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“Thanks for meeting up with me here,” Enjolras greets. “It’s one of the only places where people don’t really approach me.”
In the corner of a small cafe at an even smaller table, Grantaire and Enjolras sit across from each other. The atmosphere is warm and the yellow glow of the lights is welcoming. Enjolras fits in with the aesthetic of the place, wearing an ivory cashmere turtleneck and a woven red bracelet around his wrist.
“I’m sure that’ll change once your film is actually released.”
Enjolras nods and looks down at the cup of tea in front of him.
“I brought some more ‘final’ sketches and inspiration photos for you to take a look at.”
“Thanks, I also got you a coffee. It’s just a plain black since I didn’t know what you liked,” Enjolras says.
“Oh, thank you.”
From below the table, Grantaire rummages around in his bag and pulls out a sketchbook; the black cover barely visible under all of the stickers. As he flips through a few pages, Enjolras catches glimpses of unrelated projects, mainly swatches of fabric that hang over the edges of the pages and causing the sketchbook to be bulky. Grantaire finally finds the page and flips it around to show Enjolras. Gold, red, and white fabric pieces are stapled to the first page, the different textures creating an interesting image.
“This fabric is beautiful,” Enjolras remarks as his fingers trace over the white silk.
“Chanel has an evening ensemble from 1990 that was heavily inspired by Versailles. It’s white silk and has gold embroidery contrasted with thigh high boots underneath. I was inspired by that.”
Grantaire reaches across the table and brushes aside the silk and golden trim to reveal a picture of the Chanel dress, next to some notes that read, ‘not religious, but the embroidery works???”
Enjolras nods and turns to the next page and smiles. The next page contained a cropped image of a painting of Joan of Arc, with a golden halo behind her.
“Can’t have a theme like Heavenly Bodies without our girl Jeanne d’Arc,” Enjolras comments and looks back down at the sketchbook.
Next to the image of Joan were a few watercolor sketches of stained glass, the purples and blues swirling around in geometric patterns. A small note on the corner of the page read, ‘stained glass of Eglise Saint Nazaire? Perhaps pants or blazer.’
The next page contained a sheer white piece of fabric with someone else’s handwriting beneath,“put him in a see-through shirt and a halo -- it’ll be entertaining.”
“Eponine likes to think she’s funny,” Grantaire explains.
Enjolras laughs and flips back to the first page.
“There are a few more pages,” Grantaire continues.
Enjolras shushes him, “Let me really absorb this before I move on. This is one of my first big events after all.”
“Apparently, you’ve ‘taken the world by storm’.”
“Apparently,” Enjolras snorts.
“I’m sure a lot of people ask, but which do you prefer, theater or film?”
“Well,” Enjolras pauses. “ I have more experience in theater since I started doing plays and musicals in high school. The energy feels right when you put everything you can into a performance and the audience gives that energy back, you know? Yes you’re performing the same thing night after night, but not really -- there’s so many things that change each night, mistakes happen and it feels real. It’s draining, but rewarding.”
Enjolras meets Grantaire’s eyes, which are watching him with intensity.
“Not that I don’t enjoy film acting! It’s just very...different. What about you? I know you don’t just design for the runway.”
“I actually went to school specifically for costume design for theatre. In the beginning, I was just a stitcher doing repairs on the costumes and I slowly made my way up to designer. One thing led to another and I left,” Grantaire finishes quickly.
“Do you think about going back?” Enjolras asks, slightly tilting his head to the side.
“All the time,” he looks away. “Costumes, in some ways, are a lot more fun to design since you have to also analyze everything. It stretches how you think -- you consider the color symbolism, the time period, the character themselves. Then of course, it has to match the director’s vision, but that’s always negotiable.”
Enjolras nods thoughtfully and looks back down at the sketchbook.
“So, do you have anything in mind that you want to add? This time around I was just trying to find a general vibe and then we can work from there. If you wanted something completely different, now is the time to let me know,” Grantaire states.
“Could I have a few days to make a final decision? You could give me your number and I could text you when I finally make up my mind,” Enjolras says, attempting to be subtle.
Grantaire nods enthusiastically, “Of course, we have time until the actual Gala, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Although, I would love to have as much time as I can to work on it.”
Grantaire pulls a pen out from his pocket and grabs a napkin, scribbling his number on it and pushing back towards Enjolras.
“I enjoy all of these ideas. I’m finding it hard to narrow down anything, how do you do it?” Enjolras asks.
“With my collections it’s easy because I can have many different looks. This is just a single outfit that needs to outshine everyone else.”
Enjolras grins widely.
“Which won’t be hard considering your talent,” Enjolras replies.
Grantaire leans back in his chair and picks up his coffee, cool now since they’ve been talking for a while.
“So, this might be forward of me, but would you like to go out with a couple of friends and I? We’re heading to this bar to celebrate the end of the year,” Grantaire comments and takes a long sip of coffee.
Enjolras cradles his tea and copies Grantaire’s relaxed stance.
“I wouldn’t want to intrude,” he replies.
“Nonsense, it wouldn’t be an intrusion.”
“Alright, what bar?”
“Corinth. Everyone is meeting up at my atelier and heading there together, if you want to join.”
“I have a few errands to run this afternoon, but I’ll meet you at the bar,” Enjolras responds.
“Great! In the meantime, I have to start working on my next collection,” Grantaire adds, finishing his coffee.
“Well, I should get going. I’ll see you in a few hours,” he starts, carefully closing the sketchbook and pushing it back towards Grantaire. he pulls the napkin with Grantaire’s number closer and tucks it carefully into his pocket. “Thanks again, for everything.”
“Thanks, just doing my job” Grantaire replies awkwardly.
Enjolras nods and stands up; he makes his way towards the door and turns back, glancing at Grantaire once more before leaving.
I’m fucked, Grantaire thinks to himself before pulling out his phone and sending a quick message to his “the home of sexuals” group chat.
Grantaire: hey i invited enj to come with us to the bar
Courf: ;-)
Ep: did u just use a nose?
Grantaire: heathen
Courf ;-)
Grantaire: he’s meeting us at the Corinth
Courf: ;-)
Grantaire: i’ll let you go through some old collections and pick out something to wear if you stop.
Ep: ;-)
Grantaire: pls
Ep: ;-)
Grantaire: alright, you can pick something out too
Courfeyrac and Eponine arrived early as usual, and lounged on the couches in the large room that Grantaire converted into a closet for clothes that were frequently worn out and about.
“Where’s Cosette?” Grantaire asks as he walks into the room, taking off his maroon coat and hanging it up.
“She’s on her way,” Eponine says looking up from her phone.
“So! Tell us about your date with Enjolras,” Courfeyrac gushes.
“It wasn’t a date Courf, it was just a business meeting.”
“It must have went well enough for you to invite him with us tonight,” Courfeyrac counters.
“It’s hard designing for a person you hardly know,” Grantaire crosses his arms, “anyway, don’t you want to pick out something to wear?”
“Well--” Courfeyrac starts to say, but Grantaire’s ringing phone interrupts him.
“Hello?” Grantaire answers.
“If that’s him, ask him if he wants something fun to wear!” Courfeyrac says loudly.
Grantaire glares at Courfeyrac before turning away and walking out into the hallway.
“You heard the man.” Grantaire asks.
“As long as it’s nothing crazy. I may or may not be sneaking away to come join you guys because my manager doesn’t want me going out. But I was calling because I was wondering what time we’re meeting up?”
“How rebellious of you. And around 8.”
“I’ll see you soon then.”