Farmer's Market (open)

The only reason he would ever be up so early in the morning was because he had not slept the night before. He typically slept as soon as he returned home from work, usually between four and five in the morning. However, he had to stay a little later than he would have liked to clean the bar. A particularly rowdy customer refused to leave, even after they had been cut off half an hour before closing time. He had to wash his hands three times to make sure he thoroughly cleaned them afterwards. Band-aids wrapped around his fingers after rushing to clean up broken glass without a second thought about grabbing a towel or gloves.

It was safe to say that it had not been his night. Morning. Whatever.

Xiaobai leisurely strolled through the market with his bandaged hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket. A plastic bag with a few vegetables inside hung from around his left wrist. It bounced and rustled with every step he took. Normally he had one of those reusable fabric bags with him whenever he went grocery shopping, but last minute shopping right after work had not been on his schedule. He only remembered he needed today's soup halfway home. Perhaps he should have gotten more than enough for just soup, but he planned on making it last him the rest of the week.

Dark eyes flitted around the market, idly seeking out anything he may want to impulse buy. Maybe it would be good to grab some fruit for a snack, or maybe even some eggs for brunch later. Or, maybe, he could watch where he was going.

That thought came too late as his shoulder collided with someone else. Quickly taking a step back, wide eyes turned up to see who he had ran into. "Oh, no, no, no--" a sheepish smile pulled at his lips as his right hand slipped out of his pocket to rub at the back of his neck. The motion was uncomfortable as bandages rubbed against his skin, and his jaw tightened as he tried to ignore the sting in his fingertips. "I'm as much at fault. Sorry 'bout that."

TAG: Lucan Tashiro

Mate. That was not a word he was accustomed to hearing, though that may be due to the fact he typically hangs around two types of people: drunks and children. As horrible as it probably sounded, work ate up his entire social circle. Maybe he should... Get out more. Meet new people. Accidentally running into someone was a terrible way of expanding his social circle, and his first impression might as well scream, hey, I'm clumsy! He wasn't, he swore. Only when he was tired and off his game. Like right now.

What a deflating thought.

"Oh, does it?" He blinked as his smile fell, replaced by astonishment and innocent curiosity. "Guess that explains why I rarely see it," his lips pressed together in thought as dark eyes swept to the bustling crowd around him. He normally returned home before the market could wake up, and he slept right through its business hours. Maybe he should take this opportunity to do a little more shopping.

Xiaobai's attention snapped back to the stranger the moment breakfast was mentioned. No, that was not a food motivated reaction (okay, only a little bit of a food motivated reaction). Rather, it came out of no where. He figured this little encounter would end with okay bye and they would part ways. Instead, he was suddenly being offered food.

As someone who was struggling to pay the bills while working two jobs, he knew to never turn down a free meal.

With a quick shake of his head to rid himself of his momentary stupor, displacing long locks of black hair, he started after the other man. Xiaobai's steps briefly faltered as his sheepish grin lifted to his lips again at the mention of his fingers. He tried to discretely hide his hand by shoving it back into his pocket. "Eheh... Just a work accident..." His words were soft on his lips, mumbling in response as he averted his gaze. Yet his eyes quickly returned, not wanting to lose track of his free meal-- er, the other man.

Such a task was easier said than done. They just had to stroll past a vendor with live animals! Xiaobai's pace slowed as dark eyes turned toward the rabbits on display. He had always wanted one, though three animals was more than he could handle on his own sometimes. Adding a sensitive rabbit to the mix may cause chaos while he is away for work.

He hadn't realized he stopped until he turned and noticed the distance that grew between him and the stranger. He was quick to rectify that, striding forward with a brisk pace, only to slow back down the moment he could hear his voice.

Lucan? Luke?

"Luke may be 'easier', but Luca is cuter. Hm... Lucan is a nice name, too..." Once more, his hand escaped the confines of his jacket pocket and reached up to tap a bandage against his lips in thought. "Ah!" The finger moved away, resting beneath his lips while his other fingers curled beneath his chin. "I'm Xiaobai," his voice dipped and bounced up, fluctuating with each syllable of his name. "Don't know of any easy nicknames for that, but some kids call me XiaXia." And some persistent customers at work.

TAG: Lucan Tashiro

"Oh-ho~ you have fans?" He leaned forward with a mischievous smirk playing on his lips. Had he somehow managed to stumble upon someone with a following? A social media influencer? A rising idol? A Youtube personality? The possibilities were endless, especially in this day and age. The sheer fact that Xiaobai could not place his name or face to anyone even remotely famous was because, well, he never bothered with things like that. He had too much going on to care about knowing the name of whoever played a superhero in the lastest movie adaptation of a comic or look into the information on some SoundCloud artist.

Just as quickly as he had teasingly inquired on what may have been a slip of the tongue, he dropped it, leaning back as his smirk slipped back into his usual smile. "Luke doesn't suit you, either, in my opinion. There's a million other Luke's in the world, but how many do you know called Luca?" With a shrug, he let his hand drop from his chin to hand loosely at his side. Xiaobai stepped around Lucan so he could eyeball the stall they were now at. He would have to be wise about not impulse buying, especially now that someone diverted him from his normal routine. He could easily spend half of his paycheck on meat alone.

"Means little white in Chinese," he mumbled, half paying attention in his search for reasonably priced meat that would not burn too much of a hole in his wallet. He quickly turned away the moment he realized he should not buy anything that needed to be kept cold, not when he had to walk back to his home.

He could get something frozen at the convenience store later.

Rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet, Xiaobai continued looking around the market and took more to people watching rather than getting himself lost in things he wanted to buy. He glanced back and ceased his rocking just as Lucan was given a tray of food. Whatever he ordered seemed a bit like overkill to him; there was enough food to be considered a sit-down meal. He was expecting something he could grab and go, not... Well, this.

Despite his reservations, Xiaobai followed Lucan to a nearby table. He took his place across the table from his free meal ticket-- er, Lucan. "Is it too early to ask for a to-go box?" Pulling his left hand out of his jacket for the first time, revealing even more bandaids, he let the bag of vegetables slip from his wrist and onto the seat next to him. It would provide a buffer in case anyone else tried to sit around them, and it kept his groceries off the ground. "Gotta say, Luca, you sure know how to treat a man," Xiaobai let out a soft chuckle as he reached out to grab one of the sausages, ignoring the grease that would stain the bandaids on his fingers. Eating was more important; he could change the bandages when he got home.

If he got home. There was enough food that he might pass out on the way there.

TAG: Lucan Tashiro