Enjolras walked into the Cafe Musain and was not at all prepared to see the scene he walked into. There was complete chaos. But somehow the chaos seemed organized and, well, cheerful. He didn't get two steps into the place before Gavroche seized him by the arm and pulled him outside.
"Gavroche! By God, what are you doing?"
"I'm sorry, Enjolras. But you CAN NOT go in there."
"Why the hell not?"
"We, um, we're...uh..HEY LOOK OVER THERE!" He pointed his little finger down the street toward a man selling a box of puppies. The little boy's face lit up and he took Enjolras's hand and ran over to the clerk.
"Excuse me, sir!" Gavroche went up to the man. No fear. That boy truly amazed Enjolras. He did however keep a watchful eye out in this situation. "How much are these little guys?"
"These mutts? Sonny, you can have them all, no charge! They cost more to keep than I could ever get around here selling 'em." The man said as he handed the box of twelve squirming pups over to Gavroche. He was laughing as one came up to lick him in the face and nearly jumped out of the box to be in his arms.
"Thank you!" He said as the man sulked away. Somehow Enjolras thought these dogs were better off now, taking a look at the dingy old man. "Here, Enjolras, hold this."
He practically forced the box of mutts into his arms so he could scoop out the white one with the little brown patch over his eye that was licking him into his arms. Enjolras smiled at the sight of Gavroche so happy with all of his canine friends.
"CAN I KEEP ALL OF THEM, ENJOLRAS?" he asked excitedly.
"Well, um, how about you keep this one," Enjolras pointed to the one Gavroche was holding, "and we'll find homes for the others. Sound good?"
"They have to be REALLY SUPER GOOD homes. With nice people. Promise?" His big eyes looked at him with such sincerity and Enjolras smiled.
"I promise." He patted the little boy on the shoulder and picked up the box of puppies as he made his way back to the Musain, Gavroche and his little pup trailing behind.
"What are you going to name him, Gavroche?" he asked over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of the little boy racing with his new friend.
"Oh. I hadn't thought of that. Let's see, puppy. Your name shall be..." Gavroche extended the last word and then paused for dramatic effect. Enjolras, taking the hint, began to drum on the side of the box.
"Lickity-split!"
"Well, that sure is interesting." Enjolras commented as he chuckled and shook his head. "Why did you choose that?"
"Because he hasn't stopped licking my leg since I met him!" Gavroche laughed and picked up Lickity-split and held him up to Enjolras's face, making him quite uncomfortable. "Here Lickity! See what Enjolras tastes like!" The pup began to lick and Enjolras walked faster so that the two couldn't keep up with him and continue to put dog saliva on his face.
"Gavroche. Please keep the dog on the ground."
"Sorry." He then whispered to Lickity-split "Don't worry Lickity. He's just jealous because you're cooler than him."
Enjolras overheard, but decided to ignore him. By the time they had reached the Musain, the hustle and bustle that reigned earlier in the day had settled to the normal conversation among the usuals at the café. He found an empty chair at an empty table and sat down with Gavroche, setting the box of furriness on the table.
"I have 11 free puppies. Please take them. Please." He pleaded to the crowd, who hurried over like bees drawn to honey.
"Oh my goodness! Cosette, look! Can we get one, please!?" Marius pleaded as he held a black and white patched puppy up to Cosette's face.
"Yes, dear! Oh goodness, she's perfect! We shall call her Sweet Pea and love her forever and ever!"
"And at the end of the day, we can all sit on a rainbow and watch the sun set on the field of sparkle flowers!" Marius responded excitedly.
"I do hope, Cosette, that he makes fabulous love to you, because I have reason to doubt he wears the pants in this relationship." Eponine remarked as she entered the café and made her way over to the crowd of people. Enjolras laughed and wrapped his arms around her as she leaned on him to watch the action play out.
"Ep, that is another story, for another time." Cosette winked at her and Eponine and Enjolras both chuckled as Marius looked at his puppy with adoration
"Don't listen to them, Sweet Pea." Marius whispered to his puppy.
By now, everyone was laughing and the chaos and noise gave Eponine a reason to turn to face Enjolras and kiss him soundly.
"Where've you been?" he asked.
"Well, after you left, I did some song writing and-"
"Oh?"
"Yes haha, I'll sing for you tonight, if you want." she said suggestively.
"I'd love for you to serenade me into the morning." he said as he slipped a hand around her waist, pulling her right up against him.
"Hmm." she sighed.
"So, what did you do afterwards, my love?"
"I was hoping to meet you here, but Azelma was waiting outside for me and practically pulled me to a shoe store because she insisted we needed to have some girl time and buy shoes. I bought like five pairs. Is that bad?"
"No, it's cute." He tapped her button nose with his finger and she smiled up at him.
"And I can guess what you've been doing!"
"Ah yes, I got two steps into this place before Gavroche dragged me out, insisting that I could not know what was going on in there and then we found puppies.." he groaned and rubbed his forehead.
"Well I can see that!" she laughed. She then took his hand and skipped along with him over to the box of puppies. Everyone had taken a puppy, even Grantaire, who sat making faces at the puppy who just yawned at him. Only one sad-looking little blonde puppy remained. He had a brown spot on one of his eyes, but the rest was golden. One eye was blue, the one with the brown spot over it, and the other was brown.
"Aww, poor little guy." Eponine cooed as she scooped up the last pup and began to stroke his head. "Enjolras..this one didn't get a home."
"Oh, well. Um.." He felt very uncomfortable. Here was the love of his life, about to insist upon keeping this mutt. How was he to refuse her? "I'm sure we can find a home for him in the morning and-"
"Enjolras. Please, oh please, can we keep him? Please?"
He couldn't refuse her. It was nearly impossible. "Fine."
"Yay! You're the best! Thank you so much! Eeeep! This will great!" She kissed him and then danced off to go chat with Cosette and introduce her puppy to Sweet Pea.
"Eponine!" Enjolras called over to her.
"Yes, dear?"
"What are you calling it?"
"What are you calling it?" she countered.
"Johnny." he said once he had crossed the room to talk normally to her.
"I like it." she smiled.
"Me too."
They both looked down at their new little friend and somehow...this made everything seem more real. They could never look back. They were raising a puppy together. And that's about as real as it gets. Or so they thought...