Play@YSDC

Just outside of the train station stands this lovely art deco cafe that is positively brimming with coffee drinkers - and even the occasional tea drinker - trying to get something warm in them while they await their trains or before heading off in the direction of one business or another. It's reasonably busy inside as evidenced by the quick bustle of waitresses scurrying about to the tune of coffee demands and money changing. There do appear to be a few other guests of the Orient Express in evidence here, however, judging by the timetables sitting on the table in front of them or beside their coffees.

There is a French couple clasping hands over one such timetable while gazing in each other's eyes as though the only things that mattered to them in the world was each other. They both have a flat white coffee sitting in front of them but they have hardly either touched them - nor the croissants.

The woman says with a flutter of her eyelashes,

French Conversation,"You are so sweet to me to purchase these tickets considering how much it must have cost."

The man says gently,

French Conversation,"No, it is you who are sweet to me to have agreed."

The woman says with an air of rebellion,

French Conversation,"My father was not pleased. To go on a train at a time like this! But I told him that it would be wonderfully romantic and that we would be back from Istanbul before the war and if we do not then we will simply have an extended vacation in Istanbul. Silly Hitler! We can't let him spoil our dreams."

The man says with false grimness touched by good cheer,

French Conversation,"If there is war, I will have to fight."

The woman says firmly,

French Conversation,"There will be no war or, at least, not for long. I have faith."

There is another couple in the room who are obviously going to be taking a trip on the Orient Express, though they seem far less pleased with each other. The woman has an itinerary held open around a saucer and she reads it while clutching her coffee cup, seeming to studiously ignore her husband. The man, on the other hand, simply scans the crowd with a look of utter boredom on his face though his gaze does roam over the bodies of any attractive women in the crowd. They are both obviously Meditteranean. Perhaps Greek or Italian?

Fernand enters the Cafe with the two papers under his arm and takes a seat in the center of the cafe. He quietly scans the room and pulls out a French newspaper, but he only appears to be half reading it.

The woman says with a naughty little smile,

French Conversation,"I wonder if everyone aboard the train will be boring ... or spies!"

The man says gently,

French Conversation,"You have such an imagination! There will be no spies aboard the train.."

The woman says with a sense of certainty,

French Conversation,"Why would there be no spies? Everyone knows the train is riddled with spies! Every time there are spies trying to cross borders with ease. Why would this be any different? If there is a chance of war then there should be more spies than at an other time. Spies ... and fleeing Jews."

The man tuts and shakes his head,

French Conversation,"I am sure there will be no spies. It will be a lot of fun but a clean sort of fun. I hope you aren't thinking of being nosy.."

The woman says firmly,

French Conversation,"Of course I am thinking of being nosy! What is the point of being aboard the Orient Express otherwise. I will ask each and every passenger if they are a spy. That is the way to get to the bottom of this."

Fernand struggles to stifle a laugh and then straightens weary of being seen as a snoop him self.

The woman says cheekily,

French Conversation,"Perhaps I should spread a little rumor that we ourselves are spies. Then the spies aboard the train would be sure to approach!"

The man looks worried,

French Conversation,"I really do not think that is a good idea."

The woman says,

French Conversation,"Why not? It could be our little game. Besides if there are no spies then what do we have to fear?"

The man stares at her for a moment,

French Conversation,"You're not serious! We could be thrown from the train. The Germans might take a severe interest in our passports. We could be detained! Please, you must be more cautious. This may be our honeymoon but the world ... it is on the brink of war!"

The woman says with a sigh,

French Conversation,"So they say. And with that Hitler spoils everything. Ooh, that nasty little man causing all such a bother. And to think we might have had a bit of fun. Oh well. I will just ask people if they are spies rather than pretend that we are spies ourselves. Should we begin with that Italian couple? I think I spied an itinerary ... oh yes, I am sure I did. Should I ask them? They seem sour enough. They could use a little laugh."

The man shakes his head, looking worried,

French Conversation,"Please ... they might be able to speak French!"

The woman giggles,

French Conversation,"All the better! How would I speak with them otherwise?"

Vergil led the lady down the walk some distance chatting and enjoying the day before smoothly transitioning into the small cafe. "So what is your business on the express?"

"I mentioned that I travel a lot," says Elena. "That's because I'm a travel writer. This is a good time to go, too. As much as I love Paris, with all this talk of war, it might not be the best place to stay."

Harry Simmons walks into the cafe and takes a quick look around, before sitting at a table near the window and ordering a cup of coffee. He's a small, serious-looking young man with dark hair and glasses. Once his coffee arrives, he pulls a small paperback novel out a pocket and opens it. However, it appears that he is more interested in the other denizens of the cafe than in his reading.

"Travel writer, huh? Sounds top notch. What paper you write for? Or is it for a book?" Vergil smiled and released her arm and pulled out a chair. The table he chose was couple of steps from the counter, but far enough away to not be bothered by the hustle of the cafe.

Johnny was stalled at the door by the waiter/maitre d' a snotty heavily accented gangly french man was standing on his tip toes and staring at Johnny's chin stating bluntly "Sir I am going to have to take your hat."

Johnny shook his head and replied "There is only one reason I'd take off my hat pardner and you aint got the plumbing."

The waiter/maitre d' insisted "Give me hat!"

Johnny replied "You aint gettin my hat! and partner you try an touch it an i'll split yer wig. Now leave me alone get." Johnny finally barged past the waiter/maitre d' and toward the table where Virgil and Elena had found there seat and leaned back looking at the menu. "Sorry yall, had a umm thing with that guy." Johnny said getting back acquainted apparently satisfied about Elena's reason for being on the train.

"Oh, I'm freelance," says Elena, sitting down in the chair. "Various papers and magazines pick up my stories - when I'm lucky, anyway. I am actually thinking of writing a book about my travels. I think there'll be a lot of demand for it. War tends to put a damper on travel, so people will want to at least experience it vicariously."

The French couple sit in a window booth not far away from the table of four, sipping coffee and gazing at each other lovingly. The woman has just started on her croissants. For anyone who cares to look there is an Orient Express timetable sitting on the table between them. Their conversation can be heard clearly and understood by anyone who has a decent grasp of the French language.

The man says with a teasing smile,

French Conversation,"Do you think the cowboy is a spy?"

The woman says with an air of utter certainty,

French Conversation,"Of course! Most certainly he is! No one would be so obvious if they did not have anything to hide. Unless he is not also going on the Orient Express ... then he might simply be an American cowboy."

The man shakes his head and reaches out to squeeze her hand,

French Conversation,"There is no convincing you otherwise, is there?"

The woman smirks,

French Conversation,"You think so lowly of me ... but I will ask. If he boards the train."

Once Johnny was settled he looked over the menu and ordered a pair of sandwiches made of fried eggs, ham and cheese. After that he adjusted and started listening. He didn't understand but the most basic of French but there were two others he knew pretty well and were starkly different than French and would stand out over the regular mull of the crowd. He was also listening to the banter between Virgil and Elena as he idly thumbed through his paper and horse magazine. He was interested in rare books as well having an interest in history and archeology and rare books tended to lead to discoveries but the conversation shifted from between him and Elena to between Virgil and Elena.

Just outside of the train station stands this lovely art deco cafe that is positively brimming with coffee drinkers - and even the occasional tea drinker - trying to get something warm in them while they await their trains or before heading off in the direction of one business or another. It's reasonably busy inside as evidenced by the quick bustle of waitresses scurrying about to the tune of coffee demands and money changing. The air is warm simply through the sheer press of bodies though it seems to be clearing out a little. Perhaps a number of people have trains to go to? Or somewhere else to head? There do appear to be a few other guests of the Orient Express in evidence here, however, judging by the timetables sitting on the table in front of them or beside their coffees. There is a French couple eating croissants and sipping their coffees while smiling and gazing each other, occasionally looking around at the other customers. They have an Orient Express timetable on the middle of the table. There is another couple in the room with an obvious Orient Express itinerary who are just finishing their coffees and collecting their things in preparation to leave. They are both obviously Mediterranean. Perhaps Greek or Italian?

Johnny ONLY,Johnny noticed (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4157149/) that a man sitting on his own seemed to be eavesdropping on the French couple from behind his newspaper - judging by how he'd smirk every so often when the conversation got amusing. While Johnny couldn't understand French, he knew enough about people to spot when the French couple made a joke to each other - especially since they wore their hearts on their sleeves. Naturally without the context of their actual conversation, it was impossible for Johnny to find them funny himself but the other person obviously understood French. While that wasn't unlikely considering they were in Paris, it was curious to see how interested the man was in the French couple.

A pretty lady "caught" Johnny's attention and he turned giving her a big Texas grin and a tip of the hat "Howdy Ma'am" he said as she passed. This gave Johnny the chance to get a good but quick look at the man eavesdropping on the French couple before turning to follow the pretty lady with his eyes before going back to his ham and egg sandwiches and paper. He pushed his hearing as much as he could trying to catch any language he new wile still eating.

Looking over toward Virgil and Elena Johnny asked "either of yall speak French?"

Orders were placed and conversations had as they enjoyed lunch. Vergil looked to Johnny and smiled. "Yes, the lady seems to think you could be some sort of spy either that or your hat is quite idiotic looking. Either way quite an interesting conversation." He looked to Elena and smiled.

German Conversation to Elena,"Do you speak German?"

(OOC: Does it work this way, do I need to make some sort of roll or something to tell him that?)

Elena watches Johnny's antics with amusement. "Mais oui, monsieur," she says to him. "That means yes," she clarifies. She turns to Virgil and smiles back.

Her thoughts,[i]Him, a spy?[/i] she thinks. [i]No spy in his right mind would draw so much attention to himself. If he is a spy, he must be the worst in the world - or the best. After all, what better way to avert suspicion than to deliberately be conspicuous?[/i]

Fernand notices Johnny's casual scrutiny. Fernand quirks an eye brow at the young ladies question just a table away.

As the French couple was close enough to him Johnny kind of leaned over to them and gave them a nod "Howdy yall." Rather or not they understood was not his concern but there was no need to be rude. As far as the guy eavesdropping on the French couple he was not the guy that Johnny was looking for and was only amused about it and amused about something else.

Johnny smiled at Elena speaking French he found out what he wanted to know about the conversation near him but hearing a Russian accent speaking French was a novel sound especially with the sinking of the teeth in the "W" of oui. "Thank ya Ms. Elena." He paused a moment and said "You too" to Virgil.

The Frenchwoman giggles at him and simply says, "G'day", in what is probably an approximation of an Australian, before turning back to her cup of coffee.

Show,You can use languages you have at least 25% in, though naturally the poorer your language skill the more broken your language.

"You're welcome," says Elena with a smile. "It's hard to imagine that you'd be a spy."

Johnny chuckled clearly amused at the idea of being a spy and replied "I do stand out a bit don't I" There was an interest that crossed his mind shifting in his seat and swallowing a bite of sandwich he leaned forward to Elena "On the train ride think yall'd be able to teach me some Russian?"

The mediteranean couple leave the cafe.

Vergil eats his food quickly and quietly as he watched the other two. "How long until the train departs?"

Elena checks her watch. "A little less than half an hour, I think," she says, "though the train should already be boarding now." She nods to Johnny. "I'd be happy to teach you some Russian. There won't be enough time for more than the basics, though. So, since you're not a spy, what is it that you do for a living?"

Johnny smiled again leaning back in his chair "I am a long distance rider and courier. I race in long distance horse races usually farther than seven hundred miles. When I aint racin I take packages to places that aint got roads yet." Johnny explained as he finished his sandwiches and flipping a few coins in payment on the table.

Show,are we inside or out side in this cafe thing?

The cafe is growing far more quiet as even the dinner traffic begin to depart. Now what was a bustling cafe is about half full. While there are outdoor tables the group has settled into a cozy one in the middle of the room. It looks like it might soon rain judging from the heavy clouds gathering outside to cover the starless skies. Ahh, city life ... where the stars are hidden by a thin veil of pollution mixed with the city lights themselves.

OOC,good use of a spoiler button JD but you forgot to put in a comma. The first comma in a spoiler button tag tells the computer where to split what words are visible on the button - in this case OOC - and what words are hidden until you click the button. I've taken the liberty of editing your post to fix that.

Seeing the crowd start milling out of the cafe and knowing about the time Johnny stood and nodded "Well we best be a gettin" slinging his knapsack/saddlebags over his shoulder he began to mosey towards the platform.

"Yes, everyone else seems to be heading aboard," says Elena, "so let's join them." She gathers her things and heads out to the platform. She glances back to Johnny. "So, what brings you to Paris and the Orient Express? Are you delivering a package?"

Fernand seeing the swath of people leaving the cafe, checks his watch and begins to fold his French paper. Pausing to take a look at the headlines of his German paper before folding them both under his arm and making his way to the platform.

Vergil follows the two munching a small dessert pastry. "Yes, what in Europe does bring a cowboy?"

Harry Simmons checks the time and moves to the Train Station Platform in a sudden rush, realising that he might well be late in boarding.