| I stay with you |

Krista Eaton

Ernesto Arrisueno

"Excuse me, but I need to ask you something…Can I give you a kiss of sorts? Perhaps one from the country of France?"

"Excuse me?" He honestly did not understand half of that.

"I’m asking if I can give you a kiss…A French kiss…."

Fu-reeenchi. Kisu...Sounds like...OH. Oh okay. "You're asking me if..." He pauses. "If you can...french kiss me?"

"Excuse me, but I need to ask you something…Can I give you a kiss of sorts? Perhaps one from the country of France?"

"Excuse me?" He honestly did not understand half of that.

Well, might as well make conversation with the person next to him, what’s the worst that can happen? Probably murder but- No nevermind let’s not think about that. Vanja turned his head to his neighbor and cleared his throat. “The train isn’t normally like this. Not sure why it’s so busy today.”

"Wooow! That’s a lot of languages! " He counted them off as she listed them as well. "That’s uh…ichi…go, roku…hachi…Eight whole languages you’re fluent in! That’s impressive I’ve never met someone who knows that much. I only know Norwegian, English, and a bit of Japanese haha.”

"You’d be surprised, though - I heard the world record for most languages spoke fluently was 57!"

"Woooah, really? That seems im-impossible. I know a bit of different languages but I could never be fluent in them."

Well, might as well make conversation with the person next to him, what’s the worst that can happen? Probably murder but- No nevermind let’s not think about that. Vanja turned his head to his neighbor and cleared his throat. “The train isn’t normally like this. Not sure why it’s so busy today.”

"It seems fun! Do you know other…umm…langua-languages? too or are you just able to." Dangit why’d he choose a complicated sentence like this. "Imitere dialects? Sorry I don’t know quite enough of the language yet.”

"But yes, now that you ask, I do!" Lorelai counted off each language on her fingers. "I know English, Khmer, Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese, German and Japanese. I’m still learning Japanese, though, so I’m not fluent quite yet."

"Wooow! That's a lot of languages! " He counted them off as she listed them as well. "That's uh...ichi...go, roku...hachi...Eight whole languages you're fluent in! That's impressive I've never met someone who knows that much. I only know Norwegian, English, and a bit of Japanese haha."

Well, might as well make conversation with the person next to him, what’s the worst that can happen? Probably murder but- No nevermind let’s not think about that. Vanja turned his head to his neighbor and cleared his throat. “The train isn’t normally like this. Not sure why it’s so busy today.”

"Ohhh. Okay I don’t know why I didn’t assume you knew from my name." He half sighed, half laughed. "But your a uhhh…dia-dialect? coach? What’s that mean?" This is actually his first time hearing the word ‘dialect’ in Japanese.

Switching back into her normal voice, Lorelai continued, “It’s actually a really fun job!”

"It seems fun! Do you know other...umm...langua-languages? too or are you just able to." Dangit why'd he choose a complicated sentence like this. "Imitere dialects? Sorry I don't know quite enough of the language yet."

Well, might as well make conversation with the person next to him, what’s the worst that can happen? Probably murder but- No nevermind let’s not think about that. Vanja turned his head to his neighbor and cleared his throat. “The train isn’t normally like this. Not sure why it’s so busy today.”

"I am! I’m from Norway! How’d you know?" Was his accent that bad? He’s been here for like a year he thought his accent improved, well it did but he guesses not that much.

"Heh, ya accent an’ ya name." Instead of speaking in her normal, natural dialect, Lorelai instead used a Brooklyn accent as she explained. "I’ve studied linguistics, an’ I’m a dialect coach, so I can tell where people’re from offa that sorta thing."

"Ohhh. Okay I don't know why I didn't assume you knew from my name." He half sighed, half laughed. "But your a uhhh...dia-dialect? coach? What's that mean?" This is actually his first time hearing the word 'dialect' in Japanese.

Well, might as well make conversation with the person next to him, what’s the worst that can happen? Probably murder but- No nevermind let’s not think about that. Vanja turned his head to his neighbor and cleared his throat. “The train isn’t normally like this. Not sure why it’s so busy today.”

Vanja took one of his hands off of his flowerpots and shook her hand. “Vanja. It’s uh, nice to meet you miss Lorelai.”

"And nice to meet you, as well." Lorelai smiled and shook the others hand, taking note of the flowerpots in his lap. "Hmmm…Vanja." Lorelai tilted her head at the foreign name, as well as Vanja’s accent. "You are from…Scandinavia, correct?"

"I am! I'm from Norway! How'd you know?" Was his accent that bad? He's been here for like a year he thought his accent improved, well it did but he guesses not that much.

Well, might as well make conversation with the person next to him, what’s the worst that can happen? Probably murder but- No nevermind let’s not think about that. Vanja turned his head to his neighbor and cleared his throat. “The train isn’t normally like this. Not sure why it’s so busy today.”

Lorelai smiled and extended her hand. “I’m Lorelai, by the way.”

Vanja took one of his hands off of his flowerpots and shook her hand. "Vanja. It's uh, nice to meet you miss Lorelai."

Bente Johansen has been executed!

winter roses (by Destiny Dawson)