The marketplace was packed overwhelming Enjolras as he and Courfeyrac towered over other patrons and merchants. Enjolras was grateful for his height as he could easily see over many of the people blocking his path.
He and Courfeyrac were off the gunsmith to gather supplies. They both knew the risks associated with purchasing guns illegally and a hefty bride indeed would be needed. Enjolras and Courfeyrac had pulled their money to cover it, under the promise from Marius that he would fund the actual purchase. Enjolras knew that he needed to find some source of income and soon, his contribution to the bride of 35 francs had left an ache in his wallet. There was nothing more dangerous than being broke in Paris, Enjolras had seen the effects of that outside his door.
Enjolras had lost his patience and pushed past the slow townspeople with haste. The loud market made it hard to tell if Courf was in fact following behind him, Enjolras shot a glance behind. Courf was there, but as he turned his head back he thought he saw something. The flash of a familiar face lurking behind the fruit stands stopped him in his tracks. Could it be her?
An old woman behind him pushed Enjolras not so gently forward with her sack of groceries distracting his gaze and faltering his balance. He turned back to where the girl was but there was nothing there.
He could've sworn he saw that thief who had robbed him only a few days before. Her scrawny and small frame made her easily elusive, and she must have slipped behind another stand. Or perhaps he was just seeing things. Enjolras attempted to cross through the sea of people to chase after whatever he thought he saw. The flow of traffic however blocked his way.
Courfeyrac called after him. "Enjolras, what are you doing? You're going the wrong way!"
Enjolras pressed on bumping into far too many people than he cared to. Finally reaching the edge of the crowd where the stand was he peered over the box and crates, through the tents scanning. He paced further down perhaps hoping to find her. Completely unsure why or what he would even say if he found her. Or why on earth he thought she'd be willing to talk to him. It wasn't vengeance he sought, not even a lecture perhaps. He knew she likely did need the money, from his first impressions of her and gaunt figure. Despite not even knowing why though something compelled him to find her. Just to see her even just look at her one last time, before she slipped away from view again. But it was no luck.
Courfeyrac caught up to Enjolras, placing a thick knuckled hand on his shoulder, "Are you all right Enjolras?"
"Yeah... I'm fine," Enjolras mumbled. Taking one last starving look out over the sea of strangers. "I just thought I saw someone– come on let's go before we attract any more attention."
Later that night Le Café Musain bellowed proudly with the celebrations of young men celebrating the news l'ABC securing temporary funding and the promise of weapons for the rebellion's cause thanks to Marius's forced generosity. In return, Marius did not object to the insistent men offering him drinks in gratitude.
Enjolras sat slightly excluded from the festivities filling the entirety of a small round table in the corner. He was with his paperwork and books just so as to ensure that no one would disturb him. The loud atmosphere may have disturbed another but at this point, he was used to his "office space" becoming a drunkard hall as early as midday.
Enjolras was merely appearing to look busy not feeling up to celebrate despite his high spirits. Grantaire saw through this though and still staggered into the opposite seat, lounging casually sipping his wine. "What other superfluous tasks have you created to overextend yourself this time?" Grantaire grabbed the parchment from beneath Enjolras's quill. "Ahh yes theoretical inventory for supplies bought with theoretical coin we don't even have"
"That we don't even have yet..." Enjolras mumbled to himself in a rare attempt at half-hearted positivity, knowing Grantaire was in fact correct. The money Marius had promised was still only a theoretical promise. It had been two days since Enjolras had asked Marius to subsidize the cause and though reassuring as Marius was with his words no true action had appeared to taken place yet. "Than that would make the need for celebration theoretical as well, Grantaire," Enjolras said cocking his brow in playfulness and snatching his paper back. Over the last few days, his right eye's bruise had faded to a light yellowish green mark. However, his left eye that took the brut of the attack remained rather swollen and stained with a dark purple ring reminding him of his previous attempt at martyrdom and restricting his unruly brow's habit of expressing every negative emotion he had. Over the past few days, his nose remained tender and crooked, creating an unfamiliar sense of insecurity within Enjolras, serving as a selfish warning as to not sacrifice himself again.
"Celebration for any purpose builds morale within your faction! Haven't you learned that in your near two years as m– our courageous leader?" Grantaire stumbled with his words slightly, however, Enjolras was too hurt by the words to notice.
"Your livers are constantly bursting with morale Grantaire, I'm sure a night off of Celebrating could never threaten that." Enjolras deflected the question with sass not knowing how to respond to the purposefully innocuous yet personally loaded question. Grantaire hadn't meant to get under Enjolras' skin. Enjolras' emotional insecurity managed to do so on its own.
Enjolras felt as though he lacked the traits he had admired so greatly in the previous faction leader of l'ABC and his mentor, Jean Claude. Since his death during the Revolution of 1830 where they had successfully helped overthrow the Bourbon monarchy, Enjolras had felt nothing he had accomplished compared to Claude's dedication. And he feared his inability to maintain productive change to the Republic over the past two years meant his mentor and former friend's death would remain in vain. The shame overcame him quickly and he tuned out any response Grantaire had given to their banter. Staring blankly at the spot where he had been writing before the conversation began allowing the edges of his sight to fade to black. Perhaps it would've just been better if I had died with my brothers back then instead of playing revolutionary idly for the past two years, Enjolras thought to himself.
"Enjolras?" Grantaire waved his hands in front of his face trying to get Enjolras' attention. "Are you even listening to me? Whatever..." defeated and drunk Grantaire gave up.
"Huh? Sorry I- I just, it's nothing. What time is it anyway?" Enjolras responded freeing himself from his daze.
"Uhh nearly 2200 hours," Grantaire said glazing lazily at the clock across the bar.
Enjolras shook himself physically perhaps in hopes to shake his weak mind from dwelling on his intrusive guilt. "Perhaps a drink wouldn't be the worst thing after all..." Enjolras mumbled to Grantaire.
"I love it when you play nice," Grantaire teased. Enjolras flashed a glare at him but Garantaire had already got up to grab a mug of ale from the bar. Enjolras gathered his papers and books into his knapsack and allowing himself to finally relax after working all day. Music played by a three-piece band consisting of fiddle, bass, and piano boomed throughout the small bar entertaining a crowded bustling but small dance floor on the lower level. Enjolras received his drink from Grantaire taking a swig in hopes of drowning his anxieties, though he knew better that it would cure nothing, with each sip and each amber drink he began to feel warmer both physically and metaphorically. He relaxed into his chair, allowing Grantaire to tease him for his disheveled appearance.
"If any of your family saw you looking like you do now they'd kick you out of the entire bourgeoisie, perhaps France. Just to save embarrassment."
Enjolras chortled in laughter, choking on his drink. Hacking firey alcohol and snorting with laughter.
Suddenly the music cut abruptly and quiet began to fill the entire building, leaving the hair on the back of Enjolras' neck alert. The sound of large boots clobbered up the stairs and four large men piled in making room for themselves without permission. The smallest among them walked intently with a ferociously dramatic flick of his black velvet riding cape. He approached the table Marius was sitting at.
Marius glanced up at the man acknowledging him drunkenly but before he could do anything more the man dressed in black grabbed Marius by the scruff of his neck and reared his head back, finally slamming it on the table with such force the room nearly shook. Marius screamed in agony. Enjolras lept from his chair ready to march over to the scene but two large henchmen blocked his way before he could.
"You know why we're here don't you?" with each word said the stranger tightened his grip on the fistful of Marius' hair. Marius could only gasp for air in both shock and as blood dripped from his nose into his mouth preventing any coherent speech. The man pulled in hair ripping his head back to force him to look up into his eyes directly.
"ARGUUHH!" was all Marius could expel from his mouth.
"You need to pay us by this time tomorrow or out next conversation will be less– amiable"
"I– I– will I swear, I swear! This time it is true!" Marius cried out in pain and desperation.
"I would hope so, because there are no more second chances, Marius," the man let go of Marius' hair. Marius panted in relief and winced as he touched his bloody nose with a handkerchief.
The entourage of men filed out of the bar quickly and orderly. Enjolras rushed to Marius' side
"What the fuck was that about?" Enjorlas interrogated the bleeding boy.
"Are not even going to ask how I am?" Marius responded in a nasal tone through his bloodied handkerchief.
"How are you going to pay your debts off and help me? How much do you even owe?" Enjolras refused to drop the line of questioning.
"Stop being so demanding for fucks sake! At least allow me to breathe,"
"You know that you owe me, Marius, you left me out there to be beaten to a pulp. You made a promise!"
"Yah? Well now we both have broken noses, you can finally sleep easy. Call it even. Seriously get a grip Enjolras why– the fuck would I bankroll your death warrant? You're absolutely delusional if you think any of this toy soldier bollucks is going to provide any reasonable change to anyone in France."
"I'm not a fucking soldier Marius, I'm goddamned revolutionary treat me as such." and with that Enjorlas stormed down the steps and out of the silent bar with a furious huff.
Enjolras' hot skin reacted almost sizzling to the cool midnight air, raindrops drizzled down his face calming him down more than any drink could. God, what pretentious thing to say, Enjolras thought to himself. But what a prick Marius could Enjolras had been demanding of Marius, but he never would've asked him for the money if he knew Marius was in debt, with what appeared to be some kind of loan shark or bookie. Marius had been dishonest on both his debt and to Enjorlas, and now Enjolras would need to start all over in securing funding if Enjorlas truly wanted to call himself a 'goddamned revolutionary'.
Enjolras thought he heard something behind him, he sighed opening his eyes from his meditative state in the downpour and peered around at his surroundings confirming he was indeed alone. Although he couldn't shake the feeling like he was being watched.
Well, any way sleep, he thought. For now and then back to work tomorrow.
Éponine was shaking, sopping wet. What on earth was she doing? She sat perched on the fire escape of some apartment building, the owner of which she assumed was absent, as no one so far had disturbed her on her perch over the city.
Perhaps it was time to finally give up, it was getting incredibly embarrassing and rather obsessive at this point.
Just several hours before Époinine had most 'accidentally' seen Marius stroll into this Café, and hoped to wait outside until he left. So that he may 'accidentally bump into her on the way home.' Perhaps even being the gentleman he was Marius would walk her home. Making her feel like such a lady– but at this point, that seemed incredibly unlikely.
After about an hour of waiting, Éponine thought the fire escape may allow her some discrete view of the inside of the café. Only to make sure Marius was indeed okay. 'Quite innocent' Éponine thought to herself. She had gotten a partial view of what appeared to be a top-level bar within the café however the music was far too loud to hear anything. She adjusted her position with little acknowledgment of her safety or comfort peering over the rail she could just make out Marius. "My Marius," she pleaded to herself just barely letting the words escape as if they were still secret even to herself. She relaxed slightly knowing he was still inside and this evening, well now night could still have potential. She slumped onto the cold iron platform letting her legs hang adventurously over the edge. She leaned her hot forehead against the cold iron railing and stared up at the clear night sky full of stars and all her picturesque but unobtainable dreams, allowing the hours to pass unusually graciously.
However, it was now midnight and the weather had turned most unfavorably. She was cold and extremely soaked and started to feel extremely silly with every minute she remained. In the romance of the Parisian starlight perhaps Éponine had gotten too confident. Maybe it was the new income she had that finally allowed her to take better care of herself that encouraged this overzealous behavior. But in the rain, she looked as ragged as ever and no longer had any desire to see Marius.
Just as she began to ascend the fire escape ladder, the noisy café fell silent. Éponine was immediately curious and peered back over the railing. Some commotion was happening, she saw large figures dressed all in black approach Marius' table but mostly only saw shapes and blurs.
"ARGUUHH!" was all she need to hear however to get Éponine to book it down the fire escape trying her best to travel quickly down the slippery iron ladder.
"Ughhh" Her hand slipped causing a painful rip of skin as she attempted to grasp the soaking ladder again, in haste for both her safety and Marius'. She regained control however, making her way to the café entrance approaching from the side. Forgetting that she did not want Marius to see her in her soaked state. The doors of the Café burst open violently and Éponine quickly ran to the side of the building to remain hidden.
Peering over she saw a man run from the cafe into the pouring rain looking furious but desperate to calm down. His fists were balled tightly as he stared at the sky eyes closed allowing the rain to ripple down his body. The rain soaked through his shirt, teasing the pink muscles lying beneath. Éponine found herself unable to look away, as her eyes drifted down his body making out sinewy lines along his pelvis leading to– well... Éponine gulped her face flushed. Heat trickled throughout her entire body up to her face causing a small gasp to escape her lips, still louder than she dared. The same familiar heat she felt when she saw Marius in her dreams.
The rain greatly distorted both her view and his appearance, however, there was an attractive familiarity Éponine felt towards the stranger.
His opened his eyes and looked around calmly and intently as if the rain had rebirthed him into an even-tempered man, if only for a short while.
"Shiiiettt" Éponine squeaked careful that only she could hear. Slamming her body silently against the café, in hopes of hiding herself from the attractive stranger. Luckily he did not appear to notice her stunned by him in his see-through tunic, as he simply walked away, leaving Éponine in bewilderment and absolutely out of breath.
He was almost enough to make Éponine forget why she had come here in the first place. 'What is wrong with me,' she thought. 'I'm so boy crazy I cannot keep my head straight'. Luckily it wasn't long before a bloodied and bruised Marius exited the café as well. He was not as welcoming to the rain choosing to remain beneath the awning.
This was Éponine's chance she thought to herself. Now or never. She strolled casually as she possibly could, hoping that any drink he had might mask the obvious act. She pretended to be freezing cold running home and taking a moment under the café awning to get dry. She ran beneath it with pretend franticness.
"BRRRRrrrr!" Éponine rubbed her shoulders dramatically. "Sure is wet out tonight!" She said casually as if she hadn't even notice Marius. He was now sitting on the bench under cover packing his pipe with tobacco muttering about his bloody nose. He didn't seem to acknowledge her there, and her heart sank. Had she given herself pneumonia for nothing? "BRRRRR!" She repeated just a little louder, as one last desperate try.
He glanced in her direction, looking somewhat annoyed. "Yup. Sure is," he replied curtly.
Was this an opportunity or an invitation to leave? Éponine literally couldn't tell, her complete lack of experience courting kept her clueless.
They sat in silence as Éponine rubbed her arms. Marius took a long drag from his pipe. Finally acknowledging the girl's appearance by looking her up and down intently.
"Wait I know you," he laughed, seemingly drunk. "You're uhh, wait I think I remember– Penelope? No wait uhhh... Pony?"
"It's Éponine." Her face blushed with embarrassment he still wasn't remembering her name and here she was spending hours of her precious time just to speak to him for minutes.
"Oh right," he chuckled to himself, "Ha ha pony!" A snort escaped his injured nose and he let out a small yelp of pain. Éponine found this all too endearing to remember any of his past discretions.
"Are you okay?!" she rushed to his side as if to attend to his wounds now feeling slightly more comfortable.
He shifted a bit keeping a healthy distance between the two.
"I'm fine, well I supposed I'm not as you can clearly see."
"Could do anything to help you? Your nose does look badly injured." She reached a hand out gently.
He moved her hand away from him. "It's really fine. No offense but perhaps a more– sterile environment is suited for that." His voice, full of ice, echoed in her mind forcing her to shrink within herself and her eyes uncontrollably water.
"I s'ppose that's correct, sir. I truly apologize for my forwardness." she lept from the bench from the reproach and turned her head away to hide any tears that would come, finally grateful that the rain could help hide them.
"It's fine, you're a sweet girl, I get it. Girls like you get crushes you people like me all the time...you're not the first it's all right." his drunkenness has gone from noticeable to distracting. Marius slumped within his jacket huffing his pipe in a marathon of black smoke.
He said it as if it was genuine reassurance but Éponine could only stand there in shock. Sure confidence was sexy, but drunken arrogance was obnoxious, and though she had no experience in courting or understanding of how she deserved to be treated, she knew now was the time to draw the line. He would always see her as a street urchin if she didn't. It did not matter to him that she had spent extra money this week bathing and laundering her clothes just in case she saw him. It would never matter new purple ribbon she had bought herself to match his jacket, she often saw him wearing. It didn't even matter that they were neighbors. She would always be beneath him. And even though she could accept that everyone else in Paris might see her that way it still shattered her to realize Marius was just as judgemental towards people of her station as everyone else. And he would always be just like the rest of them until she proved to him that she was nothing like what he thought of her. Until she exceptional, she would be invisible to him.
"No there's nothing you can do for me, Pony" he said sighing, forgetting his previous mistakes again. "Not unless for some godforsaken reason you have 200 francs on hand I can borrow," he bellowed with laughter. Tears formed in his eyes from laughing so hard at the idea that someone like Éponine helping him with his money problems.
Tears formed in Éponine's eyes too. But from pure embarrassment and anger. 'How dare he,' she thought wiping them away discreetly. She laughed it off faking as if she was in on the joke as well.
Fighting back tears and forcing a smile all her pride allowed her to say was, "200 francs? That's nothing! Of course, I'll loan you it!" Éponine bit the inside of her cheek with almost immediate regret.
A/N: Hey guys! Sorry, this chapter came a bit later than I said but I wanted to make have actual things happen in it. I had a huge project that I basically forgot about and I had to stay up for two days working on it bc I hate college. Anyway hopefully even with my busy university schedule, I can keep posting. I pretty much know the entire story, it's all just about getting it out on the page now, the hardest part! 3 anyways if anyone is still here, please vote and comment and have a wonderful day! Also unnecessary disclaimer but probably don't do anything little creeper Éponine does here, that might get you in trouble for stalking.
