Modern!Laina AU with Agent Lillytiger

[Agent Lilytiger]

Levi sat on his couch, resting his elbows on his knees. "I understand." He said, running his hand through his still damp hair. He hesitated, wondering if he should continue this conversation or to stop while he was ahead. "What happened? With your day, I mean." He said before he could stop himself. He wanted to slap himself. Why did he keep extending his contact with her when it surely would just end with the two of them upset at each other?

[Agent Blackhawk]

Raina nodded even though Levi couldn't see her. She was once again about to hang up when he asked what had happened. Did she want to tell him that? "I failed my math test and lost my dorm key and dropped my sketchbook in a puddle" the words tumbled out before she could stop them "and my best friend told me he's leaving right after graduation and my appointment did not go well." She paused. "Sorry, this is stupid, you don't care. I'll stop wasting your time."

[Agent Lilytiger]

Levi listened silently as Raina listed off everything that had gone wrong that day. He felt bad for her, it sounded like a pretty bad day. "No, no. It's no problem." He said, pulling his legs onto the couch. "That sounds like a pretty crappy day." He said "I'm sorry for making it worse." He grabbed a guitar pick off the coffee table and started fiddling with it between his fingers.

[Agent Blackhawk]

Raina rubbed the back of her neck. So maybe Levi wasn't as much of a jerk as she thought. "It was, but I'm going to dinner with Nick soon so it'll be fine." She tapped her fingers against her thigh. That didn't mean she was just going to open up and tell her life story and then they'd be friends, heck no. She doubted they'd ever be friends, but maybe they could at least be civil until their ten weeks in Hell together were over. "It- It's fine. You didn't know."

[Agent Lilytiger]

Levi felt a strange twinge in his neck as Raina mentioned a guy named Nick. "Who's Nick?" He asked, trying to seem friendly. He bit his lip a little, wondering why he hadn't just said goodbye and hung up. He supposed it was good to be friendly to her, they would be seeing each other quite a bit over the next ten weeks. "Yeah, but I didn't need to be a jerk." He muttered. He knew that he was often brusque with people, and though he didn't mean to do it in a hurtful way, sometimes it came out that way.

[Agent Blackhawk]

Raina smiled a little. They'd managed to have a perfectly civil conversation. Maybe this would work. Maybe. "Nick's been my best friend since I was a kid. He's great. You could learn a thing or two from him." She said the last part without thinking about it. "Well that's true." She pulled her phone away from her ear for a split second to check the time. She still had a few minutes, and strangely enough, she didn't want to hang up. Idiot.

[Agent Lilytiger]

Levi felt a little stung at Rainas words. Sure he hadn't been the nicest person, but she didn't have to keep bringing it up. He pinched the pick between his thumb and forefinger, spinning it between them with his middle finger. "I'm sure I could." He muttered, trying not to let too much sarcasm slip through. There was a clap of thunder, making him jump and drop his phone. He scrambled to pick it back off the floor. "Sorry, dropped my phone." He said to Raina as he pressed the phone back to his ear.

[Agent Blackhawk]

Raina flinched a little at his sarcasm. And now she was being a hypocrite. Great. "Sorry, I didn't- Well I did mean it, but I shouldn't have said it." Her brow furrowed as something thudded on Levi's end of the line. "Hey, are you-" She cut off as he explained and apologized. She glanced at the time again and her eyes widened slightly. "Oh, shoot, I'm going to be late." She went to stand up, but forgot she was under the table and banged her head into the wood. "Sorry, I have to go." She scrambled out from under the table and started shoving stuff in her bag. "I'll see you on Thursday."

[Agent Lilytiger]

Levi curled his fingers around the pick as Raina said she had to go. "Yeah, I'll see you on Thursday." He said, reluctant to end the call for some reason. Maybe he just didn't want to deal with this storm on his own. He shook himself and stood. "Goodbye." He said, waiting a moment, then tapping his phone to end the call. He tossed his phone onto the couch and rubbed his face with his hands. It was going to be a long night.

[Agent Blackhawk]

Raina noticed Levi's hesitation and it made her pause for a split second, but then she shook herself out of it. She had plans she needed to go through with. "Bye." She stared at the "call ended" screen on her phone for a moment until it blinked off and then she grabbed her stuff and hurried out and down the stairs. Nick was waiting on the steps, watching the rain fall. "Where's your jacket?" He asked as she stood beside him. "I leant it to Levi." Nick immediately unzipped his rain jacket and handed it to her. "I brought an umbrella too, I'll be fine." He said before she could protest. "She sighed and tugged the warm fabric over her shoulders. "Thanks." They stood for another minute. "So. . ." Nick finally spoke. "Dinner?" Raina nodded. "Let's." And they stepped out into the rain together.