College AU Frenchmen!

[road_to_calvary]

 
...this isn't his bedroom. Jean Valjean - dressed in shorts and a muscle T, covered in sweat - rubs a towel over his face, and blinks quite a lot. Then he sticks his head back through the door, and yells, 'Javert!'

'What?'

'Come look.'

Javert - mussed hair, jeans, sullen expression, a scar around his neck - slopes through the door. He also blinks a lot, and doesn't stop the door closing behind them. While Valjean spends his time staring about, his eyes fall on the leaflets nearby. He picks one up, reads it, then touches Valjean's arm to get his attention.

'Here.'

A couple of minutes later, they're staring at each other. Javert shakes his head. Valjean nods, and stretches for the door handle...which won't open. His eyes go wide as he tugs on it, and Javert has to take his wrist to stop him trying to wrench his way out.

'It's OK. We'll just get a drink and wait for it to open. It says here that it will. OK?'

'...OK.'

And so there's two wary young guys at the bar, eyeing drinks suspiciously. Well, Valjean is. Javert is eyeing Valjean, because...well. Just because.



[OOC: AU guys, obviously! Write-up on their background here. You can pretty much do what you want with them, they're only here for a week. This is open until whenever, and they'll each get an independent EP at some point. \o/]

Comments

[road_to_calvary]

Valjean applauds when this is over, loving it.

Javert slopes along behind, rolling his eyes where no one can see. And wondering about paying for things if they're not free.

'Your mom can sing!' Valjean signs to Alice. And to Bonnie, 'did you just make that up then?'

[is_the_motion]

"Yeah, people kinda do that where I'm from." Bonnie says. "It's just a thing."

The mun used to think bursting into song was a thing people did in real life too.

'Music!' Alice signs back.

"Alice isn't able to hear me sing." Bonnie says. "She cain't hear anythin' much quieter than an aeroplane. She can feel vibrations though."

Sadly they are from the wrong year to teach Alice this.

[road_to_calvary]

'That's a shame.'

He doesn't know what to say to that. Bad enough being that deaf in the 21st century, let alone the 1930s.

'Does she talk at all? they have a way to teach deaf people to talk, but I don't know what it is.'

[is_the_motion]

"No." Bonnie shakes her head. "She lost her hearing very early. Children like Alice..." she makes sure she's not in lipreading angle before continuing. "Are usually put in institutions when they get much older. We don't got access to any therapy fer her and we try not to draw attention to her in case they try to take her."

[road_to_calvary]

His face falls, and he looks at the little girl.

'They can't take her without your permission though, right?'

Surely.

[is_the_motion]

"They can if she's 'trouble'." Bonnie says. "But over my dead body. Most it means we don't get any help."

[road_to_calvary]

'But she's obviously not any trouble.'

Valjean's frowning now.

'What sort of help do you need?'

If he hears the quiet 'here we go' muttered from Javert behind them, he ignores it.

[is_the_motion]

"I think it would be nice fer her if she could talk, or at least lip read, but I don't really know how to teach her." Bonnie admits. "She won't be allowed to go to school, but I'd like her to be able to play with other children."

[road_to_calvary]

He chews his lip. How to make this happen?

'How long do you think it takes to learn?' he asks.

'Because the Bar can provide a lot of stuff with modern technology. I'll pay for any of it, you don't need to worry about that. You can take it back with you, and as long as no one sees it, she can learn what she needs.'

There has to be DVD's, or something. Everything is on DVD these days.

[is_the_motion]

Bonnie looks touched, so much so that she just reaches out and gives him a hug.

"I don't know how long, but thank you." she says quietly. "It's certainly worth a try."

[road_to_calvary]

He freezes up at the touch, though he doesn't mean to. Doesn't even want to, but it's reflex when something like that happens unexpectedly.

But he still smiles afterwards, and briefly touches her hand.

'It's no problem at all. C'mon, lets go see what they've got. Anything you want.'

[is_the_motion]

Bonnie lets him go.

"I'm sorry, I was... I was touched. Thank you."

It's true they aren't well off; Bill earns a decent salary but Alice generates an awful lot of medical bills.

[road_to_calvary]

'It's OK.'

He doesn't offer an explanation because, well, no one needs that and it's just not what he does. But he can pretend like it never happened, and so he does.

And he's figured that she's not well off - if she were, none of this stuff would be a problem. Rich parents aren't made to give up their kids. So he'll find a way to make sure she takes a lot of things back home with her for Alice.

[is_the_motion]

It's amazing how a moment of kindness can change a life.

Alice slips her hand into his as they go up to the bar.

[ooc: Fade? Thanks for the thread <3]

[never_shall_yield]

[OOC: Yep! Thank you mate, that was lovely. :)]

[is_the_motion]

[ooc: I love that AUJavert is still a git XD]

[never_shall_yield]

[OOC: Lol, I can't imagine any universe in which Javert is not a complete twat. This one does have some redeeming qualities, but they have to be dug for. :D]