Food Fixes Everything PV: Alan Finished

The third year was excited for the day, ever since he had gotten the owl from Willow. He had been quite surprised to receive another owl so soon; few people owled him before, but apparently it was becoming a trend now. He had been receiving many letters and it was nice to know people cared enough to reach out to him like that and specifically request his presence instead of just bumping into another and deciding to hang out.

He would be having a picnic with a lovely young Hufflepuff that day and he was sure that it could only go well. The girl was nice and had helped him a lot, when he struggled to make a friendship bracelet and on top of that saved him from having to start over again. He was sure that without her, he would have never managed to make the bracelet. Then they also met in the Great Hall and the library and the girl was nothing but sweet and nice and when he watched her Quidditch game, it was incredible to see how passionate she was about the game.

As planned he stepped outside during the lovely afternoon, looking around for the familiar face of the Hufflepuff and found her sitting in the Courtyard on a picnic blanket. His face lit up, showing a warm smile as he walked over to join her on the blanket, hoping that it would be no problem for her. "H-Hi Willow! Th-Thank you again for inviting me!", he greeted the Hufflepuff warmly. He could see a basket that Willow must have brought with her and instantly he wondered which delicious treats could be found within it. Alan only had a light lunch; a bit of fruit, so that he would not be full during the picnic and was excited to get some food into his nearly empty stomach.

"H-How have y-you been?", he wondered, as he made himself comfortable on the blanket. Alan was wearing an open button up shirt in red above a white t-shirt and fitting to this his usual black pants and red sneakers. It looked a bit different from what he had been wearing throughout the cold season, but it was his tell-tale style nonetheless.

Reducio

Interacting with @Alan Vanes
Color Code: #259986

She hadn't doubted that Alan would show up, but with all that had been happening lately that seed of doubt that had started to sprout was ever present even in the moment when it didn't need to be. She tried to quell it, but it was immediately squashed as she saw Alan approaching. A smile quickly appeared on her face, excited to have a calm and peaceful lunch with someone who seemed to be a giant sweetie. She was surprised that someone like Alan wasn't in Hufflepuff, but she supposed that maybe that showed how little she knew about this boy.

"Of course! My parents sent me too much food just for myself, and there's no way I can eat it all before it goes bad." She started to unpack the food and place it between them. There was some cheese, crackers, and various cured meats. Different hand pies labeled with sweet or savory but not with flavor because her family liked to surprise her and make her guess usually. There were a couple deconstructed sandwiches in clever packaging for them to put together so nothing had gotten soggy. As well as some homemade bread and jams and honey butter.

"Ah, I'm doing ok. I've had a rough couple days but I'm on the up now." She smiled over at him and pulled out two little travel mugs of tea. "I should've asked you what tea you like but I completely forgot in my owl until heading over. I made us black tea so I hope that's ok." She handed him a mug that was a Gryffindor mug. "My mom actually... made me these mugs when she found out about the houses and stuff. She's pretty artistic and stuff. She thought having house cups, might help me make friends. So you can keep it, if you like it!" A blush quickly reddened her cheeks as she realized that she definitely didn't have to mention the friends part. She could've kept that to herself, but it was definitely too late. "Anyway... how are you doing?" She grabbed a roll and cracked it open to spread some butter and orange marmalade since she was absolutely starving.

Reducio

The young Gryffindor watched on in astonishment, as the Hufflepuff pulled food item after food item from the basket, making him wonder how much of it could have fitted into the basket without being squished. He was fascinated however and looking forward to trying out the variety of flavors this one picnic had to offer. Alan had never done anything like this, this whole thing was new to him. One might have assumed that he had been on one before, because what kind possibly never had done a picnic? But Alan's parents weren't like that, he couldn't imagine his mother sitting on the ground to eat food, she would probably tell Alan how unsanitary this was, if the boy were to suggest it to his mother, making the third year snicker slightly at the image in his head.

"I-I'm glad y-your parents are looking out for you l-like that", he replied with a content smile as he was still intently staring at the food items, struggling to pick the first item he wanted to try. After a while he opted for the crackers, taking one of them and biting a piece of it with a soft crunch. It tasted salty and just seemed to crumble away, making Alan smile slightly as he finally relaxed a bit more, glancing over to the girl. When he had finished the small cracker he would rub his fingers together to get rid off the crumbs and the salt clinging to them, before smiling at the girl, when he heard she was doing better now.

"I a-am glad to hear that, W-Willow", he muttered honestly and really he was! He was glad that the girl was not feeling as bad anymore and it made him think back to when he saw her a few days ago in the Great Hall, where she had seemed down. He would not ask her to talk about it, not wanting to pry in matters that were none of his business and also because he did not want to make her feel uncomfortable with the question. He however wondered whether she would want to talk about it, but if so, she would have to do the first step.

"Y-Your mom made them?", he asked, looking down at the mug she handed to him. "Th-Those look incredible! Y-Your mom is really t-talented!", he announced avidly, as he turned and twisted the mug in his hand to see it from every angle. "A-And I don't mind black tea, I d-don't really mind any kind of tea", he calmed her down, still in awe about those mugs. Only now he realized that she had offered him to keep the mug and he was not sure, whether he could accept such a precious gift. This item must have a lot of value and the Gryffindor was not entirely sure about how to think about it, but he felt honored to receive a mug of such artistic value. "Th-Thank you, W-Willow", he whispered gently, a soft smile on his face that made his eyes light up.

"I-I am doing f-fine, thanks for asking!"

Interacting with @Alan Vanes
Color Code: #259986

A warmth filled her heart as Alan joined her in talking about her family. "I'm actually quite spoiled. I'm an only child and my mom has always been a stay at home mom. We're not a very big family... but we're tight knit." She looked down at all the food surrounding her, this was a typical amount for a feast at home. She supposed that maybe her mom missed her a little bit too much and went overboard. "They send me a lot of care packages lately, probably because it's my birthday in a couple weeks. They can be..." She paused letting out a combination of a sigh and a laugh "A lot."

She picked up two hand pies and handed him one, "A game we play at home is guessing the pie flavor, my mom usually makes these in secret. There's a paper in the bottom of the basket that has the flavors but we can't look before guessing!" She raised hers up in a cheers motion before taking a big bite and examining the inside of it. "I think mine is strawberry and lavender... but there's something else I can't pin. She's so good at tricking us!" She grinned watching for Alan to start guessing his. Her mother was someone she strived to be like someday, she was someone who would definitely embody Hufflepuff if she were to attend Hogwarts.

As she rambled she forgot that she wanted to be getting to know Alan and she was hogging the conversation. It was nice to talk about her family, but sometimes she would have a habit of taking over the conversation. "Where are you from Alan?" She continued to munch down on her hand pie, taking occasional sips of her tea to try and occupy her mouth so Alan would have time to talk.

Listening to the blonde girl talk, Alan tried to listen carefully to what she was saying even though his mind always seemed to zone out every few seconds, following a red thread that seemingly lead into nothing, before he focused back on the words Willow spoke. He nodded slightly, one she took a break to breathe. But one thing specifically had been able to catch his attention and his eyes widened as he leaned forward ever so slightly; perhaps not even noticeable if one was not paying attention to his every movement.

"I-It's your b-birthday soon?", he exclaimed, some sort of excitement clear in his voice, as his face lit up lightly. "M-Mine too! At th-the start of April, a-actually!", he told her and wondered when her birthday would take place. What should he get her? It was so soon, that he had not done any kind of preparations! He would have to go through Hogsmeade again to go and find something that was gonna be suitable for someone like Willow or request something for his parents to send over to him! He had never celebrated a birthday at Hogwarts before and he did not even know the birthdays of most of his friends either! Maybe he should ask them and see whether he could get them gifts for their birthdays as well? He wondered when Hugh's birthday was or Scott's! He should get the two of them something as well, because they were quite important housemates!

When Willow began to explain the rules of the pie guessing game, Alan nodded and hoped he understood it all correctly. He carefully took the cake that Willow handed to him, hoping that it was gonna taste sweet. But apparently Willow had chosen one savory and one sweet one, so when he heard her mutter what she thought would be the flavors, the Gyffindor knew that his would be savory. With a curious glance he stared at the cake, carefully hovering it in front of his lips before he took a bite out of it. The smell alone had been divine, her mother must be a great chef! As soon as Alan took a bite out of it a mix of herbs and more dominant flavors were noticeable. He could taste some sweet potato and minced meat in an instant, but there were two other flavors that escaped him that he could not name.

Once he had swallowed the bite, he lowered his hand from his face to speak his guess, "W-Well firstly, those p-pies are incredible! A-And uhm... I could taste minced meat and s-sweet potato, but I a-am really not s-sure about those two o-other flavors...", he told the Hufflepuff, smiling nervously, before glancing down at the pie again. He was curious now, what it was that he was eating, hoping that the notes Willow had spoken about would gain him the knowledge he wanted.

When a sudden personal question was thrown his way, he froze slightly, resting his hand now since he originally had planned to take another bite out of the hand pie Willow handed him earlier. It was not that he was bothered by the question, he was just caught off guard by it. "U-Uh... L-London, we have a m-manor there", he explained, smiling lightly at her, relaxing again, as he finally took the other bite from the pie, enjoying as the delicious flavors hit his taste buds. Once he had swallowed this bite as well, he continued what he was saying, after making sure there was nothing stuck between his teeth. "We-Well I grew up there a-and stuff; i-it's not far from Di-Diagon Alley, so I c-can easily go there too!", he explained to the girl, trying to give her a rough picture of where he lived.

Interacting with @Alan Vanes
Color Code: #259986

An eyebrow perked up as Alan mentioned that he also has a birthday in April, honestly she loved meeting fellow Aries' so this was just exciting for her. She had avoided mentioning her birthday since she attended Opeila's birthday party, for fear that someone would throw her a surprise party with
such a tense guest list. "Mine is April 2nd! My parents always make jokes about me being born the day after April Fool's day actually, because I was a surprise to my mom when she got pregnant. As an added bonus, they thought I was going to be a boy!" Her eyes sparkled remembering her parents telling her that story with the combination of reassurance that they wouldn't have it any other way. She knew she meant so much to them, which hurt her when she had to hide so much of her life from them at the same time.

As Alan guessed his pie she fished out the small card tucked away at the bottom of the basket and held it in her hands as she waited for him to fully think it out. To this day she hadn't guessed all the flavors right in her life ever, because she was amazingly good at it. This was also how her mom made her eat foods that she didn't enjoy as a kid because she was sneaky and needed to make sure Willow got all her vegetables. "My mom's minced meat pies are the best! But she would definitely put sweet potato in it... so you're probably right on that." She did a small drumroll with her free hand as she flipped open the card.

Her drumroll slowed as her eyes scanned the card, tearing up a bit as her parents had wrote her a letter on the top before the answers. A smile blossomed of pure warmth as she read it. "Ah, I'm sorry. They wrote me a note as well." She took a second to pull herself back together before restarting the drumroll. "You were correct on the first two! Minced meat and sweet potato, but also... pumpkin and curry spice! My secret ingredient was honey, so a honey lavender strawberry pie." She took one last look at the card before tucking into back into the basket, already having a place in it for her room picked out.

With Alan's reaction she might've felt like she was asking a personal question beyond where he's from and she worried that she had overstepped in some way, wondering if he came here with an intention of hanging out without the home questions. In her time at Hogwarts she quickly learned that people didn't have the best home lives despite how lovely her family was, and it made her want to adopt everyone and take them home with her if her neighborhood wasn't as awful when it came to witches. Her eyes widened as he mentioned that he was from London, not to mention the ease of access to Diagon Alley. She had been to London a couple times including to go on the Hogwarts Express, but she never got to explore the city much so an envy rested within her heart.

"Do you like living in a city? I live in a small town that is um... very small. It's not that great of a place to live and the people there kind of suck too." Her face visibly soured as she thought about the people in her town and how obnoxious and cruel they could be to her family, for some reason when she pictured London she didn't see that happening very often. Bullying, yes of course still happens everywhere, but maybe not to the extent she experienced it.

When Willow began talking his chin dropped and he stared at her in shock. Was this real? Did she just really say, that she had been born on April 2nd? His eyes widened and he waited till she stopped talking. "N-no way! Th-That's my birthday t-too!", he gasped. The third year had never met someone else who shared a birthday with him. This revelation from the Hufflepuff came therefore as quite a surprise and for some reason it just made him happy to know this. Oh the possibilities! They were both gonna turn a year older on the same day, so that would mean they could easily... "W-We could celebrate t-together!", he exclaimed, enthusiastically. He had not even taken into consideration, that she might have plans already or that she may just simply not celebrate together. His mouth had been faster than his mind could put together a sentence that would be acceptable, but that was just something he had to deal with a lot. "I-If you wo-would want to o-of course...", he therefore quickly added, suddenly feeling a bit insecure about his own suggestion. What if she would judge him for the idea he proposed or what if she had already a birthday planned? Maybe one where there was no spot for Alan to attend it as well? How was he supposed to know all of this, as he barely knew anything about the girl. Then again this was, what the picnic was for as far as he knew. It was for them to get to know another and she had mentioned they could be friends or something like that. On second thought he was pretty sure, that this was what friends were doing and all; that they celebrated birthdays and invited one another.

Alan's birthdays, especially when he reached a certain age, resembled more those of a formal event with dinners planned by his parents and stuff like that. But in the afternoon before such parties, his parents used to go spend the day however the kid wanted; with limitations of course. But they were usually fun and Alan was always looking forward to his birthday. Now that he was in Hogwarts, his parents usually send him a gift per owl and the Gryffindor was always excited, waiting for his mother's owl to fly by and drop off a letter. He always brought some Eeylops Premium Owl Treats with him to the Great Hall, so that Ivy could also have a special day.

Alan nodded excited, watching as the girl took out a small card from the basket. "Y-Yeah I am pretty sure o-on the sweet potato g-guess", he said, nodding lightly and felt kind of proud that he had been able to guess that one correctly. Or at least he assumed it was correct, but that would show when the girl would tell him how accurate his guess had been. The Gryffindor must have been lucky on his guess or just quite knowledgeable about the taste of sweet potato. All in all, he could say he was confident. His eyes flickered between her fingers, who were making a small drum roll and between her face, so that he would not miss, when she finally started talking. For some reason he felt a nice feeling of nervousness, some sort of excitement of the secret being revealed. As if they were standing in front of a treasure and she was about to open it to reveal to him, what they had found.

And then she flipped the card and Alan nearly had to hold his breath as he waited for her to read out what the card would say. But it took a while longer than he had expected, but maybe she was just trying to find the piece of information, that would reveal the ingredients of their hand pies to them. If Alan ever was to speak to her mother, he would have to thank her and compliment her on the skills she possessed in the kitchen and maybe ask her how she had made them, so he could give the recipe to his own mother. He would definitely want to eat them more often and could not wait to try another one of them, curious what flavor the pie would hide.

His thoughts were somewhat correct, she had not instantly found the part that was supposed to show the ingredients, because her parents had added a note to him, which only made Alan nod slightly and smile at her, as if to tell her that there was no need for her to apologize like that and if he was thinking about it, there really wasn't. It was nice that her parents had been thoughtful enough to add a note for her and Alan was sure that she was happy about whatever they had written her, as he could see a smile appear on her face. But when she finally told him, what had been in his and her pies a grin lit up his face.

"Th-Those a-are great combin-nations!", he muttered out and nodded. Her mother had a great taste for this, he had to admit. He hoped that all of the combinations were so well fitting, but he was not entirely sure about it. This could easily be a great way to mask the flavor of an ingredient one would not expect and it reminded him of then his mother used to hide the greens within the other foods, when he was growing up. He had often spend more time with sorting out all of the green beans, than he spend on the actual eating and he was not quite sure if that had been in his mom's intentions back then. He was sure that his mother could use the recipe against him and suddenly was not all too sure whether he should give her the recipe at all. Maybe he should just visit Willow a lot and see if her mom would make him some, when he visited or he could see, if he found a store that sold him. He was sure that he could ask them to write the notes for him or just make it a mystery and he could find it on the receipt later on, what flavors he had in the pies.

"T-The curry one w-was tough! I w-wouldn't have guessed that...", he muttered thoughtfully as he glanced down at the cake. He lifted the pie to his nose and smelled it and when he concentrated on it, he could actually smell traces of the spice and nodded. "Y-Yeah, no... I-It does ha-have the spice in it!", he exclaimed shocked. He had not expected it, assuming that the spice would have an over-powering flavor, but it just gave the pie a nice note without being overbearing or too noticeable. There probably must have been a pinch of it or so in it. Whatever had been the reason, that he was not directly able to spot the flavor, amazed him and just made him believe even more that the other girl's mother must be a magician; or witch he supposed. Alan halted slightly, frowning at the thought. Was she? He had no idea about the other girl's blood status and honestly he did not care, but he just found that this food was magical in a way! Before he could ponder more about the thought, he took another bite, savoring as the flavor was taken in.

As the Gryffindor was chewing on his treat, the girl asked him a few questions, so Alan took his time to empty his mouth so that he could answer her. "O-Oh... Living i-in a city is nice I suppose!", he explained to her, giving her a warm smile, before he continued to talk. "B-But we don't really live central o-of it a-and our property is quite big, so that a-also means that it is pretty quiet a-and all... At least compared t-to how the actual city feels!" Alan liked spending time in Diagon Alley, it was always so full and colorful. Lots of interesting people would spend their time there and doing their daily thing. He was practically invisible and still able to gather all of the experiences that would fill his heart with joy. Listening to the chatter of the people passing by or simply hearing some musicians fill the area with music they were playing on various instruments. It had been like another world to the Gryffindor when he was younger, so wild and unfamiliar to him, who was used to a calm and clean house. A huge house and yet there was little to do with all the space if you had spend too much time in it. In a life full of chores the streets of the city were thrilling to the kid's eyes. "It's amazing b-but you also gotta be c-careful and all; it c-can get quite busy especially d-during summer time when all the people g-go outside! B-but there is u-usually always something interesting a-and Diagon Alley is just such a gr-great place! Y-you m-must have seen it, when you were buying your sch-school stuff, right?", he asked the girl, curiously glancing at her.

He wondered what she meant, that the people where she lived sucked. Did she not have any friends back at home? He was not sure where she lived or so, but she asked him, so maybe he could ask her too? "U-Uh... uhm, would you r-rather live in a city, o-or why don't y-you like the town?", he wondered, hoping that it was okay for him to ask the question now. He wanted to know more about the other girl, so he would have to ask questions, because how else could she answer and talk about herself? This was how it worked, the Gryffindor was pretty sure of it! So hopefully he could get an answer of some sort...

Interacting with @Alan Vanes

Willow almost leaped across the picnic blanket and wrapped Alan in a hug when he said that they have the same birthday. She had never shared her birthday with anyone, and if there was anyone to share it with now she would love for it to be Alan. "We should! Oh my goodness, what would we do? Who would we invite?" She paused, "What would I wear?I didn't think of bringing a special birthday outfit to school! I'm going to have to send an owl to my parents to get it here on time..." Her parents constantly questioned Willow about why she didn't want to have birthday days with friends, truthfully she had none before Hogwarts and always told her family she's rather celebrate it with them. It wasn't a lie, but she wished there was an alternate truth.

She took a breath and calmed herself and all of her ideas down, giggling at her own silliness. "I'm sorry, I got a bit carried away. I would love to celebrate with you Alan. Do you have anything in mind? I'd like to do something with pyjamas. They're so comfy and cozy and we wouldn't have to all be so formal." She scrunched her nose up mentioning formality. She had met a decent amount of people who were overly formal even among peers. Especially one raven haired Slytherin she had met by a fountain that talked to her as if she was a professor. Still the girl captured her interest in a way Willow still couldn't describe.

After revealing the secret pies with Alan, she finished her own hand pie and started to assemble a basic turkey and cheese sandwich with bell peppers and cucumbers which were a couple of her favorite vegetables. "My mom is crazy good at hiding ingredients in these, I'm not surprised we couldn't guess it but there's always next time! I'll have her send even crazier ones next time we have a picnic." She didn't take a thought to question if she should've implied that they would have more picnics than this, but she hoped they would. Alan was a lovely person to be around, and she was grateful for the opportunity to get to know him.

She hung on every word he said about where he lived and how he visited Diagon Alley frequently, something she could never imagine. She wished she could grow up in this world so badly, and felt like she had completely missed out on a huge part of her due to the separation of muggles and wizards. She set her sandwich down to imagine what it would be like to live in a city that she had only gotten a glimpse of. "I think I'd like what you have, out in the country but still close to somewhere like Diagon Alley where there's excitement and more things than I could ever imagine. I'm kind of sad I grew up a muggle, but I'm also proud of it at the same time. I actually grew up practicing a type of muggle witchcraft, where we work with the elements of nature." She didn't want to bring the picnic down and she still didn't know how much information she could trust Alan with. "I grew up in a heavily religious town that didn't exactly like having witches in their midst. So that made it suck I guess... Maybe if we were in a bigger city we could hide it easier, or get to be with other witches like us." She smiled sadly, "I really wish my parents could see what it was like to be here." Her parents didn't know what she dealt with at the school in her home town and they never would if she had anything to do with it, and she didn't plan on letting anyone here know either. To tell people that would mean that it could happen again.

The Gryffindor got excited that the girl seemed to share the sentiment that they should celebrate their birthday together! His eyes lit up and waves of excitement overcame him as he thought of all that was possible and the things they could do. It would be the first time he would actually celebrate his birthday at Hogwarts and was sure to make it be perfect. "I- uhm... H-How do you celebrate a birthday?", he asked the girl curiously, "Y-You just invite people r-right? P-People you like and stuff, no?". The Gryffindor glanced nervously at the girl. He was sure that you did not celebrate by just having a dinner with special food, like he was used to from home. He never really invited anyone over and never really knew anyone else before he attended Hogwarts. He had a private tutor never attended a public school, so it had been quite impossible for him to make any friends he could have invited over for his birthday. His first few friends he found in Hogwarts and it had been quite exciting and now he had the desire to celebrate his birthday like a real kid for once, with Willow.

"S-So how do we do th-this? Do y-you have a pen and p-paper maybe? To make n-notes and plans? F-for who we invite a-and stuff...", he wondered, having forgotten about the food in front of them on the blanket as his mind was full about thoughts with birthdays and how to celebrate one. When she asked him, if he had anything in mind, he just gently shook his head. He only wanted it to be fun, because he assumed that was what birthdays were about. "M-Maybe something outside? I-In the evening or so?", he asked, stumbling over his words as he thought out loud. But he liked the idea with the pyjamas. He never had worn them outside of his dorm and the thought of actually wearing them outside was oddly hilarious. His parents would probably lose it, which made the young boy snicker.

However he caught sight of the food and it was as if his mind clicked, Ah! he quickly grabbed some of the salty crackers and found some sort of dip for them. He put some of it onto the cracker and took a quick bite of it, eating the cracker wholly. He gazed over all the food options, before his mind twisted back to the Hufflepuff he was spending time with. He had not noted her dislike about formalities, momentarily having been distracted by the food in front of his nose. But it was just very distracting in the Gryffindor's defense.

"I'll have her send even crazier ones next time we have a picnic.", the Hufflepuff told him, which Alan responded to by nodding vigorously. "Y-Yes, I w-would love that!", he agreed a smile that showed teeth appearing on his face, as he grinned at the girl. "M-Maybe she c-can go all out a-and make them completely crazy! S-So that it will be di-difficult and stuff!", he encouraged her idea, in shared excitement about the idea of having another picnic. He had quite liked it ever since they sat down together and assumed that she must like it too. After all she was still there, sitting on the blanket with him and eating food while chatting about life.

Alan originally had planned to react to her previous words and invite her over, but as soon as he finished the sentence his mind could only cling to the term she had mentioned. "M-Muggle Witchcraft?", he repeated, the question clear in his eyes as curiosity filled him. He never heard of something like muggle witchcraft, he never even knew that something like muggle witchcraft even existed. He wondered how he could imagine this to be like and hoped that the girl could clear up his thoughts about this, because he really would love to know. "H-How does that w-work?", he wondered, narrowing his eyes slightly to force himself to concentrate as he tried to put the pieces of puzzles together. "D-Do all Muggle do th-this magic? I n-never met a Muggle who did magic!", he explained to her as he questioned her further. When he noticed he had been rambling a slight blush covered his face and he pressed his lips together, as if the stop himself from talking more, eager to hear her answer the questions he asked her about the muggle magic.

A frown found its way on his face as she explained to him why she did not like her town and Alan nodded slowly, understanding in his face, as he gave her a soft empathetic smile. "Y-Yeah, s-so I guess you are c-completely muggle-born?", he wondered and it was without judgment. It was just an observation he was not sure of based on her explanations. "I n-never really g-got to learn much about Muggle life, b-but my friend Lamik, h-he taught me a lot about them a-already! L-Like how th-they pay with the-these!", he said as he grabbed a piece of leather band around his neck and pulled something out from under his shirt, revealing a British Muggle Coin on a necklace. A small smile on his face, hoping she would return it.