halo 'n horns [klance au]

5. First Stop

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Lance

The bus driver wouldn't shut up. I hate to be rude and it's really against the Upperworld's morals, but I was tired from flying Keith and myself to the nearest long-distance bus station and I honestly just wanted to sleep.

Keith had refused to sit next to me, which I didn't mind, but he was starting to look pretty agitated by the drivers babbling and I was starting to get worried. For all I knew (and by an educated guess), devils had short tempers.

After Keith had given me his impossible list, I figured out the things that I could accomplish easily, and then the things that I'd have to pull some strings to get, and then the things that were virtually impossible, even for me. What an ass, I'm sure he was doing it on purpose.

The bus driver started going off on a rant about the cold up in New England, and as I glanced over at my devil, I noticed that the whites of his eyes were an alarming shade of black.

Gritting my teeth, I hastily pulled out a pen and an unused napkin from my bag, using my thigh as a writing surface as I drew out the game. I passed the pen and napkin across the aisle to Keith quickly, nudging him with the pen cap.

His head snapped towards me, already scowling. "What?" He whispered incredulously, glancing down at the Hangman game I'd drawn.

"Let's play," I whispered back.

"Why?"

I rolled my eyes, then gestures towards the bus driver. "So my ears don't start bleeding, idiot. Take the napkin."

Keith looked down at the game again, then looked away. Was he... embarrassed?

"I don't know how to play..." he muttered under his breath. I had to bite the insides of my cheeks to keep from laughing.

Teaching Keith how to play Hangman was equally terrifying and hilarious. He absolutely sucked at playing, and each time he didn't get a letter right, the face he made nearly made me burst out laughing. I valued my life, though, so I kept quiet.

Before we knew it (and several Hangman games later that I let Keith win) we'd arrived at the airport. As we stepped off the bus, I had to remind myself that Keith had never seen an airport before. He'd never really seen anything. On the plane ride, I'd have to explain the basics to him (manners, too).

"Where are we going, anyway?" Keith asked as we walked up to the ticket machines, waiting in line for our turn.

"To one of the places on your list," I dismissed vaguely. I could at least have some fun dragging Keith around the world if I could keep everything we did a secret from him until we were actually there. He looked antsy, curious, and that was strangely satisfying.

As we walked through security after getting our tickets, taking off our shoes and belts, a security guard joked with me about our lack of bags, save for my small leather knapsack. The truth was, we didn't need anything. We could pick up books in one of those shops on the way to our terminal if we needed anything and there were plenty of shows and movies to watch on the plane, I was sure.

After exiting security, I led Keith to the bathrooms, speaking in a low voice as we approached. "You can't get onto a plane with jeans and a t-shirt, at least not where we're sitting." Concentrating, I materialized a set of clothes inside my bag, then reached in and retrieved them as if they'd been in there the whole time. We were still in public, I couldn't go materializing random things out of nowhere in the public eye, and making them invisible would just be a waste of Energy.