Esmeralda dances to the rhythm of the tambourine (changewillcome) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-09-06 20:16:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, esmeralda, vincent griffith |
Who: Vincent and Esmeralda
What: Unexpected reunion
When: Late August
Where: Court of Miracles
Warnings: Low
Status: Log | Complete
His first semester hadn’t quite started yet. However, that didn’t stop Vincent from spending the majority of his time on the UC Irvine campus. Not only was he still getting a feel for the area, but he also wanted to have his office perfectly set up. And of course there were outlines of what he wanted to focus on in each class, each lecture to prepare. There was so much to cover Vincent was struggling to narrow it all down.
He had spent the majority of the day focussing on his philosophy and ethics class, he had to admit that it was the one he was most excited about. Before he knew it, it was after eight. The idea of heading back to his half unpacked apartment wasn’t all that appealing at the moment. Instead he stopped at a local bar, well more like a tavern actually. The Court of Miracles. Vincent ordered himself a glass merlot and watched the dancer on the stage. She looked very familiar to him. He hadn’t seen Esmeralda in years. He usually ran into her on the street while she was doing one of her performances. He had to admit he had been a bit sad when he stopped seeing her around. But it couldn’t be her now, could it?
Esmeralda was happy that the Court was open again. Between her needing to recover from her injuries after being attacked and then the demon invasion, it had been a very slow month for the Court. They had enough to keep the place open and people were once again able to come in for help and sanctuary but it was still enough to make her worry. So now that things were back to normal, Esmeralda was able to sleep better.
And she was able to dance again. It had been a slow transition. Once they opened, it was first just doing serving and hosting but Esmeralda was again dancing and she felt more like herself than she had for weeks. She had heard whispers of electronic shortages and strange things but didn’t put much thought into it.
As Peter and Jehan lifted her off the stage at the end and Clopin tossed her back her tambourine, Esmeralda finished the dance with flourish before her typical ‘vanishing’ act and quickly changed into the outfit she used when she was serving and hosting instead of dancing and then headed to the floor to see where she was needed.
Vincent was transfixed on the performance. All of it was spectacular but he couldn’t stop looking at the familiar woman. He stayed at the Court, much longer than he was originally planning to. Before he knew it the show was over and Esmeralda had vanished. Well, it was probably time to call it a night. However, just as he was about to close his tab the dancer came back out, this time as a waitress.
“Esmeralda?” Vincent asked when she made her way over to him. He was about ninety-five percent sure that it was in fact her. Hopefully he didn’t just make a fool of himself.
No, Vincent had not made a fool of himself, however there were many eyes on him though they weren’t made known by those who worked at the Court because of the familiarity and thus concern that brought thanks to everything from the month before. Not that Esmeralda paid it much attention.
Admittedly she didn’t make the connection at first when she heard her name said. There were plenty of regular customers who would call out to her once she finished to start a conversation or put in for another drink. It was only when she actually looked at him that the young woman’s smile brightened.
“Vincent?”
Yes, she had spoken to hundreds if not thousands of people, mostly in passing. However those who she spoke to frequently even if it was simply on sidewalks with regularity or similar situations, they were the ones Esmeralda remembered.
The look of relief was evident on Vincent’s face. And then, a smile of his own appeared. It really was her. If Vincent was the hugging time now would have been the time where he stood up and hugged her, but alas he was not. Instead he just grinned at the woman from his past.
“It’s been awhile,” Vincent commented. “I must admit I never thought I would see you again.”
Esmeralda did tend to be more affectionate however one, the Court was open instead of just running into a friend. Not to mention the hyper awareness that was going on because of everything that had happened recently. No need to get Clopin or the others in an even more paranoid watch mode.
“It has been. Though Romani, we are always on the move.” Because they were forced to be, and it wasn’t like France was known for its kindness to its Romani population. And so they had come to the States, though the tension and concerns were always there even as they had managed to set up an actual business and home and been in this one location for over a year now. “What brings you here?”
“I guess it’s fate we both wound up here then.” At least for the time being. Although he hoped Esmeralda would be around for awhile at least. Not that they had been extremely close, but she had always been his favorite street dancer. It was nice to see her on an actual stage.
“A job,” and a divorce but that was something he preferred not to talk about. At least Eva had only been around a few of the times that he ran into Esmeralda back in Paris. She probably wouldn’t remember her enough to ask. “I’m going to be teaching philosophy at UC Irvine.”
“So it seems.” And so long as Vincent didn’t end up on the network, at least he’d be spared the dreams. Admittedly Esmeralda didn’t know what to make of destiny or fate. Some seemed to feel that if you were meant to have them, you ended up on the network. The dancer didn’t know, or what to make of her own. They were over now and besides the repeats, she did her best to ignore them. She had survived. That was what mattered, but she always did find a way and never let things like that keep her down.
“That would do it. It seems many people find jobs or reasons to be here.”
Vincent raised a brow at the comment. On the one hand Orange County was a big place. He could see how it would provide many opportunities for people. However, there seemed to be more to her statement. Something she wasn’t saying. Vincent had a sixth sense about these things.
“I suppose there are plenty of jobs in the area,” Vincent commented going for the more logical reason. “As opposed to the middle of Arkansas,” he joked.
It was hard to explain the Orange County pull, even if Esmeralda switched into speaking French. Which she did do often enough with those who understood, especially when she was struggling with figuring out a translation for what she wanted to say. However, the network and Orange County were things which one needed to experience for themselves - there was no way to really prepare for it.
Of course, the joke was lost on Esmeralda.
“That is one of your states, yes?” It wasn’t like she had needed to know all the states or anything like that. They’d gone through Canada and down to Orange County.
“Yes,” Vincent clarified with a small smile on his face. He should have known Esmeralda wouldn’t be too familiar with the geography of the U.S. “Out in the middle of nowhere,” he added explaining his comment.
“So how long have you been here for?” Hopefully he wasn’t keeping her from her work. It was just nice to see a familiar face. Especially one he had missed for a while now.
Well it was nice to know that she had been right on what Arkansas was. She’d been confused initially, but it was easy enough to figure out. But middle of nowhere, that made a bit more sense of his comment.
“We got here in May of last year.” Over a year in one place, without always moving. She’d told Peter it was strange but also the permanence meant they could have something more solid, consider things they wouldn’t have otherwise. Madellaine and Jehan were going to have a child by the end of the year, something they’d held off on before because of the lack of stability.
Of course, being in California since May didn’t mean that was when they left Paris. No, that had been about March of the previous year since they had needed to get to Canada and then find a way into the states and then specifically to where they were now.
Vincent was aware it had been over a year since he had last seen Esmeralda. It had probably been over two years since he last ran into her. Maybe more, maybe less, he couldn’t remember exactly. “Is this the longest you’ve stayed in one place?” From what Vincent did know about her he did know she was always on the move.
“It is.” Even if they had managed to mostly stay in Paris, the French government would have the camps broken up and thus families and kumpanias would be forced to find somewhere else to set up until the next round. Never mind the fact that the Romani population had limited access to education or basic standards of living and the attempted at forced relocation. “It’s been nice.”
“Well,” Vincent said finishing off his drink. “I hope it sticks.” He gave her a small smile. “I should get going. Let you get back to work, but I’ll be back,” he assured. He wasn’t going to pass up a chance to see Esmeralda dance again.