These little spats with Éponine always left him pissed, and when he was pissed he did stupid things. Being robbed of his usual state of sharpness, he made his first stupid move of the night: he was currently sitting in Thénadier's place, his feet up on a rickety wooden table, twirling the sharp blade of his knife expertly between his fingers. If there was one thing you could say about him it was that he had excellent marksmanship, If he wanted to get you he did, but when he didn't, it was to be taken as a warning.
Today he had a specific target in mind and was just waiting for the moment to strike. Éponine's words were running through his mind. He could do nothing about Thénadier-correction- he would do nothing about Thénadier. As good as Montparnasse was in evading and keeping himself out of trouble, he knew the man had other methods of taking care of his business and he didn't want to make his life more miserable than it already was. He was simply not going to try.
But Babet was different, he wasn't half the threat Thénadier was, not even a quarter of a threat. The oaf was a good link in the chain that was their gang, the Patrone-Minette, but if he continued to pull shit like he had last night, Montparnasse was in danger of stabbing the man strategically in the chest.
His thoughts were cut short when his feet were pushed roughly off the wooden table. Thénadier glared at him, and the rest of the gang stood behind him, already looking annoyed.
"The hell's wrong with you lot?" A single brow quirking up, he looked from one to another waiting for an answer.
"Little bitch Éponine decided to pull another one of her fuckin' disappearing acts again." Thénadier replied, his voice brimming with annoyance. He grabbed a bottle of stolen, cheap booze and downed a gulp, not even bothering to get a cup. "But she'll pay when she comes back. She don't know what's waiting for her."
At his tone Montparnasse tensed, but only slightly. He was always aware to never show the effect Thénadier's threats had on him. Instead, he plastered on the same smirk he always did. "The fuck she run for this time?" He said, doing his best to sound genuinely curious, despite knowing exactly what happened.
"What else? She was being a little bitch and had another of her goddamn bitch fits." It was Babet's turn to reply, plopping down on a worn out chair in the corner, "I tell ya, Thénadier she ain't good for nothin' but being on her dirty back."
At these words Montparnasse hissed, clutching at the hilt of his blade. He glared openly at Babet before remembering that he had to keep a calm demeanor. He smoothly plastered on the smirk that always fooled the lot.
"Well you know how she is, never could keep that girl on a leash, could you, Thénadier?" Montparnasse smirked, turned his attention back to the gang leader who was stingily drinking from the bottle in hand, "Hell, she was always runnin' off to my place all the time."
"That reminds me-she gone by your place? Figured you'd still be in her since you weren't here when you were suppose to." The last part of Thénadier's statement coming with more than just a hint of annoyance at him.
Montparnasse eyed the man. He was her father, her abuser, her pimp, and even though Montparnasse himself joined in on the hell Éponine had to endure daily, he still had felt the urge to toss his blade directly though the space between his eyes.
"Nope, haven't seen her since we did that last job a few days ago." The lie flowed so smoothly and convincingly from his lips, yet he wondered how they couldn't smell her scent still faintly on him.
"Well, when the bitch shows up she'll regret walkin' in the first place." Taking another long sip of his drink, a dark smirk began to form on Thénadier's face. Montparnasse could see him envisioning what he was going to do with Éponine once she showed up, the sick bastard.
"God damn it, Ep. Just get the fuck here already and make this easier on yourself. Why do you always had to make shit harder for you? You know you ask for this." Internally arguing with her, his friend, his nighttime companion, his...lover? In the sexual sense of the word, yes-Éponine was his lover. He had been ever since he "claimed" her as his own, the day their friendship changed forever. She had decided that she wanted her first sexual encounter to be with someone she trusted, and for all his faults, Éponine trusted him.
But a lover in the romantic sense of the word? That he didn't know. True, they had moments that could be romantic, when he'd hold her at night when she'd run away to him after another all-too-familiar beating, he'd even saved her many times when other men tried to take from her what her father forced her to sell, or even when she was on a job and had almost been caught.
He would do almost anything for the girl to save her but that didn't stop him from putting his own hands on her and marking her as his with blue and purple marks on her sun kissed skin.
His thoughts were interrupted by the oaf yet again.
"Fuck that! When the bitch shows up, I'm taking what I paid for!" Babet practically screamed, pounding his fist into the wall. At that moment, something possessed Montparnasse, and he flung his blade in Babet's direction. His mind was clouded with anger, yet his marksmanship was still precise. The blade landed centimeters from the side of Babet's face, narrowly grazing over his skin, the tiniest trail of blood slowly trickling down his cheek. Montparnasse's eyes were focused on him, dark and filled with anger. They all knew that was never a good combination for anyone.
He smirked and leaned back into his chair, watching Babet's eyes widen as the oaf jumped aside.
"The fuck was that about, 'Parnasse? You just fuckin cut me, you dick!" Babet yelled, his voice filled with anger and surprise.
Montparnasse just shrugged and pulled another blade from the inside of his boot, "You were annoying me-nothin' more, nothin' less."
"Bullshit! Like I don't know that you're pissed about that bitch," Babet growled, striding over to him. The man towered over Montparnasse, and to anyone else his stature would have been intimidating, but to the boy he was just a tall oaf with no mind. Nothing to be intimidated by. As Babet loomed over him, he glared back at him, not even batting an eye. "Think you're the only one she blows? For a sou anyone can have the whore on her knees." There was a smirk on the man's face as his words spat out.
Montparnasse jumped from where he was sitting, his arm flying towards Babet's chest as he pushed the man with all his strength into the opposing wall. His blade found the other man's neck within seconds as his voice came out with a venomous bite, "You think I give two shits who she does? Hell, I've had her on her knees more times than anyone else and I showed her all she knows so if and when you do get a taste of her just remember that I'm the reason she's as good as she is." His blade pressed into the others neck enough to create another thin trail of blood to trickle down before giving him another hard push with the arm on his chest and letting him go suddenly.
Although Montparnasse tried to calm himself, he couldn't stop shaking. Of course what he had said about not caring who Éponine was with was a lie, but he had to conceal that part of him from everyone else.
Without another word, he stormed out of the small shack that was the Thénadier residence, pulling the first knife out of the wall on the way and slamming the door behind him. He decided to spend the rest of his time looking for her. As good as Éponine was at hiding, Montparnasse was just good as finding.
AN: I know Montparnasse may be a bit OOC in a few parts but the way I see it is, he has known Éponine for years and through the years and through all that they have been together he has grown to have feeling for her, he cares about her. He may not show it because he needs to keep the mask on in the life he lives and she is the only one that is able to peel it away. He struggles internally over that.
Second, I want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to someone I have grown to appreciate and grown to care for, Jo you are amazing and I cannot thank you enough for first of all offering to look over my chapters and second for being honest about your reviews and your suggestions you're amazing and I adore you! Everyone should go check her out, she's wonderful, you can find her here. Seriously go check her out.
