NOTE: Man oh man! Look what I've gotten myself into! An Eponine/Grantaire fic. Oh dear. We'll have to make sure I don't go totally OOC on Eponine or Grantaire's part(s)…if I haven't already…
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Montparnasse shifted back into a shadow. He waited a few seconds, and then peeked around the corner cautiously. He had thought for a moment that she had seen him. He had obviously been mistaken, for she looked as though she was absolutely preoccupied in anything other than the thief that was following her.
He let out a sigh of relief, and continued to follow her at a distance. He followed her around a few more corners, growing more and more suspicious of her destination and intentions.
He felt anger boiling in his veins when she stopped before the Café Musain. The hell! She was hanging around students! She wanted their company over his! She wanted THEM to be her customers, instead of him! How dare she! He would have to teach her a lesson. Not now, but later. Right now, he must find his target; a student she fancied.
He knew that she had met several students, but apparently there were 2 that she liked particularly; he had heard her mumbling their names. "Mary and Granter". Strange names for boys, but oh well. That was what their names were. Or so he thought. Mumbling can produce false hearing in the one who listens to the mumbler (mumbler, my new word ).
So, Montparnasse continued to watch her, until she disappeared into the café. Then, he sneaked around the back and entered. He then spotted her, being confronted by a blonde haired, blue eyed man. Or rather, Montparnasse noticed, upon looking closely at him, a boy. He was one of the students at the Sorbonne, no doubt. Montparnasse took a wild guess about the rest of the men/boys crowding this back room. He guessed they were all students. No one even needed to tell him that he was right.
He listened closely to the two (Eponine and this blonde student) conversing.
"Pardon me, mademoiselle, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave, or go to another room of the café, please." The student said politely.
"Alright." She shrugged and said.
"Thank you for understanding." The boy said. Then, under his breath, he added "You will be free soon enough."
"Pardon?" Eponine looked confused by this.
"I was just saying," The blonde revolutionary answered, "That you will be free of uncaring bourgeoisie and government. Soon." Then he muttered, once again under his breath, "not that there is a difference between the two…"
She knew better than to inquire about the somewhat incoherent mumbling again, so she turned from the boy and went into the main room of the café, obviously waiting for the meeting of the students to be adjourned.
Montparnasse had not the time, nor inclination to wait for this meeting to end. He left the way he had come, and once again disappeared into the shadows.
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Eponine sat in the main room of the Café Musain. How long had she been there? It felt like hours, and most likely had been. She sighed and sank back into the chair she now occupied. She was drawing disgusted stares from the other diners and felt increasingly unwelcome, but, nevertheless, she remained there.
She (FINALLY!) heard the door to the back room of the café open, and the students exiting, chatting amongst themselves. She tagged along behind Marius.
"Hello, Monsieur Marius!" she cried gleefully.
"Oh, hello there Eponine." He said rather dully, but politely, nevertheless.
"Monsieur Marius, how has your day gone?" she asked, though it was obvious he did NOT want to talk, especially not to the likes of her. But that had never stopped her before.
He turned to face her, a look of annoyance apparent on his charming face. "It has gone well Eponine." He said. He turned back around, and engaged in a conversation with Combeferre.
She was disappointed. She couldn't talk to her darling Monsieur Marius now! She still felt a joy that he had called her Eponine, though it was dampened by the fact that he had used vous with her, as opposed to tu. She sighed and turned back into the café.
She went into the back room, the one the students had occupied. She sat down and sighed. Alas, the unrequited love! How sad (don't worry, we won't linger too long on the Eponine-wishes-she-had-Marius-blah-blah-blah thing. I know it's not welcome! I just HAD to mention it though. It's a fact of the story, you know!).
"Something wrong?" the voice startled her, and she looked around wildly for the owner of the voice. She had thought she was alone!
Her eyes settled uneasily upon Grantaire, who was seated in the corner. He was the one who had spoken. He had 2 wine bottles before him, one half empty (or half full, it depends on how you look at it ), one full.
"Nothing is wrong, Monsieur Grantaire." She answered wistfully, not meeting his gaze.
He laughed. "There is always something wrong, Eponine." He laughed once more. "Now what is it that is bothering you? You can tell me."
She was quite startled by his use of the word tu. She certainly didn't know this man very well, and much less than she knew Monsieur Marius, and HE still used vous. She fumed inwardly at this.
She sighed once again. Well, what did she have to lose upon telling this no-doubt drunk man about her problems? He wouldn't remember, nor would he care. She always did need someone to talk to. Not to converse with, just someone who would listen. She knew God didn't, if He even existed, because He had never once answered any of her pitiful prayers.
Grantaire had sat patiently while she thought this all over. She began to speak. "Well, I, erm, I 'ave done everything I can for this one person. I 'ave brought 'em to another woman, despite the way I feel. I 'ave nothing else left to do for 'im. And 'e still don't even want to talk to me."
"There, there, dear." Grantaire answered. "I have a similar problem." He said with a slight slur to his words.
Eponine raised her eyebrows at this. She might as well at least PRETEND to care. Strangely enough, she sort of did. "Well, who is it that you is having a problem with, Grantaire?"
"My idol. My life. The one person that I look up to and down at. We are all going to die." He laughed. "We are all going to die! How wonderful!" and then…he passed out.
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