Tube Chat
Arthur turned the badge over in his hand, it was emblazoned with the simple phrase 'Tube Chat?' and the London Underground logo. It had been handed to him as he walked through the station with a leaflet telling him to wear it if he wanted to have a chat. He asked a passing station worker if they knew anything about it but they just shrugged it off and said it was nothing to do with them.
Swept up in the flow of rush hour commuters he boarded his train and pressed himself into a gap. Keeping his balance with practised ease on the moving train he looked around and saw a few other people wearing the badges; several of them were quietly chatting to each other. They seemed to be enjoying the conversation even if they were getting deadly glares off some of the other commuters.
Arthur gave the badge another glance, when was the last time he had a conversation about something other than work? He lived alone and he never really went anywhere sociable; he occasionally went to the local pub but he didn't really talk to anyone when he got there. He couldn't even remember the last time he had spoken to his family without it ending in a fight.
But did he really want to talk to a complete stranger? He would probably never see them again so was there any real point; other than to annoy the other passengers.
The train pulled into the next station and he quickly got off; moving from Bakerloo to Victoria without even really looking, just letting his feet take them same route they did everyday. Somewhere in between the platforms he found himself slipping the badge onto his coat. There was no harm in trying it he supposed.
He almost sighed in relief when he saw this train was quieter than the last, the rush hour madness for the morning slowly coming to an end, and he was even able to sit down. Unfortunately, it meant there was no one in his carriage wearing the 'Tube Chat?' badge, it seemed he had missed his chance.
It was probably for the better; his colleagues at work always said he was unsociable anyway. So he should just enjoy the solitude. The train continued on and the collection of people aboard changed with each passing station. But no one else with the badge joined them.
That was until he reached King's Cross.
Just as the train pulled away from the platform someone sat down beside him and he could see the badge clipped to the man's shirt pocket. Arthur looked at them out of the corner of his eye, wondering if he should speak to him. They were a tourist if the suitcase was any indicator and he suspected it was their first trip to London (or at least their first time on the Tube) from the confused looks they were giving everything.
He watched for a while as they stared in confusion at the tube map on the wall, sea-blue eyes flicking over the twisting coloured lines, fingers tugging on his blonde curls as he tried to puzzle them out. After a few moments they turned and Arthur had to look away quickly before he was caught staring. Looking back at them he almost jumped out of his seat to see them looking at him with a soft smile.
"Bonjour." They greeted him and Arthur almost groaned. Why did they have to be French?
"Hello." He replied, trying to give off an aura that let the other know not to bother him.
"I wonder if you could help me, I think I'm lost." They continued, ignoring the fact Arthur was trying to show he didn't want to talk to them.
"Don't you know you don't talk on the tube?" He asked tersely, "What makes you think I'll help with your problem? Ask one of the station workers."
The stranger simply smiled and tapped the badge on Arthur's coat.
"Don't you want to talk to someone? Why not help me at the same time?" They pointed out.
Sighing he realised he had really set himself up for this and didn't have much of a choice.
"Alright where are you going?" he asked reluctantly.
He suspected he was going to seriously regret putting that badge on today.
AN- Just something I thought of when I saw a news article about this yesterday, seems someone was actually handing these badges out.