chanter1944 | (Reply)

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chanter1944

Ooh! ... Uh. This ran away with me like the mentioned dishes and spoons. Ah-hem. It was meant to be a summary, but then Randleman started talking, and then Ramirez started being really very kind, and then Talbert was adorable, and um. I've committed commentfic. Sorry?

Somewhere in a patch of time between that first night in Eindhoven and their relocation to Shoonderlogt, his squad collides with a cluster? bunch? gaggle? hell if he knows what to call 'em, but they're about six or seven Dutch kids all told, none of them older than round about twelve, and not a one of them with more than the simplest of English besides. Probably either orphaned or their folks let 'em run around half-wild, Bull guesses, and watching them tag after his boys - and himself, which shouldn't make him smile - like downy ducklings in raggedy clothes pretty much confirms both possibilities in his eyes. Grateful for Army rations. Clutching at scrounged socks like they're dolls and blankets. Running messages like professionals. Not flinching one bit when artillery goes off in the distance. And his squad--well. Half of them ain't hardly old enough to shave as is, and what with all the younger siblings and cousins they've got between them...

Ramirez starts giving and getting names in earnest. "This is Tony, and this is Lester. Exactly--I mean ja, ja, Lester. And him? He's Bull--really, that's his name! Funny one, huh? Sorry, Sarge. I figure teachin' 'em to say Randleman is just a recipe for a mess, you know? My name is Joe--er, kinda like that, sure. ja. You're Annie? Annie. Anabel. You're Sepp. You're Erik. You, you're Mir--como se, uh, sorry, how d'you say that again? Your name? Mirjam? Miriam. Se llama Miriam."

It's Hashey who quotes an honest to God Mother Goose rhyme while they're trying to pass the time. Garcia's the one who answers him with a version in Spanish. Somebody bugs Talbert until he comes over and cobbles up about a half a Dutch rendition before amiably tapping out, and the middle girl they've acquired giggles over dishes and spoons until she snorts. He'd have pegged Miller for the lad most likely to make Wonderland references, but that... ain't a thing that's going to happen no more. Heffron, of all people, goes there.

If he ever thought he'd see a bunch of combat-ready soldiers trying and failing to say "whether pigs have wings" without laughing, well now. Webster turning red in the face while he's trying to explain is not helping anybody's composure one bit. Including Bull's own, dammit.