Do I Not Look Calm?

.. — - } Lips pursed, Shosanna’s internal debate churned her heart and her stomach in equal measure. Would it be terribly strange for her to know German, and expose this? Her tactical advantage would be ruined if this man spoke to anyone of importance. Secrets were her priority, always, but this calm voice had her rethinking.There was something that drew her to trust him…

 It seemed broken German was her best bet. Though she could speak fluently, it would be monumentally idiotic to reveal all her assets now.

          “Entschuldigung. Ich weiß nicht gut Deutsch sprechen. Ich habe           gelernt, nur ein wenig in der Schule. Ich bin sicher, Sie sprechen           Französisch besser als mein Deutsch, Lieutenant.”

     Admittedly, Hugo almost found himself smiling at her attempt at speaking germna. It wasn't shameful by any means, but it was fairly laughable. He was tempted to say it was cute, but the Soldier knew that he was pushing his luck with her enough. 

             "Wir sprechen Englisch, wenn Sie                es vorziehen,  mit mir zu sprechen."

     The German was assuming that the French woman knew how tp speak English. If anything, they would both struggle with their English together and have slightly embarrassing accents.

Cpl. Wilhelm Wicki - Gedeon Burkhard

                                     ”Excusez-moi, soldat, I would prefer to read in peace, if you                                       wouldn’t mind. I would imagine you would have many things                                       requiring your time as an officer outside of staring at                                       uninterested women.”

She did not, however, admit to herself that she was, in fact, interested. There was a fleeting thought that speaking to him was against her better judgement, but the words had already left her mouth, and with it, the remnants of her cigarette smoke.

             "If you didn't notice ----------

                                     I don't speak a word of french."

     His words were dry and to the point, and his eye contact wavered from her cold glare to the table that he was sitting at. He wasn't nervous or anything, nor was he intimidated. He just didn't want to piss the woman off further than she already was.

            "Are you going to repeat that

                         or am I going to be left guessing all day?" he said quietly.

.. — - } Her favorite cafe was nearly deserted that day, save for the ever-unwelcoming company of Nazi soldiers, who seemed sparse decorations in the otherwise empty establishment. It was quiet, Shosanna’s favorite kind of atmosphere, and the turning pages of her book and the clinking of glasses were the only sounds that could be heard.

One soldier, in particular, looked incredibly familar.  Peut-être que c’était juste un autre uniforme … Forgive her stares. There is nothing but curiosity in her cold blue eyes.

     They didn't say that he had to stay with them, so in order to find some peace and quiet, he walked the streets of Paris to find somewhere quiet. Luckily, there was a dead looking cafe nearby, and so he slunk in and went to find a seat.

     But instead of finding a seat, he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life, and she was staring at him. Hugo didn't know what to do, so he simply sat down near her, and looked up at her a couple of times.

     The silence was deafening to Hugo. The silence -- while it was nice, always meant that tn enemy was strengthening themselves, that they were planning something. Despite the fact that Hugo knew that he and the Basterds were more than able to handle themselves, it was an uneasy feeling.

     His silence was interrupted by the voice of a girl. She sat next to him, but not too close, and her voice was almost soothing. If only she had chosen a better topic.

"All that’s here is what you left behind."

"All we seem to do is talk about sex."

"Are we just friends?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Do you get what I mean now?"

"For crying out loud, settle down!"

"Fucking the whole town is a reflection on your mental health."

"Give me something to remember you by."

"Go lie on the floor if you want."

"Gotta love the way you love yourself."

"I can feed your dirty mind."

"I can sell you lies."

"I can’t take you."

"I could persuade you."

"I don’t seem to be having any effect now."

"I forgot to call you."

"I guess I’ll never learn."

"I love you. Don’t you mind?"

"I never took your side."

"I remember when I found you."

"I think I did something terrible to your body."

"I think I’ll say a couple words if you don’t mind."

"I think you better go."

"I wanna see you, but you’re not mine."

"I was thinking about killing myself. Don’t you mind?"

"I was thinking about leaving again."

"I’d like to say you’ve changed, but you’re always the same."

"I’ll be a thorn in your side till you die."

"I’ll come clean."

"I’ll give you one more chance."

"I’ll give you one more time."

"I’m feeling capable of saying it’s over."

"I’m in misery."

"I’m not your saviour."

"I’m not your typical stoned 18 year old."

"I’m so high, I think I love you."

"I’ve been thinking lots about your mouth."

"I’ve got a feeling that the marijuana’s rotting your brain."

"If we’re going to do anything, we might as well just fuck."

"Just another lie."

"My shirt looks so good when it’s just hanging off your back."

"Oh, give it a rest."

"Stay where you are."

"There is no other way."

"We are done this time."

"We can change or part ways."

"We can change our old ways."

"We can make time."

"We’re never gonna quit it."

"We’re not doing it again, so leave it."

"What a familiar face."

"What happened to just messing around?"

"Who are you to tell me how to keep myself afloat?"

"Will we ever get away from this place?"

"You don’t owe me."

"You got something to say?"

"You had better run from me."

"You know I can’t be found with you."

"You know that this will break us."

"You know you don’t need me."

"You should know that we’re alone this time."

"You think we’re doing it again, keep dreaming."

"You’ve got a pretty kind of dirty face."

   Her hands fiddling anxiously with the hem of her dress, she traced her space of thought in hopes of producing the English equivalent of her story. Finally, she provided a glance to the southerner of the Basterds. “They took me because—well.” A brief gesture to herself was enough to ascertain some understanding: albinism was a distinct and uncommon characteristic. Pure white. “They thought that I had some kind of special power. It is a trait in my family, ah—they took my father as well; but not my mother and brother, because of their sickness. But… because of the rumours about this kind of power in my family, there came stories that the town I came from had people just like me everywhere: with powers.”

   There came an indigenous snort from the young Frenchwoman; far into the likes of distaste.

   His weight shifted so that he was leaning the other way, his ever gazing eyes not taking a moment to stray from Fleurette as she spoke. He watched her lips carefully, how she managed to tell her story without a single ounce of hesitation. She was a brave girl.

   "So, what yer sayin' is they though you have some kinda superpower? Like some kind comic book hero or somethin'?" Aldo scoffed and looked around at the other Basterds, when they all wore completely straight faces, he knew it was the rumours that they too had heard of, but he wanted to hear it straight from the horse's mouth. "So do you have some sorta power puddin?" he asked her, leaning in a little bit closer.

   All the while, Hugo could feel his blood start to boil. How dare those Nazi fucking pieces of shit take an entire family because they thought they might have some kind of power. They were the fucking scum of the earth, and he wanted to go out and kill the ones who were personally responsible for it right now, but instead he just stood there calmly, waiting for her to speak again.

   "Wait --- so you're sayin' they turtured you? Those god damned fuckers!" Donny shouted. Hugo couldn't have agreed more.

   It was daring to chance the idea of retorting; though the state of her scarring was her cold slate of proof that she was no spy with the intention of betraying the very men that liberated her; for what purpose would there be in that? To be taken from such a hellish imprisonment was her only want, and she had received it.

   It was a beat up old barn they were living in, with hay bails made into makeshift beds, and burlap sacks used as bedding. In all honesty, it wasn't that bad. It was quite nice considering the fact that they could be sleeping out in the woods, opposed to having a roof over their heads. It might not have been the best arrangement, but it was good for now.

   As soon as they entered the barn, in the small fire pit that they had in the center of the place Omar was throwing more sticks into the burning flame.

   "Ya found her?" Hirschberg asked as he looked up from the gun he was cleaning.

   "Yeah, we done found her. Now come on lil Lady, it's time we had us a liiiittle chat." Aldo said to her.

   Hugo gave Aldo a stern look, and then Aldo returned it. "You can stay right there with Hugo, I ain't gonna hurt ya, nor am I intendin on bein rough on ya. I just wanna know what you mean ---- did they take a lot of ya? And why?" he demanded, sitting himself down and propping his arm up on his knee.

   Hugo's hand lowered and dropped, gesturing to the hay bale right beside them for her to sit down. He felt the need to protect the woman, but he had to go grab a few things, before he could return.