Newyork City was significantly different from any English city Harry had visited... Even London looked like a village compared to it, the countless skyscrapers making Harry feel insignificant in the grand scheme of things. The only thing comparable was the Ice Palace that the Lich owned, which was now destroyed...
Why had they come here instead of any British city? Well, since more of England and Europe were still searching for him, it was better to steer clear of it... At least, until he found the location of the rats that'd stolen his gold...
"Kali, why are we even here?" Harry asks the bat on his shoulder, wondering just what she wanted to achieve by taking him here.
"I told you before, you're here to learn how to properly interact with the humans of this world..." she states.
Harry shakes his head, "Why? I don't care about them, or about how I speak to them. The only person I care about is you..." he sincerely admits.
"Hooh? What about Nanthisk?" Kali asks in a teasing tone.
Harry shrugs, "He's not really a 'person' though, is he?" he replies, quickly realising how bad that sounds now that he says it out loud.
"Master, the only people you speak to are me, our sl-servants, and your familiar." she says, correcting her trip midsentence. "Even for me, that wouldn't be healthy... As a child, you need to learn as much as you can."
"Like what? I'm getting strong, I can survive on my own, and I can summon any demon to do something if I'm found lacking."
Kali shakes her head which look somewhat humourous in her bat form, "Can you dance?"
Harry crooks a brow, "Er, no?"
"Can you manipulate someone?"
"I-I can make them do what I wan-" he starts but quickly gets interrupted.
"Without violence?"
...
"No..." he admits.
She shuffles across his shoulder and closer to his head, "Can you woo a woman?"
"Why would I need to do that?" he questions somewhat innocently, "I have you, don't I?"
Kali's bat form lets out a squeak as she presses herself against his neck and face, "Oh, you're so cute, master! But you can't buy me so easily! You know exactly what I mean!" she says as if she wasn't currently tightly cuddling him with her wings.
"No, I mean really. Why would I need to? You're not going to leave me, and I don't see myself liking any regular human girl, in that way at least... Plus if I want something or someone, I'll just take it." he states, causing Kali to give him a look.
"I'm not like everyone else." he continues, looking around at the thousands of people crowding around the Newyork streets. "These people, they would hurt me if they ever got to know me. They wouldn't care about the reasons I had, or whether I was forced to make them, they'd just make their judgement and move on to the next person."
"You're just brooding, Master. Just because these humans don't possess magic or haven't experienced the things you have doesn't make you completely different from them. I'm sure some have had it better, and some have had it worse. Don't forget that you are still human too." Kali reminds him.
Harry slowly nods, "Human for now." he states with certainty. "Why are you asking me this anyway? You're making it sound like you're going to leave me one day or something?... You aren't going to leave me, right Kali?" he asks, resting a hand on her bat form while unconsciously applying some pressure to her.
"I'll never leave you master, but that doesn't mean you must be completely reliant on me for some matters. I want you to grow up the strong, handsome, fierce man I know you could be."
Harry gives a foxy smile, "None of which include these 'social skills' you're trying to throw at me."
Kali shrugs her wings, "I believe handsome and fierce both concern it. A fierce man without grace and knowledge is just a barbarian..." a metaphorical lightbulb flickers to life above her head, "Think of it like those Jedi and Sith in StarWars. They are cool, right? But would they be cool if they spoke like idiots, and were unable to converse without coming across like an uncultured savage?"
Harry finds himself unconsciously nodding, "Darth Vader was pretty cool... But that's different!"
"How?"
...
"I can just choke people if they disagree with me. There, simple!" he says, his tone turning childishly grumpy as he knew he'd lost this argument. He lets out a sigh, "Hah, fine. What do you want me to do?"
Kali looks around the area and points a wing at a nearby hotdog stand, "Go buy one, make conversation with the seller."
...
"Really? This is your idea?" Harry deadpans.
She slaps his neck with her wing, "No questions, go do it!"
Harry lets out a huff and does as he's told, marching over to the line of the hotdog stand and waiting until it's his turn. It's early rush-hour so many people are wanting to buy one before they get to work.
Finally, it's his turn, the gruff man with a soiled shirt looks at him expectantly, "What're you havin' kid? You're ma' send you to get sommin'?"
Harry shrugs, hiding his slight nerves at being put on the spot, "One-" he starts but gets tapped on the neck by Kali, "-Two hotdogs please."
The guy snorts, "Geez, make up your mind... You've got cash, ain't ya kid?" he asks just as he's about to begin preparing the food.
Harry pauses, realising that he didn't have any of the local currency, he glances to Kali who was motioning to something with a wing, but he wasn't able to figure it out quick enough since both the hotdog seller and the rest of the people in the line were all staring at him.
"Can we order while the kid figures out what he's doing? I don't have all day." the person behind him asks, ignoring Harry entirely.
The stall owner shakes his head, "Give the kid a break, he's what, twelve years old, alone in the middle of the Big Apple. You gotta problem you can sid-down and eat somewhere else buddy."
The guy beside Harry clicks his tongue before focussing on the young boy, "Well? Get to it then, unless you ain't got any cash at all."
Harry just shakes his head, finally getting annoyed at the noisy Americans, "Just give me the food," he says before looking at the guy beside him, "And you, be quiet." he growls the command, unconscious channelling raw magic and anger into his voice.
All of a sudden, the stall owner and people lining up freeze with blank expressions...
*Thwap!*
"Master! Don't do that again! Had I not interfered you'd have made them all go braindead or berserk! Not to mention bringing the local magicals here!"
Harry folds his arms, "Well what did you want me to do? I didn't have any money to do what you said! It's like you're trying to annoy me!"
"I was pointing down at your pocket! I stole a wallet earlier." she chides, causing Harry to pull said wallet out.
"W-why didn't you say so!?"
"Because you need to see how bad you are... Look, just having an issue while buying a hotdog and you almost mindwipe these humans! See what I mean?"
...
"Whatver..." Harry mutters before turning to the dazed hotdog seller, "Oi, give me the food, now. I've already paid." he says, causing the man to start robotically doing his job. Two Newyork hotdogs later and the duo were walking far away from this street, cautious of the magicals that might have dedicated the use of magic.