Hange had claimed the bed closest to the bathroom as per usual and flopped down on it now, raising their voice into the phone. "Well what are we supposed to do until then?" They paused and listened. "No, my stuff's been finished for a week."

Levi lost interest and tuned out, arranging his socks and underwear neatly in the top drawer. What would they do until the crates came in? His design work was also done but a huge amount of set prep happened actually on the set on location. He should probably call Petra and Nifa, his assistants. Nah, he'd do that later.

He straightened and looked around for something to do.

"I'm out of smokes. Where are yours?"

Hange gestured at the door. "Car."

Levi grabbed the room keys and the car keys off of the small round table between the beds and the window and went outside.

The heat and humidity hit him the instant he closed the door. It was already shimmering off of the asphalt of the parking lot in the early morning sun and the weird buzzing sound he'd heard before, droned, rising and falling in the still air.

Levi unlocked the car and grabbed Hange's cigarettes. He scowled down at the pack. Virginia Slims Lights. God he hated these fuckers. He tapped one out of the pack anyway and lit it, walking around to the back of the car to lean against the fender and smoke without being right outside people's doors. It was so quiet and still. Seriously creepy. What looked like a businessman was leaving his room across the horseshoe, tossing his bag in the car and getting in. Levi watched him idly, gaze following him as he drove by and stopped at the office to run in and return his key.

After the guy left the lot, Levi's gaze lingered on the door of the woman who had come out for ice. The one in the skimpy tee that showed off their small, cute breasts. Jesus, he was horny. His mind explored the option of maybe seeing the woman again and trying to score a hook-up.

He heard the door to their room open then close again and Hange grabbed their cigarettes out of the car, joining him.

"Any news on the shit?"

"Nope. They don't know when it'll get here, though it'll probably in the next few days."

"Good."

They smoked in companionable silence until they both finished their butts.

"I'm gonna walk over to the store and get some smokes," Levi said. There was an Exxon station right across from the motel. "You need anything?"

"I can drive you," Hange said.

Levi, a lifelong New Yorker, had never learned to drive. He didn't need to.

"Nah, I'm cool."

"Get beer," Hange said, "Tomorrow's Sunday."

"So?"

"South Carolina, remember? Some cities and towns sell on Sunday but a lot don't."

Levi shoved away from the car with a grunt. "Fucking Blue Laws."

As Levi waited to cross the two-lane road that ran from the highway then on into Stillwell, he stared around at the sleepy area. It was an election year and a few political signs dotted the edge of the road. He glanced up at a billboard featuring a handsome brown-haired man smiling benignly out at passing cars. Moblit Berner, your hometown realtor, it said.

Hmm, Stillwell's hometown realtor was pretty cute.

Levi would hit that, he decided. Maybe he'd meet the man one day.

Jesus, Levi, you are so horny.

As a gap appeared in the light traffic, Levi crossed. When he got to the side that the store was on he noticed the man's name again, on one of the political signs; Berner for School Board. He wondered if it was the same guy or just a local name.

The convenience store slash gas station wasn't crowded but business was steady, being right off the highway. It also was directly across the street from the McDonald's and that seemed to be feeding a good bit of traffic.

Levi crossed the lot and went inside the store, already thankful for the air conditioning. He grabbed a 12-pack of Budweiser from out of the beer cooler, a diet coke for himself, a Mt Dew for hange and a box of doughnuts. He knew for sure Hange would want them (and eat every one.)

He set his stuff on the counter.

"Two packs … no make it three packs of Marlboro Lights. And go ahead and get me a pack of Virginia Slims."

The employee worked with bored efficiency, grabbing the cigarettes and ringing him up swiftly.

"You doing OK, today, Sir?"

Levi stared at him. He had forgotten how friendly Southerners were. He tamped down his initial suspicious bristle.

"Fine. Say, what's with the Berner guy? His name is everywhere."

The cashier followed his gaze to the billboard and shrugged. "Local real estate guy. Running for School Board in the district, I think. Housing market is big on the lake."

"Oh, yeah, there's a lake. Is it that big a deal?"

The only lake Levi had had much dealings with was the small one in Central Park.

The worker shrugged again but eyed him strangely. "Pretty. Good fishing. The town kinda revolves around it."

So, a pretty big deal. He might even be convinced to go see it. "Where is it? How do I get there?"

"Just take any road heading east out of town and you'll drive right into it," he laughed. "Turn next to the Pig and head that way. The big park-and-ramp is there."

Levi, used to getting a lot more specific directions in New York, frowned. What was a 'park-and-ramp?'

"The Pig?"

Again the odd look. "The Piggly Wiggly. The grocery store?"

Ah. Levi gathered his bag of things and his beer and left without a word. The employee stared after him.

Levi slung his bag of supplies on his bed and the keys onto the dresser. Hange was rummaging around in the minibar fridge.

"Drinking already?"

Hange just laughed and Levi passed their beer to them.

Levi stripped off his shirt, baring all his tats and sat on his bed. "It's already fucking hot out there. What time is it?"

Hange checked the chunky black man's watch that they wore all the time. "Almost 11. Can we get something to eat? I'm famished and I still want to try Bojangles."

Levi eyeballed the bathroom. He should probably go to a local supermarket and buy cleaning supplies. The bathroom wasn't filthy by any stretch; it was just a Levi thing. He had to clean a bathroom before he could shower or brush his teeth in it. "Can we stop by a store after?"

"Cleaning stuff?" Hange guessed.

Levi grunted. "Apparently there's a grocery store in town called the Wiggly Piggy or something."

"Sounds adorable! We'll go check out the set after we eat. Is it on the way?"

"How far out of the way could it be?"

"True."

Bojangles turned out to be a chicken place. Hange ordered the chicken and biscuits with dirty rice and Levi got a chicken sandwich.

"Oh my god," Hange moaned, spraying biscuit crumbs, "This is so good!"

Levi shrugged. "Not bad. What's dirty rice? It looks like ass."

Hange tried a big bite. "It's excellent! Some Louisiana style or something. It's got sausage in it! Wanna try?" they held a loaded forkful out to him across the table, dropping bits of rice all over.

"God, no, you psycho. Look at the mess you're making! Tch!" Levi chased after the stray grains with a napkin and a look of disgust. He was pretty strictly a hamburger, pizza, chinese take-out kinda guy.

Hange laughed, ate the bite themselves and chewed while looking out the window. Traffic had picked up a good bit and was now steady with locals coming to fill up their cars and their bellies. They pointed at the billboard Levi had seen earlier. "Wow, he's cute!"

Levi followed their gaze. "Yeah. Saw that earlier. I'd tap that."

Hange sucked noisily at their drink then grinned. "Not if I see them first. Hey, that's not the only thing pretty that I see."

Levi picked at the last of his seasoned fries, his gaze wandering to the counter. There was an employee behind the counter, staring at him. Levi stared back. She was pretty; petite and brown-haired and very young. She smiled boldly at him. Levi looked away.

"Yeah, and she looks about 16." He finished his drink.

"I don't think so! Wouldn't hurt to ask."

"Nah. She's gotta be in highschool. No jailbait for me, thanks."