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Jehan wore all the words on his body with pride.
After all, they depicted the first words somebody, who plays an essential role in your life, says to you. It didn't matter if they were your friend, your lover or a sibling. It just showed that they would be important at some point. Jehan liked it, it showed it that some people, after all, were worth hardships and it assured him that it would turn out okay in the end. And he was proud of how positive most of his were.
His parent's first words "Oh he is gorgeous" and "I am so sorry I fainted, you are so wonderful!" was sprawled over his shoulder blades, reminding him of his loving home, he could always come back to.
His friend's words were splayed all over his body, prompting tales he loved to tell.
"Not to sound weird but can I please draw you?" from his first drunk encounter with Grantaire was written in a wobbly cursive on his ankle, "Those flowers are beautiful!", said Cosette on a warm spring afternoon was on his right knee. There was also the line of terrible Taylor Swift lyrics in a font that looked an awful lot like Comic Sans, courtesy of Courfeyrac, on his wrist. Every single person in their tight-knitted group of friends had one of those. As soon as Courfeyrac had understood what those tattoos depicted, he had chosen to greet every new person with terrible lyrics, much to Enjolras dismay who had the line "Darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream!" over his collarbones.
Courfeyrac himself was, for this very reason, covered in a couple lines like "Uh I hate that song.", "Please stop!" and "You little shit!".
Among all those kind words scribbled on Jehan's body, there was one particular that stood out. On his right hip, in a sharp beautiful cursive, stood the words "Just say the word and I'll kill him."
Jehan wasn't sure what to make out of this one.
Little did he know, his answering words were just as confusing.
*
For their student group winter usually meant not only a ton of school work but also a lot of volunteering. This year Jehan was helping at a local "Santa Claus" attraction, which had been organized by different student organizations and was taking place in a local pedestrian zone for the 24 days leading up to Christmas. Kids could come up to Santa tell him about their wished and he would, much to the parent's dismay, tell that they would very definitely receive those gifts.
Nobody really envied Jehan for having to smile at children for hours, dressed up in a hideous elf-costume while simultaneously trying to not freeze to death, but Jehan was sure he would somehow manage. At least the kids would be happy, so he gritted his teeth as he hurried through the snow flurry on his first day.
A look at his watch was telling him that he had still almost half an hour until his shift started so he decided to bridge the time with a coffee or at least something hot to warm him up.
He hadn't been to this part of town very often, but he found a small coffee shop that looked quite cozy and walked into it.
The coffee shop really was just as nice as it had seemed from the outside. Mismatched furniture in bright colors took up most of the small space. The walls were painted with a warm orange and small bookshelves were lined against them. A big sign over the counter announced the different beverages, with an impressive tea-collection, as Jehan noted with delight. He was usually more of a coffee-person, especially when he just needed anything to get warmth back into his system, but after years of friendship with Cosette, he had taken upon drinking tea, too. Her taste was impeccable and she sometimes called herself a tea snob.
He took his place in the queue, pulling down the beanie he had been wearing. It was quite likely he was looking pretty disheveled, but right now he didn't care. At least he was just getting back the feeling in his hands.
The barista behind the counter caught Jehan's eye, as he was letting his gaze wander. He looked, to put it nicely, absolutely pissed.
Like the other members of staff, he was wearing, what looked like ridiculous reindeer antlers with small bells. He held a resemblance to a very murderous reindeer, how he snapped at another barista as she stood in his way. Apart from the festive hair accessories, he was clothed in all black and Jehan was fairly sure that the clothes had been tailored.
No way could everything, the man wore, fit so well.
When the man brought another cup of coffee to the counter he noticed Jehans' stare on him and he countered his look with a raised eyebrow, before he winked and got back to work. Jehan noticed the blush creep up on his cheek. Ah damn.
When it was his turn to place his order he saw the barista approach him and he just wanted to say something along the line of an apology for his staring when somebody thwarted his plans.
"Montparnasse, stay put I got this!"
Wait, Jehan knew this voice. And yes, the person approaching him, tying her apron behind her back, was nobody else than Éponine.
"Hi, my dear.", she smiled at him shaking her head a bit to make the bells ring. From the corner of his eye, Jehan could see Montparnasse cringe at the sound of it.
"On your way to save the world, I guess?" He nodded. Éponine wasn't part of their group since she wasn't a student at their uni, but Grantaire usually kept her up-to-date and she helped out whenever she could. "Yeah, I got the Santa Claus attraction this year."
She laughed sympathetically. "Oh looks like you caught a bit of Bossuet's luck on that one, didn't you?" Jehan only shrugged he didn't really care that much about the cold. "It will be fine I guess. At least I found a good coffee shop, so close." He smiled at her. "Ah yes, we're are an excellent choice and since Musichetta is in charge here, we give free drinks to world savers, so the coffee in on the house."
Jehan thanked her before another look at the time told him he had to hurry in order not to be late.
He hadn't seen the barista, Montparnasse he reminded himself, again.
*
As it turned out the Santa Claus attraction had set up place just outside the small café and so Jehan ended up going there for coffee every time before or after his shift. Despite his desperate attempts to pay them, Éponine and Musichetta had apparently told all of their employees that coffee was free for the volunteers and so the others also declined his money.
Sometimes he even saw Montparnasse. But somehow they never managed to exchange more than a small smile or a hesitant wave, before Jehan had to dash to get ready, or Montparnasse was called to another customer. And it wasn't like it bugged Jehan, just that it really did. Because Montparnasse was mesmerizing.
Jehan had a good view of the café's counter, from his place next to the small crowd of children waiting. Sometimes he caught a glimpse of the man working, carrying himself through the crowded place with much graze. Not much of a smile on his face, but he still didn't seem rude, just very professional. It was a bit like he was ready to be called into an impromptu photo shoot at all times, a fact that had Jehan laughing to himself more than once.
*
Two weeks into the job it got hectic. Many people were coming up with their kids and Jehan had to keep them entertained, while they waited for their turn. Sighing he told a made-up tale about Santa Claus, something about cute little reindeers and other elves. Even to him, it felt ridiculous.
When he turned to let the next kid through he noticed that Montparnasse was standing at the counter watching him. Jehan grinned at him raising an eyebrow. Montparnasse only winked at him before he returned to serving more fairtrade-coffee to exhausted students.
*
One week later it went to shit. Because one of the other volunteers had gotten ill, during the worst time, of course, and Jehan was doing double shifts. On top of it all, it had also started snowing heavily and a cold wind was blowing into his face. He had never worked the earlier shift and he noticed that he hadn't met this Santa before.
"Hey babe, looking hot today!", he greeted him, getting uncomfortably close to Jehan and laying grabbing him on his arm. Oh, amazing apparently Santa was an absolute dick.
"You should get changed.", was Jehan's only answer.
The guy, probably shocked by how deep Jehan's voice was and that he hadn't been hitting on a girl, flinched away like he had burned himself. Jehan shook his head and got to his place not wasting another thought on the guy.
It went actually okay for the first shift, but then their break started and the guy was back at him.
"Sooo what the fuck is wrong with you?", he asked blocking Jehan's way to the café. He only rolled his eyes in response. "I have no idea what you are talking about. And now get out of my way." Jehan tried to squeeze past the guy, but he was quick and grabbed him by his arm again.
"What?", honestly, Jehan was usually not one to snap, but he had no intention to spend his break in the cold with some idiot. "I am talking to you fag. No need to get your knickers in a twist."
"I have no intention of talking to you!", Jehan tried to wrestle himself free but the other man's grip was firm.
"I asked you a question fairy and I...", he broke off when something hit him in the back of his head with a loud thump. Jehan felt the grip on his arm lighten and he moved away as the man swayed lightly. "What the...", before he could finish the sentence, somebody had grabbed him and held something that looked a lot like a knife, close to his throat.
Jehan's heart dropped.
It was Montparnasse, with a murderous expression on his face. He looked Jehan straight into the eyes with a cold expression. It was frightening. Then he whispered something into the other man's ear, that made him stagger away with an expression of fear in his eyes.
Montparnasse watched him leave before he turned around to Jehan. "Just say the word and I'll kill him.", he said as handed Jehan his scarf that he must have lost in the hassle.
"Wait, you can't just kill Santa Claus!"
And then Jehan noticed what Montparnasse had just said, and judging by Montparnasse's expression he had heard quite right. The man looked at him just as shocked as he must be looking right now. That couldn't be true.
"Wait what did you just say? Are you fucking kidding me?", Montparnasse was the first to find it in himself to speak, still looking at him unbelievingly.
And then they both burst into laughter.
"Are you kidding me? I always thought you might kill me!", Jehan exclaimed with delight.
"I always thought I was the fucking Grinch or even worse." Montparnasse rolled up the sleeve of his jacket and showed him the words in a writing that Jehan recognized at his own.
"Wait, you can't kill Sanat Claus!"
He started giggling again.
"I have tried to ask you out for coffee for three weeks!", Jehan was out of breath still shaking slightly with laughter. "
Oh did you?", Montparnasse was looking at him quite smug. "So did I, but we never even managed to talk. I was so close to making a goddamn sign and stick it to the window."
"Well,", Jehan looked at the words again smiling. "But you'll have to admit, this makes for a much greater story."