...We Could...

Fumi TWENTY!

Wilhelm watched his little siblings at the picnic bench.

"Why don't you go play?" his mother asked.

He shrugged. "There's no one my age here. And I need to make sure that Chris and Pip are safe."

Nali smiled. "You can take a break from that, if you'd like. I can watch them."

Wilhelm stayed silent as he brushed his bangs out of his face.

He needs a haircut, Nali noted to herself.

"I'll be okay," he reassured. "I like it here on the picnic bench."

"Alright," Nali gave in, returning to her book.

"Come on, Pip! Come on! Thar be the British army comin' aftar us!" Chris called to his twin. "Loose the sails! Turn hard to Starboard! No, Starboard, Pip! Starboard!"

"I denna know which is starboard!" Pip whined.

Chris sighed. "Right..."

"Oh!"

The blond switched which side of the play structure she was on and pretended to let loose the sails while Christoph turned the "ship".

"Ready the cannons!" the older twin blared.

"Ready the cannons!" Pip relayed to the "crew members". There was a pause while she did "deck work" before craning her head back. "Cannons are ready, Captain Chris!"

"Good work, First Mate Pip! Fire the cannons!"

"Fire!" Pip bellowed.

"Boom!" Chris called out, adding sound effects.

"Kablooee!" Pip piped in. "We hit the enemy ship!" she giggled, pumping her fist in the air with a grin.

"Good work! Ready the cannons!"

"Cannons are ready!"

"Are you guys playing 'pirate'?" a new boy asked, coming up.

The twins stopped and turned to him, nodding silently.

"Why are you speaking in English?" he asked, still in German. "Are you from England or America?"

They shook their heads.

"No, we're from here," Chris answered in German. "We like speaking in English so then we can talk better with our cousins."

"Your cousins?"

Pip nodded. "Ja. They speak in English since their Mama is Persian and their Papa is--"

"German," Chris finished. They were told to not let people know that Prussian could still exist. "They use English as the common language."

"Oh," the boy answered. He fidgeted a bit. "You're cute..." he blushed, smiling at Pip.

Suddenly, there were two boys in front of him, and one was big!

"Leave her be," Wilhelm ordered.

The boy nodded slowly, eyes wide with fear. "O-okay..."

Christoph kept his steady gaze on him as his arms were crossed in front of him.

Pipaluk fiddled with the hem of her skirt as she gave the boy an apologetic smile as he left.

Wilhelm quietly stalked the boy and the twins returned to their game of Pirate, this time switching to Greenlandic to make sure no one heard what they were saying.

Wilhelm muttered in Russian, effectively scaring away any and all children from his younger siblings.

~*~