【ER】Golden Rule

Had someone told Grantaire just a week earlier that Enjolras would live under the same roof as him, he would have never believed it.It would be even more incredible if he had been told that Enjolras would sit with him and drink.

Just a few hours earlier, after a trial in which Grantaire felt badly despite the near-clear victory for the prosecution, he had announced that he was going to the bar.Enjolras insisted on following, but Grantaire couldn't figure out how to refuse, and wasn't sure if he was in a position to ask why.Maybe he felt bad about the trial too?If Grantaire is upset that he looks like he's winning, Enjolras has every reason to be upset that he looks like he's losing.Maybe he can still be considerate, Grantaire thought.So without asking any further questions, he took Enjolras to a bar where he used to hang out.Maybe I'll just get drunk tonight, Grantaire thought, or have a good time with someone who's right for me--then I'll be able to forget for a while, forget What a fellow he was to attack a young girl--attack her mother!Assault on her benefactor!Assault on her morals!OK, Grantaire, there's nothing you can't do.Why don't you just drink more and forget about it, as usual.

However, within half an hour of sitting down at the bar, he regretted it.He doesn't regret his decision to come to the bar - he regrets sitting next to Enjolras (or, rather, not objecting to Enjolras sitting next to him).Enjolras — Enjolras is just too compelling.He's just sitting there drinking the same drink he ordered as Grantaire, and that's enough to get everyone's attention.

However, this attention-grabbing won't do them any good at all—Enjolras has an awe-inspiring aura while being eye-catching, and several girls who seem to be interested in him just turned to him After walking a few steps, he was stared back with sharp eyes.Maybe he doesn't like girls?Maybe he likes lads?Grantaire really couldn't see it.Generally speaking, those men who are interested in men often have that hard-to-ignore sizing look when they look at other men-as long as you meet that kind of look, you can definitely recognize what it is.Grantaire used to connect with his "companion" in this way in the bar - as long as the eyes meet, this method of identification has been tried and tested.Enjolras, however, never had that sight.Rather, Grantaire has never seen Enjolras look at anyone like this.Maybe he's not interested in humans?Forget it, it has nothing to do with Grantaire.What made him most uncomfortable now was the vacuum created around them by Enjolras' presence.The bar stools to Enjolras' left and Grantaire's right remained empty, and Enjolras continued to use his eyes as if he was about to jump up and shout "I object" Stare away everyone who tries to sit in either of these positions.

The point of my coming to drink is completely destroyed, Grantaire thought.If only Enjolras would have talked to me, but he said nothing and was only interested in drinking.Of course, Enjolras, Enjolras doesn't bother talking to me, he thought.What could be more embarrassing?He got up with his glass and walked over to one of the sofa seats next to the dance floor.To his surprise, however, Enjolras followed him to his feet.

"Uh." Grantaire looked at him, thinking about what to say so that he didn't sound like he was going to leave him and run away, "I'm going to sit there for a while. It's noisy over there, you... you just It's okay to stay here."

Enjolras looked at him. "I'll go with you." He said in a matter of course.

Grantaire froze. "Didn't you hear clearly?" he said, leaning a little closer to Enjolras. "I said, there's—a—noise—you won't think about it..."

His voice caught in his throat.Because Enjolras seemed to react suddenly to the word "noisy": he reached out and grabbed Grantaire's shoulder, leaned towards him, and put his mouth close to his ear.Grantaire froze in place because of this sudden and unprecedented intimacy.However, he didn't froze for long.Because in the next second, Enjolras suddenly opened his mouth and shouted at a volume that almost deafened his ears.

"I--with you--go--" he cried out loudly.

"Uh..." Grantaire shrank his neck because of the roar, and he quickly stretched out his hand to push Enjolras away a little, and then covered his buzzing ears.For two or three seconds there was no other sound in that ear.He looked around, Enjolras' voice attracted the attention of the people around him, and pairs of eyes were looking at them curiously.He turned his head to look at Enjolras again—good guy!Although his expression was normal, his cheeks were flushed abnormally, his eyes were slightly widened with unnatural joy, and there was even a hint of a friendly smile hidden in his eyes - he was definitely drunk!

He looks at Enjolras, and Enjolras looks at him—Grantaire quickly loses his grip and looks away.Enjolras, who was used to being as cold as a statue on weekdays, was too much for Grantaire, who was kind and joyful at the moment.Pygmalion looked at Galatea with a smile on his face.

"...Okay," Grantaire said, rubbing his neck uncomfortably, and waving at him casually, "Come on, let's go together." Anyway, he really shouldn't be drunk The dead Enjolras was left here alone.

Enjolras reached out and grabbed his wrist very naturally.

"Ah." Grantaire made a sound from his throat.He tried to stare at Enjolras with his most serious eyes.Enjolras continued to look at him expectantly with that kind of calm and happy eyes - Grantaire was defeated again.

He turned his head away and dragged Enjolras away with the most awkward gait of his life. (He is quite satisfied with his performance: after all, Enjolras is holding his hand (wrist). Even if he has the same hand and foot, it is already a very decent posture)

They sat down on a sofa next to the dance floor. Grantaire raised his hand and ordered another glass of wine, and Enjolras followed suit.They re-entered the stage of drinking without saying a word.Maybe I'll have to get up again to see how he reacts?Grantaire thought boredly.After about 10 minutes, Enjolras stopped drinking and leaned back in the shadow of the sofa, seemingly falling asleep.Grantaire looks at him, then at the crowd entertaining on the dance floor—well, Enjolras is asleep now.Maybe he could go down and play for a while, and then call a car to take Enjolras back asleep.His eyes wandered around the dance floor, and soon caught sight of a figure—a man of medium build, brown hair, a little older than Grantaire, and looked a little thin.With two bottles of beer in his hand, he was looking at Grantaire with a scrutinizing look—yes, that kind of look.Grantaire thought, he's testing me.So he narrowed his eyes too, and looked back at the man in the flickering light.The guy doesn't look like the good-looking, attractive type, but he's clean and cute.Well, that's him, nothing could be better - this kind of quick speed dating has its own set of tacit rules, no matter what level of sex hunter you are, you can only be matched with prey of what level .Grantaire didn't expect any other handsome men to wink at him tonight.So he put his empty glass on the table and smiled at the man.

The man with the beer bottle quickly understood, and he walked towards the sofa seat where Grantaire was sitting, and leaned on the back of his sofa.

"Hi." He smiled at Grantaire and handed him a bottle of beer. "Are you here alone?"

Grantaire took the bottle and smiled at him too. "Probably," he said vaguely.

"Do you want to go down there for a while?" the man asked, pouted towards the dance floor.He didn't see Enjolras who was lying in the shadows at the moment, so he didn't have any doubts about Grantaire's words.

"Of course," Grantaire said.

He got up from his seat with the bottle of beer—trying to stand up.He was halfway up when the pull of the other hand jerked him down—he looked back, and Enjolras' hand was clutching his sleeve.He thought Enjolras had let go of his hand just now... well, he did let go of Grantaire's wrist, but that hand is now firmly gripping his sleeve, making him stand up straight Can't do it.

"...Uh, hey, Enjolras," Grantaire whispered, "Are you asleep? Let me go."

Enjolras remained motionless.Just when Grantaire thought he was really asleep and was about to break his hand off his sleeve, Enjolras suddenly opened his eyes and stood up abruptly.Grantaire was directly pulled up by his sleeves.He was taken aback by this action, and before he had time to ask embarrassingly "Are you awake", Enjolras spoke first.

"Where are you going?" He said in that calm voice. If it weren't for the flush on his cheeks, most people would never be able to tell that he was drunk. "I'll go with you...I'll go with you."

The brunette on the other side of Grantaire made a gasp.Grantaire turned his head, and sure enough, he saw on his face the expression of admiration that people often show when they first see Enjolras' perfect face.But soon, the expression on the thin man's face turned into a self-ashamed look, and a few seconds later, it turned into a cheated anger.He glared at Grantaire, apparently blaming him for why he was courting him when he had such a beautiful companion?Grantaire hastily raised a hand to him.

"...he's a friend of mine. He's a little drunk at the moment," he explained quickly.Although Enjolras seems to be delirious now, Grantaire believes that even in his dreams, he would not want to be misunderstood and have a relationship with him.He turned his head to look at Enjolras again, "Hi, Enjolras." He said, "Can you stay here by yourself? I want to go underground for a while..."

The brunette's expression suddenly changed.

"...'Enjolras'?" he interrupted Grantaire. "You're the lawyer in the news?" He stepped back, his face growing angrier—but otherwise. a kind of anger.He raised his voice, raised his free hand and pointed towards Enjolras, "...I remember this face. You are the guy who defended that murderer!"

Well.Well.Oh no.Uh uh uh uh uh uh.Grantaire made a series of annoyed sounds in his heart.He should be thankful that no one recognized him (after all, those news cameras only love to flash on Enjolras), but the man's voice attracted the attention of several people around him.From the corner of Grantaire's eyes, he saw people whispering, and it was obvious that some people also recognized Enjolras as a news person.He quickly reached out to comfort the guy in front of him.

"...Shh, shhh, buddy, keep your voice down," he tried to press down the hand of the man in front of him pointing at Enjolras, "We're just here to have fun and don't want to cause trouble..."

"Go away," the man said, opening Grantaire's hand and taking another step back, "Who are you, his next criminal client? Stay away from me. Keep that beer, I do not want it."

After he finished speaking, he was about to turn around and leave. Grantaire accompanied Xiaoxin and smiled at him, hoping that this guy would leave quickly.However, before he could take a step, Enjolras' voice sounded.

"Do you dare to say that my client is a murderer?...Do you think Valjean is a murderer?" He shouted in a very loud voice. Grantaire turned his head and saw that Enjolras' eyes widened , Angrily glared at the man on the other side.He took another step forward, knocking Grantaire half a step back.He saw Enjolras clenched his free hand into a fist, "He...he hasn't been judged yet!...he hasn't been convicted yet!...Which of you dare to say that he is a murderer now?"

"...Wait a minute, wait a minute, Enjolras..." Grantaire hurriedly said, standing between Enjolras and the brown-haired man, and whispered, "Enjolras, what do they know, you Do you want to preach the presumption of innocence in a bar?" He then turned his head to look at the man, "... Hey, let's go, he's drunk, no one wants to be here—"

"...I think you are also a murderer!" The man was obviously enraged, and he took another step forward, shaking the wine bottle in his hand, approaching Grantaire and Enjolras, "How can you still be here? Plausible? You should be ashamed of yourself..."

Enjolras' breathing stagnated, and Grantaire saw him swinging his fists and walking towards the man, and quickly stepped forward and hugged his waist.

"Wait a moment!... Enjolras! Wait a moment!" He shouted in despair, who knew that Enjolras was a powder pot who would be ready to fight when he was drunk?He caught a glimpse of the crowd slowly gathering around him, and a few drunk-looking guys seemed to be leaning over to be the brunette's helper.And a few raised phone cameras—ah, come on, he doesn't want Enjolras to make headlines again tomorrow.He put the wine bottle in his hand on the table, wrapped Enjolras' waist with one hand, put his arm on his shoulder with the other, and forcibly pulled him to the door.

"...I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He said repeatedly, grabbed Enjolras who was still waving his hands and wanted to rush up to punch the man, and moved to the door with difficulty. "I'm sorry, we're not here to cause trouble. He's drunk, so we're leaving." He continued, thinking that his thick skin was somehow suitable for the aftermath here.With some difficulty, he pulled out a few banknotes from his pants, the denomination obviously exceeded their consumption tonight.He put the banknotes on the bar counter, "You don't need to give me change." He sighed while talking, and finally got Enjolras out of the bar.

It was already dark outside the bar, and there were not many cars on the street, but occasionally a few taxis roared by.He shoved Enjolras on his shoulder again, thinking that luckily he didn't drive out today, and now the two of them had drunk a lot, so they had to call a taxi to go home.He supported Enjolras and walked towards the street, and was about to raise his hand in greeting, but Enjolras spoke.

"...why are you stopping me?" He said in that overly serious, even drunk voice, and even pushed Grantaire with his other hand like a tantrum, "Ah. Why did you Stop me?"

"Aren't you going to stop you from being beaten black and blue?" Grantaire sighed and looked at him a little funny, "Ah, I see, you want me to help you. You think I'll do anything for you What are you doing? You guessed right. But do you want me in the hospital too?"

Enjolras frowned at him. "I don't need your help," he said like an angry college student, "do you think I can't fight?"

Grantaire laughed at the look on his face.He looked away from Enjolras' now overly animated face, "Of course, you're going to fight. Just like I'm going to tell the judge that my mineral water bottle contains vodka the next time I'm in court."

"...This is not the same thing at all." Enjolras muttered.

Grantaire couldn't help laughing again.He knew today that Enjolras would get closer to people than usual when he was drunk, and he was still a powder keg that would roll up his sleeves and fight at any time.Since Enjolras moved into his house, he now learns something new about Enjolras every day.Together, these things seemed to gradually cover the gray marble statue of Enjolras in his mind, adding soft skin, colorful heat, and human breath to it.He took Enjolras and took a few steps towards the side of the road. Enjolras' drunken legs staggered, and the golden head hit Grantaire's neck directly.Grantaire shivered slightly at the feel of his hair brushing his neck and the heat of his breath.OK, now he's learned again what it's like to have Enjolras' hair brushed against his neck.If it goes on like this, it will be bad.Because before today, although he worshiped, admired, and even admired Enjolras, he never had any unreasonable thoughts about him.After all, one can worship and admire a statue, a famous painting, or a poem, but will not expect any response for this appreciation.Before today, Enjolras was nothing more than a perfect marble statue to him, a classical oil painting with a gold frame, a hard-bound book of truth... But at this moment, when his arms are Looking at Enjolras' waist, feeling the lines of his muscles and the heat of his skin, the marble came to life in him as he shuddered from breathing the heat on his neck.He took life like a distant idea, had human appeal, even an embarrassing flame lit in his belly.But it didn't matter now, he thought, since Enjolras was drunk anyway and he wouldn't know.Rather, it doesn't matter what he does now.

"...Hey." He whispered, turning his head towards Enjolras, "Why did you hate me so much the first time you saw me?"

Anjou moved.

"...no...not..." He closed his eyes and muttered vaguely, "the first time... County... v....Smith..."

"Unfortunately, I don't know what you're talking about." Grantaire smiled wryly and lowered his eyes.Yes, what did he want to hear from Enjolras?Even if he's drunk, even if you find out he's a human being and not a work of art - it doesn't mean he's going to have a nice word for you. "You unlucky bum thinking about the case when you're drunk."

Neither of them spoke again.Grantaire greeted them on the side of the road for more than 20 minutes, and finally waited for a car willing to take them (although the driver looked back from the rearview mirror from time to time with an expression of worrying about them vomiting in the back seat) ).The car drove quietly in the middle of the night, and soon arrived at Grantaire's house.Grantaire took out his wallet with his free hand, paid the fare, and helped Enjolras out of the car.

"...It's completely...different from that time..." Enjolras, who was carried on his shoulders, let out a few more broken grunts, and Grantaire put his ear close to him.

"What did you say?" he asked.

Enjolras stopped talking.With his eyes closed, his breathing slowed down, sounding like he was falling asleep.

Grantaire sighed and helped him through the door.He carried Enjolras all the way to the guest room and put him on the bed.He took off Enjolras' coat and shoes, hesitated for a moment with his hands on the collar of his shirt, and finally decided that it would be better not to help him change the last layer of clothes.After all, no matter how nice Enjolras was drunk, it didn't mean he wanted Grantaire to take off his clothes.He went to the bathroom to wet a towel, and when he came back, he simply wiped Enjolras' face.Enjolras, who had almost caused a scene in the bar just now, was sleeping very peacefully now, almost all golden eyelashes trembling steadily with his breathing.Grantaire couldn't help being stunned for a while because of the quiet face of the other person who was close at hand, he reached out his hand, wanting to touch his cheekbone lightly... Then he withdrew his hand like an electric shock.

Ah, come on, what are you thinking, Grantaire.he said to himself.When Enjolras wakes up tomorrow, all this will pass like a dream.He put away the towels, turned off the light in the guest room, and went upstairs quietly.

By the time Grantaire finished washing, changed and returned to his bed, it was almost one o'clock.Whether it was because of his mood swings during the day or because of the alcohol, he didn't sleep well.Vaguely, he dreamed of the summer after his freshman year of law school, when as an intern he stood in the hallway outside the district courtroom, confronting his then-supervising attorney.

"...that's impossible," he heard himself yelling to the prosecutor in front of him, "you know Smith didn't molest [//] that child. She's just a cleaner at that kindergarten, what does she know! She just followed our word."

The middle-aged man pursed his lips unhappily. "Grantaire," he said, "I'm not asking you to teach her to admit molestation. You just have to convince her to admit to breach of custody."

"But you made me threaten her with 'possible felony[//] indecency'!" Grantaire yelled at him, "That's impossible. She's just a cleaner, what guardianship obligations does she have? She could have innocent!"

"Grantaire," the man said, reaching out to try to grab his shoulders, "this is just routine. We need to get this case over as soon as possible, and the new round of district judge elections will begin at the end of the month." ..."

"Go away." Grantaire took a step back, avoiding his hand, "I didn't go to law school to send innocent people to jail, or pave the way for careerists in the prosecutor's office. I don't care what the norm is , I'm not doing it. Fuck your own ass.//Go ahead."

As soon as the voice fell, he woke up with a start.

"...What a pity," he murmured softly, yawned and scratched his ears in a half-dream, "Why did I think of this again?"

He turned over and fell asleep again.

TBC