prompted to his feet by the realization of nothing, he settles his back on a pole and nearly nods to himself. jiang shakes with the train, and a tulip almost falls off his bag. would’ve been a good riddance, he hates those.
thursdays mean night work. night means being stranded, work means little, and it all ties down to jiang. not a fuck up, just not settled either. he doesn’t look the part, mostly, not when he’s so street-bound and knowing of a handful of lectures he’s been tasked to digest before. you can tell, pinpoint the understanding downright to how he blinks, or, without going too far, by the look. take that how you will.
figures, he mouths when the other isn’t looking. jiang takes another look of him, a good one, but far from thorough, and concludes there are just too many people he sees on the daily and he’s always been better with names anyway.
“ um, realistically? nowhere. but i’m an optimist, and i could come up with a couple places. ” jiang reveals more than he intended in a single sentence, but it’s fine. better than fine. count the odds of meeting again, he’d just laugh.
“ i’ll name them if you humor me. ”