A/N: Well, mes amis, I'm devoting more effort into Secrets than I am to Les Amis for a while. Why? Frankly, because more people are reading this, so I'm gonna push ahead. To anyone who is reading this, and not Les Amis, a belated happy Bastille Day and my apolgies for being away for so long. (Wow, this is scarily like my last A/N for this fic)
Well, I interrupt Les Mis to bring you Cats! Well, not exactly. But there are cats in this chapter. One last chapter of fluff before I start getting angsty. Enjoy!
Marius had long since settled into his relationship with Valentin when Gabriel Courfeyrac started to talk to him about cats. They were out together one afternoon, heading to meet a girl Gabriel knew - he promised that he knew her only in passing, and there would be no awkwardness for Marius.
"Why are we going to see this girl?"
"I want to get Valentin a cat." Marius was silent, unsure what to say. "Well, it's 'Ferre's idea originally. This girl has a mouser, but she's just had a litter. I thought we could take one of the kittens off of her hands."
"Why?" It was all he could manage. He was somewhat accustomed to the strangeness of his group of friends by now, but occasionally, they still surprised him. Like now.
"You've heard 'Ferre lecture Valentin, right? He doesn't look after himself properly, et cetera. Well, Julien thought that if Valentin had something depending on him for food and care, he'd remember to feed and care for himself. Oh, the cat needs food - on a related note, I haven't eaten in a while. You get the idea? He's not so absent-minded as to completely neglect a dependant life." He paused for a moment.
"Just to be on the safe side, we have told the woman living downstairs about this, so that if she sees the poor creature looking a little too thin, she'll feed him."
"Are you talking about Valentin or the cat?"
"My, Marius, you have a sense of humour after all. I was starting to worry."
"Alright, so if this is Julien Combeferre's idea, why are you here instead of him?"
"Well, I jumped on the idea. Valentin needs something to share his love with. I mean, he loves his precious Patria, no doubt, but he needs something tangible. Something to hold." Marius flamed red. If only he knew.
"His devotion is all very well and good, but patriotism won't keep his bed warm at night. He's never going to wake up and find his Patria on the pillow beside him." Marius felt his blush deepen with every word. Gabriel glanced over at him, took in his scarlet cheeks, and burst out laughing.
"I'm teasing you, Marius. I know."
"Know what?"
"Oh, don't play dumb. I know full well that he has someone to keep his bed warm. I see the way you two look at one another, and even if he hadn't admitted it to me, the look on your face..." His laughter died, and he looked pensive for a moment. "I'm still getting the cat."
"That... that's all you have to say? A taunt, and nothing more?"
"What did you expect?"
"Confusion? Disgust? Anger?"
"Why? Any man, other than Julien, who questions Valentin's judgement is proved wrong, and Julien is content to let this one slide without contesting it. We trust you, and we trust him. I mean, expect painful revenge if you hurt him, but otherwise, knock yourselves out."
The threat was made lightly, in Gabriel's usual nonchalant tone, but Marius didn't doubt he would act on that threat. The dandy had an uncanny ability to predict Marius's train of thought - maybe he was just easy to read - and Gabriel gave a half-smile. "Do you have any siblings?"
Oh. Maybe he didn't know what Marius was thinking. The change in conversation startled him, and he had to try and remember for a moment.
"No."
"Well, I do. Two older brothers. Bear with me, there is a point to this. They were a nightmare, and I was furious that my parents stopped at three, because it meant I didn't have a younger sibling to be a nightmare to. I got through it all, and went to boarding school, and that's where I met Valentin. And suddenly I got the little brother I never had. Granted, I was never so sharp-tongued with my brothers, but he was mine to torment and torture, and mine alone. You can torment your own siblings, but you can't let anyone else hurt them."
His tone lightened again. "Of course, Valentin has Julien to protect him from himself, and a whole crowd of us that will fight for the cause he represents. But he's still the nearest thing I have to a little brother, so I'll keep trying my best to be a big brother. We are closer than any two friends you will ever meet."
Marius had heard Gabriel made that claim on many an occasion, and had one day decided to test its validity. While at Valentin's apartment, he'd questioned him on who he considered to be his closest, most trusted friend. He'd initially laughed off the question as juvenile. Children had 'best friends'. He saw and appreciated the strengths and flaws of all of his friends.
"That's not a proper answer. You owe me a drink."
"Are you still playing that damned game?" It reappeared every few weeks when Marius couldn't get a straight answer out of him. Valentin wasn't anywhere near as inquisitive, and didn't want to press on the questions he did ask. "Fine. Julien or Gabriel, I suppose."
He caught sight of Marius's expression. "You cannot ask me to pick between them. They have been at my side for years longer than the rest of you, they're practically family."
"Do I not make your shortlist?"
"You?" He laughed, but it was not a cruel laugh. It was genuine and it made Marius happy just to hear it. His words were teasing, not malicious. "Best friend? You are my worst nightmare, the argumentative imperialist who's caused trouble since day one. I don't know why I put up with you."
He joked, but there was an unspoken rule that politics were never seriously mentioned when they were alone together. It had taken time, but Marius understood the distinction between the man and the idol that the Amis needed at times. The marble leader was merely a figurehead, disguising the remarkably human young man behind it.
"What about you?" Gabriel's voice interrupted him from his reverie. "You must have come from somewhere. You must have family."
"A grandfather, but our bridges were burnt. I refused to renounce my father's beliefs. He wasn't happy, and I left."
"Idiot," he said fondly. "I mean, ideals are all very well and good, but they don't keep a roof over your head."
"I work for everything I have, and that's the way it should be."
"It's a noble effort, I admit, but even Valentin accepts the financial support of his parents."
"He has a revolution to run." He did not have the time to attend school, plan his revolution and earn enough to live on, and Marius wouldn't judge him for that. Their circumstances were different, and Valentin was stubborn, but not stupid. He needed his parent's support and he wasn't going to ruin his relationship with them unnecessarily. "Besides, I have all the family I need. I have him. I have you. I have at least some of your friends. That's enough, isn't it?"
"I suppose. But remember, you only have them as long as you don't hurt him."
"Gabriel, how many people know about us?" Gabriel gave him a grin, unashamed.
"A few. Julien definitely does. Relax, they can be trusted. Even if they don't trust you - in my defence, you're an imperialist with distinctly royalist blood - they will take Valentin's secret to the grave. But remember, they are more loyal to him than they will ever be to you."
"I know, I know. I promise, I will never hurt him."
A/N: So, it's been exactly a year since I posted the last chapter. Oops. I promise it won't be as long before I post the next one, and Marius will start to get some secrets of his own.