Oops. Sorry, @kingesstropolis, this ran away with me a little. ;D
If anyone else wants to send prompts, feel free!
Jehan paused in the hallway, poised to open the door to his room. That noise… Turning away from his own door, he edged down the hall towards Grantaire’s. As he edged closer, the sound of someone softly sobbing became unmistakable. He hesitated, torn between the need to help and the need to leave Grantaire his privacy, but in the end, he knocked quietly on the door.
The sounds of crying immediately ceased.
Not to be put off by Grantaire playing turtle, Jehan knocked again. “R… I know you’re in there. I can hear you. Is everything all right?”
A creak of bedsprings then, and a quickly muffled curse. Jehan waited, heart in his throat, for Grantaire’s answer. Grantaire’s voice, when it finally came, was thick with those tears that had stopped so precipitously upon Jehan’s knock. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t sound fi—“
A rise in pitch now, a hint of frantic desperation around the edges. “Really, Jehan, I’m fine. Just… it’s nothing, OK?”
Not one to be deterred, especially when he hadn’t been asked to leave, Jehan squared his shoulders. “I’m coming in, R. If you don’t want me there, now’s the time to get up and lock the door.” When a count of twenty had passed with no sounds of movement from inside Grantaire’s room, Jehan slowly pushed open the door. The sight that met his eyes was… not the one which had been expected.
Grantaire was curled up in the corner of his bed, the stuffed manatee that had been a gift from Jehan clutched to his chest, and the light from his laptop monitor throwing the tears tracks on his cheeks into glistening relief. Jehan edged closer, easing around to see what Grantaire had seen that had made him so upset.
The computer was paused on a Youtube video, “Homeward Bound : The Incredible Journey (partial ending).” In the frame was an American Bulldog, hunched over and peering through broken wooden slats at the top of a muddy embankment. Jehan jerked back, then reached out to cuff Grantaire on the back of the head. “R! You know better!”
Grantaire cringed, arms already lifted to cover his head. “I know, I know! I’m sorry. I was watching kitten videos and I got sucked into a Youtube spiral and, the next thing I knew, I was here! I swear, I didn’t leave you out on purpose!”
Jehan crossed his arms over his chest, a tight scowl on his face as he stared down at Grantaire’s cringing form. Finally, he shook his head and said, “Fine. If we’re going to do this, then we’re going to do it right. I’ll go get the DVD and you make the popcorn.”
An hour later when Feuilly returned home, it was to find both of his roommates curled up on the living room couch, clutching their favorite stuffed animals, and sobbing like they were at the funeral of a beloved friend. He didn’t even have to look to know what would be playing on the TV. With a fond smile and a roll of his eyes, he simply climbed over the back of the couch and settled in between them, resigned to the wet shirt he would end up with when Jehan and Grantaire got done with him. After all… what were friends for?
eirenical17 