Procrastinators on Stage (Chris Kendall/crabstickz fanfic) *unedited*

Part 5- I Don't Like Shopping

"Carrie, I'm hungry."

"Carrie, my feet hurt."

"Carrie, it's cold."

"Just get your Oyster cards out," Carrie sighed in good humour as we complained to her, making our voices as whiney and irritating as possible. We were walking through the lower levels of the Underground and up to the gates where we'd scan our cards to gain access to the train system and to also pay for our travels. Before we'd come down, I'd even checked the amount of money on my card, to find that I had approximately £40 on it, definitely enough to take me to the moon and back.

Carrie, Lucy and Mia almost led me by the hand around the Tube network. I'd been away so long, and there had been so many changes to the stations, I would have been lost without them. The air smelt musty and damp, which was maybe being encouraged by the rain which had fallen in the early hours of the morning, leaving trails of water to drip down the Tube steps. Because it was a Saturday, there were lots of Londoners who were on the search of shop clusters for them to drift around for a few hours, much like what we were planning to do.

Carrie had apparently planned the day with Lucy, keeping quiet about it around Mia, who only knew that we were having a day out where she would be treated like royalty, with me tagging along in the whole endeavour. And for that reason entirely, I had no idea what we were doing today apart from shopping. Now, I like shopping as much as the next person, but at the moment, I was more concerned about my travel sickness. Yes, I'd taken my anti-sickness pills, and eaten ginger biscuits, as well as carrying a few biscuits in my bag, but my travel sickness has always been one of those concerns which constantly hovers in my peripheral vision.

The scanner blipped tunelessly as we each scanned our cards over it, moving our way through the barriers after we'd been given that tone of approval. I pocketed my card again before hiding my hands in my coat pockets and following them all yet again.

The crowd of pissed off business people at the scanners knocked me around as if I were a ship at sea. The very thought of that movement made me feel queasy, and I struggled to keep my eyes looking upwards and around for Carrie and the others. Mia was the easiest to keep my eyes on. Of course she was tallest, but she also had her curly hair with her animal ears revealing themselves if she tipped her head in any direction.

I fell through the barriers and barely managed to catch myself on the other side by gripping to a stranger's arm, making them dip down slightly in time with me.

"Sorry," I grumbled as the person steadied me by lifting me back to my feet by the hand. I pulled my hand away from this person. Instead of looking at them, I distracted myself by pulling at the hem of my dress and kicking dirt off my boots.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," the person said gruffly, drawing my gaze upwards at their voice. This man had practically white hair that stick around his head in peaks, with an oversized rucksack slung over his shoulder. His other hand was linked with the hand of an elven looking girl, who stood to his other side. Yet another girl with dark curly hair was hovering next to that girl. This guy was surely a player of some sort.

"Are you okay? You took fair stumble," the man asked me again as he chewed on his lip. The two girls' faces remained neutral as he spoke to me.

"I'm fine," I said as I tucked my hands away in my pockets once again. He made an amused noise from his throat before he tipped his head at me and swept away with the two girls. Definitely a player.

I spent five minutes walking round trying to find Carrie, Mia and Lucy again, and eventually found them looking over the crowd from the high vantage point of being stood atop a bench. Lucy was the one to spot me, despite being the shortest. She yelled out my name and ran towards me, grinning manically as she started to jabber on about the little adventure the three of them had gone on to find me.