Welcome to Gaia! ::

Oliver was in his room when he got the text. Lying on his bed, thinking scared, unhappy thoughts, that had become the only hobby he could pursue while he wasn't working in the labs. So it was almost a relief to be summoned, despite being tired and unhappy. As much as he deserved to be by himself, a part of him still wanted to reach out to others, and share their company even if he were merely a lackey in the room.

It took him a minute to get ready, and running fast enough to leave him somewhat winded got him to the lighthouse in three minutes. He always tried to be early when he was needed somewhere, surprise summons included.

Oliver looked down at his feet. Lately he had been wondering about that...

But he wasn't so down in himself that he didn't notice Ian's mood. There was a lack of enthusiasm that wasn't like the older hunter. Not that Oliver knew Ian that well, they had only sorta played a dream-game together, and run into each other a couple times on the island. Sometimes he still realized how frightening Ian was on his first day of being reawakened. But now that he was thinking about it, even the text message had a terse, abruptness to it that was uncharacteristic.

Oliver shifted nervously, not knowing what to say, or how to ask. It was probably none of his business. But this Ian scared him a little.

Something was seriously wrong. Ian was starting to scare him, the serious face was completely out of character but Oliver didn't know the man well enough to understand why. He had never seen Ian like this, not even on his first day when he had ended up fainting from the stress of it all. It must have been something bad.

For a minute Oliver feared for himself, wasn't a 'little trip' how big organizations tended to remove troublesome members? He was sure they had used that line before in a mafia movie or something. Surely Ian wasn't the one they had chosen to get rid of him...

Rather than speak up, his throat was too tight, Oliver nodded nervously.

Why was he smiling like that? Why was he smiling without smiling, this was so much not like Ian and it was really freaking the kid out. But he had no choice in the matter, he quickly followed Ian through the portal.

On the other side he took a minute to stare at the city around them. He had no idea where they were, and the size of the buildings shocked him. Oliver knew that in theory they could travel to any sort of place, but this was his first waking time going through a portal. He had never actually experienced it firsthand.

After a second of gaping like a tourist, he picked up the pace and stuck close behind the older hunter. Even with his fears of death he preferred staying by Ian to getting lost by himself.

Somehow, a grocery store wasn't exactly what Oliver was expecting. A dark alley would have been more appropriate, or a smoky bar or some other questionable location would be a better place to get done whatever business brought them to this giant city. But compared to the grocery store, that aisle was even more surprising.

Oliver glanced at Ian, and then with wide eyes he stared at the shelves. "Y-you can just... buy that here? D-don't you need to find an LCBO or something?" A second later what Ian had said hit the boy. "N-no, it's okay, I-I don't drink!" Oliver took a step away from the shelves, looking as skittish as a rabbit in a den of foxes.

Oliver shook his head, neglecting to mention that he was unable to buy alcohol anywhere yet. He thought it that much was pretty obvious. "W-where are we?" He asked instead, it was all english around him, but definitely not in Ontario if alcoholic beverages were being stocked in grocery stores!

The kid jumped slightly when the hand landed on his shoulder. "N-no, I-I'm fine," he protested automatically, when catching his first glimpse of the 'real' Ian, he didn't want to do anything to trigger a retreat.

Oliver was at a loss. "Y-yes but... They don't sell alcohol at grocery stores!" he exclaimed in a hissed whisper, nervously waving a hand at the shelves. He was trying not to make a fuss, but what sort of place had such big cities and alcohol in regular grocery stores?

He looked around, more nervous by the second. "I d-don't drink, a-and I didn't bring any money anyway." That was a good excuse, wasn't it? Besides, he was underage, there was no way anyone would let him buy drinks even if he was interested.