Pacing in front of the stairs of the building, Elise waits at the entrance of Aris’s apartment. She hadn't been waiting long, just feeling anxious. She clutched her oversized green sweater and looked out at the empty road, taking in the dry winds blowing through the street and her navy skirt, which fell below her knees. She hears the door behind her open, but before she could glimpse what was passing through, she felt a tap on her left shoulder, and she saw a spot of blue in her periphery, prompting her to look there, finding no one. She looks to her right, finding nothing.

“Looking for someone?” Aris cheekily asks with a grin moulded onto his face as he pops up on her left.

“No, must’ve been the wind,” Elise replied with sarcastic bitterness.

Aris snickered, as the trick rarely worked with more than one fake out, let alone two. Elise called him childish for it, but Aris bit back, calling her childish for falling so wonderfully.

“Plus, you should look carefully when searching so that you won’t miss it.”

Elise turns her head to the right, confused and wondering what he could possibly mean, before laying her eyes on a box with her name written on it, handwritten too. Aris looked on with a proud smile as she grabbed it, admiring the excellent craftsmanship.

She opens the box carefully, preserving the packaging, and reveals a cloud-shaped necklace with a triangular kink at the corner.

“I made it myself!” He declares. “Mostly…” he muttered under his breath.

“For real?! That’s so…” she took out the necklace, the chain clearly not long enough. “…thoughtful of you! I’ll keep this on until the next one!” Still, the thought was enough to keep her spirits up as she wore it as a bracelet. It was oversized for a bracelet, barely hanging on, so she folded it in on itself enough to stay on her arm, but the pendant was still hanging. She dangled the pendant, looking at Aris through the triangular kink, though only able to see a section of his thin denim shirt, she then looked down towards his denim pants as well. “You sure are pretty Canadian.”

“Huh? Has my accent been that obvious?” Aris adjusted his accent, coming off slightly British.

“Accent? You’re Canadian?”

Aris gave her a wishy-washy answer, annoying Elise, prompting him to give a proper answer. “I’m from Quebec, but I’ve been in Ottawa mostly if that means anything to you.” He answered, sounding embarrassed.

“Does it mean something to you?”

“I don’t— not really, no.”

“Then no need to make it sound bigger than it is! You’re just stressing yourself out. Which has me wondering. How’s it been going with you?”

“You finally noticed? How it’s all sunshine and rainbows. Well, believe it or not, but Mr White indefinitely delayed all the due assignments until further notice.” Aris gave an Elvis strut as he busts into a happy jig. “Meaning I got nothing to do till he’s back from Deutschland! Hell yeah!”

—And he seems to have taken the gloom with him too— “Is that why you’re free today?”

Aris calmed down his movements, “I have no classes today anyway, so I’m extra free, baby!”

“Well, as a free man, could you explain the kink on the metal piece?”

“In the arts building, they had a metal press, so with some help from the students there, I was able to make a mould so I could press your piece. The cloud was hard enough to do so, so I decided to do the kite part by chipping out the bit that would be the kite emerging on the cloud. They were being stingy about the colouring, so this is all they’d let me do, plus they just essentially dumped what I thought was a necklace chain on me, and I can now see why they were so eager to get it out of their hands. But I’m impressed you made it work, never seen it worn like that.”

Elise begins walking with Aris, following, “That’s quite the story for this little piece, and honestly, I think the short chain makes it versatile. I’ve been thinking of getting accessories for my jeans, and thanks to you, I have my first.”

The conversation continued about denim fashions and accessories as they strolled, emerging onto the street that followed the Seine River.

Aris watches the Seine as Elise asks, “What do you plan to do when you graduate?”

Aris answered sardonically, “Start taking over the family business. My dad has a position waiting for me for when I graduate, so he can start planning his retirement.”

“Sounds more like that’s what your dad has planned.”

Aris knew it was true but said nothing.

"Are you unsure?"

“It’s already decided so nothing to be unsure about… I think.” Doubt emerges from his voice.

“Okay, if your dad instead hires someone else to sort out his retirement plan, what would you do then?”

Aris opens his mouth to speak with a vowel escaping his mouth before sealing it, realising he is without an answer and hasn't had one in… a minute. Aris frowned as he tried searching for an answer, growing frustrated as he drew blanks. His eyes darted around searching. Another vowel escapes him, but no dice… still.

“I, for one, am not sure either. It’s like I’m having to choose the least bad option and never a good one.”

Aris refocuses after being given an out from his void thoughts. “What do you mean by ‘never a good option’?”

“My course is broad enough to give me options, working somewhere in forensics or lab work, or getting certification for bioengineering and exploring that route or even a detective of sorts and potentially leading into Interpol, or just general policing, but I don't vibe with any of them. They all have that one giant 'BLEH!' thing about them; it feels increasingly impossible to pick the right thing to do the deeper I get.”

“What is that ‘bleh’ thing about them?” Aris sounded almost confused.

“It’s their corruption these days. There’s no real legitimacy with anything anymore. I don’t even think I exist anymore, it’s that bad.”

“So it circles back to the private investigators?”

“Not necessarily, it goes way before that. Even if I were to get into research forensics, nothing leaves the lab without approval to check if it aligns with any relevant biases or agendas. It's like there's a set reality and you can’t diverge from it, and if you do, they just say ‘nuh uh’. And it’s like that if you ain’t close or at the top of the chain for my options.” She looks over to Aris, seeing him silent. "Sorry to be dumping all this on you, I ended up making this—”

“It's fine, I just never thought it went that far. Always thought that kind of dealings were at the heads of these things.”

“Why’s that?”

“I don't know…"

“I was at the same spot just about a year ago. It might've been participating in the mayoral elections, but I learned a lot over that year, and I think you will too." Elise said tenderly.

They arrive at the Eiffel Tower Plaza, greeted with a towering half monument with its other half planted on the other side of the river. Aris looks at the top half of the tower, astonished by the gulfing distance. His eyes shone with childish wonder, and his mouth agape in awe. He looks at the split monument and then at Elise, before returning his gaze to the monument and back to Elise.

She teases for the reaction, but all Aris could reply with was exasperated arm motions to express his wow. “You’re telling me you aren’t the slightest bit…” Elise shook her head no. “But-but-"

Elise shrugged, “Never was much of a history buff and never thought of you as one either.”

“Well, my brother got me into it, and he told me stories about the Flock in Paris. He never got to see it in person…” He spent a moment gandering at the halves, “I get it now.” He looks back at Elise with the biggest smile, “This shit rocks!”

Elise giggles at the uncharacteristic but adorable statement. She smiled, watching his adoration before the initial awe had died down, and they climbed to the first platform of the elevator of the Eiffel Tower.

“If you’re getting this giddy, then maybe we could go out on the armistice and create some memories for your bro.”

“For him. Yeah,” Aris went back to his usual low, tired voice.

—Sore topic, like the rest of his family.

Elise identified.

Arriving at the top, they're greeted with waves of conversation on a reasonably crowded platform. All the telescopes overlooking the city were occupied, with some people using their phones as an alternative. A pop-up café stand served customers, with much of the smell concentrated closely around, as the wind blew the rest of the aroma towards the elevator. The two of them found a gap facing the river and reached for it. They both admired the view, Aris still nerding about its history, wondering how Elise could stay so plain-faced about it. Elise felt invigorated by the passion, which sort of inspired her to be excited about him, much like he had been all day, worry-free and allowed to be himself.

Elise looks over to the other half of the tower, and a hazy aura overcomes her mind. Her vision blurs slightly, and what feels like crackles tickles the crevices in her cranium. The chatter around her gets dulls as her eyes draw towards Aris like an anchor of certainty.

Her vision is clarified with bold colours, and her ears perceive sounds she hadn’t heard before. Her body was freed from the knots that had tensed her appendages.

Her face flushed as her heart beat a forgotten rhythm. Elise’s eyes meet Aris’s familiar ocean blue; she averts her entire body with an awkward snap. She tries to play it off as watching a passing bird, but Aris doesn't think much of it. Elise tries to sneak a look at Aris as he snaps pictures of the half monument.

 His focused eyes couldn’t hide the joy creasing the ends of his eyes. And his smile, she couldn’t put into words what drew her attention. Maybe it’s infrequency or its duration sounded probable, but it couldn’t help her grasp; it felt familiar, an emotion she’s felt before. She couldn’t ascertain why she hadn’t looked away, looked away from his reddish-brown hair, maroon in the current light, or how maybe it was how she saw things now.

She reaches for his shirt without thought. Elise hesitates, now aware of her moving arm, and Aris catches it in the corner of his eye. He asks for her desire, but the way he asked it, in earnest, broke her composure despite how familiar his hand felt. Her mind scrambled at the unfounded hesitation

—he's always been earnest, so why now???

Aris saw Elise stumbling on her words as she tried to cover her face, but kept eye contact. Her other arm was still reaching out. Aris clasps it, unsure of her gesture. At his touch, Elise pulls away in a jerk motion. That motion pulled Aris towards her, and he, not expecting, pulled off balance and stumbled to Elise, dropping his phone.

He drops to his one knee to grab the device. After picking it up and putting it into his pocket, he looks back at her.

The urge to scream (or squeal) overcame her, but her humility tried suppressing it, making it come out as a meep.

Aris giggled at the odd noise.

 Elise, in panic, chose to fight, but she chose the hand being held, and instead of a slap, it was a touch on the cheek using his hand.

She shook her hand free and storms to the back of the elevator shaft. With space of her own, she tries to get a grasp over herself, but is overwhelmed with new sensations, she’s brought to tears. Waves of emotions come in faster than she can make sense of.

Hearing Aris’s approach, she wipes her face clear before facing him.

But it wouldn’t be enough to stay Aris’s worry. His concern broke the thin, makeshift façade she had crafted as she broke into tears in his arms.

Time passed, and the wave of emotions had subsided. Aris had settled them on a table overlooking the streets. Elise was sitting on his lap while she wiped the last of her tears. A moment of silence lingered between them.

They both tried to break the silence but ended up silencing each other, trying to let the other proceed. Aris gave Elise the first words, but she couldn’t think of a believable lie, nor did she understand the truth, so she thought of something else instead. “It’s beautiful when the sun is low, even Paris.” She said with a smile, her face still flushed.

 Aris looks at the golden light shining from behind to the horizon beyond. Aris looked back to the sun-kissed Elise and said, "And even Elise.” He said snarkily.

Elise shoved his chest as she got up Aris rose, hands in mock confusion. “Don’t say things you don’t mean, or I’ll stuff some sense into your stupid mouth.”

Elise sat in the empty seat opposite Aris, pouting. “What if I mean it, eh? What then?” Aris says as he gazes into her eyes.

Elise looks away, flustered, looking at the soft golden star setting instead.

As if to imitate an old play’s dialogue, Aris declares, "The night is swift approaching, and the night waits for no one, not even me."

“When did you get so adventurous in Pari?”

“We are on an adventure in Pari, why wouldn’t I be, mademoiselle Ellie. Would you want to escape the cold for somewhere warm?” Aris offered, in a French accent, as the evening's chill winds through the air.

—Is he the same coy boy or has Mr White done something to this man?