Legends

Chapter 22~ Levels of Frenchiness

Liberte was pleased when the American coastline finally came into view. Not that she was worried mind you. She was a Blue Riband holder. She was designed to outrun anything above or beneath the seas. But she wouldn't deny she had felt some relief upon seeing Hindenburg some 300 miles ago. The larger airship was since joined by two more, Akron and Makon her mind supplied, and the three maintained a continuous air cover around the giant liner. If there was any Abyssal submarine nearby, it would think twice about attacking.

As Liberte got closer to shore she began to make out more details besides the blotches of green interspersed with grays and yellows. New York had changed much and yet very little at the same time. It was still the same magnificent metropolis it had always been, just bigger. A pair of ships came out to greet her as she passed the Statue of Liberty, rendering honors as she did so. One was an old cruiser, Great White Fleet era if Liberte was not mistaken. But the other... she gasped when she recognized her. How could she not? That profile, although painted drab wartime gray, was as familiar to her as any other of her fleetmates.

"MON AMI!!" She could hardly believe it. She redlined her engines and threw herself into the other's arms, kissing her soundly on both cheeks.

"Bonjour petit ami! ça fait trop longtemps." Normandie replied, wrapping her arms around the other liner.

"I'm 49,000 tons. I'm not little." Liberte pouted.

"And I'm 83,000." Normandie pouted out.

"Touche. Oh tu m'as manqué, Normandie."

"Tout comme moi, petite. Tu dois tout me dire."

Liberte reluctantly let go and the two sailed side by side towards Olympia. The cruiser knew her limitations. There was no sense in trying to catch up to the eccentric liner. Nonetheless, she kept close tabs on the pair as they approached. Olympia was well traveled. There were few places in the world she hadn't visited or at least heard of. And she knew all sorts of languages as a result. French was one of many she was fluent in. Her radiomen picked up the conversations.

"Et Dunkerque, elle est épris de cette enseigne britannique." Liberte was saying.

Olympia wasn't sure what disturbed her more. The way Liberte was describing her fleetmate's love interest or the glint in Normandie's eyes.

"Elle s'appelle Elizabeth Cye et elle est à Brest depuis le début de la guerre. Dunkerque ne peut pas la quitter des yeux." Liberte giggled.

"Is there a bet on how long before they consummate?" Normandie switched to English as the pair drew within normal hearing range. Her question had the cruiser blushing bright red.

Liberte's smirk had the hallmarks of Bluenose's pranking grin, Olympia noted. "Naturally. We are French, mon ami!"

Olympia sighed and put on her best welcome face. "Hello, welcome to New York..."

"You must be Olympia!" Liberte acted like an excited American as she raced up to the cruiser and gave her the same big hug she had given Normandie, complete with the dual kiss on the cheeks.

One finished, she turned back to her companion. "So who's your mon amour?" She asked.

"Liberte!" Normandie protested, blushing.

"You have been away from France too long mon ami! Come, pray tell Auntie Liberte all about your exploits." Normandie's answering grin was all the excuse Olympia needed to bug out of there.

She joined Titanic and Queen Mary on the quayside. "I would avoid them for the foreseeable future. Unless you want your ears and brain to be permanently damaged."

Titanic made a face while Mary only sighed. She was used to French insanity by now. Apparently her mother, while sleeping with said French insanity, had not fully adjusted to it. "Do I even want to know?" the younger British liner asked.

"Well if there were levels to Frenchiness I would put Normandie at a four." Olympia said. "Liberte is a full blown fucking ten!"

"Well she was always a bit eccentric." Mary sighed.

Normandie was offering detailed answers to all of Liberte's questions. Titanic, thankfully was not fluent in French so had no idea just what the two liners were discussing. But judging from Mary's disgusted but resigned expression she had a pretty good idea. What was more disturbing though was Olympia. Despite her deepening blush, the cruiser had a thoughtful look on her face. Titanic said a brief but fervent prayer for Becuna's shafts while making a note to add caffeine to her diet. Hearing the exploits of other couples made Normandie very eager and Titanic would need to keep up tonight.


Translations:
"Hello my little friend. It has been too long."
"Oh, I missed you Normandie."
"As did I, little one. You must tell me everything."
"And Dunkerque, she is smitten with this British ensign."
"Her name is Elizabeth Cye and she's been in Brest since the start of the war. Dunkerque can't keep her eyes off her."