[FIC] Limbo, Heroes, Ando
Jun. 28th, 2007 10:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
person4Title: Limbo
Fandom: Heroes
Characters: Ando
Notes: For June fic-a-day. Set between episodes eight and ten.
His watch, Ando had discovered, ran slow.
Or maybe it was the clocks at the diner that ran fast.
Whichever was the case, it had become part of the routine he'd fallen into since Hiro had vanished. He sat at his booth. He tapped his foot forty-five times, each tap a little faster to the one before, until his leg was practically twitching from the movement of it and he forced himself to stop. He checked the time on his watch, then on the clock hanging above the diner's counter, then squinted to make it out on the microwave they used to warm up pastries. He took a gulp of his coffee if he was under his tenth drink of the day, or of the juice Lynette forces him to switch to after that with an admonition each time that he'd give himself a heart attack if he kept chugging down so much caffeine. And every three hours he set his watch forward one minute, as it fell out of synch with the other two clocks.
He did not leave the diner, even for an instant. He didn't even leave his seat when he could help it, waiting until his bladder felt like it was going to burst before he'd use the restroom. He had to be there when Hiro returned from the past, wouldn't risk his friend thinking for even a moment that he'd given up on him and left.
The staff of the diner got used to his presence after the first day. He was polite, even with the amount of stress he was under, and friendly enough, and every few hours he'd pay for everything he'd eaten or drank during that time so there was no chance he'd just disappear after racking up a bill that spanned days. He insisted on paying for each cup of coffee he had instead of taking advantage of their free refill policy, feeling it wouldn't be right to sit there for hours between ordering things he'd need to pay for if he didn't. He would even duck into the bathroom and quickly change his clothes and scrub himself down with a wet paper towel in the middle of the night when there weren't any other customers who might walk in on him so he wouldn't begin to stink and bother anyone. He wouldn't risk getting kicked out over something like that.
All in all he was a perfect customer, if a bizarre and clearly insomniac one.
When anyone asked why he wouldn't leave, all he'd say was that he was waiting for someone. The waitresses had woven a story of romance around this. He'd been planning on eloping with a girl, they decided. Her parents hadn't approved, so she and Ando had decided to meet at the Burnt Toast and run away together. But she hadn't come, and now he refused to leave because it would mean giving up on her.
They gossiped, and sighed, and smiled at him sadly, but he didn't bother setting them straight whenever he overheard snatches of their stories.
He tapped his foot. He checked the time. He took a drink.
He didn't allow himself to believe for an instant that Hiro wouldn't be coming back.
Fandom: Heroes
Characters: Ando
Notes: For June fic-a-day. Set between episodes eight and ten.
His watch, Ando had discovered, ran slow.
Or maybe it was the clocks at the diner that ran fast.
Whichever was the case, it had become part of the routine he'd fallen into since Hiro had vanished. He sat at his booth. He tapped his foot forty-five times, each tap a little faster to the one before, until his leg was practically twitching from the movement of it and he forced himself to stop. He checked the time on his watch, then on the clock hanging above the diner's counter, then squinted to make it out on the microwave they used to warm up pastries. He took a gulp of his coffee if he was under his tenth drink of the day, or of the juice Lynette forces him to switch to after that with an admonition each time that he'd give himself a heart attack if he kept chugging down so much caffeine. And every three hours he set his watch forward one minute, as it fell out of synch with the other two clocks.
He did not leave the diner, even for an instant. He didn't even leave his seat when he could help it, waiting until his bladder felt like it was going to burst before he'd use the restroom. He had to be there when Hiro returned from the past, wouldn't risk his friend thinking for even a moment that he'd given up on him and left.
The staff of the diner got used to his presence after the first day. He was polite, even with the amount of stress he was under, and friendly enough, and every few hours he'd pay for everything he'd eaten or drank during that time so there was no chance he'd just disappear after racking up a bill that spanned days. He insisted on paying for each cup of coffee he had instead of taking advantage of their free refill policy, feeling it wouldn't be right to sit there for hours between ordering things he'd need to pay for if he didn't. He would even duck into the bathroom and quickly change his clothes and scrub himself down with a wet paper towel in the middle of the night when there weren't any other customers who might walk in on him so he wouldn't begin to stink and bother anyone. He wouldn't risk getting kicked out over something like that.
All in all he was a perfect customer, if a bizarre and clearly insomniac one.
When anyone asked why he wouldn't leave, all he'd say was that he was waiting for someone. The waitresses had woven a story of romance around this. He'd been planning on eloping with a girl, they decided. Her parents hadn't approved, so she and Ando had decided to meet at the Burnt Toast and run away together. But she hadn't come, and now he refused to leave because it would mean giving up on her.
They gossiped, and sighed, and smiled at him sadly, but he didn't bother setting them straight whenever he overheard snatches of their stories.
He tapped his foot. He checked the time. He took a drink.
He didn't allow himself to believe for an instant that Hiro wouldn't be coming back.