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Tweak says, "call 867-5309 Jenny"

Michael B. Gustavson (bonjour_benoit) wrote in la_vie_rpg,
@ 2008-07-16 14:55:00

A Café in the summer
Who: Michel OT Hans
When: Current
What: A Café, and a sense of déjà vu.

This particular café is a bit out of Michel's way, but he comes for the superior coffee. Sometimes he wonders how the owners manages to get such good coffee during wartime, but then he thinks better of it, and simply enjoys the coffee.

Today, he managed to get a window seat, and sat with his back to the wall and his legs on the window sill, crossed at the ankles. He alternated between reading his paper and people-watching while sipping his coffee.

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	bonjour_benoit 2008-07-16 05:26 pm UTC (link)
	Michel glanced up, and upon seeing who it was, smiled. "Suit yourself," he said, gesturing to the open seat, and echoing Varner's words from their first meeting. He folded the paper, and put it beside him on the window sill. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	heil_hans 2008-07-16 06:43 pm UTC (link)
	Hans settled at the table, and glanced across at Benoit. "Any good news?" he asked, indicating the paper that the Frenchman had just put away. "Gott in Himmel I could use some," he muttered. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bonjour_benoit 2008-07-16 07:57 pm UTC (link)
	He sipped his coffee and glanced sideways at the paper. "Death, destruction, rationing... more of the same, I'm afraid." He put his cup down. "Life under the guise of war has become somewhat predictable." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	heil_hans 2008-07-16 08:48 pm UTC (link)
	"So it has," Hans said, a weary sigh escaping his lips at the thought. He considered lunch, but he didn't really feel up to eating so much as he did for conversation. He rested his head on his hand and stared across at Benoit. "You should write me a story," he said, as if this had been the subject of conversation. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bonjour_benoit 2008-07-16 08:52 pm UTC (link)
	Michel looked over the rim of his coffee cup at Varner as he took a sip and raised his eyebrows. He put the cup down again. "I should, should I? As you do not believe in happy fictions, should I aim for something merely less droll than reality?" He resisted a smile as he spoke, trying to maintain a look of sincerity. He wasn't sure he was succeeding. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	heil_hans 2008-07-16 09:06 pm UTC (link)
	Hans shrugged. "I am not a storyteller, Herr Benoit. I cannot tell you how this should go." He tapped his chin in thought. "Though perhaps something with an elephant. I quite like them." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bonjour_benoit 2008-07-16 09:08 pm UTC (link)
	Michel bit his lip to keep from laughing. "An elephant?" He thought very seriously (not at all) for a few moments. "I believe I can work with that." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

heil_hans
2008-07-16 09:18 pm UTC (link)

"An elephant," Hans said. "African or Asian, it matters not."

The corner of his mouth twitched in just a bit of amusement. Perhaps there was some sort of in-joke with his like of elephants, or maybe he just chose the most outrageous thing that came to mind at the moment.

"Ah good then- I will be interested to see what you come up with. Now tell me- how have you been? How is the theater?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bonjour_benoit 2008-07-16 09:23 pm UTC (link)
	"It is doing well. Our shows this weekend are near capacity, which is always good. Makes for a fun performance." He shifted in his seat, drawing one knee up and resting one arm on it. "Now, about your French education - how much of the city have you actually seen?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	heil_hans 2008-07-16 09:30 pm UTC (link)
	Hans straightened, withdrawing visibly from the question. "I had an... unusual tour or two," he said, trying to keep the edge from his voice. Marie-Pierre, the metro pig.. .the singing in the streets... "But not much, recently." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bonjour_benoit 2008-07-16 09:33 pm UTC (link)
	Ah... I seem to have touched on a sensitive issue... perhaps the mysterious heartbreaker? He pressed on. "Unusual, as in you didn't see the usual tourist spots? The Eiffel Tower? Notre Dame? The Louvre?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	heil_hans 2008-07-16 09:35 pm UTC (link)
	"I have never seen these," Hans admitted. It was all back alleys and nothing usual at all. "Should I?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bonjour_benoit 2008-07-16 10:23 pm UTC (link)
	Michel barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "Mon Dieu, should you see them, they're quintessential Paris! Some of the very best things French culture has to offer. When is your next day off? We shall go to Notre Dame." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	heil_hans 2008-07-16 11:49 pm UTC (link)
	"Saturday," Hans said, giving a faint trace of a smile. "Notre Dame though..a church..." He wondered if it was appropriate. He hadn't been inside a church in so long. He half felt that God would reject him even setting foot inside one. He frowned. "Perhaps the Tower?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bonjour_benoit 2008-07-16 11:53 pm UTC (link)
	Michel shook his head. "Don't look at it as a church - look at it as a giant work of art." He looked at Varner. "If you have something against churches, however, it can wait, I suppose." He paused. "But you will leave your motorcycle at home. We shall take the Metro." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	heil_hans 2008-07-16 11:58 pm UTC (link)
	"Ah, no... nothing against it I suppose. It will be fine," Hans said, more to himself than Benoit. He agreed readily enough with the idea of leaving the motorcycle behind. "The Metro, yes... provided there are no pigs, it will be a splendid trip." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

bonjour_benoit
2008-07-17 12:21 am UTC (link)

Michel stopped, cup halfway to his mouth.

"Pigs? Oh, you will have to tell me that story sometime," he smiled, slowly raising the cup the rest of the way and taking a sip.

"So," he said, setting his cup down, "we shall meet at the theater, say, around 10:00, and go to Saint-Lazare from there. We will have to transfer at Réaumur—Sébastopol, line 4 is the only one that goes to Île de la Cité."

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	heil_hans 2008-07-17 12:24 am UTC (link)
	Hans chuckled. "It is not much of a story," he said. "Just that ... someone told me that he saw a pig struck by the Metro. Twice." He listened to the scheduling, and it made his head swim. "Ah, how about I meet you at the theater and then trust to your superior navigation skills?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bonjour_benoit 2008-07-17 12:26 am UTC (link)
	"I've heard of dogs, but not pigs. And yes, we will trust my native Parisian skills to get us there. They have served us well in the past." Michel smiled and chuckled a bit. "They need to teach you how to read maps in the military." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	heil_hans 2008-07-17 10:04 pm UTC (link)
	"I can read a map," Hans insisted, a bit indignantly. "Your city is just confusing in the layout." He flagged down a waiter to order a glass of wine. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bonjour_benoit 2008-07-18 12:24 am UTC (link)
	He sighed, and then decided to concede the point. "I suppose I would be almost as lost in Berlin as you are here." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	heil_hans 2008-07-18 08:47 pm UTC (link)
	Hans nodded. "There are many - Plattenbauten, forgive- I do not know the word in French - similar looking buildings, in some areas. I was lost when I first arrived there, but I was raised in the country so it was little wonder," Hans said, a somewhat wistful expression on his face as the thought of the grand city and his time there before the war. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bonjour_benoit 2008-07-18 08:51 pm UTC (link)
	"Raised in the country? Really? The city must have been a shock for you." He snorted softly as he took a sip of coffee. "As a city rat myself, the country would be a shock for me." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

heil_hans
2008-07-18 08:57 pm UTC (link)

"My family is old aristocracy," Hans explained. "The title has been long lost, but we still have a palatial estate just outside of Weisbaden. The primary portion of the land around the house is cleared, but we have some woods - even a small pond."

He felt slightly self-conscious explaining this, and sipped his wine when the waiter brought it, glad of the distraction.

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	bonjour_benoit 2008-07-18 09:02 pm UTC (link)
	"How interesting. I wouldn't have pegged you for upper-crust." You're a lot nicer than most of the upper class Germans I've met. "So, you've done the country-to-city transition, and now the Germany-to-France transition. Which was more of a shock?" (Reply to this) (Parent)

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