#with mentions of the boobie himself Marius

[kjack89]

Coup de Foudre

For @themiserablesmonth Day 25: First Glance.

Canon era, developing E/R.

Read on AO3.

Enjolras’s tone was unusually sour as he led Courfeyrac into the backroom of the Musain. “All that I am saying,” he said loudly, in a tone that indicated he wished this particular argument to be over, “is that there is no such thing as love at first glance.”

Courfeyrac rolled his eyes in return. “And all that I am saying is that you are being quite boring about this,” he said, sounding particularly put out.

Enjolras looked as though he was barely managing to stop himself from also rolling his eyes in response, brightening when he saw Combeferre seated at the table, reading through the draft of a pamphlet. “Ah, Combeferre, talk some sense into Courfeyrac, would you?”

Combeferre glanced up at them, brow lifted in what might have been amusement. “I have yet to be able to thus far,” he said evenly. “But on which topic would you have me try?”

Courfeyrac huffed a sigh at being suddenly outnumbered as Enjolras said, “You do recall Courfeyrac’s idiot roommate?”

Combeferre blinked. “Marius?”

“The very one,” Enjolras said, his tone disapproving, as if the very concept of Courfeyrac’s roommate was something to be derided. “The twit has decided that he is in love.”

“Ah.”

Combeferre uttered but the single syllable, which was perhaps for the best, as Enjolras did not seem to notice that he had spoken at all. “With a woman to whom he has never spoken, and whom he has seen, charitably, a handful of times. Am I correct?”

He directed this final question at Courfeyrac, who rolled his eyes a second time as he slumped into the chair next to Combeferre. “Certainly, when you say it like that and strip it of all romance,” he said, matching Enjolras’s sour tone, but when he turned to speak to Combeferre, his tone turned almost wistful. “It was the coup de foudre, Combeferre. I witnessed it with my own eyes.”

“And as I have long maintained, such a thing is but fantasy,” Enjolras interrupted loudly. He gestured to Combeferre. “So I leave it to you to attempt some semblance of reason, lest I despair that all logic is lost forever.”

Combeferre set his pen down, taking a moment to gather his thoughts before carefully pronouncing, “Physiologically speaking, Enjolras may very well be correct.” Courfeyrac made a disparaging noise, but Combeferre continued doggedly, “One day we may be able to parse the brain’s chemistry and demonstrate that the chemicals of infatuation are markedly different from the sustained bond of love and attachment.”

“Spoil sport,” Courfeyrac muttered, as Enjolras gave him a triumphant smile.

Combeferre cleared his throat. “And yet—”

Enjolras groaned, sitting on Courfeyrac’s other side.. “Could you not leave well enough alone?”

“Despite your insistence that you remain above such things,” Combeferre told him, “I prefer to think of the human experience as more than just a sum of chemical reactions.”

Enjolras scowled. “Meaning what, precisely?”

“Meaning that I do not believe the answer to your question is as simple as you think.” Now Combeferre sounded eager, as he was wont to when confronted with a philosophical question, even one not directly posed by either man in attendance. “And that it has a great deal to do with what one considers to be love.”

“Other than idiocy?” Enjolras muttered.

Courfeyrac smirked as he interjected, saccharine sweet, “If it is idiocy, then my roommate very well may have experienced it, by your own admission.”

Enjolras’s scowl deepened. “That is not what I meant, and you know it.”

Combeferre again cleared his throat. “The fact of the matter is, there are many kinds of love beyond simply infatuation or romantic love,” he said reasonably. “Think, after all, of how many words the Greeks used to describe love, from philautia to agape. So too it stands to reason that while you and I might consider pragma to be inconceivable at first glance, eros or even philia might be possible. And are not all of them types of love?”

Both Courfeyrac and Enjolras considered it for a moment, before Enjolras sighed and shook his head. “Far be it for me to argue with the Greeks about anything,” he said, in a tone that indicated he had and would continue to argue with the long dead Greeks about a great many things, “but I believe that to be a separate question of whether Marius Pontmercy has indeed fallen into the commonly understood notion of love at but a single glance.”

“And I believe all three of you are missing the point entirely,” a fourth voice stated, and all three turned as one to stare at Grantaire, slumped in the corner, wine bottle in front of him. “At first glance, at hundredth, at thousandth, even. It is all the same.”

Combeferre’s eyes narrowed. “Speak plainly, Wine Cask, if you are to speak at all.”

The corners of Grantaire’s lips twitched toward what may have been a smile – or a smirk. “Forgive me for daring to speak in the company of such esteemed wisdom,” he said, lifting his bottle in a mocking toast.

“Careful, Capital R—” Courfeyrac started warningly, but Enjolras laid a hand on his arm.

“No, I wish to hear what he has to say.” He fixed his eyes on Grantaire. “Say what you will, Grantaire,” he said. “I would hear your insight into this of all matters.”

Though his words were magnanimous, his tone indicated that he did not believe Grantaire capable of such insight. Perhaps it was for this reason that Grantaire flushed slightly, though when he spoke again, his voice was determined, and his eyes were locked unwaveringly on Enjolras’s. “You speak as though there are only two options. As if love at first glance can happen only the very first time two pairs of eyes meet across a crowded room.”

Combeferre frowned. “Is that not the definition of love at first sight?”

“No.”

“No?” Courfeyrac repeated, almost amused.

Grantaire lifted his chin, just slightly, his eyes still on Enjolras. “No. In love, all is made new again, which is why it matters not if it is the first time eyes meet, or the hundredth.”

“Or the thousandth,” Enjolras finished, something strange in his tone.

Grantaire nodded. “Indeed. For when eyes meet in love, when one or both understands and realizes that who they are seeing is not merely a friend, an acquaintance, even a stranger, but someone who will irrevocably alter the course of their life, any glance made before that matters not at all.” He shrugged, something softening in his expression. “All love happens at a first glance, the first glance that starts something entirely new, the first glance that makes a heart call out in longing.”

Combeferre glanced sideways at Courfeyrac. “I will admit, I expected drunken rambling, not poetry,” he said in an undertone.

Courfeyrac just shook his head slowly. “Can there not be poetry even in drunken rambling?” he asked, equally quiet.

“And so too may man hope that one day, their beloved might look upon them with eyes finally clear, and know, just as they do, in a first glance of their own,” Grantaire said softly, something almost sad, or at the very least longing, underpinning his words. Then, as if realizing he had said more than he intended, his flush deepened, a mottled red. “That is…that is what I think,” he finished weakly, tearing his eyes away from Enjolras to find his bottle.

Combeferre cleared his throat. “Well, that is certainly an interesting counterpoint to our discussion, do you not think, Enjolras?” Enjolras said nothing, and Combeferre leaned forward to frown at him. “Enjolras?”

But Enjolras was still staring at Grantaire, a peculiar expression on his face. “I—” he started, before trying again. “That is to say, I, uh…”

He trailed off and Grantaire stood, taking his wine bottle with him. “Now that my piece has been said, I find myself in need of more libation,” he said, toasting them again, though somewhat less mockingly this time. “Gentlemen.”

As Grantaire strode to the door, Courfeyrac shook his head. “Well, now that we’ve seemingly settled the matter, let us turn to other things.”

But Combeferre stopped him. “Courfeyrac,” he said quietly.

“What?”

Combeferre nodded toward Enjolras, who was still staring at the seat that Grantaire had vacated. “I think it best we give Enjolras a moment.”

Courfeyrac’s brow furrowed. “Why? What ails him?”

“Nothing,” Combeferre said, shaking his head. “Just—”

Realization struck Courfeyrac. “Surely you don’t think—” He broke off, unable to stop the small, delighted smile that stretched across his face. “A first glance.”

Combeferre shrugged, a little helplessly. “After the thousandth.”

Courfeyrac shook his head in wonder. “The coup de foudre.”

“Such as it were.”

Enjolras suddenly shook his head as if to clear it, blinking rapidly as he returned to himself. “My apologies,” he said. “What were we discussing?”

Combeferre and Courfeyrac exchanged knowing glances. “Love at first glance,” Courfeyrac said, still smiling. “And just when, exactly, that first glance may occur.”

[faerielleart]

who is here for a really bad and random high school au that is completely self indulgent yo

in which levi loses a bet with erwin and mike and is forced to audition for their school’s production of les misérables, he tries to mess up the audition but somehow he still sucks less than everyone so he ends up getting the part of marius??? and he can’t quit because it will influence negatively on his grades??? idk imagine levi reading the script without knowing shit about the play and reading all the cheesy lines for the first time and him hating every single thing about this situation until the first day of rehearsal where he meets the person who will play cosette, his weird schoolmate hanji who shares some classes with him who is always spending time in the school laboratory to do experiments and shit and oh. Oh.

at first dude wants to Scream because he just can’t bear the thought of acting like a booby who is madly in love (quoting old les mis memes from years ago here) with this wEiRdO who somehow has a pretty fucking amazing voice and wow maybe this weirdo,,,,, isn’t a bad weirdo. how bizzarre

Maybe just maybe as the days go by they start spending time together because hey! Looks like they are polar opposites but at the same time they have SO! MANY! things in common!!! and they eventually use rehearsing as an excuse to spend even more time together! and they bond over the fact that they’re supposed to play characters who are SO distant and different from how they are irl and levi finds out that hanji tried to audition as a joke but got the part bc she can actually S I N G like an angel and has a really solid head voice and range despite being a mezzo and cosette needing a soprano bc her parents forced her to take lessons, while levi despite having a decent singing voice actually had to have the songs lowered a lil bc bby is a baritone in a tenor role and has never had lessons and can’t support all the notes but fear not! Hanji offers to teach him some tips and tricks and whoops now they’re spending even more time together

And maybe just maybe it becomes easier for levi to sing “in my life she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun, and my life seems to stop as if something is over and something has scarcely begun”, maybe it comes natural for levi to stutter his line in “a heart full of love, a heart full of song, i’m doing everything all wrong” because?? he is looking right at hanji’s really pretty brown eyes and he can’t concentrate?? and he hates feeling like this lmaooo like sweaty palms butterflies fast heartbeat,,,,, boi is in love and he doesn’t realize it he just thinks he’s constipated

anyway let’s spice shit up and add erwin to the mix! erwin knows hanji, they’re childhood friends and they actually met through their singing lessons, the dude who was going to play enjolras gets idk chicken pox and the director is frantically looking for a substitute, levi wants to get back at erwin for making him audition in the first place (it’s all in good faith tho it’s a joke and they’re best friends dw he just wants to have a lil revenge) and suggests erwin, not knowing that he and hanji know each other and that he actually has been trained in singing so yeah erwin gets called for a last-minute audition and dude SMASHES it the director’s crying tears of joy they found their authentic tall hot blonde enjolras who looks like he’d be a great commander and people would die for him (;DDDDD) and during rehearsal levi finds erwin and hanji chatting like old friends!! and dude’s like wtf do u know each other??? and hanji says hell yes we studied together since we were children :D and just because i am huge huge erumike trash lemme say that mike got a lil part bc they needed ensemble members and he got to play grantaire so yeah enjoy both e/R and erumike there we go erwin gets to act with his boyfriend!! and they both watch levi and hanji during rehearsal and see how they obviously pine for each other but are far too oblivious for their own good so they decide here and there that they must get those two together bc it’s exHAUSTING to watch them stare lovingly into each other’s eyes and hold hands and kiss and then brush it off saying “it’s just acting we literally have to play a couple”

anyway the day of the show is here ladies and gentlemen levi is nervous af but doesn’t show it, he has to act like a lovesick fool in front of the whole school, the students, the teachers, the parents, EVERYONE and oh my god i hate it here might become his gratuation quote but all he needs is hanji backstage who squeezes his hand and whispers “can’t wait for you to sweep me off my feet shorty” which is extremely cringy but hanji did it on purpose just to see levi get embarassed and he does lmao so yeah the show goes amazingly! levi went flat a few times on the higher parts but it’s totally normal bby’s not trained and he did great everyone praise the birthday boy he deserves it

it’s after the show that things get a lil sad for our boi bc now he doesn’t have to rehearse anymore and is afraid that hanji won’t spend time with him anymore bc the show’s over :(( but fear NOT hanji plans on glueing herself to his side for the rest of the schoolyear and until they graduate and even after that and years later they’ve graduated college they’ve been living together for a while and they go to see the actual show on bway done by professionals and hanji acts weird all evening and OH as they’re going home she stops in the middle of the streets and whips out two lil matching rings,,,,,,, and says the cringiest cheesiest fucking thing in the world that has levi groaning and facepalming,,,,,, hanji says “will u be the marius to my cosette” and yeah levi just sighs and puts the ring on his finger and they smooch under the moonlight aw isn’t that CUTE and they lived happily ever after victor hugo is smiling down at them from the afterlife and patting himself on the back for helping them get together

NOW THERE’S TOO MUCH FLUFF AND I NEED ANGST TO BALANCE IT OUT so imagine this is also a reincarnation au and whenever levi sings “empty chairs at empty tables” he gets a weird feeling in his stomach and he gets really emotional singing “oh my friends my friends forgive me that i live and you are gone, there’s a grief that can’t be spoken, there’s a pain goes on and on” and “oh my friends my friends don’t ask me what your sacrifice was for, empty chairs at empty tables where my friends will sing no more”?? He blames it on the character getting to him too much but then he sees the scene where the students sing drink with me and the lyrics “drink with me to days gone by, can it be you fear to die, will the world remember you when you fall, could it be your death means nothing at all, is your life just one more lie” sound really familiar and resonate with him somehow as if he heard similar words somewhere else already, he sees erwin playing enjolras and being a commander giving orders and singing “let others rise to take our place until the earth is free”, he sees the scene where all the students get shot at the barricade and die one by one and he feels his head pulse and he has the strongest feeling of deja-vu and suddenly everything goes black and he wakes up in the infirmary with a very worried hanji sitting on a chair beside him and he really can’t explain what happened except that he feels like he just woke up from a very long dream and he feels like he fought through a battle and hanji just waves it off as him taking the stanislavski technique a bit too seriously for a high school play but the feeling doesn’t really ever go away and sticks with him even years later whenever he hears les mis being mentioned