Participants:
| Scene Title | You've Been Served |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Adam finds a dance instructor |
| Date | May 26, 2009 |
Central Park has been, and remains, a key attraction in New York City, both for tourists and local residents. Though slightly smaller, approximately 100 acres at its southern end scarred by and still recovering from the explosion, the vast northern regions of the park remain intact.
An array of paths and tracks wind their way through stands of trees and swathes of grass, frequented by joggers, bikers, dog-walkers, and horsemen alike. Flowerbeds, tended gardens, and sheltered conservatories provide a wide array of colorful plants; the sheer size of the park, along with a designated wildlife sanctuary add a wide variety of fauna to the park's visitor list. Several ponds and lakes, as well as the massive Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, break up the expanses of green and growing things. There are roads, for those who prefer to drive through; numerous playgrounds for children dot the landscape.
Many are the people who come to the Park - painters, birdwatchers, musicians, and rock climbers. Others come for the shows; the New York Shakespeare Festival at the Delacorte Theater, the annual outdoor concert of the New York Philharmonic on the Great Lawn, the summer performances of the Metropolitan Opera, and many other smaller performing groups besides. They come to ice-skate on the rink, to ride on the Central Park Carousel, to view the many, many statues scattered about the park.
Some of the southern end of the park remains buried beneath rubble. Some of it still looks worn and torn, struggling to come back from the edge of destruction despite everything the crews of landscapers can do. The Wollman Rink has not been rebuilt; the Central Park Wildlife Center remains very much a work in progress, but is not wholly a loss. Someday, this portion of Central Park just might be restored fully to its prior state.
Late tuesday afternoon, for them actually keeping track of such things as days and time, Central Park seems to be one of them places everyone just has to be. Even in its current state, people come in to enjoy the greenery, the weather, the musics and the preformers. Maybe most of all the general show that is Life in New York, these days.
Ewan has found himself a spot none too far from a couple of musicians that sound like they might actually know what they're doing, their interpretation of the latest radio hit not half bad, and he set up his own little space for his part of the 'spectacle'. With that meaning that he put down his coat on top of his everpresent gymbag, with the unwritten, unspoken invitation for any donations present in the shabby, dirty hat on top of the heap. After that, it's just a question of him tapping his way into the rhythm, and start to move along with the music.
One wouldn't so much call it 'dancing' in any classical sense of the word, being that it's more along the lines of what the kids exercise on the dancefloors these days, but attentive eyes can catch traces of classical schooling in his movements, especially when he involves a twirl or two in his increasingly advanced alternative to pickpocketing or outright begging. Donations, yeh?
Adam has been making his way along central park. He's not jogging, but he appears to be looking for something. Unfortunately, even Adam doesn't know what he's looking for. He's in one of his moods, a sort of ennui tempered with wanderlust. He watches the various people playing instruments and such and then notices the dancer. He pauses and just watches, his head tilting as he notices the boy's modern dance moves, the rhythm and yes, the classical training. He's quite the dancer, himself. Unfortunately, his dancing days stopped at disco and this…well, this is new.
Ewan is keeping his eyes closed for now, if nothing else because it's easier to forget about being in the middle of a park and imagine himself back on the stages where he learned to dance, so he can only hope that this brief little show is going to give him half a chance to buy himself some dinner tonight. By the looks of it, he definitly could use it.
As the music moves onwards through verses and chorus, he moves fluidly with it, rhythm present throughout his body, moving whatever feels right rather than worrying what looks best, which makes for something looking a little special, indeed. But it would seem that the younger crowd appreciates it enough to drop a shiny penny or two in his hat on their way by, and some pause alongside Adam, just to have a free peek. Cheap dastards.
Adam doesn't put any money in Ewan's dufflebag, so intent he is on watching the boy. He does, however, seem extremely interested. So much so that he squats down so he can watch every move. Every once in a while, he moves a little bit of himself as if to try and emulate one of the moves, but not completely. In the end, he appears to wait for the dancer to finish.
It seems one dance is all Ewan is going to fit into this particular session, being that the musicians are less than happy about the attention he 'steals'. A last, irritated strum of the guitar, to which Ewan finishes up in a rather suggestive pose, before he dives into a quick bow to his small audience. "That's all, folks. Thank you kindly for your donations, come back soon, don't forget to buy a t-shirt on your way out." he offers, his accent decidedly missing the american 'twang', more tainted by the various dialects and languages around Europe. Watching people move on, his gaze halts for a moment on the squatted Adam, an eyebrow raising slightly. "…enjoying the show, are we?"
Adam stands from his squatting pose as he claps, "That was quite impressive." he says thoughtfully, "I used to be quite a dancer myself." he tells the boy, "But that was a long time ago." he pauses after some moments, "To be honest, all these new dance moves are quite.." he pauses, "Foreign to me. I supposed I missed out on the evolution." he considers the boy thoughtfully, "Why don't we talk, you and I? I'll buy you some lunch. Or dinner, whichever way your day is going."
Ewan's face smoothens out as the man stands, even claps, and the boy will even offer a bit of a grin. Adam doesn't look that old, compared to other people at least, far as Ewan can tell. "Yeah, things evolve quickly, I hear…" He bends down to scoop up his bag, along with the hat and coat, stuffing both of them into the actual bag while he studies the man and considers his offer. Food. That's bordering on an offer he can't refuse. "…sure. I could do with dinner." Breakfast, lunch, dinner. When you eat whenever you happen across food, the name for it isn't really that important. "If talk's all you're after, I could even do it for free." A joke, perhaps, although the kid looks rather serious.
Adam chuckles, "Well, I can't promise that. But what I have is, I think an interesting opportunity for you." and with that, he walks along the park towards a cafe. Ordinarily, it'd be a hot dog stand, but there are benches. After the food is ordered and given, he sits down on a bench and asks, "Where did you learn to dance like that?"
This is definitly turning out to be a more interesting day than Ewan had expected, and he follows Adam with a bit of a curious look. Seated, with food in front of him, the boy helps himself to the food with whatever remnant of manners he can dig out. Hungry, but not about to stuff his face indiscriminately. "My mom had me take lessons since I was a kid, I kept with it." He lifts a shoulder slightly, half a shrug, "But the rest you just sorta figure out on your own. Dancefloors. That sort of thing."
Adam nods, "I have to admit, I've seen some dancers on the television, you seem better than them, but I suppose that's a bit subjective." he pauses a moment, "Do you live around here? With your mother?" his demeanor is relaxed and inquisitive, he's interested, but he doesn't exactly seem pressed for the answers.
Ewan's gaze travels over Adam, once, while he chews and swallows, and then he shakes his head briefly. "Not really. The park's just a good place for an audience." He doesn't seem entirely willing to share further details at this very moment, but something about the look in his eye hints at it being a bit of a sensitive subject. "So why'd you stop dancing? You don't look old enough to be retired..?"
Adam considers the question, "Things came up." he replies distantly. "Bad things." he takes a bite of his hot dog. "I used to love dancing, you see? You name it, I could do it. Waltz, ball room dancing, swing, disco…" and then…well, and then he was put in a cage for thirty years, "And now, I don't dance. And I don't know how to dance like they do today." he turns to Ewan, "That's where you come in. I want to give you a job."
Ewan knows about bad things. Has seen his fair share of them. So, he's not going to prod further, for now. He takes a bite of his hot dog instead, and nods his understanding. "Sounds like you were quite allround.." and whatever he was going to say next is put on hold, as Adam proposes a job. The young man pauses, frowns slightly and looks up at his current benefactor, trying to judge the level of seriousness. "…a job?" he echoes, not entirely convinced that he got that part right.
Adam nods, "Yes…I want to learn to dance again." he says, "And I need to catch up. I assume you can break dance?" he questions, "I understand that's what came after disco. Then, we work towards the future from there, until I'm caught up."
Ewan blinks, and then actually laughs a little, shaking his head. "You -are- serious." he offers, sounding a little astonished, before he shrugs again, helping himself to the rest of his hotdog. Chewing and swallowing done with, he wipes at his mouth with a napkin, and nods. "Sure. I'm not.. exceptional at breakdance, but I know a move or two. Could teach you what I know, but it's going to cost you." His grin flashes by again, a touch mischevious this time, "But I'd be willing to cut my normal rates, some. For the good of arts."
Adam nods a bit and replies, "Oh, I'm sure it'll cost me. However, I have two conditions. The first is, I need you to be on call. You see, the problem is, I'm a very busy man. I'm not able to set a schedule for these routines. I'll just have to have you ready when I am. The second, is I want these to be a secret. That's pride, I suppose, I just don't want it to get around I'm taking lessons on, break dancing and whatever else is popular now. For that, I'm willing to pay you a good salary."
"Fair enough… It's not like I have any set hours. The best thing about being self-employed." Ewan notes, "And I can appreciate a need for… keeping things discrete." He cants his head a little to the side, then, and looks a touch thoughtful. "You pay in advance, cash. I teach you to dance, anything else is extra, although you don't really strike me as the type that'd go through all this trouble to get some."
Adam chuckles a bit as he considers the boy. He seemed about ready to ask what 'extra' was, but then shakes his head, "You're right." finally, he says, "I'll pay you in advance for the first lesson. After that, you'll have a set schedule." he pauses and takes out his wallet. He begins to slowly count out some money until he lays a hundred dollars on the seat between them, "For that." he says, "I expect you to jump when I call and never let my name dance from your lips. Which is, by the way, Adam."
A hundred dollars. That's… Ewan can't help but stare at the money as it is laid out, his gaze locked at the bills, before he nods, his fingers moving with the trained speed of a pickpocket, allowing them to disappear out of view and into wherever he hides such things. "That's a fair price for some jumping and… discreteness." He then finally can let his gaze return to Adam's face, a bit of a sheepish grin cracking up as he offers the traditional, oh so cheesy sounding, reply, "Nice to meet you, Adam. I'm Ewan." And with that, he's going to reach into his bag, to haul out a piece of paper and a stump of a pencil, to write down his cellphone number for Adam.
Adam nods a bit and takes the piece of paper, laying it in his wallet. "Well, pleasure to meet you Ewan." he stands from his seat and says, "I'll call you soon and we'll get started." he pauses, "Remember, mum's the word." he pauses, "I don't suppose you've any other skills…" he pauses, "That don't involve…you know."
Ewan remains in his seat, apparently in no hurry to run off, and he nods. Mum, indeed. He makes with a slight gesture of locking his lips, although the following question catches him a little off guard. "…what?" He blinks, and then grins widely again, "…well, I can get around on skates and rollerblades, and.." It's his turn to pause, as he realises that even if he likes the guy who just gave him money, that doesn't mean he should trust him. "…I'm a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, I suppose. Comes in handy, sometimes."
Adam nods thoughtfully at the answer, "Alright…" he says slowly, then says, "Could be I have better paying work for you in the future. I'll keep you in mind. If you get good at anything, let me know." and with that, he flips his collar and makes along the park path.