Don&#39;t Call It A Gift

"Hey, don't look at me like that, I've known you way too long to consider calling you anything but your name or your callsign." And even that second one is iffy sometimes: she has issues with the codenames they're assigned, mostly because hers makes her sound like a laundry detergent.

She tunes back in just in time to hear Remy's voice thicken and change as he talks about New Orleans, and the smile it encourages on Noriko's face is undeniable: she really loves it when he talks in his native accent. It's so silly a thing to like, she knows, but still. "I think we're ready. Hannibal has been to our New York--Sinric's probably ready to see it. Are you?" she asks the blond. "You'll enjoy the show, I hope."

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"Ready indeed." he smiles, letting them lead the way, still holding Hannibal's hand. "Thank you. I see so many people of your time here, but so little of the cities and places they shape. I very much look forward to seeing New York." he means it, eager and sweet.

He beams to Remy. "I've been to New Orleans. And it is indeed beautiful. Yrael opened a door into it for a festival. Mardi Gras, I believe it was called?" he looks to Hannibal for confirmation. "I found it a wonderful and welcoming place. So vibrant. And the music!"

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Hannibal nods. "I have been there, both in my world and with Yrael, and I treasure it as a amazing city. I am looking forward to seeing the impression New York will make on Sinric here."

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"S'home, and always will be." Only when he was with Noriko did Remy feel more at home than when he was in New Orleans. "Let's get the night started then. After you, Noriko."

Remy walked with Noriko, to lead the way to the door, letting her open it, then holding it for all. It would be a fun night, he hoped, for everyone.

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"Just don't be surprised when you hear some truly colorful language," she says, and opens the door onto West 46th Street, the one the theatre is on: they're just off Times Square, and the noise from people and cars is audible, the excitement contagious.

Noriko looks up out of habit towards the second-and-third-story windows, seeing a torso leaning out of one. She smiles and lifts a hand to wave, transported back to grinning like a child when the person--face too far away to see detail, but with a ponytail--waves back.

"This should be cool."

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Sinric chuckles. "I enjoy colourful language."

He steps out onto the bright city, in awe of the bustle and brightness. He looks up at the towering buildings, past the waving child and up and up.

The sheer height of it all is wonderful and overwhelming, almost dizzy with vertigo. He laughs brightly, falling backwards into Hannibal.

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Hannibal laughs, catching him as he does. "This is some city," he says, wrapping his arms fondly around Sinric.

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Remy grins as they moved into the lights and night, letting himself fall into an almost strut, a rolling walk as he walks with them, one hand touching Noriko's arm in silent warmth and connection.

They were in New York, old haunting grounds, and in the wild world now, and his eyes and senses moved all around them, watching the people and vantage points, finding exits and entrances, without even consciously deciding to do so.

"The City that Never Sleeps is awake and full of laughter tonight."

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Noriko takes Remy's hand as they wander towards the theatre, squeezing gently and brushing their shoulders together. "I love this city. There's no other place like it in the world," she says, twirling nimbly on her heels and delighting in the brush of a breeze whistling down the street.

"These heights are nothing. You gotta see the Empire State Building," she laughs at Sinric, watching him lean back into Hannibal.

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Sinric pulls Hannibal's arms around him in a warm hugs, stealing a kiss before following their lead. "There's an empire here? I understood America was a Greek democracy?"

He tucks one hand in Hannibal's as they walk, scanning back and forth, taking everything in. It's all so bright and wonderful. He strains to catch snatches of music, the babble of conversation, the clothes of the people they pass.

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"It was merely a nickname, in the beginning," Hannibal says. "There's no empire here -- unless you count economics. At the time of construction, that is; neither New York nor America as a whole is what it used to be, these days."

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Squeezing Noriko's hand, he smiles. "De heart of New York City is one of dance and song. Business moves its blood, but dance and song make its soul." He nods.

"Hopefully, tonight, you see why, yes?" Remy walked with Noriko, and the others, smiling, feeling himself taking in the familiar air.

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"It's called the Empire State," Noriko adds. "They called it that when it was colonized because it had so many resources. Most people draw a distinction between the state and the city, because they're so different. The City that Never Sleeps is...intense. And home for a lot of us--you can find every kind of culture here."

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He listens with fascination, eyes moving constantly, taking it all in. "The City that Never Sleeps. What a fascinating epigraph."

A group of giggling women out on a hens night pass them on the footpath, wolf whistling at Hannibal and Remy. One of them catches Sinric's hand, trying to talk him into coming with them.

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Hannibal smiles at them; it's all in good nature.

"He's the most beautiful of us, but I don't think you can have him, ladies," he tells the young women.

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Remy stepped forth, wagging a finger at them.

"Non, non, ma petites, this one is not for you. Go down Fifth. You'll find more free souls dere. We have a show to catch, us four." He wiggles his fingers at them chidingly, a chuckle in his voice.

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Noriko's all willing to let the boys talk down a horny group of drunk women, and instead of adding to the niceties just slaps the woman's hand away from Sinric, folding him back into the group. Let the trashed women find their fun somewhere else.

"It really never does sleep, something somewhere is always going on," Noriko explains. "And Times Square is usually that somwhere. About a block that way," he says, gesturing.

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Sinric shakes himself free and tucks himself back in with Hannibal, laughing warmly at the catcalls and entreaties. "Such wildness."

"Times Square is where we're going?"

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"We are going a bit further, up there," Hannibal says. "It's just less conspicuous to come out of nowhere here."

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Remy nodded to Hannibal. "As the man said, stepping out of the random door, here, leads to fewer questions den out there where more people are looking and caring."

Walking hand-in-hand with Noriko again, alongside the other two, he smiles, and just absorbs the whole feel of it. New Orleans may always be home, but there is something about New York City.

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"Good thing to remember in the city," Noriko says to Sinric, "Everyone is watching. We have cell phones that can record video, and people do record you even if they don't know you."

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Sinric frowns, glanced up at Hannibal then back to Noriko. "Why would anyone be interested in my actions? Do I stand out so badly?"

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"You don't," Hannibal says. "None of us do. But they might notice something in the background of their vacation videos later."

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"People are picture and video happy. They take vids and pics of everyt'ing. Best to avoid notice when you can." he nodded as they moved along, smiling a little, eyes moving over the area, slow but sure.

Remy never trusted any situation, anywhere.

"But tonight, we have fun, yes?"

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