Welcome to Gaia! ::

Great, Levi thought to himself.

He was leaned back against the cash register of the music store, legs crossed at the ankles and arms crossed over his lanky chest. He was long but comfortable in his length and even more comfortable with the irritated glare he was shooting across the crowded, busy store at the voting booth area.

Levi had been hired on by the record store as temporary help while they held promotions for a chance to win a pretty awesome contest. The store itself was pretty rad - it carried a section of almost any genre Levi could think of (not that it mattered, he only cared about a few) as well as a wicked stock of vinyls. Most of that section had been temporarily displaced into the cramped back corner by the discount movie cut-outs to make room for the contest advertising booth.

Out of five cities in the U.S., this rocking little store had a chance to win the right to host one of the biggest new age music festivals right here in Destiny City.

He. Was. Stoked.

Yet along with himself, the store had hired the usual run-of-the-mill model types in skimpy clothing and empty noggins. Today one of them had decided to call out and, as the contest quickly approached, it was a bit more busy than normal. He could see the only girl on shift trying to keep up with passing out the little pins for each ballot she accepted while answering questions about who-only-knew-what.

It probably would have helped, in Levi's opinion, if they bothered to hire anyone other than posers for that kind of job. He doubted she'd spent as much time listening to any one of the bands on the line-up as she had applying her make-up for the day.

"Drummond, stop sneering and go help her now."

Levi's head snapped sideways, causing his dark green hair to flutter slightly at the odd angles it jutted up from his head. Somehow he'd learned to make it look less like a trainwreck mess and more like a kind of snazzy dishevel. His boss wasn't budging on this 'spend time with the enemy' thing it seemed. With a sigh he dropped his long arms and let them sway at his side, the rolled up sleeves of his black button-up brushing against his ribs. He wound through the familiar crowd and made his way to the booth where they had set up, crawling through the cut out door and inside.

It was big enough for the two small fold-out chairs right at the front and two people to stand behind if, well, slightly crouched. He ducked his head and crossed over to the chair beside her before he flopped into it and stared out at the crowd on the other side. Unsurprisingly, they weren't quite as interested in him as they were in.. the uh, girl.. okay, so he had no idea what her name was.

"Excuse me," he was shuffling around in the cooler behind them, victoriously claiming a yoohoo. He popped the top and took a swig before he finished his greeting, "What is your name?" It wasn't friendly, but it wasn't.. rude, either. He just wanted the information.

Levi raised a brow as she slid the ballot and questions his way, staring down at them in silence - at least until she spoke again.

He rocked his chair back onto one leg as she introduced herself, precariously balancing himself with the fingertips of one hand braced lightly on the thin wall. He dropped back to all four legs before he responded, simultaneously reaching over to pick up the list of questions.

"Levi Drummond," he offered after a quick glance. He didn't say anything else, or even look at her again, but instead read through the list of questions she had passed him. If he was judging her for them, his face gave nothing away. When he finally set the list back down he glanced at her, fully prepared to give her a speech about the reason she was ruining the music industry when he realized she looked a little stressed.

A small itch of guilt made him swallow the words and sigh instead. This wasn't helping them win the contest at all. She was still doing her silly job.

"Alright, Illuminati, stand there and handle the ballots," he pointed at the far side of the booth's counter then pushed his chair back and stepped up to it as well, but as far to the opposite side as possible. He made a great show of arranging his paper and pen, setting it to the side and clearing his throat once he was ready to address the crowd. Once most of them were looking his way, he pointed at her.

"If you need to get or return a ballot, please form a line in front of the lovely blunette to my right." He waved his right hand at her before dropping it and adding "if you have questions about anything, including the ballot, please speak to me." He pointed in front of himself and then let them mill about until they decided what to do.

A steady stream was still lining up to get and return ballots to her, but they were much less talkative (except for the few guys that still wanted to hit on her, but he couldn't stop them all). There were actually only a couple that bothered to ask him questions - the people that genuinely had questions, instead of the guys that just wanted to crowd and overwhelm a single girl.

It was easy to tell by the smirk on his lips that he was pleased with himself, even as he leaned forward and started to debate the difference between two bands with a grungy man in an oversized Black Sabbath t-shirt.

Levi paused mid-conversation with a tall, dark-skinned man sporting a mane of shaggy blonde hair. He held up a hand to pause the guy's words when she tapped him on the shoulder, sparing her a glance of his bright lime eyes.

"Oh," his brows creased as he glanced down at his watch, then arced when he seemed surprised, "you're right. The shift doesn't go half this fast when you're ringing up at the register." He smirked to himself and leaned out of the booth slightly to give the customer a good-bye handshake - one of those male rituals reserved for kindred spirits.

He stood up slowly then, ducking beneath the shorter center-beam overhead. "As long as you don't want anything fancy, yeah." He shrugged one shoulder, stretching the button-up shirt across his chest for a moment. He had learned to dress well, despite being lanky, and thanked the Negaverse for teaching him to use his body and be comfortable with it no matter how quickly he had put on inches. It showed in the smooth way he moved.

"I can even drive if you want." He was already fishing in his pants for his keys, probably not intending to wait for her - she could either catch up for the ride or get left behind and beg one of the other staffers. He did toss her a glance over his shoulder though as he climbed through the opening of the booth and out into the store. They were the second lunch break of the day and the girls coming to replace them were hanging outside, chatting about a new nail parlor across town.

Domey grimaced and barely managed to stop an eyeroll.

He was heading for the back exit, to the employee parking lot, and at a pace that said he wasn't as interested in the girls as the rest of his male colleagues seemed to be.

He pushed the swinging door open and held it open behind him almost as an afterthought, finding his keys as he stood there and pressing the 'unlock button'. A few rows back, lights fluttered on a slick silver car - it looked like any other number of generic, low-end sports cars. It was streamlined and beautiful, but not a top-notch piece of machinery. It suited him just fine.

He glanced back then, to see if she'd kept up or decided to go elsewhere. He was really hungry now that she'd said something about it.

Levi let the door swing closed as she walked out, nodding his head at her as she thanked him. He didn't bother with a 'you're welcome', but the look on his face was one of mild surprise. He coughed into a hand to cover the expression up and used the motion to look away from her, out toward his car.

"Do you like Mexican food?" He motioned to the passenger side of his two-door car, then pulled open the driver's side. He plopped into the seat, comfortable in a reclined back, and closed the door behind him. The key was in the ignition but he didn't start it until she climbed in after him, letting the engine roar to life. "It's cheap, good, and never too crowded."

For what it was worth, he pulled on his seat belt and waited for her to get situated, balancing one hand on the wheel and the other on his manual shift. A manual was not always wise in a city, but parts of Destiny City were rural enough that he didn't always get stopped at a dozen stoplights and the countryside was close enough to go out for a whirl if he wanted it. He settled his bright eyes on her and waited for an objection - he was convinced a lot of women just objected to do so. It was no wonder he didn't have a girlfriend.