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A modern-day AU (with twopoints)
Jul. 22nd, 2026 10:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alittleinlove
What a palaver, what an absolute treat
To see a cat and its father pick a bone in the street
[The main train station in Paris is always busy this time of day, between the locals commuting between work and home and the tourists moving to and from the airport. The mass of humanity and the confusion is can cause are exactly why Thenardier has chosen to come here and deploy his gang of pickpockets and petty thieves. They can generally get a good haul and then disappear into the crowd before anyone is the wiser.
Standing at the edge of the crowd, attempting to look casual but in fact studying everyone intently, is what appears to be a teenage boy, dressed shabbily but in a way designed not to stand out.
Eponine is supposed to be working (though it's not really work). Instead of examining the passengers to find someone whose pocket she can pick, she's instead watching the movement of the crowd, looking for an opening during which she might make a run for the train. If she can sneak aboard and remain undetected at least until the train is far enough outside of Paris, then she can get away.
She spies and opening and makes a run for it, darting through the crowd in the direction of the train that has just pulled in. But before she can get there, a hand reaches out and grabs her by the arm. The older man spins her to face him, which dislodges the cap on her head, sending her hair cascading loose, and revealing that the person who had appeared to be a teenage boy is instead a young woman in disguise.]
Where do you think you're going? You are supposed to be keeping a lookout. [The man's words are angry but quiet, not wanting to draw too much attention to the dispute and its illegal causes.]
I was just -- [Eponine's words are cut off by a slap across the face. She doesn't even flinch, as though she had known it was coming.
The slap also gets the attention of those nearby.]
You were just nothing. You're going to get us in trouble. [The man lets out a sharp whistle, perhaps a signal of some sort.] We're done here for today. Come. Home. [He pulls on her arm, perhaps harder than necessary, dragging her along behind him.
Until the toe of one shoe gets caught in a crack on the pavement, her foot turns sideways, and her body twists after it. The man lets go of her arm as she hits the pavement, landing on her rear and the heels of her hands.
The man, not wanting any trouble, disappears into the crowd heading for the exit.]
