video, un: revolution

[idealisme]

What would you die for?


[There's no preamble. Enjolras is not in the mood to set the scene. He's been thinking and gotten nowhere so he wants the input of others. Over his shoulder it's apparent his room a shambles, a young man living alone with his mind on things other than housekeeping.]

For myself there's a cause that I've given all my life to. It's the highest ideal I can imagine. I know that is not a usual thing. Life is precious; until I woke up here I'd have said that death precluded any second chances at it. But that's beside the point.

I ask because I thought I others shared my opinions. It is rational to give your life only for the most important ideal. Sacrificing yourself for just anything- to get any item or even for another person... [His lips pinch together in thought, his eyes look distant for a moment.] I have not been able to reconcile it.

[A quick sigh escapes him, frustrated.]

I would appreciate your sincere answers and insights. Thank you.

Comments

[winecasks]

[ He is in the room, sprawled across the sofa with no motivation to move, but he merely lifts his head to smile at Enjolras before continuing their conversation via the screen.

Why? Because he’s a ridiculous human being and he thought it would get his attention. ]

Why not? You have never barred me from participation before.

[idealisme]

[Deliberately Enjolras put away the device to talk to the man. He checks briefly to see where Jehan is, ensuring they aren't about to be barred from even speaking.]

You have already said your piece. I am seeking other opinions.

[winecasks]

[ This forces Grantaire to do the same, if he wishes to keep this conversation going. With what appears to be great effort, he sits up to better argue. ]

So you are. Though I wonder, do these opinions please you? I have seen some of them, Enjolras. One would die for his country, one would die to save others, but it seems there are others who would do as I had.

[idealisme]

[He shakes his head.] The arguments are not about pleasing me.

[winecasks]

Please, Enjolras, tell me what they’re about. Had you hoped I would be the only one? Perhaps that I had been seized by madness in my final moments?

[ It isn’t that he hadn’t expected the response he got, it’s that he genuinely does not know why it’s led to Enjolras questioning the entire network. ]

I did as you said. I slept off my absinthe. I was fully sober.

[idealisme]

It is about understanding. [He says it with a rush of frustrated air.] It makes no sense, so I'd hoped that someone might make a better argument for it.

[The air suggests he hasn't been swayed by any arguments yet.]

[winecasks]

[ For a brief moment, Grantaire falls silent, and then he chuckles. Of course it makes no sense. It makes no sense because Enjolras has no room in his head for anything but ideals and revolution. He doesn’t say as much, but the gentle smirk on his face implies in. ]

Have any of them come close to bringing you toward enlightenment?

[idealisme]

[The smirk earns Grantaire a proper scowl.] Don't be obtuse.

[Of course they haven't.]

[winecasks]

How strange it is that you imply I have ever been anything else.

[ He knows none of the arguments have actually been good enough for Enjolras, and he wonders if anyone ever will be able to get an explanation through to him. ]

If it had been someone else—if it had been Joly or Lesgle or Jehan, if it hadn't been me, would you be carrying on in this way?

[idealisme]

[Carrying on in this way? Like he's overreacting?

Exasperated:] Impossible. They had beliefs, held convictions which you do not. If it came to their very lives, none would be such fools as to give theirs for nothing like you did.

[It is an unfair argument, but he's angry (and some of that anger is directed at himself. Hadn't he been pleased to see Grantaire there? Pleased for reasons that had nothing to do with his ideals. He had not wanted to die alone.)]

[winecasks]

[ He does think Enjolras is overreacting to some degree. Why should the manner in which he chose to de be such a big deal? Why should things not be allowed to return to normal? He has never been a happy man, but he can be content enough without knowing he’s sent Enjolras into a crisis. ]

How cruel you are, to avoid the question.

[idealisme]

I don't avoid it. I say it is ridiculous. [He takes a breath and closes his mouth as if he's going to stop.

But he doesn't.] Belief in a man is- nonsense. What am I to be believed in? I have ideals, I have passion, I have a picture of a future in my imagination that I work towards. Those are the things which, any man who sees me should aspire to. But you? You despise all those things. You cynic!

[He's been thinking on this quite a while, obviously.]

[winecasks]

[ It’s true, Grantaire is a cynic. He despises and mocks the things his friends love and work toward, but then there’s Enjolras. Enjolas is everything that Grantaire isn’t, a man who soars at heights far above Grantaire, yet beyond the rare and failed attempt, he will never even try to reach such heights himself. He loves and admires Enjolras on a level that he isn't certain how to put into words, but he doesn’t expect to be called out on his contradictions, and in an instant, he’s lost his tongue and his argument completely. ]

If you ask me to explain, I cannot.

[idealisme]

[The noise Enjolras makes is familiar, a frustrated huff of breath as he shakes his head and leans back in his chair.

It's more frustrated than usual.]

I asked no one to die for me. [He's said it before, but he's saying it again.]

[winecasks]

Do you believe I intended it as a favor to you?

[ He smiles, ever so slightly. Enjolras has never needed anything from him, least of all for his singular belief. If he believed in something else, if he believed in the cause, perhaps, but not for this. He knew it before he even said anything. ]

I’m quite a selfish man, in truth. More selfish than Midas himself, though I regret nothing of my decision. It was for me, Enjolras. I did it for myself.

[idealisme]

[Grantaire smiles and Enjolras frowns.

There's a pause before he replies, because he can't forget that he'd been glad for himself that Grantaire had been there.]

Selfish? What did you gain from it?

[winecasks]

A great deal.

[ It’s a frustratingly vague response and paired with that smile, it’s made even more mysterious. He wanted to die by Enjolras’ side, accepted, but he doesn’t expect he has the words to make Enjolras understand, so he doesn’t try. ]

[idealisme]

[Scowling.] You're infuriating.

[winecasks]

[ He knows. He smiles anyway. ]

You continue to speak to me regardless.

[idealisme]

[ His lips press into a thin line: you're right but I don't want to admit it. ]

[winecasks]

[ Grantaire is not quite finished being irritating, though. The smile hasn’t faded, and he continues to spout off ridiculous truths. ]

I would dearly miss the sound of your voice if ever you decided to change that.

[idealisme]

[With a sigh Enjolras pushes his chair back and makes for his room- almost as though he's given up on Grantaire for the night.

But a minute later he's back, a book in hand.]

Here. I asked the Orbiters for more books and they gave me this. [It's deposited without ceremony on the table beside Grantaire.]

[winecasks]

[ Grantaire is nearly ready to collapse back onto the couch in anguish at having been abandoned, but then Enjolras returns. That’s surprise enough, but when he presents Grantaire with a hand-me-down gift, that’s more than he can take. He’s genuinely astonished, and it shows.

Even more so when he cracks open the book. He had been expecting a copy of Enjolras’ ever-beloved Social Contract, but what he finds is far different. ]

I have never seen anything like these.

[ The art is unlike anything he was ever told to paint as a student. Perhaps part of tat is why he grew so very frustrated with it all. ]

The Salon would reject these immediately. Viewers would be most appalled.

[ He turns page after page, a mix of amusement and what might even be…joy? on his face. ]

They’re wonderful.

[idealisme]

[ Enjolras has picked up his communicator again, seeing he has more messages. Perhaps those discussions will prove more fruitful. ]

Look at the date. Almost two hundred years in the future. [That had been what had drawn Enjolras' interest. What was that world like? They would never know.]

[winecasks]

[ Unlike the news of the monarchy being overthrown, this book and the pictures within it seem to have some kind of real effect on Grantaire. He’s always known that art changes and evolves, but this is different, far beyond anything he’s ever seen in his entire life, and it almost feels as though he might be inspired by something else for the first time in a very long time. ]

Enjolras.

[ He’s almost speechless, lingering on a particularly morbid painting. He understands immediately. These pieces are more emotion than they are representation. He wonders if someone like Enjolras understands that. Doubtful. ]

Thank you. I was a student of art for a time, but I often forget even myself just how much I once loved it.