The world is still getting used to peace, even as a new kind of war dawns on the horizon and economies are still getting back on their feet. Most of the men of Easy Company have returned home, but Eugene finds himself drawn back to their old haunts through what feels like an old kind of magnetism. He makes his way back across France, Holland, and now Belgium. It is all very much as he remembers and yet different - he can take his time to appreciate the sights and sounds without fear of being shot at.
Bastogne itself is his last stop before crossing over into Germany. It's a brisk February morning, and so perhaps he is too preoccupied with bundling up to see where he is going on the sidewalk. He bumps into someone and turns to apologize-
-and then recognition dawns on him slowly, then all at once, like a thunderbolt.]
[The last thing that Renée had expected in Bastogne was to see Eugene Roe again. So when on an errand someone bumped into her and then before any words were able to pass through her lips in way of apology or complaint she hears her name. That familiar deep voice with the tell-tale lilt.]
Eugene? [Her eyes widened as she looked at him fully, surprise clear on her face. They'd parted without goodbye, through no fault of their own.]
What are you doing here? [The question came out before she could check herself. Why hadn't he gone home?]
He saw the bomb hit the aid station that Christmas night. He'd plucked her headscarf out of the rubble. There'd been no time to mourn - it'd been right back to the line for him, then into Germany, then Austria, then home.]
I'm visiting. You know-
[He shrugs, one-shouldered and quick.]
-for old times' sake.
[He takes the time to look her up and down. It's really her. She's as alive as he is, still flesh and blood.]
I thought you-
[He doesn't finish the sentence. Instead, he catches himself and offers a soft smile.]
[It took a moment for the realization to come full circle to Renée. The bomb that had hit and there'd never been any way to reach Roe once she'd recovered from those injuries and she had plenty of work to carry on herself. There'd simply been no time for it even if there had been a way.]
It's good to see you too. [She'd never expected to see him again even if she couldn't help but think of him often. It'd been one of those attachments that formed deeply in a short time. War had a knack for making those. But she hadn't thought to look for him.]
[He shakes his head.] Not at all. I was just stopping in town for the week. I'm staying in a hostel down the road.
[He swallows, suddenly nervous.]
What about you?
[He thought of her often, too - how the war brought them together, how it'd taken them apart almost as quickly. The chocolate she'd given him, the bar he'd kept with him all throughout his time in Bastogne.]
I've been working at one of the hospitals still. [Even if she had had her fill there was still too many men that still needed caring. She was waiting for the day where she wouldn't feel guilty stepping away from the medical and doing something different with her life. She still felt caught in that sense of duty.]
I was on my way home, though. We could get some coffee and a meal, if you're hungry that is? [She asked, only a moment of hesitance before doing so. This wasn't a serendipity that she wanted to walk away from.]
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2016-10-07 04:18 am (UTC)The world is still getting used to peace, even as a new kind of war dawns on the horizon and economies are still getting back on their feet. Most of the men of Easy Company have returned home, but Eugene finds himself drawn back to their old haunts through what feels like an old kind of magnetism. He makes his way back across France, Holland, and now Belgium. It is all very much as he remembers and yet different - he can take his time to appreciate the sights and sounds without fear of being shot at.
Bastogne itself is his last stop before crossing over into Germany. It's a brisk February morning, and so perhaps he is too preoccupied with bundling up to see where he is going on the sidewalk. He bumps into someone and turns to apologize-
-and then recognition dawns on him slowly, then all at once, like a thunderbolt.]
Renée-?
no subject
Date: 2016-10-19 03:14 pm (UTC)Eugene? [Her eyes widened as she looked at him fully, surprise clear on her face. They'd parted without goodbye, through no fault of their own.]
What are you doing here? [The question came out before she could check herself. Why hadn't he gone home?]
no subject
Date: 2016-10-20 12:48 am (UTC)He saw the bomb hit the aid station that Christmas night. He'd plucked her headscarf out of the rubble. There'd been no time to mourn - it'd been right back to the line for him, then into Germany, then Austria, then home.]
I'm visiting. You know-
[He shrugs, one-shouldered and quick.]
-for old times' sake.
[He takes the time to look her up and down. It's really her. She's as alive as he is, still flesh and blood.]
I thought you-
[He doesn't finish the sentence. Instead, he catches himself and offers a soft smile.]
It is good to see you.
no subject
Date: 2016-10-24 11:52 am (UTC)It's good to see you too. [She'd never expected to see him again even if she couldn't help but think of him often. It'd been one of those attachments that formed deeply in a short time. War had a knack for making those. But she hadn't thought to look for him.]
Are you very busy?
no subject
Date: 2016-10-25 02:07 pm (UTC)[He swallows, suddenly nervous.]
What about you?
[He thought of her often, too - how the war brought them together, how it'd taken them apart almost as quickly. The chocolate she'd given him, the bar he'd kept with him all throughout his time in Bastogne.]
no subject
Date: 2016-10-26 03:43 pm (UTC)I was on my way home, though. We could get some coffee and a meal, if you're hungry that is? [She asked, only a moment of hesitance before doing so. This wasn't a serendipity that she wanted to walk away from.]