Disclaimer: I don't own Les Miserables. If I did, Nick Jonas would definitely not have been the 25th Anniversary Marius.
As the laughter stopped, the room went back to normal: Musichetta returned to icing her cake, the men sat down, Enjolras returned to his reading and Éponine walked over to the bar. She needed a job, and while she was pretty sure Musichetta had been joking, it was worth a try.
'Hi… Musichetta, right?'
'That's me.'
'I'm Éponine… were you serious about a job? Because I could really do with one and and-'
Musichetta cut her off 'You're hired!'
'- if you were serious… wait, what?'
'You're hired. Any girl who can put Enjolras in his place is more than welcome to work here in my book.'
'Really? You're not mad that I yelled at one of your customers?'
Musichetta just laughed. It was a musical laugh that lit up her face. 'These boys are here so much they're more like family than customer. Except Joly and Bossuet, it would be weird if they were part of my family.'
'Oh are you guys….?'
'Yeah. Anyway, come by tomorrow at 8 and I'll show you the ropes!'
'Wow, thank you! I'll be here! Thank you so much!'
'No problem, honey'
She shared a smile with the redhead before walking over to the boys with a big smile on her face. She hadn't expected finding employment to be that easy, or that she would get it somewhere so nice and familiar – she would be able to see Marius every day! Who knew there were such nice people in the world? Six months ago I didn't know any, and now look!
She took the empty seat next to Courfeyrac, who turned and grinned at her.
'I hope you know that I am now convinced you are completely perfect, Éponine.'
She laughed. 'You can tell we only just met… what on earth makes you say that?!'
'Well you're beautiful, you're funny, you stood up to Enjolras… seriously it's a long list. You have no faults. I'm convinced of it.' She was still laughing when Gavroche appeared.
'Alright?'
Courfeyrac's smile widened and he pulled a seat up between them for Gavroche. 'We're doing great, thanks Gav, how are you? We were just talking about your lovely sister giving Enjolras a dressing-down'
Gavroche grinned, showing all the gaps in his teeth where his adult ones were still growing in. 'She's sommat once she gets goin' isn't she? That was nothin', you should see her when she's really mad. Terrifies the livin' daylights outta people.'
'I can imagine!'
'Useful though, she's got me out of a few tricky spots.',
'I bet. You want a milkshake, buddy?'
The little urchin's face lit up at the mention of a milkshake, and he excitedly nodded his head up and down. Courfeyrac left them to go to the bar, and as soon as he was out of earshot, Gavroche's face turned serious and he leaned forward to talk quietly to her.
'You wanna get Joly to look at ya ribs when ya see 'im Ép. I saw ya wincing standin' up so you ain't pullin the wool over my eyes.'
'I'm fine! Honestly, it's just bruising, it doesn't matter. It'll wear off in a couple of days.'
'You need to get out o'that inn, Ép.'
Éponine grinned. 'Actually I meant to tell you – I have, I left this morning with all my stuff! I work here, now. Musichetta just hired me.'
'Really!?'Gav's face was alight again.
'Really really, I start tomorrow.'
'Ah brilliant! So ya'll be here all the time?'
'Yep!'
'What about Azelma?'
Éponine's face fell.
'Not with ya then.'
'No. Not yet, anyway.'
He stood up and wrapped his skinny little arms around her shoulders. 'It's not your fault, Ép, she always was a bit thick. We're the smart ones, you an' me.' Éponine smiled and returned his hug. She really loved her little brother, he was a sweetheart…even if he was a cheeky little shit sometimes.
They finished their hug as Courfeyrac returned with a milkshake for each of them. 'Here we go!'
'Thanks, Courf!'
'Oh, thank you! Can I give you some money for these?' Please say no, I don't have any.
'Don't be silly'
'Hey, you can give me loads o' free ones now ya working 'ere, Ép!'
Courfeyrac looked at her, confusion and surprise all over his ever-cheery face 'Have you actually got a job here, Éponine?'
'I have, I start tomorrow'
'But what about your other job… I'm sure Marius mentioned you worked in a pub or something'
Marius talks about me? She felt a pleasant, excited feeling in her gut, and her face glowing warm with a rising blush.'I worked in my parents' inn but… not any more… Marius said that?'
'Yeah, we asked about you a few weeks back, when you first started coming here. He wasn't very forthcoming with information though, hardly told us anything. You're still a mystery, Éponine, which I would very much like to solve' Well, if I wasn't blushing before, now I definitely am.
'GROSS, STOP TRYING TO PULL ÉPONINE!'
The whole room turned to look, just as Marius walked in with Combeferre and Bahorel, who immediately shouted 'DAMMIT COURFEYRAC, WE HAD A DEAL!'
'You had a deal?!' laughed Éponine. 'What was the deal?'
'Neither of them would try to sleep with you, so you get to pick' supplied Feuilly.
Combeferre cut in. 'I can only apologise for this, Éponine, I did try and stop them.'
'Besides it's a pointless deal, she's obbbviously gonnapickme' slurred Grantaire, causing a collective laugh to rise from the group.
Enjolras spoke for the first time since they sat down 'I'm not sure the 'drunken fool' flirting technique is the most effective Grantaire.'
'And'owexactly would you know, Marble Man?' was the retort.
Jehan joined in 'Well I've got a clear advantage, as poetry is the language of love.'
'Love' was apparently a step too far for Gavroche who shouted 'GUYS THIS IS GROSS, STOP IT'
'You all realise this is why I don't let you bring women to these meetings' grumbled Enjolras.
'I thought it was because you were scared of them' piped up Bossuet.
'I am not scared of women!'
Bahorel cut in 'Guys, guys, guys, back to the matter at hand, you're all deluded if you think Éponine's getting with anyone but me, she wants someone who can show her a good time.'
Marius 'Nobody's getting with 'Ponine while I'm around, what would I do without my best friend?'Éponine had been smiling and laughing throughout the whole 'discussion', but her face really lit up at Marius's comment. Am I dreaming? Is he jealous?
'I'm the one who actually got her to talk to us, guys, it's going to be me!' declared Courfeyrac.
'Who says I'm sleeping with anyone!?' she pointed out.
This clearly hadn't crossed anyone's mind except Combeferre's, as he laughed at the shocked, dejected and confused looks on everyone else's faces.
The rest of the afternoon passed in a similar way, with Enjolras reading, and the rest of the group shouting over each other and laughing. Éponine spent most of her time with Marius, Grantaire, Gavroche and Courfeyrac. It was almost seven at night when Enjolras shut his book and stood up abruptly, silencing the loud chatter.
'We have done no planning today. None. And we are supposed to be going to the rally tomorrow.'
'Planning?' Éponine whispered to Marius, quietly enough that nobody else could hear.
'Enjolras fancies himself as something of a revolutionary. Wants everyone equal or something. I doubt anything'll come of it but some of the lads are pretty passionate.'
'Oh.'
'How have you not heard his speeches, Éponine? We've been coming here for weeks!'
Yeah, like I'm here for the speeches. I couldn't even have told you what he looked like until yesterday.
'I tune out a bit when he starts talking, to be honest'
Marius chuckled under his breath 'Me too, sometimes. He's a good speaker though, worth a listen. He'll be a good lawyer when he's qualified.'
'He's a law student, like you?'
'Yes, so are Courfeyrac, Bossuet, and Bahorel.'
'Are you all students?'
'All except Feuilly. He makes fans.'
'What does everybody else study?'
He regarded her curiously for a moment. 'You never even spoke to any of them until yesterday. Why all the questions?'
'No reason really, I'm just nosy.'
He laughed quietly 'Jehan is studying Literature and Sociology, Grantaire does Art, Joly does Medicine and Combeferre does Philosophy, but I think he has some medical knowledge, too.'
'Holy shit, you're all really smart!'
'Loving the tone of surprise'
'There was just full-on discussion about who gets to sleep with me first. I AM surprised.'
'…Fair point.'
'Marius. Éponine. Are we interrupting you?' For the second time that day, Éponine met the disapproving eyes of Enjolras.
Marius spoke first 'Sorry. Carry on. I was just explaining the situation to Éponine.'
'Thank you.' And then he was off again.
Éponine decided to actually listen this time, and was surprised by the causes that got him most fired up. Why should a rich guy like him care about free legal support and education? There were some pretty significant gaps in his understanding of life on the streets, she noticed, but that was probably to be expected: he'd never been in that position, how could he know? Marius was right though, he was a fantastic speaker. Even cynical, realistic, experienced Éponine found herself almost able to believe that he could fix things. Hell, he could at least help.
She was certain of one thing though: for the first time ever, she completely disagreed with Marius. There was too much passion in the eyes of these men for nothing to come of this.
Hmmmm, not entirely happy with this one
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