milliways_bar | (no subject)

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gavroche thenardier

(no subject)

It's been a busy morning for Almanzo, harrowing seeds into the ground. He sure is hungry after all that work, and it's an awful long time until lunch.

He finds himself in the bar when he nips off to the bathroom, and with that the opportunity to grab a snack. He goes up to the bar, and sits down, pondering what to have.

"Do you have any candy please?" he asks, after a moment.

Bar presents him with a chocolate bar. He thanks her but stares at it. This doesn't look much like candy. It's sort of shiny, like paper, but not like paper...

Which is why there's a curious 9-year-old boy licking the plastic wrapper experimentally. Feel free to interrupt.

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Gavroche glances over idly, away, and then back again more curiously, and grins.

"Never had chocolate before?"

"Is that what this is?" Almanzo asks, eying the plastic. "It doesn't taste of much."

"That's just there to keep it clean and off your fingers", Gavroche explains, and holds out his hand. "The chocolate's inside. Here, I'll show you."

Almanzo passes it over, then nods in understanding.

"Why don't they use paper?" he asks.

Gavroche carefully tears it open, making sure Almanzo can see how it's done for next time, and hands it back.

"...you know, I don't know. Maybe this way keeps more dirt out than paper. I'm Gavroche."

"I'm Almanzo. Thanks Gavroche." Almanzo takes the chocolate, eats a bit, then offers some to Gavroche.

His eyes widen slightly, it's pretty sweet.

Gavroche breaks off a small piece - it's not his chocolate, he's not going to be greedy - pops it into his mouth, then grins at Almanzo's expression.

"Not something you see much at home?"

"I never saw this before." Almanzo says. "We have red and white candy, but it's a lot harder."

"The mint kind?" He nods. "We didn't have it solid like this where I came from, either. Just drinking chocolate, if you can afford it."

"Sometimes we have maple sugar too." Almanzo says. "Father let me help make it last year, so I didn't have to go to school."

"I think I've had that once or twice. Don't you like school?"

Almanzo shakes his head.

"I don't like the big boys, but they've mostly gone now."

"Yeah? They picked on you?"

"Mostly they picked on the teacher."

Gavroche snorts. "Must not have been too good at controlling them."

"They were going to beat him up and take over the school." Almanzo says. "They beat another teacher so bad he died."

He blinks at that, seriously taken aback.

"They killed their teacher? And nobody did anything about it?"

"I wasn't allowed to ask questions but it seems not." Almanzo says. "But Mr Corse, he borrowed my father's whip and drove the big boys out of the school. I was really glad he won but I don't like going to school. I'd rather be on the farm."

"Maybe school's not right for you", Gavroche says cheerfully. "Can you read and write? And do sums?"

"I can some." Almanzo says. "Father says that ain't enough."

"I don't know what else you'd need", Gavroche says with a shrug. "Maybe get your those things better, so you can run the farm properly."

"Well, I got to be able to sell things and get a good deal." Almanzo says. "We sold five hundred bushels of potatoes for a dollar a bushel, that's a good price."

"That's just sums and common sense, though", Gavroche points out. "If you're not good at business already, I don't think it's something people can learn."

"I learn by watching Father." Almanzo says. "If you ask the price you want, they'll barter you down, so you ask a higher price."

"Exactly! You learn by watching your father. Practical experience. School won't teach you that... but you probably do still need it for the letters and numbers", he adds in the interests of fairness.