L'oiseau du bonheur
"Je suis toujours a la recherche de l'oiseau qui chant..."
Elpizo lightly tapped the player, and Ciel thought it was both comical and adorable how he seemed so amazed by it. Naturally CD players were vintage relics, but even a Reploid should know what a CD player was, right? Yet here was Elpizo, the Commander of the Resistance... reduced to staring at her still-functioning, recently restored CD player with her favorite French CD in it, amazed it was either functioning or in existance.
"Where did you get this?" finally he picked it up, balancing the little player in his palm carefully. He was sure not to unplug the speakers and disrupt the music.
"My grandmother gave it to me," she replied as she went back to her computer screen, foot tapping to the drums of the song. "Said she got it from her grandmother."
"Did this not get phased out practically centuries ago?"
Ciel tossed an amused look over her shoulder. "You tell me, Elpizo."
He gave her a look and she giggled, trying to concentrate on her work but knowing it wasn't going to get done anytime soon. The music was distracting, despite how much she loved it and relaxed to it, and having Elpizo in her room didn't help much either.
"Is the entire CD in French?" he asked, knowing she wasn't working. He knew the effect he had on her.
Ciel removed her visor, giving up on work for now but not in frustration. "Yes, actually. One of my ancestors was French, we sort of kept it in the family."
"What is she singing?"
Ciel blinked. "You don't have a French translator?" when Elpizo shook his head, she giggled, almost delightedly. She loved teaching, but being in a group of Reploids, that sort of hindered her attempts. Even Alouette knew more than she let on.
"Would you like to learn?" Ciel asked, her eyes sparkling. Elpizo noticed the look, and with a smile, he sat down on the bed and patted the spot next to him, the CD player back on the table.
She moved to sit next to him, grabbing the CD case from the desk and taking out the booklet. "To answer your earlier question, before we start," she flipped to the third page, pointing to the translated lyrics.
Elpizo looked at the booklet, then, with a perfectly stoic face uttered, "Genie says plus qu-oye fair."
Ciel couldn't help it. She nearly fell off the bed in her burst of giggling, with Elpizo trying to look put off, but he was trying too hard to fight the smile rising to his lips. Ciel grasped her sides as her giggles became full-blown laughter at seeing his face, falling over onto the bed and curling up into a shaking, laughing ball.
He waited until she settled down before saying, "What?"
Ciel sat up, wiping her teary eyes with a wide smile on her face. "You're not even close!"
"Well, how do you say it, then?"
Ciel took the booklet from him, clearing her throat. "Je ne sais plus quoi faire. See, certain letters, even if they're in the word, aren't actually heard..."
Elpizo listened attentive to the little lesson, reciting the line after Ciel with another, actual serious attempt at trying. Given his Reploid nature, he more or less mastered the accent within a few lessons, although his understanding of words and grammar still required more examples.
Ciel tapped the CD player, then pressed the fast-forward button. When it was at the correct spot, she sang with the CD, pointing at the booklet where she was in the song, "Comment te dire alors; c'est difficile unpeu. Dis-le moi encore, c'est toi que j'adore."
Elpizo surprised her by singing the next segment nearly perfectly, "Mon oiseau du bonheur."
Ciel lightly blushed at the look he gave her, her eyes darting back to the booklet. Elpizo leaned close to her, pointing at the line he had sung as the music filled the silence that suddenly descended.
"'My bird of happiness.'" he muttered.
Ciel's blush deepened when she looked at him, their faces much closer than what's usually deemed appropriate. She closed the booklet, staring into his eyes and slowly smiling.
"Dis-le moi encore," she whispered.
Elpizo's answering murmur of, "C'est toi que j'adore," was cut short when he leaned in and lightly kissed her.
C'est si beau
Si nouveau
Le sentiment de bonheur.
It is so beautiful
So new
The feeling of happiness.