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Exhausting. Vivian finally had a day off, and she'd decided it was going to be a day off. She'd been patrolling almost every night, and planning out her next trip to her homeworld while she didn't have the energy to go back. She needed to explore, she needed to learn, but she couldn't yet. Next time. A hand came up to cover her mouth as she failed the battle against a wide yawn, her heels clicking on the sidewalk with every step until suddenly a teenager on a a skateboard slammed into her. Vivian let out a shout of surprise as she flailed a bit, stumbled, stepped, stumbled, turned, and slammed down on the ground. What... what just happened? "The ********..." She groaned as she reached back to rub her lower back. The kid had already panicked and fled without even so much as an apology. Little s**t.

Sighing heavily, Vivian grasped a nearby window display and pulled herself to her feet. Her head spun as she stood, her sleep deprivation briefly catching up with her enough to have her stumbling. Her ankle twisted in the wrong direction, and then bent, and she fell again with a startled cry. This time a nearby woman came rushing over to help the girl. "Oh my god are you okay!? Are you hurt?!" She wrapped an arm around Vivian and helped her stand as Vivian mumbled quietly.

"M'good. Just... huh?" Something felt off. Her brow furrowed and both women looked down to see it. The absolutely disaster. The ******** tragedy.

The ribbon had come apart from her shoe, leaving it completely detached. Vivian gasped and lifted her foot quickly to pull the shoe and the ribbon off her feet, holding both pieces in each hand. "Wh--but how!? Nooo nonono these are my favorite I don't... I don't want to get rid of these!" This day could only get worse if it ******** rained or something.

The woman frowned, patting Vivian on the back. "It was probably because of that kid... oh! Oh! Yeah! What if. Oh perfect. Do you know New Lease?"

"New... Lease?"

"Yes! It's a thrift store. There's this man there who can absolutely fix that right up. Give him that, I'm sure he's got you."

And so now here she was, awkwardly walking with a broken shoe to a nearby store she'd actually not heard of yet. Vivian blinked as she looked up at the building. How had she not heard of this place? It looked like something her Nan would like. Maybe Nan had been here. Ohhh, maybe she'd get her something before she left. But that would come after her shoe. Priorities.

Vivian stepped carefully as she walked through the store, making sure to keep her right foot from moving so much that her foot would come out of the shoe. It was quiet in this place, which was kind of nice. Meant it would be easier to find this guy, right? No customers to keep him busy. She scanned the store, spotting sweet old ladies and--oh. That must be him. With a sigh of relief she made her way toward him, almost to a point of now dragging her foot. "Ah, excuse me. Are you Mister Kay? A lady told me you'd be able to help me out with a wardrobe malfunction."

"Sorry, she only told me you were Kay. I figured it was best I be polite to someone I need help from. I could get more New York if you want the Harley Quinn vibe," Vivian chuckled as she accepted the hand shake. She didn't think much of the fact that she had to look down at him, he was sitting after all and she was a tall young woman wearing heels. Or, well, heel. At least he looked like the kind of man she could trust to treat her favorite shoes with proper care. With her other hand she reached down, lifting her foot with the broken shoe and pulling it off. "Oh, yeah, no. I don't think a cobbler is necessary. The shoe itself is fine. The heel and everything 'shoe' survived. What I need help with is this..." The shoe was offered over, and the ribbon was draped over it, frayed where it had ripped from the side of the shoe. She reached down again to untie her other shoe and hold it up for comparison.

"I got tripped up by some kid on a skateboard. Tripped and ripped the ribbon clean off. Honestly this shoe has been through way worse walk of shames when I was still in college, so I'm a little surprised it broke." Sighing, she offered him a somewhat sheepish smile and a shrug. "Only like two blocks. My feet go through worse every day I work, so it wasn't that bad. It's just been kind of a rough couple weeks, I think it's starting to get to me. What'll I owe you if you can manage to fix her?"

"That's it?" Her eyes widened. Only five bucks? She shook her head at that. "A half inch is fine. Honestly I probably won't even notice." Vivian was already looking through her wallet, pulling it from a yellow star-shaped purse hanging from a gold chain over one shoulder. "Is it okay if I sit with you? While I can manage, walking without the shoe is a little uncomfortable." As he spoke of walks of shame she laughed a bit, calming down into a strange little smile as he mentioned not being able to improve her week. It was one that didn't reach her eyes, eyes that were clearly using some makeup to look less exhausted than she felt. Concealer could only cover dark undereye so well. "Ahh don't worry about it, it's just a... I've been away at school and a new job that had to take a hiatus from for a few years. Being back is uh... it's a lot for me. And there's a new routine I have to adjust to now. It's pretty demanding, a little overwhelming, and very tiring. Probably why my shoe broke. Too tired to catch myself."

She settled her elbows on the counter and leaned forward onto them, holding her chin in the palm of her hand while she watched him work. It was kinda cute! Like a character from a storybook, in a way. Scurrying about for needle and thread to get in the zone. But her eyes widened as he introduced himself, and her tired expression was replaced with one of amusement. "Oh! Sure! Wow, what a small world. Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Vivian Little!"

"Could be, I've never heard of a Cousin Kay," she chuckled. "I think my dad was an only child though. Might just be happy coincidence! Or fate. Ooohhhh~." She wiggled her fingers and widened her eyes, so spooky and mysterious to be meeting by fate! Nah. Coincidence was more likely. She then shrugged. "Unfortunately the city was ruined for me as a kid. But I've still got my brother and my grandparents. They're why I'm back, Papa's got an injured hip and my Nan can't help him on her own. And my brother's wife is pregnant so he can't give them his full attention right now either." She looked down to watch him work, her head tilted to one side.

When asked what she went to school for her eyes widened and she smiled again. "You can guess if you want. Promise I won't be mad if you get it wrong. It wasn't exactly a necessary degree, I could've gotten my job without it, but it certainly helped get me noticed and made it easier to get hired on." She figured she'd give him a hint, curious if he'd go the right direction with it.

"HA!" She was grinning, looking absolutely delighted by the answer. "Very close! I got my Bachelor's in Fine Arts, but it was for dance. Ballet most specifically, but I like learning other styles too. So, I'm better at destroying and breaking in shoes than I am at repairing them. I really appreciate you doing this."

She relaxed again, looking comfortable leaning on the counter. Though she looked exhausted underneath the makeup and the cute clothes to cover up how she was doing, she did look like she was getting an actual moment's rest just now. "See, told you I wouldn't be mad. How'd you end up here doing clothing repairs?"

Vivian leaned in a bit as he lowered his voice, catching the hint that he was trying to be discreet. Ah yes, she nodded with understanding. "Makes sense. The lady who directed me to you did say you fixed her dress before her daughter's wedding and no one could tell it had ever been damaged. You came highly recommended from the random mother of the bride who caught me eating s**t on the sidewalk." She gestured toward the needles and thread with her chin. "I can do it to a point. It's pretty common to need to repair our own stuff. Especially my shoes. I had a shoe trying to die on me once during a show a couple years ago but I didn't have time for its drama so I just kept sewing thicker and thicker seams as if that was going to help with their durability. I sew for function rather than aesthetic." These shoes deserved more than what her pointe shoes received. They were too precious.

"Well technically I'm still hired on by New York City Ballet, but I was able to take a hiatus for this family emergency. So right now I'm instead helping with children's ballet at the studio I grew up learning from. Nan and Papa insist I can go back for the next show, but it's like an all day drive if you account for traffic and stuff. I'll go back when Papa's feeling better. So. I'm still dancing, just not as intensely at the moment." She quieted finally to listen to him, admiring the man's enthusiasm for it. It was a genuine expression without even a hint of amusemuor mockery, a girl who really did love her craft and was proud of it.

"What?" She looked surprised for a moment, and then waved a hand. "Oh no! No no. Be enthused. I've been dancing my whole life. It's gotten me through a lot of tough times. Just because it's my career doesn't mean it's a job, you know? I don't look at it that way. It's my life. It's everything to me. It doesn't matter to me if someone is 'good' at it. Did you have fun? Did you feel something? Did just having that moment of holding your arms out and twirling make you feel whimsical or magical for a moment? Hell, sometimes I like to just put on a long dress and twirl around in my room imagining I'm like a fairy princess frolicking in a meadow or something. I love hearing people talk about dancing, I don't care." She straightened up a bit, wagging a finger at him. "Personally I think people who believe they have two left feet just haven't been given proper direction. Anyone can dance, whether it's structured or not. When you break it all down, it's really just a series of the same movements over and over again in different directions sometimes. Obviously not literally all the time, but you know what I mean? I bet one day I could show you a couple tricks and you'd see why you think you have 'two left feet'."

"That's fine. I'm no stranger to gluing a shoe, I trust you." As long as she could walk out wearing a pair of functioning shoes that didn't look like she'd said ******** it and sewn back together desperately that was all that mattered to her.

Her brows raised as he begged her not to think differently of him, and she wiggled her shoulders a little as she leaned in closer for his confession. Oh, she liked this guy. He was fun! Her grin widened as he explained his 'rizz tactic'. Yes, that was a good one. This guy was a keeper. She'd have to come here again just to chat with him. He could be a cool new friend! "So you're like the manic pixie dream girl from those teen movies who would drag the wallflowers to the dance floor and get them to let loose," she teased, "but if it worked. Good on you. And honestly, I know I risk sounding like a snob or something, I've seen some like... I've seen some choreography out there that makes club dancing look professional and structured. There's this one guy who's basically become my sleep paralysis demon, I can't stop getting his videos sent to me."

Oh.

Kay.

You done ******** up, son.

Vivian immediately went for the phone stored away in her star bag. She hoisted herself up to sit on the edge of the counter, legs crossed neatly at the ankle and angled to one side. Her phone was facing toward him as she did indeed do exactly what he said not to do. "I've got to see this. I didn't even take a moment to consider you weren't the youngest one here," she said as she lowered her voice and grinned at him. "I've made it into a few of my company's tiktoks. I get it. There's one of us doing the 'this is me before doing this' trend, and it ends with me literally slamming my face against a small table in the wings because I was so exhausted. Let's see..." She began scrolling, humming pleasantly as she started her search. "The choreographer's dancing is fine, really. It's just his facial expressions. Things of nightmare."