Marius could embrace Courfeyrac tightly right then and there. Instead, he darted Joly a panicked, almost pleading stare, then gave Courfeyrac a curt nod.

"Y-Yes!" He glanced at Cosette then, his voice equally loud as Courfeyrac's so that it blotted out his and Eponine's dialogue on the screen. "You are truly our guardian angel, Cosette. How wretched we would be without your guiding light!"

He had scrambled to his feet, giving a gentle tug at Cosette's hand, hoping to lead her to a spot that effectively blocked her view of the screens. In his trepidation he failed to notice the distant rush of footsteps or that the stage and actor had changed again, although the actress remained the same.

"Well, Monsieur, it depends what you ahould like to do. We hold hands now, so a kiss is perhaps the next stage?"

That caused him to pause, his brows drawn together in confusion—at which terror quickly followed, for he could not recall her saying that to him. Had he forgotten parts of their conversation completely? Against his better judgement he cast another glance at the on-going play, just in time to witness what was, apparently, the beginnings of a recent incident between Eponine and another man.