sirenspull_logs | Old habits die hard...

Entry tags:

Old habits die hard...

Who: Eponine and anyone who happens upon her
When: May 21st
Where: Sector 5
Summary: Eponine, terrified that the luxury of the newcomers' apartments will be snatched away from her, is up to her old tricks. She's found the richest area of town she could, and is on the look out for anyone she can pickpocket or who would be interested in 'entertainment'.
Warnings: Eponine will try her best to pick your pockets. So, I guess, if you're the type to swear... language?

Eponine had been in Sirens Port for a few days now. She didn't really understand what had happened, how she'd ended up here, or why. Or really, where here was.
But in her opinion, ANYWHERE was better than France. Especially when that 'anywhere' provided her with the most luxurious room she had ever had all to herself, AND gave her food. It was more than Eponine had ever dared to dream would become a reality for herself.

But Eponine was all too aware that dreams ended. And she was determined, that when this dream ended, she wouldn't be thrown back into a nightmare empty handed.

Which was why she was stood in the shadows of Region 5. After exploring, she had determined that this was a more affluent area of town, and the people here more likely to be carrying valuables. She stood, waiting patiently, for a target to walk past. And then, on silent feet, and with a featherlight touch, Eponine would be pushing her hand into their pockets to take anything she could.

((ooc: So Eponine is pickpocketing. Feel free to catch her nicking your stuff; I have an open-write policy, so I will go with whatever you dream up for her!))

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"I'm fine." she smiles back at him, immediately. Eponine has an amazing immune system; she must have, to survive winters in the slums with bare feet and a thin coat, and she tends to refuse to acknowledge sickness.

"But you are ill, monsieur. Should you be getting inside to a fire and warm brandy?"

The comment makes Yosuke laugh. A fire and a warm brandy? She must be from the past, like Gilbert is. It explains her clothes, too. Even if that style is in right now, she clearly didn't buy them recently.

"I was thinking of going to lie down, maybe." He admits, though he smiles again when Eponine does, and gives her hand a gentle squeeze. "But I'm feeling much better now."

No. Eponine's clotges were cast offs; her father's bely, a hat discarded by a beggar, her mother's old chemise and a skirt an old woman had sold fourth hand to Eponine. That there were almost more holes than material, and the filth indicated their age.

"Will you be fine to travel by yourself, monsieur? Is your house far away?"

A lot of people looked pretty rough when they got to the Port, so Yosuke doesn't dwell on the clothing. He almost understands, sort of. He lost 4.5 kilos his first month there. It's the first actual hardship he's ever experienced, so he can't imagine what most others have been through. But he's heard a few stories.

Either way, it's not a bad day out for where and when they are, so he tilts his face up to the overcast sun and does his best to sound charming. "Maybe someone should come along and make sure."

"Perhaps," Eponine mimicked the coy way Parisian street girls had of speaking to potential marks. "Perhaps I should accompany you."

As well as the financial potential, you know, she DID enjoy talking to him. He seemed to be a nice guy at least.

Score! Yosuke has so much practice at rejection that when he's waiting for it and it doesn't come, his heart gives a funny flutter in his chest. But he plays it cool, careful not to show how grateful he is for the company.

"It's the responsible thing to do." He teases back, soft and warm and content. "C'mon, it's this way."

She smiled and followed him. But she did feel she had to point out,

"Monsieur? Is your house far? I must walk."

However a great adventure it might be to use the undergrounds, Eponine had no money to take the train.

"Oh. Are you tired, too?" It wasn't all that far to Yosuke's old apartment, and he could just as easily shower and change his clothes there. Most of his stuff was still there anyway, and Keigo could just deal with it.

Yosuke nodded, and spun to the right, though the movement made him dizzy. He grabbed the nearest wall to hold onto, and closed his eyes. "In that case it's this way." He said, a little sheepish at stumbling, but still cheerful. "This one is closer."

"I don't have money to go on those - things." she shifted awkwardly from one bare foot to the next. "I am sorry, monsieur- monsieur?"

She hurried over as he stumbled, linking an arm through his.
"I will take your weight, monsieur, if you can walk?"

She took the advantage of their closeness to slip a hand back in his pocket to relieve him of any valuables.
"Where is your house?"

"The trains?" Yosuke managed, blinking dizzily. He glanced down at Eponine's arm linked through his and smiled, queasiness taking a backseat to a little thrill. The smile faded a bit, though, when he noticed that she wasn't wearing any shoes.

His pockets were empty, besides the unimpressive wallet, a timecard for community service, a hospital ID card, and his NV. He didn't need to carry anything else with him. If he'd been hungry, he could have asked the kitchen at the hospital for something. They were used to him spilling trays from time to time anyway, and they wouldn't have even asked who it was for. But he hadn't been very hungry there, anyway.

He pointed up the street, directing Eponine, though he was careful not to actually lean on her. She was sort of small, after all. Even if he wasn't a big guy himself, he was probably still a burden for her to attempt to support. "It's just over this way a few blocks, maybe six. It's not far at all."

"Train? That is what they're called? I have never seen one."

She tried her best to help him along, walking slowly in the direction he indicated. Yes, his pockets were a disappointment - but would his NV be worth taking? Probably. She was going to sell hers, and live in luxury forever. Two magical things would ensure her imagined lifestyle.

Perhaps he would have better things at home. She was concerned though. He didn't look too well...

"Yep. Subway trains. You know, sub like 'below?' It's because the rails are under the streets, in the tunnels there." Yosuke explained. He didn't have a very thorough working knowledge of France, but he knew enough of it to assume that Eponine might be aware of the catacombs in Paris, and understand the concept of underground tunnels if not the trains that roar through them. Then again, maybe she wasn't, if she was from so long ago. It was hard for him to tell. Even if he'd known when she came from he could have only guessed. History had never quite managed to keep his attention in school.

"Tell me about Paris. I only know about the Eiffel tower-oh. But maybe you don't." He laughed a bit at the strange irony of that possibility, and shrugged. "Anyway, tell me about yourself."

"What's the Eiffel Tower?" Eponine shot him a confused look. "Paris is... Cold. There are people everywhere. Sometimes, whole families in one room. Children and dogs roam the streets, and gangs wait on the corner to slit your throats. Girls stand on corners and in the parks, old men beg and die. There are catacombs and sewers and... Police come to arrest us and lock us away, work us till we die. But we know how to get the better of the police"

She smiled. "And there are students. He talks to me, and gives me food sometimes. Sometimes he give me money. And if you go away from St. Michel, there are flowers with gardens and trees, and the families haave lovely gowns and warm fires and such materials you have not seen, monsieur. And the food. Beef and hog and apples and pears - some even have foreign things I have never seen before, with leafy spikes from the top. I have that too, sometimes."

When she's alone, under the bridge, near hallucinating from cold and hunger, it's something that she imagines to keep her warm and the hunger at bay.

"He?" Yosuke tried not to deflate visibly at that. Oh. She looked a bit rough around the edges and in need of a savior at the moment, but she probably cleaned up really nicely. It made sense that she'd had a boy where she came from. He inched away just a bit, more respectful of her space now that he assumed she didn't want to share it after all. Maybe she was just concerned because he looked like shit. That was probably it.

Other parts of that were worrying, though. Did she really come from a place where people slit each other's throats? Even in Tokyo, that kind of thing wasn't common. All in all, Japan hadn't been a very violent place to live. Not until he'd met Souji, anyway. He definitely couldn't relate to that part of her story.

Between that, and the fact that she wasn't wearing any shoes, Yosuke paused and slipped out of his sweatshirt. He draped it around Eponine's shoulders. "I've got a fever. You don't mind holding onto that for now, right?"

His wallet was still in the pocket, but he could get that back from her later, once they reached the apartment.

She sounded dreamy when she answered.

"His name is Marius. He is so clever, Monsieur. And beautiful. I wish... But he doesn't. Of course not . He has lovely hair. Like you."
That wound, when she realised that Marius would never look twice at her, still stung.

She was surprised when he put the jumper round his shoulders, and she debated ditching him and running off. But she craved this, this interest in her and she needed more. She decided to stay.
"And you, monsieur? Where do you come from?"

Yosuke did his best to stand up a bit straighter when she complimented his hair. He was pretty proud of his hair, actually, so it really tickled him that someone had noticed it and deemed it pleasing.

"Japan." He answered her question, with a shrug. "It's beside China, an island. You know where China is, right?" He knew that Japan had been determined not to fall to Western influence back in those days, so it wouldn't have surprised him if Eponine wasn't aware of it. "Anyway, I came from there. It's an island-well, it's a chain of islands actually- so there is seafood and summer fruits. Cirtus too, in the winter. Like Yuzu and ...oh, you might not have those, though. Anyway, it's terrible in the summer, but nice all the other times of year."

"No, I do not know China or Japan. Are they near England? I have heard tell of England."

She has no idea where England is, though. Just vaguely that you need a boat. Paris is her world.

She listens to his description.
"I had fish, once." she had it often when she was little, but she doesn't think of those times. It makes the present too unbearable. "But please, monsieur, what is Yuzu? And citrus?"

"It's pretty far, actually." Yosuke stopped for a minute to lean against the side of a building, and closed his eyes again, still figting off some dizziness. His lips quirked up at the side all the same, though, amused by the idea of England and Japan being close together.

"I'll show you sometime. Well, maybe. I haven't seen Yuzu around. It was hard enough to find a melon soda. But satsumas, they have those here. Even if you have to wait until it snows again, just remind me and I'll bring you some, alright?"

"Oh..." She nodded, as if she understood. But she didn't, not really. Still, it didn't seem important, either. She'd never see Japan or England, so it didn't matter where they were.

"Okay." She grinned. "What's a satsuma? And melon soda?"

Yosuke laughed, and continued to lead them along in the direction of his Towers apartment.

"Satsuma is a fruit. People eat them for New Years. They're lucky, I guess. Or else because that's when winter fruit is in season, and people wanted an excuse to celebrate it. Uh, and melon soda is just how it sounds."

"Oh."
She wondered why people celebrated on new year. She had never celebrated, barely knew when it was. But she dudn't explain any of this.

She didn't explain, either, that she had never heard of either melon or soda until he mentioned them, and she couldn't imagine what they were. But, she already felt ignorant, and so refused to question further.

She walked in silence, trying to support his weight as much as possible.

Yosuke, naturally, was trying not to lean much weight against her anyway. He was a bit dizzy, sure, but just having her pressed against his flank that way was steadying. He would really owe her one for this later.

"We turn here."

She turned as bid.

"When I was little, we had an inn. Not a big grand one, but we had lots of business and a big fire and a dog. And at Christmas, we had trout. Trout stuffed with all sorts of things, and in a rich sauce so thick it was almost soup. And we had fruit cake and marzipan and an apple that my mother had saved for us. It was the most delicious meal I ever ate."

She talks to try to keep his mind off how ill he felt. It was a tactic she had often used herself, and it never failed.

Food wasn't the best subject at the moment. It stirred the vague nausea he'd been feeling, to hear about eating trout and all that. But he didn't stop her, because it was nice to listen to someone's happy memory at such a bleak time. He could see why it was a good one for her. She didn't look as well fed these days. So he swallowed and let her keep talking.

"Just up there. You probably live there too, right?" Yosuke pointed out, as they neared the lone tower.

She nodded.
"Yes. Isn't it lovely? I've never had a whole room all for me. And a bed - a bed. With real covers and a pillow and -"

She stopped, embarrassed. She should not have allowed herself to sound so eager about any of that stuff.

"I mean..." Actually, she doesn't know what she means. Or how to turn this around. "I mean, it's so different to France."

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

Re: pfft that said brush instead of link before autocorrect got to it but sure alright. hahaha

I'm sorry. Mega busy weekend!

no worries!

Re: no worries!

Re: no worries!

Re: no worries!

Re: no worries!

Re: no worries!