Street

[Lucie]

It has to be around here somewhere, Lucie thought to herself as she walked down the street. It'd be good if she found the hotel soon, it was almost dinner and she didn't want to be walking around town all night with a duffel bag under her arm. Even now she felt kind of suspicious. But a luggage bag would have been even weirder, right? What was the placed called again? Wagner. Yeah...

[Chris]

It had occurred to Chris that, despite always knowing in the back of his mind his parents' punishment would extend to his allowance, he really didn't expect them to be that cruel. Chris had no plans to compete with snotty rich kids but the pittance his parents had expected him to live off just didn't match up with the way he spent burned money (sometimes literally). This trip was supposed to be about him growing up but he thought that meant folding his own clothes and making his own bed, both things he he didn't plan on doing. He didn't know this extended to getting a job, the horror...

He had been up and down this upmarket street looking for people recruiting but they either didn't pay as much as he wanted, required he did manual labour (which wasn't above him but he knew there would be too many opportunities to goof off) or required he had some specialist training or experience. He was so banking on having jobs thrown at him him because fancy English accent but sadly that hadn't been the case. What an epic fail of a day... And now his lighter wasn't working to provide him the relief he needed.

"Hey blondie!" He yelled out to a passing girl with huge duffel bag in tow to get her attention, "You got a lighter?"

[Lucie]

Lighter. Did someone just say lighter? She thought she heard it in the distance. But Lucie didn't remember seeing anyone behind her. Should she turn around? That took effort, and her bag was feeling heavy. But she hadn't had any sort of contact with anyone besides airport staff for the last 12 hours. Maybe this was a good thing.

"Here," she said turning around slightly to see who was behind her (and whether they would give her lighter back). She stopped for a second, pulled it out and handed it to the guy. He was tall- taller than her, that was obvious. But she still got adolescent vibes. Hmm.

[Chris]

"Thank you sweetheart," He beamed. This cigarette would be all the more amazing after the shitty and unproductive day he'd had. He lit up quickly and handed it back to her. The first pull relieved all the annoyance at being poor and being too picky to fix it. His shoulders slumped and his body felt less tense, dying early from chain smoking felt worth it to feel the instant relaxation he'd just experienced. "You are truly a life saver..." He said almost turning away before seeing she was struggling slightly with her bag. "Where you going? I can carry that for you, to say thanks?" He offered. He wasn't usually so grateful such a small trivial act but at least helping out a stranger meant his day was more productive than if he'd just laid in bed all day.

[Lucie]

"You're welcome, and thanks," Lucie replied. How polite of him. She pulled her water bottle out of it and handed him the bag, hoping that'd make it just a little lighter. "Just for a sec," she nodded to him. "I'm going to the Wagner hotel. If I can find it..." she said flatly. Was annoyed at herself but no more than usual. She had a terrible sense of direction. Not that she wouldn't eventually figure this town out without a map of some sort, but she did take a little longer than most people find her way around. Maybe this guy here could help her with that too?

"Don't happen to know where that is, do you?"

[Chris]

Chris really wasn't expecting her to be so willing to let him carry her stuff. He was some expecting some feminist/girl power bitchy rant about being able to carry it herself or at least some apprehension of him running him away and going through her underwear or something. He accepted the bag and thankfully didn't struggle with the weight because not only would that have been embarrassing, he didn't like having to exert himself physically. "No problem, if my dad wasn't a dickhead, I'd like think he'd raise me not to leave a damsel in distress," He laughed as he followed her until she stopped.

The Wagner hotel rang a bell, he'd probably been in there asking for a job. He rolled up his sleeve to consult the map he'd drawn on his arm to aid his earlier task, now it was actually of use. "Yeah... It should be at the road to the left there," He said gesturing ahead of him. "You a tourist? ...Or a hooker?" He asked, she didn't look like a hooker but that was the only other reason why she'd need to be at a hotel.

[Lucie]

"Uh, no, not a hooker," Lucia replied, shaking her head. Not really insulted, but she did wonder if she gave off that vibe. Was this a shady part of town? She thought she had seen a Louis Vuitton somewhere, that meant it should be okay.

"I bake cupcakes. And go to school here," she said with a nod. Not sure why she had to say that. Maybe it was to make sure he knew she wasn't a prostitute.

"What are you doing in town?" she asked him in return.

[Chris]

Chris liked people who didn't insult easy. He was trying to, he was just being inquisitive. If she were a hooker, he'd expect her to be one of those hi end ones, she was pretty enough and the Wagner didn't seem the place that tolerated crack whores in their establishment.

He was about to go with his next suggestion of secret agent battling save the world, needing residence in the centre of town to assist in her mission and her bag was full of cool spy stuff but she didn't give him time to guess which was perhaps a good thing because he'd have never come up with that. "You got any cupcakes in the bag?" He asked curiously. The prospect of cupcakes was more exciting then her being a spy with a death ray or x-ray goggles.

"I was looking for a job that paid $200 a week, only required me to work 2 hours a week and work to consist of me playing guitar hero but apparently someone's daughter got the job which is sucky..." He joked, "I'm Chris by the way," He added.

[Lucie]

"Cupcake store might be looking for more help," Lucie shrugged, making a half-serious suggestion. "Might have to pay you in cupcakes though." She thought about that for a second, how many cupcakes would it be? $200 worth?

"And...no I don't have any in the bag. I do have a box of ginger thins though," she said as a side note, not sure if she should be offering strangers food, and if strangers found it strange for her to do so. She remembered being told something about that, except she wasn't really listening at the time so that was all she could remember.

"Chris? I'm Lucie," she said and held out her free hand to him.

[paused]

[Chris]

Working in a cupcake store? That sounded like the dream job Chris had never gotten round to fantasizing about. But then there was probably a reason why he hadn't, "Wouldn't a job like that involve a hair net?" He asked wearily. Could he do that? Sacrifice his hair for the money to get wasted? It was pathetic that he had to think so hard about it...

He looked down sullenly when she said she had no cupcakes in her bag. Surely that showed poor commitment to her job, well maybe not but now that cupcakes were the subjects of conversation, he really wanted one. Ginger thins however were almost as good though, "Is that an offer to share?" He asked hinting shamelessly. There was no harm in trying right?

He stopped walking to take her hand, having to switch the hand he held his cigarette in so he didn't burn her, and instead of just simply shaking her hand like she had no doubt been gesturing to do, he kissed her hand instead. He couldn't help but smirk at his cheesy that was but he was in a weird mood today, well weirder... "Nice to meet you Lucie," He said with a smile and continued on to her destination.

[Lucie]

"Not really, you either work at the counter or decorate them, no baking involved," Lucie shrugged. At least that was what they told her.

Then she was a bit taken aback by his greeting, to be honest she was more used to kisses on the cheek than this, it all seemed very...English? Okay she didn't know that for a fact, having never been to England. "Oh, ginger things, yeah, give me a second," she said while leaning over to take them out of her bag and handed him three.

"So, where are you heading?"

[Chris]

He thought about it for a second. He could do that... Well maybe not so much decorating, his artistic skills weren't his finest point and his less than stellar concentration skills didn't help. But he could work at the counter, he was a people person, a social whore, he'd be great at it. "Hmm I might check that out," He said with a brief nod.

He took the biscuits from her, surprised by her generosity. There were few good friends he'd give up food for, let alone strangers but he didn't question it. "Thanks," He said gratefully.

He was perplexed for a minute, wondering why she had asked him where he was going when she knew full well he was carrying her bag to that hotel but the cogs in his head worked through his momentary brain freeze eventually, "Oh what after this?" He asked kind of stupidly, but better to get confirmation then to go off on the completely wrong tangent. "Well I really should find a post office so I can find out if the 'grow your own weed pack' Dan sent me has finally got here or got seized by customs..." It took a minute before Chris remembered he was talking to a stranger who could actually still be a spy like he had imagined and was using this cupcake store worker persona as a disguise or just be a police officer, or someone who enjoyed talking to the police, "Erm weed is cooky English slang for... daisies," He stuttered, he wasn't totally lying, he was pretty sure daisies were a form of weeds, they just happened to be prettier. Yeah he wasn't lying... "And then I was gonna see I could find the beach, see if its any nicer then the shitty excuses I had back home," He informed her, hoping adding that would distract her from what he had said firest. "What about you, any plans for this evening?"

[Lucie]

Lucie paused for a second to wonder if she had put anything in those ginger thins. Nah. That was the other bag. Lucie just really liked baking!

Then he mentioned weed. That she liked too. This kid didn't seem like a cop or anything, so what was the harm? "By weed you mean...grass?" she whispered. As far as she remembered that was probably not so legal here.

"Oh and later...not doing anything, just dropping my bags off and checking in. Yeah."

[Chris]

He leaned in closer to her in a similar fashion, "Grass as in cannabis pot, hash, ganja?" He asked, just to make sure they were properly on the same wave length, you could never bee too careful. "Why?" He asked looking around, there didn't seem to be a squat team around... "You know where to get some?" He asked, trying to not sound too excited about the prospect of finally getting high. If he could remain composed enough, if she was a cop he could attempt to double bluff her. Sure it was highly unlikely that plan would work but it was nice to have options.

He frowned at her answers. "You're gonna sit in a hotel room all night? That's crap, even with hotel porn," He said a little too casually, "Come explore with me?" He offered.

[Lucie]

"Yes...so would you, hypothetically speaking, be interested if I did have some imaginary grass?" Lucie leaned in and asked him in an even lower whisper. No need to panic. If he was a cop she could just sack him and make a run for the nearest bus station, and off to Atlanta she'd go. Good plan, she commended herself.

"Explore? Sure, why not," she nodded.

[Chris]

Chris' eyes shot open with disbelief. Is this what dealers looked like abroad?! Maybe leaving England had its merits if it meant he wouldn't find himself in dank smelly alley ways with greasy psychopaths to get his next hit. "I might be interested..." He murmured, trying to hide the glee in his voice, finally...

"Awesome," He grinned brightly, not noticing or caring that Lucie didn't share his excitement for their now joint plans. Anything done with someone else as apposed to alone was much more interesting, he found.

[Lucie]

"There it is," Lucie said as she pointed at the hotel in the distance. "Gimme a sec," she added and grabbed her bags so she could check in. Then she asked for the bellboy. Busy. Hmmm. Even at this time of night?

"Could you give me a hand? Just upstairs," she said as she ran out gave her bags back to him again. "There's an elevator, no worries."

[Chris]

He looked to where she was pointing befuddled. There was weed in that hotel sign? And then he remembered the original reason they had started talking. Luckily for him hadn't opened his notoriously fallible mouth. "Right of course," He said watching her dash in.

Struggling to keep his balance as her bags were chucked back at him haphazardly, he nodded with a lazy smile, "No problem," Not that it seemed she had really given him any choice in the matter.