TR: Waiting for the Bus (Levi and Damian)

[Event !]

Levi and a dwarf wait for a bus.

[Levi Xu]

Levi had spent a lot of time on the bus lately. Since Evan had transferred to Cornell, he hadn't seen him nearly as much as he'd wanted to. They'd worked out a system though. Levi would take the bus most of the way there, and Evan would pick him up at the bus stop after his classes. It meant that Levi spent most of Friday on the bus, but it was worth it.

Unfortunately, he hadn't charged his ipod the night before, so he wouldn't have anything to listen to for most of the trip. It was going to be a long, boring day.

Or it would have been, if someone else hadn't approached the bus stop just then. It was rare to meet a man who was shorter than him, so Levi watched him out of the corner of his eye. Usually, the 6am southbound bus wasn't too crowded, but he was pretty sure that bringing a bow and arrows on wasn't a good idea.

[Damien Tremblay]

Damien didn't often have a reason to take the bus, but his car was currently in the shop for the weekend. If he hadn't been planning on going out of town for the weekend, he would have tried his hand at fixing it himself. Instead, he'd been stuck giving it over to the auto shop and arranging to take the bus instead.

He was oddly excited about the little trip. He was meeting up with a friend from University who had also decided to come to the United States to work. He hadn't seen him in a long time, and they had a lot to catch up on. They had an entire weekend planned, and Damien was looking forward to it. Even if it meant being away from Josef for a few days, and having bribed him into looking in on Gypsy and Charlie for him.

All he had with him was a light duffel bag slung over his shoulder as he headed to the bus stop. Josef, Charlie, and Gypsy had all had their goodbyes, and now he was ready to go. If he was lucky, he'd get to enjoy of the side effects of his power and be ignored for the trip. He had his tablet tucked in his back, if he felt like watching a movie or doing a bit of reading for work. The trip was bound to be uneventful, right?

[Levi Xu]

Shit, he was probably staring. (Actually, he absolutely was.) He'd seen a lot of strange people at Hammel and in Pilot Ridge, but he'd never met a dwarf before. Particularly not one carrying weapons like that.

For a moment, Levi hesitated, wondering if he should comment on the arrows. They probably wouldn't be allowed on the bus. But this guy should know that, so bringing it up wouldn't help. And what if Levi made him mad? The teenager had a ton of questions, but knew better than to ask most of them. He wouldn't comment on the dwarf's lack of a beard, for instance, or that he was dressed in a way that really made him stand out.

Suddenly, something clicked in Levi's head. It was getting to be summertime, and dressing like a fantasy novel wasn't discouraged everywhere. "Are you going to a Renaissance fair?"

[Damien Tremblay]

Damien wasn't paying much attention to the boy waiting with him. He wasn't trying to be rude, he was just used to his power more or less making him harder to notice, so he didn't really try to do anything to deter that. (He was positive that Janice had some sort of ability to see through that, however. She always managed to find him, even in a crowd.)

For the record, the law clerk would have never thought to bring arrows on the bus. People could be dangerous enough without weaponry, and he had no desire to up the chances of an incident, especially in an enclosed space. All he wanted was a quiet ride and to be left alone, for the most part.

... Yeah, that was never going to happen. Not in Pilot Ridge. He should have known better.

When the boy finally spoke, Damien looked over at him with a questioning look on his face. Did he look like he was? Was it the fact his hair was getting a little long again? As reassurance he glanced down. Considering he was wearing jeans, a black t-shirt, and had a navy blue hoodie over his arm... no, that was definitely a no. He didn't think he looked that way at all. "Uh, no, I'm not. Why? Is there one happening nearby?" Not that he really cared, but if the kid was interested, maybe there was a reason.

[Levi Xu]

Levi liked a quiet bus ride too, and most of the time was able to go the whole distance while only talking to a few people. He was good at not being noticed, so long as he didn't say anything.

Levi looked the dwarf over again. Okay, so if he wasn't going to a Ren Faire, then what was he doing? "I, uh, don't know. You just looked like you were going to one. With the..." He gestured to the quiver on his back.

The boy blushed hard, not knowing what else to say. He knew he should know better than to strike up conversations with complete strangers like this, but he did it anyway. He always did it, because there were so many interesting people in Pilot Ridge. "I've never been to one. Are you supposed to be allowed to bring weapons onto the bus?"

Because that wasn't a weird thing to say.

[Damien Tremblay]

The seriously-not-dwarf was definately not going to a Ren Faire, no. He was just going for a visit with an old friend. What was so wrong with that?

Damien just blinked, clearly still unsure anout this whole thing. Out of curiosity he glanced to his shoulder, following Levi's gaze, but he saw... well, nothing. Just his overnight bag. Which was not housing weaponry, thank you very much. "... It's just an overnight bag." He was starting to wonder just how sheltered, or perhaps even high, this kid really was. He didn't think anything was out of the ordinary.

Note to self. Sit as far away from the kid as humanly possible.

When Levi quieted, Damien held out hope that he was done asking strange questions. Sadly, that wasn't the case. He gave him an odd look. "Weapons? Definitely not. ... Why?" God help him if the kid was trying to smuggle something onto the bus.

Why had his car chosen this week to die?

[Levi Xu]

It never occurred to Levi that the well-armed dwarf probably thought he was on drugs. It also didn't occur to him that Damien would probably want to sit the same distance (about a bus length) from Levi as he wanted to sit from the dwarf. (Did bows and arrows count as weapons that needed a permit to carry in public? He knew people hunted with them, but he only really knew that people still did that because of Daryl on The Walking Dead.

Levi gave Damien a weird look when he questioned him back. Why did he want to know about the weapons? Because the guy was carrying a bow and arrows on his back, that's why! He nervously slid down he bench, away from the man. "Oh, no reason. Just a question."

Yeah, like that wasn't suspicious.

((Wrap? Levi isn't going to push the conversation anymore.))

[Damien Tremblay]

If only Damien had been clued in to what the kid was looking at, or even more able to have fun with the idea of being something fantastic. Instead, he was just a little concerned about Levi, and confused. This could be a long bus ride.

He watched Levi slide down and sighed, shifting his bag on his shoulder. He hadn't meant to scare the kid off, though he wasn't sure how he'd managed that in the first place. Maybe he'd just spend the rest of the trip trying hard to stay minimally noticed, and read up on some case files on his tablet. Yeah, that was a good plan.

But it was still going to be a long ride.

(Sure, wrap. <3 Poor Levs.)