'It was a Dark and Stormy Night' and Five Other Clichés

Fandom: Les Miserables
Rating: G
Setting: Modern au
Characters: Courfeyrac, Grantaire, Jean Prouvaire
Word Count: 709

General Summary: Grantaire loves a cliché. Loves, I tell you.

Author’s Note: From 22 March 2013. A bit shit now, and I would write everyone differently, but it still makes me chuckle, so I'm cross-posting it anyway. (to be honest it would be made better with a little reshuffling of the characters but fuck it)


"It was a dark and stormy night, a-"

"No. Stop right there."

"What?" Scowling, Grantaire looked up from his writing, almost hitting his head on the window sill in the process.

"'It was a dark and stormy night'?"

"Yeah?"

"You can’t be serious, R."
 

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Behind the Cut

Fandom: Les Miserables
Rating: E
Setting: Modern au
Characters: Bahorel, Feuilly
Primary Pairings: Bahorel/Feuilly
Word Count: 1509 

General Summary: Bahorel has a bad habit of interrupting Feuilly when he's trying to get things done, and over time, it's become a sort of game that they play, but eventually Feuilly's had quite enough. 

Author’s Note: I wrote this in early April 2013 for a friend who requested it.


It had almost become a sort of game between them. There weren’t really any rules to the game so much as it was just Bahorel pushing buttons and seeing just how far he could get before he got hit, or otherwise chastised into retreating. So when Feuilly heard the other man slip, as soundlessly as he was capable of being, into the flat, it was all he could do not to let an irritated sigh escape his lips before he returned to slicing vegetables. At least he wasn’t drunk this time - not with how quiet he had managed to be.

The game always began like that. Bahorel would attempt to get the jump on his flatmate - always unsuccessfully - and start in slowly, by his standards anyway, and then escalate things as far as he could before being told to fuck off. So when one of Bahorel’s hands slipped under his shirt to rest against the small of his back, Feuilly didn’t even flinch.

"'Evening." Bahorel’s breath was warm against the back of his ear, and his knife stuttered imperceptibly against a pepper.

"Bit past that," he replied mildly, his knife hand slipping easily back into its original rhythm despite a slight shiver traversing the length of his body as the hand under his shirt slid up his spine a little ways.


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Unexpected Results

Fandom: Les Miserables
Rating: T
Characters: Courfeyrac, Marius Pontmercy
Primary Pairings: Courfeyrac/Marius Pontmercy
Word Count: 534

General Summary: Marius has been coping with what he thinks may be some embarrassing feelings towards Courfeyrac, who finds nothing particularly embarrassing.

Author’s Note: Written for a friend back in April 2013


He couldn’t shake it. No matter how much he tried to change things, to steer his imagination elsewhere, his mind always returned to the same places. To his back against a wall, a mattress, even a window pane once. To teeth scraping over freckled clavicles and kisses that were somehow at once chaste and anything but. He always, despite every effort, found himself squirming and haunted by the ghosts of soft, clever hands peeling his clothes away and skating over his hips, by the smile - amused, but indulgent - that inevitably appeared as he flushed at the breathlessness of his own voice.

It wasn’t until he realised that he had whimpered aloud that Marius snapped back to himself and realised where he was. He found himself in the corridor near Courfeyrac’s room, and swallowing hard, glanced around to ensure that he was alone, but when he turned his head to glance towards Courfeyrac’s door, his heart dropped into the pit of his stomach.


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Rubick's

Fandom: Les Miserables
Rating: G
Setting: Modern au
Characters: Enjolras, Grantaire
Word Count: 502 

General Summary: Enjolras has never had much patience for puzzles. Even Courf's Rubik's cubes, which he leaves around the flat where he or Combeferre could easily stumble over them, go unsolved. Not because he can't solve them, but because he hasn't the patience for it, and there is work to be done.

Grantaire, too, is a puzzle. 

Author’s Note: Something I wrote in a fit of pique in late April 2013.


Grantaire is a puzzle.

Grantaire is a puzzle and Enjolras can’t decide who he is exactly half the time.

There is nothing constant about Grantaire. Not entirely so, anyway.

Some days he arrives at the café trouble incarnate, his eyes flickering about and that damned defiant smirk curling his lips. It’s on those days that Enjolras openly declares him to be unbearable. Even at his drunkest, he’s mouthy and articulate enough to launch into lengthy, heavily sarcasm-laden criticisms of every word to leave Enjolras’ mouth; even at his most hungover, he can manage a sneer and a well-placed barb that will inevitably spur Enjolras to rise to his bait. Sometimes he comes in with a bandage or two – evidence of another reckless night out with Bahorel, no doubt, or else he doesn’t show at all, but appears days later with paint in his hair and chafed wrists, and a strangely triumphant smile on his face.

Other days, however, he might as well be a completely different person.


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The Streets Were Full of Strangers (Chapter 1)

Fandom: Les Miserables
Rating: M (whole series) / G (this chapter)
Setting: 1920s Prohibition au (dw tag)
Characters (in this chapter): Bahorel, Bossuet, Combeferre, Courfeyrac, Enjolras, Feuilly, Grantaire, Joly, Musichetta, Marius Pontmercy, Jean Prouvaire, Éponine Thénardier, Jean Valjean
Word Count: 2565

General Summary: The ABC Group is a small organisation who operate purely on principle - a group of bootleggers who run a not-for-profit speakeasy known as The Corinth out of the upper room of the Musain Café, with all profits going to aid the finances of one Mr. Jean Valjean and his daughter.

Despite run-ins with rivals, including the notorious Thénardier crime family, the group has managed to thrive in the heart of the city, but things have taken a sudden turn for the worse, with the Feds slowly circling under the direction of BOI agent Javert.

[Note: There will be major character death in later chapters.]

Important note involving ages of characters: Most of Les Amis (as well as Éponine and Cosette) are between the ages of 23 and 30, with the exception of Gavroche, who is 14/15. Valjean is 60ish, but due to the way in which I’ve set up where his backstory intersects with Javert’s, Javert is around 39.

Chapter Summary: Marius attends a Sunday night meeting at The Corinth, and discovers that something is amiss between the ABC Group and their rivals, the Thénardiers.

Author’s Note: I started this as part of a Les Mis Across History event and only got two chapters in before losing my confidence. I would still like to finish it someday but don't know if I could do it as well as I thought.

 

The streets were strangely deserted as Marius Pontmercy made his way to The Corinth, though it was Sunday night, so he supposed that he ought not to be too surprised, even for this part of town. As he slipped through the darkened Musain Café, he exchanged curt nods with Mr. Valjean, the owner who was working late as usual – in part in case anything was needed upstairs, and in part because he could hardly afford not to. It was, Marius was aware, only due to his financial troubles that he had allowed the ABC Group, as Enjolras had christened them, to occupy his upper room, transforming it into the Corinth. Avoiding eye contact for too long, he hung his coat on an overloaded coat rack and mounted the stairs.

The lights of The Corinth were dimmed and the thick, faux-velvet curtains drawn, leaving bizarrely shaped shadows across the mural-covered walls of the speakeasy. Enjolras stood at the round table central to the room, his blond hair tied back from his face with a red ribbon – something that had initially drawn mockery, at least until his reputation for being as ruthless as he was principled spread through the city; Marius shuddered remembering the rumours about the consequences of crossing the ABC Group’s boss. He had yet to see him in action, aside from his impassioned speeches and remarkable efficiency, but it was hard not to fear the sharp, intelligent blue eyes and the set of his marble features.

“We are bootleggers on principle, not for profit,” Courfeyrac had warned him before bringing him up for the first time, “Any profit goes towards helping Mr. Valjean and his daughter.” At the time, Marius had been sceptical – who the hell bootlegs for charity after all – but after a few weeks, it became clear that Courfeyrac had not been exaggerating.

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Fatherhood

Fandom: Les Miserables
Rating: G
Setting: 1920s Prohibition au (dw tag)
Characters: Fantine, Cosette Fauchelevent, Jean Valjean
Warnings: Implied forced institutionalisation
Word Count: 968

General Summary: Jean Valjean had never intended to become a father, in fact, he had been set against it from the beginning.

[Takes place prior to the chapter fic The Streets Were Full of Strangers, but ends where the first chapter begins.] 

Author’s Note: A relatively sweet prequel fic that I wrote around Father's Day 2013.


Jean Valjean had never expected to become a father – in fact, he had never planned on it. After their arrival in New York at the turn of the century, he had watched his parents die slowly under poor work conditions in an attempt to keep their family together and fed, and had nearly worked himself to death in an effort to keep his sister and her own children safe after the death of her husband in a factory accident. After she remarried, less for love than for the financial security of her children, he had vowed at thirty to never to father children of his own.

He had not counted on the appearance of Fantine on the doorstep of his cramped apartment one rainy night in 1912. He hardly knew her – she had worked in a dressmaker’s shop with his sister at one point, and had been the envy of the neighbourhood, but beyond that, they had never spoken.


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Serendipity

Fandom: Les Miserables
Rating: G
Characters: Combeferre, Courfeyrac, Jean Prouvaire
Primary Pairings: Combeferre/Jean Prouvaire
Word Count: 1373 

General Summary: Combeferre offers an at-his-wit's-end Jean Prouvaire the use of his private reading room, and Jehan happily accepts. To both men's surprise, everything else just sort of falls into place.

Author’s Note: My half of an art trade that I wrote in June 2013.


Combeferre had not planned on this when he first offered the use of his sitting room to Jean Prouvaire. They had been, as they often were, in the back room of the Café Musain when he had overheard the poet in conversation with Courfeyrac, complaining of too much noise outside of his rooms making it impossible to focus. He had, almost surprising himself as much as them, smoothly interjected and offered the use of his sitting room.

“It’s quite well-lit,” he had heard himself explaining, “and quiet – my rooms are very out of the way.”

He had ignored Courfeyrac’s questioning eyebrow in favour of the way that Jehan’s grin seemed to take up half his face, and the way that his delicate fingers played with his cravat as he thanked him and inquired as to the address and what times would be acceptable for him to visit. Combeferre had simply said that his door was open to him any time that he was home, and Jehan had beamed at him before leaving him and Courfeyrac to hold court with Enjolras as was the usual procedure after a meeting.


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Routine Maintenance

Fandom: Les Miserables
Rating: G
Setting: Modern au
Characters: Enjolras, Éponine Thénardier
Primary Pairings: Enjolras/Éponine Thénardier (queerplatonic)
Secondary Pairings: Enjolras/Grantaire (unrequited)
Word Count: 287 

General Summary: Enjolras doesn’t work quite like other people do, but Éponine doesn’t mind it. 

Author’s Note: A piece I wrote for one of my best friends when she had a bad day back in July 2013.


She sometimes doesn’t quite understand how he functions - how he pushes himself to extremes until the gears just refuse to turn and he collapses in a heap of long, slender limbs and golden blond curls, and so she watches him sleep.
 

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The Streets Were Full of Strangers (Chapter 2)

Fandom: Les Miserables
Rating: M (whole series) / T (this chapter)
Setting: 1920s Prohibition au (dw tag)
Characters (in this chapter): Babet, Javert, Azelma "Az" Jondrette, Montparnasse, Éponine Thénardier
Warnings: Implied Transphobia
Word Count: 3672

General Summary: The ABC Group is a small organisation who operate purely on principle - a group of bootleggers who run a not-for-profit speakeasy known as The Corinth out of the upper room of the Musain Café, with all profits going to aid the finances of one Mr. Jean Valjean and his daughter.

Despite run-ins with rivals, including the notorious Thénardier crime family, the group has managed to thrive in the heart of the city, but things have taken a sudden turn for the worse, with the Feds slowly circling under the direction of BOI agent Javert.

[Note: There will be major character death in later chapters.]

Important note involving ages of characters: Most of Les Amis (as well as Éponine, Azelma, and Cosette) are between the ages of 23 and 30, with the exception of Gavroche, who is 14/15. Valjean is 60ish, but due to the way in which I’ve set up where his backstory intersects with Javert’s, Javert is around 39.

Chapter Summary: In which Special Agent Javert of the BOI receives a visitor, and the Thénardier twins prepare for their respective roles in the ABC - Thénardier negotiations the following night.

Author’s Note: I started this as part of a Les Mis Across History event and only got two chapters in before losing my confidence. I would still like to finish it someday but don't know if I could do it as well as I thought.


In her three years working as a secretary for what the office ladies called “the biggest stick in the mud the BOI has to offer,” Jeanette Delaney had become accustomed to all manner of people walking in and out of the central office to see her employer. No one claimed to understand his methods, but he was ruthless and he was effective, and so as long as the paperwork was filed at the end of the day, no one seemed to question the ways in which he chose to conduct his investigations. As a result she hardly even bothered to glance up when the front door opened, then thudded shut again, allowing for the harsh click of high heels on tile to reach the desk before looking at the person in front of her.

Her gaze slid up a pair of long, shapely legs, bare from just below the knee down; from there up skin was covered by a straight-waisted, dark green dress, the lack of sleeves remedied by a stylish black, silk scarf that wound around their throat and draped over their bare shoulders. Finally, she reached their face, and was stunned to find a face that was somehow both beautiful and handsome under a light dusting of makeup, dark hair done up fashionably with a series of small, silver filigreed hairpins, rouged lips twitching into a wry smile as their brown eyes watched them with something bordering on amusement.

“Can I help you, um,” darting her eyes back down to her desk, Jeanette began leafing through the scheduled appointments, “Can I help you, Mist–”

“Jondrette.” The visitor interjected smoothly, “Ms. A. Jondrette – I won’t be on the books, but I assure you, I am expected.” When the girl hesitated, she nodded towards the phone. “You can call and check if you’re worried – I won’t mind.”

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Minding Cues

Fandom: Les Miserables
Rating: T
Setting: 1920s Prohibition au (dw tag)
Characters: Javert, Azelma 'Az' Jondrette
Primary Pairings: Javert/Azelma 'Az' Jondrette
Warnings: Implied Past Abuse and Transphobia
Word Count: 557

General Summary: Azelma Jondrette has always had to rely on subtle cues to express what cannot, for them, safely be said aloud, and they're not entirely sure what to do with a lover who is capable of picking up on those cues.

Author’s Note: A short piece I wrote about Azelma and how they deal with their genderfluidity and sexuality.


Clothing is unreliable, and so Azelma Jondrette has always made use of certain cues to tip their lovers off. Most of these were subconscious habit – like the towels. If they came out of the showers with their towel knotted low on their hips, then as far as he was concerned, all bets were off, and anything was fair game; however, if they emerged with their towel wrapped securely around their body, cloth pressed against the flatness of their chest and tugged down to cover most of their thighs, then there were parts of her anatomy which were off-limits. Other cues could be found in the ways that they carried themselves, by the way they stood, how they chose to adjust a piece of clothing – regardless of what the clothing was.

In the vast majority of cases, they fail to pick up on it and with few exceptions, Azelma grins and bears it without complaint – only because actively protesting is dangerous when your clothes are off and your gun is on the other side of the room, and even if it wasn’t, there’s only so many times, they suppose, that you can pull a gun on a man before it gets around that you’re prone to it.


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