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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Yosuke swallows a little at that, but he's pretty determined to keep whatever is left in his stomach where it belongs for now. He leans against Eponine, but only lightly, to keep his balance. At the top of the sixth landing, he leans against the wall for a minute to rest again.

"Almost there." He repeats, trying to reassure them both. He's only one floor away from a shower, and bed. What a relief. Finally, he starts up the seventh flight.

She takes a firmer hold of his arm, and guides him up the last flight of stairs. Nearly there. Eponine keeps up a steady monologue of nonsense to try to help Yosuke forget about his sickness, but she can't help but sigh in relief when she sees the landing appear.

"Which is your flat, monsieur?"

Instead of wasting the breath to answer, Yosuke just points to it and then walks that way. He takes a key from a chain around his neck and opens the door, then sighs in relief. "Water?" He offers, as he kicks his shoes off to the side and goes to get a glass for himself.

She followed him in, almost falling over his shoes. For a moment, she was of half a mind to just take his shoes and run - perhaps he was so gone in his illness that he wouldn't remember that she had been there in the morning.

She stepped inside, inwardly cursing her kind heart.

"Monsieur? Perhaps you should take to your bed. I will bring you water."

And perhaps some cool cloth for his head. If he didn't mind a bit of tatty skirt material dunked in cold water.

Bed...bed did sound nice. Instead, he dropped onto the sofa and curled up around one of the stupid decorative pillows, still trying to get his stomach to settle after the rat story and that miserable climb up the stairs.

"There might be soda in there if Keigo didn't drink it all."

She wanders into the kitchen, opening cupboards and the fridge until she locates a lone can she has no idea how to open (though after spelling it out, she finds it contains 'lemonade' -whether this is the soda Yosuke referred to is a mystery) and a couple of glasses. She turns on a tap, still marvelling at the fact that water actually comes out of them, and fills both glasses.

The, she selects a knife from the collection, and with a sigh, digs it into her skirt, a couple of inches above the ragged bottom. She runs this under the tap, trying to rid it of some dirt, and any lice that might be on it, before taking it, and a glass of water, and the can, back to the sofa.

"Monsieur? I found a lemonade, but I do not know how it opens. But close your eyes now.

She applies the material to his head. "If you can sit up, I will give you water."

Yosuke doesn't quite obey the request to sit up, but he blinks at her blearily for a moment before, almost comically, rolling his eyes upward to try and see what she's just put on his head. "Is that yours? Aw, man. We have flannels in with the linens..."

But since it's too late for that anyway, he just sits up slowly and cracks the lemonade for her. He's still hugging the pillow to himself, bit he uncurls his legs so there's room beside him and pats the seat. He's clingy when he's sick. Earlier he played with the hair of a girl he'd just met, and then taken Eponine's hand right away. It's comforting somehow, to touch and be touched in return. So he tries to coax her over with the lemonade as a lure.

Bribe her with edible stuff, why don't you?

She goes to sit by him on the sofa, close to him.

"Drink, monsieur. It will make you feel better. And later, I will make you a broth to sip so you don't starve."

She looks at the can curiously. "Such a funny noise. Is it a drink?"

"Mhm. It tastes best when it's cold, so don't let it get warm." He takes a small sip of water, himself. The lemonade would probably be too sweet at the moment, though the comment about making him broth gets another smile out of him.

"I really stumbled over the right kind of girl."

Not that she can cook... But she can boil things down and turn them into mushes that will feed more people.

She takes the can. "I drink from the little hole?"
Without waiting for an answer, she takes a sip, and only just manages to stop from spitting it out.
"Monsieur. It is..."
What is it? She means fizzy, but she's never experienced fizz before.
"But lovely." She takes another sip, and then more, before she burps loudly.
"Sorry... I will be quiet now. Monsieur. You must rest."

Yosuke snorts at that, not particularly attractive himself at the moment, but definitely amused. "I didn't know girls could do that." He teases.

He stretches, tired but content, and curls up on himself again. This time he curls his knees up to the side so he can face Eponine, and watch her spazzing over the lemonade.

She smiles, embarrassed when she sees him shift, and reaches out a hand to touch his forehead.

"You are hot, monsieur. I will be a moment."
She gets the other water and brings the glass bachk. She sits on the sofa again, and reaches for the rag on Yosuke's head. This she plunges into the water, before re-applying.

"Close your eyes, monsieur. Even if not to sleep."
She watches him, unsure really what to do for an ill person. When she was ill, her family abandoned her under the bridge to either recover or die, and they weren't particularly bothered about the outcome. But Eponine obviously couldn't abandon Yosuke now. Did she stroke his hair? Have sex to make him forget? Sing? Or knock him out and rob him blind?

Definitely not that last one.

Yosuke leaned willingly into Eponine's touch, though he peeked through his eyelashes even when she asked him to close his eyes. "I could find you something to change into, since you ruined your skirt."

He didn't feel completely well, but he definitely felt better than when he'd been trying to climb the stairs. Even his stomach wasn't as topsy turvy as it had been when they'd been working to reach the landing. "And there's a shower. The citrus soap is mine."

It was probably a bit rude to point out how dirty Eponine was, but in his feverish state Yosuke didn't seem to be aware of it.

She stroked his hair gently.

"Do not stir, monsieur. I will be a moment if you wish me to be clean."

To her, it wasn't an odd request. Some of the fancier men often made her wash before they had their way with her, and she was never offended. In fact, she liked that bit most.

She got up immediately, and found the bathroom. She stripped, leaving her filthy clothes on the floor, before climbing into the shower. It took a moment for Eponine to work out how to turn it on, but when water burst forth, she giggled loudly.

"Monsieur, it is a waterfall!" She called loudly.
But this wasn't the time to luxuriate in the water. She soaped herself quickly, and scrubbed herself down with her tatty scarf.She soaped her hair too - probably making it look greasier than ever, but she tried at least. At least she smelled clean.

Yosuke enjoyed his hair being stroked. If he'd been a cat, he would have been purring loudly, in fact. Since he was a boy instead, he just sighed and leaned into it, enjoying it thoroughly for a moment before Eponine got up, promising to bathe.

He blinked at the comment about the waterfall, a bit confused. Well, if she was making a mess in there he'd just clean it up later. It was worth it, to have a girl fussing over him. He snorted quietly, amused again, and curled up into the sofa a bit while he waited. This was the good kind of chaos.

She got dressed quickly, towelling herself on her old skirt, before dragging both chemise and skirt over her damp body. She didn't know what to do about her hair, so she flipped it over her shoulder and and let the water soak through her chemise.

She went back to find Yosuke.
"I am done now, monsieur. Thank you. Is there anything you wish for?"

"Oh." He took in the dripping wet girl, a bit surprised. He forgot to find her a change of clothes, and she hadn't even used a towel. He got up from the sofa, and set aside the bit of her skirt she'd put on his head for him. For a moment he stared, unhelpfully, at the way her clothes clung to her wet body. Then he shook his head a bit, trying to clear the haze that girls always gave him, and went to get a towel from the closet. He held it out to her almost shyly, still a bit dazed, and licked his lips. "You, uh. You're wet. Here..."

She took the towel gingerly.

"I do not want to get it dirty, monsieur. And besides, it is only my hair."

She did towel the rest of her body reasonably well on her skirt. She pretended not to see his looks though, and acted normally.

"Now you, monsieur. You must lie back. You will not get well stood up. Come."

She tried to take his hand to move him back to the sofa.

"It's fine, I'll make Gilbert clean it." He mumbles, in reference to the towel. Yosuke is just a typical kid, so he doesn't have any servants like some of Eponine's typical clients may, but he's hopeless at most chores, so he appropriates someone else's servant -and a friend of his-from time to time.

He does follow willingly where Eponine leads him, however. He'd probably follow her just about anywhere, as long as there weren't more stairs involved. He sits obediently on the sofa, and waits for her to turn on the tv, or finish the lemonade, or whatever she feels like doing. It's undeniably nice to have a bit of company.

She didn't know what a TV was, so sorry, Yosuke, that will be remaining off. She wasn't particularly keen on the lemonade either, though she would drink it anyway.
She placed the towel about her shoulders like a cape, so it soaked up some of the water from her dripping hair.

"Now, monsieur, lie down, and let me apply the cold water. Is there more I can do to make you better?"

Yosuke leans back rather than lying down, but he doesn't let go of her hand. "Yeah. You can relax. I feel better just because you're here." He says, not bothering to pretend he isn't flirting. He is sincere in wanting Eponine to be comfortable, however. And he even offers her a slightly ridiculous compliment, considering it's his soap she just used. "You smell nice."

She curls up next to him, tucking her feet beneath her, and under her skirt. She reaches to stroke his hair again.

"When I was very little, and my mother - well, she had a song for us, and she used to stroke round our faces."

She moved a little closer, touching the parts of his face as she said them.

"Start in the middle of our forehead, and go outwards, down past the ears, over the cheeks to the chin and up. Down the nose and round the eyes, and then down and around the lips. I do not remember the words, but I remember the tune. It was magic; it always made me feel better."

As she continued to stroke gently, calloused fingers lightly touching his skin, she began to hum a soft lullaby medley quietly.

Yosuke didn't know the tune or the game, but he understood taking comfort in remembering a mother's gentle touch. Maybe he'd been reading the signals wrong. Maybe she didn't want to cuddle. Maybe she'd just seen a sick man on his own and felt motherly toward him. In that case, it definitely wouldn't do to ask if he could kiss her.

So he licked his lips again, and tried to come up with a way to test her without being too obvious. Given that he wasn't thinking clearly, it was more difficult than usual to be clever and subtle. Honestly, subtle had never been his thing in the first place. But he hummed appreciatively at the gesture, and cupped her face with one slightly clammy hand.

Never motherly was Eponine. Mme Thenardier wasn't exactly a good role model for a mother. And so, when he cupped her face, she did what was expected of her, and bent her face to his, kissing first his forehead, and then his lips.

His heart kicked up almost immediately. Right, okay. She wasn't here to mother him. Now, what was he supposed to do? His eyes went wide for a second, panicked, but rather than try to slow things down he leapt eagerly in. Okay, so he should kiss back. How did it go? Move his lips against hers, right? He could do that.

So he did, sitting forward a bit and by instinct finding a slightly better angle. But where should he put his other hand? On her waist, maybe? He tried it, and braced himself for a slap.

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