Higher Education

Okay. Not back to the dorms. That was probably the best course of action. The parka man was nowhere in sight, but Levi was still getting the feeling that something not quite normal was happening. No random person on the street would care enough to chase them through a building and out into a crowded area but Winston seemed to think that this one would. And the fact that he'd assumed this guy was a stalker was a bit strange as well, considering neither of them had ever seen him before. There was no need to assume that this man was more than a mugger who failed his attempt at them.

Not that Levi was going to broach the subject. Here, at this moment, he felt better than he had in weeks- than he had since he'd left his father- because right here it was like being a soldier all over again albeit with much less risk involved. One of the things that seemed to confuse his friends was the fact that he'd always felt more grounded in the military than he did back at home. It was something he couldn't really explain, though he had tried to. Something about how he didn't have to think or feel like a person, he just had to do as he was told.

"Of course. Would a cafe be good for us to hide out in? There's a busy one close to here."
 
Winston was slacking off in his level of emotional composure, because he actually let out a sigh when Levi simply dropped the subject and offered a place to hide out. It wasn't much, but it was enough for an attentive person to guess it was out of relief, and Winston was still not sure how attentive Levi actually was. So the best course of action would be to move past it, and not give the man any time to linger.

"Sure, yeah, that should be fine." He replied to the suggestion, taking one more glance at their surroundings before just barely slowing his stride. He was no longer leading the expedition, after all. "Lead the way."
 
Levi didn't linger on any of Winston's actions, he just stepped slightly in front of his roommate and began walking in the general direction of the cafe. It was three blocks away and- according to the barista who'd served him that morning- had a rush that lasted all afternoon. A good place to get lost in the crowd. The man in the parka remained absent, and the feeling that something unnatural was happening faded as they walked farther and farther from Vanderbilt Hall.

They approached the cafe after 5 minutes or so. Just as busy as the barista had suggested. He crossed the road and walked inside, finding himself at the end of a line that was practically stretching out the door. While he'd forgotten his phone, he had brought his wallet, and Levi was never one to pass up some coffee. He nodded towards the menu- half hidden behind people's heads- and asked Winston: "Are you going to get something?"
 
"Not sure." Was Winston's initial reply, the guy a little too busy scanning everyone in the shop and trying not to succumb to sensory overload. Filter out the unnecessary input, focus on the basics...

Like having an actual answer to the question proposed. He briefly checked his jeans pockets for his usual bits of Emergency Cash, and ended up with a single ten-dollar bill. Not ideal, he usually liked to have a bit more than that on his person, but if he replaced it when he got back then it should be fine. It was enough to buy something here, at least, blend in further with the crowd.

"Probably." He ended up deciding, hiding the bill in his fist until he needed it. "If the products here are any good. Not going to waste my money."
 
"Coffee's good. I dunno about the other stuff." Levi looked around the shop, debating between black coffee and a cappuccino. It felt a little funny to be thinking about something so mundane after being briefly chased by a parka-clad weirdo but he supposed it made sense. If he started thinking about boring normal things, he would act more boring and normal. Of course, he was pretty boring all the time, no matter what he was thinking.

The line was slow as sin, and by the time he was halfway to the register, he was regretting his decision to come here. There was nothing to do but talk, and Levi was never eager to make conversation. Maybe he could buy Winston a coffee or something to pay him back for the help. But how to start up a conversation? "I can buy something for you, if you want."
 
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"No." Winston immediately shot Levi's offer down. He wasn't some charity case, and more importantly he did not want to owe this man any sort of debt. Who knew how he would end up wanting it repaid? One stressful afternoon with the guy was not enough information to deduce his entire personality, nor his relationship with power. "I can pay for myself, I have enough."

The crowd was starting to get to him, though he definitely knew better than to let that show. He was still on high alert for the stalker, and being sandwiched in the middle of a line of random strangers was doing nothing to help his nerves. But he just had to hold out until he could get his tea, then he could slide into a corner somewhere and seem like a normal person for a while. Someone no one had any reason to mess with, who could just be left alone...
 
"Okay." Levi let the issue drop easily. Pushing people was something he hated doing. It felt too much like he was forcing someone to change their answer, and he really wasn't comfortable forcing anyone to do anything. If Winston didn't want him to pay for his coffee, Levi wasn't going to pay for his coffee. And the refusal let him know that buying something for Winston wasn't the way to go if he wanted to express his gratitude. Helpful stuff.

The line shuffled forward at a snail's pace, but after what felt like hours of waiting they were finally facing down the baristas. The girl who had checked him out that morning was here, and she greeted him cheerfully. It made him smile a little, knowing that this girl remembered him. It was always so nice to be remembered. He ordered another black coffee, she made a playfully grossed out face, the usual flash of worry that accompanied something he couldn't quite tell was a joke hit and then faded, and he paid her and claimed a spot in the corner.

The girl turned to Winston with a shiny smile and asked: "What would you like today?"
 
"The least processed tasting tea you have." Winston replied to the waitress, any tension or harshness in his voice soundly reigned in because random salespeople just trying to do their jobs did not deserve any of his incidental ire. He even managed the barest hint of a smirk, to make light of his odd request and lower the girl's chances of taking it negatively. It might also have the connotation of flirting, but he was just going to pretend like potentially leading a stranger on wasn't an asshole thing to do. "You know the menu better than I do."

He didn't like adopting so many different faces in such a short time, especially with a continued witness, but so far Levi had been dropping a lot of subjects he'd wanted dropped. Hopefully that trend would continue, without letting the pile of dropped subjects overflow. But this was the closest thing to a kind face he'd put on since moving to NYU, so hopefully no one around him would take his decisions as a slight against them. That was really all he could manage to hope for in social interactions, as sociopathic as that sounded. Right now, however, all he could really manage to worry about was getting a decent cup of tea without any more incident.
 
The waitress winked at him in response, considering what kind of tea they had and what actually tasted good. While the coffee here was excellent- if she did say so herself- their tea was sub-par. "Green tea or Chamomile. Don't tell anyone, but they're the only teas we have that don't taste like dirt or chemicals. Even then the chamomile is kind of iffy." Her conspirational tone hid the inconsequential lie she was telling. Their chamomile was actually quite good, but they only had a few packets left and she was planning to sneak them home later.

Levi had sunk into an overstuffed armchair, wondering how long he'd be waiting for his drink. Considering how many antsy looking people carrying computer bags and briefcases were loitering around the serving counter, at least as long as he'd been in line. Probably longer. At least he knew the coffee would be tasty.
 
Winston knew better than to take this girl's word at face value. Vague tips were reasonable enough to trust, but specific suggestions were only used when someone was trying to steer you towards what they wanted you to pick. Luckily, Winston wasn't looking to fall asleep right now, so he was willing to go along with the ruse.

"Good thing I prefer green tea." He told the waitress, widening his smirk just a tad before he glanced up at the menu to find what he was actually paying for. ...The prices weren't great, a decent cup of tea would cost just enough to not be worth asking for change. So he slid her the whole ten dollars and said "I'll take mine plain. Keep the change."
 
The waitress let her smile brighten minutely as she told her coworker to add a green tea to the queue, put the ten dollars into the register, and shot the guy she was helping a happy 'Thank you'. A dollar forty wasn't bad at all, especially considering the assholes that sometimes graced the register. "That'll take a while, Cutie. If you wanna sit down, I think your friend's over there." She pointed out Levi with a smile and turned to her next customer.

Levi checked the register to see if Winston had ordered yet before he realized that Winston was probably done with him by now. They'd gotten to a place that was relatively safe and there was nobody chasing them, so why should he stick around?
 
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Winston fought the urge to gag at being called 'cutie'. He'd brought it upon himself, he was the one who'd decided to play the sexy card. So he just smiled and nodded, and let the girl do her job. It didn't take more than a moment to spot Levi through the crowd, so he made his way over to the relatively-quiet seating area and just found the most spacious little spot he could that was close by.

There were various reasons he could give as to why he hadn't abandoned Levi yet, all of them sensible to a degree, but mainly he just didn't feel like losing the closest thing he had to an ally just yet. There were still a lot of people here, any one of them could be dangerous and he was losing more and more mental energy by the second. Any aid he could get, even if it was only imagined, was valuable. Especially after a stupid moment when he'd been too good at his job and it was eating at him more than it should. He wasn't bothering with fake smiles anymore, but even beyond that he was having a hard time keeping neutral. He could handle stalkers no problem, but it was a fucking compliment that got under his skin...
 
Levi looked up with thinly veiled surprise when Winston made his way over to a tiny bundle of chairs. For a place that was clearly swarmed, there were a surprising number of seats open, though that made sense. Most of the people seemed like they had places to go. More importantly: Winston had come over to sit reasonably close. Which meant Levi wasn't going to be abandoned just yet. Strange, but he didn't waste energy wondering why.

Winston seemed to be having some kind of thinking moment, so Levi let him be, searching around for a magazine or something to do while he waited for his coffee. Unfortunately, there were no such means of entertainment near his table. Of course. The only thing he could do was talk, though he had no idea what to talk about. "Hey... uh... thanks for helping me out. In the hall."
 
"Don't mention it." Winston replied, practically on instinct. Any time people thanked him, it was either for a situation like this where he wanted his competence to be underplayed, or a situation (also like this) where he wanted his empathy to be nonexistent. He'd learned quickly to want neither experience to be what he was known for. "Seriously, don't mention it."

And that came out far too harshly for a situation he wanted downplayed. Time to employ the reasonable excuses. "I don't want my first impression at this school to be running away from random strangers. For my sake as well as others'. Reputation and all that crap. So, don't mention it."
 
Winston seemed to be pushing a bit hard on the 'don't mention it' conversation point. It wasn't something Levi felt that he'd bring up anyways- his friends had learned not to ask about his personal life after catching a few of his bumbling, apology filled answers. When he didn't know what to say, the blank spaces were usually filled with the word sorry. And this wasn't the kind of situation he'd bring up around anyone except Flora. Flora who didn't go to this school or know Winston well enough to damage his reputation. She should be fine to tell.

"Nobody here will know," Levi promised. It wasn't a lie- Flora was halfway across the country. Annoyingly far from his reach, but also far enough away that anything she told Sequoia wouldn't come to Winston out here in New York.
 
"Nobody here." Winston caught onto Levi's attempt at a loophole immediately, but as soon as the words were out of his mouth he knew it was a battle not worth winning. So he let himself sigh a bit as he pulled out his phone, and gave Levi the most believable out he could by muttering "Whatever, it's as good as I'm going to get."

Despite its uses in ending the conversation quickly, Winston hadn't only taken out his phone to shut Levi up. He wanted to share what had happened with the only people who really needed to know what had happened while he still had the opportunity. The time it seemed to be taking for the drinks to be ready would be plenty of time to at least get the basics down. Thank whoever invented texting for the ability to converse privately.

~

Red: Either the big city is completely filled with freaks or I have a stalker.

Blue: shit dude really???

Red: Some creep in an olive parka followed me three blocks. Lost him in a building, got away.

Blue: whitenesses?
Blue: *witnesses?

Red: Both. Roommate. Too polite to ask questions, thank god. No one else.

Blue: good. stay safe dude. ill drive down if i gotta pound someone.

Red: I'll let you know. Shouldn't need to. Stay safe.

~

Just as he slipped his phone back into his pocket, the barista who wasn't that girl called out Levi's order. Winston only spared the guy a glance to see if he'd heard, otherwise leaving him alone. He knew he'd have to go up the same path right afterwards, anyway.
 
Levi stood once his order was called, meandering his way over to the counter where he picked up his black coffee. Winston had recognized the opening he left himself in the promise, but he hadn't complained. That was as good as a free pass as far as Levi was concerned. People spoke up if something were a big issue to them. With a word of thanks to the barista, he sat back down at his chair. Every small sip of coffee spread a little burst of warmth through his chest.

Most of his friends despised black coffee, but Levi enjoyed it. It reminded him that he was alive. That he was back home and there were luxuries available here, even if he didn't indulge in many of them. He checked the clock and realized they'd been here for a good thirty minutes. That line must have been awfully long. "We've been here for half an hour," he informed Winston.
 
"Holy shit." Winston breathed before he could stop himself, pulling out his phone to double-check. Yeah, it had been exactly 28 minutes since they'd entered the shop. He was frankly torn between being relieved they'd had such a good hiding spot, harshly judging this place's capacity for customers, and giving into his paranoia that he hadn't moved on yet. He decided not to lean too harshly on either, and simply say "That we have." in a tone vague enough to imply all of them.

Luckily, his order was called out not long after, and he snaked through the crowd to retrieve what he hoped he could claim was the better part of his day. If the tea sucked, it wouldn't even be that much. But thankfully, once he got back to Levi and took a sip, he found it to be a decent cuppa. Not the best he'd ever had, and certainly not worth the price, but good enough to relax that tension in the back of his neck rather than worsen it. Good enough to pass the time with, and to distract him for a bit from the long list of things he had to panic about.
 
It was strange to see someone transition from quiet shock to practiced indifference in the same breath, but Winston managed to make it look natural. For someone who looked so young, he seemed skilled at schooling his emotions. Skilled at painting on new faces and leaving the old ones behind. Levi wished he could do the same. Life would be so much easier if he could act the way people wanted him to. He could avoid all the accidental arguments and the fallout they induced. Could get rid of the panicked apologies and tired looks shot between people who were tired of having to deal with his little episodes.

He shook his head, clearing away the thoughts as best he could. Right now they were just a distraction. What he should be doing is asking about how things were going to proceed now that they hadn't seen parka man in a while. "Will we be leaving soon?"
 
"If you want to." Winston replied, between sips of his tea. He was trying to savor his few moments of relaxation before life inevitably started moving again, and being forced to think about the escape plan again wasn't helping. "We should be out of danger by this point, unless you've seen something I haven't."

He sincerely doubted that, but he also knew he wasn't completely infallible. Having all the information possible would do him more good than trusting himself and his skills any more than he should. Adding on the fact that there really were a lot of people in here, a second set of eyes really was more valuable than anything he could do on his own.

And here comes the tension again. Great. Exactly what he needed. Well, the moment was nice while it had lasted.
 
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