unetrustworthy: (nanashii and midii)
✞ Midii Une ✞ ([personal profile] unetrustworthy) wrote in [community profile] tushanshu_logs2013-11-06 09:06 pm

[Closed] Il nous reste toute une vie pour pleurer

Characters: Éponine & Midii
Date: Afternoon of the 6th
Location: A Park out in the Wood Sector
Situation: Story Time with two kindred spirits
Warnings/Rating: Possible discussions of War, Death, and Loss.


Midii kept her word; the very day Éponine finally contacted her again, she was ready with her book.

It was old, yet hardly used.  The outer cover showed more signs of dust than wear, and some of the pages hadn't even been cut.  She'd found it in an antique shop.  A collectable meant to be displayed on a shelf.  The owner had probably charged her far more than it was worth...but, for once, it was a price she was willing to pay.  French stories were few and far in-between in Keelai.  It was the closest thing to a pleasant memory of home she would be able to find.

And now, she would have the chance to share it with somebody who understood.

She was waiting in the same place they had first met.  That same park, under the same tree.  Private enough for the two to share a moment together, while public enough for her to be comfortable about it.  Much as the older French girl was slowly growing on her...paranoia was a deeply instilled habit she had yet to shake.

Somehow, she knew Éponine would understand.
 
jondrette: (smile)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-07 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
And she would understand. Doing her best to look... somewhat put together, Eponine arrived at the park at the previously discussed time, approaching the tree. With a smile, she waved at the girl before sitting down next to her.

"Bonjour, Midii," Eponine declared. She had packed a small basket, an habit she'd developed when she spent time with Gavroche. When he would come over, she would always feed him, ask him to spend the night, and he would, in belief that he was protecting his sister, making her feel better by eating, and it ensured that she, too, ate. So now, she was doing the same for Midii, having brought sandwiches and two bottles of lemonade. Nothing fancy, but at least Midii would perhaps feel more comfortable around the older girl. Or have something to feed herself with.

"I brought you a lunch, I do not suppose you have eaten yet? If not, then I shall give you my basket and you may return it next time I see you. But I must ask how you are! I'm happy to see you again, under better circumstances."
jondrette: (eager)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-07 03:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Just as Eponine understood the paranoia, she certainly understood Midii's feelings about accepting kindness. For Eponine, every seemingly mundane act came with an ulterior motive. Nothing ever came for free. Be it now or later, the debt would be repaid.

Likewise, any charity given was something she was loathe to receive. Charity came from a place of pity, a place where people believed they could better their own lives by doing something for the less fortunate. They saw them as a collective, not an individual person. And Eponine? Well, she certainly did not need any pity, or help. That was her father'd game. Not her own.

"Of course!" She responded in kind. "I brought two of everything just for that reason. Here." Eponine dug into the basket before pulling out both sandwiches wrapped in paper, and the two bottles of lemonade. "Look at us, picnicking in the park! We're quite fancy ladies today."
jondrette: (pic#6246867)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-08 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
It's a strange notion to Eponine as well, but they can have their dreams.

"Not the bread. That I bought. But the sandwich itself I made, yes. I have much extra food at my home now, I find, that I shall not eat unless there is someone to eat with me."
jondrette: (love)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-08 04:44 am (UTC)(link)
"It is," she replied, taking a bite of her own sandwich. "At home, there was not enough to go around. There never was. I became so hungry, Midii, that there were nights when I believed I was seeing and hearing things that I could not! But here, I have too much. At first, I ate too much and was sick for it. It is hard to believe there is a war here."

But this was a gift horse she would not look in the mouth. There was food, and she was no longer starving. She'd even gained some weight.
jondrette: (Default)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-08 05:29 am (UTC)(link)
"It isn't fair, p'tite. But since when has life been fair to our sorts? If life was fair, Gavroche would still be here, and I would have remained dead. People are selfish, and cannot see themselves with less." She punctuates this with a sip of her lemonade.

"I believe they would want us to eat up, Midii." Did she believe it? A bit, but her own thoughts on the subject were quite different. But Midii, on the other hand, did need to eat, and she was happy to provide for her.
jondrette: (crying)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-09 06:22 am (UTC)(link)
Eponine subconsciously echos Midii's smile. "I am sure they would wish you to eat. I know I would wish my siblings to eat. Azelma most certainly." Azelma. Whatever that girl was doing... As much as she had cared for her, she followed their father too blindly. She had to be with him, she was sure of it.

Hopefully, she would live the lives her siblings should have had.

As for the two youngest... They didn't even register.
jondrette: (quiet fury)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-10 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
"My parents- my mother is dead. Then there are my siblings, Gavroche and Azelma. I had two younger brothers, too, but... I cannot recall much of them. They were there, and then gone." A pity, really.
jondrette: (behind these hazel eyes)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-11 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
Eponine nods slowly. "I'm sorry, p'tite. My mother died while the lot of us were jailed. Prison did not suit her. It is a hard loss." Her mother had been the only one to truly care for her.
jondrette: (hope)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-11 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
"And you took care of them," she said softly, assuming it was the truth. "You're a brave girl."
jondrette: (ded)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-11 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
Without thinking about it, she wrapped an arm around Midii's shoulder, pulling her close. "There never are."
jondrette: (suspiciously curvaceous boy)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-11 06:02 pm (UTC)(link)
The stiffening was something Eponine was used to. Marius would always react that way, except when she had been in the body of a seven-year-old. Then he had been warm and caring. After Gavroche had left, he had been awkward, but soon relaxed around her, something that Eponine hoped signaled that their relationship was indeed changing. For the better.

When Midii relaxed, and Eponine felt the weight of her head on her shoulder, she could not help but smile, pulling the younger girl even closer. Setting her sandwich down, she gently stroked the girl's blonde hair, the way she had always liked as a child. "You are beautiful, strong, and brave. Do not forget it."
jondrette: (Default)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-11 11:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Until Midii told her to stop, she'd keep doing it. The rhytmic, repetative movement is helpful for her, too.

"That's how you know you are," she explained softly. "it's always the things we don't think we are that we are. You don't feel brave because brave is what you are. It's survival."
jondrette: (pic#6246867)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-12 02:53 am (UTC)(link)
That hit close to home. Not that anyone had died for Eponine- no, she wasn't worthy of that sacrifice. But she had died for Marius. It wasn't her original plan, to die for him, but rather, die with him. But he survived the barricades, she knew now.

"We must survive, so that they did not die in vain."
jondrette: (little he knows little he sees)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-12 05:59 am (UTC)(link)
"Shhh, p'tite," she gently said, stroking the younger girls' hair again, holding her close. "Do you think- no, come. If you had died because of someone- would you wish them ill-will from beyond the grave? Or would you want them to live?"

The fact that this was almost exactly Eponine's situation did not phase her. She had Marius now. That was what mattered. Or, at least, had him here, with her.
jondrette: (illuminated)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-13 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
Eponine all too clearly recalled her words to Enjolras about Gavroche, the thoughts she had had towards Cosette, the things her father and mother had said, the curses directed at the man in the yellow jacket.

"No," she said slowly. "It makes you human."
jondrette: (suspiciously curvaceous boy)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-13 07:09 am (UTC)(link)
At the exhale, Eponine tightened the hug, enjoying the feeling of such sweet companionship. Friendly intimacy, if nothing else. She hummed absentmindedly, stroking her hair again.

"After the story, then. But you must give me your word, Midii, that you shall finish your sandwich." She gave her would could only be described as a concerned, maternal stern face. "But for now, we shall have our story."
jondrette: (smiling)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-14 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
Eponine studied the cover carefully. It looked interesting enough, and the title... She'd been to the theater before. Gavroche had gotten her tickets, and she would stand in the back and watch, entranced by the comings and goings on stage, the beautiful costumes.

"I do not know it, but I am quite curious. Come! Let us read it."
jondrette: (smile)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-14 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
"Theater is wonderful! I wish they had one here. Gavroche used to get me tickets, he knew actors. I should have loved to be in a performance. Perhaps even an opera!" She smiled faintly at the memory.
jondrette: (letter)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-14 04:42 am (UTC)(link)
"Such a tragedy! Then we must have another! Or perhaps make our own." Eponine could sing, though her voice was raw, untempered.
jondrette: (cold)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-14 06:11 am (UTC)(link)
"I do not have a gift for poetry. Come, let us read. Shall I start, or do you wish to?" She was assuming they'd take turns reading it out loud to one another.
jondrette: (asleep in your embrace at last)

[personal profile] jondrette 2013-11-15 05:07 am (UTC)(link)
"Of course." She picked up the book from Midii, before opening it to the beginning. Shifting Midii in her arms, she placed the book on her lap and began.

"Prologue: In Which The Author Of This Singular Work Informs The Reader..."