darling flower

“I- Uh…” Enjolras looked around the empty shop, then back to Fleur before shrugging a little bit. “Um… I suppose that is fine.” He was a bit stiff in the hug, patting her back awkwardly. It wasn’t entirely comfortable, but it was fine. And it made her happy.

He was a little awkward as ever but she was grateful for it. She was still relearning how to be her old affectionate self and things like that helped. She kept it brief for both their sakes and gracefully stepped back, grinning. “Thank you. Honestly, thank you for everything you’ve done.”

She was obviously distressed, and Grantaire felt a little bad for making light of the conversation earlier. It was just what he did; he spoke without thinking, made bad jokes at bad times. Most days, he couldn’t stop himself. “I don’t know,” he responded to her question with a shrug. “These things… they bring out the worst in some people.”

There was no way to get out of the room without drawing closer to the fight so Fleur simply sank back down onto a chair and tried to keep her breathing in check. “I knew I shouldn’t have come, Enj will be mad if he knows I got upset - he said I didn’t have to come.” She muttered, tugging at her hair in distress before looking down at the ground. “I’m sorry.” She murmured to Grantaire.

Noticing her obvious discomfort, Grantaire turned to face her. “It’ll be all right,” he said, trying to sound reassuring. It wasn’t usually his thing, but he’d have felt bad if he didn’t at least try. “This happens at these things, sometimes.” He eyed the exit across the room. The rioting crowd stood between them and it, and it didn’t look like there was another way out. The only way out was through, and all that poetic shit. Jehan would have gotten a kick out of it, he thought.

Muscles seizing with panic, Fleur gripped at her own arms, trembling hands trying desperately to anchor her in her current reality. She was alright, she wasn’t with him, she was okay. Finally, she gained the courage to look up at him and, taking a slow measured breath, she glanced over at the chaos. “Why? Why do they feel the need to fight?” She asked plaintively, looking so very young as she did so.

Enjolras checked over her answers quickly before looking back up with a wide grin. “Told you that you could do it,” he affirmed, then passed a few papers over to her. “Here are some extra worksheets for you, and I’ll come by in a few days. Does that sound alright?”

“Sounds perfect. Thank you, Enj!” She grinned, pleased with herself as they stood. Fleur had to prepare to officially open the store - she had some filing and setting up to do - but not a minute spent with Enjolras was a minute wasted. “I’m gonna hug you, is that alright?” She asked, with a bright smile.

“So, this has all gone to shit.”

“You don’t say...” Fleur whispered, hands trembling as she stared in horror at the fight before. Not again. “Why is this happening?”

#{ chat }#c: grantaire

After a few problems, Enjolras could practically see the light click on for Fleur and he gave her a rare grin, proud of her. “See? I knew you could. Once you’ve got this down, the rest is just logic and common sense, if you look at it the right way.”

Fleur looked up at Enjolras and grinned, beginning to fly through the rest of the problems with ease. The harder ones stumped her for a few minutes but she waved off all help, determined to do it alone. Eventually, she sat back, grinning as she dropped her pen to signify that she was finished. “That wasn’t as bad as I expected!”

Grantaire returned her smile with one of his own. The way she spoke reminded him of Enjolras; not the way he spoke to Grantaire, of course, but the way he spoke when giving a speech or rallying a crowd. “I guess math’s just not my area,” he said with a shrug. Normally, he might have said something more self-deprecating, particularly since it was a subject his father had once berated him about endlessly, but the girl was kind and Grantaire didn’t want to put her off. “I’m Grantaire,” he said.

“Nah but maybe you’re like artistic or something. There’s someone who comes into the bookshop I work in and they’re one of the most talented poets I’ve ever met in my life.” Fleur said, her voice bright and upbeat as she kept pace with Grantaire. It was natural for Fleur to try and keep her aura and energy positive and cheery, even if she did still occasionally lapse back into her self hatred. “Grantaire. Nice to meet you. I’m Fleur!” She chirped lightly.

littlelarkisms-blog-deactivated

Cosette beamed brightly at the girl’s laugh. At least she wasn’t upset about her taking the picture, because it had come out beautifully, and she didn’t particularly want to have to delete it. She turned the camera around to show to her, and searched for her reaction. She seemed pleased, if slightly curious, which kept Cosette’s smile upon her face. “I’ve tried very posed shoots before, quite a lot actually, and they can be great with the right photographer. I’ve seen some great ones, but it’s not really my style. I like the way people look when they’re just being themselves,“ she began to explain, before realising she might have been rambling on about herself, so she turned back to the other, "You look wonderful in this one.” She tapped at the screen with one pastel pink tipped nail.

“Fleur? Nice to meet you, Fleur. I’m Cosette,” she replied.

As Cosette showed her the photo, Fleur gave a gentle little laugh of surprise. She looked beautiful. So very beautiful. If you had told her past self that this is how her life would look now, she would never have believed you. Fleur brought her hand to her mouth to cover her grin. The photo was something else. Her skin was clear and glowing, her curls buoyed slightly by the breeze, joy crinkling the corners of her eyes. It almost brought her to tears. But she swallowed them back and zeroed back in on the conversation with Cosette, giving a dazzling smile. “You’re so talented.” She said, her voice genuine as her gaze drifted back to the photo. “Thank you. I mean...wow. You’re brilliant at that.” She couldn’t help another grin.

“Lovely to meet you too, Cosette.”

#c: cosette #{ chat }

“I’m sure you’re plenty smart. If you’re even attempting algebra, you’ve already got me beat.” He gave her a small smile. Despite the way he often spoke of himself, Grantaire couldn’t stand to hear others put themselves down.”Sweet. Me and you, we’re gonna be friends.” He nodded towards the counter. “Wanna walk with me?”

Fleur offered a faint smile. “I guess. But one of the things I do know is that everyone’s smart in some way. One of the girls I used to...be friends with taught me that.” She said, stumbling slightly over how to refer to the girls she had shared the streets with. “Friends sounds good. And yeah, course!” Fleur grinned, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

“It’s not bad, just take your time with it and ask any questions you need,” Enjolras assured her as he flipped to the first page and started explaining the concept of variables to her. He wasn’t excessively fond of math, but he knew it well enough to help her through any questions she might have.

Fleur nodded quietly, brows furrowing as she concentrated. Her educational journey had been tough so far but she was getting there. Maybe she was even making her parents proud now. The thought only made her want to work harder and, by the third problem Enjolras explained, she found herself actually understanding it. “Oh! No, I get it!”

#{ social media }#{ youtube }#fleurinthewild

#{ faceclaim }

Enjolras nodded and followed her to the table, setting out each of the lesson plans and ideas he’d had for this week’s algebra lesson. It was just introductory work, introducing the concept of variables. She was smart, smarter than she realized, and she didn’t tend to let frustration stop her. It was nice, teaching her. It was still work, but it was enough of a break for him to recharge and he actually enjoyed it a great deal.

“Yes, it’s math. A little more complex than what we’ve been doing, but I think you’ll pick it up quickly,” he assured her.

Math daunted Fleur more than she let on. It was stupid but she saw words every day. She managed to figure them out rather quickly. Math - beyond simple addition and subtraction - was not her friend. But Enjolras was asking her to try it and so she would. She trusted him with her education - he hadn’t failed her yet. So she merely nodded in acceptance and sat down at the table, ready to look over the materials Enjolras was laying out before her.

“Okay. We can see how this goes then.” She laughed softly, tucking her legs underneath her as she craned her head to see what was on the papers.

“I’ve never been a math guy,” Grantaire admitted, shaking his head. “I can get you a coffee; don’t worry, I know the owner.” Musichetta would probably kill him if she heard him saying that, but R didn’t mind. “You want Irish? If you’re doing math, you probably need Irish.”

“I’m not the most clever person, I struggle with most things.” Fleur laughed wryly, tucking wild curls behind her ears as she smiled. “Thank you, that would be so appreciated.” She really was getting nowhere with the algebra Enjolras had assigned her for that week. “Irish? Um...yeah, sure.”

“Algebra,” Grantaire made a face. He’d always hated math. “How about a drink instead?”

“That face you just made is exactly how I feel about it.” Fleur laughed, ruffling her hair as she nodded. “Um, sure. A drink sounds good.”