24
Not long after, Éponine found herself outside the Guardian's building once more.
Although Inès had caused Éponine to feel unspeakably angry, Éponine couldn't quite push the sounds of Inès' wailing out of her head. Or the fact that the girl had been watching a Portal, which she'd had drummed into her was not a good thing.
So she decided it might be best to let someone know. That way, they could deal with it and she wouldn't have to think about Inès anymore.
Éléonore saw her quite quickly; she showed her into one of the building's many small, plain rooms, furnished with a table and matching chairs.
"What's the problem today?" Éléonore said in a cheerful voice.
"I apologise for keeping on popping in like this," Éponine said, out of politeness more than any genuine regret for her visits.
"It's what we're here for," Éléonore replied.
"I'm not here about me, though, or Gavroche." Éponine rubbed the back of her neck. "You see, I went for a walk and I ended up by the river."
Éléonore nodded her head slowly. "Go on."
"Inès was there," Éponine said. "You know who I mean, right? The Guardian?"
"She's not a fully-fledged Guardian, she's more of an assistant," Éléonore answered. "But yes, I know who you mean."
"She was watching a Portal, and – there's no other way to put it, really – she was crying her eyes out. And I mean, really crying. It was very messy."
Éléonore sighed heavily and rubbed a hand over her face. "I see. Thank you for telling me this. Inès is…troubled."
"I gathered that," Éponine said. "That's why I came, to make sure you were aware."
"Inès is like Gavroche," Éléonore explained. "She was thirteen when she died, and she's never really…gotten over the fact she's stuck in the body of an adolescent. It…It really troubles her, and when you combine that with traumatic events from her life…"
"Yeah, she was going on about having suffered through things," Éponine said, shrugging her shoulder. "As I said…"
"It's the Portal that worries me," Éléonore continued, as if Éponine hadn't spoken. "She's had problems with them in the past – she can't help but create them…We thought we'd managed to wean her off them…"
"The Portal was upsetting her so I closed it," Éponine said.
Éléonore's eyebrows dipped into a frown and she squinted at Éponine. "You closed it?" she echoed.
"Yes," Éponine said. "Shouldn't I have?"
"No, you shouldn't," Éléonore said in a slow voice. "I don't mean because you, I suppose, morally shouldn't have, I mean you literally should not have been able to close it. Only the conjurer can close a Portal, or it closes itself."
Éponine didn't like the expression on Éléonore's face, so she stood up. "I just wanted to tell you about Inès," she said. "That's really the only reason I came."
The troubled look didn't leave Éléonore's face, and she slowly got to her feet as well. She cleared her throat, and fixed a kind smile on her mouth. "I'd thought you might have come about Combeferre at first," she said, raising one eyebrow.
A flicker of annoyance curled in Éponine's stomach at the mention of his name. "He came to see me this morning," she said.
"And how did it go?"
Éponine stared at her.
"I'm going to take your silence as a not well," Éléonore sighed. "That's unfortunate, Éponine."
"I didn't come here for a lecture," Éponine said sharply, "Before you even start."
"You're not going to get one," Éléonore said. "It's not my place and I haven't known you long enough and I also don't know enough about the argument itself to comment. All I will say is please don't be too harsh on Combeferre. He really tormented himself about what to say to you last night, and he's really worried about the whole situation. Please don't make him worry about it anymore."
It wasn't the appeal that Éponine had been expecting. She had been anticipating another request to apologise to Enjolras, not a suggestion to be kind to someone. It took her straight back to Gavroche's demand that she stop being mean to people.
"I don't mean to upset people," Éponine found herself saying.
"We know you don't," Éléonore said, and she reached out, gently touching her fingertips to Éponine's wrist. "As I said, I don't want to lecture you. I just want to bring some comfort to Combeferre, and I know if you can resolve this…"
Éponine stepped back from Éléonore.
"I'm going to go now," she said. "I – uh, I had a bit of a…disagreement with Gavroche."
Éléonore didn't look surprised at Éponine's words. "Do you need me to see you out?" she said.
Éponine smiled at her, and said, "I think I can find my own way."
OOO
She wasn't surprised to find that the flat was empty when she returned. Gavroche wasn't there, and he'd obviously taken Hyacinthe with him.
Not for the first time since arriving in this place Éponine found herself without anything to do. A ball of anxiety knotted itself in her abdomen and she wound up sat on the edge of the sofa, fingers wound into the fabric of her dress.
It had been dark for what felt like a few hours when the door finally opened and Gavroche came in, carrying a squirming Hyacinthe under one arm. He tried his best to slam the door shut behind him when he saw her sat there.
"Are you going to be mean to me again?" were the first words out of his mouth.
Éponine stood up and rushed towards him, flinging her arms around him. "I'm sorry," she said. "I've not been meaning to be mean to anyone, Gavroche. I'm really sorry."
Gavroche dropped Hyacinthe the minute Éponine hugged him. The kitten gave an indignant yowl and skittered away.
Éponine pulled away from him, keeping her hands on his shoulders and looking her little brother in the eye. "And I shouldn't have stormed out like that."
Gavroche's mouth screwed up. "I suppose I shouldn't have shouted at you either," he muttered. "Or stayed out after dark when I promised I wouldn't."
Éponine hugged him again. He squirmed, and then said into her ear, "Are you going to talk to Combeferre?"
Éponine let go of him completely. "Just Combeferre?" she said. "I don't mind talking to him."
Gavroche looked like he wanted to say something but seemed to feel it was best to avoid it. Éponine smoothed her hand over Gavroche's scruff of hair. "We'll see," she suggested. "How does that work?"
Her brother jerked away from her stroking hand. "It'll do," he said, and at that moment, Hyacinthe leaped onto Gavroche's foot and sank her teeth into his boots. He let out a small shriek in response and bent down to scoop the cat into his arms and turned her upside down, cradling her like a baby.
Éponine smiled at Gavroche's antics with the small kitten, content that she had managed to make peace with at least one person that day.