A very French Invasion - BACKDATED

[makeflowersgrow]

WHO: Deadpool, Enjolras, Eponine, Grantaire
What: An invasion of HoA. Grantaire wants to see Enjolras (cue awkward reunions) and Eponine doesn't really know what she wants, but will find herself watching Deadpool.
When: 17th December -in the afternoon
Where: HoA mostly.
Warnings: Well, Enjolras is a slave, so slavery? Erm......... I don't THINK we need any more warnings... Stand by for updates if needed.

Eponine manages to get them all, doesn't she? Or at least it seems that way to her. Men. Men who want her to drop everything and lead them to houses to reunite with their true loves or fallen comrades. Men who don't seem to notice that they ask her to drop everything to do such a thing. Men who don't see how much it pains her to obey.

She doesn't have to do what Grantaire asks her to do. He's nothing. He means nothing to her, and Enjolras, without Marius close by, ceases to be important to Eponine too. Especially after his attitude towards her. And yet, when Grantaire asks her to take him to Enjolras, Eponine barely hesitates before consenting to lead the way.

She can barely understand why, but it's instinct. These men, they are friends with Marius, and she feels, somehow, by helping them, that she is helping Marius too. The Amis make her feel a part of something, accepted almost, instead of the beggar or the whore or the teenager goaded into working for free. They bring her closer to Marius, to the person she so desperately wants to be and the society she so desperately wants to be a part of. She wants their friendship though, their approval; even their conversations. Talking to such a good person is the highlight of her week. So she'll help them, even though she doesn't want to go anywhere near HoA. Even though she never wants to see Deadpool again... though she misses him. Love? No, it was never love. Eponine doesn't know love. Wouldn't know it.

She peels the potatoes quickly, chopping roughly, before setting them in a pan of water. Not bothering to clean up her peelings or put the scrubbing brushes away, Eponine hurries Grantaire back out of Hattie's, and together, they start the walk to HoA.

Away from the house, Eponine feels less confident and more awkward with Grantaire. She doesn't have the intellect to understand what he says, which makes her feel ignorant. She doesn't know what to say, what would be appropriate to say to such a man. She tries to pretend he is Marius that she can talk to, but that illusion only makes her more tongue tied. In the end, she trudges in silence, pondering how to explain her absence at work to M'sieur Gold.

Comments

[antinouswild]

"There are plenty of things that I take pleasure in. I have no interest in overindulgence, but that's not the same thing. Most of my pleasures have come from my companions, in their loyalty and love."

[fitofgrandair]

"Of course it isn't the same. Do you consider dancing to be--"

Grantaire shrugs, waving aside a spar of aggravation. 'Overindulgence.' Of course. Best to just leave that one be. He is trying to speak, he is trying to reach Enjolras, but his words keep missing their mark, or Enjolras misreads them. This should be no surprise, though; Grantaire knows well enough the ways that Enjolras comprehends.

"If companionship is what you require, if you ask only for company and talk, then that is answer enough. Perhaps you angels take your joy while cloaked in the guise of severity. Perhaps angels do not make themselves known so freely as do men. It is my mistake, but I will make amends." Still somewhat on edge, he pushes the feeling to the side.

[antinouswild]

Enjolras has to smile. He just has to. "No, I don't consider dancing to be much of anything, except not for me.

Grantaire, if you please. I am not an angel. I am a man, no better or worse than you. A pedistal is not my place. Don't put you below and me above. I'd much rather be by your side. And, be calm. I already told you I am glad you're here. I don't know what more you want.

There is food uneaten, wine undrunk, and stories untold. We can make use of all of them."

[fitofgrandair]

Grantaire doesn't know what he wants, either (though so far as 'better' may be measured, he would certainly argue that Enjolras can easily be considered better). What Enjolras has just said--'I would much rather be by your side'... Is there anything more that he could desire? If anything, the phrase is almost too perfect.

And maybe it isn't that Grantaire wants something so much as it is that he fears the fragility of this peace, and at base he is convinced that the scene before him is an illusion only. He cannot ask for anything more certain, but he also cannot keep the doubts forever at bay.

Let those thoughts roll as they will. There are thanks in his eyes as he speaks, "I am not a man to let food or drink go to waste, nor to leave stories unshared. Speak, Enjolras, and I will listen... And speak before I unloose my own words, for this room has heard enough from my troves."

[antinouswild]

Grantaire's words bring another slow smile to Enjolras' lips. He reaches out and presses the other man's hand.

"Be at ease. And do not try so hard to impress yourself upon me. You wanted my comradeship and have have earned that. Be calm and secure in that."

[fitofgrandair]

"Were it so simple at that..." But he smiles with only mild uncertainty; it helps to feel Enjolras' touch and hear such heartening words. "The discoveries of an hour, however miraculous they may be, cannot undo so many years of uncertainty. You must understand that what has happened..." He holds Enjolras' hand in both of his own, searching mutely for words. "It is a process far more difficult than was dying, and I am born anew in ways I do not yet understand. But I will do my best."

[antinouswild]

"It does ease my soul to know that I've made you happy, and given you some peace..."

Enjolras does not relinquish his hand, but allows Grantaire to hold it.

"Perhaps it is not yours to understand me as it is not mine to understand you. Maybe we can just exist without comprehension. Do we really need it? SOme things must simply be taken on faith."

[fitofgrandair]

Is it truly peace when it unsettles so? It has not been an unwelcome unsettling, certainly, but Grantaire could hardly call this sense of shifting peace.

This time, there is a strong hint of the accustomed cynicism to his smile. "For there is at base nothing to understand, or nothing that will satisfy our comprehension." No, that isn't helpful, at all. "There, again, I speak blindly.

"Faith and I stand on uncertain terms, Enjolras. It will take some time before we begin to see eye to eye again." Grantaire speaks with more conviction than he feels; perhaps, after all, it will happen.

[antinouswild]

"And I am sad to say my faith has been tested at its core. Not broken, but perhaps shaken. And yet, we have fallen into hell and because I am here you call it heaven. I don't quite know what to do with that, you know. But never mind. We are not alone. We have each other. We do not want for food or tremble in the cold. So, we may count ourselves better off than many. Let us honor at least that much, and not be troubled further, at least for tonight."

[fitofgrandair]

Grantaire doesn't quite want to leave it at that--there are suggestions in what Enjolras has said, there are certain points on which Grantaire would like to expound--but silence in those areas may be the most advisable option for now. Enjoy, simply enjoy; surely he can do that much.

"I deem your counsel wise, and thus do seal the vault wherein all doubts do rage." Moving toward the table, he fills a glass with wine and hands it to Enjolras, then fills another half-way, an action removed from deliberation or irony. "To the ground beneath our feet and the stars unknown, to every indescribable mystery that has brought us here, to the continuation of life and companionship, to acceptance that passes understanding."

Even if he doesn't quite believe these words, they sound appropriate. And perhaps they do suit, after all.

[antinouswild]

"I'm not so blind that I cannot see you want to know my fate here. I know that you humor me, and I'm grateful."

He sees the half glass and has to smile. Go picks up his own and begins to drink.

"Tell me, then, of you. How long have you been here?"

[fitofgrandair]

Respect Enjolras' wishes; veer from asking much of him until he opens the conversation for it. In the meanwhile, talk of other matters, simply enjoy conversation (while veering from doubt and disbelief... which could prove to be difficult, indeed).

It's startling to think in time; the past hour seems to stretch into days of its own, and the time before is difficult to grasp. How many nights had he seen? If he'd arrived at night, and then... "As best I can recall, a day and a half." He shakes his head, taking a sip of the wine. Make it last, take your time. "Enough to understand that our logic may be faulty here, but not enough to lose myself."

[antinouswild]

"A day and a half? You do quick work. I've been buried in this place for months now."

[fitofgrandair]

"For once, I was fortune's friend. The intrepid Eponine contacted me through the... through those objects used for communication. She offered her aid readily--whatever her purpose--and I am indebted to her for leading me here."

[antinouswild]

Eponine?

[He starts, falls silent, and stares, as if Grantaire had said something shocking. He'd retreated after he saw Grantaire, so he didn't know.

The girl knows everything. She saw him in chains...]

What did she tell you?

[fitofgrandair]

Is this the moment? There isn't time to deliberate; hesitate, and Enjolras must surely guess the answer. It is an instant's decision, and from a flash of thoughts (his own curiosity, a desire to respect Enjolras' privacy, his recent vow to allow Enjolras to name the situation, the wish for a smooth evening, all of this talk of belief and leaving woes aside for the moment), he finds his answer.

"Little enough." A sip of the wine buys a moment to process his thoughts and so advance with greater care. "Useful guide though she was, she seemed to know next to nothing about you. She was, I think, far more interested in talk of lady lessons."

He keeps a casual eye on Enjolras, shielding the purposefulness of his watch. Grantaire doubts that Enjolras can read through the lie--such upstanding souls tend to be equipped with faulty barometers of truth--but he can't be certain until he receives a reaction.

[antinouswild]

But she does know.

That's the problem.

Enjolras is skeptical, but faith gives way to trust. He nods, seeming to accept the answer for now. He too goes for his wine, having no apatite for food anymore. The past few hours he's been both too high and too low. So, he nurses his wine and ignores the plate.

[fitofgrandair]

"It's a blessing she never spoke at the cafe; I've never heard anything more inane. Some people dream of stars, some dream of revolutions, and some dream of ball gowns."

Enjolras reveals no suspicions, but Grantaire still can't feel certain that he hasn't caught on, and his silence could mean anything. For a moment, Grantaire considers letting out the truth of it. But that's what Enjolras had warned the conversation away from. This isn't the time to turn back. Another day, another talk; there will be time.

"She did manage to mention that Marius was here at some point."

[antinouswild]

At Marius' name Enjolras sits bolt upright, his eyes wide. "Marius was here?"

Is that the truth. Could Marius have been here? He'd hoped Marius had survived the barricade. With this knowledge, he has to assume that he didn't.

[fitofgrandair]

"So she said. Before your time, I believe. Here and gone, though the little lady wasn't clear on where he disappeared to." Grantaire hadn't particularly pursued that line of thought, either, focused as he'd been on finding Enjolras. "I find it surprising that she didn't mention him; it was all I could do to steer her away from talk of Marius. This Eponine is a confirmed devotee of Venus, one who has been struck to the core by Cupid's fanciful arrow. All her drifting is ended, and her desires fix on one now-absent point: Marius, Marius, Marius."

[antinouswild]

"If you mean the girl is in love, then say so."

His tone however, is not without amusement. "But what do you mean, gone? Is do you know if there is a way to leave this pace? Or is he..."

There's been too much death, so it's hard for him to even ask.

[fitofgrandair]

"I can no more speak without winding than a fish can travel without water."

Grantaire shakes his head. "She spoke of following him and of dancing with him, but offered no explanation touching his departure. Whether he lives... She did not speak of death, nor did her voice warble with that quality particular to hopeless lovers mourning lost idols. So far as I can gather, he simply vanished."

He has hardly thought on whether it is possible to leave this world. It seems a logical question, having left one world behind, but Grantaire cannot tell how to approach the thoughts related. "Beyond that, I know nothing of how to leave this place, or whether the possibility exists. One only hears so much in a day and a half." The other question, of course, is of what the use in going elsewhere would be, and of whether there could be any good in returning to Paris.

[antinouswild]

"I've been here longer than you, and I look to you for answers. Silly of me. Excuse me."

[fitofgrandair]

"Pardon?" Grantaire has never spoken at such length with Enjolras--past conversations might have been more aptly called dismissals or brief encounters--and he can't help but feel that he keeps misstepping in his speech. "There can be no fault in asking questions. Ask all you like, learn what you can. For my part, I cannot even say whether we have died, or whether death was snatched away."

[antinouswild]

"It is not your fault. You are quite indulgent with me, but I am looking for answers were there are none, excuse me.

I cannot think of another explanation but that we are dead. If this is some kind of hell or trial or purgatory, I cannot say. It would seem that God is not without a sense of irony. Eponine died, and I must assume Marius was not spared either."

He shakes his head, and there is a long dark sigh.