Snowed in [For Henri]
Jan. 9th, 2015 08:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Two days and Sybil is more than tired of this place. She had packed enough clothes to last the three days they would be there, but being snowed in meant that she had loaned out much of it to friends. The suite that had seemed so large their first night now seemed cramped, even more than her training quarters had. That morning Rene had returned rather racously, and now Sybil sought silence in the bedroom. She also needed something to wear, her simple day dress tired and worn after a full 36 hours.
Her own bag was empty other than something she had hoped to wear for Henri on a more romantic night. That night had never come to pass, and now she found herself forced to go to his bag in the hope of a shirt or something that she could slip on and still be decent in the outer rooms. She pulled a button down shirt out of the bag, pleased at the size, and thinking it would do well over a pair of tights. It was only when she went to hold it up against her that she saw the box that had tumbled out of his bag.
Tempting, she can't help but crouch to pick it up. Pandora's box, perhaps, yet she opened it anyway. What she saw inside surprised her, the brightness of the diamonds both unexpected and welcome. Had he meant to propose? She stood, still in her day dress, staring at it, unable to do anything else.
Her own bag was empty other than something she had hoped to wear for Henri on a more romantic night. That night had never come to pass, and now she found herself forced to go to his bag in the hope of a shirt or something that she could slip on and still be decent in the outer rooms. She pulled a button down shirt out of the bag, pleased at the size, and thinking it would do well over a pair of tights. It was only when she went to hold it up against her that she saw the box that had tumbled out of his bag.
Tempting, she can't help but crouch to pick it up. Pandora's box, perhaps, yet she opened it anyway. What she saw inside surprised her, the brightness of the diamonds both unexpected and welcome. Had he meant to propose? She stood, still in her day dress, staring at it, unable to do anything else.
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Date: 2015-01-11 09:22 pm (UTC)Most of the trapped guests and staff are in the ballroom, and Combeferre, too, takes the opportunity to slip away, not realizing in the general commotion of so many people in so small a place that Sybil has done the same. He could do with a nap, perhaps a shower, while the rooms that were meant to be theirs alone are blessedly unoccupied.
But when he returns the key and nudges open the door, he is startled by what greets him. There is Sybil, standing near their pile of luggage, and in her hand sits a small and terribly familiar box.
He swallows, and carefully shuts the door behind him.
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Date: 2015-01-12 03:15 am (UTC)It takes Sybil a long moment to realise that there is someone else in the room, and that the someone is Henri. The box seems `heavy in her hands, full of hope and promise and yet it scares her. To commit so utterly to this life in Darrow and to leave her life before behind her is a prospect both thrilling and terrifying.
She looks up to him, holding the small box out. “I was looking for a shirt that might be clean,” Sybil explains, not wanting to seem as if she was snooping. “Is this- is it?”
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Date: 2015-01-13 03:07 am (UTC)No, no, no. He mustn’t be ridiculous. This is Sybil before him, not some dream, and the madness of the last few days has amounted to mere silliness, not danger. With half a laugh, Combeferre takes off his spectacles and rubs his hand over his eyes. When he meets her gaze again, he is grinning sheepishly.
“If you would like it to be, then yes. Or I can find us a more romantic moment, if you prefer."
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Date: 2015-01-13 01:12 pm (UTC)The moment is not as ridiculous as it might seem. They are alone, and in their current situation that is a treasure. For all that he might have planned otherwise, this is where they have found themselves, and Sybil cannot say she regrets it.
Pulling the ring from the box, she holds it out to him. After all, has their life not been a mix of discovery and misadventures? Sybil wanted this and him so very much. "If you cared to ask, I have it on good authority the answer would be yes, no matter this situation."
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Date: 2015-01-14 03:27 am (UTC)A moment passes before he realizes that, by God, he has not even said the words. “Ah- ah, yes. Alors-“ Fumbling, Henri pick up the ring from her upturned palm, and sinking down beside her, takes her hand.
“Sybil, ma chere, mon amour-“ Strange, but even now, the words stick in his throat. “Will you marry me?"
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Date: 2015-01-15 10:10 am (UTC)"My darling," she says, nodding when her tongue fails her. Clasping his hand with her own she finds the words, or rather the one word that she needs. "Yes. Yes of course I will."
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Date: 2015-01-17 03:07 am (UTC)He has never felt so like he will float away, and yet also so perfectly steady.
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Date: 2015-01-17 11:37 am (UTC)"This is real?" Sybil asks it softly, her lips pressed to his. She wants to be with him so very much and she hopes he knows. "We're engaged?"
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Date: 2015-01-18 09:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-20 11:46 am (UTC)"I do not want the wedding that I would have had there," she says, intent and serious. For there is nothing Sybil wants less than the trappings that would have come with a wedding at Downton. "I want something simple, and beautiful, and something that involves all that we hope for."
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Date: 2015-01-22 02:10 am (UTC)“How I love you, Sybil."
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Date: 2015-01-24 04:22 am (UTC)"And I you," she says with a smile, a tear in the corner of her eye. It is happiness that is making her cry, and not sorrow, there is nothing sorrowful in her right now. "Should we have something to celebrate? There is still a bottle of champagne I was holding, I had hidden it from Rene."
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Date: 2015-01-27 04:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-31 09:36 am (UTC)The time will come to tell their friends and she will do it gladly. But for now she wants only to celebrate with Henri, her fiance.
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Date: 2015-02-02 04:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-02-07 04:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-02-08 06:39 pm (UTC)But he has barely met her lips when the door bursts open. “Mes chers amis! I was wondering where you might have…ah.” The familiar voice turns knowing, and Combeferre can feel the interloper’s smirk.
He sighs. “Courfeyrac."
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Date: 2015-02-09 09:03 am (UTC)"Rene," she says, puling away. "Would you care to join us?"
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Date: 2015-02-11 04:13 am (UTC)Combeferre sighs and bows his head, trying not to reach for the ring on Sybil’s finger. He loves Courfeyrac, but once he knows about the engagement, everyone will know, and Combeferre had been looking forward to sharing the news in his own way.
But how can he avoid it. Summing up a smile and a rueful sigh, he gestures towards the bottle Sybil still holds. “There’s champagne.”
“Well, well. What are we celebrating?” In light of his friend’s discomfort, Courfeyrac softens slightly, but that does not stop his curiosity from taking root.
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Date: 2015-02-16 10:24 am (UTC)It takes a long few seconds before she realises that she's suggested something untoward, flushing and turning to look away from Rene. She was utterly embarrassed, and needs a moment longer to be able to speak. When she turns back she is no less flushed, but she is more composed. "We're engaged. Henri proposed."
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Date: 2015-02-18 03:48 am (UTC)“Courfeyrac!"
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Date: 2015-02-18 10:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-02-20 12:23 am (UTC)Combeferre blushes. “I don’t suppose I can convince you to keep this to yourself for a short time? I’d like to tell people myself.”
Courfeyrac chuckles. “I promise to try. As I am sure you know, I cannot promise to succeed.”
Despite himself, Combeferre grins.
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Date: 2015-02-23 10:20 pm (UTC)“Then we should likely tell them quickly,” Sybil says, resigned but happy. Rene is what he is, and as often as she sighs at him, she does hold him in esteem. He is a good person at the heart of it, and one of Henri’s friends, which makes him all the more special.
Bowing her head at the brush of his lips against her hand, she glances up to see Henri’s eyes. “And be thankful there are no telephones that work up here.”
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Date: 2015-02-26 04:06 am (UTC)“Courfeyrac.”
He looks up with wide eyes full of innocence. “Mm?”
“Drink that quickly, will you?”
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Date: 2015-02-26 11:13 am (UTC)"Perhaps we toast and then you can go rejoin those who are here?"
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Date: 2015-02-28 11:30 pm (UTC)“And to prove just how much I love the both of you, I will keep your houseguests occupied for, say, the next hour or so.”
Combeferre blushes anew, but he smiles. “Thank you, Rene."
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Date: 2015-03-01 07:23 am (UTC)"Thank you Rene." Sybil takes a sip when he toasts, her free hand in Henri's still. "You are a good friend."
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Date: 2015-03-01 07:05 pm (UTC)“Well. That was…unexpected."
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Date: 2015-03-02 01:44 am (UTC)“Yes, and no,” she said with a sigh though she no longer looks resigned. There is much that she has come to expect from Rene Courfeyrac, his ability to show up when least convenient and most entertaining (for him) one of them. “I suppose we’re lucky Gavroche is not snowed in as well, or we would never have had enough peace for this.”
Sybil holds out her hand, the ring simple and beautiful on her finger. Unsure of what else to say she turns to him, a kiss better than any words.
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Date: 2015-03-05 01:33 am (UTC)