[open]

[knowsherway]

Characters: Éponine Thénardier and Open!.
Date: April 6.
Location: The Wood Sector.
Situation: Éponine arrives in Tu Vishan, and her first order of business is to wander around the Wood Sector, completely confused, but eventually, said confusion gives way to a bit of curiosity. She'll be bemused for the most part, but Thénardiers are a bit like cats in that they can land on their feet.
Warnings/Rating: PG-13 for possible references to past violence. I'll be starting with prose, but I'm flexible about formatting.



Sometimes, it was all too simple to tell when one was lying and when one was not. But try as she might, Éponine could not make out if these kedan, as they said they were called, were trying to make a fool of her with their strange tale. There could not really be a place between life, death, and dreaming, could there? Nor could there be a place that was neither heaven nor hell.

Éponine remembered the confusion she felt upon hearing this, confusion that was deepened by the fleeting memories of her own death. Or perhaps she had not died at all, even if that failed to explain the blood-stained state of the blouse and trousers that she wore.

Why were her clothes torn and in such a state? Why did she feel so turned about? There was a fight, a fight with guns and bullets and loud sounds. She could recall that much, even if all the rest was flashes and blurs and faces she couldn't quite make out.

Shaking her head, she tried to clear her thoughts. Something was happening, something strange,, and she meant to find out what that something was. But no sooner had she taken a step forward, she found her progress impeded by a person that she had failed to notice until that very moment.

"Oh! I am sorry, I did not see you."

Surely it was not too difficult a thing to understand Éponine's state of confusion and bewilderment in light of everything she had seen and been told.

Comments

[saisamour]

At her mention of "somewhere else", his thoughts immediately turned to Cosette. Of course; he had intended to meet her after he secured the juulan he had collected in exchange for his belongings. Suddenly all concern seemed to depart from him, replaced instead with a feeling of longing to be near his beloved, and excitement at the thought that he can see her soon without fear of being discovered, for they did not need to hide their love here and that he was thankful for.

"Ah, so you are right, Eponine! I must head to Cosette's the soonest." A wide smile spread across his lips, but it was no longer for Eponine. "She is here as well, you know. She followed soon after me, as if she already knew I was here, needing her." He did not even see the girl before him now, his eyes filled with daydreams focused instead on a spot over her shoulder. There was nothing of interest in particular there, at least nothing she could see. In his mind however, was a vision of Cosette and her gentle, loving smile directed back at him.

[knowsherway]

At the sound of that name, of Cosette's name, Eponine's smile faltered a little. There was a feeling of being torn, because Cosette's presence there meant that Marius was clearly happy, but that also meant something else for her. It meant being torn between wanting to see him happy and between longing for something that was far out of reach.

This was not new to her, of course, but she had hoped to not be confronted by this again. But now that she had been, the only course of action available to her was to resume the role she had already had: that of Marius's friend.

"Cosette, you say? She must be glad, very glad to not be alone." Was there a catch in Eponine's voice? If there was, it was small, and she hoped Marius would not notice, as elated as he seemed to be at that moment. She tilted her head to one side, wondering if he was even hearing her anymore. It certainly seemed unlikely, now that Cosette was on his mind.

[saisamour]

She definitely was on his mind, as she always was, so much that he only vaguely hears Eponine's remark, though not the catch in her voice.

"Yes. It is a blessing, perhaps, that I arrived here before her, for it pains me to think of her waiting as had Penelope to her Odysseus."

And even as Marius said those words he was already making a move to retreat from Eponine and head to where his Lark was. He stopped though, momentarily, as if suddenly realizing that she was still there. "You will be fine?" But the tone on his voice had the smallest hint of restlessness.

[knowsherway]

It was clear that Marius was no longer with her, even if he was still standing there beside her.

"I am glad to hear that you are together, and happy, as happy as you can be, Monsieur." And she was, to a point. "I will be fine," she said, nodding, knowing that keeping him there when there was no reason for it would be cruel.

[saisamour]

Marius nodded, about to leave, when his eyes drifted back to her bloodstained clothing. Again, a sense of concern returned to him, for she had died catching a bullet for him, after all—but he should not relive those events. He did not even know which ones were real and which were the illusions, the phantoms of a fevered mind.

He pursed his lips in thought, then said, "Combeferre too is in this sector, 1B. He had tended to my remaining injuries; he will certainly see to yours, as well."

[knowsherway]

The suggestion that she go and see a doctor was reason enough for her to frown. She was well enough, as far as she could tell. There was not much wrong with her, except for a torn blouse and some unfortunate bloodstains. Surely that did not warrant a doctor's attention, did it?

"Oh, I think I shall be quite all right on my own," she responded, a smile that was meant to be reassuring coming to her face. "Why trouble a doctor when all is well?" And why subject herself to being poked and prodded when there was nothing wrong?

[saisamour]

He held his stare for a moment, considering on whether he should insist she see Combeferre, but then he thought of his beloved's smile and the light in her eyes whenever he paid her a visit and suddenly nothing else mattered. If Eponine said she was fine, then that must be so, right?

"Very well. I will be on my way." And with a nod, and a hint of a smile, he turned and made haste to the Earth Sector, to his Cosette.