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Entry tags:
Stay for a while [Karl/Marie]
Title: Stay for a while
Fandom: Valiant Hearts
Characters/Pairing: Karl/Marie. Emile is also there.
Rating: 0+
Length: 462
Summary: Karl came to Emile Chaillon's farm to find work, but he found much more than that.
Other: Precanon. This game made my heart hurt.
Stay for a while
Sometimes when Karl spoke, his tongue tied all in knots, and suddenly the French language felt too slippery in his mouth and he couldn't say anything properly. It was bad enough when he was talking to Emile, groping for words and cursing his heavy accent. That was normal, that was more or less expected, and Emile always said, in his kind, patient way, that he didn't have any trouble understanding him.
But when Marie was around, Karl felt as if every single French word he knew slid away from him.
"I - uh - I.... Thank you, Marie," he said when she came to him in the early afternoon sun where he had been working in the field with her father. Those words were what he had to settle for as he took the basket of bread and cheese that she offered him. It didn't keep him from wishing that he could grab hold of the right words and tell her that she looked very pretty today, even though she looked pretty every day, and even if saying it would mean her father would hear it. Emile hadn't lifted his head when she appeared, but Karl didn't doubt for a minute that he was listening.
The way she smiled and told him that it wasn't any trouble almost made up for not being able to speak, and maybe - he hoped - she knew what he meant. There she was, standing in front of him in the field, with her bright blue kerchief set neatly over her wheat-blonde hair, with that smile on her face, telling him in her pretty voice that she hoped they'd both enjoy lunch, and that she had to go now, because she had to tend to the animals, you know.
Stay, Karl wanted to say. You should have lunch with us. I'd like to talk to you. But she was right, and anyway, the words wouldn't come, and even if they would, he couldn't say much with her father here. So instead, all Karl could do was nod.
He watched her go. And when he finally tore his eyes away from her, he noticed that Emile had paused in his work, stopping the horse, stroking at its long neck.
"Do you plan to stay with us long?" Emil asked him, speaking very clearly, taking care to enunciate for Karl's sake.
"I..." Karl bit his lip. Once more, he glanced down at the basket Marie had brought. "I would like to. Yes." I'd like to stay forever, he thought.
There was a pause. Then Emile smiled, broad and knowing, as if he'd read Karl's every thought. "Good," he said. "Let's eat, then."
He said nothing more. He didn't have to.
Tonight, Karl thought. Tonight I'll talk to her.
Fandom: Valiant Hearts
Characters/Pairing: Karl/Marie. Emile is also there.
Rating: 0+
Length: 462
Summary: Karl came to Emile Chaillon's farm to find work, but he found much more than that.
Other: Precanon. This game made my heart hurt.
Stay for a while
Sometimes when Karl spoke, his tongue tied all in knots, and suddenly the French language felt too slippery in his mouth and he couldn't say anything properly. It was bad enough when he was talking to Emile, groping for words and cursing his heavy accent. That was normal, that was more or less expected, and Emile always said, in his kind, patient way, that he didn't have any trouble understanding him.
But when Marie was around, Karl felt as if every single French word he knew slid away from him.
"I - uh - I.... Thank you, Marie," he said when she came to him in the early afternoon sun where he had been working in the field with her father. Those words were what he had to settle for as he took the basket of bread and cheese that she offered him. It didn't keep him from wishing that he could grab hold of the right words and tell her that she looked very pretty today, even though she looked pretty every day, and even if saying it would mean her father would hear it. Emile hadn't lifted his head when she appeared, but Karl didn't doubt for a minute that he was listening.
The way she smiled and told him that it wasn't any trouble almost made up for not being able to speak, and maybe - he hoped - she knew what he meant. There she was, standing in front of him in the field, with her bright blue kerchief set neatly over her wheat-blonde hair, with that smile on her face, telling him in her pretty voice that she hoped they'd both enjoy lunch, and that she had to go now, because she had to tend to the animals, you know.
Stay, Karl wanted to say. You should have lunch with us. I'd like to talk to you. But she was right, and anyway, the words wouldn't come, and even if they would, he couldn't say much with her father here. So instead, all Karl could do was nod.
He watched her go. And when he finally tore his eyes away from her, he noticed that Emile had paused in his work, stopping the horse, stroking at its long neck.
"Do you plan to stay with us long?" Emil asked him, speaking very clearly, taking care to enunciate for Karl's sake.
"I..." Karl bit his lip. Once more, he glanced down at the basket Marie had brought. "I would like to. Yes." I'd like to stay forever, he thought.
There was a pause. Then Emile smiled, broad and knowing, as if he'd read Karl's every thought. "Good," he said. "Let's eat, then."
He said nothing more. He didn't have to.
Tonight, Karl thought. Tonight I'll talk to her.