Sticking Around

Who: Mathias and Olivia
Where: Lower Harbour Park
When: mid-morning

When Mathias left Dorian's house, he didn't really have any clue where he was going. He had no intentions of leaving town - one, because he'd told Caleb he wouldn't, but also, and just as importantly, because to leave now would leave bad blood between him and Dorian and Mathias didn't burn bridges, not with people he cared about. Unless hell was on his heels and he had no choice, he wouldn't be leaving until he'd fixed things with his brother. As he'd told Caleb the night before, his family was everything to him because what else did he have?

He didn't know what to do about Dorian though. He’d not thought they had any issues, that they were good. Right up until the moment he’d arrive in town. Right from that moment, there’d been something – at first it had been easy to brush off, but the comments had kept on coming. Almost the first words out of Dorian’s mouth had been warning him off, and whilst comments about destruction of property and bringing trouble to town were funny and easy to take when they were one off, when they were regular, he couldn’t help but wonder how much his brother was actually ‘joking’.

Mathias knew his reputation, of course. He’d regaled Dorian with numerous stories of what he’d got up to – the bad as well as the good. But Mathias had never brought shit down on his family. Never. Sure, he’d taken them with him to look for it, he’d brought them to trouble – but never the other way round. And the repeated suggestions that he would do so? Hurt.

He wondered if Dorian had meant it, if he’d meant to come across like that. Mathias was wiling to give him the benefit of the doubt. Heaven knew that the guy had been under a fuck load of pressure recently. Mathias knew he wouldn’t be able to cope even for a day doing the stuff that Dorian seemed to enjoy – the store, the stable home, everything that went with that. Mathias thought his brother was crazy, but if that was what he wanted to do? Good for him – each to their own. Dorian was doing his own thing and making it work.

But all in all, it was better that he wasn’t there – the house wasn’t big enough anyway and there was always the underlying tension between himself and Tensiel (though he made concerted efforts not to be around at the same time she was). He couldn’t approve of the angel and though he’d keep her secrets, that didn’t mean he’d ever like or approve of her. And if she set her sights of Caleb? And it looked like he’d reciprocate? Mathias might have to do some rethinking there.

But right now, he had his own problems. Mostly of the ‘I now have nowhere to live’ variety. Not that he hadn’t faced that situation before. He had, and often. He just hated motels. So he was putting the decision off as long as possible. And in the meantime, he was spending this rather crappy day sitting in the park, bag at his feet, watching the world go by.

It had taken twenty three blocks. She thought. Maybe not. But her feet were certainly sure of the distance. It had been worth it, however, to see Lake Superior, though the wind blowing off of the water was a bit cool. She walked through the park for awhile before deciding to take a break off of her feet. Olivia ignored the man sitting a few feet away and throwing her bag at her feet, she began to rummage.

When she found her last pack of cigarettes, she pulled them out and began searching for her lighter. Cursing under her breath, Olivia felt around blindly beneath her stuff, finally dumping most of it out on the ground. But there was no lighter. Scowling, Olivia glanced up at the man several feet away and, deciding he looked like he might smoke, Olivia took a chance.

"Cigarette?" she offered, holding one out to him with the hopes that he'd take it. Then she could borrow his own light.

"Sure," Mathias said, giving her a friendly smile as he reached over to take the proffered cigarette. He pulled out his lighter and lit it, leaning back and taking a drag. "Thanks - you're a princess."

"Yeah." Olivia watched for a moment, rolling the cigarette between her thumb and forefinger before she grinned. "Can you be a prince and let me borrow your lighter?"

He chuckled a little at that and tossed it in her direction. "So, tell me - if you'd had a lighter, would you still have offered me a cigarette/" he asked her, sounding amused.

Catching the lighter, Olivia lit the cigarette and leaned over to hand it back, exhaling the smoke before she answered. "'Course I would have," she replied with a quirky grin. Truth was, she wouldn't have unless he asked. Cigarettes were expensive and she didn't have the money to buy anymore after her last four were gone. "You looked like you needed one."

He took another drag and laughed at that. "Am I really that transparent?" he asked her, cocking an eyebrow as he looked at her sideways. He moved up on the bench. "You wanna sit down?" he asked her. "And do you have a name, or am I gonna be calling you 'princess' from now on?" he asked her - always forward with the introductions. MAthias liked to get to know people.

Olivia eyed the bench warily for only a moment before sitting. She slipped a foot under the strap of her bag and pulled it toward her, letting it rest at her shoes. "Olivia," she responded after slight hesitation. "But since you were so kind as to let me use your lighter, you can call me whatever you want."

Mathias caught her action out of the corner of his eye, but said nothing. His own bag sat free at one end of the bench. He didn't bother keeping too much of an eye on it - if someone was stupid enough to ry and take it? Unless they were really special, he could run them down and then they'd wish they'd never been born. "Well, Olivia, I'm Mathias - it's a pleasure to meet you," he said, giving her his full attention. "So, you new in town as well?" he asked her.

Olivia slipped the cigarette from her lips and exhaled the smoke in the opposite direction before turning toward him and lifting a delicate eyebrow.

"Am I that transparent too?"

Mathias' eyes finally batted down to the bag, then back to her face. "It's the bag," he told her. It kinda gives you away. He nodded to his own bag. "I arrived a few days ago. I've been staying with friends-" He rarely said 'relatives' to strangers. "-but there's only so long you can sleep on one person's couch."

Olivia couldn't help but smile at his assertion. A couch would be heaven compared to a park bench. But still he had a point.

"I've spent my fair share of time sleeping on couches," Olivia admitted. She glanced at his bag, and then at him, wondering about his situation. "So are you just wandering around now? Your friends aren't making you like...homeless or anything, are they?"

"Me? Homeless?" he asked, sounding surprised. "They're not making me homeless, I just tend to wander anyhow. I'll probably end up in a motel tonight if I don't figure something out before then," he shrugged, sounding easy about it. "Or the backseat of my car. Either way. YOu?" he asked her.

"Me? No, I'm not homeless," Olivia lied smoothly, grinning at him. It was an odd conversation to be having with a stranger, discussing their current non-living situations. "Cars are extremely uncomfortable," she continued, sweeping her gaze over him. "You're too tall, you'll be hurting in the morning."

"I've been doing it for years - you learn to sleep in a ball," he joked. "And it's more comfortable than a park bench." Which he'd also done in the past - though only once. He'd felt far too exposed, though he'd not had the same feeling the times he'd slept on a beach in a warm climate. Possibly because at least on a beach it felt like one side was guarded - very little came at you from the water.

"All you need is a soft jacket and a makeshift pillow for the park benches," Olivia explained lightly, nudging her bulky bag with the tip of her shoe as an example. She flicked the cigarette away and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket. "It's none of my business, but your friends really shouldn't let you sleep in a ball in your car, or on a park bench."

Mathias gave her half a smile. "If it was up to my friends, I wouldn't be," he assured her. "This is completely my choice. Sometimes living in too close quarters risks friendships and I'd prefer a couple of nights dossing in my car and to still have my friends, than to have a roof over my head and risk losing them. And thank you for the park bench advice - I'll remember that," he added. "So, what brings you to Marquette then?" he asked her, taking a last long drag on his cigarette.

It was a strange admission, but a truthful one. She couldn't really relate to him on the subject of friends, as most of the people who let her crash in their homes over the past two years did so for a fee. Everything came with a price.

"Uhm, a change. I was living in Chicago for a couple of months, D.C. before that...and before that, New York City. I guess I got tired of the big city life. Crowds, expenses." Leaning back on the bench, Olivia stretched her legs out in front of her. Why she was saying this to a complete stranger was beyond her. "I got bored, so I hitched a ride and this is where he decided to drop me off. What about you?" she asked, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. "Visiting the aforementioned friends?"

"Yeah," Mathias agreed. "I travel around a lot - was over on the West coast for a while. Fancied a change and my feet led me here." Which, of course, was true whilst not being the strict truth. But then again, in Math's world, the truth was generally what he said it was anyhow.

Olivia nodded, wondering what it would be like to just travel to wherever you pleased without having the stigma of running plastered upon you.

"It's nice, isn't?" she asked. Hefting her bag up from the ground, Olivia slipped the strap over her head to her shoulder. "Coming and going as you please? No obligations, or attachments."

He tilted his head to one side and considered this. Not for a moment did he consider that she might not actually beleive what she'd just said. "Yeah, it is," he agreed. "Thanks for the smoke, by the way."

"You're welcome. Thanks for the light." Olivia stood, not really eager to get on her way, but she certainly couldn't sit here and talk to a stranger all day. "I should go." Where, she wasn't sure. Adjusting the strap of her bag awkwardly, she glanced at him. "Are you sticking around town for awhile?"