The Sun and Butterflies - Gankutsuou
For 52_flavours, theme 15 (Bitter to taste, sweet in imagining). Valentine, Franz, Noirtier, one-sided Franz/Valentine. Gankutsuou © Gonzo, et al.
1.
Franz went to the Villefort house only when his mother told him to. During these visits, Valentine would drop polite hints about his other appointments. "See you later, then," he would reply, just as graciously. His half-hearted insistence to stay sometimes made her blood race into her head and her toes curl with curdled anger; if only she could tell herself that he deserved a more vital, more engaging girl.
2.
Noirtier observed that the house, laughterless at the best of times, were now also inhabited by two wraiths: his new daughter-in-law, who slithered along corridors while her son made deliberately loud noises beside her, and his granddaughter, who was growing more and more into a shadow. He wished he could pat Valentine on the arm and tell her that it was all right to be selfish, that sometimes it was obligatory, even.
3.
During one of her rare shopping trips, Valentine ran into Eugenie, who had just returned from visiting her old piano teacher. Eugenie mentioned her dream of having a recital of her own, and Valentine thought how invigorating it must be to constantly have something attainable to look forward to.
4.
An odd but persuasive image came to Valentine as Château-Renaud introduced the young soldier called Morrel all around: that her grandfather, in his younger days, had been exactly Morrel's opposite - the kind of person who would hurry past a flickering street lamp at dusk while Morrel marched proudly under the Mediterranean sun.