this is a [test] of the emergency broadcast system

[titansno]

TEST DRIVE MEME

> The Park. Man, what a nice day out. Why not enjoy it? I'm sure -- shit, yep, there's some echo monsters.
> The Mall. Exactly what it says on the tin! Dodge the hordes of teenage mallrats or take part, whichever suits your tastes.
> Rainy Day. Agh, it's fucking awful out. And is it raining those vermilion things?? Now you've got an Echo to contend with on top of everything else. Find some shelter, quick!
> PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, HOW FUN
> The most horribly kitschy Arts and Crafts Fair you can imagine.
> Wild Card! Make up your own.

Comments

[action]

[sayhitobianca]

Varric will take whatever the hell seat he wants, all right. He's been caught out in the rain and chased by possible hallucinations - in which case he will be most definitely finding those tea makers again, and not for more tea - or possible mutated animals of some kind.

Either way, he's had a bad day. And that means he's sitting his ass down in the first seat he sees that's far enough from the front that the bus driver won't see him very well.

Even if it's next to a nosy kid.

"Tell that to the Renaissance Faire people."

[action]

[darkinferno]

"They at least have the sense to leave the crossbows where they belong," Riku points out. He's not even sure how the other man managed to get on the bus in the first place; since when has carrying a crossbow in broad daylight become socially acceptable? This guy's going to get the both of them in trouble.

"You might at the very least consider getting it out of sight. I think you're scaring that old woman three rows down."

To say nothing of the bus driver glancing in the rearview mirror and catching sight of it.

[action]

[sayhitobianca]

Because he's Varric, and he can get away with anything, that's how. And also because when it's partially collapsed and slung over his back, apparently he can move quickly enough that inattentive bus drivers don't even notice.

But mostly because he's Varric.

"She belongs here just as much as I do." Which is not at all, but the kid doesn't need to know that.

Though granted, he probably should put it out of sight. But now that he has her - it - he's finding it hard to stop looking. "She's three rows down, if she's looking over here enough to get concerned, maybe she should mind her own business."

[action]

[darkinferno]

The kid doesn't need Varric to tell him how little he really belongs there. It's obvious enough just by glancing at him. A smirk tugs at the corner of Riku's lips. "You don't take the bus that often, do you? As soon as you set foot on that first stair, everything about you became fair game for speculation. Frankly, I'd be more worried if you weren't getting stares right now."

The quick, uncertain glances? Those are normal enough. Those mean she'll be going to her neighbors later and telling them all about the fellow on the bus she saw. It's when people are pointedly not looking in your direction you have to worry--those are the people that are more likely than not to get off the bus and immediately point you out to the nearest LEO.