thecapitol | A catch all. Partially open

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A catch all. Partially open

Who: Eponine and Sigma: Eponine and Felicity: Eponine and Howard: Eponine and anyone else who wants to jump in!
What: A catch all post for catch-ups with various people she's in a bad mood with.
Where: Out and about in the Capitol: locations include the park and a local French style patisserie shop.
When: Some time after Jessica has worked her magic and helped Eponine on her way to a makeover.
Warnings: Eponine should just come with a warning sign, methinks. I'm gonna go on a limb and say 'talk of homosexuality, possibly in a negative light', 'talk of social class', 'talk of Harley's march of shame through the Capitol'.

Eponine and Sigma

Perhaps he knew where to find her? Perhaps he knew that she'd be sat on the bench overlooking the pond where they'd fed the ducks on that gloriously happy day when she came back to the Capitol. She was sat on the bench now, with her feet drawn up, staring at the pond. For once, she was wearing a couple of warm looking cardigans, and a shawl on top of that. She had a thick wooly hat as well, to disguise her newly bald head. What was she thinking? Not much. She was just sort of... staring. Meditating on how she had ended up in such a position, and how she could possibly get out of her mess. She turned her head when she heard footsteps, though, and scowled when she saw it was Sigma. She'd been avoiding Sigma since Harley had caught her, and she didn't want to see him now.

"Go away, Monsieur." Eponine said.

Eponine and Felicity

As the morning stretched into afternoon, Eponine ended up at a new favourite little cafe of hers. She liked it in the patisserie: the owners tried their best to speak French, and they loved having Eponine chatter it at top speed. For her part, she thought it was hilarious. Their French was dire, and it was nice to feel superior to people for a change.

So having had a looong conversation, half in French and half in English, Eponine was sat in the window of the cafe. On the table in front of her were several croissants and a little pot of strawberry jam, and another of marmalade, and a glass of orange juice, and a recorder that Eponine was fiddling with. The owners had asked her to record herself speaking so that they could play it in the cafe and inject a bit of authentic Paris into their business, and she was diligently trying to do as she had been asked. But it was frustrating, and Eponine swore under her breath, before trudging back to the counter. But so cross, so frustrated was she with the recorder that she didn't even look where she was going and bumped into someone awfully familiar.

Immediately, Eponine scowled and her free hand went to the turban style hat covering her baldness.

"Excuse me, Madame." She muttered, keeping her eyes averted.

Eponine and Howard

It had been a long day, and Eponine was quite drained by the time she had dragged herself back to the Tribute Towers. She went straight for the lift, but once inside, decided to just ... just not go to District Three. She didn't think she could cope with Jessica and Maximus and Marius - oh God, Marius. But where could she go?

She ended up on the rooftop. She could be alone up there, at least. Eponine settled herself down amongst the flowers, and lay back, looking straight up at the evening sky. After all of ten minutes, she began to wish that she'd brought food with her, but she was too comfortable, too absorbed in her thoughts about Sigma and Felicity to be bothered to move.

Eponine didn't hear the door open, nor did she hear Howard's footsteps until he was almost on top of her. But , with him barely five feet away, Eponine heard, and turned and groaned. No more. Please.

She closed her eyes, and flopped back over onto her back. "What do you want, Monsieur?"

OPEN

She stayed on the roof all night. It was a little chilly up there, and definitely damp, but she didn't really care. For a while, she simply wandered, pacing the garden backwards and forwards, looking quite the ghost in her pale dress and light pink turban. The singing gave her away, though. Her hoarse voice travelled in the still air as she sang ditty after raucous ditty about love and men and death and murder. But, for a change, her mind was quite at peace. Perhaps things could be different after all?

Her song stuttered into silence, though, as she heard a footstep somewhere behind her.

"Be careful, Monsieur. Or is it Madame? This is not the arena and I do not want to die."

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Harley rolled her eyes once more in an exaggerated fashion and getting a distinct sense of Deja Vu.

"Do you ever wonder why when people try to talk to you conversations tend to go in loops? Because the common factor is usually you and your being stubborn."

"You aren't conversing, though." Eponine tried to point out. "You simply insult. Always you point out my faults."

"Well how else do you expect to learn what they are and change?" Harley countered meeting her eye to eye.

"You do want to change for the better don't you?"

"No." Eponine replied stubbornly. She did actually want to change for the better - but she didn't want to give Harley the satisfaction of her admitting that she was in the wrong.

"You know, you have your bad bits as well, Madame. More than I, I should think. Perhaps you ought to fix them instead of bothering me."

Harley offered a surprisingly sad smile.

"I am trying to be a better person twerp. That's why I'm trying to help you."

She took a deep breath and sighed.

"But clearly I'm wasting my time if you don't want to improve. So to spare us from wasting any more time here. I'm gonna give you till the count of three to give me a reason why you are not completely hopeless. If you don't I'm just gonna start hitting ya."

She wound back her fist and began to count.

"Three...Two..."

"And I bet that you did not learn by being insulted, Madame." Eponine replied scornfully, shaking her head.

She didn't move as Harley bwgan her count down. Nor did she say anything. Eponine didn't know what to say to make herself seem less hopeless. She did, however, raise her fists, and did her best to look threatning.

"Hit me and I shall hit you back."

"You'd be surprised." Harley muttered audibly but then smirked.

"But an invitation is an invitation!" She declared and hauled off with an impressive punch worthy of someone who often went toe to toe with a man three times her size.

"Oof" Eponine doubled over and stumbled back from the force of the punch, immediately moving her arm to shield her winded stomach. But as soon as she had caught her breath, she launched herself back at Harley, with a well aimed punch of her own. Eponine might not physically be much of a speciman, but she knew a little of fighting - including biting, which she would do as soon as she could get close enough to sink her teeth in.

Harley took the punch and rolled with it, spinning like a top on one foot and minimizing the damage. She had to admit she was impressed with Eponine for even throwing the punch.

"That's it!" She giggled coming to as top. "Don't let me get back on my guard now! Give it your OW!" Harley yelped as Eponine sank her teeth into the bubbly blonds arm.

"Aw come on if you're gonna bite me at least buy me dinner first." She grinned in that twisted perverse way she had about her. With her free hand she groped for Eponine's nose so she could clamp it shut and twist it in an attempt to make her let go.

"Fighting dirty is good though! Playing fair is for chumps."

Eponine DID have to let go, and she twisted as hard as she could in an effort to free her nose from Harley's grip. She stamped down on Harley's foot as well, trying to put all of her meagre weight behind her effort.

"I am not buying you nuffin'." She cried out, completely missing the innuendo behind Harley's words, perhaps intentionally so. "You're gonna go away. Now!"

Harley let out a yelp as her foot was stomped, and comically hopped on the other foot for one, two three counts, just long enough to see if Eponine would foolishly let her guard down.

"Owie! Owie! Owie! You stomp like a mule!"

And just like that she lashed out with that same foot, swinging for Eponine's jaw.

Eponine had let her guard down, and was stood rubbing her nose, quite sure she had won, when Hatley kicked her. The force of the kick made Eponine's jaw crack, and yet another tooth come loose, which she had to spit out. She lay where she had fallen, qyite stunned, touching her jaw gingerly, before dragging herself into a ball to protect from more blows.

"Yeah that's what I thought." Harley muttered setting her foot down and relaxing her stance.

"You're about ten years too young to even hope to beat me. Even in a dirty fight. But you stood your ground which is a good start. Like I said before, there's hope for you yet kid."

She chuckled "Not much, but any hope is better then none."

Eponine didn't look up, didn 't budge from her position on the floor. She could taste blood and she coughed, but other than that, didn't make a sound. She just wanted Harley to get the beating over with and go . She hated when they hesitated and drew out the anticipation. It hurt more then.

She tapped her foot patiently.

"Come on now. On your feet. You start walking now you'll get that bleeding taken care of before it stains your pretty dress."

The important thing was that she wasn't the one backing down like Eponine wanted.

Why was Harley bothered about her dress? Why was she complimenting it?

Shakily, Eponine eased herself up, and turned back to face Harley . She clutched at her jaw: it really did hurt a lot. But she was still stubborn enough not to run away .

"Just do it." Her voice was choked.

Harley folded her arms just as defiant.

"You haven't earned a gift from me. You haven't even thanked me for all this free therapy."

"Therapy?" Eponine asked incredulously. "Madame, you have beaten me. Again. That is not therapy."

"Are you sure? After all you're still standing defiantly. Stupidly clinging to your wrong ideas. That doesn't sound beaten to me."

"Hit." Eponine rolled her eyes . "Are you so stupid? I say, you have hit me!" She was clearly exasperated.

Harley stuck her tongue out in the most mature response.

"So it's an aggressive therapy. If it works who cares what the cost?"

"It has done nothing except lose me a tooth" and make her lose more of her scant dignity, and bruise her chin, and her nose. She was lucky her jaw wasn't dislocated. As it was, blood from her mouth dripped over her cupped hands to her dress now, ruining it.

"Please. Go away."

This was starting to become less fun. And when Harley lost interest in things she tended to move on quickly.

"Alright fine. I'm leaving. You win. Good job you've offically chased off someone else who wanted to help you. But I'm sure you're used to that by now."

Tucking her hands behind her head she turned on her heel to leave. "But hey, you got me to leave first so you won. That's gotta feel good right?"

Eponine couldn't help grinning triumphantly. Finally. She had won something. It was annoying though, that Harley had to get that last dig in, and Eponine's grin became a frown. She folded her arms, and then shifted, and put her hands on her hips, and her nose in the air. In the grandest voice she could muster, in the best impression of Felicity she could do, she said,

"Go now, Madame, for you have said I have won and so it is my roof for the night. You shan't be welcome here again. Go now, so you do not look silly any more. Go away."

She really should have just let Harley leave. But for that last parting shot Harley couldn't just walk away.

So instead she spun gracefully once, twice, and kicked off her sneaker sending it flying at Eponine's face.

"It's a big lonely roof anyway."

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gardienne - 2014-04-11 21:15 (UTC) - Expand

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revvinguptheharley - 2014-04-12 02:27 (UTC) - Expand

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