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Hans Ernst Varner (heil_hans) wrote in vie_en_guerre,
@ 2008-01-22 00:53:00

Current mood:

hopeful

A cake for Nadal
Who: Hans / Stephane, Mirielle
When: the day after the musicala, early evening
Where: The Occitan Bistro
Summary: Hans wants to talk to the Occitan folks about making a special Nadal cake.
Complete
Rating: PG

Hans dressed in his civilian clothes after work, and headed straight for the Occitan bistro. Truth be told, he wasn't even sure of the name of the place- or even if it had a name.But the only Occitans he knew other than Marie-Pierre resided there, and if he was to pull off this surprise - he would need their help. He had been in there alone once before - to ask Stephane to deliver a message to Marie-Pierre. And he'd been seen in there twice now with Marie-Pierre, so he hoped they would react favorably to his request. Or at the very least, they wouldn't mind him asking.

Feeling a bit nervous about the whole thing, Hans pushed open the door to the bistro and stepped inside.

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duclos
2008-01-22 06:11 am UTC (link)

Bertrat had no memory for faces, especially those he had seen only twice, so he greeted Hans in his heavily-accented French with the sort of carefully-polite indifference which was the usual lot of a German in one of Occupied Paris' businesses.

Stephane, however, recognized him immediately, and although he couldn't wave or otherwise greet the man as he was performing his busboy duties, he ran as quickly as he could with his armload of dishes, into the kitchen to his mother.

"Mamà!! Monsenh Marie-Pierre's Belgian friend is here!"

"You're speaking French right now, Stephane, it's monsieur," Mireille corrected the boy. "Is Marie-Pierre not with him?"

"Yes, Mamà, Monsieur Marie-Pierre's Belgian friend. No, Mamà, only him. May I go talk to him?"

Mireille checked the pot on the stove, gave it a judicious stir, and set the lid back on. "I will go with you and say hello."

Stephane ran, ignoring his mother's sharp order in Occitan not to do so, and grinned up at Hans. "Hello! Do you need another message carried?"

Mireille followed more sedately and inclined her head to him; Bertrat was bustling at another table, and someone had to wait on the man, after all.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	heil_hans 2008-01-22 06:22 am UTC (link)
	Hans smiled at Stephane, and bowed politely to his mother. " Adieussiatz, Madame. And no, Stephane I've no messages today. But I do require a bit of assistance..." He paused a moment, taking some time to assess Mireille's reaction to his presence there. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	duclos 2008-01-22 06:26 am UTC (link)
	Stephane was mildly disappointed that he couldn't go play messenger-boy - that was so much more fun than helping wait the tables - but he stood politely while the grownups talked. Mireille smiled at Hans' use of the Occitan greeting. "Adieussiatz, Monsenh. What sort of assistance? Has Duclos gotten himself into trouble again?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

heil_hans
2008-01-22 06:32 am UTC (link)

"Ach, I certainly hope not," Hans blurted, before he could think of a more polite reply to that. His worry over Marie-Pierre's cryptic words about the shadows needing him more kept coming to the forefront of his thoughts.

"No, it is not trouble - just that well, he has been teaching me your language, and some of your customs. We were speaking about Nadal, and he told me of this -- little cake thing? With nuts?"

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duclos
2008-01-22 06:37 am UTC (link)

"Ah, la Cossa de Nadal," said Mireille, smiling again and nodding. "We have just gotten extra chestnuts in for that very purpose. With flour and sugar and all of those things being scarce, of course..." She trailed off, not wanting to open a can of worms about the war shortages with this man who, despite Stephane's insistence, was very definitely a German soldier.

"But we will still have it, right, Mamà?" asked Stephane worriedly.

She smiled down at the boy and ruffled his hair. "Yes, Stephane, don't worry."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	heil_hans 2008-01-22 06:42 am UTC (link)
	"Would it be possible, vos prègui, to purchase one? You see, I would like to gift one to Marie-Pierre for Nadal... but my skills with any cooking, let alone a traditional Occitan dish... are not so good." He smiled somewhat self-consciously. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	duclos 2008-01-22 06:46 am UTC (link)
	The small effort at speaking Occitan was rather ingratiating, really, and it was for Marie-Pierre. Mireille smiled warmly. "We can arrange that." "And I can deliver it?" asked Stephane hopefully. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	heil_hans 2008-01-22 06:53 am UTC (link)
	"Òc, if your mother says it is alright," Hans agreed. "Mercé Madame, I appreciate this very much," Hans said. "Marie-Pierre has been a good friend to me, and I want for him to have a good Nadal..." He considered a moment. "And if there are supplies you need for this, let me know. I can try to bring them..." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

duclos
2008-01-22 06:58 am UTC (link)

"We will manage," said Mireille firmly, too proud to ask for for accept assistance, but she smiled again, "but mercé to you, as well, for the offer. When would you like to have it?"

"Mamà," Stephane whispered to her, tugging at her skirt, "you didn't say whether I can deliver it - "

Mireille shushed him with a small nod and another ruffle of his hair, as unruly as Marie-Pierre's, at which he scrunched his nose.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

heil_hans
2008-01-22 07:07 am UTC (link)

"Perhaps as an early present," Hans said, thinking that with things going on Marie-Pierre might need a little bit of extra cheer. "So whenever you have the time to make one, that would be fine."

He glanced towards Stephane, and his nose-scrunching, amused. "Perhaps you can help me as well, Stephane? If your mother would not mind losing your help for a bit, maybe you can tell me some more about Nadal..."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

duclos
2008-01-22 07:14 am UTC (link)

Mireille nodded. "It will keep a bit once it's baked - soaked in chestnut-liquor, so it will only get better if it needs to sit a few days. You may come call for it, or I'm sure Stephane would be glad to let you know. If he bothers you, mind, send him straight back to the kitchens; which is where I must go myself." She nodded again and excused herself.

Stephane grinned at this freedom from his duties, then turned a questioning, almost dubious look upward. "Don't you have Nadal in Belgium?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

heil_hans
2008-01-22 07:17 am UTC (link)

"No, we are quite sadly deprived of Nadal in my homeland," Hans said, a heavy sigh at what a terrible thing that was. He settled at a table, and indicated the seat across from him for Stephane.

"And do you know, up until recently when I had the great fortune to meet your Monsenh Marie-Pierre - I did not even know about anything Occitan. How sad is that? Certainly, something that must be remedied."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

duclos
2008-01-22 07:27 am UTC (link)

Stephane shook his head at the obvious ignorance. "Nobody knows about the Occitan. At school they make fun of me because they say I talk wrong, but that's because they're stupid and they only know how to speak one language. Sometimes I still get my words mixed up and I say the Occitan instead of the French but that's still more than they know so I don't listen to them. The teacher gets mad, though. How come you don't have Nadal? Don't you go to church?"

	duclos 2008-01-22 09:15 am UTC (link)
	"Putting one together would be fun! Then it's like a puzzle and a toy plane, so it's really two presents at the same time. That," Stephane said seriously, "is what Mamà would call economy." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)