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preussisch_blauWhich can be found here.
Title: Content
Author: Alouette Sparra
Pairing: Sobel/Evans
Rating: PG because Sobel uses some minor swear words.
Word Count: 1381
Disclaimer: I do not own Band of Brothers. No disrespect meant to the actual men. And I'm Catholic, so all my knowledge of Chanukah and Jewish traditions comes from a good bit of Googling and a fascination with Jewish culture that has led me to read some books on the matter.
It was a little known fact that he was Jewish. Like all little known facts, it had been discovered by a few nosy sergeants, and would likely be known to the entire regiment by this time next year... but for now, it was a little known fact.
What was perhaps even less known, to the degree that he was the only one who knew it, was the fact that he wasn't really a practising Jew. In fact, he was only a Jew by the mere technicality of his mother having been one. Interesting technicality that. Naturally, growing up, he'd followed the dietary restrictions, if only because his mother had taken care of all the cooking and grocery buying. She had practised, as much as was possible given his father did not really hold with religion and did not want him to be raised in a particularly religious manner.
Chanukah had not really been celebrated in their house. His mother had a menorah, yes, but that was really it. No gifts, not until Christmas. Even Christmas was really more of a secular holiday. There was the tree, a few presents, but no Mass or creche or any of that. Again, his father was not a religious man, did not believe religion to be necessary in an era of rapid scientific advances. Still, some traditions were very hard to just eschew, and Christmas had been one of them.
All that said, he still had preferred watching his mother light the menorah, and when his father had been away on business one year, she had a proper Chanukah. It had been nice, much nicer than Christmas, if only because it had meant something to her, and as such, to him.
Now, however, he was sitting in his office, working on the training schedule for the next week. First night of Chanukah, just before sundown, and he could hear his mother's voice saying the blessing over the candles. He hadn't really thought about that in years, and he had to wonder why now. Perhaps because he was far from home. A little homesickness wasn't a bad thing. Only when it got in the way of duty was it bad. Besides, he'd heard the blessings enough times that he had instinctively committed them to memory. Same principle he used in getting the men to memorise necessary information. Repetition.
Even so, it wasn't like he celebrated the holiday. Hadn't since his mother had died. No reason to think about it now, except he was. It wasn't like he could really celebrate it anyways. Sundown would be soon. On a Friday. Even if he was in the military and doing other work on the Shabbat (and not strictly Jewish in any sense of the term), the idea of breaking that rule for a religious ceremony seemed terribly hypocritical to him. If there was one thing he strived for, it was to be consistent in what he said, thought, and did.
A knock on the door startled him out of his reverie. He cleared his throat. "Enter?" That wasn't supposed to be a question. Goddamnit. Control yourself. Do not get distracted by trivialities.
The door opened just enough for a certain baby-faced sergeant to peek in. Not that Evans would much like it if he knew he was thought of as 'baby-faced', except it was a very true statement. For all that he'd just turned 19 in October, he looked very much like he still belonged in school.
Any other time, any other person, he'd be yelling at them for not entering properly and reporting in, but it was Evans and he looked extremely nervous about something. So he stood and went over to the door. "What is it?"
He should have known better than to ask that. Really he should have, because Evans had a slight tendency to babble when nervous and it was exceedingly difficult to understand him when he talked that fast, with that accent no less. He held up a hand for silence. Evans' jaw snapped shut.
"Come in, shut the door behind you, and try that again."
He turned and headed back for his desk, sitting down just as he heard the soft thud and click of the door being shut.
"Uh... well... it's Hanaka, sir, and I know you're Jewish and I was wondering if maybe you'd like someone to celebrate it with..."
That made him stare at Evans in wonder. He bit his lip as he thought. Best give him the truth, which was that he didn't practise, hadn't celebrated Chanukah since he was younger than Evans was now. Except the fact that Evans, despite being a rather devout Christian of some variety (he couldn't keep all the varieties of Christianity straight if he tried), was volunteering to celebrate with him, which was a bit more than anyone else had done in a while for any holiday.
The truth was best. "Thank you, but I don't actually practise."
"...Oh..." Evans looked down. Damnit, the look on his face... He wondered when he got to be so soft-hearted.
"...It's been a while since I've actually celebrated Chanukah," (and yes, he did give Evans a stern look as he enunciated the proper pronunciation), "so I don't know if I would remember the blessings properly... But if you can find me a menorah..."
That made Evans grin. "Don't know where I'd get one of them, but will this do?" He opened the bag he was carrying and produced nine small candles, each with it's own little holder. "I know one of them has to be higher than the rest, so I guess you could put something under it to make it taller?"
It made him laugh, how earnest Evans was to get it right. "Higher or lower. Lower might be easier."
"Oh." An embarrassed blush spread across Evans' face.
He shook his head at that. It wasn't exactly common knowledge, and given what Evans' file said concerning his hometown, he was amazed Evans knew even that much. Somehow, western Texas did not sound like it would have any sort of Jewish population worth mentioning.
It took a bit of work to set it up in some semblance of proper, and by that point the sun had gone down. He frowned deeply. Truth be told, he'd been rather touched that Evans had put forth the effort to find out when Chanukah was, and had got the candles and everything. Except now it was past sunset.
"What's wrong?"
At least Evans caught on quickly when he explained the problem. Although he failed to see why Evans started laughing five seconds after he finished explaining.
"I'm not Jewish. I'll light the candles."
"Oh." Didn't he feel like an idiot?
He stood behind Evans and told him how to light the candles. Then he had to stop Evans, and remind him that there were blessings to be said first, which earned him a snort and some grumblings about getting on with it and saying them already. He laughed quietly, reminded Evans that it had been a while, so he should be patient, and began.
"Baruch atah Adonai
Eloheinu Melech ha'o'lam
asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav
v'tzivanu l'hadlik neir shel chanukah.
Baruch atah Adonai
Eloheinu Melech ha'o'lam
she-asah nisim la-avoteinu,
bayamim haheim, ubaz'man hazeh."
He paused before beginning the Shehecheyanu. That one he had heard more often, given that it had uses beyond blessing the Chanukah candles, but it also happened to be the most complicated one (in his opinion).
"Baruch atah Adonai
Eloheinu Melech ha'o'lam
sheh'heh'cheh'ya'nu veh'ki'yeh'ma'nu
veh'he'g'a'nu laz'man ha'zeh."
"...done hacking up that hairball yet?"
The moment Evans was done lighting the two candles, he derived a great amount of joy in smacking Evans on the back of the head for that comment. Not his usual method of discipline, but it worked very well in getting the point across. "No, I'm not." The next prayer was whispered as he wrapped his arms around Evans' waist. Not quite how one should pray, but he wasn't quite Jewish. He didn't care because this was nice; a better holiday than he'd had in years. Once that prayer was done, he kissed the back of Evans' head, and just stood there, content, basking in the glow of the candles and Evans' soft purring...
...
Wait... purring?!
Title: Content
Author: Alouette Sparra
Pairing: Sobel/Evans
Rating: PG because Sobel uses some minor swear words.
Word Count: 1381
Disclaimer: I do not own Band of Brothers. No disrespect meant to the actual men. And I'm Catholic, so all my knowledge of Chanukah and Jewish traditions comes from a good bit of Googling and a fascination with Jewish culture that has led me to read some books on the matter.
It was a little known fact that he was Jewish. Like all little known facts, it had been discovered by a few nosy sergeants, and would likely be known to the entire regiment by this time next year... but for now, it was a little known fact.
What was perhaps even less known, to the degree that he was the only one who knew it, was the fact that he wasn't really a practising Jew. In fact, he was only a Jew by the mere technicality of his mother having been one. Interesting technicality that. Naturally, growing up, he'd followed the dietary restrictions, if only because his mother had taken care of all the cooking and grocery buying. She had practised, as much as was possible given his father did not really hold with religion and did not want him to be raised in a particularly religious manner.
Chanukah had not really been celebrated in their house. His mother had a menorah, yes, but that was really it. No gifts, not until Christmas. Even Christmas was really more of a secular holiday. There was the tree, a few presents, but no Mass or creche or any of that. Again, his father was not a religious man, did not believe religion to be necessary in an era of rapid scientific advances. Still, some traditions were very hard to just eschew, and Christmas had been one of them.
All that said, he still had preferred watching his mother light the menorah, and when his father had been away on business one year, she had a proper Chanukah. It had been nice, much nicer than Christmas, if only because it had meant something to her, and as such, to him.
Now, however, he was sitting in his office, working on the training schedule for the next week. First night of Chanukah, just before sundown, and he could hear his mother's voice saying the blessing over the candles. He hadn't really thought about that in years, and he had to wonder why now. Perhaps because he was far from home. A little homesickness wasn't a bad thing. Only when it got in the way of duty was it bad. Besides, he'd heard the blessings enough times that he had instinctively committed them to memory. Same principle he used in getting the men to memorise necessary information. Repetition.
Even so, it wasn't like he celebrated the holiday. Hadn't since his mother had died. No reason to think about it now, except he was. It wasn't like he could really celebrate it anyways. Sundown would be soon. On a Friday. Even if he was in the military and doing other work on the Shabbat (and not strictly Jewish in any sense of the term), the idea of breaking that rule for a religious ceremony seemed terribly hypocritical to him. If there was one thing he strived for, it was to be consistent in what he said, thought, and did.
A knock on the door startled him out of his reverie. He cleared his throat. "Enter?" That wasn't supposed to be a question. Goddamnit. Control yourself. Do not get distracted by trivialities.
The door opened just enough for a certain baby-faced sergeant to peek in. Not that Evans would much like it if he knew he was thought of as 'baby-faced', except it was a very true statement. For all that he'd just turned 19 in October, he looked very much like he still belonged in school.
Any other time, any other person, he'd be yelling at them for not entering properly and reporting in, but it was Evans and he looked extremely nervous about something. So he stood and went over to the door. "What is it?"
He should have known better than to ask that. Really he should have, because Evans had a slight tendency to babble when nervous and it was exceedingly difficult to understand him when he talked that fast, with that accent no less. He held up a hand for silence. Evans' jaw snapped shut.
"Come in, shut the door behind you, and try that again."
He turned and headed back for his desk, sitting down just as he heard the soft thud and click of the door being shut.
"Uh... well... it's Hanaka, sir, and I know you're Jewish and I was wondering if maybe you'd like someone to celebrate it with..."
That made him stare at Evans in wonder. He bit his lip as he thought. Best give him the truth, which was that he didn't practise, hadn't celebrated Chanukah since he was younger than Evans was now. Except the fact that Evans, despite being a rather devout Christian of some variety (he couldn't keep all the varieties of Christianity straight if he tried), was volunteering to celebrate with him, which was a bit more than anyone else had done in a while for any holiday.
The truth was best. "Thank you, but I don't actually practise."
"...Oh..." Evans looked down. Damnit, the look on his face... He wondered when he got to be so soft-hearted.
"...It's been a while since I've actually celebrated Chanukah," (and yes, he did give Evans a stern look as he enunciated the proper pronunciation), "so I don't know if I would remember the blessings properly... But if you can find me a menorah..."
That made Evans grin. "Don't know where I'd get one of them, but will this do?" He opened the bag he was carrying and produced nine small candles, each with it's own little holder. "I know one of them has to be higher than the rest, so I guess you could put something under it to make it taller?"
It made him laugh, how earnest Evans was to get it right. "Higher or lower. Lower might be easier."
"Oh." An embarrassed blush spread across Evans' face.
He shook his head at that. It wasn't exactly common knowledge, and given what Evans' file said concerning his hometown, he was amazed Evans knew even that much. Somehow, western Texas did not sound like it would have any sort of Jewish population worth mentioning.
It took a bit of work to set it up in some semblance of proper, and by that point the sun had gone down. He frowned deeply. Truth be told, he'd been rather touched that Evans had put forth the effort to find out when Chanukah was, and had got the candles and everything. Except now it was past sunset.
"What's wrong?"
At least Evans caught on quickly when he explained the problem. Although he failed to see why Evans started laughing five seconds after he finished explaining.
"I'm not Jewish. I'll light the candles."
"Oh." Didn't he feel like an idiot?
He stood behind Evans and told him how to light the candles. Then he had to stop Evans, and remind him that there were blessings to be said first, which earned him a snort and some grumblings about getting on with it and saying them already. He laughed quietly, reminded Evans that it had been a while, so he should be patient, and began.
"Baruch atah Adonai
Eloheinu Melech ha'o'lam
asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav
v'tzivanu l'hadlik neir shel chanukah.
Baruch atah Adonai
Eloheinu Melech ha'o'lam
she-asah nisim la-avoteinu,
bayamim haheim, ubaz'man hazeh."
He paused before beginning the Shehecheyanu. That one he had heard more often, given that it had uses beyond blessing the Chanukah candles, but it also happened to be the most complicated one (in his opinion).
"Baruch atah Adonai
Eloheinu Melech ha'o'lam
sheh'heh'cheh'ya'nu veh'ki'yeh'ma'nu
veh'he'g'a'nu laz'man ha'zeh."
"...done hacking up that hairball yet?"
The moment Evans was done lighting the two candles, he derived a great amount of joy in smacking Evans on the back of the head for that comment. Not his usual method of discipline, but it worked very well in getting the point across. "No, I'm not." The next prayer was whispered as he wrapped his arms around Evans' waist. Not quite how one should pray, but he wasn't quite Jewish. He didn't care because this was nice; a better holiday than he'd had in years. Once that prayer was done, he kissed the back of Evans' head, and just stood there, content, basking in the glow of the candles and Evans' soft purring...
...
Wait... purring?!
