Torchwood Returns

[Rio Keâts]

Rio bit his tongue and looked down sheepishly. "I don't carry money around with me." He glanced back up with a small smile as the man continued. Maybe he would just seem like a liar rather than somebody who couldn't read. He mumbled something about how he had just been roaming. But now he seemed like a creeper, which meant his only source of entertainment in Great Britain was basically asking him to leave.

"All right. Have fun working!" Rio said cheerfully, humming happily as he walked to the door. He hesitated at the exit. "My name is Rio Keâts." He put on a friendly grin. He doubted that the man would care, but que sera, sera. Rio walked out of the door and looked around, wondering what he was going to do now. His stomach was grumbling from hunger, but Rio wasn't in the mood to pickpocket or steal food.[/size]

[Bryan Wilkeson]

Bryan watched him leave, then shook his head and went back to putting videos back where they belonged. First some guy called Captain Jack Harkness, now some stalker Frenchman named Rio Keats. Were people finally catching wind that he wasn't all human? Or was he being paranoid again?

[Rio Keâts]

The Frenchman was used to not knowing what was going to come next. What he wasn't used to, however, was the sinking boredom. He rounded a corner, hoping to run into some sort of trouble maker or... well, really anyone. Not finding anyone he huffed and avoided an alley. The last thing he needed was a panic attack from being in the narrow alleyway. He pulled his cigarettes out of his back pocket and put one in his mouth. He returned the box to his pocket. Rio rarely had a lighter or matches in his pockets (although he did have some matches in his bag he didn't feel like rifling through it) but he didn't mind just holding the smoke in his mouth. It gave him something to focus on.

He leaned against a building and loosened his tattered tie. Rio knew he needed to change clothes, but he wasn't all that worried about it. He debated going back to the video store just to have some company, but he decided eventually that he could be doing better things. He pulled out one of his hats pulled it on snugly. He'd find something to do. He was Riocard Keâts. Maybe he could investigate that ugly creature-thing that had chased him earlier. It had gone for his neck, one of the places that he was severely protective of. He chewed on the end of the cigrette lightly, wandering around yet another corner. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going, because that was never any fun. Not paying attention landed him in trouble. And trouble was fun. Trouble wasn't boredom.

"Maybe I'll go to Russia," He mused aloud. He knew that holding a grudge against the entire country was a silly thing to do. He was more notorious in Russia - he didn't know why, he had never actively broken any laws that they could prove - than anywhere else. But he still felt that there was somewhere he hasn't been yet - somewhere important. It bugged him. "Although... Cuba might be fun." He tapped the side of his head thoughtfully. "Puh. I'm talking to myself. How low you've sunk, Rio..." He laughed quietly, deciding that holding a conversation with himself was better than him going crazy for company.[/size]

[Bryan Wilkeson]

A few hours later, Bryan left the video store for his too-long lunch break. His next shift wasn't until late that night, so he usually went home or roamed around or went for a swim about now, but he figured he'd stop off by a cafe or something instead. He had a lot of stuff to think about and, as expected, very dehydrated. He looked around, jean jacket slung over his shoulder, then headed down the road.

[Rio Keâts]

Rio glaced down at the wallet in his hands. Some man had tripped and the Frenchman had happily helped him up and relieved him of his wallet. He was pretty happy to find both a lighter and cash instead of a credit card. Rio hadn't been raised around technology, so credit cards were beyond his comprehension. The pictures in the wallet showed various small children and the portly man and his wife. He muttered a small thank you and stuck the wallet in his pocket and lit the cigarette.

His head tilted as he heard footsteps. He beamed, almost dropping the cancer stick in his mouth. He poked his head around the corner and saw the man with the white hair. He laughed. What were the odds? Perhaps Rio had walken in a complete circle and was back next to the video store. He jogged to catch up to the man. He knew that he was really starting to look like a stalker, but as was mentioned before, most of his encounters with the white-haired man had been completely on accident. "Hello again." He waved, and tossed the cigarette into a bin. He knew some people didn't like the smoke and he wasn't going to offend the man any further. Besides, even though he was going to return the wallet didn't mean he wasn't going to keep the lighter. A thief had to keep something, right?

Something about this man was off though. It was probably the hair. "Are you an albino?" He inquired. "Or do you just like having white hair? I mean, it looks okay on you. I think on other people it'd just make them like a grand-pere." The Frenchman wondered vaguely if what he was saying sounded rude, so he offered another friendly smile. Rio didn't mean to hurt people's feelings, but he had trouble not speaking his mind. His bright green eyes stared at the man with intense curiosity. It was a flaw of his - he was often too inquistive for his own good. It was the reason that his father had died, but it was also the reson that many other people were happy. "We can talk now, right? You're not working." Of course it could be that the other man merely didn't like his company, but he wasn't going to think about that possibility.

[Bryan Wilkeson]

Bryan snapped his head around at Rio in surprise, then sighed. Of course he would be there. "Hello," he said. He didn't feel like being rude right now, as he might have. He was too hungry and too thirsty to really care. Though, the rude sound of this man was testing his nerve. "Sure, whatever you think. And yeah, I guess I can talk since I'm not working, but I'm a bit hungry and thirsty right now, so forgive me if I sound at all rude."

[Rio Keâts]

At the mention of being hungry, Rio's stomach growled. The Frenchman hadn't eaten in a few days. If it was up to him he'd constantly be shoveling food in his mouth, but the life of a vagabond apparently didn't offer such luxuries. He nodded and decided that the man didn't appear too keen on his company. Riocard was used to striking up conversations with total strangers, but maybe there was an unspoken social rule in Britain. "Sorry about earlier, monsieur." Rio put his hands behind his back and smiled at the man.

"We could go eat food.." Rio suggested hopefully. He pulled out the wallet to show the white-haired man he had his own money before replacing it in his pocket. He didn't want to step on the man's toes and force him to invite Rio ( although that is exactly what Rio was trying to do. Only subtly ). "May I know your name?" He asked, trying to keep the conversation from going completely awkward.[/size]

[Bryan Wilkeson]

Bryan looked at him, seeing the wallet with money in it. This struck up his suspicions, but he decided not to say anything. He had heard Rio's stomach growl. "Name's Bryan Wilkeson. There's a cheap place just up here," he said gesturing toward a hole-in-the-wall kind of pub. "It's good, and one of the only places that really doesn't care too much about appearance."

[Rio Keâts]

One of the only places that doesn't care about appearances.

Rio smiled gratefully. Perhaps when he was younger his ego would have flared up, but now he was too care-free to worry too much about the truth that he looked like had just fallen in a dirt factory. "I fell down earlier from running away." Rio laughed. He thought that perhaps Bryan got some grief about the way he looked. That type of white hair wasn't very common. But Rio decided not to talk about that because Bryan had gotten annoyed by his earlier questions. Rio would get annoyed too if everybody kept asking about his eyes. He had finally given up on insisting that they were his natural eye color and grudgingly lied about them being contacts.

"It really wouldn't matter to me how good it is," said Rio honestly. He had learned by the time he was eight not to turn his nose up at food being offered. Traveling with his father, the boy had never been too sure when his next meal would be. Although he was glad that it was cheap. He didn't want to completely use all of the man's money from the wallet. He had kids and a wife, and Rio felt rather selfish at using the money. He'd slip in a 'sorry' note if he could write in a language other than French. [/size]

[Bryan Wilkeson]

Bryan shrugged as he opened the door of the pub. He would have made a comment about perhaps it being from running from one of his other stalking targets, but he thought it of bad taste to. He found a couple of free chairs at the bar and sat at one of them. "So, I would ask about the eyes, but I imagine you get about as much grief about it as I do about my hair. Maybe less. I've seen a few people with greener eyes." He quickly ordered a glass of water for himself.

[Rio Keâts]

Was that his off-hand way of asking about his eyes? Rio stared curiously at the man, trying to figure out how to answer without being presumptious. "They're just green." He finally answered. His father had always told him that Rio's eyes were special. Of course, his eyes were really a trait from an alien species that Rio had no idea existed much less was half-of-a-part-of. "You probably get bothered about your hair more than I do about my eyes," he chuckled.

The menu's words swam around Rio's brain in an incomprehensible tangle. So he just looked at the pictures and ordered a tea. Coffee made him too jittery, and his sails made him a bit sick of water. Water water everywhere. And pop made his mouth feel ugly and syrupy. So, as much as he really disliked the taste of it, tea was the way to go. Such was life. Beggers can't be choosers. He smiled at the thought of how literal that could be taken and looked back at the menu. He could see the numbers - he knew what those meant at least. "How are you? Besides annoyed at your stalker." Rio smiled easily, although he was almost positive that this man was immune to his Rio-makes-everybody-smile charm. [/size]

[Bryan Wilkeson]

Bryan nodded at what he said, then said. "Well, I guess I'm alright. Stressed as hell, but alright. Wish I could get a better job. Something better than some stupid science fiction video store, with better pay, you know?"

[Rio Keâts]

Rio didn't exactly know, but he nodded sympathetically. "Why don't you? Can't you just... leave?" The Frenchman asked curiously. He knew that 'just leaving' wouldn't help the man out with his financial situation. He pulled his knees up so that he could sit on them. "It shouldn't be too hard for you to find a job. You seem intelligent enough." He stretched out, cracking his back and his neck.

He had never had to worry about a 'job', so he wasn't very good at giving advice in the subject. "You should take a vacation!" He said cheerfully. "You know, Jamaica is very pretty. Their water is very clean and the weather is not too hot," Rio put his chin on his hand and sighed wistfully. It was one of the few places that Rio hadn't made a lot of enemies.[/size]

[Bryan Wilkeson]

Bryan listened to him and laughed a little, shaking his head. "No. I wish I could. I wish I could just up and take a vacation. But vacations cost money. Money that I currently don't have right now."

[Rio Keâts]

That was definitely a new concept to Riocard. "Money?" He repeated with a tilt of his head. He most certainly didn't have money but he traveled places a lot of the time. Of course, his main mode of transportation were his two legs and not a plane. His father had taught him how to sail boats so Rio could travel on the seas. "Nah. I don't think you need so much money. Just a little imagination and a lot of motivation!" The phrase had led Rio through his life. It hadn't let him down thus far, so he figured he may as well share his words of wisdom with someone else.

"At least, I know I don't have money--" His thoughts leapt back to the wallet he had stolen. He almost corrected himself, but figured that if Bryan was going to tell the police that at least it'd give him so fun sliding out of that situation. "But I know I have a lot of fun. I don't really carry a map unless I'm on a boat." Rio reached into his bag and pulled out one of his maps happily, showing Bryan the worn out, faded, and French-scribbled-over map. He doubted if Bryan was interested at all, but once Rio got going it took a lot for him to wind down. He took a sip of his tea, trying to stop being so obnoxious. He put the map back in his bag and grinned. "Sorry, monsieur. I get very happy when I think of exploring."[/size]