New York City, please go easy on this heart of mine (Kevin)

After the Winter Showcase, Elenore had been in a terribly foul mood. It hadn't helped that she'd wanted Kevin to try that little bit harder, to force his time upon her, to make her feel... needed, wanted, necessary. But as the car had pulled away from the curb, Kevin hadn't moved an inch, he hadn't tried to get her to stop, to let him in, he'd done nothing.

Only solidifying the fact that nobody in the world needed her.

The driver had left her be, simply taking her back to her apartment building, and seeing her inside. The doorman had opened the door, and then hurried to call the elevator down for her, and finally, finally the witch was left alone as the doors closed, the number for her floor lit up by the doorman as she waited quietly behind the doors up to the private floors of the building.

It hadn't taken long to come out at the top of the building, and upon entering the apartment, her Lady's maid had been called forth, instructed to collect her own personal electronic devices Elenore knew she would be hiding, and to bring up the photo everyone had been talking of. The maid had paused only momentarily before hurrying off to find her device, coming back with the photo already loaded.

There, before her eyes, stood five people atop the Palace balcony. Grandmere stood beside her Papa, but not assisted by the current Lord Clement. Her Maman stood beside her Papa, waving demurely to the crowds.

Jacques was stooped slightly, talking in the ear of Mimosa as they both waved out to the crowds with grins upon their features showing they were having the best time in the world. All of the figures present looked happy as they stood waving, no note of sadness for the missing presence of hers that Christmas.

"Get out." Elenore had breathed to the staff, barely managing to place the device upon the table safely. "Get out!" She added, louder this time which sent all of the staff fleeing from the apartment without another word, leaving Elenore in the solitude she'd become so accustomed to now. Sinking to her knees where she stood, the French witch finally allowed the grief to escape from her.

Minutes turned in to hours, hours in to days, and somehow, a New Year had happened whilst Elenore remained confined within her apartment building, rarely talking to the staff who had returned to the apartment at some point during one of the clouded moments of grief Elenore had succumbed to. She only knew what the day was from the comments from the staff, and gentle suggestions she go out, do something with her time in New York, but Elenore didn't bother to do any of those things, simply staying in and reading up on her lessons that were upcoming.

The new term had commenced in something of a blur. The lessons were vividly clear, but everything that happened around them barely mattered any more.

More letters arrived from the Palace.

More letters went unread.

It was towards the end of January that the mixed class had come in to being, with all the streams of performing arts being brought together as one. Elenore had entered the auditorium early, as she always did, and settled in for the lesson that was going to take place. There was something about a large assignment for the Summer Showcase coming out of this lesson, so it was vitally important to be in attendance and listening. Notebook at the ready, Elenore had been poised to write notes as the lecturer started to explain.

They were to pair up -- the choice of the partner they would work with would be their own choosing -- and amalgamate their fields of study to come up with something new, different. All students were encouraged to partner up with someone from a different field of study and not their usual classmates, to ensure they came up with something different, which had left most people in a frenzy to try to decide who to partner up with.

Elenore had simply looked to their teacher in that moment without knowing what to do.

Partner up with somebody? The French witch had no friends in the school, she barely talked to anyone since she'd started because she'd been alienated on their first day and the witch didn't know how else to get involved with the cliques. But as he eyes turned away from the professor, and around the room, they landed upon Kevin. Where everyone else had already moved to find their partners since the brief had been given, Kevin... didn't seem to be in any hurry to move.

What was he studying again?

Elenore couldn't remember that much, but knowing he wasn't in her class, she picked up her bag and notebook, and moved across to the man. "Hi," the French witch spoke softly as she drew nearer, waiting to get his attention before she continued on. "Would you mind partnering with me for the project? If... you don't have someone else in mind." She asked, not really accustomed to working with others, much less having to ask others to work with her. But she would wait patiently, and hope Kevin wouldn't be too rude if he were to chose not to work with her.

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New York City, please go easy on this heart of mine (Kevin) Signat12

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The man had actually managed to make it home for New Years. After that disastrous encounter with Tuesday and the night spent at the Plaza in the arms of a particularly accommodating acquaintance, the Harrington had said fuck it and called home. Of course, when no one had answered, he hadn't been surprised. After all, it was way too late and everyone's plans were made. Those who were going on Holiday had done so, those visiting other relatives or friends had long departed and so he turned up to an empty but familiar building which was enough for the time being.

Of course the down side of being alone meant he had time to reflect, and said reflection predictably turned to guilt.

He really should have gone after her.

She clearly needed help.

Just because she was a child didn't mean he was one too.

So on the second of January, Kevin Harrington had returned to New York via Red Eye, landing at the airport and then heading straight to her building. He didn't intend to do anything stupid like go in and creep her out. But just standing outside in the freezing cold gave him a little bit of solace. Maybe if he made himself uncomfortable at her behest - even if unasked and to no avail - he would feel better about himself?

He saw her emerge from her apartment a few days later for her first class, silently thanking whatever power that existed beyond understanding that she was still in one piece. Though given the set up she had going, he supposed there wasn't much danger of her being uncomfortable. He didn't exactly follow her, just watched her slip into her car and get driven to the school while he made his own different journey to campus. In fact, he felt so justified in his actions that hanging around her building became something of a norm from then on.

New York was fairly boring, especially the second or third time around in so many years. So he'd taken to sitting in a cafe across from her building with his laptop open, joining the ranks of thousands of unemployed screen writers as he eventually typed a few lines on a blank word document. The cups of coffee that congregated beside his work ranged anywhere from three to twelve most days and his aesthetics made him a particularly non shoo-able customer.

He never actually watched for her, or at least that was what he told himself. But if she did happen across his line of very narrowly focused sight, he did see what she was up to.

And she appeared to be fine.

His own classes started without much fanfare, or perhaps it was just his own lackluster attitude to education that made him feel so. As he went through his list of enrolled modules for the term, he noticed a segment for an interdisciplinary class culminating in a final project. Great, team work. Maybe he could bring his partner to the Cafe stake out sessions too.

The man was just considering perhaps exercising a little bit of his privilege to either exempt himself from the project or drop the class entirely when he saw her coming his way. Tuesday, in the flesh.

Was it his imagination or did her cheeks look more hollow than before? Had she lost weight over the holidays? Or was it just the new short hair that made her features look even more elfin than before? As she murmured a soft hi and asked if he would like to partner with her, the man reminded himself to react to her hair. She didn't know he had seen it already through the glass walls of his coffee haven.

"Oh hi, there's something different about you," he teased. "Did you get a new dress?" Tuesday was clearly all for forgetting their run in after Christmas, and he could appreciate that. The guilt had been staved off temporarily with all the hours spent outside her biding but it could always return at the merest trigger.

"Tell you what kid, for you, I'll close up my entire diary." he chuckled, agreeing to the temporary truce she was suggesting. Though a moment later, a small frown touched his features. "I don't really play music though, or dance. Or sing, which are all the obvious combinations that go with your discipline. Are you sure I won't hold you back?"

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New York City, please go easy on this heart of mine (Kevin) Rsz_rs12

The compliment that rolled off of Kevin's lips might have caught the French witch had it been a better time for receiving the compliment. And, if it hadn't been a little bit backhanded with the teasing nature. It was not her dress that was different, although it was new, so perhaps she could forgive him that, and she wasn't about to let him know what was different. He would work it out in his own time.

Still, the witch gave a small smile in response for his attempt, but nothing more.

Not that the man really helped himself as he continued on with his own funny agenda with the notion of closing off his diary to her. Did he really think that she would find that appeasing, or did he think that being light-hearted about the project was apt? The French witch hoped for the former, because at least that way she wouldn't have to work with more effort than she was already expecting to have to put in not only on her part, but also Kevin's.

His concern, though, brought up his own role in the project. He wasn't a musician, of that much Elenore had already deduced. Nor was he a dancer -- that much she was glad of because music with interpretive dance would only be cliche, and Elenore did not wish to put forth something that would be cliche, to say the least. Nor could Kevin sing, he informed her, which once more stopped the point of them ending up in a cliche.

Which left...

"You're majoring in writing, if I remember correctly?" The witch proposed, pitching for one of the few options left to them in that moment. She was sure that Kevin would clarify the specifics for her in the next moment, at which point she could elaborate. With his clarification, Elenore continued. "I don't think you will hold me back, but we might be worse off than our peers because we're going to have to be creative in our ideas for the Summer Showcase. Which, will mean more work. If you don't want to put the effort in, though, I understand, and I can find someone else to work with." The witch finalised, though she didn't know who she would work with, just that she would have to work fast to find someone else before everyone else got paired up.

It would mean spending more time at the university, working with Kevin on this project, but Elenore would just have to deal with that.

And him.

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"Indeed I am," he confirmed her guess of his chosen course. "Playwright and thinking of a minor in stage direction, if I can actually manage to make it to class." At one point in his life he would have been excited about learning all this. Now however he was simply going through the motions, not that she needed to know this of course.

No one at Julliard was stupid exactly, each had been handpicked for being an emerging talent in their chosen field. And the redhead was no exception. His impressive resume along with his name had assured him a slot at the most prestigious music and arts school in the world and yet, so little of it now actually interested him it was criminal.

As Tuesday spoke of expending more effort than was strictly necessary due to their clashing majors, the tall male sighed internally. The things he did for this French girl.

"Tell you what," he began, choosing his words carefully so as to not disappoint her not not promise anything too outrageous that he couldn't deliver later on. "I'll put in the work if you buy me lunch?" A dark eyebrow was quirked her way. After all, she was the reason he had left that shrimp behind on their last inopportune meeting. "There's a hot dog cart outside campus that has great reviews. How about we discuss our mutual partnership over lunch? Have you ever had a hot dog before?"

If she hadn't, boy was Tuesday in for a surprise.

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"Well, you'll never get your minor if you don't attend your classes." Elenore pointed out, even if unnecessarily. Laziness had never been an excuse allowable at the Palace, it wasn't an excuse she found to be allowable even now, and just because Kevin wasn't from a family like her own, it didn't mean he could be excused for being lazy either. "But, I can work with the major, I'm sure." She finalised, though even as she said it, she had doubts on how she was going to make this work and get them both a good grade for their respective classes.

His insistence that he would do the work was doubtful on Elenore's side, but she let him believe it this once because she didn't really wish to lose her partner so early on. But the bargaining chip of buying him lunch made Elenore's carefully crafted eyebrow raise ever so slightly at the male. "Ever the gentleman, I see." The witch replied, almost verging on a joke herself in that moment.

That was until he denoted what he wanted for lunch.

"Why in Merlin's name would you want to eat from such a grubby food stand?" The French witch asked, confusion clear on her features in that moment because she simply could not comprehend. "We'll go somewhere nice to eat, not to get... hot dogs." She finalised, clearly not amused with the idea of eating street food, and definitely not wishing to partake.

"We could probably make the lunch time reservation at Le Bernardin." She pointed out, though she knew that they would hold the door for her if she were to arrive, even insist that she take her time in the place.

Because there was no way on earth she was ever going to eat a hot dog.

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"Well, you'll never get your minor if you don't attend your classes."

'Well, maybe a minor is becoming less important to me now," the redhead added suggestively, training his piercing gaze to to the witch. The usual amusement twinkling merrily in his eyes as he asked the next hypothetical question. "Maybe now I just show up to class in the hopes of running into a certain someone?" the smirk that lifted his lips slightly was very pointed, though it was up to Tuesday to notice. Perhaps the man was being cheeky now but she was almost there. Halfway to a smile was an accomplishment in his books.

When she asked why he would want a hot dog from a cart, Kevin merely shook his had. "Because we're in New York?" he asked in return. Had she really not done anything people here were supposed to do? But then looking at her church dress, straight gait and formal manners, the answer was obvious. 'A hot dog is nice, and the cart is cleaner than our cafeteria!" He pointed out, subtly reminding her of the quality of food they had tried the last time she had taken him out to lunch. Her barb of his gentlemanly qualities did not bother the redhead, he had never claimed he was one.

"We could probably make the lunch time reservation at Le Bernardin."

"Really Tuesday, how cruel," the man pouted, his facial features exaggerated as he fell into step beside her, subconsciously urging her to walk with him. "I never took you as the kind of girl who would deprive a man of food. What if I faint of hunger before we make it to your fancy burrito place? A double chill cheese dog is all I require to remain conscious and alert." The Harrington was well aware he was being dramatic but they were in a school for the arts. A little drama was warranted at last.

Well, that and he really was hungry.

"You should try one too, before turning your nose up at it. The illegal immigrant who sells them works really hard on them."

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Kevin's playful attempt at flattery flat lined before the audience of the youngest Clement, simply earning a small shake of the witch's head because he was being ridiculous. He would, of course, find himself to be funny, but the notion of Kevin doing that did not make any sense. After all, he'd been the one to point out she was only his third favourite some time ago now. Flattery was always going to fall short after being told that much.

But his joke about the school canteen made Elenore smile slightly. Or perhaps it was a grimace. The food at the cafeteria had been... disgusting, to say the least, but Kevin was not selling the idea of hot dogs if the standard was 'better than the cafeteria'. "Well, sometimes you have to make a mistake to learn from it, and I learned very quickly that lunch in the cafeteria was not an option." Elenore pointed out, deflecting his cheek because she did not wish to be subjected to it.

Kevin continued on, though, and the witch shook her head with slight amusement. "Fine, okay, I will get you... whatever it is you wish to eat." Elenore replied, still holding firm with her own reservation of not wanting to partake in the eating of street food. As they moved through the halls, Elenore made sure not to speed up to Kevin's pace, instead slowing him down to hers, but following him in the direction of the street stall he wished to head to.

It was the knowledge that the vendor was an illegal immigrant that brought Elenore up short.

"What do you mean illegal? If you know he's illegal, shouldn't we alert the authorities? Or... not use his stall? Surely that means its not legal, too?" She asked, concern touching her features entirely as she looked across to Kevin. And, surely if the man was illegal, he wouldn't be quite so brazen to tell people? The idea of purchasing a hot dog for Kevin from the man now seemed even worse than it had been before, and Elenore wasn't exactly sure how she was going to get out of doing so now.

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"Fine, okay, I will get you... whatever it is you wish to eat."

"Hey, now we're talking!" the youth exclaimed, absentmindedly slowing his pace to match hers. "I knew you were my third favorite day of the week for a reason. Keep this up and you'll get promoted to Saturday!" As they walked across campus, the wizard couldn't help notice how odd their pairing must have looked in particular the fact that they weren't being stopped by a dozen people to chat. Of course, the man had made it a point to not be approached by people unless he really wanted to, which led him to scale school property and head to the roof to look at the world through his phone camera. But Tuesday... She'd been down here the whole time.

He didn't know why it bothered him, but it felt wrong that she had no friends. A kid like her, she should be popular, busy, have a full social calendar. A girl like ehr shouldn't have to walk across a crowded hall to find the one person she knew to partner with her.

And though it wasn't really his job, the man promised himself that by the end of the year, he would make it happen. Somehow.

"Now why would you want to go and report Poor Joaquin?" Kevin asked with a raised eyebrow, keeping up with both her tiny footsteps as well as her questions. 'He hasn't done anyone any harm, and his hot dogs are top notch." Of course, the male hand't really met Joaquin but he sounded like a decent enough guy if campus gossip was to be relied on. "He's been here working hard and earning an honest living for over five years, he should be a citizen by now anyway."

Their walk slowed as the crowd around them thickened, indicating they were near the hot dog cart. It was probably the mystery meat, Kevin wagered. No one knew exactly what was in the dogs and curiosity drove crowds. "See, told you he had good reviews," he explained to Tuesday as they got in line behind two dozen people.

"And now while we wait, lets talk game plan. We'll need to meet up a couple times to brainstorm ideas. Do you have a place in mind?"

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The reminder that she was only Kevin's third favourite stung the witch anew as they walked, his joke of her being promoted to what she could only assume would be his second favourite day of the week did little to harness the stinging sensation to a dull itch, but the witch made no comment, merely keeping up the mask of a smile she wore most of the time here.

"Now why would you want to go and report Poor Joaquin?"

"Because he's illegal!" Elenore pointed out to the man once more, not sure why Kevin couldn't understand that this was not something that could just be skimmed over, no matter how 'good' the food was in everyone else's opinion. The additional thought of him having been here for five years illegally and working that whole time should lead to his citizenship in the US just didn't make sense to Elenore, and the witch looked sideways at Kevin with much more confusion.

The queue came in to view shortly after, though, and Elenore simply remained by Kevin's side, not knowing what else to do. In France, she would never of had to have waited like this, but this was not France, and the world did not work in the manner she wished it would.

"We can work in the library," Elenore replied easily to the question of meeting up to do their work. "Then, once we've worked out what we're going to do for our project, we can move to a location suited to it. Like the practice rooms, or the music studios." The witch explained, because that was the obvious answer to that problem, why Kevin felt the need to ask such silly questions, Elenore would never understand, but this was the partner she'd been stuck with, so she would have to make the best of it.

The line shuffled forwards slightly, and Elenore looked dubiously towards the man serving the hot dogs, not feeling comfortable with giving her money over to a man who was not allowed in the country. Could you get in to trouble for doing that? The witch wasn't sure... Reaching towards her purse, the witch pulled out one of the crisp fifty dollar bills and handed it to Kevin without a word. Hopefully he could take the hint that he was to buy his own food, and... she hoped that would be more than enough to settle the bill for the food, too.

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"Because he's illegal!"

"So?" The man asked casually, Tuesday's logic not computing with him. 'He's only here illegally, he hasn't hurt anyone. Besides, haven't you ever done soemthing illegal in your life?" The question was intended more as conversation filler than a serious query into her past but should she chose to reply in some detail, Kevin would listen, his attention undivided. He had accepted the explanation that it was his curiosity that drove his actions recently, only the curiosity that made him want to know more about her, make sure she was alright, make sure she had friends. And the sooner that curiosity was laid to rest, the sooner he could go back to his life.

As they waited in line, the redhead wrinkled his nose substantially at her suggestion, almost shuddering at the proposition. "No can do," he countered firmly. 'I don't go to the library, at least not to study." His habit of not studying at libraries was deeply ingrained from his school days and the Harrington was not about to change now.

"I spend enough time on campus as it is anyway, I'd rather not dedicate my evenings and weekends to it too. Maybe we can figure out a place closer to yours, so you won't have to worry about walking home alone. I'll google cafes and shops near you." The tall wizard whipped out his phone, unlocking it to reveal the camera app on though in static. Quickly swiping it away, the man googled ehr building and cafes nearby. Almost immediately, a notification popped up fro the usual coffee place with a question of "How was your last trip". Damn the big brothers watching everything.

"There's a coffee place right opposite your building. Wanna check it out later?"

As they spoke, the line moved forwards. Apparently the dogs here were as good as the service was fast and within ten minutes, the two dozen customers were served, making it their turn.

"Yo Joaquin my man, what's your best hot dog, I have a lady here so don't go embarrassing me with that single dog crap yeah?"

"Big Fred drowned in butter the only way to go," the vendor replied cheerily, touching his cap to Tuesday in a polite gesture and showing more courtesy than she had probably ever encountered in New York thus far. "Single or double, kid?"

"Two doubles please, and make sure the lady's one has all hte sauces, she's new in town and hasn't gotten the hang of New York flavor yet."

The man merely nodded and took the fifty dollar bill from Kevin's hand, passing it off to the the young Mexican kid manning the change machine. Within a minute, twenty two dollars were returned to them and five minutes later, two huge double dogs were passed to the redhead. His own simply had the horseradish and extra cheese he'd asked for while Tuesday's double dog contained a sea of multi colored swirls denoting at least eight different kinds of sauces to complement the five different seasonings.

"Come on," he encouraged grabbing Tuesday's books and bag easily from her hand so she would have both of hers to handle her food. "Let's go eat in the parking lot, it's to crowded here and I want to enjoy this."

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» Getting Lost in This Place is Easy (Open)
» So easy to lose your way... (Cora Whisner)
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