Re: The Aristocrat/The Carnie
He was not supposed to be here. That much was certain from the attire of the other passengers and the gleam of the silverware. Leo would not be shamed back to the lower class dining car, however. No, when the waiter walked by he only shrank down in a seat, licking frosting from his fingertips with a furtive grin until the man was out of view.
The boy was on his feet again in a heartbeat, eyes sweeping the car for anything else he might scavenge before he was caught and ‘escorted’ from the car. You didn’t get this type of decadent fare on a circus train, where all sat cramped in with the rolled up tents or downwind of the animal cages. There were no stuffy waiters serving wine on those trains, no. There was only what came in a can.
Leo was not as stealthy as he wished, he stuck out like a sore thumb. Sure enough, he attracted attention. His eyes met those of another passenger, a rather stately figure with glasses and cravat. Leo was not a clown, but he could play the fool. With an innocent grin he pointed to himself as if to say, ‘Who me??’
A moment later he was sitting opposite the gentleman, gracefully careless, not at all cowed by the age and grandeur before him. “Evenin’, sir.” A polite touch to the brim of his cap. “In need of some comp’ny, are ya?”