#she jumped from satisfied to schuyler defeated

[luvendiary]

im on the metro rn and the girl in front of me is listening to hamilton. i feel amongst my people

[bettereveryletter]

little things from Hamilton West End that I didn’t notice the past times I’ve been

This is so overly long but last night is looking to be the last night I will have seen the original west end cast and I wanted to pick up on everything I could. Firstly, here’s the cast I saw:

Ash Hunter (Alternate Alexander Hamilton), Rachelle Ann Go (Eliza Hamilton), Giles Terera (Aaron Burr), Rachel John (Angelica Schuyler), Obioma Ugoala (George Washington), Jason Pennycooke (Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson), Tarinn Callender (Hercules Mulligan/James Madison), Cleve September (John Laurens/Philip Hamilton), Christine Allado (Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds), Michael Jibson (King George). Ensemble: Jade Albsersten, Johnny Bishop, Leslie Garcia Bowman, Courtney Mae Briggs, Jack Butterworth, Jon Scott Clarke, Leah Hill, Waylon Jacobs, Miriam-Teak Lee, Gabriel Mokake, and Lindsey Tierney.

-There was applause after Alexander Hamilton, I’ve finally witnessed it!

-Ash’ Burrs Corner in My Shot - “a bunch of revolutionary revolution revolutionists”

-Tarinn stealing Cleve’s mug in The Story Of Tonight and then them proceeding to do a bit about it

-Rachelle and Christine holding hands and looking so delightfully thrilled to be in New York in The Schuyler Sisters

-Christine is such a cute Peggy, she seems to be either annoyed at being left out, or very happy-go-lucky and sometimes childlike

-Applause and woops after “compel him to include women in the sequel” line!

-Cleve swiftly whipping Giles away for the distraction on the exact first “mercy” beat in Farmer Refuted

-Obi blocking the ‘letter’ being passed along by the ensemble during Right Hand Man, the last time I saw him on was February and he collected the ‘letter’ from them

-“we keep meeting”

-Ash’s super cocky grin on “that’s true!”

-Christine and Rachel holding hands and bopping during the “heys” at the start of Helpless

-I love that Peggy and Laurens dance together during Helpless because it means I get to watch my two favourite cast members at the same time

-Cleve persuading Rachel to get up and make her speech in Satisfied, after her laughing and shaking her head, by nodding and saying “yes! Go!”

-Christine and Rachelle’s eskimo kiss in Helpless/Satisfied

-Ash placing his hand on cleves chest, and cleve’s dramatic look down to it at the start of Meet Me Inside

-Ash nodding in agreement with Eliza at the end of That Would Be Enough

-Rachel’s Angelica in Satisfied, or Rachel John in general tbh

-the way cleve sung “let’s have another round” in tsot (reprise)

-overall rapport between Tarinn and Cleve

-tarinn randomly bear-hugging Ash on “wonders great and small”

-Tarinn’s verse in Yorktown!! Always!! Astounding!!

-My friend bursting into tears at the first note of Dear Theodosia

-the quiet “will you read it for me?” In The Laurens’ Interlude

-Jason encouraging applause like 4 times over in What’d I Miss?, and receiving it louder each time

-an elderly lady who was sat near me found every funny line absolutely hilarious and it was so endearing

-very close shave mic drop in Cabinet Battle #1

-cleve being all reluctant to play piano, and the stroppy, mimicking, “sept-huit-neuf”

-cleve ‘practicing’ the Philip rap with a piece of paper with ‘the lyrics’ in his hand, dropping it all flustered when ham comes over unexpectedly, then gradually sliding it away with his shoe mid-rap

-Christine is an incredible Maria, her voice is so mesmerising oh my god

-a red spotlight shining on Maria’s red dress

-Reynolds summoning Maria with a heel-click

-the room where it happens was amazing, Giles is incredible

-Rachelle looking miffed on “I’m sure he already knows” in Schuyler Defeated

-the audience’s utter amusement at the tantalising Burr at the beginning of Washington On Your Side

-air-punching of audience members during Cabinet Battle #2

-a man in the royal circle stood up after One Last Time, applause went on a while, and you could see Obi grinning from ear-to-ear and it was lovely

-mike making giles laugh at the start of The Adams Administration

-the way hurricane is ...choreographed? Blocked? I’m not sure what the word is but it’s super clever

-Cleve angrily screwing up The Reynolds Pamphlet and tossing it to the floor

-Ash’s riff on “slow down” during Blow Us All Away

-My friend whispering a subtle “oh no” at the end of Blow Us All Away

-Cleve writhing in pain during Stay Alive (Reprise) and Rachelle looking so, completely heartbroken. She nails grieving-Eliza.

-the way Ash sung “You knock me out I fall apart” in IQU

-giles’ subtle disbelief and betrayal when burr finds out ham supports jefferson in The Election of 1800

-complete audience silence as they’re enraptured during the monologue in The World Was Wide Enough

-rachel blowing a kiss at the end of curtain call and then pointing to the audience member so they knew it was for them

-Ash jumping on someone’s back to walk off the stage, I couldn’t see which cast member it was since I was too far over

-that was such a great show, shoot me a message if interested in full audio

[swan-archive]

so: ya gal viewed a Certain Notorious Play the other night in SF

a little post-mortem, because i just KNOW you all needed another one of THOSE

Michael Luwoye was a wonderful Hamilton. i know it’s catty to rag on LMM’s voice, but really, the sheer DIFFERENCE it makes when you have an actor with a powerful voice in the role. doesn’t even compare. he roared and howled and bellowed and felt like a tiny compact hurricane bursting off the stage. amazing.

- i specify “tiny” because he was VISIBLY SHORTER than both Solea Pfeiffer and Amber Iman. TINY HAM IS CANON

- Luwoye’s act 1 young Ham was maybe the cutest thing i’ve ever seen! he was SO thrilled to meet Burr and SO excited to make friends and SO jazzed to go out drinking and revolution-ing with them, just so desperate to be liked and find a place and make his name. cute boy. excitable boy.

- not to monster au at yall but Luwoye literally SNARLED “call me son ONE MORE TIME” and uuuuhhhhhh it’s all canon, all monster aus are canon now, i don’t make the rules, i just live in fear of them like yall do

- and then the turnaround between that and a more tired, more morally compromised, running-out-of-options Ham in act 2! a really deft character shift and one that was delightful to watch.

- interesting little character moment: from what i’ve heard/seen most Hamiltons jump right back into the game after “Say No To This,” bantering with Burr and bouncing off to the meeting with Jefferson and Madison to Get Shit Done. Luwoye did not play it like this. his Hamilton was visibly wrung out and sick at heart at the beginning of “Room Where It Happens,” answering Burr in clipped monosyllables and not looking at him and standing all stiff and still until he started to mimic Burr’s “talk less / smile more” in an intentionally crude and sorta nasty style. this Ham was not happy to have to take a page out of Burr’s book.

- Luwoye’s “Hurricane” was a powerhouse. the rapped section was this howl of defiance that nearly knocked me out of my seat, Ham standing there and daring God to do His worst and vowing he’d get back up again. ooooooof. intense.

- Luwoye emoted like a MOTHERFUCKER. his break in “It’s Quiet Uptown” was gutting. tears literally dripping off his face.

- this cast seemed...lighter on the Lams than other productions, which was a bit disappointing, but at Laurens’ first verse in “My Shot,” Luwoye did that hilarious deer-in-the-headlights fullbody freeze at him as he had a Strong Gay Moment

Joshua Henry’s Burr felt very different from Leslie’s as it comes across on the cast album/b**tl*g, but in a super compelling way. i think i saw an article that referred to his Burr as more of a “showman” than Leslie’s, and if i’m remembering right, i agree with that description. Henry!Burr was very mobile and raggedly charming, always had a disingenuous wide-eyed smile hitched up, except for...when it slipped. the untrustworthy self-serving mercenary Ham sees by the end of act 2 was very much in evidence here. 

- and his Burr broke SO EARLY! by “Winter’s Ball” he was already visibly/audibly like WHAT THE HAP IS FUCKENING re: Hamilton’s ascent. his “Wait For It” right on the heels of that was so angry. you could feel his desperation as he tried to justify his methods to the audience, and his unspoken understanding that nothing he is doing makes sense. this was a Burr who, on some level, KNEW that his schtick was not going to remain tenable for long, even if he didn’t know the exact nature of his own breaking point. suuuuuuuuuper engaging to watch.

- ahhahahaha and his delivery of the “...Okay,” in “Non-Stop” was HILARIOUS it was like “hmm yes please keep doing this thing where you say nice things about me perhaps”

- ...also, not to be crass, but somewhere around “Non-Stop” i became suddenly and powerfully aware of how his thighs looked in his costume and uuhhhhhhhhhhh. can we just like. get a Yell Heah real quick for Buff Burr? Yell. H e a h

- act 2 Burr spiraled REAL quick. his “Room Where It Happens” was wild-eyed and electric and frantic and by the time they got to “Your Obedient Servant” and TWWWE he was just a WRECK. where Leslie’s Burr gave at least the impression of making a measured choice to shoot to kill, Henry’s was clearly running on fumes and not in control, and it was terrifying and great.

- and not to go too out of order but can i just say, “Aaron Burr, Sir” is kind of a throwaway exposition-y song, but having it played between two black men? REVELATORY. INCREDIBLE. “fools who run their mouths oft wind up dead.” we were five minutes into the play and i was already like ulp

Emmy Raver-Lampman is the great love of my life and she will be my bride one day, even if i have to defeat Daveed Diggs in unarmed single combat for the privilege. i will do it. i will do whatever it takes to know the touch of her hand. are you listening, Emmy? i’m right here. i’m right h e r e

- my favorite thing about her act 1 Angelica was how YOUNG she played her. which, granted, she is a younger actress than Renee/Karen/Mandy, but i thought it was a really powerful interpretation given that Angelica really is only two years older than Eliza, is still not all that old herself when Eliza’s doing her giddy “Helpless.”

- okay. okay, so. Emmy’s “Satisfied.” okay. a YOUNG “Satisfied.” instead of a mature regretful reflection on a decision that had pros and cons on either side, the regret and the loneliness and the love felt incredibly raw and immediate. Emmy’s interpretation was very “yes, i made this choice, and oh my god what if this was IT, what if this was the END what if there is nothing like this for me ever AGAIN, i cannot take it back and i would not take it back but oh god oh god oh god” and it. destroyed. me. she had that flutter in her voice that you get when you’re crying and laughing at the same time at the second “to the groom / to the bride” and holy shit it was devastating

- also: G5 BITCH TEAR OUT MY THROAT WITH YOUR TEETH

- another fun thing about Emmy’s Angelica was how utterly unimpressed she was with every man she interacted with! her teardown of Burr almost felt like an afterthought in how easily it came out. her chemistry with Luwoye wasn’t as immediately sparky as, say, Renee and Javi’s, but their back-and-forth was very banter-y and instantly comfortable and you really got the sense of two people who could have clicked together given the chance.

- her act 2 interactions with Ham were delightful too—at the end of “Take a Break,” the staging has Angelica start to chase after Ham when he leaves all “i can’t stop until i get my plan through congress.” this was not an “i languished in a loveless marriage in London i lived only to read your letters” chase as Emmy played it. it was a “bitch i have been on a boat for THREE MONTHS and if you think i’m gonna just be like oh hahah whatever we don’t need to hang out when i came all the way over here to see your wife and you then THINK AGAIN—” chase. it was Good. her rejection of Ham in “Reynolds Pamphlet” was so complete and crushing too—it was obvious that Ham was not even on her mind, she was there for Eliza.

i expected to like Amber Iman as Peggy/Maria, but i didn’t expect the extent to which she would steal the stage whenever she was featured in a song! she was so lively and read so well from the audience and was just a joy to watch.

- her Peggy was HILARIOUS. where Jazzy’s Peggy in “Schuyler Sisters” seemed more bratty-kid-sister-i-wanna-go-home-i’m-tiiiiiiiiiiired, Amber’s was like “you guys. you guys. we’re going to get mugged. we’re going to get shot. we’re going to get mugged, and then shot, and then murdered for good measure and WHY IS NOBODY LISTENING TO ME FUFKDCHSDKSFKHEJ” and the fact that this came across so strongly when she was sharing the stage with The Great Love Of My Life and could not have rightfully expected to claim any part of my attention is a credit to her

- the faces she was making at every male cast member who came within 2 feet of her were HILARIOUS. THE FUCK IS THIS. THE FUCK IS YOU. this was a Strong Lesbian Peggy for sure.

- and then her Maria! her Maria was magnetic. she played her as complicit but very obviously unhappy about it; whenever she stepped away from Ham as he did one of his monologue bits you could see the tension and nervousness and distaste on her face, but then he’d turn back to her and the mask would snap back up. not to toot my own horn but like...I Have Been Right This Whole Time.

- and then that red dress just draws the eye whenever Maria’s onstage, such that you couldn’t help but seek her out and watch her standing there silently as Ham drove himself over a cliff into the ocean. she was RIGHT THERE for all of “We Know,” standing there under one of the staircases next to Ham as he went off, watching watching watching and UGH it was such a little thing but it was so good.

i was surprisingly not as sold on Solea Pfeiffer as Eliza as I thought i would be? she had some great moments and was overall a strong performer but for whatever reason they never quite added up to a cohesive whole for me. whatever. still gonna marry her

- her “That Would Be Enough” with Michael Luwoye was actually deeply tragic in a way i’ve never seen/heard from any of the other Eliza/Alex pair-ups. these were clearly two people on completely different pages, having conversations right past each other, and that hurt me very deeply as someone who ships the thing. but it was in my mind also very believable characterization! whatever. i wanted to die. TALK ABOUT YOUR FUCKING FEELINGS, CHILDREN

- actually one of my favorite moments of hers was a teeny tiny one in “Take a Break,” during the verse where Angelica is reading the comma sexting letter. Eliza is onstage but out of the spotlight at this point, tidying up, and she’s bent over and closing the piano when they get to the “my Dearest...Angelica.” for a second she raised her head and half looked over her shoulder and i was like OOOHHHHH SHIT because it felt very, like, “Eliza knows about this flirtation but trusts Angelica not to overstep her bounds BUT is still deeply unsatisfied with how it is playing out” and i just. liked it. good shit.

- i think there’s a spectrum of “Burn”/post-“Burn” Elizas; in my mind i look at it as the spectrum of ice Elizas (exemplified by Pippa) to fire Elizas (exemplified by Aubin Wise/Lexi Lawson). Solea’s “Burn” fell closer to Pippa’s on that scale, very cold vengeance and restrained but ugly hurt, but after that song she ran even colder than Pippa’s Eliza. she didn’t break at all in “It’s Quiet Uptown,” not even when Ham did. her air was this frigidly magnanimous “yes. you did this to us. don’t presume to do it again,” and she looked to be the one supporting him as they exited. i don’t know that that’s my Eliza, but it was interesting to watch.

didn’t have super strong feelings about any of the revset/dual cast folks, aside from surprisingly Jordan Donica as Laf/Jefferson! was not expecting to jive on him, given Daveed is such a charismatic actor in both those roles, and he was clearly working hard for the trickier raps, but he was very funny and fun to watch.

- as Laf, he really got across the sheer Badness of Lafayette as a person, in the sense that he was deeply uncool and trying real hard and just. not. quite. making it. he was also very good at the physical comedy bits given that he is built like a man who is half human, half giraffe, and half random bag of pipe cleaners stashed in the back of the crafts closet of an elementary school classroom.

- seriously he is ALL LIMB. he TOWERED over everyone else onstage. A MONSTER. A MISSHAPEN GIANT

- he also played a very slick and menacing Jefferson who was constantly using his height advantage to attempt to intimidate Ham. didn’t work, obviously, but made for some very striking tableaux in the cabinet battles.

Ruben Carbajal had a lovely voice but i believed him more as Philip than as Laurens because HE LOOKED LIKE A LITERAL CHILD. HOLY SHIT. chubby cheeks and petulant pout and all. it was nuts. where is hamilton casting getting ahold of all these FETUSES

- as i mentioned i preferred Anthony’s Laurens but i did enjoy what a fratty little fucker Ruben’s Laurens came off as. like a hummingbird given human form. that was fun.

Mathenee Treco was a good Herc, kinda camp gay dad friend? which was unexpected but fun. his Mads was a little more vital than it seems like other people’s tend to run; he came off as someone who would overreach himself and then break down into coughing. something a little different.

i eh...didn’t particularly care for Isiah Johnson’s Washington. it was a fairly played straight Local Dad Fed Up With This Shit, Just Wants To Go Home And Build A Deck, which like...isn’t wrong, but there could be more, you know? eh. nothing’s perfect i guess.

i think it was @duckbunny who characterized Rory O’Malley’s King George as “bratty spoiled rich child throwing a temper tantrum” to Groff’s “sleazy abusive bf” King George? or maybe that was someone else? anyway i believed it, both because of his very round babyish face and because of his lack of poise compared to Groff’s King. he was scaryfunny. i habitually skip kgiii’s songs when listening to the cast album, so i was pleased to find myself enjoying all of them live. still think either “What Comes Next?” or “I Know Him” could’ve stood to be cut and replaced with...almost anything else to cover the costume change, really, but they’re fun, no big deal.

this has very little to do with anything but the ensemble featured dupes for Carleigh Bettiol, Betsy Struxness, and Ariana DeBose, i wasn’t sure what to do with this information, perhaps you are not sure what to do with it either, we can just hang out and be puzzled together, it’s chill

[mollymauk-teafleak]

On taking relationship advice from kindergarteners

I wrote a little thing for @oversaturated-ocean and our Alex/Eliza teacher AU! It follows on from their amazing fic, Staples and involves over enthusiastic kindergarten teacher Mr Hamilton attempting to start a relationship with the very kind and very pretty Nurse Schuyler. Which is a little tricky given that the last time they interacted, he fainted...

Most adults who met Alexander Hamilton, who knew him from his college days or bumped into him at the bar or at various rallies and marches and demonstrations would describe him as volatile. Argumentative. Hot tempered. And they wouldn’t exactly be wrong. Alex lent himself that brand from a single glance, with his wiry frame and his dark, dramatic eyes and mouth that was usually twisted in a frown and always ready to espouse opinions. Every inch of him, every brief conversation (as few people got away from Alex without hearing his sharp, animated voice) left most adults commenting that he was an angry man. A loud, brash and forceful kind of man who wasn’t particularly good at or bothered by getting people to like him.

These adults would probably laugh aloud if they were then told what Alex actually did for a living.

 The embittered, impulsive liberal scholar was how most people knew him. Unless of course they were one of the five year olds he taught kindergarten to at King’s Elementary.

Those little kids all knew Mr Hamilton to be one of the sweetest and kindest and funniest teachers there ever was. The guy who taught them geography by proudly sporting an old explorer’s hat he’d bought from a thrift store and took them on a grand Jules Verneian tour of the world and math with such patience and attention that no kid felt left behind or confused. The guy who always made time for a story at the end of the day, telling them with huge theatrical gestures and a whole cast of different funny voices, pacing around the room until every little set of eyes was on him. The guy who never, ever raised his voice when he was angry, he’d always sit and explain and listen and talk until following his word just made logical sense. The guy who accepted every flower and bottle cap and feather he was brought after playtime with a huge smile and a hug of thanks. Who tried to implement a Gold Star chart, with tiny stickers awarded to each child for good behaviour, but his definition of ‘good behaviour’ extended so wide that within a week there was no more room for any stars by anyone’s name. The whole thing was full up. So, he’d let the children go home on Friday afternoon with the gold stars decorating their cheeks instead, alongside huge smiles. To the kids, Mr Hamilton was the teacher who peppered his lessons with a little Spanish, who gave them all personalised nicknames, who let them sit on his knee and dry their eyes on his sleeve when a scraped knee or a too hard piece of homework or something at home made them cry. He would never press for details, not until the kid had them freely to give, the hugs and the tissues and the cheer up high fives always came first.

With his funny ties with cartoon characters and brightly coloured hair ties in his pony tail, his bright grin and his bouncy attitude, to his class Mr Hamilton was a hero.

 It had taken Alex a whole evening to decorate his classroom for Valentine’s Day; even after pulling a begrudging Peggy away from the secretary desk to help, it had taken hours until there were enough red streamers and craft paper hearts and pipe cleaner roses for Alex to be satisfied. The looks on the kids’ faces in the morning had been well worth the many paper cuts on his fingers and having to yet again explain to Principle Washington, yes this is vital for the children’s learning, no I won’t go overboard again like last year, yes, I’ll restock the stationary cupboard with glue.

Of course, Alex still taught them their usual lessons in the morning, helping them learn how to tell a triangle from a square and how to count to ten without using fingers and how to get a capital S the right way around. But he did do the whole thing with flashing love heart deelyboppers waggling away on top of his head, so he reckoned he was still on theme. But after lunch, the formalities were out of the way and the kids could really get into the spirit of things with making their own Valentine’s day cards. Of course, Alex made sure to explain that their cards could be for anybody, that there were lots and lots of different kinds of love for different kinds of people and they could celebrate any kind they wanted today.

Now usually during craft time, Alex would be weaving his way through the tables, picking his way around the mounds of glitter and growing swamps of paste and so many scraps of brightly coloured paper it looked like someone had fired off a confetti cannon. He’d be full of smiles and appreciation, oohing and ahhing and every little creation he was proudly shown, not minding in the slightest when he ended up with red finger paint prints on his shirt.

But today, he stayed at his desk, with his own little stack of card and pot of glitter and coloured pencils, frowning and concentrating so hard his tongue was poking out of the side of his mouth. Which of course caught his students’ attention immediately; when did their teacher ever sit still willingly?

“Mr Hamilton? Mr Hamilton?” one of the bolder girls called out, waving a pudgy little arm in the air.

Alex’s eyes flickered upwards briefly, “Need some help, Ruthie?”

“No, sir,” the little girl’s braids bounced as she shook her head, “Whatcha doing? You making a card too?”

Her question came with a dozen different interested little murmurs from the rest of the kids.

Alex actually blushed a little, another very unusual thing for him, “I, ah…I might be, sweetie.”

“Who’s it for?” little Julio asked, adding brightly, “Mine is for my dog!”

Alex gave him a crooked smile, though his blush got deeper, “That’s great buddy, I’m sure he’ll love it. Um…mine isn’t really for anyone, not in particular. I just thought I’d, ah, give it a go?”

Now, the children were young but not so young they couldn’t spot an obvious lie like that.

“Do you have a girlfriend, sir?” Ruthie pressed.

None of the children missed how their favourite teacher jumped a little at that question and was suddenly fidgeting, “No! No, I don’t! I…I don’t.”

“Do you have a boyfriend then?” little Yolanda asked, pushing her glasses back up her nose like she had to do about a thousand times a day.

“No, mija, I don’t have one of those either,” Alex answered a little more easily this time, very pleased they’d listened to him when he’d explained that their cards could be for boys or girls.

“Then why you making a card?” Ruthie still demanded, “If it’s not for anyone?”

Alex had to marvel at their tenacity but he was eager to steer the conversation somewhere else, “I’m not sure I really am making a card, apparently, arts and crafts isn’t my thing…”

He showed the students the evidence, a pretty pathetic looking piece of pink card with a wonky heart drawn on the front. Sure enough, he got a lot of little wrinkled noses in response and disapproving shakes of the head. Sometimes Alex found it hard to appreciate the honestly of small children.

“Sir, that’s not very good!” Julio told him plainly, “Don’t give that to anyone.”

“Well, I’m trying…and it isn’t for anyone, I told you!” Alex defended himself with a small smile, “I’m just not super creative like you guys are…”

“Oh, we’ll help you then!” Yolanda offered, her smile shy and sweet.

“Yes!” Ruthie jumped up onto the chair eagerly, no matter how many times Mr Hamilton begged her to be careful, “We’ll help you, sir!”

Twenty other little excited voices rose in a clamour until Alex was chuckling, holding up his hands in defeat and coming to join them at the craft table, pulling up a chair that was so small his knees almost came up to his ears when he sat on it.

“Alright, alright, I’ll let the experts show me how it’s done,” he smiled.

 The bell eventually rang for the end of the day, surprising them all. They’d all been having so much fun, they’d barely noticed the clock hands going by. There hadn’t been too many incidents, save half a tube of red glitter ending up in David’s lap, Jasmine insisting on sticking googly eyes on her own eyelids much to the amusement of everyone and a hair-raising moment when Mr Hamilton accidentally drank a mouthful of the water they’d been washing the brushes in rather than his coffee. But a card had been successfully made, the kind of very loud, very glitter covered, very…unusual Valentine’s day card that twenty kindergarteners and their teacher would put together. It could probably hang in the MoMA, Alex thought mildly, without raising too many eyebrows. The crudely drawn crayon dinosaurs could represent capitalism, the many googly eyes could mean government censorship…

Alex just hoped it would do the trick.

“Okay guys, that’s home time! Off you go…” he jumped up at the bell, steering all his little students towards the coat room, getting them as cleaned up as humanly possible, making sure nothing got left behind (he’d once had to drive to Yolanda’s house to return a much-treasured stuffed rabbit she’d left at school, knowing fine well she’d never be able to sleep without it). He did his usual thing of standing by the door and high fiving each one of them as they filed out and wishing them goodnight before the classroom door swung shut. There was always that one moment at the end of every day, where Alex would lean against the door and sigh tiredly but happily, knowing he’d successfully completed another day and relieved to have silence back in his life. Only for a moment though. Then he’d miss the kids.

He pulled the classroom together as best he could but it was inevitably going to be another day when the janitor was going to greet him with an exasperated look. No matter, he’d apologise profusely but for now, Alex had a job to do before he lost his nerve.

“No harm in trying,” he told himself firmly, looking at the pretty garish card in his hand before sighing and starting to stride down the hall.

 Alex probably made more visits to the nurse’s office than any other teacher, for several reasons. One being that his students were the youngest so inevitably ate more unusual objects without thinking, walked into more doors than others, tripped over tables more. Another was that Alex could maybe, possibly, potentially admit he was a bit overprotective when it came to his class, bundling them in his arms and taking them down to be seen to when maybe the need actually wasn’t too great?

But recently there had been another reason why Mr Hamilton seemed to be haunting the school’s little sick room, why he seemed to be making excuses to hang around there and knock on the door, why his playtime duty always seemed to take him down that particular corridor. A reason he hadn’t been able to admit to himself at first, only after his friends in the staff room had told him quite plainly that he needed to grow some balls, it could be seen from space, for God’s sake!

It was the same reason he was shaking with nerves as he pushed back the door, decorated with the little plate that read ‘Nurse E. Schuyler’ and flowers that she’d painted herself.

“Uh, Eliza?” he called out, hoping his voice didn’t shake, “Its me.”

Eliza swivelled round in her chair, her heart shaped face lighting up, “Alex! Hey!”

God, that smile could knock the breath out of him, Alex thought as he grinned and came in, leaning against the examination table with the card hidden behind his back, where it might stay depending on how his nerves held up.

He was a little gratified to see that Eliza had decorated for the holiday too, with strings of heart shaped bunting around her office and she was wearing a smaller string of them around her neck, even though they clashed with her pale blue flowery scrubs. Take that Mr Jefferson, it wasn’t just him being ‘a childish idiot’…

“So how was your day?” he asked, attempting a casual air, like he’d just dropped by for his usual chat. Like there was no potential awkwardness between them at all. Like last time they’d talked he absolutely, definitely hadn’t accidentally let slip about his huge crush on her while under the influence of pain meds she’d given him, after he’d accidentally stapled his hand…like he hadn’t passed out immediately after so he hadn’t been able to gauge her reaction…like he hadn’t also thrown up in front of her a bunch…

“Not too bad,” Eliza allowed, getting up and automatically going for two mugs to start making coffee, apparently on board with the ‘pretending that everything is all fine’ plan, “Poor Elliot had another asthma attack but he’s okay…Mr Madison got another nosebleed, scared the living daylights out of his fourth graders, he is okay, no matter what you hear from him…had lunch with Angelica and Peggy…so yeah, pretty good! One sugar or- wait,” her hand froze on the tin of coffee beans, she turned and eyed him suspiciously, “How many have you had today? Be honest?”

Alex grinned sheepishly and shrugged, “You got me. Sixteen.”

Eliza shook her head in mock despair, “Apple juice it is then…”

As mildly annoying as Eliza’s new ‘Mr Hamilton can only have fifteen coffees per day’ rule was, Alex would gladly have drunk anything if it meant he got to sit with her. And surely it showed she cared about him? That was a good sign, right?

“So how about you?” Eliza asked, eventually handing him a juice box. Her eyes travelled upwards to the little love hearts still merrily bouncing around on the springs on his headband, her grin getting brighter as she reached up and tweaked one, “You got into the spirit of things, I’m guessing?”

Alex went red, covering it up by taking a long pull on the straw, he’d forgotten he was wearing the damn thing still…

“Good!” he nodded, “Really good, the guys loved it…um…actually…while we’re on the subject, I have something for you?”

Now or never. Do or die.

Eliza blinked, tilting her head a little, “Oh?”

Alex bit his lip and nervously produced the card from behind his back, offering it out to her, “Happy Valentine’s day?”

Eliza’s jaw dropped a little at the sight of the card, still dripping glue and shedding craft feathers, but she had the grace to get over it quickly, showing nothing but delight, “Oh, Alex!”

“The, ah, the students helped me,” he confessed, her positive reaction encouraging him, “But I…I wrote the inside myself…”

He let her take it, his heart pounding in his chest as he watched her open it and read his careful handwriting.

Second date, you and me? Friday night, coffee after work? From, Alex

Eliza read the words a few times just to make sure that it said what she thought it said, her smile growing wider, willing herself not to giggle like a complete love struck idiot.

“Second?”

“Well,” Alex rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “Seeing as the first was technically you driving me to the hospital to get a staple pulled out of my hand and to check I hadn’t given myself a concussion by passing out. Sorry about that by the way.”

“It’s no trouble,” Eliza laughed, her eyes bright and wide as they met his, “Second it is. I’d love to, Alex.”

The urge to whoop and punch the air was strong but Alex managed to resist. Just about.

“Great!” he jumped up, suddenly animated, like her yes had flooded him with energy, “We’ll go to that stand by the gates at central park, the one that you said does the right amount of cinnamon and then we can walk or we can sit or whatever, anything, whatever you want!”

Eliza watched him, grinning, “Sounds utterly perfect.”

On a complete impulse, seizing a whim, she leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips, brief but so sweet and so gentle, it froze him in place. She had to laugh a little at his expression when she pulled away, he looked like he’d been shell shocked.

“Don’t faint again,” Eliza implored, springing his deelyboppers again.

 Alex managed not to, he even managed to keep his feet for another kiss before they parted. He manged not too as he strode back to his classroom, feeling so light on his feet he wasn’t completely convinced he wasn’t floating.

He wasn’t sure if he should tell his students. He wanted to thank them for their help, after all, but if they knew that Mr Hamilton did in fact have a girlfriend and it was their beloved school nurse, Ms Schuyler, well, they’d have the wedding planned before playtime.