Henri

Maisie raised an eyebrow. “De rien?” she tried, thinking back to her high school French classes to remember how to say ‘you’re welcome’. She was never very good at that class. She smiled as he spoke, thinking that there really needed to be more people like that in the world. “That’s so nice. I’m sure that makes their whole day.”

Henri smiled, he loved when people tried talking French to him, especially when it was clear they didn’t master the language but were making an effort anyway. “they are very kind people, they deserve some pizza in their lives. In fact all people deserve pizza in their lives.”

“I can’t say I see it every day, no.” Maisie smiled, holding out her arms to take however many he planned to hand over to her. “Well, thanks. I’m quite a fan of pizza so I really can’t say no, despite the whole complete stranger thing.” She grinned at him. “So…are these all for you?” She eyed the pile of pizzas, thinking he’d never be able to do it. But hey, who was she to judge?

Henri smiled at the girl and handed a few of the boxes over to her. “Merci,” he said, to thank her for the help. Her expression upon asking if they were all for him made the young Frenchman laugh, “Well now they’re for you too,” he said, “and well I do love leftovers, and a single mum with two sons live just across the hall from me, and they always get happy when I bring some over and tell them I ordered too much again.”

“Do you need any help with that?” Maisie asked, eyeing the person in front of her. “Not trying to offend you or anything, but you look like you could use some.”

“I take it you are not used to seeing guys carry a tower of twelve pizzas?” Henri laughed, “Some help would be amazing, thank you. I’ll even invite you in to eat with me as thanks.”

“That’s not Batman’s job, though. That’s the responsibility of whoever has the power to make those changes. All he can do is fight the villains who threaten the greater good, but that’s enough of a change until bigger ones are made. He’s keeping the citizens safe with what he can.”

“No that is not all he can do. He’s got a high social status and he’s filthy rich, he has both power and resources to actually do something that matters but instead he just fights people in the streets. If you want real superheroes, watch x-men.”

“No way, man. The only reason he messes shit up sometimes is ‘cause he’s fighting for the greater good. You don’t see anyone else taking those guys down. Not sufficiently, anyway.” Miles shook his head. “And for the record, I’m probably beating a dead horse but his mind is his superpower. Dude’s a genius.”

“Of course his intentions are good, but this man is incredibly rich, he has the resources to do something about the real problems in Gotham, but instead he keeps beating up the villains whom are really just symptoms of the real serious trouble in Gotham. Gotham needs real serious change, they need to deal with serious corruption issues, they need a system that actually works. They do not need a vigilante dressed in black who runs around beating up bad guys.”

“Honestly? You can’t give me one good reason why Batman isn’t a superhero. I won’t allow it.”

“It’s not about him not having superpowers, I don’t care about that. But frankly, Batman just keeps contributing to the problems in Gotham. Every time he fights a villain the infrastructure in Gotham suffers even more. And the batman villains are mainly motivated by how fucked up Gotham is, so wouldn’t his resources be better used actually doing something with the problem?”

“That must be hard after being from France,” Mason commented, noticing the young man’s accent and knowing a little about the French he knew their food was far better than the Amercians’. “We can’t compete, not that I’d know how the food is, but anythings better than most of what you find here.”

Henri nodded, “I do miss the French food, in my town we had this bakery that made cakes so good eating them was like a religious experience. I must admit though, and you can’t tell anyone this or they’ll revoke my right to call myself French, that I love the greasy american food.” 

“You too, Henri.” He smiled at the boy, “It’d be a shame. You know, if you want the best cake you’ve ever had–there’s a place about a block from here that’s a hole in the wall bakery. It’ll change your whole view on cake.”

The young Frenchman’s face lit up, “I will have to check that out, I am always on a hunt for better cake after all.” 

“Mason,” He returned the smile, “It’s nothing, figured the last thing you needed was to lose that cake to some ass not watching what they were doing. And that’s a true tragedy, wasted cake.” 

“I am very glad you agree with me on that. If there is one thing that should never be wasted it is cake.” Henri stated. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mason.”

“The seat’s not taken,” Mason spoke up, his eyes not leaving his book.He  noticed the person standing there, searching for a place on the busy sidewalk. While he didn’t know them it was the nice thing to do. “It’s there if you want it.”

“Thank you,” Henri said, putting the plate with his cake down on the small table. “eating cake standing up is a little tricky, you saved my day.” He smiled and pulled out the other chair and sat down, “my name is Henri.” 

“I’ve been with a lot of people, mostly flings or one nighters so it is very possible we have crossed paths at one point in time.”

“I don’t have a habit of referring to my one nighters as ex boyfriends. You just look a lot like him. And I’m fairly sure he’s in Paris these days”

“Pardon? I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else. Not to fret though, I’m sure you’ll find them here somewhere.”

“Please pardon me staring, you look just like my ex whom I really didn’t expect to see here”

“Ohhh, you’ve been to France?” Maddie’s eyes sparkled with jealous interest. “It’s on my bucket list to go there before I die. France and Italy. I want to take so many pictures.” Her memory wasn’t poor per se, she’d realized the face was familiar, but hadn’t placed him until he mentioned her computer. “Oh…oh yes…thank you so much for the help. Not only did you fix the issue, but I feel like it’s running better in general now. You’re a miracle worker.”

“Yeah, I am French actually.” Henri said casually, “I definitely recommend going if you get the chance, it is a really beautiful country.” He turned as a waiter passed them and asked for a coke before he returned his attention to Maddie. “I’m glad I could help. If you have any other issues please let me know.”

“I’ll take this off your hands then, Henri,” she mused, pulling the soda back towards herself. “We can flag the waiter down the next time he comes by and get you something with sugar.” She found herself in agreement with him. “Don’t forget cheese fries. I’ve formed six friendships over cheese fries.”

Henri nodded “Cheese fries, yes. I have met quite a few people over cheese fries myself. Food friendships are in fact the best. Back in France I met my best friend over a piece of cake.” Realization flashed over his face, “Oh! you are the girl with the computer, I am so sorry for not remembering you at once, ever since I started my little volunteer IT service I help so many people with their computers.”

“In that case — thank God, you brilliant child. I don’t think you realize how much you’d be helping me out here if you can pull this off. There’s not much in this world that scares me. But a group of over-dramatic, impatient film students? That takes the top of the list.”

“Film students, in that case I’ll try to do it in half the time, those students are really really scary. I’ve got your back.”

“How long is it going to take?”