight of her, studying her. She wasn't very tall, he was almost positive he was a few feet taller than her, and he noticed she had no shoes on.
"There normally isn't but I needed to work and my flat simply wasn't fitting for my task."
He stood, pushing his chair back in the process. In two or three steps he was standing before her and he extended his hand.
"I'm Enjolras. I've noticed you around here though I only learned your name today." He offered a small smile before turning around and heading back to the table. "You don't have anything to fear from me by the way. You can sit if you would like."
Eponine stood where she was but her arms fell to her side and she laughed quietly.
"I know who you are Monsieur. You are the one who is always talking of revolution, always singing songs of victory to those other boys. My Mar…well my friend Marius adores you and your thoughts."
She crossed the room slowly, the hem of her dirty skirt dragging the floor. Taking a seat at the table she reached over and fingered the rough fabric.
"What exactly are you doing?"
Enjolras looked up from his rosette briefly, noticing that she was sitting next to him. He shrugged, continuing to stitch the red and white fabric together.
"I'm making rosettes for the revolutionaries. We plan to wear them in support of change and in support of a new world." He glanced over at her as she still stared at the fabric. "Do you think you could help? It's not hard, just a simple stitch. I already cut the fabric to the right lengths."
Eponine stared at him for a few moments before nodding and picking up a needle and the fabric. She had never sewed anything a day in her life but she would have felt rude just sitting there while he worked. Slowly she tried to mimic his movements and the way he held his hands.
They continued on in silence for what seemed like hours, both absorbed in their thoughts. Enjolras was watching her out of the corner of his eye, watching her as she watched him work. He was finding her rather interesting and while he wanted to know more about her life he kept those questions to himself. Eponine was still feeling bitter and jagged inside, her heart barely hanging on by a thread. Every time she would stop thinking about it and focus more on what the task at hand was, it would slap her in the face and bring her back down. Marius was experiencing love like none other while she said her, soaked and dirty, making rosettes with a man who while extremely nice, was not the man she loved.
"Enjolras!...Enjolras!"
The tiny voice was barely able to shout from his sprints through the streets, yet he was still stumbling up the stairs to the café.
Enjolras set down his pin, glancing at Eponine to see if she knew what this was about. Her face was as void of recognition as his was and while he was almost positive it was nothing bad he checked to make sure his pistol was still in its place on his hip.
"I'll be back in a few minutes. You can stop sewing if you want." He smiled once more before disappearing from sight.
Eponine stared around the room, wandering what could be going on. Even though she hadn't shared more than a few words with him, she found herself worrying about Enjolras. He could obviously take care of himself but he almost had the demeanor of someone that would let a mugger beat him and take his money and then excuse whoever had done it by saying that they needed the money more than he did. She stood, her chair making a scrapping noise against the wooden floor as she tip toed over to the banister. Looking down she saw Enjolras bent on his knee to be at the same height as the little boy in front of him. Both were talking excitedly but she could barely make out a word they were saying.
They stopped then, both looking up. She felt her face flame red at being caught but it quickly went away as Enjolras ran up the stairs to her, grabbing both her arms with a smile on his face.
"Lamarque has died."
She frowned, not understanding why he was smiling over the death of someone.
"Don't you think it's a bit rude to smile? I mean, this ma…."
Enjolras was shaking his head and he squeezed her arms. The excitement was radiating from him and his little friend that was beside them.
"No Eponine. This means that the revolution can start."
